With Southampton letting go of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Luka Modric and James Rodriguez this summer, the team's entire midfield has also been greatly affected.

To some extent, without Ibrahimovic who suppressed the opposing central defenders in the front line, and without Modric and James Rodriguez who could control the ball in midfield, Southampton's style of play last season could no longer run smoothly.

Unless, Bielsa wants to strongly support Kovacic and Pogba in the position and let these two youngsters play the main role.

However, in the eyes of the coaching staff, they have unlimited potential and it will take time before they can hold up Southampton's midfield banner.

Supporting Suarez to the top and bringing in Cesc Fabregas and Di Maria, Southampton's tactics will definitely be adjusted.

In the past month or so, Bielsa has been constantly experimenting with the team's midfield configuration by adjusting the formation and changing the lineup, and experimenting with the tactical play of the new season.

He even tried his hand at a back three, only to give up.

A very important reason is how to ensure the efficiency of the execution of the team's pressing tactics.

Luka Modric and Toni Kroos have been together for a long time, and at first, the pair of midfielders did not play well, but then the run-in was successful, and the threat came out.

As for James Rodriguez, he has been in the team for many years, and he is naturally more familiar with and adapted to the team's tactics than anyone else, so there is no problem in integrating.

But Cesc Fabregas and Angel Di Maria clearly don't have much time.

As for the front, replacing Ibrahimovic with Suarez has already been tried in the Premier League last season, and they have also accumulated a certain amount of experience, so it is not a big problem.

Therefore, in this Premier League opening round of the first game, fans around the world are looking forward to Southampton's new season debut, and they are all waiting for Bielsa to hand over a summer preparation.

"We saw Di Maria's name in the starting list of the Saints, and this is the first time that the Argentine superstar has played for the Saints in the two months since he joined the Saints, and he has not even played a warm-up game before."

"Before that, Southampton officials said that the reason why Di Maria did not play was because he had not fully recovered from his physical condition after participating in the World Cup, and now it seems that he should have recovered almost."

'In this game, Di Maria will be partnered by Cesc Fabregas and Toni Kroos in midfield, while Pogba and Kovacic, who have been eye-catching in a few games, will be on the bench.

'Up front, Suarez continues to start, a player who has excelled in both the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup, and his partnership is Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez, a trident who has been hailed as the most extravagant attacking combination in Europe, and I don't know if this game will be able to cut Liverpool's goal.

'At the back, Manuel Neuer was in front of goal, and on the left was still youngster Luke Shaw.

'Luke Shaw was also impressive on the left during David Alaba's injury, with Nastasic and Raphael Varane at centre-back and Danilo at right-back, which was not too unexpected.

When the on-site commentator at Anfield introduced the Southampton players, the fans booed.

But when he introduced Liverpool's starting line-up, he was greeted with cheers every time he read the name of a player.

Liverpool's starting goalkeeper was Mignolet, with Moreno, Skrtel, Lovren and Glen Johnson at the back.

In midfield, Philippe Coutinho, Steven Gerrard, Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling were in midfield, while Balotelli was the lone striker.

"In this game, Rodgers lined up a four-one-five formation, which should also be aimed at fighting Southampton for control of the midfield, and the front court is to use Balotelli's individual ability to create a threat."

Yang Huan sat in the chairman's stand, seeing Liverpool's lineup and the position of the Red Army players on the field, he was a little apprehensive, because he could see that Liverpool's attitude in this game was very pragmatic.

Rodgers knows in his heart that in terms of cards and strength, Liverpool is no match for Southampton.

So, he seeks stability!

This match against Southampton! The test is not small, one is the first game of the new season, the players have generally not entered the league state, the performance will not be too ideal, and there may even be problems.

Another thing is that this is Di Maria's first game, although he has been involved in the team's internal training before, but whether he can play his part and ensure the overall tactical operation of Southampton, no one knows.

However, when he turned his head and saw Henry and Ian Eyre, and found that these two guys were even more nervous than himself, his heart was steady.

To say that the current Southampton has won the Premier League championship for two consecutive seasons, and won a Champions League title last season, let alone in the Premier League, even in the entire European football world, it has the capital and chips to make opponents tremble.

Therefore, now it should be the opponent who is worried, not yourself.

Thinking of this, Yang Huan's heart swelled with a strong self-confidence, and he firmly believed that his team could!

Also in the chairman's stand, not far from Yang Huan, Raiola and Wang Lei and Gao Ren also sat in the seats.

"You two wait a minute, don't look at the players in your position, look at the big picture, see how the Saints players run, how they move, how they pass the ball, and in those areas, they don't lose to Barcelona at all."

Wang Lei and Gao Ren listened very carefully and nodded.

"Also, in football nowadays, pressing is essential, so you have to pay more attention to how their players use their movement to achieve pressure when they lose possession of the ball."

Speaking of this, Raiola smiled coldly and disdainfully: "Only those reckless men will rely on their bodies to fight, and those who run at the expense of physical strength to oppress, really smart people, there is no need to do this at all." ”

"They use their brains to think, their eyes to see, the least amount of running, the least amount of consumption, to achieve the greatest purpose."

Wang Lei and Gao Ren still nodded.

Young Master Huan told them that Raiola's reputation in the Chinese media industry is not very good, but in fact, his eyes are very poisonous, and his stomach is also very rich, and he is an agent, and they can learn a lot of things.

It seems that Raiola brought them to Anfield this time in the hope of teaching them something.

As the game started, Southampton pressed hard, and Raiola began to introduce the game from time to time.

For example, when Liverpool's right-back Glen Johnson got the ball, the left winger opposite the right-back, Southampton's Eden Hazard pressed towards Glen Johnson as soon as possible.

But Raiola didn't let them pay attention to Hazard, instead asking them to watch the other players.

Almost at the same time as Eden Hazard, Suarez was close to Lovren, Di Maria followed Raheem Sterling, who was ready to retreat, and Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas were all the first to target Liverpool's midfielders.

This move of all the players is almost carried out at the same time, which seems to be very tacit.

When Eden Hazard approached Glen Johnson, the England right-back was out of options, afraid to continue to take the ball, and was afraid that Suarez was at the edge of the penalty area, so he didn't dare to pass it back or to the other midfielders.

Therefore, as a last resort, he can only kick forward with a big foot.

As a result, the ball fell to the feet of Southampton.

"Southampton's high-pressure team tactics are not aimlessly rushing all over the field, but are aimed at the opponent's ball-handling players, and the players' movements are as uniform as possible, making it difficult for the opponent's ball-handling players to find a safe exit point in the first place, and then create mistakes in the opponent's passing and receiving ball."

Wang Lei and Gao Ren listened and kept nodding.

According to Southampton's style of play, the most important thing is to cooperate with tacit understanding and be consistent.

And the real so-called defensive skills, physical confrontations, and even running ability are not the most important.

As the game unfolded, the ball was switched back and forth.

When Liverpool attack, Raiola will talk about Liverpool's attacking problems, such as Balotelli's disconnection from midfield, as well as why Southampton's defence works and what points to target.

When the Saints attack with the ball, Raiola will switch over and introduce the Saints' attack and Liverpool's defense.

After such an introduction by the Italians, coupled with the fact that Wang Lei and Gao Ren themselves also play football, they naturally understand a lot of ways.

For example, Southampton's midfielder.

The closest Liverpool came to Southampton's goal after the opening kick-off came in the seventh minute, with Raiola saying that Di Maria and Cesc Fabregas were not working together well enough to give Liverpool a gap and into the 30-metre zone.

However, Toni Kroos was the first to retreat to the front of the defence, while also directing Cesc Fabregas and Di Maria to go up front.

"It's still not tacit, but at least it's a compact defensive formation, so it's no wonder Bielsa started Di Maria!" Raiola said with a smile.

Listening to his tone, it seems that Bielsa really has a bit of a hidden meaning of Di Maria as a surprise soldier.

Finally got into the 30-metre area of Southampton, but Liverpool still couldn't find a chance to pass the ball into the penalty area, only to be intercepted by Toni Kroos halfway through a backward foot on the periphery.

After the ball was successful, Toni Kroos barely hesitated, as if he had already figured out how to pass before the break, and directly passed the ball diagonally to the feet of Hazard on the left side of the halfway line.

This oblique long pass made Wang Lei suddenly feel bright.

Too precise, isn't it?

And Gao Ren saw Hazard's stoppage, which was so beautiful!

The ball touched his foot, as if it had been caught by a magnet, and it stopped.

As soon as he stopped the ball, Hazard immediately dribbled the ball into Liverpool's right flank.

However, the Reds were mainly on defense in this game, so the defense was also very fast, and two players immediately surrounded it.

Hazard saw that he could not break through the defense and immediately slowed down the tempo.

Di Maria leaned in to answer immediately.

The ball passed from the two's bag to Di Maria.

After the Argentine caught up with the ball, he happened to run into Joe Allen and immediately crossed the ball to the middle.

Cesc Fabregas also caught up from behind and met the ball with a long-range diagonal pass.

The ball was almost attached to the turf, in a straight line, through Liverpool's midfield, through left-back Moreno and centre-back Skrtel.

When Moreno reacted and turned around to chase, he saw that Sanchez had already swept past him, like the wind, caught up with the ball at the edge of the big penalty area, and stepped into the big penalty area.

"Single knife! Sanchez! ”

Countless people at the scene were so nervous that their hearts rose to the door, and they watched everything that happened on the court in amazement.

Sanchez went on a solo shot and calmly pushed the ball into the Liverpool goal.

1 to 0!

Wang Lei and Gao Ren were stunned!

They had fantasized countless times before about how goals were scored in the European Pro League.

But this time, they came to the scene to see it with their own eyes, but found that it was far simpler than they imagined.