Legend of Fengshen

Chapter 1011 Advancing to the FA Cup Final
Liverpool does not only have the goal of the league and the Champions League this season. They also have an important event, the FA Cup. The status of the FA Cup is not as good as before. It is really not as good as before. That being said, it is a very realistic goal worth striving for.

In the middle of this week, Liverpool will usher in the FA Cup semi-final opponent Aston Villa. This game will be held at the neutral stadium Wembley Stadium. Liverpool is bound to win this semi-final.

Of course, Villa will not give up the opportunity. He also wants to advance to the final and win the FA Cup. After all, there are not many honors that can be won by the current Villa. Now they are ranked 14th, with 38 points. They are 18 points higher than Hull City, which is 4th, and there are still four rounds in the league. In theory, they may still be relegated, but in reality this possibility is very small, and they can basically be sure to go ashore safely.

If Villa can successfully avoid relegation this season, it must be attributed to former Tottenham manager Sherwood. Sherwood took over Villa in February 2015. In the relegation zone, Villa's executives had to hire someone else. Sherwood was the one they hired. He didn't perform very well at the beginning. Recently, the team started to go crazy and got on the right track.

Facing Liverpool, a strong opponent, Sherwood did not give up before the game. He told reporters that the FA Cup is very important for both teams. They are stronger than us, but we have prepared for this game. After preparing for a long time, we will make trouble for them, and we hope to be able to appear in the finals.

In an exclusive interview with Zhang Yuan, "Echo" also talked about this game. If Liverpool can't win the FA Cup this season, then this season will be an extremely failure for them, and all four will be empty.

The reporter Tyro Bruce of "Echo" is actually an old acquaintance of Zhang Yuan. After Zhang Yuan came to England, he had a lot of dealings with him. I won the Europa League Italian Triple Crown, but you may not get anything when you come to Liverpool this season, do you have some regrets now?!"

"In order for me not to regret it, we must win the FA Cup!" Zhang Yuan said seriously first, then relaxed and smiled: "There is nothing to regret, I have never regretted it! This season is very difficult for us, but Now we're on the right track, it's a sad thing if we don't get anything for a season, I haven't missed a trophy every year since I joined Real Madrid, I hope this year will be the same, we only have the FA Cup now The championship can be won, and we all hope to win this trophy and dedicate it to the fans!"

"Now there is news from the outside world that the relationship between your agent and Liverpool is not very good, will you leave because of this?!" Bruce asked.

"I don't care too much about Mino's personal life, and he never persuaded me to leave! I want to say that this season is just the beginning. If the club is willing to keep me, I can play here for many years. I hope to be Steve. Such a player!" Zhang Yuan expressed his loyalty.

In fact, there are not so many rumors from the outside world. Of course, the rumors about players of Zhang Yuan’s level will never stop. For example, the rumors said that Zhang Yuan was very disappointed after being eliminated from the Champions League. Consider leaving.

The media claimed that according to insiders close to Zhang Yuan, even Zhang Yuan’s next home has been found, Paris Saint-Germain, this is all out of thin air. Now that Liverpool is at a critical moment, Zhang Yuan ran out in a timely manner. Expressing loyalty is not without reason.

A rumor that has been said [-] times becomes the truth. Everyone in Liverpool knows that Zhang Yuan will not leave, but the fans, the fans are not sure. They have heard it a lot, and hope to hear from Zhang Yuan that he will be loyal to Liverpool.

On the afternoon of May 5th, the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Aston Villa started at Wembley Stadium. Earlier in the same day, on the same field, Arsenal defeated Reading in a penalty shootout and advanced to the final first. Liverpool And Aston Villa will produce another opponent in the final.

Klopp has used all the main players that Klopp can use in this game. Gerrard has been absent from the league for several rounds due to the suspension. This game will not be affected, so he was sent by Klopp. The starting lineup forms a midfield triangle with Henderson and Emrejan, while Zhang Yuan partners with Coutinho and Sturridge on the front line. This formation can be called 4312, and Coutinho plays the position A bit similar to the front midfielder position, Zhang Yuan and Sturridge can be regarded as double center tactics.

And Sherwood's formation for Aston Villa is 451. Villa can't beat Liverpool in any case. In the first half of this season, Villa beat Liverpool in an upset at Anfield. Klopp's first game in office was against Villa. At the Villa Park Stadium, Liverpool won that game 2:0 and started their own climax of grabbing points.

Sherwood focused on defense in this game, and his intention to counterattack was obvious. On the front line, Benteke was a Belgian high center forward with a strong header ability. He was placed at the forefront by Sherwood in the British tradition. The way to make a long pass.

Both sides are familiar opponents, there is no need to test, and Liverpool is also a team that does not pay much attention to possession of the ball, so this game seems to be at least relatively open, with you coming and going to make it very lively.

As a result, everyone was thunderous and rainy. Liverpool was limited by Villa's defense. Villa's defense has been organized well after the start. It is difficult for Liverpool to get a chance. In Zhang Yuan's marking, Villa team Just highlight the word "ruthless", there are two people around Zhang Yuan to double-team anytime and anywhere, and their actions are relatively fierce, making it difficult for Zhang Yuan to get the ball.

As for Zhang Yuan, he is afraid of being injured. The most important thing is that he has something on his mind now. He feels that he cannot afford to be injured. , the performance is relatively general.

On Villa's side, Benteke is indeed more aggressive, but Villa has not invested much in offense. Benteke is also a lone role in the front, resulting in their offensive quality being worse than Liverpool's.

At this time, the fans of the two teams were not disappointed. After all, this is a decisive game and no one dares to be careless.

Zhang Yuan’s performance was relatively flat, and Klopp did not mean to blame. Sometimes Zhang Yuan’s role is not to threaten the opponent’s goal, but more importantly, to contain. He will contain Villa’s defense However, what disappointed him was that Liverpool did not make good use of Zhang Yuan's role. Their thinking was a bit solidified, and they always wanted to give Zhang Yuan the ball when they got the ball.

As for Zhang Yuan himself, he is not a coach after all, so he can't see this clearly.

During the halftime break, Klopp was dissatisfied with this way of playing. He asked Liverpool players to use the cover of Zhang Yuan to open gaps from other places. Everyone can't rely on one person to play.

Klopp's targeted arrangement had a good effect in the second half. In the 51st minute, Liverpool's midfielder intercepted the ball and launched a fast break. Zhang Yuan was in the center. Sturridge pulled the ball to the right and sent a wonderful pass in time. Coutinho moved forward to follow up, took advantage of Zhang Yuan's containment, kicked the goal, and easily pushed and scored. Liverpool took the lead in breaking the deadlock.

Sherwood had no intention of attacking at this time, and after Liverpool scored a goal, Klopp began to reduce his attack speed. After all, the Villa team could not survive Liverpool. After the 70th minute, Sherwood waved his hand, The Villa team finally came out, and the time for Liverpool finally came, and Zhang Yuan also began to show his direct threat.

In the 75th minute, Zhang Yuan received a pass from Coutinho and scored with a header, breaking through the gate guarded by Given, basically allowing Liverpool to advance successfully.

In the 81st minute, he instigated an attack in the frontcourt again, and Sturridge responded to Gerrard who was plugging in. Gerrard sealed the final victory with a long shot.

At the end of the game, the Villa fans could only return home with disappointment, while the Liverpool fans were elated. When the Liverpool players came to the stands to thank them, they shouted "Champion! Champion!", looking forward to it There is no doubt about it.

(End of this chapter)