Gao Bo had his hands in his pockets.
The Liverpool players were celebrating wildly. Torres, Gerrard, and Xabi Alonso were celebrating right under Gao Bo's nose!
Gao Bo merely glanced at them before turning his attention to his own players.
The Luton players looked a bit flustered, and Gao Bo sighed inwardly.
Some teams possess a so-called champion's aura, which is essentially a composure cultivated through constant victories and championship experiences.
Clearly, Luton didn't have that aura yet!
That's why they looked flustered.
Gao Bo raised his hands and loudly called out Kevin Keane's name. When Kevin Keane looked over, he made a gesture of pressing down with both hands.
Kevin Keane quickly nodded to show he understood: They needed to stay calm and not panic!
The captain on the field quickly carried out the task Gao Bo wanted him to complete, successfully steadying the team's morale.
Benitez watched this scene.
He regretfully spread his hands towards his assistant. If Luton's panic had continued, Liverpool might have been able to capitalize and score another goal.
From this, it seemed he had met his match today!
Benitez pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. He had calmed down now. They were only down by one goal, and Luton's tricks were probably almost exhausted, right?
Now it was Liverpool's time to shine!
Liverpool was about to attack. Gao Bo had anticipated the opponent's change the moment they conceded the goal. When the game restarted, he saw it even more clearly. Torres was undoubtedly Liverpool's attacking focal point. Benitez was using Luton's constantly shifting, compact formation against them. He was having Torres run to the weak side of the defense to receive passes. And when the ball was played long, Luton's formation definitely couldn't shift as quickly as the ball!
What should they do now?
Benitez had undoubtedly posed a difficult problem for Gao Bo.
If they sent someone to mark Torres, unless it was Kanté, it would be difficult for a defender to contain Torres—in fact, even Kanté alone would struggle, because Torres was a powerful center-forward with outstanding physical attributes and footwork. If Kanté went one-on-one with Torres, Kanté might actually get beaten!
For an attacking player, one successful attack out of ten is enough, but for a defender, one failure means total defeat.
So Gao Bo wouldn't risk having one player defend Torres alone. When Torres once again shot from the left side and it was saved by Claude, Gao Bo quickly called Kevin Keane over.
"Pack the midfield!! We're ahead for now, let's just get through the first half!!"
Gao Bo looked at the big screen in Wembley Stadium. It was the thirty-fifth minute of the match, with a little over ten minutes left in the first half.
"Get Jamie and Charlie back, leave Adam alone up front!!"
Kevin Keane nodded repeatedly, then quickly returned to the field and relayed Gao Bo's instructions.
Liverpool's corner kick was taken, and Claude jumped high to catch the ball.
Then he launched a counterattack with a throw, but when Adam got the ball, he was closely marked by Mascherano. He couldn't control the ball well and Mascherano dispossessed him.
Liverpool continued to attack!!
In the final stages of the first half, Liverpool's attack became increasingly fierce.
And the best-performing Luton player during this period was... goalkeeper Claude Londo!
In the thirty-seventh minute, Gerrard finally gained the upper hand in his duel with Kanté. He unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty arc. The ball streaked through the air, carrying a sharp whistling sound as it rubbed against the air,
flying towards the goal!!
But this seemingly inevitable shot was parried away by Claude, who dived and flicked the ball out for a corner with his fingertips!
Benitez was ready to celebrate, but Claude dashed Liverpool's hopes.
"Claude Londo!!!! Wow!!!! An incredible save!!!!" Wrightkinson exclaimed from the stands. "Gerrard's shot looked certain to go in, but Claude made a brilliant save on the line, denying Liverpool a goal!!"
"Liverpool's attack has been surging lately, and Luton's defense seems to have been shaken up a bit. The fact that their goalkeeper is being tested is proof of that," Redknapp said from the side.
Gao Bo was also startled by Gerrard's shot, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Claude's performance.
"That save was fantastic!! Claude's reaction speed is getting faster and faster!!" John Aston said excitedly in Gao Bo's ear.
Gao Bo nodded: "Claude's performance is indeed great."
There was one more thing Gao Bo didn't say.
The effect of the card is also very obvious...
To be honest, facing a shot like Gerrard's, for Claude to have saved it, Gao Bo felt that a large part of the credit should go to that card.
But a game can't be won by relying solely on the goalkeeper, and it's not a solution to always put the goalkeeper to the test.
Right now, Luton's formation is being pushed back too far. Gao Bo shouted loudly from the sidelines, telling the players to push up a bit!
"Get close to them!!!!"
Gao Bo had already taken off his suit jacket, and the back of his white shirt was soaked with sweat.
It seems that directing a game is also physical work...
.
The first half had only a few minutes left, and Liverpool's attack didn't diminish.
Their attacks were like a tide, wave after wave.
They pushed Luton back into their penalty area, and Gao Bo shouted loudly from the sidelines, directing every Luton player to push out.
As the situation became passive, Luton's fouls increased.
Liverpool also got a lot of free-kick opportunities in the final stages.
In the forty-third minute, Torres jumped high in the penalty area and headed for goal!
As a result, the ball was once again saved by Claude!
"Beautiful!! Beautiful attack!! Beautiful defense!!" Wrightkinson praised in the commentary box.
"Both teams have shown a very high level of tactical awareness. Liverpool has not been able to find many opportunities in open play, but they have also made Luton's heart pound with their set-piece attacks, and Claude's wonderful performance has once again kept the goal safe!"
After this attack, Liverpool didn't have any better attacking threat than this.
The first half of the match quickly passed. After the ball was headed out of the penalty area by Geoffrey, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half without waiting for Liverpool's throw-in.
....
In the locker room, the Luton players looked a bit solemn.
Liverpool's fierce attack in the final stages of the first half left them a little breathless, so that when the first half ended, they were still immersed in the feeling that their goal could be breached at any time and hadn't come out of it.
The players looked solemn, but Gao Bo had a relaxed smile back on his face.
"We did a good job in the first half, lads!" Gao Bo clapped his hands, his first words upon entering were praise for the team.
"We're going into halftime with a one-goal lead, we're now leading Liverpool two to one!!"
The players immediately reacted.
Yes, we're still leading!
The solemn expressions on the Luton players' faces slowly disappeared.
Of course, Gao Bo knew that encouragement alone couldn't win the game.
"But we were suppressed too much in the final stages of the first half!" Gao Bo's expression became serious. "Fortunately, Claude performed very well!"
Gao Bo praised the goalkeeper. Claude smiled when he heard the coach's praise, and his confidence seemed to increase a lot.
"They will definitely continue to attack when they come up in the second half!" Gao Bo said with certainty.
In fact, he didn't know whether Liverpool would attack strongly at the start of the second half, but whether Liverpool would launch a strong attack at the start of the second half or not had no impact on Gao Bo's next arrangements.
"So let's launch an attack in the second half!!"
Gao Bo's words startled everyone in the locker room.
Wasn't that too abrupt of a turn?
The players looked at their coach in surprise.