"Let's launch an attack!"
Gao Bo's words still echoed in the locker room. Not to mention the players, even his assistants were somewhat surprised.
Liverpool had been attacking so fiercely in the latter half of the first half. Shouldn't they be strengthening their defense normally? If they attack like this and fail, what if Liverpool seizes the opportunity to launch a counterattack?
The confident smile on Gao Bo's face even seemed a bit arrogant.
Of course, he knew this. Liverpool would definitely launch a fierce attack in the second half. And in the eyes of normal people, Gao Bo should strengthen the defense to contain Liverpool's attack and try to launch a counterattack after intercepting the ball.
But this is the conventional approach. Luton cannot defeat Liverpool by relying on such a conventional approach. Benitez will definitely respond to Luton's strengthened defense.
The gap in strength between the two sides is obvious. If they don't find another way, or even take a risky gamble, Gao Bo is not optimistic about Luton being pressed and attacked by Liverpool.
"Liverpool thinks the same way. They will definitely think about attacking at the beginning of the second half. Benitez may even adopt a more aggressive strategy on the offensive end." Gao Bo said slowly, looking around at the players sitting around him. Everyone was listening attentively to the coach's words.
"But, but the right to kick off in the second half belongs to us! We can't waste this opportunity to kick off!" Gao Bo pointed to his head, "The Liverpool players definitely think we will go back to defend and wait for a counterattack. But we just want to catch them off guard on this point!!"
"Adam!! You have ten minutes in the second half to use up all the remaining energy you have!"
Gao Bo turned to Adam and said.
"It's time to let Liverpool see our attack!"
"The first ten minutes of the second half!! We need to show Liverpool some color!!"
"Let them know that we are not a team to be easily manipulated by them. If they want to attack, we just won't let them get their wish!!"
Only Gao Bo's voice echoed in the away team's locker room. The players stood tall with their heads held high. They unconditionally trusted their coach's words.
This is the trust accumulated through continuous victories.
Even John couldn't help but believe Gao Bo's words. At this time, he even ignored the huge gap in strength between Luton and Liverpool.
The only one who was a little worried was Lin Sen. He felt that Gao Bo was too aggressive. After all, the strength of the two sides was too different. The few months in Luton had gradually shifted Lin Sen's thinking from that of a senior fan to that of a coach. The work of an intelligence collector also allowed him to understand the coaching ideas and game command methods of many coaches in England.
Luton attacking Liverpool?
Isn't this too crazy?
When the two teams walked out of the player tunnel, Lin Sen expressed his confusion.
Gao Bo admired Lin Sen very much. In his opinion, Lin Sen was a natural coach.
He patted Lin Sen on the shoulder: "Xiao Lin, do you think we can defend for forty-five minutes?"
Lin Sen thought for a while and shook his head: "If we follow Liverpool's attacking momentum in the latter half of the first half, it will be difficult for us to hold on for forty-five minutes."
"Then do we have a chance to counterattack?"
"It's also difficult…"
"That's it. One is boiling a frog in warm water, and the other is a high-risk, high-reward gamble. Guess which one I will choose?" Gao Bo smiled. He didn't wait for Lin Sen to answer and continued: "The passive situation in the first half, we have to make changes no matter what. No change is the worst choice."
"As a head coach, you must make decisive choices at any time,"
"Never hesitate!!" Gao Bo stared into Lin Sen's eyes and said: "A wrong decision is a hundred times better than no decision!"
"And…"
"Sometimes, as a head coach, when facing the current situation, you should take a gamble… you still have to take a gamble!"
After Gao Bo finished speaking, he walked out of the locker room, leaving Lin Sen alone in thoughtful contemplation.
...
Benitez didn't know that Gao Bo was going to take a gamble.
The Spaniard is a cautious person. Although he has the reputation of being a tactical master, he really didn't expect Luton to dare to attack at the beginning of the second half!
The Liverpool players didn't expect it either. They were waiting to continue pressing forward after the start of the second half. As a result, Luton passed the ball to the frontcourt with a few passes during the kickoff stage, making Liverpool's penalty area a bit turbulent!
In the 48th minute of the game, Adam crossed from the wing. Skrtel once again gained the upper hand in the confrontation with Vardy. The young Vardy is still not as experienced as Skrtel, but Skrtel's clearance was not well controlled, because he found that he was becoming more and more powerless in the matchup with Vardy. As a center back, a clearance is nothing, but if he fails once, it will be over.
Vardy was not in a hurry either. He kept running and looking for opportunities in the penalty area. Strikers always need some patience.
The cleared ball was controlled by Luton again. Kant intercepted the second ball in front of Gerrard, and then he directly passed the ball to Charlie Austin on the other side.
Luton's attack actually has a tendency to turn into a siege!
Charlie Austin didn't hesitate too much. He directly passed the ball, but this time he didn't pass it into the air, but passed it back to the edge of the penalty area in a ground-ball triangle! In this game, Gao Bo arranged him on the wing. With Charlie Austin's speed, he can also play this position, and he can often switch positions with Vardy to interfere with the opponent's defense.
Kevin Keane was there to meet him on the wing. Kevin's state was explosive in this game. He didn't stop the ball and shot directly!!
The Luton fans on the stands began to cheer impatiently, but the ball still didn't get past Reina's fingers. Reina jumped to the side and pushed the ball out of the baseline!
"Kevin Keane!! Oh… he almost staged a hat-trick!!" Wrightkinson said incredulously in the commentary box, "Who would have thought that the most eye-catching player in this game would be him?"
Kevin was quite disappointed that the shot was saved. Gao Bo on the sidelines also held his head in his hands. If this ball had gone in, it would undoubtedly be a shot in the arm for Luton!
Then Luton's corner kick was quickly taken.
Benitez watched from the sidelines with his eyelids twitching.
Luton's attacking method is very simple. Sometimes they create space for shooting with two or three passes, or the wingers cross the ball to allow the center forward, the inward-cutting wingers, and the advancing midfielders to compete for the header.
They have at least three points in the penalty area every time they cross.
Although Luton's crosses haven't been too threatening so far, what worries Benitez is that when the ball reaches the periphery, the landing point of the ball is always taken by Kant.
This player's coverage is too large.
Luton's attack is still continuing. It is now the 49th minute of the game. Luton has been attacking fiercely for four minutes in a row.
Gao Bo gritted his teeth and made up his mind!
Attack for two more minutes. If the team still can't score, they have to retreat!
If Liverpool seizes the opportunity to launch a counterattack, Luton will also be quite uncomfortable.
After experiencing the surprise at the beginning of the game, Benitez is not in a hurry now.
Luton's sneak attack at the beginning of the game did not have any effect, and now Liverpool has gradually stabilized. If Luton continues to attack, Benitez will let Luton see the strength of a Premier League team's counterattack!
Benitez sat back on the coach's bench. As soon as he sat down, he jumped three feet high from his seat!
Luton's attack hit a defensive player. Gerrard was on the periphery to meet him. He was just about to take the ball and turn around when he was intercepted by the prepared Kant!
Luton intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack on the spot! At this time, Liverpool was in the process of switching from attack to defense. The players were already preparing to press forward to attack, and Kant's sudden interception caught them a little off guard!
After intercepting the ball, Kant did not waste time. He directly pushed the ball forward to Vardy's feet!
The offense and defense instantly changed positions, but Skrtel was still in the mindset of the team attacking. He let Vardy slip away under his nose for the first time.
By the time Skrtel reacted, Vardy had already met the ball and completed the shot!
A powerful shot!!
The flashes of the surrounding reporters flashed into a piece.
Vardy's unruly face, the football hitting the net, Reina desperately turning his head in the air to look behind him, Carragher with his mouth wide open, Skrtel trying to block with his feet stretched out, this scene was frozen at this moment!