[The match has started. Manchester City, on the left, take the first possession. The last time City lifted a major trophy was in 1976, and today they have come out in a 4-2-3-1 formation in search of their first title in 35 years. Robinho, who has recently been at the center of unrest, is once again not involved today. James Milner starts on the left instead.]
[That is right. It seems to be a decision made to deal with Liverpool's Meireles-Gerrard-Kuyt line, whose work rate is outstanding.]
[They clearly intend not to lose the battle for possession today. As you know, since the managerial change, Liverpool have leaned toward a possession-based passing game. So Manchester City seem determined to prevent that from developing in the first place.]
[Then let us look at Liverpool on the other side. The 11 players in red on the right have set up in a diamond 4-4-2. Strictly speaking, it is more of a 4-1-3-2 shape.]
The back four consisted of Aurelio, Škrtel, Carragher, and Johnson, while just ahead of them Lucas held the role of lone defensive midfielder.
Further forward in the second line, Meireles, Gerrard, and Kuyt were supporting Suárez and Andy Carroll up front.
[It looks like the idea is for Meireles and Kuyt, whose work rate needs no introduction, to move heavily and secure control of midfield, while Gerrard sprays killer passes into the left and right channels ahead of him.]
Meireles and Dirk Kuyt, Liverpool's so-called two lungs.
Kuyt in particular, operating on the right, was such a diligent and defensively strong player that some even called him an upgraded version of Park Ji-sung.
Even at 30, his work rate and stamina remained outstanding, and he was the kind of player who could cover the whole midfield and give the team enormous support.
In other words, he was the key to the system, the one who balanced both attack and defense.
That was what allowed Gerrard to attack more aggressively through the center.
[We will have to see whether Liverpool can finally shake off 5 years without a trophy.]
[They are even taking a more defensive stance than their usual calm but attack-minded style. It seems manager Dalglish's thinking is centered on stopping Ho-young.]
There was something manager Kenny Dalglish had said before the match began.
"When we attack, focus only on attacking. When we defend, focus only on Ho-young. Thinking about counter-attacking against him is a luxury. Just focus on stopping him first."
Liverpool had changed completely under Kenny Dalglish.
Unlike the previous managers, he led the team through emotional connection with the players.
He became their emotional pillar, restoring the players' confidence and reviving their pride in Liverpool.
The excessively defensive tactics had been reshaped into an attacking approach based on passing football, influenced by Barcelona's style.
By bringing in the hard-running Meireles, Liverpool were able to increase their midfield possession, and through forward passing they maximized their threat in front of goal.
Then by signing Suárez and Andy Carroll to improve their finishing, he drove Liverpool's revival.
As a result, both the team's attack and defense became more stable.
Dalglish's football philosophy had settled into Liverpool and created balance.
Even though those efforts still failed to get them back into the top four, reaching the FA Cup final had won strong support from the fans.
That was why they had spent the last few weeks preparing for this match as if their lives depended on it.
The key was Ho-young.
Whether they could stop him or not would decide the match.
Of course, they had not found some brilliant magic solution.
'We cannot stop him perfectly.'
Dalglish's thinking was correct.
It had already been proven that no method could completely stop him.
But after repeated study and careful thought, he had found several ways to suppress Ho-young's attack as much as possible.
The first of those was the positioning of the defenders.
It was around the 10th minute of the first half, when possession went to Manchester City.
[Liverpool's back four are changing shape.]
[They are twisting the defenders' positions around. It is a bold move.]
Liverpool's back four transformed into an ironic structure.
The two centre-backs, Škrtel and Jamie Carragher, moved out to left and right full-back.
Meanwhile, the original full-backs, Aurelio and Glen Johnson, took up the centre-back roles, creating a shape that completely broke with convention.
[Jamie Carragher and Škrtel have been moved wide. With their strong anticipation and ability to cut out passes, it looks like the idea is to block Manchester City's passing lanes and Ho-young's movement before it can even develop.]
Carragher and Škrtel stepped up from the flanks and formed a triangle with Lucas.
With Gerrard joining them, the shape became a diamond.
Those four players were maintaining zonal coverage while trying to shut Ho-young down.
In other words, minimizing space.
Any space left in behind because of the high line was being covered thoroughly by the pace of Aurelio and Glen Johnson.
That was Liverpool's first method of stopping Ho-young.
[Liverpool have clearly prepared a real tactical plan for this. Whether it will actually work is another question.]
It definitely had an effect.
Caught in the defensive trap set by Gerrard, Lucas, Carragher, and Škrtel, Ho-young began to lose his rhythm, and the number of times he received the ball dropped sharply.
Because of that, Ho-young started dropping deeper to collect the ball himself, but Gerrard and Lucas got into him physically and disrupted his play, while Meireles and Kuyt also joined in to block his movement.
Wherever Ho-young went, there were always 4 players closing in around him.
"Where do you think you are going!"
Bang!
[Steven Gerrard and Ho-young collide.]
[Ah, Gerrard goes down. Referee Howard stops play and gives Gerrard a warning.]
"Hoo."
During the challenge for the ball, Gerrard had driven his body into him and ended up sprawled on the ground clutching his head.
Stars spun before his eyes, and it felt as if the goal were shaking.
'Why is this bastard so solid?'
He had changed completely.
No, evolved would be the more accurate word.
Gerrard, who had faced Ho-young before, could feel it very clearly.
Just as other players had said again and again, he had grown to an absurd level compared to before.
But the team around him had become weaker.
Manchester City.
'He is no longer at Real Madrid.'
That was the only weakness left.
Without letting his guard down, Gerrard was burning himself out today with the resolve to die here if he had to.
"Lucas! Tighten the space! I'll keep hitting him from behind!"
The second way to stop Ho-young.
'Do not let him have the ball.'
And even if he did get on the ball, the 4 players forming the diamond had to pounce on him immediately and deny him any room.
And the third way.
"Suárez! Carroll! Drop back and get involved! Chase David Silva and James Milner! When we defend, we defend only!"
Collective defending.
Not just the midfielders, but the forwards as well had to actively join the defensive work and squeeze the life out of Ho-young through layered pressure.
That was the true core of it.
"Right side ahead! The space is open!"
"The pass is going there! Watch it!"
"You idiot! Watch Ho-young!!"
"I'll cover!"
"Hup!"
Bang!
[Ho-young and Gerrard contest the ball! Another collision!]
[Ah, the referee stops the play again. The physical battle was too rough.]
[Yes, the two are locked in a fierce duel. Gerrard keeps going down, but he refuses to give up.]
[You really start to worry he could get a concussion at this rate. Referee Howard warns him again and says the next one will be a yellow card.]
For Gerrard, it was a very satisfying result.
Since the match had started, Ho-young had barely been able to get on the ball.
In fact, Ho-young currently had the fewest touches and the lowest work rate among the Manchester City players.
15th minute of the first half.
Liverpool's plan seemed to be working more and more.
And gradually, Gerrard's expression started to brighten.
Hope began to appear.
But for some reason, he could not shake an ominous feeling.
'Scary bastard.'
Just looking at Ho-young's face gave him that feeling.
Ho-young still looked relaxed.
'So he still thinks this is manageable.'
Gerrard remembered a set of statistics he had seen a few days earlier.
According to recent matches, when Ho-young faced big clubs, he often did not produce much until around the 30th minute of the first half.
But after that, his level suddenly rose sharply.
The experts described the phenomenon like this.
'The time it takes for Ho-young to read and take control of the match.'
So Liverpool had to achieve as much as possible before then.
There were about 15 minutes left until that point.
'Enough.'
Passion and commitment.
If they pushed with experience and maturity, they could win.
Steven Gerrard, whose passion was second to none, clenched both fists.
And it was at that moment that Ho-young's eyes flashed.
[Steven Gerrard]
[Possessed Talents: Complete Midfielder (T), Long-Range Shooting of the Complete Midfielder (SU), Peerless Tactical Understanding (SS-), Explosive Kicking Power (S+2), Wondrous Passing (S+), (More...)]
(You may covet one talent if the conditions are met.)
(If you covet a T-grade Title, you may acquire part of its sense. However, you may only covet it after turning 18.)
(For S-grade or higher, you must fulfill the hidden conditions before coveting it.)
(Condition 1: Achieve 1 each of tackle, interception, blocked shot, score from long range, and assist)
(Condition 2: Be named Man of the Match)
(Condition 3: Win the FA Cup)
(Hidden Condition: Opens when you covet at least one talent)
Just as expected.
Before, he had not been able to covet the talent because the condition had been "Win in the EPL," but now that it had changed to "Win the FA Cup," it was fully possible.
Thankfully, there was no condition like "Do XX while playing for Liverpool."
'Then it is about time.'
Now it was time to move.
He had long since seen through the essence of the opponent's tactics.
Up to this point, it was not that he had been unable to play, but that he had simply not played along.
Instead, he had been making the opposition waste energy while taking his own gain from it.
'It was an excellent tactic.'
A system that locked him out from the outside and suffocated him on the inside.
Against Ho-young, whose life depended on a free role, it was a very appropriate tactic.
But it had not taken Ho-young long to grasp its essence.
Just 15 minutes.
Because it was a tactic he had already experienced against Argentina at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he quickly found its gaps.
It was from that point that Ho-young sharply increased his work rate.
Until now he had moved in a relaxed, unhurried way, but now it was the complete opposite.
Seeing that the opponent's stamina had dipped once, Ho-young began to show strange movement.
His pupils widened and his eyes narrowed sharply.
The chance began now.
'Howard is a referee who blows the whistle often.'
Which meant.
[David Silva's forward pass, Ho-young receives it with his back to the defender.]
[Gerrard rushes in from behind! Ho-young has to hold him off!!]
No, this time he did not hold him off.
If the flow kept being stopped, then the answer was to force it to continue before it could be stopped.
Whirl!
"...!!"
Ho-young did not accept Gerrard's physical challenge, he simply slipped away from it.
In normal terms, it was not a distance anyone could have avoided, but Ho-young could.
With strict control over his body, he used rotational force and flexibility in just the right measure, folding and unfolding his body to escape the pressure.
It looked almost like the movement of a boneless creature.
It was only natural that the crowd erupted.
[Wooooah!]
[Ho-young! He slips Gerrard and drives on!!]
Losing his balance, Steven Gerrard collapsed to the ground.
"Kuh, huff!"
In desperation he even scrambled on all fours like a beast, trying to chase after Ho-young, but Ho-young was already far away.
"Ah!"
In that instant, he sensed something ominous.
At the same time, he realized it.
At first, it had looked as though their solid plan was working, but that had only been a brief illusion.
And it was right then.
That Ho-young's run began, surging past the halfway line.
(To be continued.)