Genius - Chapter 562: Let's Save the Championship Showdown for the Very End! (Patreon)

Davinson Sánchez couldn't catch Leo. Worse, as he chased after him, he had to watch Leo bring down the ball and casually lift it over the goalkeeper into the net.

Sánchez had started at center back against Liverpool in most of their meetings over the past several seasons. By now, he'd seen just about every kind of finish Leo could produce.

Chips, thunderous drives, long-range strikes, gentle finishes from close range. Every one of them made scoring look absurdly easy, as if taking a shot were the simplest thing in the world.

"I'm not surprised at all. That's Lin for you. The accuracy of his chips is frightening!"

"His finishing is unbelievable for a midfielder. He can score in just about any way imaginable!"

"Lin's scored again, so here comes another one of Gullit's roars! You lucky old rascal, Gullit. You've really made the most of being able to commentate on Lin!"

Scholes had both hands over his ears. Gullit was still roaring.

All that shouting seemed to have increased Gullit's lung capacity. He could now sustain a roar for an astonishing length of time.

"Gullit, will you stop yelling?"

"Anyone tuning in without context would think someone had left a kettle boiling!"

"Could you at least try a different commentary style? You might find that plenty of fans would still support you even without the roaring."

Gullit didn't listen to a word. He was too busy shouting and praising Leo's performance.

Leo's goal had changed the tempo again. Tottenham needed to attack, but Liverpool showed no intention of letting up either. Every move from either side seemed to whip up a storm.

"Tottenham are attacking at some speed! Winks finds Alli, and Alli immediately plays it to Kane!"

"Gvardiol is defending him one-on-one! Kane wants to go past, but Gvardiol is doing brilliantly!"

The moment Kane received the ball, Gvardiol knew he wanted to turn past him. So he focused on stopping Kane from shifting into the position needed for his next movement, not simply on disrupting his balance.

To get moving, Kane first had to shift his weight. But whenever he tried, Gvardiol blocked him at the waist or hip, or tugged at his arm. One way or another, he prevented Kane from turning.

The attack couldn't wait forever. Kane had no choice but to send the ball back to Alli.

Alli looked for Son, but Van Dijk had him covered. With nowhere else to go, Alli tried his luck from distance.

Liverpool supporters watched the ball sail straight into the stands!

The shot was so far off target that Alisson didn't even bother staying in position. He turned toward a ball boy immediately, eager to collect another ball and restart play.

"Liverpool have scored, and Alisson is still getting the ball moving quickly. They're still looking to attack at every opportunity."

"Klopp's side are completely comfortable at this pace. They've been one of the Premier League's most attack-minded teams for several seasons now!"

And the attacks kept coming.

Tottenham's supporters could see that their forwards had no advantage over Liverpool's defenders, whether they faced them one-on-one or appeared to have a two-on-one opening.

Whenever Son tried to combine with Kane and create an overload, either Gvardiol or Van Dijk would step across to cover for the other.

Their two-man strike partnership wasn't producing goals, yet Tottenham seemed capable of playing no other way.

"We're putting Liverpool under absolutely no pressure with this approach. I've seen Rodri smiling more than once. He's having such an easy time! I'd be laughing too if I were him, because Alli isn't threatening him at all!"

"Against Rodri, Alli looks like a player who's only just reached the Premier League. Rodri has shut him down completely. He hasn't given him a single opening!"

"Liverpool have been refreshing their squad over the past few seasons, particularly by bringing in young players. But they still have an outstanding star in every position."

"Look at Van Dijk. He helps Gvardiol play better. Rodri steadies Mac Allister. Lin brings the best out of Gakpo and Núñez, and Salah helps the other forwards raise their game too!"

"When will Tottenham start improving their squad bit by bit like Liverpool? When will they sign players who are genuinely good enough instead of constantly buying youngsters who've never even played in Europe's top five leagues?"

While the fans were talking about Salah, Salah was busy attacking.

Szoboszlai moved over to support him, and the two exchanged passes in a quick give-and-go. Salah received the return pass on the right, beat Davinson Sánchez, then drove forward again.

Dier stepped in and dispossessed him.

Dier immediately cleared the ball toward Kane, but Van Dijk and Gvardiol jumped together to meet it.

"Gvardiol gets it clear!"

"That long ball had far too much distance to cover. Van Dijk and Gvardiol had plenty of time to converge on Kane and challenge him together. That's how they were able to clear it!"

Long passes out of defense weren't helping Tottenham score, so they began trying them directly from midfield instead.

"Alli sends another long ball from the middle. He's looking for Kane again!"

"Gvardiol clears it again! It feels like he's been heading everything away today!"

"Is playing long balls really the only way Tottenham know how to attack?"

"Kane and Son are both so good with the ball at their feet. Why aren't Tottenham even trying to combine along the ground?"

Gullit was baffled, and so were Tottenham's supporters. The first half ended with everyone still wondering what their team was trying to do.

"Scholes, why do you think Tottenham are afraid to play short passes?"

Gullit turned to his fellow commentator for an answer. Scholes said nothing at first. Instead, he brought up some statistics on the big screen: Liverpool's short-passing accuracy over recent seasons and the number of goals they'd scored after launching counterattacks through short passes.

"For the past six seasons, Liverpool have had the highest short-pass completion rate in the Premier League. Ninety-two percent! That's the average across every player in the squad, which makes it an extraordinary figure."

"And their success rate at scoring from counterattacks built through short passes is sixty-two percent. In other words, if Liverpool intercept your short-passing move and then launch one of their own quick passing counters, they have a better than fifty percent chance of scoring from it."

"Just look at how good their entire squad is at short passing. Klopp has been training them to do this for years. No wonder you wouldn't dare get into a short-passing contest with them!"

Gullit laughed. Tottenham didn't dare trade short passes with Liverpool, and they couldn't beat them with long passes either.

In that case, why bother playing Liverpool at all? They might as well concede before kickoff.

"All right then, Scholes. If that's how you see it, what should Tottenham do against Liverpool in the second half?"

"How are they supposed to win?"

Scholes adopted the air of a wise old master.

"Luck."

Gullit wondered if he'd heard correctly. Scholes was a professional commentator, a football legend, a legendary midfield maestro. And his advice was to win through luck?

"Yes. They can only rely on luck. How else are they going to beat Liverpool?"

"Do you think just anyone can beat them?"

"Unless Klopp takes Lin off at halftime and refuses to let him play the rest of the match!"

Gullit glanced at the other big match taking place that day. Manchester City were facing Manchester United. Despite the significance of the derby, City already led by two goals and looked overwhelmingly likely to win.

"The way things are going, both Manchester City and Liverpool could keep winning right through to Matchday 38. Excellent. That's exactly the kind of title race I want to see."

"Let's leave the deciding battle until the very end. Let's see which team can lift the trophy by beating its title rival directly!"

"It'll be as if every bit of effort both sides have put into all thirty-eight league matches is concentrated into that one final game!"

Scholes liked the idea too.

"You have to admit, though, that even if all thirty-eight rounds seem to come down to the last match, a title won that way would mean more to the fans and earn the respect of the opposition."

"And when the players think back on everything they've put into the previous thirty-seven games, they'll give absolutely everything in the thirty-eighth."

"They'll truly go all out. Some of them might even risk everything for that title!"