The Community Shield commentators were hollering wildly.
"GOAL! Julien! It's Julien! What individual ability! What a world-class display!
That goal was entirely his own doing. He tore through Chelsea's whole right flank all by himself. Astonishing!
Let's look at that goal again. From start to finish, every phase of it shows Julien's elite level!
His feet move at a frightening frequency. One simple, razor-sharp feint, and Ivanović is thrown off balance and falls flat on the turf. That is speed and technique in perfect union. Ivanović is Chelsea's first-choice right-back, and in front of Julien he was utterly helpless!
And that final shot shows Julien's finishing ability even more clearly.
When it matters, he always steps up and breaks the deadlock for his team single-handedly!
This is Julien. This is the absolute core of Liverpool!
A player like this is simply every defender's nightmare!
Now look at this Liverpool side. They spent big in the summer window, and the squad is already the best in Europe. Pogba, Kroos, Hummels, and other top-class new signings have joined, and Julien is the soul of this team, the engine of this team!
With him, Liverpool's attack has limitless possibilities.
A Liverpool like this, led by Julien, is terrifying!
Think about it. They have the core of last season's Premier League champions, the blockbuster reinforcements of the summer window, and a core player like Julien who can change the course of a match on his own.
A team like this will be every opponent's nightmare, in the Premier League and in the Champions League alike!"
At this moment, the Liverpool fans at Wembley had gone wild. They were cheering for Julien, cheering for this formidable Red army!
"With Julien here, this Liverpool side is truly something to look forward to!
We have every reason to believe that the new-season Liverpool, led by Julien, will challenge for every trophy. A Red side like this, who can stop them?!"
The commentator had also voiced what many fans were feeling inside.
A Liverpool like this: who can stop them?
Nobody can!
At this moment, Julien's goal had set the red tide at Wembley completely ablaze, and dealt Chelsea a heavy blow as well.
On the touchline, Mourinho's face was ashen. He immediately shouted at his players on the pitch, signalling the team to hit back with everything they had and pull one back as soon as possible.
Then, Chelsea did launch a fierce assault.
Diego Costa and Hazard took turns causing trouble up front, trying to tear open Liverpool's defence.
But they soon discovered that Liverpool's back line was no longer the one that could be broken so easily. That rock-solid defending made every Chelsea attack come to nothing.
The partnership of Hummels and Van Dijk was too steady.
Whether contesting high balls or intercepting on the ground, they let nothing through.
Diego Costa's physical challenges had no advantage against Hummels, and Hazard's sharp dribbles were repeatedly neutralised by Liverpool's defence working together.
Add Čech guarding the goal, and the legendary keeper was still in top form.
Every dangerous Chelsea shot was calmly dealt with by him.
Liverpool's back line was like an impassable barrier, shutting Chelsea's attack out entirely!
What was more frightening was that Liverpool were not only solid in defence; their superiority in midfield was on full display too!
The Kroos and Pogba double pivot controlled the tempo of the whole match, with precise passing and decisive tackling. Chelsea's midfielders simply couldn't organise their attack effectively.
Fàbregas and Matić were completely suppressed and could only scramble in defence.
With that absolute midfield dominance, Liverpool gradually took control of the match.
They kept launching fierce attacks on Chelsea's back line. Chelsea, who had wanted to hit back, were instead pinned in their own half and couldn't set up any effective counter-attack. The match was completely one-sided!
The commentator's voice grew even more passionate: "Terrifying! Rock-solid in defence, unstoppable in attack. Chelsea are completely suppressed; they simply can't play against Liverpool! Every one of their attacks looks so feeble, and this is Chelsea we're talking about…"
On the pitch, the situation was completely one-sided.
It left the Chelsea fans watching with some anxiety.
They were still hoping.
Hoping their team could turn it around against Liverpool!
However, in the 28th minute, Julien took the ball at the top of the box. Facing two Chelsea defenders, he showed no panic at all, and spotted Suárez making a run into the area.
One through ball, and it sliced through Chelsea's entire back line.
Suárez darted in and flicked the ball with his heel, and it rolled unexpectedly from behind him toward the goal.
However quick Courtois's reactions, he couldn't respond at all.
It went in!
2-0!
Liverpool extended their lead!
"GOAL! Suárez! Assist by Julien De Rocca! My goodness, this is Liverpool's attacking efficiency! That finish from Suárez was so imaginative, a backheel flick, and that is this Uruguayan striker's all-round shooting skill: he'll find a way to put the ball in the net in any situation!!"
The commentator cried out again: "Two goals ahead, and Liverpool have complete control of the match. This Liverpool side can't be stopped! For Chelsea to pull the score back is already next to impossible!"
Two goals down, Mourinho was truly desperate.
He waved for the whole team to push up the pitch and go all in, staking everything on one last throw to claw the score back.
But pushing up so recklessly gave Liverpool the chance to counter, and Chelsea's back line grew hollow, the latent danger suddenly laid bare.
In the 35th minute, Chelsea made a mistake in a pass out of defence, and Liverpool seized the chance and launched a fast counter-attack.
The whole sequence was clean and decisive.
Just a single long pass completed the deadly transfer from back to front.
After a Liverpool defender cut out Chelsea's pass, he immediately gave the ball to Kroos in midfield. Kroos didn't hesitate for a moment; he hit a long ball straight to Suárez's feet up front.
Suárez received it, turned smoothly and hit a heavy, powerful shot. Courtois threw himself sideways and pushed the ball away, but he couldn't clear it completely.
Right then, Julien surged forward, arrived at the landing spot in time, and knocked in the rebound. The ball slid calmly into the empty net,
3-0!
A brace!
The match had been well and truly torn apart!
"Look at that counter-attack! Liverpool are so efficient! From back to front with just one pass, they've ripped Chelsea's defence open. Julien's forward run was so fast, and his instinct for the rebound is top-class! Two goals and an assist. Julien has single-handedly dominated this match!"
At this moment, the cheers of the Liverpool fans at Wembley had reached their peak.
The Chelsea fans, meanwhile, wore dejected faces.
A few fans, unable to bear the sight, had even started leaving early.
The Chelsea players on the pitch also looked low in morale, running themselves ragged. They gave everything to save the situation, but they simply couldn't halt Liverpool's onslaught.
Mourinho stood on the touchline with resignation. He knew that this match had completely lost its suspense.
On the other side, Klopp stood with a confident smile on his face.
Watching his players on the pitch, his eyes were full of expectation. A Liverpool like this was advancing steadily toward the first trophy of the new season.
Soon
Peeep!
When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, it was 3-0. In just one half, Liverpool had beaten last season's Premier League runners-up Chelsea into helplessness with crushing dominance.
A scoreline like that not only stunned the fans at the stadium, it caused an uproar across the whole internet.
During the half-time break, social media had already exploded.
"My god, Liverpool are unreal! 3-0 up at half-time against Chelsea. Who can stop this attacking firepower?"
"Julien is playing like a god, and with Kroos and Hummels behind him, this squad really is invincible!"
"Not a penny of the summer spending was wasted. Liverpool's squad is now top-class at both ends of the pitch. Are the Premier League and the Champions League in the bag this season?"
"Chelsea have been beaten trembling. Mourinho must be going out of his mind. A Liverpool like this is truly terrifying!"
Nobody had expected that Liverpool, reinforced over the summer, would show such terrifying dominance.
Mainly it was because Chelsea had collapsed so fast.
Time passed quickly.
The brief half-time break was soon over, and both teams of players stepped back onto the pitch.
Everyone noticed that Liverpool had made rotation changes.
Julien and Suárez, the two core players who had driven the first half, had been substituted off, with Coutinho and Sturridge coming on.
"Julien and Suárez have been taken off?!" the commentator cried out in disbelief. "Remember, Julien had two goals and an assist in the first half, in blazing form, and Suárez scored too. An attacking pair like that, rotated out with the team 3-0 up. It's just incredible! Is Klopp going to try a new attacking combination?
After all, this season Liverpool are fighting on multiple fronts and need greater depth in the squad.
But this is some depth!
What class of player is Sturridge?
He's a top striker who can score 10+ goals in a single Premier League season, and he'd be enough to start for any big club.
Yet now, he can only be a substitute at Liverpool!
This is Liverpool's squad depth. It's terrifying!"
The fans in the stadium immediately erupted as well, the Liverpool supporters singing their club anthem and roaring on the substitutes.
The fans, it could be said, had come to feel the benefits of money-driven football.
Even the bench was full of stars. Starter or substitute, every one was of world-class standard, and a squad this deep is rare in the whole of football.
Coutinho and Sturridge, coming on, quickly found their rhythm.
The two ran actively and linked up with easy understanding, showing no rustiness at all for having come on as substitutes.
The commentator said with feeling: "It's hard to imagine a team having this kind of depth. Elite core players like Julien and Suárez can be rotated with ease, while a star like Sturridge can only wait on the bench. That's Liverpool's confidence, that's their capital for a challenge on every trophy this season…"
And so it proved.
Chelsea had thought a chance to hit back was coming, and Mourinho kept waving instructions from the touchline, signalling his players to push up and exploit the window opened by Liverpool's rotation to create chances.
But reality was as cruel as ever, and Liverpool's midfield screen was as solid as before.
Chelsea's midfield simply couldn't link up effectively.
Hazard and Diego Costa were isolated up front, and every time they took the ball, they faced a crowd of Liverpool players, never able to build anything threatening.
Even without Julien and Suárez, Liverpool were still highly dangerous going forward.
Coutinho and De Bruyne became the core of the attack, taking the ball up front to build play again and again and launching several threatening moves.
In the 52nd minute, Coutinho took the ball at the top of the box, shook off two Chelsea midfielders, and hit a long-range shot that curled toward the top-left corner.
Courtois leapt with all his strength, and his fingertips barely touched the ball, which grazed the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.
So close to a goal.
Ooh!
The Liverpool fans in the stands let out waves of regretful groans and cheers.
Only minutes later, Liverpool created danger again. De Bruyne took a pass from Pogba, cut inside on the right, and also chose to shoot from distance. The ball came in with extreme force, heading straight for goal, and Courtois again showed the strength of a top keeper.
He turned quickly, dived sideways, and pushed the ball out of the box!
A Chelsea defender hurriedly cleared it, and only then was the danger over.
De Bruyne, seeing Courtois save his shot, was slightly annoyed.
But he quickly let it go.
The match went on like this, moving slowly forward under Liverpool's pressure. The tempo of attack and defence eased, but Liverpool's control did not slacken at all.
The minutes ticked by, and soon it was the 70th minute, the score still 3-0.
Klopp made his second substitution of the match, bringing on Kanté for Kroos. It looked like a defensive reinforcement.
In fact, there was another intention behind it.
With Kanté anchoring midfield as a dedicated defensive screen, breaking the ball up, Pogba's position was freed up. The new signing could join the attack more, further enriching the team's attacking tactics.
After coming on, Kanté fitted into the team quickly.
His tackling in midfield was superb and he covered a huge area, making it very uncomfortable for Chelsea's attacks through the middle.
Pogba, meanwhile, shook off the shackles of defending altogether and became livelier. He roamed freely through midfield, able both to organise the attack and to push forward and shoot, and he played more and more comfortably.
The commentator immediately interpreted it: "That is a very fine adjustment from Klopp! Kanté strengthens the defence and frees up Pogba to throw himself fully into attack. With this tactical change, Liverpool's attack has been upgraded again!"
The effect of the tactical change soon showed.
In the 81st minute, Pogba took the ball and, after a sudden burst away from his marker in the centre, played a through ball that sliced through Chelsea's back line.
Substitute Sturridge darted in.
Receiving the ball and facing Courtois, he calmly slotted it home. It went into the net, 4-0!
Liverpool extended their lead again!
Pogba ran over to Sturridge, and the two exchanged a high five and a hug in celebration of this game-clinching goal. Their teammates hurried over to join the celebration.
Even the players on the bench were overjoyed.
This goal could basically announce the arrival of Liverpool's first trophy of the new season!!
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