In the face of the menacing Tottenham Hotspur team, Ranieri was also a little nervous.
This was the first time Leicester City had faced the top seven teams in the Premier League.
In the English Premier League, the teams that can rank in the top seven are basically at the level of competing for the top four in the other four major leagues.
And Leicester City was just a relegation team last season.
Although the team had won two games and two games this season and scored six goal difference, it was now at the top of the Premier League table.
Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and other teams are all under the pressure of Leicester City.
But, as everyone knows, it's all thanks to Rocky.
Now the whole Premier League knows that the core of Leicester City's attack was Rocky.
As long as he is restrained, Leicester City's attack will be greatly reduced.
But how to limit Rocky?
No one has yet given the correct answer.
Bilić tried, but he failed, or rather, his tactic only succeeded for twenty minutes before being defused by Rocky.
Now, it's Pochettino's turn.
...
The referee for the game was Atkinson.
Although Atkinson now had the nickname of "Fantastic Four Blinds".
But he was without a doubt one of the most important referees in the Premier League.
With Atkinson blowing his whistle, the game officially began.
Due to the winning streak in the first two games, Ranieri did not make any personnel adjustments.
Still use the previous lineup to send the starters.
After all, the new season had just started, and Leicester City had not yet suffered from the pressure and fatigue of successive battles.
All the players on the field were very physically fit.
Tottenham's side was to let Alli, who had been starting before, sit on the bench and replace Argentine Lamela.
Pochettino deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation, with double midfielders responsible for protecting the back of the three midfielders, who only needed to create opportunities for Kane, who was standing at the front, to pass the ball.
As soon as the game started, Rocky found out that Tottenham did not focus on him as much as West Ham United did.
Unlike West Ham United, Tottenham prefers to control the ball at their feet and then attack calmly.
As a young coach, Pochettino advocates attacking football the most.
In his tactics, every player was important, and it was impossible for him to dedicate two players to mark Rocky like Bilić.
However, tactically, Pochettino more or less took care of Rocky.
On the field.
The young England international Dier had his hands on his back and stared at Rocky who was dribbling the ball in front of him.
"From the previous games, Rocky didn't have the ability to break through with the ball."
"His speed is also relatively slow, so Dier your task today is to oppress Rocky."
"Don't let him dribble the ball calmly, grab his ball when you can."
"Or let him be forced to pass the ball back or give it to his teammates."
Dier recalled in his mind Pochettino's advice to himself before the start of the game.
He also did what Pochettino told him to do.
As Pochettino said, as long as Dier steps up to press Rocky, Rocky will choose to give the ball to Drinkwater next to him, or back to Huth at the centre-back.
After so many times, Dier's heart was settled, and his mind was also active.
When Rocky got the ball from midfield again, Dier gave up his defensive position and went forward to press.
This time, Dier didn't just use his eyes to force a pass from Rocky.
Dier wants to steal the ball directly from Rocky's feet and play a quick counterattack.
When Dier looked at Rocky and seemed to be unaware of the danger and walked towards him with the ball, Dier was overjoyed.
Got the ball!
But!
Next, what happened suddenly made Dier unacceptable.
Just the moment Dier just stepped out.
Rocky kicked the ball with his left and right feet, and quickly crossed him with a La Croqueta.
Immediately, Dier was left behind by Rocky.
Rocky, who passed Dier, faced a large open field in front of him and took the ball straight to the goal.
"Rock! Give me the ball!"
In the front, Shinji Okazaki waved his arm and called to Rocky.
Rocky looked up and found that Shinji Okazaki was in a good position. As long as he passed the ball himself, he could easily kick and shoot.
So, Rocky slowed down, and the outer instep of his right foot drew a wonderful arc.
Then, the ball landed in front of Okazaki Shinji impartially.
Okazaki Shinji, who received the ball, used all his strength to shake off Alderweireld, who was in charge of defending himself.
But this made it impossible for Okazaki Shinji to make follow-up shots.
Vertonghen, who came from the defense, made a quick and accurate sliding tackle and kicked the ball out of the boundary.
A frightened Alderweireld celebrated the defense with a high-five from his old buddy.
"Dier! What are you doing?"
"Why let Rocky pass you so easily and pass the ball?!"
Vertonghen turned his head and looked at Dier and asked.