Chapter 165 The opening determines the outcome! We at Manchester United will not raise the price to poach Barcelona! 【Please subscribe】
On the afternoon of March 21, Wembley Stadium, London.
In the 30th round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Manchester United at home.
When the game reached the 28th minute, the score was still 0-0.
The Bayswater Chinese attack on the left created a corner kick opportunity.
Rakitic stood in the corner kick area, raised his right hand high, and after sending a signal to his teammates in the penalty area, he quickly took a fast and flat corner kick.
In the penalty area, Pepe bypassed the defender, jumped high, headed the ball directly to the right side of Manchester United's goal, leaving Van der Sar unable to save.
At this moment, no one can stop this goal.
Scholes, standing in front of the penalty area line, had no choice.
So, he made an exaggerated defensive action like he was startled and raised his arms.
Pepe's header hit Scholes' right forearm and bounced out.
At first glance, it would be easy to mistake it for a header.
But referee Phil Dodd didn't hesitate to blow his whistle.
Players from Bayswater Chinese and Manchester United gathered around.
The home team players were shouting that it was a handball, and Maicon and others who were close at hand kept patting their right forearms.
The Manchester United players argued that it was not an intentional handball, but that the ball hit Scholes' forearm.
So why are the forearms raised?
This is purely a subconscious action when defending!
Referee Phil Dodd did not accept this explanation, called Scholes over and showed him a red card.
This means that he believes that Scholes handballed the ball on purpose!
The moment the red card was taken out, the entire Wembley Stadium of 90,000 fans cheered wildly.
Scholes didn't make much excuse, scratched his head and walked out of the stadium.
Bayswater Chinese got a penalty kick opportunity.
Yang Cheng turned his head and glanced at the visiting team's coaching bench, and found that Ferguson was still sitting in the coaching bench, making it difficult to see his expression at this moment.
But I guess there shouldn't be any big reaction.
"He lost to Liverpool 1-4 in the last round. He may have given up on the league." Brian Kidd guessed.
Yang Cheng nodded slightly.
The score was 12 points behind. It must be clear to an experienced person like Ferguson that a comeback was unlikely.
Yang Cheng can even say without politeness: There is no suspense about the Premier League championship this season!
Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Manchester United once again performed poorly in the league and even lacked fighting spirit.
Dzeko, as the team's leading scorer, is responsible for taking this penalty kick.
I saw the Bosnia and Herzegovina center step forward quickly and calmly send the penalty kick into the Manchester United goal in one fell swoop.
1 to 0!
Wembley Stadium instantly turned into a sea of celebration.
With one goal ahead and one more player, there is basically no suspense in this game.
Since Scholes was the midfielder, Ferguson did not make a substitution, but brought Rooney back.
The game continues.
It's just that Manchester United played more conservatively, and the Bayswater Chinese's scene advantage was more obvious.
After constantly creating opportunities, the Bayswater Chinese in the 77th minute of the second half, Dzeko pulled to the right, received Maicon's pass, and passed the ball to the goal. Walcott quickly moved forward and grabbed the ball. Before Vidic, after stopping the ball with his chest, he scored with a volley hook, expanding the score again.
2 to 0!
This is also the final result of this game.
Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United 2-0 with goals from Dzeko and Theo Walcott!
……
"This season is like a replica of last season!"
After the game, Yang Cheng entertained Ferguson in a room at Wembley Stadium with good wine and food.
This wine was brought back from France by Towinger. It is not very famous, but it is very good.
In addition to staying to entertain the guests, he also specially gave some to his cheap dad, future father-in-law, and future uncle who were far away in China.
"Both of our teams are chasing the Triple Crown, but now..."
When Yang Cheng heard this, he immediately took action and interrupted Ferguson's words.
"Jazz, let me correct you. We are trying to win the Triple Crown. Are you still trying?"
After Yang Cheng finished speaking, he couldn't help laughing.
Ferguson's expression changed and he nodded unhurriedly: "Yes, just ask, do we still have a chance?"
"Yes, there is, but..."
"That's enough!" Ferguson didn't let Yang Cheng continue.
"Even if there is only a 1% possibility left, it is still a possibility. What's more, we are just a little behind now."
"Besides, when I mentioned the Triple Crown, I didn't include the league."
Yang Cheng was really a little speechless.
Sir, let’s not become more shameless as we get older, okay?
You just said that this season is a replica of last season, and we are all aiming for the Triple Crown...
Oh, I beg you, Manchester United’s Triple Crown is the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League.
Yes, this is indeed the Triple Crown!
But that's not what you said when you were working for Liverpool.
What a double standard!
Anyway, Triple Crown is whatever you define it to be!
Even though Ferguson was thick-skinned, he felt a little embarrassed when Yang Cheng looked at him like this.
Just on March 1, Manchester United defeated Tottenham in the League Cup final and won the League Cup.
"The situation this season is completely different from last season. Last season you had no lead in the league and the points were very tight. But this season we are already 15 points ahead."
Yang Cheng grinned and laughed.
Ferguson was even more depressed.
Why?
Because among these 15 points, at least 9 points were lost by Manchester United in the recent period.
Including the third round of make-up games, as well as the last round's home loss to Liverpool, and today's away loss to the Bayswater Chinese.
The difference between winning and losing is really too big.
"To be honest, Jazz, if you don't strengthen the team lineup, especially the midfield, there will still be no chance next season!"
Yang Cheng is now pointing out Ferguson's problems without politeness.
He believed that Ferguson himself knew what was going on.
Being beaten by Liverpool in the last round seemed to be Vidic's problem, but in fact?
It's still a midfield issue.
As Yang Cheng said when Manchester United signed Vidic.
In the combination of Vidic and Ferdinand, Vidic is responsible for attacking and Ferdinand is the one who holds back.
The purpose of the Serbian central defender's attack is to support the midfielder.
Why support the midfield?
Because the midfield is weak!
Especially after Hargreaves was scrapped this season, Fletcher has not been very stable, resulting in Manchester United often having to use random combinations of Carrick, Anderson, and Scholes.
That is to say, with the help of Manchester United's off-the-ball running system and their defensive method of destroying the ball, otherwise, Manchester United would have been finished long ago.
But this season is a turning point.
To put it simply, both the 27-year-old Vidic and the 30-year-old Ferdinand were unable to control themselves.
The defense in the midfield and frontcourt is too weak!
Playing against Liverpool, Vidic was called a dog!
In Yang Cheng's previous life, Vidic also fell into the trap starting from next season.
That is to say, he no longer attacks, but chooses to delay.
If you don't rush, the chance of making a mistake is less.
In front of fans and the media, a central defender who makes fewer mistakes is a good central defender.
But as a result, Manchester United's defense also collapsed.
The 2009/10 season was pretty good, but in the 10/11 season, Manchester United conceded a total of 37 goals.
In the season when Ferguson retired, Manchester United won the championship, but the defense conceded 43 goals.
In the Premier League, if you want to win the championship, conceding more than 35 goals defensively is considered a lot.
So why did Manchester United collapse after Ferguson retired?
Actually it's not.
Manchester United collapsed long ago.
It's just that Ferguson, with his powerful personal ability and lofty personal prestige, held Manchester United tightly and slowed down the collapse of Manchester United.
At that time, the competition in the Premier League was not as fierce as it is now.
The emergence of the Chinese in Bayswater has further exacerbated the degree of involution in the Premier League.
It's as if this season, everyone is obsessed with the top four in the Premier League.
Based on Yang Cheng's current observations, Manchester City will definitely increase their recruitment this summer, and Chelsea must also increase investment if they want to regroup.
There is also Arsenal, the Gunners will definitely want to recruit.
In this case, does Manchester United still have hope?
"If you are willing to sell Modric to us, I will show my face and get back the transfer fee from the Americans!" Ferguson looked at Yang Cheng with longing.
Yang Cheng snorted and pointed to the appetizers on the table, "These are only three dishes, look how drunk you are!"
"What do you mean?"
"Dream!" Yang Cheng refused unceremoniously.
After a pause, Yang Cheng added, "How about I sell Yaya Toure to you?"
Ferguson immediately became furious, "Do you think I'm stupid? Manchester City and Real Madrid are watching, and I heard that Barcelona and Arsenal are also paying attention. Do you think I can beat them?"
"Hey, why don't you help raise the price? You should be very good at this, right?"
Ferguson was puzzled.
When was I good at raising prices?
Who are you slandering?
Can we, Manchester United, be that kind of inferior?
But Ferguson finally heard it.
Yaya Toure can be sold, but Modric will kill him!
I have to say that Yang Cheng is really shrewd.
When he mentioned shrewdness, Ferguson immediately thought of Yang Cheng's way of looking at people.
He immediately lowered his stance and said softly: "How about you help me with my advice?"
"My staff?"
"Yes." Ferguson nodded, "I won't let you suffer. I will give you two boxes of good wine that I have collected for many years."
Yang Cheng pondered for a moment and pointed out five fingers with his right hand: "Five boxes."
My cheap daddy and my future father-in-law are both giving it away, so we have to keep some for ourselves, right?
"Also, I want the wine you invited Wenger to drink last time."
Ferguson suddenly felt a pain in his body.
The wine was quite expensive, and he didn't have much in his cellar.
But when he thought about Yang Cheng's vision, he gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and agreed.
"Just 5 boxes, I'll have them delivered tomorrow."
After saying that, Ferguson really sat there and looked at Yang Cheng seriously, waiting for him to speak.
"You know, you Manchester United are different from us Chinese people in Bayswater. You have deep pockets and we are a small business. Therefore, when you recruit, you must have immediate combat capabilities, right?"
This flattery made Ferguson quite happy and he couldn't help but nod his head.
"If I were the Manchester United manager..."
"Wait, you are the head coach of Manchester United, what have I become?" Ferguson was a little anxious.
"If, if..."
"Oh, okay, you continue."
You old man is about to retire, why are you so anxious?
No wonder Queiroz didn't listen to you and ran away.
God knows how long and how long you plan to hang out?
"Barcelona's No. 4 Busquets has been questioned a lot, and his position is not very solid yet."
Without Yaya Toure, Busquets gets into position faster.
But it has also been more controversial.
However, Guardiola supports it and Busquets' position is very secure.
Yang Cheng only made suggestions. Whether Ferguson could buy him or not was beyond Yang Cheng's ability.
These days, even matchmakers are not allowed to give birth to children!
"Second, Bayern's Schweinsteiger. It's a pity that this kid plays on the wing. I think he can be transformed into a deep-lying midfielder, and the effect will be very good."
"The third one is De Rossi from Roma. This kid is definitely a world-class midfielder. Needless to say, I am very optimistic about him."
Ferguson almost couldn't hold back and cursed.
I really like him too!
Among these three people, De Rossi is the most favored.
The question is, can I buy it?
These three players are obviously unrealistic.
Even if I buy it, how much will it cost?
"Is there anything cheaper and easier to dig out?" Ferguson asked patiently.
Yang Cheng suddenly clicked his tongue, with disgust, "You want good players, don't you want to spend more money?"
Ferguson nodded awkwardly.
"Okay, Tularan of Lyon, you can think about it."
"There are also players who are easy to buy. Our Bayswater Chinese player Yaya Toure, as long as you give enough money, you can take him away at any time."
Ferguson is now very sure that the Bayswater Chinese have not reached agreement on a contract extension with Yaya Toure.
At the same time, he is also very sure that Yang Cheng must have already scouted for midfield signings.
Take a look at the ones he recommended. Their abilities are indeed good, but their worth is indeed expensive.
The cheapest Tulalan went to deal with the vampire in Lyon. Ferguson estimated that without 20 million euros, it would be difficult to convince Aulas.
"Don't look at me like that, I swear, Tulalang is indeed on my list of midfield signings." Yang Cheng said very firmly.
There is a way that I really have poured out my heart and soul for you.
Yes, he is indeed on the list.
It's just...my list is a little bit long, and his ranking is a bit...lower.
But everything I, Yang Cheng, said is true!
"If I were you, I would fight against Busquets with Barcelona. Anyway, it's not like I haven't dug him before, so I'm afraid of him!" Yang Cheng encouraged.
Ferguson was completely speechless towards Yang Cheng.
Busquets, Schweinsteiger and De Rossi are all somewhat famous, but none of them are particularly good defensive midfielders at this stage.
Yang Cheng's words made Ferguson further certain about the future of these three players.
But if you go and buy it, Manchester United is really powerless.
"Hey, I gave you all my money. Remember to send me 5 boxes of wine." Yang Cheng reminded.
I also plan to send it to please my future father-in-law.
When it comes to signings, Ferguson is particularly tolerant and lenient towards local players, but tends to be conservative when it comes to foreign players.
Especially in recent years, Manchester United has been heavily in debt and does not have a generous transfer budget, causing Ferguson to become more cautious.
He has even repeatedly refused to take action in the transfer market because of inflated player transfer fees.
Ultimately, it's all Glazer's fault!
……
Ferguson was sent away, ending the 30th round of the Premier League, and the Premier League was temporarily suspended.
March 28 is the national team match day.
The international players all went to report for the national team.
The next round of the Premier League is on April 4, followed by the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Chelsea at home.
Therefore, during the national team training, Yang Chengzhen did nothing but immersed himself in studying Chelsea.
He watched the tapes of every Chelsea game since Hiddink took over.
Speaking of Hiddink, he is really amazing.
As a famous coach who coached Real Madrid, Hiddink's coaching ability has been verified whether it was in Eindhoven or later in national teams such as South Korea and Australia.
Now, coaching Russia has shined in the 2008 European Cup.
Because of this, after Chelsea decided to fire Scolari, Hiddink, who had a very good relationship with Abramovich, came to Stamford Bridge and became Chelsea's firefighting coach.
After taking office, Hiddink's coaching was also very successful.
So far, they have an unbeaten record of 7 wins and 1 draw in 8 games.
Except for the 2-2 away draw with Juventus, Chelsea only conceded 1 goal in the remaining 7 games.
This is Hiddink's coaching characteristics.
Running without hesitation, a very rigorous defensive system, and sharp counterattacks make Hiddink's coaching resume very impressive.
Of course, he has also been criticized.
For example, when coaching Real Madrid, he was fired due to poor performance midway.
Later, he coached Real Betis and his results were even worse.
The reason, many people believe, is because Hiddink's tactics are incompatible with La Liga.
What he is best at is defensive counterattack. In La Liga in the late 1990s, this style of play was not popular.
Yang Cheng believes that the best example of Hiddink's coaching philosophy is the match between Australia and Italy in the top 16 knockout round of the 2006 World Cup.
At that time, Italy's central defender Materazzi was sent off with a red card in the 50th minute of the second half.
The result?
Hiddink didn't even dare to step up the attack, and still defended tightly, just to force Italy into overtime and to die on the court.
Unexpectedly, in the stoppage time before the end of the game, the great Italian left back created a penalty kick, and Totti made the final decision!
In Yang Cheng's previous life, Hiddink really made Chelsea fans forget about Mourinho after he coached Chelsea.
But facing Guardiola's dream third team, Chelsea still defended tightly.
Many people only paid attention to the misjudgment at Stamford Bridge in the second round, but failed to notice that Chelsea also took advantage of the referee's penalty in the first round at Camp Nou.
If you really want to dig deeper, there is nothing going on in the second round.
Barcelona ended the battle in the first leg!
But no matter what, Hiddink's Chelsea are very successful.
It even almost killed Guardiola's dream third team.
What they rely on is their iron-clad defense.
Therefore, Yang Cheng must study carefully how to deal with Hiddink's defense.
Not only did he watch Chelsea game videos himself, he also gave the task to the coaching staff, especially Gianni Vio's data analysis team, and asked them all to study Hiddink's Chelsea.
The overall strategy is very clear.
The first round is at Wembley Stadium, so the Bayswater Chinese will try their best to score first!
To score first is to take the initiative!
While the national team is training, the Bayswater Chinese coaching staff and employees are still like a smoothly running machine, each performing their duties and doing things step by step.
On the evening of March 28, Yang Cheng received a message.
Bosingwa was injured during Portugal's World Cup qualifying match against Sweden in Porto, Portugal.
……
"Based on the information we have received, we are certain that it will take 3 weeks at the earliest."
Scouting director Gary Worthington reports on the news from scouts.
After Brian Kidd heard this, he immediately walked to the big blackboard in the conference room and put a big question mark on a line connecting Bosingwa to Drogba.
After the Portuguese defender joined Chelsea, he crossed to Drogba from the right, which was a very important route for Chelsea's offense. If Bosingwa was injured, either Ferreira or Ivanovic would do the same. Less than that.
There is a gap between the passing ball and Bosingwa.
"Ivanovic should play." Yang Cheng said with certainty.
If he were Hiddink, he would also play Ivanovic. First ensure the stability of defense.
Ferreira did not do a very good defensive job during several strong dialogues.
After Brian Kidd heard this, he immediately erased Bosingwa from the right back of Chelsea's starting lineup on the big blackboard and replaced it with Ivanovic.
As a result, Chelsea's defense is Ashley Cole, Alex, Terry and Ivanovic.
The problem now is the midfield.
The midfielder is also involved in the frontcourt.
In the past few games, Hiddink has used two sets of tactics, 433 and 4231.
Lampard is the unshakable main force, and Essien, Mikel and Ballack are often rotated.
But Yang Cheng also mentioned another possibility, which is to let Essien play as a right winger to pinch the opponent's left back.
When did Hiddink use this style of play?
This work is compiled and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~
In Yang Cheng's previous life, he was a guest at Camp Nou in the first leg of the semi-finals.
Hiddink used the 4231 formation in that game.
He used Lampard to play the No. 10 position to pinch Barcelona's Yaya Toure in the fourth position. Mikel and Ballack formed a double midfielder to intercept Iniesta and Xavi.
At the same time, he used Bosingwa with his right foot to play on the left and cooperated with the defense to lock Messi.
Hiddink's targeted defense was very successful.
Although there were some favorable penalties from the referee, it worked on a tactical level.
Barcelona really has nothing to do about this.
Yang Cheng himself also deduced this problem.
Bayswater Chinese are different from Barcelona.
Whether it was Yang Cheng's previous life or now, Barcelona lacks a center.
Neither Eto'o nor Henry can connect the front three, so Guardiola wants Messi to appear in the center and let Eto'o go to the side.
But the Bayswater Chinese have a powerful high center forward like Dzeko, and the two wings are also very sharp.
The passing and controlling of the ball in the midfield is not as good as that of Barcelona, but the passing and cutting coordination and the creation of opportunities have not fallen behind.
Therefore, Yang Cheng couldn't guess what kind of targeted play Hiddink would adopt.
But it’s normal to not be able to guess your opponent.
The key is, how are the Bayswater Chinese going to fight?
"Our data analysis team has been conducting repeated deductions and simulations at the technical and tactical levels for more than a week in the past week."
Gianni Vio presented the phased results of their data analysis team.
"We have studied all Chelsea's defensive data and performance this season, especially since Hiddink took over, and we insist that if we want to break through Chelsea's defense from a frontal position, we still need to open up the width."
"So, we can only fight on two wings!"
"We need to pass the two wings to open up the opponent's defensive width as much as possible, and then try to pass the ball back to the center, taking advantage of the high center, the two wingers, and the midfielders to form an offensive hierarchy. .”
Gianni Vio also mentioned, “So, the advice we give is to pile up people!”
Yang Cheng immediately understood what the Italian meant, "Let the full-backs press up!"
"Yes, the full-backs are responsible for opening up the width, forcing Chelsea to open up the defense, and the center is filled with Dzeko, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott or Di Maria, etc., running back and forth."
"Gareth Bale and Dzeko both have certain ability to get the ball in the frontcourt."
"In addition, our midfielder includes Rakitic, Modric and Yaya Toure, which can completely form the second echelon of offense and actively penetrate from behind."
"So, our data analysis team has designed more than 50 sets of opening offensive combinations based on Chelsea players and defensive layout in the past week."
"So many?" Yang Cheng was a little surprised.
"This is only preliminary, very rough, and there has not been any targeted drills. After screening, it is estimated that there will be only a dozen or so sets that will come in handy for different scenarios, allowing the players to adapt accordingly."
< br>
"Tell me and listen."
With that said, Gianni Vio and the data analysis team took out their offensive coordination routines one by one.
Each coordination routine has a very detailed introduction, including which player's shortcomings are targeted, a certain possibility on the court, and which characteristics of one's own players can be brought out by this style of play, etc.
Yang Cheng, Brian Kidd and others all listened very attentively.
Their familiarity and understanding of their own players is much higher than that of Gianni Vio and others.
There is also a deeper understanding of Chelsea players.
Therefore, they can see many tactics at once, but they are not very feasible.
But the feasibility of many tactics is very high.
For example, we also look for Dzeko for long passes and let the Bosnian center compete for the top.
The data team will give the success probability of Dzeko facing Terry and Alex.
If you win the fight, what should you do next and how should you cooperate?
If you lose the battle, where will the ball fall, and how to control the second landing point to form a second-tier offense.
The football field is changing rapidly and there are too many uncertainties. Sometimes, it is simply impossible to simulate and deduce.
The only thing Yang Cheng and the coaching staff can do now is to prepare as much as possible and help the team score the opponent's goal on the court.
Finally, after careful selection, 23 sets of offensive coordination routines were obtained.
And it was all carefully polished and perfected by the coaching staff for two full days.
There are also set-piece offenses and corner kick offenses that Gianni Vio is best at.
All of these are sufficient preparations.
After the players return from the national team game, they will take a short rest and immediately begin targeted training.
In the 31st round of the Premier League, before playing Chelsea in the first round, Yang Cheng's team will face Benitez's Liverpool at home.
Yang Cheng waved his hand and gave Liverpool a try!
This is also very necessary.
After all, many times, training cannot replace actual combat.
But Yang Cheng will not send all the main players to fight against Liverpool.
On the contrary, Yang Cheng wanted to save his energy to play in the Champions League, so he only arranged for Di Maria, Dzeko and Modric to start.
And it was agreed that substitutions would be made around 60 minutes into the second half.
……
On the evening of April 4th, Wembley Stadium, London.
In the 31st round of the Premier League, Bayswater Chinese faced Liverpool at home.
Since he will face Chelsea in midweek, Yang Cheng has made a strong rotation in this game.
Everyone also understood this.
With such a big lead in the league, of course we should focus on playing well in the cup competition.
As soon as the game started, in the Bayswater Chinese's first attack, Di Maria took the ball from the left and dribbled past Arbeloa. He suddenly got rid of the Spanish right back and broke into the left side of the penalty area. Cross from kick.
Dzeko got into position and beat Carragher for a header.
Reina reacted quickly and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
The subsequent corner kick still resulted in a shot, but failed to create a threat.
The Bayswater Chinese's opening attack almost overwhelmed Liverpool.
The Red Army still uses the 4231 formation, and the iron triangle in the midfield is fully used. It is obvious that they attach great importance to this game.
Yang Cheng stood on the sidelines and watched the attacks on the court. His biggest feeling was: I miss Teacher Tony so much!
When the Bayswater Chinese face a tightly defensive opponent, they rely more on mid- and short-distance passes between the two wings to achieve lateral transfer and pull the opponent's defense.
After the opponent's defense line is stretched, flaws will inevitably appear when moving laterally.
This creates an opportunity for the offense!
Teacher Tony's long pass is equivalent to passing the ball directly with one kick, which can only be done by passing the ball with two or three kicks.
This is why, in Yang Cheng's previous life, when Tony played for Real Madrid, he always liked to stand on the left.
Because this can maximize the effect of his long passes.
But now, the Bayswater Chinese's lateral transfer ability is still weak.
On the contrary, it was a long vertical pass, which was indeed done well.
In the 10th minute, the Bayswater Chinese passed the ball back to Thiago Silva on the back line when midfield organization was blocked.
The Brazilian central defender directly passed a long pass to the frontcourt.
Dzeko retreated, with his back to the direction of the attack. After leaning on Carragher with his body, he stopped the ball with his chest and took a shot.
The ball stuck firmly to Dzeko's feet.
As soon as he stopped the ball, Dzeko suddenly kicked the ball behind him with his heel like a dragon wagging its tail.
At almost the same time, Di María passed in front of Arbeloa and quickly crossed behind Carragher. After catching up with Dzeko's heel pass, he quickly walked into the penalty area and formed a single shot.
Facing the attacking Reina, Di Maria calmly rubbed the ball with his left foot and sent the ball into Liverpool's goal.
1 to 0!
After Yang Cheng saw the goal, he clapped happily and applauded Di Maria.
"The Angels are in good form recently. Use him on the left and Gareth Bale on the right." Yang Cheng told Brian Kidd.
After the opening, Di Maria's offense did become more active.
Hazard's right wing seems a bit sluggish.
No wonder.
The Belgian defeated Liverpool in the FA Cup, and Benitez focused heavily on this game.
When playing Chelsea, the focus is on attacking tough situations.
Gareth Bale has physical and confrontation advantages and is easier to use than Walcott.
The little tiger and Hazard will become Yang Cheng's trump card, and they can be replaced when necessary.
……
For this game, Yang Cheng and the coaching staff were positioned to try out formations and practice tactics.
The most important thing is the two starts in the first and second half.
After taking the lead, the Bayswater Chinese slowed down their offensive appropriately and played back and forth with Liverpool.
The Red Army was still attacking when Torres hit the left post.
However, Rakitic's later pass also hit the crossbar.
When the game changed sides in the second half, the Bayswater Chinese launched another offensive.
This time Liverpool was well prepared and well targeted.
On the whole, Yang Cheng still believes that Hiddink will adopt a 4231 formation.
This is exactly the same as Liverpool's tactics.
Therefore, in Benitez's game, to a certain extent, Yang Cheng wished that the team would expose more problems.
In this way, Yang Cheng and the players will be more confident when they play Chelsea next Wednesday.
Starting from the 60th minute, Yang Cheng made substitutions and adjustments one after another.
Liverpool gradually increased their offensive intensity.
But Benitez still dare not be careless.
Substitutions are basically targeted adjustments, and they don't dare to invest more in the offensive end.
The exit from the FA Cup still left Benitez with lingering fears.
But in stoppage time, the substitute passed the ball to Gerrard.
In the melee, Gerrard sent a direct pass, trying to find Torres, but Kompany blocked it.
However, the Belgian's clearance was not sent out. After Gerrard counterattacked, he broke into the penalty area and hit the goal from the right side of the penalty spot, successfully equalizing the score.
At this time, the game was already in the 92nd minute.
In the end, Liverpool drew 1-1 away with the Bayswater Chinese thanks to Gerrard's last-minute goal in stoppage time.
In the same round of the league, Arsenal defeated Manchester City 2-0 at home.
Chelsea defeated Newcastle 2-0 away from home.
Manchester United relied on Ronaldo's brace and Macheda's 93rd-minute winner to defeat Aston Villa 3-2 at home.
……
After playing away at Newcastle and returning to London, the first thing Hiddink did was to ask his assistant Roy Wilkins to gather the coaching staff to watch the Bayswater Chinese play Liverpool.
Everyone's first reaction was that Yang Cheng was saving his strength.
"Being ahead by 15 points is so willful!" Wilkins said with envy.
Hiddink was noncommittal.
In contrast, Chelsea still have to fight for the top four in the league.
Therefore, when Hiddink visited St. James' Park, he played with almost the entire main lineup.
Judging from the entire game, there were not many highlights, but in addition to scoring 3 points, Hiddink inspected Mikel.
It is basically unclear to outsiders that Mikel has not met Hiddink's requirements in the previous games.
Therefore, in the previous two games, he was directly relegated to the sidelines.
Hiddink would rather use Essien as a single defensive midfielder than let Mikel play for a minute.
In the game against Newcastle, both Drogba and Bosingwa were absent. Hiddink restarted Mikel and liberated Lampard at the same time.
In the end, Lampard passed and shot and was elected the best player of the match.
But the best performer in the game was actually Mikel.
After this kid comes on the field, he can effectively reduce Lampard's defensive tasks and at the same time sort out the midfield.
Judging from this game, the role is greater than Ballack.
Therefore, Wilkins suggested that the three midfielders will be Lampard, Mikel and Essien.
"Do you think, if we use this midfield set, can we hold on to the right?"
"When Anelka is not particularly active in returning to defense." Hiddink reminded.
If Anelka is very active in returning to defense, why bother playing him?
With Anelka or Kalou, the purpose is to counterattack and attack.
Wilkins and others immediately hesitated.
Judging from the game video, both Di Maria and Walcott, who came on as a substitute, caused a lot of trouble for Liverpool on the left.
The only goal scored by the Bayswater Chinese was scored by Di Maria.
Arbeloa is a famous defensive player in the Premier League. He can't stop Di Maria. Can Ivanovic hold on?
This is a problem!
"But if we let Essien play on this side, the defense on the right side will be solid, but the offense will be completely useless!"
Wilkins reminded Hiddink.
Outsiders have no idea that Chelsea has practiced this style of play.
This involves a 433 formation issue.
That's because the distance between the winger and the full-back is too far.
Much further than other formations.
Therefore, to a certain extent, a team with weak personal ability cannot play 433 at all.
The full-backs in the 433 formation often have to face the opponent's wingers independently.
Hiddink had already expected this, so he had rehearsed internally and asked Essien to play on the right, with the purpose of reducing the defensive pressure on the full-backs.
If it is Bosingwa, the goal is to allow the Portuguese to attack without any worries.
If it is Ivanovic, it is to further protect the defense.
Hiddink has his own considerations.
"Looking at the overall situation of the two-leg format, do you think the most important thing for us when we visit Wembley Stadium in the first leg is scoring goals or defending?"
Facing Hiddink's question, Wilkins and others didn't know how to answer.
The most interesting and challenging rule of the Champions League knockout rounds is away goals.
Especially the visiting team in the first round likes to score goals.
A valuable away goal is worth two home goals.
But now, they faced the Bayswater Chinese, who were known for their attacking power.
Are away goals important?
Of course it's important, Chelsea definitely want it.
But isn’t defense more important?
"I would say that in our first round away game, the most important thing is defense. Only by guarding the Bayswater Chinese's offense can our frontcourt counterattack be a threat. We also have a chance to score away goals."
"To take a step back, even if we can't score away goals, as long as we can hold the goal, the score of 0-0 will be beneficial to us!"
The second leg is at Stamford Bridge.
Roy Wilkins looked at the coaching staff around him, and everyone nodded.
In fact, there is nothing absolutely good or bad about this.
It just depends on how the head coach chooses.
It's like now, everyone knows that Yang Cheng will definitely launch an attack at his home court!
Look at the game they played against Liverpool. They were attacking in the first and second half, which was obviously training.
In the same way, when Chelsea plays Newcastle, isn't it also training?
Mikel returned to the starting lineup.
This is clearly a signal.
Hiddink is checking Mikel's condition.
Now, Yang Cheng is probably very sure that Mikel will definitely start.
Because his condition is really good.
In the world of professional football, there really aren’t that many surprises or surprises.
If you really want to play a surprise attack and make adjustments on the spot, you are more likely to cripple yourself before killing your opponent.
"According to what I want, let Essien play on the right. Lampard, Ballack and Mikel will still be in the middle. We will adopt an equilateral triangle position and let Lampard keep an eye on Yaya Toure."
"Mikel and Ballack are responsible for protecting the defense and suppressing Modric and the other central midfielder."
So far, Chelsea is still unable to determine whether Yang Cheng's other central midfielder will use Rakitic or Matuidi.
Both players are possible.
The former is both offensive and defensive, good at passing, and has excellent running ability; Matuidi is good at defense, has a wide running range, and is good at series connection and short passing support.
To a certain extent, it’s the same for everyone.
However, Yang Cheng often uses Matuidi in the Champions League.
This is also an expression of stability.
"Take a training session and let's practice targeted tactics, especially letting Essien keep an eye on their left wing."
"We give up the attack on the right, but concentrate all our forces on the left. The focus is on defensive counterattacks!"
Wilkins nodded, understanding Hiddink's intention.
This head coach is really a bit similar to Mourinho.
At critical moments, it is better to stabilize yourself first and then slowly plan to score goals.
This fits Chelsea very well and is also in line with the habits of Chelsea players.
Therefore, it is not completely unreasonable for the Blues to accept Hiddink so quickly, and many fans even say that with Hiddink, Mourinho will be forgotten.
At the very least, they are very similar in terms of tactical concepts.
"In addition, we must focus on their opening attack!"
Having said this, Hiddink's brows wrinkled involuntarily.
He has been watching the Bayswater Chinese game videos recently, and in this game against Liverpool, he found that Yang Cheng is really good at and keen on attacking in the opening game.
Any team that wants to defend and counterattack must be based on one foundation, and that is to be able to defend!
If you concede the ball in the opening attack, how can you defend and counterattack?
Just surrender.
“Ask the video team to edit out all the recent game videos of the Bayswater Chinese’s opening attack for me.”
"Arrange some time for the players to pay attention."
"This point must be paid enough attention to. We must not concede the ball first in the opening game!"
Hiddink said it in a very decisive tone at the end!
He had a very strong premonition.
The outcome of this battle at Wembley will be determined from the very beginning!
(End of chapter)