Chapter 1120 Hu Lai’s tactical role
"The Chinese team tried to cooperate on the wing...Chen Xingyi and Xia Xiaoyu played a one-two! Well done!"
When Chen Xingyi received the pass from Xia Xiaoyu, he threw the football forward and dodged the Mexican player who came up to tackle it.
Huge cheers erupted from the stadium stands.
Mexico also reacted quickly, and someone immediately came up to block Chen Xingyi's route of dribbling the ball forward along the wing.
Chen Xingyi did not struggle with the opponent here, but passed the football sideways.
He gave it to Xia Xiaoyu who came up to pick him up.
Xia Xiaoyu quickly transferred the football to Zhang Qinghuan, who was already in the middle.
Zhang Qinghuan tried to find Hulay through the ball, but the latter had already started running. As a result, the football was intercepted and destroyed by Mexican center back Jose Tona after the ball was passed.
"Oh! What a pity!" He Feng sighed, and then said immediately, "But it doesn't matter! The quality of the Chinese team's offense is very high! Toner also took a huge risk to tackle. Because if he didn't tackle, Zhang Qinghuan would The pass will penetrate the Mexican defense, and it is possible for him to make a tackle..."
Although the Chinese team's attack failed, thunderous applause erupted from the stands after the initial sigh.
This is the way fans use to encourage the team.
After all, the Chinese team performed really well on the field.
Facing Mexico, they were still able to create such opportunities. And this is not an opportunity created by accident. Opportunities like this happen not once or twice after the game starts.
In this China Cup, Mexico is the well-deserved number one team.
The strongest of the four teams.
Looking at the entire world of football, Mexico can be considered a "strong team".
In the latest FIFA standings, the Mexican national team ranks 17th, which is higher than the ranking of the Asian hegemon Japan team - Japan's ranking is 28th.
As for China, FIFA ranks 50th and fifth in Asia.
It can be said that Mexico is a huge catfish in Asian football.
So when everyone saw that the Chinese team and Mexico played back and forth in the first half, not falling behind at all, many people were ecstatic - the improvement shown by the Chinese team in the last game was not due to the strength of the South African team. It’s not strong, it’s not a flash in the pan, and it’s not their illusion!
This team has indeed improved in all aspects!
Of course, the mentality of the players in Mexico that came to participate in the China Cup and the Mexico in the World Cup is still different, so the performance cannot be simply equated.
But despite this, the Chinese fans are also very happy.
The characteristic of Mexican football is that players are technically good and quick, but their bodies are not very good. They have the delicate skills of South American players, but also the overall coordination of Spanish football.
Such a team will be very scary if they are allowed to play smoothly.
Even strong teams like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and Italy will fall at the feet of Mexico.
Therefore, Dillon's strategy for the Chinese team, generally speaking, is to use the numerical advantage in the midfield to disrupt Mexico's offensive coordination.
At the same time, use the Chinese team's offense to suppress Mexico so that they cannot attack unscrupulously.
To put it simply, you must be able to defend and attack.
It sounds simple, but it is not easy for the Chinese team.
The previous Chinese team was somewhat one-sided.
Or just attack with all the pressure and ignore the rest. Either the defense is reduced, and those who are suppressed can only rely on the two wingers to occasionally fight back.
The results are not very good.
But now the Chinese team is already a bit like that.
Although it's still just a prototype.
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The Chinese team was able to play back and forth with Mexico mainly because Hu Lai was in particularly good condition today.
Why did Jose Tona take a huge risk in the tackle just now?
Logically speaking, defensive players should prioritize safety rather than risk. It's easy to be in the limelight by doing some cool defensive moves, but it's even easier to stumble.
But in the situation just now, if Tona didn't do this, Hu Lai would have caught the ball behind him.
By then, there is no need to worry about whether to be in the limelight or to fail, because it will be too late!
That's why he had to do this, risking a tackle midway. Judging from the slow motion, if his feet were shorter or stretched slower, he would have really missed the ball.
It has to be said that although Zhang Qinghuan's kick was eventually blocked, the level of the pass was very high.
You must know that when he did this, there was actually a Mexican player beside him, but he just didn't stick to him.
But with someone around him, Zhang Qinghuan was still able to send such a precise pass calmly and calmly.
This is actually the result of his training in La Liga.
The pace of La Liga is faster than that of the Chinese Super League. In the past, when he played in the Chinese Super League, he could wait to observe and think after receiving the ball, and then decide what to do next.
If he continues to play like this in La Liga, he won't even be able to hold the ball. You must think about what to do next before catching the ball, and decide what to do while catching the ball.
It has to be said that although initially after Shi Wuyuan left office, Dillon was not able to take over the team immediately. Instead, he was transferred to Dong Jianhai for half a year, which seemed to be a loss for the Chinese team. But looking at it now, it may actually be the best arrangement.
Not to mention that after the failure of the Asian Cup, it poured cold water on all those who were too arrogant before, making them more accepting of some of Dillon's practices.
As for Dillon himself, if he had taken over the team after the World Cup, the changes he envisioned might not have gone so smoothly, and the public opinion environment would never have been as relaxed as it is now...
After all, only Hu Lai and Luo Kai of the Chinese team at that time had played in Europe for a long time. Zhang Qinghuan, Chen Xingyi, Wang Guangwei and Xia Xiaoyu had all just gone to Europe and had not yet adapted to the environment. How could they adapt to Dillon's tactical requirements and training intensity?
If the current Chinese team had not been supported by players in Europe, it would never have performed as well as it did.
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Although Hu Lai didn't catch the ball, he turned around and gave Brother Huan a thumbs up, praising him for passing the ball well.
He was in good shape for this game. Maybe it was Dillon's words before the game that made his blood boil.
Dillon was able to inspire them with "Singing the Motherland", obviously fully understanding the importance of this song.
A foreigner can do such a meticulous job, are they, the native Chinese, not even as enlightened as a foreigner?
Wouldn't that mean foreigners look down on them?
So Hu Lai has been very active since the game started.
Regardless of whether he had a chance or not, he would run up and down Mexico's defense, running with no effort at all. Even if there was no chance for some balls, he would rush forward and try.
In the 12th minute of the game, Zhou Zijing resisted the Mexican central defender outside the penalty area and then turned around and shot.
The shot was so powerful and heavy that Mexican goalkeeper Salvador Manrique couldn't fully catch it and let it go slightly.
Fortunately, his second reaction was very quick. He immediately jumped up from the ground and put the football under him again.
As a result, as soon as he pressed the football, Hu Lai rushed forward and kicked the football!
If Manriquez had not already controlled the football, he was afraid that if he kicked the opponent, he would be called into the goalkeeper, so he quickly stopped his kick in time.
Manriquez was lying on the ground with his head lowered and didn't see this scene at all, so he didn't feel anything special.
But it scared the other Mexican players into a cold sweat.
Especially Jose Tona, who is responsible for defending Hule.
That's literally half a second - from the time Manriquez pounces on the ball to Hulay collecting his foot, that's half a second.
If Manriquez had been just half a second slower, the football would have been stabbed into the goal by Hu Lai!
Everyone has heard of Hulay's reputation before this game and knows that he is a forward who is very good at capturing opportunities.
I’ve also watched his game videos.
But for them to establish a specific feeling in their hearts, it's not just as simple as watching game videos.
You still have to go on the court and actually compete.
This confrontation made the Mexican players very nervous.
Otherwise, why did Jose Tona just take the risk of making a shovel?
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Dillon sneered: "There are some stupid views in Europe that Hu can only score goals and tactics are of little use. Look at how one Hu can make the Mexican defense so nervous. Who dares to say that tactics are of little use?" I think their minds are rigid, as if they can't meet the tactical requirements of the head coach. If they don't complete specific tactical tasks, it doesn't have a tactical role... Hey, in fact, I don't have to assign any tasks to Hu Lai, he just needs to do it. Playing on the court has already played a big tactical role!”
He was speaking to his assistant coach Kily Sequeiros.
Sequeiros also laughed: "My friend told me that the King of Madrid seems to be interested in Hu again..."
"It seems that Xavi Sanchez is not an old fool."
"But they had a chance to win Hu for no more than 10 million euros..."
Dillon laughed: "Kili, isn't this the normal operation of the Kings of Madrid? If they can't buy players at a high price, how can they prove that they are the team that the best players want? The best players can only spend a thousand Want to come down?”
Sequeiros was stunned for a moment and then laughed too.
The atmosphere in front of the coach's bench was so relaxed, naturally because the Chinese team was not at a disadvantage from the scene, and everyone was very satisfied with the performance of the players.
At the same time, because the Football Association did not give them any goals before the game, they had no pressure and no need to worry about gains and losses.
Of course, although the Football Association did not set goals for the coaching staff, Dillon still set goals for the team, hoping that the team would win a championship.
Of course Mexico is very strong and it will not be easy to beat them. But it is precisely because of this that Dillon has to specifically set his goal to win the championship.
Because he wanted to see if these young people could do it.
In fact, he won't be disappointed if he can't do it, let alone criticize the players, but if he can do it... he will have more confidence in the future.
After all, he is leading and coaching this team not just to participate in the World Cup!
Three years later, the 2030 World Cup happened to be held in his native Spain. For him, this was a homecoming.
As the last job in his coaching career, he certainly hopes to have a successful ending for himself.
More importantly, he also had some resentment about leaving his first-line coaching position, being unemployed at home, and finally having to come to distant China to coach...
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