Chapter 1155 Defense is for offense
The coaching staff at London Bridge all judged that Leeds City had just equalized the score and their morale was at its peak. They should continue to fight hard and try to score another goal in a short period of time.
This is also more in line with the inherent impression that Leeds City has left on people in the past.
But when the game resumed, they were surprised to find that things did not develop as they expected.
Leeds City did not take advantage of the momentum of the just scored goal to attack.
Instead, they took the initiative to shrink their defense...
"Damn it! Why don't they attack? Don't the outside world say that Clark is an 'offensive madman'?"
This surprised London Bridge assistant coach Thomas Hoon on the sidelines.
"It seems that the outside world doesn't know Clark well enough..." Stoddard, standing next to him, frowned.
Although he didn't know why, it was obvious that Leeds City's response was somewhat different from what they expected.
"Forget it, never mind, Thomas. No matter what the opponent does, we really have only one way...and that is to attack. Or...unless we are willing to accept shrinking our defense when there is almost half an hour left in the game?" He said to Hu En next to him.
Hu En shook his head repeatedly: "That won't work. If we do this, your name will be scolded by all the London media after the game. You can only attack, but if you attack... you can't attack all the time. Be careful of Leeds City's counterattack."
Stodd nodded and said: "There is still plenty of time now, so there is no need to press so close..."
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After watching from the sidelines as London Bridge pressed forward but failed to fully press forward, Clark accepted the situation, even though he was not very satisfied with it.
He knew that his opponent Stoddard was not a fool. After being attacked by Leeds City just now using their opportunity to attack, he would be crazy if he continued to attack with all his strength.
After all, there is still plenty of time, and London Bridge only needs to score one more goal in these twenty-five minutes.
Although a score of 3:2 does not guarantee that London Bridge will advance to the final, it is still better than 2:2.
If we pursue a score of 4:2 or even greater, we are afraid we will lose points in the process.
The coaching staff at London Bridge have thought it through.
Clark wasn't surprised.
If Hulay had scored in the 79th minute instead of the 69th minute, London Bridge would definitely be outnumbered now.
Since they didn't have much time, they couldn't help but take their time.
But Clark was patient.
If London Bridge does not press forward, then Leeds City will hold on. Anyway, the score of 2:2 is not unacceptable to him.
If anyone wonders where the madman who is desperate to attack has gone, he will smile faintly: "False and false, true and false."
In fact, "emphasis on defense" is what Clark is planning recently.
Leeds City has tasted the sweetness of offensive football in the past two seasons, but Clark also sees the ceiling of this tactical thinking.
Especially this season, Clark has clearly realized that he can't go far by relying on offense alone.
To put it bluntly, Leeds City's offensive potential has been basically exploited to the extreme by Clark's coaching staff.
How to attack further up?
Clark himself didn't know.
The offensive combination of Hulay, Kamara, and Pete Williams is maturing day by day, and Lasky has also improved rapidly this season and integrated into this system.
Bringing in more and better offensive players next season?
Putting aside those top offensive players, does Leeds City have the financial resources to buy them, and whether they are attractive enough.
Just for those offensive players who can be bought, are their abilities necessarily better than Leeds City's current attacking lineup?
After buying it, don’t you need to integrate into the team and this tactical system?
Since the original personnel combination is strong and cooperates well, how can we upgrade it?
Of course, Leeds City will continue to sign players in the attacking lineup in the new season, but the purpose is not to overturn the reconstruction - it is not the time to rebuild yet - but to supplement the existing offensive system.
So Clark turned his attention to the midfield and backfield, and to defense.
He hopes to gradually improve Leeds City's defense next season.
Although center backs like Ben Grist have been introduced before, one center back is of little use to improve the defense of the entire team.
Defense in particular relies on the overall system.
The idea of improving defense was put on Clark's agenda after a failed midfielder signing this season.
Everyone on the coaching staff discussed this in the tea room. Everyone agrees on improving defensive performance based on the existing offense.
Especially after Junpei Morikawa came to the team, this problem became particularly prominent.
Junpei Morikawa is an excellent defensive midfielder.
His arrival has indeed made Leeds City's defense better than before.
It's just the same problem as Ben Grist. He alone can play a key role sometimes. But it cannot play a decisive role.
His performance only led Clark to finally decide to overhaul the defense - because he felt emboldened.
But Clark can't do this job. He is not good at coaching defense.
There is no such talent in Leeds City's current coaching team. After all, it is a coaching staff formed with offensive football as its core concept.
So we have to recruit defensive coaches from outside.
Fortunately, Leeds City won the Premier League championship and reached the Europa League, so its attraction to the coach has been greatly enhanced.
Leeds City Club has already started recruiting coaches.
In daily training, Clark's coaching staff has also begun to strengthen the team's defensive training.
It's just that I haven't had much chance to show it in the game.
Now we are playing against London Bridge, which is a good time to test the training results.
Before Hulay scored, Leeds City was shrinking their defense. Although the situation looked precarious, as if they could lose the ball at any time, they did hold on and waited for Hulay's counterattack goal.
This gives everyone the confidence to keep going.
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In defense, the two defensive midfielders Junpei Morikawa and Jay Adams are responsible for protecting Leeds City's back line.
Morikawa Junpei has the heaviest task here.
There are times when he needs to mark in his own zone, and there are times when he needs to sweep.
Fortunately, although his partner Adams has average defensive ability, he is an excellent running player and can make up for his omissions in defensive positioning with his tireless running. At the same time, his tenacious fighting spirit also makes him less likely to be shaken off by his opponents.
Otherwise, it would be difficult for Junpei Morikawa to cover the entire midfield by himself.
With the help of Adams, the two of them can help complete the defense when necessary.
For example, when Robin Feeney got the ball in the frontcourt, Jay Adams went up to entangle him, and Junpei Morikawa suddenly attacked from the side and stabbed the football away with his foot.
However, when Aiken retreated to the midfield and moved closer to Feeney, Junpei Morikawa and Adams each had to take charge of one person to avoid the situation of conceding the ball before.
Junpei Morikawa is responsible for Aiken, while Adams is responsible for defending Feeney.
If the opponent switches positions, they will also switch positions.
Although a little embarrassed, I still completed the task.
Coupled with the full cooperation and cooperation of other Leeds City players, for example: Leeds City's counterattack was too sharp, which caused the two full-backs at London Bridge to not dare to press too much, making their offensive level less changed, so the threat became smaller. .
After ten minutes of defense like this, Leeds City failed to let London Bridge score.
The score was deadlocked.
In the 79th minute, the two sides were still tied at 2:2.
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Stoddard had to make a choice.
Should we be more prudent and aim for a 2:2 draw, or should we press forward and attack with all our strength in pursuit of defeating Leeds City?
This multiple choice question is not difficult to do.
If this were at Leeds City's home ground, Stoddard would definitely wave his hand - defend!
But at their home stadium, Southfield Stadium, where Leeds City has never beaten London Bridge, facing the cheers of more than 40,000 home fans, London Bridge could not defend.
You can only attack!
Attack out!
Try to beat Leeds City in the last ten minutes!
In fact, at this point in the game, even if London Bridge beat Leeds City 3:2 in the end, it can only be said to be a "miserable victory"... And this is also thanks to the fact that there is no away goal rule in today's European wars, otherwise it would simply be It can be called "failure".
But even a "miserable victory" is better than "no victory", right?
So if you want to win, you must win!
"London Bridge's two full-backs Sosa and Morley are actively pressing forward and asking for the ball...London Bridge must fight to the death in the last ten minutes! Leeds City must defend at this time!" Shen Lang saw the field. After the latest developments of the players on both sides, he quickly said that he knew very well that London Bridge was going to fight hard.
He couldn't help but feel worried about Leeds City's defense...
What he didn't know was that in front of the visiting team's coaching bench, Leeds City assistant coach Randall was assigned by head coach Clark to go to the sidelines and make an action that only Leeds City players could understand.
Tell them:
The time has come, the counterattack begins!
Keep?
Leeds City never thought about holding on to the 2:2 score.
They don't defend just for the sake of defense.
Just like a person always bends his arms to accumulate power before punching.
To retreat is to move forward. Defense is for offense!
(End of chapter)