The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 522

Although he has long been used to the huge momentum of [-] fans at Camp Nou, Guardiola still feels uneasy standing at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, because this time he is facing Tottenham Hotspur.

One of the strongest teams in Europe this past year!

Wearing a neat suit, Zhuo Li stood in the command area of ​​the home team coach's bench inside the track and field track of the Olympic Stadium. Guardiola folded his arms around his chest, but his eyes were always paying attention to every move that happened on the field, and he was guessing in his heart. , What kind of tactics will Tottenham Hotspur adopt in this game?
Tottenham Hotspur's starting lineup for this game is goalkeeper Petr Cech, defense line Arbeloa, Ziglinski, Thiago Silva and Alves, midfielder It is David Silva, Yaya Toure and Cesc Fabregas, and the front trident is Ribery, Van Persie and Messi.

It can be said that this is Tottenham Hotspur's main lineup this season. The only player who has more doubts is the left back. Marcelo, who has a stronger offensive ability, was put on the bench by Ye Qiu, replaced by a more defensive player. Arbeloa is excellent, but his ability to advance and participate in the offense is not weak. Does this represent a signal of Ye Qiu's stability in this game?

Compared with Tottenham Hotspur's stable starting lineup, Barcelona has changed a lot.

The goalkeeper is Valdes, the defense is Abidal, Mascherano, Pique and Puyol, the midfielder is Keita, Busquets and Xavi, and the front trident is Henry, Eto Austria and Iniesta.

Among them, what is more surprising about Barcelona is the use of Iniesta. Guardiola arranged Iniesta at the right winger position, but at the same time, in order to ensure the distance between Harvey and Iniesta, Therefore, Harvey and Iniesta have a relatively free range of activities.

Everyone knows that Barcelona is not as good as Tottenham Hotspur in terms of overall strength. Although the former is a top giant and the latter can only be regarded as an upstart in European football, strength is strength and has nothing to do with fame and background.

The weakness in strength, coupled with the obvious flaws in the overall offensive and defensive links, makes it impossible for Barcelona to completely feel at ease whether it is attacking or defending, so it is inevitable to have a mentality of worrying about gains and losses.

At the beginning of the game, Barcelona took the initiative to attack and started a round of rushing.

The first threatening attack of the whole game appeared at the feet of Barcelona. After Iniesta broke through with the ball from the right, he crossed the penalty area obliquely. After receiving the ball, Eto'o passed Ziglinski, but Tia Go Silva appeared next to Ziglinski to help defend. When Eto'o wanted to pass the ball to Henry, the Brazilian central defender suddenly cut in, stole the ball close to him and cleared with his big foot.

This is a very beautiful defense, defusing a threatening attack by Barcelona, ​​but it is clear that Barcelona still did not stop there, but continued to adopt aggressive tactics.

"Tottenham Hotspur's start seems to be a bit steady." Guardiola's assistant coach Tito Vilanova walked to Guardiola's side. For such an important game in the Champions League final, the opening was safe. Tactics are not mediocre tricks. On the contrary, if you have enough confidence in your own strength, then it is a good thing for you to adopt safe tactics.

The reason is very simple. The so-called match-up, to put it bluntly, is to see the tricks. You adopt a stable tactic, let your teammates make moves, and then you break the tricks. As long as you have enough confidence and believe that your team will not If you will be overwhelmed by the opponent, then you can adopt safe tactics.

"In terms of strength, they are in an advantage. This shows that no matter whether we adopt a strategy of attacking or defending, they will adopt a game strategy of attacking later!" Guardiola glanced at the coach who was sitting in the coach of the visiting team in the distance, crossing his legs. Ye Qiu, this guy is a bit contemptuous.

Although Barcelona is at a disadvantage, is he really so sure that he will be able to regain the advantage from Barcelona?

You know, in many games, after losing the advantage from the beginning, it is very difficult to regain it.

"5 minutes!" Vilanova reminded from the side.

In the first 5 minutes, the only threat created was Barcelona's attack, but it only reached the penalty area of ​​Tottenham Hotspur, without even the most basic kicking opportunity, so strictly speaking, that Not a threat either.

According to the plan drawn up by the Barcelona coaching staff before the game, the first 10 minutes to strive for the initiative, 5 minutes to attack, 5 minutes to close, and then start to focus on defense, use the ball to let Tottenham Hotspur press up, and provide Eto'o After all, the speed and personal ability of these two players are enough to ensure the quality of the team's counterattack.

Moreover, in terms of passers in the backcourt, Barcelona did not lose to Tottenham Hotspur at all.

Guardiola felt that the game time passed too quickly, and he hadn't formed enough offensive advantages. 5 minutes passed, but now Tottenham Hotspur seems to have not entered the game state. It seems that the enthusiasm for moving forward is not It's very strong, it's when Barcelona is in full swing, so it's a bit unwilling to accept it like this!
"Wait, let's see the situation!" Guardiola said, staring at the situation.

Vilanova also felt that it was a pity to collect it now. After all, the fishing net was cast down, and everyone hoped to catch a net full of fish and then pull it up. Now that he has just encountered a school of fish and has not caught anything, who wants to collect it? ?
The head coach remained silent, and the players on the pitch continued to play according to the rhythm and tactics of the opening game.

In fact, in a football game, the players playing on the field cannot grasp the overall situation. Many times they even don't know what the current situation is at all. That's why the role of the head coach is so obvious. It seems to be a driver, holding the steering wheel in his hand, adjusting the direction anytime and anywhere.

Another attack, Ziglinski made a diagonal pass from the backcourt to look for Messi, but Abidal grabbed the spot and headed the ball to Sedu Keita. The latter knocked back and Abidal quickly dribbled the ball towards Push forward, and then pass forward to Henry.

The French blocked Alves with his body, and after catching the ball, he cut diagonally into the penalty area from the left corner of the penalty area. This is also Henry's best offensive routine. When he cut into the penalty area, Thiago Silva immediately Get close, and use your body to block Henry's chance to continue cutting in and directly facing the goal.

Henry's reaction was very fast. He immediately dunked the ball, changing from a diagonal cut to a bottom. Thiago Silva was also prepared for this. Although he didn't dare to play in the penalty area, he stuck firmly Lived Henry.

The Frenchman made an emergency stop. Seeing that there was no chance, he dribbled the ball to the left and was about to go out of the penalty area. Suddenly, he passed diagonally to the front of the penalty area. Sedu Keita then inserted and shot directly with his foot. One shot.

But this hasty shot was firmly blocked by Cech. His position was very good, and Keita's long-range shot didn't have a good strength and angle, so it seemed that the shot was too straight and was caught by Cech. Fell directly into the bosom.

Ye Qiu came outside at once, gesturing towards Yaya Toure, obviously a little dissatisfied with Yaya Toure for not being able to entangle and block Keita in the first place just now, because he was so focused on Kata just now. Wei body.

In addition, there was Alves, Ye Qiu seemed to be signaling that his position should be a little further back, not to keep pressing so high.

Ye Qiu's defensive organization and adjustments were not particularly good before, but since Mauro Tassotti joined the coaching staff of Tottenham Hotspur, Ye Qiu has excellent defensive organization and on-the-spot adjustments. A great improvement has been made, and many times it is the decision made by Mauro Tassotti after discussing with him.

Because of this, many people joked that if Huang Chu and Eliza Moon were the two women behind Ye Qiu, then Mauro Tassotti was the man behind Ye Qiu. Roland Shepas, Meulensteen, Moniz, Peter Brandt and others are all very important members of the core coaching staff under Ye Qiu.

With the defensive adjustment, Tottenham Hotspur's defense has improved to a certain extent. Barcelona attacked several times in a row, but failed to achieve results. Instead, it was counterattacked by Tottenham Hotspur. Messi was on the right. After Lu dunked the ball past Abidal, he passed it to Van Persie. The latter stopped the ball and turned around to kick it in one go, but the shot went slightly wide.

"The pace of the game was fast, but somewhat surprisingly, Barcelona had three shots on goal in less than 10 minutes, while Tottenham had only had one shot until now, and all of them. No shot on goal yet, which is really unpredictable, Tottenham seem to be a bit out of shape!"

The on-site commentators were also a little disappointed with Tottenham Hotspur's performance in this game. This north London team has always won the fans' appreciation with its devastating offensive football, but now in this game, they are Seems a little tired.

"In the first 10 minutes, Tottenham's ball possession rate was only 43%, which is indeed a bit low. Barcelona's ball possession rate is relatively high, but neither side has created too many scoring opportunities, especially when they have always been attacking. Is the famous Tottenham Hotspur affected by the league game three days ago?"

Cruyff glanced at the big red scoreboard at the top of the pitch. After 10 minutes, he too began to feel restless.

This game is very attractive, it has attracted everyone's attention from the beginning, it has no tricks, no unrealistic tricks, it is very simple, keep running, keep running Passing, non-stop interspersed, the rhythm is not very slow, but both sides have done a good job defensively.

How to say?
It's like a country stream, with gurgling water, very calm, but flowing slowly.

But why do you say it catches people?

It is because there will be some scenes that make you feel interesting from time to time, just like the attack of Tottenham Hotspur just now, Messi dribbled the ball from the right and then passed the ball. It was a normal cooperation, but Van Persie stopped When he turned around after the ball, the technical movements were connected very smoothly, making people seem to see Ruud van Nistelrooy or Bergkamp.

Although it was biased, it whetted the appetite of the spectators.

That's it, the first 10 minutes are all carried out under this rhythm and atmosphere, which makes it difficult for you to relax your concentration, but you don't feel that time passes quickly, anyway, everything seems to be very calm.

But Cruyff is a bystander. He knows very well that Guardiola's plan has been disrupted.

Originally, Barcelona's tactic was to attack in 5 minutes, close in 5 minutes, and then let Tottenham Hotspur press up, but now Tottenham Hotspur did not press up at all, nor did they retreat, and the game was still going on in an even and stable manner. , while Barcelona unknowingly played an active attack for 10 minutes.

Taking advantage of the situation is a rule for all head coaches to adjust the game. This is true in itself, but a head coach must also have a long-term vision. The reason why Cruyff is worried is because he feels that Guardiola is a little anxious up?

After all, this is the first Champions League final in his coaching career. When he met Hiddink at Chelsea, Guardiola had already exposed his immature coaching ability. He is indeed the head coach that best meets Barcelona's needs. But no matter in terms of experience or on-the-spot command, he is very immature.

Judging from the process of the game, although Barcelona has an advantage in possession, the offense actually did not play well.

First of all, Iniesta was pushed to the right winger, and the distance between him and Harvey was a bit far. With the kind of tacit passing when Nesta cooperated, Sedu Keita lost a lot to Iniesta in terms of technical skills and awareness of response.

Secondly, Tottenham Hotspur obviously consciously defended against Harvey. Once Harvey got the ball, the surrounding players moved up immediately, but they did not press hard, but blocked him at a distance of about two meters. He pushes forward and passes the ball forward, and the people around him will immediately cut off his passing route, forcing him to pass back.

If you can’t pass a series of propulsive passes such as straight passes and diagonal passes, Harvey’s role in offense will be greatly weakened, because if you blindly pass back, even if you get 99 % ball possession rate, what effect?
Xavi was blocked, and Iniesta couldn't retreat too deep, so he had to either pass a long pass, or go back and insert, but there is no such thing as Ibrahimovic or Drogba in the frontcourt of Barcelona In the case of a tactical fulcrum, the success rate of long passes is almost like waiting for luck, so Puyol and Abidal are very active forward, and the wing has become an important means of advancing Barcelona's offense.

"Would Ye Qiu be so kind and willing to give up the initiative in the game?" Cruyff asked to himself.

The Stadio Olimpico was overwhelming, all the fans were blaring, so no one heard what he was saying, not even Laporta sitting next to him.

Speaking from heart to heart, if your team's physical fitness is not enough and the players are physically and mentally exhausted, Ye Qiu should be more anxious now, but from the beginning to now, it has been about [-] minutes, but Tottenham Hotspur are still playing smoothly. , It seems that there is no sign of being in a hurry, and there is no sign of actively forcing or seizing the initiative.

At most, when they hold the ball, they patiently control the ball and look for opportunities, which are usually done by David Silva and Cesc Fabregas. Once they cannot find opportunities forward, they will take Pass back or split sides, then reorganize and look for opportunities again.

On the contrary, Barcelona pressed tighter.

When Henry saw that Cesc Fabregas couldn't get a chance in the middle and gave the ball to Alves on the right, he immediately posted it immediately, but this time the distance between him and Alves was a bit far, Brazil's right Seeing Henry rushing forward, the defender hurriedly stopped the ball, and immediately pushed the ball back to Fabregas.

Henry was not lazy either, he turned in a different direction immediately, and was about to interfere with Cesc Fabregas, but Fabregas suddenly passed the ball behind him again, but saw that Alves crossed the ball immediately after the pass. He rushed forward quickly and went straight behind Henry.

This surprised Henry. When he turned around again, he saw that Alves, who had completed a beautiful two-to-one with Cesc Fabregas, had driven straight in with the ball and quickly reached the 30 meters of Barcelona. area.

The entire Barcelona defense line retracted quickly. Alves always dribbled the ball close to the right. Abidal threw off Messi at the first time and leaned towards Alves. The Brazilian right back didn't want anything. The idea of ​​entering the penalty area continued to dribble to the right side of the penalty area.

Messi also went in from the back. After entering the penalty area, he pointed in front of himself, apparently signaling Alves to quickly pass to the goal. This move scared Mascherano to run forward immediately. Straight into the right post of the goal, but Van Persie, who was originally at the top, suddenly retreated to the penalty spot.

Alves' low pass from the right was very fast, and it was close to the turf to the penalty spot. Van Persie took advantage of the natural advantage of his back to the goal and his back to the defensive player Pique, and retreated to catch the ball.

The Dutchman's stop is not just to stop the ball at his feet, but to roll the ball to his right after handling it with his left foot, and then he uses his body to block Pique behind him, trying to turn to the right body.

Pique followed Van Persie back from the small penalty area. Standing behind Van Persie, he had already lost the opportunity, and Alves' pass was for Van Persie, so he had no way to stop it, and he didn't dare to foul. , and seeing that Van Persie was about to turn around to get rid of Pique and get a chance to shoot with his left foot near the penalty spot, Puyol, who had been mentally prepared, rushed over frantically at the first time, trying to stop Van Persie from shooting.

But Van Persie stopped again, stopped the ball again, and then pushed to the left.

The whole process happened almost in the blink of an eye. Van Persie stopped the ball with two feet in a row, and his handling of the ball was just right. Just stopping the ball ensured that neither Pique nor Puyol could threaten his control of the ball. He could only watch He watched himself being almost teased and lost his position.

On the left side of Van Persie and Puyol, the unmarked Ribery has already ambushed here. As soon as he saw Van Persie push the ball over, he rushed up quickly and hit the ball with his right foot. .

It was a very simple, unskilled shot from the inside of the instep. The ball almost brushed against the bottom of the left post and went into the goal. Valdes made a flying save, but it was still a step too late!
(End of this chapter)