Chapter 94

The day after the end of the League Cup, when other players were on vacation, Mourinho called Endrit, Lampard and Ballack to the Chelsea club, and the four of them got together for a brief meeting.

The topic of the meeting was Chelsea's team coordination in the upcoming games.

"Before you two started to cooperate, why did most of the media reporters, fans and even me have high expectations for your cooperation?"

Mourinho first raised this question, and then began to talk about the offensive characteristics of the two players in the game.

"Lampard, you played more actively in the game, and your offensive methods were usually ground penetration or direct impact," Mourinho tapped the table with a ballpoint pen. "Your activities were mostly on the edge of the penalty area and in the penalty area. And Ballack, you didn't make many direct attacks in the game."

"When the team is attacking, you usually organize the players to move forward and become center forwards to compete for headers," Mourinho looked at Ballack, "When you organize the attack, your activity range is usually in the small penalty area."

Judging from the offensive methods and offensive range of these two people, under ideal conditions in most frontcourts, the offensive of the two people can complement each other, and theoretically can create an effect of 1+1>2.

"It is possible for a midfield configuration to have two cores, but these two cores cannot be two offense-focused midfielders. Take the 442 formation for example. If both of you play, whose offense will be the main one? If the offense is based on whoever has the ball, will the other players have time to react?"

"We have tried this before, but what was the result? Unless you agree in advance on who will defend and who will attack, not only will you not have any tacit understanding in your cooperation, but it will also cause the team's wingers and forwards to fail in their offensive routines."

Yes, unless it is discussed in advance - if before each game starts, it is stipulated who will be the offensive core and who will be the supporting role, then the chances of winning the game will be greatly improved.

But if it is really stipulated, then the other midfielder who plays a supporting role on the field can be any midfielder in the team. What is the significance of Lampard and Ballack on the field at the same time?

Moreover, not all players are willing to play in the game with high salaries. These two obviously pursue more. Even if they may give in the first or second time due to the friendship with their teammates, can these two not compete in the subsequent games? Even if the two of them don't fight for it, the fans who support them and the management team behind them will make them "fight" for it.

The idea of ​​using an offensive core in every game is even more impossible to achieve. Even with Mourinho's majesty, he can only use it a few times at most. If there are two more people, people will complain: Is my performance in the game not good enough? Why can players who are worse than me start every game, but I have to compete with another person for a position?

"Speaking of 433, if you two are placed on the left and right flanks, who will be the remaining midfielder? Makelele or Essien? Makelele is a defender, but with only him on defense, the midfield defense line is useless. If it is Essien, his frequent running can tie down the opponent's players, but it can only do so. If the opponent breaks through by force, Essien will not be able to stop him!"

"If we play 433 and both of you play, all the defensive pressure will be on the defenders and goalkeeper." Mourinho turned his head and looked at Endrit, "Ritter is confident that he can defend the goal, but we can't put all the pressure on Ritter alone. Otherwise, what's the meaning of my existence, you and all the players? Is it really like what the media said, as long as Endrit is on the field, the rest of the players can be anyone?"

"Are you two willing to accept this?" Without waiting for the two to answer, Mourinho was the first to give a negative answer, "I am not willing to accept this!"

"So, we have to make some changes. But please rest assured, if the three of you don't cooperate well and can't play well, then each of you will start in the next game."

"If you are willing."

Both offensive cores are on the court, the offensive system is chaotic, and I don’t know who will be the main force in the official game?

"Since you two can't decide who's the winner, in the official match, all attacks from the backfield will be led by Endrit."

Before today's small meeting started, after being told by coach Mourinho that the team's future attacks from the backcourt would have to pass through him first, Endrit had already begun to be persecuted by the pink stickman in his imagination.

Although in the imagination, his teammates are all stick figures with names written on their foreheads, their playing habits and offensive methods are the same as in reality. They are even more stable than their real teammates, which allows Endrit to achieve certain results in a short time.

After the three of them left the meeting room, Lampard couldn't help but speak first, stretching out his arm and putting it on Endrit's shoulder, "Ritter, was the method you told me in the Champions League the same as what the coach just said?"

Endrit nodded silently.

"So we are going to start practicing cooperation from tomorrow?" Ballack frowned. "Will it be in time? Ritter, I don't doubt you, but can you really do what the coach wants in such a short time?"

Barak stopped and looked at Endrit. He was very surprised that he did not see any annoyance on his face. "Are you sure?"

After Ballack walked out of the meeting room, he felt a little regretful. The coach's words just now made him excited, and he agreed without thinking. But when he went out and felt the cool breeze, he instantly became much more energetic: What the coach said makes some sense, but can Ritt keep up? In this way, the problem of cooperation between him and Lampard can be solved, but won’t the pressure be put on Ritter?

Endrit smiled and nodded.

"Don't just nod," Lampard said, raising his hand to pat Endrit on the head, "Speak!"

"Just don't hold me back," Endritt silently took a step back before speaking, "You have to keep up when we start training tomorrow..."

Lampard and Ballack looked at each other, and then both stretched out their claws towards Endrit.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? I didn't say anything big!"

The three of them left the team in a quarrel. At night, Endrit repeated his imaginary statement before entering the imaginary space.

[07-08 season, all the players of Chelsea club, with the goalkeeper launching the attack against the 07-08 season Manchester United team. 】

With a flash before his eyes, Endrit entered the imagination space. He ignored all the eye-catching accessories in the space, walked straight to the goal, picked up the stickman with the word "goalkeeper" written on his forehead and put it outside the court. Then he looked at his stickman teammates standing in a row and called out the starting players individually.

After informing his stickman teammates that they would play in a 442 formation in the next game, Endritt waved his hand to signal the start of the game. Manchester United's stickman opponents suddenly appeared on the field. Endritt bent down, took the football out of the goal and placed it at his feet. His eyes fell on Lampard on the left, raised his foot and passed the ball!

February 26

Chelsea FC

Endrit stood in front of the goal and kicked the ball to the left, just like he did last night in his imagination. After receiving the ball, Lampard rushed directly to the penalty area, raised his leg, shot, and scored.

Mourinho blew the whistle and signaled the players on the field to continue: These are just the most ordinary cooperation.

At Mourinho's signal, Team B broke into the penalty area with the ball. Ashley intercepted the ball and was about to rush forward when he was interrupted by Mourinho's whistle.

"Didn't I just tell you that we should start the attack from Endrit's side? Why did you go straight in there yourself?!"

Ashley stood up straight, sweat on his forehead, "Coach, but I stole the ball..."

"Are you playing against Team B in the official match? Are you sure you can intercept the opponent's ball in the official match? We are practicing cooperation now, not showing everyone how good you are!"

"Beep!" Mourinho blew the whistle hard, "Keep going!"

Ashley stood there, took a deep breath, turned around and kicked the football towards Endrit. Endrit stepped on the ball, looked up to observe the position of Team B's opponents, and then passed the ball to the right where Ballack was.

A minute later, Team B again rushed towards the Chelsea penalty area with the ball, but Mikel was intercepted by Makelele near the midfield.

Mourinho blew the whistle again. "Before today's training session, didn't I tell you to control your instincts? Let them go to the backcourt!"

"Coach, I'm sorry..."

Endrit sighed softly, ran to the midfield, and stretched out his hand to coach Mourinho, "Coach, why don't you give me the whistle? I know how to cooperate with my teammates. Let me talk to them."

Mourinho turned his head and stared at Endrit, "Are you sure?"

Endrit nodded, "I'm sure, coach, please believe me."

He didn't know how to train this kind of cooperation at first, but after changing the opponent to Manchester United or other strong teams in his imagination, he immediately understood what the coach meant.

Mourinho stared at Endrit in thought for a few seconds, raised his hand and hung the whistle around Endrit's neck, "Then you come."

Under the surprised eyes of his teammates, Endrit clapped his hands and asked all his teammates to form a circle.

"The cooperation the coach mentioned before does not just refer to the cooperation between me and Lampard or Ballack, but the cooperation between me and the defenders, and all of you. This cooperation is not in place at once, but has layers and increases gradually."

Endrit coughed lightly and lowered his voice, "The coach is overthinking. He thought we could move on to the final coordination, but we can't. We can only start with the simplest coordination."

"First of all, it's about cooperation with the defenders. We usually have four defenders at Chelsea. When the opponent breaks through and shoots, I will give priority to holding the ball. When I kick the ball to the left back, Lampard will be the core of this attack. No matter who the ball is passed to after it is sent back and forth, the ball must be passed to Lampard in the end."

"In the same way, when I kick the ball to the right back, Ballack will be the core of the attack."

"When I pass the ball to any central defender, our next attack at Chelsea will be based on the wing and forwards."

Endrit paused and glanced at Lampard and Ballack. "The ball should be passed frequently from the backcourt to the frontcourt to confuse the opponent and make them wonder who we will use as the core of the attack next. But if you don't want to be confused, you have to pay attention to which defender I pass the ball to before that."

"When I pass the ball to a defender, it's a new attack, but when I pass it directly to a midfielder or forward, that's where he is now, and from my perspective, it's possible to shoot directly and score."

"The new cooperation training that the coach has asked us to conduct now has a prerequisite, and the prerequisite is that the opponent has a strong breakthrough ability and can frequently break through the penalty area to shoot. Our midfield and back defense lines cannot stop them every time."

"Like in our match against Tottenham, Robbie Keane and Berbatov broke directly into the penalty area, and we could attack directly from the backcourt and catch them off guard. If there is no such advance condition, if the opponent is very weak and can't break through our defense at all, then we can't use this kind of cooperation."

"Makelele, Ashley," Endrit looked at the two men who had just been scolded by coach Mourinho, "I think you should know how good you are. You are Chelsea's starting players, so of course you can easily block the attack of Team B. If you continue to play like this, I can't imagine how many goals you will score."

"So now I ask you to imagine our opponents as a strong team and let them break through their defense so that we can smoothly carry out new cooperation."

Endrit retreated to the front of the goal holding the whistle and blew it hard to signal the training to continue.

"Hurry up!"

"I will pass the ball as soon as I receive it! You should also pass the ball immediately and don't let the opponent react!"

"If you slow down, the opponent will find your weakness quickly! You must be fast! Don't be afraid of kicking the ball out of bounds. We are training now!"

"Beep, beep, beep..." Endrit blew for a timeout and looked at Lampard and Ballack. "The last wave was very successful. You didn't notice who I kicked the ball to, so you don't know who will be the basis for the next attack. Now, you can turn around and not look at the backcourt. Listen to the voice of the left back or the right back..."

"No, no, no, let's do this." Endritt brainstormed and thought hard, "Before each game starts, I'll prepare a word for each of you two. I'll shout it out first, and the players who hear it will repeat it. Then you can determine who will initiate the attack at the first opportunity."

Fast speed and frequent passing are the most important factors in whether this cooperation training can achieve the maximum effect.

Think about it, what happens when their speed and passing frequency reach their limit?

The opposing team finally broke into the penalty area and kicked the ball towards the goal. Before they could determine whether the ball had gone in or not, Endrit had already kicked the ball towards a defender. When the opponent turned around, the ball had even been back-pedaled three times and headed straight into the opposing penalty area.

You thought you pushed us into the half court?

No, from now on, it's time for us to attack!

The sky gradually darkened. Mourinho stood on the sidelines with his arms folded, watching, and his frown gradually relaxed.

"Okay, today's training ends here! We'll continue tomorrow!"

Mourinho held the whistle handed to him by Endrit, raised his head to meet the players' gazes, and paused for a moment, "What did you just say to them? They've changed so much, they've suddenly become enlightened?"

Endreti pulled Mourinho aside and whispered, "I helped you teach them a lesson. You worked so hard to come up with the training, but they didn't know how to cooperate. I had no choice but to break it down and tell them what you did."

"Hey, Godfather, don't tell me, they have a strong ability to understand..."

"I can just scold them, why are you scolding them?" Mourinho rubbed Endrit's head unhappily, "This is not good, you are not the captain yet."

"Ah? What should I do then?"

Mourinho looked at Endrit's pitiful eyes and sighed softly, "You are simply here to collect debts."

"Um?"

"I'll treat you to dinner." Mourinho walked towards the locker room. "Hurry up and change your clothes first, then go to dinner."

"Yeah! Long live the Godfather!"

"Don't cheer yet. Didn't I mention some of the coordination you just mentioned? What do you think..."

"Coach, you said that. That's what you meant before..."

Endrit started from the actual combat in the imaginary space, which made Mourinho stunned. In the end, he even couldn't help but doubt himself: Did I really say that?

Had I thought that far? Wasn’t this kind of cooperation just a vague concept and idea at the beginning? Shouldn't we start training today and work on it bit by bit until we find the best way?

"Godfather, you are so awesome!"

"It's a pity that we can't arrange private training with strong teams, otherwise we would improve much faster! Now we can only fight to survive, who are we going to play against in the next game?"

"Godfather?" Endrit stopped and turned to look at Mourinho, "Why don't you leave?"

"Although I have thought about it, your talent as a coach seems to be no less than your talent as a goalkeeper."

Endrit straightened his chest and waved his hands, "Oh, Godfather, don't you see who I learned this from~"

He was a goalkeeper at Chelsea, and after retiring he became a coach at Chelsea. After 22 years, he took over Chelsea and became the boss...

Hehe~ A complete winner in life.