Chapter 352: Winning the Triple Crown! Center forward, Frankfurt's surprise! Yang Cheng, did you eat secretly? [Subscribe]

With the 38th round of the Brazilian League coming to an end, all the games of the 2015 Brazilian League have ended.

This season's Brazilian league is hailed as the most competitive season in the past five years, or even in the past decade.

At the end of the 37th round of matches, Palmeiras and Corinthians had the same points, 78 points each.

Even the goal difference between the two teams is extremely close.

Just 2 goals missing.

It can be said that the last round of the finale gathered all the suspense.

Ten Hag's team started this season slowly but ended up being very successful, which surprised everyone.

At the beginning of 2015, no one was optimistic about this Dutchman.

Even in Brazil, everyone felt that appointing a Dutchman to coach a Brazilian club was simply nonsense.

As the temple of world football, does Brazil need a Dutch coach?

Even the rational voices generally think that Ten Hag is not familiar with the Brazilian football environment, does not speak the language, and has difficulty communicating with the players. Can he lead the team in such an environment?

The dismal start to the São Paulo State League seemed to confirm everyone's point of view.

But no one expected that Ten Hag's team would gradually get out of the quagmire and make rapid progress.

Finally, they won the São Paulo State League Championship!

But it was just the state league after all.

In the Brazilian Serie A, Palmeiras had a very good start, with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the first 8 rounds.

Especially in the 9th round, they defeated their city rival Sao Paulo 4-0 at home, which shocked everyone.

But in July, and especially in August, Palmeiras began to show signs of instability and turbulence.

Palmeiras has no South American competitions, but has reached the third round of the Brazilian Cup, and its subsequent opponents are getting stronger and stronger.

This team, which is mainly composed of young players, finally entered a period of weakness in July and August after consecutive battles in the Sao Paulo State League and the Brazilian League, and suffered three consecutive losses.

In October, there was a shocking 1-5 loss to Chapecoense away from home.

It can be said that Palmeiras suffered a lot during this period.

There were even frequent reports that Ten Hag was going to be sacked.

But at the critical moment, Palmeiras withstood the pressure.

By November, the situation had gradually improved and the players' condition had steadily recovered.

The Brazilian Cup was a stumbling block.

In the round of 16, they beat Cruzeiro 2-1 at home and 3-2 away.

In the quarter-finals, they drew 1-1 away and narrowly beat Internacional 3-2 at home.

In the semi-finals, the away game was 1-2 and the home game was 2-1, and the aggregate score was tied with Fluminense.

But in the end they beat Fluminense 4-1 on penalties and entered the final.

This battle once again earned Ten Hag wide acclaim and praise.

Because he focused on practicing penalty kicks before the game.

The Brazilian Cup final is different from other cup finals in that it is a two-legged tournament.

The first leg is on November 25th.

Palmeiras lost 0-1 to their city rivals Santos away from home.

On the other hand, affected by the double-front battle, in the 37th round of the Brazilian League, Palmeiras lost 0-2 to Coritiba at home.

Although, both of them and Corinthians have 78 points.

But in terms of goal difference, Palmeiras fell behind Corinthians and gave up the lead.

Atletico Mineiro, ranked third in the Brazilian Serie A, has only 66 points.

The championship is in the final round.

But between the 37th and 38th rounds, there is the second leg of the Brazilian Cup final.

It can be said that Ten Hag's team is under heavy pressure.

Santos has a very strong lineup and strength.

Oliveira, Barbosa, Robinho and others are all famous stars in the world football.

On the other hand, Palmeiras is a young guard composed of a group of young boys.

This is a city derby that is like minced meat.

The two sides engaged in a brutal fight, neither of them willing to lose.

Palmeiras was behind in the first leg and must strive to score a goal in the second leg.

Ten Hag's team used their signature high-pressure and overall tactics to suppress their opponents and attack frantically.

Santos relied on the individual strength of its stars and tried to snipe its opponents through steady defense and counterattacks.

Just like in the first round.

The battle lasted for 68 minutes.

Jesus' crucial goal helped the team equalize the score.

But Palmeiras was still not satisfied and continued to launch offensive.

Finally in the 85th minute, it was Jesus again.

This young player, who is only 18 years old, has scored again for the team!

Everyone felt that they were going to win!

But just two minutes later, Robinho seized the loophole in Palmeiras' defense and assisted Oliveira to score a goal.

The format of the Brazilian Cup is a bit complicated.

Starting from the round of 16, the knockout system of the Champions League will be imitated, and the away goals will be counted in the event of a tie.

But in the final, after a tie, it went straight to a penalty shootout.

Therefore, although Palmeiras lost 0-1 away and 2-1 at home, giving an away goal, they still entered a brutal penalty shootout.

This time, the young players of Palmeiras once again withstood the pressure and blocked Santos from the championship trophy 4-3!

Goalkeeper Lucas Perry, who is also only 18 years old, scored again and won the Brazilian Cup!

After a tough battle with Santos, Palmeiras went away to challenge Flamengo in the 38th round of the Brazilian League.

After conceding a goal in the first half, Gerson and Jesus, who came on as a substitute, scored goals in the second half.

Reversed Flamengo 2-1!

In another match, Corinthians drew 1-1 with Aova at a crucial moment.

This also proves one thing again.

When it comes to this crucial moment of winning the championship, it ultimately depends on bloodiness and morale.

Reversing Santos and winning the Brazilian Cup is the pressure that Palmeiras puts on Corinthians.

In the end, Palmeiras won the Brazilian League championship this season with 81 points, 2 points ahead of Corinthians.

38 league rounds, 25 wins, 6 draws, 7 losses, 81 league points.

Corinthians has 24 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses, with 79 league points.

He scored 67 goals, ranking second in the Brazilian Serie A, only behind Corinthians who scored 68 goals.

They conceded 31 goals, tied with Corinthians for first place in the Brazilian Serie A.

For his first time as a solo coach in the unfamiliar Brazilian league, Ten Hag delivered a satisfactory answer judging from the results.

In fact, it is almost a perfect answer sheet.

Sao Paulo State League Champions!

Brazilian Cup champion!

Brazilian League Champions!

This triple crown record is amazing enough!

More importantly, the aggressive and oppressive style of football played by Palmeiras in the game is unique in Brazil.

This is only the first season.

There is no doubt that by next season, Ten Hag's team will only be more competitive.

And they also have to participate in the Copa Libertadores.

After the Chinese team played against Arsenal in Bayswater, Yang Cheng had already received news from Brazil.

He immediately called Ten Hag to congratulate him.

The young Dutch coach was obviously still in shock and felt quite nervous.

“Actually, it’s just luck!”

Ten Hah told Yang Cheng that he was not sure at all.

But the game had reached that point and we had to fight.

After trying his best, he got such a result, which he himself did not expect.

On the phone, Ten Hah was so excited that he choked up.

"We still don't understand why we suddenly couldn't play anymore. When we lost 5-1 to Chapecoense, I almost collapsed, you know?"

"Before that, we beat Figueirense 2-0 and Fluminense 4-1 away from home."

"We all felt that the team was getting better and then we beat Gremio 3-2 and we thought it was just a small problem in defense."

"But then, we drew 1-1 away to Sao Paulo, and then we lost 5-1 to Chapecoense."

“We were all completely stunned.”

Ten Hahe almost choked up as he spoke these words.

After winning the championship, he was showered with honors, but only he himself knew how devastated he was and how much pressure he was under during that time.

"All of us didn't know what to do. We were completely overwhelmed."

"It was the technical team who gave me a very detailed report. They spent a long time, from the beginning of the season to now, putting every game together for comprehensive analysis and judgment."

"They told me which position had problems and whose condition had declined significantly..."

Ten Hahe took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

“That’s football, Eric!”

Yang Cheng played the role of a qualified listener on the phone.

Ten Hag would never say what he just said to anyone, including players, media and club officials.

But he told Yang Cheng.

On the one hand, both of them are head coaches, and Ten Hag feels that Yang Cheng will understand him.

On the other hand, he was very grateful to Yang Cheng.

He couldn't imagine that without the support of the technical team at critical moments, and without the help of so many colleagues in the past season, he would not have been able to get to where he is today.

And all this was given to him by Yang Cheng!

"Sometimes, people think that we win by intuition, which is a kind of metaphysics. Indeed, we win inexplicably and lose inexplicably."

"Data is just a tool. It can't guarantee that we win all the games. Its biggest role is to help us understand the essence of the phenomenon as much as possible and strive to maintain an elusive balance."

"The strongest is the weakest!"

Ten Hag on the other end of the phone learned a lesson.

…

When Yang Cheng led the team to Japan, they were warmly welcomed by Japanese fans.

People from the Japan Football Association even went to the airport to pick him up in person.

Today, Yang Cheng is not only the boss of Bayswater Chinese, but also the chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board.

This is definitely a huge event for Asian football.

Yang Cheng even felt a little embarrassed by the warm reception.

He now completely understood why those senior officials of FIFA could not resist the temptation.

Who can stand the reception standards of the Japanese Football Association?

Especially as soon as I thought about it, if I nodded my head slightly, teachers like Yamagami, Hebei, and Jinguji would all line up for me to choose.

Not satisfied?

Let’s change a batch!

My goodness, the Japanese are not good at other things, but they are great at corruption.

But we are good young people who have received nine years of compulsory education. We cannot make such mistakes!

Therefore, Yang Cheng righteously rejected all the extraordinary receptions and took the team to the Club World Cup hotel.

But I still feel a little bit regretful in my heart.

After arriving in Japan, Yang Cheng's main tasks were attending meetings and receiving visitors.

During the annual Club World Cup, FIFA's bigwigs rarely get together and often take the opportunity to hold an executive committee meeting.

Now, of course, it’s called the Council.

All 36 directors have been elected.

This time, they all gathered in Tokyo, Japan to participate in the Club World Cup.

Several members of the Supervisory Board who were based in Zurich were also present.

The main content of the meeting was the reform of FIFA.

The Supervisory Board held a small meeting among itself, and Mark Pease reported the latest progress and situation to Yang Cheng.

The overall framework has been set up, and the next step is to further improve the details.

This is a long-term process that needs to be carried out slowly.

Overall, the reform has been very effective.

The entire organizational structure is basically as expected.

The election of the UEFA president is off to a good start.

From now on, from FIFA to UEFA, the term of office of key senior officials is basically locked at three terms, or 12 years.

Financial transparency is also being continuously improved.

FIFA is currently in contact with a number of well-known accounting firms, including KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte and EY. It will conduct audits every six months and make the semi-annual and annual financial reports public.

This is undoubtedly a big step forward.

As for issues such as event bidding, there is really nothing we can do about it.

If the Supervisory Board strictly controls all powers of the Board of Directors, they will not be able to accomplish anything.

Apart from anything else, the World Cup and Confederations Cup probably won’t be held anymore in the future.

Even various competitions under FIFA can be stopped.

Why?

There are too many things to argue about.

Mark Peace himself admitted that the situation was indeed very complicated.

And it cannot be made public.

Many things should be discussed behind closed doors; once they are made public, things will become very complicated.

Authority should be decentralized, but appropriate constraints should also be imposed, which involves some trade-offs and discussions.

But overall, after more than half a year, FIFA's reform has indeed made satisfactory progress.

The employees have also basically gotten rid of the old and outdated habits of the past and have become brand new.

Energetic young employees began to gradually replace the original old employees, and administrative efficiency also improved a lot.

Yang Cheng also saw the results of the efforts of Mark Pease and the members of the Supervisory Board.

After arriving in Tokyo, Yang Cheng began to come into contact with many people.

Especially some candidates for FIFA president.

They all know very well that with Yang Cheng's current influence in world football, if he comes forward and makes a call, it will be a huge boost to their campaign.

Therefore, they all tried every possible means to get Yang Cheng's support.

I don’t know how many people visit the hotel every day.

Some even just waited directly in the hotel.

Yang Cheng doesn't need to give face to some people at all, but he still has to be polite to some people on the surface. He still has to meet them, but Yang Cheng will definitely not make any promises.

Yang Cheng didn't care what the other party promised.

With his current status, he doesn't need to care about these things at all.

Instead it was David Gill.

The Englishman has received strong support from UEFA. At the same time, in the past six months or so, he has also made a lot of appearances in FIFA's reforms and won many opportunities to appear.

In fact, everyone believed that the entire reform plan was led by Yang Cheng and the Supervisory Board, and implemented by David Gill.

So much so that David Gill also won a lot of impression points.

Football associations in all continents are also very supportive of David Gill.

But when he arrived in Tokyo, Japan, he did not visit Yang Cheng privately.

The two men only chatted a few words when they met at some public meetings of FIFA, but they never talked much.

Even on some issues involving the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors, he would argue with Yang Cheng and members of the Supervisory Board.

This is also a tacit understanding between the two parties.

After all, he now represents the board of directors.

…

On December 17, in the semi-final of the Club World Cup, Bayswater Chinese played against Yangcheng Team from China.

Yang Cheng did not play with all the main lineup in this game.

Even the team's top star, Gareth Bale, was excluded from the roster by Yang Cheng on the grounds of injury.

But he will definitely appear in the final.

As soon as the game started, Scolari's team consciously entered a defensive counterattack posture.

The Chinese in Bayswater successfully controlled the overall situation.

Just 15 minutes into the game, a beautiful pass was made on the left side of the frontcourt.

After Sterling passed the ball to Harry Kane, the England center chose to knock it back at the edge of the penalty area.

Modric made a through ball.

Harry Kane turned and moved forward and kicked the ball into the bottom of the goal.

1 to 0!

After the change of sides in the second half, Bayswater Chinese once again made an effort.

Still on the left, Sterling dribbled past the defense and passed the ball to the middle.

Giroud, who came on as a substitute, shot with his left foot, causing the goalkeeper to lose the ball. Salah at the back post cleverly seized the opportunity and scored with a follow-up shot in front of the goal.

2 to 0!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese defeated China Yangcheng 2-0 and successfully advanced to the final.

This is nothing new to anyone; it is just a routine operation.

…

December 20th, Club World Cup final.

Bayswater Chinese vs. Argentine River Plate.

Gareth Bale finally returned from injury and appeared on the final stage in time.

But the superstar didn't seem to be injured at all.

Just 11 minutes into the game, Gareth Bale received a straight pass from Modric on the right side of the penalty area, stopped quickly, dribbled past the defender, and shot with his left foot.

The ball went straight into the far corner, scoring the first goal for the team.

1 to 0!

The Bayswater Chinese, who had taken the lead, continued their fierce attack on the River Plate.

Before the end of the first half, Toni Kroos made a diagonal pass from the left rib to the bottom line on the right side of the River Plate penalty area.

Gareth Bale made a high-speed forward run, headed the ball back in front of the goal.

Harry Kane grabbed the ball in front of the goal and shot it in, scoring another goal for the team.

2 to 0!

After taking a two-goal lead, the Bayswater Chinese launched an offensive wave.

After the second half, in a quick counterattack, Matic made a straight pass.

Harry Kane, who originally wanted to retreat and get the ball with his back, suddenly turned forward, received the ball before anyone else, and easily lobbed the ball into River Plate's goal again.

3 to 0!

Harry Kane scored twice!

In the 77th minute, Marcelo broke through on the left and made a lob pass at the edge of the penalty area.

Harry Kane headed the ball from close range in front of the small penalty area and smashed the ball into River Plate's goal again.

4 to 0!

England's centre forward scored a hat trick!

Just before the end of the game, Walcott dribbled past the ball and broke into River Plate's penalty area, but fell after being pulled by the opponent's defender.

The referee did not make any penalty call, but from the slow-motion replay, Walcott was clearly pulled down by the opponent.

Missed a penalty.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese beat River Plate 4-0 thanks to Harry Kane's hat-trick.

After the game, Harry Kane, who scored 4 goals, was selected as the best player of this Club World Cup!

…

When Yang Cheng led his team to play in the Club World Cup in Japan, the Premier League was in its 17th round.

But this round was full of upsets.

This shocked Yang Cheng, who returned to London from Japan.

Chelsea was not upset.

Mourinho's team beat Sunderland 3-1.

Speaking of which, this is another butterfly effect brought about by Yang Cheng.

In Yang Cheng's previous life, Mourinho should have been sacked before this round of games.

But now, he is still doing well as the coach of Chelsea.

Of course, Chelsea's current results are not as bad as in the previous life.

The 3-1 victory over Sunderland in this round gave Mourinho a new lease of life.

But other teams are not so lucky.

Van Gaal's team lost 1-2 to Norwich at home despite Martial's goal.

On Christmas Eve, the Red Devils suffered an upset.

But the coldest place is Liverpool.

Klopp's team somehow lost 0-3 to Watford away from home.

No one knows what happened, we just lost for no apparent reason.

Klopp himself was confused.

According to the Liverpool Echo, it is probably related to the upcoming Christmas schedule.

Maybe Klopp wanted to make some adjustments and preparations in advance and replace the lineup that performed well before.

As a result, Liverpool themselves were in chaos.

The course of the game can actually be seen.

A goal was conceded in 3 minutes.

Then Liverpool chased Watford in a hurry.

Another ball was stolen in the 15th minute.

Finally, before the end of the game, another one was lost.

This is the Premier League now.

If you are not careful, you may be knocked down suddenly at any time.

And it’s 3-0!

When Yang Cheng heard the news, he found it hard to believe it.

Who would believe that Watford could beat Liverpool 3-0?

I don’t know if it was Yang Cheng’s previous words: Your grades are so bad, you should have been fired long ago, that irritated Wenger.

After returning to his home ground, Wenger avenged his previous defeat.

When facing Manchester City in this round, he actually rolled up his sleeves and fought to the death with Manchester City.

In the 33rd minute, Sanchez scored a goal.

In the 45th minute, Benzema scored a goal.

In the first half, we beat Manchester City 2-0.

It was not until the end of the second half that Yaya Toure's goal helped Manchester City save face.

But the game is already lost.

This news made Yang Cheng happiest.

So, after the plane arrived in London, Yang Cheng called Wenger directly.

"Old Wen, the facts have proved that your level is still there, so the promise I made to you before is still valid."

"Please consider resigning from Arsenal as soon as possible and becoming my global chief consultant."

"As for the salary, it's definitely not as high as Arsenal's, but don't worry, it's definitely enough for your retirement!"

Wenger was so angry that he cursed on the phone and accidentally smashed his phone.

Yang Cheng was listening to the busy tone on the phone and thought it was Wenger hanging up on him.

But he had no idea that at the Colney training base, Wenger was gritting his teeth in anger.

He just bought an iPhone 6SP!

I bought it at the Prudential Plaza store!

"Yang Cheng, you bastard, compensate me for the apples!"

This made assistant coach Pat Rice, who came over to inquire outside the door, look confused.

Why are apples so precious?

Was it eaten by Yang Cheng?

…

Yang Cheng didn't have time to care why Wenger hung up on him.

This old man is in a bad mood for a few days every month. Who would care about him?

More importantly, Yang Cheng is really busy.

Serious business!

After arriving in London, the team returned directly to the Brent Training Center.

Here, technical director Dan Ashworth and chief talent officer Mike Rigg are receiving a young man who has come all the way from Germany.

Julian Nagelsmann, 28 years old.

Nagelsmann came to London after leading the team to play the game yesterday.

The Chinese in Bayswater arranged for someone to pick him up from the plane and took him directly to the hotel in Prudential Plaza. They then arranged for him to watch the game in which Arsenal defeated Manchester City 2-1.

Early this morning, he visited the Brent Training Center.

When Yang Cheng and his team returned to London, they happened to meet this rising star in German football in his office.

The first meeting between the two was very interesting.

Yang Cheng started coaching Bayswater Chinese when he was 23 years old, and he is only 35 years old now.

But he is already a well-known top coach in world football.

Julian Nagelsmann is only 28 years old, which is really very young in the field of coaching.

But only in front of Yang Cheng, he was obviously a little old.

Because at his age, Yang Cheng has already won the Champions League.

"Hi, welcome to Bayswater Chinese, Julian."

"It's an honor to meet you, Yang."

It seemed that Nagelsmann stretched out his hands to shake hands with Yang Cheng, and he looked quite excited.

"Please take a seat."

After sitting down, the topic naturally started with the Chinese training center in Bayswater.

Nagelsmann was full of praise for the Brent Training Center.

After all, it is a hall of world-renowned football that has been recognized as the most scientifically laid out and best-equipped training base in the world.

And Prudential Field.

After he went in to visit, he was also amazed.

He lives at the Bulgari Hotel next to the stadium.

"By the way, Julian, have you got your German Football Association coaching certificate?" Yang Cheng asked with concern.

Nagelsmann shook his head. "Probably until the end of February or March."

The requirements for the German coaching certificate are still very strict. If you want to coach a Bundesliga team, you must obtain a coaching certificate from the German Football Association.

Previously, Nagelsmann coached the youth team, so he only needed a coaching certificate from the regional football association.

As for his previous leadership of the first team, it was just daily training.

In the game, he couldn't even sit in the head coach or assistant coach seat.

"It's not a big problem." Yang Cheng said with a smile.

It is actually very simple to avoid this problem. Just give him an assistant with a coaching certificate.

Before Yang Cheng set off for Japan, he had already received the technical team's analysis.

In fact, their evaluation of Niko Kovac and Julian Nagelsmann was similar to Yang Cheng's previous impression.

The two of them are about the same.

But Nagelsmann will be more in line with Yang Cheng's overall tactical philosophy.

In addition, this guy was very flexible in tactics when he coached Hoffenheim U19.

The back three and back four are often switched back and forth, and the main feature is fine-tuning control.

Judging from their past coaching records, both of them have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Nagelsmann has the right tactics and is good at training young players. After all, he has been leading the youth team for so many years, and he himself is relatively young, easy to accept new things, and his tactical concepts are also very advanced.

But precisely because he is young and has never played professional football before, he lacks experience.

Niko Kovac's tactics are conservative. Yang Cheng also specially talked to Modric to learn more about them. He basically has some understanding of Niko Kovac. His coaching ability must be good.

Moreover, his advantage is that he is more experienced and his professional football career gives him more leverage.

Don't underestimate this point, players with star backgrounds are indeed more likely to control the locker room.

Of course, this is not a big problem for Frankfurt now.

Moreover, Yang Cheng can solve the problem by providing Nagelsmann with an assistant coach who is good at management.

It’s just like when Barcelona equipped Rijkaard with Ten Cate.

They complement each other.

Nagelsmann was obviously well prepared.

When the discussion was almost over, he directly opened the notebook he carried with him, which contained a lot of preparations he had made in recent times.

According to him, he watched all the game videos of Frankfurt this season and last season.

"I think Frankfurt has a lot of problems this season, with problems in attack, defense and midfield organization."

“But the biggest issue is the integrity of the team.”

Nagelsmann analyzed the materials in the computer with Yang Cheng and explained his views.

He believes that one of the important reasons why Frankfurt lacks team integrity is that the three lines are not tight enough.

Frankfurt's players themselves are not very strong.

The formation was loose and not compact enough. When the opponent rushed in the game, it immediately fell apart.

The weaker the players of a team are, the more they need to emphasize their overall performance.

Real Madrid and Barcelona play more loosely because they have super individual abilities, and that's fine.

Not so in Frankfurt.

The lack of compactness meant that Frankfurt was easily dispersed, so there were repeated problems in defense.

On the offensive end, after the defense is broken up, the players' positions when stealing the ball will be very loose and lack coordination, resulting in the team's inability to launch a quick counterattack.

This is reflected in the team's slow transition between offense and defense.

Almost the slowest in the Bundesliga!

It can be said that so far this season, Frankfurt’s biggest reliance on the offensive end is its top scorer Alexander Mayer.

But the veteran will soon be 33 years old.

And he suffers from frequent injuries.

Meyer joined Frankfurt in 2005 and has been playing for the team ever since. He is a very important member of the team and is loved by Frankfurt fans.

In the Bundesliga last season, Meyer scored 19 goals and was the Bundesliga's top scorer.

But on April 9, he had knee surgery and missed the entire summer, returning only at the end of August.

The form this season is also pretty good.

So far, he has made 13 appearances, scored 7 goals and provided 1 assist, which is really pretty good.

But at this point we must mention Alexander Meier's technical characteristics.

As a 1.96-meter-tall player, Meyer has excellent physical fitness, is very smart in off-ball running, has a keen sense of smell in front of the goal, and has an excellent ability to hold the ball with his back and turn and shoot.

Heading is also a unique skill.

So far this season, Meyer has averaged 5.4 aerial duels per game, ranking first in the Bundesliga.

This was the same number last season, and it was also the first in the Bundesliga.

But Meyer is not the type of center forward who can directly carry the defense.

What he is best at is not close combat with defenders, but retreating, finding a gap in the opponent's defense from behind, and then quickly running in to receive passes from teammates.

Did you notice?

In the Premier League, there is a player who is very similar to him.

That's Fellaini!

Of course, there is no need to worry about whether Fellaini is like Meyer or Meyer is like Fellaini.

In a nutshell, Meyer's technical characteristics are actually very dependent on interlaced running and passing from teammates.

But Nagelsmann showed Yang Cheng a set of data.

Although Meyer has performed very well this season, in fact, his shooting accuracy and passing ability have begun to decline significantly, and his ability to seize opportunities has also declined.

This is mainly due to injuries and age.

When Armin Fei coached Frankfurt, his slogan was offensive football and making friends with beautiful football.

"But in fact, so far this season, Frankfurt's number of goals scored ranks fourth from the bottom in the Bundesliga, and the number of goals conceded ranks fourth in the Bundesliga," Nagelsmann analyzed.

The number of goals scored is low, proving that the offense is not good.

The number of goals conceded is positive, proving that the defense is not good.

That's why Frankfurt is now at the bottom of the ranking.

Yang Cheng had already asked the technical team to analyze these issues.

This is similar to the conclusion reached by Nagelsmann.

If you can find problems, you must also be able to come up with solutions.

As for his tactical thinking after coaching Frankfurt, Nagelsmann believes that he must start with defense.

The defense was unstable and the attack ahead was like a moon in the water.

As for tactics, he prepared several different sets of tactics.

He will try to play with three defenders.

Why use three defenders?

We need to improve the defense's ability to get and pass the ball.

Needless to say, the central defenders on both sides can get more range to pass the ball.

3142 is a formation he tried when he was at Hoffenheim U17, and it is a formation he is familiar with and confident in.

But Frankfurt is currently missing one, a player who can stay behind in the midfield.

This player is a bit like a number four for Barcelona.

"In the Bundesliga, many teams like to adopt high-pressure pressing and directly attack the back line."

"In this situation, the back three spread out and the deep-lying midfielder needs to always maintain his position, be able to receive and pass the ball under high pressure, and at the same time be able to provide strong protection to the back line when defending."

“This is hard!”

Nagelsmann shook his head when he said this. "I really don't see such a player in Frankfurt at the moment."

There are indeed not many players like this, they are very scarce, but they play a big role.

Of course, he is not saying that he wants a defensive midfielder of the level of Busquets, Matic or Javi Martinez.

Frankfurt simply can't afford a No. 4 player of this level.

What he wants is a player with the right technical characteristics who can fit this tactical role.

"In the 3142 formation, the two players in the middle of the midfield need to provide the team with very wide coverage and have strong running ability. They must be able to press forward when attacking and press directly in the frontcourt when defending."

"Try to grab the ball in the shortest possible time."

Nagelsmann was clearly designing tactics for Alexander Meier.

Therefore, the two forwards do not have a fixed position, but are more likely to retreat and move to the wing, stretching the opponent's defense and then trying to fight back.

This arrangement would obviously suit Meier's taste.

The two wingers support the two strikers, actively attack the opponent's flank area and are responsible for delivering shells.

In the 433 formation, the center forward in the middle also takes a retreat route, but the two wingers make diagonal runs into the gap left by the center forward's retreat. This is a relatively conventional 433 offensive tactic.

The center position was also tailor-made for Meyer.

Nagelsmann will also make some fine-tuning to the two current lineups.

For example, 433 will become 4141, 3142 can also become 532 formation, and so on.

As soon as Nagelsmann talked about tactics, he became noticeably different, his eyes were shining.

It can also be seen that his entire tactics attach great importance to pressing and oppressing in the frontcourt, as well as receiving and passing the ball in the midfield and backcourt.

This is indeed a very advanced tactical concept.

"My question is, do you think Alexander Meyer can adapt to your tactics? Can he provide the kind of running and coverage you want in the frontcourt?"

Yang Cheng’s question is very sharp.

Although some tactics are designed around Alexander Meier's characteristics, the overall situation still needs to be considered.

Nagelsmann's tactics are advanced, but the players' movement is very important.

Especially as a center forward.

Alexander Meyer is 1.96 meters tall and will be 33 years old soon. Can he provide so much running?

If it doesn't work, then the whole strategy will definitely be compromised.

"To be honest, I'm not particularly sure now, because I don't know much about Meyer's actual situation." Nagelsmann couldn't give an accurate answer.

Yang Cheng nodded silently.

Just like his previous impression of Nagelsmann.

This young German coach has advanced tactical concepts, and has some of the shadow of Yang Cheng, Guardiola, Tuchel and Klopp.

But he is also very flexible.

This kind of young coach needs to be assigned an assistant coach who is very experienced and has strong tactical skills to help him find and fill in the gaps. Otherwise, it is easy for him to act out of his imagination and end up being defeated by the opponent.

Many of Nagelsmann's ideas would basically be what Yang Cheng would do if he were to coach Frankfurt.

But Alexander Meier is a legend and a celebrity in Frankfurt.

If it was Yang Cheng, he would be confident that he could control Meyer and even arrange for him to rotate and be a substitute.

But Nagelsmann may not have such prestige and confidence.

This is the difference between a famous coach and an ordinary coach!

"If you use Meyer as the center forward, the two players in the middle of the midfield must be very good at running and have good passing skills. This will maximize the release of Meyer and relieve his pressure."

"But even so, there will only be one match per week at most."

"So, you need two Alexander Meiers, just in case!"

When Yang Cheng said this, he couldn't help laughing.

But for now, there is only one Meier in Frankfurt.

If there were two, Frankfurt wouldn't have played like this.

Nagelsmann couldn't help but sigh that meeting a boss who knew football better than himself was a really different experience.

He can even take the initiative to help himself discover problems, identify problems, and come up with solutions.

"To be honest, it's not hard to find the No. 4 player you want, but he certainly won't be very strong. Forget about those famous players. Given Frankfurt's current situation, I can't poach him even if I step in."

Nagelsmann nodded.

This is a very realistic thing.

"But don't worry, I will help you find a player who meets your tactical needs and who Frankfurt can attract."

After a pause, Yang Cheng thought about it and shook his head, "But he may need some time to integrate, so it's best to use the winter break to get used to each other and practice tactics."

"You mean..."

"When you go back in the next two days, go through the formalities with Hoffenheim. We will pay for you the compensation for canceling the contract."

The coach of the U19 youth team has a low salary, so how much can he pay in liquidated damages?

If it were Yang Cheng and Bayswater Chinese, they probably wouldn't want to pay the penalty and would just let him go.

Do a favor and there may be an opportunity for cooperation in the future.

Nagelsmann is also a very straightforward person. After thinking about it, he nodded and said, "I can get it done when I go back. I can go to work in Frankfurt after Christmas."

Yang Cheng nodded, "Can goalkeeper Hradecky be used?"

After selling Trapp, Frankfurt's current goalkeeper is Finnish goalkeeper Hradecky.

Although not as good as Trapp, the overall performance is also good.

Very focused and has a long pass.

"I think so." Nagelsmann nodded.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked again, "What about the forward recruitment..."

Yang Cheng secretly laughed in his heart, knowing that if he didn't throw something out, this kid would probably be a little worried.

After thinking about it, he smiled and asked, "What do you think of Niklas Fellkrug from Nuremberg in the German second division?"

Phil Kruger?

Nagelsmann is certainly no stranger to him.

Because Felkrug is a German national player, he has been promoted from the youth team to the U20 team.

He made his debut at Werder Bremen, but was sold to Nuremberg of the German second division for 300,000 euros in 2014.

Last season, he made 24 appearances, scored 3 goals, and had 7 assists.

The reason why he only played 24 times was because he was seriously injured, his knee cartilage was damaged, and he was out for half a year.

He did not make a comeback until the end of August this year.

So far this season, he has made 15 appearances in the German 2nd Division, scoring 4 goals and providing 3 assists.

The player is 1.89 meters tall and can play the role of center forward and left winger. He has good footwork and is particularly good at heading.

He averages 5.6 successful aerial duels per game in the German 2nd Division.

And he was born in February 1993, so he is only 22 years old now.

Nagelsmann had not even thought of Firkrug before.

Now that Yang Cheng mentioned it, he immediately thought of it, and he found that this player was very suitable.

Whether partnering with Meyer or rotating with him, he is doing very well.

But Yang Cheng just brought it up casually.

This was definitely prepared in advance.

Nagelsmann had no idea that in Yang Cheng's previous life, Felkrug had a big outbreak in the second half of this season and performed very well, and then joined Hannover 96.

Later he moved to Werder Bremen and Dortmund, performing very well in the Bundesliga.

It’s a pity that he was affected by injuries, so his performance has been up and down.

And now, Frankfurt has just recruited him.

The transfer fee is not expected to exceed 1 million euros.

This was a striker worth 20 million euros in his prime.

In addition to Felkrug, Yang Cheng actually prepared more surprises for Nagelsmann.

Just waiting for him to take office!

No matter what, Frankfurt must stay in the league this season!

(End of this chapter)