For the last ten minutes or so of the first half, Leeds United's attack remained ineffective, with Barcelona relentlessly pressing them back into their own half. Fortunately, after Alonso relayed Li Shiguang's reminder, the defense stabilized. Although the game was a bit ugly, at least Barcelona never managed to find a way to get the ball into the penalty area again. After two minutes of added time, the two sides went into halftime with a 1-1 score.
"Kevin, Luca, you two rest in the second half. Gareth, Yaya, go warm up! Wesley, I'm sorry to trouble you, you'll play on the left in the second half, and Gareth will play on the right. I need him to be able to cut inside and shoot after breaking through! But you can also switch positions as needed, you can give instructions then!" The players had just returned to the locker room and sat down when Li Shiguang, standing in the middle, quickly announced the new arrangements. The players who were called out nodded to show that they understood his meaning.
After observing the first 45 minutes of the game, he had roughly figured out the main reason why Leeds United's attack never got past the halfway line. He sighed inwardly; they shouldn't have tried to contest midfield control with Barcelona—they couldn't win!
Li Shiguang realized he was getting a little stuck on one thing.
Since the lottery was drawn last month, the various negative opinions from the outside world have left Li Shiguang feeling frustrated.
So what if Barcelona are the defending champions? So what if Rijkaard won last year's club coach of the year award? I can do everything he can, and I can do things he can't!
This is a true reflection of Li Shiguang's inner thoughts some time ago.
Especially after talking with Rivaldo, Li Shiguang had a thought in his heart: I will defeat you on your home turf, using what you do best!
This is the main reason why Li Shiguang would coordinate with Rivaldo to make provocative gestures towards the home fans when the players came on!
Torres' early goal gave Li Shiguang the illusion that Barcelona was nothing special, and he felt that the game was in the bag!
However, for the next thirty minutes or so, Leeds United were pinned down and couldn't even get past their own half, which made Li Shiguang start to doubt himself. It wasn't until Ronaldinho equalized that he finally woke up!
Why the hell would I use tactics that I'm only passably good at to fight against someone else's tactics that they've mastered? Isn't that just asking for trouble?
When it comes to tiki-taka, Rijkaard might not necessarily have a deeper understanding than Li Shiguang, who had a systematic approach. But this isn't just about the coach's level of understanding; the player's individual ability also plays a significant role.
Why did Rijkaard's Barcelona not have the same stable dominance in Europe as Guardiola's Barcelona?
Is it because Rijkaard's coaching ability is inferior to Guardiola's?
Definitely not!
Li Shiguang believes the real reason is most likely because Guardiola encountered a large group of players like Messi, Xavi, and Iniesta who perfectly aligned with the tiki-taka tactical philosophy and gradually reached their respective peaks! Their relationship was one of mutual success.
While Li Shiguang also emphasizes the players' basic skills and passing coordination in training, these things are still relatively rough in the Premier League in this day and age. They don't need to play as skillfully as Barcelona to beat most teams. Even against the strong teams in the BIG5, Leeds United's midfield configuration can be described as luxurious.
But Barcelona is different. Their players are the pioneers of possession-based football. If you insist on going head-to-head with their strongest point, aren't you just asking for trouble?
So Li Shiguang figured it out, I'm not going to play ball control anymore!
Since my footwork isn't as refined as yours, I'll rely on my physicality. Since I can't win the midfield battle, I'll play on the wing.
Bringing in Toure had only one purpose: to increase physical strength! He wanted Toure and Alonso to keep the opposing two attacking midfielders pinned down, and if they couldn't win the ball, they would resort to physical attacks and fouls!
The reason Bale came on was simple: if he couldn't get across the halfway line on the ground, he would go up in the air. He would use Bale's speed to attack behind Bale's defense. He didn't believe that 30-year-old Zambrotta could outrun Bale, who had just turned 18!
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"Alright, viewers, welcome back to the live broadcast. The second half of the Barcelona vs. Leeds United match is about to begin!"
"Oh? We see Leeds United have made the first substitution!" Just as Lineker finished his opening remarks, Jon heard the director's prompt in his headset: "Leeds has made substitutions. He replaced Modric with Yaya Toure and De Bruyne with Bale. These are two like-for-like substitutions. It seems that Lee has not made any major changes to Leeds United's tactics!"
“Jon, you’re wrong!” After Jon finished speaking, Lineker pointed to the TV screen and refuted his opinion. “Look at Leeds United’s positioning. After Bale came on, Sneijder went to the right. Bale didn’t play his familiar left winger position. Lee must have some special arrangements!”
Jon frowned, staring intently at Bale, who was standing on the field constantly jumping and stretching. For a moment, he couldn't understand the purpose of Li Shiguang's two substitutions.
Rijkaard, on the other side of the field, also had the same question. He stared intently at Bell, who was jumping and stretching in place, lost in thought.
Before the match, he had also studied Leeds United's style of play, and Rijkaard knew about Bale and Ribery, two fast players.
Barcelona had conducted special defensive training against Leeds United's fast counter-attacking tactics yesterday, but to his surprise, Li Shiguang did not start these two players today. That's why he was a little surprised when he saw Leeds United's midfield combination before the match.
Rijkaard was shocked by Leeds United's subsequent style of play. He did not expect Li Shiguang to be so stubborn as to use Barcelona's most effective style of play against him at Camp Nou.
The result was obvious: after conceding that unexpected goal at the start of the game, Barcelona never allowed Leeds United another shot on goal!
Now Li Shiguang has brought on Bale, but he's not playing on the left wing, where he usually plays most, and there's also that big black guy replacing Modric...
Rijkaard's gaze kept shifting between Bell and Toure before finally settling on Li Shiguang, where he murmured softly.
"What exactly do you want...?"
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