In the home team's locker room.
Li Shiguang is explaining the tactics for the second half to his team members.
“Wesley, I require you to increase your running range. When the team is attacking, you will be the most crucial link-up; your connection with Kaká will determine whether our attack will succeed! And when defending, you must drop back into midfield to help Luca and Xavi hold the midfield…”
If Mourinho, or any other commentator, were to hear Li Shiguang's words at this moment, they would be utterly astonished.
Sneijder coming on?
So who was replaced?
According to Li Shiguang, all three midfielders who were on the field in the first half were present, except for De Bruyne.
De Bruyne was still wearing his jersey, looking serious and intently watching Li Shiguang write and draw on the whiteboard, listening to Li Shiguang's tactical arrangements, showing no signs of being substituted.
"After the second half starts, they will definitely use the same high-pressing style as in the first half, having recovered some of their strength." Li Shiguang pointed heavily to the midfield position on the whiteboard with his pen. "After conceding a goal in the first half, I told you to slow down, not because you were weaker than them, but because their morale was high at that time, and we needed to actively avoid their sharp edge."
"But this is Elland Road, our home ground! In terms of individual skill, we are absolutely no less than these Londoners! So after the start of the second half, we will no longer back down. I want you to use your numerical advantage in midfield to defeat them head-on! As long as we equalize the score in this way, believe me, these Londoners will definitely lose their composure, and that will be our best chance to take the lead!"
Back in the locker room, Li Shiguang didn't criticize his players, even though the opponents played better than them in the first half. The first thing he did was have Rivaldo bring over the whiteboard, and while drawing on it, he made substitutions.
Silva, who received a yellow card, was substituted by Li Shiguang, and Sneijder took his place. Leeds United's formation also changed from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2. After Sneijder came on, Kaká was also pushed to the position of shadow striker and would stay in the frontcourt more to participate in the attack.
That's why I gave that explanation earlier.
To be honest.
This is a very bold adjustment.
With the team trailing and facing a physically outstanding center forward like Drogba, Li Shiguang chose to substitute a central midfielder for a central defender.
It's not that this substitution strategy is particularly unusual, but rather that this kind of adjustment usually occurs in the final stages of a game, when the team is on the verge of defeat. Most head coaches only make such a desperate substitution when they are on the verge of losing.
Li Shiguang made this adjustment during halftime.
It's easy to imagine how much negative commentary will be directed at Li Shiguang if he loses today's match.
However, that's just how Li Shiguang is; unpredictable and arrogant are two labels attached to him.
Regardless of what others say, he only does what he wants to do...
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"Wow! Li has made a super bold substitution, replacing Thiago Silva with Sneijder. Leeds United are switching to a 3-5-2 formation in the second half!" The fifteen-minute break quickly passed, and Lineker, upon receiving the notification from the director, immediately exclaimed into the microphone about Li's substitution, "As expected of Li! You know, Leeds United are now down by one goal. For the next forty-five minutes, they will be using three defenders to resist the onslaught from Chelsea's attack!"
While hoping for a Chelsea victory, Jon also expressed admiration for Li Shiguang's boldness: "It seems that deliberately slowing down the pace in the first half was just a stopgap measure by Li. He has never given up on the idea of going head-to-head with Mourinho. The second half will be more exciting, with both teams fiercely battling for midfield position! But this also means Chelsea's forwards will be more comfortable receiving passes from midfield than in the first half! Silva and Kompany both struggled to defend Drogba, let alone now that Kompany is the only center-back left..."
Upon hearing Jon's words, Reinkel blinked and a teasing smile appeared on her lips.
"Jon, according to your logic... what if Chelsea's forwards can't receive the passes from the midfield?"
"Well........"
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Mourinho, who had already walked to the coaching bench, naturally saw Leeds United's substitutions.
I glanced at Li Shiguang.
Even Mourinho, who is also known as "the madman" by outsiders, showed a hint of surprise on his face.
Just now in the locker room, he and his assistant analyzed the various adjustments that Li Shiguang might make, but they never expected that Li Shiguang would directly substitute an offensive player for a defensive player at this point in time.
But Mourinho is no novice either.
Before the match started, he immediately called Drogba to the sidelines.
"Didier, tell Florent and Wright to increase your running once the game starts. I want you to press even harder than in the first half! If we score first in the second half, those three defenders will absolutely not be able to withstand our onslaught when they come out to attack!"
"Okay." Drogba nodded in a muffled voice, then turned to find his teammates to relay Mourinho's instructions.
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Clearly, Mourinho had a good plan, but the game didn't go as he expected.
And Rheinkel's joke came true.
After the start of the second half.
Leeds United began to take control of the game by utilizing their numerical advantage in midfield.
Chelsea's three forwards did indeed execute Mourinho's instructions strictly, pressing aggressively from the start.
However, Leeds United's three defenders never let the ball stay at their feet for long. Once they got the ball, they almost always passed it out with one touch, switching the ball to midfield. Drogba and his teammates couldn't track back too far immediately.
As for Lampard's three players, even with their speed, their pressing seemed somewhat ineffective against Leeds United players who always had a teammate nearby to support them...
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