Chapter 76: Wonderful Tactical Game! (First update, please subscribe)
With the referee's whistle.
The game officially started! After the Tottenham kick-off, they did not rush forward, but quickly passed the ball in the midfield.
The reason for this is that United did not press high up the pitch.
Therefore, Tottenham chose to gain advantage by controlling the ball, and thereby consume the physical strength of Manchester United players, laying the groundwork for the next attack.
9th minute of the game.
Tottenham's midfielders and frontcourt players began to run and cooperate with each other with all their might, and it was Vertonghen who held the ball and organized the attack.
Perhaps because of his previous training at Ajax, this central defender from Belgium has excellent advancing and passing abilities, and is an important part of Pochettino's offensive tactics.
He made a precise long diagonal pass to find Son Heung-min on the wing, who stopped and dribbled lightly, starting a speed contest with Ashley Young.
A few seconds later, Son Heung-min took advantage of a slight advantage and took the lead by half a body length, and made a direct cross near the baseline.
The football spun and fell towards the penalty spot.
Harry Kane took advantage of the momentum of his forward charge, forced Smalling aside and headed the ball into the goal.
De Gea, who was highly focused, reacted as fast as lightning. After seeing the trajectory of the football, he blocked it with one punch.
The restricted area suddenly became chaotic.
In the end, it was Phil Jones who cleared the ball with a long kick.
The Manchester United fans in the stands broke out in cold sweats, while Tottenham fans cheered loudly.
Among them, two groups of fans with Asian faces were the most conspicuous because they were swearing at each other across the railings.
From the occasional "Asiba" and "CNM" in their English, we can tell that they are international students from South Korea and China respectively. They came to Old Trafford today to support their own players.
At this time, the game on the green field is still going on.
Tottenham did not give Manchester United time to breathe and continued to launch a fierce attack from the flanks.
From a bird's eye view, you can see that all the movements of the Tottenham players revolve around a central point.
He is Harry Kane.
As an important role in Pochettino's tactical system, Harry Kane can not only use the fulcrum effect to be a tactical center forward, but also often retreat to participate in the team's offensive organization, and even serve as a terminator to deliver the final blow.
As Tottenham's overall formation advanced, Eriksen retreated to support, Son Heung-min cut diagonally to the wing, and Alli wandered to Harry Kane's side.
And the person responsible for the advancement became Dembele.
Facing the pressure from several Manchester United players, he accurately found the passing route and passed the ball to Eriksen on the right.
Eriksen, who has the title of "Premier League Assist King", looked up before receiving the ball and found the position of his teammates on the far side of the team's attacking side.
With his precise cross, the football flew towards the front of the penalty area.
Harry Kane jumped high and headed the ball, and Ali volleyed the ball directly like an assassin emerging from the shadows.
The hearts of Manchester United fans were lifted up for a moment, and then fell gently.
Because the football did not hit the goal frame.
In just a few minutes, Tottenham created two shooting opportunities, which made Mourinho frown slightly on the sidelines, but he was not too worried.
As long as they can maintain the early rhythm and drag the game into a positional battle, Manchester United's dense defense will be able to play the greatest role.
And the fact was just as he thought, the situation on the field gradually changed. Due to the lack of sufficient space, Tottenham basically did not threaten Manchester United's goal.
Half of the first half passed in a flash.
During the period, Manchester United launched several quick counterattacks, all of which were long passes directly from the backcourt to the left and right flanks.
Chu Feng and Mata reduced their support for the ball in the midfield and backcourt when attacking, focusing on attacking and consuming the opponent's defense, and even did not invest much in the fight for the second point.
Under such tactics.
Chu Feng's skilled dribbling skills and powerful explosive speed can be brought into play to the maximum extent. As long as Tottenham's full-back makes the slightest mistake, there is a high possibility of a one-on-one opportunity.
Pochettino also made quick adjustments, allowing the midfielders to retreat deep to maintain the integrity of the formation and prevent Manchester United from breaking through the defense.
At the same time, they were more active in tackling and intercepting, breaking Manchester United's intention to consume players and trying their best to let the players conserve their energy.
The coaches of the two teams staged a wonderful tactical game.
Under such fast-paced offense and defense transitions, the physical fitness of players on both sides was rapidly declining, and their breathing inevitably became rapid.
27th minute of the game.
Facing the pressure from Matic, Son Heung-min flexibly dribbled the ball to the outside, created space and immediately accelerated.
It must be said that his current strength level is not weak. He has excellent dribbling ability and running speed, and can also help his teammates create offensive space through positioning.
This is the embodiment of basketball IQ.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Son Heung-min dribbled the ball diagonally behind Matic, looking for opportunities to connect with his teammates and shoot.
Seeing this, Herrera gestured to his teammates and rushed forward decisively.
In fact, he was originally a pure attacking midfielder, but after Mkhitaryan came, he sat on the bench.
However, things have taken a turn for the better since Pogba was injured.
Mourinho placed him in the defensive midfielder position, but who knew that Herrera turned out to be a blessing in disguise and started the most critical transformation in his career.
Not only did he inject energy into Manchester United's midfield with his excellent running and ability to connect offense and defense, he also demonstrated his ability to fight in the core area of the midfield.
In fact, he had a similar performance last season, and was not at a disadvantage when facing David Silva in the Manchester derby.
Herrera was seen sticking closely to Son Heung-min, blocking the passing route from behind and constantly pushing the opponent to the outside.
He saw the right moment and kicked the ball away. Both of them fell to the ground, but the football rolled to the side and front.
"Matta!"
"Manchester United counterattack!"
Manchester United's front players quickly turned around and charged forward.
The sweeping momentum was moving.
The Tottenham players did not panic at all. The front players moved back and the midfield players moved forward, quickly completing the front and back attack.
But Pochettino soon discovered something was wrong.
Because the positions of Manchester United's frontcourt players changed, Lukaku and Ibrahimovic's positions crossed.
What is this for? Mata passed the ball directly to the center circle, and Dell and Vertonghen looked at the two tall towers in front of them and could only get close to prevent the opponent from grabbing a point.
They didn't notice that their positions were overlapping, resulting in a gap behind them.
And at this moment! Chu Feng used all his strength and stabbed the ribs from the side at full speed.
Trippier's technical characteristics are similar to those of his idol Beckham. He is good at passing and assisting, but he has an obvious shortcoming, which is his average defensive ability.
If Kyle Walker hadn’t moved to Manchester City, he would probably have continued to sit on the bench.
(End of this chapter)