Chapter 128 Boy, I will make it so hard for you to escape!
While Albertini was analyzing the possibility of Sporting Lisbon turning the tables on Porto in the sky bar in Lisbon, in Porto in the far north, Mourinho was also studying his opponents in the office with his coaching team.
They all had an amazing consensus that the first game after the winter break was crucial.
"We must beat Sporting Lisbon!" Mourinho slammed the pen in his hand on the table.
This is the conclusion they came to after more than two hours of research and looking at the entire season schedule.
That is, after defeating Porto, we extended our lead to ten points, and in the following January, we did our best to win all the games to further expand our lead.
In this way, Porto will be more relaxed when they enter February and face a two-front battle.
On the other hand, if we lose this game and the lead is reduced to four points, it will be very dangerous.
If Sporting Lisbon holds on tightly before the double-front battle, the four-point advantage will be too subtle and it will be difficult for Porto to fully devote themselves to the double-front battle. This will be a huge challenge for Mourinho.
"We must completely kill Sporting Lisbon's hopes of winning the championship, so we must beat Sporting Lisbon at the Alvalade Stadium and take all three points!" Mourinho said in a loud voice.
Now that the big goal is clear, the next step is to break down the work into smaller parts.
How to beat Sporting Lisbon?
This is a very broad question. The job of the coaching staff is to transform this vague goal into tasks and let the players execute them on the court.
"One of the important reasons why Sporting Lisbon has performed well this season is the front trident."
Boas was the first to speak out and express his opinion.
"After Jardel left for England, Nicolaj was the first to play as the center forward. Nicolaj has only scored one goal in the Portuguese Super League so far this season. On the contrary, young player Su Dong has scored six goals and five assists so far. It should be noted that this was achieved when he was on the bench in many games."
If Su Dong last season was considered to be a rising star, then the Chinese young players this season can be said to have emerged out of nowhere.
Under the suppression of Boloni's favoritism towards Nikulai, Su Dong still showed considerable strength and potential, which makes people believe that the future of this 18-year-old player will be bright.
When he heard the name Su Dong, a complicated look flashed across Mourinho's eyes.
He always remembered that it was Sudong's goal in last season's Portuguese Cup final that caused Porto to miss the championship.
But now, times have changed.
"Quaresma and Ronaldo's wingers have performed very well this season, but it is not difficult for us to deal with them because the wingers always have to create threats through the support of the middle. So, from beginning to end, the most threatening player of Sporting Lisbon is Sudong." Boas made the final decision and firmly locked the target on Sudong.
This player competed against Porto last season and is familiar to everyone.
"We suffered a loss at the hands of Su Dong last season, but Jardel, who headed the ball to Su Dong, is no longer here, and we are different now." Mourinho continued with Boas' words and said confidently.
He still clearly remembers that in the Portuguese Cup final last season, a thought came to his mind, that is, the lack of a high center defender, Carvalho and Andrade could not limit Su Dong, which was very fatal.
But now it's different.
After the old captain Jorge Costa failed in his challenge for the Premier League, he returned to Porto last summer. Now, Porto's main central defender combination is Jorge Costa and Carvalho.
The former is 1.88 meters tall, but has excellent aerial ability, while Carvalho is very flexible and has a strong sense of stealing the ball.
Mourinho is confident that this season's central defender combination is stronger and more solid than last season's.
Also, Porto lacked two full-backs last season, but now they have been filled.
One is Paulo Ferreira from Setubal, and the other is Valente who was introduced from Leiria. These two full-backs and the central defender form the most unbreakable defense line in the Portuguese Super League this season.
Even in the UEFA Cup, Porto's defense is the strongest.
Things are different now. Although Sudong is comprehensive, it is not impossible for Porto to freeze him.
"I specifically analyzed all of Su Dong's games from last season to this season, including his statistics and performance." Rui Faria, a core member of the coaching staff, also came forward to express his opinion.
"This player is indeed very comprehensive, but he has two weaknesses."
"Tell me about it." Mourinho said with interest.
"One is his left foot. From last season to this season, Su Dong's left foot has not been very good. The only time it attracted attention was when he assisted Quaresma, but to be honest, the quality of that pass was not very high and the difficulty was not great."
Hearing this, Boas nodded and said, "Su Dong is a right-footed player, and his left foot is weaker, which is normal."
"So," Faria emphasized, "our defense should focus on restraining Su Dong's right foot. And I counted that the balls Sporting Lisbon passed to him were basically heading for his right foot. We should pay a little attention to this."
How does the saying go?
The best defense is to prevent your opponent from getting the ball.
If Sporting Lisbon can cut off the ball passed to Su Dong, will Su Dong still be able to create a threat? "What about the other one?" Mourinho asked with concern.
Before Faria could finish his words, he started laughing. "If I tell you, I'm afraid you won't believe me."
Everyone became even more curious.
"Su Dong is 1.95 meters tall, but his header is very weak."
"That's impossible," Villas-Boas protested. "He's scored more than one header this season."
"Yes, but if you count his headers and aerial duels, you will find that he often does not take advantage of the ball. He uses his body to block the ball. I guess he does not judge the ball well."
As the saying goes, a blind cat catches a dead mouse.
With two devilish wings like Ronaldo and Quaresma, Sporting Lisbon has no shortage of crosses from the wing, and even if they happen to score two headers occasionally, right? But Faria said so confidently that Su Dong is not good at heading, which is really surprising.
Because in their impression, Su Dong has always been tall and strong, which gives him an advantage in heading.
But on second thought, Faria was right.
Su Dong is only eighteen years old and lacks competition experience, so it is normal that he is not good at judging the landing point.
"Before, no one could beat Sudong, but now we have Jorge Costa, who can completely control him with high balls." Faria stretched out his right hand and made a grasping gesture, looking confident of victory.
This made Mourinho very happy and he kept nodding.
The ground pass restricted his right foot, and his left foot was almost disabled. Porto also had a high center back like Jorge Costa. What threat could Su Dong have? Would he use his poor judgment of the landing point to compete with Jorge Costa for a header?
Freezing Su Dong is equivalent to freezing Sporting Lisbon's attack.
As long as they can freeze Sporting Lisbon's goals, Porto will be sure to get all three points away from home.
In this way, the lead has been expanded to ten points, and the Portuguese Super League championship this season is basically inevitable.
Thinking of this, Mourinho felt a strong desire in his heart.
This will be his first championship trophy since he took over as coach! "In the next week of training, we will focus on practicing this set of tactics, especially offense and defense drills. We must focus on defending against Su Donglai. Jankauskas is 1.91 meters tall, so let him play the role of Su Dong. Our back line will set up a defensive formation around restricting Su Donglai."
Targeted simulation training is also the regular tactical play of all professional teams before game preparation.
"Jankauskas's footwork is still a little lacking. We have a center forward in the second team called Hugo Almeida, who is also 1.91 meters tall, but unfortunately he is left-footed. But I think he is more suitable to play the role of Su Dong."
Assistant coach Brito, who had been silent, spoke up at this time.
Mourinho pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "Then transfer him to the first team and let him play this role with Jankauskas. We must practice the defense to perfection so that Su Dong can't cause any trouble!"
In the end, Mourinho gritted his teeth.
The first championship trophy in his life fell at the feet of Su Dong. With his vengeful character, if he doesn't take revenge, is he still Mourinho? Boy, this time I will make it impossible for you to escape! …………
…………
Su Dong didn't know that in Porto in the north, Mourinho was preparing to freeze his tactics with unprecedented attention. He also didn't know that an 18-year-old player named Almeida was called up to the first team in advance because of him.
Just like usual, Su Dong got up early every day to train, and followed Nuno Cruz to the gym to strengthen his body and build strength. He trained with his teammates every day and practiced together after training.
The only difference is that the extra training content has included a heading competition.
Andre Cruz and Albertini are both experienced veterans, especially Andre Cruz who is still a central defender. They will analyze Su Dong's training situation, find out the pros and cons, and then help him correct them.
Pontes will give targeted professional advice and point out where Su Dong should focus his efforts.
Time passes in this intensive preparation and full and compact rhythm.
After the winter break, Sporting Lisbon will finally usher in the 16th round of the Portuguese Super League.
Facing Porto at home! This is the most important battle for Sporting Lisbon so far this season, especially the loss to Porto in the Super Cup before the season, which made the defending champion feel unprecedented humiliation.
Now, the top two teams in the Portuguese Super League standings will face off. This is bound to be a focus battle that will determine the trend of the Portuguese Super League in the second half of the season. Not only the two teams, but even the whole of Portugal will pay unprecedented attention to it.
Some media even said that as long as Porto gets three points, the suspense of the Portuguese Super League championship will be lost in advance.
Before the game, most people were not optimistic about Sporting Lisbon.
(End of this chapter)
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