Chapter 235 It’s all about the bonus

After the Chelsea players finished celebrating the goal, the first half of the game had already entered the injury time. Although the Chelsea players tried to tie the score in the final time, they still failed to achieve any results due to Middlesbrough's full defense.

As the referee blew the whistle, the players returned to the locker room.

This game was the toughest one Chelsea had played since the start of this season, and they also experienced their first half-time deficit, so the atmosphere in the away team's locker room was not very good, and almost all the players kept their heads down thinking about what was happening in the game.

At this time, Mourinho walked into the locker room. Unlike the players, he did not look unhappy, but full of smiles. In fact, although the score was behind, Mourinho knew that it was just the poor performance of some players and luck, and had nothing to do with the players' performance and pursuit of victory.

So, as usual, he praised the players for their performance in the first half, and then began to arrange tactics for the second half of the game.

"The opponent's defense is pretty good, but their left side is empty, so they have to defend the right side." Mourinho glanced at Wang Li, turned around and continued: "So, in the second half, we will still focus on attacking the left side. Alan, don't always run into the penalty area. Stand outside the right penalty area and pin down the opponent's defensive players. If they change their strategy to defend the left side, then you get the ball and shoot directly when you find an opportunity."

After listening to this, Wang Li nodded in understanding. If he always stayed in the penalty area, not to mention that his position would overlap with Drogba, it would also mean that the opposing players would not have to defend him all the time, and the team's attack on the left would be obstructed.

"Eidur, you replace Wayne in the second half. Look for more chances in the penalty area and shoot directly when you have a chance. We need to use crosses to break the opponent's confidence."

It is obvious what Mourinho did. Eidur Gudjohnsen is 1.87 meters tall, which is not much different from Drogba's height. Both of them are strong center forwards. After replacing Gudjohnsen, Chelsea's headers in the penalty area became more threatening.

In this way, Chelsea's formation became a 343 all-out offensive formation, which was also the formation the team had to choose when it was behind. In fact, although this offensive method was very threatening, the team's defensive ability would be reduced a lot. Of course, there are gains and losses - there is no best tactic, only the most suitable tactic!

"Sir, how do you think McLaren will respond?" Clark asked puzzledly while the players were resting.

Mourinho thought for a moment, spread his hands, and said, "I don't know either. I don't know him very well, and his tactical ability is also very good."

Clark rolled his eyes, thinking that this was no different from saying nothing, but he was still full of admiration for Mourinho. Ever since the Portuguese came to Chelsea, his horizons have been broadened. He also realized that those championship coaches did not get their titles by luck. Just look at how hard the Portuguese works every day.

Clark has learned a lot from following Mourinho for such a long time. He thinks that if he learns from Mourinho for a few years, he will definitely have the ability to coach a top league team - that is also Clark's goal and dream! !

………Five minutes into the second half, as the two teams really started to fight, Mourinho finally understood the opponent’s response strategy and secretly gave them a thumbs up in his heart.

To put it simply, it means shrinking the defense line and focusing on the attack!

Middlesbrough's midfielders retreated significantly and used a dense defensive formation to deal with Chelsea's attack from the left. As a result, it was not easy for Chelsea to easily cross the penalty area from the left and look for opportunities.

While relying on dense numbers to build up defensive capabilities, McLaren did not give up on attacking. Yes, like Mourinho, he would not pin his hopes of victory entirely on fleeting luck.

In terms of offense, McLaren chose the middle. As the front line retreated, most of the players would participate in defense, and not many players could participate in offense, so he only attacked one lane. He adjusted the formation to 5311, and only used the two veterans in the front court - Viduka's speed and Hasselbaink's stability, to play defensive counterattacks.

In this way, Middlesbrough has both offense and defense. While Chelsea's offense is blocked, they also have to worry about the opponent's surprise attack being fatally attacked.

Although McLaren's tactics were very clever, they were based on the fact that his team was in a disadvantageous position and was deployed out of desperation. In any case, they were passive, so Chelsea still had the initiative on the field and their offense could still threaten Middlesbrough's goal time and time again.

In this tense and anxious situation, as long as Middlesbrough can successfully defend the remaining time, or take advantage of the opportunity to sneak a goal against Chelsea, then the victory will definitely belong to Middlesbrough, and vice versa.

With fans of both teams cheering in the stands, the two teams engaged in a fierce confrontation in Middlesbrough's half. On the left side, Joe Cole and Geremi made frequent crosses, Drogba and Gudjohnsen rushed to find opportunities in the penalty area, but Middlesbrough's defense was too tight, coupled with some luck, which meant that Chelsea still failed to equalize the score after 20 minutes of the game.

During this period, Wang Li followed the coach's instructions and lingered near the right side of the opponent's penalty area, forcing the opponent's backcourt to distract themselves from marking him. Although this played a big role in Chelsea's overall offense, in the eyes of the fans, Wang Li's performance was very ordinary, even a little clumsy. For example, he hadn't touched the ball for 5 minutes.

At this time, Chelsea coach Mourinho on the bench was a little restless. On the green field, the football rolled around in Middlesbrough's half, but they just couldn't score a goal. This situation was the worst. The result of having the advantage but not getting the ball was bound to be losing the game. He knew that he had to make tactical adjustments.

Taking advantage of a throw-in, Mourinho walked to the sidelines and called captain John Terry to give him a brief tactical explanation. Terry nodded after listening and returned to the field.

Steve McClaren felt a little uneasy when he saw Mourinho's behavior. He knew that the opponent would definitely change the formation, but he didn't know what the Portuguese would do. He could only sit here and wait for the situation to change.

At this time, Chelsea's formation on the field changed again. Wang Li ran behind Drogba in the middle, which is the position of attacking midfielder or shadow striker, while Geremi retreated slightly. In this way, Chelsea's formation became 343. However, this time there were no left and right midfielders. On the wing, only Joe Cole and Scott Parker were roaming all the way. Lampard and Geremi occasionally participated in defensive tasks on the wing.

Yes, Mourinho intends to attack the middle! !

On the field, Middlesbrough still formed a triangle encirclement on Wang Li, but this time their defense was difficult because Chelsea had Drogba and Gudjohnsen on the forward line, and Wang Li was protected in the back. This intensive attack in the middle made them a little overwhelmed, and it was difficult for three people to do a good job of defense in a small area.

This puts Middlesbrough in a precarious situation!!

After a few minutes, as Middlesbrough's goal was in danger frequently, McLaren finally understood Chelsea's tactics - attack the middle with all their strength!

This style of play left McLaren a little overwhelmed.

Chelsea simply gave up attacking from the flanks and used its strong midfield capabilities to fully support the middle. With two center forwards, Drogba and Gudjohnsen, in the middle, plus Wang Li, a shadow striker and defensive midfielder, this offensive capability is unquestionable. Even if there are some loopholes on the flanks, offense is the best defense, and Chelsea completely made up for these shortcomings with offense.

McLaren couldn't think of a countermeasure for this tactic. It was obvious that Mourinho was bullying Middlesbrough players whose individual abilities were generally lower than Chelsea's, and using his strong advantage to defeat them with force. Although McLaren's triangle encirclement tactic was classic, it was still a "clever" tactic. The triangle encirclement could defend Wang Li alone, but with Drogba, Gudjohnsen and even Lampard and Geremi behind him, how could they defend? ! ?

Faced with this situation, Middlesbrough was directly embarrassed. Without the command of the head coach, their defense was full of loopholes by Chelsea's attack. Finally, when the game was in the 75th minute, Chelsea scored again.

Lampard organized another large-scale attack near the center line. After a few passes, the ball was handed to Joe Cole on the left. Joe Cole took two steps with the ball and passed it directly to Geremi. Geremi shoveled the ball and it flew to about 5 meters in front of the penalty area.

At this time, Wang Li was on the penalty area line. He hurriedly turned around with micro-steps to grab the ball. He chested down and lifted his left foot, and the football stopped steadily at his feet.

When Middlesbrough players saw Wang Li get the ball, they immediately surrounded him as ordered by the head coach, but the number of defensive players was limited and they could not take care of so many players at the same time. As a result, Lampard, who came in from behind, was left unguarded. Wang Li took advantage of this opportunity and kicked the ball diagonally in front of Lampard. The latter received the ball and passed it directly into the penalty area. Gudjansen seized the opportunity and kicked the ball into the lower left corner of the goal.

The Blues fans in the audience burst into laughter immediately!!

The shouts of several thousand people even shook the entire stadium. They had waited too long!!

"goooooooooooal!!! Eidur Gudjohnsen!! Beautiful, this attack is so beautiful!! From Allen to Lampard, from Lampard to Gudjohnsen, the three of them passed the ball directly through the opponent's dense defense. In the 76th minute of the game, Chelsea finally equalized the score!!" Although Wang Li had nothing to do with assists and goals, the host Graham was still very excited - "This game was very difficult, but now it seems that Chelsea still has a chance. There are still more than 20 minutes left in the game. It is too early to determine who will win or lose. Looking at the whole game, it is really exciting, but unfortunately, Chelsea's mistakes in the first half of the game caused two goals to be conceded, otherwise the result of the game would not be suspenseful now!"

I have to say that Graham's theory is full of loopholes: if Chelsea had not conceded the goal, the game would not have been so exciting... It seems that when you love a team to the extreme, your IQ will drop a lot.

While Chelsea players were celebrating the goal, Middlesbrough coach Steve McLaren hurried to the sidelines and told the players to defend well in the following time. It was no longer possible to win, but getting an average against Chelsea was a satisfactory result.

The score was finally tied and the Chelsea players breathed a sigh of relief. However, there were still more than 10 minutes left in the game and they still had a chance to pursue victory. Wang Li certainly thought so too. He felt frustrated enough in this game. The opponent's defensive tactics against him made it impossible for him to move his hands and feet. However, under Chelsea's offensive, he still had a chance.

At this time, a loud shout came from the direction of Chelsea's bench: "Alan, score another goal! Otherwise, the bonus will be gone!!"

Wang Li was startled, and turned around to see that it was Bridget. Bridget's face was full of anxiety. He ran to Wang Li, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Alan, you have to score another goal. This game has a prize of 1 million pounds! At least 80,000 pounds of it will be mine!"

Wang Li rolled his eyes and said, "You're only thinking about your money!"

"Of course. You know, when Furtado and I get married, the expenses will be very high. If we save more money now, our life will be better in the future." Bridget said as a matter of course.

At this time, the players nearby also gathered around and smiled at Wang Li. If anyone could score a goal in the next game, they would undoubtedly think of Wang Li. This black-haired boy had such a high goal efficiency and had never had a "no goal record" in a game.

Seeing what they meant, Wang Li also knew that everyone was thinking of the "pound", and he couldn't help but feel a little bitter, "This is really a pound team." But in fact, he also felt that it was a pity that the bonus promised by the chairman was gone.

Moreover, this is not the prize money for one game. If you win the next game, it will become 1.1 million pounds - in this world, money is always so attractive!

"Come on for the bonus!" Wang Li raised his head and smiled, boosting morale.

At this time, all the Chelsea players on the field stood in a circle, held their hands together, and shouted at the same time: "1, 2, 3, for the bonus, come on! !"

This scene was captured by the stadium camera and displayed directly on the big screen. Perhaps, this will become a laughing stock for Chelsea... or an honor! ! ?