Chapter 375 Tactics

Although Chelsea is under a lot of pressure as the Champions League and FA Cup games have not yet ended, the team is still jubilant after winning the league title.

Without the pressure of the league, there were more laughter in the locker room and the players were greatly relieved. At least from now on, they didn't have to worry about an average of four league games a month.

When the craze of Chelsea becoming the new champion of the Premier League passed, the media focused their attention on the Champions League. For the English media, the most worthy of reporting is the honors won by their own clubs in European competitions, because they believe that it is glory for the country.

Therefore, both Liverpool and Chelsea have become "brave fighters" in the media's eyes.

However, the media is not optimistic about the "old noble" Liverpool. The team is currently ranked only fifth in the league. In the eyes of various professionals, they are a team with rough skills and only one star, Gerrard. It is unrealistic to expect such a team to win the Champions League. Many foreign media even claimed that "if Liverpool wins the championship, it will be a tarnish to the championship trophy."

This isn't all irony.

At this stage, every team has played a lot of games. It can be said that the strength of the team is in front of the public. As one of the most traditional Premier League teams, Liverpool has inherited the Premier League's rough technical style and long pass and lob style of play. The technical ability of this team's style is far lower than physical confrontation. For fans, the team's games are not at all entertaining.

As for their strength, they still have to work hard to qualify for the Champions League next season, so how can they devote all their energy to the Champions League?

! ! ?

Therefore, even the English media are not optimistic about Liverpool's situation in the Champions League, even though they have reached this point.

Chelsea is the complete opposite!!

Although at the beginning of the season, many English media called it the "pound team" and more "football professionals" were not optimistic about its prospects, but now Chelsea has won the League Cup and the league championship 7 rounds in advance. This performance alone is enough to surprise many people.

Without the pressure of the league, Chelsea can focus all their energy on the Champions League.

In terms of strength, Chelsea also has many big-name stars.

According to the analysis of the game situation this season, Chelsea still has some English style. Mourinho's arrival has not changed this style much. In terms of technical statistics, the team's long passes still account for the vast majority, and the defense still relies more on the body, and the offensive options are not varied.

Perhaps the only person who has changed is Wang Li. His personal skills have brought Chelsea highlights in creativity, so they can easily win in many games.

But this is enough!!

As long as we can win, it doesn't matter how crude the techniques and tactics are, victory is everything!!

The media has of course paid a lot of attention to the clash between Chelsea and AC Milan. Based on the reporters' understanding of Mourinho, they knew that before the game, this 'magic bird' would make a big statement about his 'must win', and then arrogantly accuse AC Milan of its weaknesses and shortcomings, thereby angering Ancelotti and triggering a verbal duel between the two clubs.

However, what is surprising is that this time the situation is completely the opposite. Chelsea is very silent, while AC Milan is full of confidence.

On April 4, AC Milan head coach Ancelotti said in an interview: "We will definitely break through Chelsea's steel defense!! My players will score within 5 minutes!!"

This positive attitude caused an uproar in all the media!!

Although Chelsea has shown its outstanding goal-scoring ability in the Champions League, the team's defense is definitely the best in the Premier League. It is not easy to score within 5 minutes! ?

'Why did Ancelotti make such a boast?! '

On this issue, all the English journalists became agents. They sent reporters into Milan to get close to this giant team in Serie A, and carefully studied the video of AC Milan's games this season. They also dissected AC Milan in depth from all aspects, and came to a conclusion - Italians are extremely confident in Milan's attacking ability! !

The overall defensive level of Serie A is recognized as the best in the world, and the strength gap between teams is not as large as that in the Premier League.

Therefore, in order to chase the championship in Serie A, not only a solid defense is needed, but also multiple "fatal" weapons. So far, AC Milan has scored 62 goals in the league, ranking fourth, only 3 and one less than Inter Milan in first place and Juventus and Lecce in second place.

In an interview with the media, Ancelotti said: "Chelsea will adopt a defensive contraction, so the offensive space becomes very small, but the game will not become a half-time attack and defense drill, because we will score within the first 5 minutes. In this way, we take the initiative. Chelsea will be very passive if they want to keep playing a defensive counterattack tactic, and they will have to change their strategy from defense to offense.

. They may play two wings again, but I have studied their game videos and they have very few offensive methods and it is basically impossible to break through our defense. "

"Some people may say that the players are tired, no! Whether it is training or practice games, my players are full of energy. Of course, we must be fully prepared mentally. The opponent is strong and one of the best teams in the world."

These words from the Italian caused an uproar in the media. Whether this was a strong self-confidence or a smokescreen is unknown without a real game. However, Ancelotti's subsequent words were unanimously affirmed by the media.

"We have a wealth of experience in European knockout matches." Ancelotti continued on this issue: "Experience is an important factor in determining the outcome of a match, but it is not something that can be acquired overnight. Experienced players know how to self-regulate and relax, which is crucial to the players' mentality and performance."

As a traditional world-class giant, AC Milan can reach the Champions League finals almost every year. Their experience in knockout matches and even finals is unmatched by Chelsea. Their defensive soul Maldini has participated in the Champions League finals six times, and midfielder Seedorf has won championship trophies with three teams including Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Chelsea is completely the opposite. Even the team's two main players, Lampard and Terry, do not have much experience in European competitions, let alone other young players. Players in the team who have one Champions League knockout experience can already be called "old men".

Although Ancelotti's words made sense, the English media were dismissive. They directly asked questions about which Chelsea player was more threatening! ? Who would be the focus of defense! ? Can AC Milan defend the goal! ? And so on.

"Alan Wang is indeed very strong. He is even better than Kaka. Shevchenko has to give way to him in terms of offensive ability. I wanted to get him during the winter transfer window, but... they didn't want to sell him." Speaking of this, Ancelotti praised Wang Li sincerely, "But football is a sport for 11 people. It is impossible for one person to break through our backcourt blockade."

The Italian's words made all the English media indignant and made all the media look forward to Chelsea's counterattack. So, that afternoon, Chelsea welcomed a large group of media.

However, they failed to get any meaningful news. Even Wang Li, who was stopped by the media, only symbolically complimented AC Milan's big-name stars and then went directly to participate in the team's training.

This abnormal situation made reporters and fans feel as nervous as a cat's paw, but their expectations for the game became stronger and stronger.

…………Chelsea’s coaches and players were in no mood to be interviewed. They have been strengthening their cross-ball training and zone defense drills in recent days.

Although the match was only two days away, it was better to sharpen the spear before the battle. Without the pressure of the league, Chelsea put all their energy into the Champions League. The team became extremely serious and consciously increased the intensity of training. In fact, not only the players, but even the always confident Jose Mourinho was nervous when facing AC Milan. Standing on the sidelines, he silently watched the training on the court, but in his heart he kept cursing UEFA - after playing Barcelona, ​​he had to face AC Milan. This kind of damn event really made people feel unlucky! !

No one would believe if you said there is no trick here!!

But no matter how much he curses, it won't change anything. Mourinho still has to think hard about how to win.

In fact, for Chelsea, AC Milan is really more difficult to deal with than Barcelona, ​​which is mainly a problem of the styles of the two teams.

Barcelona is good at attacking, Chelsea is good at counterattack, and with Wang Li, Robben and other outstanding players in the attack, it is really not a problem to break Barcelona's goal with a counterattack. So as long as the defense is solid, the chances of winning at home or away are very high.

.

But AC Milan is completely the opposite. Even the always arrogant Mourinho has to admit that their defensive ability is much stronger than Chelsea.

Italian defense focuses more on coordination, and the concept of zone defense is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Italian defenders have been instilled with this concept since the day they started playing football. In terms of individual ability, Chelsea's defenders are not worse than AC Milan, but overall, they are at least one level lower. It's like a star team put together temporarily, and a club team with skilled coordination. The latter is obviously stronger. This is the role of coordination.

This is also the reason why Italy's defense can be called "the best in the world".

Just like what Ancelotti said, it is really unrealistic for Chelsea to rely on a simple process-like style of play to break through AC Milan. Premier League teams all have a common weakness - extreme lack of creativity in offense, even Chelsea is the same.

AC Milan's offense is no worse than Chelsea's. They have many big-name stars such as Pirlo, Shevchenko, Crespo and Inzaghi, plus Kaka, a midfielder who is extremely outstanding in Serie A and is almost comparable to Wang Li. To say that this formation cannot break Chelsea's goal, even Mourinho himself thinks it is unrealistic.

At this stage of the season, it is clear how strong each team is. Ancelotti dared to reveal the comparison between the two teams and the playing style problems in front of the media. This is not a smokescreen, he is telling the truth.

At least Mourinho knows this very well.

Facing such a team, it is understandable that Mourinho is a little nervous, so in the past few days, the team's offensive players have been training seriously.

"It would be nice if we had more time." Mourinho frowned and said silently as he watched the training confrontation on the field.

The battle with Manchester United had just ended. Although he had been prepared for this game, Mourinho still felt that the time was too tight. Looking at the black-haired boy who kept dribbling past the opponent and passing the ball whenever he had the chance, Mourinho's frown finally eased a little. He turned to look at the assistant coach Clark next to him and asked himself, "What if Allen played as a striker!"

"Forward? Isn't Alan always a forward?"

"No, you know what I mean." Mourinho thought for a moment and continued: "His position has always been a front midfielder, closer to a midfielder."

Clark nodded after hearing what he said and said, "But if that happens, will the team's frontcourt connection ability be reduced?"

"Maybe, but Frank isn't bad, is he?"

"Well, I hope you're right!" Clark nodded. He didn't take these words to heart. After turning his head to look at the court, he remembered something and asked, "Jose, are you ready for the game the day after tomorrow?"

Mourinho laughed and shook his head after hearing this. He did not answer Clark's question, but said, "Let everyone gather in my office..."

Clark stared blankly at the Portuguese's back, and went to tell the players who were training in the stadium the news in confusion.

…………In Mourinho’s office, all the players gathered together and listened carefully to Mourinho explaining the tactics.

"In previous games, we averaged 379 passes per game, with a success rate of 76.53%, including 197 long passes and a turnover rate of 54.6%, of which crosses accounted for ..."

At this time, the Portuguese was standing in front of his desk. There was a tactical board hanging on the wall behind him. He was holding a statistical data in his hand and reading it word by word.

Although Chelsea won most games easily, these statistics do not reflect this at all, and some of the data even make the players tremble with fear.

"Can you see anything from here?" Mourinho put down the information in his hand, raised his head and looked at each player carefully from left to right.

After a long while, seeing that no one spoke, Wang Li asked tentatively: "Should we reduce the number of long passes and increase the number of short passes?"

"This will definitely make the offense more efficient, but this is not something that can be trained in a short period of time. Will the sudden and conscious increase in short passes increase mistakes?" After Wang Li finished speaking, Lampard frowned and thought about it. In the current Chelsea team, when it comes to tactical qualities, I'm afraid no one is better than Lampard, who has always been the core of the team. Even Wang Li is not good in this regard.

"Hmm..." After listening to Lampard's words, Mourinho nodded with satisfaction, "We don't need to increase the short pass cooperation at all."

"Why?"

"Should we reduce long passes and increase defensive intensity?"

"But how can we attack then..."

...After hearing Mourinho's words, the players immediately became noisy. In the eyes of many people, what the head coach said just now was to prove that the team's long pass error rate was high. In this case, of course, long passes would have to be reduced, but at present, long passes are a very important means of attack for the team. To put it in a figurative way, Chelsea's main offense is to launch long passes from both flanks, or to create opportunities with long passes directly from the backcourt. Without this means, the team's offensive ability will inevitably be greatly reduced.

Mourinho waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Okay. In the game the day after tomorrow, we need to increase the number of crosses. We can cross from the far corner of the penalty area, the baseline, the center circle and other positions, and we also need to reduce short passes in the backcourt..."

Listening to the Portuguese's tactical arrangement, the players were stunned. This was completely contrary to what they had in mind! !

In the eyes of many people, if the long pass error rate is high, then long passes must be reduced. This is inevitable. Every team does not like its own high pass error rate because it will give the opponent more opportunities, but now Mourinho is doing the opposite, which makes everyone confused.

Wang Li was the same. He looked at the head coach who was explaining the tactics with confusion, and kept recalling every detail of the game in his mind. After Mourinho finished speaking, he raised his head and asked in confusion: "In the successful cross, is our offensive efficiency high?!"

After hearing Wang Li's words, all the players reacted and turned to look at Mourinho, who nodded to Wang Li with satisfaction and said, "Yes, our offensive efficiency is very high in successful crosses!"

"Here is a statistic to prove this. Among successful passes, 43.6 percent were successful shots, 53.1 percent hit the goal frame, and the goal rate was ..."

After listening to the same set of data, the players nodded in understanding. Although the success rate of passing the ball was very low, the team's goal efficiency was surprisingly high. This result was not unexpected. They all turned their heads to look at Wang Li who was sitting in the middle. In everyone's opinion, this was probably inseparable from Wang Li's terrifying goal efficiency. If he got the ball in the penalty area, the danger would be unimaginable.

…………