Chapter 506: Stabilizing the Military Morale and Offensive War
Stamford Bridge, London, England.
The game that the fans have been looking forward to for a long time is about to begin. As the fans look forward to it, the players from both teams finally walked out of the player tunnel.
Although Wang Li is now a member of Real Madrid and is Chelsea's biggest opponent, the Blues fans still have a good impression of him, not only because of his performance last season, but also because Wang Li is an Englishman.
"Real Madrid's No. 21 is Alan Wang!!!"
Stamford Bridge's regular commentator Creed Pesvak only briefly mentioned the names of other players, even Beckham and Robinho. But when it came to Wang Li, he shouted at the top of his voice.
Hearing this familiar voice coming from the radio, Wang Li turned his head to look at the anchor room at Stamford Bridge, stretched out his hand and greeted in that direction. During his one year at Chelsea, he also got to know Pesvak.
At the same time, the fans in the stadium cheered loudly.
At this moment, whether it was the thousands of Real Madrid fans or the tens of thousands of Chelsea fans, they all vied to shout out their welcome. They wanted to cheer at the top of their lungs for the black-haired boy who had just come on the field.
Perhaps, only at this time, the voices of fans from both sides are the same.
In contrast to the welcome given to Wang Li by the fans, the Chelsea players received much less cheers. Obviously, this was because the Blues fans paid too much attention to Wang Li, and they, who should have been the protagonists of the stadium, were almost forgotten by everyone.
"Chelsea goalkeeper Thomas Clarke!!! Team captain John Terry!! Ricardo Carvalho"
Only when Creed Pesvak read out Chelsea's starting lineup did all the Blues fans react from their hearts welcoming Wang Li. Only then did they remember that this was Chelsea's home ground and they should have welcomed Chelsea players.
As a result, the cheers of the Blues fans in the audience became chaotic, which almost turned the atmosphere before the game into a farce. The reporters in the stadium rushed to take pictures of the fans' expressions, which was indeed the highlight of the post-match gossip.
In this farce, with the whistle of the Italian referee, the game finally began.
After the game started, Chelsea took advantage of the momentum at Stamford Bridge and launched a fierce attack frenzy towards Real Madrid's half! !
Under Mourinho's tactical guidance, Chelsea's style of play is generally defensive counterattack, but when Chelsea attacks, there is a kind of courageous momentum. After Wang Li left Real Madrid, Mourinho has abandoned the traditional Premier League style of play in which defenders are defenders and forwards are forwards. This style of play is too ineffective without Wang Li.
Chelsea's current tactics are all-out attack and defense, with the defenders also following up during the attack, which seems to be the style of La Liga, but when the ball falls to Real Madrid, they immediately switch from offense to defense, and the whole team tries their best to retreat.
This style of play obviously places extremely high demands on the players' physical fitness and adaptability, because when they switch from offense to defense, they don't just run backwards, but also have to pay attention to the team's formation, changes in the overall situation on the field, and so on.
In this formation of attack, Chelsea can also exert good offensive power.
In fact, if possible, Mourinho does not like this tactic, because he is better at defensive counterattacks. Solid defense combined with fast offensive routines can bring Chelsea more stable goals and make it easier to win.
But now, facing Real Madrid, Chelsea cannot play like this, because they are two goals behind away from home. The two teams are not equal. If Chelsea wants to be equal to Real Madrid, it must first score a goal.
As long as the score is 1:0, then as long as Chelsea scores one more goal, they will be able to eliminate Real Madrid with the advantage of away goals, so at this time they are equal to Real Madrid, because Real Madrid players will be cautious and afraid of mistakes in the backcourt and dare not launch a large-scale attack.
A situation where the outcome is decided by one goal puts Chelsea in a good position.
In this situation, Mourinho hopes that the team can score a goal with momentum at the beginning of the game, putting the team in an advantageous position, so that the next game will be much easier.
That's his idea.
In the locker room before the game, Mourinho gave the players an "encouragement lesson". He said a lot of things just to boost the morale of the team, hoping to use this to help Real Madrid score a goal at the beginning of the game.
Although Mourinho is not good at this, the effect seems to be good when he uses it occasionally. Now Chelsea's offense on the field is very smooth and the players seem to have entered the game state. This kind of offense does not seem to be able to be launched at the beginning.
In this situation, Real Madrid is under great pressure.
For Chelsea fans, the game is very exciting now because their team is overwhelming Real Madrid.
The game had just started when Chelsea got a shooting opportunity, which was created by William Gallas. After getting the ball in front of the penalty area, the left-back actually kicked an accurate through pass and passed the ball to the wing.
Afterwards, Robben kicked the ball directly into the penalty area.
"Michael Owen!!! What a pity for his header." From the tone we can tell that the ball did not go in.
Under Casillas' helpless gaze, the football brushed the crossbar and flew directly out of the field.
"Just four minutes into the game, Owen scored a header. We can see that the shot almost went into the net. Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas didn't react at all." "It seems that Owen is in good shape today. Mourinho was right to start him."
Owen's long-range shot seemed to have turned on Chelsea's 'shooting mode'. In the subsequent games, their offense was even more fierce.
Seeing the situation on the field, Real Madrid coach Carlo was a little worried. He didn't want the game to continue like this because Chelsea was about to score. If they really let them score a goal, Real Madrid's situation would be a little passive.
Of course Wang Li on the field also saw this situation. He knew that the team must reverse the current situation, otherwise Chelsea's attack would become more and more fierce. If they really scored a goal, the team's morale would inevitably be frustrated. It was like two armies fighting each other. The brave team often had a greater chance of winning because they were not afraid to fight.
Now, if we want to turn the situation around, we must lead the team to launch a steady attack.
Regardless of whether they can score a goal or not, a steady attack can let the players know that they can also score against Chelsea. At the same time, it will make Chelsea players wary of the defense and not focus on attacking.
"Robben!! Long shot!!"
On the field, Arkin Robben dribbled the ball sideways on the wing, looking for an opportunity to take a cold shot, but the position of his kick was too far from the goal, and the ball missed the goal post and flew out of the bottom line.
Then, Casillas took the football from the staff on the sidelines, put it on the grass, and prepared to kick it forward.
"Igor, pass it over!!"
At this time, Wang Li ran to the backcourt and waved to Casillas for the ball. The latter passed it without thinking. Then, Wang Li slowly moved forward in the backcourt, waving to his teammates.
In this game, since Pavon did not play, the captain's armband was worn on Wang Li's shoulders. Appearing on the field as the captain of Real Madrid for the first time, Wang Li knew that he had to do a good job. He needed to lead the team to fight hard when the team was in a passive position.
Real Madrid players obviously approve of Wang Li's command. Not to mention that he wears the captain's armband, they will still obey Wang Li's command even if Pavon is on the court. After all, strength is everything on the football field. Wang Li has the ability to lead the team to victory, and everyone is convinced of him.
Under Wang Li's slow push, Real Madrid slowly moved forward and started the team's first official attack.
The reason I say this is that in the first few minutes of the game, due to Chelsea's pressure, Real Madrid players were a little nervous, and they had not yet entered the game state. The team's formation was very chaotic and the offense was a mess. Fortunately, Chelsea failed to score during this period.
However, as Wang Li led the team to attack, the morale of Real Madrid players recovered slightly.
"Why!!!"
Seeing this scene, Mourinho, who was sitting on the sidelines, sighed softly and said to himself: "He is still so outstanding."
This is praise. In fact, the development of the situation on the field also proved that Wang Li's approach this time was indeed very good. He stabilized Real Madrid's momentum at the beginning of an attack.
After stabilizing the formation, Wang Li crossed the center line while slowly dribbling the ball.
Chelsea players obviously understood Wang Li's offensive ability, and also knew that Real Madrid's offense was not so easy to defend. After Wang Li got the ball, Owen and Robben in the frontcourt did not even run over to try to steal the ball, but went straight back to their own half.
They knew it was pointless.
As the core of the offense and the core of the entire team, Wang Li's role is very important. When Real Madrid started the attack, his teammates automatically revolved around Wang Li.
For an offense to be threatening, it may have a lot to do with passing, but Wang Li's breakthrough is definitely a sharper weapon than passing. This seemed incredible in the top league teams in the past, but when Wang Li appeared in the world football, all the giants acknowledged this fact.
Of course, this is only effective for Wang Li himself.
Chelsea's lone striker Michael Owen finally came over to press.
While dribbling the ball slowly, Wang Li slightly increased his speed. At the moment Owen kicked the ball, he flicked the ball to the left and shook off Owen. After that, he faced Robben.
The Dutch boy Arkin Robben had been lurking behind Owen. He knew that it was impossible for Owen to snatch the ball from Wang Li, so he had been looking for opportunities. However, Robben did not expect that Owen had no effect on the black-haired boy at all, so he did not rush to kick, but wanted to follow Wang Li and stick to him closely.
Robben, who knew Wang Li very well, knew that only this kind of defense could have an impact on Wang Li.
However, Wang Li did not bother with him for long, but passed the ball to the wing, where was Gravesen.
In fact, Wang Li could easily get rid of Robben, but there was no point in doing so, because Chelsea's defensive center of gravity was at the front of the penalty area. Even if he broke through Robben, he would still face the iron-clad defense.
Now the team's morale is unstable, and trusting teammates often has unexpected results. If he is the only one performing in the offense, how can he increase the team's confidence?
That's true.
Gravesen had never thought that the black-haired boy would pass the ball to him. You know, since the beginning of winter, he has become a substitute player for Real Madrid. In Real Madrid, his strength and status are too far behind Wang Li. And now Wang Li passed the ball to him, what does this prove? It proves that the black-haired boy trusts him. The trust of teammates may not have much practical significance, but now it gives Gravesen confidence.
So, after receiving the ball, he dribbled it seriously, not wanting to let Wang Li down.
With this idea in mind, Gravesen kicked the ball very steadily. When he saw Damien Dave coming forward to grab the ball, he kicked the ball, seemingly wanting to pass it, but at the moment Damien Dave kicked, Gravesen retracted his strength and instead dribbled the ball to the side.
A disguised fake move to pass the opponent!!
With a calm mindset, Gravesen dunked past Duff steadily.
If this dribbling was done by players like Robinho or Baptista, it would be a very common thing, but Gravesen is not good at dribbling, and he plays more of a blue-collar worker role on the court.
This dribbling also showed that he has recovered.
At least, Wang Li's command has given Granveson confidence.
After that, Gravesen passed the ball to Pablo Garcia, who then passed the ball to Robinho with a backheel.
Since coming to Real Madrid, Robinho has shown his talent and ability. He is not only a shooter in the frontcourt, but also a sudden passer. The reason for this is that as a shooter, Robinho rarely makes a breakthrough through pass. If there is a chance, he will shoot himself. This is a kind of confidence of a shooter.
However, when Robinho chooses to pass the ball through, it often catches the opponent by surprise and is likely to have a good effect.
This time, Robinho showed that talent.
When many Chelsea players were marking Wang Li, Robinho suddenly lobbed the ball to the right. Following the trajectory of the ball in the air, Chelsea players saw the situation on the right side - David Beckham got the ball on the right side of the penalty area, and there was no one guarding him! !
This was not a mistake caused by missing a player, but a blind spot in Chelsea's defense.
When the ball is on the left, Chelsea players will involuntarily defend threatening players, and David Beckham on the right side of the penalty area is more often a passer rather than a shooter, so it is normal that they do not send someone to specifically defend him.
When Beckham got the ball, Carvalho ran out of the penalty area to steal the ball, but it was too late because Beckham took the ball and chose to shoot directly! !
The ball was about 16 meters away from the goal. Although the angle was not very good, after Beckham made adjustments, it was the same as a threatening free kick.
Unfortunately, the football did not pass Thomas's fingers.
When Thomas held the ball steadily in his arms, Beckham's face showed a helpless expression. In fact, he felt that his shot was very good, but the ball still didn't go in, which made him puzzled.
Before retreating, he gave Thomas a thumbs up, a compliment to his performance.
Thomas just laughed at Beckham.
Although the two are not familiar with each other now and only know each other through Wang Li, the England team will participate in the World Cup in Germany this year. After Beckham recovers from his injury, he will definitely have a place, and Thomas has also been recognized by McLaren. The two will become teammates in three months.
Therefore, although they are rivals now, there is no spark between them, and there is still some meaning of communication.
Real Madrid's attack was really steady this time.
Among them, from passing to shooting, Wang Li did not touch the ball at all, but his role in it cannot be ignored. All teammates knew that it was Wang Li who initiated the attack, and with his promotion, Real Madrid played such a smooth cooperation.
This cooperation helped the players find their confidence and allowed them to get into the game state ahead of time.
As a result, when Chelsea counterattacked again, Real Madrid players had already stabilized their mentality. Their formation was not in a panic at all. Instead, they responded steadily to the opponent's moves and their defense was very solid and tight.
This greatly reduced Chelsea's shooting opportunities.
Since then, Real Madrid's attack has started, and when they get the chance, they will launch very threatening attacks.
Chelsea wanted to score a goal, and Real Madrid also wanted to widen the score. The situation on the field seemed to have turned into an offensive battle, which made the fans in the stands call it exciting. They all eagerly wanted to see the side they supported break the deadlock on the field first.
At this time, all the commentators became excited, and they kept explaining the wonderful scenes one by one - "Irving shoots!"
"Casillas made a great save. Facing his previous teammate, maybe Owen was a little weak and didn't hit the ball with much force, but the angle was still good."
"Look! Allen's pass went between Lampard and Geremi. It was amazing. It was so accurate."
"This is a showdown between two giants. The field has turned into an offensive battle. Perhaps we can see a goal-scoring battle. If it continues like this, both teams may be the first to score!!" Commentators from various TV stations expressed their opinions. Regardless of the final result, the process of a football match is what neutral fans appreciate.
This will let them feel the charm of football.
(To be continued)