Chapter 1045: Do your best and leave the rest to fate

"Good job, awesome!"

Yang Huan was in the stands. When he saw Ibrahimovic score the first goal, he excitedly clenched his fist and cheered.

This goal should be considered as a complete vent for the team's frustration of not winning in the past five warm-up matches, right?

In the stands of Tianjin Water Drop Stadium, fans of Beijing Guoan were also celebrating and singing the team anthem of Beijing Guoan.

But the Taida fans were not willing to be outdone. This was their home court, so they booed, cursed, and did whatever was expected.

Fang Wei, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, shook his head helplessly, "The domestic fans are too unfriendly to the visiting team."

But Master Huan just laughed after hearing this.

"If we treat away fans too kindly, is football still interesting?"

Fang Wei was stunned. That’s true.

The reason why professional football is interesting and fascinating, and it is even called a war without the smoke of gunpowder, is that it all comes down to the confrontation between the enemy and us, in which one is invincible.

If the fans on both sides of the stadium had a peaceful attitude and everyone was happy, then professional football would be really boring.

"Swearing, throwing objects, and even interfering with players in the stadium are common in European football. This is also normal. There should be such an atmosphere in the football stadium, but there must be a limit."

Fang Wei understood what Master Huan meant.

It’s like fans can boo or even curse at the visiting team’s players in the stands, but they cannot make personal attacks or racial discrimination.

This is the bottom line. Once discovered, the club must take it seriously and even impose penalties.

Also, it is very important not to carry the hostile atmosphere on the court outside the court.

For the time being, domestic professional football has just started, especially in recent years, the Chinese Super League has revived and young players have flooded into the stadium. The quality of fans still needs to be strengthened and guided by clubs and league managers.

"Pochettino is still very good!"

Yang Huan has watched more football now, and gradually he has figured out some of the tricks.

"Ibrahimovic held down the other team's two central defenders, and at least drew the attention of two players, Xabi Alonso in the defensive midfielder position, and Terry and Reitenglong in the central defenders. These three players basically occupied the back line."

At this point, Yang Huan smiled slightly. He said it was the back line, but in fact, when Jingcheng Guoen pressed the entire front and midfield into the opponent's 30-meter zone, the positions of these three players had already advanced to near the center line.

Terry and Rettenlong were positioned at the back, and even when Taida striker Montero retreated, they rarely crossed the center line. This should be Pochettino's key arrangement, and Terry was always reminding Rettenlong.

This made Yang Huan happy.

Lei Tenglong is a tough player who deserves special training. He should be able to learn a lot from Terry.

The same situation applies to Park Cheng. In this game, he and Xabi Alonso played as double defensive midfielders. If he can learn something from the Spanish midfielder, it will be of great benefit to his future development.

However, although he was a defensive midfielder, Park Cheng's position was very high, and he actively moved forward to participate in the attack in the frontcourt.

Xabi Alonso plays as a single defensive midfielder, which is indeed a bit risky, after all, the Spaniard is not young anymore.

But it also depends on the situation. Just like in Barcelona, ​​Busquets also plays as a single defensive midfielder. Is there a problem with that?

As for Southampton, Toni Kroos also plays as a single defensive midfielder, and sometimes even Kovacic can be used to play, and there is no problem.

The key is control.

If the frontcourt can be controlled, a single defensive midfielder is not a problem.

The team pressed forward collectively, with a single defensive midfielder in the midfield and two full-backs actively participating in the attack in the frontcourt. Pochettino's tactics were indeed radical and risky, but very interesting.

Overall, he fits in well with Southampton's current tactics.

If you watch the game carefully, it is not difficult to find that the positions of the backcourt iron triangle of Xabi Alonso, Terry and Leitenlong basically move left and right on the center line of the court with the position of the ball.

Terry and Xabi Alonso did a very good job, and as soon as Reitenlong moved away a little, Terry and Xabi Alonso would immediately call him back.

The reason is simple, they are just preventing their opponents from launching a quick counterattack.

Once the opponent breaks through the control of the frontcourt, these three players will be able to quickly intercept and return to defense.

Therefore, the movement of these three players, as well as the control and prediction of the game situation, are very important.

Only Terry and Xabi Alonso can make Pochettino so confident in implementing this tactic. If it were domestic players, he probably wouldn't be so sure.

The advantage of Pochettino's use of such a tactic lies in offense.

In the past, the concept of the Guoan team during Manzano's time was defense. They first strengthened their defense and then planned for offense. In terms of offense, Manzano focused on the flanks and crosses.

But Pochettino is all about control, so he doesn't like crossing.

After Ibrahimovic suppressed the two opposing central defenders in the frontcourt, the personal abilities of the three players behind him, Zhang Xizhe, Wu Lei and Chen Zhizhao, were quite good if they were domestic players.

Pochettino also gave them enough trust. Three players surrounded Ibrahimovic, often crossing positions, using running and taking the ball to mobilize opponents around them and attract the attention of the defense.

With Park Cheng supporting from behind, Jiang Zhipeng and Zhang Chengdong actively joined in, attacking and supporting the offense on both sides. Guo'en put seven players in the frontcourt at once, and this alone was enough to intimidate the opponent.

With more people and clearer division of labor, there are more options for attacking tactics and more opportunities are created.

Another place where Pochettino's characteristics can be seen is when he fights back after losing the ball.

Pochettino basically asked Ibrahimovic, Zhang Xizhe, Wu Lei and Chen Zhizhao to keep active in the frontcourt and tie down the opponent's midfield and backcourt so that they could launch a counterattack as soon as they regained the ball.

But this does not mean that these four players have no contribution to defense.

On the contrary, they will have fixed defensive areas and counter-attack responsibilities, and will be the front line of the team's defense and counter-attack.

It should be said that Pochettino's tactics are very clear, which is to suppress the opponent and control the ball.

Another thing is that the team's offense and defense transitions very quickly, which is expected to consume a lot of the players' physical energy. This is exactly the same as famous coaches such as Bielsa, Simeone, Klopp and Guardiola.

In today's professional football, without excellent physical fitness, it is impossible to play high-pressure defense.

It should be said that Pochettino's ideas are not uncommon in European leagues, and many people do not find them strange.

But in the Chinese Super League, it seems quite fresh.

At least Yang Huan felt that after the opening, the Tianjin Taida team was not used to the playing style of Beijing Guo'en.

"Guo'en, when Manzano was the coach, also promoted passing and controlling, but the speed of operation was slower, so it was easier to adapt to it."

Bielsa, who was sitting on the other side of Yang Huan, also commented.

"But now, the team is running at high speed, and it will be very difficult for the opponents."

At the end, Bielsa himself couldn't help but smile.

Yang Huan understood that Manzano might not want to speed up, but was limited by the level of foreign players, and Manzano might not be able to play this style of play, so last season Guoen only passed and controlled the ball, without speeding up.

When the tempo is not fast enough, high-pressure pressing is not very threatening.

But now with Ibrahimovic and Terry and Xabi Alonso in the backcourt, the situation is very different.

Don't underestimate this.

To put it simply, the faster the speed, the less time players have to think, and they have to make decisions in an instant, which places high demands on the players.

But if you have trustworthy teammates like Xabi Alonso and Terry behind you, if you don’t find the passing line when you receive the ball, it doesn’t matter, just pass it back to the back. Xabi Alonso and Terry are the most stable support points behind you.

Because of this, Pochettino dared to speed up the overall situation.

"Why choose Chen Zhizhao on the right?" Fang Wei asked, a little confused.

After Chen Zhizhao joined Beijing Guoan, although he occasionally had some outstanding performances, overall, it was not satisfactory.

Many people had previously speculated that Pochettino might use Zhang Chengdong on the right, but unexpectedly it was Chen Zhizhao.

Bielsa smiled again. "This player is very good. He has strong personal ability, excellent skills, and pretty good physical fitness. It's just that his physical fitness is a little lacking. There are many reasons why his performance was not ideal before. But Mauricio and I both think that if he can play at his level, he will definitely be a sharp knife in the team's frontcourt."

I believe no one will deny this.

But is it that easy?

"Guo'en's previous tactics did not give the two wide players too much freedom, but rather emphasized advancing along the flanks and going down the flanks. Because of the two full-backs and the premise of ensuring the team's defense, the wide players were easily isolated and helpless."

Yang Huan understood.

With the personal abilities of professional players, even Messi cannot guarantee a success rate in a one-on-one match, let alone domestic players.

Once Messi is double-teamed on the wing, he will be helpless.

"Not only that, but before, the wingers had to bear a lot of pressure to return to defense, and they often had to run back and forth between the front and the back, which made these wingers feel at a loss and exhausted."

"But now, their task is to be in the front court, without returning to defense. There are other players watching behind them. They only need to be responsible for the area they are in. This is very clear."

Bielsa's analysis is very clear and straightforward, and should be considered relatively pertinent.

Although he pointed out the problems of the Guoan team before, people who are familiar with Guoan know that this is not necessarily a problem with head coach Manzano, but also largely comes from the shortcomings in the team's lineup.

For example, two full-backs.

Now that high-level foreign players have been introduced and the shortcomings of the lineup have been strengthened, Pochettino must have better cards in his hand than Manzano, so the lineup arrangement will be more easy.

But at this time, Yang Huan had a doubt.

"Old Bei, do you think Chen Zhizhao can really do it?" Yang Huan asked with concern.

If this is really activated, Chen Zhizhao will definitely be a national team player. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the strongest in the country.

Bielsa looked at Master Huan and shook his head. "I'll do my best."

Yang Huan nodded, indeed no one was sure.

Even as a head coach, who dares to say that he can definitely make good use of a certain player?

"Mauricio is very concerned about him, whether in training or in daily life. I hope he can perform well."

Bielsa was obviously unsure.

At least from the warm-up matches and the games till now, he seems to be lukewarm.

If we follow Bielsa's plan and give him a little more time, it would only be a few games at most. If he still can't produce results, then he will have to make a substitution.

After all, professional football is a cruel arena of life and death, not a warm and affectionate training camp.

Therefore, when it comes to shaping players, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate!