Chapter 456 Big Guys Must Have Big Wisdom

When Yang Huan returned to the chairman's stand of Yongming Stadium from the stands where the Saints fan club was located, the game was about to begin.

Led by their head coaches, both teams walked out of the player tunnel one after another.

Barcelona sent out all its main players in this game. The new head coach Vilanova inherited the tactical framework of the Guardiola era, and there were not many major changes overall.

Alexander Song and left-back Alba, who were introduced in the summer transfer market this year, are both signings to strengthen the position.

In this game, Barcelona's starting lineup was goalkeeper Valdes, the back line was Alba, Pique, Puyol and Alves, and the midfield was the iron triangle combination of Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi.

The front attacking combination is Villa, Messi and Sanchez.

Southampton also fielded all their main players.

The goalkeeper is Neuer, the defense is Alaba, Javi Martinez, Varane and Azpilicueta, the three midfielders are Modric, Toni Kroos and Vidal, and the front trident is Neymar, Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale.

When the players of the two teams lined up in their respective half of the court, Russell was quite surprised.

"Why is Gareth Bale still playing on the right?" asked the Barcelona chairman in surprise.

When Gareth Bale was at Tottenham Hotspur, he played as a left winger and became famous for his ability to break through the left side of Inter Milan's world-class right back Maicon in the Champions League.

But after coming to Southampton, Bielsa placed Gareth Bale on the right.

Judging from the results of the previous warm-up matches, Gareth Bale's performance on the right was not ideal.

"The player is used to playing on the left, but as a left-footed player, it is more advantageous to play as a right winger, and this will make Bale more comprehensive," Yang explained with a smile.

After listening to this, Russell also nodded.

Winger's reverse foot is a common phenomenon in European professional football nowadays.

Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid who came specially to attend the International Champions Cup final, was filled with envy and jealousy when he saw Modric wearing a Southampton jersey and appearing in the midfield area.

Modric is definitely a top controlling midfielder in the Premier League and is very comprehensive.

Judging from the past few warm-up matches, he is slowly building a tacit understanding with his teammates.

On the contrary, Real Madrid missed Modric and Stroman, and its midfield is still in the process of adjustment.

This also led to Real Madrid's poor performance in the International Champions Cup and was eliminated early.

"Is it okay to use Modric and Toni Kroos in the midfield? Wouldn't it be too thin?"

Yang Huan smiled and said nothing, but Bielsa's words came to his mind.

Some people in the team were worried about this at the beginning, thinking that Modric and Toni Kroos were both technical players. Although there was Vidal in the midfield, his position was obviously further forward. In this case, how to ensure Southampton's midfield defense?

You know, the Premier League is famous for its fast-paced style of play, and its impact is too strong. Once the midfield is not strong enough, it will be easily defeated by the opponent. How can the game continue then?

But Bielsa gave a very positive attitude. He believed that the defense in modern football has undergone tremendous changes compared to the past.

Take Barcelona's midfield for example, is the combination of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta strong enough?

It is obviously soft, or even a soft persimmon.

But how about Barcelona's defense?

I believe that all opponents who have played against Barcelona will give a thumbs up.

So how do they do it?

The orderliness and integrity of defense

To put it simply, it means relying on the numerical advantage in a local area to compress the opponent's players' space for movement.

In the fight, the emphasis is not on physical confrontation, but more on blocking the opponent's passing route to complete the defense.

This kind of orderly and integrated defense is much more effective than individual combat in the past.

Not only that, the advantage of having technical midfielders with balanced offense and defense is that they play with their brains and know how to use awareness and prediction to achieve defensive effects.

After the team steals the ball, the technical midfielder's advantages in game awareness and ability to read the game can ensure that the team completes the transition from offense to defense in the shortest time, maximizes the counterattack effect, and even scores a goal.

These are all things that traditional physical midfielders do not have, even top midfielders such as Vieira and Roy Keane.

But this tactic also places particularly high demands on midfielders.

The first point is tactical execution, which requires the ability to understand and implement the head coach's tactical intentions.

And also to be able to run

Running is extremely important for modern football, especially purposeful and targeted running.

It can even be said that the players' running is equivalent to the vitality of a team.

Of course, the combination of Modric and Toni Kroos is also an experiment.

If all else fails, Southampton still has Matic.

The Serbian defensive midfielder is definitely a rare gem among the many top defensive midfielders in today's football world.

Just like Yaya Toure, he is also a rare talent among midfielders

It's just that the tactical roles of the two are different.

Yang Huan didn't say anything, and Florentino and the others didn't know what to say either. They could only watch the game quietly.

At the beginning of the game, Southampton still insisted on playing offensive football.

Bielsa's team pressed forward from the first minute of the game, keeping the three lines very compact.

This game was the first time that Ibrahimovic met his old club after leaving Barcelona, ​​so the Swedish center seemed very excited, especially when he saw that the person defending him was Gerard Pique, he couldn't help but laugh coldly.

This big mouth once humiliated himself and Southampton on Twitter and WeChat

Gerard Pique looked at Ibrahimovic, feeling somewhat nervous and not daring to be careless at all.

Seeing Ibrahimovic sneering at him again, he couldn't help feeling a little scared.

"why are you laughing?"

Ibrahimovic pointed to the sky, and the mockery in his sneer became even stronger.

Pique raised his head and looked at the night sky, which was dotted with stars. He was a little puzzled. What did it mean?

"Remember to raise your head and see what Southampton from the stars is all about."

Pique was stunned. What does that mean?

Southampton from the stars?

But soon, he remembered that this was what he said when he humiliated Southampton two years ago.

Damn Swedes, they still remember

"Hey, Gerard, pay attention, they're coming!"

Puyol, who was not far away, saw that Pique was a little distracted and immediately shouted a reminder.

Pique looked up and saw the ball being passed back and forth between two Southampton midfielders and had already crossed the half court.

"Damn it, don't try to trick me into losing my concentration"

"I won't use those little tricks to deal with you," the Swede laughed disdainfully.

Pique couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

Damn you, I know you are the world's top center, but are you as arrogant as you?

Do you really think I'm dead?

"Wait, when I score a goal over your head, don't cry"

Pique is really angry, he wants to score a goal over my head?

Just you? Are you worthy?

"Gerard, don't talk to him, he is deliberately distracting you," Puyol shouted again.

Ibrahimovic laughed and looked at Puyol, "Watch your head, shorty"

Wow, this is a personal attack.

What Puyol hates most in his life is people making fun of his height

The reason is simple, his biggest scar is his height.

He had fantasized countless times that if he were a little taller, he would definitely be the best and most perfect central defender in the world.

But, God played a joke on him and gave him a height of less than 1.8 meters. It was so tragic.

Therefore, every time he saw a tall and strong center forward, he would feel envious and jealous, especially towards Ibrahimovic, who almost had the perfect physique of a center forward. Such envy and jealousy were simply beyond words.

Now, someone actually called me a shorty in front of me?

Too much

It's really unbearable for uncles

"You're dead, Ibrahimovic" Puyol immediately got angry.

Ibrahimovic still had that sneering expression on his face, as if he didn't take Puyol and Pique seriously at all, which made the two of them even more annoyed.

Suddenly, Modric dribbled the ball forward from the midfield, attracted Busquets' attention, and passed it to Neymar who cut in quickly from the left. The latter stopped and rubbed the ball with his right foot.

Then I saw a lob ball, which drew an arc and landed behind Pique.

The ball came very suddenly. Pique adjusted his position in a panic and jumped hastily, but the ball just brushed past his head.

It leaked

All the fans in the stadium were in uproar

Ibrahimovic suddenly started and passed by Pique.

By the time Pique landed and turned around, Ibrahimovic had already stopped the ball in front of the penalty area and could not catch up.

Puyol is relatively small, but very agile, and he was keeping an eye on Ibrahimovic, so he caught up.

But, what's the use?

As soon as the Swede stopped the ball, his tall and strong body rushed over.

This simple and rough action almost made Puyol cry.

You bastard, are you bullying me because I’m not as tall or as big as you?

Puyol is small and agile, and he knows that a head-on confrontation would be a disadvantage.

But the problem is, now they are actively bullying us, and if we don’t take it, we will lose our defensive position.

He felt a huge force like a mountain pressing down on his head. Puyol used almost all his strength to resist, but he almost couldn't hold on.

He also didn't expect that after not seeing him for two years, this 30-year-old Swede was still in such good physical condition.

It's horrible.

But soon, Puyol felt the force ease, which made him feel relieved.

But he immediately realized something was wrong.

Sure enough, when he reacted, he saw that Ibrahimovic had suppressed Puyol with his long legs, and he dribbled the ball skillfully, creating an open space, and kicked the ball directly under Puyol's nose.

All the fans in the stadium cheered

Too strong

Simple, crude, direct, but enjoyable

The ball hit the goal guarded by Valdes like a cannonball.

The Barcelona goalkeeper tensed up, his eyes fixed on the ball that was moving very fast and whose direction was a little unpredictable.

At the critical moment, he made a judgment, moved his body quickly, and made an upward lifting motion with both hands.

"Wow!"

"Within a minute of the game, Ibrahimovic fired a long shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Valdés couldn't catch the ball and was forced to tip it over the crossbar."

"What a pity, Ibrahimovic's shot was too powerful"

"Neymar's long-distance pass was also very beautiful"

"Southampton gave Barcelona a warning at the start of the game"

"It seems that the scene predicted by many fans before the game, that Barcelona would beat Southampton, will not happen. Southampton used the threat created in the first attack after the opening to tell Barcelona a lesson."

"We at Southampton are not pushovers"

After completing a high-quality long-range shot, Ibrahimovic couldn't help but curl his lips when he saw that it didn't go in, and he also made a face at Puyol and Pique who was chasing him from behind.

"Our boss, Master Huan, said that big guys need big wisdom. Take your time. We still have plenty of time."

Puyol and Pique looked at each other and both wanted to cry