Chapter 497 There's hope!

"Newcastle is indeed not a pushover either"

Stephen Howard, chief reporter of The Sun, sat in the stands of St. Mary's Stadium and sighed with regret.

The area they were in was the media zone, surrounded by journalists from all over the world, most of whom were British journalists, including reporters from authoritative newspapers such as The Times and The Guardian.

Sitting next to Stephen Howard was Charlene Lahiri, who is known as the most beautiful woman in the British media industry.

Charlene Lahri watched the game with a frown on her brows, her right index finger resting on her lips, which was quite charming.

After listening to Stephen Howard's words, she smiled faintly.

"How can a team that ranks at the top of the league not have some ability?"

"I heard before that Alan Pardew and Demba Ba don't get along, but Demba Ba still started in this game, so it seems there shouldn't be any problem," another Guardian reporter analyzed.

Stephen Howard shook his head after hearing this. "It's not that simple. There must be something wrong. Didn't Alan Pardew say before that someone had the wheels of his Ferrari removed, and he suspected it was one of his own people?"

Many people around nodded after hearing this.

This matter was first disclosed by The Sun. Could it be that they have exclusive news?

"After our investigation, the biggest suspect is Demba Ba"

When everyone heard what he said, they suddenly understood.

If this is true, how could there be no conflicts between the two?

"Newcastle's tactics, in the final analysis, are nothing worth talking about. They are just a variation of the typical English 4-4-2 formation, and the changes are mainly focused on the two forwards, Demba Ba and Cisse."

"The former is physically strong and acts as the spearhead, while the latter is agile and slightly behind, forming a layered attack on both flanks. On the right is Ben Alfa, who stands forward and cuts in from the right when he gets the ball, forming a trident with the two forwards."

"Gutierrez moved further back on the left and played as a winger, forming a three-man midfield with Cabaye and Tiote."

When Stephen Howard said this, everyone immediately understood the situation clearly.

After all, he is the chief football reporter of The Sun, and his analysis of the game is very insightful.

"Alan Pardew is a very crude tactical coach, he only cares about the big picture, not the details"

Charlene Lahiri clearly agrees with what Stephen Howard said.

"If we look at Newcastle's squad, we will find that one of the most important reasons for the Magpies' rapid progress last season was the outstanding performance of two French players, Ben Arfa on the right and Cabaye in the middle. They are the most creative players in Newcastle."

"That's right," Stephen Howard nodded in approval.

"Ben Arfa is not the team's offensive core at all. His biggest role on the right side of the front court is to use his personal ability to attract the opponent's defense and create gaps for teammates in the middle, especially Kabaye."

When he said this, Stephen Howard himself felt strange.

"Logically speaking, with Bielsa's character and ability, there is no reason why he couldn't see this."

Charlene Lahiri couldn't help but smile when she heard this. "It's like a polite gentleman encountering a scoundrel who is being unreasonable. The gentleman wants to play by the rules, but the scoundrel doesn't care and starts beating him up. What can you do?"

Stephen Howard and everyone around him couldn't help but laugh.

Alan Pardew's team has never been known for its creativity and attacking style. On the contrary, his team advocates the simple, rough and direct traditional English style of play, and the offensive routines are also very rough.

"In fact, it would be unfair to say that Alan Pardew has not changed in this game."

Stephen Howard pointed to the court, and at that moment Demba Ba retreated to defend and tripped Toni Kroos. The referee blew the whistle for the foul at the right time, but did not give a card.

"Charlene, did you notice that Demba Ba and Cisse retreated and almost gave up on marking the two central defenders of Southampton. They focused more on coordinating with the midfield and pressing the two midfielders of Southampton, Toni Kroos and Modric?"

Charlene Lahri nodded. "He wanted to restrict the two midfielders from passing the ball, thereby limiting Southampton's attack and forcing Southampton to use more long passes."

"Yes," Stephen Howard felt that this was the truth.

"Actually, Alan Pardew is very smart. Newcastle has no chance of winning if they compete for ball possession, so he simply gives up possession and directly suppresses your double defensive midfielders, reducing your effective forward ball routes as much as possible."

After a pause, Stephen Howard smiled confidently, "I am sure this must be the point that Alan Pardew emphasized the most in this game's tactics, and it is also the most important task."

"Bielsa's starting lineup also has some problems. After Vidal was injured, he clearly had players like James Rodriguez, Isco, and even Koke, but he didn't use them. He chose the young player Pogba instead. He was too careless."

"In the frontcourt, Ibrahimovic plays as a center forward and Hazard plays on the left, which is fine. Gareth Bale did not play on the right, but the young player Ravel Morrison started, which is a bit problematic."

"Newcastle's tactics are to attack from the right and defend from the left, so Southampton's right attack is very important. However, this is the first time that Ravel Morrison and Danilo have combined on the right this season. No one knows how effective it will be, but why not use Gareth Bale?"

The Welshman has performed quite well in Southampton this season, especially after switching to the right. He has performed more comprehensively than in Tottenham Hotspur, and his momentum of improvement is greater and stronger.

"Maybe it's because of the fifth round of the Europa League group stage match against Russia's Anzhi in the middle of the week."

That was all Charlene Lahri could come up with for Southampton.

Southampton played quite well in the Europa League group stage, with three wins and one loss in the first four rounds, and the same points as Russia's Anzhi.

But the Swiss Young Boys team, which ranks third in the group, is also currently coveting the right to qualify for the group, and the gap is not obvious.

Therefore, Southampton must win this match against Anzhi in Russia.

"That's the only explanation," Stephen Howard accepted helplessly.

Otherwise, it is hard to imagine why Bielsa would leave out a player like Gareth Bale and choose Ravel Morrison as the starter. This is totally unreasonable.

But if it is a rotation, then it is understandable.

After all, Southampton is now fighting on multiple fronts.

"Ten minutes."

Martin Hunt walked out of the home team's coaching bench and came to the sidelines, where he squatted next to Bielsa who was already squatting on the sidelines.

Bielsa looked at Martin Hunt, who had played alongside him for two seasons but whose game would be his last for Southampton's first team.

After the game, he will go to St. George's Training Center to take charge of England's Glorious Revolution plan.

"We now have possession of the ball but have not been able to form a threatening attack..."

Bielsa didn't wait for him to finish and replied directly, "Neither do the opponents."

Martin Hunt was speechless.

Newcastle does not have a very effective offensive strategy, but this is different from Southampton's poor attack, okay?

If we want to win this game, we must adjust the team's offense.

But Bielsa didn't seem to pay attention to Martin Hunt's thoughts, but just muttered to himself.

"Alan Pardew had the two strikers drop so deep, which put pressure on our double defensive midfielders but freed up our centre-backs, at the same time sacrificing their attacking play."

Newcastle's formation is still a fairly traditional English 4-4-2 tactic, but the positions and functions of the players have changed slightly, which means that Newcastle's tactics are still to cross the ball from the wing.

So, this is the reason why Cisse performed so well last season and Demba Ba shines this season.

But when these two forwards appear on the court at the same time, problems arise.

"It's not easy to suppress our midfield, and they will have to pay a price."

Bielsa's nonsensical words suddenly made Martin Hunt's eyes light up.

Yes, Southampton is famous for its strong midfield.

In order to suppress the Saints' midfield, Newcastle has now deployed Tiote, Cabaye and Gutierrez, and the two forwards have to retreat.

In other words, with three midfielders holding back five opposing players, how can Newcastle pose a threat?

"Then I'll go and remind them," Martin Hunt stood up.

But Bielsa suddenly stopped him and said, "No need"

"No?" Martin Hunter was surprised. "Why not?"

Bielsa shook his head and smiled. "As I said before, the coach can only give instructions off the pitch, but the situation on the pitch changes rapidly, and the players have to learn how to adjust their tactical responsibilities according to the situation on the pitch."

"I hope my players can learn to be their own head coaches and learn to read and analyze the game situation."

At this point, Bielsa's eyes flashed with confidence, "I believe they will find out soon"

As Bielsa said, if my players were not human, I would be unbeatable.

This does not mean that players should become robots, mechanically and blindly carrying out the tasks assigned by the head coach.

Instead, it emphasizes one point, that is, the players' execution and physical

In fact, in Bielsa's tactical system, flashes of inspiration and creativity are quite important.

However, these are all based on integrating into the team as a whole and serving the team as a whole.

"I understand" Martin Hunt suddenly realized again.

Yes, it is too easy to resolve Newcastle's tactics.

Wouldn't it be enough if Javi Martinez and Varanedo just held the ball and took on the organizational responsibilities?

This season, Gary Cahill gradually lost Bielsa's trust and instead vigorously supported young players such as Varane, Nastasic and Laporte. Isn't it just to improve the defense's ability to get the ball and organize?

As long as the central defender can hold the ball, Newcastle will be in trouble.

Especially Demba Ba and Cisse.

Should he mark Toni Kroos and Modric who didn't have the ball, or should he mark the two Saints central defenders who were responsible for organizing the ball but were not within the team's tactical scope?

They will become headless flies

As long as they are in chaos, Newcastle's entire targeted defensive system will also be in chaos.

Martin Hunt suddenly discovered that everything that happened in this game seemed to be under the control of this slightly fat Argentine. It seemed that he had taken all of these things into consideration before the game.

Lavelle Morrison and Pogba were brought on, and even the team's coaching staff had some opinions.

But from now on, it seems that Bielsa doesn't take Newcastle seriously at all, so he dares to be so arrogant.

Fortunately, Alan Pardew made such exaggerated statements before the game that it seemed as if he had already secured victory.

Little did he know that his little tricks were not worth mentioning in Bielsa's eyes.

The reason why Bielsa is not trying to break the deadlock now is to train his players. He is guiding his players to try to read and analyze the game more.

Thinking of this, Martin Hunt couldn't help but raise his head and look towards the Southampton goal, and immediately captured a gratifying scene.

It turned out that Neuer was waving at Javi Martinez and Varane, asking them to come over.

There's a play