Chapter 533 Chief Designer

When the players in the frontcourt pressed forward and the whole team adopted high pressing, Toni Kroos appeared in Arsenal's half.

He has been playing as a defensive midfielder for more than a season and has played dozens of games.

In the past dozens of games, he has been constantly summarizing his experiences and lessons learned, while also working hard to make up for his shortcomings.

For example, his slower playing style has changed a lot in the past year or so.

Now his style of play is much more concise.

But this simplicity is the progress he has made while maintaining his own characteristics!

The team signed Modric after entering the Premier League this season. After a period of adjustment at the beginning of the season, he found that he and Modric were getting more and more in sync, and he also learned a lot from the Croatian.

But, Modric is Modric and Toni Kroos is Toni Kroos.

He will never be Modric, and the same is true in reverse!

As Southampton has won consecutive victories in the Premier League this season, the double defensive midfielder formation of Toni Kroos and Modric has become the focus of attention of countless fans and a hot topic.

There are even people arguing on the Internet about who is the core and who is the deputy between Toni Kroos and Modric. Little do they know that both of them are the hubs of the team's offensive and defensive transitions, and there is no distinction between core and deputy at all.

Since there are two people, there must be some division of labor and cooperation.

Although Toni Kroos' defense has improved a lot compared to when he was in the Bundesliga, he still cannot stand on his own, so he needs cooperation from his teammates, but Modric does not need that, so in this regard, the Croatian is very eye-catching.

Modric is more familiar with the Premier League. His running and defensive abilities, as well as his ability to break away from the defense and dribble the ball, all play a key role on both offense and defense, so Bielsa gives Modric more room to play tactically.

Therefore, we can often see Modric dribbling the ball to the front court, helping the team to open up the offensive situation, and even passing a threatening ball. Immediately afterwards, he is seen retreating to his own defense line to participate in the defense.

Modric is also better at dealing with the onslaught of Premier League players.

These are Modric's advantages!

But what about Toni Kroos?

When Modric receives and dribbles the ball in front, Toni Kroos needs to act as a receiving point behind the Croatian. Once the attack in front is weak, Toni Kroos will be the first person considered by his teammates in the frontcourt to pass the ball back.

When the Croatians retreat to the defense line to participate in the defense, Kroos needs to stand in front of the defense line, connecting the defense line and the midfield, and act as a defensive midfielder to protect the defense line. At the same time, he is also the first point of passing that everyone considers after the team grabs the ball.

The tactical role means that Toni Kroos cannot be as free and eye-catching as Modric.

Does that mean that Toni Kroos is not as good as Modric?

Wrong!

It’s just a different division of labor!

Many people don’t know that every cooperation on the football field is carefully designed.

And Toni Kroos is the chief designer of Southampton!

When he feels that the team's pace needs to slow down, he will use gestures and passing the ball back and forth to tell his teammates that they need to slow down the pace.

Because even if the ball is passed forward, it would probably be difficult to create a threat.

Therefore, at this time, the team's teammates in the frontcourt will actively retreat to support, including the front trident.

But as long as he finds a weak spot in the opponent's defense, he will take the initiative to push his position forward.

At this time, every pass he makes represents the team's offensive direction.

Giving the ball to David Alaba on the left means that the team will launch a fierce attack on the left.

To the right, it means the team will attack from the right.

Giving it to Modric, Vidal, or even directly to Ibrahimovic and Drogba, all represent the team's offensive direction.

These are the tactical roles of Toni Kroos!

Of course, it is not absolute.

Modric himself also has an excellent overall view and passing ability, so with him on the court, Toni Kroos is much more relaxed and appears to be more at ease on both offense and defense.

But in the game against Arsenal, Bielsa made a rotation, replacing Modric with James Rodriguez.

Not only that, Southampton adopted a targeted tactic, with James Rodriguez positioned very forward, cruising behind Drogba, while also restraining Arsenal's deep-lying organizer Arteta.

The starting left winger Hazard's position is actually behind James Rodriguez, while Gareth Bale, who plays on the right winger position, is more likely to take the route of a reverse winger cutting in from the right.

In the midfield, without his good partner Modric, he was replaced by Vidal who went straight up and down.

As for Vidal, he is better than Modric in running ability, defensive ability, and even attacking ability from behind.

But the only aspect that Vidal is not as good as Modric is in terms of organization, reception and passing.

This makes Toni Kroos bear a heavy task and great pressure in the midfield!

Once Vidal presses forward, Toni Kroos will become the lone defensive midfielder!

How could the Germans, who are not very good at defending, not be under much pressure?

Fortunately, whether it was Hazard, James Rodriguez, Vidal, Drogba or Gareth Bale, they were all actively involved in pressing and oppressing, reducing the defensive pressure on Toni Kroos.

From the opening stage, Southampton pressed forward and posed a huge threat to Arsenal.

In particular, the pressure from James Rodriguez and Drogba in the middle of the frontcourt caused great trouble for Arsenal's two central defenders and deep midfielder Arteta.

Toni Kroos was at the back, and when he saw that Arsenal's left-back Vermaelen had problems under Southampton's strong pressure at the start of the game, he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart, the opportunity had come!

So, after receiving the ball from his teammate, he seized the opportunity and made a diagonal pass to the right.

After Gareth Bale used his body to hold off Vermaelen on the right, he faced Toni Kroos' pass, paused with his chest, pushed the ball to Vidal with his left foot, and turned around and rushed forward quickly.

Vidal also understood what he meant and passed the ball immediately.

The ball passed Vermaelen and landed in front of Gareth Bale, who sprinted to catch it.

After receiving the ball, Gareth Bale dribbled diagonally into the penalty area.

Arsenal's defense has also returned to the penalty area. Mertesacker followed Drogba as if he was facing a formidable enemy, while Koscielny stood on the penalty area line, defending Gareth Bale and blocking the Welshman's route to cut inside.

Everyone knows that once this left-footed player cuts inside into shooting range, his left-footed shot can be quite threatening!

Gareth Bale has scored a lot of goals like this so far this season!

Seeing that he had no chance, the Welshman had no choice but to pretend to force a breakthrough, but in fact he passed the ball to Vidal who was following behind him, and rushed into the penalty area to grab the goal.

After receiving the ball, Vidal avoided Vermaelen and passed the ball diagonally to the right.

The starting right back Danilo in this game was very fast. He followed the Brazilian who was rushing down the right side, caught up with Vidal's pass, and went down to the bottom line.

There was a sudden sense of urgency in the restricted area!

Whether it is Drogba or Gareth Bale, they are both very threatening scoring points!

Danilo just glanced at the penalty area and saw James Rodriguez raising his hand outside the penalty area.

Arsenal made a mistake and there was no one defending the front of the penalty area!

Now there's something interesting going on!

Then, there was a bang, and Danilo made a low cross. The ball did not go to Drogba and Gareth Bale as the Arsenal players expected, but instead fell to the front of the penalty area.

Then James Rodriguez quickly followed up and volleyed the ball with his left foot!

Danilo's pass was very good, and James Rodriguez's volley was also very beautiful!

The ball drew a strange arc, bypassed the crowd in the penalty area, and went straight into the upper left corner of Arsenal's goal. Szczesny was out of reach!

As the commentator announced the goal, more than 30,000 Saints fans in St. Mary's Stadium rushed out of their seats frantically, cheering and shouting James Rodriguez's name!

"Within eight minutes of the game, Southampton used excellent high-pressure defense to force Arsenal to make a mistake and scored a goal, making a dream start!"

"One to zero, the goal came from James Rodriguez!"

After the Colombian players scored a goal, they excitedly rushed out of the stadium and waved to the fans in the stands.

Behind him, Southampton players also rushed forward one after another.

So beautiful, isn’t it?

Such a volley and such a goal can be called a world-class goal!

Even comparable to Zidane's celestial being, isn't it?

While the entire stadium was boiling with excitement, Yang Huan in the chairman's stand also stood up from his seat excitedly and clapped loudly. Such a world-class goal was really awesome!

"James Rodriguez is indeed quite outstanding. I heard that he is only 21 years old!" David Bernstein also praised with a smile.

Southampton's young team is the most beautiful scenery in the Premier League this season.

Not only James Rodriguez, but also Pogba, Ravel Morrison, Hazard, Neymar, Sturridge and other players have all had quite good performances.

"He scored this world wave, he will definitely become famous after the game!"

"Who says it's not? This goal is indeed brilliant. It's definitely the best goal of this round!"

"The feel of the ball is so good, that kind of ball is hard to control!"

"Yeah, that's why we say he's so talented!"

Martin Hunt was also very pleased with James Rodriguez's goal, but he saw more progress in another player, Toni Kroos.

"Master Huan, Toni Kroos has made obvious progress. The interception before the goal was caused by him blocking the passing line in the middle, forcing Arsenal to pass the ball to the wing. Southampton was able to intercept the ball, and once the ball was intercepted, he immediately made a long diagonal pass to plan an attack. It was quite good!"

Yang Huan also nodded with a smile, "Belsa is also very satisfied with his progress. He is a smart man with a strong learning ability. He has made obvious progress. He has finally got the hang of it this season!"

Martin Hunt also smiled and nodded.

Toni Kroos was brought in at a cost of 60 million pounds, and the team had high hopes for him. Bielsa also gave him special training.

Now it seems that he has indeed made obvious progress!

"Arsenal's chances in this game are in jeopardy!" David Bernstein shook his head and sighed.

The Gunners are not good at fighting against the odds. Now they are playing away and lost the ball soon after the start of the game. Now Wenger's team is in big trouble!

Yang Huan also smiled slightly.

Although he didn't say anything, his eyes were full of confidence!

At St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton is confident that they can defeat any opponent!