Chapter 66 Goal

When everyone sees Benatia, the most profound impression must be his eyes.

It always seems like he hasn't woken up yet.

But only those who have actually competed with him one-on-one on the court can personally experience the defensive ability of this central defender.

Since coming to Southampton, Benatia has always been favored and relied upon by Bielsa. His partner was first the veteran Jose Fonte and later the young player Varane, but Benatia's position remains unchanged.

Many fans are full of doubts about Southampton's winless streak in the new season and doubt the team's strength, but Benatia has never doubted it, because he, like all his teammates, is very clear about the team's strength.

So why can't Southampton play to this strength?

Benatia believes that it is still a problem of tactical adaptability.

Take his central defender position for example. Leaving aside the defensive support of the midfielders and the planning of the team's entire defensive system, let's just talk about one very insignificant detail, the positioning.

The running position of a defender is a technical job. Who do you partner with, where are your teammates, how to respond...

These are all problems!

And you have to know that once the defender is intercepted, he will have a one-on-one opportunity.

Southampton has conceded this kind of goal this season. Goalkeeper Kevin Davis passed the ball to Varane. As soon as the young French player stopped the ball, someone appeared behind him and it was too late for him to pass it again. He lost the ball and gave the opponent a one-on-one opportunity.

Whose problem is it?

Many fans and media blamed Varane, but Kevin Davis took the initiative to apologize in the locker room after the game.

It was just a positioning problem, but Southampton was in a lot of trouble.

What's more, football tactics are extremely complex, and positioning is only a small part of it.

When Kevin Davis was behind him, Benatia always felt uneasy, fearing that a situation that would catch him off guard might occur at any time.

But in this game, standing behind him was the goalkeeper of the German national team, Manuel Neuer.

With the German goalkeeper guarding the goal line, Benatia felt confident.

What made him even more confident was that as soon as the game started, Neuer shouted at the two central defenders in front of him.

"Don't hide in the penalty area. Play the way the coach tells you to play. Go up when you need to, hide when you need to. I'm behind you!"

What is momentum?

This is the momentum of a top player!

Benatia and Varane looked at each other, turned around and looked at Neuer, and nodded at the German goalkeeper.

…………

…………

Although the team won the serve, the ball was intercepted just as it was sent into Charlton's 30-meter area.

Charlton launched a counterattack, and midfielder Semedo got the ball and passed it to Bradley Wright-Phillips.

Benatia saw that Bradley Wright-Phillips was short, flexible, and fast, so he would not have enough space to get the ball. So he made a decision immediately, "I'm going up!"

the Moroccan shouted to his teammates in broken English.

Language barrier is another problem encountered by Southampton's international team.

As soon as Varane saw him going up, he moved to the middle, and Neuer stared ahead as if facing a great enemy.

Bradley Wright-Phillips had just gotten the ball when Benatia immediately moved closer.

The Moroccan was tall, like a dark cloud covering the sky, blocking Wright-Phillips. The surging momentum made Wright-Phillips' first reaction to turn around and protect the ball.

Trying to turn around, Benatia kicked the ball cleanly, but while intercepting the ball, he also tripped Wright-Phillips.

Charlton was given an indirect free kick from thirty meters away.

"Kill these damn Southamptons!"

"Come on, Charlton!"

"Goal! Goal! Goal!"

The Charlton fans in the stands suddenly cheered.

This is a free kick in the frontcourt, an opportunity to score!

In the chairman's stand, John Huntel stood up, clapped hard and cheered loudly.

"Good opportunity, let's go first and show them some power!"

The group of lackeys around him also followed suit and made a fuss.

It looked as if Charlton had already scored a goal.

"What's the big deal? Just a set piece, and you're so cocky? How petty!"

Yang Huan looked at this group of people making a fuss and felt annoyed no matter how he looked at them. It was such an embarrassment for a rich second generation.

However, it is not difficult to see that these guys have invested a lot of money in Yang Huan's gambling game.

If he loses, his face will definitely look extremely good.

At the bottom of the field, Charlton's head coach Phil Parkinson rushed out to direct the team and arrange how to attack with this free kick. Several tall players of the team also rushed into Southampton's penalty area.

With the referee's whistle, the ball kicked out and fell into the penalty area.

German goalkeeper Neuer, who was playing for Southampton for the first time, suddenly rushed out of the penalty area, jumped high, raised his hands above his head, and snatched the ball in mid-air before anyone else, landing in the penalty area like a god descending to earth.

"Come on, everyone!" Neuer pointed to the front, rushed forward quickly, and kicked the ball forward.

But the game had just begun, and Charlton was also nervously guarding against Southampton.

So, this fast break did not succeed.

But the ball was controlled by Southampton, and midfielder Adam Lallana passed the ball back seeing that there was no chance.

Varane stopped the ball on the defensive line, saw Carvajal on the right raising his hand for the ball, and directly kicked it to the side.

Carvajal stopped the ball on the right and quickly moved forward.

When he rushed into Charlton's half, he saw Chamberlain and Adam Lallana running one after the other, and immediately moved to the middle.

Adam Lallana faced the incoming ball and pushed it directly to Chamberlain.

The Southampton youngster rushed forward, but Adam Lallana's kick was not very good. When he stopped, it was a little too much, causing him to slow down and was caught up by the opponent's midfielder Semedo who successfully intercepted the ball.

As soon as Chamberlain was intercepted, he immediately fought back, fell to the ground and tackled, then intercepted the ball again.

Adam Lallana chased after him and kicked the ball directly to Carvajal on the right.

Fast and high-intensity pressing in the midfield and frontcourt is the biggest change for Southampton this season.

After four familiarization games and more than a month of training, they have adapted to Bielsa's tactical style and the requirements of the game.

As soon as Carvajal got the ball, he looked up at the penalty area.

Vidal has already rushed into the penalty area, and Neymar and Stroman who came in from the back have also followed to the front of the penalty area.

What about Ibrahimovic?

Carvajal wants to find the commanding heights in the frontcourt!

Back point!

The Swedish center is so conspicuous!

As soon as Carvajal saw Ibrahimovic, he swung his right foot and kicked a cross.

Phil Parkinson was on the sidelines, first paying attention to Southampton's counter-attack in the frontcourt. After seeing Carvajal steal the ball, his first reaction was to look towards the penalty area. He saw Ibrahimovic and the 31-year-old Spanish veteran Miguel Llera following on his right.

"Be careful, Ibrahimovic!" Parkinson shouted towards the field.

But as soon as he shouted, the Swedish center suddenly started moving in the penalty area.

What surprised Miguel Lelela was that the Swedish center was not shorter than him, but his flexibility was much better than his, especially when he started to move, he was directly thrown away.

By the time he reacted, Ibrahimovic had already rushed to the front of the small penalty area.

Goalkeeper Elliott quickly moved to the left and even fell to the ground in advance, trying to block Ibrahimovic's close shot.

But the Swedish center was too cunning. He noticed Elliot's move, swung his right foot, and cushioned the ball in mid-air.

The ball turned in a different direction, passed Elliot's left side, and went straight to the right side of the goal.

Harry, a Southampton fan in the stands, grabbed the guardrail excitedly, cheered and waved his arms.

The drum beats became more frequent, and the drummer beat with all his might.

More than 4,000 Southampton fans cheered wildly.

Ibrahimovic rushed out of the stadium with a calm look on his face, without even a hint of joy of scoring a goal.

Perhaps, for him, such a goal was too simple and too easy!

The entire Charlton defense line looked at the ball on the goal line in frustration. They still couldn't understand how the ball suddenly went in.

Are the world's top superstars really that strong?

In the stands, Yang Huan stood up from his seat excitedly after seeing Ibrahimovic score a goal.

"Well done, great goal, Zlatan!"

After saying that, Yang happily gave Zhang Ning beside him a tight and warm hug, making the beautiful girl's face blush, and then turned around to high-five Sun Yue and others to celebrate.

"1:0, we will definitely win this game!"

Unlike Yang Huan's excited celebration, at the moment Ibrahimovic scored, John Hunter felt as if his heart was cut by a knife. The burning pain made him almost unable to breathe.

Goal?

Southampton scored like this?

Less than three minutes into the game, Southampton scored a goal?

Is Charlton's defense made of paper?

Five hundred thousand pounds for a goal, no matter how rich John Huntel was, he felt like crying. He felt that what Charlton lost was not the ball, but his money, which was thrown directly into the Thames.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

John Huntel was so angry that he stood up and roared at the players on the field, "What the hell are you doing? How could Southampton score so easily? You are not worthy of being players, you are all fucking trash!"

He felt heartbroken, and so did the rich second-generations around him, as they also lost money.

"Yeah, what a bunch of trash. They lost the ball within three minutes of the start. They are even more trash than trash!"

"I've never seen such a coward. How did the defender mark the person? Didn't he see Ibrahimovic?"

"Damn it, did he take money from Southampton?"

Yang Huan, who was standing by, became unhappy when he heard this.

"Hey, we're familiar with each other, but if you keep talking nonsense, I'll sue you for defamation!"

Yang Huan pointed at the rich second generation and scolded them, "You have no ability, you lost the ball, who can you blame?"

John Hunter was furious, but when he heard Yang Huan's scolding, he calmed down instead. He kept telling himself in his heart that it was only three minutes, just three minutes, there was still plenty of time and opportunity.

"Don't be so arrogant. The game has just started. What's so great about you sneaking in and scoring a goal?"

After finally calming down, John Hunter forced himself to remain calm and immediately fought back.

"That's it, isn't it just a goal?"

"You were so lucky. You scored a goal. Do you think you're going to win?"

"When a blind cat meets a dead mouse, it's hard to say who will win or lose!"

Yang Huan had won the game now and was in a good mood, so he didn't bother with this group of people.

"Then we'll see."

John Hunter was also staring at the players on the field nervously. The game had started again, and Charlton was still very passive on the field and retreated across the board.

"God, even though I'm not very pious, you must help me. I can't lose this game. I absolutely can't lose!"

He knew very well that he did not have half a million pounds to lose.

Not to mention, looking at Southampton’s momentum now, I’m afraid they won’t be content with just scoring one goal!

While John Hunter was praying to his God, Neymar took the ball on the left side of the field, dribbled to the middle, and sought a one-two combination with Adam Lallana. After the English midfielder took the ball in front of the penalty area, he lobbed the ball to the left post.

Neymar went straight through the left post like a flash of lightning, and easily shot with his left foot in front of the goal, breaking Charlton's goal again.

2:0! Well done, Zlatan! "

After saying that, Yang happily gave Zhang Ning beside him a tight and warm hug, making the beautiful girl's face blush, and then turned around to high-five Sun Yue and others to celebrate.

"1:0, we will definitely win this game!"

Unlike Yang Huan's excited celebration, at the moment Ibrahimovic scored, John Hunter felt as if his heart was cut by a knife. The burning pain made him almost unable to breathe.

Goal?

Southampton scored like this?

Less than three minutes into the game, Southampton scored a goal?

Is Charlton's defense made of paper?

Five hundred thousand pounds for a goal, no matter how rich John Huntel was, he felt like crying. He felt that what Charlton lost was not the ball, but his money, which was thrown directly into the Thames.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

John Huntel was so angry that he stood up and roared at the players on the field, "What the hell are you doing? How could Southampton score so easily? You are not worthy of being players, you are all fucking trash!"

He felt heartbroken, and so did the rich second-generations around him, as they also lost money.

"Yeah, what a bunch of trash. They lost the ball within three minutes of the start. They are even more trash than trash!"

"I've never seen such a coward. How did the defender mark the person? Didn't he see Ibrahimovic?"

"Damn it, did he take money from Southampton?"

Yang Huan, who was standing by, became unhappy when he heard this.

"Hey, we're familiar with each other, but if you keep talking nonsense, I'll sue you for defamation!"

Yang Huan pointed at the rich second generation and scolded them, "You have no ability, you lost the ball, who can you blame?"

John Hunter was furious, but when he heard Yang Huan's scolding, he calmed down instead. He kept telling himself in his heart that it was only three minutes, just three minutes, there was still plenty of time and opportunity.

"Don't be so arrogant. The game has just started. What's so great about you sneaking in and scoring a goal?"

After finally calming down, John Hunter forced himself to remain calm and immediately fought back.

"That's it, isn't it just a goal?"

"You were so lucky. You scored a goal. Do you think you're going to win?"

"When a blind cat meets a dead mouse, it's hard to say who will win or lose!"

Yang Huan had won the game now and was in a good mood, so he didn't bother with this group of people.

"Then we'll see."

John Hunter was also staring at the players on the field nervously. The game had started again, and Charlton was still very passive on the field and retreated across the board.

"God, even though I'm not very pious, you must help me. I can't lose this game. I absolutely can't lose!"

He knew very well that he did not have half a million pounds to lose.

Not to mention, looking at Southampton’s momentum now, I’m afraid they won’t be content with just scoring one goal!

While John Hunter was praying to his God, Neymar took the ball on the left side of the field, dribbled to the middle, and sought a one-two combination with Adam Lallana. After the English midfielder took the ball in front of the penalty area, he lobbed the ball to the left post.

Neymar went straight through the left post like a flash of lightning, and easily shot with his left foot in front of the goal, breaking Charlton's goal again.

2:0!