Star Coach - Chapter 505 The battle of wits begins
Champions League champion West Ham easily defeated AFC Champions League Guangzhou Hengda and took the lead in advancing to the final.
On the other side, South American champion Corinthians defeated African Champions League champion Al Ahli with an affordable score of 1:0. Al Ahli is a team in the Egyptian Super League. They will compete with Guangzhou Evergrande for third place.
The 2012 title battle was between West Ham and Corinthians.
Corinthians is a famous Brazilian giant. Ronaldo and others are from Corinthians. They are the champions of the South American Copa Libertadores. Like the champions of the European Champions League, they start from the semi-finals.
In the eyes of many fans, Corinthians is a fairly “European” team that emphasizes tactics and accelerating the pace of the game. When West Ham was preparing for the game, Zidane made suggestions to Jiangshan.
He hopes that the team will be arranged according to Corinthians’ characteristics. He believes that in this game, Corinthians may increase their attack speed, strive for goals, and then defend the entire game.
If Corinthians enter a full-line situation, it will be difficult for West Ham to tear apart their defense.
The Club World Cup final is also a game that determines the outcome. The team’s on-the-spot performance is very important. If you are not careful, you will miss the championship.
Although the Champions League champions have basically won the Club World Cup in recent years, the South American champions have also had a strong impact on the Champions League champions. The last South American team to win the Club World Cup was Brazil’s Sao Paulo.
Corinthians have also won the Club World Cup. That was in 2000, the first year of the Club World Cup trial, and they won the opening championship.
Jiang Shan listened to Zidane’s suggestion with a calm expression, “You mean, Corinthians’ No. 10 player Douglas will start? Will he pose a threat to us?”
Zidane nodded, “Douglas is the core organizer of Corinthians and will definitely start. His role is difficult to replace in the Corinthians team.”
“If Tite follows your plan, they may be relatively conservative in tactics, but Douglas is a more out-of-the-box player and is incompatible with their tactics. This is a final, not an ordinary game.” Jiang Shan raised his own question.
Constantly asking questions and guiding assistants to solve problems is one of the ways Jiangshan trains assistant coaches. Only by letting them use their brains and assume the position of the head coach or even the opponent’s head coach can they generate new ideas and sparks of thought.
The head coach of Corinthians is veteran coach Tite, who was the head coach of the Brazilian national team in the 2018 World Cup. His tactics are quite practical, but his most powerful ability is to twist the players into a rope.
He will protect every player like a child. Even though Neymar fell and everyone in the world was laughing at him, he still protected Neymar and said he was a kind person.
Although kindness has little to do with falling and rolling, Neymar was still moved to tears and cried on him. Such a coach will definitely arrange for players with more tactical execution ability to play in key games.
Especially when facing the Champions League champions, they must make the best use of every offensive opportunity. Jiangshan believes that Tite will not let Douglas start.
“This…” Zidane was a bit confused. He did not delve into the relationship between players and the tactical system. Players can adapt to any system!
Of course, Zidane can adapt to any system, or even bring his own system, but ordinary players can’t do that. The biggest advantage of Zidane as head coach is that the players dare not doubt his technical ideas, let alone say to him: “You can do it!”
Well, it prevents players from answering questions incorrectly and playing tricks on the exiles from the source.
Jiang Shan patted Zidane on the shoulder, “Corinthians will slow down the pace of the game. They will choose to defend and counterattack. This is their best way of fighting.”
“Moreover, Douglas will not start. His replacement should be Enrique. This player has stronger tactical awareness and his defensive ability is stronger than Douglas. He will start.”
Zidane stared at Jiangshan. He really couldn’t find any point to refute. It seemed that Jiangshan had really seen through Tite’s thoughts.
If Tite wants to win, the best way is really to defend and counterattack, and the tactical position is very important. A slight stagger is West Ham’s opportunity. They must lock every link and not give West Ham enough opportunities.
During training, Jiangshan also instilled this concept into the players. The main training method is for the frontcourt players to run in and out, speed up the offensive rhythm, and pass the ball to threaten the ball.
Taking risks is the key to West Ham’s success.
The preparation time is fast, the game is coming soon. The battle for West Ham’s last championship this year is about to begin.
As long as they win the Club World Cup, West Ham will become an unprecedented seven-time champion, and they will also become a Grand Slam champion.
All the championships that can be won are obtained. The league, cup and UEFA Champions League, plus the European Super Cup and Club World Cup, all the championships a club can win will be gathered together.
Jiang Shan took the initiative to shake hands with coach Tite, “I like your tactical qualities and hope to compete with you in Europe.”
Tite smiled and said, “I also have this idea. You are the greatest head coach of this era, but I am too old. Maybe in the near future, I will lead a national team. I hope to meet you!”
“I have no plans to lead the national team yet, so let’s leave no regrets in today’s game.”
“We will try our best to win the championship and will not let you have your wish.” Tite smiled confidently, “Seven-time champion, such a title is really exciting.”
As expected by Jiangshan, Corinthians’ personnel arrangement is similar to what West Ham had imagined during training. When Zidane saw the starting lineup of Corinthians, he was completely silent, “How many Tites are there between me and Jiangshan?”
Douglas did not start, and Enrique replaced him.
In the goalkeeper position, Cassio is the best choice. In the back line, Corinthians captain Alessandro, partnered with Chicao, Andre and Santos.
The double defensive midfielders are Paulinho and Ralph. In the forward line, Enrique partnered with Danilo and Emerson.
In the forward position, Bayern’s old player Guerrero started. Martinez sat on the bench waiting for his chance.
West Ham also had elites.
Goalkeeper De Gea, the back line is basically the main lineup, Baines, Varane, Hummels and Glen Johnson.
Varane’s passing ability is better than Cahill, so if he starts, Corinthians will defend and the defenders will press forward with the ball, which will become West Ham’s regular offensive means, so the combination of Varane and Hummels is more suitable.
In the defensive midfielder position, Kroos and Modric will play together. On the forward line, Reus, Shinji Kagawa and David Silva, Lewandowski are at the front.
Shinji Kagawa started the game, not because he is a Japanese and wants to please the fans, but because the three players in the frontcourt have the ability to organize attacks and score goals, which will make Corinthians’ defense more difficult.
Eriksen can also start, but his tactical quality is not as good as Shinji Kagawa at present. He is a bit jumpy. Like Douglas, he failed to grab the opportunity to start.
