Star Coach - Chapter 506: With or Without the Ball
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“Okay, audience friends, the finals of the Club World Cup are about to begin.” Zhan Jun’s voice echoed across the country, “Whether Jiangshan wins an unprecedented seven crowns, or whether Tite kills Jiangshan’s championship plan, let us wait and see.”
“Last season, West Ham won six championships, the most in football. If calculated on an annual basis, West Ham has won the English League Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League, English Community Shield and European Super Cup this year. ”
“If they win the Club World Cup today, they will win all the championship trophies they can get within one year. This is an unprecedented feat. Coach Jiangshan’s name will be engraved heavily in the history of football.”
“Okay, now that the game has begun, let’s take a look at the starting lineups of both sides…”
Zhan Jun’s voice was neither fast nor slow, and he knew the players’ situation quite well, making it easy to listen to. “Corinthians’ No. 10 player Douglas did not start, and his place was replaced by Enrique, who has a stronger defensive ability.”
“Coach Tite’s arrangement should be based on defensive issues. We know that Douglas’s personal ability is very strong, but his tactical execution ability is not as good as Enrique’s. If it is other games, he may start, but facing West Ham ”
After the opening, Corinthians took the initiative to shrink and take a defensive position. Guerrero was very fast and had good counterattack quality.
In less than 10 minutes, Corinthians created an opportunity in the counterattack. Guerrero shot but was saved by De Gea.
“West Ham’s defense is still not tight enough. They played a little relaxed.” Zhan Jun commented, “Corinthians’ counterattack just now came from Shinji Kagawa’s passing error. His physical fitness is still a little worse.”
At the corner kick, the Corinthians players grabbed the first point. Fortunately, Danilo’s shot from outside the penalty area was destroyed by Hummels. Otherwise, De Gea’s sight would be blocked and he might not be able to save the shot.
Cross grabbed the ball, turned around, got rid of the defense, and organized the attack.
Jiang Shan had no expression on his face and walked to the sidelines. The team was a little too relaxed. In a crucial game, a single mistake could be fatal.
“Cheer up, the midfielders and frontcourt players should not run too slowly, pick up the speed.” Jiang Shan roared on the sidelines.
He doesn’t like to roar, but there’s nothing he can do about it. The players must be awakened at this time. In the most critical game, the pressure on the players is huge, and the pressure on Jiangshan is equally huge. Unfortunately, they have only one way forward.
The pressure on Cross and Modric suddenly increased, and they began to emphasize controlling the ball. Cross moved to Modric’s feet, and the frontcourt players advanced layer by layer, and everyone was sharing the ball.
West Ham entered the state very quickly, and the frontcourt players ran more and more, creating scoring opportunities.
Royce cut inside and shot violently, but unfortunately he was held in the arms of Casio.
Corinthians suppressed the rhythm and did not launch a quick counterattack.
The ball was passed under the feet of their players, just like the passing team, they couldn’t find a chance. They would rather kick in the backcourt than allow West Ham to play fast.
“Oh my god, their tactical thinking is exactly what Jiangshan expected.” Zidane looked at Tite and then at Jiangshan, with cold sweat dripping down his back, “Can he still be such a head coach?”
Tite’s tactics are to counterattack. When the ball is under their feet, as long as there is no good counterattack space, they would rather fall back in the backcourt than attack rashly.
When an opportunity arose, the Corinthians player immediately passed a long pass to the frontcourt, and Enrique was rushing forward.
He broke through to the West Ham penalty area and passed a powerful cross. It was Guerrero again. He stepped on the right foot and shot without any adjustment.
Another long shot from outside the penalty area. The counterattack was completed within 8 seconds. The sudden change of rhythm made it difficult to defend.
Glen Johnson in the penalty area performed well, focused and steadily kicked the ball out of the penalty area, with Shinji Kagawa controlling the outside.
Faced with Ralph’s defense, Shinji Kagawa turned around with difficulty and passed the ball to David Silva.
Silva moved forward quickly and Lewandowski was on the road. He kicked the ball over Emerson’s head and landed at Lewandowski’s feet.
Unfortunately, Corinthians’ defense was quicker to position. When they attacked, they kept most of their players in their own half to guard against West Ham’s counterattack.
Lewandowski faced two central defenders and had no space to kick. He pushed the ball horizontally to the wing. Royce faced the defensive players and could not find a chance. He passed the ball back to Baynes who came up and reorganized.
“We saw that Corinthians positioned themselves very smartly without the ball. Their back line pressed higher, and the midfielders also came back to protect the defense line, trying to cut off the connection between West Ham’s midfield and frontcourt.” Zhan Jun His eyes are still sharp, “It’s difficult for Lewandowski to catch the ball. There are always people around him guarding him.”
Tite is very satisfied with the team’s state and is in his tactical design. Detailed and precise arrangements have been made for both the on-ball and off-ball situations.
When they have the ball, they will try their best to control the ball and find opportunities to counterattack. Otherwise, they will control the ball and not attack rashly. Without the ball, they tightened the fence and did not give West Ham a chance to easily attack with the ball.
The midfield and backfield players maintain their positions well, cutting off the connection between Lewandowski and the frontcourt players.
Jiang Shan was equally excited, “Tite is really good, and the tactical design is correct. If we can’t tear apart their defense, we may lose.”
Jiang Shan said to Zidane, “Did you see that? This game is a battle of spirit and physical strength. It is very difficult for players on both sides to score goals. If they can’t hold on, they may have to swallow the fruit of failure.”
Corinthians is slowing down the pace of the game, and West Ham is trying to find ways to tear Corinthians’ defense. The two sides are fighting wits and courage in the midfield. Such a game is torture for both teams.
Those who can’t hold on can only fail.
At the end of the first half, both sides still failed to score, and even had few shooting opportunities.
West Ham has the upper hand in the situation, and Corinthians bites the rhythm tightly, making the rhythm drop to an unbearable level, and uses rigorous tactical routines to fight against West Ham.
The pace of the game was outrageous, and the fans were anxious. The fans on the sidelines began to curse, “What the hell, what kind of game is this?”
“Did we buy the wrong tickets? This is a wrestling match!”
Unfortunately, the players on both sides still played according to the inherent rhythm. Even though West Ham had the upper hand, they also tied the fence very tightly while attacking, and Corinthians had no chance.
“West Ham is too strong, worthy of being the Champions League champion.” Tite was also beating his head in his heart, “Jiangshan’s tactical arrangement is only better than mine. He seemed to have anticipated our tactical arrangement and made a good response.”
“In this game, our difficulty has increased by 20%.” This is Tite’s idea, and in fact, it is also Jiangshan’s idea.