Coaching legend

After scoring a goal, Blackburn's attack became more and more fierce.

For a while, Valencia's defense, which is known as the steel defense line in La Liga, was shaky. Even Cooper on the sidelines did not expect it. Even powerful teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona cannot easily pose such a strong threat to Valencia's goal.

But this country bumpkin team from England, from the countryside of England, can have such a strong attacking ability.

Cooper was very dissatisfied. Not dissatisfied with Valencia's defense, but dissatisfied with Valencia's counterattack.

Suppressed by Blackburn's momentum, Valencia completely lost its momentum to counterattack.

Without counterattack, only defense, it is not a normal team. Only a solid defense plus counterattack can really make this team successful. Now Valencia is attacked by Blackburn and has only defense, but cannot counterattack.

Cooper knows that if this continues, the game will definitely be lost.

Now the home court has lost a goal. If it ends like this, then the away game will be difficult to play.

Cooper found an opportunity and caught Mendieta. Tell Mendieta that the game can't continue like this. In fact, Blackburn has many loopholes now, especially the midfield and backcourt are completely disconnected from the frontcourt. This is a space that can be used.

It's just that Valencia was stunned by Blackburn. He failed to find the gap, so Cooper now pointed out the gap to Mendieta.

After Mendieta came on the court, he really took advantage of the gap. This is because of the space left by Miku pressing forward and Deco staying back. Mendieta's ball control skills are indeed very good. And Aimar in front often comes to help.

But George didn't react to their use of this space.

When separating his team's offense and defense, George already understood that there was this space when the offense and defense switched. It's just that Blackburn's defensive system is very complete, so as long as they can't attack in a short time, then the players in the frontcourt of Blackburn can come to support at any time.

This is a time difference.

If Valencia can break through Blackburn's goal before the front players come back, then everything will be fine. Once they fail to take advantage of this time opportunity, Blackburn's front players will also participate in defense. At that time, Valencia's chance will be lost.

After all, George is a coach who emphasizes all-out attack and defense.

Even Klose, Pires, Duff, and even Miku have to defend. Even if their defense is just a show, it can affect Valencia's offense.

Both sides are playing time difference.

George believes that Blackburn's midfield and backcourt can withstand Valencia's defense. But Cooper has to break through Blackburn's defense in this short period of time.

In the rest of the first half, both sides ended in this stalemate.

In the second half, George did not change this style of play. When attacking, only a few people in the frontcourt were responsible. The players behind would not go up at all, and when defending, the frontcourt players had to go back to defend. Of course, they will not defend desperately in the frontcourt like Burnley did. They still need to save some energy to attack.

So the gap in the middle still exists.

But George is not afraid. George, who has already scored an away goal, is very confident. Even if Valencia scores a goal, it doesn't matter. As long as they can continue to score away goals, it will still be beneficial for Blackburn.

Cooper can't do it, he is very anxious. Even a 1:1 draw at home is a very bad result. It must be very difficult to go away. Therefore, he can only attack.

Both sides have opportunities. It depends on who grabs it first.

Unlucky, it was Valencia who grabbed this opportunity first.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Valencia played a quick counterattack. Aimar passed the ball to Mendieta next to him, and then ran to the right. It looked like a two-on-two, especially after passing Deco and Makelele in front. Pires on the right has not returned yet.

But Mendieta did not pass it to Aimar, but a very secretive direct pass to Juan Sanchez who was cruising on the left. This is a native Spanish player, and his characteristic is that he is fast.

Mendieta's pass was just right, just right for Sanchez's start.

Sanchez started, and Ferdinand followed closely. Don't look at Ferdinand, who is only 23 years old, he is still very young among defenders. Especially for the position of central defender, he is still a young defender. But Ferdinand is very experienced. He has four years of Premier League experience.

In England, the most common players are center forwards with excellent headers and fast forwards.

Therefore, Ferdinand still has some skills in dealing with them. He did not step forward to steal the ball, but retreated, not giving Sanchez the opportunity to enter the small penalty area and have a chance to shoot. Sanchez saw Ferdinand's experienced defense and did not continue to rush forward, but gently picked the ball and passed it into the penalty area.

Kalu and Blanco grabbed the ball together.

With Blanco defending Kalu, this ball should not be too dangerous. Although Kalu headed the ball first, under Blanco's interference, the ball was soft and not much of a threat. But...

"...Karou, head... this ball, this ball goes in. This is a big mistake by Cudicini, and a mistake in coordination with the defender."

Everyone was puzzled by this ball.

It turns out that when Sanchez passed the ball, not only Carew and Blanco competed for the ball. Even Cudicini stepped forward, but he was a step slower. He failed to get the ball. When he saw Carew and Blanco, he hesitated and did not step forward.

Therefore, although Carew's header is soft.

But the ball also went towards the goal. And because Cudicini did not stand in the door at this time, but jumped out and did not get the ball. So the entire goal is empty. Therefore, the top of the head, which had no threat, turned out to be a goal.

Even George was angry on the court.

How could such a ball be lost?

For the first time, George felt that there was something really wrong with Cudicini. Especially not decisive. It should be said that this ball does not need to be struck, but since it is struck, it should be like a tiger pouncing on its prey. Instead of being hesitant halfway through.

Cudicini..., no wonder he was later taken away from the main position by Cech. There is a problem with judgment. You should fully trust your defender for this ball. And after attacking, even if you know you are wrong, you should never look back.

Error in judgment? Undecided?

This is a taboo for goalkeepers.

Cudicini's performance this season has actually been very good. But in some games, Cudicini's hesitation and misjudgments have appeared many times.

But George was not in a hurry. One to one, Blackburn still has the advantage.

It's still Cooper who needs to be anxious now. Sure enough, Cooper was not satisfied with one-on-one at all, and still let the team continue to attack.

George is waiting, waiting for a hole in Valencia's defense. When Valencia played defensive counterattack, their defense looked solid. But once they attack, their defense will definitely not be able to support it.

Not only George is waiting, but also midfielder Miku.

After Valencia's goal, they were in full swing. It is not easy for Miku to catch the ball in the frontcourt, but Miku did not show any signs. Always waiting and observing. Unconsciously, Valencia's entire offensive system moved forward.

But they are a defensive counterattack team after all, and none of the four people on the backline participated in the offense. Always very vigilant.

But Miku still found out.

Valencia's rear end is not as calm as it appears. The two full-backs who were continuously attacked by Blackburn's two wings had physical problems, although it was impossible to tell from the outside. But from their footsteps, Miku discovered it accurately.

Valencia's two central defenders are very stable and their defense against Klose is also in place. It is a bit difficult to think about the problem from the middle. But wide?

The game continued, and as each minute passed, no one was able to score.

Until the 82nd minute of the game, Miku in the frontcourt received a long pass from Blanco.

After Miku got the ball, he passed the ball despite Baraja's interference. Passed to the left.

Miku's previous passes were handed directly to Pires' feet, and then the breakthrough from the wing was completely handed over to Pires. But this time Miku's pass went directly to the back of Angeloma. Because Valencia stepped up their attack, in order to keep their three lines at a certain distance, the back line, although cautious, still pressed forward.

This little space is enough for Miku and Pires.

Although Pires is not fast, he is definitely not slow. It's completely adequate compared to Angelomar. The moment Miku passed the ball, Pires and Angeloma ran towards the ball together. Now Angeloma's age was revealed.

There was no way to keep up with Pires. After Pires got the ball, Valencia's defense became nervous. Because the first goal was caused by Pires' breakthrough.

Ayala and Pelligrino stood still, not allowing Pires a chance to shoot, but also looking at Klose in the middle. Baraja, on the other hand, watched Miku closely, preventing Miku from getting in and shooting.

Pires dribbles the ball in a small space, with Angeloma behind him and Ayala in front. But Pires took his time and with a flick of his left foot, the ball came out from the middle.

"... Pires... he passed the ball to the left side of the penalty area... Who is this! Riise! Riese stepped in from behind! Shoot!"

Speaking of which, Valencia's attack on the right is completely different from that on the left. Killy Gonzalez is on the left, but Aimar and Mendieta take turns on the right. But after all, they are not authentic right midfielders, so the pressure on Riise is limited.

Riise, who had been honest throughout the game, stepped in from the backcourt as Pires took the ball.

Riise's late insertion prevented Valencia's defensive players from setting up targeted defenses. Riise faced the ball passed by Pires and used all his strength to shoot hard with his left foot.