Coaching legend

George has a deep impression of Milan.

Since George became a coach, he has experienced many disastrous defeats. Especially after coming to Blackburn, there have been many disastrous defeats. But among these experiences, there are two that George will never forget. It can even be said that George will remember them throughout his coaching career.

One was the first season when George led Blackburn, and they were humiliated by Arsenal with a score of 8 to 0. For George, that game is absolutely unforgettable. However, Blackburn had just formed a team not long ago, although it was the biggest defeat in George's coaching career.

But with Blackburn's good performance in the Premier League, George has begun to slowly let go many years ago.

After that, facing Arsenal, Blackburn has never been at a disadvantage. After all these years, George has long missed that game.

The other time was last season when they were eliminated by Milan.

George has encountered many strong teams in these years. There are strong English teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool, as well as strong European teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Roma, Lazio, and Bayern Munich.

But there has never been a game that made George feel powerless like the one against Milan.

It was really powerless.

The young Alonso was like a child in front of Pirlo.

He couldn't control the rhythm in the midfield at all.

Those two games made George feel powerless. No matter how George adjusted, he couldn't get rid of Milan's game rhythm. He was always played around by Milan's players.

Therefore, after that game, George paid close attention to Milan.

Now they met again.

Since they met, George must not give up the opportunity to take revenge.

For Milan, George has analyzed it for a long time. This team reached a new peak last season, but it is also impossible for this team to be at the peak forever. The biggest problem still appears in the midfield.

Pirlo's importance is getting bigger and bigger.

But the status of the two in front, Rui Costa and Rivaldo, is not flattering.

Although Rui Costa still plays elegantly, he can't refuse to admit his age. Although he is only 32 years old, he occasionally has some brilliant moments, but his overall performance has been ups and downs.

As for Rivaldo, who should have left Milan in history, he stayed.

But Rivaldo is even more puzzling. Rivaldo in 2002 was a god. In the World Cup, the Brazilian national team was able to win the World Cup, and Rivaldo's contribution was definitely no less than Ronaldo. Some fans even think that Rivaldo is the most core player for Brazil to win the World Cup.

I didn't expect that Rivaldo, who was at his peak in 2002, would be like a roller coaster afterwards.

After transferring to Milan for free in 2002, his state suddenly seemed to be gone. He suddenly changed from a god to a human, and suddenly became an ordinary player from a world superstar level.

Rivaldo's sudden downturn made many people in the world football world confused. But whether they understand it or not, Rivaldo's state is really gone.

In this season, Rivaldo's state is even worse.

Whether it is Rui Costa or Rivaldo, they are actually only 32 years old now. But he is obviously old and his form fluctuates.

There is also Cafu's right side, which seems stable, but it is not without problems. Milan's right-wing attack depends on Cafu alone, but Cafu is just one person after all. He can't take care of all the offense and defense. There has never been such a powerful defender in the world.

Of course, there is also Pancaro's left side. Although Pancaro has performed well this season, Pancaro's disadvantages are also very obvious. Pancaro will soon be 33 years old. With age, his physical functions have also declined a lot. If Kaladze hadn't been injured, Pancaro would not have become a main player.

In fact, it's not just Pancaro who is old.

The entire Milan defense line is old. Except for Nesta, the other three are all senior players.

Cafu will soon be 34 years old. In Milan, he has to take care of defense and go up to assist. When Cafu was in Rome, he was young and had no problem running up and down. But now, no matter how you look at it, his physical strength is not as good as before.

Maldini is even older. He is already 35 years old, and will be 36 in two months.

Such an old-timer defense line is very experienced. But in terms of explosiveness, speed, physical strength, these physical functions, there are big problems.

Now Milan is not only too old in the back line, but also in an unstable state of the front midfielder. There is something that makes George even happier. That is Inzaghi, who was seriously injured this season. Although he has returned, his condition is very poor.

Therefore, the recent Milan striker has always been a combination of Shevchenko and Tomasson.

Tomasson's characteristics are also similar to Inzaghi. Unfortunately, Tomasson is not Inzaghi, and he does not have the deterrence of Inzaghi.

The whole Milan, George looks at the loopholes.

…………

In this game against Milan, Blackburn is away first and then home.

When he arrived at the San Siro Stadium, George's idea was very simple. That is, he always had to score an away goal. In other words, George's overall idea was to defend. Then attack when there is a chance, and it is best to score an away goal.

In this way, he will take the initiative at home.

So George's ranking and lineup are quite standard.

George did not think of any surprise attacks in this game. Therefore, the midfielder arranged a combination of Pires, Alonso, Essien, Kaka, and Miku. And Drogba was used in the forward line.

Against experienced but old players like Milan, George believes that Drogba, who is in great physical condition, is much more useful than Klose.

Aren't you Maldini very strong?

Let Drogba go up and rush. Let Maldini and Drogba touch each other and see how abnormal the body of the beast is. Although Maldini is one of the best defenders in the world, he is old after all.

George does not believe that Maldini, who is about to turn 36, can withstand the impact of Drogba.

George's starting lineup at San Siro can be said to have no changes.

Even compared with last season, there is no big change. But George knows that there are still changes compared to Blackburn last season. Especially Alonso, compared with the first time he faced Milan last season, I don't know how much more mature he has become.

It can be said that Alonso is no longer the player who was played by Pirlo last season.

Sure enough, after the game started, although Milan had the advantage on the field, Blackburn was not at a disadvantage against Milan.

Milan had more of an advantage in ball possession than in offensive threats.

Although George did not have a dedicated person to defend Rui Costa, Essien and Alonso took turns defending Rui Costa. Therefore, after the game started, Rui Costa did not have any performance. Even after the game started, he lost the ball twice in a row under Essien's pressure. Although he passed the ball several times, he did not create any threat.

Alonso was in the middle position.

Not only did he control Blackburn's offensive and defensive rhythm, but once Milan players came to this position, they could immediately feel Alonso's outstanding defensive strength and positioning ability.

Blackburn was very prepared for this reunion.

George prepared for today's meeting for a full year. During the year, George kept studying Milan. Although it was just because of the embarrassment last season. But the effect was obvious. Once he met Milan, George was more confident.

Blackburn's arrangement is all aimed at Milan's loopholes. The positions of Miku, Pires and Kaka are erratic, especially Miku's position, which makes people wonder. After two seasons, Miku is no longer the classic midfielder.

Kaka's rise forced Miku to change his position.

But changing his position does not mean that Miku has lost his threat. Miku's unstable position makes it more difficult to let go. You don't know where he will be, and you don't know where he will pass the ball.

Miku can always find his position just right every time. Then give Kaka enough space and pass him a beautiful goal.

Now it's the same against Milan.

Miku's erratic position makes Seedorf and Gattuso a little impatient. Although the current Blackburn, the first threatening player in the midfield is definitely Kaka. Now Kaka's goals have exceeded Pires.

But even so, no one can really ignore Miku.

But Miku is not someone who can defend. Even as strong as Gattuso, he can only limit Miku at most. In the past, when Miku was in the attacking midfielder position, limiting him was the best defense.

But after Miku retreated, he had more ways to handle the ball, or more space.

After the game started, Miku was the most active position.

Because Alonso was behind and Kaka was ahead, Miku was like a lubricant between the midfield and the frontcourt, constantly receiving and passing the ball.

Sixteen minutes into the game, Miku retreated again and got the pass from Alonso.

Miku was too active, and Gattuso kept staring at Miku. So as soon as Miku got the ball, Gattuso rushed out.

"... Gattuso, Miku passed the ball... Gattuso knocked Miku down, which was a foul. But Pires got the ball, which was good for the offense. The referee signaled to continue the game!"

Miku and Gattuso fell down. Although both of them stood up, it was a clear foul.

Gattuso was unable to grab the ball in defense. After Miku passed the ball, he hooked Miku down.

But because this was an offensive advantage, the referee signaled the game to continue.

Blackburn did not miss this good opportunity.

After Pires got the ball, he suddenly cut in from the left. But facing the opponent's defense, there was no long shot. Instead, he passed the ball to Drogba in the penalty area with a light pass.

"... Drogba, pass back... Kaka got the ball."

Drogba actually wanted to turn around and shoot directly. Unfortunately, Maldini behind him was old. He didn't have enough physical strength, but his experience was world-class. Therefore, Drogba found that he couldn't find a chance to turn around, and had no choice but to pass back.

When Kaka got the ball, Pirlo had already returned to defend.

Unfortunately, Pirlo is not Alonso. Pirlo has superb skills and a broad vision, but unfortunately he is not a defensive midfielder. His defense is very poor, and that's why Ancelotti left Gattuso to assist in defense. But just defending Miku, Gattuso has not returned to his position yet.

Pirlo is easy to deal with.

The moment Kaka got the ball, he dribbled with his left foot and created a small gap.

"Kaka dribbled, and Pirlo couldn't stop! Kaka, shoot!"

Yes, Kaka never hesitates near the penalty area. This aspect is even different from Miku and Pires. Although Miku and Pires have scored many goals, they prefer to pass the ball to mobilize the offense. Therefore, even at the front of the penalty area, if it is not a very good opportunity, they rarely shoot.

But Kaka is different.

Kaka is a striker, so he is very decisive. As long as there is a chance to shoot, he will not let it go.

This time is the same.

The ball flew over like a cannonball.

"Dida, Dida, oops, Dida couldn't save this ball. Kaka, Kaka helped Blackburn lead 1-0 away!"

"1-0, Blackburn leads Milan 1-0 away."

There were only about 3,000 Blackburn fans who followed Blackburn to San Siro. But when they saw Kaka's goal, they all cheered loudly. Surprisingly, among the tens of thousands of Milan fans in San Siro, everyone could still clearly hear the cheers of Blackburn fans.

But George didn't celebrate at this time.

Because George was already looking at the field nervously. After the collision with Gattuso, Miku, who had stood up, took two steps and then lay down again.

George knew Miku.

Miku was proud but also had a low self-esteem. He played very elegantly on the court.

But he was different from Zidane, who would get furious once he was stimulated during the game. Zidane, as an offensive midfielder, had a lot of red and yellow cards. But Miku rarely lost control on the court.

He was also not as cunning as Pires. Pires was talented, but he was very cunning. This was even more true on the court.

Miku was different from his elegance, but his style was down-to-earth.

So when George saw Miku fall down again, his heart skipped a beat.

At this time, the celebrating Blackburn players also found that Miku had fallen down again. Everyone went to see him with great concern.

The team doctor on the Blackburn side came to the court early.

"It doesn't look like a serious injury at first glance. But it seems that he needs to rest for at least 20 days. Of course, he needs to be checked carefully." The team doctor told George briefly.

20 days?

George frowned.

Although Kaka is popular now, it doesn't mean that Miku is useless. On the contrary, Miku is more useful now. I didn't expect that the collision that didn't seem to be serious at all would actually cause an injury. Gattuso is known as a butcher, but the action just now was really not big.

Now is the most important time in the Champions League knockout stage, and Miku actually fell down. If further examination shows that the injury is more serious, it will be a tragedy.

"The game has only been going on for less than 20 minutes, and Miku was injured and left the field. This is really a big blow to Blackburn."

Damn, I'm unlucky.

Even drinking cold water makes my teeth sticky, and Miku was injured. George shook his head.

There is only one update today. Recently, it is the peak season for tourism, and I am busy with work. I am very sorry.

Starting tomorrow, I will try to update three times a day.