Coaching legend

"The whistle sounded at the end of the first half, and the score on the field was one to zero. Burnley was ahead of Chelsea. Apart from the goal, the first half of the game was unremarkable."

"But to be fair, Burnley's pre-match preparation was better than Chelsea. Chelsea underestimated Burnley at the beginning, which led to the loss of the ball. Vialli can be said to have lost the first game, but there are still 45 minutes in the second half. Let's see how they adjust their tactics in the midfield! See you in the second half."

All Chelsea players felt very frustrated. From the initial contempt to falling behind, this gap made the proud Chelsea players somewhat unacceptable. Of course, what made them most angry was that many of them felt that they couldn't use their strength.

They had clearly thought about how to cooperate and how to pass the ball, but they were interrupted by Burnley's various small moves and fouls. Chelsea players were angry, so they all entered the locker room with gloomy faces.

George stood in the player's tunnel and clapped his hands deliberately. Then he patted the shoulders of every Burnley player and encouraged them. Then he applauded the fans in the stands.

George's performance made the Chelsea players grit their teeth. But George didn't have time to care about their mood.

When George walked into the locker room, Burnley players had already gathered in twos and threes, talking and laughing happily. They had reason to be happy, because they were leading Chelsea now.

George clapped his hands and coughed, and the locker room immediately became quiet. The players knew that George had something to say.

"The performance in the first half was great. What do you think? Chelsea is not a superpower. We are still leading them now." George was in a very good mood now. Playing defensive counterattacks was Burnley's strength. Now that they are leading, the second half will be much easier.

"Right--" Burnley players applauded and whistled in the locker room.

"Before the game, I told you that I don't care about winning or losing, you just have to do your best." George snorted. "Do you really think I don't care about winning or losing? People will always remember the winners, and the losers are the stepping stones for the winners to become famous."

"In a final, apart from the champion, the runner-up is the loser. The runner-up can only become the sympathizer and ridicule of others. Do you want to be the ridicule of others?"

"No! No!" Burnley players are now in high spirits. If there was a little nervousness before the game. Then after the first half, their confidence swelled.

"Okay, but the opponent is Chelsea after all, they will definitely counterattack in the second half. We have to take it back at the beginning of the second half and play defensive counterattacks. First wear down Chelsea's spirit and see how Chelsea changes in the second half." After leading by one goal, George wanted to play the defensive counterattack that was criticized by many people.

"Kevin, the goal in the first half was beautiful. But I need to defend in the second half, so you have to leave." It was very risky to put two strikers George in the first half, and Chelsea's counterattack in the second half must be very strong.

Kevin Phillips nodded. It was a surprise to be able to start in the League Cup final. Even Robbie Keane, Burnley's top scorer, sat on the bench, but Kevin Phillips had no complaints.

"Mark, you should know it after you go up, I don't need to tell you."

Mark Holland nodded. The midfield of Mark Holland, Neil Lennon and Ballack has cooperated many times, and the cooperation between them is very tacit. Without George telling him, Mark Holland also knows what position he should play and how to cooperate with Ballack and Neil Lennon.

"Michael, your task in the second half is very heavy. You have to occupy this position." George drew several circles on the tactical board. "Once there is an opportunity to counterattack in the second half, you must not only be the first point of the counterattack. And when counterattacking, you must follow up and control the second point. As long as you get the ball at this point, you can shoot if you can, and you can't easily lose the ball if there is no chance."

"Finally, I want to say that the first ten minutes of the second half are very important. Chelsea must not be allowed to score during this period. Defend and counterattack, defend and counterattack. In the first ten minutes of the second half, you must press the whole court. Start from the center circle and block layer by layer." George raised his index finger, very serious. "In the first ten minutes, you must spare no effort, just like in the first half. Don't let Chelsea dribble and pass the ball comfortably."

George smiled and suddenly raised his voice. "You must understand that Chelsea is not invincible. The championship is only 45 minutes away from us."

…………

"It's George as expected. Look at the beginning of the second half. He replaced Kevin Phillips with Mark Holland." Motson laughed when he saw Burnley's lineup in the second half.

"John, I would do the same if it were me. Burnley is not as strong as Chelsea. Now they are leading by one goal. If I don't defend, I'm not George."

Sometimes, mental strength is absolutely amazing. Chelsea also attacked with all their strength in the second half. But the guys on Burnley's side were like crazy, running all over the field. Starting to defend in the midfield made Chelsea even more uncomfortable than in the first half.

Wise even kicked Ballack in revenge because he was angry, and was given a yellow card warning by the referee.

If Vialli hadn't pulled Wise away, Wise would have even yelled at the referee.

"Everyone calm down, Burnley's style of play is very physically demanding. At 65 to 75 minutes, they will definitely be exhausted and need to take a breath." Vialli asked several players to calm down.

This is very true, but unfortunately Vialli has not established his authority in Chelsea. At present, he has not been able to convince all the players, so he has not been able to fully grasp the current state of Chelsea players. Before the game, all Chelsea players, including Vialli, were quite contemptuous of Burnley. But now it has been more than 50 minutes, and there is still no way to deal with Burnley.

This is a great blow to the morale of Chelsea players, but Vialli failed to solve this problem.

At this time, Chelsea should actually increase the pass and stabilize the rhythm. But Vialli has just taken office and has not completely convinced this group of players. Therefore, the mistakes before the game made many Chelsea players question Vialli.

Morale is something that grows and declines. Ten minutes into the second half, Chelsea still did not find a good way to break Burnley's goal. This made Chelsea players more and more impatient.

Chelsea's rise has only begun in the past few years, with Hoddle. It was last season that they won the FA Cup under Gullit's leadership. Therefore, although Chelsea now has many big names with championship experience, the entire Chelsea does not have much foundation.

Foundation is illusory, but it does exist. Just like today's opponent is Manchester United or Liverpool, then even if they are behind, they will definitely not be as impatient as Chelsea now.

"Di Matteo... long shot - oh, too anxious. Zola next to him is in a better position, Hughes has already stood in the penalty area."

"Zora, strong attack... Neil Lennon, intercepted Zola's ball... He should cooperate with Poyet."

"Alan, it seems that Chelsea is a little impatient. This is not a good phenomenon." Mortensen saw that Chelsea players rarely cooperated, either long shots or strong attacks, so he shook his head.

"If Chelsea does not change in a short time, then the game will be difficult to play next." Alan Hansen also agreed with Mortensen's opinion.

Twenty minutes into the second half, Burnley players' physical strength reached a critical point. So the Burnley players who were running all over the field at the beginning of the game relaxed their defensive intensity a little. This should be Chelsea's best chance.

Chelsea did find a lot of gaps in Burnley during this period, but the impatient Chelsea completely forgot the smooth cooperation they were proud of. Continuous shooting and continuous breakthroughs, this headless performance made Chelsea never find the best chance to score.

George couldn't sit still from the beginning of the second half. Watching the ball flying around in his own half, the tension in his heart was absolutely beyond words. Every time he saw the ball in the small penalty area, his fists clenched. Seeing the ball being headed out, he would breathe a sigh of relief.

This is the first time George has entered the cup final in his coaching career, so it would be a lie to say that he is not nervous.

Time flew in the stalemate, and soon the second half had been going on for 25 minutes. The game entered the 70th minute, and Chelsea replaced Eddie Newton, who had been mediocre throughout the game, with Torre Andre Flo.

In this season, Flo is actually more valued than Eddie Newton, but because Eddie Newton scored the winning goal in the FA Cup last year. That's why Vialli let Eddie Newton play in the League Cup final.

Unfortunately, Eddie Newton was stared at by the old Mitchell in the penalty area and had no temper.

Less than three minutes after Flo was replaced, Chelsea made another amazing substitution decision. Mark Hughes replaced the central defender Duberry, so Chelsea's formation became 3-3-4. Chelsea has four forwards in the frontcourt, Zola, Flo, Mark Hughes, and Vialli.

Vialli is going to fight for his life.

Soon Chelsea began to bombard Burnley's penalty area. With two technically excellent forwards, Hughes and Zola, Burnley's defense line was under great pressure.

When breaking dense defense, some personal heroism is needed. Hughes, who just came on the court, was full of energy and broke through directly from the middle. Neil Lennon didn't dare to be careless at all. Who is Hughes? He was one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Welsh football in the 1980s and 1990s, and the famous "Red Devil" in English football.

Although he is already 34 years old, he cannot be underestimated. Because Hughes is in average shape, Neil Lennon is ready to stick to him and defend with his body.

But the experienced Hughes just made a fake move and passed Neil Lennon. Lennon saw that he couldn't stop Hughes, and when he fell to the ground, he also took Hughes with him.

"Beep!" The referee blew the whistle and penalized Lennon for a foul.

"This is a foul. It seems that Burnley players have problems with their physical strength. Zola, stand in front of the ball. This is only 26 meters away from the goal, within Zola's shooting range!"

When George saw the foul, he could only shake his head helplessly. If he was physically strong, then Lennon would be able to stick to him even if he was passed. After all, Hughes is already 34 years old and his physical condition is not as good as before. But now Lennon's physical strength has turned on the yellow light, so there will be this foul.

Twenty-six meters, this is definitely a distance that many free kick masters like very much. In addition to Ljungberg and Camoranesi, who are still on the side of Burnley, Klose also came in to defend. Jasklainen was very nervous and was directing and arranging the human wall.

Zola stared at the Burnley goal closely. Chelsea now can't find a good way in positional warfare. Free kicks are a very important means.

Zola stepped back and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he ran to the ball in small steps and kicked it out with his right leg.

"Goal!" Zola felt very good after the kick, so he looked at the trajectory of the football nervously.