Football Feast, Starting From the Acquisition of European Clubs

   Chapter 35 Containment

   "Gareth, Josep's concerns are not unreasonable. We are now under the spotlight of the media, and many people are waiting for us to make mistakes. At this time, there is no harm in being more careful."

   Seeing Guardiola and himself thinking about it, Chen Ran couldn't help but sigh, no wonder Guardiola's achievements were the highest in his previous life. He judged the situation very accurately and discovered the hidden risks very keenly.

   "Got it, boss, I'll be careful."

   Seeing that Chen Ran also agreed with Guardiola, Southgate still honestly agreed, although he still didn’t think there was a big problem.

  Because this game is a home game, and Sheffield United's strength is below Crystal Palace, so Chen Ran sent a twin tower combination this time, focusing on Southgate's British 442 tactics.

   On the day of the game, as Crystal Palace had won three consecutive victories before, they topped the Championship. With great anger, he rushed to the Premier League in one fell swoop.

   So on this day, Selhurst Park Stadium once again became a sea of ​​Crystal Palace fans. The stadium with more than 26,000 people was full.

   Bunting flags fluttered, singing loudly.

   As soon as the game started, Chen Ran had a bad feeling that the head coach of Sheffield United was too stubborn.

   This guy must have borrowed from Watford's game against Crystal Palace and made it even more extreme, he has a 541 formation.

   Even Watford's only striker did not appear near Palace's penalty area, but followed closely behind Guardiola.

  Wherever Guardiola goes, he follows him.

The purpose of    is very clear, that is, to destroy Guardiola's organization and scheduling.

   Is this special cat still a striker?

   It seems that Sheffield United is going to hold on to the end today.

   Chen Ran's heart sank, and he glanced at Sheffield United's head coach Chris from a distance.

   Give up attacking completely?

   This guy is really determined.

   Because Sheffield United adopted a 541 formation, five defenders were piled up in the back line.

   Three of the central defenders were responsible for three defenses and two attacking Tony and Crouch; while on the wing, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery were also double-teamed.

   Sheffield United's full-backs and full-backs seem to have no intention of attacking.

   A group of two, always staring at Ronaldo and Ribery.

  As soon as the ball comes over, it will immediately surround it, one will interfere closely, and the other will grab the ball's landing spot.

  The current Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery are still young and immature, and it is the first time they have encountered such a high-intensity pressing.

   There were many mistakes for a while, and the ball was constantly intercepted by Sheffield United.

   Fortunately, Sheffield United had no one in the frontcourt, and the Sheffield United player who had the ball had to dash alone with the ball.

   They didn't have the ability of Cristiano Ronaldo to overcome five obstacles, and in the end, Southgate took the defenders to break the ball back.

   However, because Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery on both sides could not hold the ball, Tony and Crouch in the middle naturally could not get enough crosses, and became two lonely telephone poles in the penalty area of ​​Sheffield United.

  The ball, just between the two big box lines of Crystal Palace and Sheffield United, flew around, changing possession back and forth.

  It is normal for the ball not to reach Crystal Palace's penalty area, but even Sheffield United's penalty area is difficult to enter, which is not normal.

   Whether it is Southgate's British 442 or Simeone's defensive counterattack tactics, they all rely heavily on the attack of two flanks.

   Once the two flanks were strangled, Crystal Palace's offensive power immediately dropped by more than half.

  Chen Ran is now very hopeful that Guardiola's tactics have been successfully rehearsed.

   That kind of three-dimensional attack mode that relies on the overall short pass cooperation and all-round three-dimensional attack will not appear in this situation.

How to do?

   Could it be that just after the fourth round of the league, his tactics were successfully restrained?

  Although according to the current situation, there is no problem with Crystal Palace getting a draw.

   But what about future games?

   If all the opponents in the future follow Sheffield United’s example, will it be a draw?

  I have never heard of a team that was promoted to the Premier League by a draw.

   No, a change has to be made.

   At this time, the game has been going on for more than 20 minutes.

  The offense has not been smooth, and the Crystal Palace players on the court have gradually become impatient.

   "beep"

   The referee blew his whistle.

   It turned out that Cristiano Ronaldo was in a hurry by the Sheffield United player stealing the ball. This time he gave the opponent a shot when he grabbed the position.

   This was immediately caught by the sharp-eyed referee, who stopped the game and gave Ronaldo a yellow card.

   Taking advantage of the interruption of the game, Chen Ran immediately called Guardiola to the sidelines.

"Josep, something has to change now. For a while you tell Maicon and Chiellini to make a bold move. For a while when you're scoring, don't give Ronaldo and Ribery. Go straight Maicon and Chiellini in the back, understand?"

   "Are there only two central defenders in the backcourt?"

  Guardiola glanced at Chen Ran and confirmed it again.

   "Yes, Sheffield United didn't plan to attack. Two central defenders and a goalkeeper, and let Jose stay near the center circle for protection, that's enough."

"Understood."

   Guardiola is very aware of the current situation on the field. Crystal Palace is the most threatening wing attack that was cut off by Sheffield United.

   He is now an assistant coach, so while he is playing on the field, he is also thinking of ways to solve this dilemma.

   Unexpectedly, before he could come up with a countermeasure, Chen Ran on the sidelines had already made arrangements.

   Or the boss has a quick mind!

   This is partly a combination of his own tactics.

   Guardiola pondered Chen Ran's arrangement carefully, and felt that it seemed that he could really solve the trouble in front of him.

  So, Guardiola, who returned to the court, immediately conveyed Chen Ran's instructions.

   Soon, both Sheffield United's head coach Chris and the audience found that the situation on the field had changed.

  Crystal Palace, which had been blocked before, attacked from the side and survived.

When the Sheffield United players followed the previous arrangement and double-teamed Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery, the ball passed by their side or over their heads and landed at the feet of the two Crystal Palace full-backs who came in at a high speed from behind. .

   "Go and defend!"

The captain of    Sheffield United immediately noticed something was wrong and shouted to his teammates.

   There was a big loophole on the wing, and Sheffield United's left central defender hurried up to meet Maicon who was inserted after intercepting.

   Maicon slammed the ball forward a long way, and a man came to score the ball, easily fooling the Sheffield United left center back who hurried over. Then he spread his right leg and kicked a cross with a very nice arc.

   In the penalty area of ​​Sheffield United, Tony and Crouch, who have been double-teamed by three people, are now missing a defender, and the pressure has been relieved a lot.

  The defenders of Sheffield United obviously got clear instructions from the coach before the game, that is, to focus on marking Tony.

  No way, who made Tony far stronger than Crouch in terms of size and data.

   Seeing the ball flying towards the penalty area, the two central defenders of Sheffield United could not wait to hang on Tony, but as a result, no one was able to jump up because of mutual involvement.

"boom!"

When everyone followed the sound, they saw Crouch, who had been hiding behind Tony, with a beautiful airside hook, which forcefully sent the ball that had leaked over Tony's head into the goal of Sheffield United. .

  Crystal Palace 1:0 Sheffield United.

   (end of this chapter)