Fox in the Penalty Area

"Vukovich."

When Milos Vukovich heard the head coach read his name, he raised his head in surprise and looked at the head coach Parotti.

Parotti ignored his reaction and continued reading the names in the starting lineup.

Vukovic looked around again, especially at Joaquín Bella and Bella looked at him.

The two looked at each other, Bella smiled slightly at him and then withdrew her gaze.

So Vukovich confirmed that he was really starting again.

He understood that head coach Parotti chose to continue to trust himself at this critical moment.

At the same time, he also knows that such trust is not unlimited.

If he still can't put in a convincing performance, I'm afraid he will have to say goodbye to his starting position.

"I just got the Pirates' starting lineup."

In the visiting team's locker room, Villa Navigator head coach Pierre Brunt said to his players:

"The good news is that Vukovic is still starting. So we have to make some adjustments and make more use of the space behind Vukovic in the offense!"

The team's captain, Pablo Becker, nodded.

He is the team's core organizer and determines the direction of the team's offense.

※Mi※In this game against Sevilla Navigator, Parotti did not return Joaquin Vela to the starting lineup as people speculated before the game, but chose to continue to trust Vukovic. Although in the previous games, the Serbian international's performance was quite average, even disappointing.

At the home game between Madrid Pirates and Sevilla Navigator, commentator Alvarez Sanchez was introducing a noteworthy situation in the game.

"The navigators obviously noticed this, so when attacking, they focused on the area where Vukovich is..."

Vukovich was in a trance, not knowing whether he was in a real game or in a dream.

Because since the start of the game, he has become the key target of Sevilla Navigator's offense. It can be clearly felt that the Navigator's offense is targeting him.

Especially after he attacks, as long as the Navigator gets the ball, he will immediately pass the football into the space behind him.

For this reason, he had to desperately return to defense and sprint back and forth at the speed of offensive advancement.

After returning to defense, he must immediately keep an eye on threatening players, which is completely different from the intensity of returning to defense when he was playing as an attacking midfielder.

When he played in Vesseldorf before, he didn't have high requirements for defense. He could return to his defensive position and get into a good posture, which was already an excellent performance.

There are not many opportunities for physical confrontation with opponents.

If the opponent wants to break through him, he will only intercept it symbolically, and then leave it to his teammates behind him who are responsible for defense.

That's not the case at all now.

If he passes the opponent's attack now, he will directly face the defender.

He must do his best to stop the opponent here.

Even in a sense, he is the one with no way out - if he does not perform well in this game,

He will be adjusted out of the starting lineup.

It is certainly impossible for the head coach to continue to start himself in the key Champions League battle against the Turin Bulls.

You have to play this game as if it is your last game.

He thought about the dream again.

But we can't let the dream... come true!

Navigator's forward Dani retreated to receive the pass, and Vukovich immediately followed up without daring to relax at all.

Dani originally wanted to easily get rid of Vukovic and then break into the penalty area.

But before he started, he felt an impact force crashing into him - Vukovich's whole body was pressed against him.

Dani was shocked. He didn't expect Vukovich to be so tough.

Fortunately, his skills at his feet were delicate enough to hook the football back at the moment of impact. Otherwise, he might have lost the ball just now. Vukovich saw the collision and his first attempt was unsuccessful. He tried to stretch out his foot and break it again. ball.

But instead, Dani seized the opportunity and shook him away!

But Dani also failed to bring the football into the penalty area, because he just shook Vukovic and when he was about to accelerate, Pirates captain Juan Ramirez rushed over from the side and kicked him.

After a muffled sound, Dani, who had lost strength, stumbled and fell out, leaving the football at Ramirez's feet.

After quickly passing the football, Ramirez turned around and shouted to Vukovic: "Don't take a shot easily, just stay close to him!"

After shouting, Ramirez realized that what he shouted was in Spanish and the other party couldn't understand it, so he changed it to English and repeated the meaning again with gestures and movements.

This time Vukovich understood, and he nodded: "Understood."

※※After Kyrie stopped the ball outside the penalty area, he got rid of the Navigator midfielder Victor Montero and tried to pass the ball to Hulay. After opening the angle, choose to shoot directly.

However, he did not fully exert force on this kick, and the football was held by Navigator goalkeeper Marco Duric.

Then the Navigators launched an attack. Vukovic once again ran back from the frontcourt. This time he was guarding the opponent's captain, Pablo Becker.

The midfield master from Argentina faced Vukovic, and after a false shot with his upper body, he brought the football forward with his feet.

Vukovich came up and Ka followed on the inside.

Upon seeing this, Becker raised his right foot, trying to pass the ball to the right.

Then he slams the football to the left and turns around at the same time.

Vukovich was indeed knocked out by Becker's kick, but he immediately turned around and came back after realizing that he had been deceived.

Becker's speed was not fast, which was his weakness. Vukovic pounced on him again in two big strides.

Becker didn't expect that Vukovich would react so quickly this time and be re-taped.

If he continues to fight with Vukovic, he will only miss the opportunity to organize an attack.

In desperation, Becker had no choice but to turn around to protect the football and then pass the football back.

"Well done!"

Ramirez's accented English shouts came from the distance.

Although Vukovich still did not steal the ball from Becker, he completed a successful defense.

A defense doesn't have to take the football away from the other team to be successful.

Stopping a forward pass, forcing the opponent to slow down...these are successful defenses.

Vukovich did not smile when he heard the praise. He just looked around to confirm the positions of the players on both sides near him, and then stood in his defense zone again, ready to face the Navigators' next attack.

Mimi※

"Vukovic obviously worked harder on defense today...

Assistant coach Valentin on the sidelines walked to coach Parotti, covered his mouth with his hand and said.

"He probably realized his chances were running out."

Parotti said: "No matter what the reason is, as long as he works harder in defense, our goal will be achieved. Vukovic has a strong running ability, and he can completely erect a barrier by running in defense. , to provide protection for our back line, so that the pressure on Drew will be much lighter."

Mimi※The pressure on Drew is indeed much lighter.

He could feel some subtle differences between today's game and the previous games.

Previously, because Vukovic would leave space, as a central defender, Drew had to rush up many times, act as a midfielder, and even rush to the center line to defend.

Although Drew's turn was very fast, his speed was not slow, and he was very flexible, but rushing so close and leaving a huge gap behind him... it was also difficult for him to handle.

It would be really difficult for him to run a 100-meter race with Melliby in a competition - no matter how fast he is, he can't be faster than Melliby.

Melli is fast and flexible, and he is as slippery as a loach when carrying the ball. If he could stand still and simply compete with Melli for speed, he would really be left behind.

There is no such problem in this game.

He doesn't need to press forward frequently because there are people in front of him.

Vukovich worked very hard on defense in this game and protected his defense line very well.

It's like there is a filter, which first helps him filter out some threatening attacks and attacks that can hit him. Because he has the help of his teammates, he can deal with it much more calmly.

So Drew once told Chen Xingyi that defense was not his business alone. He was really not looking for excuses to excuse himself, but the fact.

In football, an offense can rely on the talent of its players to solve problems on its own. But defense really requires the cooperation of the whole team, or the system - if a defensive player always needs to be one-on-one with the opponent's offensive player, it means there is a big problem with the team's defensive system. No matter how outstanding this defensive player is,

There is no guarantee that he will win all one-on-one defenses in the entire game, let alone all one-on-one defenses throughout the season.

Now with the support of his teammates, Drew is much more comfortable on defense.

Danny Drew doesn't care about the taunts and nicknames he gets online, but he doesn't want to continue to disappoint Pirates fans.

He also wants to be like Julay, who can receive heartfelt cheers and respect from Pirates fans wherever he goes ※※Although Vukovic works hard, he cannot stop every attack of the Sevilla Navigators. , Just like this time.

Navigator's main left midfielder Josep Jensen suddenly cut in from the wing, forming a numerical advantage in Vukovich's defense zone.

Becker sent a through ball in time, which hit the Pirates' rib space. Vukovich turned around to chase, but it was too late. He could only see Jensen inserting into the space and receiving Becker's through ball.

To be honest, Vukovic felt a little admired in his heart - he also wanted to play like this, causing trouble in front of the opponent's penalty area. Instead of being defensive like now.

But there is no way, this is his responsibility and job.

So he gritted his teeth and chased after him. He had just ran two steps when he saw Danny Drew rushing towards Jensen.

The Danish international swung his left foot as if he was going to pass the ball directly. After grabbing it, he dunked the football to the inside. He wanted to cut inside!

Just as he spiked the ball, Danny Drew suddenly cut in and separated the football from Jensen cleanly.

"Drew! Nice defense!"

There was a burst of cheers at the scene, and the Pirates fans did not express applause for Drew's wonderful performance.

Amidst the cheers and applause, Drew withstood the collision and push from Jensen behind him and looked up. His eyes met with Vukovich's.

When Drew approached to steal the ball, Vukovic realized that he didn't have to chase back.

His body immediately slowed down and braked, and at the same time he looked towards Drew.

It was then that Drew looked over to him.

Both men saw what they wanted to express in each other's eyes. Vukovich: Pass the ball to me!

Drew: Ready to catch the ball!

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