Fox in the Penalty Area

Chapter 1736 Lack of lubrication

Toni's goal gave Madrid Pirates a two-goal lead at home.

Just over 20 minutes into the first half, the Madrid Pirates were able to lead the Madrid Kings by two goals in the game. Such a scene is really rare.

Because the difference in strength between the two teams is not that big, in recent years, even if there is a win or loss, the situation is very stalemate, and it is extremely difficult for anyone to overpower the other.

Therefore, after only 23 minutes of this game, the Madrid Pirates led their opponents by two goals, which surprised many people.

Even though this is the Pirates' home court, such a lead is really surprising.

After losing Maxi Carey, everyone believed that the overall strength of the Madrid Pirates had dropped.

In the transfer market, the Madrid Pirates have not added any strong new players this season - they have spent all their energy and money on renewing contracts for existing players.

At that time, expert media had many criticisms of the Madrid Pirates Club's operation. They believed that the Madrid Pirates Club's move was not a mature approach. The approach of a mature club should be to quickly sell off the players who are gradually losing their value while these players are still valuable. Aged players were exchanged for a large amount of money, and then the team was rebuilt with Mesozoic players such as Hulay, Vukovich, Kamara, and Danny Drew as the core.

Because Hu Lai is here, it can also be ensured that during the team's reconstruction process, the results will not fluctuate too much - the championship may be difficult to win, but it will not prevent them from qualifying for the Champions League.

Once the reconstruction period is over, the Madrid Pirates will be able to take off quickly based on a better foundation and win various championships again.

But what did Madrid Pirates Club do?

They generously "give rewards" to the heroes who won the championship. They rewarded those who deserved a salary increase and renewed their contracts.

This is equivalent to raising a group of "big men" at a high price who have no ambition, no fighting spirit, and will only sleep on their laurels - they have already received all the honors they can get, what else can they pursue? What is the purpose of struggle? Isn’t it just to increase your salary and make more money?

Well, now the club has satisfied them.

Now that you are successful and have a high-paying "pension" contract in hand, why should you continue to struggle?

Any championship team will go through this cycle.

The Madrid Pirates Club should take precautions and try to delay the occurrence of this cycle from now on.

But the Madrid Pirates did the opposite, which made experts not optimistic about the future development of the Madrid Pirates Club.

Most people believe and agree that last season's Champions League final was the peak of this Madrid Pirates, and then it went downhill.

It's just that teams that are strong enough go slower when going downhill.

Even if you are down from the top, it is still very respectable.

Some teams don't just walk downhill, but "roll" downhill. They are embarrassed and dangerous, and may even collapse midway.

Madrid Pirates' struggling performance at the beginning of the new season has strengthened everyone's judgment that they have entered a period of decline.

The European Super Cup they won was just their "respectability" on the way down.

By then, the Madrid Kings, after being successfully blocked by the Pirates for two consecutive seasons, all players were holding back their energy and wanted revenge. They had hit the bottom, and it was time to bounce back.

Given the ebb and flow of the situation, the King of Madrid is more worthy of being favored.

It can also be seen from the performance in the league that the Kings have been making great progress, remaining undefeated in six league rounds and ranking first.

Madrid Pirates lost one game and ranked fourth.

Before this game, who would have thought that the Madrid Pirates could lead the Madrid Kings by two goals in just over 20 minutes at home?

Many people are confused - are the Madrid Pirates going downhill or not?

Judging from the more than 20 minutes of the game, the Madrid Pirates are more mature in all aspects.

In terms of personnel composition, Parotti should have placed 4231 as the highest priority, and temporarily gave up on 442, which allowed Di Kunzo to start and partner with Hu Lai. Joaquin Vela returned to the main lineup, and Tonini and Camara swung back and forth between the forward and forward lines, giving the Madrid Pirates' offensive routine more variety.

In terms of tactics, although some details have changed after Maxi Carey left, overall the Madrid Pirates' play style of passing and controlling, supplemented by flying on both wings, has not changed. Parotti took over the ball. The team started and continues to this day.

So even if there are personnel changes in individual positions, Pirates players are still very familiar with this tactic.

They have worked together for so many years and have a very tacit understanding, and they both know what they should do.

The game proved that this team still seems to be in the maturity stage.

Although they did have a downward trend before, but recently... they seem to have stabilized!

※※※

After Toni's goal, neither side scored again until the end of the first half.

However, the Madrid Pirates still controlled the situation on the field and did not give the Madrid King too many opportunities to counterattack.

With a two-goal lead, they played calmly and confidently.

The contrast in strength and results of the two teams also changed the mentality of the players.

Now they face the challenger Madrid Kings with the mentality of a king, rather than the mentality of a challenger like before.

"Okay! The referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half! With two goals from Hulay and Toni, the Madrid Pirates temporarily led the Madrid Kings at home with a score of 2:0... This is also the last four goals For the first time this season, Pirates of Madrid lead Madrid by two goals in the first half... Let's go back to the studio...

After the front-line commentators He Feng and Yan Kang completed their commentary tasks in the first half, the screen switched back to the rear studio in China.

The host asked the football commentator Zhang Rang:

"Director Zhang, what do you think of this first half? What do you think led to the current situation? When the Madrid Kings only conceded one goal, they still actively pressed out to attack the Madrid Pirates. Why did they concede the second goal? Suddenly become conservative again?”

Zhang Rang, who is already over 70 years old, appears less and less in live broadcasts of European competitions as he gets older, mainly because he has low energy and can no longer endure.

However, he will still come out as a commentator for important games like the Madrid Derby, especially after the original commentators Yan Kang and He Feng went to the front to commentate on the game, and Zhang Rang, a technical expert like this, needs to be in charge.

Facing the host's question, Zhang Rang analyzed the audience in front of the TV: "I think it is very simple. Tavares is afraid. He is afraid that he will continue to lose the ball against the powerful Madrid Pirates. If the first half If the opponent scores three or four goals in one game, then the game will be unplayable. So he chose a conservative strategy after conceding the second goal. This is also true, the Madrid Kings continued to play until the first half We really didn’t concede any more goals at the end.”

"So, Director Zhang, what do you think is the problem that although the Madrid Kings created some opportunities in the first half, they failed to seize any of them? Is it because Melli is in poor condition?" The host asked a second question.

Zhang Rang shook his head, then pushed up his black-rimmed glasses: "Melli is in very good condition. Although there were voices criticizing Tavares before the game for relying too much on Melli, I think Tavares's response was right. If a team has such a top star, it is impossible to turn a blind eye or ignore it. It will definitely focus on team formation, personnel composition and tactical design... So Melli is no problem. I think the problem is that Cerrados has retired. .”

The host was a little surprised: "Does Cerrados' retirement have such a big impact?"

"Very big." Zhang Rang nodded and concluded, then continued further analysis:

"Maybe because of Melli's rapid growth and rise in the past two seasons, many people think that Melli can replace Cerrados. Cerrados is not as important to the team as before. Goals, assists, etc. If Melli can do everything, why do you need Cerrados? Even after Cerrados retires, the team will no longer have to worry about who is the boss...

"But I think they may have underestimated the importance of Cerrados to the team. Just like Maxi Carey is to the Buccaneers, Cerrados is also very important to the Kings. It's just that Kyrie is not as important as Everyone can see it, because he has good skills, loves to show off on the court, has all kinds of fancy moves, and amazing operations... so everyone knows how important he is to the Pirates. But Cerrados is not, He is not as easy to show off on the court as Kyrie, and he also loves to show off. This has led to many people always feeling that the aging Cerrados no longer has the advantage of speed, and seems to have no other use except to transfer the ball... "

The host added: "Indeed, in the past two seasons, especially last season, Cerrados' voice among the media and fans has become much smaller, and he seems to have become a dispensable person..."

Zhang Rang shook his head and said: "But it's like a precision machine. We are always keen to discuss how precisely a certain part is made, how exquisite a certain design is, but few people discuss lubricating oil, right? What is lubricating oil?" Easy to discuss? So common. But lubricant is the most important thing for this machine to operate normally. Cerrados is the lubricant of this team.

"As a captain, he maintains the relationship with all his teammates in the locker room. On the court, he uses diligent running and excellent skills to connect the team's frontcourt offense. He does not compete with Melli for the limelight, nor does he steal the spotlight. Merry's core position is that he is willing to be a support. He is often inconspicuous. When he is on the court, you can't see what's good about him. Only when he is gone and the machine runs into problems, will everyone realize the problem. Severity."

Having said this, Zhang Rang paused for a moment and finally concluded:

"I think Cerrados is still very important to the Kings of Madrid. His retirement after the end of last season was a major loss to the Kings. With his competitive state, he can actually continue to play for the Kings for at least two seasons... …”

※※※

"Hi, Alexandra."

When Cerrados just walked out of the VIP lounge, he heard someone calling him.

He followed the sound and saw Kepa Amantegui, his old teammate in the national team.

"Kepa." Cerrados greeted him with a smile. "Why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here?" Amantegui asked with a smile, "This is my territory. But I'm surprised why you are here."

"Isn't it normal for me to be here?" Cerrados asked. "This is a Madrid derby and I am the ambassador of the club."

"Ah, I forgot. How does it feel to be a mascot?"

Cerrados smiled, knowing that his old teammate was making fun of him.

"I thought after watching the first half, you would come off the court to warm up at halftime." Amantegui joked again.

This time Cerrados's smile was a little bitter, but he still shook his head and said nothing. He knew that Armantegui was making fun of the Madrid King's performance in the first half.

He was also dissatisfied with his team's performance in the first half, but he didn't show it on the podium and now he doesn't want to give the impression of blaming his former teammates.

This is normal, whoever has the upper hand can take advantage verbally. As for the side that is temporarily at a disadvantage, the best response is not to fight back, but to shut up and stop talking, and wait until it regains the advantage before fighting back.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Amanteji continued: "I really didn't expect that you would choose to retire in the end. I was still playing. You are one year younger than me, but you chose to retire. You have lost sight of your king. How embarrassed are we in front of us? If you were still here, we would never have taken the lead so easily..."

Cerrados interrupted: "No, Kepa. I'm old."

"Excuse," snorted Amantegui. "That kid Melly alone can't lead the King. Alexandra, you shouldn't retire. You can still play for at least two more seasons."

Cerrados disagreed with his statement: "What about after two seasons? I will always retire. The current situation is just the pain of changing generations. It will pass soon. I still believe in Melli, he will become The greatest player in football history."

Amantegui smiled and shook his head: "I don't know if he can become the best in history, but I don't think he is even the best currently."

"We'll see, Kepa."

Cerrados said goodbye to Amantegui and walked towards the rostrum.

"Okay, we'll see!" Amantegui responded loudly behind him, turned around and walked towards the box.