From coaching Real Madrid

Chapter 1281 Big Center Tactics

In the eyes of most fans, conservatism means shrinking defense.

But that's not true.

Conservatism is a state of mind, but its expression must be defensive.

For example, Guardiola and Barcelona, ​​their conservatism is actually a kind of crazy competition for possession of the ball, even giving up forward passing and offensive threats, blindly playing back and forth in the midfield and backfield.

This situation has been seen both in Barcelona and today's Guardiola.

Especially in some important games.

What Gao Shen said is that he hopes Guardiola will not be conservative, but that he can reduce the mistakes in the midfield and backcourt.

The other one is confusion.

Guardiola is a famously entangled emperor, the most typical example of which was the Champions League final in Gao Shen's previous life.

But now, Gao Shen is not sure whether Guardiola will struggle in tomorrow night's Champions League final.

One thing is certain, that is Pochettino's Leeds United can pose a threat and blow to Manchester City.

Efficient pressing and efficient quick counterattacks are Leeds United's specialties.

Therefore, the key depends on how Guardiola chooses.

When it comes to this kind of final, it is difficult for outsiders to give any specific opinions, because no one knows the team's situation better than the head coach and understands the opponent's actual problems better.

Therefore, if you want to win the game, you still have to rely on the players and the head coach to work hard.

…

"There are a lot of speculations out there, saying that Pochettino was preparing for the Champions League final when he changed to a back three against Wolves."

Wenger discussed football tactics with great interest.

Conspiracy theories are popular at all times, including in football.

There are many different opinions outside, some of which are even outrageous. They say that in the past period of closed training camps, Leeds United focused on practicing the three defenders, and Pochettino wanted to give Manchester City a surprise.

Gao Shen can swear that this is absolutely nonsense.

For now, the possibility of Leeds United playing a three-back tactic in the Champions League final is almost zero!

But there will always be people who believe in conspiracy theories.

"In recent years, the back three has emerged again. To be honest, many elements are not the same as they were back then," Ferguson also said.

Now when talking about three defenders, the first thing Gao Shen thinks of is the Roma team that won the Serie A championship under the coaching of Capello.

At that time, Roma not only had world-class wing-backs like Cafu, but also top defenders like Samuel, Zebina and Panucci. The back three at that time played very impressively.

But as Ferguson said, times are always changing.

Gao Shen has always said that football tactics are in an upward spiral. Many things look the same, but in reality they are very different.

Let’s not say three at the back, let’s say four at the back.

In fact, when discussing, many fans will still emphasize how the two central defenders work together.

This cannot be said to be wrong, but now we basically no longer adopt the two-center-back division of labor model in the past, because the defense has long been integrated, and even the offense and defense are integrating.

What is integration?

To put it simply, it is system warfare.

Every player plays a role in the entire offensive and defensive system. On the court, in addition to completing their own tactical tasks, they also have to play their role in the entire offensive and defensive system.

The simplest example is that in the past, the forward was responsible for offense, the midfielder was responsible for organization, and the defender was responsible for defense.

But now?

Sometimes, defenders can go to the front to defend, or even attack, and forwards can retreat to the penalty area to defend.

Not to mention the term defensive forward, which is nothing new.

In this current integration of offense and defense, the requirement for players is to be comprehensive and versatile, which will blur the position on the court, and finally evolve into whoever appears in which position plays what role.

Therefore, even in a four-back system, many people can see that in fact, the two central defenders are more likely to be in the same position.

In the early days of Capello's Roma days, the three-back style actually had a detailed and clear division of labor and front and rear positions.

But now the three-back play is actually more complicated.

For example, when Gao Shen was at Real Madrid, the fourth position often dropped to the central defender, plus the original two central defenders.

The whole world knows that Real Madrid's full-backs are almost used as wingers. So, is this a three-back style?

This is just the beginning.

When more and more head coaches use three defenders, they are also constantly developing new tactical concepts.

"Actually, I had an idea that day. You said that we adopt a high-position defense of 3421. The frontcourt is dominated by high forwards to suppress the opponent's defense. The two offensive players behind can hit the side and hit the ball very hard.

flexible."

"Furthermore, among the four midfielders, two wing-backs and two all-purpose offensive and defensive midfielders in the center can ensure the stability of the team's midfield. And among the three defenders in the defense, the two wing-backs are in front of the team.

When pressing, press forward to support the midfield."

Gao Shen's words immediately made everyone fall into deep thought.

"Your style of play is very interesting. If I guess correctly, it is aimed at players like Messi, Neymar and Hazard." Ferguson was the first to taste it.

Players like Messi, Neymar and Hazard like to get the ball between the two lines and in the rib area. This has always been a difficulty in defense, but Gao Shen has now liberated the two full center backs.

Then you can keep an eye on these players.

"But in this way, the pressure on your central defender will be very high. In addition, the speed and tracking ability of the wide central defenders are also very high. Also, the three players in the frontcourt can be either wide or central, but they can

It is difficult to control the distance. Once it is not handled well, the distance will be too wide, and the two will lose contact and lack cooperation."

Without coordination, it will be easy to be cut off by the opponent, and then turn into a blind individual combat.

After a pause, Ferguson smiled again, "And if it's in the middle of the midfield, I think you just want to go back to the double midfielder combination of Biglia and Rakitic that was used in Naples.

"

The defensive midfielder formed by these two players is now a classic.

Mainly because they were both offensive and defensive, with superb and delicate footwork. Whether it was passing the ball, attacking from behind, or defending, they were all very good. It can be said that they left extremely good memories for people.

And among the three, four, two and one that Gao Shen imagined, aren't the two in the middle of the four the most suitable for them?

When Ferguson made such a point, everyone suddenly came to their senses.

They are both head coaches, but sometimes when discussing, Wenger may not be able to keep up with the pace of Ferguson and Gao Shen.

"If it is true as Jazz said, then the flaws in your style of play are quite obvious, but the benefits are also great. I believe that offense and high-position pressure will be very threatening." Now, Wenger has figured it out.

"The three offensive players in the frontcourt still need to have enough dominance." Ferguson reminded.

Especially the center, who cannot suppress the situation and lacks dominance, this tactic will not be a threat at all.

You can tell by looking at the formation, three, four, two, one. In the final analysis, it is the one at the front who is playing.

This is a formation used to play the big center tactics.

"Are you preparing for Haaland?" Ferguson suddenly understood.

Gao Shen smiled awkwardly, "I just thought of it suddenly."

This can also be regarded as an occupational disease.

Gao Shen felt a little strange when he saw Pochettino using three defenders and a 3,42,2 formation.

The main reason is that Mbappe is not suitable for this tactic, but Grealish is quite suitable.

The first two should preferably be players who can play in the middle or wide. In addition to Grealish, others like Sancho, Felix, Foden, Rodrygo and others are also suitable.

As Ferguson said, devote all the team's resources to serve Arrowhead's high center.

"I think it can be studied carefully, but the requirements for players will be very high, such as the frontcourt and the big center. Needless to say, Haaland is still very immature now, especially in the skills and tactics of the big center such as back-up. He is now

It’s still very lacking.”

"The two secondaries are also a problem. They must be able to pass the ball and break through the middle. They must also be able to tear apart the defense on the wing. The advancement speed must not be slow. There are not many such players."

Generally speaking, there are two ways of thinking when forming a team. One is to have tactics first and then look for suitable players.

Needless to say, the other method is to dig players first and then build tactics around the players.

It is very difficult to find suitable players for the style of play that Gao Shen is currently conceived.

In addition, the middle two players in the midfield four are equally difficult to find.

It seems now that Kimmich is one of them, Milinkovic may not be able to play well, and Valverde is not suitable, and putting him in this position is overkill. The Uruguayan is very fast, and the latter is not suitable.

He has a very keen sense of smell, and as long as he gets the hang of it, he will definitely be an excellent back-up attacker.

"I'll take it out later and discuss it with them." Lucas said with a smile.

Although the profoundness is just a whimsical idea that comes easily, the more you think about it, the more interesting it becomes.

The current four-back tactics have actually reached a bottleneck, and more and more teams are beginning to study the three-back style.

That's why Pochettino changed his formation and tried three defenders when he played against Wolves.

The style of play designed by Gao Shen is still relatively rough at present, but the ideas and ideas are really interesting. It is even conceivable that if it can be polished, it will definitely be a tactic with super attack firepower.

As for the disadvantages, they will definitely exist. The key is to find ways to avoid them.

In the department that was separated from Leeds United, there are those who specialize in techniques, tactics and formations. Let them discuss and analyze it, or put it into a large database and use models to deduce it. Maybe there will be unexpected gains.

After everyone discussed tactics for a while, the topic gradually returned to the Champions League final.

This season's Champions League is very different from the past, that is, there is more time to prepare for the game.

Everyone believes that Pochettino and Guardiola are focusing on their opponents' skills and tactics, and both teams currently have full lineups, no injuries, and all main players can play.

This will test the head coaches of the two teams.

How to play the most advantageous situation for yourself among the existing cards?

(End of chapter)