From coaching Real Madrid

Valdebebas, conference room.

"The Catalan media always like to say that Barcelona is Team Cosmos!"

"To be honest, I have never believed that there are so-called aliens or space teams on the football field."

There are still two days left before the Derby of the Century, and Gao Shen is working hard to advance the team's preparations step by step according to the plan previously drawn up by himself and the coaching staff.

Now we are unifying our thinking and deploying tactical ideas.

"Football Emperor Beckenbauer once said that on the football field, the strongest is the weakest!"

"You can imagine this sentence, it is very philosophical."

"Back to Barcelona, ​​we will find that the strongest point in Barcelona's lineup is Messi, but their weakest point is also Messi!"

When Gao Shen finished speaking, the entire conference room was in an uproar.

The whole world knows whether Messi is strong or not, but Gao Shen would actually say that Messi is Barcelona's weakest point. This is very strange.

Is there any evidence?

"Don't rush to refute me. I would like to ask everyone to think about it. Over the years, football tactics have been changing, various formations have emerged, and the roles of players in various positions have also been adjusted.

, but the importance of the center position has always been there, why?”

As soon as Gao Shen finished speaking, he saw Xavi Alonso raising his hand.

"Come on, Harvey, tell me."

Everyone turned their heads and looked at Xavi Alonso.

"Football is essentially about the relationship between scoring goals and being scored. The center and the center back are the key to occupying these two key areas. Therefore, no matter how their roles and functions change, someone must occupy these key areas."

Gao Shen nodded with a smile and praised: "That's right, Harvey, you will definitely become an excellent head coach in the future."

There was a burst of laughter in the conference room, and everyone thought it was Gao Shen's appreciation for Xavi Alonso.

Of course, there's a bit of a joke involved.

"Yes, Xavi is right, football is about scoring goals and being scored against, which involves ball possession and space."

"There is another saying in Italian football: no matter how strong you are on the wing, you must return to the center to score goals."

"So, Italy has always been rich in centers, but lacks wings. At the same time, they are also good at defense."

"From this, everyone can easily know that the two penalty areas are very important key areas, corresponding to the center and center defender. Of course, the goalkeeper is also critical, but he belongs to the goal."

When Gao Shen said this, he noticed that the players did not look impatient, but all listened with great interest. This was also his purpose. He just tried his best to break down some tactical ideas and use a humorous and interesting way.

Way to say it.

Including but not limited to interactions like the one Xavi Alonso answered just now.

"So back to our previous question, why has Messi, the strongest, become the weakest link limiting Barcelona?"

"In modern tactics, the role of the center is no longer just to lurk in the penalty area and wait for opportunities. The requirements for it will be higher and more comprehensive, including pulling the side, defending, suppressing and consuming the opponent's defense.

etc……"

These are actually things that happen around everyone, and they are easy to understand.

The importance of the center has never been diminished.

Even though there have been many so-called strikerless tactics in the past few years, including Barcelona's tactic of using Messi as a false nine, which seems to not require a center, the problems are actually very big and obvious.

Because Messi is not a center at all!

He can score, score, and participate in defense, but he cannot play the other roles of a center.

For example, in a tough battle, holding the opponent's central defender creates space for the team in key areas of the frontcourt.

For example, when he was unable to open up the situation, he was unable to fight for the top, which resulted in Barcelona's crosses from the wing being basically useless.

In fact, Barcelona has never had a tradition of crosses from the wing.

It's not so much that they think the efficiency of crosses from the wing is too low, but rather that it goes against their philosophy.

In Gao Shen's previous life, neither Eto'o nor Ibrahimovic were in line with Barcelona's philosophy or incompatible with Messi. Especially later, Messi's performance became more and more outstanding and was replaced by Guardio.

After La was placed in the position of false nine, it was destined that Barcelona would never have another number nine player.

Suarez is the most suitable for Barcelona and the best partner with Messi. Together with Neymar, he formed the most luxurious trident in the history of world football at that time. It should also be the strongest and theoretically the most complementary trident.

.

But it is a pity that Barcelona did not seize the opportunity this time.

For example, many Barcelona fans are familiar with Luis Enrique of the so-called Dream Team.

Of course, from many perspectives, Enrique is successful in Barcelona, ​​but with a super trident like Neymar, Suarez and Messi, in addition to the five crowns, Barcelona's performance in the Champions League

It's so sad.

During Enrique's coaching period, after Barcelona won five crowns, it stands to reason that they should start promoting midfield innovation and abandon Habaib's so-called ball-control style. On the one hand, the personnel are aging, and on the other hand, the times have changed.

In the past, other teams had no way to deal with Barcelona's passing and possession, but now, everyone knows how to deal with you.

This is what Gao Shen said, in the Champions League, no one can rest on their laurels.

When you try to win in comfort, the result is that you will be beaten into a sieve.

Barcelona during Enrique's era is the best proof.

Many people say that during the Enrique era, MSN played its most important role in the frontcourt. This is actually wrong.

If the role of MSN is really brought into full play, why can't it continue the glory of the five-time championship period?

Is MSN not strong enough?

The answer is simple. Enrique's tactics simply did not bring out the full potential of MSN. All he did was rely on MSN.

Note that dependence does not mean that it is exerted.

Similar to the trident combination of Neymar, Messi and Suarez, the best way is to avoid getting into a positional battle.

They all have super personal abilities, and with enough space created for them, they can achieve the full effect of three-on-four, three-on-five, or even one-on-one action between three people.

How can I have space?

Counterattack quickly, before the opponent's defense is organized.

Found it?

This in itself is inconsistent with Barcelona's philosophy. Barcelona is best at controlling the ball. They don't dare to take risks and control everything first.

But the problem is, once you have stable control and the opponent's defense has been organized, then you can only switch to positional warfare.

Enrique's approach is to leave the ball to MSN in positional battles.

You can look at Real Madrid during the four-championship period in five years. From Ancelotti to Zidane, they all accelerated the transition between offense and defense.

How to speed up?

Start with the midfield revamp.

In terms of tactical formation, the attacking midfielder was abandoned and a three-midfielder was adopted.

In terms of player selection, they abandoned a group of players with relatively single characteristics and insufficient comprehensiveness such as Germany's No. 10, Khedira, and Kaká, and instead reused players like Di Maria, Modric, Toni Kroos, and Casemiro.

With Xavi Alonso and other more comprehensive players.

This represents a trend.

Even when passing through, the young people Real Madrid favors are versatile midfielders like Valverde, Camavinga and Joan Armene who can both attack and defend.

One advantage of being an all-around player is that no matter who grabs the ball, they can initiate a counterattack immediately, most likely to launch the most threatening attack before the opponent's defense is well organized.

Some people may wonder, isn't Barcelona's midfield comprehensive?

Isn’t Habaibu strong?

It was strong, but it has passed.

Xavi and Iniesta were once the most comprehensive and top midfielders in the world, but this was based on their amazing movement.

But now, they can't run away.

Once they can no longer run, their natural physical weaknesses will be exposed. What should they do at this time?

Improve your ball control.

Isn’t there something you said?

As long as the opponent is not given possession of the ball, the opponent cannot score.

But from the moment Xavi and Iniesta stopped running, Barcelona's midfield was already disintegrating step by step.

Especially Busquets behind him.

Busquets has never been a defensive midfielder with excellent defensive ability. What he is best at is predicting and delivering the ball. Defense and speed are his weaknesses, which means that Xavi and Iniesta in front of him cannot provide him with

With enough protection, he is exposed.

As soon as Busquets was exposed, the defense behind him was also exposed.

Gao Shen has always said that Barcelona's defensive system is really very bad. Their entire tactical system is not built for defense at all, but for ball control.

In fact, Barcelona was defeated in the Champions League knockout rounds time and time again because of this.

As long as the opponent is strong enough to force Barcelona to expose these problems, Barcelona will immediately be out of options.

As for the league, the opponents are not strong, and Barcelona can completely rely on its strong passing and control system to maintain results.

Originally, in a situation like Barcelona's, they should have taken the route of the center forward, using the center's advantage to suppress the opponent's defense and provide more space and support for the midfielder.

But unfortunately, Messi is not such a center forward.

At the same time, in order to take care of Messi's tactical space, neither Eto'o nor Ibrahimovic has room to survive in Barcelona, ​​especially Ibrahimovic, who was originally the most suitable for Barcelona.

A center who plays well.

Just imagine, if the Swedish center were to directly suppress the opponent's defense, would Barcelona's midfield pressure still be so great?

This is what Gao Shen said, Barcelona's strongest player is Messi, but it is also Messi who has become Barcelona's most vulnerable link.

…

Gao Shen did not explain everything in his mind to the players, but reorganized some words to deconstruct the current Barcelona tactical system and existing problems with the players, and also predicted the tactical trends in the next few years.

Here, he also specifically mentioned the names of young players such as Isco and Verratti, just to tell them that they must make themselves more comprehensive and not resist the coaching staff's request for them to strengthen defense and improve their physical fitness.

Only omnipotence and comprehensiveness are the future trends.

And through this deconstruction, Gao Shen has actually basically given a plan to beat Barcelona.

There are even many smart players in the conference room who have already guessed how to play and why.

This is the effect Gao Shen wants!