Star Coach

In the semi-finals of the German Cup, Hoffenheim made a grand appearance and faced Stuttgart at home.

Stuttgart has long wanted to overthrow Hoffenheim. In Magath's view, Hoffenheim has been a noisy neighbor in the past two years.

In the past two years, under the coaching of Jiang Shan, Hoffenheim's reputation has been greatly improved. Jiang Shan led the team to be undefeated and promoted. This season, they dominated the German Bundesliga and reached the semi-finals of the German Cup, stealing the show.

What's even more surprising is that Jiangshan continues to make wonderful moves in the game. Whether it is formation changes or substitutions, they are all remarkable. After every classic game, it can arouse heated discussions among the German media.

"Today, we are going to let your team go home. For the first time in the German Cup, it reached the semi-finals. This result is good." Magath held Jiang Shan's hand, "But I don't want to give it to you. A decent farewell.”

"It depends on your ability. Of course, with your strength, if you fail to beat the three of us, you will be laughed at."

"Don't try to anger me, Bayern has suffered this loss, and I won't be fooled." Magath said with a smile. He cursed Jiang Shan in his heart, "Little fox, you are indeed treacherous."

Jiang Shan also smiled, "Then you defend well, we are going to attack." He was also cursing Magath in his heart, "Old fox, you are really treacherous."

When the starting lineup came out, Jiangshan did not change the formation this time and used the most commonly used Christmas tree formation this season, 4321.

Captain Dorante is at the front, while Kuranyi and Didik are ambushing behind him. The midfielder is still the trio of Larn, Hitzl, Tiger and Kai.

Compared to Stuttgart, Hoffenheim's lineup is quite shabby. On the Stuttgart side, the goalkeeper is the young Hildebrand, who is expected to enter the German national team. More than half of this season has passed, and the number of goals conceded in the Bundesliga is less than 20. If the team's offense is not good, they can even reach the Champions League. district.

On the back line, the main players Schinkel, Strantzl, Mela and Babel all played, and the midfielder also had a lineup of Sordo, Meissner, Heldt and Hleb. The forwards are partnered by Szobic and Vranjes, both of whom have low shot conversion rates and relatively poor offensive capabilities.

Of course, this is for the Bundesliga team. If the Denan United team can get one of the two, it will definitely become the core and kill everyone.

At the beginning of the game, Hoffenheim launched a strong strangulation tactics in the midfield, preventing the Stuttgart team from easily organizing the offense.

Dorante has a very heavy task. He not only has to be the fulcrum of the frontcourt, but also blocks the opponent's offense and becomes the first line of defense. If he didn't wear the captain's armband, Dorante would definitely ask for a salary increase.

In just a few minutes, Magath put away his contempt for Jiang Shan, "Sure enough, I still underestimate him. This guy's skill in coaching defense is almost as good as that of the Italian coach."

"Today's game is not easy to play!"

The two sides kept going back and forth in the midfield, strangling and counter-strangling, without creating many good opportunities. After playing for half an hour, the score was still 0:0.

What depresses fans the most is that the game is too ugly to watch. Not to mention the fragmented rhythm, a complete offense cannot be played.

Stuttgart is a little better and can still create threats based on the players' personal abilities. What about Hoffenheim? Simply, a group of villains!

The entire team's formation was kept very compact and they just didn't give the opponent an easy life. It seemed like everyone turned into a reckless man and grabbed the ball when they saw it. If they couldn't grab it, they would surround it without leaving any gaps.

Regarding this situation, Jiangshan is also helpless. The players are not strong enough. Lahm, Pandel and others have not fully grown up, and they cannot bear it at all. Dorante is very active in the frontcourt, but facing Strantzl and Mela The combination is beyond its capabilities.

Didik only had speed and couldn't use it. There was no other way. Who said they were just amateurs? He has made great progress with Jiangshan in the past two years, but he still cannot compare with the top players in the Bundesliga.

Kuranyi is a little better. He has a good combination of speed and technique. He can create some threats by cooperating with wide players. However, today both Lahm and Pandel were restricted, which caused Hoffenheim's offense to be unable to open up and there was no frontcourt threat. big.

Stuttgart seemed to have found the weakness of Hoffenheim's formation, constantly attacking from the side, and frequently hanging at 45 degrees in the ribs, threatening Hunter and Instrom.

Both of them are good at frontal defense, and their turns are originally slow. Now when they encounter opponents who are constantly passing by, they can't use their strength, just like wooden stakes.

If Larne and Hitzlsperger hadn't frequently retreated to assist their defense, the team's gate would have been breached long ago.

Magath is very satisfied with the team's performance. If he continues to attack hard, there will always be opportunities. Hoffenheim's intensive defense today makes it difficult to bomb, so they need to pass the ball patiently and look for opportunities.

Larne once again intercepted a diagonal pass and passed it to Kai's feet without looking at anyone. Kai suffered several losses, but this time he finally learned the lesson. He didn't waste time dribbling, and passed a 30-meter long ball with a coquettish outside instep.

Dorante retreated to the arc of the center circle, stopped the ball with his chest, leaned on Helter, and made a difficult transition. After the ball hits the ground, it is sent directly to the frontcourt.

Kuranyi was very fast and sent the ball forward, speeding past Meissner who was returning to defense and reaching the edge of the penalty area.

Taking advantage of the defensive player's lack of position, he took a shot and the ball fell to the ground and rebounded.

But the speed of the ball also dropped. Hildebrand judged the right direction, flew sideways and knocked the ball out of bounds. Hoffenheim's counterattack failed to score a goal.

Jiang Shan sighed. Unfortunately, the best opportunity since the start of the game is gone!

Magath was pleased with himself, "As expected of Hildebrand, you are still very calm! I promoted you, and it was absolutely right. Quack..."

At the end of the first half, neither side was able to score. On Hoffenheim's side, Wiese was also unusually busy, but with his super-quick reactions and the help of the goalpost, he managed to keep the goal intact.

In the second half, Jiangshan took the lead in making personnel adjustments, replacing Didik and replacing him with Staval to help with defense. Didik was completely restricted in the first half and his performance stunk like shit. Jiangshan couldn't tolerate it.

After Staval came on the field, Hoffenheim's defense improved to a higher level, and the wing defense also became thicker, but there were fewer troops to invest in the offense. There was no way, Staval could only defend well, but his offensive ability was very poor.

The game time passed little by little, and both sides still failed to score. Magath's face became increasingly ugly. He didn't want another penalty shootout.

Jiangshan prepared for the penalty shootout better than any German coach. In the third round of the German Cup, Hoffenheim faced Bayern and won through a penalty shootout. Thinking about it now, it is still shocking.

Jiangshan also doesn't want to enter a penalty shootout. It's too energy-consuming. And who can guarantee that the penalty shootout will be successful every time? He directed Kai's position to move forward, and the formation gradually changed to 4312, strengthening breakthroughs in the middle. At the same time, Lahm increased his assists to help attack Stuttgart's defense and look for opportunities.

Stuttgart's left midfielder has hidden dangers. Heldt and Hleb do not cooperate well. Babel mainly plays as a central defender and is placed in the full-back position, which is frizzy.

He wanted to tear it open from here.