Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Mourinho was relieved in the locker room when he looked at Li Ang, who was still discussing with Cross about the control of the game in the first half.

After missing Li Ang in the past two league games, several midfielders in Chelsea actually had no problems with their personal performance.

Take them individually to review their performance. Matic is diligent in defense, and Kroos is also very stable on the organizational end.

As for De Bruyne?

De Bruyne, who has sent three assists in two league games, has been praised by various British media!

In interviews with the media, Mourinho repeatedly stated that he would not question the strength of the three-man new midfield combination.

This is the truth, he really thinks so, but he also hides the "second half" in this sentence.

This second half is where this new midfield combination needs more game time to develop its normal power.

In the past, when Li Ang was in the midfield, whether he was partnering with Kros Matic or playing as a double central midfielder with De Bruyne, he could actively adapt to the opponent's playing habits.

And these players also naturally use him as the core to distribute and control the ball.

To put it bluntly, all the midfielders in the Chelsea team are absolutely convinced by Li Ang's strength, and Li Ang also understands their respective strength characteristics very well.

Therefore, as long as Li Ang can start normally, no matter which midfield players are paired with him, they can perform smoothly, and any omissions on the defensive end will be made up for in time by Li Ang.

But when Li Ang was taken out of this versatile midfielder, the Chelsea midfield trio, which did not clearly establish a new core, would naturally have certain fragmentation in terms of cooperation.

However, their respective abilities are very strong. Even if there are rhythm gaps in coordination, they can still do their jobs well and run Chelsea's offensive system smoothly.

So on the defensive end, their cooperation problems will increase the pressure on Chelsea's defense.

For example, in the last league game, Maguire failed to keep an eye on Cavani's breakthrough at the last moment, which resulted in the team scoring a winning goal.

Intuitively speaking, there must be something wrong with Maguire himself.

But if you analyze further, you will find that before Maguire and Cavani competed one-on-one, it was De Bruyne's return defense that had problems first.

His slow defense allowed Cazorla to receive Ramsey's through ball and successfully penetrated Chelsea's defensive third with the ball.

This was very fatal. At that time, Matic and Cross each had defensive goals and could not change their positions lightly.

Therefore, De Bruyne's defensive omissions allowed Arsenal to successfully seize the last opportunity.

If it were Li Ang, even if he was out of position on defense the first time, he would decisively intercept in the critical one or two seconds to return to defense, or directly knock down Cazorla who was holding the ball!

De Bruyne can certainly perform brilliantly in the midfield position 8 or 10.

His talent is outstanding, and Chelsea's coaching staff has never doubted his ability to perform as a superstar in multiple positions.

But he has played on the front line for two full seasons before, and it is really difficult for him to suddenly and seamlessly adapt to his new midfield position.

His reactions on the defensive end were a little sluggish, but this problem can also be improved.

Mourinho has thought of some plans to allow De Bruyne to integrate into the midfield system more quickly.

He believes that with enough games, De Bruyne, Cross and Matic will be able to establish a tacit defensive cooperation.

Many seemingly troublesome problems are actually minor issues.

And now watching Li Ang take control of the midfield, other Chelsea midfielders naturally gathered around him to communicate.

Mourinho also felt relieved.

As soon as Li Ang came back, these small problems were solved instantly.

Cooperation error?

Bad defense?

nonexistent.

With Li Ang sitting in the midfield, other Chelsea midfielders will not make such small mistakes easily.

After all, no one wants to be dragged by Li Ang to the base for additional training when it’s time to rest~

Mourinho was confident that he didn't have much to adjust his tactics for this game.

After all, Wolfsburg's tactical cards are almost all shown in the starting lineup.

Their high center forward Dost was directly targeted by Maguire today, and Draxler was the only one on the front line who was quite threatening.

However, this talented winger in German football was targeted by Li Ang again today.

After transferring from Schalke 04 to Wolfsburg, Draxler still couldn't get rid of Leon's targeting, which was unfortunate enough.

Mourinho has no doubt that Leon can suppress Draxler to the point where he is almost unable to perform today.

So in this case, if Wolfsburg wants to break the balance of the game, they need their second forward Schürrer to step up.

But is Schürrle, a second forward who is not sophisticated enough in playing in the middle and not fast enough in wide areas, really capable of breaking Chelsea's chain defense?

Mourinho is skeptical.

When the second half of the game started, Li Ang once again led his teammates to teach the Wolfsburg players a hard lesson on the defensive end!

He just happened to have nowhere to vent his energy recently, and his depression of not playing in two league games was directly directed at Wolfsburg today.

Draxler felt Li Ang's vigorous physical fitness and ridiculously full mental state, and then compared it with his difficulty in advancing with the ball.

The whole person couldn't help but fall into doubt about his own strength again.

He originally thought that he had grown a lot, and he was a real star in the Bundesliga.

But why did he still feel so powerless and unable to compete against Li Ang again?

Li Ang is like a machine that never gets tired, and he never tires of taking the ball away from his feet.

He was no match for Li Ang in terms of physical confrontation, and he had to bow to Li Ang's strength in the technical aspect that he was proud of.

His half-time performance was suppressed, and he was intercepted many times by Leon at the beginning of the second half. Draxler's mentality was completely shattered!

Heijin looked speechless on the sidelines, but he didn't dare to scold Draxler casually at the moment.

It seems that this young man is in a state of explosive and sensitive mentality right now. If you continue to criticize him, otherwise you will really destroy him when the time comes, then the gain will outweigh the loss.

In desperation, Heijing could only indicate that Draxler could try to change positions with right winger Caligiuri.

This can be regarded as a method. After all, Li Ang will not continue to switch positions with Matic to defend him on the left just to target Draxler. That is completely self-destructive behavior.

After getting rid of Li Ang's marking, Draxler's confidence in taking the ball slowly returned to him.

But Caligiuri, who switched sides with him, was miserable.

His confrontation with Li Ang at this moment is equivalent to going to jail. Anyway, no matter who Wolfsburg replaces today, Li Ang will be guarded in the half.

Wolfsburg, which is equivalent to attacking with a lame leg, is really inefficient.

And when the game reached the 65th minute of the second half, Chelsea, who was still quite physically fit, took advantage of the situation and launched a counter-attack against Wolfsburg!

Wolfsburg's midfield and frontcourt players, who had spent too much energy in the front, are really ugly when it comes to returning to defense.

In view of the fact that the two central defenders in Wolfsburg's penalty area are quite tall and their turns are not flexible enough, Li Ang frequently intervenes with Kroos to send threatening through balls!

Dante and Naldo had to carefully mark Hazard and Suarez behind them, who were quick to start and could be offside at any time.

These two tall central defenders were tortured by Chelsea's rapid offensive at the moment.

But just when they thought Chelsea would continue to play this kind of rapid advancement, Li Ang's rhythm suddenly changed!

After another dribbling and disrupting Wolfsburg's backcourt defense, Li Ang withstood Gustavo's defensive interference and suddenly passed the ball to Wolfsburg's two central defenders, leaving enough space when they retreated in time. The top of the penalty area!

De Bruyne, who had not been the protagonist of the offense before, now formed a tacit understanding of passing and running cooperation with Li Ang!

Diagonally insert, pick up the ball, and after a slight adjustment, rub and shoot in one go!

Benario was so angry that he wanted to curse!

He couldn't understand how his teammates dared to give up this important area in front of the top of the penalty area!

He jumped to save hastily and failed to intercept De Bruyne's confident shot.

After successfully extending the lead to two goals, De Bruyne also hugged Li Ang intimately and rushed to the corner flag area to celebrate!

There are still about twenty minutes left in the game, but the suspense of the game is basically gone.

The Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge sang and celebrated, but the English media reporters on the sidelines looked at each other.

In the end, the game came to an end due to Chelsea's strong and solid defense.

The media reporters who were still criticizing Mourinho's tactical arrangements after the last round of the Premier League seemed to have transformed into staunch Mourinhoists at this moment.

All I can say is that it is impossible for them to do so!

Li Ang, after accepting a formal interview with several familiar reporters, joined his teammates in celebrating at home.

They started with two consecutive wins in the Champions League death group, and also successively defeated the two top opponents in the group.

This kind of achievement is indeed worthy of a small celebration by Chelsea's players.

In the next round of the group stage, Chelsea will go to Moscow to compete with CSKA and the cold weather in Moscow.

Not to mention that they must win, as long as they do not lose to CSKA Moscow, they will be able to maintain the advantage of ranking first in the group halfway through the group schedule.

In a good mood, the Chelsea team also organized a team dinner on the night they defeated Wolfsburg.

The schedule is actually not too loose at the moment. In four days, Chelsea will go to St. James Park Stadium to compete with Newcastle in the eighth round of the Premier League.

But considering that the last league record was slightly fluctuating, Li Ang will also be suspended for one game.

Terry and Li Ang both felt it was necessary to hold a dinner party at this time to give the whole team a good boost.

Mourinho had no objection to this. It was just a relatively relaxed team dinner, not some weird party.

He also generously gave the whole team a day off. Chelsea's main players have been busy playing games recently and are in good condition.

Compared to more rigorous training, what the Chelsea first team players now need more is adequate rest, proper mental relaxation and more scientific recovery training.

Facts have proved that Mourinho's appropriate relaxation of management is still very effective.

After having a team dinner and having a comfortable day's rest, Chelsea's main players were in quite good spirits.

On the afternoon of October 3rd, during the National Day in China, Chelsea went to the away game to start a fierce competition with the Magpies.

Today Mourinho still lined up the midfield combination of Kroos + De Bruyne + Matic.

However, what is different from the previous two league games is that Cross no longer serves as a double central midfielder with De Bruyne, but instead partners with Matic to form a double midfielder.

This formation makes Chelsea's defense look more stable.

The more important point is that De Bruyne has gained more tactical freedom in the midfield and frontcourt.

Kroos delayed the organization, and the task of pushing the ball forward and sending threatening passes fell on De Bruyne's shoulders.

But he didn't feel pressured by it, instead he was quite excited!

Mourinho is reducing the defensive burden on De Bruyne so that he can devote more energy to the offensive organization.

As for the problem that he may not be able to return to defense promptly after losing the ball, it is not a problem since Cross and Matic are there to back him up.

This is also the tactical arrangement that the Chelsea coaching staff has discussed in a short period of time that is most suitable for the new trio of midfielders.

As reflected in the game, De Bruyne, who almost only had to attack with all his strength today, quickly came to full fire. It only took half time to directly assist Suarez and Hazard to score one after another!

However, Li Ang, who was watching the game in the box today, was in a happy mood but also had a strange expression on his face.

Because he feels that the style of play adopted by his team today is very similar to the style of play he remembers from Manchester United's Solskjaer coaching days.

De Bruyne also looks like a big B player.

The simple tactic of a dog holding a Frisbee is actually quite suitable for Chelsea's current configuration of midfield and frontcourt players.

This style of play is absolutely invincible in counterattacks!

Of course, the effect will be more obvious when playing against teams in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League. If you encounter a strong team, this tactic can still be easily understood and dismantled.

However, Mourinho obviously only used this specific tactical play occasionally, and Li Ang only joked a few words in his heart.

In the end, Chelsea defeated Newcastle 3-0 away from home. De Bruyne scored twice with another assist, and Suarez, Hazard and Maguire scored one after another.

Chelsea also wiped away the frustration of being tied at home by their city rival Arsenal in the last round of the league!

But they still haven't regained the top spot in the league, because Manchester City also won the early game.

Chelsea's current record in the Premier League is 7 wins and 1 draw, ranking second in the standings with 22 points.

Manchester City has won 8 consecutive games since the start of the season and is firmly at the top of the standings!

Arsenal, currently ranked third, and Tottenham, ranked fourth, both have a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, and have been widened by the two monster teams in front.

It is rare to go from a leader to a chaser. This feeling is quite strange for the Chelsea first team players who have won two consecutive league championships.

After all, they have always been under great pressure to win the championship in the past. This pressure has made them successful and has been spurring them to move forward and build their own three consecutive championship dynasty.

But now that Manchester City has taken the initiative to bear the pressure of public opinion for them, they themselves do not feel how disappointed. On the contrary, they are emotionally relaxed a lot.

Li Ang didn't think this was a bad thing.

Winning the league championship is not a 100-meter race, but a marathon that tests the willpower and overall strength of the contestants.

Manchester City's growth in strength has always been expected by Li Ang. It is unrealistic to suppress such evolving competitors from beginning to end.

Therefore, occasionally competing with Manchester City as a chaser will also help Chelsea players calm down and strengthen their will.

As for the Premier League this season?

It's too early to talk about this now.

We’ll see!