Super Marshal

I still remember that when Gao Han was coaching Inter Milan, when he was giving lessons to many Italian coaches in Corviciano, some students asked whether facing Inter Milan's passing and controlling style of play, in addition to strictly guarding, There is no other explanation.

This was a very popular topic at the time, because there was no Barcelona Dream Team at that time. Inter Milan's passing and possession style of play was unique in European football, even Rijkaard's Barcelona was inferior.

Gao Han still clearly remembers that Guardiola was also present at the time.

To this question, Gao Han answered firmly, no.

He believes that there are no perfect tactics in this world. The so-called tactics must have trade-offs. And no matter how rigorous the tactics are, there will always be problems with the lineup configuration of a team, so there is no solution.

At best, the answer to the puzzle itself will be high.

At that time, Gao Han gave three requirements. First, the opponent must have a unified tactical thinking and be good at pressing and pressing from a high position.

If you don't press and press from a high position, you are giving up the ball to your opponent. With only 30%, or maybe even less than 30%, the ball possession rate is destined to be tight and defensive, with no other way out. .

Therefore, if you don't want to be tight defensively, you can only press and press from a high position.

Everyone knows that with the development of football tactics, high-position pressing and pressing are no longer new, but the requirements for a team are very high. In particular, the game ideas and tactical execution of the frontcourt players are a very big test.

If a unified tactical idea cannot be formed and forces are exerted in one direction at the same time, high-position pressing and oppression are destined to be scattered, and the final result is often a more miserable death.

The second requirement brought about by the first point of high-position pressing is that you must have excellent physical fitness.

The physical exertion of football matches on players is quite astonishing, especially when the team adopts high-position pressing tactics. The physical exertion of the entire team reaches a level that is astonishing for one person.

Looking at European football in the past season, how many teams resolutely adopted high-pressure tactics when facing Manchester City and Barcelona, ​​but they were unable to persist because of their unsustainable physical fitness, resulting in problems with the execution of tactics. , and ended up being bloodbathed by Manchester City and Barcelona?

Therefore, if you want to press out to play against Manchester City, you will not be able to sustain the game without excellent physical fitness. With the offensive power of Manchester City and Barcelona, ​​as long as the opponent's physical fitness has problems, there is no problem in scoring two goals in ten minutes.

In fact, there are not many teams that can achieve the above two points, but they are also not a few. For example, Atletico Madrid has achieved it, and Arsenal and Real Madrid have also achieved it.

The Gunners played Barcelona in the first leg of this season's Champions League, which was obviously this style of play. As a result, they defeated Barcelona 2-1 at home. This was called a miracle by countless people, but the Gunners' ball possession rate in that game was still very low, and By the second round, Arsenal were completely disarmed.

The same goes for the Copa del Rey final. Mourinho used a three-midfielder tactic to take the initiative and press Barcelona, ​​forcing Guardiola's team to fail to score for 120 minutes. On the contrary, Real Madrid finally got a goal and won the Copa del Rey.

This game was called an epic by countless media.

So, can such a game be replicated?

The answer is impossible!

Arsenal took the initiative in the first round and immediately shrunk their defense in the second round. Real Madrid took the initiative and defeated Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final to win the championship, but they also paid great attention to shrinking their defense when facing Manchester City.

The reason is simple. They know the weaknesses of this style of play, and they also know where their problems lie.

That is that they lack the third element, ball control.

Everyone knows that a midfielder who can only grab the ball is not considered a good midfielder. In addition to being able to grab the ball, a truly outstanding midfielder must also be able to protect the ball and pass the ball.

The reason is very simple. After grabbing the ball, you cannot protect it, cannot pass it, and then throw it away. This is not only a huge drain on the players' physical fitness, but also a huge blow to the team's morale.

In the same way, the same is true for the defensive midfielder, and the same is true for a team.

Just relying on pressing and running without hesitation of physical strength lacks sustainability. To win, you must be able to control it.

In fact, many fans have overlooked one point. Whether it is Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich or this Manchester City coached by Gao Han, in addition to the characteristics of passing and controlling the ball, high pressing and excellent physical fitness are also the characteristics of these teams. Obvious label, just passing and controlling the ball is better known.

The same goes for Guardiola's Barcelona.

And everyone knows that the biggest problem with passing and controlling the ball is not the tactics, but the players.

Barcelona has Sergio Busquets at the deep end, and Manchester City has Xabi Alonso at the deep end. They are both the world's top midfielders. In the midfield, Barcelona has Xavi partnering with Iniesta, and Manchester City has David Silva partnering with Mo. Delic, both are top-notch holding midfield configurations.

It can be said that most of the most outstanding ball-handling players in Europe are in these two teams.

Many people in European football are now optimistic about James Rodriguez. A very important reason is that the Colombian midfielder has shown excellent passing and ball control skills, and is very comprehensive.

It is not difficult to adopt high-position pressing tactics, and it is not difficult to have sufficient physical fitness. The real difficulty lies in how to achieve the first two points and then have excellent passing and ball control abilities.

This undoubtedly sets a very high bar for all teams.

And this game, the contest between Manchester City and Barcelona, ​​became particularly exciting.

Especially when they fought against each other, the scene was even more exciting, which made all the fans in the Wembley Stadium mesmerized and almost forgot the time.

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Twenty minutes of the game passed unknowingly, and the two teams on the court still maintained the same balance of power as they had since the opening, with neither team able to overpower their opponents on the court.

But this kind of game was not dull at all. The two teams frequently made skillful and smooth passes, and frequently made wonderful and fatal passes. Every shot was also thrilling, making the fans in the audience exclaim in unison.

Everyone feels like they are riding a roller coaster, extremely thrilling and extremely enjoyable.

But what was supposed to come finally came.

When everyone thought that Barcelona's left wing would be their weakness and Manchester City should open a breakthrough from their right wing, in the 22nd minute, Blue Moon opened a bloody path from the left wing.

Benzema went to the outside of the left penalty area to receive David Silva's pass. The two skillfully performed a one-two in the left corner of the penalty area. David Silva got rid of Xavi who was closely guarding him and passed the ball. The ball was passed to the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo who cut to the edge of the penalty area. The Portuguese directly pushed the ball forward without thinking about it.

The ball passed diagonally from the middle of Puyol and Busquets to the left side of the penalty area. Benzema, who had just pulled outside the penalty area to receive the ball, had already quickly crossed behind him and blocked Alves with his body. After a pass from his teammate, he stopped the ball and dunked past Puyol, then fired a furious shot with his right foot.

Facing this close shot, Valdes was beyond his reach and could only watch the ball hit the lower right corner.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!"

"In the 22nd minute, Manchester City took the lead in breaking Barcelona's goal!"

"One to zero!"

"It was a very good team play, Cristiano Ronaldo attracted the attention of the defense at the front of the penalty area, Benzema and David Silva's cooperation was wonderful, but the most surprising thing came from Cristiano ·Ronaldo’s last pass was very crucial and fatal.”

"Benzema was very calm at the critical moment. After dunking Puyol, he took advantage of the situation and hit the goal without any sloppiness."

"Barcelona seems a bit passive now."

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Guardiola, on the sidelines, opened his arms in frustration after seeing Benzema score.

The Portuguese and Kaká attracted the defensive attention at the front of the penalty area, causing the penalty area to become hollow. This gave Benzema the opportunity to reverse into the penalty area. This time's cooperation is indeed wonderful.

"Gao Han is Gao Han after all. He knows that our left side is our weakness, but after the start, he seems to have been unwilling to play on the left side. Instead, he has been attacking our right side. This is a bit surprising."

Assistant coach Vilanova also nodded frequently. Gao Han is very experienced in targeted tactics and is always unexpected.

"Tell Alves that he has to recover this ball for me!" Guardiola pointed to the field and said with sharp eyes.

The game restarted. After conceding the ball, Barcelona quickly organized a counterattack, but Manchester City showed no sign of weakness and continued to press and press from a high position without any intention of taking a step back.

The two sides started fighting near the center line, and neither side held anything back.

But soon, Barcelona got a chance. After Messi got the ball on the right side, he suddenly started to break through Kompany and dribbled the ball to the center. After getting rid of Xabi Alonso, he failed. He continued to break through Javi Martinez and was tackled to the ground by the latter with the ball.

The referee Casse indicated that this was a successful defense and not a foul.

Barcelona slightly disputed the penalty but quickly got back into the game, with City taking the opportunity to launch a counterattack and once again break into Barcelona's penalty area.

But just when everyone thought Manchester City was going to create another murderous opportunity and create a threat, Barcelona suddenly completed a defense. After Harvey successfully intercepted the ball in the middle, he quickly passed the ball diagonally to the right.

Alves strode forward with the ball along the right wing, and Barcelona began to launch a counterattack.

Messi leaned towards the center and gave up the entire right channel to Alves, while Ibrahimovic stayed at the front, so that Manchester City's defenders did not dare to be careless in the slightest. .

Barcelona's counterattack was very fast. David Silva, Modric and others quickly returned to defense, but they still fell behind.

Alves dribbled the ball into Manchester City's 30-meter area and cut inside decisively.

Kompany stepped forward to defend, Xavi Alonso was stuck in the middle, but Alves suddenly passed the ball to the front of the penalty area with his right foot.

Ibrahimovic turned his back to the goal and blocked Javi Martinez with his body. Facing Alves' incoming ball, he pushed forward slightly and saw Messi who had been ambushing in the middle. Facing the incoming ball, he stopped the ball in front of him, raised his left foot, and hit the goal with a curved kick.

In the penalty area, Petr Cech had made all the preparations, but faced with Messi's parabolic arc ball, he was helpless. He could only watch the ball almost grazing the crossbar and crashing into the goal. The upper left corner.

One to one!

Guardiola watched from the sidelines and everyone jumped up, clenching his fists and cheering excitedly.

Barcelona has problems, but don’t Manchester City have any?

Although the three-four-three formation gives Blue Moon amazing offensive power, it also has many weaknesses on the wing.

Other teams may not be able to take advantage of this, but Barcelona definitely can!

Thinking of this, Guardiola turned his head and looked at Gao Han, as if to say, we are the same, each other.

Both of them smiled in unison, with inexplicable excitement in their eyes.