Super Marshal

"Lyon's most fatal weakness is in their defensive midfielder position."

At the Saint-Germain Lyon training base in the western suburbs of Paris, Gao Han watched the live broadcast of the Champions League and directly pointed out the weakness of the Lyon team. He had just played a game against Lyon away from home, and Paris Saint-Germain won 4-0. Therefore, Gao Han knew Lyon's weakness very well.

Through this game in the Champions League round of 16, he was more certain of this.

"This summer, Lyon sold its top midfielder Toulalan to Malaga. This certainly brought Lyon a large transfer fee, but the defensive midfielder position has never been effectively solved." Makelele nodded and said, "Lyon introduced Gaida Fofana from Le Havre for 1.8 million euros. This 20-year-old player is the main international player of the French World Youth Championship. He has extraordinary potential. Together with Lacazette promoted by Garde, he is hailed as the backbone of Lyon in the next few years." "That's right." Gao Han smiled at Makelele with appreciation. The Frenchman knows the French Ligue 1 very well. "Fofana played well this season, but his defense in the midfield is relatively weak, his interception ability is not strong, and he is better at passing and controlling. I guess this is why Garde is interested in him, but Lyon's midfield has become lacking in thickness and defensive ability, especially in the defensive midfielder position. Fofana's positional sense is not good and he is easily exploited."

When Paris Saint-Germain played Lyon, Garde's team was completely blown up by Gao Han's team.

"That's true. In the French Ligue 1 or the Champions League, the opponents they encountered were not strong. Lyon's problem can be covered up, but in the strong dialogue, Lyon's problem is exposed very clearly."

Zidane said here, and then changed the subject, "But Garde was also prepared for this game, and his tactics were well designed."

Gao Han glanced at Zidane and laughed. Zidane's vision was still very sharp to see this layer.

"You're right. To put it bluntly, tactics are nothing more than playing to one's strengths and avoiding one's weaknesses. This is also the case with Garde. He didn't play Gonalon, but chose Gourcuff, just to eat up Chinatown at home. Arranging Briand to play on the right is the best proof." Zidane showed a thoughtful look, "You mean, there is a problem with this arrangement?" "No, there is no problem. Facts have proved that he worked. He scored a goal in the first eight minutes." "But you just said..." "Yes." Gao Han nodded, "The opening goal gave them the upper hand and also made Chinatown upset, but a new problem arose, that is, Briand's defense on the right was not active. He used to play in the middle of the striker and did not need to return to defense, but the right winger position needs it, especially against Chinatown." Zidane and Makelele heard this and immediately realized it. "Garde's targeted defense is well arranged, but it is his first time to coach alone. He may not realize his problem, or he realizes it, but wants to score another goal, so he never moves Briand and Gourcuff."

"If I were Pochettino, I would just free Alba and push him forward boldly, let him make forward assists, and break Lyon's restriction on Hazard on the left, and then I can release Chinatown's attack."

When Gao Han said this, he smiled, "If I were more ruthless, I would consider directly replacing two of the three players De Bruyne, Firmino, and Isco, and attack Lyon's defensive midfielder position, and Garde would be completely finished!"

Zidane and Makelele looked at each other, and they all saw the look of admiration and helplessness in each other's eyes.

What they admired was Gao Han's insight. Even through live TV broadcasts, he could still see the problems in the opponent's deployment at a glance and give targeted strategies, but unfortunately, Gao Han's plan was too crazy. He was probably the only one in the world who dared to do this.

"It's useless for you to say these now. Pochettino can't hear them, but he may not be able to see them."

"No, no, no." Gao Han shook his head, "I believe that the team's data analysis will definitely show it. The simplest point is to look at the interception data in the midfield. The most important thing for Pochettino is to keep calm and stay calm. He must see it."

Just as Gao Han finished speaking, Chinatown made a substitution.

…………

…………

Pochettino did see it, but it was not as crazy as Gao Han said. He didn't have that kind of courage. After all, this was the first time in his career that he led the team to play in the Champions League knockout stage. Although he fought hard, he was not crazy enough to risk his life.

He replaced Herrera with Isco, which was the iconic substitution of Chinatown this season.

Isco is also known as Pochettino's golden substitute. Every substitution can turn the situation around.

This time is the same.

As soon as he came on the pitch, the young Spanish player dribbled through the middle, passed two Lyon midfielders in a row, and sent the ball to Pelle's feet, but veteran defender Chris made a tackle at a critical moment to resolve the crisis.

But soon, Pochettino's adjustments became apparent.

Alba began to give up on guarding Briand, and boldly rushed forward when his own team had the ball, pressing into the frontcourt and actively participating in the frontcourt attack. However, Briand's poor awareness of returning to defense made him rarely chase back. , causing Revière behind him to have to face two left-wing wings in Alba and Hazard at the same time.

After two years of experience as a main player in La Liga, Hazard has made very obvious progress. He can flexibly change positions on the left and center, and his movement awareness is very smart, which completely dismantled Lyon's originally effective regional defense.

Coupled with Isco's dribbling attack in the middle, Lyon could be said to be looking ahead and ignoring the bottom. The originally iron-clad defense suddenly became full of mistakes and dilapidated.

When the game reached the 81st minute, Chinatown, which frequently created threats, finally got a great opportunity.

Hazard received the ball from the left and cut laterally. He was closely marked by Lyon defenders and was forced to pass the ball crosswise to Rakitic. The Croatian passed the ball directly to Isco without stopping.

Isco stopped the ball and faced two players, Karlström and Fofana.

I only saw the boldness of Spanish young player Yi Gaoren, who directly dribbled the ball forward, using his skillful dribbling with his feet and his excellent change of rhythm to forcefully get through with the ball under the attack of two Lyon midfielders. He cut a bloody path and rushed to the edge of the penalty area, shocking Lyon's two central defenders Chris and Lovren.

Pellet was unfortunately in an offside position, but pointed out the weakness on the left to Isco, and Isco deftly dunked past Chris at the edge of the penalty area and pushed the ball to the left.

At this time, Alba quickly offsides Revier, rushed into the penalty area at great speed, faced Isco's diagonal pass, and without thinking, he raised his left foot and fired a volley.

The ball went over the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Lloris and hit the back side net!

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Eighty-one minutes, eighty-one minutes!"

"Isco has once again become Chinatown's lucky star!"

"This amazing Spanish youngster passed three Lyon defenders in a row and assisted Alba to score a goal."

"Let's relive Isco's wonderful performance."

"His breakthrough with the ball left a deep impression on us. He was not very fast, but his feet were delicate and his rhythm was very flexible. This made it impossible for Lyon's defensive players to keep up with his rhythm."

"It's amazing that Chinatown finally tied the game after being behind for over an hour."

"With an assist from youngster Isco who came on as a substitute, left-back Alba calmly volleyed the goal."

Everyone in Chinatown was extremely excited after the goal. Everyone rushed to the sidelines and hugged each other. Coach Pochettino jumped high from the ground and roared to the sky, venting his inner excitement.

But soon, the Argentine head coach completely calmed down and kept clapping at the players on the sidelines, signaling them to quickly return to the field and continue to increase their offensive intensity. They must keep up their efforts and strive to reverse Lyon.

Chinatown quickly returned to the field and continued their offensive against Lyon once play resumed.

The home team was caught in a weak spot and played a bit awkwardly. Garde was caught off guard after the equalizer and immediately made substitution adjustments. He replaced the poor Gourcuff with defensive midfielder Gonaron in order to strengthen Midfield defense.

Chinatown began to play more confidently and with more fighting spirit, especially Alba and Hazard on the left, as well as Isco and Rakitic in the center, who were very active.

The release from the left and center attracted the attention of Lyon's defense. Aubameyang also quickly got an excellent opportunity on the right, but the right winger quickly received a single pass from Pellet. , when facing Lloris, he didn't have time to adjust and sent the ball directly into Lloris's arms, missing a precious chance to score.

Aubameyang was so remorseful that he beat his head on the turf, obviously regretting the missed scoring opportunity.

In the past few years in Chinatown, he had made rapid progress under Cantarero's training, especially his shooting skills. But he was too excited just now. Faced with the sudden opportunity, he hit it without thinking, and ended up hitting it directly. Gave it to Lloris.

This is a valuable away goal and a victory.

It’s so cheating!

The game finally ended with Aubameyang's regret. Chinatown launched a fierce offensive at the last moment, but in the end they failed to break through Lyon's goal again, and the one-to-one score remained until the end of the half-time.

Although he failed to defeat Lyon away from home, he scored a valuable away goal, especially the attack at the last moment, which gave Pochettino more confidence.

On the other hand, the players of Garde and Lyon, the victory that was originally in their hands, turned into a draw in the end, making them all lose interest.

Just as Chinatown returned to the locker room happily, Pochettino received a call from Gao Han.

"Congratulations, Mauricio, it was a great game. I'm very proud of you and your team."

After every game, Pochettino will receive a call from Gao Han. If he loses, Gao Han will encourage him. If he wins, Gao Han will give him praise and recognition without hesitation.

"Thank you, Mr. Gao Han. This game was very difficult. I was too conservative in my formation and made some mistakes."

"But you adjusted very well at the last moment, and the team's offense was a threat." Gao Han praised with a smile.

In recent times, the performance of the Chinatown team has been ups and downs and very unstable, but Gao Han can see that Pochettino has run the team well during the winter break, especially on the offensive end, and the organization is quite good. .

It is also because of this that Pochettino insists on two-front operations, hoping to try his best to impact the Copa del Rey and Champions League. Once eliminated, he will concentrate all his energy on La Liga.

"I believe that after this game, you should know how to play in the second round." Gao Han said with a smile.

Pochettino blurted out without hesitation: "Of course it's his mother's fault!"

Not only did Gao Han not feel dissatisfied with the curse word, he actually laughed out loud.

Yes, just to attack his mother!