Chapter 16: Following Ferguson's Good Example

"In English football, there is a joke circulating."

Before the afternoon training session, Gao Shen spoke for the first time as the head coach.

The players in front of him had different expressions, some were indifferent, some were dismissive, and some were listening carefully...

But he didn't care, and continued with his carefully prepared first lecture.

"In the 1995-96 season, in the first round of the Premier League, after Manchester United lost 1-3 to Aston Villa, the famous football star Alan Hansen shouted to Ferguson on the TV show. He said, relying on a group of children, You can't win anything!"

This is indeed a story familiar to fans in English football, and everyone who has played in the Premier League has heard it.

"Three years later, Ferguson led this group of children and won the Triple Crown. Alan Hansen's words became a joke."

Behind Gao Shen's side, Maqueda's face became quite ugly, and the others The members of the coaching staff also had strange expressions.

Because of this sentence, Maqueda also said it to Gao Shen in the office just now.

They understand now that this rookie head coach is the one who must report every grievance. Not only does he have to report on the spot, but he also has to find an opportunity to whip him out afterwards. He is too narrow-minded!

Don't mess with this kind of person in the future!

"Just now, someone said the same thing to me. He also felt that I am a child, and with a group of children, I can't win anything. Even the situation I am facing now is even worse, because Ferguson was a famous coach back then, and I was just A fledgling rookie, the group of Manchester United kids back then all became top stars in the Premier League and even Europe."

Everyone looked at him silently, their eyes full of various gases, many of them It is full of disdain and ridicule, and some eyes are quite complicated.

"Besides, in terms of time, I am not as generous as Ferguson. He can create a treble in three years. But I might only have three days left and the weekend derby could decide my fate."

"But I personally think so. In the 95-96 season, Ferguson was not sure that this group of players would bring him the Triple Crown in the future. We just look at this matter from the perspective of hindsight. It seems that now, I don't know what will happen on the weekend, do I?"

Although the cultural lessons of the players are generally relatively poor, Gao Shen said it very straightforwardly, and the logic is still clear.

"From this incident between Ferguson and Alan Hansen, what I learned is not Ferguson's future Triple Crown and Alan Hansen's jokes, but Ferguson's bravery to do what he thinks is right and what he should do. Even though he was facing many doubts and an unpredictable future."

"Ferguson is the head coach I respect the most. I can't compare with him, but I am willing to learn from his attitude, so I will continue to insist on doing what I think is right and what I should do. As for the result, the outcome of the weekend, and whether I will quit class, I will leave it to time to decide." In the queue, Raul, Baker Ham, Zidane, Woodgate, and several young players who were promoted from the second team, they have all communicated with Gao Shen, and they all know what Gao Shen is thinking. At this moment, they heard his words from the bottom of their hearts. , the feeling is obviously deeper than others.

Especially for the young generals who were promoted, they felt that they were the group of children that Gao Shen was talking about, and Gao Shen was blocking overwhelming doubts for them.

It moved them.

...

The training session in the afternoon is closed training, no outsiders are present.

When the assistant coach Maqueda announced the list of teams for the game, everyone was stunned.

Not only because of the arrangement of several young players in the yellow vest representing the main force, but also because Carlos and Ronaldo were not even included in the red vest.

What does it mean?

That day, everyone saw Carlos intimidating Gao Shen in full view, and Ronaldo has always been the vanguard against Gao Shen, and they are also the leaders of the Brazilian Gang.

The full-backs are no longer blindly attacking like before. Gao Shen requires that they can only go up one at a time, and they cannot ignore their backs like Carlos and Cicinho.

After listening to the list, both Ronaldo and Carlos were furiously trying to find a high-level theory, but were stopped by their teammates, and Fernando Lucas stood in front of the high-level, separating the two superstars.

After the two quarreled for a while, they said a harsh word and left angrily.

"I'll wait to see how you end up!"

"You're screwed, you won't be able to stay until the weekend!"

Gao Shen was already mentally prepared for such a situation, and he didn't care, anyway, for him, all of this was planned , so he directly signaled to start warming up and prepare for team training.

Taking advantage of the warm-up time, Gao Shen put together a group of yellow vests. Lucas sent a small tactical blackboard, and Gao Shen drew his own position map on the small blackboard, a four-two-three formation.

He clearly told the players that this is only the first training session, which is mainly based on running-in. At the same time, every player is welcome to give timely feedback on their opinions and suggestions based on their own characteristics and conditions.

In this four-two-three formation, the focus is on balance, with high center forward Negredo in front, and Raul on the left is closer to the center, cruising around him, which is also Raul's strength, while Zidane's It is the core attacking midfielder who serves as the midfielder and takes charge of the overall situation. Beckham is responsible for long passes and crosses from the right.

Gravesen is not the reckless guy that many people think of. On the contrary, he has both offensive and defensive skills. He played the core at Everton. Gao Shen used him and De La Reid as a double midfielder because he liked the offensive and defensive skills of these two players.

As for the two central defenders, Woodgate is responsible for the attack and Elguera is responsible for the delay. This is mainly due to the fact that Elguera does not take advantage of the body, and he was the delayer in the season when he became famous in Real Madrid. central defender.

Gao Shen especially emphasized one point, that is to keep the overall formation compact and orderly.

He divided the court into several different areas. When defending, every player must be able to return to his own area.

Everyone can see that at this stage, Gao Shen is more concerned about defense.

This is also very sensible, because a good defense can first make itself invincible.

With Real Madrid's offensive firepower, as long as they can defend, they will have a chance to attack.

...

so little time.

Although Gao Shen has made careful preparations, and the players can basically understand his meaning and are willing to try to accept his tactical thinking, there are still many problems in its implementation.

Although the attacking combination of Robinho, Soldado, Baptista and Cassano on the opposite side is a temporary creation, but the personal abilities of these players are quite good, and Guti is responsible for transporting shells behind them , Cicinho was also very active on the right, and the players were holding back their energy. The red vests had an overwhelming advantage from the beginning, and they took turns to attack the yellow vests violently.

The Yellow Vests haven't gotten used to Gao Shen's tactics and lack of tacit understanding. Once they are hit, they will be in a hurry, full of mistakes and omissions, and the Red Vests frequently seize opportunities to create dangerous situations.

This is also expected.

He is also constantly fine-tuning according to the situation on the field, combined with Benitez's tactical thinking, and according to the characteristics of the players, mainly some adjustments to the positions on the field.

But it's not without bright spots.

Robinho played very eye-catching at the beginning, but soon died down under Arbeloa's imprisonment.

You know, a year later, Arbeloa is the man who can freeze Messi.

Filipe Luis on the left did not give up much. After the chaos at the beginning, he quickly adapted to the rhythm of the team competition. He also performed very steadily against Cassano and did not give the Italian too much trouble. Chance.

As for Soldado and Baptista, apart from scoring a goal not long after the opening, they were also restrained at other times.

From a high-level point of view, Real Madrid's current defense has begun to have a level.

Whether it is Soldado or Baptista, or Robinho and Cassano, after receiving the ball, let alone facing the goal directly, they often have to face two lines of defense.

For example, once Baptista got the ball in the middle and wanted to charge forward, he found that Gravesen and De La Reid were flanking him, chasing him all the way, and then passed it to Soldado. But the situation of the Spanish teenager is not easy, Woodgate is beside him, and there is Elguera behind him.

With a layered defense, it will be difficult for the opposing offensive player to score.

This is also an advantage of the four-two-three formation.

But not safe, because Atletico Madrid have Torres.

The speed and explosive power of this new Spanish golden boy are very strong, and the frontal impact ability is almost unmatched by anyone in the current Real Madrid team. Therefore, whether he can stop Torres depends on the verification in the game.

Whether the tactics work or not, the players who execute them know best in their hearts.

Raúl, Zidane, Beckham and others had already noticed the uniqueness of this tactical framework when they were laying out the tactics before the advanced game. It was completely different from the previous Real Madrid tactics, and it emphasized the whole, especially the formation. Compactness of four lines.

Not long after the game was played, the players realized the cleverness of this tactic.

But players, especially superstars such as Raul, are suspicious. How can a rookie like Gao Shen have such a brilliant tactical concept and mature framework?

They quickly thought of Carlo.

The four-two-three formation, Carlo has tried it before, but because of the superstar, coupled with the unsatisfactory results, Carlo had to give up this style of play, but if he is during this period, according to Real Madrid's The problem is that it is not impossible to derive a brand new set of four-two-three-one style of play.

This can also explain clearly why Gao Shen was able to make such a mature tactical system as soon as he made a move.

Obviously, the superstars guessed wrong, but they also executed more carefully on the court.

Compared with the rookie Gaoshen, they have more trust in Carlo.

And this also allowed the defense of the yellow vest team to gradually stabilize, and began to exert strength on the offensive end.

Gao Shen didn't know that the players would get it wrong, and he didn't care, because the defense of the Yellow Vests team was getting more and more stable, which made him even happier, and he clearly felt the impact of this advanced technical and tactical concept.

If you give him a little more time, it will be fine to get used to it slowly.