Chapter 51

Chapter 51

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the Barcelona fans looked at the players on both sides who left the field with some disappointment, even though Barcelona basically played against Mallorca in the rest of the first half. , but still unable to break through the gate of Mallorca...

This feeling has been felt by many teams facing Mallorca since the start of the second half of the season. Mallorca's defense is not very well-known, and they are a bunch of veterans, but these old guys basically He is a fine person with rich experience. He is familiar with most of the offensive players of other teams. His defense is not particularly tough, but he can always destroy the opponent's offense and make the opponent's offense extremely depressed. affected the state.

The Mallorca players ran into the player tunnel with their heads held high. Regardless of whether Barcelona's state has dropped a lot this season, there are not many teams that can beat them, especially at their home court. To be able to lead Barcelona by a goal in the first half at the Nou Camp and keep Barcelona's attack at bay for most of the time is a matter of pride in itself.

"The first half was good, but what I want to warn you is that the second half is the highlight. In the first half, their offense was more chaotic and more concentrated at the feet of Rivaldo. The second half will not be like this, according to my estimation. , Figo should play, although Van Gaal wants him to rest, but in this case Van Gaal will not use him. After he plays, Barcelona's offensive line will be complete, and we will be under more and more pressure The bigger the game, the better we have to be defensively to deal with that situation."

Jose said in the locker room, and then he quickly moved a few chess pieces representing the positions of the players on the tactical board: "In the second half, we continued to shrink the defense, and we had to defend more thoroughly than the opponent! Two full-backs Also retreated into the penalty area to make the defense in the penalty area more intensive. This kind of defense is the biggest headache for Barcelona."

Speaking of this, Jose seemed to be afraid that the players would not understand. After waving his hand, he said: "Barcelona's offense is very good, but their offensive ability is not particularly good. Kluivert is a very good center forward, but Under Van Gaal, the most valuable thing is his ability to play the ball. Although he can score many goals, when facing dense defenses, his role is more to help his teammates create opportunities and expand space in the penalty area. So we need to increase the number of defenders in the penalty area. No matter how they move back and forth or break through the perimeter, just don't let them cut into the penalty area with the ball, stalk them, block them! Want to pass high-altitude balls? I don't believe it now This Kluivert can also score goals over the heads of our two defenders. In terms of average height, Mallorca's defense is also one of the best in the entire La Liga. This is our advantage, and we will now use this advantage. Come out! Defense, thorough defense, let them see what an impenetrable defense is, let them see, even if we only score one goal, we are capable enough to maintain the advantage of this goal until the end of the game!"

What is Barcelona not afraid of? The last thing to be afraid of is confronting people! Last season, the big score draws with Bayern and Manchester United are enough to make people recall, but there is not much to do when facing a densely defended team, although they have a center and a side Road breakthroughs have long-range shots...but they all need space. What Jose has to do now is to make their space disappear!

"Midfielders on both wings, all retreat, strikers, your job is not only to score goals, but also to lay down the first line of defense, disrupt their defense, and interfere with their defense. Of course, if you have the opportunity to attack, you must Offensive, but what you need to pay attention to is that you may not have too many teammates to support you, and the offense depends on the two of you." Jose turned his head and said to Eto'o and Tristan.

Eto'o and Tristan nodded at the same time. They understood that Jose would use defensive tactics, and entrusting the offense to both of them was a sign of trust in them—believing that they could break through Barcelona without support. door!

"If I have the chance, I will definitely attack! There is nothing to be afraid of. According to the boss's arrangement, they will definitely press very high. At that time, they will face at most one or two defenders!" Tristan thought in his heart .

"One goal is not enough... If I can score a few more goals in the Nou Camp, I should have a place in the Nou Camp next season." Eto'o thought in his heart.

The other players in Mallorca will not have any opinion on the requirement of dense defense. Since they are ahead of Barcelona by one goal in the away game, it is normal to adopt defensive tactics. This kind of tactics is what Mallorca is best at. In this case, it is also the most sensible tactic.

As for whether there is any shame in recovering the defensive iron barrel... The Mallorca players really don't care about this. Under the leadership of Cooper in the past two years, their scenes have never been good. Ugly tactics, last season they won the Copa del Rey and sixth in the league, last season they won the runner-up in the Cup Winners Cup and third in the league, and they got real cheers from the Mallorca fans!

Not every fan of a La Liga team wants to be flashy and not to win, at least the fans of the island team in Mallorca, they prefer to see victory rather than the so-called gorgeous offense, maybe because of their history There are always ups and downs in the game, and the reason why they often fall into the lower leagues. They like to win and don't like to lose. As for whether they play gorgeously or not, it is just an additional product.

Therefore, the Mallorca players have no psychological barriers in playing this kind of iron barrel formation that goes through to the end.

The ideas of the Mallorca players are correct, but they are not just part of Jose's ideas. Jose's use of such extreme defensive tactics in the second half is not just for this game.

For Jose, he has now confirmed that relegation will not be too difficult for Mallorca. Now Mallorca's relegation situation is quite good, so many teams have been pulled to relegation In the circle, if there is one more team in danger of relegation, Mallorca's hope of relegation will be one point higher. With Mallorca's current strength, when facing those relegation teams, it is not easy to beat the opponent. It's too difficult a thing.

As long as they can get enough points in those games worth six points, relegation is not a problem for Mallorca-with their strength, they will not fall to the point of relegation.

So in fact, the outcome of this game is irrelevant to Mallorca, even if it loses, it will not have a big impact on Mallorca's relegation. Trying my best, not only the previous problems of Jose, such as "being able to relegation in advance" and "repaying Real Madrid's favor debt", there is another problem.

A preview of the UEFA Cup final.

Although the semi-finals have not yet been played, Jose has already set his sights on the UEFA Cup final. The two goal difference at home and the advantage of not conceding a goal to the opponent give Mallorca a great possibility to enter The UEFA Cup final, and the opponent in the final is likely to be Arsenal.

Although Arsenal only defeated Lens 1-0 at home in the first round, Jose knew that with Arsenal's strength, it would not be a big problem to pass Lens. Mallorca entered the final. The most likely opponent is Arsenal.

Arsenal, on the other hand, is a team that has completely changed the rough style of Graham's era under Wenger's leadership, gorgeous offensive football, mercury-like offense, Bergkamp Henry Ljungberg and other skills in the frontcourt The first-rate players play the most gorgeous football, and as a British team, their offensive rhythm is only faster than Leeds United. If they open an open attack with the opponent, for the current Mallorca, they are courting death.

Jose doesn't want to seek death, so his tactical preparation for the final is still to guard against death and wait for an opportunity to attack. This is his only tactical choice.

So far, Mallorca led by Jose has not encountered such a gorgeous offensive team, and in the entire La Liga, there are only a few teams that can be similar to Arsenal in terms of characteristics and offensive firepower. Barcelona is one of them.

Under the leadership of Bosque, this season's Real Madrid puts a lot of emphasis on defense. Although Deportivo's offense is also very good, it seems to be more extensive, not to mention Deportivo and Arsenal. The result of a one-to-five defeat also made Jose have to be more careful.

This extreme defensive tactic in the second half was Jose's rehearsal of the UEFA Cup final tactics. The result is not important, but the effect is important. He wants to see what Mallorca's defensive limit is. Can it completely block Arsenal's offense?

Regardless of whether you can score or not, you must ensure that you do not lose the ball in the game. As long as you can block the opponent's attack, even if you score a sneak attack, you can win the championship steadily. Great battle——The penalty shootouts of the English teams seem to be quite hard...

It is for this reason that Jose actually regards this game as a testing ground. There is no La Liga team more like Arsenal than Barcelona. More importantly, in the next few rounds, only Barcelona The characteristics of this opponent are similar to those of Arsenal. If this point is not used, Jose will be reborn for nothing.

Maybe Arsenal's offense is not as sharp and ferocious as Barcelona's now, at least they don't have as many superstars in the frontcourt as Barcelona. In terms of the importance of the game, the offensive ability that Arsenal can display is definitely not worse than Barcelona, ​​and even much stronger. If Barcelona can't seal a clean sheet in the second half, it may be difficult to seal Arsenal.

"Come on, let me see what level Barcelona's offense can achieve, and see if my defensive formation can withstand their offense!"

When following the players out of the door of the locker room, Jose thought coldly in his heart.

Barcelona, ​​the overlord of La Liga in the past two seasons, has become the object of Jose's experiment at this moment. I don't know whether it is glory or sorrow. However, if Van Gaal knows this, he will be very angry...