Football’s First Defender

Since Chelsea entered December, the sudden wave of chain-loss operations has indeed surprised everyone. They have not won four consecutive games, missed the opportunity to enter the semi-finals and compete for the English League Cup championship, and completely ruined the good situation of the league.

In the same round of Chelsea's loss to Manchester City, Manchester United has already relied on a wave of three consecutive victories in the league after losing to Chelsea to successfully overtake the points and return to the top position.

It's just a pity that Manchester United did not continue their winning streak when Chelsea were tied by Everton in the sixteenth round.

Manchester United also lost to Aston Villa in an upset at home. On the contrary, with the same points, Chelsea regained the top position in the standings because of the disadvantage of goal difference.

The devil's schedule in the Premier League in December is actually a matter of choice for all teams. The league is about to enter the mid-term, but it is ushering in the most intensive wave of schedules. For ordinary teams, the players' physical reserves are not bad. But for several giant teams, after their main players have experienced the league, the Champions League and domestic cups, as well as several trips to the national team, when their physical fitness is about to reach the critical point, they ushered in the most intensive The schedule, physical fitness and game state all have to undergo severe tests.

Especially for those players who have just transferred to the Premier League team from other leagues, they are familiar with the winter break during the Christmas period of other leagues, but now they have to play in the original "small holiday". There are situations where there will be discomfort.

Therefore, for the Premier League giants, every December, there will be various "rollover" events in the league. In the case of exhaustion, the gap between the giants and ordinary teams at this time is the smallest in the long league. If you go to the away game again, then the probability of the giant team overturning will increase even more.

Chelsea flew to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the Club World Cup schedule, which happened to be in conflict with the schedule of the Premier League devils. Since Chelsea participated in the UEFA Super Cup at the beginning of the season, they had already missed a league game. The schedule of the game is extremely tight, which is very unfavorable to Chelsea.

Originally, the game against Portsmouth on the 17th will be a make-up match immediately after the New Year, while the game against West Ham United on the 20th will be postponed by one day and will be played on the 21st. It was on the 19th, when Chelsea were able to return to England after participating in the Club World Cup.

As the Champions League champion, Chelsea had a bye in the Club World Cup and directly encountered the Mexican team Atalanta, which defeated Oakland City to advance, in the semi-finals.

Generally speaking, as far as the Club World Cup is concerned, the strength of the Champions League champion and the South American champion must naturally have an advantage.

Considering that the opponent in the final three days later will probably be the champion of the Copa Libertadores, the Argentine team Argentine University. In this semi-final, Ancelotti did not play with all the main players. He sent some substitute players to retain the physical fitness of some of the main players. He will use his full strength in the final three days later, and he must also consider the cruel schedule of returning to the UK. , Let the players, through rotation, ensure the state in the next Premier League.

The Mexican team Atalanta also knows that their strength cannot have much impact on Chelsea, and the performance of the players on the court is very relaxed. Neither team made too many arrangements on the defensive end, it was a purely offensive battle.

In this kind of game with disparity in strength, tactics are not so important. In front of the audience all over the world, it is enough to show the best of yourself.

In the end, Chelsea easily defeated Atalanta with a score of 4 to 2, not only easily advanced to the final, but also allowed several main players in the midfield to get enough rest time.

In the other semi-final, the university team had a thrilling victory over the South Korean team, Pohang Steelers, with a score of 2-1. As expected, in the final, a meeting between Europe and South America was formed.

In the football world before the introduction of the Bosman Act, Europe and South America represented two different football cultures, and the gap between club teams was not so obvious.

However, with the commercialization of football, the five major European leagues, relying on the backing of the country's developed economic level, clubs can offer higher wages to attract outstanding players from all over the world.

In contrast, clubs in South American countries are unable to retain the best players. The basic composition of South American teams is some newcomers who have just emerged and have not been poached, as well as some who have already made their way in Europe. , veterans whose careers are at the end of their careers, or some ordinary players who have never attracted the attention of European clubs...

Although the Argentine university team was the champion of the Copa Libertadores last season, the team actually does not have any particularly big-name players. In terms of hard power, there is still a clear gap with Chelsea.

In the early days of the Club World Cup, European teams and South American teams could still play inextricably. "model.

The giant clubs in South America that were once famous for their gorgeous offense and outstanding personal skills, after losing a group of top players, are now unable to fight against European teams at all. They can only choose to use tight defense and sharp Counterattack, to try to beat the Champions League champions.

For Ancelotti, the championship trophy of the Club World Cup must be won by himself. The standard main formation of 442. As for the midfield, when Essien was still in a state of injury and recuperation, Ancelotti sent a four-man midfield consisting of Lampard, Ballack, Joe Cole and Mikel. Luck's position is a bit late, and he works with Mikel to protect the midfielder and the backcourt. The other positions are the regular main players this season.

And the Argentine college team is also their own team to win the championship. However, in the Arab League and the Copa Libertadores, the college team, which has become famous for its sharp offense, started this time with a five-guard iron bucket formation. Didn't give Chelsea too much room to attack.

The defensive line of 5 guards put a lot of pressure on Chelsea's double forwards, while the Argentine university team did not leave a single offensive player in the frontcourt. The ground scrambling also caused huge damage to Chelsea's organizational offense.

Although Chelsea has an absolute advantage in ball possession, in terms of the actual situation of the offense, Chelsea did not form many threatening chances to hit the goal.

But Chelsea is not in a hurry now. After all, if the tie is counted and overtime is counted, Chelsea will have 120 minutes of attack time in this game. Although Chelsea are not the strongest team in Europe on the offensive end, their terrifying The ability to score from set kicks is definitely the top in Europe. And a South American team like the Argentine college team, perhaps in a positional battle, can rely on running and biting defense to have a huge impact on Chelsea's offensive organization.

But when it comes to setting the ball, the lack of average height of its players is also the biggest disadvantage.

If in this final, the university team faced a European team with a technical style, it might not be impossible (yes, we are talking about Barcelona in the original time and space!), but facing the physical confrontation ability and the long-range threat Chelsea, who are strong, have the ability to set the ball, and are good at forcibly breaking through dense defenses, the university team's tenacious defense may not be of much significance.

In the 29th minute of the first half, Chelsea finally showed their offensive fangs.

In Chelsea's 4th corner kick opportunity, after Drogba, Ivanovic, Terry and others attracted the attention of most of the college team's defensive players, Yang Feng accelerated the moment Joe Cole served the ball. He got rid of his defender, and in the front position, he shook his head and attacked the goal. The ball flew directly into the goal from the upper right corner near the goal. Yang Feng helped Chelsea score the first goal!

In order to prevent the attack from coming out, the space left behind was used by Chelsea. The coach of the college team still let the team choose to defend when the team fell behind. If the team fell behind by one goal, there would be some chasing. If it fell behind by two goals, it might be true. Nothing.

The coach of the Argentine college team originally planned to make a desperate fight in the last 20 minutes of the second half and attack in an all-round way, but Chelsea did not give him a chance to fight to the death.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, Ballack took advantage of a chance to get in and got a return pass from Ivanovic on the right. Outside the penalty area, he fired a heavy bombardment and hit the upper left corner of the goal, scoring two goals for Chelsea. ball lead.

A set-piece and a long-range shot, Chelsea are best at breaking through the opponent's dense defense. The two weapons played at the same time in this game, and the two-goal lead completely killed the suspense of the game.

In line with the purpose of showing themselves in front of the whole world, the university team began to invest more in the offensive end in the subsequent games. Most of the second half of the game became an "exhibition game" of the offensive battle

In the end, Chelsea beat the Argentine university team 4-1 and won the Club World Cup.

However, it is too late to celebrate the achievements of the five crowns in the natural year (last season's FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup, Community Shield Cup, Club World Cup), the Chelsea team will fly back to London non-stop. Days later, they will play in the Premier League again, and it will be another devil's schedule to meet them.