Red Rebels

Essien was sent off with a red card and there was one less person on the field, which gave Mourinho a headache.

How to adjust?

It can be said that Mourinho made all the preparations before the game. He took into account Barcelona's home field and what he would do if someone is sent off to adapt. The current situation is relatively good, at least from now on. The score is in the lead.

This made Mourinho make a quick decision and asked Michael Johnson to warm up.

The reason why it is Michael Johnson instead of Fabregas is because the former has stronger defensive ability and better physical fitness. Once Fabregas comes on the field at this time, I am afraid that the midfielder will be beaten by Barcelona. Wei and Iniesta were swallowed up.

His style of play is soft, which is Mourinho's evaluation of Cesc Fabregas. Although his skills, passing ability and talent are all very good, and he can be said to be a genius midfielder, his style of play is It's on the soft side and needs further strengthening.

Although the general trend of the Premier League is technology, it still pays attention to physical confrontation. After all, these things are traditions that cannot be easily changed in years or even decades. Therefore, if he wants to gain a foothold in the Premier League, Fabregas needs to make himself tougher.

The three young midfielders each have their own specialties. Fabregas is good at organization and passing, but his playing style is soft and he is an offensive midfielder; John Obi Mikel has excellent skills and excellent lateral passing. He has ball ability, but is strong in defense, strong in body, and is a defensive midfielder; and it is not unreasonable for Michael Johnson to be hailed as the new Gerrard. He is both offensive and defensive, equally good in offense and defense, and has a strong ability to advance vertically.

In the current situation, using Michael Johnson is obviously more effective than Cesc Fabregas.

But just before Michael Johnson was about to come on, Barcelona equalized the score and it was the goal of old player Hleb!

Mourinho was so angry on the sidelines that he wanted to curse, because Barcelona's attack just now came from Essien's garrison area. If Essien was there, Barcelona would not be able to open this channel at all.

"Michael, you have been watching from the sidelines for 60 minutes. Do you know what Daniel De Rossi did on the court just now?" Mourinho called Michael Johnson over, grabbed him and asked.

"Yes, sir!" Michael Johnson nodded.

Mourinho admires this smart boy very much, and the bench also has a tradition, which is to let you sit on the bench, not to let you play, but to observe and pay attention to the situation on the field. When you step on the field, you must be able to immediately understand what your tasks and responsibilities are.

Michael Johnson is very aware of this tradition, so he pays close attention even when he is sitting on the bench.

"You go up and play Daniel De Rossi's position, complete his task, and tell Kaka to move him closer to the right!" Mourinho felt that this game was too useless.

Michael Johnson nodded and came to the sidelines. He was replaced by Argentine genius Messi.

Messi performed very well in this game. Although he was only 17 years old, he almost embarrassed the Dutchman when facing Dutch veteran Van Blounthorst. It was also his assist that helped Ronaldinho score the opening goal.

Messi was replaced not because of his poor performance, but because of tactical considerations. After all, Ronaldinho and Kaka's role on the court will be more obvious at this time, and Drogba is indispensable in the team's frontcourt. A member of the team, so if you want to replace someone, you can only replace Messi.

The Argentinian youngster knew this very well, so when he came off the field, although he was a little regretful, he still smiled and hugged Michael Johnson, and came to the sidelines to clap and greet Mourinho, which attracted enthusiastic support from the fans.

Messi can be said to be the most popular star among the new generation of players. The club's treatment of his illness was even written into a script by a Hollywood screenwriter and incorporated into the movie "One Goal to Fame", turning it into a scene for the male protagonist. experience.

……………After making adjustments, Michael Johnson came on the field and appeared behind Kaká.

De Rossi went to fill the gap left by Essien, which immediately changed the situation on the field.

However, Rijkaard signaled for Van Blounthorst to actively advance forward to help Ronaldinho open the left channel, and Mourinho immediately responded, prohibiting Maicon from advancing, and at the same time indicating the team's formation Retracting, De Rossi takes more care of the right side, and Michael Johnson helps protect the defense.

Although the team is passive, it is not blindly beaten.

Several of Michael Johnson's long passes found Drogba accurately, or directly tore apart Barcelona's defense. Each time they created a threat, but they failed to grasp it, especially Ronaldinho's two forward thrusts. They all fell into Barcelona's offside trap.

However, after several threats, Barcelona did not dare to attack so close anymore. After all, they had already scored goals to prove that leaving a large gap behind was fatal.

Rijkaard felt very helpless about this, because the attacking group was indeed very threatening, especially center Drogba, who was simply a super tank, and a very fast super tank. As you can imagine, against Barcelona The back line of defense, the crushing pressure is so amazing.

When the defense was suppressed, Rijkaard relied on the attack, but after the formation retracted, the two midfielders helped the full-backs control the connection between the two wingers and Eto'o.

Eto'o, a forward, is undoubtedly very capable, and he has indeed achieved results in Barcelona, ​​but Mourinho always believes that Eto'o is more suitable for double forwards, lone forwards, especially the center position of 433, and the requirements for players Very high. In addition to being able to score goals and make plays, he also needs to have a strong ability to read the game and coordinate the two wings. Eto'o has a big shortcoming in this aspect.

This is why Guardiola is not very satisfied with Eto'o!

In the same game, Drogba and Eto'o both played as centers. The latter is undoubtedly more capable of scoring, but the former's role in tactics is more obvious. This is why Mourinho relies more on Drogba. And not because of Villa.

Villa's ability to support the wing has also improved a lot, but he does not have the offensive strength of Drogba. Of course, his specialty is excellent technique and stronger scoring ability.

After Eto'o's contact with the two wingers was cut off, Barcelona's offense was frustrated everywhere, especially as time passed and the score was still fixed at 1:1, one can imagine the anxiety of the Barcelona players.

If this score continues, it will undoubtedly occupy a favorable position in promotion, because it has a valuable away goal and a draw with Barcelona, ​​which is equivalent to allowing Barcelona to step out of the top 8 with half a foot.

Rijkaard also knew this, so in the 78th minute, he replaced the midfielder Albertini with the Argentine forward Maxi Lopez introduced during the winter break. The formation immediately changed to 442, but the two wingers The midfielder presses forward to play as a winger, while the two full-backs press forward to stay compact.

This change of formation immediately made Eto'o more active in the front. With Maxi Lopez's connection and support, he could devote himself to the attack with more confidence. He immediately got a chance to receive Hleb on the right. He pushed the ball directly behind him and hit the door with a single sword.

Cech was very focused. The moment Eto'o hit the goal, he pounced on him like a cheetah, stretched his body as much as possible, and in an almost impossible situation, saved Eto'o's shot from the bottom line. .

He stood up from the ground, jumped a few times, accepted the thanks from Terry and others, and then began to organize the defense.

Mourinho was also aware of Barcelona's change of formation and immediately asked Vidic to warm up. When Barcelona's corner kick was cleared out of bounds by Curtis, he replaced Kaká with Vidic and replaced the little one. Luo pushed to the front to play as a double forward with Drogba, and the tactics immediately changed to 522, with Vidic, Terry and Curtis playing a three-center back combination.

This adjustment once again made the game tense. The combination of three top central defenders in the Premier League, two in front and one behind, formed a defensive depth. Coupled with the players' retreat, even though Barcelona controlled the situation on the field, it also created uncomfortable situations. There were few opportunities, but they were never able to break through the iron barrel formation they built.

Overtime lasted a full 5 minutes, and the referee even delayed it until nearly 6 minutes before blowing the whistle to end the game. However, the score on the field was still 1:1. Barcelona failed to score again, so it was The almost life-threatening defense saved a crucial draw from the away game.

When the whistle sounded at the end of the game, the players collapsed on the ground one by one. They tried their best in the game, even at the last second, every cell in their bodies was tense, fearing A goal was accidentally scored by Barcelona.

They gave it their all, and it paid off.

A crucial away goal, a golden point, made the Barcelona fans at Camp Nou unable to even boo. They were obviously very disappointed, because although it was a draw, Barcelona was no different from losing.

"For 40 minutes, a favorable situation of 11 versus 10 was formed, but Barcelona still failed to win this game. We don't know whether we should say that we are tenacious and lucky, or that Barcelona is unlucky, because from the perspective of the game, Judging from the process, Barcelona can be said to have taken advantage of the right time, location, and people, and they were taken care of by the referee who made at least four misjudgments."

"They are tenacious and full of blood. Although it is only a draw, they should leave the Nou Camp with pride. They deserve this point and this goal. They are fighting against Barcelona's strong performance." Through strong dialogue, I established my own dignity and pride. "

Rijkaard walked off the court in frustration. Compared with Mourinho who rushed onto the court arrogantly to celebrate with the players, his image as a loser was even more obvious. He had ten thousand reasons to be dissatisfied with the game. is dissatisfied with the result, because his team has an absolute advantage in terms of the situation on the field and data analysis. =半^FU##生-/;.{ban^fu][heng]

There is only one dissatisfaction, and that is the result!

On the other hand, Mourinho, after getting the precious away draw, was as excited as if his team had defeated Barcelona, ​​and he was as excited as a winner who had conquered the Nou Camp.

The players celebrating desperately and the frustrated Barcelona players formed a clear contrast on this green grass, and at the same time, it also set off the reality and cruelty of football.

Hleb hesitated, but finally came over, hugged Mourinho, congratulated his team on a satisfactory result, and then hugged several familiar players one by one.

Although Barcelona failed to achieve the expected victory in this game, although there were disputes and even fights during the game, for Hleb, these had little to do with him. The only thing he was sure of was that as a professional As a player, he devoted all his efforts during the game to help the team win, and after the game, he wanted to congratulate these former teammates as friends, even though they were enemies just now.

He came to the sidelines with the players and thanked the fans who came all the way from Manchester to cheer for the team, and also thanked them for their support of the team. Then Mourinho took the players all the way with a smile on his face. He walked into the locker room passage with interest.

Walsh and Cassel were waiting for him at the locker room door.