Red Rebels

"Hey, here!"

Ronaldinho raised his hand high, and the ball was quickly passed from Messi's feet. Then he saw him making a quick forward move, making a beautiful half-turn and volleying, sending Messi to the right. Lu's low ball blasted into the door guarded by Cech.

This stunning goal aroused applause from the players on the field, but when Ronaldinho turned around proudly to congratulate his teammates, Cech quickly ran forward and kicked the ball. Up his ass.

Ronaldinho was in pain and immediately chased after Cech, causing the entire training ground to burst into laughter.

Even Mourinho couldn't help but shake his head on the sidelines, but he was satisfied with the current atmosphere of the team, especially after the team's successive victories before the season.

First, they defeated Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League Asian Cup, and then defeated Droylsden in the Newton Heath Cup. They won consecutive warm-up matches, keeping the atmosphere in the team relatively good and stable. Condition.

What currently worries Mourinho may be the progress of Zambrotta and Thuram integrating into the team!

It should be said that there is no doubt about the strength of these two players. What really needs to be worried about is whether they can integrate into the team, especially Zambrotta as a full-back.

You know, in the offensive tactics system of the Red Rebels, full-backs have always been a major focus. However, judging from the training process, Zambrotta obviously has not been able to appreciate the tactics of the Red Rebels. This made Mourinho It's not as smooth to use as Ram.

Of course, Mourinho is not dissatisfied with the club's sale of Lahm. On the contrary, he feels that selling Lahm is a decision for everyone, and the introduction of Zambrotta and Thuram can borrow from their experience. Experience ensures that the Red Rebels will not fall behind like last season at critical moments.

As for adapting, well, take your time!

Mourinho, who felt quite helpless, sighed secretly and blew the whistle to end the training!

Zambrotta stopped out of breath and kept saying hello to the teammates around him. Some of them would choose to stay on the field to practice more, while others would return to the locker room to take a shower. After the day's training, they would definitely have more at night. programme.

Originally joining the Red Rebels, Zambrotta came here to hit the main position, but after coming here, Mourinho arranged for him and Thuram to sit on the bench on the sidelines during the Newton Heath Cup game. For a full 90 minutes, he did not arrange for other players to play after they had come on.

After the game is over,

Mourinho took the initiative to talk to them about this game, hoping that they could learn more about the Red Rebels' tactical system, observe with their eyes, and analyze with their experience.

Coming from Serie A, which is said to attach the most importance to tactics, Zambrotta and Thuram have never encountered such a complex tactical system as the Red Rebels. The entire tactical system is like an assembly line for producing goals, very It is complex and involves many processes, requiring every player to understand their responsibilities and maintain absolute concentration and execution on the court.

Not only that, even in training, Zambrotta felt that the training intensity of the Red Rebels was very intense, and it could even be said that they would not lose in an official game, and Mourinho had very high requirements for training. He even asked every player to train as if they were playing a formal game.

Walking out of the first team's training ground, he came to the youth team's training ground.

The youth training system of the Red Rebels is very large, but the Newton Heath training base only allows echelons of all ages to come in for training. The Red Rebels are responsible for their study and diet. They are all the most outstanding players in their age group. He received formal Red Rebel-style football training in schools, football schools and other Red Rebel youth training systems.

This allows them to understand the football culture of the Red Rebels as soon as they appear at the Newton Heath training base.

Meulensteen was directing the training of the young players. He was directing the youth team with the oldest age. He did not shout at the youth team players like Mourinho shouted at Zambrotta and Thuram. , and through observation, Zambrotta found that everyone in the youth team seemed to know their responsibilities and movements very well.

Mourinho often stopped the game and reminded Zambrotta that he should keep a distance of about 10 meters from his teammates. Then he emphasized that one kick should be used to play the ball, and he asked to avoid two kicks. In many cases, he only needed to let the ball stop at his feet. Three times, Mourinho would immediately stop the game and reprimand him.

Zambrotta felt very strange about this. It was just one stop, one adjustment, and one more pass. There should be no problem with three kicks, and it would not affect the team's offense. Why did Mourinho insist so much on it? ?

In addition to one kick and a distance of 10 meters, Mourinho requires players to maintain a combination of 3 people. Whether they are attacking or defending, they must form a group of 3 people and control an area. This pair of players' reading The competition ability and the ability to observe the surroundings in a fast-paced game are very demanding. Zambrotta was unable to adapt to such requirements for a while and made many mistakes.

But standing outside the barbed wire fence of the youth team training ground and watching the youth team's game inside, he was surprised to find that even the youth team's cooperation only kicked the ball with one kick. Those who could kick the ball with one kick would never kick the second kick. In addition, when they attack, they often use a group of three people, making their tactics consistent with the first team.

What also surprised Zambrotta was that the youth team players also had a very thorough understanding of running without the ball. Although it was just training, they could almost always ensure that there were at least three players around the ball holder during training. It's remarkable that the pick-up point exists.

However, in the first team of the Red Rebels, the number of contact points in training is required to reach 4. Although the effect in training cannot be achieved in the game, there is almost no problem in maintaining a stable 3 contact points.

Recalling Juventus's consecutive games against the Red Rebels, Zambrotta felt most deeply about the Red Rebels' cooperation and smoothness in those games. Passing and receiving the ball was very fast and simple, but at the same time the success rate was very high. Now carefully Looking back, it is not difficult to find that their distance is short, their passing success rate is high, they have many contact points, they are difficult to defend, they deliver the ball with one kick, and they advance quickly.

The combination of so many advantages made the Red Rebels' offense difficult to contain, which is why they were able to play such hearty offensive football.

Someone once said that in a football match with such huge pressure, knowing how to respond is often more effective than any technique!

Of course, if you want to maintain such a cumbersome and complicated tactical system and maintain so many off-the-ball movements and responses, it will inevitably place high demands on the physical fitness of the players, especially as the season progresses. This is why The reason why the laboratory was so important to the Red Rebels.

"Running, cutting, kicking the ball, and dribbling have become the last option for the Red Rebels. They use their excellent ability to read and observe the game to run and cooperate. No wonder everyone said , The Red Rebels are playing a kind of football with high football intelligence!" Zambrotta muttered to himself while watching the training of the youth team from the sidelines, with great admiration in his tone.

"Of course, the football of the Red Rebels is first in receiving, second in passing, and I don't know where the passer is ranked!" Evra's laughing voice appeared behind Zambrotta.

The Italian suddenly turned around and found that in addition to Evra, captain Beckham was also there.

"No...it's not feminine, I..." Gianluca Zambrotta thought he had done something wrong.

"No, it's nothing. Gianluca, observing the training of the youth team can indeed help you understand the tactical system of our Red Rebels in a more feminine way, because the tactics of the two are of the same origin." Beckham said with a smile.

"Do you think it's strange why we put so much emphasis on one kick?"

Zambrotta nodded, he never quite understood the reason.

"Actually, your understanding is wrong, Gianluca, our team does not prohibit two-footed ball, or even three-footed ball, but we put more emphasis on cooperation in a small area, such as 2 over 1, 3 over 2 , Cooperation in such a narrow range must be fast, accurate, and ruthless, so we emphasize one kick.”

"David is right, you can think about it, when does the boss usually stop the game?" Evra said with a smile.

Zambrotta thought about it, and he vaguely realized that although Mourinho often called for a pause in the game, he did not call it every time. He would often let his teammates around him run into the gap, or actively cooperate with him. time, and if I stop for a moment longer, I will probably miss the opportunity to fight.

"Our Red Rebels' tactics have always emphasized speed and slowness, passing and cutting, dribbling, and coordination of short and long passes. Everything is centered on the control of the game, the control of the rhythm, and the control of the football, so we The core tactical concepts of the Red Rebels are, to put it bluntly, control and oppression!”

"Oppression..." Zambrotta chewed on Beckham's words.

"That's right, full-court pressure!" Beckham said with certainty.

Gianluca Zambrotta frowned. Coming from Capello's tent, he was no stranger to oppression, but he was surprised by full-court pressure, which should be said to be characteristic of the Red Rebels.

"Have you noticed that in many cases, our three lines are very close to each other." Evra reminded from the side.

Zambrotta looked at the players on the youth team training ground. He observed them for more than a minute and found that these players maintained a very compact formation whether they were attacking or defending, and the distance between the three lines was kept very close. Woman, probably... "35 meters?" Gianluca Zambrotta guessed.

"To be precise, it should be controlled between 30-35 meters. The three central axes of center, midfielder, and center back are about 10 meters apart. This is what our Red Rebels require for the running distance between players. response distance."

"Less than 30 meters is likely to cause confusion among our players. The space is too narrow and the gap behind us will inevitably increase. Especially when we press forward, the distance between the defense and the goalkeeper will be too far. It is easy to be counterattacked, and if the distance is too far, it will be impossible to keep the three lines compact, weakening the pressure on the opponent and weakening the control of the game."

Perhaps seeing that Zambrotta didn't quite understand, Evra specially drew a stadium graphic on the ground beside the road, but he drew it so shamelessly that Beckham couldn't stand it and made fun of him. In a word, take over this job yourself.

"Keep the three lines compact, and keep the distance between the center and the center back between 30-35 meters. This can ensure that when the forward line presses up, the defense line will also press up. At this time, the defense line can even directly participate in the frontcourt. The attack, especially the two full-backs, can become a weapon to open up the wings."

"Once the defense retreats, the forward line also retreats, and the forward line can become the first barrier for defense. This is why our forwards are always required to actively fight back, and through this compact three-line Line, we can achieve a numerical advantage in the area of ​​30-35 meters."

Zambrotta immediately understood what Beckham meant, and Yili Tongbailiming also immediately understood why the Red Rebels required three lines to keep distance.

To put it simply, there are 11 people on the football field. Excluding the goalkeeper, there are 10 people on each side. If the Red Rebels compress all three lines to 30-35 meters, but the opponent is beyond this range, So when the boundary line is fixed, in this 30-35 meter area, all 10 players of the Red Rebels participated in the game, but the opponent did not.

Although this is only a short period of time, it is conceivable that when such a scene occurs on the football field, wouldn't it be the same as sending someone off with a red card? Can’t the Red Rebels easily control the game and pressure their opponents?

Anyone who knows a little bit about football theory knows how serious a loss it is once a person is sent off with a red card. However, the Red Rebels can achieve this theoretically through tactics, but the real operation has to go through the players. to execute.

Then, Zambrotta finally understood why the Red Rebels were not afraid of the full-court press tactic, because the full-court press was tantamount to expanding the distance between the opponent's three lines. The harder the press, the more likely the Red Rebels would be. The local advantages are more obvious.

Another point is that the three lines remain compact. Since the boundary lines are fixed and the Red Rebels are numerically superior, it will be difficult for the opponent to break through the Red Rebels' encirclement. No matter where the football is moved, unless it goes out of bounds, it will Under the tight control of the Red Rebels, they will maintain strong pressure on their opponents at all times.

This is why Mourinho dares to let defensive players such as Essien and De Rossi actively participate in the attack, because he knows very well that the Red Rebels have mature tactics and a pure defensive midfielder is undoubtedly a waste for the Red Rebels. , only defensive midfielders like De Rossi and Essien can balance the lineup and participate in the offense, getting the best of both worlds.

After understanding this, Zambrotta couldn't help but have a deeper understanding of the Red Rebels' tactics. At the same time, he also had a deeper understanding of Mourinho, Cassel, Moniz and Mourinho who created the Red Rebels' tactics. Lunstin and the others were so impressed that they almost fell to the ground. He could not even imagine that someone could design such an incredible and almost perfect tactic.

But soon, as he thought further, he immediately realized that there was a fatal flaw in the Red Rebel tactics, a flaw that was almost impossible to make up for!

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