Red Rebels

75o The limits of offense and defense

When Mourinho walked into the locker room, he could still hear the players chattering about the corner kick.

Taking advantage of the break, the live TV organization specially made a slow-motion replay, combined with the latest FIFA rules, analyzed it one by one, and finally concluded that the corner kick was indeed effective.

Perhaps the only thing that was damaged was Manchester United's demeanor.

It is really despicable that a majestic and top-tier English club, not to mention shrinking in defense when facing its opponents, still resorts to such tactics.

But the on-site commentator's words made many people watching the game change their views on Manchester United.

"Since the rise of the Red Rebels, looking at so many years, are there any teams that can really play the Red Rebels in a fair and honest manner? If not for Barcelona's performance last season, which eliminated the Red Rebels, I believe that the Champions League last season would still be the Red Rebels. It’s in the Rebels’ pocket, and this season, Manchester United will make another surprise move.”

"For countless non-Red Rebels fans, they pay attention to the Champions League, often focusing on who can use what tricks to deal with the Red Rebels. Now it seems that Manchester United's strategy is not surprising. They are just trying to get rid of the Red Rebels." There is a gap in the rules, but there is no false element at all.”

"Perhaps, the Red Rebels will be angry and regretful for conceding such a goal, but they should also be satisfied, because only under such circumstances can their opponents defeat the team they support, so, This is a compliment and an affirmation to the Red Rebels."

"Of course, the vast majority of Red Rebel fans will not be willing to see such compliments and recognition. They would rather the team win."

"But, this is football"

Mourinho also didn't think this was a compliment or affirmation, so he was still angry and knocked open the door of the locker room. All the players saw a head coach with an angry face, and they were all frightened. I didn't even dare to speak.

The Portuguese was the first to comment on the players' performance in the first half, scolding many Red Rebel players for wasting opportunities, and asked them to play more actively and focused in the second half, but he was considerate of some people. .

For example, Michael Johnson, Curtis and others were either out of physical fitness or injured. Although their performance was not good, they did try their best. Mourinho really couldn't ask for more from them.

"Those despicable guys used a dirty and despicable method to earn a goal.

But who are we? We are the Red Rebels. Even if we face Manchester United, we have the ability to beat them in the away game. Now we just conceded a goal. We can definitely equalize and reverse."

"The best way to deal with this kind of hypocrite is to defeat them, trample them under our feet, and tell them that there is no use in playing tricks, or we can fight openly and openly."

…………

…………

Mourinho did not make any changes during the break. He was still observing and waiting for the opportunity.

Manchester United did not change during the break, but Rooney obviously retreated deeper after the start of the second half. It was obvious that they had begun to consciously engage in defensive counterattacks.

Robinho and Quaresma acted as the arrowheads of the counterattack in front, and four tough guys were arranged on the field: Rooney, Senna, Muntari and Fletcher, followed by O'Shea, Ferdinand, Mexes and Taiwo. , coupled with goalkeeper Adler, Manchester United obviously wants to use an iron-clad defensive counterattack to deal with the Red Rebels.

After the break, the players' physical fitness had recovered to a certain extent. After the restart of the second half, the Red Rebels launched wave after wave of offensives, while Manchester United set more interception areas at the front of the penalty area, allowing players to Launched a crazy interception to prevent the Red Rebels from easily entering Manchester United's penalty area.

Once a mistake is made, a foul will be committed immediately

For many minor fouls outside the penalty area, the referee will not give a yellow card. At most, he will give a warning. Therefore, Manchester United cleverly took advantage of this and formed effective interceptions and interruptions on the spot.

Michael Johnson and Ozil jointly organized, but the former fought several tough battles in succession and his physical fitness was not good enough. Ozil was a little immature and not mature enough, and his ability to control the game was not good enough, which made the Red Rebels' organization in Manchester United. It looked messy under the impact.

De Rossi performed very well in this game. He and Essien are both box-to-box players with a very retro flavor. They can play between the two penalty areas. In the Red Rebel lineup, , they play a role in balancing the lineup, and Mourinho also attaches great importance to players in this position.

Knowing that Michael Johnson was in poor condition and Ozil was immature, De Rossi took on more responsibilities in this game and ran rampant against Manchester United's defense many times, even once receiving a pass from Alves at the edge of the penalty area. After the pass, the header flew into the penalty area, but Aguero's shot was saved by Adler.

From the scene, the Red Rebels have the advantage, but Manchester United's defense is not to be outdone. Once the Red Rebels attack in a hurry, Manchester United will be able to find opportunities to counterattack, and the threat is not small.

As time passed by, Cassel gradually became unable to sit still, but Mourinho remained as stable as ever, not only on the bench, but also on Ferguson on the coaching bench of the Manchester United home team.

Cassell knew that the head coach needed to have the ability to remain calm even when a mountain collapsed, but this did not mean that he was not anxious. He was almost going crazy with anxiety.

Manchester United's tactics are very clear. To put it bluntly, they are conservative. They first ensure not to concede a goal, and then do everything possible to score a goal. Then they defend to the end and defend a victory. I believe that if the Red Rebels cannot score in this game, Manchester United will win. In the next round, Ferguson will definitely play a hundred times, or even a thousand times more conservatively than he is now in the second round.

Don't say it's ugly, don't say it's utilitarian, because that's how modern football is

This is the only way to defeat the Red Rebels

"Is there going to be a substitution?" Cassel suddenly stood up from his seat as he was hearing some hallucinations.

Mourinho looked at his assistant in surprise. Cassel immediately realized that he had heard wrongly and sat back muttering, "Damn, these Manchester United fans are so noisy that it hurts my ears." Deaf"

The Portuguese smiled, and he also knew that Cassel had been under tremendous pressure until now. Not only him, but also the players on the Red Rebel Stadium were under tremendous pressure.

"When is it?" Mourinho asked, staring at the court.

"The second half ended in the 60th minute.

Mourinho glanced at Ferguson nearby and said, "The old man still has a lot of cards to play."

The game is a battle of wits and courage between the head coaches of both sides. Ferguson must be waiting for Mourinho to play his cards, and then he will make targeted adjustments to prevent the Red Rebels from scoring.

"Are we going to launch a second plan?" Cassel asked again.

Mourinho thought about it and saw Michael Johnson on the court unable to run. He immediately realized that his physical fitness was almost reaching its limit. The 20-year-old midfielder has performed very well this season. But after all, he is not an iron man, and it is impossible for him to fight many tough battles without blushing or out of breath.

"Let Didier warm up," Mourinho nodded.

Cassel immediately agreed, waving to the bench behind him and shouting, "Didier, warm up, hurry up"

First adjustment.

"Drogba replaced Michael Johnson, who was in poor physical condition. Ozil retreated to his position. The Red Rebels started a 44-4 tactic, with Drogba and Aguero forming a forward combination."

Mourinho wants to fight

This is a critical moment. If the Red Rebels get an away goal, Manchester United's situation will be in danger, so Ferguson immediately made adjustments. He replaced Quaresma with Wes Brown. It immediately became 54, a three-back tactic, which was obviously a tactical adjustment made by Ferguson.

Drogba has rich experience. Although he is the third striker of the Red Rebels so far this season, he still has a high weight in Mourinho's heart. He has also played at critical moments many times this season to save the world. team.

This time, Mourinho used him because he hoped to use his experience and ability to penetrate Manchester United's iron wall at this critical moment so that the Red Rebels' offensive could flow in.

Although it is 44, in fact Messi is more like a feint shot on the right. He is more cross-cutting and cutting in, and then vacates the entire right wing to Alves.

Alves is the most powerful right winger in Europe this season. Although he is a full-back, his offensive ability is actually not inferior to that of the winger at all. His forward penetration and assists are even more secretive than those of the winger. , more deadly.

Messi leans more to the side, acting as a false 9, taking care of organization and also participating in the attack. Alves has control of the entire right wing, and De Rossi and Curtis will frequently help him fill the position. and assisting defense, allowing him to attack with more confidence.

But at this time, Ferguson suddenly made an adjustment and asked Muntari to act as a free man, specifically responsible for dealing with Messi. As soon as Messi got the ball, Muntari would immediately take a step or foul. Just don't give Messi the opportunity and space to easily get the ball.

In this case, although the Red Rebels have a strong offensive, they have not been able to provide effective offensive coordination, making the team's offense seem to be strong but not scoring. On the other hand, Manchester United, after freezing Messi, added three more With the tight defensive tactical system, the defense suddenly became impregnable again.

Messi's goals and assists have steadily improved this season. He is an important member of the Red Rebels. In the absence of Ronaldinho and Kaká, Messi is very important. Mourinho's third The second plan is built around him, with him serving as the offensive core of the frontcourt.

However, under Muntari's personal care, Messi seemed very depressed. He was stuck or fouled as soon as he got the ball, which made him unable to get the ball easily. Moreover, Ferguson also restricted Messi in this game. The score was very good, several breakthroughs and passes by the Argentine genius were not ideal, and the threat was not limited to the lowest point.

Without Messi's breakthrough and threatening pass, Alves was active on the right, but lacked a connecting point, and the Red Rebels' offensive misfire was inevitable.

However, Manchester United also paid a heavy price in order to restrain the Red Rebels. They even had to set up an impeccable iron barrel formation near the front of the penalty area. At the same time, they played a corner kick trick that was ungentlemanly in the first half. The purpose was just To get a home victory.

As time passed, Ferguson made no more substitutions and Mourinho made no further adjustments to the lineup. Both sides knew that this was the best adjustment they could make so far.

A team is like a sports car, and the players are like the parts of the sports car. The performance of a sports car depends on the combination of parts. A good coach can according to the characteristics of these parts , assemble a high-performance sports car, but no matter how good the coach is, it is impossible to assemble a top-notch sports car from inferior parts.

Parts have limits, and a sports car assembled from parts also has limits in terms of performance.

In the same way, a team’s combat capabilities also have limits.

Judging from the current situation, both the Red Rebels and Manchester United have made the maximum adjustments to the existing players, stimulating the maximum combat strength of the players on both sides. This is the limit of the two teams.

If further substitutions are made, it will only weaken the team's combat capabilities.

Mourinho wants to score, so he has to maintain the offensive combination that is most likely to score; Ferguson wants to keep the score: o, so he has to maintain the defensive combination that is most likely to prevent the Red Rebels from scoring.

This is a contradiction, but the two sides have a tacit understanding not to make substitutions.

But Mourinho has been standing on the sidelines of the court, clenching his fists, gritting his teeth, and his eyes are almost cannibalistic.

The last time they met was Barcelona, ​​this time they met Manchester United. Both teams used this extremely ugly way to kill the game, while Barcelona used acting skills and Manchester United used trickery, and they both won. Disgraceful.

But what could he say?

Is he going to complain that Manchester United is playing tricks?

Don't be stupid. After the game, everything is a foregone conclusion. If you complain again, you will only be laughed at and said you can't afford to lose.

In the world of football, the most effective way to retaliate is to win.

Mourinho is confident in the second round, but he also knows that Ferguson will definitely play an ugly iron barrel formation again in the second round, and it will definitely be a more conservative iron barrel formation than this game. , even with Ronaldinho and Kaka, it will not be easy for the Red Rebels to win.

But in this case, Mourinho must maintain confidence

If even the head coach has lost confidence, can we still expect the players to have confidence?

When this string of thoughts flashed through Mourinho's mind, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. The Red Rebels regretted that they lost the Champions League semi-final round.

But this score is very suspenseful and will only make all fans pay more attention to the next second round.