Chapter 818: Becoming one of the greats
88 Be among the Great
It goes without saying how valuable the League Cup is.
For a top club like the Red Rebels, the League Cup is like a comforting piece of chicken ribs, a fig leaf to avoid being empty-handed, but being able to raise the cup is naturally something to be proud of. After all, this is the Red Rebels' season. ’s first trophy.
But it's not to the point where you can get carried away with excitement.
After the League Cup, the Red Rebels failed to return to Manchester to celebrate with the fans. Instead, they stayed in London to prepare for this crucial game when the Queen visited the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger's team can be said to be recharging their energy and waiting for work, while the Red Rebels have traveled a long distance and are exhausted. Under such circumstances, many media began to pin their hopes of defeating the Red Rebels on Wenger.
Arsenal's performance this season is also very good. Benzema and Henry lead the front line, Nasri, Asa, and Gourcuff form a triangle combination. Together with Alexander Song behind them, Arsenal continues to move towards this season. Wenger's ideal football is moving forward, playing the most creative and artistic football in the world.
Some people say that the Gunners' football style is a combination of the Red Rebels and Barcelona, and the core of the Gunners is Gourcuff.
This Frenchman, who couldn't play in AC Milan, came to Arsenal and was molded by Wenger into an excellent organizer. Although he has no speed and poor forward ability, some people even criticized him. The pass is not penetrating enough and the ball is too slow, but under Wenger's training, these have turned into Gourcuff's strengths.
Looking at Gourcuff's success with the Gunners, it once again confirms an argument in the football world, that is, there are no parallel imports in this world, but the style is wrong, and no matter how strong people are, they all become parallel imports.
In this game with the Red Rebels, Wenger was very smart in his calculations. He knew that the Red Rebels had to travel long distances and fought hard again and again. The players' physical fitness was on the verge of collapse, especially the main stars, so he The game formulated a targeted strategy to defeat the Red Rebels in the game.
But I am afraid that even Wenger himself did not expect that a team as powerful as the Red Rebels would one day put down its posture and launch a defensive counterattack, and even did so with such vigor.
Isn't there a saying? When the defensive counterattack really gains momentum and the number of counterattacks increases, the counterattack defense becomes an active attack.
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Michael Johnson made a long pass,
Aguero entered the penalty area against offside, stopped the ball with his chest and shot. Almunia reacted quickly and lifted the ball over the crossbar. Corner kick. Andy Gray shouted this series of words in one breath, which was really embarrassing. Don't marvel at his lung capacity.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Who made the Red Rebels counterattack so fast?
The Red Rebels' counterattack was very simple. Michael Johnson passed the ball and the three players in the frontcourt counterattacked. Aguero and Ozil were both hanging around Arsenal's backline, while Kaká played more in the back row. In the counterattack role, once Aguero and Ozil opened up a gap, he rushed in directly to play.
The tactics are simple, but it is difficult to restrain them.
This is like a martial art. If you practice it to a high level, you can become invincible even with the most ordinary set of boxing techniques.
This is what the Red Rebels look like today
Wenger is very aware of the Red Rebels' counterattack routine, and he also wants to limit it, but these three players are hesitant. Arsenal's two wings are very dangerous, and the road is slightly stronger, but Mourinho is against Arsenal. The characteristics of Hangeland, the core of the defense, are very clear. He specializes in exploiting his slow turn.
Judging from the scene, the Red Rebels have used many substitutes, such as Michael Johnson's field partners Rodwell and Mikel, Davide Thornton on the right side of the defense, and frontcourt offensive player Ozil. , these are not the main force of the Red Rebel Army.
But despite this, the Red Rebels still rely on their own tactical system to be half a step ahead of Arsenal in terms of overall strength, so their so-called defensive counterattack is actually more of a full-court press, and once they succeed, they immediately launch a counterattack.
One characteristic of this kind of defensive counterattack that presses the whole court is that every successful steal is an offensive opportunity, and then a counterattack is launched quickly without any delay. Therefore, the transition speed between offense and defense in the game is very fast, and the offensive waves follow one after another. The waves are like a surging river, and the scene is very spectacular. It seems that it is an offensive battle.
But for Arsenal, especially for Gourcuff, this kind of ultra-fast-paced game often means an increase in the difficulty of controlling the ball and an increase in mistakes. If there are too many mistakes, it means the Reds rebel. The army will have more opportunities to attack.
In this way, the so-called defensive counterattack actually looks more like an offensive battle from the scene.
This may become a game that will be recorded in the tactical textbooks, Wenger said sadly on the sidelines.
As the game progressed, as Arsenal's defense became precarious, and as the Red Rebels' counterattack became more and more powerful, Wenger really realized the power of the Red Rebels' system.
This is like a martial arts master with excellent internal skills. Even a branch can be turned into a murderous weapon in his hands.
The tactical characteristics of the Red Rebels are offensive football, control and pressure of the scene, exquisite running without the ball and coordination of passing and receiving. However, they are also very comfortable in backhand counterattacks, and they are quite profitable. Rebel features.
The so-called defensive counterattack, the focus is not on defense, but on counterattack
When the Red Rebels faced a defensive counterattack team, what they did most was to imprison the opponent's counterattack, but when they launched a defensive counterattack, they focused on counterattacks.
Aguero, Kaka, and Ozil are all players with very fast speed and excellent skills. This type of player not only has the speed to create threats before the opponent's defense can stop, but also can hold the ball in the frontcourt. The ball, forming coordination and creating crisis.
These three players are undoubtedly the key to defensive counterattacks
Another important feature of defensive counterattacks is the rapid transition between offense and defense. This has always been one of the essences of the Red Rebels' tactics, and it is natural to spare no effort in executing it.
It is precisely because of all this that a very sad game is going on at the Emirates Stadium. On the surface, Arsenal has the upper hand, but in fact the real threat is the Red Rebels.
Being able to use defensive counterattacks so cleverly that even the improvised tactical formations are no less effective than the defensive counterattack tactics tailor-made by Benitez for Valencia back then shows that the Red Rebels have this set up. The tactical system has truly matured.
Mourinho, Mourinho, you have finally begun to join the ranks of great coaches. Wenger looked enviously at Mourinho, who was not far away from him, who was looking at the field with approval. The player is laughing, very annoyingly
If any head coach wants to be among the greats, he must have contributions to the field of football. Tactical innovation, record, influence, and legend are all indispensable.
What Wenger dreams of is that he can be among the greats, but relatively speaking he is still not close, especially in terms of record and legend. Of course, the tactical innovations he brought to English football and the achievements he brought to Arsenal coaching Influence also gives him the qualifications to covet.
But looking back at Mourinho, he coached the Red Rebels from an amateur team to the Premier League, and in just over ten years, they transformed into the top giants in Europe and the strongest team in the world. There have been world footballers such as Beckham, Kaká, Ronaldinho and Messi, as well as world-class superstars such as Cesc Fabregas, Drogba and Essien. These are all legendary.
Some people even say that the experience of Mourinho and the Red Rebels is the most legendary history in football.
As for the record, Mourinho has maintained one championship every year for many years, and has won the Champions League for three consecutive years. He has won 7 Grand Slam crowns. This season, he has maintained a brilliant record of complete victory. With such outstanding results, Mourinho Austria's record is not inferior to any great head coach.
Influence, with the status of the Red Rebels in today's football, Mourinho's influence in today's football is invincible. No head coach can compete with him. At least from the perspective of influence, he is well-deserved. World number one.
Originally, tactical innovation was the most difficult threshold for anyone to be promoted to a great head coach. After all, record and influence are easy to obtain. Legendary status is slightly more difficult, but it is not impossible. Only tactical innovation is the only thing that can be achieved if you have money. Can be bought.
However, the system created by Mourinho and his assistants for the Red Rebels opened up a new football genre and showed all football people that it was different from all previous tactical concepts and focused on controlling the ball. Cleverly combined with controlling the space, the team's defense and offense are connected through smooth movement without the ball.
If in the past, some people still questioned that the tactics of the Red Rebels were only suitable for the Red Rebels and could not form a trend of tactical reform, then with the success of Argentina and England in the World Cup qualifiers, with Mourinho's game The changes in the team's tactics during the game clearly told the world that the Red Rebels' tactical philosophy has reached its peak.
Under this set of tactical concepts, we can play a combination of hard and soft football like the Red Rebels, we can also play a technical football like Argentina, we can even play an aggressive football like England, and we can also play a unique football. A defensive counterattack with some characteristics and flavor.
This is undoubtedly a major innovation in football tactics, and Wenger can almost foresee that more and more teams will begin to imitate the Red Rebels’ tactical concepts. If nothing else, the Red Rebels’ tactical concepts will It shined in the 2000 World Cup in South Africa. By then, both the Red Rebels and Mourinho will reach the ranks of greatness.
Seeing that his persistent pursuit for many years was finally defeated by his opponent, Wenger really had mixed feelings, but while he was envious, even jealous of Mourinho, he also admired him very much.
He and his Red Rebels deserve any praise, Wenger said with conviction.
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0: The Red Rebels relied on two sharp counterattacks from Aguero and Ozil to penetrate the goal guarded by Almunia and defeated the Gunners away from home, but this was not the most eye-catching.
What is really eye-catching is that after the end of this game, Wenger rarely praised the Red Rebels highly at the post-match press conference. He believed that the team led by Mourinho had great success in this game. They played an amazing level of football skills and tactics in this game. They performed better than Arsenal and deserved to win.
As for the Red Rebel players who attracted attention in the game, Wenger highlighted two people, Kaká and Michael Johnson.
Kaká made two breakthroughs and scored two goals. He is the frontcourt commander of the Red Rebels. He is a well-deserved player of the match. His ability to handle the ball in high-speed counterattacks is amazing. He seems to be the best player in the game. It’s like he was born from this, he is simply a master of counterattack, it’s hard to believe that he will be Kaká.”
Michael Johnson is very smooth and natural in controlling the transition between offense and defense. He can often switch the team from offense to defense with just one movement. His playing style reminds me of Redondo. He is indeed a great player in terms of style. The player closest to Redondo, he is very, very good and full of wisdom.”
We lost this game, but we gained a lot. I believe my players will recover from this loss quickly. I will try to make them understand that at this time they meet such an outstanding Red Team. Rebels, it is understandable for any team to lose. We have to continue the next game. We hope to legitimately participate in the European Champions Cup next season. This requires my players to get over the loss as soon as possible. shadow
Wenger's praise also caused a burst of cheers from the outside media. The Red Rebels currently have 2nd place with Manchester City points with a record of 9 wins. This has allowed the Red Rebels to break the lead set by Manchester United in the 99/00 season. Record, at that time Manchester United led Arsenal by as many as 8 points.
Of course, if the Red Rebels want to create this new record, they must maintain their lead.
But there is no doubt about one thing, that is, the Red Rebels have already booked the Premier League championship in advance this season. After all, there are only 9 rounds left in the league. If they cannot win the championship under such circumstances, it is really a slippery slope. What a joke.
After playing against Arsenal, the Red Rebels still failed to return to Manchester. Instead, they continued to stay in London to participate in the FA Cup quarter-finals. The Red Rebels challenged Tottenham Hotspur away.
From the League Cup final to the league, and then to the cup, the media joked that the Red Rebels used London as their training camp, and their warm-up opponents ranged from Aston Villa to Arsenal, and now Tottenham.
But Mourinho doesn't see it that way. He is determined to win the game, so in this game, both players, including Ronaldinho and Messi, who took turns in the previous game, played. Drogba took the place of the injured forward. of Ismail.
With this set of rotation lineup, although the Red Rebels encountered a tenacious interception from Tottenham in the away game, they finally relied on Ronaldinho's goal to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 0: away and successfully entered the FA. Cup semi-finals.
After the victory, they won a League Cup crown. When the Red Rebels returned to Manchester with great honors, the Red Rebels fans immediately followed the team bus and spontaneously marched in downtown Manchester. They were all excited about the momentum of the Red Rebels this season. Satisfied, whether in the league or in the cup.
The next day, the draw for the FA Cup semi-finals was announced. The Red Rebels' opponents in the semi-finals were Chelsea, and the other game was Droylsden and Manchester United. It is not difficult to see from the fact that these four teams have reached the semi-finals. , how fierce is the competition for the FA Cup this season.
But Mourinho doesn't have much time to care about this. He focuses more on the league.
The Red Rebels' home court was full again after a long absence, and the Red Rebels faced the challenge of the Wolves.
Although it has been a multi-line battle for a long time and the players' physical fitness is facing a crisis, Mourinho's rotation strategy has been well reflected in this difficult situation, especially in the beating and use of young players. .
Young players such as Rodwell, Aaron Ramsey, Wilshere, Davide Thornton, and Nymar have all received sufficient opportunities to practice and accumulate certain game experience. At the same time, the Red Rebels Their combat effectiveness was not greatly affected. Although there were thrills, they eventually won the game.
In the game against Wolves, the Fabio brothers were still suspended. Mourinho still did not include them in the squad, but reused Davide Thornton and Alves on the two wings.
4:0, the Red Rebels successfully beat the Wolves at home. Ismail, who returned from injury, scored a hat trick, proving to the world his excellent competitive status and personal ability.
But what was really exciting was that the day after the game, Manchester City challenged Sunderland away. Although Van Gaal's team controlled the game, Sunderland's players performed well, especially the Red Rebels who were on loan at Sunderland. Sunderland's young player Henderson orchestrated a goal in a counterattack in the 9th minute of the game.
After that, goalkeeper Chris Taylor acted like a god, blocking many shots from Manchester City with high blocks and low passes. Although in the end, Ibrahimovic earned a penalty kick opportunity for Manchester City by virtue of his personal ability and took the penalty himself, but Manchester City failed. Can't take all the points from Black Cat.
After this draw, the points gap between Manchester City and the Red Rebels expanded to 10 points. With 8 rounds left in the game, as long as the Red Rebels win Droylsden in the next game, , they can guarantee themselves the Premier League championship in the new season.
This is undoubtedly news that excites Red Rebel fans and makes both Manchester City and Manchester United fans sad, especially Manchester City fans. They originally had a little hope left, even if it was slim, it was at least a hope. But now, Manchester City is undoubtedly destroying this hope with their own hands.
It is undoubtedly very difficult for the Red Rebels to make mistakes. Even fans of Manchester City and Manchester United know this very clearly, so they have begun to shift the team's strategy goals to the European arena. Fortunately, regardless of Whether it is Manchester City or Manchester United, these teams in the entire Premier League have performed very well in the European arena and are full of competitiveness.
This can be considered a consolation for non-Red Rebels fans.