Chapter 65: The Choice of Change

Alexander Stadium, Cheshire, England.

This small stadium, which can only accommodate 12,000 people, has been surrounded by various voices at this time.

Crewe fans were madly cheering for the team in the stands.

As a football club with a history of 120 years, Crewe has nothing to do with it. They have been in the lower leagues in the history of the century, and the longest time is the English League C (that is, the third level). League) and the D League, but with the advent of the new century, Crewe's performance has also increased. Last season, they made history and won the English League Two, and then the team was promoted to the English League One. It was the first time in Crewe's history that they participated in the English second tier, so Crewe fans were very excited, and they would come to the stadium to cheer for the team every game.

The match against Derby County in the fourteenth round of the league attracted more attention from Crewe fans, because their opponent is Derby County, which is currently ranked first in the league.

For this game, Crewe fans did not hold out much hope.

In any case, they are just a newly-promoted horse, and their goal this season is to complete the relegation in the English First Division. In the face of the league's first and now very strong Derby County, it is not easy to get points even at home. Lu fans still hope that the team can perform better.

But they did not expect that in this game, the team really performed quite well.

The time shown on the scoreboard has reached the 67th minute of the game, but the score above is still 0:0.

Crewe didn't score, and similarly, Derby didn't score.

Neither team scored, and logically, there was no reason to cheer, but Crewe fans were different because they thought the team would lose. It is quite a victory to be able to play so far without allowing Derby County to score. What's more, Crewe attacked twice before, and almost let the team find a chance.

If they can score a goal. Maybe the game will be won?

Crewe fans want the team to perform miracles.

The game is played so far. Many Crewe fans also feel that it is also possible for the team to beat Derby County.

......

In 67 minutes, the score was 0:0, which is why Derby County is very dissatisfied.

Wan Sheng stood on the sidelines and frowned.

He had been sitting calmly on the coaching bench before, but at the beginning of the second half, he couldn't sit still. Because the team's offense has not been harvested. The long time without scoring a goal has affected the morale of the team a lot.

The point is, what now?

After this game, Wansheng fully understood the opponent's tactics, and the opponent used the simplest tactics, that is, go to the defense desperately, leave a striker in the frontcourt, and look for opportunities to fight back.

This is the same strategy as Derby County at the end of last season.

But it's such a simple tactic. The attacking tactics against Derby were very effective and Crewe's defence was solid. Their players are fierce on the field, and it is not easy for Derby County to score goals.

Not only defensively, Crewe is also sharp on the counterattack.

Their No. 1 striker Asaton is very fast, his personal skills are also very good, and other aspects are also excellent. Up to now, Asaton has taken three shots in the audience, and the next one is still within the range of the door frame. If it weren't for the quick response of goalkeeper Osman, perhaps Crewe would have taken the lead.

For Derby County, the most important thing at the moment is to have an attack. They have been attacking for nearly 70 minutes without scoring a goal. If they continue, the result for them can only be a draw.

......

"In this wave of counterattacks just now, Asaton almost scored a goal, but unfortunately the opponent's goalkeeper Osman responded very quickly... But it doesn't matter, we have defended for 70 minutes, even if Derby County's attack is very sharp, but Our defense is stronger!"

The on-site commentator was obviously satisfied with the situation of the game. For Crewe, it was too difficult for them to accept a draw against the league's No. 1. "Before this, Derby County had won four consecutive victories, and their points were higher than Novi. Qi has one more point and is ranked first in the league."

"But now they've met our Crewe team, our lads are working hard on the pitch and they've played well and helped the team keep the goal!"

"In the face of the solid defence of the team, Derby County has nothing to do..."

"But I still hope that our lads can take advantage of the opponent's mistakes, so maybe the final result is not a draw but a victory!"

While the on-site commentators continued to talk, the reporters in the media booth also followed the voices of the fans and felt a little gloating in their hearts.

In fact, even before the game, they didn't cover much of the game because they didn't expect Crewe to beat Derby at all, and they still covered the topic of the previous days.

But they didn't expect the Crewe team to be so good on defense.

Derby County's offensive ability is worthy of recognition, but they really have nothing to do against Crewe's defense. They also had a lot of shots in the audience, but most of them didn't have a good chance. Crewe used their solid defense to let them Can't find a good opportunity.

The journalists who were hostile to Derby County, of course, had nothing but schadenfreude in their hearts.

"Look, there's nothing they can do!"

"They are finally in trouble. I didn't expect Crewe to defend so well. Maybe we should pay more attention to them. Maybe they are the dark horses of this season and can join the ranks of the promotion at the end of the season. What!" Of course, I knew from the expression on the reporter's face that this was just a joke.

"It's estimated to be over at 0:0, let's see what the damn Chinese will say this time!"

"But he doesn't seem to be able to attend the press conference!"

"It doesn't matter, this winlessness, coupled with the previous problems, we can completely force the Derby County club to make a choice with the report!"

"Yeah, how can you do something like that! Get an assistant coach job with a fake resume? That's ridiculous!"

"Maybe he is a liar! It's also luck to lead the team to achieve good results now!" Some reporters said venting.

But everyone just laughed.

No one refuted him, and no one supported him, because all the hostile Derby County reporters knew that the damn Chinese might be annoying, but he still has a certain ability, otherwise it will be luck to let a team that only has the strength to avoid relegation. Team, after fourteen rounds of the league. Still number one in the league?

No one believed it.

But the most important thing at the moment is that Crewe played well in this game. They defended the goal. It seems that it is too difficult for Derby County to score goals.

This situation made the reporters who were hostile to Wansheng happy to see it.

There were also journalists in support of Derby County in the media box. Concerned about the current situation of the team. But their voices are a bit pitiful in the 'voice of the public reporters'.

......

In the game on the pitch, as the reporters said, Derby County's continuous attack was really fruitless. In the face of Crewe's strong defense, it was difficult for them to break through the defense.

Crewe's style of play is to concentrate ten people in the team inside and outside the penalty area. Even if the number of people accumulates, it can play a role in preventing goals.

end of last season. Wansheng often uses this tactic. to deal with the opponent's attack.

Now that Crew uses it, the effect is quite good.

Derby County's offense is very sharp, but it's a good way to deal with this kind of intensive defense. Ribery's breakthroughs are ineffective. Morris organizes the attack and allows the team to launch a quick attack, but it turns out that it is not as good as Advance slowly. Anyway, Crewe has almost no players to defend in the midfield, and it is better to be faster than to be more stable.

Derby County are trying to start playing highball.

This dense defense. Using a header to score a goal is not bad. The team's two forwards, Layton Taylor and Cahill are all grabbing points in the penalty area. Osman also intervenes from time to time, but there are too many defensive players in the opponent's penalty area. The high-altitude passes again and again are still ineffective. Under the intensive defense, it is difficult for Cahill and Bolton Reiter to press the opponent's defender to grab the ball - the premise is that the pass is accurate.

In short, Derby County's offense encountered a lot of trouble.

"Damn it! It's really ugly football!" There were also Derby County fans in the stands expressing their dissatisfaction. They didn't want to see the team's attack being hindered, and they didn't want to see the opponent tie the team with their defense, so they used 'boos' to express their dissatisfaction. Disdain for Crewe football.

But this is too small, because this is Alexander Stadium, the voice of Crewe fans is the mainstream.

They care more about the result than the process of the game, because they are a weak team compared to Derby County, which is "the first in the league", or even Derby County, which was in the Premier League last season.

If the weak team wants to beat the strong team, does it still need to play beautiful football?

Soccer matches don't have this rule.

......

At this time, the Crewe head coach Grady sat firmly on the coach's bench.

Grady is very famous in Crewe, and his reputation in the team is higher than that of all players, because he has been the head coach of the team since 1983, and it has been 20 years now.

A football head coach, who has coached a team for 20 years, can do this, how many in history? Grady is one of them, but because he coached the lower league team Crewe, he has not been well-known so far.

This season, Crew was promoted to the English First Division, and Glady's name was often mentioned by the media, but it was not mentioned many times. Crew was just a newly promoted horse at best, but it is undeniable that Glady's ability Still very good, the previous results of the Crewe team proved this.

Now, some of Crewe's players have just been transferred in the summer. They can adapt to the level of the English League One, so Crewe's results are guaranteed.

Grady's coaching philosophy is to do everything for points.

Perhaps only in this way can they ensure that the team's performance will not fall dangerously into the relegation zone.

This is the case against Derby County. Glady's strategy is to defend and defend again. Facing a team that is good at attacking like Derby County, it is really irrational to fight with them. , he set the tone for the game is - to strive for a point.

Now they are halfway there.

Looking at the situation of the game, the more time passed, the more calm Grady became, because he could see that the mentality of the Derby County players was a little impetuous on the field. Their attack seemed to be fiercer than before, but the rules were messed up a lot.

Maybe after a while, Crewe will have a chance to score?

Grady looked at Asaton, who was standing near the center circle. If the team wanted to score, they could count on Asaton. He wouldn’t take the risk and let the team fight a real counterattack. He could only rely on the players themselves. to perform.

......

Wan Sheng didn't know what Grady was thinking, but he could guess one or two.

After the start of the second half, he has been observing the Crewe team's defense. I have to say that their defense is really good, not only relying on densely populated defenses, but also their defensive positions are actually good. Keep a vague formation.

Defensive formation is still very important.

By maintaining the formation, there will be no major leaks in the defense, and the formation will be lost. Even if there are many defenders near the penalty area, it is very likely that people will be missed, or there will be no one in the position, and the defense is carried out one by one. People can control everything, and if they lose their formation, they are likely to lose their defensive position, and then it is the opponent, which is the opportunity for Derby County.

However, the Crewe team has done a good job in this regard. Obviously, the opponent's head coach has made great efforts in defensive training.

Facing such a solid defense, Wan Sheng also had some headaches. He knew that he had to do something, otherwise, if this continued, the game would really be tied.

But how exactly? He hesitated.

At this time, Derby County made another attack on the field. Ribery dribbled the ball from the left and then suddenly cut inward to the middle. The Crewe defenders were caught off guard by Ribery's dribbling. Only fouls can stop him.

Derby County got a set-piece from 35 meters away.

This position is a bit too far away, and there is basically no hope of scoring a goal directly, so I can only try to make a tactical cooperation.

However, Wan Sheng made a decision when he saw this.

He's been torn between Ian Taylor and Ivan Crewe before, both options for change.

Ian Taylor is experienced and very calm on the field. He can play a role in boosting morale, and his own scoring efficiency is also very high. In this kind of game that breaks through the dense defense, almost all abilities are available. It's a very good Taylor appearance, which can play a big role.

In comparison, Ivan Kru is a little worse.

Except for a good set-piece ability, he has no advantage over Ian Taylor. Although his set-piece ability is indeed very good, it is still a little worse than Ian Taylor's role.

Wansheng has been measuring.

But seeing Ribery's attack, Wan Sheng made a decision.

Last season, he thought about developing a set-piece player of his own. Until now, this task has been completed. Ivan Kru's set-piece is quite good. Since he has the ability, he should give him a chance. .

How can players grow if they don't always have the opportunity to perform in difficult times for the team?

Perhaps, Ivan - Crewe can also be the player who decides the game?

If he can do it, it will obviously be very helpful to his growth. On the contrary, even if Ian Taylor plays, it may not necessarily help the team to score goals, so this opportunity, give Ivan Crewe it.

Wan Sheng made a decision.

He glanced back at the bench, pointed out Ivan Crewe, and said, "Go to the side to warm up and get ready to play!" (To be continued ~^~)