Chapter 984 Chinatown Wings
The arm couldn't twist the thigh, and Guardiola couldn't twist Gao Han in the end.
After signing a series of unequal treaties, the former Barcelona coach was given a ticket to Poland and Ukraine.
On June 10, they appeared in Gdansk, Poland, visited the Spanish national team's hotel, chatted with Del Bosque and many players, and appeared at the Gdansk Arena that night to watch Spain's first round of the European Cup. Contest.
In this game, Bosque implemented his long-planned strikerless tactic, but instead of choosing Michu, who performed well at Arsenal, he arranged for Barcelona player Cesc Fabregas to start.
What is even more rare is that the three offensive players in the frontcourt are Fabregas, Iniesta and David Silva, but there is no regular scorer. This has to be said to be a very rare thing. matter.
Gathering the best organizers in the world, Spain took control of the ball without any surprise, but Italy was not completely powerless to resist. When they lost possession of the ball, they stuck to the edge of their own penalty area and did not give Spain any chance. .
In the face of Italy's iron wall, Spain did a good job in passing, controlling and penetrating, but it was just not sharp enough, which made the game even look dull and boring. On the contrary, Italy counterattacked vigorously, with De Rossi and Pirlo sitting in the center. Scheduling and long passes in the backcourt can both create threats.
"Bosque's starting tactics in this game are too big." Gao Han shook his head.
"Yes." Guardiola sighed. "The center is bloated, but there is no width on the wings. The forward attack is not sharp enough and lacks depth. Even if Italy gives up the area between the front and thirty meters of the penalty area, Spain will There is no way to create a threat, it is impossible to penetrate the iron wall of Italy just by passing the ball.”
At this moment, Gao Han suddenly thought of Camacho.
He still clearly remembers that Aragones once mentioned Camacho to him when he was coaching Atletico Madrid.
In this game, Del Bosque was doing exactly the same mistake Camacho made back then.
"I seriously doubt that since he wants to play without a striker, why not play Michu? He can not only deal with the Italian central defender, but also pull back and forth, which is more effective than Fabregas hiding from the Italian central defender."
"There are still two wings, and Arbeloa on the right is obviously too conservative."
When Gao Han pointed out this problem, it was obvious that Harvey was shouting loudly to Arbeloa in the stadium, indicating that he should press more on Giaccherini on the left side of Italy instead of always standing close to him. rear position.
But Arbeloa pointed behind him, as if to say that he wanted to protect the defensive hinterland.
"Arbeloa's speed is not fast enough. If he presses forward, he will be like Alba, assuming the role of a full-back or even a winger. With his speed, it is difficult to come back in time, and in this game in Italy It’s more about playing diagonally, specifically behind the two full-backs,” Guardiola analyzed.
Italy's two forwards Balotelli and Cassano are also actively pulling wide. De Rossi and Pirlo will also choose whether to pass to the wing or forward according to the positions of Spain's two full-backs. This makes Spain's defense very difficult. Awkward.
From Arbeloa's perspective, he made the right choice.
If he presses up and is beaten behind him, Balotelli and Cassano can directly create a threat with the ball. This is too risky. Under Mourinho's tactical system of Real Madrid, this is no matter what. No mistakes are allowed.
The problem now is that Spain's frontcourt is playing away from the Italian central defenders to avoid direct physical confrontation. This is to facilitate passing and controlling the ball. However, once the ball is lost, there is no way to immediately attack the Italian central defenders. The field creates oppression.
Failing to form pressure immediately, Italy was able to immediately move the ball to the wing, and the full-back failed to suppress Italy's wing in time, making it easy for Italy to create a threat through the wing once it counterattacked.
"In this game, Italy's 3-5-2 formation tactics were very valuable and almost restrained Spain. But the problem also lies in Bosque himself. Even if you don't trust Michu, who has no competition experience, at least Torres should be used. The two wingers The defenders should press forward, and the attack will gain width and be able to suppress the Italian flanks.”
"Arbeloa should be replaced by Carvajal." Guardiola chuckled.
Gao Han laughed. Both he and Guardiola tend to be offensive types, so they would naturally think so.
When one's own side controls the ball, they use offense instead of defense, and use Alba and Carvajal, who have stronger personal offensive capabilities, to form Chinatown's wings to suppress Italy's wings. This can greatly activate the offense in the frontcourt.
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The tactical content of the first half was very good, but the game was very boring, but the second half was much better.
However, it was Italy who scored first.
After Pirlo received the ball in the middle, he suddenly chose to dribble forward. After breaking through the defense of the two Spanish midfielders, he passed behind the defense line. Substitute Di Natale stepped in offside and formed a one-man goal after getting the ball. , calmly shot and scored.
This goal completely broke the deadlock on the field. Pirlo suddenly broke through with the ball, disrupting the defensive arrangement of the Spanish midfielder. The final through ball was also quite sharp and accurate.
But after losing the ball, Spain also launched a counterattack and equalized the score three minutes later.
After that, Bosque made a decisive substitution adjustment, replacing David Silva and Fabregas with Navas and Torres of Atletico Madrid, which was obviously to strengthen the attack in the frontcourt and take advantage of Navas's threat on the wing.
Facts have proved that the effect of the substitution is very obvious. Torres's appearance made Spain's attack more sharp. At least someone could kill behind the Italian defense to create threats, or even form a single knife, instead of just controlling the ball in front of the defense.
But in the end, Spain still failed to reverse the situation and was tied by Italy 1-1.
After the game, everyone affirmed Bosque's no-striker tactical change, but they were very puzzled that he did not choose a genuine attacker, but relied on Fabregas, and they also questioned his deployment.
In addition, facts have proved that after continuous substitutions, Spain's offense is indeed more threatening.
On the field, the scene of Xavi yelling at Arbeloa was also noticed by the media and fans, who believed that the overly conservative game mentality of the Real Madrid right back formed a clear contrast with Alba on the left.
Navas's substitution was hailed as a signal that Spain's offense had just woken up from a dream.
Gao Han also secretly reminded Bosque of his thoughts in his subsequent column.
Perhaps it was his own reflection, or perhaps he saw Gao Han's column. Bosque quickly made adjustments in the second round of the group stage, taking down Fabregas and Arbeloa and replacing them with Torres and Carvajal.
This was a very positive and obvious signal to strengthen the offense. As a result, Spain defeated Ireland 4-0. Torres scored twice, David Silva made two assists and one shot. Spain played a very sharp offense. There were a total of 20 shots directly aimed at the Irish goal throughout the game, and many of them missed.
It can be said that this game made Spain completely proud, and the pressure on Bosque was greatly reduced.
But in the third round of the group stage, against the stronger Croatia, Bosque made adjustments again. There was no change in the frontcourt. Torres continued to start, but the right side still chose Arbeloa, who had better defensive ability.
The game went badly, with a slow tempo and lack of width in the offense. After Alba was marked dead on the left, Arbeloa on the right could not provide support on the offensive end at all, and his speed was too slow, repeatedly missing opportunities.
The lack of threat on the offensive end caused Spain a lot of trouble with the opponent's counterattack, especially the gap left by the full-backs after pressing forward, which became a big problem for Spain.
And there was also a very obvious signal in the Spanish team, that is, few people passed the ball to Arbeloa, unless it was a last resort, which obviously lacked confidence in him and believed that it was difficult to create a threat when the ball reached his feet.
After coming on as a substitute, right winger Navas scored the only goal of the game, which was also regarded as a signal that Bosque should reflect thoroughly. After all, it was definitely not accidental that the two games were played like this.
Entering the quarterfinals, Italy ushered in the French team.
Bosque finally made adjustments again, replacing Torres with Fabregas and replacing Arbeloa with Carvajal. As a result, facing Ribery who was not willing to return to defense, Carvajal became the most threatening player in the whole game. He was like a man in a no-man's land, and penetrated the entire left side of the French team.
With the right side alive, there were more opportunities in the middle and the wing. In the end, Alba assisted Xabi Alonso to score the first goal, and then Xabi Alonso scored a penalty kick. Spain eliminated the French team 2-0.
But in the semi-finals, they met Portugal. Fearing Cristiano Ronaldo on the left, Bosque once again arranged Arbeloa, who had stronger defensive ability, to start. As a result, the offense was frustrated again, and Portugal drew 0-0. In the end, they barely advanced to the finals with a penalty shootout.
When they met Italy again, both sides made some adjustments. Italy changed to play 4-4-2, and Spain arranged Carvajal to replace Arbeloa in the starting lineup. As a result, the devil's wings in Chinatown once again shined.
Just fourteen minutes into the first half, Xabi Alonso made a diagonal pass, and Carvajal was extremely fast, chasing all the way to the right side of the penalty area. After unloading the ball, he moved to the middle, and Fabregas assisted David Silva to open the scoring.
But Carvajal's raid on the right left everyone with an extremely deep impression.
Before the end of the first half, Alba attacked from the left and scored another goal for Spain, rewriting the score to 2-0.
The outstanding performance of the two full-backs created Spain's leading advantage in the first half, and on the defensive end, Carvajal and Alba also had quite good performances, especially Carvajal, who chased back to help Pique many times and blocked Cassano.
It can be said that the two goals in the first half basically laid the foundation for Spain's victory, and the crown of the European Cup can almost be said to have been worn on Spain's head in advance.
After the second half, Spain continued to maintain its advantage. Torres, who came on as a substitute, made an assist and a goal, helping Spain score two more goals. In the end, they defeated Italy 4-0 and won the European Cup.
Spain has won two consecutive European Cups, which shows its prosperity and strength. However, Bosque's deployment in this cup has caused a lot of controversy, mainly focusing on the forwards and right back.
Should Torres start? Why is Carvajal not trusted?
These two issues have become the most heated topics in Spain after the European Cup.
Especially the award selection that started just after the European Cup ended has further promoted this heated discussion.