Chapter 30 Position Transformation
On September 10, 2016, the fourth round of the Premier League began.
Tottenham take on Stoke City.
This game is not a battle of focus, but the eyes of many media and fans are fixed on this game, on the Britannia Stadium.
They are all watching.
They all want to know that Tottenham, which has encountered a scoring drought, can turn around.
Tottenham fans are eagerly hoping that the team will improve. During this period of time, they can be said to be exhausted and questioned by countless media.
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The Spanish sports newspaper even publicly ridiculed: 'Tottenham is the biggest parallel import in the history of the Champions League! This kind of achievement can win the Premier League championship. How bad is their league? Boas' Galactic Battleship? It should be called the Galaxy Battleship that does not score goals! '
Faced with such comments, Tottenham fans were blown away.
But it is a fact that Tottenham did not score. In the first three rounds of the game, Tottenham's striker seemed to be cursed and lacked the vigor of last season.
Many British media are looking for the reason, and finally they attribute the reason to 'Harry Kane'.
The Manchester Life is at it again.
‘Tottenham suffers from Kane dependence. Without Harry Kane, the top scorer, they are like headless chickens. No one can make a final decision. '
Millwall's Isle of Dogs Sports News also expressed heartache; 'Tottenham are wasting their super midfielder, the striker is like shit! '
'This season is over for Tottenham! '
'They will be the biggest joke in the Champions League. '
‘Premier League teams are not competitive in the Champions League, they can only play tricks! '
‘Tottenham have a Champions League phobia! '
Among the many doubts and ridicules, Tottenham's game has become the focus. Everyone is observing whether Tottenham can recover and whether anyone can stand up.
If they lose or draw, they will face criticism from countless media.
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The arrival of Ibrahimovic has also become one of the focuses.
The Swedish striker can create another glories. Ibrahimovic has always been very controversial. This is related to his arrogant personality, but his scoring efficiency is very high.
Of course, now that he is older, advanced age is gradually wearing down his physical strength.
Can such Ibrahimovic improve Tottenham's poor scoring ability.
In this game, Ibrahimovic made his debut.
No one is surprised by this, after all Ibrahimovic is a firefighter.
"...In this game Villas-Boas used the Swede and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in Tottenham's starting XI. It doesn't surprise us, we're just wondering if he can improve The bad situation of Tottenham. And the Swedish striker who always complains that his midfield is too weak, how will he perform when he is partnered with the current European T1 midfield combination?"
The narrator of British national television said in the telecast.
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Boas attached great importance to this game. He not only gave Ibrahimovic unlimited fire rights, but also ordered the midfielder to pass the ball to Ibrahimovic.
At this point in time, not only does Tottenham need to use goals to stimulate the sluggish state,
Villas-Boas also needed to attack the media with goals.
After the start of the game, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's performance was extremely active. He ran at all costs and tore up Stoke City's defense.
Under the continuous pass from the midfielder, Ibrahimovic had two good threatening shots in fifteen minutes.
His taekwondo style of shooting made Stoke City's backline players feel a little helpless.
The leg was raised so high that it almost kicked his own face.
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At the end of the first half, the score was at 1:1. Vertonghen's reckless foul gave Stoke a penalty. Boni, the number 12 player of Stoke City, did not waste this precious opportunity and pushed the ball into the bottom right corner Complete the break.
In the 39th minute of the game, Dele Alli made a cross from the bottom, and Ibrahimovic headed the goal. Stoke City's goalkeeper Given in the Football Cup made a save. Ji's calm push helped Tottenham tie the score.
During the intermission, Tottenham's locker room was filled with joy and laughter, and finally scored a decent goal, which put them in a good mood.
At least in this game, Tottenham regained the feeling of shooting, not as confused as before.
Now, Tottenham have the initiative on the field, and they have a great chance to win the game.
At this time, a victory is precious to Tottenham.
Boas also rarely showed a smiling face. The arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic stimulated Tottenham's striker, and finally passed the damn goal drought.
And it's not just for this reason, Boas found some extremely important changes in the first half.
Yi Le started to try long-range shots!
In the first half, Yi Le had a total of three long-range shots, all of good quality, and the timing was very good, all of which were extremely tricky angles.
When I first saw this kind of long shot, the Boas people were all stupid.
He couldn't believe it. This was Yi Le's shot. After all, in Tottenham's team, in terms of shooting ability, Yi Le must be at the bottom. He can't even compare with those defenders.
But during a holiday, he practiced long-range shooting.
This made Boas very pleasantly surprised, and at the same time had a faint idea of a new tactic.
Boas approached assistant coach Michel, and the two got together. Boas whispered: "In the first half, Yi Na took some long shots..."
"Very good!" Michelle frowned and said, "It's a big threat, and the timing of the kick is also very good, but it's really a long shot from Yi kicked? Did he get caught?"
"Once or twice, it may be a trick, but it can't be said three times in a row. He obviously worked hard on his shots. Yi is a hard-working player, isn't he?" With a slight smile, he said, "Dude, I have a new idea, how about we put Yi at the front?"
Michelle froze for a moment, then said in astonishment: "A central midfielder?"
Boas nodded with a smile.
Yi Le's position has always been to organize the midfielder. To be honest, this position cannot maximize Yi Le's impact.
The most suitable position for an attacking midfielder like him is central midfielder.
But because of Yi Le's shooting problem, his appearance here is largely a waste of resources, so Boas let Yi Le play as a defensive midfielder, a position that Pirlo once played.
But in the position of the midfielder, many of Yi Le's things will be buried.
For example, his sharp breakthrough, exquisite last pass and exaggerated command ability, etc...
So when Yi Le showed his long-range shooting ability, Boas's mind became active.
Yi Le in the defensive midfielder position has such a great impact, if he is placed in the central midfielder... this...
Michelle thought for a while and found that it was very clever, so she couldn't help expecting: "Try it?"
"Try!" Boas said decisively, and he clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention.
When everyone looked at him, Boas said loudly: "Guys, we will play 4-2-3-1 in the second half, Yi, you play central midfielder!"
1 The change of formation has increased the ability of the offensive end, but this formation has extremely high requirements for offense and defense.
This formation must have the support of a super midfielder.
But this is not a problem for Tottenham.
Kanter + Eric Dier can do the job of a double midfielder.
In terms of organization, Yi Le stepped into the opponent's half, which means that one of the most threatening points of Tottenham has really come to the offensive end.
With Tottenham's midfield configuration, it can fully support the requirements of this tactic.
And with the change of 1, Tottenham are not too unfamiliar with this formation.
They adapt quickly.
Therefore, after the start of the second half, Tottenham passed the football back, and all Stoke City players set their eyes on the Chinese, waiting for the opponent to receive the ball.
However, when they saw Yi Le touch the ball and stuff the football into the backcourt, and they followed the strikers into their own half, the players of Stoke City were stunned.