Chapter 68 The Space in the Goal
Zhou Yi finished his morning jog, had breakfast, and returned to his room to rest. At the same time, he was preparing to pack up his things for the competition in the afternoon. He suddenly found a hardcover book from his schoolbag, which was his student ID card.
Picking up the student ID card, Zhou Yi remembered why he took this thing abroad in the first place - he wanted to test whether the Chinese student ID card can enjoy a half-price discount when buying train tickets abroad...
I have to say that Zhou Yi's brain opening angle is very strange. Most people would never think of bringing their student ID to Europe to buy half-price tickets.
As a result, he came to Europe, the whole journey was by plane and bus, and he was not given the opportunity to do this social practice at all.
So the student ID card was stuffed into the schoolbag and never moved again.
As the backpack walked around, the student ID card gradually sank into the bottom of the schoolbag, so much so that he almost forgot about it.
I found it suddenly today, and looking at this student ID card, Zhou Yi suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind.
He opened his mind again.
He put his student ID card back into his schoolbag, and he will have to carry this schoolbag to the game when the time comes. His sneakers and everything will be in this bag.
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Before the game in the afternoon, Zhou Yi found a substitute goalkeeper Lai Cong.
Then solemnly handed him something.
"Why?" Lai Cong looked at the student ID card in his hand, but didn't understand what was going on.
"Please keep it for me."
"No... It's okay to keep it. I'm just curious what you bring your student ID to the game for?" Lai Cong was at a loss.
"Oh, this is an important thing. To put it bluntly, it is the core of this competition!" Zhou Yi pointed to the student ID card in Lai Cong's hand.
Lai Cong grinned, is Zhou Yi expressing to himself in a very subtle way that he is the core of this team?
But... he can't do this, can he?
Lai Cong couldn't figure it out, but he didn't continue to ask. He was afraid that the question would be too straightforward. If Zhou Yi meant this, wouldn't everyone be embarrassed?
Seeing that Lai Cong did not refuse, Zhou Yi thanked Lai Cong again, and then followed the other starters to the field to prepare for the game.
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Zhou Yi said that this Manchester United team is actually not strong, of course it does not mean that Manchester United's first team is not strong.
Having just defeated Chelsea in the Champions League final, Ferguson won the second Champions League in his coaching career. Manchester United is still one of the best club teams in the world.
But compared with their glamorous first team, it is also true that Manchester United's youth training has not improved much in the past ten years.
As I said before, Chelsea's youth training is not very good. Abramovich spent a lot of money on youth training. He even poached Tottenham Hotspur's youth training director Arnesen for five million pounds, and gave him The Dane, who once unearthed Ronaldo, Stam and other superstars, offered an annual salary of two million pounds.
But the last of Chelsea's academy graduates who could stand up in the first team was... the twenty-eight-year-old John Terry.
Chelsea later changed their strategy, from cultivating themselves to digging semi-finished products all over the world, but despite this, no one was able to successfully enter the first team.
The situation at Manchester United and Chelsea is somewhat different.
Manchester United has a very glorious tradition in youth training, such as the famous "Class of 92", Beckham, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Giggs, Butt, Scholes are all Later Manchester United's main force, and even the core.
Their maturity also directly promoted Manchester United to become the treble champion in 1999.
Class 92 has always been mentioned repeatedly as a symbol of Manchester United's youth training.
But this also shows a very embarrassing thing, that is, after the Class of 1992, Manchester United's youth training... There is no longer a symbol that can be mentioned repeatedly.
Class 92 is a testimony to the glory of Manchester United's youth training.
It was also the beginning of the decline of Manchester United's local youth training.
Whether it is O'Shea or Wes Brown, these two people have always struggled to achieve the achievements of their predecessors in the first team. If it weren't for the signature of Manchester United's youth training, they might not be able to gain a foothold in the Manchester United first team. Now Manchester United's main central defender partners are Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, which have nothing to do with Manchester United's youth training.
Fletcher is also a player in Manchester United's youth training, but compared with his talent, his body is too fragile. Because of injuries, it is still difficult for him to continue to perform at a high level in the Manchester United first team. Otherwise, Ferguson will not have introduced Carrick and Hargreaves.
After Roy Keane left the team, Manchester United has not been able to find a good replacement in the midfield position. Fletcher was once highly expected, but now it seems that it is difficult to be a big job.
Of course, Zhou Yi said that Manchester United's youth team is not strong because he has played against Manchester United's under-17 youth team more than 20 times in his sleep, and he really didn't find any outstanding players. Dortmund has Gotze, Arsenal has Wilshere, Chelsea and Manchester United do not have such a leader.
That's why Zhou Yi said that their youth team is not strong.
But this Manchester United youth team is still better than the Chelsea youth team.
This can be seen from their performance on the court. The direct reaction to the score is the first half, and the Manchester United youth team is leading.
1:0, they lead the Chinese teenagers.
From the perspective of the scene, Manchester United also has a slight advantage.
The Chinese team was a little quiet.
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After the start of the second half, Manchester United, leading by one goal, strengthened their defense in the 30-meter area.
When the Chinese team attacked the frontcourt, there was no good way to penetrate their defense.
In the face of their defense, the Chinese team can only pass back and forth outside their defense line.
In terms of the completeness of the defense line, the Manchester United youth team did better than the Chelsea youth team. In addition, they strengthened their defense against He Ying. It is not easy for the Chinese team to score goals.
This has been the case since the first half.
Zhou Yi passed the football to He Ying, and He Ying couldn't even turn around, so he passed the football back. Then he runs, but always with two United youth players.
This game has always been like this. As a player who performed a hat-trick in the last game against the Chelsea youth team and stole the limelight, He Ying was heavily marked by the Manchester United youth team in this game. It is really normal.
In comparison, another forward, Zhang Tao, faced much less defensive pressure, but this was of no use.
There is a reason for the low defensive pressure, because the threat Zhang Tao poses to others is too small.
Zhang Tao is tall and has an excellent header, but this excellence is only compared with He Ying.
The shortcoming of his playing is obvious, that is, he can't run, he can only stand and play. Therefore, he is only a substitute in the echelon of domestic clubs, let alone competing for headers with England's defenders here.
It's not that Zhou Yi didn't pass the ball to him, but he wasted it.
Zhou Yi passed the football out, and the football was passed around at the feet of the Chinese team players. The rhythm was fast, and the Manchester United players could not easily grab it for a while.
But it didn't help.
Because these passes are all crosses and back passes. Not to mention whether it can threaten the goal of the Manchester United youth team, it is even difficult to threaten the penalty area of the Manchester United youth team.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yang shook his head off the court: "It's hard to score a goal..."
Hao Dong didn't speak, but it could be seen from his frowning that he was helpless.
In the game against the Chelsea youth team, the Chinese team defended to the death. Now it is replaced by the Manchester United youth team shrinking the defense and allowing the Chinese team to break through the dense defense.
It's really... teaching.
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Although the match between the Chinese team and the Manchester United youth team was not closed, there were not many spectators on the sidelines. After all, it was a youth team match, and the attention was not high.
However, some people watching the game can still be seen on the sidelines, and they all watch with gusto.
Tim Kiester and Alan Powell are among them, but they don't know each other's existence.
In the last game against the Chelsea youth team, Zhou Yi assisted three goals. In the eyes of these two scouts, he naturally stole the limelight.
In the first half of the game, Zhou Yi's performance was a bit bleak.
Tim Kiester, who has watched Zhou Yi's two games, naturally knows what's going on - he guesses that it has something to do with Zhou Yi's physical fitness.
Zhou Yi played the whole game against Dortmund youth team, but he was exhausted. In the game against Arsenal youth team, Zhou Yi only played half time before being substituted.
Because of the extra half-time rest, Zhou Yi played 24 minutes more in the game against the Chelsea youth team. After completing three assists, he was exhausted and was replaced due to cramps.
In this game, Zhou Yi's performance in the first half was not very active, obviously because of his physical fitness. It was too much effort to win the Chelsea youth team in the last game, this is a sequelae.
On the contrary, Arsenal's scout Alan Powell was a little disappointed with Zhou Yi's performance in this game-could Zhou Yi's performance in the last game be deceived? I just happened to see the best game he played in his life?
Watching Zhou Yi pass the football back and forth, but unable to reach the heart of the Manchester United youth team, Powell shook his head.
Since football is a sport that creates as much space as possible in the attack, when the team gains possession of the ball when it is close to the opponent's goal, it should reduce the number of players and the number of passes, so as to create more space. Space, if everyone gathers together in this area, it can only squeeze out all the space needed for their attack.
This is common sense.
But now Zhou Yi and his teammates are frequently falling in front of the opponent's 30-meter area, which is obviously not a good sign.
Too many passes in front of the opponent's penalty area will also cause the team to have a huge risk of losing possession.
Therefore, the current approach of the Chinese team is wrong and has great risks.
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In fact, Zhou Yi himself knows that he may not have risen to any theoretical height, but playing and watching football since he was a child also made him understand that it is not a good thing to pass too many meaningless cross passes at the front of the opponent's penalty area.
It is also impossible for Manchester United to let the Chinese players pass the ball back and forth to increase their possession rate just like watching a play.
They are already ready to move and want to steal the ball.
But he really couldn't find any space.
Manchester United's defense remained intact, the players advanced and retreated in the same way, coupled with the tight marking of He Ying, if they just forcibly passed the football, it would be no different from letting the opponent steal the ball.
return?
Zhou Yi also tried passing back, but the effect was not very good. The Manchester United youth team is not a fool. It can be seen what he wants to do. Even if he keeps passing back to the goalkeeper Sun Pan, it will not be of much use. Pass the football forward, and the Manchester United youth team's defense is very fast.
Perhaps the Chelsea youth team lost to the Chinese team, which attracted the attention of Manchester United, so the Manchester United youth team did not underestimate the enemy in this game, and naturally there were fewer loopholes for the Chinese teenagers to take advantage of. Coupled with the fact that they are leading by one goal now, they can naturally seek stability first.
The football was passed to He Ying's feet, and He Ying still couldn't break through with the ball, and couldn't form any shooting opportunities.
When He Ying was holding the ball, Zhou Yi was still observing the situation on the court.
There is still no free time, Zhang Tao can't move, he stands dead, and He Ying can't move when he gets the ball. The position of the striker is basically fixed, and the opponent's defender is also fixed, which is especially easy to defend.
Seeing that He Ying had no chance to shoot or break through, he first turned around to protect the football.
The football is protected, but it has also turned its back to the attacking direction, and it is not easy to threaten the goal.
He saw Zhou Yi.
So he passed the football back to Zhou Yi.
United finally got tired of having Chinese players passed around like this in front of them, and they decided to be positive.
So a player from the Manchester United youth team followed the football and rushed towards Zhou Yi, intending to steal the ball and fight back!
The football was rolling towards Zhou Yi, but Zhou Yi's eyes did not fall on the football. Even at this moment, he did not give up and continue to look for space.
He suddenly looked up to the goal.
Since there is no room for him to pass the ball, why not try to shoot it?
He found that the goalkeeper of the Manchester United youth team was slightly to the left and a little forward.
He quickly found a relatively large space around the far post of the goal.
If you really can't find the space between the players on the ground, then go to the sky and find the space in the goal!
Take advantage of this gap!
Zhou Yi had an idea in his mind.
When the football was about to roll in front of him, the players of the Manchester United youth team were about to rush up.
Zhou Yi swung his right leg in front of the football, not to stop the ball, nor to pass the ball, but... directly kicked and shot!
The ankle of the right foot is turned outward, the inner instep of the foot wraps the football, and the calf exerts force like a whip, pulling outward.
The football flew up before the blocking of the Manchester United youth team players and flew towards the far end of the goal!
The players on both sides at the front of the penalty area looked up at the football at this time, and their necks were like radar, turning with the football.
Everyone who saw this kick had one thought in their minds - the ball must fly!
The football flies high, giving it a "running for the corner flag" feel.
The goalkeeper of the Manchester United youth team also had this idea. When he saw the football flying, he stood in front of the goal and did not move. He just turned his head and planned to watch the football fly out of the baseline.
Xu Yang off the field was also complaining: "Zhou Yi is in a hurry to deal with this ball!"
He believes that Zhou Yi should not choose to shoot. It is too difficult to shoot directly without stopping the ball, and the scoring rate is also very low. The ball going out basically means that the Chinese team's offense is over here, and possession of the ball will be regained. Back to the Manchester United youth team. As for what will happen next, it's hard to say...
Liang Qiqi snorted coldly in his heart: Give some sunshine and it will be brilliant, and after a few assists, he thinks he is omnipotent! snort! I would lose to such a person!
But under the watchful eyes of everyone, the football suddenly turned in the air! Turned to the upper right corner of the goal with a very exaggerated arc!
Then, at the junction of the goal post and the crossbar, the football flew in with a swish and hit the net!
The ball went in!
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