Chapter 218 B2B Midfielder 1st Man
At the end of the first half, the two sides drew 1:1. Barcelona frequently tried long-range shots, but they were all resolved by Schalke's united defense.
This halftime is not satisfactory for Barcelona, because instead of following their own ideas and steadily expanding the victory after taking the lead, they were evened by Schalke. As a giant like them, this is unacceptable of.
This is also the position of the commentators, so except for the Catalan TV commentators, almost all the commentators praised Schalke for "demonstrating the tenacity of miners" and "representing the iron-blooded spirit of German football"... The words used to praise Bayern in the past are now used on Schalke.
Although it is a bit exaggerated, there is still nothing wrong with the commentators' point of view. The score was equalized in the first half, which means that everything started from scratch in the second half.
Starting from scratch, anything can happen.
"See, Barcelona is not that scary. So, do your best, now you are the protagonists, I have nothing to say. You did a good job in the first half, we could have been more courageous in the second half, with a goal , we can score more, let's go crazy in the second half, I hope you can make me, an old man, crazy!"
Many players felt that it would be too irresponsible to give Magath five minutes of morale-boosting nonsense during such precious time in the final, and then leave it to them to adjust themselves.
But like Zhou Tiancheng, with a deeper comprehension, he can comprehend the major tactical adjustments of Magath - he was forced to play defensively in the first half but stabilized his position, and he will start playing offensive football in the second half. This is Schaer Grab the familiar rhythm.
"Brother Cheng, what exactly does this mean?" Jiang Hao was also confused, and turned his head to ask.
"It means, Haozi, you can enjoy the second half as much as you want." Zhou Tiancheng raised his voice and shouted to everyone: "What the devil means, we are going to attack in the second half, everyone remember, it's still the old rules."
Everyone said in unison: "Don't worry, Zhou, we know how to do it."
"Great, I want to score in the second half! I want to score!" Jiang Hao clenched his fists and whispered. Ruud van Nistelrooy had enough limelight in the first half, but he hasn't had enough running yet. As far as Jiang Hao is concerned now, if you let him rush seven or eight times in halftime in such a big scene, he will feel as uncomfortable as a bug crawling in his pores.
In the Barcelona locker room, Guardiola's attitude towards the whole team is not as gentle as facing Messi alone: "I am worried about the second half, yes, you heard it right. Worry! If you are serious enough to be vigilant This opponent is no problem at all. But you are too careless. There can be such a big loophole behind the defense, let alone you are Barcelona players. Amateur football fans with a little common sense know that the first responsibility of a defender is to stare at his side. forward!"
Rafael Marquez never looked up, he knew that the coach was criticizing him in a targeted manner.
"Confidence does not mean that you have the capital to underestimate the enemy. If you continue to do this and cannot focus on facing your opponent, you are sorry for wearing this jersey. If you lose this game, look at what the media and fans will say about us after the game...' Ah, Barcelona, which won six titles last season, has become a rookie's stepping stone at the Bernabéu, do you hope so?"
After Guardiola conducted some point-to-point "warning education", he began to start rotation tactics. In fact, he understood the team's difficulties in the first half, and the midfield was not as smooth as before. Because of the lack of Iniesta, Barcelona This giant fighter lacks an auxiliary fuel tank, and Harvey's target is too obvious. But currently there is no helper like Iniesta in the team, so we need to change our thinking...Since Zhou Tiancheng's attention is on Harvey, then send someone with enough tonnage,
Not afraid of confrontation, the midfielder with balanced offensive and defensive capabilities attracts his attention and provides cover for Harvey.
There is such an option in Barcelona's lineup reserve, the Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure.
...
"Haha, it's exactly the same as our prediction just now. Here's a good show. Ivory Coast gatekeeper Yaya Toure will play, and Zhou Tiancheng will meet someone of the same kind—this is also a B2B midfielder with fierce defense. Covering the whole field, as well as positioning the ball and long-range shooting ability, if you don’t look at the appearance, it is completely carved out of the same mold as Zhou Tiancheng. This should be Guardiola’s biggest backup.”
In fact, He Wei's evaluation is not objective enough. Yaya Toure is far stronger than what he said. Before Zhou Tiancheng appeared, he was capable enough to be called the world's number one B2B midfielder. Now... wait for the two to fight. You will know after passing, and you will have the answer next.
His appearance was half booed and half cheered. When Yang Cheng heard about Barcelona's substitution, he also whispered to Chu Yunling after his booing: "Barcelona has made a big move."
Chu Yunling replied lightly: "Trust him, I have never experienced any big moves."
For the first time in the second half in the midfield, Yaya Toure first showed his presence on the defensive end. In the midfield, he entangled Zhou Tiancheng who turned around and made a long pass.
The narrator could only see that Yaya Toure's strong body was constantly squeezing, but Zhou Tiancheng felt the most intuitively. He felt hit by a heavy tank at the first moment, and his center of gravity almost lost his balance. Fortunately, He uses his center of gravity forward to keep the ball in front of him. But the "tank" behind him didn't knock him over for the first time, and he was still unconvinced and kept arching. Zhou Tiancheng worked hard on the top, and Toure's whole body was pressed on his back, with his center of gravity completely down. It is very difficult for him to even play the ball now.
He is very fortunate that he has such a physical condition, and he can still block opponents like a wall. Zhou Tiancheng found that this is the most difficult person he has encountered in confrontation. Ballack, who has fought against him before, is nothing, after all As we get older, the decline in physical function is inevitable.
"Aha, my God! Zhou has Yaya Toure! Although we can't see him from our angle, the ball is still there. It's amazing, Yaya Toure can be said to be the scariest midfielder A crushing machine, but Zhou is really like a wall, and the foundation of the wall is very solid, he doesn't seem to move a step under such a confrontation, his legs seem to be embedded in the turf."
Zhou Tiancheng felt that there was no space to pass the ball, so he defended the ball tightly, relying entirely on his height advantage of being a few centimeters taller than Toure to forcibly fight against him, and he also got stronger. As a B2B midfielder, it can be said that when Coach Elgort explained the definition of B2B midfielder to him, he formed his view on this position. From the penalty area to the penalty area, that is to say, one must have the courage to run through the entire court, and have the confidence to face any opponent head-on. This is Zhou Tiancheng's basic understanding of being a B2B midfielder.
And now that he is in control of the ball, he can afford to spend it with the opponent.
As he expected, Toure's main reliance on the defensive end is physical confrontation. Now that he can't grab the ball again and again, he is a little anxious, and wants to stretch his legs directly from his feet, and make a move.
Zhou Tiancheng deliberately didn't dodge, but narrowed the distance between his legs, and when the opponent's foot stretched out, he fell to the ground in response.
Toure didn't get the ball and got a yellow card and a stern verbal warning from the referee Weber who ran over.