Chapter 272: A Replica of the "Premier League National Derby"

Schalke 04 became the first guinea pig for the upgraded Chelsea's tactical experiment in the Champions League.

Compared with the training on the defensive end, Mourinho's training methods on the offensive end are indeed relatively monotonous.

At least compared with Pellegrini and Guardiola, Mourinho's offensive tactical system and routines are only average.

But Mourinho has one good thing.

That is, for star players, he can basically stimulate their potential and use appropriate tactical designs to let them play their advantages to the maximum.

Now Leon, Ibrahimovic, Hazard and Salah are all playing more comfortably.

On the offensive end, use the pressure on space and the familiar control of rhythm, supplemented by the abilities of the stars, to speed up and play as many offensive rounds as possible.

In fact, this is the basic concept of Mourinho's current improved offensive tactics.

From this point of view, meeting the Bundesliga team in the first round of the Champions League is very beneficial for Chelsea players to further enhance their offensive confidence.

Because Schalke 04 is used to playing a big game, Chelsea needs too much offensive space in Schalke 04's half.

Attack against attack, fast against fast, Schalke 04's offensive frequency and finishing quality are far inferior to the current Chelsea.

In addition, Li Ang made targeted restrictions on Schalke 04's core offensive player Meyer at the beginning.

So in this game, Schalke 04 can beat Chelsea.

Seeing that his team was very smooth today and had a three-goal lead early, Mourinho and his coaching team were of course very happy.

However, for the current Chelsea's offensive transformation, Mourinho also knows that he and his coaching team still have a long way to go.

You can be happy, but you can't be complacent. Only with self-knowledge can you continue to try and make mistakes in improving the offensive system and go further.

After all, for so many years, he has basically focused on the defensive system and tactical construction of each team he coached.

But in the training of the offensive system, he rarely spends as much energy as he does now to upgrade and improve it.

There are reasons for personal habits, and there are also reasons that he is not particularly good at coaching offense.

In the past, he would be very confident to hand over this work to Ruiz, and let his most capable assistant analyze and build the offensive system and train the players.

After all, a head coach does not need to be proficient in tactical training on both offense and defense.

It was not until the defeat to Bayern Munich last season that Mourinho learned from his mistakes and made up his mind to upgrade Chelsea's offensive tactics with Ruiz again.

The offensive system of modern football is developing rapidly.

It was after the match against Bayern last season that Mourinho found that his understanding of the top offensive system in the current football world was somewhat out of date.

The superstar tactics are useful, but he no longer has Ronaldo in his hands, and how many decades can a player as strong as Messi and Ronaldo appear?

It is his luck to be able to return to Chelsea with Li Ang. Chelsea's lower limit with Li Ang will be very stable, and its upper limit will also be outstanding.

If Mourinho's main purpose of coming back this time is to lead Chelsea to dominate the Premier League, then he can indeed earn interest on his old tactical capital.

But if he wants to replicate the great success of Real Madrid in Chelsea in the previous seasons, then as a head coach, he must keep up with the development of the times.

To be honest, Mourinho admires and respects Heynckes very much.

In the 11-12 season, Real Madrid has come up with a tactical concept of combining a pressure-type defense system with a fast counterattack.

Klopp and he have the same idea in tactical creation.

But compared to Klopp's slightly radical full-court pressure tactics, Mourinho treats his players a little more gently.

At least in the construction of his tactical system, offensive star players like Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic can take as little responsibility as possible on the defensive end.

Klopp's players do not have such privileges.

When it is time to defend and press, Gotze or Reus must devote all their efforts to the pressure tactics.

But Klopp is obviously still trying to further improve his tactical concept.

Mourinho started it, but he actually made some minor adjustments based on this tactic and has been using it ever since.

And Heynckes last season, he learned and consolidated Mourinho's style of play and made further improvements!

This Heynckes Bayern has been evolving. Last season, they were extremely familiar with the pressure defense and rapid advancement on both wings.

Facing Chelsea's high-pressure, they even came up with a set of counter-tactics in which the midfielders and backcourt players dragged back to control the ball, and then the full-backs advanced to send threatening direct passes to counterattack!

This shows Heynckes's tactical learning and innovation ability.

Mourinho thinks he can't do it like Heynckes, who learned an offensive system and then made bold innovations and integrated it.

But he can still try to imitate and learn, and borrow and apply tactics.

Tactics in football are basically like this, you learn from me and I learn from you, and then add your own understanding in mutual reference and imitation, and finally spread quickly.

Bayern's style of play last season is actually very applicable to Real Madrid, Chelsea and Dortmund now.

Mourinho doesn't know whether Ancelotti and Klopp will also take this path of imitation and learning.

But for himself, he feels that there is no better way to make Chelsea's offensive strength go to the next level than this at this stage.

And so far, this transformation plan is going smoothly.

At least the four consecutive wins at the start of the Premier League and the big win in the first game of the new season of the Champions League are enough to show that they are on the right path...

After the referee blew the whistle to end the game and Chelsea beat Schalke 04 4-0, Li Ang was more excited than ever.

Mourinho and the rest of the Chelsea players didn't know why Li Ang was so happy today.

However, seeing that their core players were in high spirits and confident about the future schedule, the young players in the Chelsea team also became excited and confident.

Until they got the news of Manchester City's 3-2 away victory over Bayern after the game.

In all the Champions League group matches on this day, Chelsea defeated Schalke 04 and Barcelona defeated APOEL, which was expected by the fans before the game.

Such a result is not a big news at all.

But Manchester City defeated last season's Champions League champion Bayern Munich in the first match of the new season's Champions League? !

Once this unexpected news spread, countless fans were shocked!

Bayern's strong performance in the Bundesliga and the Champions League last season is still deeply engraved in the minds of fans all over the world!

To be honest, the impression that Manchester City had previously given to fans and reporters from major leagues in the Champions League was not very good.

In the 2011-2012 season, Manchester City was eliminated in the third place in the Champions League group and was knocked out by Sporting Lisbon in the 1/8 knockout round of the Europa League.

In the 2012-13 season, Manchester City, as the Premier League champion of the previous season, ended up being eliminated at the bottom of the group in the Champions League and did not even qualify for the Europa League.

Last season, Manchester City was sent back home by Barcelona in the first knockout round of the Champions League.

Admittedly, Manchester City has been a bit unlucky in the past three seasons in terms of luck in the group draw and the first round of the knockout draw.

But, to be honest, no matter how to find excuses, Manchester City's poor performance in the Champions League in the past few seasons is hard to convince.

It just so happens that in the past few seasons, fans are also in a period of questioning Guardiola's coaching level.

So Manchester City's victory over Bayern in the first round of the Champions League group stage away from home is so unbelievable to fans.

Pellegrini, who was personally recommended by Heynckes to coach Bayern in the summer window, became the scapegoat for the collective condemnation of the German sports media.

At this time, De Bayern fans cannot see the objective reality that Lahm's state has declined and Schweinsteiger's ambition is gone.

Lewandowski has just replaced Mandzukic, who helped Bayern win the treble last season.

He is still adapting to Bayern's tactical system and needs time to run in with his new teammates.

It can be said that the change of coach in the summer window, the replacement of the main center forward, and the transformation of the offensive system, this series of factors piled together led to Bayern's defeat.

Pellegrini's coaching method on the offensive end is actually fine, and he also needs at least half a season to strengthen his control over this Bayern.

Unfortunately, the patience of the fans of the top clubs is always limited, especially the fans of the top clubs who just won an important championship last season.

Guardiola also encountered a good time. He directly played the momentum of Manchester City in one battle, and made his tactical concept shine again in front of the majority of fans!

Compared with his teammates who seemed a little uncomfortable, Li Ang was mentally prepared for Guardiola's Manchester City to rise early.

And Li Ang also felt.

The Bayern players who won the club honors and the World Cup last season were too discouraged in their hunger for honor.

This is actually understandable.

After all, they basically won all the championships they could get in one season and became the king of the world.

No matter which player comes, there will be some psychological slackness.

After the end of the 2011-2012 season, Real Madrid, which won the treble at the time, actually had this problem.

However, stimulated by the club and coaching staff's new goals of six crowns and defending the Champions League, the superstars in Real Madrid restrained their desire to slack off.

If Real Madrid failed to successfully defend the Champions League in 2013, then Bayern may still have the motivation to pursue honors in this regard.

Breaking records, which professional player doesn't want his name to be engraved in the history of football forever?

Unfortunately, Real Madrid broke this record first, and Bayern's successful defense is just a replica.

In addition, Heynckes has retired.

To be honest, except for Mourinho and Hitzfeld, another retired meritorious coach of Bayern.

Li Ang doesn't think there is any famous football coach who can suppress the current group of Bayern meritorious players and let them continue to fight for honor honestly.

So a very regrettable thing - at least a thing that Li Ang feels very regretful about, still happened.

After winning the first Champions League trophy, the "Ultimate Bayern" under Heynckes quietly disappeared when almost all fans believed that they would continue to sweep the football world.

Whether in Real Madrid or Chelsea, Li Ang believes that Bayern Munich is the best opponent in the Champions League.

It's a pity that Heinz Hoffenheim can't continue to coach.

This is a pity for Bayern players and all Bayern fans, as well as for all Bayern's competitors.

Li Ang gave his last sigh to the strongest opponent in his heart.

But time does not allow him to be overly sentimental.

Because the tight schedule and the little training time left are repeatedly reminding Li Ang and his teammates.

They are about to start the first "double blue battle" of the season with Manchester City, who just defeated Bayern Munich and are in excellent form!

The British media have already been in full swing during the preparations for Chelsea and Manchester City, and have promoted the first match of the two teams this season.

The Premier League official also came out to stand for this focus battle of the new Premier League season.

On the poster made by the official Twitter, Li Ang, holding a sharp blade in his left hand, holds a huge shield in his right hand, and charges towards the Manchester City players on the right!

Behind him, Ibrahimovic, Hazard and De Bruyne followed and roared.

Drogba and Lampard carried the flag in the finale!

On the right side of the poster, Aguero was the protagonist holding a two-handed sword.

Silva and Fabregas followed Aguero on both sides.

Nasri and Fernandinho also roared and charged with the Manchester City flag.

This poster is very ancient Roman, and the momentum of the two sides is on the verge of breaking out. It immediately received unanimous praise from fans on the Internet.

However, the Premier League officials who had eaten enough traffic from both players were not satisfied.

The day before the game, they released a promotional poster with Mourinho and Guardiola sitting together and thinking about chess, with the title "The Strongest Contradiction"!

Well, this method of leading the rhythm and traffic is extremely skillful.

Let's not talk about the quality and excitement of the game, whether it can reach the height of the Spanish national derby in the past few seasons.

In terms of publicity and hype alone, the Premier League and various English sports media have completely created the momentum of the game!

In terms of popularity, the Premier League "Double Blue Battle" looks no worse than the Spanish national derby.

Mourinho and Guardiola must be very dissatisfied with the Premier League's irresponsible hype in private.

After all, the bigger the gimmick, if the quality of the game they play does not meet the fans' expectations, the backlash will directly affect their own team!

But there is no way, now that it has been hyped to this point, this traffic and popularity must be eaten hard!

They can only prepare for the game with all their strength and strive to get the results that their team wants most on the day of the game.

On the afternoon of September 21, Chelsea's team bus arrived at the Etihad Stadium under the tracking and shooting of countless media reporters.

Mourinho and his coaching staff members appeared first with a serious face, and then Li Ang and Kroos, who had caused a commotion on the scene with their handsomeness, killed countless films in seconds.

Li Ang and his teammates smiled and rejected the reporters' pre-match interview requests and walked quickly into the visiting team's locker room at the Etihad Stadium.

The live broadcasts of the games in various countries have officially entered the countdown.

The battle is about to begin!