super storm

Chapter 1518 Winning the midfield wins the world
When it comes to high-position pressing and oppression, the first thing many people think of is Guardiola and his Dream Team Three.

But in fact, Benitez is also a master coach in this regard.

How long it can be traced back specifically needs someone to study, but in Yang Yang's impression, from Benitez to Guardiola to Klopp, and then to Simeone, these head coaches can be said to be believers in high-position pressing and oppression.

Benitez's Liverpool and Real Madrid, Guardiola's Barcelona, ​​Bayern and Manchester City, Klopp's Dortmund and Liverpool, Simeone's Atletico Madrid, these teams seem to play completely different styles and have different ways of achieving high pressure, but in fact they are the same.

They have only one purpose of pressing and pressing at a high position, that is to press the opponent with the overall meticulous formation, and in the shortest time, after grabbing the ball as close as possible to the opponent's goal, they quickly launch a counterattack.

Benitez believed in double midfielders during his time at Liverpool and Real Madrid. Xavi Alonso and Mascherano were the keys to his high-position pressing and oppression. However, in the following years, Real Madrid gradually gave up the double midfielder. The reason is very simple. Football skills and tactics are changing.

The most commonly used by Benitez is [-], but in fact, under the targeted tactics of the opponent, it often evolves into [-], that is, the front three and one, which is out of touch with the back line of four, because the double midfielder cannot completely control the midfield.

At this time, Guardiola adopted a four-three-three formation, with an inverted triangle in the midfield, that is, Busquets dragged behind.

A very obvious change is that in Benitez's double defensive midfielder, Xavi Alonso and Mascherano are basically protecting the defense line and playing the role of the team's passing transition, so it is easy to cause tears, but Guardiola's Barcelona's high-position press directly presses the midfielder and even the entire defense line.

The advantage of this is obvious, it can maximize the threat of high pressing and pressing, and grab the ball as soon as possible, but the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, once the opponent can pass the ball behind the defense line, there will be a large gap.

Klopp and Simeone did not have a particularly fixed formation. They played four-three-three, four-four-two, and sometimes even played double midfielders. They used the active running of the players to achieve oppression of the opponent.

And during Dortmund, whether it was Lewandowski, Gotze and Reus under Klopp, they all had a strong ability to advance, and their tactical execution was very good, allowing them to quickly instigate a counterattack after grabbing the ball.

But there are gains and losses. Klopp's style of play requires too much physical fitness, which leads to his team's lack of running after every six or 10 minutes, which seems a bit anticlimactic.

Even in the later stages of coaching Dortmund, when the team couldn't run, his performance plummeted.

Guardiola also grabs hard, runs a lot, and consumes a lot of energy, but his teams often have a strong ability to control the ball, so after they grab the ball, they often slow down for the first time. Pull the opponent by holding the ball, and at the same time give your own players time to breathe.

But even so, after Xavi and Iniesta get old, Barcelona's midfielder still can't handle it.

Atletico Madrid's high-position pressing is not as aggressive as Guardiola and Klopp. Simeone was born in Serie A, and he uses strict tactics and overall formation to carry out high-position pressing. Their creed is to keep the overall formation compact and meticulous at all times.

In many cases, Atletico Madrid is not grabbing the ball, but is oppressing the opponent, or forcing the ball holder to the direction of the trap set by him, basically on the side.

The advantage of this is that although Atletico Madrid is also pressing and pressing at a high position, their physical consumption is actually much smaller than that of Klopp. This is very similar to the team coached by Benitez, and it has something to do with their strong Serie A characteristics.

……

Yang Yang has always been an open, tolerant, but at the same time very steady person. He didn't specifically say who to learn from, but was looking for which one is more suitable for Ajax?

But there is one thing that he sees very clearly, and that is the trend of midfielders.

When Benitez was coaching Liverpool and Real Madrid, a player like Mascherano was still in a position. His offensive contribution was very small, but his defensive ability was super strong. He was a pure defensive player, that is, a ball-grabbing machine.

At that time, Liverpool still had beast waist characters like Mohamed Sissoko.

But gradually, in recent years, the trend of European football has changed.

An obvious phenomenon is that purely defensive players no longer exist.

The ball-scrambling machine in the midfield is no longer popular. In Real Madrid, Casemiro debuted as a central midfielder. He is also very capable of moving the ball, passing the ball and getting in behind. Even Kante, who was a ball-scrambling machine in the Premier League, was asked to participate more in the team's passing and organization after he came to Real Madrid.

Both offensive and defensive players such as Modric and Toni Kroos have begun to become the mainstream. Even a genius like Isco must put down his body, strengthen his defense and stealing ability, and actively run to cover.

This situation appeared very early, such as Deco of the Barcelona Dream Team [-], Xavi and Iniesta, the cornerstones of the Dream Team [-], these three players are not purely technical players at all, because they have a lot of defensive tasks.

Later, Dortmund produced midfielders with both offensive and defensive capabilities such as Gundogan and Shaheen, and the defense also had a central defender like Hummels, and Atletico Madrid did even more outrageously.

In Simeone's team, the forward line is a center of the type of Diego Costa. Even Griezmann is required to actively participate in the pressing and oppression. The midfielder is all offensive and defensive players. Turan, Koke, Saul, Gabi...

Many people think that they are engineer-type players, which is not difficult to understand, because the skills of these players are indeed incomparable with Xavi, Iniesta, Modric and others, but it is unfair to say that they are engineers, because their technical ability is not bad, so Atletico Madrid can also play very smooth passes and cuts, but they are unwilling.

The advantage of stacking such comprehensive players in the midfield is that no matter where the ball is in the high position press, there are Atletico Madrid players around to actively engage in high-quality press and press immediately. The execution ability of the players is very high, which ensures the overall competitiveness of the team.

Of course, this also sacrificed the organization and creativity of the midfield to a certain extent.

There are gains and losses, and the head coach must make a choice.

But one thing is definitely true, that is, the development trend of football skills and tactics in recent years, the comprehensive requirements for players are getting higher and higher, and it is difficult for partial undergraduates to mix in the current football world.

This goes back to the question of the overall competitiveness of the team.

Bucket theory, the shortest piece of wood determines how much water a bucket can hold.

This is true for the team as a whole, and the same is true for the players who make up the team as a whole.

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Yang Yang's first game after coaching Ajax was a warm-up match against a professional team in Switzerland.

Ajax did not play well, the team lost away, one to two.

But Yang Yang didn't take it to heart at all, he still focused on encouragement and affirmation.

On the second day of the game, Yang Yang called Frankie de Jong and Van der Beek to his office after training, and explained his tactical thinking to Frankie de Jong with the help of laptop videos, atlases and hand-drawn drawings. One of the most important points is his understanding and requirements for the team's high-position pressing and oppression.

As the team's midfielder, the two of them are the key to Yang Yang's hope that the team can control the midfielder.

In the past, Ajax emphasized the high center forward, but now the team needs to emphasize the midfield and control the midfield.

Whether it was Frankie de Jong or Van der Beek, it was the first time they heard such a clear analysis of the current and future football technical and tactical development.

"In the future, no matter what opponent we encounter, whether it is strong or weak, it is best to grab the ball and adopt defensive counterattack tactics. The most important thing is to control the midfielder. The winner of the midfielder wins the world. This sentence is not false."

Later, Yang Yang took out many examples and further explained his thoughts to the two players.

For example, regarding Van der Beek, Yang Yang believes that he needs to master a measure of going forward, when to go forward, where to go forward, and when to come back. This requires him to have a clear judgment on the situation on the field.

In Ajax's four-three-three formation, Jovic is at the top and often pulls to the side, while Van der Beek's back-up is crucial, creating threats on the offensive end, and blocking and delaying opponents when pressing in high positions. These are his tasks.

Frankie De Jong was born as a defender, and Yang Yang gave him a heavy task.

"Ndombele's physical advantage is very obvious. He is active in running, good in strength confrontation and defense, and his feet are alive and has a strong ability to drive the ball, so I need you to do a good job and fill him at any time. When he goes up, you come back. You start to play the role of a delaying organizer similar to Barcelona Busquets, and protect the two central defenders at the same time."

Frankie de Jong nodded. Yang Yang's tactical positioning for him was completely different from before.

"We have three ways to pass through the midfield, two sides and Ndombele in the middle. In this way, as long as we move in time, the opponent can't stop us at all, and as long as the ball reaches the frontcourt, we must suppress the opponent on the one hand, and at the same time transfer the ball at the right time, and then pull the opponent's defense."

"Jovic, Neres, Sancho, and Odegaard can all hold the ball, or cut in from the two sides, or Jovic pulls the side and inserts the ribs obliquely, or Van der Beek inserts from the back row. We all have enough offensive means."

"As long as our cooperation can play smoothly, I believe that we are not afraid of any opponent!" Yang Yang said confidently.

Van der Beek and De Jong looked at each other and nodded in unison.

They are more convinced of the head coach Yang Yang.

(End of this chapter)