super storm

Chapter 547 Raiders

Among the materials provided by the Liverpool coaching staff to Yang Yang, there is an article dedicated to analyzing AC Milan's Christmas tree formation in detail.

Head coach Benitez and tactical analyst Dave McDonough both agreed that AC Milan's success this season stems from Carlo Ancelotti's tactical adjustments. Ambrosini and the use of three midfielders are the key.

The biggest role of the Christmas tree formation lies in defense, especially the defense in the middle of the penalty area.

Four three two one, as can be seen from this series of numbers, four defenders, three midfielders, two midfielders, and one forward.

When shrinking the defense, AC Milan's hinterland gathered seven defensive players.

If you want to control the situation on the football field, you must either control the ball or control the space. If you want to get these two things, you cannot do without people. Therefore, some people say that the advantage on the football field is unprecedented.

At the front of the penalty area, there are two people on the offensive side and only one on the defensive side, so it's dead.

If it's the other way around, then the attacker is probably on a break.

The principle adopted by AC Milan is the same. Arranging seven players in the penalty area and the front of the penalty area, plus two attacking midfielders, can ensure that AC Milan can press all opponents who enter the 30-meter area, forcing the opponent to only play at a distance. It is difficult to create a threat.

Because the most threatening and critical areas inside and outside the penalty area are occupied by them.

This is the largest and most troublesome advantage of the Christmas tree formation!

But everyone also knows that on the football field, defense alone is not enough. No matter how good the defense is, if there is not enough offensive threat, sooner or later the opponent will get down.

So there are two attacking midfielders and a striker in front.

The three of them have always been in a triangular position, and they have different characteristics.

Dainzaghi is good at running and passing behind. Kaka is fast and explosive. He is good at attacking from behind and dribbling in the middle. Seedorf is more comprehensive, very creative, and has outstanding passing awareness.

The three players have complementary characteristics and echo each other, forming a tactical level when attacking.

They can pull sideways, play small coordination in the middle, or play quick counterattacks.

Faced with such an offensive combination, no team dares to be careless, and the full-backs dare not rush forward, because both Seedorf and Kaka can create threats on the wing.

But how can there be perfect tactics in the world?
One of the weaknesses of the Christmas tree formation lies in the overall recovery. When switching from defense to offense, it is far away from the goal. Therefore, in essence, this is a very conservative defensive counterattack tactic.

So how to solve the problem of too far away?
Pirlo's long pass and Kaka's speed!

Another problem is that it is easy to get out of touch.

In the first minute of the game, Liverpool's goal is the best proof.

After the kick-off, AC Milan launched a press attack in the frontcourt, trying to control the ball from the beginning. As a result, Liverpool directly sent a long pass to the back, and the midfielder had no time to return to the front of the penalty area.

At that time, Liverpool used their own speed to make AC Milan's defense lose the connection between the middle and rear lines.

In addition, the offensive width is heavily dependent on the two full-backs. Without the support of the full-backs, the offense is too concentrated in the middle, which makes it easier for the opponent to defend.

After Liverpool opened the scoring for the first time, the trend of the game basically fit the situation of the Christmas tree formation.

……

After the first goal, Liverpool took the initiative to press out and attack, but at the same time, whether it was Gerrard who was advancing, or Mascherano and Xavi Alonso who were lagging behind, they all firmly defended the center.

Finnan and Aurelio on the two wings did not dare to press too much, at most they were equal to the double midfielders.

In the frontcourt, Yang Yang restrained Odo and Gattuso, and Pennant attacked AC Milan's left with all his strength, not only suppressing Jankulovski, but also frequently creating threats on the court.

This made AC Milan's situation on the entire field very embarrassing, even embarrassing.

The front trident that the Rossoneri relied on, Dainzaghi didn't have a shot, Kaka had a long shot, and Seedorf was invisible throughout the first half.

It can be said that Liverpool's tactics were very, very successful throughout the first half. AC Milan only had the power to parry and had no room to fight back. It was difficult for the offense to pass through the midfield. On the other hand, Liverpool frequently created threats.

In addition to the lightning goal at the beginning, Yang Yang also dribbled the ball inward from the left, shifted his right foot, and passed diagonally behind him. Pennant quickly inserted behind Jankulovski and crossed into the penalty area.

Then Yang Yang sent a wonderful pass from the left, and the pass went to the back point. Pennant followed up and hit the goal directly, but still missed.

The most threatening offense in the game occurred in the No.208 minute.

Pennant sent a precise cross from the right, which fell to the back point.

Yang Yang quickly jumped in, the header flew across the baseline, and returned to the goal.

As a result, the veteran Maldini blocked the shot like a god, and then Gerrard's follow-up shot was also destroyed by Ambrosini.

Yang Yang created a long-range chance for Harvey Alonso in No.30 two minutes. The Spanish midfielder hit the crossbar with heavy artillery, but failed to score again.

In the 306th minute, Pennant once again created a chance from the right and sent the ball into the right side of the penalty area. Gerrard got the ball and crossed it to the goal.

……

It can be said that throughout the first half, Liverpool had the advantage.

In addition to ball possession, Liverpool is ahead of AC Milan in all offensive statistics, and the number of shots is far ahead.

But it was in this situation that they had the advantage, and even everyone felt that Liverpool should be able to score again soon, but AC Milan evened the score.

No.404 minutes, AC Milan launched a quick counterattack. Seedorf dribbled the ball from the left and was tackled out of bounds by Mascherano. AC Milan reorganized the attack after throwing the ball out of bounds.

When Pirlo took a free kick, Inzaghi, who was lining up with Liverpool players on the wall, gave way sideways. The ball hit his left upper arm, turned a broken line, and hit Liverpool's goal.

Reina judged the original trajectory of the ball, but did not expect that the ball would change direction when it hit Inzaghi.

It was an unbelievable stroke of luck.

The Liverpool players immediately signaled to the German referee Van der that it should be considered a handball, but Van der said that Inzaghi's arm did not open at that time, nor did he have an obvious sense of active handball, but only passively touched the football.

In other words, AC Milan evened the score by relying on God's reward!
…………

…………

The home team's locker room was so quiet that only the footsteps of the players remained.

It is absolutely unacceptable to be equalized by the opponent when the advantage is overwhelming.

But it just happened!

What else can I say besides saying indignantly, what kind of luck did AC Milan have?
Yang Yang sat in the locker room, took off his shirt and ball pants, sweating profusely all over his body.

The temperature in Athens is really too hot, even at night, it is still terribly hot, which makes the physical energy consumption of the players obviously greater than usual, which is quite unfavorable for Liverpool.

Because the Red Army adopts the tactics of siege and siege, which requires physical fitness.

The Liverpool coaching staff also formulated a strategy specifically for this situation. They put ice cubes in the training vests, and each player wore them for two to three minutes to ensure that they can recover as soon as possible.

Yang Yang was the first to put it on, so he is sitting now, while the other teammates who put it on are walking around in the locker room.

Only their voices remained in the locker room, and occasionally there was some movement from the staff.

Yang Yang believes that what the team needs most now is not mobilization, but affirmation.

The team played very well in the first half. As long as we continue to maintain this pressure, we will definitely have a chance in the second half.

But the key is to be patient, don't rush, continue to follow the style of play after leading in the first half, and sooner or later you will be able to score again.

But if you are in a hurry, Kaka's dribbling speed is quite fast, and Harvey Alonso's foul just now is a bit forced, because if Kaka is really activated, he can't stop it at all.

Regardless of whether it is the suppression of the frontcourt or the interception and pressure of the midfield, Liverpool has done a good job, and it can even be said that there is no problem, but luck is a little bit worse.

……

"Everyone sit down, we have more important things to attend to."

Benitez and Yesterdan walked into the locker room and shouted for the players to sit down.

There was a sudden silence in the locker room, and everyone looked up at Benitez.

"The style of play in the first half was very successful. We completely suppressed AC Milan. We must continue in the second half, making good use of the space behind the opponent's defenders and taking advantage of our quick counterattack."

The players all nodded.

"We were unlucky in the first half, but that's over. One-on-one was nothing for us. We had chances to score again. You guys did a great job, keep creating chances and we will definitely score again."

Obviously, the head coach of Liverpool also believes that the team's various targeted tactical arrangements in the first half have been realized and achieved results, and there is no need to make changes and adjustments.

But at the same time, Benitez also said that he would make substitutions around 10 to [-] minutes into the second half.

Everyone knows that Crouch will be the first to be replaced by the team at that time.

The tactical role of England's high ball in the frontcourt is still very obvious, especially in the face of a team like AC Milan that is strictly defending, his high ball advantage can often play a key role.

Benitez made him a substitute in this game, and he originally wanted to use him as a surprise soldier.

If the second half is still not open, Crouch will come off the bench.

(End of this chapter)