Handsome position is not easy

Chapter 155 Expedition to Greece
Porto's roster for the expedition to Greece is a huge contrast to the shabby lineup against Leiria. Mourinho brought all the players who can play the most. In order to avoid the influence of off-field factors, the club prepared for the team locally. The hotel is of the highest standard, there are no fireworks and noise, and the players can be regarded as having a good night's sleep before the away game.

Although the 4-4-2 lineup in the first round was effectively targeted by Panathinaikos, Mourinho still did not make much adjustments in this regard. The goalkeeper position is still the old goalkeeper Vitor Baia, Back line Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Costa, Ricardo Carvalho and Nuno Valente.What has changed is the midfield and striker, which is now the golden combination of Young, Deco, Maniche and Costinha, as well as the double striker Del Rey and Postiga.

In the slightly shabby locker room of the visiting team, Mourinho once again emphasized his tactical requirements with the players: "The biggest reason why our diamond-shaped midfielder was restricted in the first round was that we couldn't control the ball steadily. At the foot, Alenichev and Maniche were great in terms of advancing and running deep, but they couldn't help Deco hold the ball, Panathinaikos pinched him and we lost possession immediately.

During the internal discussion of the coaching staff before, many people suggested that I adopt a 4-3-3 formation. The two wingers can effectively widen the width, thereby reducing the pressure on Deco when he is in possession of the ball, but I did not adopt it.The reason is simple. The 4-4-2 formation in the first round actually performed quite well. We created many opportunities in the first half, but we just didn't grasp them.

This is the reason why I put Young in the starting lineup. The biggest reason for the loss in the first round was the disjointed transition between offense and defense. Deco was locked up to the maximum when he switched from defense to offense. Our success rate of passing the ball forward was very low. The efficiency of relying on Maniche and Alenichev to charge hard is even worse. If the forward penetration is too deep, only Costinia can appear in the defensive position in many cases when the offense turns to defense. "

In this game, Alenichev sat on the bench. Due to injuries and the rotation mechanism, the Russian has become accustomed to the reduction in the number of appearances. When he comes off the bench, he can provide more options for the team to change.As for why Maniche stayed in the starting lineup?
With Young in the midfield and Deco controlling the ball, he can focus more on the defensive end. At the same time, Mourinho does not want to lose this offensive weapon. In the case of high-intensity combat, there are some minor physical problems. Having a midfielder who is good at running back and forth can also help him relieve some defensive pressure.

When Mourinho was excitedly explaining the tactics, Brito kept gesturing for him to say more words to boost the morale of the army, but the Setubal people ignored them at all, and later they simply ignored them. Brito is good. It is easy to wait for the opportunity for Mourinho to drink saliva to moisten his throat, and ask the Porto players ahead of him: "Do you have confidence in today's game?"

But Brito didn't get the response he imagined. The players didn't say a word, but instead all turned their attention to the coach next to the Brazilian assistant coach. Mourinho grinned, patted Brito on the shoulder and said:

"Baltmar, confidence is often not the best thing to be stimulated temporarily. Look at these guys. They didn't play in the league. They have been training against Panathinaikos for such a long time. Some people even read the analysis report of the opposing player before going to bed, I can guarantee that now against Panathinaikos, no one dares to say that they have more confidence than this Porto team.”

After Mourinho finished speaking, he raised his legs and walked out. The players smiled at Brito and followed the coach's pace.Now it's time to enter the stadium. More than [-] spectators at the Nicoladis Stadium are looking forward to Panathinaikos' double-killing Porto, but how can they know that Mourinho's Blue and Whites are in this period? How much targeted homework did you do in time?

Boas's work is very effective. Mourinho figured out Makarian's arrangement at the first sight when Panathinaikos started. The three main players who came off the bench in the league, except for the first Olisadebe, who scored a goal in the round, appeared on the field. It seems that the Uruguayan is going to work hard. With such frequent consecutive starts, he is really not afraid of falling behind in the league.

When the game lasted more than ten minutes, Deco struggled to pick the ball out in the siege and press of the three. Although his posture was extremely awkward, the Brazilian, who was serving as the left midfielder this time, managed to turn around. Deco Coe gasped and passed the ball to Young ahead of him with the end of his right foot.

Panathinaikos' defenders are impressed by Deco. Makarian has been asking them to guard against the active Brazilian in training. On the contrary, Young has often served him as a green leaf when he appeared with Deco recently. Generally speaking, the role of the player is not very conspicuous, and the Uruguayan coach doesn't have much time to watch the slightly tasteless competition of the Portuguese Cup. Naturally, the targeted arrangement for the teenagers is slightly insufficient.

After Yang got the ball, he went straight to Panathinaikos's side ribs to the left. When the opponent's right back came to mark, the defense line of the Greek team also tilted in this direction. The boy accurately grasped this opportunity. The right foot that was stepping on the bicycle in a horizontal direction suddenly paused, dodged half of his body, and then quickly sent a diagonal through ball forward.

Del Rey is worthy of the title of the fox in the restricted area. The Brazilian striker was lying in ambush near the offside line before. The moment he raised his foot, he suddenly sped up and rushed to the rear. When receiving the ball in the restricted area, Del Rey swung Pulling his left leg to the far corner, the goalkeeper who lowered his center of gravity did not expect that the opponent would not stop the ball and shoot directly. The outstretched left arm was still far away from the ball. Porto scored a golden goal in the away game.

The Greek fans in the stands did not expect such an opening in the second round. Both teams now have only one away goal, and Porto has taken advantage of the trend to occupy a certain advantage in the away game. Every time they score, Par Nathinaikos had to score one more. Mourinho raised his fist to the sky. He knew that it was time for Porto to take the initiative.

Amid Makarian's hasty shouts, Panathinaikos began to speed up the attack. The Greek powerhouse is indeed extremely strong. Their pass successfully penetrated Porto's defense line, but the final finishing blow was as if The spirit-possessed Baia made a brave save, and the old Porto goalkeeper's body stretched out in the air. With a single palm, he hit the goal with a header that seemed almost inevitable to the opponent.

Jorge Costa and Ricardo Carvalho apologized to Baia, but the latter, who had already played confidently, didn't care about it. He shouted and asked the players to concentrate again to ensure that they would no longer be hit by long balls like just now The situation where the ball swayed the entire defense line.

At this time, Costinha stood up. The main midfielder of the Portuguese national team acted as the anchor of the whole team, supporting Porto's defensive banner. Crazy offensive ability, but under the command of this tough guy, it was dispelled invisible.

(End of this chapter)