[football] walk side by side

In the Chelsea team, there are countless players who are good at defense, which gives him enough time and energy to ask his teammates about defensive issues. When he asked his teammates, Cyril subconsciously avoided Makelele... Although Siri Er was not interested in playing as a midfielder in defense, but they were both midfielders after all, and he didn't know if Makelele would mind, so he simply didn't look for him.

In the "apprentice" candidate, Cyril chose captain Terry and the original Porto teammate Carvalho.

As the captain of Chelsea, Terry and Cyril have no positional conflicts at all. He naturally answered patiently when his teammates asked for advice, let alone Carvalho. The two not only worked together in Porto for two years , and has always been a teammate of the national team, Cyril asked him for defensive questions, and Carvalho certainly had nothing he was unwilling to answer.

Cyril studied hard.

His current ability is mainly outstanding in organizing offense and passing people. He can barely be an organizing midfielder or attacking midfielder, but this is not what Cyril wants.

Cyril didn't want to be a purely offensive midfielder, nor did he want to just do the dirty work of defense. He always wanted to be a midfielder like Deco-good attacking ability, good organization and attacking ability, and at the same time can effectively intercept the opponent The player's all-around midfielder.

Perhaps in terms of offensive ability, Deco is not as good as Figo and a forward like Ronaldo. In terms of organizing offense, he may not be as good as AC Milan's Pirlo. In terms of defensive ability, he may be worse than Terry and Carvalho.

But in Mourinho's delaying tactics, Deco's comprehensive ability is by no means comparable to that of ordinary midfielders.

Because more midfielders have limitations in their own abilities. For example, Kaka's defense is not very good, Makelele's offense is not good, and Joe Cole's organizational skills are not excellent...

But in modern football, a midfielder can only have more options in the game if he has comprehensiveness. Just like every striker, he will try his best to develop his scoring ability and scoring methods in the frontcourt Same.

However, Cyril's learning was forcibly stopped after Mourinho accidentally witnessed it.

"You continue to train, Cyril stays." Mourinho said, put the notebook in his hand back into the pocket of his clothes, and waved his hand, indicating that Terry and Carvalho can go away.

The two were a little baffled. They didn't understand why Mourinho would stop their training. They secretly observed Mourinho's expression. He gave Cyril a sympathetic look, and then silently backed away.

After living together for a period of time, the Chelsea players have reached a consensus: don't try to resist any order from Mourinho, even if you are on the reasonable side, it is difficult to escape the penalty of additional training.

Cyril is also a little confused, but he has worked with Mourinho for so long anyway, what expression does his husband not see?At this moment, he just stayed in place quietly, waiting for Mourinho to speak.

"You want to learn defense?"

Cyril nodded cautiously, always on guard against his husband's words like "double training", "Yes."

"Then have you ever thought that you are not suitable for defense at all?" Mourinho stared at him and asked calmly.

Cyril was silent for a moment.

Mourinho's statement is actually not wrong-many defensive players will be very good in physical fitness. On the football field, there are many collisions between forwards and defenders. If defensive players do not With a strong physique, it is difficult to complete various defensive actions, or rely on fouls to destroy the opponent's goals.

But Cyril's physical fitness is worse than that of players of the same age.

It's not that his physical fitness is poor, but that he is worse than other defensive players of the same age. In this way, in terms of innate defensive talent, Cyril will naturally be worse than other defensive players.

"Could it be that because I'm not suitable for defense, I shouldn't learn defense?" Cyril asked back.

Mourinho was slightly surprised, but he suddenly laughed: "When did I say you shouldn't learn defense?"

As the Chelsea coach said, he turned around and signaled Cyril to follow, and walked towards his office: "I just want to tell you that for you, defense is not like that. Terry and Kava There is no reference for you in the slightest way of defense."

Before Cyril asked in confusion, Mourinho threw another question that sounded irrelevant: "Do you know Fernando Redondo?"

Cyril was slightly startled, and looked up at Mourinho, not understanding what the question meant.

"Redondo is a midfielder with excellent defensive ability. Speaking of the word defensive, many people immediately think of rudeness and foul, but Real Madrid fans gave him the title of prince, and you know why. ?"

Without giving Cyril a chance to think or answer, Mourinho himself took the lead in giving the answer: "It's very simple, because Redondo's defense has never relied on rough shovels and fouls. On this player, It's hard to see him like other midfielders with desperate tackles and stalking defenses - he just intercepts the ball lightly and walks away."

"If other defensive players use body movements to complete defensive actions, then Redondo is the type of player who relies on his brain to defend. He can easily resolve the opponent's offense without fouls and physical contact. .”

"However, this defensive method is difficult to achieve. If you carefully observe the defensive players in football, you will find that there are very few who can do this in history."

"why?"

Mourinho opened his chair and sat down unhurriedly: "Because this is a talent. A talent that is difficult to achieve even if other players try to make up for it with acquired efforts."

At the very beginning, Mourinho hadn't thought that Cyril could develop in this direction.

Just when he witnessed the training of Cyril, Carvalho and Terry, Mourinho recalled Cyril's performance in the Champions League final last season: According to common sense, on the court, the player's body is formed The inertial action of the player will be faster than the player's thinking, which is why Cristiano sometimes does not want to flop, but accidentally flops, because when his body is hit, it does not count as a flop. Under the influence of too much force, the body reflexively fell down.

But Cyril seems to be an outlier.

In terms of the unpredictability that Cyril showed in that UEFA Champions League final, it is difficult for other players to do this, because many of the habits of ordinary players are naturally developed in the perennial training. On the court, how to handle the ball and how to dribble is almost an instinct engraved in the body.

Cyril was different.

He can consciously control his movements, simply put... his thinking speed on the court is faster than his reflexive movements.

This is why Mourinho believes that Cyril can develop in the direction of Redondo's defense-only when the brain reacts faster can he rely solely on prediction and positioning to get the most from the opponent's players. Intercept the ball at the foot.

"If you want to defend the opponent's players without relying on stalking and body, you can only work hard on your brain. That is to say, when you observe on the court and judge the opponent's breakthrough method, you must think faster than your actions. Before making physical contact with the opponent, judge the direction and method of the opponent's breakthrough, and then use the interception to launch a counterattack."

Cyril nodded thoughtfully.

Mourinho continued: "Next, I will ask Faria to arrange some additional training-these trainings cannot teach you how to defend. As I said, this kind of defense cannot be learned through acquired training. I can only help you understand this defense and use it through training, whether you can learn this defense or not depends on yourself."

Mourinho is a man of swift action.

On the second day, after the day's training, Faria led Cyril to another court and started targeted training.

As Mourinho said, whether he can learn and do well depends on Cyril's own thinking ability and comprehension ability.When the team is basically worry-free, Cyril can devote himself to this kind of learning.

Just when Cyril faintly felt that he seemed to understand a little bit, they ushered in their first heavyweight opponent in the league: they will face the Red Devils Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

And long before the game started, the Red Devils coach took the lead in launching a war against Chelsea in the media:

"I admit, Jose Mourinho did a good job at Chelsea, they got off to a good start in the scoreboard with a couple of '1-0's to get three points, but that's also because they didn't start off with something special. Because of the strong opponents, winning the promoted team and the relegated team is not enough to prove Chelsea's strength. Now that Manchester United is here, Chelsea's good luck ends here."

Mourinho has never been the kind of person who is indifferent to other people's provocations. Like Ferguson, he is quite keen on psychological warfare. Therefore, he also responded unceremoniously to Ferguson's provocation: "I think , Sir Alex Ferguson should not have forgotten the defeat in the European Champions Cup last season, and now Chelsea's lineup is better than Porto last season, and there is no reason for us to lose to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge."

"Now we are ranked second in the standings. Sir Alex Ferguson thought he could put pressure on us in this way, but he was wrong. They are the ones who have no advantage in the standings. The most pressure is also It should be Manchester United, we have enough confidence to win this game and take a three points, but Manchester United still have a lot of pressure to catch up with Arsenal."

When the head coaches of the two sides are arguing on the platform of the media, the players of the two sides should also start a routine war of words. In simple terms, it is a routine to announce that we are the best and we will definitely win the game. Nonsense, but the war of words between the players still failed to quarrel because of the indifference of the Chelsea players. Mourinho asked the players to prepare wholeheartedly and not be affected by external factors, so the Chelsea players obediently immersed themselves in training.

Turn a blind eye to Manchester United's provocation.

It was not until the day of the game that the players gave a simple response after repeated pestering by the media reporters: "We will prove all this on the court-the game is about to start, please let me go."

The game has not yet started, but the entire Stamford Bridge Stadium is almost full.

Chelsea fans are mainly from the wealthy class. It is a bit difficult to let them shout wildly in the stands like working-class fans, but the game against Manchester United has attracted many fans. Murray Neo's wonderful start made them full of confidence in Chelsea at this time, so they chose to watch live, in order to feel the wonderful mood of winning Manchester United on the spot. Therefore, the attendance of the home seats is almost full.

Not to mention Manchester United. Among the giants in the Premier League, Manchester United is the most loyal and passionate fan. Whether it is home or away, you can see fans holding various banners or flags flying in the air. , At the same time, they will continue to cheer or boo throughout the game, and even sing from the beginning of the game to the end of the game, that is also true.

But these have nothing to do with Cyril.

Now, he has put all his attention on the game - after nine consecutive games off the bench, this is his first appearance.The continuous substitute days made Cyril hold his breath, and it happened to vent on Manchester United at this moment.

"This is the tenth round of the 2004/2005 Premier League season. The focus of this round will be at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will host Manchester United."

"As we all know, Chelsea led by Mourinho has won a pretty good start this season, but this is also based on the fact that their opponents are not strong teams. I believe this game will test Mourinho's Chelsea. The best chance. They are currently ranked second in the league standings, and this game will directly determine whether they can maintain this score."

In this game, the midfielder partnered by Cyril and Lampard.Due to the poor firepower in the frontcourt, the two will often participate in the offense.

Cyril had a rare sense of relaxation.

This kind of relaxation comes from Chelsea's strong defensive ability. Terry and Carvalho's defender partner has fully proved their strength. Move forward with more confidence.

And Chelsea's style of play is mainly defensive and counterattack. In order to speed up the rhythm and speed of the counterattack as much as possible, Drogba and Edur Gudjohnsen will not retreat even when they come back to help defend. too far back.On the contrary, Cyril assists in defense a little more.

In fact, with Chelsea's defensive ability, there is no need for Cyril's defense. It is Cyril himself who wants to take the opportunity of the game to figure out more about the defensive style he is learning. In addition, he and Lampard have two midfielders, one Attacking slightly forward, and defending slightly behind, they can be connected in series when counterattacking, and quickly counterattack when necessary.

In this way, Cyril has many opportunities to play one-on-one with Manchester United's offensive players.

Under such circumstances, Cyril will soon have another chance to face Cristiano face to face.

When Cristiano received the ball from the wing, Cyril also stopped two or three meters away from him.As soon as he looked up, he saw a familiar face. Cristiano was a little anxious. Thinking back to the previous times of confrontation with Cyril, he was almost full of "Why are you again!"

Cristiano has seen a lot of defensive players during his time at Manchester United, but to be fair, he really thinks Cyril is the most annoying. Other defensive players use their bodies to defend, at least there are traces to follow , what about Cyril?A word of greeting from the left, another word of small talk, if there is no chance to intercept the ball, I will give you a chance, it is really annoying.