Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 205

The arrival of Anton made the entire Stadium of Light burst into cheers.

And the appearance of the little black cat Larry made Sunderland fans even more crazy-who can forget that when Tottenham visited the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup last season, when Sunderland was in desperate situation, a little black cat turned the tide , the "miracle" that saved Sunderland.

Not only did Anton come back, but also Sunderland's "mascot" appeared on the stage.Sunderland's die-hard loyalists can't wait to pay homage to Anton directly.

Tottenham fans who came from afar to cheer for the team were dumbfounded: Which stadium can bring cats into the stadium!You won't be able to pass the security check at the entrance.

But in fact, this little black cat may not have been brought in by Anton from the sidelines.

But there are cats in many pitches in England.They live in the stadium, except that the stadium staff will feed some cat food, most of these cats undertake the work of catching and exterminating mice in the stadium-if the rat infestation in the stadium is serious, it will affect the assessment of the sanitation level of the stadium, Then affect the level of the entire stadium.Therefore, cats are actually welcome in all major stadiums in the UK.

If the black cat was familiar with the passages of the Stadium of Light, had slipped into the stadium beforehand, and then met Anton, his acquaintance, and appeared with him in the stands of the stadium—then there was nothing wrong with it.

The cat squatted on Anton's shoulder, condescending, looking down at the green field, its sleek fur glistened in the thin sunlight.

The stands of Tottenham fans in the distance suddenly booed loudly: The last time Tottenham lost at the Stadium of Light was very, very unlucky. They originally led by one goal and are expected to maintain it until the end.But who knew that at the end of the game, a black cat broke into the field-maybe it was this one! —— Disrupted the rhythm of Tottenham's players on the field, and also boosted Sunderland's morale, scored two goals in a row, overtook the score, and eliminated Tottenham.

This painful memory caused Tottenham fans to protest loudly: They all felt that the FA should make a rule that Sunderland must not take the lead in using the black cat in the game!

Sunderland fans laughed and booed:

"Don't forget, our Sunderland is the 'black cat'!"

"Besides, Anton has already 'invited' Larry to the stands. Isn't this the sincerity of not using the black cat first?"

Tottenham fans:  …

Anton stood in the stands with the black cat on his shoulder looking down at the Stadium of Light.These two seem to have nothing to do with the game, but they can still affect the game.

The rebellious Ibrahimovic stood on the green field, put his hands on his heart, and looked tenderly at Larry on Anton's shoulder.

When the fans next to Anton saw this clearly, they couldn't help laughing: Who would have thought that a big guy like Ibrahimovic would be a cat slave through and through?The little black cat Larry came to help out. He used to be full of hostility, but now it seems to have disappeared.

Anton was not satisfied with Ibrahimovic's "disappearance of hostility", he lowered his head slightly, and said something to a fan next to him.The fan happened to be wearing a red and white beanie with the Sunderland logo emblazoned on it.The fan decisively took off his hat and handed it to Anton, who held it in his hand and gave Ibrahimovic a nod.

The fans around don't quite understand: what does the hat... mean?

At the same time, Larry suddenly raised his head and meowed, as if urging or questioning.

Immediately, Ibrahimovic's expression changed: He suddenly puffed out his chest, and patted his heart hard, like a promise, with a little anger in his expression, as if he was complaining about Anton: Why don't you believe him?

Some fast-reacting fans have already come to their senses: "Hat...hat trick!"

No one dared to forget the last game against Tottenham.Van der Vaart scored a hat-trick in that game, and Messi also scored three goals in a row in return.

What Anton means is: If Ibrahimovic wants to prove himself as a striker who can't lose to Messi and van der Vaart, he must show some real color and show it to opponents and fans.The most straightforward way is to score a goal.Both Messi and van der Vaart scored hat-tricks at White Hart Lane. Today Ibrahimovic is at the Stadium of Light. If he wants to prove himself, he must speak with goals.

Once the goal is to score, Ibrahimovic can no longer just stare at Van der Vaart.

With the whistle of the referee, the second half began, and Ibrahimovic returned to his position of big center nine.

Who knows that Van der Vaart quit at this time.In the first half, Tottenham took the lead in the away game. Lao Lei calculated that Sunderland would counterattack aggressively.In the first half, Ibrahimovic stalked Van der Vaart, and now the two sides have switched positions. When Ibrahimovic wanted to seriously attack, it was Van der Vaart who started to guard closely - he didn't care if he scored or not, as long as the team could get it. Just win.

With van der Vaart blocking Ibrahimovic near the midfield, even if Ibrahimovic retreated to find his teammates for the ball, it was not so smooth.Sunderland frequently launched attacks from the midfield, but most of them couldn't find Ibrahimovic, and could only find two sides to get to the bottom.After the bottom, there are many people in the opponent's penalty area, and Ibrahimovic is intensively marked, so it is not so easy to grab points.

Because of this, after the start of the second half, although the morale of the Sunderland team was high and they tried their best to play well, the scene was not beautiful. "Black Cat" seemed to be in shackles, and kicked rather sluggishly, unable to find a particularly good way to attack.

Russell, who was standing in the command area on the sidelines, looked back with a cold face, looked at Lao Lei sitting on the seat in the distance, and thought: How amazing!

Originally thought that Tottenham would continue to attack for a while in the second half, but Lao Lei has started to play intensive defense from now on.This ability to predict, among other things, is at least worth learning.

Russell said to himself: Calm down, calm down—surely figure out how to make tactical adjustments.

Earlier, he really had his mind on it, and he was full of hope that Anton would be able to direct the game immediately after his return, so that he could take off the burden.

But Anton insisted on staying in the stands.

Now that Russell thought about it, he also felt that what Anton said was right: if he gave up directing the game this time, he might not be able to muster up the courage to direct a complete game in his later life.

What is really scary is not the possible home defeat, but the fear in your heart when the loss is about to come.

If he can't pass this hurdle, he will not be qualified to stand in the position of head coach and direct the game in his life.

Russell looked on the bench, counted how many cards he still had in his hand, then turned around and continued to stare at the pitch.He remembered what Anton said: each player has its own characteristics. As a coach, it is absolutely impossible to polish players into what you want. Instead, you should establish a system so that players can integrate into the system and become the whole system a part of.

Just like Messi, Guardiola used the "Habaibu" to establish a system for Messi in Barcelona, ​​while Anton also established a completely different system in Sunderland. Can run smoothly - both systems are successful.

Therefore, the tactics are used to adapt to the characteristics of the players. Otherwise, no one can execute the sophisticated tactics well, and it will be useless.

Now the strongest trump card in Sunderland's formation is Ibrahimovic, but Ibrahimovic is restricted.What Russell needs to do now is to adjust his tactics, maximize the use of Ibrahimovic's advantages, and turn them into goals.

But Russell found to his dismay that he didn't have Anton's super fast reaction ability at all, and he really didn't know how to adjust the team's current formation.

Calm down, calm down!Russell said to himself: Think about what Anton will think when he encounters this situation-yes, Anton will ask, what is the biggest dilemma for the team now?It was the opponent's intensive defense that prevented the team from scoring goals.

As long as Sunderland can score a goal and the two teams return to the same starting line, Tottenham will not continue to shrink their formation like this - after all, Lao Lei also wants face.

According to Anton's idea of ​​"grasping the main contradiction", the team's task now is to break through the dense defense.

Russell glanced at the "card" in his hand, immediately called up Colbeck who was sitting on the bench, and asked him, "Jack, have you ever cooperated with Zlatan in the throw-in tactic?"

To break the dense defense, set the ball is a good way.Colbeck's ability to throw a throw-in like a corner kick is equivalent to doubling the team's set-piece opportunities out of thin air.This kind of throw-in can also easily interfere with the opponent's goalkeeper and cause the opponent to violate the law.

Colback shook his head, "No...he doesn't seem to know that I know this!"

Ibrahimovic has not been training at Guangming Academy for a long time. In addition, he is a bit solitary these days. It is normal not to know that Colbeck has a "super-long" throw-in stunt.

Russell thought for a while and said, "I don't think so much anymore, Zlatan is not a fool." He immediately went to apply for a substitution with the fourth official, and soon the sign for substitution was raised.

The moment the substitution number plate was raised, Russell suddenly wanted to see Anton, to see if he supported or opposed his decision to substitute.But before turning his head away, Russell held back—now that he is the head coach of the team, he must be responsible for all his own decisions instead of relying on other people's judgments.

So Colbeck quickly played.

As soon as the red-haired boy came on the field, most Sunderland players knew what tactics the head coach would adopt.But Ibrahimovic didn't know-Van der Vaart took care of him personally, and he didn't even have the chance to go up and talk to Ibrahimovic.

And the tactic of hand throwing a throw-in is not something that can be said with great fanfare. It is impossible for Kaulbeck to run up to Ibrahimovic and say: "Zlatan, I am going to throw a throw-in. You should treat it as a corner kick and prepare to attack!"

——Will the Tottenham players not know how to defend it as a corner kick?

Russell was apprehensive, and kept pacing in the command area.

Can his players have a tacit understanding? — Russell raised his head suddenly, and glanced at the stands from the corner of his eyes.Anton stood on the edge of the stands, very eye-catching.Russell clearly saw him holding the black cat Larry in his elbow, looking up at the Tottenham goal, with a smile on his lips.

Russell suddenly remembered what Anton said: "The players are on the field, they know how to play. Sometimes you need to trust their judgment."

So Russell stopped thinking about it and concentrated on watching the game.

Soon, Sunderland got the opportunity of the front court throw-in.Colback crossed the court to pick up the ball, took the towel from the ball boy, wiped it and wiped it, and stepped back a long run-up.

Tottenham's goalkeeper Gomez is obviously aware of the departure of this throw-in, and quickly called his teammates to help defend.The Sunderland players, under the leadership of captain Garner, walked together into the opponent's penalty area, stuck in position, and prepared for the header.

Only Ibrahimovic stood aside, showing a confused expression.This guy was probably thinking: Isn't it just a frontcourt throw-in?It's worth such a big battle, are you preparing as if you won a corner kick?

Ibrahimovic was like this, Russell immediately clenched his fists tightly on the sidelines-don't be stupid, can't you see it from this posture?This... is better than a corner kick!

Colback had already retreated so far that he was almost touching the advertising board on the sidelines.He raised the ball above his head with both hands, ran quickly, came to the sidelines, straightened his waist and chest, and threw the ball towards the Tottenham goal.

The ball was tall and flowing, a favorite pass for tall centers.

But in the crowd in front of the Tottenham goal, three Tottenham defenders jumped up to fight for the first spot.

The best header technique in Sandra's team is naturally Ibrahimovic, but he is still a long way from the expected landing point of the ball.

Russell looked at it from the sidelines and called it a pill in his heart-this tactic is better than surprise. It would be best if he could score goals the first time and the second time. The opponent is mentally prepared for this tactic. immune".

Poor communication within the team, this is a waste of opportunity!

Russell clenched his fists tightly, and the muscles on his face trembled slightly. I am afraid that no one in the entire Stadium of Light was more nervous than him at this moment.

But at this moment, when the three Tottenham players were vying for the top, a figure suddenly flew out of the slanting stab, as if a magic soldier descended from the sky, before all the opponents, he hit the ball——

This is Ibrahimovic.

Generally, players need to consider their own jumping height when judging the landing point, but Da Fengxian's jumping is unmatched. He sprints from a distance, takes a run-up and takes off, almost half the height of the players next to him, so he touches the ball The point is higher than all Tottenham defensive players - with just this jump, Ibrahimovic took a step ahead and "cut the Hu".

Seeing Ibrahimovic touch the ball, the [-] fans in the Stadium of Light raised their hearts to their throats, and the exclamation and applause were all choked up and they couldn't shout out.

Tottenham goalkeeper Gomez was already blocking the angle, but Ibrahimovic flicked his head and pushed the ball to the ground——

Bounce the ball!

It was too late for Gomez to rush, and the Tottenham defender on the goal line didn't have time to react, and it was almost missed——

Just hearing the sound of "boom" in the stadium, the Sunderland fans were all fired up.

What a pleasing goal!

The ball was perfect, from Colbeck's hand throw, to Ibrahimovic's run-up, jump, head shake, goal... everything seemed to be done in one go, so perfect.Although the opponents have tried their best to defend, but they are all frozen in place at the moment, you look at me, I look at you, all of them have the words "impossible" written on their faces.

Sunderland equalized with Ibrahimovic's header.

Ibrahimovic didn't wait for the opponent to pick up the ball and kick off. He rushed into the opponent's goal, picked up the ball and ran - everyone was surprised to see his anxious appearance. After careful consideration, he remembered:

hat trick!Ibrahimovic is thinking about his hat trick!