Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 160

In the first half of Tottenham's match against Sunderland, the two sides played too intensely and scored 7 goals in total.Therefore, the players on both sides of the bench on the sidelines also watched with enthusiasm and excitement.

Anton glanced casually at his team and found one exception - Pickford.This kid is the same as he was sitting in the stands of the Stadium of Light, huddled in the seat, holding a notebook in his hand and remembering something.

With the whistle of the referee, the first half ended and the score was temporarily fixed at 4-3.All of a sudden, everyone rushed back to the locker room. Anton passed by Pickford and stretched out his hand neatly: "Here."

Pickford looked around and realized what Anton wanted. He quickly handed the book to Anton and said, "As you said, you want me to pay attention to the relationship between the defender and the goalkeeper..."

Anton tried his best not to show his distasteful face: This hand is like a dog!

But fortunately, after correcting Pickford's tactical questions in advance, most of the handwriting can be recognized.In addition, various icons are well drawn and easy to understand.Pickford marked all the passing paths of the two teams when they conceded a goal, the defender's position, the goalkeeper's attack route...all of them are clearly marked, which is better than the text he recorded.

But think about it, in the first half of the game, all the players who watched the game experienced such ups and downs. This kid is so calm, and he spends all his time observing the situation on the field-it is rare for him to watch the game from the sidelines. It can also draw the formation picture so accurately.

— Can this still be considered a Sunderland player? !

"Any thoughts?" Anton asked casually as they walked side by side to the locker room.

"At least one central defender must have a tacit understanding with the goalkeeper. Most of the time, the goalkeeper needs to cooperate with the central defender to prevent the opponent's offensive cooperation." Pickford scratched his scalp and replied.

"Which central defender do you think you have a better understanding with?"

Pickford touched his head and said a person's name: "Matz!"

Hummels?

Anton couldn't help thinking about the situation of these two on the training ground:

Pickford and Hummels don't usually look like chatterboxes, but on the training ground, they always seem to have endless things to say-it always looks like they are blaming each other.This one said that the position was wrong, that one said that this should not be passed back like this... There was no moment of peace.

These two actually have a tacit understanding?

Anton really suspected that his ears had misheard.

When the freckled boy saw Anton's expression, he knew that the head coach didn't believe him, so he said in a low voice, "It doesn't have to be a 'twinkle heart', right? Shouting to each other... as long as you can understand it, right?"

"No, of course you don't need to have a good understanding! It's enough if you can communicate and understand."

Anton quickly recalled the previous game when Pickford played the starting game. He and Hummels' defense did cooperate closely.Despite the two nagging and blaming each other, the ball that should be blocked can be blocked.

Thinking about it this way, Anton began to worry.

"If you change to a three-back and put you and Matz on the field, do you think you can defend?"

Pickford did not pat his chest and say no problem like he used to, but showed a little hesitation and said to Anton: "I...I think I can try."

Anton nodded, quickened his pace, and returned to the locker room before Pickford.

In this crazy first half, Sunderland's defense was mainly zoned defense.Since the coaching staff has high requirements for maintaining formation, the defensive tactics are very similar to "chain defense".

However, the defensive system, including "chain defense", has a problem. It is difficult to defend against opponents with strong personal abilities.The stronger the opponent's individual combat ability, the continuous passing will lead to continuous filling, and even the stable formation will be disrupted sometimes.

This is also very normal-otherwise, wouldn't the Italians have already monopolized all championships by relying on chain defense?

The solution is either to push a top central defender to the front and let this person take on more defensive responsibilities, or, as Pickford said, let the central defender and goalkeeper form a tacit understanding and form a two-way defense on the last line of defense. People assist in defense.

Back in the locker room, Anton looked at his players. After 45 minutes, the whole team was sweating profusely, but everyone was extremely excited. Talking and laughing almost resounded in the locker room.

Anton coughed twice, and the locker room fell silent.

"Boys, the two teams played evenly in the first half!" Anton said.Although Sunderland fell behind by one goal, with Sunderland's attack line, it is not difficult to equalize. "Therefore, in the second half, it depends on how well everyone's defenses perform."

The fans certainly hoped that the goal battle would continue in the second half, but Anton knew in his heart: Whoever can fill the loopholes in the defense first can win the game.Otherwise, everyone will sieve to sieve, and the uncertainty is too great.

The two teams conceded a total of 45 goals in 7 minutes today. It sounds like both sides are competing in the frontcourt, and everyone does not want to defend.But Sunderland has invested a lot of troops and physical fitness in the defense - and Tottenham must be the same.If you don't make a fuss about defense in the second half, it will be too bad.

At this moment Gordon looked at Anton nervously.

Four goals were conceded in the first half, which is almost a shame for the goalkeeper.Gordon estimated that he would dream of this half in his nightmares in the future.Gordon knew that Anton had put Pickford in the squad this time, and Gordon was more willing to believe in Pickford's ability than himself-if Pippi was on the court, I'm afraid he wouldn't be scored four goals. awful.

"coach……"

At this moment, Gordon even wanted to ask Anton to make a substitution adjustment.

"All the starting players, the coaching staff asks you to continue to play in accordance with the established tactical arrangements. All responsibilities are borne by the coaching staff." Anton first reassured the hearts of the players on the field, especially looking at Gordon After a glance, "Your performance in the first half was good enough. Remember to withstand the pressure at the beginning of the second half."

The first 11 people responded together.

Although Pickford has returned to the squad, he has not played for a while.Gordon has always been in the game state. Although he conceded a lot of goals, this is not his responsibility alone.Anton didn't want to replace Gordon if it wasn't necessary in the second half.

Unexpectedly, about 10 minutes into the second half, Tottenham scored again——

This time it was Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe who scored the goal.

Defoe's form this season is not very good, but in this red-eyed game, the Tottenham striker was unstoppable in Sunderland's defense zone.

Godin, who was supposed to be marking him, had a yellow card. Seeing Defoe hesitated for a moment and did not dare to stretch his feet.With just such a hesitation, Defoe took the opportunity to volley and Gordon dropped the ball.It was actually Defoe himself, stepping up to shoot——

Sunderland failed to recover, and the score was immediately rewritten to 5-3.

In the live broadcast room of Sky Sports, Andy Gray sat on a chair with his head in his arms, and murmured, "Five goals, Sunderland conceded five goals...it's unbelievable!"

During the entire season in charge of Sunderland, the team's defense was relatively stable, and it was rare for them to concede goals in a row.

Richard Keys also felt the same way: "Sunderland's goalkeeper missed the save just now, and he bears the unshirkable responsibility for the goalkeeper who conceded the goal. Even if the goalkeeper is not responsible, the goalkeeper's psychological defense has been completely destroyed. He It will be difficult to face Tottenham's offense again."

Before Keith could finish speaking, Andy Gray jumped up from his chair: "Sunderland is going to make a substitution!"

Indeed, the fourth official is already raising his cards.

In the live broadcast room, both comments were shocked: "Even the goalkeeper has been changed!"

Although Keith once commented that Gordon could no longer face Tottenham's offense.However, it is a small probability event to replace a goalkeeper who does not have any potential injury risks-the limited number of substitutions will mainly be reserved for players other than the goalkeeper to prevent accidents.

In addition, the newly replaced goalkeeper needs time to adjust to get familiar with the pressure and rhythm on the field.The adaptation period of the new goalkeeper is definitely a "dangerous period" for the team.

If the substitution doesn't work, Anton will face widespread criticism after the game.

"Also removed a central defender and replaced it with a central midfielder—is Sunderland switching to a three-back?"

In addition to goalkeeper Gordon, the Uruguayan Godin who had a yellow card was also replaced.Sunderland looked as if they had given up on the defensive line - they were already a sieve anyway, and simply attacked with all their strength.

Andy Gray said with a sad face: "Did Anton play into Lao Lei's hands by doing this!"

Richard Keith also thinks so: "Lao Lei is always like this, allowing the opposing coach to make lineup adjustments according to his wishes."

The live broadcast shot was then cut to Lao Lei: Lao Lei was sitting leisurely on the coach's bench, with only two words written on his face - "Stable"!

The two celebrities immediately thought seriously: for the sake of their reputation, should they start blowing Tottenham's rainbow farts from now on.

On the sidelines of White Hart Lane, Pickford held up his gloves, hugged Gordon who was off the field, and then ran towards his own goal-this kid has not had a chance to fully warm up. After playing, he needs to continue to move his body in front of the goal and quickly enter the state .

Andy Gray suddenly said: "Look, why does that little goalkeeper seem to talk so much all of a sudden!"

He looked at the roster of players on the field, and then read out Hummels' name: "Why does this German have so much to say to the substitute goalkeeper?"

Richard Keith laughed out loud: "It really seems to be arguing."

The director very intimately gave the picture to Pickford and Hummels. The two were obviously talking, and they talked a lot, eloquently.But the live environment is too noisy, and the radio effect is close to zero.What did the two say, let alone the TV commentary, even the teammates on the court couldn't hear what they were muttering.

I don't know how they themselves heard each other.

Sunderland removed a defender and put more troops into attack.With two goals in hand, Tottenham naturally defended steadily and waited for an opportunity to counterattack.

In a blink of an eye, Modric steals the ball without stopping for half a point, and kicks it to Van der Vaart's feet.Sunderland has only three defenders, and the two full-backs are pressing and assisting, and they have not yet retreated in place.Van der Vaart took a few steps forward, and there were only Pickford and Hummels in front of him.

"Why are these two still arguing?" Andy Gray was shocked.

On the live screen cut out by the director, it is clearly shown that Pickford and Hummels shouted almost at the same time, as if they were saying something to each other.

At this moment, van der Vaart took a shot.