Chapter 212: The brave one wins when two meet on a narrow road!
Chen Xiaoliang stepped out with his right foot, ready to run!
Lazio goalkeeper Strakosa is facing a formidable enemy!
Since the ball is 30 meters away from the goal and a little to the right of the center, in order to prevent the opponent's tactical free kicks, through balls or crosses, only three people were lined up in a human wall.
Milinkovic-Savic, Alberto and Felipe Anderson covered their chests and crotches and looked at Chen Xiaoliang nervously.
These people had witnessed him kick a super long shot at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour from 40 meters away. If the ball hit a person with this kind of leg power...
Thinking of this, the three of them held their hands tighter...
Because there were fewer people in the wall, Strakosha's original position was in the middle of the goal.
But now seeing that Chen Xiaoliang had the same preparatory movements as Ronaldo, as well as his straight run-up route, he concluded that Chen Xiaoliang must be able to kick the same elevator ball as Ronaldo.
This is Ronaldo's move! I don't know where Ronaldo's elevator balls are going!
Although he was sitting on the sidelines during the last derby match and the old goalkeeper Reina was still guarding the goal, he also knew how strong Chen Xiaoliang's legs were.
Thinking of this, he subconsciously moved to the right, worried that Chen Xiaoliang's free kick would hit the left side of the goal directly where there was no wall protecting it.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Chen Xiaoliang took a step, Pellegrini started!
He took four small steps with his left foot as fast as he could. His right foot was under the ball. He pushed with his arch and shook his ankle!
A curved ball flew diagonally to the upper right and passed the human wall!
Then it fell from the highest point and flew back to the left!
Even though Strakosha knew he was being tricked, he didn't have time to think about it. He could only move to his left side with all his might, then kicked off with his left foot, stretched his body to the left, and stretched his left hand straight out!
Indeed, this 27-year-old goalkeeper with dual Albanian and Greek citizenship is definitely a safe and reliable goalkeeper. His left hand had reached the dead corner where the crossbar and the goal post intersected in the upper right corner of the goal, about 20 centimeters away, which is already the limit of the goalkeeper's save range.
But he encountered a super free kick, a gorgeous arc passed, and the ball flew into the legendary "ten corners", and flew into the goal along the upper right corner!
In the 40th minute, Roma led 3-0!
Pellegrini excitedly rushed to the sidelines, slid on his knees, and left two long scratches on the grass.
The Roma teammates behind him rushed over and pressed him to the ground. Even Mourinho, who was standing by, ran over happily and patted the pile of people that had formed a small hill.
He Wei: "We can see that Mourinho is very happy. The attitude, unity and excellent form shown by the Roma team today have made Mourinho, who will be 60 in 10 months, feel like he has returned to 20 years ago when he led Porto to celebrate on the sidelines of Old Trafford and is full of passion and expectations!"
"This is a blessing for Italian football and even more so for European football! Although there are still eight rounds of the league, we look forward to this meritorious champion coach leading his new disciples to reappear in the highest competition of European football next season and compete with the best teams."
Not long after the celebration, the first half ended with Roma's pass.
Mourinho did not mention any tactical details in the locker room. Today's performance was impeccable in all aspects. Finding faults in it would only have the opposite effect.
But he still told a "story", or an "accident".
On October 4, 2020, at Old Trafford, Mourinho led Tottenham to a 1-6 victory away from home.
That game was certainly due to Martial's red card and Maguire's "suicidal defense", but ultimately, the huge difference in morale and form between the players on both sides led to the final huge score difference.
There are many such examples. On April 11, 2007, in the Champions League quarter-finals, also at Old Trafford, Manchester United won 7-1 against Roma and advanced to the semi-finals with a total score of 8-3.
In the long football career of a coach or a player, the state is always ups and downs. One game is better, the next game is worse. As long as it is within a reasonable range, it is acceptable.
But there are always times when the whole team is in very high form, or when everyone is in poor form.
On April 10, 2018, it was also in Rome, and in the Champions League quarter-finals. With everyone fighting hard, the Red Wolves reversed the situation 3-0 against Barcelona, which had Messi.
In that game, Manolas' hysteria, De Rossi's calmness, Dzeko's indomitable spirit, and the crazy sea of red and yellow have all become the last good memories of Roma fans in the past few years.
However, the final score can only represent the result of the match, but it cannot prove that the strength of the two sides is as different as the score.
The ball is round, and if the same two teams play again, the score may be completely different.
Therefore, Mourinho warned everyone in the locker room not to doubt themselves because of a big defeat, and similarly, not to underestimate their opponents because of a big lead.
He hopes that the team can return to the court in the second half with the same mentality and requirements, treat the game as if it were the beginning, respect the opponent and be prepared to face tactical changes from the opponent.
In the locker room, the players listened quietly and attentively as Mourinho shared his experiences and insights like telling a story.
When it comes to tactics, many people would criticize Mourinho for being conservative, stubborn, and even old-fashioned and ugly, but few people would question his ability to motivate players and manipulate their psychology.
One of the most classic scenes happened during his time at Inter Milan.
On the night of winning the Champions League, Mourinho announced that he would leave Inter Milan and go to coach Real Madrid.
Materazzi, who once played the devil in the 2006 World Cup final and humiliated Zidane, causing the latter to receive a red card for his headbutt, was like a child outside the parking lot and refused to get on the team bus. Instead, he stood far away, watching the car Mourinho was riding in leave, crying as he watched.
Mourinho, who was already in the car and had started it, noticed him, immediately stopped the driver, got out of the car, and walked over to hug Materazzi.
The Italian defender hugged Mourinho tightly, crying and unable to control himself.
That year, he was already 37 years old and had long been an old player accustomed to all kinds of big scenes, but in a later media interview, he told reporters that not only him, but almost everyone, including the captain Zanetti, who was also 37 years old at the time, cried when they learned that Mourinho was leaving.
And this kind of emotion is not temporary, it is long- .
Since then, whenever Mourinho is mentioned in front of him, no matter where Mourinho is, whether he is doing well, whether he has been criticized for his personality, or whether he has become the head coach of a competing club, people including Materazzi, Ibrahimovic, Terry, Drogba, and even Zanetti, who has become Inter Milan's vice president, still praise him and support him to the end.
Now, it seems that the same plot is beginning to play out in the Roma dressing room.
Although the team is still young overall and has not yet reached the strength of Inter Milan and Chelsea that could sweep everything domestically and compete with other teams in Europe, it is clear that they are on the right track.
Sarri did make a change after the start of the second half.
He replaced Pedro, who was no longer able to withstand Roma's whirlwind running in defense, with 28-year-old Italian midfielder Cataldi. Although the formation was still 4-3-3, Milinkovic-Savic and Cataldi were more like left and right wingers when attacking, leaving only Immobile and Felipe Anderson in the front, and the formation was closer to 4-4-2.
When defending, Milinkovic-Savic and Cataldi took on the duties of full-backs. With the other two defensive midfielders protecting the penalty area, the two of them and the two full-backs formed a double-back combination, strengthening the defense on the wing and being able to respond more quickly to the quick long pass lateral transfer initiated by Chen Xiaoliang.
This move made even Forti, who has always adhered to the principle of talking less and doing more, couldn't help but say to Mourinho: "Sarri is really a respectable coach."
When enemies come, we will fight them; when water comes, we will block it with earth. The head coach should make timely and targeted adjustments based on the opponent's tactical arrangements. This seems simple, but it is actually not easy.
Those involved are often confused, while bystanders can see things more clearly. In addition, there is randomness in the performance of the players, so many head coaches are criticized by their own fans for "sitting on the sidelines and watching the game."
Some head coaches like to gamble. Even if they see that their team's weaknesses have been discovered by the opponent, they will still let the players attack the opponent's weaknesses to see who will hurt the enemy by 1,000 and who will hurt themselves by 800.
For example, in the second year after winning the treble, Inter Milan coached by Benítez faced Tottenham, who was reaching their peak, in the Champions League.
Anyone can see that Maicon was beaten to pieces, but he stayed on the court and continued to be beaten to pieces.
Therefore, Sarri's pragmatic, quick and effective tactical adjustment at this moment really won praise from Mourinho and Forti.
Sometimes stop loss is also a way to make up for the loss.
Lazio had almost no chances in the second half, and although Roma was still able to create shooting opportunities, the threat was greatly reduced due to Lazio's effective and reasonable multi-layer defense.
In the 60th minute, Sarri made another substitution, replacing Hisaj with Lazari to prevent the strength of the wing defense from decreasing as the player's physical strength decreases.
In the 64th minute, Mourinho also started making substitutions. Abraham, Volpato and Zalewski came on to replace Cesco, Veretout and Bigna.
But Chen Xiaoliang must stay on the field.
The appearance of the two energetic young players promoted the rapid movement of the ball, but Cesco's departure greatly reduced the ability to stand in the penalty area.
Abraham quickly lost himself in Lazio's dense penalty area defense. Under such density, he had no advantage in aerial balls and it was difficult for him to get enough space to receive the ground pass from his teammates.
Seeing that Mourinho was in a good mood today, Forti approached him and asked, "Jose, replace Cesco. It seems that there is no threat in the penalty area."
Mourinho nodded and asked, "So what do you think is the biggest threat?"
After observing for a while and realizing that Mourinho's question was not a rhetorical question but a question of an exploratory nature, Forti replied: "There still needs to be a fulcrum."
Mourinho continued to nod, but then changed the subject: "I just want to make Tammy (Abraham) understand why he can't be the fulcrum, why he can only sit on the bench and watch Cesco start. If he is not willing to break through himself, let alone the World Cup, he can only play as a winger or substitute center forward for me."
Although their conversation was not very loud, Wu Lei, who was sitting behind them, still heard it.
In the Red Country, there is an old saying that goes "A good teacher produces good students", but the facts have proved that a good teacher cannot produce good students. Only a strict teacher can tap the greatest potential of his students.
Van Gaal used his 22-year-old Van der Sar, 16-year-old Seedorf and others to lead Ajax to the top of Europe in 1995.
The Class of 92 under Ferguson, as well as later Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney, have all experienced his "hair dryer" without exception, and similarly, they have also achieved brilliant career achievements.
These people are not born self-disciplined and diligent. They all know the strict requirements of the head coach and gradually realize the inherent requirements of perseverance in their careers.
It is very difficult for people to take the initiative to step out of their comfort zone.
For Abraham, Cesco is his comfort zone. He does all the dirty and tiring work such as positioning, scoring, competing for headers, and attracting the attention of the opponent's defense. He only needs to act as a wingman and look for an empty space at two points to shoot.
However, this also means that once he leaves Cesco, Abraham will only be an excellent striker, definitely not a top-notch one.
Both Rooney and Benzema have served as supporting roles for Ronaldo. With Ronaldo around, they don't need to take on most of the offensive tasks, but when Ronaldo leaves, these two can also support the team's offensive tasks with their comprehensive abilities.
This is what Mourinho is asking of Abraham now, and he also hopes that Gian on the bench can see it clearly.
As their physical strength declined, Roma's siege gradually reduced in intensity, and Lazio began to have more opportunities to advance.
In the 70th minute, seeing that Mourinho had no intention of replacing him, Chen Xiaoliang called out the system:
Stamina recovery card 2→1
In the 72nd minute, Pellegrini's cross was blocked by Acerbi, Milinkovic-Savic beat Volpato to grab the ball, and made a long pass to the 17-year-old striker Luca Romero who had just replaced Felipe Anderson.
Born on November 18, 2004, Luca Romero, who is half a year younger than Chen Xiaoliang, took the ball and forced his way past Malaysia. He is good at playing as a right winger and is a future star that Lazio bought from Mallorca in La Liga last year. Like many Argentine attackers, speed is also Luca Romero's advantage.
Luca Romero, who is 165cm tall, faced Malaysia, who is 169cm tall. The two of them ran wildly on Lazio's right side, one in front and one behind, one rushing and the other chasing.
After reaching the distance and seeing that Luca Romero was about to enter the bottom of the offensive third to prepare a cross, Malaysia reached out to pull Luca Romero's shoulder.
Seeing that the young Argentine player was about to be caught up, he immediately cut inside. Malaysia then realized that the guy he was defending was a left-footed player!
Unfortunately, he discovered it too late. He had no time to brake and crashed into the Argentine's back, knocking the thin and fast-sprinting young player directly to the grass.
“Beep!”
The referee showed Malaysia a yellow card and awarded Lazio a free kick outside the right side of the penalty area and to the sideline.
Finally there was an attacking opportunity from a set piece in the frontcourt, and several Lazio midfielders moved up. They also knew that four-fifths of the game had passed, and the physical strength of the Roma players had reached a bottleneck, so the speed of the counterattack could not be as fast as before.
Cataldi took a free kick from the right and passed it directly into the penalty area!
The Lazio players who were heading the ball in the penalty area stood in a row, and rushed forward in an orderly manner after the ball was kicked out!
Milinkovic-Savic at the back post saw the ball flying towards him and there was no Roma player closely guarding him, so he calculated the distance and jumped high!
Just when the ball in the air was only 3 meters away from his forehead , a man rushed out from the goal post, jumped high, and headed towards the landing point!
Milinkovic glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that it was Chen Xiaoliang!
The distance between the two people gliding in the air is getting closer and closer, and the ball is getting closer and closer to the landing point!
Milinkovic discovered that Chen Xiaoliang was not trying to block the ball. When the distance was not enough, he, like himself, was ready to use his forehead to kick the ball out!
In an instant, the two men's waists and abdomens, which were originally stretched backwards, curled up at the same time! Both foreheads hit the two sides of the ball at the same time!
Seeing that their heads were about to collide, Milinkovic was betting whether Chen Xiaoliang would back off!
This is a game for the brave!
When two brave men meet on a narrow road, the brave one wins!
