Chapter 28 Tactical Genius
"That rookie from Atletico Madrid is really not simple."
While Yang Hao and Juanma Lillo were studying their opponents, in Malaga in southern Spain, head coach Joaquin Perrault was also studying Atletico Madrid with his assistants.
The speaker was assistant coach Manolo Hierro.
The Hierro family is a famous football family around Malaga. They have always played for Malaga. In this generation, they have produced three extraordinary stars at the same time, one of whom is the captain Fernando Hierro who is far away in Real Madrid.
The other one is the one in front of Joaquin Peró, Manolo Hierro, the second brother of Real Madrid captain who is 6 years older than him.
Not to mention Fernando Hierro, his brother Manolo Hierro also had a brilliant career.
He made his debut in Malaga, became famous in Valladolid, played for Barcelona in the late 1980s, and later transferred to Tenerife. After retiring, he returned to his hometown of Malaga.
It is worth mentioning that Fernando Hierro's talent is much worse than his two brothers. He did not play well when he was young. It was not until Manolo Hierro transferred to Valladolid that he recommended Hierro to the club, which led to the current Real Madrid captain.
Compared to his two younger brothers who both play for top teams, the eldest brother Antonio Hierro has always played for Malaga. After retiring, he has been relatively low-key and rarely shows up in public.
But many of the businesses that the Hierro family is currently engaged in, including agency business , player transfer operations, etc., are operated behind the scenes by Antonio Hierro and Manolo Hierro.
Manolo Hierro even joined the Malaga board of directors in 1999 and officially became a member of the club's management.
Now, he is accumulating experience with Joaquin Peró and preparing for further progress in the future.
For example, the sporting director or even the general manager.
Another interesting thing is that all three brothers play as center backs .
…
“It’s really not easy.”
Joaquin Perrault also has a new opinion of Atletico Madrid's young new coach.
"I've watched that game over and over again. A lot of the details were still handled very immaturely, and the timing of the substitutions was questionable, but overall, he handled the game very well. He's certainly a rookie, but it was amazing."
Who else in history could beat Barcelona 4-1 in the first game of his coaching career?
Of course, it is useless to perform well in the first game. Atletico Madrid is in a precarious situation now. If he can really lead Atletico Madrid to avoid relegation, that would be considered a real skill.
As a player from Atletico Madrid and a former head coach of Atletico Madrid, Joaquin Perrault said that this challenge is as difficult as climbing to the sky.
"In this weekend's game, he should try his best to get 3 points, right?" Manolo Hierro guessed.
"Of course," Joaquin Peró was very confident. "If Atletico doesn't win another game, it will be difficult for them to avoid relegation."
When speaking of this, Joaquin Pero's tone was somewhat complicated.
He has feelings for Atletico Madrid, but now he has to take a heavy step on Atletico Madrid's road to relegation.
There's no way, he's the head coach of Malaga.
Malaga is now also making every effort to enter the European competition zone.
"So what are you going to do?" Manolo Hierro asked Joaquín Peró.
Although he is an assistant coach, Manolo Hierro is also a club director. It seems that he is here to gild his resume and learn something.
"Guard it."
"Guard?" Manolo Hierro was a little surprised.
This is a team facing the relegation zone.
Previously, when Malaga faced teams in the relegation zone, they basically pressed forward and attacked, often reaping big scores.
"If it weren't for this 4-1 victory, I would have considered pushing forward, but now, I think it's better to be more stable."
Manolo Hierro chuckled after hearing this and said, "Aren't you being a little too cautious?"
"As you said, this guy is not simple. I guess he will choose to attack."
Manolo Hierro suppressed his smile, thought about it carefully, and felt that it made sense.
If Atletico Madrid chooses to attack and Malaga presses forward, it will become an offensive battle, which is actually not a good thing for Malaga.
Whether it is the strength of the players or the appearance of the cards, Malaga is not as good as Atletico Madrid.
In a real offensive battle, Malaga was unable to take advantage.
Defensive counterattack is Malaga's best tactic.
"But I am very worried now. I always feel that his 4231 tactics have not been fully utilized. After all, he has only taken over for three days." Joaquin Pero showed a hint of worry.
The 4231 used by Yang Hao against Barcelona is different from the 4231 used by teams such as Deportivo La Coruña and Celta Vigo.
However, because he took over in a hurry and did not have time to polish the tactics in detail, the content presented was very fragmented. Even an experienced head coach like Joaquin Perrault could only feel some differences.
For example, his pressing, and that flank play...
Yang Hao's 4231 formation is completely tailor-made for Atletico Madrid. For example, his two wingers always push forward on the left and retreat on the right. Capdevila, the left-back, also presses forward, but Gaspar on the right rarely goes up.
This creates a very irregular station pattern.
It’s both 4231, but the positions are completely different.
But in the match against Barcelona, we can see that Atletico Madrid attacked strongly on the left, but the right was the real killer move, and the key point lies in Belleron.
The attacking midfielder did a very good job of connecting the two flanks.
Barcelona did not fail to think about cutting off the connection. Guardiola tried several times to cut off the connection between Belleron and the right, but the problem that followed was that Belleron's fatal pass found Capdevila who was inserted from the back row on the left.
It is entirely conceivable that Atletico Madrid will continue to work hard on this side, including Solari, Belleron, Capdevila, and even the left-footed defensive midfielder named Pablo Garcia.
Malaga's best formation is 442, so the question is, who should be used to mark Belleron?
Or, go to both?
If this is the case, how to defend against Baraha's back-run?
After hearing what Joaquin Pero said, Manolo Hierro also showed a worried look.
"I didn't expect that this kid, who is so young and has never played football, could come up with such a set of tactics and activate these Atletico Madrid players."
It’s incredible to think about it.
"Could it be that there really are so-called tactical geniuses in this world?"
"Who knows?" Joaquin Perrault chuckled. "Maybe, it really exists."
Malaga is also in a headache now, because the right side of Rufete is also an important channel for the team's offense. If they want to defend Atletico's left side, Rufete must retreat.
But in this way, wouldn’t the attack in the frontcourt be weaker and more passive?
Thinking of this, Joaquin Pero suddenly sighed with mixed feelings.
"I have played football for more than 20 years and coached for more than 20 years, but now I am being troubled by a twenty-year-old kid." At the end, Joaquin Perrault himself felt a little embarrassed.
As a famous coach with many years of fame and honor, he is no longer at the age of pursuing fame and fortune, and is more focused on realizing and proving himself.
His coaching career can be roughly divided into two stages, with the rescue of Badajoz in December 1997 as the dividing line.
Before coaching Badajoz, he had been unemployed for five years. Before that period, he was mostly coaching short-term jobs, and although his results were good, he was never able to get a long-term coaching contract.
So, after leading Murcia to play three games in 1992 and failing to get a contract to stay at the club at the end of the season, he chose to be unemployed, declined all short-term coaching invitations, and stayed at home to study tactics and sort out everything about his career.
Especially during the eight years he played for Torino, Inter Milan and Roma in Serie A, he witnessed the peak dynasty of the Inter Milan era and the tactical changes.
Combining the Milan dynasty that started with Sacchi and the tactical concepts of later head coaches such as Capello, he began to find a coaching philosophy of his own to gain a foothold in Spanish football.
Coaching Badajoz gave him the opportunity to prove himself. Just half a year later, he got a long-term coaching contract with Malaga and brought the then Spanish Second Division team to the mid-table position in La Liga today.
Nowadays, Joaquin Perrault is watching the ever-changing tactical changes, and he has a vague feeling that the technical and tactical aspects of European football will usher in a new round of changes and explosions.
Sadly, he might not be able to catch up with this wave.
He is 64 years old.
Professional football will always be a game for young people. This is true for playing football and it will also be true for coaching.
But it’s not that easy to kill him!
After five years of dormancy, he has gained fame in the past three years. Although he is over 60 years old, Joaquin Perrault is still full of ambition and quickly rekindled his fighting spirit.
Even if he is really going to be overthrown, even if he is really left behind, he must do something to make a name for himself before being eliminated!
At least let everyone in the world know that Joaquin Peró is not only good at playing football, but is also successful in coaching!
Malaga should be his last chance!
"I want to see if he has the ability to break through our defense!"
…
Manolo Hierro was watching Joaquin Perrault from the side. He respected this senior very much, otherwise he would not have come to be his assistant coach.
Yang Hao's Atletico Madrid's transformation is indeed worrying, but Joaquin Peró's Malaga is no pushover either.
Especially when I felt the strong fighting spirit in Joaquin Pero, he didn't look like an old man in his sixties. Instead, he looked like a young man who was extremely eager to prove himself.
This is what Manolo Hierro admires most.
"Then I'll start arranging it now?" asked Manolo Hierro.
Joaquin Peró nodded firmly. "Go ahead! If that Atletico Madrid kid wants to avoid relegation, he'll have to show more real skills."
He is a loyal Atletico Madrid man, but he is also the head coach of Malaga, and more importantly, he is himself!
So in this battle, no matter what, he must defeat Atletico Madrid, so that Malaga can take this step and enter the European competition zone.
Manolo Hierro felt the determination and fighting spirit from Joaquin Peró, and nodded vigorously in agreement.
The team's fighting spirit and confidence often come from the head coach.
Joaquin Peró’s determination is crucial to Malaga’s current success.
He is now increasingly looking forward to the moment when Malaga defeats Atletico Madrid at the Calderon Stadium.
