Chapter 45 The test for Gao Shen has just begun!
Real Madrid's weakest link suddenly becomes stronger!
After capturing Highbury, Real Madrid defended its last dignity!
There are still hidden dangers behind the best game of the season, Real Madrid will stop in the quarterfinals of the Champions League!
The Crescent Moon Scimitar reappears at Highbury, and the young player from youth training saves Real Madrid!
…
The next morning, many newspapers used front-page headlines to report Real Madrid's 2-1 away victory over Arsenal, with a total score of 2-2. Although there were many doubts, the overall news was dominated by praise and commendation.
AS reported this match with a front-page headline, believing that Real Madrid played with the Juanito spirit and tenacity at Highbury Stadium, not only winning the right to advance to the quarterfinals, but also playing the most exciting game in the past three seasons.
In this report, AS stated that at Highbury Stadium, Real Madrid fought hard against Arsenal , and paid the price of two key players, Zidane and De La Red, both suffering cramps and leaving the field, which deeply moved all Real Madrid fans.
In terms of ball possession, Real Madrid had 55 percent and Arsenal had 45 percent, with the Galacticos having a slight advantage.
This is actually common sense, because Real Madrid's technical level is slightly better than Arsenal.
Similarly, Real Madrid's offensive threats, especially the number of shots, are better than Arsenal, but the number of times they enter the penalty area is slightly less than Arsenal, which proves that Real Madrid's conversion on the offensive end is still relatively weak.
In contrast to the ball possession rate, Real Madrid actually did a better job than Arsenal in terms of steals.
In the 90-minute game, Real Madrid made 41 steals, while Arsenal made only 27 steals, 14 less than Real Madrid.
It is not difficult to see from this defensive data that Real Madrid players fought harder in this game, pressing and oppressing more strongly, which put enormous pressure on Arsenal players, especially at the beginning of the first and second half, when everyone tried their best to carry out the game tasks. This kind of mental outlook was very rare in Real Madrid before.
You know, whether it was Queiroz, Luxemburg, or even Camacho who resigned angrily, they all complained about the mental state and game involvement of the stars.
But in this battle at Highbury, Real Madrid's performance was completely transformed and renewed.
AS believes that this is a major outburst after Real Madrid was forced into a desperate situation.
Throughout the report, the AS reporter did not dwell too much on the role of head coach Gao Shen. Instead, he believed that the changes in the players were the key to Real Madrid's victory, because Real Madrid's superstar lineup was already there.
In addition, AS also specifically praised several young players such as De La Red, Arbeloa and Felipe.
Both the offensive hero De La Red and Felipe performed well in two consecutive games, and Arbeloa performed tepidly in the last game against Atletico Madrid, but in this game facing Reyes and Henry on the left, his defense was flawless, leaving an extremely deep impression.
It is well known that Real Madrid's youth training camp is full of talented people, but there was no soil for making good use of youth players in the past. Now, several youth players have emerged, which is a welcome change.
…
Compared with AS's brief mention of Gao Shen's role, AS's editor-in-chief Alfredo wrote a lot about it in his column.
This Spanish media tycoon, who had previously called for Gao Shen to be fired in his column, apologized to Gao Shen at the beginning of this column, saying that some of his previous concerns were unnecessary.
From Atletico to Arsenal, Real Madrid has shown an impressive transformation in the last two games, especially the team's defense.
Alfredo believes that the improvement in the team's defense in the two games after Gao Shen took over as coach of Real Madrid is no accident, because the 4-2-3-1 formation advocated by Gao Shen emphasizes the balance between offense and defense, and the presence of double defensive midfielders can protect the back line well.
"Many people feel that in these two games, Real Madrid did not play the same wonderful offensive cooperation as before, and we can't see the exquisite cooperation between Ronaldo and Zidane, but we should also notice that in these two games, Real Madrid's defense has made a qualitative leap."
Alfredo said that he is a little conflicted now, because he found that what Gao Shen is doing now is beneficial to Real Madrid in the long run. For example, he suppressed the Brazilian gang, but at the same time he also promoted a large number of young players, and not just promoted them to the first team, but really gave them more opportunities to train in games.
Felipe has performed at a high level in two consecutive games. De La Red, Negredo and Arbeloa have also proved their strength and potential in these two games, which was unbelievable before.
You know, in the past, positions within Real Madrid were all controlled by superstars, and even if young players were promoted, it was difficult for them to get opportunities. Eventually, promoting youth training became just a slogan, but Gao Shen put this slogan into practice.
Alfredo's contradiction lies in that , on the one hand, he feels that Gao Shen has done a very good job, even beyond his expectations, but on the other hand, he is particularly worried that this is just a flash in the pan.
At the end of the column, he believes that although Real Madrid seems to have gotten out of its predicament, it has actually faced a new problem.
How can we keep this performance going?
"If it's just one or two games where you do well, it means nothing."
…
De La Morena also spoke highly of Gao Shen's performance in his own program, believing that his tactical choices and on-the-spot command, coupled with his willingness to make superstars serve him, were the key to Real Madrid's miraculous reversal at Highbury.
In the program, De La Morena combined the game video and highly affirmed Real Madrid's defense and the players' execution in the game, but at the same time he also pointed out a series of hidden dangers and problems in the team.
For example, in defense, the central defender combination of Helguera and Ramos had serious problems. They were exploited many times in the game by Henry, Reyes and Adebayor who came on as a substitute, but Casillas played bravely and ensured that Real Madrid only conceded one goal.
In addition, whether it is Raul, Zidane, Beckham, Gravesen, Elguera and others, they all make people see the low level of training in Real Madrid, which is a long-standing problem.
De La Morena believes that judging from the two rounds of matches against Arsenal, if Real Madrid were placed in the Premier League, let alone being second in the league, it is estimated that they would not even be able to make it into the top four.
"Whether at the Bernabeu or at Highbury, Henry has given the most eye-catching performance and created the most deadly threat. He has eclipsed the Real Madrid superstars who are competing on the same field. He has proved with facts that he is a superstar in his prime."
De La Morena believes that Real Madrid is going downhill and metabolism has become an imminent priority. The team needs to give more young people the opportunity to play and train in competitions.
"But this will inevitably further reduce the living space of superstars in the team, which is an irreconcilable contradiction!"
De La Morena and Alfredo agree with each other in that they both believe that Real Madrid's reversal of Arsenal created a historical miracle in the Champions League knockout stage, which deserves recognition, but Real Madrid's crisis has not been truly resolved.
"The test of Gao Shen has just begun!"
…
…
Gao Shen bought a few newspapers as usual and read them roughly. He found that except for a few people like Alfredo, most of the reports did not mention him in detail, which made him feel somewhat disappointed.
However, on second thought, he has not appeared in front of the media in the past two games. In addition, the media had previously been unanimous in their pessimism about his prospects of coaching Real Madrid. It is naturally not so easy to ask them to take back what they said now.
But when Gao Shen came to Valdebebas, he enjoyed some special treatment.
Today, at the entrance of the training base, there are still many Real Madrid fans gathering spontaneously, but they are not here to protest or demonstrate. Instead, after the team defeated Arsenal and advanced to the quarterfinals, they wanted to come to the training base to encourage the team.
When Gao Shen was riding his bicycle, before he even reached the gate, he was stared at by this group of fans from a distance.
Obviously, it has been reported in the media and fans all know that Real Madrid's acting head coach rides a bicycle to work.
This is also the first head coach in Real Madrid's history to ride a bicycle to work.
Gao Shen saw this group of fans from afar and felt a little nervous. When he got closer, he found that they were not making any moves, so he walked towards the side door with peace of mind.
When he approached, several fans in the crowd waved at him and he could vaguely hear someone greeting him.
"Good morning."
Gao Shen's first reaction was to suspect that he had heard it wrong. He was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he raised his hand awkwardly to respond.
"Good morning."
But in my heart, I suddenly felt a warmth.
It turns out that the fans can see and know what he did.
Although everything he did was for self-protection, and he has never been great enough to say that he would do this or that for the fans of Real Madrid, he feels very satisfied and proud to be recognized by the fans, even if it is only a small number of fans.
The team quickly sensed the coach's happiness and the training intensity was not high, focusing mainly on recovery and relaxation.
Gao Shen mainly praised them, especially the players who performed well at Highbury, whom Gao Shen was very generous in praising.
In addition, Gao Shen also gave the team half a day off.
From the time Gao Shen took office to now, the team has not had a single holiday in the ten days. Now that the team has defeated Atletico Madrid and Arsenal in succession, it is really unreasonable not to give the players a holiday.
Even if it's only half a day, it's enough to make the players happy.
But Gao Shen also reminded the players that even though it was a holiday, they had to rest on time tonight and not affect tomorrow's training, otherwise he would definitely punish them severely.
The players also gave their assurances.
After all, the team has a big battle this weekend, which is an away challenge against Valencia.
Superstars such as Zidane, Raul and Beckham not only had to travel long distances in the match against Arsenal, but also had to consume a lot of energy. It is unknown whether they can appear at the Mestalla Stadium, and their condition cannot be guaranteed.
The situation facing Gao Shen and Real Madrid is still very serious.
After finishing the morning training, the players started their half-day holiday, and Gao Shen also left Valdebebas.
He also has something very important to do.
