Chapter 46: A profound problem
After waking up, Carlo felt extremely happy.
Today, Madrid once again welcomed a rare warm sunny day.
After Carlo finished his breakfast, he sent his wife out to the market to buy vegetables and prepare a sumptuous lunch for a special guest. Then he moved out a chair and sat in the courtyard, reading the newspaper in the warm sunshine.
Carlo was actually somewhat dissatisfied with the reports in the Spanish media, as he felt it was unfair to Gao Shen.
Not to mention the match against Atletico Madrid, just last night's battle at Highbury, no matter how much praise Gao Shen received, it would not be excessive, but the media reporters focused more on superstars and youth players, and ignored the importance of Gao Shen as the head coach.
This is actually not difficult to understand.
On the one hand, this is Real Madrid’s tradition. On the other hand, the media had previously been unanimous in their criticism of Gao Shen. Now they can’t go back on their words and enrich themselves, right?
Mrs. Carlo was also in a very good mood. She specially prepared some of her specialties and started busying herself in the kitchen as soon as she got home. Later, she even called Carlo in to help.
The couple was busy in the kitchen until noon, until the doorbell rang outside the house, indicating that guests had arrived, and Carlo came out to greet them.
…
After the morning training session, Gao Shen took a ride from Raul and went to a nearby shopping mall to buy a gift.
He knew that Carlo had the habit of drinking two glasses of wine every night, so he prepared a bottle of good wine for him.
"It's enough if you just come, why do you need to send gifts?"
Carlo cursed with a smile, but he was not slow to accept the gift. After accepting it, he opened the gift bag and took a look. "Wow, you bought such an expensive wine. Are you not going to eat next?"
As Gao Shen's former boss, he knew how low Gao Shen's salary was.
Real Madrid stars have high annual salaries, and the head coach's salary is also high, but the same may not be true for others, especially interns like Gao Shen, who are more like free labor in the Real Madrid team.
To be frank, it's great that we allow you to come to Real Madrid to gild your reputation without charging you any fees. Why do you still want money?
"I plan to give this bottle of wine to you, and you can come here every day to eat and drink for free." Gao Shen joked.
"Sure, we're welcome." Mrs. Carlo's voice came from the kitchen.
Gao Shen and Carlo both laughed at the same time.
"Actually, I'm going to sign a formal contract."
The expression on Carlo's face froze, and his half-extended hand paused in mid-air. He was obviously a little surprised by the news, but he quickly concealed it and waved to Gao Shen, motioning him to sit down and talk.
"It's right. We can't let you keep the intern contract, right?"
Although he said that, Carlo felt very uncomfortable.
On the one hand, he was truly happy for Gao Shen and thought that this was what Gao Shen deserved, but on the other hand, he felt sad because just ten days ago, he was still the head coach of Real Madrid, but now with Gao Shen signing this contract, he felt empty in his heart.
Gao Shen had been paying attention to Carlo's expression and knew his mood, but there were some things he would know sooner or later, and instead of hearing them from others, it would be better for him to say it himself.
"Sir, I have an idea."
Carlo poured Gao Shen a cup of boiling water, "What?"
"Come back."
Carlo was stunned again. He didn't quite understand what Gao Shen meant.
"I can ask the higher-ups to create a new position in the coaching staff, such as head coach, special advisor to the head coach, or something like that. I really need your help, and Real Madrid needs you too," Gao Shen said sincerely.
This is what he really thinks.
Maqueda is not bad, but Gao Shen always has a gap with him, and he cannot completely obey Gao Shen, so he is not convenient to use. For various reasons, Gao Shen is not particularly satisfied with other people.
Gao Shen doesn't really agree with Carlo being the head coach, but as an assistant, Gao Shen can be very confident in handing over the team's training and other matters to him, and even have someone to discuss with when arranging the lineup.
But the trouble is that Maqueda is already the chief assistant coach and cannot be removed, so Gao Shen wants to create another position between the head coach and the assistant coach. He believes that this is not a big problem.
The key is whether Carlo is willing.
Seeing Carlo's face change, Gao Shen knew what he was thinking. Without waiting for Carlo to speak, Gao Shen smiled and said, "I know it's difficult and inappropriate for you to agree to this now, but Real Madrid and I really need you. I won't force you. I just hope you can think about it slowly."
He did not give Carlo a chance to refuse, and instead used the tactic of procrastination.
Carlo could only nod.
When the two sat down, the topic naturally turned to Real Madrid and the game that had just passed.
Carlo was very interested in the defensive tactics used by Gao Shen in these two games. He had tried the 4-2-3-1 formation before, but was unsuccessful. Gao Shen's attempt was successful, and he really wanted to know the reason.
Over the past ten days or so, Gao Shen has been in the tactical library every night, studying Benítez's lineup and some of Ferguson's tactical ideas. He now has a lot of useful information in his mind.
Gao Shen made no secret of the fact that his 4-2-3-1 formation came from Benítez, but if we trace it back further, it was Italy, especially Sacchi's zone defense concept.
Since the Italian chain defense was proposed in the Inter Milan era, the entire Italian football has been deeply influenced, until Sacchi further proposed zone defense based on the chain defense.
In fact, Sacchi's football philosophy was not recognized at the beginning. Even if his results were outstanding, there were still many doubts. Many teams, including strong teams like Juventus, did not favor Sacchi's philosophy. For example, Lippi mentioned more than once that Sacchi's philosophy was not great, it just changed the training method, and there was no revolutionary breakthrough.
From the perspective of 2021, Sacchi proposed the concept of space based on people and the ball, which is indeed revolutionary.
But subversion often requires a long period of repeated verification before it can be accepted by people.
What many people don’t know is that Benítez once studied in Italy for a year and was deeply influenced by Sacchi’s ideas. His predecessor in Valencia, Cooper, resolutely left Valencia and went to Serie A to coach Inter Milan, also with a tactical pilgrimage mentality.
So what is the difference between man-to-man and zone defense?
To put it simply, man-to-man marking means that players adopt man-to-man marking tactics when defending, marking the offensive players who enter their own defense zone, but this has a prerequisite, that is, the offensive players must enter my defense zone.
Over the past few decades, this defensive concept has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, but gradually, no matter how powerful the concept is, it cannot withstand the test of time, and professional coaches gradually discovered that this concept has a big problem.
Assuming that Elguera and Ramos partner up to defend, both of them have their own defensive areas, and the first thing they need to consider is their own defensive area.
If Henry dribbles the ball straight to Elguera and passes Elguera in a very short time, Ramos will have to run over from his own defense area to assist and fill the position, but there will be a time difference in this process, and the success or failure depends on Ramos.
Sacchi's zone defense is not like that. He does not emphasize man-marking, but rather emphasizes active pressure.
From the back line to the midfield to the front line, they maintain a meticulous formation with close distances between players. When they move, several players move together, always maintaining close distance and cooperation.
Many people would wonder why Henry couldn't play well in Serie A but shined in the Premier League?
Here's why.
In Serie A, when Henry got the ball, he often did not face one person, but two or even three people at the same time. Not to mention dribbling the ball and taking advantage of his speed, even simply trying to hold the ball was very difficult.
In the Premier League, he can easily get the ball in space and start quickly, taking advantage of the gaps between the defenses, passing the opponent's defenders one by one, or scoring directly.
Standing in 2021, many fans will ask, why have the goal scorers become more and more marginal over the years?
The reason is simple. The defense in the middle is becoming more and more meticulous. Even the weakest opponent will not leave you much space.
Gao Shen told Carlo that if Helguera and Ramos were in better condition and had better chemistry, Henry would not have earned that penalty and Real Madrid could have easily shut out Arsenal at Highbury.
"I can say with certainty that zone defense is the trend of the future, and active and positive pressure tactics are the mainstream of future defense, so central defenders like Ramos are our future!"
Ramos, Pepe, David Luiz, Chiellini and other future central defenders, which one of them has not been labeled as reckless, impetuous, etc. Which one of them has not made a lot of mistakes and has been criticized?
But slowly, everyone will find that when they are not there, the team's defense will decline to an incredible level .
This is the difference between active pressing and passive defense.
Real Madrid is not suitable for passive defense at all, because offensive football runs in their blood.
…
It has to be said that many of Gao Shen's ideas and thoughts were unheard of by Carlo, which shocked the former Real Madrid coach.
This is not surprising, because these profound things are taken directly from Benítez's mind, and are all the insights gained by this wise tactical master after careful research.
"I have a question. If you really want to adopt a high-pressure style as you said, then why is it so rarely seen against Atletico Madrid or Arsenal?" When Carlo asked the question, he was a bit like a studious student.
Gao Shen felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart, and smiled: "It's very simple. In order for a tactic to achieve its goal, it needs a basis for execution. In the final analysis, it still comes down to the players. Adopting a high-pressure style of play certainly has a thousand advantages, but the prerequisite is that the whole team must be able to run."
Zone defense is about overall collaboration. When one person runs, the whole team follows. This requires everyone to run.
Players are not machines. If you want them to run, they need physical support.
"This is the biggest problem I am facing now. The team's physical fitness and daily training level are too poor."
When saying this, Gao Shen really felt a sense of sadness that a good cook cannot cook without rice.
