"Sporting Lisbon's biggest problem is that they lack a fulcrum to get the ball in the frontcourt, especially when they are behind their backs."
Luis Suarez saw through the most fundamental problem of Sporting Lisbon's attack at a glance.
"Without the ball behind their backs, all players can only play their role when facing the goal. Once the wing is unfavorable, the entire attack will be greatly reduced . This is why Sporting Lisbon performed poorly in the European Cup."
Having said that, Luis Suarez slightly shifted his gaze and looked at the visiting team's bench.
Although he could only see the ceiling, he seemed to be able to see Su Dong sitting inside.
"Does Boloni have the courage?"
Luis Suarez was very confused, because if it were him, it would be a very difficult choice.
Su Dong is too young and has never played for the first team. Is it okay to replace him at this time?
There are still forty minutes in the game. If he goes on and performs poorly, not only will the team waste a substitution opportunity, but it will also be tantamount to breaking an arm in the game.
"Is there no one else? Like Ronnie." Scout Garcia felt very strange.
Luis Suarez shook his head. "Roney is also a front-attack player. He is very fast and has strong explosive power, but it is really difficult for him to receive the ball with his back to the goal. I think he will do worse than Joao Pinto and not much better than Jardel."
"The most valuable thing about Su Dong is that there are too few center forwards like him. He should be the tactical fulcrum of the team's frontcourt and the core of the offense. Even if he rarely scores goals, he is still equally valuable."
Garcia didn't expect that Suarez would speak so highly of Sudong.
But as someone who has been immersed in European football for many years, he also knows how difficult it is for Boloni to gamble on a professional rookie like Su Dong at such a critical moment, especially since it is only the beginning of the second half.
"Maybe, we should wait a little longer," Garcia analyzed.
Luis Suarez shook his head. "To put it bluntly, a 90-minute football match is a contest of exhaustion between the two teams' players. A major tactical change like Su Dong should be made quickly. If we wait until both teams are exhausted before substituting, how much effect will it have?"
“To be honest, Jardel’s goal-scoring ability is indeed strong, but he doesn’t consume much of the two central defenders. The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for Sporting Lisbon, and they may even slowly lose the chance .”
As an experienced player and head coach, Luis Suarez has his own unique analysis of football.
The situation is very clear now. Setubal is leading 2-1 and should focus on stability. Sporting Lisbon is behind and must do its best to fight for three points, so it must take the initiative to seek change.
Su Dong is the only player in Bologna's hands who can change the situation.
The only question is, when does Boloni plan to make the change?
Just as Suarez was guessing, Boloni on the sidelines moved.
"This kid still has some courage."
…
…
"Su!"
Boloni turned around and shouted loudly towards the bench.
Only he himself knew how much energy he had used and how difficult it was for him to shout that out.
Before he could even sit down, Su Dong quickly jumped up from the bench and ran to the side of head coach Boloni in the envious eyes of Ronnie and others.
"Can I play?" Boloni asked.
Su Dong took a deep breath and nodded, "Any time, sir."
"Did you see that Paul Ferreira clearly?" Boloni asked again.
“He pressed forward in the second half.”
"Because he knows that none of our players can hold the ball when he is fighting closely with them," Boloni said harshly.
What a pitiful and infuriating thing this is.
But in fact, this is precisely the sadness of many mid- and lower-level teams, because they simply do not have as huge a talent pool as the top teams, nor can they collect such a rich and diverse range of different types of players.
So many times, they can only watch the team lose.
It’s not that they don’t know how to win, but that they have no way to win.
"Your task is to hold the ball in the left half of the front court after you come on the court. Play to your strengths, whether you charge forward or with your back to the goal. The key is that you have to try your best to hold the ball. Do you understand?"
Boloni said this with great force, almost gritting his teeth.
Substituting for Su Dong, he made an unprecedented gamble.
Especially at the beginning of the second half.
"I understand." Su Dong didn't say much and nodded heavily.
…
Su Dong walked back, taking off his coat as he walked.
He kept taking deep breaths, adjusting his inner emotional fluctuations, and trying to calm himself down.
He tried to convince himself that this was just a simple league game, just like the second team played and the first team trained.
But in fact, this is self-deception.
"How's it going? Are you going to do it?" Ronnie came up, his eyes full of envy.
Su Dong nodded, "He couldn't get out of the situation, so he hoped I could get the ball."
"This is what you are best at, isn't it?" Ronnie took Su Dong's coat with a smile, "Don't be nervous, just play with all your strength after you go up there, no one will say anything whether your performance is good or bad."
Su Dong smiled slightly, but shook his head and said, "No, I want to show my best side."
He straightened his back and turned to look at the court. "Because I can't be sure when the next chance will come if I don't play well in this game, so I will never let it miss it!"
At the end of his speech, his expression became extremely determined.
At this moment, he was no longer nervous or anxious, and no longer doubted himself.
He had only one thought in mind, which was to go on the court and try his best to demonstrate his strength.
Let the head coach, teammates, opponents, and everyone see him!
…
…
"It's 50 minutes now and Sporting Lisbon still hasn't created any threat."
"So far in the second half, they haven't had a single chance to threaten the opponent's penalty area."
"Bologna on the sidelines is a little anxious, it looks like a substitution is needed."
"Player number 36 replaces number 3 Rui Bento."
"Let me see. Player number 36 is Su Dong. He is a Chinese player who just joined the team during the winter break. It is said that he has performed well in the second team. He is only 17 years old. This is also his first time to play for Sporting Lisbon."
"When the team was struggling to make progress, Boloni substituted a 17-year-old player. Was he taking a gamble?"
"We haven't got any information about Su Dong yet. We only know that he performed well in the second team and is a center forward."
"Look at Su Dong standing on the sidelines. He's of decent height, but a little skinny."
"After replacing Rui Bento with a young player, how will Sporting Lisbon play next?"
…
Captain Barbosa ran to the sidelines, listened to the head coach's arrangements, and made adjustments immediately after returning to the court.
Jardel is still at the forefront. He is currently the player of Sporting Lisbon who can best suppress the opponent's central defender.
Sudong plays as left winger, Quaresma plays as right winger, Joao Pinto returns to his best position as attacking midfielder, and Barbosa and Paulo Bento form a double defensive midfielder.
Sporting Lisbon adopted a more oppressive and offensive tactical style.
…
Paulo Ferreira frowned as he looked at Su Dong who ran into the court.
So high!
Although he was over 1.8 meters tall, Su Dong was more than half a head taller than him.
His legs looked long, and as he ran onto the court, Ferreira noticed that he was very agile, and looked different from those tall, clumsy players.
Just a little thinner.
After observing this, Ferreira turned to look at head coach Campos on the sidelines, wanting to get some signals from the coach.
Campos also noticed the substitutions made by Sporting Lisbon, but they didn't know much about Su Dong.
According to initial impressions, Campos gave Ferreira an instruction to strangle him.
Although he was only 23 years old, Ferreira was very experienced and immediately decided to give Su Dong a warning.
As for young players, we cannot let them do whatever they want, we must curb their performance from the beginning.
After suffering a heavy blow, they tend to lose their balance easily.
Thinking of this, Paulo Ferreira immediately looked at Su Dong with malicious eyes, thinking to himself: Poor kid, don’t blame me, who made you so unlucky?
…
Once again the offensive organization was frustrated and was forced to pass the ball back across the midline.
Sporting Lisbon restarted their defense to organize the next attack.
This has become the norm in the game, and I don’t know how many times it has happened.
The Setubal fans in the stands booed, obviously thinking that Sporting Lisbon was too cowardly.
Is this the demeanor a strong team should have?
When the ball came to Andre Cruz's feet, the Sporting Lisbon center back stopped the ball and looked forward.
Su Dong saw the difficulty of passing the ball from the midfield and backcourt, then looked around, saw the problem immediately, and ran back immediately.
Andre Cruz saw Sudong and immediately passed the ball to the left and shouted to Rui Jorge.
After the left back stopped the ball, he took two steps forward. Just then, Su Dong arrived near the center line and immediately passed the ball straight to the goal.
The pass was quick but accurate.
Before going on the court just now, Su Dong drank three bottles of potions, Swiftness, Titan and Energy, which temporarily improved his abilities and made him more confident.
Fighting under full buff status and making his first appearance in the first team, he became extremely excited.
Facing Rui Jorge's pass, Su Dong not only judged the direction of the ball, but also felt the threat from behind.
Paulo Ferreira, who had bad intentions, also retreated with him, and when he turned his back to stop the ball, he accelerated and caught up from behind , and directly hit Su Dong's back.
In Ferreira's opinion, the thin Su Dong should have been knocked away by him in one go.
After all, he was only seventeen.
If it was an African player, Ferreira would still be a little afraid, but Su Dong's body was obviously not strong.
Facts also prove that Su Dong does not have a physical advantage.
Boloni asked him to avoid the middle and play on Ferreira's side because of his body considerations.
When Su Dong was concentrating and controlling his right foot to stop Rui Jorge's straight pass, Paulo Ferreira suddenly hit him from behind. Although Su Dong was prepared, he still staggered and fell forward.