Chapter 86 I am a striker!
When Baraha decided to stay, he really didn't expect that Atletico Madrid would have such strength this season.
Whether it was a warm-up match or daily training, although he could feel that the team's strength was improving, he could not even imagine that they would suppress the defending champions so badly when facing Deportivo La Coruña.
He believes that most of the players on the team are the same.
Before the game, each of them was still very cautious, fearing that they would make mistakes accidentally.
But when they really got to the game and played for a while, they gradually realized that the defending champion was not as strong as they had imagined.
So, gradually, Atletico Madrid began to play its own tactics.
There is a phenomenon that best reflects the change in the mentality of Atletico Madrid players. That is, during the half-time break, when the players were lining up to get ready to go on the field, Gravesen pulled Baraja aside.
"In the competition later, if you get a chance, go ahead boldly. I'll be right behind you!"
Baraha was a little stunned when he heard it. Then he looked at the Danish strong man and found that he was serious and obviously not joking. He suddenly felt a sense of pride in his heart.
In the second half, especially after withstanding Deportivo La Coruña's first wave of attack, Atletico Madrid began to press forward again.
Gravesen kept signaling Baraja to press forward and support the midfield.
When the game reached the 58th minute, Baraha finally saw the opportunity and boldly moved forward.
Joaquin failed to make a breakthrough on the right side of the frontcourt and passed the ball back, which fell right into the feet of Baraja in the open space.
The Spanish midfielder stopped with his right foot, looked ahead, and found that Deportivo La Coruña's defensive formation had been set up and was tilted towards the right side.
Deco and Joaquin are both on this side.
Shift! Pull!
What Yang Hao emphasized during the halftime break came to Balaha's mind, and he immediately turned sideways and looked to the left.
It’s empty indeed!
Baraja doesn't actually play long passes very often; he prefers safe balls within 20 meters.
But this time, he saw the opportunity and made a long pass, transferring the ball from the right rib area to the left sideline.
Evra moved forward, chased the ball and stopped it steadily, but Victor Sanchez, who returned to defense in time, had also returned to his position, forcing the French winger to turn around immediately after stopping the ball, with his back to the direction of attack, to protect the ball.
Just when everyone thought that Evra had lost his chance to attack and was forced to pass the ball back, and Gravesen was about to run to the open space to receive the ball, the Frenchman suddenly pulled the ball and turned around while stumbling.
Victor Sanchez was like a wooden stake and was directly bypassed by Evra.
This sudden change caught everyone off guard.
Especially after Evra bypassed Victor Sanchez and cut inside diagonally, he immediately attracted De Jarminha and Mauro Silva. With Victor Sanchez chasing behind him, there were three players around him at once.
The Frenchman dribbled the ball expertly, and before the double team could form, he suddenly passed the ball diagonally back and continued to rush forward, muttering to himself: "I am a forward! I am a forward!"
After Evra took away the defender of Gravesen, a passage leading directly to striker Pandiani was revealed in front of him. He immediately seized the opportunity and passed the ball directly to the top of the penalty area.
Pandiani had his back to the goal, with Deportivo La Coruña's two central defenders behind him, but when he took a step back to stop the ball, he stopped a little too far and failed to control the ball in time.
"here!"
Deco appeared in a very good position at the critical moment.
Pandiani chased after him and passed the ball.
Deco stopped the ball to the left, avoided Jokanovic, and then made a diagonal pass.
This kick of the ball happened to be passed to the left side of the penalty area, and it also gave Evra enough lead time, allowing the Frenchman to sprint up and kick the ball into the penalty area. At the same time, he also used the inertia and speed advantage of the sprint to break through the blocking Donato.
Donato's reaction was quick, but due to his age, he was indeed not as fast as Evra. Even though he turned around and got close to him at the first moment, Evra still pushed him half a body length away.
In the penalty area, half a body length can be fatal.
After Evra caught up with the ball in the left corner of the small penalty area, he shot low with his left foot. The ball went in a straight line to the right side of the goal, hit the inside of the side net, and stopped inside the goal line of Deportivo La Coruña.
3 to 0!
The entire Calderon Stadium was boiling in an instant.
More than 50,000 Atletico Madrid fans were screaming wildly.
After Evra scored the goal, he turned around and ran back immediately. No matter who tried to stop him, he kept running and ran straight to the home team coaching bench on the sidelines and stood upright in front of Juanma Lillo.
“I’m a striker!”
Yang Hao was standing in the coaching area, and when he saw Juanma Lillo's embarrassed face, he almost burst out laughing.
Evra's reputation as a troublemaker is indeed well-deserved. He is so troublesome at the age of 19.
But, you have to say, that goal was really beautiful.
This kid is really kicking like crazy!
…
When the game reached the 65th minute, Irueta made a substitution, replacing Makaay with Tristan.
Tonight, the Dutchman was "taken care of" by Lucio and Pochettino, and he didn't get any chances, and he couldn't play his best role of scoring.
Yang Hao then replaced Vicente with Reyes.
After the warm-up match and observation during daily training, Yang Hao gained a deeper understanding of Vincent.
This Spanish winger actually has a big limitation, which is that he is better at crossing from the bottom. He is not used to going diagonally, so when Evra made a forward run just now, Vicente was still on the wing.
Of course, this is normal, Joaquin also likes to go down the right side.
This is the characteristic of traditional Spanish wingers.
On the contrary, Reyes is better than Vicente when it comes to playing diagonally.
Yang Hao now replaces Reyes because he actually wants to further observe the player.
Deportivo La Coruña is a rare opponent, especially in a Super Cup match. When they are leading 3-0, it is a rare opportunity to test their players.
"Did you notice? Balaha actually needs to be released. This kid plays football very steadily and is too honest." Yang Hao said.
Juanma Lillo was just angry with Evra. He knew it was Yang Hao's doing and felt a little resentful.
But since they were discussing serious matters, he had no choice but to answer.
"Wouldn't it be better to be honest?"
I'm too honest, that's why you took advantage of me.
Yang Hao knew it well and laughed, "You can't say it's bad. They each have their own advantages. It depends on how you use them."
Honest people play football in a steady manner and are not good at adapting, but they don't make mistakes easily; more cunning players know how to adapt to circumstances, but sometimes they tend to be too smart and mess things up.
"The lab's analysis report stated that Baraha's stable passing range is 20 meters. He's short, and while not particularly fast, he has excellent explosive power. His first rush is very threatening, and his judgment is sound. He's not suited to being left hanging."
"Gravesen is an atypical Nordic player. He's very aggressive in defense and looks ferocious, but he actually has solid skills. His organization and organization skills are even better than Baraja's. However, he's slow, his explosiveness is slow, and his movements are not flexible enough."
Yang Hao nodded, agreeing with Li Luo's analysis.
Gravesen is like a technical tough guy, but he is still a Nordic tough guy at heart. He has a fierce style and is good at power confrontation, but what comes with it is lack of flexibility, speed and explosive power.
This is actually a consistent characteristic of Nordic players.
While playing for Hamburg in the Bundesliga, he even played as a free man in the backcourt.
How to say it?
Gravesen is the type of midfielder that the Premier League likes very much, but his technical and organizational abilities in La Liga are only okay. Compared with Cambiasso and Xavi Alonso, he is much worse.
But neither Cambiasso nor Xabi Alonso has the strength to challenge Gravesen yet, especially the latter.
…
When Evra scored the third goal, the game was basically over.
Deportivo La Coruña tried hard to create goals, but Yang Hao always kept Gravesen and Baraja as double defensive midfielders, and Deco as attacking midfielder, and did not change the combination of the midfield iron triangle.
The purpose is to hope that the three of them can get more time to get along with each other.
Yang Hao later replaced Belletti with Aguilera, trying to let the Atletico captain play as a right-back, a position he had played before.
The last substitution was made by Kiko, who replaced Pandiani who scored a goal.
Ever since Yang Hao took over as coach of Atletico Madrid, Kico has not been valued. There are even various rumors outside that Kico has been banished to the cold palace by Yang Hao, and the two have had a conflict because of this.
Before Kiko came on the court this time, he stood with Yang Hao and used practical actions to clarify to everyone that there was no conflict between him and the head coach.
But it is also obvious that after Kiko came on the court, Atletico's threat in the frontcourt declined a lot.
It’s not that Kiko didn’t work hard, but no matter how hard he tried, he began to fall behind the team.
This is a very sad and cruel thing.
Especially at Atletico Madrid's Calderon Stadium, in front of more than 50,000 Atletico fans, Kiko clearly told everyone why Yang Hao didn't let him play.
Because there really wasn't much he could do.
The serious injury he suffered in Barcelona completely destroyed his form.
So much so that during the period after Kiko came on the pitch, Deportivo La Coruña got a chance to catch their breath and even organized several decent counterattacks.
Tristan is more versatile than Makaay, especially as a center forward, he has better skills and better ball-handling ability.
Yang Hao understood very well why Irureta sold Makaay in his previous life. It was not only because the transfer fee offered by Bayern was high enough, but also because Deportivo La Coruña already had a comprehensive center forward like Tristan.
In the end, with the referee's whistle and the cheers of more than 50,000 Atletico Madrid fans in the stadium, Atletico Madrid defeated Deportivo La Coruña 3-0 at home in the first round of the Spanish Super Cup.
In this battle, Yang Hao's team washed away the shame of being completely defeated by Super La Coruña at home last season, and also made everyone re-recognize Atletico Madrid.
Yang Hao even made a high-profile statement at the post-match press conference.
"Everyone thinks we have to avoid relegation this season, but I want to say here that our goal has never been to avoid relegation."
"This game is our best proof!"
