Commanding Legends - Chapter 9

The history of football tactics is like a tragic history of the waves behind constantly beating the waves in front.
The innovators of the past gradually became the mainstream and were replaced by a new round of innovators, which in turn promoted the development of football tactics.

At the turn of the century, many fans will remember the madness of the Bundesliga, Florentino’s Galacticos, Manchester United’s iron-blooded triple crown, and the afterglow of the Serie A World Cup.

But few fans will remember that there was once a less conspicuous small team that reached the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons.

Although they lost to the giants in the end and became the synonym of tragedy, this team is undoubtedly the most impressive in the past few years of the turn of the century, and it also plays the role of a tactical innovator in European football. This

team is from La Liga and is called Valencia.

Since the Italian head coach Ranieri coached Valencia, he brought the Italian defensive system framework to the team. The subsequent Argentine head coach Hector Cooper took over and made Valencia’s achievements further.

Many fans remember Cooper because of his coaching during the Inter Milan period, especially the feud between him and Ronaldo.

Conservative, stubborn, and unkind, this should be the stereotype of all fans about Cooper.

Even Gao Shen used to search for Cooper on the Internet, and there would always be a photo of a man with white hair, black frames, and an extremely stubborn look. This undoubtedly deepened the understanding of Cooper among later generations.

But in fact, whether he was coaching Real Mallorca or Valencia, Cooper was a veritable tactical innovator.

On the basis of Agnelli, he created a 442 midfield diamond position for Valencia, which greatly stimulated the tactical development of European football. Including Ferguson, they all followed Valencia’s diamond midfield.

Cooper’s style of play not only helped Valencia reach the Champions League final for two consecutive seasons, but also cultivated a group of outstanding stars, such as Gerard, Mendieta, etc.

He himself also relied on this set of ideas to win the favor of Inter Milan Chairman Moratti, which led to the later feud with Ronaldo.

So is Cooper’s tactical innovation just about adjusting the players’ positions? It
seems so to ordinary fans, but in fact, it is a revolution in tactical concepts. It represents that European football has officially moved from the original free man and man-to-man tactics to the concept of zone defense outlined by Sacchi.

The previous football tactics emphasized ball possession and people, but now a third element has been added, that is, space.

When in possession of the ball, how to widen the space as much as possible, mobilize the opponent’s defense, and create more gaps for offense; when in defense, how to compress the space as much as possible, maintain a tight defensive formation, and reduce the exposure of one’s own gaps.

Gerard, as a single defensive midfielder, grew up under Cooper’s system and was favored by Barcelona. He was introduced at a sky-high price, but he was lost in the confusion of Camp Nou.

Mendieta also transferred to Lazio later, and he was greatly uncomfortable, and his career plummeted.

This is definitely not a coincidence.

If Cooper has been leading the European tactical revolution during his coaching of Valencia, then his successor, Benítez, has taken this set of innovations a step further and promoted it to become a consensus throughout Europe and even the world.

4-2-3-1, double defensive midfielders, high-pressure pressing!

Benítez clearly saw that the single defensive midfielder in the 4-4-2 diamond position was not enough to protect the space of the two ribs of the back line. At that time, there were many wingers like Zidane and Nedved in European football, who had strong offensive capabilities against the ribs.

So he withdrew a striker and adopted a double defensive midfielder style. After Valencia sold Gerard, it introduced Baraja, and together with Albelda trained by the team, it just happened to form a set of the most classic double defensive midfielder combination in European football in the past decade for Benítez.

Four lines, the control of space has reached a new height, you can attack in front and defend in retreat. With this set of play, Benítez led Valencia to win the La Liga and led Liverpool to stage the Istanbul Miracle in the Champions League final.

Even next year, in 2007, Liverpool will reach the Champions League final.

It can be said that the 4-2-3-1 formation is very advanced at the moment.

Looking back at 2006, the 4-3-3 formation currently used by Chelsea coach Mourinho is very advanced, but it has very high requirements for players and is not suitable for most teams at all. Generally, only strong teams use it. However, the 4-2-3-1 formation is different. It is very universal.

At least, Real Madrid cannot play the 4-3-3 formation now.

Once upon a time, Real Madrid also wanted to adopt the double defensive midfielder formation.

Whether it was Florentino who introduced three defensive midfielders who performed very well in La Liga, such as Makelele, Flavio and Celades, or later famous players such as Gravesen and Pablo Garcia, it proved that Real Madrid was not blind to the trend. So why is Real Madrid’s defense still so bad?
The answer is simple: superstars.

Then the question is, why do superstars have such a big impact on Real Madrid’s tactics?
Is it just because the superstars do not actively participate in defense?

Yes, but no.

It is 2006 now, and the German World Cup is about to come.

I believe many fans will have a question, why Zidane performed so well in the World Cup in Germany, but not so well in Real Madrid?

Did he deliberately hold back his strength in the club? Whether he held back

his strength deliberately or not, I am afraid only Zidane himself knows, but Zidane plays completely different roles in Real Madrid and in the French national team.

In the World Cup in Germany, France adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Makelele and Vieira as the double defensive midfielders, and Zidane did not play on the left side of the front court, but as a front midfielder.

The 4-2-3-1 formation is very balanced, especially able to stimulate the role of the front midfielder. Zidane is like a fish in water in this tactical system, and he doesn’t even need to worry about defense at all, because there are two defensive midfielders behind him.

It can be said that in this set of playing style, Zidane’s strength is fully utilized.

Then can Real Madrid play?
Comparing the lineup of France in the World Cup, the forwards are Ronaldo and Henry, the left side is Raul and Malouda, and the right side is Robinho and Ribery. It seems that it is not incomparable, right?

Even in the defensive midfielder position, Gravesen is a famous Premier League player, Pablo Garcia is a famous La Liga player, and there is also a guest defensive midfielder who is a good long pass expert Beckham. It seems that it is possible to try.

So why doesn’t Real Madrid try?
The answer is simple, it’s still a superstar!

First of all, Ronaldo’s range of activities and personal ability are not as good as they used to be, and he can’t play the threat of Henry at all; secondly, Roberto Carlos loves to attack and is best at one-on-one on the wing, and everyone knows that if you want Carlos to play a threat, you have to leave space for him in the frontcourt.

Then the problem comes. When Carlos moves forward, the players on the left side of the front court will move back to the middle, which will occupy the range of the front midfielder. If it is just like this, it is nothing. The key is that if Carlos’s attack is not favorable after moving forward and the opponent counterattacks, it is difficult for Real Madrid’s defense to organize an effective defense system.

Because Real Madrid is still playing the old trick of zonal marking, defense emphasizes more on the individual performance of players rather than the team’s system operations, because Carlos can’t come back, and Ronaldo, Zidane and Robinho and other superstars are not actively returning to defense. If

one or two do not return to defense, the team can still make up for it, but if the front court players do not return to defense, how can they make up for it?
Therefore, in the past few years, Real Madrid’s defense can be said to be riddled with holes. Even if the defenders have been replaced one after another, and the midfielders have been bought one after another, the effect is still the same, and there is no effect at all. If

the defensive system does not change and the overall tactical concept does not change, it will be useless to change anyone.

…

Gao Shen is very clear about the problems Real Madrid is facing now.

Before crossing, he was a football fan. He only knew that the problem was with the superstars, but why were they superstars?

He didn’t understand.

Now, he understood a little, so he had to start to solve this problem.

He chose to read Benítez’s series of books, first of all about Benítez’s tactics and team formation, especially the improvements after taking over Valencia and the transformation after taking over Liverpool, which are very valuable to Gao Shen now.

When Gao Shen finished reading these two major cases in the library all night and chewed them over and over again, although there were still many places he didn’t understand, his overall tactical attainments had reached a new level, and he had a clearer view of Real Madrid’s current problems.

Real Madrid is sick, and it is terminally ill.

Such a situation can no longer be cured by taking medicine or injections, but requires a major surgery that breaks the bones.

Especially defense, it is necessary to innovate the entire defense system.

If the defense system is not innovated, it will be useless to introduce more superstars.

From Samuel to Woodgate, and then the World Footballer of the Year Cannavaro, they even hired the famous Italian coach Capello, who was known for his conservatism. This improved Real Madrid’s defense and won the league championship, but it was still not stable enough.

And Capello’s success in Real Madrid was precisely because he adopted a double defensive midfielder.

This is exactly what Gao Shen wants to do.

Real Madrid’s problem has never been in offense, but in defense.

In other words, how to better organize defense while ensuring offensive threats.

Real Madrid is not short of good players, like Gravesen, who is the core of Everton’s midfield. Many people think he is a reckless man. Yes, he looks very fierce, but in fact, he has many strong passing and organizational abilities.

Pablo Garcia is also a famous player in La Liga. The fact that he can be favored by Real Madrid is itself a proof of strength.

What Gao Shen needs to do now is to formulate a suitable set of tactics to integrate this group of players and form combat effectiveness.

Four-two-three-one is the tactic that Gao Shen wants. He believes that this is also the most suitable tactic for Real Madrid at the moment.

Although this will sacrifice some of the offensive power, it can be exchanged for a solid defense, which will make Real Madrid more competitive.

Moreover, since Gao Shen has decided to fight to the death with the superstars led by the Brazilian gang, the team’s offense will be affected anyway. Instead of this, it is better to actively weaken the offense and strengthen the defense.

After deciding on the tactics, the next step is to select the lineup.