Chapter 189: The coaches of both sides fighting wits and courage
On May 26, 2018, at 8pm the day before the Champions League final, Liverpool and Real Madrid successively announced their 24-man rosters for the game.
As soon as Klopp received Real Madrid's squad, he immediately summoned the players to start the last tactical lesson before the game.
Since arriving at Jipu on the 20th, Klopp has been preparing for the game in a closed manner at the rented training ground. He has been busy formulating various tactical response plans and then arranging players to conduct targeted drills.
To be honest, Klopp didn't have much confidence in this game because he couldn't guess Zidane's formation.
The biggest characteristic of Zidane as a head coach is that he has no characteristics.
What's great about him is that he can play any tactic and play well, and he is very difficult to deal with.
Therefore, Klopp can only analyze the tactical strategies he may adopt based on Zidane's tactics in the previous two Champions League finals.
As night falls, the stars shine brightly, and the green lawn shines with green light under the illumination of six super-powerful incandescent lamps on the sidelines, making the entire stadium as bright as day.
In the middle circle, more than 20 people including Mo Yang, Van Dijk, and Salah sat in a circle.
Klopp was in the middle, with a tactical board standing next to him, and he was slobbering over all the targeted tactics and strategies that had been practiced during this period for Moyang and the others.
Klopp looked confident and said with a smile: "In fact, as Real Madrid's super core midfielder Modric has gotten older in the past two years, their midfield control has also been slowly declining."
"So I think Zidane will most likely choose one of the three formations 442, 433, and 4312 in this game."
"442, if Real Madrid adopts this formation, the biggest advantage is that the setting of two full-backs can more effectively protect the gaps in the ribs. On the offensive end, the two full-backs can also widen the offensive width to facilitate crosses."
"But the shortcomings of this formation are also very obvious, that is, this formation has very high requirements for the two midfielders.
"With the limited horizontal coverage area of the two full-backs, these two parallel midfielders are not only responsible for the organizational connection on the offensive end, but also need to be responsible for protecting the front edge of the penalty area during defense."
"This will undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on the aging Real Madrid midfielder."
"Although the 33-year-old Modric's performance this season has been outstanding, the decline in his physical function is also very obvious."
"This season, the Croatian has been unable to cope with the situation many times in the game. His physical fitness can no longer sustain such high-intensity repeated running and play such high-intensity tactics."
"So Zidane is likely to give up this 442 formation, because it is impossible for him to put Modric on the bench." Klopp said confidently, looking full of confidence in his smile.
After a series of words, Klopp fell silent and allowed the players to digest their thoughts. At the same time, he turned around and rearranged his troops on the tactical board.
Four or five minutes later, Klopp continued to speak, saying: "This is Real Madrid's classic 433 formation. This lineup made Real Madrid achieve great success last season. Modric and Kroos successfully connected the entire Real Madrid team.
team."
"Both the promotion and support, as well as the rhythm control, he did a great job! And Casemiro in the midfielder position balanced the overall offense and defense of the entire team very well."
"But I'm sorry, the biggest advantage of Real Madrid's tactics is also the biggest flaw. Even Real Madrid's luxurious midfield lineup cannot be effective against the back line when the two full-backs often come in.
protective effect.”
"Head! I personally think Real Madrid will most likely adopt the 4312 lineup!" As soon as Klopp finished speaking, Mo Yang raised his hand to speak.
Klopp grinned, looking curious, and said: "Give us a convincing reason."
Salah, Henderson and others also collectively cast curious glances at Mo Yang.
Mo Yang pursed his lips, organized his words in his mind, and said: "The formation Real Madrid uses the most this season is 4312."
"This lineup is strong in the protection and organizational connection of the center and the top of the key. Under this tactical system, Yinske, as a free man in the frontcourt, has a very wide range of activities."
"He is mainly responsible for the organizational connection between the midfield and the frontcourt, providing support for Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema. Sometimes when the ball is restricted from the backcourt, he often drops back to get the ball to help the team out of trouble."
"The most important thing is that the two full-backs will frequently step in and participate in the attack in order to make up for the team's offensive width."
"In this way, under this system, Modric and Kroos do not need to press too high, which can not only save physical energy, but also intercept the ball as soon as the ball is lost, giving the two wingers cards
Vajar and Marcelo buy time to return to defense."
"So I think this is the most suitable lineup for Real Madrid so far. It can not only make up for the shortcomings of the midfield, but also maintain strong offensive strength!" Mo Yang said with a smile, finishing his speech.
"Bah, bang, bang, bang..." After Mo Yang finished speaking, Klopp grinned and took the lead in applauding, and Mo Yang said everything he wanted to say.
Mo Yang can analyze Real Madrid's tactical strategy on his own, which is not surprising to Klopp, because this is one of Mo Yang's talents. He is a player who can move and is good at using his brain to play football.
Klopp feels that if Mo Yang retires in the future, he may also be an excellent head coach because this kid has this quality.
Historically, the most likely candidates for famous coaches in football are players in the midfield and backfield positions.
Since the beginning of their careers, they have been accustomed to thinking about the overall situation, unlike forward players who are accustomed to just staring at the opponent's penalty area.
Of course, this is not absolute. But generally speaking, the head coaches who come out of the midfield and backfield positions are better.
For example, Maradona was a legendary star of his generation, but after becoming a head coach, he seemed to be very obsessed with building a gorgeous offensive line in the frontcourt, causing Argentina's offense to be like when he was young.
Burst, burst, burst! Except burst, it seems that burst can solve all problems, leading to an imbalance in the team's offense and defense. This is a typical example of a talented player with incredible intelligence, but can't teach ordinary people.
At the same time, in the luxury hotel where Real Madrid stayed, Zidane continued to change the tactics for tomorrow's game in the room.
The tactical board on the IPAD in Zidane's hand is exactly the 4312 lineup.
Zidane was as worried as Klopp about this game.
He considered various tactics, but in the end he rejected them all.
Because Liverpool is too difficult to deal with.
Liverpool, with that little monster, has every possibility in attack, and its control over the midfield is unmatched by other wealthy teams.
So after much deliberation, he finally felt that it would be safer to choose a more conservative and balanced 4312 tactical system that focuses on ball control and stability.
Zidane has played in the Champions League finals for several consecutive years. He knows very well that this kind of super-level and super-intensity duel requires not speed, but stability. Whoever can stabilize the position and be more able to withstand loneliness is likely to win.
The ultimate victory.
As for why it is necessary to focus on possession of the ball, Zidane is making up for the natural flaw of the 4312 formation's insufficient protection of the rib area.
If this flaw is not covered, then the little monster in Liverpool may use various through balls to allow Salah and others to directly challenge their defense line. There may even be one-on-one goals that beat their defense line into pieces.
funnel.
More than two hours later, Zidane came out of the room with a tablet and called assistant coach David Bettoni, asking him to summon the players to the conference room to deploy the final tactical strategy for the last adjustment.
