Chapter 518: Last Stand

In the locker room of the visiting team at the Bernabéu Stadium, Diego Simeone leaned back on the gate, listening to the heavy breathing of the players in the locker room, silent.
But his frowning look made everyone know that he was thinking about a very important thing.
Boggs walked out of the coach’s rest area, holding an iPad in his hand, glanced at Ortega, who nodded.
"This is our first half of statistics and preliminary analysis results!"
Boggs came to Simeone's side, handed out the ipad in his hand, and the latter took it.
I saw Simeone flicking left and right on the ipad screen casually, his eyebrows wrinkled tighter and deeper.
Ortega also came over and stood opposite Simeone and Boggs. "The current situation of the team is not optimistic. My preliminary estimate is that the physical fitness can only be maintained for about another twenty minutes at most."
"The second half?" Boggs was a little surprised.
This half of the game lasted forty-five minutes. If the extra time was added, fifty minutes would not be run away.
Atletico Madrid players can only maintain their physical fitness for 20 minutes. That is to say, after 20 minutes, the tactical execution of the Army will be greatly reduced. Then how can they fight Real Madrid?
Ortega nodded, "I said earlier that our current set of tactics is very physical and requires a lot of bench thickness. If it weren't for this summer, we had recruited a group of high-level players. I'm afraid we are all down now."
Diego Simeone was clearly prepared for this.
As the saying goes, this tactical style of Atletico Madrid seems to be strong, but in fact there are many problems.
To put it simply, Atletico Madrid's tactics come from a combination of Simeone's tactics against several strong European teams.
For example, is the high-intensity pressing and oppression of the Sheet Army look like the Hornet Dortmund?
However, if you study carefully, it is not difficult to find that Atletico Madrid's pressing and oppression are not only like Dortmund, but also Barcelona, ​​or Southampton in the Premier League.
The high-intensity and fast-paced pressing and oppressive tactics of these teams are all born out of Bielsa's philosophy, with only one purpose, and that is to grab the ball in the shortest time.
But after grabbing the ball, each team handled it completely differently.
Barcelona has combined its own characteristics. After grabbing the ball, it slowed down the rhythm for the first time, directly transferred to the ball, and integrated the game into its favorite rhythm. Through the slow control of the ball, the opponent's patience.
The advantage of this is that the player's consumption is small, but the player's ball control ability is very demanding.
Southampton, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund are the opposite of Barcelona. They grab the ball quickly, and the speed does not decrease after grabbing the ball. Instead, they initiate a counterattack at the first time, and other players quickly catch up to form the second echelon of offense.
Because of the lack of good players!
The advantage of this is that it is easy to obtain the advantage of the scene in a short time.
For example, Southampton, even in the League of Nations, when encountering a Premier League team, they will not matter if they are three or seven and twenty-one, they will be crazy with you as soon as they come up, and even beat you directly.
But the disadvantage is also quite fatal, that is physical consumption!
When a game is always carried out in a fast-paced state, the physical consumption of the players on both sides will reach a very alarming level. It is impossible for the players to maintain their physical fitness for ninety minutes, and it is impossible to last for a season.
Therefore, the opponent quickly found the weakness, that is, let you grab it. I will wait until your physical energy is almost exhausted, and then I will you!
Bielsa has his own unique set of ideas for adjusting offense and defense. Southampton has done quite well on offense and defense, and is the predecessor that Simeone and others look up to.
But even so, Bielsa still had to improve the tactical concept.
For example, the introduction of Tony Cross, the introduction of Modric.
The reason is simple, because Bielsa found that you can't keep a fast pace for ninety minutes, and it's even more unlikely that you can play dozens of games in a season. Even if your players are iron men, you can't stand it.
Therefore, proper control is required!
Southampton is rich in wealth and wants to control it, and immediately introduces Tony Cross and Modric with a lot of money.
Therefore, from last season to this season, Bielsa has been trying to maintain this fast, impactful and aggressive style of play, properly incorporating the element of possession.
This is an attempt by Bielsa!
In the professional coaching circle, many people feel that Southampton's poor performance at the beginning of the season is the running-in problem caused by Modric's new recruit and the integration of this team.
Now that Southampton has passed the break-in period, the problem is solved!
The same is true for Dortmund. Klopp has been trying to focus on technical midfielders to improve the control of Dortmund's midfielders, from Sahin, Shinji Kagawa to Gundogan.
However, due to the team's finances, Dortmund was ultimately unable to keep these players.
Atletico Madrid encountered these problems as early as last season and even suffered a big loss.
Simeone once reused the Portuguese midfielder Thiago, but he was too easy to get injured, and in many games, Atletico Madrid's performance was not ideal, so with Thiago's transfer, this attempt was temporarily put down. Up.
But now, this question is again in front of Simeone.
The bench lineup is enough, how long can it last?
Continue to play like this, continue to consume so much, can Atletico Madrid last the first half of the season, can it last until the second half of the season?
Such an anticlimactic, can you achieve good results?
Ortega and Boggs both noticed Simeone's look, and both knew how difficult it was.
Just kidding, even Klopp, a coach who has been famous for many years in Europe, has not found an effective solution. Who dares to say that he can find a way out in a short time?
"Don't think too much, Diego, the most important thing now is the game!"
Ortega's words reminded Diego Simeone.
The latter exhaled heavily, nodded at his colleagues, and walked directly to the player's rest area.
All signs now show that he has no choice or retreat.
It can only be a last resort!
"Well, everyone, come here and listen to me!"
When Simeone stood among the players in the locker room, everyone suddenly looked over.
"We did a good job in the first half. The one-to-one draw is reasonable, but I think we are far from good enough!"
Simeone rarely blames players at halftime in order to concede a goal, and this is true now.
But as long as the players think about the one-to-one score, and then think about the arrangement of the head coach before the game, they can't help but feel a little ashamed.
If there was no loss, it should be one to zero now, and Atletico Madrid would have played much better in the second half.
Simeone didn't give the players too much time to think, and said his thoughts straightforwardly.
"I want to settle the fight within fifteen minutes before the second half!"
When all the players heard this, they suddenly raised their heads and looked at the coach.
Diego Simeone's face was determined and cruel at this time!
"From the situation in the first half, Real Madrid basically did not participate in the defense in the frontcourt, and the distance from the center and backcourt was a bit larger, which created opportunities for us!"
The only goal that Di Maria retreated to the midfield to receive the ball from the right was a mistake by Atletico Madrid itself. Besides, Real Madrid did not have many good opportunities.
"At the beginning of the second half, we continued to use the tactics of the first half defensively, and continued to press and press at high positions, especially in the midfield. I want to suppress Harvey Alonso on the back line!"
Having said that, Simeone looked at Mandzukic, "Mario, take care of Harvey Alonso in the second half!"
Mandzukic smiled and nodded: "Understood!"
"Once we suppress this point of Xavi Alonso, and at the same time launch a press in the frontcourt, then the entire backcourt of Real Madrid will be completely out of touch with the frontcourt. This is our chance!"
When arranging tactics before the game, Simeone mentioned the biggest weakness of Real Madrid's defensive system.
That's the midfielder!
Harvey Alonso lacks the ability to get rid of. As a midfielder, his first task is to protect the line of defense. Therefore, once he is oppressed, he retreats very deeply, and even often equals with the double central defenders and dare not move forward.
In this way, once the ball enters the 30-meter area of ​​Real Madrid, it is actually a direct attack on the penalty area.
There are still people in Real Madrid's front court?
Those people are all uncles!
Di Maria is very active defensively, but the effect is mediocre.
Özil's defense depends on his mood. More consideration is to hug Cristiano Ronaldo's thick thigh, and think about how to better assist the Portuguese. It is serious. Defense has little to do with him.
Mourinho's tactics are also arranged in this way, so Khedira is very critical!
In other words, Khedira must cover the area of ​​Ozil and Di Maria, as well as his own three.
Why does everyone say that Khedira likes forward?
In many cases, he followed Özil up the front!
Therefore, as long as the ball is used to attack Real Madrid's defense line, Atletico Madrid has more opportunities!
As for whether you can be sure, who knows?
"This is our tactic after the start of the second half, but if we score a goal and Real Madrid start a crazy counterattack, or if we play for 15 minutes in the second half and we haven't been able to create a threat, then we will change our tactics!"
Everyone looked at the head coach attentively and listened to his arrangements.
"The second tactic, we retreat, intensively defend, and attract Real Madrid attackers to the front of our penalty area."
Simeone obviously conducted a very in-depth and meticulous study of Real Madrid, and he was very confident and honest.
"Once Real Madrid's frontcourt attack is overwhelmed, Özil and Di Maria will definitely also come, and Khedira will follow, and at that time, Xavi Alonso will also come!"
Having said that, Simeone clapped his hands vigorously.
"As soon as Harvey Alonso comes up, the single defensive midfielder will be out of touch with the back line. After we get the ball, we move to the side as soon as possible and launch a counterattack from two ribs!"
Having said that, Simeone looked at Tevez and Diego Costa, "It's up to you then!"
Both attackers had expressions eager to try.
"Don't worry, head, we will suffer for Real Madrid!"
"Damn Coentron, he said that I stole his little Tintin, and it's only blame for him if I didn't kill him!"
Diego Costa's words, UU reading www. uukanshu.com suddenly made everyone in the locker room burst into laughter.
"Well, I'll just say so much!"
Simeone checked the time and it was almost time to return to the court.
"This game, everyone in our club and our fans have high hopes!"
The players in the locker room nodded.
"The boss is sitting in the stands. He is watching us play. Our fans are outside the stadium. They are looking forward to celebrating the team's chance to win in the sacred hall of their rivals!"
"For us, this is an indisputable game!"
"Only win, not lose!"
"it is good!"
The players responded in unison!
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