r18novel Chapter 36 A Dull First Half
Chapter 36 A Dull First Half
With Ye Xian's constant encouragement, the Chinese team players played more smoothly.
In the 15th minute, the Chinese team had another chance near the edge of the penalty area.
Yang Chen and Wu Chengying combined on the left flank. After a one-two pass, Yang Chen received the ball and passed it across to Ma Mingyu.
With the defense in front of the penalty area drawn back by Su Maozhen, Ma Mingyu took the opportunity to dribble into the penalty area and create a one-on-one situation.
However, his right-footed shot was saved by the opposing goalkeeper Tony Silva, once again missing a scoring opportunity.
"I feel a bit unlucky today!" Milutinovic leaned out from the coaching bench, shaking his head and sighing.
"Hmm." Ye Xian nodded. "We were a bit unlucky, but their goalkeeper reacted very quickly this time."
Tony Silva comes from Monaco. Although he is not a top player, he is still very quick on the goal line.
"Although we have had many chances, Senegal seems to be playing more steadily than us right now!" Jin Zhiyang analyzed with a frown. "If they start to counterattack, we might suffer."
This is one of the most distinctive features of the 4-1-4-1 formation that Mechu used today.
Although there is only one defensive midfielder, there are three more defensively oriented players in front of Diaw.
It's like having four defensive midfielders protecting Fadiga on the left and striker Diouf on the right.
Today, the three midfielders fielded by the Chinese team, apart from Li Tie, include Ma Mingyu and Li Xiaopeng, who are actually more focused on organizing and attacking.
If it really came down to a bayonet fight, I really wouldn't be able to beat them.
"We can slow down a bit, pull back a little," Ye Xian nodded and said, "otherwise our physical strength will be strained."
The Chinese team has been attacking for almost 20 minutes since the start of the game, but they have yet to score.
Especially after Senegal adapted to the Chinese team's rhythm, they also began to organize effective attacks.
21 minutes.
After receiving the ball, striker Diouf feinted past Li Weifeng and crossed the ball, but Diop's header was tipped over the crossbar by Jiang Jin.
Jiang Jin can be considered the best goalkeeper in China during this era. Standing at nearly two meters tall, he is adept at dealing with aerial attacks.
However, Senegal's attack served as a wake-up call for the Chinese team.
The opponent is indeed very strong, and their attacks are simple and efficient.
It was simply because they couldn't keep up with the Chinese team's early attacking pace, which resulted in them not having enough energy to focus on offense.
Now that they've recovered, their abilities are on full display.
Especially Diouf, that guy won the African Footballer of the Year award for the past two years, no joke.
His move of getting past Li Weifeng showcased his skill and speed.
The pass that followed immediately after was also very precise!
Therefore, we need to be even more careful in the upcoming matches!
Chinese players have also realized this.
The Chinese team stepped back slightly, while Senegal moved forward a bit.
This advance and retreat brought the main battlefield back to the midfield.
Furthermore, since neither team possessed the same level of skill as Brazil or even Japan, they made more mistakes during the tackling.
A tug-of-war ensued between the two sides.
Overall, the Chinese team was more offensively oriented.
However, because defenders like Li Weifeng and Zhang Enhua don't actually have very good passing ability, the Chinese team often struggles to find comfortable attacking routes when they start moving forward from the midfield and backfield.
After about ten minutes, the Chinese team didn't have another decent shooting opportunity.
In contrast, Senegal, although they did not commit many players to the attacking third, executed each counter-attack very effectively.
"Should we have Ma Mingyu drop back to receive the ball from the backfield?" Milutinovic also saw the problem and offered his suggestion.
But Ye Xian shook his head: "While this can help the backfield pass the ball around, it will further reduce our pressing ability in the midfield and frontfield, allowing their full-backs to make more decisive runs into the attack."
In Ye Xian's view, the key to today's match is to exert pressure.
We can't let the Senegalese get too carried away, but we also can't give them too much space!
Otherwise, even the French team's defense, comprised of World Cup and European Championship winners like Lizarazu, Desailly, Leboeuf, and Thuram, couldn't withstand Diouf's onslaught, let alone the Chinese team.
"Then what should we do?" A hint of worry flashed in Milu's eyes.
"Keep kicking like that," Ye Xian replied simply.
The biggest problem with this national football team is, of course, that the individual players' abilities are relatively average.
In particular, their technical shortcomings have led to a lack of control in the midfield.
Li Tie and Li Xiaopeng need no introduction; they're lucky if they can even hold onto their positions.
Ma Mingyu has good skills, but he's not the kind of player who can act as a team's metronome.
Therefore, Ye Xian now requires the national football team players to play as a whole, using more running to make up for the problems their teammates encounter.
Therefore, although it may seem that the Chinese team only has three midfielders, Wu Chengying and Xu Yunlong will push forward to help, and the three forwards will often press and pressure the enemy. This will temporarily suppress Senegal's midfield and defense, making them busy defending and unable to focus on attacking.
"Let's play like this until halftime, then I'll bring Qu Bo on to make a run," Ye Xian explained. "You can think of it as a tactic to lull them into a false sense of security. When we suddenly speed things up, they might not be able to keep up."
Chi Shangbin also raised his own question: "Then what about the strong-side overload tactic you prepared before the game...?"
Ye Xian laughed, "Haven't you noticed? I've had them temporarily stop playing like this, to prepare for the second half. Qu Bo is much faster than Qi Hong, and his ball movement will catch them completely off guard!"
The coaches all nodded in agreement.
This Ye Xian, indeed, is not only good at tactical arrangements before the game.
What's even more valuable is that he can make quick adjustments based on the situation of the game.
Some coaches are good at strategizing but not at on-the-spot command; others are the opposite.
Ye Xian excels in both areas, truly living up to Milutinovic's praise—he is a rare genius!
……
Although the fans who stayed in the stadium for a long time maintained their high enthusiasm, cheers and songs could be heard all the time;
However, the current match is still somewhat soporific.
In fact, many neutral fans were actually falling asleep while watching. It was only because of the importance of the match that fans who supported China or Senegal were watching attentively!
From the 25th minute onwards, the game became a constant battle of tackles, interceptions, and fouls, with possession changing hands frequently, but exciting offensive plays were a rare sight.
This was perhaps the ugliest half of the match played by the Chinese team since they began participating in this World Cup.
With the referee's whistle, the fans actually breathed a sigh of relief.
We finally made it through!
Hopefully, both sides can pick themselves up and play better in the second half!
However, it is clear that the standards of fans and coaches are different.
When Ye Xian entered the Chinese team's locker room, the first thing he said was:
"You played exceptionally well in the first half, I'm very satisfied!"