All Football Talents Are Mine Chapter 175

175. El Clásico (5)

The second tactic that Woo Ho-young has prepared.

Kick & Rush.

It was established in England and refers to a tactic of delivering a long ball to the front line at once.

Some people criticized it as ‘bullshit soccer’, ‘bullgland’, or ‘lotto soccer’, but this was also a tactic that could not be carried out without proper support from team members.

The midfield line must have a player who can ensure accurate ball distribution, and the front line must have a target striker with the strength and height to receive it.

In particular, it has been used by many strong teams since 2014 because it is a tactic that can attack ‘Tiki Taka’.

So that was the second tactic I prepared.

But there is also a timing when this works well.

Right in the second half.

‘Now is the right time.’

Hoyoung broadened his perspective and examined the situation.

The activity of left and right fullbacks Daniel Alves and Eric Abidal, who were out of stamina, was significantly reduced.

Moreover, central defenders Carles Puyol and Rafael Marquez were spaced wide apart to fill the gap between the fullbacks.

Therefore, Busquets, who was in charge of the third line, had to bear more burden, and the number of passes by Xavi and Iniesta began to decrease.

That was Barcelona’s current weakness.

Real Madrid had to take advantage of that.

[For the first time in a while, Real Madrid gets the ball.]

[Roben goes up to the halfway line and receives Zidane’s forward pass. And then Argent Robben gives it to Zidane again.]

[The players are escaping Barcelona’s pressure by running a little more with each other.]

When they were tactically inferior, Carlos and Robben dropped to the back five and played extreme defense.

Carlos’ stamina and Robben’s defense were increasingly problematic, but the team overcame the crisis by using the offside trap appropriately.

Hoyoung’s participation in defense was also of great help.

His tackling and pass blocking skills weren’t that great, but he had the talent he learned from Cannavaro.

Ability to select defensive positions.

Hoyoung was occupying an important position, but every time Henry made a diagonal infiltration, he stuck to him and wasted time.

[Woo Ho-young blocks Henry’s breakthrough with his body. Cannavaro comes over and cuts the ball off.]

[Looking at things like that, it looks like he has a talent for defense as well. I know where to stand to make it easier to defend. He is truly a mysterious player.]

[That’s right. It remains to be seen whether Real Madrid will be able to stop Barcelona’s 12th consecutive win today, but it has been proven that it was not a vain wish. If things continue like this, I really don’t know who will win.]

And 74 minutes into the second half.

Schuster pulled out a second weapon.

[OUT 3. Roberto Carlos]

[IN 12. Marcelo]

Substitution.

Marcelo was brought in to replace Carlos.

Moreover, it did not end there.

[Coach Schuster replaces two players at the same time. After Carlos, Raul leaves and Gago comes in.]

[They are already playing an extreme defense, but they are strengthening the defense even more.]

[The goal is to equalize without allowing any more goals. Schuster’s determination to take home one point today is visible.]

Adding Gago out of Raul clearly meant strengthening the defense.

however.

[Huh?]

[Real Madrid’s player formation… changes. It is also changing a lot.]

A change in formation that no one could have predicted.

The second operation, which had been hidden like a snake shedding its skin, was being revealed.

Many spectators, including the commentators, could not hide their surprise.

A gloomy atmosphere once again lingered in the stadium.

[Argen Robben, who was playing on the right wing, moves to the left winger position this time. Zidane is on the right flank. And Gago and Diarra fill the center with double volanches.]

As a result, a flat midfield consisting of Robben, Diarra, Gago, and Zidane was formed.

[This is a very typical line where Diara takes care of cleaning and Gago is responsible for distributing balls. However, I am curious about Schuster’s thoughts on loosening the extreme defense and establishing a 4-4-2 formation. And that too against Barcelona’s 3-4-3.]

Guardiola, who was looking at the situation in the stadium, furrowed his brow.

Whether he was asleep or awake, he only thought about soccer, but it was not easy to understand Schuster’s thoughts right away.

‘I think they’re trying to do cross-play.’

The commentators also had the same thought.

[It is understood that the reason Robben moved to the left is because he wants to play cross. Because the main foot is the left foot.]

[Moving Zidane to the right is in the same context?]

[That’s right. It appears that the intention is to aim for Van Nistelrooy’s air superiority. That may be the reason why Ho-young Woo was moved from midfield to the front line.] With

Ho-young Woo moving up to the front line and forming a two-top line with Van Nistelrooy, Real Madrid had a flat 4-4-2 structure.

[My guess is that they are trying to take advantage of the fact that Carles Puyol, who is in charge of Barcelona’s defense, is not strong at aerial balls. Moreover, Rafael Marquez is also short for a central defender. I think this is a move to take advantage of Barcelona’s weakness in aerial balls.]

This season, Barcelona only conceded 7 goals in the league, and 3 of them were goals from the head.

He gave up 2 goals with a headed goal to Athletic Bilbao’s target striker Fernando Llorente and 1 goal to AT Madrid’s Raul Garcia.

‘I guess that’s what Real Madrid is aiming for.’

Guardiola was not the type to sit back and suffer.

He requested a player replacement without any hesitation.

[OUT 4. Rafael Marquez]

[IN 3. Gerard Pique]

A pride that Barcelona has developed.

Gerard Pique.

It was the moment when the young, talented 21-year-old central defender stood on the El Clásico stage for the first time in his life.

‘I’m finally standing here.’

Pique was thrilled as he entered the field.

I don’t know how many twists and turns I went through before this moment came.

He had a complicated story.

A few years ago, as his maternal grandfather, a former vice-president of Barcelona, was involved in a political incident, Pique was called by Ferguson and went to Manchester United.

The cakes and fish I could buy at the Manchester store in England were the worst, but that time helped Pique grow to the next level.

And this year.

He returned to Barcelona and performed well, and today he achieved his dream of playing in El Clásico.

‘It’s clear they’re going to play air superiority with crosses from both sides.’

It was Pique who learned a lot from Manchester United manager Ferguson.

Moreover, based on his solid physique of 194 centimeters, his air superiority ability was outstanding even within the team.

The opportunity to put it into action came not long after that.

Cough!

[Zidane launches the ball inside the box!]

[Van Nistelrooy attempts to compete with Pique for the ball! He manages to get a header, but unfortunately it goes over the goal.]

[As expected, Real Madrid is attempting a cross-oriented play. However, Pique’s resistance appears to be formidable.]

The same play was repeated after that.

Zidane and Robben crossed into the box whenever the opportunity arose, and Puyol and Pique continued to block.

[Real Madrid has brought out a new weapon, but they are not using it to their full potential.]

[Coach Schuster seems to have overlooked Guardiola too much. Pep is a perfectionist who prepares for everything he sees, right?]

As he said, if you look at it up to this point, it seemed like a failed tactic.

However, the thoughts of the parties were completely different.

‘Good.’ ‘You just have to keep going like this.’

Hoyoung, who was loitering on the front lines, had an unusual look in his eyes.

As his body movements became more flexible, his eyes became brighter.

“after-.”

I let out a heavy breath and got ready to move.

In an instant, the atmosphere on the pitch calmed down, and the players’ strange looks flowed through the air.

Zidane’s gaze from far away was telling.

-Chanda run.

It was a sure sign.

It wasn’t long after that that Real Madrid brought out their real weapon.

[Zidane and Gago are building up in the midfield.]

[As the cross play from the side continues to fail, it looks like they are trying to take a step back.]

[At the moment you mentioned, Zidane connects a long pass in one go. It goes over the head of the defense! I’m going to take a surprise look at the back space! Woo Ho-young was the first to run out!]

The scene turned into a crucible of excitement.

The commentators were busy shouting passionately at Woo Ho-young’s running speed.

The crowd booed, but Hoyoung paid no attention and was inspired to run even faster.

This is the real weapon prepared by Real Madrid.

All of the crosses so far were just smokescreen operations, but the reality was different.

The completion of kick and rush is rush, not kick.

The true essence of the tactic is not a cross toward the inside of the box, but a long ball pass that unexpectedly penetrates into the space behind the defense.

[Long pass to the space behind the defense! Woo Ho-young runs to receive the ball!]

Ho-young broke the four-back line and penetrated into the space behind the defense to occupy the position in advance.

It was immediately after that that Pique caught up and the ball competition began.

“Whoa.”

Pique focused all his attention on his head.

There was a training session with Guardiola that made my forehead wear out during practice.

Pep said this while keeping in mind the possibility of Woo Ho-young being used as a striker.

-If the gap between central defenders widens, the opponent is more likely to make a cross play. They are a team with the potential to do so. The most important thing here is to accurately judge whether Pique can win the aerial duel. If you think you can’t win, try to keep your opponent in check by jumping lower than them. If you can’t get the header, you have to interfere with the header and quickly check the next situation. If not, then boldly jump into the ball race.

Pique was a whopping 11 centimeters taller than Woo Ho-young.

Moreover, since he had good jumping ability, I thought he would definitely win the aerial contest.

With that confidence, I jumped up as hard as I could.

And as expected, it was Pique who jumped even higher.

But not everything went as hoped.

“…!”

Surprisingly, Hoyoung did not jump with all his might.

Instead, he challenged Pique with his solid body.

It was very easy to make an opponent lose their balance after jumping with all their might.

“Keck!”

Before he could get the header, Pique lost his balance and fell to the ground.

I tried to look aggrieved, but the game didn’t stop.