N-A-A Chapter 24 Midfield Mixer
Chapter 24 Midfield Mixer
The match began with a whistle from referee Collina.
Just as Ye Xian predicted, the Japanese team adopted a possession-based style of play from the start.
The three midfielders with the best technical skills, Hidetoshi Nakata, Junichi Inamoto, and Shinji Ono, lined up in a row and firmly controlled the ball.
The two defensive midfielders, Kazuyuki Toda and Tomokazu Myojin, would occasionally step in to help out, but they wouldn't be too involved in forward passes.
Meanwhile, forwards Takayuki Suzuki and Atsushi Yanagisawa will take turns dropping back to receive the ball and then look for opportunities to advance forward.
In the back line, the central defender and captain, Miyamoto Tsuneyasu, basically only occasionally passed the ball around and did not push forward at all.
However, left center-back Naoki Matsuda and right center-back Koji Nakata will sometimes transform into full-backs and make forward runs, even seeking opportunities to cross from the byline.
This is pretty much the tactic that Troussier uses most often now.
According to him in an interview, he was inspired by his fellow countryman Arsène Wenger to use this formation.
He is actually quite familiar with Wenger, who, having coached in Japan, is also familiar with officials of the Japan Football Association.
In September 1998, it was through Wenger's introduction that Troussier became the head coach of the Japanese national team, Olympic team, and youth team.
During that period, Wenger primarily used a 3-5-2 formation at Arsenal. It wasn't until later, after acquiring players like Overmars, Petit, and Bergkamp, that he began to use a four-defender formation more often.
Troussier has become very proficient with the 3-5-2 formation in the Japanese team, so he is unlikely to change it easily.
His use of three technically gifted midfielders to strengthen control in midfield is consistent with Wenger's tactical philosophy.
In attack, the strategy is mainly based on ball control and short passes, using passing and running to create space, and finally making a direct run into the penalty area!
However, Japan's playing style seems to have encountered some trouble today.
Because their opponents, the Chinese team, took the initiative from the very beginning and started high pressing!
Yang Chen, Qu Bo, and Yu Genwei all rushed to grab the supplies.
Li Tie, Zhao Junzhe, and Yang Pu, on the other hand, constantly disrupted the game by running around aggressively!
This style of play is not common in this era.
Have you ever seen players like Romario, Ronaldo, or Baggio play high-pressing football? No, they never have.
By doing this, the Chinese team put the game at a high speed from the very beginning.
Once the ball moves faster and the intensity of tackling and physical confrontation increases, the Japanese team makes more mistakes in controlling the ball.
After all, this Japanese team is not known for its physical confrontations.
As Japan's passing and control in midfield became increasingly disjointed, China actually got its first shot on goal.
In the 8th minute, Li Tie tackled Nakata Hidetoshi to steal the ball from his feet, and then launched a long ball towards Yang Chen in the attacking third.
However, he didn't control his passing technique well, and after the ball spun rapidly in the air, it drifted to Qu Bo on the other side.
Qu Bo unleashed a powerful shot under pressure from Japanese defender Naoki Matsuda, but it was saved by goalkeeper Seigo Narasaki.
Seeing this, Troussier pinched his cheek.
He seemed to understand Ye Xian's intentions.
The Chinese team used three defensive midfielders, aiming to turn the midfield into a meat grinder!
This made the three technically gifted midfielders responsible for controlling the tempo of the ball very uncomfortable for the Japanese team.
In particular, Hidetoshi Nakata, the core player, was closely marked by Li Tie, which greatly limited his performance.
He prefers to control the pace of the game and then decide whether to speed up or slow down based on the situation on the field.
But now that his opponent has steered the game at a pace that doesn't suit him, Hidetoshi Nakata seems a bit lost.
Other Japanese players felt the same way.
Moreover, the Chinese team played very aggressively today.
Even if a player makes a mistake and the Japanese team steals the ball, the Chinese player closest to the ball, whoever it is, will immediately start to win it back!
At the same time, teammates from nearby areas will come up to assist.
They would often form groups of two or three to directly surround and harass the Japanese player with the ball, leaving him no time to see his teammates' positions and make a proper decision.
After Hidetoshi Nakata's dribble was dispossessed again, Troussier couldn't help but shake his head.
Under such intense pressing and pressure from the opponent, they couldn't even control their own game rhythm, let alone possession of the ball.
The Japanese team has surprisingly found itself in a passive position!
The game proceeded in a fragmented and disjointed manner, and 10 minutes quickly passed.
In those 10 minutes, the Japanese team didn't even manage a single decent shot on goal!
"This won't do..." Troussier glanced at the Chinese team again.
Milutinovic remained calm and composed, while Ye Xian stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, also looking confident.
"I knew their tactics were varied, but I didn't expect them to change them this drastically each time... Where did they learn this all-out pressing style of play?"
Troussier, of course, had no idea that this full-field pressing tactic would become very common in the future.
It is frequently used by both strong and weak teams.
Especially when a technically weaker team plays against a technically stronger team, they must play aggressively to disrupt the stronger team's rhythm and avoid being led by the nose.
The national football team at this stage had all undergone the grueling Haigeng physical fitness test, and their physical fitness was quite good.
Moreover, when Shanghai Shenhua dominated the Jia-A League in its early years, head coach Xu Genbao proposed the "pressing and surrounding" style of play, which is familiar to the national team players.
Ye Xian's use of this tactic with the national team today can be considered a case of adapting to local conditions!
Of course, the scrambling and encirclement tactics were relatively crude, focusing only on the primitive man-to-man scrambling and encirclement.
Modern football's high pressing is a complete tactical system involving specific roles such as forwards blocking the center-backs' passing lanes, midfielders cutting off passing lanes, wingers cutting inside to cover, and defenders moving forward as a whole.
It also includes sophisticated strategies such as layered pressing, blocking passing chains, and driving opponents to the strong side of the defense.
Of course, Ye Xian couldn't make the national football team learn and absorb all that knowledge in a short time; he could only get a rough outline.
But given that our opponents don't have such advanced tactical ideas these days, it's enough!
As long as the Chinese team can run hard and defend, and first make the Japanese team dizzy and disoriented, then the Chinese team can win from the chaos!
……
13 minutes.
Ono Shinji's pass to Inamoto Junichi was intercepted by Yang Pu, who then quickly passed the ball to the left wing.
Wu Chengying moved forward and received the ball, while Yu Genwei ran along the sideline towards him, seemingly to provide support.
The Japanese players thought the Chinese team was about to launch an attack down the left flank, so three of their players moved over there to prepare for defense.
But at this moment, Wu Chengying suddenly made a long diagonal pass, accurately sending the ball to the right flank of the attacking third.
Qu Bo received the ball and began to sprint, quickly advancing more than ten meters.
Japan's defense reacted quickly, with Miyamoto Tsuneyasu making a timely recovery and blocking the penalty area.
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, who is 25 years old this year, actually made his first appearance for the Japanese national team in 2000, but now he is the captain of the national team, which shows that he has a lot of leadership qualities.
In fact, he became the president of the Japan Football Association after retiring...
On the field, his strength lies in his quick recovery speed, so he plays as a sweeper.
However, he met his match at this moment, because Qu Bo was faster!
Qu Bo ignored everything else and suddenly accelerated.
Caught off guard, Miyamoto Tsuneyasu tried to reach out to pull Qu Bo back, but failed to grab her clothes.
Fortunately, Japan's other center-back, Tomokazu Myojin, had already covered the gap and was in position to defend.
He blocked Qu Bo's angle for advancing and shooting.
Qu Bo didn't hesitate much and immediately chose to cross with his right foot!
In front of the goal, Yang Chen in the middle immediately followed up and was about to make a sliding shot.
At the crucial moment, Narasaki Seigo made a decisive lunge, getting ahead of Yang Chen, and blocked the ball with a sideways movement.
The ball flew directly out of the penalty area, but the Chinese team's back row attack immediately followed.
Li Tie in midfield rushed up and unleashed a volley from the edge of the penalty area!
Then it flew straight into the stands, causing a gasp from the fans behind it.
Ye Xian sighed, rubbing his forehead, on the sidelines.
Okay, that's just my usual routine.
He can only be a midfield mixer, not an engine, much less a terminator.
If he can improve his attacking skills, he might actually be a starter in one of the top five European leagues...
However, aside from the shots, the Chinese team's attack was still very impressive.
In the opening moments, the Chinese team's goal was under constant threat, much to the delight of the Chinese fans at Miyagi Stadium.
They waved red national flags and sang songs supporting the Chinese team, all of them extremely excited.
"After the opening tip-off, the Chinese team's attack was very sharp, and the Japanese team seemed to be struggling to cope. Coach Zhang, what's your opinion?"
Following Huang Jianxiang's prompting, Zhang Lu also began his own analysis:
"Judging from these ten minutes of the game, our tactics can be said to be very successful. Through relentless running, we completely cut off the Japanese team's passing, and the Japanese team was obviously a bit stunned."
"The Chinese national football team players are really playing with passion against Japan!"
"As for that attack just now, the Chinese team was well-prepared. They first moved the Japanese defense to one side, then launched a surprise attack on the other side, and then created a shot on goal. It was really sharp."
"I believe this must have been a tactic guided by Ye Xian, not Milutinovic, because it is unlikely that Milutinovic had read Sun Tzu's Art of War or the Thirty-Six Stratagems."
Huang Jianxiang: "Huh? What do you mean?"
Zhang Lu: "Because this is clearly a feint...hehe..."