Chapter 67 The final will be staged ahead of schedule?

Chapter 67 The final will be staged ahead of schedule?

Chapter 67 The final will be staged ahead of schedule?

"Harry Kane continued his hot scoring form in the group stage and helped England score their first goal in the knockout stage!

The England striker has left all his competitors behind in the race for the World Cup Golden Boot and he is making great strides! "

"Incredible goal! We can feel that Kane is very confident and calm now. After experiencing a personal low point last season, the Premier League killer Harry Kane has returned perfectly!"

"Lee's tactical adjustment allowed Kane to finally focus all his energy on scoring goals, and with Kane at full power, England finally showed their offensive talent to the world in this World Cup.

This is the England national team that the English media promotes, not just in imagination. Dear viewers, the England team we see now represents youth, unity and talent! ”

"Senegal needs to make tactical adjustments as soon as possible. They can no longer follow the pace of England's game. They need to speed up as much as possible."

At this moment, commentators from various countries either praised Kane's hot goal-scoring form or worried about Senegal.

Regardless of their selfish motives or stance, they will not deny that England has taken the absolute initiative to advance in this knockout match.

A one-goal lead does not reflect England's suppression of Senegal.

Even if they don’t know much about football, there are some online fans who just watch the World Cup with their friends.

It can be seen from now on that Senegal is completely following the rhythm of England's game.

They were not determined to do their best to disrupt England's tactical deployment right from the start.

It seems that he wants to change the rhythm as the game progresses, but he is just thinking too much.

In Li Chen's opinion, Senegal head coach Cisse did not do a good job of assessing England's strength.

If he were the head coach of Senegal, he would definitely use the physical advantages of his players to achieve the most balanced game situation possible.

Fighting in formation is definitely not a good idea.

What is Senegal's midfield configuration?

The essence of positional warfare is to test the overall strength of the midfield. If you can't compete with the offensive and defensive capabilities of the midfield, then can't you just passively take the beating?

Not to mention that Senegal is also missing its offensive leader Mane.

Therefore, the best solution at the tactical level is to drag England into a chaotic battle and wrestle them into the mud.

Only when the overall competition between the two teams is pulled from the level of technical ability to the level of confrontation and fighting, can Senegal effectively break the deadlock.

They may not be able to score before England, but in the chaos, they will definitely make England uncomfortable, and doing this is half the battle.

Li Chen had made plans in advance. If Cisse had prepared to this level, he would have replaced Ward-Prowse and Longstaff in the second half of the game.

On the one hand, we need to strengthen the midfield's coverage and confrontation capabilities, and on the other hand, we need to strengthen the ability to take set-piece penalties.

In a chaotic battle, the midfield must be tough and must seize the threat of set pieces in the frontcourt.

But now it seems that he no longer needs to make tactical arrangements for this step.

Cisse had never thought of this step. He really overestimated his opponent...

"Let Foden hold the ball more on the left. Senegal will most likely limit Saka's performance next time. We still need to increase our attempts to break through the Senegal penalty area. It would be even better if we can get a penalty."

Li Chen habitually touched his chin and said to Carrick.

The penalties for fouls in this World Cup are extremely strict.

Many confrontational actions that would probably not be called in the Premier League would most likely be defined as fouls in the World Cup.

England, which mainly plays offensive football, has also benefited a lot from this.

But I don’t know if it was because they were too harsh in the first group match and played Iran too badly, so that the referee team felt that it was too easy for England to score.

England scored many goals with full firepower and invaded the opponent's penalty area quite a lot of times, but the probability of getting a penalty was not in line with Li Chen's expectations.

He now has no evidence to prove that the referee team has any special "favors" for England, so he can only try to attack the opponent's penalty area more often and hope that the referee on duty can make judgments based on the same standards.

After receiving tactical instructions from the coaching staff, Foden took over the main attack with full confidence, taking turns with Luke Shaw on the left to attack the opponent's defense line.

This time Li Chen let him kick freely, so as soon as he had the opportunity to break through, Foden would boldly kick the ball.

It seems like a waste of firing rights, but on the tactical level, Foden completed the task assigned to him by Li Chen very well - playing aggressive offense and greatly attracting the opponent's defensive attention.

Foden, who has achieved double-digit personal data for two consecutive seasons in Manchester City, is worthy of the title of Manchester City's Prince.

If you dare to give him the tactical position of offensive core, he will dare to take it, and most of the time he can really achieve the corresponding effect.

At least for a moment, he successfully became the new thorn in the side of the Senegalese defenders.

As the opponent's pressure and defense became more and more obvious, Foden's tactical arrangements for Li Chen became clearer and clearer in his mind.

In the 38th minute of the first half, Foden failed to break through the opponent head-on and had to take the ball to the wing, where he was about to fall into the double-team trap of Senegal.

But his subsequent lob pass and Luke Shaw's successful offside run formed a nearly perfect pass-run combination!
All the Senegalese defenders now realized that they were being tricked!

But facing Luke Shaw who had already entered the penalty area with the ball, Koulibaly had no choice but to rush forward to steal the ball.

The core of Senegal's defense was still quite calm. His seemingly fierce moves meant he was actually ready to retract his feet at any time.

It seems that he just wants to put pressure on Luke Shaw and force him to pass the ball early.

But Luke Shaw, who was in great form today, was not afraid of Koulibaly's interception. He very boldly chose to dunk and cut inside!
The moment he was slipped away, Koulibaly cried out in his heart that something was wrong.

However, his second defensive reaction was still quick. Seeing his teammates coming up to fill in the position, he quickly returned to block Kane's route to receive the ball.

The next second, Koulibaly regretted why he didn't continue to defend Luke Shaw closely.

His central defender partner Diallo's reaction speed is not as fast as his.

Luke Shaw continued to dribble the ball inside, but just a slight change in the rhythm of his dribbling hooked him out for an interception.

But his reaction speed was a whole beat slower than Luke Shaw!
Luke Shaw had already dribbled the ball out when he stretched out his intercepting leg, which ended up tripping Luke Shaw directly into the penalty area!
Seeing this scene, Li Chen raised his hands high and shouted to the referee that the opponent's central defender had committed a foul in the penalty area!
However, the 31-year-old young referee Ivan Barton from El Salvador did not make a penalty decision immediately, but instead signaled that the game should continue.

For a moment, the English players on the field, who thought they had definitely won the penalty, became excited!

Diallo, who was thankful for his luck and thought he had escaped, kicked the ball out of the penalty area.

Foden and Bellingham, who were close to the referee, were the first to surround the referee and make an excited complaint.

The result was a stern warning from Ivan Patton.

The two unconvinced people wanted to say something, but Kane, the team captain, stood up calmly and pulled the two away with Madison.

The other English players on the field who were about to gather around to ask for an explanation also dispersed unwillingly after receiving the look from Kane and Madison.

At this moment on the sidelines, Li Chen was hugging the angry Carrick around the waist, constantly signaling him to calm down.

"VAR will definitely watch the replay. If they don't want to bear huge public criticism, they will at least let the referee watch the live replay. There is still a chance. Michael, calm down!"

Li Chen finally pulled Carrick back, and he had no intention of appealing to the fourth official.

If, as he expected, FIFA has different standards for each participating team in this World Cup.

Then it would be meaningless for him to go up himself or send someone to appeal to the fourth official.

Now he just hopes that the referee team will not be too greedy.

He accepted some ambiguous decisions that were unfavorable to England.

But this time, Diallo's foul was a solid one, tripping Luke Shaw with his foot, and he didn't touch the ball at all in the process.

If such a foul is not enough to award a penalty, then he must be prepared to suffer such unfair penalties many times in the subsequent knockout rounds.

This is difficult, but if he wants to continue to lead the England team to complete this World Cup, he must abide by the rules of the game that everyone abides by.

Even if the rules of the game are not fair to England.

More than a minute had passed and the game had been restarted for more than 20 seconds.

Li Chen continued to watch coldly until the referee Ivan Patton touched his headphones, then temporarily stopped the game and ran to the sidelines.

Carrick stared at Ivan Barton, and it seemed that he was going to rush onto the field to attack him if he didn't call a penalty. Fortunately, Ivan Barton, who had watched the replay several times, finally made the decision to change the penalty.

At the same time as England was awarded a penalty, Senegalese center back Diallo also received a yellow card.

There was jubilation in the England coaching booth, but Li Chen just stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, still unmoved.

It was not until Harry Kane scored the penalty kick and helped the team extend the score advantage to 2-0 that Li Chen smiled again.

"Look, Michael, they still have to call a foul that's too obvious, but we have to be careful next time we encounter such a situation, don't get excited and appeal, because in the end we will be the only ones who suffer..."

Li Chen patted Carrick's shoulder meaningfully and said.

Once upon a time, he was like Carrick, standing beside Mourinho and expressing his dissatisfaction with the referee team, making various accusations of unfair penalties against his own team.

But what is the return?

It is the English FA, the Italian Football Association and UEFA that continue to be openly targeted.

Both Lao Mu and Li Chen paid the price for their straightforward tempers and outspoken mouths.

The only difference is that Mourinho chooses not to compromise. The harsher the target is on him, the more he will resist. Even if the fans also mock him for being outspoken and causing trouble for him, he doesn't care.

And Li Chen learned to express his dissatisfaction in a roundabout way.

In terms of toughness, he is not as tough as Mourinho, so the result of continuing to fight with the official organization will not be better than Mourinho.

It is really too difficult to bear the long-term off-field troubles brought upon oneself by a temporary verbal advantage.

Old Mu had been very pleased with his changes and would occasionally admonish him not to follow his old path.

And now he wants to teach Carrick what he has learned in this area.

If you have any dissatisfaction, you can express it privately in another way, but don't openly confront the organization that controls the rules of the game.

If you make them lose face, they will not be happy in various crucial matches.

It's not possible to make a biased whistle, but it is still possible to create some small obstacles. At the critical moment, just one or two small obstacles may make you lose the entire game.

You must always weigh in your mind what is more important.

Carrick still had an unconvinced look on his face, but it seemed that he had listened to Li Chen's teachings.

Li Chen didn't expect him to understand the reason now. When he becomes a solo coach in the future and suffers one or two losses in this regard, he will naturally understand the significance of what he said today.

The result of taking a two-goal lead at halftime, even though there were some minor setbacks, did not prevent the England team from celebrating in the locker room in a lively atmosphere.

Li Chen did not stop the players from playing around excitedly at this time. He just waited for them to calm down a little and reminded them a few words. Then he took the time to arrange the tactics for the second half of the game.

At the same time, Senegal is also making a general mobilization for an early decisive battle.

Their head coach Cisse finally figured it out at this time and knew that he could not continue to drag the pace of the game down.

After the second half of the game officially started, Senegal, just as Li Chen had expected during the halftime break, decisively chose to seize the opportunity and launch a strong attack!

But England, which had been prepared, quickly contracted its formation and used a more proactive mid- and low-pressure defense to withstand Sergegal's first wave of attack.

In the 54th minute of the second half, Cisse decisively chose to make a substitution, replacing two midfielders to strengthen defense and running while also replacing another winger Dieng.

This is to send in new forces to continue to attack England's shrinking defense line.

However, Li Chen did not just sit there and wait to be beaten. Instead, he replaced Maddison and Bellingham with Henderson and Longstaff three minutes later.

After completing the substitutions, England almost played with three defensive midfielders in a formation.

Longstaff, Rice and Henderson blocked the middle of the midfield, like a steel wall blocking Senegal's attack route.

Henderson's appearance did not only strengthen England's midfield defense, but his precise long passes were also what Li Chen needed at the moment.

In the 64th minute of the second half, it was Henderson's counterattack long diagonal pass that found Foden who was running forward after offside.

The prince of Manchester City is like an arrow shot from a bow, leaving his pursuing opponents further and further behind!
And just when he almost got the chance to face the opponent's goalkeeper alone, he chose to selflessly pass the ball horizontally!

Saka, who followed up from the back post, easily pushed the ball into the goal, and at this moment he almost killed the game!

Li Chen's on-the-spot adjustments worked wonders again, and the English fans at the scene were completely wildly cheering!
Sitting in the coaching booth, Cisse pursed his lips and shook his head.

His on-the-spot adjustments were decisive enough, but this could not make up for the mistakes in his pre-match work.

And it's not just the quality gap between Senegal and England that exists.

He understood that there was a significant gap in coaching ability between himself and Li Chen, but today it was more reflected in on-the-spot adjustments.

Until this moment, he found it hard to believe that Li Chen, who temporarily took over the England coaching position, could transform England into what it is now in such a short time...

It's not unfair to lose to such an opponent.

He was convinced.

Senegal, who did not give up hope of scoring, continued to attack England's defense tenaciously on the field.

But no matter how they adjusted or how determined they were to fight, it seemed that they had no good way to deal with England's three-midfielder defense.

Henderson, who only needs to play half a game, has no physical crisis and his defensive experience is more prominent. In this regard, he can be said to make up for the shortcomings of Rice and Longstaff.

In the end, the game ended with England's tenacious defensive performance.

Senegal failed to score a face-saving goal.

The England team, which had several counterattack opportunities in the second half, seemed to have lost their luck in scoring goals.

3-0, England eliminated Senegal and became the fourth team to advance to the final eight of this World Cup!

And they will soon meet another favorite team to win the championship, France, in the quarter-finals!

After watching England's complete victory over Senegal, the British media are now full of confidence.

Because in comparison, France's 3-1 victory over Poland was not so easy.

After Giroud scored against Poland in the last minute of the first half, France did not extend their lead until nearly 80 minutes into the second half when Mbappe scored.

It seems that when it comes to positional warfare, the current French team is far less fluent than the English team.

In terms of midfield, England is not afraid of France without Pogba, and their chances of winning can be said to have been greatly increased.

There are many English fans who hold this idea, and the Internet is full of comments that England will definitely win the championship as long as they get past France.

So much so that fans are full of expectations for the upcoming England-France battle.

However, the popularity of the remaining 1/8 knockout matches was not affected. After all, the traffic of Brazil, Spain and Portugal was huge.

After two days of fierce competition, the remaining four national teams that made the World Cup quarterfinals were also freshly announced.

Croatia defeated Japan on penalties, Brazil and Portugal both won by a large margin and advanced, but Spain unexpectedly lost to Morocco.

This also makes Morocco the only "big gift package" team among the top eight national teams in this World Cup.

At this point, the quarter-final matchup has been decided.

In the upper half, the Netherlands will face Argentina and Croatia will face Brazil.

In the lower half, England will face France, and Morocco will face Portugal.

Except for the match between Morocco and Portugal, which is believed by most fans to be a one-sided knockout match, the other three matches are all strong dialogues.

The match between England and France was almost promoted by the media as the final of this World Cup held in advance.

This is an honor and a huge pressure for both teams.

The war between Britain and France was also a fateful war.

Under the attention of the whole world, the curtain slowly opened.

(End of this chapter)