Chapter 69 The team with a greater sense of sacrifice deserves to advance

Chapter 69 The team with a greater sense of sacrifice deserves to advance

Chapter 69 The team with a greater sense of sacrifice deserves to advance

"Damn it, do you think you are playing a warm-up match? Cheer up, you bunch of wimps! We are now playing in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. There will be no room for error. If we lose, we will go home!"

The angry Deschamps didn't hold back at all when he started scolding people.

At this time, the starting players of the French team who were being criticized did not dare to even think of fighting back.

No matter how many problems there were in tactics and lineup structure, that was not a reason for them to be beaten by England for 20 minutes.

From this perspective, Deschamps was not wrong to call them softies.

If we had really fought hard, the situation would not be as bad as it is now.

They played too relaxed and stayed in a comfortable environment of public opinion for too long.

As a result, they were unable to adapt to sudden tactical changes, and the game became more and more awkward.

But the luckiest thing for them is that they have a head coach like Deschamps.

When they are not clear-headed and don't know what to do, Deschamps can stand up and scold them to wake them up, and even find ways to adjust and bring them back on track.

Other head coaches would basically not choose to make substitutions at such an early time point.

At most, the starting players on the field can change to another formation, or shrink the defense line to stabilize the defense first.

But Deschamps does not lack such courage.

He directly replaced Giroud with Muani, the young center forward who made his mark in Nantes in Ligue 1 last season, and then asked Coman and Camavinga on the bench to warm up quickly.

Li Chen, who saw all this, took the tactical board from Carrick.

The No. 9 position where Giroud originally sat was eliminated by Li Chen, and Muani, who replaced him, was given a larger range of movement by Li Chen.

"This kid is not a traditional fulcrum center forward. His range of activities can cover both wings and midfield. He can retreat to receive the ball and help Mbappe share the task of holding the ball and advancing... Deschamps wants to reduce the burden on Mbappe, as long as Muani can play out the corresponding tactical effect."

Li Chen held a pen in his hand and quickly analyzed Deschamps' tactical intentions.

"But he is too young. We can continue to take risks and keep besieging France by holding down Mbappe and Griezmann until..."

"Until what?"

"Until Didschamps brought on Camavinga."

Li Chen narrowed his eyes and looked directly at Camavinga, who was warming up with Coman on the sidelines.

Compared with Rabiot and Chuameni who started today, Camavinga's organizational and dispatching abilities are much stronger.

In the absence of Pogba and Kante, Camavinga is also one of the few breakthrough players in the French team's midfield and backcourt who can complete the task of holding the ball and advancing.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this kid has become a jack of all trades in Real Madrid and is a black midfielder who is willing to do dirty work. In fact, his organizational talent is very outstanding.

If Deschamps is really forced into a corner and has to ask him to be Griezmann's organizational assistant, France's midfield dilemma might really be solved.

Carrick didn't understand why Li Chen attached so much importance to Camavinga, but he was used to trusting Li Chen's judgment.

Afterwards, he kept staring at the French team's bench, waiting for Deschamps to replace Camavinga and remind Li Chen in time.

But Deschamps didn't seem to be in a hurry to use up his trump card in the first half.

After Muani came on the pitch, he did help the French team open up some situations on the offensive end. His ball-carrying and forward impact helped Mbappe share some of the offensive burden.

This is the first time that many fans around the world have noticed this young French center forward who just transferred to Frankfurt this season.

He is 24 years old and scored 13 goals for Nantes last season. He is very powerful and in his prime. After the World Cup, he should be worth at least 5000 million, right?
Muani, who felt that he had opened up the offensive situation on the court, couldn't help but feel excited.

Of course, he wants to be the savior hero of the French team in times of adversity.

This huge desire drove him to get closer to the England team's goal.

But Deschamps didn't bring him on to be a finisher. In terms of finishing efficiency in front of the goal, isn't Giroud a level higher than him?
The original intention was to use his impact and more abundant running energy to help Mbappe create offensive space.

As a result, the kid got so excited that he even tried to invade Mbappe's cutting space and wanted to take more shots himself.

Deschamps was so overwhelmed watching from the sidelines that he had to curse again, causing Muani to shrink his neck and quickly wake up.

Many media people on the sidelines shook their heads as they watched this scene.

Muani's physical talents may make him worth 4000 million, but his poor ability to read the game means that his growth talent can only be limited to this point.

In comparison, another center forward on the French bench who is slightly older than him - Thuram Jr. - seems to have higher development potential.

Thuram's impact is not that strong, but his basic skills as a center forward are visibly more solid.

Moreover, he has already established himself in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga for several seasons and has more experience in top leagues.

In other words, Deschamps now needs Muani to rush forward to help Mbappe relieve the pressure, otherwise Thuram would be a better choice.

Seeing Muani wasting France's offensive rounds and Li Chen still not making any tactical adjustments, these media people couldn't help but sigh in their hearts.

"This guy is really f*cking steady! He's also really careless!"

While they complained about Li Chen's boldness, they also had to marvel at the accuracy of Li Chen's judgment of the game situation.

Dembele and Muani created many dangerous opportunities on the field, and England's defense was indeed on the verge of collapse many times.

If Dembele and Muani had played smarter, attracted the defense and passed the ball in time, Mbappe, who was in hot form, would probably have scored the equalizer in the first half of the game.

But they always choose the wrong one among multiple offensive options, which is really frustrating to watch. No wonder Li Chen dares to let them play so boldly.

Many reporters at the scene were worried about Deschamps' blood pressure.

However, Deschamps' mentality at this moment is much better than they imagined.

Creating more offensive opportunities for Mbappe so that he can score the equalizer earlier is the best tactical result.

If this goal cannot be achieved, Deschamps can accept it if he can open up the offensive situation and use offense instead of defense to slightly reduce the pressure on the back line.

In this moment of adversity, Deschamps no longer cares about the performance of individual players.

He only focuses on the effective changes in the game situation and the performance of core players.

Muani and Dembélé played a lot, but they also used their personal abilities to relieve the pressure on the defense.

Deschamps does not expect the two of them to step up and turn the tide. At the critical moment, it depends on the performance of Mbappe and Griezmann.

In the 35th minute of the first half, Li Chen made a tactical adjustment, signaling the players in the midfield and frontcourt to retreat collectively to participate in ball control and transmission.

It was not until this point that the French team breathed a sigh of relief as the England team took the initiative to stop and start controlling the game.

Deschamps didn't want to miss any of the next minute, so he decisively signaled his players to press forward and put high pressure on England.

However, the England team, which had already focused on practicing backcourt ball control in previous closed training, was not afraid of the French team's pressure and pressing.

Li Chen put a lot of thought into building a ball-playing system in England's backcourt.

Madison's retreat to get the ball was only part of the performance.

The key is to further develop Rice's personal abilities.

Li Chen doesn't want to limit Rice to a certain area to exercise his defensive ability like Southgate did.

Just like his transformation of Guimarães this season, Li Chen also specifically talked to Rice after taking office and gave Rice a chance to make his own choice.

Do you want to be an excellent defensive No. 6, or do you want to further transform yourself into an all-around midfielder that is more in line with the tactical development trend?

As long as Rice is willing to take that brave step, Li Chen will do his best to help him.

Rice, who had clear plans and ambitions for his career development, naturally chose the latter.

So Li Chen gave him the opportunity to play more than just a defensive midfielder in this World Cup.

He had previously played as an attacking central midfielder and performed very well, and now Li Chen gave him the opportunity to play as an organizing number 8.

The effect is indeed very good. Rice is not yet able to take charge of the organization and scheduling, but he is already a very good core helper.

With him assisting Maddison, and a group of defenders with good passing ability in the England backcourt, the French team's continuous pressing could not cause too much trouble to England.

On the other hand, the England team launched several threatening counterattacks thanks to Bellingham's ball-holding counterattacks and the super-fast speed of the wingers.

The scene suddenly became interesting. The French team, which had always used counterattacks as a threat, was actually confused by England's counterattack.

At this moment, they had to continue to put pressure on England's defense at great risk, which was really uncomfortable and awkward to play.

In this embarrassing tactical environment, Deschamps could only choose to bow his head temporarily.

Including injury time, there were still about ten minutes left in the first half, so he didn't dare to gamble.

It was barely acceptable for the French team to play the second half of the game with a one-goal disadvantage.

But if the French team starts the game with a two-goal deficit, the psychological pressure on the players on the field will be too great.

The pragmatic Deschamps chose to call it a day for the time being.

Seeing this, Li Chen also made tactical gestures to signal the English players on the field to slow down the pace and reduce their physical strength.

After the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, Li Chen directly called Longstaff, Henderson and Ben White on the bench and asked them to follow him into the locker room.

This scene made Deschamps feel overwhelmed again.

You said that during the half-time break you could call one or two substitute players into the locker room to listen to the tactics for the second half and that would be about the same.

What do you want to do by calling three people into the locker room at once?
Three substitutions in the first half?

Or a tactical smoke bomb?

Doesn't this increase my workload of tactical prediction?
Deschamps finally hurried back to the locker room with his assistant with a gloomy face.

Compared with adjusting the tactical details, it is more important for him to scold the players who started today.

At the same time, in the locker room on the other side, Li Chen briefly praised the starting players and then once again emphasized to them the importance of today's game.

“You must assure me that you are all mentally prepared to fight and give everything for this game!

Getting past France doesn't mean that the road ahead will be smooth, but there is no doubt that France is one of the two strongest teams we have encountered in this World Cup.

One is them, and the other will be waiting for us on the stage of the World Cup final.

Now, you have finished half the game against your strongest opponent, but this is only the initial contact. The toughest test is still in the forty-five minutes of the second half.

Only if you can hold on for these 45 minutes and survive the French team's desperate counterattack, will you be qualified to say that you are ready for the World Cup final!
This is not just a battle of self-affirmation, not just a contest of the team's overall strength and tactics, but also a battle of awareness.

If we don't have the awareness of fighting to the end, and don't treat this game as the last game of this World Cup, we will definitely suffer a great loss!

We have worked hard for so long to prepare, and we don’t just want to be successful by reaching the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

Now, I want you to tell me once again, are you ready to play this game as if it were your last game of this World Cup? ! "

"It's done, Boss!"

"We will definitely defeat the French, don't worry, boss!"

"No one will take a step back today, boss. Just watch, we will fight to the last minute!"

A series of roars accompanied by the sound of slapping the table rang out in the England team's locker room!

Li Chen looked at the noisy scene in front of him and felt extremely satisfied.

The England team had the first goal, the tactical initiative, and now the most important awareness and morale. If they still couldn't beat the French team at this point, then Li Chen would have nothing to say!

All we can say is that the England team is not destined to win the World Cup again.

He had done all the preparation he could.

He has a clear conscience.

The second half of the game soon began amid thunderous cheers from the audience.

After the change of sides, the French team finally seemed to be "awake".

At least in terms of mental outlook, the French team has improved a lot. Every player who came on the field was aggressive and had anger in their eyes.

Deschamps' move to replace Camavinga and Thuram Jr. at halftime further demonstrated his determination to speed up the game.

The double defensive midfielder combination of Camavinga and Rabiot is definitely more energetic and capable of organizing attacks compared to the first half.

Li Chen guessed correctly. Deschamps, who was forced into a corner, finally chose to give it a try and gave Camavinga more trust, allowing him to take on the tactical responsibilities that Kante and Pogba once shouldered!
In this way, at least half of the French team's problems in advancing and organizing the midfield have been solved.

However, Li Chen still decided to continue to suppress Griezmann's performance.

This will undoubtedly require Bellingham to make more tactical sacrifices.

But Li Chen believes that the mature Bellingham can understand the importance of limiting Griezmann's performance, and he also believes that Bellingham is willing to make such sacrifices.

Everything is for the ultimate victory, everything is for the team's victory.

At this time, the England team was ready to fight to the death and did not even consider the physical fitness issues for the next two rounds of games.

The French team thought they could give everything to try to score a goal in order to equalize the score.

But after facing England's desperate siege and pressing, they realized that their awareness of the game was still not enough!

In terms of momentum alone, the French team was once again overwhelmed by England.

The key is that they were the attacking side in the second half of the game!

Seeing that the offensive situation was still not getting going, Deschamps, with a serious expression, asked the remaining important rotation players on the bench to warm up!
This undoubtedly put enormous pressure on several French players who performed mediocrely on the field.

However, at the critical moment, it was not their turn to take the lead. Mbappe took the lead and used a series of breakthrough attempts to create a gap on the left.

Kyle Walker has tried his best to slow down Mbappe's speed.

But he is getting older, and his super double speed is greatly affected by his physical fitness.

By the 55th minute of the second half, it was obvious that he could not keep up with Mbappe's breakthrough pace.

In desperation, he could only choose to foul and block Mbappe's strong attack, and he himself received a yellow card.

However, Li Chen did not show any dissatisfaction at all.

In the 58th minute of the second half, he took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to make timely substitutions, replacing Kyle Walker and Saka with Ben White and Longstaff respectively.

In this way, England's defensive strength on the right and in the midfield has been steadily improved.

Maddison played back as a wing midfielder, but did not weaken England's offensive on the right.

Seeing that the defender in front of him had changed from Kyle Walker to Ben White, who was full of energy and eager to try, Mbappe could only lick his lips and give up the idea of ​​continuing to put in physical effort to make a breakthrough.

Ben White is not an unknown person. He can play as a main player in Arsenal now and is entrusted with defensive tasks by Li Chen at critical moments. How bad can his ability be?
Although Mbahce may act wild on the court sometimes, he always has a clear mind and rarely does anything that would put himself at a disadvantage.

As he was temporarily out of power, the task of offensive breakthrough naturally had to be handed over to Muani, who was currently playing as a right winger.

Dembele's waste of offensive opportunities was really unbearable for Deschamps.

So even though he created quite a few chances on one side, Deschamps still decided to replace him with Thuram Jr.

Now that Thuram and Muani are attacking the center and the right side in turn, Deschamps doesn't believe that Li Chen can still keep his composure and not mobilize troops to reinforce the defense.

But what Deschamps didn't expect was that after Li Chen made the substitution, he did not choose to continue playing positional warfare with him, but chose to shrink the formation to block the space for several French forwards to sprint!
For Li Chen, it will not be so easy to gain an advantage in the battle against the French team after Deschamps replaces Camavinga.

You restricted Griezmann's performance, and Camavinga was also able to get France's central attack going.

At that time, the situation on the field will quickly become a balanced situation with both sides going back and forth.

But Li Chen didn't want to be evenly matched with the French team. He didn't want to give the French team too many effective offensive rounds.

It is the England team that holds the lead now, so why doesn't he play a counterattack after making the correct tactical adjustments for the French team?
Aren’t you and Muani capable of charging forward?

Come, I will directly activate the strongest central defender Maguire, and you guys come and try to rush head-on!
Li Chen, who picked up Southgate's defensive counterattack tactics again, had no psychological burden at all, and the English players on the field were also very adept at using the old tactics.

Li Chen threw the problem of breaking the bus to Deschamps, and Deschamps, who was unable to replace Giroud at this time, showed a bitter smile.

Everyone knows that siege warfare is the most difficult to fight, but no matter how difficult it is, you have to bite the bullet and fight on.

Thuram, who was highly expected by Deschamps, became the key player for the French team to break through at this moment.

But in front of the experienced Maguire, he found it difficult to play to his physical advantage that he was proud of in the past.

As for the experience of heading the ball?
Then he can't be compared with Maguire at all.

Maguire, who had the upper hand in dealing with Thuram and Muani in the penalty area, looked like a defensive god at this moment.

Compared with his bravery, Stones, who was obviously performing steadily, seemed to be invisible.

The English fans at the scene also cheered excitedly for every wonderful clearance made by Maguire!
Seeing that forced crosses did not produce much tactical effect, the French team had no choice but to adjust their offensive strategy again and try long shots from outside England's penalty area.

But it was just Griezmann and Camavinga each kicking the ball once.

Later, under Li Chen's reminder, the English frontcourt players who retreated to defend spared no effort to interfere and limit the French team's long-range shot attempts.

Deschamps, who kept checking his watch, played his last two tactical cards in the 67th minute.

Guendouzi and Coman came on, and Griezmann, who was extremely uncomfortable being marked by Bellingham throughout the game, and Rabiot, who played little role on the offensive end, were replaced.

The French team directly changed to 442. The two young center forwards were pushed to the front of the formation, and Mbappe was lurking behind them, closer to the center of the goal.

Camavinga was on the left side of the midfield, Coman on the right, and the two full-backs took on the important task of delivering passes to the England penalty area.

Guendouzi delayed the game.

Deschamps has played all the cards he has and adjusted the formation to be the most offensive.

Including injury time, the French team still has nearly 30 minutes left.

It can be said that the French players have a big stage to perform on. As the last and only trump card of the French team, Mbappe also has the opportunity to save the team.

However, Li Chen was destined not to allow the French team to launch such a desperate counterattack.

Just two minutes after the French team completed the substitution, Li Chen replaced Greenwood and Bellingham with Rashford and Henderson.

The two young players, who had almost exhausted their energy on both offense and defense, received warm applause from the England fans when they left the field!
Li Chen gave the two of them a tight hug and patted their shoulders hard, indicating that they had done a great job today!
After coming on the pitch, Rashford and Henderson joined the team's defense without any hesitation.

The two teams entered the most brutal offensive and defensive battle.

The French team had no choice but to attack England's shrinking defense, while the united England responded with a more tenacious pressing defense!

In the 76th minute of the second half, Luke Shaw fell to the grass during an active defensive fight, and then covered his calf and cried out in pain.

The referee on duty stopped the game upon seeing this, and the French players could do nothing even though they were dissatisfied.

After the young Stones ran over to help Luke Shaw finish stretching, he decisively signaled to the sidelines that Luke Shaw had cramps and probably couldn't continue the game.

After confirming again and again, Li Chen asked Dan Burn, who had already completed warm-up in advance, to go to the sidelines to prepare.

At this point, Li Chen had used up all of his five substitutions, and like Deschamps, he had used up all of his tactical cards.

However, at this time, the England team clearly has the advantage of launching threatening counterattacks.

Li Chen looked at Rashford, who was defending diligently after being substituted on, and couldn't help but pinch his palms, hoping that this kid could withstand the pressure and perform well.

In the 82nd minute of the second half, Maguire once again overpowered Thuram and headed Coman's cross out of the penalty area.

Longstaff and Muani jumped up almost at the same time to grab the ball, but in the end neither of them was able to control the ball and it flew to the right side of England's half.

Madison made a very smart choice to head the ball back to Henderson who was running over to meet him.

This left Guendouzi, who was pressing towards him, empty-handed.

After a brief observation, Henderson decisively sent a long diagonal pass to the left in front of him!
A white figure quickly jumped out of England's overall defensive formation and rushed towards where the football landed!
With the timely attention of the live camera, countless fans also saw the face of this figure clearly at this moment.

Rashford!

Rashford, who had only played for more than ten minutes after coming on the court, was full of energy. After unloading the ball, he made a burst of moves and directly left Kounde who was chasing him behind without a trace.

With big strides forward, Rashford quickly dribbled the ball into the French team's defensive territory.

Facing the central defender line of Varane and Upamecano, Rashford fearlessly slowed down his pace and observed the opponent's defensive center of gravity.

Seeing that Upamecano was about to kick the ball, Rashford chose to dribble inside without hesitation!

After using his explosive speed to get away from Upamecano, Rashford confidently shot the ball towards the far corner of the goal!
Varane, who was tricked by his stupid teammates, had no time to intercept and could only turn his head and look back.

But what caught his eyes was the scene of Lori trying his best to push off the ground to save the ball, but ultimately failing to stop the ball from entering the net!
The Bay Stadium was completely boiling!!!
The English fans who had been worried that the French team would equalize the score near the end of the game, at this moment almost madly vented their passion and enthusiasm!

Rashford opened his mouth wide and roared at the live camera with all his might, pounding his chest over and over again!

The rest of the England players rushed towards him like crazy, hugged him, and fell to the grass with him.

Li Chen was standing on the sidelines at this moment. He did not hold his forehead with one hand until he saw the referee's gesture indicating that the goal was valid. Then he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a slight tremor.

It’s so fucking exciting!

Li Chen, with his heart pounding, had no time to celebrate wildly with his assistants. He was still shouting at the top of his voice, signaling over and over again that the players must keep calm at the last moment.

At this time, Deschamps, who was sitting not far from him, had put down the tactical board.

The famous football coach who led the French team to win the 2018 World Cup said nothing and did nothing at this moment.

He just looked at the court expressionlessly, looking at the French players who had disappointed him today.

Mbappe was really anxious.

His patience had been exhausted, and when the game resumed, he would try to take the ball or shoot from long range whenever he had the chance.

However, his reckless actions did not work in the face of the morale-boosted England team's collective defense, but instead further disrupted France's final offensive attempt.

Mbappe had not recovered until the referee blew the whistle to end the game and the players on the England bench rushed onto the field to celebrate wildly.

"We lost? We are eliminated in the quarter-finals just like that?"

He put his hands on his hips in confusion, looking at his equally lost teammates in front of him, but he couldn't get an answer for a long time.

Deschamps, who was surrounded by a large number of reporters on the sidelines, showed his courage and demeanor at this time.

"We lost to a team that had the better performance today. My heartfelt congratulations to England and to Lee. They are undoubtedly the favourites to win the World Cup.

Failure is not entirely a bad thing for the French team. At least we learned something very important today, and I hope my players can remember it firmly.

That is, the team with a greater sense of sacrifice should advance! ”

(End of this chapter)