Chapter 72: Winter in England

Chapter 72: Winter in England

Chapter 72: England's Fairytale Winter [Update]

Li Chen couldn't help but touch the back of his head when he recalled the days when he and Mourinho stayed up late to discuss how to effectively limit Messi's performance.

From Inter Milan to Real Madrid, the strongest opponent Li Chen and Mourinho faced has always been Barcelona, ​​and they have been unable to avoid the problem of defeating Barcelona in various arenas.

Although the media like to give Mourinho the title of Barcelona sniper or Barcelona star.

But Li Chen clearly remembered that when he and Mourinho faced off against the peak Barcelona in those years, the overall record was barely a 50-50 match.

There were times when they made a great comeback and won, but there were also many times when they lost to Barcelona, ​​and several times Messi scored the winning goal due to his explosive performance.

It can be said that Mourinho has thought of all the tactical routines to limit Messi's performance over the years.

As Lao Mu's right-hand man, Li Chen naturally played a significant role in this.

Putting aside other things, Li Chen was almost sick of watching Messi's dribbling and shooting highlights in La Liga and the Champions League to collect intelligence.

So it is not an exaggeration for him to say now that he is one of the coaches in the world who understands Messi's technical characteristics best.

Defensive tactics like squatting at the back post and double-teaming in the middle are effective in limiting Messi's performance, but they can't limit him much, only a little bit.

Because Messi is the current player who best meets the technical standard of "good at passing and shooting", especially when he is at his peak.

No matter what conventional tactics you use to defend and restrict him, he can always use his personal abilities to tear open your defense.

Anyway, either he brings the ball over with him, or he attracts your double-team and then passes the ball over.

His teammates don't always seize the opportunity to score a goal, but Messi always gives them threatening opportunities. He is so abnormal.

Compared with Messi, Ronaldo is stronger in his ability to attack the penalty area without the ball and his tough and stable mentality.

Ronaldo is also better at various ways of scoring in the penalty area.

In terms of ball threat, Ronaldo is definitely not as good as Messi, but during his peak period he was also one of the top players in football.

As he gets older, Ronaldo has honed his ability to score goals to perfection through several successful transformations.

This makes him less and less interested in ball possession, and he only wants shooting possession.

The abnormal thing is that no matter which head coach is willing to give him enough tactical position and firing rights, he can create a lot of goals!

After leaving Real Madrid, Ronaldo changed head coach every year during his three years at Juventus, but even so, he scored 98 goals and provided 81 assists in 17 Serie A games.

He averages one goal per game, and these personal statistics were achieved under three years and three coaches. He is almost plug-and-play.

Look at the players in football today, is there anyone who can do this?
When Li Chen and Mourinho were still in the Premier League, they would deduced how to limit the performance of the "old age" Messi and Ronaldo in their free time.

The final conclusion is:
To deal with Ronaldo, they used a mid-to-low position joint defense and pressing, which constantly consumed his physical strength, causing him to lose the quality of his shot when he finally broke into the penalty area due to the serious loss of physical strength.

He mainly plays without the ball, so there is no point in sending a defensive player to specifically guard him.

Because the ball rarely reaches his feet whether you mark him or not, he can instead create a chance to score a fatal goal through his best running.

To deal with Messi, the most appropriate tactic is to use the exchange tactic.

Whether in the past or now, if you want to effectively restrict Messi, you must use a physically fit player to fight with him.

At his peak, Messi could also use his unstoppable ball control, dribbling and explosive acceleration to break away from his opponents.

But now it is not so easy for him to display his threatening passing ability in this situation.

Don't even talk about retreating and getting rid of it.

If you retreat, I will follow you. Even if you retreat to the penalty area to receive the ball, I will still stick to you and not let you comfortably participate in organizing the attack.

The defensive task that Li Chen assigned to Longstaff today was so perverted.

He wanted Longstaff to stay close to Messi like a girlfriend in love, and keep pestering him until the end of the game.

Secondly, the players involved in wing defense should double-team Di Maria. If they fail to do so, they should commit a tactical foul directly!

Anyway, he has a lot of cards in hand, and his players are young enough and have outstanding physical fitness.

He doesn't care whether the scene is difficult or not, he just wants to make sure that the "Two Elders" of the Argentine team have no room to perform today!

Commentators from various countries now understood what was going on.

They all felt in their hearts that Li Chen was worthy of being the most outstanding disciple acknowledged by Mourinho himself.

The tactical arrangement is so targeted and vicious that it is exactly the same as Lao Mu's.

When playing in the league, Mourinho may have had his unstable moments, but when it comes to the cup finals, he will let the fans know why he is called the "King of the Cup" by the media.

Li Chen has now inherited this characteristic of Mourinho very well.

The layout of the final was steady yet ruthless, making it impossible for the opponent to find fault while making it increasingly difficult for the opponent to play.

By the time the opponents had finally adapted to the rhythm of the final, they turned around and found that they had already lost the ball and the Mourinho bus was already in front of them.

Li Chen's bus was not as solid as his teacher's.

But his bus has spikes on the front and has great horsepower, so it can recoil at any time, and he can often make his opponents bleed while defending.

At this moment, Li Chen, who had a one-goal lead, used this fishing defense that pursued counterattack speed to constantly stimulate Argentina.

However, Scaloni did not sit idly by, he also had his own way to solve the problem.

After Argentina launched a massive attack, they were still able to find some offensive opportunities by taking advantage of the distraction effect of Messi and Di Maria on the number of people in England's defense.

McAllister and Enzo are also constantly looking for opportunities to connect with Alvarez.

Once England completed the steal, before the player in control of the ball could launch a counterattack, the Argentine frontcourt players made a hidden move.

If the referee didn't see it, it would be a successful counter-attack. If the referee saw it, it would just be a tactical foul and Argentina would not lose anything.

Seeing that their counterattacks were interrupted one after another by the Argentine team in this way, Li Chen also signaled to the disciples on the field with a cold face to go back!
What I mean is that you Argentine players grew up in a fiercely competitive league. Should we, the players from the Premier League, be afraid of competing against you?

If you want to play hard, I'll play with you. Do you want to play dirty?

Then I’m not afraid either!
The England starting players, who have already prepared themselves to give everything for this final, will carry out Li Chen's tactical instructions to the end.

Argentina wants to suppress the conflict and contradictions in a dark place, so that England can suffer losses in secret, and they can also maintain a relatively good image with the referee team.

But what they didn't expect was that once England suffered such a loss, it immediately chose to overturn the table and directly intensified the confrontation between the two sides!

You commit a foul, and I commit a foul too. As long as the referee has eyes, he will know what is going on. In the end, the worst that can happen is that both sides will be given 50 lashes.

It doesn't matter if you eat cards, both sides get the same result anyway.

If they take too many cards, the Argentine team will be under the greatest pressure.

Look at the depth of England's bench. Look at the depth of Argentina's bench.
To put it bluntly, if Li Chen wanted to do something tricky, why not just put a group of rotation players with good abilities in the starting lineup, and force the main players of Argentina to commit fouls and self-destruct, and then put the main players in the second half to win the game, wouldn't that be the end of it?

He just doesn't want to do this, but it doesn't mean he has no means of counterattack in this regard.

As England's tough response forced Argentina to open up to the confrontation, the increasingly fragmented rhythm of the game also made Argentine fans anxious.

Scaloni, who was holding his forehead, was helpless. If the game continued like this, it would be no big deal for the players on both sides to have conflicts on the field.

The key is that Argentina wasted too much offensive time.

As a last resort, Scaloni had to stop the players' fierce confrontation.

England is not afraid of either hard or dirty tactics, so they can only make the best use of Argentina's skills.

Compared with the current England team, Argentina does not have any so-called technical advantage.

What they are probably better at is sending risky and threatening passes behind the opponent's defense.

But this tactic is useful for opponents who are willing to spread out their formation and fight against Argentina, but it poses no threat to England, which is currently defending in a pit.

Often when the Argentine midfielder passes the ball, before it hits the ground, it is headed back by Maguire or Stones who have already positioned themselves.

Alvarez is better at running without the ball and making simple finishing moves.

Apart from that, his confrontation, speed and ability to dribble and break through are not top-notch in football.

In other words, he relies heavily on midfielders and partners who can draw the opponent's defensive attention.

Therefore, to limit his performance is not to limit him, but to limit Argentina's midfield creativity and the individual performance of Messi or Di Maria.

Now that England has achieved all three of these points, Alvarez has become an invisible figure on the front line.

He can't play as a tactical fulcrum, and even if he wants to sacrifice himself to create offensive opportunities for his teammates, he can't do it.

Seeing that the game had already passed the 35th minute of the first half and his team's offense had not improved at all, the anxious Scaloni had to play his trump card in advance.

Lautaro Martinez, who had already finished warming up, was substituted by Scaloni in the 37th minute of the first half, replacing Alvarez who performed mediocrely today.

This substitution is enough to demonstrate Scaloni's ability to make on-the-spot adjustments.

But Li Chen, who was waiting for this move, chose to make a decisive substitution after seeing Martinez come on the court.

Moreover, Li Chen replaced two people at once this time, which made commentators from various countries dumbfounded.

Li Chen replaced Maddison and Ben White with Kyle Walker and Arnold respectively.

The England team changed to a 352 formation.

After coming on the pitch, Kyle Walker became England's right centre-back, while Arnold played as right wing-back.

The England team further strengthened the protection of the penalty area, which was enough to limit Martinez's performance while retaining mobile defensive forces.

Arnold came on the field purely because Ben White had received a yellow card for restraining Di Maria.

Li Chen was determined to send Di Maria off the field today. If Arnold received a yellow card, he still had Trippier to take his place.

No panic at all.

But for Madison who had to make tactical sacrifices at this moment, Li Chen hugged him apologetically on the sidelines and explained a few more words.

Of course Madison felt disappointed because he was substituted before even playing half the game, but he could also understand Li Chen's decision.

Didn’t Ben White and Longstaff make tactical sacrifices?
Everything is for the victory of the team. Madison understands this and repeatedly tells Li Chen that she has no objection and can understand.

Seeing Madison sitting on the bench and communicating with his teammates with a smile on his face, Li Chen felt relieved and looked back at the court.

Removing a wide midfielder and replacing him with a strong and flexible wide central defender does not mean that England will weaken its counterattack while strengthening its defense.

In fact, Saka, who is better at counterattacks, is still like a sharp knife nailing Argentina's left.

At this time, England's two full-backs Luke Shaw and Arnold were also good at counterattacks.

Not to mention that Li Chen also kept Bellingham, who is good at attacking from behind, on the court.

Substituting Maddison only weakened the rationality and fluency of England's frontcourt attack.

But now for Li Chen, he no longer needs to fight against Argentina.

In addition to defensive counterattacks, the English team now needs to counterattack quickly and attack efficiently. Facing England, which changed its formation to play with three central defenders, Argentina was even more uncomfortable.

On the surface, England played 342, but that was the position during counterattacks. In fact, when defending, England played 351 (Longstaff played hide-and-seek with Messi).

Saka consciously retreated to the right side of his own half to participate in the defense.

Even Kane was actively involved in the interception in the middle of the midfield.

There are enough defenders in the midfield, and the two wingbacks can quickly retreat to block the wing after finishing the midfield defense.

As for Martinez who came on as a substitute for Alvarez, he couldn't gain any advantage under the continuous defense of the agile Stones and Kyle Walker.

He did serve as a fulcrum to help his teammates contain England's defensive players, but the actual effect was not as great as Scaloni imagined.

But this does not mean that there was a problem with Scaloni's on-the-spot substitution. It can only be said that Li Chen's tactical preparation was more thorough than his.

As soon as he made a move, Li Chen made corresponding adjustments, after all, there was an extra central defender.

Even if Martinez performs extremely well, he won't be able to break through the three-man defense and score a goal, right?
Until the end of the first half, Argentina was unable to break through England's iron defense and equalize the score.

This disappointed Argentina fans around the world who had been looking forward to winning the final before the game.

Because it is really hard for them to see any hope of a comeback against England.

Li Chen’s tactical arrangement is so damn stable!

They would rather miss more opportunities on the offensive end and give up England's more luxurious offensive lineup than to limit the performance of Argentina's two superstar veterans.

What's even more perverted is that no one knows what kind of inspiring words he gave Harry Kane before the game, which stimulated Kane to score a goal in the final that will go down in football history.

As steady as an old dog, they also scored the first goal. It can be said that the England team had the upper hand on the tactical level.

The other team just played defense and counterattack, while the Argentine team had to charge forward at the risk.

If England really scored a second goal, the game would be over.

As time passed, a feeling of powerlessness and suffocation quickly enveloped every Argentine fan present.

And when the second half of the game started, they could clearly see that the Argentine players who came back on the field had tragic and resolute expressions on their faces!
Scaloni still decided to have a decisive battle with England in advance.

He and the Argentine team can't drag it on any longer.

While Messi and Di Maria are still in good shape and have strong physical fitness, they might as well give it a try. As long as they can score a goal, the situation will be completely turned around.

If we wait until Messi and Di Maria can no longer run before fighting, we will simply be giving away our heads.

In terms of physical fitness and mentality, the current Argentina team cannot compete with England. If they continue to play as planned, the situation will only get worse for Argentina.

So they must fight a decisive battle in advance, and this is also Argentina’s only way to survive now!
After the start of the second half, the Argentine team took the lead in attacking, and the entire line pressed forward fiercely, leaving no way for their own side to retreat.

Li Chen watched Romero and Otamendi follow the team across the center line without hesitation, and he understood what was going on.

He made a tactical gesture with his left hand, and the England players on the field expanded their defense line one after another, standing in the middle and fighting passionately with the Argentine players!
In just 5 minutes of game time, the referee's whistle sounded one after another.

Now it was England's turn to commit a tactical foul against Argentina.

Argentina, which had originally wanted to fight hard, was greatly reduced in its fighting spirit after being dealt with by England.

As the old Chinese saying goes, the first push is the best, the second is weaker, and the third is exhausted.

Argentina's fierce attack failed to penetrate England's defense, and their next attack was less powerful and determined.

After England paid the price of two yellow cards to defeat Argentina's third wave of offensive, Argentina fell into a state of anxiety.

The game time reached the 58th minute of the second half.

Argentina became more and more anxious as the game went on and made frequent mistakes in organizing and conducting the ball.

Li Chen waited very patiently, and the players on the England team also waited very patiently.

Until Kyle Walker used a bold defensive move to intercept McAllister's pass to Lautaro Martinez!

The clarion call for counterattack has sounded at this moment!

Arnold was the first to rush forward, and Kyle Walker's pass followed!
De Paul, whose physical fitness had seriously declined, could not stop Arnold's rapid advance at all.

In desperation, Taliafico could only attack in advance to intercept!

But as soon as he lost his defensive position, Arnold immediately chose to pass the ball horizontally.

Harry Kane followed up in the middle, and chose to send a threatening pass without stopping the ball!
The football rolled forward quickly along the grass!
Tagliafico, knowing he had made a mistake, hurried back to defense, but he and Otamendi tried their best to chase back but failed to catch Saka, who had already broken through the Argentine team's defense and successfully made an offside run!

Li Chen rushed to the sidelines, clenched his palms, and stared at Saka's advancing movements after receiving the ball without blinking!

The Argentine supporters at the scene howled in despair!

As the last defender of the team, Martin decisively left the goal to attack.

At this moment, Saka, who had adjusted his position, judged Martin's attack speed and quickly decided to shoot at the edge of the Argentina penalty area!
This may be the boldest and most decisive shot in his career!
The football drew a beautiful rainbow arc in the air, just passing over Martinez's fingertips who jumped up in advance and stretched out to save the ball!

Under the gaze and prayers of countless England supporters, the football finally bounced off the inside of the far corner post of the Argentina goal and then bounced into the goal!
When the referee's whistle sounded at the right time, he turned around, raised his arm and pointed his five fingers together to the kick-off spot, indicating that the goal was valid!
Unable to control their excitement any longer, the England fans at the scene cheered wildly!
At this moment, the Argentine fans who were looking at the stadium in confusion with their heads in their hands became even more silent.

In the Lusail Stadium that was shaking like a volcanic eruption, the passionate and roaring English players rushed towards Saka who scored the goal.

Kane was the first to knock the kid down, and the rest of the England players rushed forward, forming a human pyramid on the spot!

The English players on the bench also rushed out excitedly, rushing to the bottom line area of ​​the Argentina team's half. They wanted to cheer and celebrate this moment that established the victory with their fighting teammates!
Carrick, who usually seems extremely excited at this time, is now sitting in the coaching seat with his hands covering his face.

His trembling hands showed his inner joy at the moment, while the hot tears flowing through his fingers showed his complex and excited emotions at the moment.

The goal pursued by two or three generations of English professional players and fans is about to be achieved by this generation of players and coaches.

As the main midfielder of the England national team of the previous generation, Carrick was really not lucky enough.

He missed the peak periods of Beckham, Ferdinand and Owen, and also missed the arrival of England's golden generation.

Once upon a time, their national team was called the least star-studded England team. They failed to achieve results in international competitions and were cursed and ridiculed by fans.

He rarely enjoyed applause and cheers in the national team, and spent more time enduring pressure and the pain of failure.

Now that all the hard work has paid off, Carrick couldn't help but think of the ups and downs he had gone through in the national team. He couldn't help but burst into tears.

Li Chen understood his emotions at the moment and didn't say much. He just sat beside him and patted his shoulder.

Of course, while comforting his assistant, Li Chen did not forget to make timely substitutions.

Before the game resumed, he replaced Bellingham and Luke Shaw, who had received yellow cards respectively, with Gallagher and Dan Burn.

Solid defensive substitutions continued to deny Argentina any chance.

What made matters worse for Argentina was that Di Maria could no longer hold on.

It is not easy for him to persist until now as he was already injured.

Helpless Scaloni could only choose to make substitutions, replacing Di Maria and Tagliafico with Dybala and Acuña.

The Argentine team was completely forced into a desperate situation and the only way left was to attack.

While England further strengthened its defense, it did not give up the opportunity to continue its counterattack against Argentina.

But now England's counterattack is more intended to delay time.

In the 68th minute of the second half, Arnold ran with the ball all the way to the corner flag area of ​​the Argentina half, causing the Argentine fans at the scene to boo wildly.

But their boos could not change the England team's defensive determination.

In the 74th minute of the second half, Messi's direct free kick from the front field hit the outside edge of the crossbar of the England goal and finally bounced out of the bottom line.

This threatening free kick slightly boosted the morale of the entire Argentine team.

But their fierce forward pressure once again gave Saka another chance. He received a long pass from Kane's retreating counterattack and almost broke out for a single shot!
This time Otamendi made a huge sacrifice.

He was exhausted and pulled Saka to him. However, when faced with the red card shown by the referee, he did not appeal but walked off the court with a dejected look on his face.

England got a chance for a set piece in the frontcourt and Arnold took the penalty, sending a long arc cross.

Dan Burn headed the ball past Molina at the back of the penalty area.

In the chaos in the middle, Maguire withstood Romero's defensive interference and poked the ball into Argentina's goal again!

3-0!

There is no suspense anymore!

The Argentine players on the field and countless Argentine fans were heartbroken at this moment!
Victory is decided!

Li Chen directly replaced Kane, who scored a goal and assisted today, with Rashford, allowing him to receive the warm applause from the English fans at the scene in advance!

Kane, who was excited, hugged Li Chen tightly as soon as he left the court.

He clearly didn't say anything, but at this moment he silently told Li Chen everything.

Li Chen smiled and patted Kane on the shoulder, motioning him to go to the bench to rest first. After the game, the two would have plenty of time to communicate again.

The rest of the game was a complete torture for the entire Argentine team.

Messi doesn't want to give up. Even if there is only a little hope left, he doesn't want to give up his World Cup dream.

But that damned Longstaff continued to pester him and refused to let him give it a try!
In a state of impatience, Messi directly pushed Longstaff down during a confrontation, which earned him a yellow card.

Longstaff took the opportunity to lie on the grass for another two minutes. It was not until the referee warned him that he rubbed his waist and stood up reluctantly.

England's forced delay in the final stages of regular match time earned Argentina seven minutes of injury time.

But these 7 minutes were of no help to Argentina.

Finally, after Lautaro's long shot went high, the referee blew the whistle to end the game!
It’s over, England is the final champion of this Qatar World Cup!
After 58 years, the England team won the World Cup again, proving their dominance to the world once again!
Commentators from various countries sent their sincere congratulations to the England team at this moment!

Really, I can’t help but accept it!
From the group stage to the final of the World Cup, England played a strong and effective suppressive performance.

Whether facing strong opponents France or Argentina, they have made more thorough preparations and demonstrated more determined will and awareness.

They are indeed the team with better performance and they deserved to win the championship of this World Cup!

All the England players rushed onto the field and cheered to their heart's content.

At this moment, most members of the coaching team could not control their excitement and rushed onto the court.

Under the attention and filming of media reporters, Li Chen once again stood on the sidelines, with his hands on his hips and smiling as he watched the players celebrate.

England's fairytale winter has arrived.

Li Chen holds the World Cup championship and from today he officially joins the ranks of top football coaches.

But there are more challenges waiting for him ahead.

He also needs a top league trophy to clear his name completely!
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(End of this chapter)