green showman

Chapter 34 New season debut

Although he only coached Blackburn for two full seasons, the industry has a high evaluation of Mark Hughes' coaching level and believes that he may become one of Manchester United's coach candidates after Ferguson retires in the future.

But in fact, Mark Hughes' coaching style is closer to Chelsea's Mourinho. He is tough, iron-blooded, solid defense, and has a small but effective offense. Last season, he defeated Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool consecutively. Mark Hughes Hughes' fame spread far and wide.

Therefore, after Middlesbrough's tentative attack at the beginning, they immediately hoarded heavy troops in the midfield. Peterson and Bentley on the opponent's wings are powerful in the Premier League, and McCarthy on the forward line is the best player of last season. shooter.

After getting nothing in the first half, Mark Hughes replaced Savage with Dunn in the second half to strengthen the attack in the middle.

In the 56th minute, it was Dunn who received a pass back from McCarthy outside the penalty area, and shot the central defender from a long distance and deflected into the net, breaking the deadlock on the field.

Two minutes later, McCarthy received a pass from Peterson from the left in the counterattack, and easily pushed the goal with his right foot.

"It's Benny McCarthy again!" Sky TV live broadcaster Mortensen praised loudly: "The top scorer of last season is still in hot form!"

Two cities in a row within 3 minutes, Mark Hughes, who was on the sidelines with his hips on the sidelines, was in high spirits,

Then Mark Hughes replaced the starting forward Roberts, and the new aid Santa Cruz came off the bench, and the formation on the field changed accordingly.

McCarthy is good at attacking tough battles and counterattacks. He can play both as a center forward and as a second striker. Although Santa Cruz has the delicate skills at the feet of South Americans, he is tall and good at grabbing points, and his speed is relatively slow. This determines that he can only play. Play center.

Mark Hughes stood on the sidelines and looked at the effect, frowned and said to Claremont beside him: "Benny is a bit lonely..."

Claremont shrugged his shoulders. This is as it should be. Generally speaking, in a team, the center forward has the highest right to fire or has the most shooting opportunities. The midfielder takes the ball to find cooperation, and even needs to return to defense. Will McCarthy, the top scorer last season?

Playing 10 minutes, Santa Cruz has not touched the ball a few times...

Mark Hughes looked back at the bench. The FA has adjusted the bench this season. The number of places has increased from five to seven. His eyes are on the veteran Reed and the young player Sun Wu.

Claremont also glanced back, "Thinking is more suitable, of course, you are the head coach."

The corner of Mark Hughes’ mouth twitched. Every time Sun Wu sat on the bench, he held his chin with his right hand and looked deep, like the world’s masterpiece "The Thinker" by the French sculptor Rodin. The coaching staff discussed tactical topics, and although most of what they said was absurd, there were also thought-provoking words, so the nickname "Thinker" was mixed up in the team.

In fact, in the mind of Mark Hughes, Sun Wu is more suitable to play in the middle, but the defense is really worrying, and the position of midfielder has never been popular in the Premier League. Blackburn has always been a parallel position in the past few seasons The 442 formation.

Mark Hughes hadn't made a decision yet, and there was a sudden change on the field. McCarthy took the ball from the right and forced a bottom. The opponent's central defender Woodgard made a flying tackle...

The referee unceremoniously gave Woodgard a yellow card, and then realized something was wrong after being prompted by other players. McCarthy fell unconscious on the ground and was unconscious.

"Benny is not learning from you, is he?" Roberts looked at the crowd and said to Sun Wu with a forced smile.

Sun Wu's face was a little ugly, not because of Roberts' words, but because he had always wondered why, as a famous shooter who once held the Big Ear Cup in Megatron Europe, why McCarthy was not famous in his previous life memory.

You must know that McCarthy's competitive level was more than one grade higher than his teammates' in the competition or training last season, and he is not too old. He is only 29 years old this year, and he is still in the golden period of his career. Could it be... Could it be that Because of this injury?
The electric car has left the field, and McCarthy in the car has put on an oxygen mask and seems to have not regained consciousness.

Mark Hughes no longer hesitated, turned around and shouted: "Best!"

As soon as McCarthy was injured just now, Claremont rushed the substitute players to warm up. Sun Wu tore off his vest, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Reed hanging his head in frustration.

"Remember that FA Cup final?"

"Of course, I'm not yet 20 years old, and my memory is better than yours, sir."

"Pass a few beautiful kicks, and let Rock treat you to dinner later!" Mark Hughes patted Sun Wu on the back vigorously and pushed him onto the stage.

After the game resumed, Blackburn's players were a little absent-minded, and they were still thinking about McCarthy who was seriously injured and left the field. Everyone knew the importance of the top scorer in a mid-range team.

Middlesbrough breathed a sigh of relief, with great assists on both wings, pushing Bentley and Peterson back to the half court. Captain Woodgate shouted at the back and even pressed to the middle circle.

After two seasons, the left winger Downing, who moved to Liverpool, broke through Emerton and Bentley consecutively. He forcibly wiped into the penalty area from the outside and rolled the ball vigorously. The Egyptian center Mido shook off Samba and scored with a knee kick. Back to a city.

After the re-kick-off, Blackburn still didn't seem to wake up. There was no way to suppress the frontcourt, the midfield was untenable, and the home fans stopped singing for more than half an hour.

Sun Wu, who kept running back and forth in the middle and front field, finally stopped. I don't know if others noticed it, but he saw the problem anyway.

In the FA Cup final last season, Sun Wu did not play as a striker after replacing the injured McCarthy. Although he did not take the ball to break through, but in terms of position and effect, he was similar to No. [-] and a half. This requires possession of the ball. Sun Wu Wu tried to find gaps by running, passing and catching the ball to sort out the frontcourt, but the team's playmaker was Dunn, and he did not play at the same time as Sun Wu in the FA Cup final...

Every time an attack is launched, Dunn is the main player. Sun Wu often runs to the gap to ask for it, but Dunn often sends the ball to the side. Bentley and Peterson decide the timing of the cross. Deng En's own ability to get rid of the ball is not strong, but he is a bit sticky to the ball, and several forward runs overlapped with Sun Wu's running position.

"Best!" Mark Hughes also noticed something was wrong, and immediately switched positions between Best and Bentley, who had been a guest striker in the past two seasons.

When Sun Wu returned to the right side, the situation stabilized at once, and it was easier for Dunn to pass the ball to the side, and he could pass it easily without even getting rid of it, because Sun Wu's position was not to hug the side, but to the center Closer, the distance has been reduced by at least five to ten meters, and the success rate of the pass is much higher.

He and Dunn passed several consecutive kicks. Sun Wu suddenly stuffed the ball into the penalty area. Bentley barely took the ball and swept the middle and was blocked. Leaped up to head the goal, but unfortunately it missed slightly.

Mark Hughes on the sidelines touched his chin and discussed tactical changes with Claremont. It has to be said that the existence of Sun Wu gave the coaching staff a headache. He could create threats almost every time he played, but Bentley and Peter However, Sen's position cannot be shaken. If he wants to adapt to Sun Wu's style of play, many tactical details need to be adjusted.

But Mark Hughes could see it, and so could others, such as Middlesbrough's on-field captain Woodgate.

(End of this chapter)