Ludwig

Chapter 40 On the defensive system of midfield and backcourt

With the strengthening of the midfield defense of each team, more and more teams adopt the tactical system of the organization core retreating, which is the so-called lagging organization core, Harvey, Pirlo, Alonso are among them Excellent representative.And their outstanding performance also makes it more difficult for opponents to guard against.

Jonathan Wilson's masterpiece "Inverting the Pyramid" on the history of football tactics teaches you the most important point: the most important part of football tactics is always to strike first or strike later, and constant changes and evolution can bring the team victory.If one tactic is successful around the world, there are many new ways to defeat that tactic around the world.For any head coach, it is their task to find a near-perfect tactical system.Of course, the tactical system is always close to perfection, and it is impossible to be perfect.

The same is true for the defensive midfielder position. There is no perfect tactic, only continuous improvement.

From the previous purely defensive and pure intercepting midfielders to the current organizational midfielder, the tactics implemented by the midfielder position are constantly undergoing various changes.

It is undoubtedly Chelsea coach Mourinho who has taken a key step in the tactical evolution of the midfielder position. When he coached Chelsea for the first time, he placed Makelele in front of the team's central defender.In fact, every Premier League team had a defensive midfielder before, but no team had a full-time defensive player like Chelsea before, completely serving as the team's No.3 central defender to supplement the line of defense.

Makelele's task in the team is very simple. He is to sit in the backcourt, cut off the opponent's offense and pass, and pass the ball to the front teammate to attack with a simple pass.

The presence of Makelele has given Chelsea's frontcourt attackers more freedom.

Makelele's long pass on the midfielder is likely to be the opponent's nightmare. The frontcourt player quickly defends and counterattacks after receiving the ball. This tactic can be called "the nightmare that the giants walked together in those years." .

The importance of Makelele in that Chelsea team cannot be ignored, and Mourinho also admitted frankly that Makelele was his player of the season.You know, when Real Madrid sold Makelele, Zidane said that the team lost an important player.

"We lost the engine in order to put another layer of gold on the Bentley," Zidane said at the time.

With the help of Makelele, Chelsea created the fewest goals conceded in the Premier League: 15 goals, the most clean sheets against opponents: 25 games, the most wins in a season: 29 games, and the league record for the highest points: 95 points.These records have not been broken so far.

In that season, Makelele made 38 starts in 36 Premier League games, second only to Lampard in the Chelsea team.It can be said that Makelele's excellent performance also allowed him to define a brand new position and role for football: Makelele's position.There is no doubt that Makelele's protection for his teammates on the court is invaluable. As a full-time defender, he is not only a barrier in front of the central defender, but also can protect the empty space after the full-back assists.His presence allows the midfielders to move freely and better engage in offense.As Makelele's position shines brightly, more and more teams are using the midfielder as the core, and many teams have begun to reduce the use of midfielders.

Jonathan Wilson, a tactical research expert, said this: I firmly believe that Riquelme is the last classical midfielder in the world.

Although in Brazil, there are still a variety of outstanding classical attacking midfielders, such as Guangzhou Evergrande’s former foreign aid Kongka, and Ganso, who was as famous as Neymar when he was young, they can all play the role of the attacking midfielder. The team's Four Spirit Tower works, but this will also cause the team to lose one offensive point in the penalty area.

After all, the current team piles up defensive midfielders in the middle, and the offense extends more to the wings, and the wingers even shoulder the responsibility of organization.This kind of development makes the existence of the front waist even more tasteless.You know, even a genius organizer like Ronaldinho prefers to attack from the wing.Including Ronaldo, Ribery, Robben, and even Messi, the "engines" among these powerful players, their positions are far from the traditional midfielders, especially the Bayern double "veteran" team composed of Ribery and Robben. "(Growing old...), they will all roam the wings more often looking for opportunities, but they are the core of the team's offense now.

With the emergence of the Makelele-style midfielder, facing this crazy meat grinder press, the wise coaches had an idea. If the players in the organization were pushed back, the problem would not be solved-typical The front midfielder has transformed into an attacking midfielder. The team's command tower retreats, using long passes and direct passes to effectively distribute the ball to the wide players, so that the wide players in the front field have more space to attack. Organize, or even stuff it straight to the striker's feet, allowing them to score directly.

Under such circumstances, new midfielders such as Harvey, Pirlo, and Alonso have appeared, and they have also been given a special ranking: the lagging playmaker.

Although players like them appear in the position of the defensive midfielder, they are more involved in offensive organization rather than focusing on defense. They are also called the team's "backcourt command tower".When the team's attackers are all hoarded on the wing, any team still needs a midfield commander to complete the tasks of offensive and defensive transitions and distribution of the ball.

Pirlo, Harvey, and Alonso are not very clear about their responsibilities on the court. They can run freely and participate in the game according to actual needs. When they are attacked by the opponent, they will retreat deeper to help the defender Players defend, and when the team wins the ball, they move forward to pass the ball to the attackers in the frontcourt.

The position retreat also allows the "commander towers" to stay away from the mad dog press of the opponent's "Makelele", so that they can have better space and a wider vision to organize the attack

In the 2011 Champions League final, Harvey's excellent scheduling helped Barcelona beat Manchester United to win the Champions League. At that time, Ferguson obviously failed to realize the horror of an organizational midfielder.

Although Giggs and Carrick served as midfielders in that game, they were too far away from Harvey to interfere.Although Rooney was standing not far from Harvey, the organization-type midfielder had only recently emerged at that time. Obviously, the Shrek people did not understand that giving such a world-class organization-type midfielder a wide range of activities would be beneficial to their team. is fatal.

In that game, Harvey passed 148 times, with a success rate of 95%. The game completely entered the rhythm of Barcelona.

In the 2013 Champions League knockout round, Real Madrid met Manchester United. In that contest, Real Madrid midfielder Alonso performed extremely well in the position of the organizational midfielder.

In order to give Alonso more room to move, Real Madrid allowed him to retreat and be in front of the defense line. In this way, Alonso's powerful ability to distribute the ball was displayed.

Through Alonso, Real Madrid organized an effective and fast attack, but it was difficult for Manchester United's defensive players to interfere with Alonso.The clever Ferguson found a way in the lesson of losing to Barcelona in the 2011 Champions League final. He let Welbeck defend Alonso against him and compress Alonso's space for movement.Welbeck's performance was very good. He suppressed Alonso and it was difficult to play the ball. Since the expensive attackers in the frontcourt could not get effective ammunition delivery, it was difficult for Real Madrid to find the rhythm of the game.

It's just a pity that Manchester United still lost to the luckier Real Madrid and was eliminated.

Let an offensive player like Welbeck defend the opponent's offensive organizer. Although Manchester United has sacrificed on offense, the impact on Real Madrid is obviously greater.It can be said that such a sacrifice is worthwhile.

In fact, Manchester United is not the only team to do this. Also in the 2013 Champions League knockout round, Bayern also used Mandzukic, who can run and grab, to see Juventus' Pirlo dead.In the Champions League knockout round of that season, Pirlo's Juventus faced Mandzukic's crazy kicks and all kinds of physical contact that theoretically did not cause fouls. "Commander" Pirlo had no choice but to Lost in two rounds and went home.

Later, when Bayern faced Barcelona, ​​the strong and strong Mandzukic once again showed his role. He messed up Barcelona's golden midfielder.

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(End of this chapter)