song of the saints

Chapter 32 Guardians of the Thames

Hammersmith-Fulham District, SW66HH, Stevenage Road, London, England, where the Cravennon Stadium, home of the Fulham Club, is located, next to the beautiful River Thames.

At noon on September 9th, fans have come here from all directions, preparing for the start of the game.The bus carrying the Southampton players also drove to the designated spot of the stadium, and Chen Zhun came out first.Southampton fans around the aisle waved red and white jerseys and asked Chen Zhun for his autograph.Chen Zhun has long been accustomed to such a scene, and he began to sign autographs and take photos for fans patiently.Chen Zhun knew that this was also a key move to leave a good impression on the fans, and Chen Zhun did not dare to be sloppy.

After the pre-match press conference the day before, Chen Zhun got Fulham's starting lineup. Looking around, apart from the head coach Chris Coleman, Chen Zhun is most familiar with goalkeeper Edwin the Netherlands. -Van der Sar.Chen Zhun's memory also knows that Van der Sar was signed to Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2005.Chen Zhun wants to close the deal this winter. If the transfer is completed, it will greatly improve Southampton's defense.

Chen Zhun's memory also returned to the years belonging to Van der Sar.In 2005 Old Trafford welcomed Dutchman Edwin van der Sar in goal.Van der Sar also started a legend belonging to Manchester United.From 2005 to 2011, in 6 years, Van der Sar contributed too much to Manchester United. He successfully alleviated the goalkeeper crisis that Manchester United has been unable to solve since Schmeichel retired.When Van der Sar transferred to Manchester United at the age of 34, many people questioned that his competitive state could not be guaranteed, but he used six years to prove to the world the legend of not being old.Once the Premier League had 14 consecutive games with zero opponents, creating a British record; in the Champions League final against Chelsea, Van der Sar covered the sky with one hand on the goal line, successfully saved Anelka's penalty, and achieved Manchester United. The great cause of winning the European Champions Cup.These classic memories have been echoing in Chen Zhun's mind.Chen Zhun only hopes that Van der Sar can be mediocre in this game and let Southampton win the game.

Another person Chen Zhun is very familiar with is Fulham coach Chris Coleman.Coleman played for Fulham in his last professional career as a player.After retiring, he became the head coach of Fulham.Chen Zhun knew this young coach at the 2016 European Cup in France.He led the Welsh team to a historic breakthrough.Before Chen Zhun crossed over, Wales successfully broke through the death group and broke into the top 16, which made the world look at this Wales with admiration.Chris Coleman's tactical strategy has also been unanimously affirmed by football people.What Chen Zhun didn't know was that Wales finally broke into the semi-finals and created a real dark horse role.

Chen Zhun's starting lineup today is a little different, and this difference has also attracted the attention of the media. The young teenager Adam Lallana replaced the Frenchman Fabrice Fernandez as the right midfielder.This also caught Fulham's coach Coleman by surprise. Coleman knew nothing about this young player, his football characteristics, and his football habits.This can be regarded as Chen Zhun's trump card in today's competition.

After the start of the game, the Southampton team turned away and played very proactively, playing an oppressive attack on the court.This is what Chen Zhun emphasized before the game.Chen Zhun believes that the Premier League has played six rounds, and each team is well aware of their skills and tactics.Other teams have already figured out Southampton's tactics. They know that Chen Zhun's team is based on defense and uses quick counterattacks to score.But Chen Zhun changed his tactical thinking, and instead of blindly looking for his own rhythm at the beginning of the game, he went against the road, oppressing the opponent within his own half, and might be caught off guard and achieve unexpected results.

Judging from the current situation on the field, Chen Zhun's tactics have indeed achieved results. Southampton's oppressive style of play made the Fulham players very uncomfortable. This is not the Southampton that coach Coleman said.They patiently held the ball in the Fulham half, played a half-court drill, counter-attacked immediately after losing the ball, then regained control of the ball, and continued the half-time drill, but Fulham posed on the penalty area line. After getting off the bus, today Fulham's two starting central defenders Knight and Pierce became the busiest people on the field.Fortunately, the two James Beatty and Kevin Phillips of the Southampton team did not seem to be wearing shooting boots today, and they squandered several opportunities. In addition, Van der Sar's performance is still as stable as Mount Tai, standing still , High block to ensure the goal is not lost.The guardian of the Thames is still Coleman's most assured player.

Chen Zhun carefully observed the changes on the field from the sidelines. He saw that his lightning tactics were not effective, so he immediately changed his tactics.Southampton's players are no longer blindly controlling the ball in Fulham's half, but let them attack and improve the utilization of the court, which can also allow Fulham to make mistakes.Chen Zhun also began to implement his second set of tactics, full-back offensive tactics.In the football tactics at that time, the traditional defensive full-back was still the mainstream. Most of this role stayed in the defensive role, such as Gary Neville, which also allowed most of the team's offensive points to come from the entire frontcourt. If the frontcourt is blocked, then the offensive ability will be greatly reduced.And Chen Zhun knew that the position of full-back had undergone earth-shaking changes in his era, and he also redefined the word full-back. They must have both the defensive ability of a full-back and the offensive ability of a winger, and they often It takes the longest time to hold the ball in the whole game, and most of the attacking points start from their feet. When the midfielders are unable to find opportunities because the defense in the middle is too dense during the game, the wings become The vacuum zone also allows the full-back offensive tactics to play.The giants have also begun to use this standard to select suitable candidates when choosing full-backs. Alves, Marcelo, Evra, Maicon, Alba, these full-backs with certain defensive ability, like to go forward, and have strong assists stand out. , Seize the main force among the major giants.Their team tactics also rely on their wing play, and the full-back offense has become one of the tactical routines.Chen Zhun also found that in 2004, Arsenal had such a tactical system. The insertion of left back Ashley Cole would always bring a threat to the opponent. In the match between Arsenal and Manchester City that ended earlier, Arsenal Naruto relied on Ashley Cole's sudden scoring, allowing Arsenal to continue their unbeaten record of 47 games.

(End of this chapter)