God of Green

After announcing the starting lineup, Van Gaal went to attend the pre-match press conference, while the players continued to recuperate in the hotel to prepare for the evening game.

After dinner and a short rest, the team entered the Limburg Park Stadium to prepare for the game.

Roda JC currently has 41 points and ranks 7th in the standings, a few places higher than Alkmaar.

If we look at the results of the second half of the season after the winter break, Roda JC, with two wins, three draws and three losses in eight games, is naturally in the lead, while Alkmaar, with one win, one draw and six losses, is at a disadvantage.

This game is also Roda JC's home court, and it seems that Alkmaar has more losses than wins.

But in fact, the historical record of the two teams in the last six games is that Alkmaar has three wins and three draws and remains unbeaten, and Alkmaar has a psychological advantage.

Moreover, Alkmaar just won the last game, and its morale is high. It also adjusted the starting lineup. Jiang Xiaolin, who came off the bench to score goals in two consecutive games, entered the starting lineup for the first time, bringing a lot of variables to this game.

In the pre-match analysis and comments of the Dutch media, neither side had any advantage in this game, and it was hard to say who would win or lose.

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After the pre-match warm-up, before the game started, Van Gaal once again emphasized the tactics of this game in the locker room: flying on both wings and passing from the bottom.

In fact, it is to use Jiang Xiaolin as the core of the attack to carry out aerial bombing.

Of course, the real tactics are much more complicated than this sentence. Jiang Xiaolin has to choose to attack, assist, pass back, head ferry, feint attack and so on according to different on-field situations.

It is not a constant pass to Jiang Xiaolin's head, that would be too easy for the opponent to defend.

In the last game, Van Gaal changed the tactics temporarily when Jiang Xiaolin came on the court, resulting in the players' inadequate preparation, which made Twente easily see through Alkmaar's tactical intentions.

Today's game was specially trained for a few days, with more than one offensive routine, and it would not be so easy for the opponent to see through and restrict the defense.

Of course, in general, as long as Jiang Xiaolin is not completely restricted, Jiang Xiaolin's main attacking role will not change.

After all, the effect of Jiang Xiaolin's aerial bombing after coming on as a substitute in the last game moved Van Gaal. It would be a pity if Jiang Xiaolin's aerial combat advantage was not utilized.

In the training a few days ago, it was also proved through training that this is a tactic that is more suitable for Alkmaar at present.

Although the tradition of Dutch football is ground technical flow, Alkmaar no longer has the right to pick and choose at this time. The first priority is winning and victory.

As long as the tactics can win, it is a good tactic.

As for whether the winning posture is good-looking or whether it will be criticized by the media, Van Gaal can't care so much.

Of course, this decision is a bit risky. After all, Jiang Xiaolin only had 20 minutes of Eredivisie experience in the previous two games as a substitute.

Now he has to start and play a 90-minute game. It is still unknown whether Jiang Xiaolin can bear such a heavy responsibility.

However, Jiang Xiaolin scored goals in two consecutive games and showed strength and speed of improvement in training, which made Van Gaal, who always liked to promote young people, finally choose to trust Jiang Xiaolin.

After reiterating the tactics, Van Gaal boosted morale again, encouraging everyone to win this game and advance to the UEFA Cup play-off qualification zone.

Then, Van Gaal led the coaching staff and substitutes out of the locker room, sat on the bench, and waited for the game to start.

Jiang Xiaolin and his starting teammates, led by captain Yarriens, left the locker room and entered the player tunnel, lined up, each holding a little ball boy in their hands, waiting to play.

Jiang Xiaolin was also very excited for his first start, the first time holding a little ball boy, and the first time participating in the entrance ceremony.

Of course, no matter what, Jiang Xiaolin will not forget what he should do before going on the court.

Jiang Xiaolin followed the routine and added skill points once a week. He used 4 attribute points to increase ball stopping from 18 to 19, short pass from 17 to 18, dribbling from 16 to 17, and fried meatballs from 9 to 10. He still had 33 attribute points left.

With 19 points of ball stopping, he is already a ball stopping master at the level of Bergkamp and Ronaldinho, which is rare in the entire football world.

Even if the long pass is high and far, Jiang Xiaolin can easily handle it, and basically he will not stop several meters away like he did when playing in the amateur league.

Similarly, 18 points of short pass and 17 points of dribbling are already first-class levels, surpassing most professional players.

Jiang Xiaolin's improvement speed in these skills is unprecedented*.

Fortunately, Alfred has always been there to help him endorse,Van Gaal and other coaches and teammates just thought that Jiang Xiaolin was extremely talented due to his genetic regression, and there was no other doubt.

Not long after Jiang Xiaolin finished adding skills, the referee team brought 22 starting players from both teams to the field.

The next step was to take a group photo, choose sides, and the game began.

On Saturday, March 1, 2008, at 20:30 in the evening, with the referee's whistle, the 27th round of the 2007/2008 Eredivisie season Roda JC's home game against Alkmaar officially started at Roda JC's home stadium, Limburg Park Stadium.

The weather today was not very good, but at least it did not rain, and it was a cloudy day.

Therefore, the attendance rate of the 20,000-seat Limburg Park Stadium was good, with about 15,000 people.

After the game started, Roda JC launched an active attack on Alkmaar amid the cheers of more than 10,000 home fans.

You know, Roda JC has not won a single game in the last six games between the two sides.

Now they are ranked higher than Alkmaar in the standings, and they are stronger on the surface. They are playing at home, so they naturally want to stab Alkmaar, which is in a bad situation in the second half of the season, and win the game.

Alkmaar's victory in the last game did not attract Roda JC's attention.

After all, Alkmaar almost won 1-0 by chance with Jiang Xiaolin's lore header in the last minute of stoppage time, which was a lot of luck.

Alkmaar was eager for the opponent to let go of the attack.

Van Gaal's more detailed tactics in this game were to fly both wings and cross from the bottom in the defensive counterattack.

After all, it was an away game, and Alkmaar's attack risk was relatively high, and they did not have the strength to take the initiative.

Therefore, let the opponent take the initiative to attack, leave more and more gaps in the backcourt, and then use a simpler cross from the bottom in the counterattack, and let Jiang Xiaolin compete for the top and head the ball in the penalty area. This is a high-efficiency play that fully utilizes Alkmaar's advantages.

This play does not need to care too much about ball possession, momentum and other things.

Just defend the 30-meter area of ​​the goal and prevent the opponent from easily kicking the ball in the area too close to the goal.

At other times, you don't have to worry about how the opponent passes, cuts, runs and arranges outside.

Roda JC's aggressive attack was exactly what Van Gaal wanted, and the game basically fell into Van Gaal's calculations.

In fact, as long as Alkmaar steals the ball and launches a quick counterattack, the threat may be higher than Roda JC's attack.

But none of Roda JC's players and fans realized this.

They relied on the advantage of home court and continuously launched waves of attacks, hoping to score as soon as possible and get off to a good start.

Even the central defender in the backcourt was almost standing on the midline.