[football] walk side by side

"Here is the focus of the No.16 round of the Portuguese Super League. The Portuguese super giant Porto played at home against Benfica, which is also a giant. Let's take a look at Porto's starting lineup: 33-Nuno Santo, 2-Jorge Costa , 4- Ricardo Carvalho, 6- Costinha, 8- Nuno Valente, 10- Deco, 11- Del Rey, 18- Maniche, 19- Alberto, 22 Paulo Ferreira, 26-Cyril Slade..." The commentator was reading Porto's starting roster as usual, but at the end he was suffocated.

"Wait! This is unbelievable! Who did I see?! Cyril Slade! Mourinho actually replaced Pedro Slade with Cyril Slade in such an important game." Mendez!" The commentator shouted, his face full of surprise: "God, you know, Porto's current position as the league leader is already in jeopardy, and to use a newcomer in such an important game, he is really a lunatic!"

Mourinho didn't care about the commentator's words, he was still wearing his three-piece suit, standing quietly beside the coach's bench, waiting for the start of the game.In the early autumn breeze, the black Armani trench coat and his usual expressionless expression added to his chill.

When Cyril turned his head inadvertently, he saw such a scene.

He thought of what Mourinho said to him before the game——

"I believe you shouldn't be nervous, but in this game, I hope you can relax a little more. It doesn't matter if you score goals or not, that's not your responsibility, but I hope your passes can be bolder, don't be like As conservative as before, remember, you still have Deco behind you, and he will help you fill your seat when necessary."

It is very similar to his original coach Andre Boas, but different.

Cyril actually didn't understand what Mourinho meant.

For a long time, the education he received about football told him to be prudent and rational, to choose the one with the highest success rate cautiously, and the rational judgment is the most beneficial to the situation, while the one that means risk and willfulness Bold, from the beginning to the end is insulated from him.

And now, his coach is telling him he should play bolder?

But what is boldness?What level of audacity is required to guarantee meritorious service without dropping the ball?How should the intermediate degree be grasped?Cyril was unusually dazed.

And this bewilderment lasted until the start of the game.

For the profession of athletes, the characteristics of their own profession make them largely instinctive in the competition, and Cyril is no exception.Therefore, despite being named by Mourinho and asked to be "more bold", in the game, Cyril still habitually followed his previous handling methods. However, when Cyril thought of Mourinho's exhortation to subconsciously follow , the two processing methods will conflict, but cause undue mistakes.

In such a situation, Porto conceded the ball.

In the case of a mistake in the frontcourt and Deco's defense in the midfield, Benfica forward Simao Sabrosa turned the score into 0:1 with a beautiful shot.

This unexpected goal caused a burst of cheers from the away fans!For Benfica fans, whether it is the bad relationship between the two teams itself, or Porto's excellent results at the top of the list-especially in the head coach of Porto, Mourinho led Porto to climb to the current position after being abandoned by Benfica. The position matter, this goal is enough to make them feel better.

It would be great if we can win this game and let Porto fall to the top of the list.

When watching Porto striker Del Rei regain a chance and turn the score back to 1:1, everyone thought that there were still many unknowns in this game. Mann Sabrosa was sent off for a rough move and Porto were forced to face a 10-on-11 situation.

"Jorge Costa fouled! The referee showed a red card. Yes, this is an undisputed verdict. If Jorge Costa can't learn to control his emotions, then I can only say that his future is still uncertain." There is a long way to go.” Although he was extremely unwilling, Jorge Costa had to leave the stadium, and the big screen of the stadium froze his dejected back for a moment, and then returned to the stadium. , The commentator continued: "The next Porto will have to fight with one less man. I don't know how Mourinho will deal with it?"

Mourinho was naturally annoyed when Jorge Costa was sent off.

But this is only for a moment.

Mourinho is a person who likes to make a lot of preparations before the game. This preparation includes guessing and responding to various possible games-in fact, in order to deal with the situation where the team may play more with less, The team has practiced the 4-3-2 formation many times in training.In Mourinho's view, even if the team is at a numerical disadvantage, there is no need to reduce offensive firepower.This game against Benfica is a great opportunity to test the effect of training, and the facts have proved that they have indeed benefited a lot from the previous precautions.

Soon, the slightly flustered Porto players calmed down because Jorge Costa was sent off. They quickly completed the transformation and adapted to the less-to-many style of play. Because of this, In the last few minutes of the first half, Porto did not concede an extra goal because they played one player less.

When the players returned to the locker room one after another, Cyril was actually a little frustrated.

From the Portuguese League to the European Youth Championship, to this Portuguese super focus match, Cyril has never experienced such a feeling of fatigue. The entanglement in the two handling methods has caused his reaction to drop a lot. After fighting with one less player, in order to avoid another shot error, he even gritted his teeth, gave up Mourinho's statement, and chose his previous handling method.

What happens if you don't listen to your coach on the field?Think about Mourinho's character again. Cyril faced the head coach for the first time and felt a slight sense of fear.

But Mourinho seemed to have forgotten about it. He didn't blame Cyril for not obeying orders, or he didn't blame anyone.

"In the second half of the game, we will continue to attack," the Porto players were stunned, and looked at the head coach who made a new decision in confusion. The latter seemed to have seen the strangeness in the players' hearts. We were freaking out. Did you see that? They couldn't do anything about us even if they were outnumbered. All they did was expect us to make mistakes, wait for us to run out of energy, and beat us. Basically, they forgot Thing - constantly 'harassing' us."

"Since Benfica can't beat us, we have to win them!" Mourinho looked at their players and said every word: "Attack with all your strength and dominate this game! If you can do this, then Porto will win deal!"

Then at the end of the short break, when the players walked out of the locker room one by one, Cyril pursed his lips and said, "Sir, I'm sorry."

"Oh?" Mourinho raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "Why are you apologizing to me?"

Cyril lowered his head: "Because I didn't follow your instructions, sir."

"I am a head coach who attaches great importance to players' tactical execution." Mourinho did not directly respond to Cyril. He said lightly: "As far as I know, you are also a player with high tactical execution."

Cyril didn't say anything, but lowered his head even lower.

"But this game made me see something else, and it was my mistake to suddenly ask you to change without training." Mourinho said calmly: "In this matter, we are even. Yes—but, there will be no next time."

Cyril didn't understand what Mourinho meant by "change", but he didn't prevent him from letting out a sigh of relief in his heart: "Yes, sir."

The result of the game was finally fixed at 2:1, with the home team in front.

Cyril made a long pass to find Delray in the penalty area. The latter easily pushed after passing the Benfica defense. Porto took the lead again and maintained this score until the end.

When the referee blew his whistle and announced the end of the game, Cyril had a feeling of "finally over" for the first time. I have to say that this was the most difficult time for him to play so far. Although he had an assist, But in terms of overall performance, Cyril felt that he was not as good as he was in the youth team.

Thinking of Mourinho's string of strange instructions, Cyril shook his head helplessly: "I don't know what Mr. is thinking..."

"Jose, I really don't understand what you're thinking anymore! Cyril's performance in this game is very wrong-yes, I also know that he has an assist, but you know it's nothing at all, relatively As far as his ability is concerned, I don’t think this is a difficult thing to do.” As soon as the game was over, Andre Boas came to Mourinho’s side again: “I noticed that you seemed to be right before the start. What did he say that caused him to be out of play?"

"Don't make such a fuss, Andre, this is just a small attempt."

"I really don't see the need for such a useless attempt," Boas complained, "Or, have you found the possibility you want to investigate?"

Boas just complained casually. In fact, he didn't intend to get any answer from Mourinho, but he didn't want Mourinho to say it himself: "Yes, I found it."

Boas was stunned: "...You mean, you found it? What did you find?"

"Remember the topic we talked about last time? About Cyril Slade's talent." Mourinho explained: "I have observed him in several games, the youth team, the national team, and Today's game, I've always found it weird because every time I watch him play, I always have a feeling that he could have played better."

Boas was confused by what his friend said: "What do you mean?"

"Let's put it this way, as you said when you recommended him to me before, he is a typical team player. When he is on the court, he often puts the overall situation first. His choice is always the best for the whole. It allows him to hide his flaws through the ability of his teammates, but equally, it limits his ability to make his football accurate but lose his spirit."

"If Cyril Slade's own ability is 10, then in the previous tactical system, the ability he showed is 6. His prudence made him gain something, but made him lose more and more. important stuff."