We agreed to play football together, and you will be the head coach?

Chapter 106: The troublesome Mido and Ibrahimovic, the desperate Owen and Liverpool (Request for full order)

[You lead your team to the knockout stage of the Europa League and receive the rewards "Basic Assistance" and "Just Press"]

[Basic Assist Defense: Player-level skill. Assist defense is a very important part of football defense, and it is also a necessary skill for midfielders. Improve the player's assist defense ability and reduce the player's physical energy consumption]

[Just press on: Team card. Strengthen the team's frontcourt offensive tactical training effect]

[Chiellini gained some insights from watching Guardiola's performance on the court, and was promoted from a "secondary league level" player to a "top five league level player"]

[You equipped the skill "Basic Assistance" to the player Chiellini. ]

The so-called "just press forward" is taken from a sentence said by Xie Hui when he was coaching, but here it is mainly used for frontcourt offense.

Many teams hope that they can suppress others, but when they really get the opportunity to suppress others, they can't do it.

The English team is the most typical example. It is also a classic scene that the lagging team is eager to equalize the score at the last moment while the opponent is shrinking.

Most people can only cross, header, cross, header, and at best a long shot.

It is actually very difficult to break through the opponent's eleven-man bus formation.

But some teams are actually better at handling this situation.

For example, Guardiola's Manchester City.

Their pressing attack is not based on crossing the ball, but on compressing the opponent's defensive formation.

When the opponent is squatting on defense, there are often two or even three layers of defense.

As long as their formation is complete, it will be difficult to penetrate them and it will be difficult to get any chances.

At this time, players with outstanding personal abilities are often needed to stand out, break through the opponent's two or three layers of defense in succession, and perform superstar moments.

But superstars with such abilities are hard to come by.

Guardiola has spent his entire life trying to get rid of the influence of star players on the team and use tactics to achieve the same goal, and he has really succeeded.

It is difficult for ordinary players to continuously break through two or three layers of defense of the opponent, but what if the opponent only has one layer of defense?

Wouldn’t that be much easier?
Eduardo's offside?

A spike from Arteta?
Ribery changes direction once?
Modric passes the ball?
If they can defeat the enemy in this way, then who else can stop their attack?
Therefore, the core secret of "just press forward" is to compress the opponent's formation as much as possible and make them as close to a line as possible.

The reason why tactical free kicks and corner kicks are good scoring opportunities is that the defense's formation is compressed into a line at this time.

This is why many defensive coaches repeatedly emphasize defensive formations.

So how do we achieve this?
The core is the midfielder's forward run.

In other words, the wingers, midfielders and even full-backs repeatedly make forward runs along the flanks.

The ribs of the attacking team correspond to the opponent's wing back position. As long as this position collapses, the opponent's defense line will only have one layer.

Therefore, the most obvious thing when attacking a strong team or a weak team is what their players on the flanks are doing after they are pressed forward?
There will be no gang fight. The players on the flanks will just stand there, not knowing what they should do and unable to do anything for the team. Then everyone will wait for the full-back to pass the ball, and the result is naturally no threat at all.

They will gang up on the opponent, constantly penetrate the ribs, and use this as a root to derive many small tactics.

Palermo's midfielders all have the ability and awareness to advance.

Now that the tactics are here, He Tianqi will of course have some training.

"Ah? What did you just say?"

After He Tianqi finished dealing with the system's matters, he turned to look at Modric.

Modric repeated himself: "Boss, Arteta has been in more contact with the players at Barcelona."

"At night in the dormitory, I saw him chatting with Puyol, Valdes and Motta."

He Tianqi showed surprise: "Really? That's good."

Modric: ???
He Tianqi took out the list of the UEFA Cup top 16 teams.

Modric's pupils shrank: "You mean... we might meet Barcelona in the knockout stage?"

He Tianqi nodded: "You can learn about the characteristics of Barcelona players through Artetado during this period, especially some small habits."

“It may not be used, but once it is used, it can be critical if it is not used well.”

Modric reacted quickly: "What about us? What if Arteta leaks our information to Barcelona? Wouldn't we suffer a great loss..."

Modric's voice became smaller and smaller, and in the end he even lost confidence in himself.

Please!

They are Barcelona!

You are just a small Serie B team.

Is it necessary for others to know you in advance?
As long as Barcelona does what they are supposed to do, they will not be afraid of anyone.

Because they have a super player in their team who will win the World Footballer of the Year at the end of the year - Ronaldinho.

……

On March 6, Palermo was equalized by Pescara.

On March 9th, Palermo defeated Como and they are now fifteen points ahead of second place and are destined to be promoted and win the championship.

The only suspense is how many rounds they can advance!

March 11, the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Palermo welcomed the French giants Marseille.

There are also some familiar players on this team.

Especially their main center forward - Didier Drogba.

This is also a player who came up from a lower-level league. He Tianqi had considered Drogba at the earliest time, but failed to successfully recruit him.

Because Drogba has been playing for a French Ligue 2001 club since , how could he come to Serie C?
This year, Drogba's outstanding performance has been favored by many top clubs including Chelsea.

In addition, Mourinho, who is rumored to be likely to coach Chelsea after the end of the season, also admires Drogba very much.

If the Magic Bird takes over Chelsea, Drogba's joining will be a foregone conclusion.

If nothing unexpected happens, Drogba has scored 19 goals and provided seven assists in Ligue 1 this season, five goals in the Champions League and six goals in the UEFA Cup.

With this achievement, he was selected into the list of candidates for the World Footballer of the Year for the first time.

Won the Ligue 1 Best Player and French Footballer of the Year awards.

It is completely out of reach for Palermo.

But Drogba's partner is different.

His striker partner is called Ahmed Hassan Mido, known as the Prince of Egypt.

He became famous in Ajax in the past two years, and his then teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic had to be his substitute.

In addition, Mido's efficiency is much higher than Ibrahimovic. It can be said that he surpasses the Swedish God in all aspects.

But his character was too prickly, and he had conflicts with almost every leader of his club.

At Ajax, Marseille, Roma, Tottenham, Middlesbrough and many more.

Can you believe that he even wants the top wolf king Totti to be his deputy?
Once or twice is an accident, but if there is a falling out every time, it means that the player has a big psychological problem.

In comparison, Ibrahimovic, who is also known for his arrogance, actually has a much better personality. At least he is a smart person who can weigh the pros and cons and communicate rationally.

So this season He Tianqi gave up the idea of ​​competing with Marseille for Mido.

He can teach players advanced tactical thinking, help players improve and enrich their personal abilities, and even change some players' minds to a certain extent.

But it is difficult for him to change a person's nature.

Change what can be changed, respect what cannot be changed, this is He Tianqi's principle for recruiting players.

So he won't let Chiellini play as an all-around midfielder, won't let Modric play as a winger, won't let Ashley Young play as a midfield organizer, and won't let Vidic play as a center forward.

Vidic: I remember that you arranged for me to play in the middle of the field in one game... The message cannot be sent, the other party has blocked you.

In addition, Marseille's central defender Van Buyten is also a famous player.

He is 1.96 meters tall and was expected to be returned by Manchester City in the future, but he found his spring in Bayern.

Another central defender, Cristian Valle, is a famous dummy central defender in Barcelona's history.

In order to cope with Real Madrid's continuous recruitment of forwards, Barcelona deliberately introduced this tall, strong, fast and young central defender.

As a result, he was lost in La Liga and his performance was even worse than Oleger, the weakest link in Barcelona's own defensive system, so he was returned.

Palermo has some confidence facing such a Marseille.

But Drogba was still too amazing. He forced a superstar shot in the first leg and broke through Palermo's goal.

Marseille returned to the Velodrome Stadium with a score of one to zero.

However, Palermo was not affected by the defeat and won three consecutive victories in the league, extending its lead to 18 points.

Before the start of the second leg of the European Cup quarter-finals, He Tianqi, who landed in Marseille, bluntly stated that he had thought about signing Mido at the beginning of this season, but Palermo was not as competitive as Marseille at the time.

And now, he still holds this view and welcomes Mido to join Palermo after the end of this season.

Compared to his former opponent Ibrahimovic, He Tianqi believes that Mido is much more capable.

But his only worry now is not the team's elimination from the Europa League, but that Juventus may compete with Palermo for Mido.

The Marseille coach saw through He Tianqi's pre-match interference at a glance and said that this method would not work.

But the real war of public opinion is never false, but a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Mido's agent quickly confirmed this, saying that Juventus had contacted him.

This can also put pressure on Marseille and allow Mido to obtain more tactical resources and salary.

After all, there is a high possibility that Drogba will leave.

Marseille may not be able to cope with losing two main center forwards at once.

However, Marseille is very dissatisfied with Mido and his agent's pressure and is determined not to give Mido a new contract before the end of this season.

How can such a powerful family be controlled by a brat?

On the other hand, Juventus also admitted that they had contact with Mido.

This news made Ajax center forward Ibrahimovic furious!
In fact, Juventus has also been linked with Ibrahimovic this season.

Even earlier, they had had conversations before Ibrahimovic joined Ajax. Many European giants wanted to scratch this Swedish lottery ticket, which seemed to have a high chance of winning.

Unfortunately, Ibrahimovic finally chose Arsenal.

He went to London with great enthusiasm, thinking that a contract was waiting for him.

As a result, Wenger said that you have to try out for a period of time first.

Ibrahimovic proudly stated that "Zlatan never had trials", turned around and returned to Sweden, recording Arsenal and Wenger in his little notebook.

And now, Juventus is actually talking about transfers with Ibrahimovic and Mido at the same time.

The two are absolute enemies at Ajax.

Juventus was also recorded in Ibrahimovic's little notebook.

He swore that even if all the Serie A teams were relegated, he would not join Juventus!

He Tianqi's off-field actions were intended to affect the team atmosphere of Marseille.

But invisibly, it seems to have affected Juventus next season.

Soon, the second leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-finals began.

Mido undoubtedly stole the show.

He showed his excellent footwork, which was no less than that of the Swede.

Two tall guys with full physical abilities combined their strengths in the air to create something that players of their height should not have. This was how they completely defeated each other.

To be honest, Mido's outstanding performance made his teammate Drogba pale in comparison.

But there is often a gap between looking threatening and being truly deadly.

Top killers are always ordinary.

In the end, thanks to Luca Toni's header and Eduardo's goal, Palermo reversed the game 2-1.

Defeated Marseille with the advantage of away goals.

After the game, the head coach of Marseille publicly stated that the team has Mido but not him! Even if Drogba cannot be retained, he definitely does not want such a disobedient player.

Mido once had a conflict with the coach and even wanted to hit him, but was stopped by the staff nearby.

However, the instigator quietly left Marseille with the team and returned to Sicily.

Grosso, who scored both goals, underwent a transformation in this battle, from a "top five league level" player to a "star-level" player.

He became the third star player in the team after Tony and Zaccardo.

At the same time, He Tianqi also gained a skill of [Excellent offense and defense] in this game.

[Excellent at both offense and defense: Player-level skill. When the player is in his own half, his defensive ability is improved. When in the opponent's half, his passing and shooting abilities are improved.]

Of course he armed Grosso immediately.

Grosso also has four skills, [Basic Cross], [Free Wing], [Basic Long Shot], and [Excellent Attack and Defense].

This is a typical offensive winger.

Considering his height, strength and previous defensive foundation, his defense cannot be said to be bad.

The only pity is that all four of his skills are "player level".

Star-level players can be equipped with a "star-level" skill.

But the explosion rate of high-level items in the system is too low.

This is the "star-level" skill that He Tianqi can give to players so far. Modric's "rocket pass and shot" is achieved by upgrading his level through skipping levels.

Ribery's [Third Gear Launch] is upgraded using a skill upgrade card.

The only star-level skill that really came into play was Tony's [All-around Striker].

This is really a bit too "easy".

Simply unworthy of a man!
……

On March 28th and April 4th, Palermo played against Atalanta and Catania, who were still in Serie B.

One win and one draw.

Under He Tianqi's tactical modifications, Ribery's injury did not have a fatal impact on the team.

If there was any head coach with a single tactic, the team would have collapsed by now.

But after the opponent in the Europa League quarter-finals was announced, many people thought that Palermo's European journey had come to an end.

Because their opponent is another Premier League powerhouse - Liverpool!

Palermo is simply a collector of Premier League teams this season.

Manchester City, Newcastle, Liverpool.

From blue to black and white to red, the main focus is really on balance.

The current head coach of Liverpool is still their legendary coach Houllier.

The team includes Ballon d'Or winner Michael Owen.

Great Britain international Heskey.

Harry Kewell, or Kewell, is known as the Australian Tony Leung and the Wizard.

As well as local captain Gerrard, Hyypia, Danny Murphy, Biscan, Carragher, Dudek, Riise and so on.

They once launched an attack on the Premier League title in recent years, but failed due to head coach Houllier's heart disease.

In traditional perception, this Liverpool team is far from being something Palermo can challenge.

It is also far better than the unknown Manchester City and the declining Newcastle.

In this game, He Tianqi brought out the team's strongest lineup:
Arteta, Toni, Eduardo

Toure, Chiellini, Modric

Grosso, Vidic, Barzagli, Zaccardo.

-

Due to the lack of real speed wingers, Grosso's overlapping runs became the key to the tactics.

Toure, who has strong back-and-forth ability, is on this side to contribute on both offense and defense.

Liverpool's squad is:
Neil Mailer, Owen

Kewell, Harman, Gerrard, Danny Murphy

Riise, Hyypia, Biscan, Carragher
Dudek

-

Husky was injured two months ago and is not expected to return until the next game.

Compared to Heskey, Liverpool youth player Neil Mellor is also a typical English power striker, 1.84 meters tall and strong.

He is still unknown now, but a year later he will become Liverpool's lore man, scoring seven goals in ten games to lead the team past Olympiacos, which led to the subsequent Istanbul Miracle.

Unfortunately, injuries later found him and he became a nobody.

In this game, He Tianqi specially arranged the team's blocking task.

Let Vidic freeze Mellor and suppress the power forward, which is Vidic's specialty. Chiellini, Zaccardo, Barzagli, and even Toure all have to find a way to lock down Owen.

It's not about letting them go together, but whoever's defense zone Irving appears in will go.

Because although Irving is fast, has strong shooting skills and high flexibility, his physical confrontation ability is not strong, especially after he was seriously injured.

Just give him physical contact and his threat will be eliminated.

We must avoid being able to use Owen's small-sided attack against Vidic.

Because although Vidic's defense is solid, it has a fatal flaw, which is that his turning speed is too slow.

It can be called an aircraft carrier U-turn.

With a whistle, the game officially begins.

In the fifth minute, Kewell sent a straight pass to Owen.

But Chiellini kept running behind Irving, with his arms raised, giving Irving no chance to overtake.

The ball was eventually confiscated by Handanovic.

In the 11th minute, Modric passed the ball to Arteta, who hit the wall and moved forward along the ribs. However, Biscan defended well, and Arteta had no chance to pass the ball inside, so he could only pass it back to the wing.

Grosso made a cross from a wide open position.

Toni jumped high in the penalty area and headed the ball into the goal in the confrontation with Hyypiä, who was 1.95 meters tall.

Hyypia had never expected that this unknown player could have such a strong impact, and he was caught off guard for a moment, allowing Toni to seize the opportunity to score.

And sometimes, the murderous intent comes at this moment.

"GOAL!"

"Super Tony scored again!"

"He's a real high-altitude bomber!"

"Hypia was careless. He didn't expect this big Italian guy to be so strong!"

Palermo scored with their first threatening attack.

This makes Liverpool a little anxious.

In the 22nd minute, Gerrard made a through pass and Zaccardo blocked Owen.

Although he is 1.84 meters tall, he cannot block others, but he is more than enough to block Owen.

Irving was blocked by such defense many times today. His emotions got out of control for a moment and he pushed Zaccardo from behind.

Zaccardo fell on the ball and hugged it to prevent the referee from not calling a foul, allowing Owen to take the ball and continue his attack.

However, the referee was sensible and called a foul on Irving at the time.

In the 34th minute, Liverpool's attack still had no clue.

Owen moved to the right, hoping to get some opportunities, but because Toure's movement always blocked his teammates' passing points to Owen, his teammates could only pass the ball to him in the air.

If the 1.9-meter-tall Grosso ever lets the 1.73-meter-tall Owen get a header, He Tianqi will definitely replace him with Valencia immediately.

What the hell are you kicking?

In the 36th minute, Kewell dribbled and made a through pass.

Owen saved the ball at the bottom line, dribbled past Barzagli and attempted a shot from a small angle.

The football hit the crossbar and bounced to the other side, where Meler made the follow-up shot.

Liverpool players celebrated.

But the linesman said that the ball had already crossed the baseline when Owen saved it, so the goal was invalid.

Owen was very unhappy, but from his expression it was clear that he also knew this.

In addition, Barzagli, who was defending him, also saw it clearly.

He was easily dunked by Irving because he tried to tell the referee this, but he was a step too slow.

On the sidelines, He Tianqi began to scold Barzagli.

The latter lowered his head and nodded submissively, indicating that he knew he was wrong.

He Tianqi repeatedly emphasized that after fouls, handballs, offsides and other situations occur, we must continue to focus on the game.

Wait until the opponent's attack ends and the ball is dead, then go to the referee to complain.

This is a defensive habit.

Because in this era there are a large number of wrong judgments, missed judgments, and misjudgments.

Relying on the referee to stop the opponent is obviously not as reliable as stopping the opponent yourself first.

In the 42nd minute, Gerrard passed the ball to Owen on the ground.

However, Yaya Toure had been waiting for this opportunity.

He successfully intercepted the ball and passed it to Arteta.

Although Arteta is standing in the left winger position, his activity area is concentrated in the left attacking midfielder position. He can take a long shot after taking two steps after receiving the ball.

Dudek was in good shape and saved the ball.

Eduardo on the side jumped out and took a follow-up shot.

But Dudek made two consecutive saves and once again kept the ball out of the goal.

The football bounced out of the penalty area.

Modric rushed over and took a long shot without stopping the ball.

"GOAL!"

"Two to zero!"

"Modric scores from long range!"

"Dudek has done his best, but luck is on Palermo's side."

"Hamann didn't follow Modric, maybe other players were more threatening to him."

"But it was this seemingly invisible player who dealt Liverpool a fatal blow."

To be honest, Modric was not satisfied with the commentary.

What is invisibility?
What does it mean to have no sense of existence?

This is called keeping a low profile!

This is a big game of chess!
In the end, the first half ended with a score of 2-0.

Fifteen minutes later, the second half began.

The head coaches of both teams obviously gave their players a boost.

As soon as the game started, both sides started fighting fiercely.

Modric and Gerrard were thrown to the ground in the middle.

During the tumble, Gerrard's studs scratched Modric's cheek.

Although it was not intentional, the referee still showed Gerrard a yellow card.

This is a dangerous move.

Both sides expressed understanding for the yellow card.

In the 62nd minute, Danny Murphy opened up the game on the wing and made a diagonal pass while dribbling.

Owen used his running ability to get rid of Chiellini's tracking, and after receiving the ball, he made a dribble and dribbled past Barzagli.

Then he shot before Vidic could get back on target.

"GOAL!"

"Irving! This is the ability of Mr. Golden Globe Award winner Irving!"

"As long as he is given enough opportunities, he can score against any team!"

"It was clear that Palermo's defense had made special arrangements today, focusing on Owen."

"But even so, Owen can still score a goal!"

"Two to one! Liverpool is gaining momentum!"

In the following period, Liverpool's offense became stronger.

In the 71st minute, Eduardo participated in the defense, pulled Gerrard and received a yellow card.

He Tianqi replaced Eduardo with Pedro.

In the 78th minute, Grosso intercepted Danny Murphy on the left, dribbled the ball forward and performed a one-on-one move on the wing.

After going down the crease, he faked a cross to shake off Carragher, then passed the ball to Arteta.

Arteta took two steps with the ball, looking for an angle for the shot.

As a result, Gerrard came back too quickly and he could only pass the ball horizontally to Modric.

Modric passed the ball directly to Pedro on the right without stopping.

Pedro sent in a cross.

Hyypia cleared the ball with a header, and the ball flew to Grosso's feet again, circling back and forth.

boom!
Grosso made a sharp cross pass and swept the ball into the penalty area.

Carragher gave up on coming out and instead prepared to participate in the header in the penalty area, just in the passing path.

boom!
The football hit Carragher's feet, bounced out in a clever arc, just passed over Dudek's head in front of the goal and fell into the back post.

The whole audience was surprised.

The next moment, cheers broke out in the Frederick II Stadium.

On Liverpool's side, morale instantly dropped.

"Own goal! Grosso's cross pass caused Carragher to score an own goal!"

"Three to one! Palermo defended their home court!"

"Liverpool are a bit disappointing! They have been up and down in recent seasons."

"When they are strong, they can beat the Red Devils and the Gunners twice."

“When they are weak, they will also lose to relegation teams and second-tier league teams.”

"It's time for this Liverpool team to make some changes!"

"It is rumored that they may invite Benítez to coach next season!"

On the sidelines, He Tianqi excitedly threw three farmer's punches, giving Liverpool a little shock.

Carragher, one of the players in the One Man, One City series.

There are many players in the football world who are dedicated to their own city, including Giggs, Neville, Scholes of Manchester United, Baresi, Maldini of Milan, Totti of Roma, and Puyol of Barcelona.

Most of them are loyal and respect each other.

But the public generally believes that Carragher's one-man-one-city goal is due to his bad performance.

He is the player who has scored the most goals against Liverpool in history.

This is a typical case of keeping the wealth within the family. Liverpool's records must remain in the hands of Liverpool's own people.

The only player in the Premier League who is more accomplished than Carragher in own goals is Manchester City's centre-back Dunne.

Palermo has already played against Manchester City this season.

Unexpectedly, Dunne did not score an own goal, but Carragher came from behind.

So some things are really hard to change.

For example, the temperament of this own goal.

Palermo then started to make substitutions, Guardiola replaced Arteta, changed the formation to 442, and strengthened the defense.

Liverpool also became anxious because of this.

In the 85th minute, Kewell's long-range shot went wide.

In the 91st minute, Owen was offside.

Handanovic delayed the kick-off and received a yellow card.

As a result, just after receiving the card, Owen pushed Chiellini again.

The latter fell to the ground.

There is no doubt that Chiellini provoked Owen first. Owen, who had been playing poorly today, got angry.

Players from both sides confronted each other on the court.

The referee finally showed Owen a yellow card.

Then the game ended.

……

Turin Sports Daily: "Palermo's victory once again proves that the Premier League is vulnerable!"

Gazzetta dello Sport: "He Tianqi's targeted tactics worked! Palermo's defense fascinated the Ballon d'Or winner!"

Corriere dello Sport: "Although Owen scored a goal, his performance in Sicily can hardly be called excellent!"

"Barbara's Column": "The tactical god He Tianqi may lead a Serie B team to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup for the first time!"

Palermo stole the show once again.

Especially the English, they have to admit that they are impressed by Palermo.

Is it true that apart from Manchester United and Arsenal, other Premier League teams are only at the level of Serie B?

But such self-doubt was quickly broken by Liverpool manager Houllier.

Houllier was asked about Palermo during the weekend's Premier League pre-match press conference.

He said: "Palermo's defense? Yes, they did a good job in the last game. We were careless and we were targeted."

"But every tactic has weaknesses and my team and I have managed to crack the Palermo defence."

"In the next round at Anfield, we will bring a victory to the fans!"

It is widely believed that Houllier was referring to Heskey.

Heskey has been included in the squad for this Premier League game and is expected to come on as a substitute to find his form.

In the UEFA Cup next week, Liverpool will once again welcome the super striker combination of Heskey + Owen.

The Palermo Line of Defense would naturally become the laughing stock of the Maginot Line.

Ninety minutes later, Liverpool defeated Manchester City.

But after getting three points, Houllier angrily yelled at the English media: "Shit! The Premier League is shit!"

"The Premier League committee does nothing but take a cut!"

"They just watched our players get injured!"

"How did those damned gangsters get into the professional teams in the Premier League?"

“Why are these players who aim to hurt others still active in the league?”

"He Tianqi should have beaten Patton to death in the first place!"

Houllier was angry because in the 50th minute of the game, Barton made a flying tackle on Owen, causing the latter to be injured.

Barton received a red card and Manchester City was one man short.

Their head coach, former Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan, also publicly criticized Barton for ruining everything after the game. Manchester City had the opportunity to take away one or even three points.

Likewise, Kevin Keegan expressed his regret for Owen's injury.

Houllier was still very emotional. While insulting the Premier League committee, he revealed the key to Liverpool's breakthrough against Palermo: "The Palermo defense seems to be targeting Owen, but the real meaning is to protect Vidic!"

"He Tianqi is very smart! He knows that once Vidic's weakness is discovered, his team will suffer a fatal blow."

"And Owen is the best weapon against this tall center back who is slow to turn!"

"Heskey can help Owen break through the Palermo defense."

"If Owen hadn't been injured, we would have been able to beat Palermo next time! Definitely!"

"But now, everything is gone!"

"Without Owen, who can I use to fight Vidic?"

Houllier's collapse came not only from the team's record, but also from the tactical confrontation with the head coach.

You finally cracked the opponent's tactics, but your players got injured and you couldn't implement it, verify it, or win.

This feeling is like guessing all the lottery numbers correctly but forgetting to buy it. It's very painful.

[PS: After four years, Paris is still the same Paris. Whenever the game is a little more intense, they can't adapt. In the first half of the World Cup final, the French played in a daze. Maybe this is due to the French background? Anyway, they need to be injected with some iron-blooded genes, and Mourinho happens to be idle, so why not just do it? ]

[Today's Champions League prediction: Real Madrid ends the battle 3-1]

(End of this chapter)