Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

Chapter 336 Manchester United suffers from forestophobia!

The shot was powerful and the angle was tricky, but Ronaldo's intention to shoot was too obvious. Cesar in front of the goal was prepared. He moved in advance before he shot and flew to the side to block Ronaldo's shot.

"Oh, what a pity, but this shot shows that Ronaldo is in very good shape today!"

"Yes, the defeat in the last game obviously caused a lot of stimulation to Ronaldo. After the game, when the major European media evaluated the game, they all used the words that Ronaldo was completely defeated by Lin Feng!"

"No wonder Ronaldo fought so hard in this game. With Ronaldo's strong character, he must care about this matter very much and want to get back on track and prove himself!"

Not only the commentators thought so, but Lin Feng on the court also felt the same way.

Although he and Ronaldo are not very close, they are at least acquaintances.

But when he shook hands with Ronaldo before the game, Ronaldo looked straight ahead and had no expression on his face, as if he didn't know him, which made Lin Feng a little puzzled.

Although the two men serve different masters and are rivals on the court, it shouldn't be to this extent!
Looking back now, it was probably because the other party was too competitive and really regarded me as an enemy!

Oh no, I'm Messi!

The referee's penalty standards today were indeed very strict, but the first team to be punished was not Manchester United, who committed more fouls, but the home team Inter Milan.

In the 5th minute, Ronaldo successfully caused an Inter Milan player to foul during a breakthrough on the right.

C Ronaldo took the free kick himself. He seemed to want to replicate the elevator ball in the previous game, but unfortunately he made a mistake in the end and the ball flew over the crossbar and out of the bottom line.

"The elevator ball is still very technical. If you don't handle it well and don't fall down after reaching the highest point, it will easily go out of bounds!"

Although the ball did not go in, no one blamed Ronaldo.

It is difficult to score a goal from a free kick. According to statistics from professional organizations, the probability of scoring directly from a free kick in the top five leagues last year was about 5%.

Even for some free kick experts, this probability would probably not exceed 10%.

Taking Messi and Ronaldo as examples, they have attempted more than 450 free kicks each in their careers, scored 30+ and 40+ goals respectively, and their free kick success rates were 6.3% and 8.9% respectively.

Although the success rate of both of them seems to be low, among the players who have taken more than 200 free kicks, no third person can surpass them.

That’s why scoring a goal directly from a free kick is so special and scoring a goal is so precious.

Rice's two direct free kick goals against Real Madrid shocked the entire football world and made fans all over the world remember the name Rice.

In a sense, Rice became famous with just one goal, and it was a breakthrough one!

For the stars of this era, having an excellent free kick technique is very popular.

……

In the early stages of the game, Manchester United's attack was very fierce, frequently threatening Inter Milan's goal from the flanks, and they seemed to be in a position to take the initiative.

But as the game progressed, Inter Milan gradually got used to the opponent's offensive rhythm and style of play, and began to regain the initiative of the game little by little.

As the saying goes, whoever controls the midfield controls the world. Although most of Manchester United's offensive threats come from the flanks, Inter Milan's defensive focus is not on the flanks, but on the middle.

After discovering that Manchester United's counterattack was very dependent on Carrick, Inter Milan immediately took targeted measures. Lin Feng began to stick closely to Carrick, compressing his space for movement and not giving him the chance to pass the ball.

When he was not being targeted, Carrick could calmly observe the situation on the field, analyze the running positions of the players on both sides and the possible gaps, and then use his superb passing skills to accurately deliver the ball to his teammates.

But after being targeted by Inter Milan, Carrick's first thing after receiving the ball was not to think about passing the ball, but how to protect the ball safely and prevent the opponent from successfully stealing it.

But in this way, Manchester United’s fast break will not be able to start!
When Ferguson saw this trend on the sidelines, he immediately stood up and shouted to the Manchester United players on the field, asking them to support and cover Carrick and not let Carrick fall into the dilemma of fighting alone.

Inter Milan's intention is actually very clear, that is to curb the opponent's passing point in the counterattack by actively stealing the ball and counterattacking as soon as possible after losing the ball.

Carrick is the only player in Manchester United's backcourt who has the ability to pass the ball accurately, so as long as he is strangled, Manchester United will not be able to pass the ball quickly through the backcourt.

Even if the players in the front court have already run into position, their teammates in the back court are unable to pass the ball, so their running is in vain. In the end, they can only cancel the counterattack and return to the positional warfare mode.

Inter Milan is not afraid of positional warfare, because Serie A teams are best at defense.

If Manchester United really want to get into the opponent's familiar rhythm, then Inter Milan really won't be able to beat them.

After receiving Ferguson's instructions, Fletcher and Giggs both tried to help Carrick, and tried not to pass the ball through the middle, but to directly pull the full-backs on both sides out, pass the ball from the defender point, and after handing it to the full-backs, let the full-backs dribble forward to complete the attack.

This move is indeed a good way to break the deadlock, because Inter Milan has accumulated a large number of troops in the midfield. If Manchester United can bypass the middle and quickly send the ball to the feet of the attacking players in the frontcourt through the flanks, Inter Milan's interception and blockade in the midfield will lose its meaning.

But the problem is that after the full-backs press forward, the flanks on both sides of Manchester United will also become extremely empty. If Inter Milan also follows suit and launches a counterattack from the flanks, Manchester United will also be in a difficult situation.

Although Manchester United temporarily solved the problem of not being able to pass the ball through the middle through a progressive attack from central defenders to full-backs and then to wingers, their attack was still unable to break through Inter Milan's defense after reaching the frontcourt.

Inter Milan adopted Serie A's traditional chain defense, with the three lines always maintaining a reasonable distance and constantly adjusting the center of gravity of the defense line according to the opponent's attack direction.

Therefore, it is easy for a situation to occur that when Manchester United launches an attack on one side, a large number of Inter Milan players quickly move to the corresponding area, blocking all of Manchester United's offensive lines and cutting off all passing lines.

Manchester United tried to make a large-scale transfer, move the ball to the weak side where there are fewer defenders, and launch an attack from the weak side.

But this move was not very effective, as Inter's defensive position was not fixed, but rather a zone rotation position.

No matter which side the ball is transferred to, the nearby players will quickly reorganize a new line of defense, forming an impenetrable wall again, leaving the opponent helpless.

Facing this kind of chain defense, the best way is to find a player with very strong personal ability, rely on personal strength to blast through a single point, disrupt or even break through the opponent's zone defense chain, and rush to make up for the defense of the players near the opponent. When there is a gap behind him, pass the ball and let teammates relay to complete the attack.

But such players are rare in the entire football world. Although Ronaldo also has a strong breakthrough ability, that is on the wing where there are fewer defenders and huge space, rather than in crowded places like the center.

Under Inter Milan's defensive mode, breakthroughs from the wing will only be forced to the vicinity of the baseline and it is difficult to directly threaten the goal.

At this time, Ferguson wished he had a tall and strong center forward on his front line!
If there is such a fulcrum striker in front, they may be able to play around this center forward, through his support and passing in the frontcourt, let the players behind find opportunities to shoot. Unfortunately, Manchester United does not have such a player.

However, Ferguson quickly thought of two people, one was Arsenal's young center forward Van Persie, and the other was the Bulgarian Berbatov in Tottenham.

Van Persie is still too young and has suffered a lot of injuries, although he has performed well for Arsenal this season.

But the lack of experience and the risk of becoming a glass man are quite discouraging to Ferguson.

Compared with Van Persie, although Berbatov has various shortcomings, he has proved his ability in both the Bundesliga and the Premier League. He is not the kind of player who is prone to injury. Once he is bought, he can provide the team with strong immediate combat power.

Moreover, Berbatov has very delicate footwork and is capable of passing the ball to his teammates and providing support.

In addition, Xiaosha Ge has a good sense of team cooperation, which meets Ferguson's requirements very well.

The more Ferguson thought about it, the more tempted he became, and he even had the urge to dig the player away from Tottenham this summer.

But when he thought of the greedy face of Tottenham chairman Levy, he felt a little annoyed.

If you buy players from Tottenham, you will inevitably be ripped off by them.

"Inter Milan played very patiently today, as if they were not playing at home. They were not in a hurry to attack, but instead controlled the ball!"

In the commentary booth, the two guest commentators were puzzled by Inter Milan's performance.

Since the start of the game, Manchester United has completed four shots, while Inter Milan has only taken one shot, which went astray.

The offensive desire of the two teams can be said to be completely unequal, and the Manchester United players' eagerness to attack is almost written on their faces.

As for Inter Milan, it cannot be said that they are playing health-preserving football, but everyone can see that their offense is not aggressive enough.

"I feel like Inter Milan seems to want to slow down the tempo of the game and reduce the offensive and defensive rounds of both sides, or are they trying to conserve their energy and wait until the opponent is exhausted in the second half before launching a full-scale counterattack?"

The commentators couldn't understand what Mancini was thinking and could only speculate from the most likely angle.

In the 24th minute of the first half, Ronaldo tried another long shot from 28 meters in front of the goal.

This was Ronaldo's third shot in the first half. The first two shots both went wide of the goal frame, but this time it hit the target, but still failed to get past Cesar's fingers.

As physical energy was depleted and the players lost their fighting spirit after a long period of failure, Manchester United's offensive gradually stopped.

However, just when Manchester United was planning to retreat to catch their breath and then reorganize the attack, Inter Milan took the initiative to speed up.

In the 26th minute, Inter Milan completed a steal in the middle and quickly launched a counterattack.

Lin Feng cooperated with Zanetti, and after getting rid of the defender on the left side, he decisively attempted a long shot.

Lin Feng's shot was so powerful that the ball flew towards the goal at an extremely fast speed, forcing Van der Sar to fly to save the ball, but he narrowly blocked it.

The position of his shot was similar to that of Ronaldo just now, but it was obviously more threatening.

The Manchester United players, who had already gotten used to Inter Milan's previous slow style of play, seemed caught off guard by Inter Milan's sudden attack.

When Lin Feng moved to the left, the players nearby were all retreating. No one stepped forward to intercept or interfere. They just watched him complete the shot.

It was also thanks to Van der Sar's excellent form today. If he had reacted a little slower, the opponent might have scored!
So after making the save, Van der Sar was very angry and yelled at his teammates on the back line, asking them to cheer up and concentrate.

Lin Feng's shot seemed like a signal, sounding the horn of Inter Milan's attack.

In the 28th minute, Torres turned around and got rid of Brown on the left side of the penalty area line and tried a lob shot from 20 meters in front of the goal.

Although the ball was way off target, it did not threaten Manchester United's goal.

But it still sounded the alarm for Manchester United. Torres is a player who likes to shoot long shots from the upper left corner of the penalty area. He has used this trick to score goals in Serie A and the Champions League.

If they hadn't stopped him, Torres would probably have continued trying until he scored.

But compared with the threat posed by Lin Feng, Torres still has to step back a little.

In the 32nd minute, Inter Milan made a wonderful combination in the frontcourt. Figo made a cross after breaking through the wing, and Cruz in the penalty area passed the ball to Lin Feng.

After Lin Feng stopped the ball with his chest, he volleyed it directly without waiting for the ball to hit the ground. The ball was fast and accurate, and Van der Sar was already in danger, but the ball was blocked by the post at the last moment.

All of Manchester United's players looked as if they had survived a disaster, and Van der Sar even wanted to hug the post and kiss it.

If Lizhu’s father hadn’t stepped forward, they would have been dead!

After witnessing Lin Feng's terrifying scoring ability in the previous game, everyone in Manchester United developed a phobia of Lin Feng. They couldn't help but feel nervous when they saw Lin Feng getting the ball in the frontcourt.

Now Lin Feng made another terrifying shot, which magnified their fear several times!
Sometimes defensive players are too nervous and subconsciously want to do something, such as tackling or fouling.

Although Ferguson repeatedly warned them before the game not to commit fouls easily in the backcourt and not to give the opponent free kick opportunities.

The referee of this game is very strict and will not tolerate any flaws. Any foul with a slightly larger amplitude may be punished by him.

But at this moment, the players' bodies moved faster than their brains.

In the 35th minute, when Lin Feng once again successfully got rid of the defensive player in the frontcourt and was about to break into the penalty area, Richardson behind him almost subconsciously stretched out his foot and tripped him on the penalty area line.

There was an uproar at the scene, and Ferguson even closed his eyes in pain.

Finished!

(End of this chapter)