"Gareth, you and Nemanja focus on taking care of Drogba. Nemanja is responsible for the substitute press, and Gareth you are responsible for protection."

Chen Ran looked at Southgate and Vidic and warned.

"Okay, boss."

"Don't worry, boss."

"George, Chelsea's Duff is a left-footed player, but after Robben came this season, he was moved to the right by Mourinho. When you are guarding him, focus on his left foot and don't let him cut inside.

Knock on the door.”

Chen Ran turned to look at Chiellini and explained the details of his defense.

"I know, boss."

"Maicon, Chelsea's newly introduced Robben is very strong. He is fast and has good skills. You will have a hard time in this game."

"But his body is relatively thin, so use your body more when guarding against him. Also, after the start, give him a hard blow to warn him. But be careful with your movements and don't hurt anyone maliciously."

"Leave it to me, boss, and I will make sure that Robben doesn't dare to act wild."

Maicon grinned and gave Chen Ran a reassuring gesture.

After instructing the defensive linemen, Chen Ran called Simeone, Modric and Yaya Toure over.

"Diego, Luca, Yaya, our tactic in this game is to defend and counterattack, so I will form a three-midfielder formation. Luca is responsible for organizing the offense, and Diego, you and Yaya have to share more defensive tasks.

"

"I understand, boss."

"Boss, don't worry."

"I know, boss."

After explaining the midfield, Chen Ran called Ronaldo, Ribery and Toni together.

"Chelsea's two full-backs, Bridge and Ferreira, are of average strength. Chris, you and Frank, just keep an eye on their two attacks. As for whether to pass down the bottom or cut in and shoot after the breakthrough, it's up to you to decide."

"For the three of you, I have another request that is to score more goals. Chelsea's goalkeeper Cudicini is a sharp knife. If he is in good condition, he can save any ball; if he is not in good condition, he may be able to score any ball.

."

...

While Chen Ran was intensively arranging tactics, Chelsea's side, also in London, was no different from the previous two league games.

Mourinho is handling the team's daily affairs step by step, and there is no sign that Chelsea will play against the league's top team.

Mendes, who had tried not to mention Chen Ran's name in front of Mourinho, couldn't help but remind him at this time.

"José, don't you prepare for the game against Crystal Palace?"

"What are you preparing for? Isn't it just an ordinary Premier League game? The tactics I have developed for Chelsea have taken shape. Next, just play the same as the previous two games."

Mourinho looked up at Mendes in surprise.

"Crystal Palace is now at the top of the Premier League." Mendes reminded again.

"So what?" Mourinho looked a little unhappy.

"Not to mention the newly promoted team Crystal Palace, but also Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. I also play this way."

Seeing that Mourinho was a little unhappy, Mendes shut his mouth knowingly.

Mourinho is now his signature cash cow and must not be offended.

The third round of competition is scheduled for Wednesday night.

Even though it's a working day, fans still can't resist the enthusiasm to go to the stadium to watch the game.

Selhurst Park, the home ground of Crystal Palace, once again staged a packed house.

Because Selhurst Park can only accommodate more than 26,000 people, some fans were even unable to buy tickets and were blocked from the stadium.

After all, the two sides fighting in this game are Crystal Palace, currently ranked number one in the Premier League; the other, who has spent two consecutive seasons recruiting heavily, now has Chelsea, the new Champions League champion coach Mourinho.

Fanned by some media, this game has also been given the significance of competing for who will be the number one coach of the new generation.

"The highlight of the upcoming third round of the Premier League, Crystal Palace vs. Chelsea at home, will be a direct battle between the new generation of coaches."

"Last season, the Chinese won the English Championship and League Cup double. Mourinho, after winning the UEFA Cup, also won the European Champions Cup. As both young coaches, who

Stronger, will be revealed soon.”

"As the two hottest young coaches currently, they are about to stage a peak showdown in the Premier League."

...

"Hello Mr. Mourinho, nice to meet you. Jorge has always said that he would introduce us to each other, but unfortunately there has never been a suitable opportunity. Today we finally met."

Before the game, as usual, Chen Ran went to shake hands with Mourinho and greet him.

"Really? That's such a shame. Nice to meet you, Mr. Chen."

Mourinho raised the corners of his mouth and smiled faintly.

Turning back to the Crystal Palace bench, Chen Ran knew that it would be impossible for him to be friends with Mourinho in this life.

That looming hostility made him understand the reason why Mendes broke the appointment.

Maybe this is the incompatibility of the horoscopes.

Chen Ran muttered to himself.

However, since we can't be friends, we can only be rivals.

Mourinho, I'm sorry, but the time for you to win your first Premier League title may have to be postponed for a long time.

With the referee's whistle, the highlight of the third round of the Premier League began.

Crystal Palace’s starting XI is:

center toney

Left midfielder Ronaldo, right midfielder Franck Ribery

Defensive midfielder Yaya Toure, defensive midfielder Modric, defensive midfielder Simeone

Left back Chiellini, center back Southgate, center back Vidic, right back Maicon

Cech

Chelsea’s starting lineup is:

Left winger Robben, center Drogba, right winger Duff

Central midfielder Makelele, central midfielder Lampard, central midfielder Thiago

Left back Bridge, center back Carvalho, center back Terry, right back Ferreira

Cudicini

From the beginning of the game, Chelsea took the initiative on the field.

Because Crystal Palace took the initiative to shrink and retreat, leaving Chelsea with a lot of space.

In fact, Chelsea's offensive routine is very similar to that of Crystal Palace. They both use two wide players to make sharp breakthroughs, tear apart the opponent's defense, and then create opportunities for scoring in the middle.

The Crystal Palace players have been playing this set of tactics for more than a year and are very familiar with it.

When Lampard passed the ball to Robben on the left, Maicon, who had been staring at Robben for a long time, saw the right moment and immediately rushed forward and made a flying tackle.

The kick is fierce and precise.

Maicon's foot accurately hit the ball, but the huge inertia also made Robben fly up and hit the billboard on the sidelines.

"Red card! This is a red card!"

Before the referee's whistle blew, Mourinho, who was standing on the sidelines, jumped up and yelled at the referee.

Hearing the shout, the referee turned his head and glanced at Mourinho calmly. The whistle sounded to signal that Maicon had committed a foul.

However, Maicon was not even given a yellow card.

The current penalty scale is far from as strict as the later protection of players.

The Premier League originally encourages physical confrontation, and Maicon did not tackle Robben's body, so the referee thought this was just a common foul.

No matter how angry Mourinho was on the sidelines, the referee simply ignored him.

In the end, the fourth official couldn't stand it anymore and called the referee and gave Mourinho a verbal warning.

At this time, Robben was still sitting on the sidelines and did not get up for a long time.

He was not injured, but the impact when he hit the billboard was relatively strong and knocked him a little dazed.

Robben, who has just landed in the Premier League, has obviously not fully adapted to the Premier League style.

Damn it, this is the Premier League!

Fxxxk, so rude!

Shaking his head, Robben slowly stood up with his right hand on the ground.

The team doctor made a gesture to Mourinho that it was okay, and Mourinho felt relieved.

Looking coldly at the bench of the Crystal Palace in the distance, Mourinho's intuition told him that the move just now was deliberately arranged by Chen Ran.

It was just to give Robben, Chelsea's most aggressive attacker at the moment, a warning.

I hope Robben will not be affected.

Thinking of this, Mourinho looked at Robben with some worry and prayed secretly in his heart.

However, things did not develop in the direction Mourinho expected.

In the next game, Robben really avoided Maicon.

This time, Robben's threat was immediately greatly reduced.

Seeing this scene, Mourinho was angry and helpless.

I called Robben twice to ask him to break through boldly, but Robben still went his own way, with no effect.

On Chelsea's wings, Duff's ability is far inferior to Robben's.

But Duff is an Irish player and plays in the English league all year round. He has seen this kind of scene many times.

He did perform well to his abilities, but unfortunately his abilities were limited.

Under Chiellini's defense, there is basically no big threat.

As soon as Robben's side misfired, Chelsea's offense immediately became lame.

Crystal Palace's defensive pressure was immediately greatly reduced.

After observing for a few minutes, Chen Ran discovered that Mourinho didn't have any good way to solve the current situation.

Taking advantage of the dead ball, Chen Ran immediately called Modric to the sidelines.

"Luka, go and tell Ronaldo and Ribery to move their positions forward. Now we have to strengthen our attack."

"Okay, boss."

After adjusting his tactics, Chen Ran glanced at Mourinho, who was frowning and circling in the distance.

He could guess that Mourinho must be struggling with whether to replace Robben, who has mental problems.

Should he wait for Robben to adjust himself or make a substitution immediately?

You must know that Chelsea, in addition to spending a lot of money to buy people, also carried out a major purge this summer.

Anyone who Mourinho didn't like was dealt with, even though there were many good players among them.

Players like Veron, Crespo, Hasselbaink, Zenden, Grenciar, Melchiot, Desailly, Petit, etc., all left the team.

The advantage of this is that although Mourinho has just arrived, his authority at Chelsea has been fully established.

The downside is that Mourinho's tactical options have been narrowed by himself.

Chen Ran carefully studied Chelsea's current lineup and found that as long as Robben is restricted, Mourinho will not have any suitable candidates to replace him.

After all, there is only Joe Cole.

But Joe Cole's best position is actually the attacking midfielder. Although he can also play as a wing midfielder, his effectiveness is definitely not as good as Robben's.

Moreover, in the League Cup last season, Joe Cole was bullied by Ronaldo and lost his temper.

Chen Ran has great experience in dealing with him.

After Modric brought Chen Ran's latest instructions onto the field, Crystal Palace's formation immediately improved by one quarter.

Ronaldo and Ribery also pressed in front of Ferreira and Bridge.

Mourinho on the sidelines was immediately keenly aware of the changes in the positions of Ronaldo and Ribery, stopped spinning in circles, and stared at the situation on the court.

Soon, Mourinho saw Crystal Palace's midfield playmaker Modric constantly passing the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery on both wings, and the threat increased sharply.

Previously, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery were in a deep position, far away from Chelsea's penalty area. Even if they received Modric's pass, they had to dribble the ball for a long distance before they would be a threat.

Even if they succeed in breaking through, other Chelsea players will have enough time to cover up the defense.

But now it's completely different. Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery's positions have already been moved near the line of Chelsea's penalty area.

Breaking through from this place, whether it is a pass from the bottom or a direct pass into the penalty area, it is likely to directly create a shooting opportunity.

Especially after Ronaldo's two wonderful breakthroughs, Chelsea's defense suddenly felt a surge in pressure.

Even Makelele, Lampard and Thiago in the midfield had to retreat as Ronaldo and Ribery pressed forward.

As soon as the three of them retreated, they immediately left Drogba, Robben and Duff behind.

Chelsea's formation immediately became disjointed.

Mourinho knew he could no longer hesitate. He had no time to wait for Robben to wake up.

Crystal Palace has changed its formation. If we wait any longer, something might really happen.

Mourinho has never been an indecisive person. As soon as he made a decision, he immediately sent Joe Cole to warm up.

Then he stood on the sidelines and shouted to Drogba, Robben and Duff to retreat and make sure to keep the distance between the three lines of the team.

All Mourinho's actions are seen by Chen Ran, who has been paying attention to him.

As expected of a top coach, the response was too quick.

Drogba, Robben and Duff quickly returned to the center line.

This time, the distance between Chelsea's three lines was greatly reduced, and the offensive space left for Crystal Palace was instantly reduced.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery had not even had a few happy breakthroughs before they found themselves surrounded by Chelsea players.

At this time, the situation on the field has changed from Chelsea attacking and Crystal Palace defending at the beginning to Crystal Palace attacking and Chelsea defending.

The initiative of the game fell into the hands of Crystal Palace.

However, Chen Ran did not feel happy.

Because he knows that Mourinho's special skill is actually defensive counterattack.

Chelsea now retreated to defend, which made it even more difficult to deal with.

Therefore, although Crystal Palace gained the initiative on the court, Chen Ran did not let his players attack aggressively. He had to guard against Chelsea's counterattack.

Crystal Palace's current main offensive method is still through Modric's midfield dispatch, with Ronaldo and Ribery on both sides launching attacks.

Together with Tony, they were fully prepared, and the number of troops put into the attack by Crystal Palace was less than four men.
Chapter completed!