Chapter 494 The ignorant are fearless

Both Argentina and Russia hoard heavy troops in their own half, and only two or three players are really involved in the attack.

In this case, even top offensive players like Messi and Aguero would find it difficult to find good opportunities to score against Russia's densely packed defensive players.

Therefore, the game was very boring, that is, because this was the knockout round of the World Cup. If it had been a league game, the stadium would have been booed by now.

Until the referee Baskunian blew the whistle to end the first half, the score on the big screen was still 0:0 without any change.

Halftime, Argentina locker room.

While the players were wiping sweat and changing their jerseys, Simeone approached Chen Ran and asked in a low voice: "Boss, are we going to continue to play defensive counterattack in the second half?"

"Huh? Diego, don't you always like to play defensive counterattacks? What do you mean, today seems to be different from before?"

"Boss, please stop making fun of me."

Simone glanced at Chen Ran with a wry smile.

"Of course I want to continue playing defensive counterattack, it's the safest way."

"But looking at the posture of the Russian side, they are determined to stay in the backcourt today and not come out."

"In this case, how can we fight back?"

"If we don't change our formation in the second half, it is very likely that Russia will be able to fulfill their wish and let them drag the game to penalty kicks."

"When it comes to the penalty kick stage, the variables will be too great."

"Boss, I think that with our Argentina's offensive strength, if we switch to a strong attack in the second half, we still have a good chance of winning the game within ninety minutes. What do you think?"

In the past, at Crystal Palace, with Guardiola and Southgate around, Simeone was usually the most inconspicuous and the one who talked the least. Unexpectedly, this guy talked a lot today, and all of them made sense.

.

It seems that after several years of training, both Simeone and Southgate have made considerable progress.

"Diego, your suggestion is very good and is similar to my idea."

Chen Ran reached out and patted Simeone on the shoulder with approval, then turned and walked towards the group of Argentine players under his command.

"Ahem, guys, judging from the situation in the first half of the game, the Russians have obviously made up their mind to set up a bus."

"So, in the second half of the game, we have to start adjusting our tactics and start launching a general attack."

"Gonzalo!"

"Boss, I'm here!"

Hearing Chen Ran's voice, Higuain jumped up from the corner, startling everyone around him.

There is no way, since Chen Ran took over the Argentina national team, he began to vigorously promote defensive counterattack tactics.

In order to cooperate with defensive counterattack tactics, Chen Ran mainly uses small forward players who are known for their speed and flexibility.

Centers like Higuain can only sit on the bench as a spectator and atmosphere team most of the time, and don't have many opportunities to play.

That is because Chen Ran's cards are big enough and his methods are ruthless enough. Otherwise, if it were another coach, Higuain would have exploded a long time ago.

Now when he suddenly heard Chen Ran calling his name, Higuain knew that he had finally waited for the opportunity to show off his talents.

"Gonzalo, after you come on the field in the second half of the game, you will serve as the team's center. You have only one task, which is to score goals in the Russian penalty area. Do you understand?"

"Understood, boss!"

"very good!"

Seeing Higuain's fighting spirit, Chen Ran nodded with satisfaction, then turned to look at Di Maria.

"Angel!"

"Boss, what are your orders?"

"After you come on the field, you will still play as a left midfielder. However, this time the requirements for you are higher. Not only do you have to participate in the offense, but you also have to take care of the defense on the left side of the midfield. Do you understand?"

"Boss, don't worry, I will try my best!"

"Leo!"

"Boss, I'm here."

"In the second half of the game, you also returned to the midfield to play right midfielder."

"I know, boss." Messi nodded honestly.

"Sergio, in the second half, the center Gonzalo will be the fulcrum to attract firepower. You should hide behind him and play as a shadow forward, focusing on grabbing the second point and supplementary shots."

"Okay, boss."

Aguero answered simply and neatly.

"Javier!"

"boss!"

Mascherano responded.

"In the second half of the game, based on your positioning, go back to playing the position you are most familiar with as a defensive midfielder. The defense of the midfielder is left to you and DePaul."

"Once we find that the Russian team has an opportunity to counterattack, we will not hesitate to commit a foul and destroy it as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

"Understood, boss."

After explaining several important players, Chen Ran looked around at the Argentine players in the locker room.

"In the second half of the game, we have to switch from defense to offense, and the formation has changed from the previous 532 to the current 442."

"But as a result, our defensive strength in the midfield and backcourt will inevitably be weakened."

"Especially in the central defender position, from the original three central defenders to the current two central defenders. Christian is too young and lacks game experience. Nicholas, you have to take care of him more. Do you understand?"

While talking, Chen Ran set his sights on the two central defenders, Otamendi and Romero.

"Don't worry, boss, I will definitely try my best to help Christian."

Otamendi readily agreed to Chen Ran's request, and even reached out to rub the head of Romero, who was sitting next to him.

While Chen Ran was busy adjusting tactics, in the Russian locker room, head coach Cherchesov was in a very good mood.

After all, if the situation in the first half continues, then his plan to drag the game into a penalty kick is very likely to come true.

Of course, Cherchesov is not a newbie. He knows very well that a top coach like Chen Ran will not let the game progress according to the opponent's desired result. There is a high possibility that Argentina will change its tactics in the second half of the game and press out the offense.

Therefore, throughout the halftime break, Cherchesov kept instilling a concept into the Russian players in the locker room, which is to defend, defend, and defend again!

Before the start of the second half, when everyone saw Higuain and Di Maria standing on the sidelines waiting to play, they knew that Argentina was going to launch a general attack.

"Good guy, Chen Ran is finally going to take action. He almost fell asleep watching me in the first half of the game."

"You're not alone upstairs. If it weren't for Chen Ran, I would have turned off the TV and gone to bed."

"It's not easy. After playing so many defensive counterattacks, now we can finally see Argentina taking the initiative to attack."

"Hahahaha, I am worried now. After two years of training by Chen Ran, will the current group of Argentine players still take the initiative to attack?"

"Is the person upstairs drunk too much? You don't think Chen Ran can only defend and counterattack, do you?"

"That's right. Although defensive counterattack is Chen Ran's special skill, his pressing offensive tactics are also very terrifying."

"That's right. When Chen Ran was coaching Crystal Palace, he was able to seamlessly switch between defensive counterattacks, pressing offense and high-altitude bombing in one game."

"Yeah. Thinking about it now, I really miss the Crystal Palace at that time. It was so powerful!"

Seeing Argentina replace Paredes and McAllister with Higuain and Di Maria respectively, and changing the team's formation from 532 to 442, Cherchesov's heart suddenly sank.

.

He knew that the thing he least expected to see happened.

Moreover, the substitutions were completed before the start of the second half, which meant that Argentina had at least about 50 minutes of attacking time.

Russia's defense will undergo a severe test. Whether it can withstand it, Cherchesov himself is not sure.

As everyone expected, at the beginning of the second half, the Argentine team's formation immediately overwhelmed the half.

Except for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and the two central defenders Otamendi and Romero, everyone else crossed the center line.

Soon, many Crystal Palace fans discovered that Argentina's current style of attacking Russia was exactly the pressing attack that Chen Ran often used when coaching Crystal Palace.

This set of offensive tactics is still one of the commonly used methods of Crystal Palace to this day.

The ball kept moving back and forth between Di Maria on the left and Messi on the right.

Messi and Di Maria are also constantly using their sharp breakthrough abilities to test the holes in Russia's defense.

Higuain serves as the fulcrum and bridgehead, wedged into Russia's restricted area like a nail.

Aguero is responsible for constantly running out of the penalty area to meet Di Maria or Messi to distract the Russian defensive players.

In this way, Russia's defense was like a piece of dough, being constantly pulled in and out by Argentina's offense.

Although no flaws have been revealed yet, Cherchesov felt increasingly uneasy in his heart.

Now, many years have passed since Chen Ran coached Crystal Palace Club.

As time goes by, people have gradually forgotten many things at that time.

Although Cherchesov is much older than Chen Ran, when Chen Ran led the Crystal Palace club to victory, he was just an ordinary coach of a Russian domestic club.

He wasn't even qualified to fight against Chen Ran, so he naturally wouldn't study someone who had nothing to do with him.

Cherchesov's real focus on studying Chen Ran began when he discovered that Russia might encounter Argentina.

He did put a lot of effort into watching Argentina's World Cup South American qualifiers, as well as the videos of Chen Ran's previous coaching matches with Belgium, Brazil and even Portugal.

However, Cherchesov did not watch the game videos of Chen Ran when he was coaching Crystal Palace.

It's not that he is lazy, but that the situations of the club and the national team are very different. In addition, the time interval is too long, so Cherchesov feels that the reference value is not great.

However, Cherchesov never expected that the active offensive tactics designed by Chen Ran for Argentina were exactly the tactics used during the Crystal Palace period.

In the middle and later stages of Chen Ran's coaching of Crystal Palace, most teams began to use defensive counterattack tactics when facing Crystal Palace.

And Chen Ran relied on this set of offensive tactics to smash every rock-solid turtle shell.

There is an old saying: "The ignorant are fearless!"

Cherchesov didn't know how powerful this offensive tactic was, so although he felt a little uneasy, he didn't take immediate action.

After all, the second half of the game had just started.

If overtime is considered, the most appropriate choice is to start substitutions after sixty minutes.

Cherchesov felt that the defensive line he had carefully built would be able to sustain for another ten minutes without any problem.

However, fate just likes to play tricks on people.

When the game reached the 59th minute, perhaps because their attention was highly focused on dealing with the pull of the Argentine team for a long time, the mental consumption of the Russian players increased sharply, and some players began to lose concentration.

When the ball was once again transferred to Di Maria on the left, Aguero immediately ran out of the penalty area to respond.

According to the request of head coach Cherchesov, Russia's right center back Gudipov followed closely.

However, since Gudipov is 192cm tall, his movements are naturally one step slower than Aguero.

By the time Gudipov approached, Di Maria had already sent the ball to Aguero's feet.

After Di Maria passed the ball, he immediately started to advance at high speed along the left sideline.

At this time, according to Cherchesov's request, right back Mario Fernandez should keep a close eye on Di Maria and not give him a chance to catch the ball again.

However, Mario Fernandez's reaction was half a beat too slow. It was not until Di Maria ran past that he remembered to turn around and chase him.

In less than a second, Aguero had already sent the ball to Di Maria's path with a through ball.

At this moment, the entire Russian defense line on the right was instantly penetrated.

There was an open space in front of Di Maria, and he directly dribbled the ball diagonally into the Russian penalty area.

Realizing that the situation was not good, Ignashevich, one of the three Russian central defenders responsible for central support, had to rush over to intercept Di Maria.

At this time, being tall became Ignashevich's biggest shortcoming.

Di Maria flicked his left foot and passed Ignashevic, who was turning slowly, and got ready to hit the goal.

At this critical moment, another central defender Kudryashov, who was left responsible for marking Higuain, had no choice but to abandon Higuain and made a flying tackle to block the hole of the gun.

However, Di Maria played a fake shot and passed the real shot.

With a slight push of his right foot, he passed the ball to Higuain, who was now unmarked.

As a top center, Higuain didn't get much playing time throughout the World Cup. It would be a lie to say he wasn't frustrated.

Now, it's finally time for him to show his worth.
Chapter completed!