Chapter 42: Luton's Plan B

After reaching the third round of the FA Cup, Gao Bo was a little entangled.

On the one hand, Gao Bo wants to be able to go further in the FA Cup, the FA Cup format is very interesting, a game, the winner advances, the loser eliminates, the draw is a day to replay, not the general home and away two-legged knockout system, a game to determine the winner, such a system has increased the possibility of an upset, in fact, the FA Cup is a hotbed of underdogs, the oldest cup in football, any strong team is likely to capsize, and any weak team is likely to create miracles.

In the 1988 FA Cup final, Liverpool, who were in full swing, encountered Wimbledon, which was not strong at the time, but Liverpool's penalty was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, and Wimbledon lifted the championship trophy.

In the 2003-04 FA Cup, Shrewsbury, who were in the fourth division, won 2-1 Everton, causing the biggest upset of the FA Cup.

In the third round of the FA Cup in 1990-91, Woking, who were in the fifth division at the time, eliminated West Brom in the top flight with a score of 4-2, causing a big upset.

There are many similar stories of upsets, and people are far away from relishing the stories of small teams overthrowing giants.

However, as a head coach, Gao Bo rarely appreciates such stories. The reason why the underdogs are the underdogs is that even in the FA Cup, which is known as the "hotbed of underdogs", most of the teams that advance are those who are stronger, and the teams that can reach the final are mostly teams from the top league. A game can cause an upset, but if you want to be a dark horse to the end, you need the support of strength after all.

On the other hand, Luton's financial situation is not optimistic, and Gao Bo also thinks that maybe a top-four team in the Premier League in the third round and a game at their home stadium will be enough for Luton in the fourth tier for two or three months - owner David Morton has been worrying about the team's financial situation lately.

If you want to go further, then it is better to draw a weaker team in the third round, preferably your own home stadium, and if you draw Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and other Premier League giants, especially in the case of their home stadium, Gao Bo does not think that with the current Luton squad dare to say that he is sure to beat these giants away from home.

However, it is not Gao Bo's control what opponents Luton will meet in the third round, and the final decision on the fate of each team in the third round of the FA Cup will need to be decided through the draw. The draw will take place on the afternoon of Friday, December 4, and will be broadcast live on television and radio.

And before the draw ceremony, Luton Town still have a game to play. It was a replay of the 14th round of the league and Luton Town were at home to Bournemouth.

Bournemouth now have the same points as Luton Town, which is also 17 points, in fact, in the second division standings, there are five teams with 17 points, including Luton, but Luton have an absolute advantage of goal difference, overtaking the other five teams to rank 15th, and Bournemouth is 19th at this time. Among the five teams with the same points, Bournemouth has the fewest goal difference, which is also related to Bournemouth's situation this season, this season's Bournemouth has done a good job in defence, they have only conceded a total of thirteen goals, which can be the fifth fewest in the league, but again, their goal tally is also impressive, Bournemouth has only scored a total of 12 goals this season, which is the team with the fewest goals in the league now, and Luton's two main strikers, Vardy has scored 21 goals in 18 league games so farVardy is also the top scorer in the second division and tops the scorer charts. Charlie Austin, the team's second-highest scorer, has also scored thirteen goals, which means that Bournemouth's goals combined can only be the third scorer in the Luton team.......

Bournemouth played a tenacious game away from home and their defence did make it difficult for Luton Town until the end of the first half.

However, in the second half, Adam White came on to replace Lewis Emmanuel and Luton's formation changed.

When he was constantly exposed to the opponent's dense defensive formation, Gao Bo knew he had to make a change. Previously, Gao Bo had used Leicester City's tactics during the title winning season, but he soon discovered that the tactics had to fit the current league environment.

For Leicester City back then, they were playing in the Premier League, and even if they were at the top of the table in the end, the Premier League teams would not see Leicester City as a super strong team, so they sent an iron bucket to deal with them, so Leicester City's 442 counter-attacking tactics will be tried again and again in the Premier League - because they don't have to worry about the problem of the opponent not attacking.

But for Luton, the 11-game winning streak at the start of the season is too dazzling, and their stats have completely crushed the rest of the second division teams, so Luton are now the big crocodiles in the small pool of the second division, and most teams like to put on an iron bucket when facing Luton Town.

Therefore, Gao Bo has to change this situation, and this is also part of the manager's job.

Gao Bo's B plan is to change the lineup, and Bournemouth is now clearly defending the rhythm of taking a point, so Gao Bo sent a winger with breakthrough ability.

When Adam Walter came on, he didn't play in the left midfield position of Lewis Emmanuel, he was more forward, he played on the left winger, while Charlie Austin moved his position to the right, and as a right winger, the central striker was naturally Jamie Vardy.

In midfield, N'Golo Kante is in the middle, Drinkwater is on the left and Kevin Keane on the right, and the back line remains unchanged.

Gao Bo changed the formation to 433, which is also the offensive formation that the team has been focusing on training recently. 433 isn't exactly an offensive formation, but for the most part, 433 tends to be seen as an offensive formation.

Luton Town has been adhering to a different tactical style from the current mainstream of the second division since Gao Bo took over, even if it is a cross, the team has to go through the offensive organization, and then start the ball and cross after cooperating with the gap. Gao Bo knows that in the future, whether it is the control flow or the shock flow, or the counterattack flow, those teams that can really make contributions in a top-level arena like the Champions League will not be a long pass and hang with a high flag.

After the change, Luton's attacking style changed again, and Luton began to focus on the left flank, Adam Walter's side.

In the seventy-third minute of the game, Adam Walter took the ball on the side, and Bournemouth immediately posted two defenders, and Adam's previous breakthroughs let Bournemouth's players know how powerful this black boy is.

Adam didn't have a hard break this time, and the biggest change in his more than two months in the academy is that he has teammates in his eyes, which is the most important change in his thinking about stepping onto the professional field.

He played the ball to Drinkwater and then started running himself.

Drinkwater got the ball and Bournemouth's formation was basically tilted to the right, which is Luton's attacking direction to the left, because Luton have been flying here for a long time and have created a number of threats.

It's time to transfer!

Attacking the left side is just to pull the opponent's formation to the left.

Drinkwater's long right-footed pass, Charlie Austin received the ball unguarded on the right, he stopped the ball and then pushed it in the direction of the box, before the Bournemouth defence reacted, Charlie Austin swept the ball into the box with a low flat ball!

Vardy grabbed a penalty in the box and smashed the ball into the back of the net!

Gao Bo waved his arms excitedly on the sidelines, and this wave of attacks just now completely knocked out what they had trained.

Concentrate on attacking all the way, wait until the other road is empty, and then move over, and then seize the opponent's defense line to move, gap, and create a goal!

This kind of offensive routine seems simple, but it is not easy to do! Judging from the attack just now, Luton's style is still effective against the opponent's bucket formation, at least much more effective than trying to shoot from a distance and try your luck with a long pass into the box.

Gao Bo quickly calmed down, this is the B plan of Luton's tactics, and when it is time to attack, the team can try to do so.