In with Brian. After McDermott shook hands, the managers of both sides returned to their familiar positions.

In the minutes after the start of the game, the commentator Glero was visibly stunned when he got his starting line-up for the game.

“... We got the starting line-up for both sides of the game. He shook the paper in his hand at the camera, "What were we talking about?" Fanny? Glero looked at Van Nistelrooy, who had taken advantage of the holidays to become a television commentator.

The Dutchman is completely semi-retired in Spain at the moment, "Portsmouth has a number of players leaving in one winter, which is a very helpless choice, and it also greatly weakens the competitiveness of the team, and the new players I watched them play in the warm-up games, they are too young, I think Hydward will go through a few rounds to slowly get them used to the rhythm of the league." ”

Glero nodded: "You're right, but our 'assistant coach' doesn't seem to think so. ”

Hydward went to Italy this month to pass the assessment and get the B-level coaching certificate, from now on the league he will appear on the sidelines as an assistant coach, Walker is still the nominal head coach, but this kind of thing is not particularly important who is the main and who is the vice, so many media joke that Portsmouth now has two head coaches.

Glero picked up the list and read it: "Goalkeeper Enyeama" The loanee goalkeeper came up to replace Dave in a surprise that Ruud van Nistelrooy expected. 'Centre-back Margery partnered Antonio Rudiger, left wing-back Benjamin. Edouard Mendy, right wing-back Thomas. Meunier," he said, pausing to look at the Dutchman beside him.

There is no doubt about Margery's start, the little guy has already proved it with his excellent quality, and Mendy's choice is not a surprise, but where did this Rudiger and Meunier come from? Ruud van Nistelrooy predicted that the starting XI would be Saul. Campbell and Ryan, the regular of the first half of the season. Williams is coming. In the poor situation, it should also be the former Everton player Mustafi to come.

"Midfielders--- Mahrez, Pierce, N'Golo. Kanter and ...... Drinkwater!! ”

Fanny raised his eyebrows, what kind of formation is this?

'Strikers Jamie Vardy and Icardi.

"It should be recorded, Portsmouth have made nine starts, including goalkeepers, apart from Pierce and Margery." Ruud van Nistelrooy smiled to hide his embarrassment, and he predicted that in the starters, Williams; Mustafi; Dave; Lawrence; Hleb; Schneider and Norris didn't make any of them, and some didn't even make the squad for the game.

Glero glanced at the calm field of play and decided to continue reading the substitute lineup: "Goalkeeper Dave; Defenders: Mustafi; Saul. Campbell; Midfielders: Hleb, Ali, Schneider; Forward: Lawrence. ”

Hydward's formation is known as the diamond midfielder 41212, which was once the favourite of Italy's top three, and Carlo Ancelotti also brought it to Chelsea.

The 41212 formation is derived from the traditional 442 in Portsmouth. Nowadays, there are two variations of the 4-1-2-1-2 formation, which of course are different, but there are also many similarities. They all maintained a back four, with a midfielder in front of the back line and a midfielder behind the two strikers. The only difference is in the positioning of the midfielders, one of which, two midfielders play the role of wing-backs; On the other hand, the two midfielders are more likely to operate around the middle. One formation, two variations, the difference in position makes a clear difference in the role of the players and the style of play.

In this game, the midfielder was Ngolo, who had not played very well. Kante, at this time, is completely different from the monster that can cover 80% of the surface of the earth in the future, but his physical strength is very similar to that of a monster a few years later, thanks to his arduous physical training since childhood and the unique mountainous landscape of Paris. He tends to spend a lot of time and energy fighting enemies, and if you can't kill them with a single hit, the consequences are unknown, so this is a big reason why Kante is not doing well. Despite his tackle skills in the tackles, Heidward still has confidence in N'Golo Kante, who has the time and games to train his players to the fullest. Just like on the training ground, he always used N'Golo Kante on the weaker side as a lone midfielder, which led to players taking on too much defence.

The same was true when it came to the game, with N'Golo Kante having to protect the midfield duo of Drinkwater and Pierce, while he also needed to cover large areas in front of the back line. Walker argued with Hydward over such a set-up, and in front of the players, admitting that N'Golo Kante could be a good midfielder, and that Hydward was completely correct in positioning the players, but could he take on such a heavy defensive task now? The answer is definitely no, but why make such a death-defying arrangement? Walker was furious, the players were silent, and N'Golo Kante was equally silent.

Exposing weaknesses to the enemy like a beauty is not a choice that a normal coach would make.

But Mr. Coach, who can train Margery to the point of blood, is indeed not a normal coach.

Hydward opted for a 4-1-2-1-2 in the middle of the pitch, which has the advantage of having a two-striker configuration. In modern football, many teams often sacrifice a striker to increase the number of midfielders in order to control the game and increase the intensity of their defense. On the contrary, he will give up possession to a certain extent, and ensure that there are two strikers to attack the opponent's two central defenders, and put the opponent in the dilemma of competing with his own strikers.

To know Reading's main central defender Alex. Pierce and Caspers. Gokes, a 29 and a 33, are old grandfathers, and if Portsmouth can create 2-on-2 chances for Icardi and Vardy, the two of them will be a nightmare for any opponent. Vardy's impact in the penalty area was strong, not to mention Icardi, and the beryllium emperor who entered the harvest area was a complete bug terrorist.

This formation has a strong grip in the middle of the midfield, and when a team has four players in the middle, they tend to gain a numerical advantage in the middle and hold the ball firmly in the mixed midfield. The strong control of the midfield will give the full-backs plenty of space to press the assists, thus adding dimension to the attacking level.

Reading's problem is that their squad is ageing, a trait that is particularly evident at the back, with the 41212 targeting their weakest spots.

The only young man in the Reading squad is Jason. Roberts' successor, Sean Long, midfielder Robson. Kanu and future Southampton goalkeeper McCarthy.

On the other hand, Portsmouth, the biggest advantage is youth, the biggest weakness is also young, the role of the formation is to maximize the strengths and avoid weaknesses, aiming at the opponent's weak point to kill a fatal blow.

PS: Thanks to Long Yinfeng for the 500 tip.