Pierce was amazed by the flamboyant tactical thinking, he didn't expect that football tactics could play so many tricks, even when he was a professional player, he didn't listen to any coach, talking about such a precise, rigorous, meticulous tactical play of a single player, he found that he opened his eyes and saw new things in the world of football.

"Maybe that's the difference between the top clubs in the new century?"

"Is it a new development in football?"

In fact, meticulous tactics are nothing remarkable, any top club, there will be a very detailed tactical play, such as Manchester United, such as Arsenal, and then Barcelona, AC Milan, etc., as long as you can talk about the top giants, the tactical layout will definitely be very fine, even if it is a head coach who doesn't know much about tactics, to the giants can arrange exquisite tactics, because the giants have a wealth of information on the use of tactics, every head coach who comes to coach, will record their own tactical play, record tactical changes, Some giants will also have special personnel records, rich information can allow the new head coach to quickly understand the team, so as to rely on player changes, special coaching style, to make changes to tactics.

This may also be the advantage and heritage of the top giants.

The most typical example is Spain's Barcelona, Barcelona's tactical play has been evolving, the tactics played in 2004 are definitely more refined than in 2000, and the current tactics are more refined than in 2004, but no matter how they evolve, the essence of their tactics has not changed.

The essence of tactics is the unique style of giants.

Barcelona, to put it bluntly, is to play possession and rhythm; Arsenal, to put it bluntly, is to play speed, play fast-paced; AC Milan, to put it bluntly, is to play defense, play short coordination, and so on.

Every top club has a unique style, as long as there are no major changes, no matter how many managers are replaced, no matter how many players are rotated, they will maintain a specific style.

Pierce didn't know that.

In fact, football clubs also made tactical records, which also originated in the nineties of the last century, and most teams only started in the new century, and many clubs have discovered the benefits of doing so.

Those who are qualified to make tactical records must be teams with top strength, stable lineups and less frequent player rotations, not that the average team 'can't make records', because it makes no sense for them to do it, like a Championship team, relying on strength to be promoted to the Premier League, they want to continue to stay in the Premier League, they will definitely supplement the strength on a large scale, the squad will have huge changes, the previous tactics will lose their meaning, and the manager will definitely rebuild the tactical play.

The same is true for ordinary top league teams, in order to strive for better results, they will continue to replenish players, but the core players are only a few, with players with average tactical ability as the core, it is difficult to create a tactical system with little effect, and as a result, what tactics the team plays depends on the style of the head coach.

Pierce's career, the glory time is too early, he played for Nottingham Forest in the early days, at the end of his career, he joined Newcastle United and Manchester City successively, and they are all teams with no detailed tactics to speak of, he knows for the first time that tactics can be refined to such an extent, it feels like opening a door to football, and some sad things are that he has long since retired, no longer a professional player, but a manager.

Professional players can say that if they don't understand tactics, they can play well, and the head coach is a bit of a tragedy, a head coach doesn't know how to refine the tactics, only considers the team formation in general, and lets the players play freely most of the time.

"No wonder I didn't lead the team well!" Pierce found the reason.

This is actually one of the reasons.

'One of the reasons' is not all the reasons, and it is meaningless for ordinary teams to refine their tactics, because most of the players in the team can't keep up with their tactical thinking, and too detailed tactics can't play an effective role at all.

Millwall is special, because the flamboyance is based on the player's ability, and the tactics are deduced, and the players will naturally adapt.

Livermore is an example.

Livermore doesn't know any football tactics at all, so it's better for him to learn than to jump off the building, maybe he can't lose his brain, but Livermore is still very comfortable with the position, although he himself doesn't know the specific content of the tactics, just follow the feeling of playing.

While Pierce felt that it was an eye-opener, he was not completely superstitious about flamboyant tactics.

He had doubts.

It was precisely because he could not fully understand how and why the tactics worked that Pierce wondered, and he was also surprised at how Zhang Yang came up with such complex tactics, and questioned whether the tactics could succeed.

Whether the tactics can succeed depends not only on the correctness of the tactics, but also on whether the team can adapt.

How did Millwall adapt to such complex tactics?

Summer preparation is only one month!

Although Zhang Yang said that 'the 433 non-nuclear formation is to adapt slowly', another set of 352 offensive play is also very complicated, because it involves strengthening the offense and taking into account the defense, which is more complicated than the previously mentioned dual-core play.

Can such tactics really be adapted in the short term of preparation?

Pierce left with doubts and went to the first-team training ground to help the club staff, carry a few training equipment and, together with the stadium manager, inspect the first-team training ground.

This work is done by the stadium staff, and Pierce is idle, with nothing to do to help, and he can get acquainted with the club's personnel.

While inspecting the first-team training ground, Pierce met Frederick, who had come over to check on the turf, and Humpty Dumpty was asking the staff to use a machine to sprinkle more water on the training ground.

"What is this doing?" Pierce asked, walking over to him.

Frederick said to Pierce with a cold face and a little impatience, "Sprinkling." ”

"Sprinkling?"

Frederick looked at Pierce with contempt and explained, "The players will be regrouped in two days, and it will be better to sprinkle some water weeds, and the court will look better in open training." "To put it simply, it's about looking good.

Stadium turf maintenance is certainly no problem.

Because the turf of the course is natural, it is all real grass, and if you sprinkle water a few days in advance, it will grow greener, and the overall nature will become beautiful.

Frederick has been with Millwall FC for almost a decade, and he knows a little bit about every aspect of first-team training and competition, and he does his work very carefully.

He's a pretty qualified employee.

Pierce didn't lament that Frederick 'knew more', but was surprised that Frederick didn't have a good face for himself, but he didn't think much about it, because the first time they met, this guy's face was even worse, "Maybe that's what he looks like on weekdays?" ”

Pierce looked at Frederick with a sympathetic look of 'ugly and can't help it', showed a look of 'I don't discriminate', and asked what he wanted to say, "What do you think of Zhang Yang?" I'm referring to his tactics. ”

"Tactics?"

Pierce nodded and explained, "Today Zhang Yang explained to me the tactics to train to prepare for the battle, in my opinion...... Great but complicated, I don't know if that's ......"

"No need to question!"

Frederick's sudden no, Pierce almost choked and coughed, only to hear Humpty Dumpty continue, "In terms of tactics, it is Zhang Yang's consideration, this is his job, formulating tactics for the team, leading the team to play, etc., no need to question!" We're just assistant coaches. ”

Pierce is still puzzled, isn't the assistant coach just to assist the head coach to get the job done? If you can't even have doubts, how can you play a supporting role?

Frederick explained with rare kindness, "We have always worked like this, I am in charge of training, Dennis is also in charge of training, Zhang Yang is in charge of formulating tactics, and of course he is also responsible for leading the team to play and other head coach work, and we don't have to interfere with what tactics the team plays, how to play against the opponent." ”

"That's it?" Pierce's mouth opened wide in surprise.

"That's all." Frederick shrugged, "You see, because we had a clear division of labor, we succeeded. ”

“……”

Pierce was completely incomprehensible to Frederick's 'because'.

There are many theories in the media about how Millwall succeeded, most of which ultimately came down to Zhang Yang's ability to lead the team, and he originally questioned this, but now it seems that this is the case, tactics and games are Zhang Yang's work, and other assistant coaches will not interfere at all, and the credit for the team's good results can only be Zhang Yang's alone.

Pierce could also see that Frederick had a high opinion of Zhang Yang.

Although Pierce still has doubts about tactics, there is no doubt that he has little prestige at Millwall FC, and even said that the whole club is 'flamboyant', including the players, including the fans, including all the supporters, their hearts belong to flamboyance.

So his doubts don't matter.

Frederick is a very good person, although he always has a tired face, but he kindly reminds him of some things, solves his doubts, and is very easy to get along with.

Pierce figured out a lot of things, and then turned away, what he didn't know was that Frederick, who was considered 'kind' behind him, spat lightly at his back, and after looking nervously left and right, he muttered, "Airborne guy, you really don't understand anything!" ”

Would Frederick be kind?

Maybe.

But Humpty Dumpty doesn't have a crush on Pierce at all, and he originally thought that after Wise left, he would be able to become the 'first assistant teacher' as he wished, but he parachuted in a Pierce, making him the 'second assistant teacher' again.

Frederick was very angry about this, he didn't dare to say anything to Zhang Yang, but his disgust with Pierce was directly written on his face.

————

On the second day, all the coaches gathered.

Pearce, Frederick, Aldous, and Choedric and Bruno Burt were all gathered in the coaching office, and Zhang Yang held a coaching meeting to arrange the overall summer preparations.

The next step is to assemble the players, and then to recover and reserve the training, and Cjordek is the most important person, and he needs to create a physical training plan for each player individually.

Frederick will be the strength and conditioning coach to ensure that each player completes the training carefully.

Bert, Auxiliary.

The physical training will last for a week to two weeks, and a few days are enough for the players who can recover, and the players who can't recover need to continue training.

After a week, when most of the players have completed high-intensity training, they will start tactical training, so it is necessary to let the coaches involved understand the training content to be carried out in preparation for the game, and the new tactics must be explained as soon as possible.

Zhang Yang has always disliked dragging his feet, and after the coaching meeting, except for Gaerich, who left first, Pierce, Aldous, Frederick and Boehly were all left to learn about the new tactics, and in the next five days or so, they had to figure out the content of the new tactics and explain them to the players.

It's not easy.

The new tactics are a bit complicated, and it takes a long time to learn and understand how to play in the new tactics and formations, as well as the overall structure of the tactics and formations, such as last summer, a group of coaches understood the 'dual core' tactics, and it took three days to understand them.

Zhang Yang does not require them to fully understand, it is enough for them to know how to guide the players.

It's the players who matter.

Each player will follow their personal tactical training plan to understand the content of the new tactics, and after tactical training, they will know how to run, pass, and when to play against the opponent in the new tactics.

Wait a minute.

The next day, Zhang Yang patiently explained the tactics, Frederick, Pierce and others, it was like returning to the elementary school classroom, three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, and in the middle of the time, they had to communicate with each other, talk with each other to deepen understanding.

After a day of indoctrination and education, the effect is still very good, everyone roughly understands the tactical points, but players in various positions, how to run, pass, etc., still need to spend a lot of rote memorization.

For Frederick and Aldous, the work of memorization is quite simple, they are almost 'academic' coaches, and learning and memorization are basic skills.

Pierce is different.

Pierce was born as a pure player, and he was very disgusted with studying when he was a teenager, and during the training process with the youth team, he barely finished high school in order to be able to go smoothly in the future.

It was a tough process, much harder than playing.

Now that he has re-entered the learning class, Pierce regrets coming to Millwall a little, otherwise how could he fall into the abyss of memorization and encounter the great troubles of life?

Pierce knew he had to do it because he was an assistant coach and a 'first assistant coach' and would lead the game with the head coach.

If the 'first assistant coach' doesn't even understand the team's tactics, he will definitely be very unqualified, and at that time, the coach's future will be completely ruined, and other clubs will also know that he can't even complete the job of an assistant coach.

Maybe he will become the laughing stock of European football?

For the sake of work, for the future, and for the sake of face, Pierce devoted himself to the painful study and recitation without hesitation.

July 15 was a sunny day.

It was an important day for Millwall FC as the return of all the players to the squad marked the start of the new season.

For many of the new players, the first day of the official assembly was also very meaningful, marking the real arrival of Millwall and the official integration into the team.

Also, it was important to note that they finally met the head coach Zhang Yang.