Volume 3 Chapter 37 An Unexpected Half
The tough-guy Juan de Ramos is an inspirational example of a man who has had a failed playing career and a bleak career as a coach.
But God will favor those who work hard, and after leaving the Barcelona B team, his coaching career has ushered in a new turn.
With a number of outstanding young men, he has managed Rayo Vallecano, Betis, Sevilla, Tottenham, and has won six cups in two years, including the Copa del Rey and the League Cup.
brought Sevilla into a strong team, but it is said that after the bald man went west to Liverpool, the fastest rising manager in Spain, otherwise it would not be possible to be put out by Real Mara.
His coaching style is the same as his looks, full of toughness, once at Rayo Vallecano, he let a lazy player go straight off the pitch, mind you, not a substitution, but an initiative to go off.
They played 11 out of 10 for the rest of the game, and finally won the game 2-0; And the first thing he did after taking over Tottenham was to make the players lose weight collectively, and the whole team lost a total of 50 kilograms in a short period of time.
He has been coaching small teams with toughness all over his body, and this toughness has also been brought to Real Madrid, although he knows that the coaches who play defensive counterattacks in Real Madrid are not good, but he still stubbornly discharges the three-five-two defensive counterattack lineup.
Van der Vaart, Sneijder were dropped, and the front court relied only on Raul, Smoking Gun and Robben.
"This is Anfield", Juander said solemnly in the dressing room, "I don't want to hear anything about our Real Madrid, I just know that we can't afford to be here if we want to qualify"
He looked around the week and continued: "They have a strong midfield, they are fast up front, we can't give them too much space at the back, that's a crime'"
Shui Ye Ramos looked disapproving, he won the European Cup as the main player at a young age and sat firmly on the main force of Real Madrid, he naturally looked arrogant, but it is a pity that he came to Real Madrid earlier, otherwise he and the coach with the same surname still have a mentorship in Sevilla.
'We have to play their counter-attacks, Enrique is a defender who likes to press, Alger [Robben], Gonzalo [Higuain], make the most of the space behind him"
After receiving a nod from them, he continued: "We can not play pretty, because it is not the Bernabeu, I just need to win, remember, we have not been in the last eight for four years in a row, which is more humiliating than if we did not play beautifully"
Compared to the tense atmosphere in the Real Madrid dressing room, Liverpool's side is much more relaxed, not because they don't pay attention to it, but they have just won the Carabao Cup and are confident of beating any team at Anfield.
"Hey, Mark, I heard that there are a lot of your celebrity fans in the VIP seat today, boy, I didn't expect you to be quite charming", Hugh McAuray commanded the coaching team to pack up the equipment, and jokingly said after the last push the door in.
"Huh", immediately whistled, "Hey, Mark, I'll put on a good show on stage, haha"
Convex, Mackin gave a gorgeous middle finger to his coaxing teammates, and continued to organize his shin guards, while his mind was thinking about Real Madrid's tactics during this period.
This is a habit he developed before the game, even if some specific details are really not recalled, but some details are also conducive to him to analyze his opponent and anticipate the opponent's opportunities as much as possible.
"Bang", Sammy Lee slapped his face, "Okay, I heard about me", and when the surroundings were quiet, he continued: "I want you to remember the feeling of winning the championship a week ago, and the momentum and form of that game, Real Madrid is not an easy opponent to deal with, but this is Anfield ......"
Sammy Lee rarely gave the players a beating of chicken blood, beating Real Madrid is not only to make the players excited, even the coach can't help but be enthusiastic, no one will refuse the scenery.
'Arjen Robben on the flanks is very fast, some of you know him well when you were at Chelsea, so don't give him the opportunity to counter-attack and cut inside easily, Jose, you have to be more steady in this game,' he said, turning to Enrique.
Everything is in place, just waiting for that exciting moment, the showdown of the century-old giants!
……
"Oh, this really doesn't look like Real Madrid," Peterson said with a surprise look at McManaman and a sigh at the opening five minutes.
McManaman smiled and said: "I can only say that Juander's choice is very pragmatic, now this Real Madrid is no longer the elegant Real Madrid of our time and the superstar era, he may want to put the decisive battle at the Bernabeu, but whether Liverpool can let him get what he wants, let's wait and see"
Mackin received a short pass from Little Ma, and a back turned to let Raul, who had returned to the back line to defend, face Real Madrid's goal again, his eyes were white.
"Attack, attack, Liverpool, GoGoGo......", a frantic cry came from the stands all around.
"Tear them apart, let the elegant noble lords see how good we are, forward, forward", shouted and roared, without stopping for a moment, wild.
The opening game was beyond everyone's expectations, and it was surprising that Real Madrid's posture could be so low, and they were almost forced to do something against Liverpool in central midfield, and let them go into their own half.
The three centre-backs Pepe, Cannavaro and Heinze were almost cruising around the penalty line, the two wing-backs were barely on top, and in addition to Higuain, even Raul returned to his own center circle.
The Real Madrid fans who came with the team were a little silent, and the cries of "hala madrid" were no longer so loud, and there were even sporadic boos, which had only been five minutes into the game......
What the hell is Real Madrid?
Zidane looked at the field with interest, Juande's strategy, can not be said to be good, but it is also a smart choice, he knows that the midfielder can not fight against Liverpool, choose to reclaim the 35-meter area, maybe an away goal, can give Real Madrid back to the Bernabeu an advantage.
"Mark, he split the ball to the wing, Enrique came up", Pietersen commented, "Kuyt and Torres combined, Mark, he went straight to the wing"
Ramos turned sharply, spread his arms, slowed down the speed of his national team teammate Enrique, and swept the ball towards Pepe with a fallen tackle, and Pepe made a big foot to find Robben on the flank.
"Robben, Robben, he got up and Enrique chased back quickly, Brother came up, Liverpool pressed very high, Robben, he didn't pass, chose to dribble horizontally, Mascherano, Liverpool's defensive distance was very good, he shoveled the ball to Alonso"
Real Madrid's sporadic counter-attacks did not create a threat, having let Lennon and Bale wreak havoc on the flanks a week ago, how could Liverpool not do targeted defensive training, not to mention that Sami Lee is also an expert in training defence.
Mack received the ball again against a blank slate, which was similar to playing against Tottenham, but Real Madrid were more determined because they still had home advantage and their players were much better than Tottenham in general.
It's really a shame for those Castilla, at that time you attacked and defended, and today the situation turned, and he became the side that attacked with the ball, it was really interesting, he thought to himself.
"Torres, he had a chance to shoot, Liverpool went into the box with a combination on the right flank, Mark made a through-ball, Cannavaro, a timely tackle, Liverpool's corner ......"
"Gerrard, long-range ......, Sant Casillas, absolute miraculous save, he saved Gerrard's shot straight into the corner, Gerrard with his head on his head is incredible"
"Look at the front of the penalty area, don't let them shoot casually", Casillas, who stood up, shouted at his defender in Spanish, he was under too much pressure during this time.
Time has passed minute by minute, Real Madrid, who has defended seriously, is really not so leaky, and Liverpool's several good chances are not so bad, either saved or blocked.
"Whew", Mackin took advantage of the opportunity of the corner kick to exhale, it has to be changed, it seems that Real Madrid has made a very detailed defensive strategy for several attack points in Liverpool's frontfield, and it will not work.
"It will be a moment to see if the situation is appropriate to press up", after Liverpool flew a corner, in the process of retreating, Mackin took the opportunity to grab Cahill and said.
This is Anfield, it's their home stadium and they have to get ahead.
……
After regaining possession again, Mackin moved to the left side of the team.
"Liverpool have been attacking for more than 30 minutes, but they just haven't broken through Real Madrid's goal, and the gate behind Casillas has been precarious several times, but it just stands," Peterson explained.
"It seems that Real Madrid have been prepared for a long time, and now who can score first has become extremely important, if Real Madrid can score first, Liverpool will really not be able to play," McManaman said.
Mackin flicked the ball to Enrique with his left foot and quickly cut it towards the bottom line of the wing, Real Madrid used a zone defense aimed at limiting space and did not have anyone to follow him.
Seeing him move to the wing, Real Madrid's back line immediately changed positions, Ramos followed, and the back came to fill in the position.
Kuyt, Torres, and Gerrard have all entered the penalty area, and you can imagine how far Liverpool has suppressed Real Madrid, since you have to defend, let's see if you can hold it.
"Mark, he's shaking with his back to Ramos, Ramos' defense is not out of position, what do I see? Pretty, Mark's improvisation", Peterson roared.
I saw that with a knock on the heel of his left foot, he knocked the ball to the bottom line, and took advantage of Ramos's stunned kung fu to turn around and kill directly to the bottom line.
Ramos, who was a beat slower, hurriedly pulled and tugged, trying to stop his breakthrough, but he didn't want to break through at all.
The outside instep touched the bottom of the ball, and the quick step touched the ball one step ahead of Ramos, and with a bang, a touch of white flew up, bypassing the layers of crowds in the penalty area, and went straight to the right ribs of the penalty area.
There, there was the rushing up, Cahill, the explosive head who took back the small penalty area, Marcelo, who turned his head to look at the falling ball, and Cahill who picked up his thighs.
Subconsciously jump with your back and then ......
"Go++++al......, Cahill, Cahill, a low shot into the far corner of the net, Liverpool finally scored after nearly 40 minutes of strong attack, Mark had a beautiful assist", Peterson roared.
"Boom ......", the whole shouting red finally released all his enthusiasm at the moment when the ball entered the net, and the ground in the stands shook!
There is no goal that we can't break, no!
What about Real Madrid, what about you holding on, our prince is omnipotent, he is the elf of Anfield, you can't guard against him!
"Ah......h
"Liverpool, Liverpool, now they are 1-0 ahead of Real Madrid, Juander has to think about what to do now, do they still have to continue to defend and counterattack, they have little attack in the first half"
"Phew", Ramos was lying on the ground the moment he saw the ball in the net and turned his head to spit on the turf, what a fucking grievance, is this still Real Madrid?
He glanced at the sidelines unwillingly, and Juander didn't say anything, hell!
Raul sat on the ground and sighed, this sense of powerlessness made him sound in the era of the Big Seven, and he frequently dropped back to the midfield and even the midfield to assist the defense.
But how can he defend? He couldn't do anything but consume his physical strength and run desperately.
That sense of powerlessness is back today, Liverpool's midfield is really so strong, and that black-haired teenager is simply the ruler of the field.
It seems that Diarra is not exaggerating, such a midfield makes people feel powerless, in addition to being exhausted, still, exhausted.
The flames of Anfield rose completely, melting the snow in that corner, which had once been so crystal clear and so clear, and now there was only a misty cloud of smoke......
"Roar, ......", the excitement of being able to score Real Madrid's goal in the knockout round is ten times stronger than the average goal, Cahill, who is slowly sitting in the main position this season, roared with his eyes.
The wind whined, the fire burned, this bright red, is madly scorching, it will turn into that flame of destruction, burning all the enemies in front of it......