Chapter 153: Promised Reinforcements
Falling behind by two goals less than twenty minutes into the first half gave Benitez the feeling that he hadn't woken up. Although He Xu alone cannot make Inter Milan's offense top of Serie A, it must be admitted that because of this underage striker, the team's offense is indeed much sharper, and the changes that an offensive striker can bring to the team are naturally great.
Throughout the first half of the season, when He Xu started the game, Inter Milan rarely had this kind of situation of being pressed and beaten. And today, it looks like He Xu is in trouble with his team.
Chiellini's marking of He Xu is very good, because he knows that He Xu has extremely fast speed and many turning skills, so he often pushes him up before He Xu, and then relies on his long legs to poke the ball away. Or, he will directly foul He Xu in some painless positions.
For a foul in such an inconsequential position, the referee will award a free kick at most, without even a verbal warning. Therefore, although He Xu caused a lot of fouls to the opponent, he did not get any actual gain.
It wasn't until this moment that Benitez realised that Juventus, under their meritorious player, new coach Antonio Conte, had become different from the "Bianconeri" of the past. Antonio Conte has combined his philosophy of attacking football with the defensive viability of Italian football. Antonio Conte's formation for Juventus is varied, with a perfect combination of attack and defence, and the players are very flexible in changing positions, and this kind of impact and resistance makes the overall age of Inter Milan very tired. The lack of direction on the offensive side has invisibly increased the pressure on the team's defense.
Benitez had to stand up. Tell Pazzini loudly to let him and He Xu complete a complete change. He Xu, who is better at breaking through, stepped back to get closer to Sneijder and looked for an opportunity to catch the ball. And Chiellini didn't chase after him this time, and the person who was guarding He Xu became Marchisio.
As an Italian player who has deep defense into the blood, as long as he is a little famous, most of them have a strong sense of defense, not to mention that He Xu is still facing a defender who focuses on defense.
Inter's attack became difficult after Sneijder was blocked, and he could only rely on the big feet from the back. Marchisio kept making small moves when defending He Xu, and he resisted He Xu from behind. The leg also pressed against He Xu's thigh from behind. Although such an action is not a foul, it affects He Xu's jumping and catching the ball very much.
He Xu didn't have any dissatisfaction with this, because he knew that small actions were also part of modern football. It's like he'd just given Marchisio a hidden elbow hammer as well.
"Oops. Lao He! Look how my son is so entangled with that kid! Our son is so thin. Will it be a loss? ”
"You don't understand this, do you? Our son is now a professional footballer! My body is stronger than when I was at home. Besides, their diet is also very reasonable, and my son's body must be much better than at the beginning! This level of confrontation is quite capable of coping. ”
Benitez turned his head to look at Conte, who was sitting on the other side. Secretly gritted his teeth, if it weren't for the fact that there was no one on his front line, how could we be pressed like this by him. In the continuous battle, He Xu's physical reserves have been exhausted, and Pazzini and Milito have always been riddled with minor injuries, except for these three, there is really no one in the team who can be at the forefront. It seems that this winter break is really going to make reinforcements to the team's lineup.
He Xu was entangled by Marchisio, but he still used a few catches to create a lot of threat, but unfortunately there was still a Buffon standing in front of the goal at Juventus. At the end of the first half, the white jersey worn by He Xu had changed color, but the score was still Inter Milan 0-2 behind Juventus.
This also made the home fans in the scene shout excitedly, and they don't know why Inter Milan, who are at the top of the table, have become so weak in this game, and their home team is so strong, it seems that God is really on our side today.
In the dressing room of Inter Milan, the players lost the joy of the previous half-time and lowered their heads, looking up at the gloomy head manager from time to time. Although Benitez didn't seem to mean to get angry. He Xu, who had been drinking water with his head down, suddenly stood up, "No! In the second half, we must not play like this, Juventus is now controlling our rhythm and consuming our physical strength, and if we continue like this, we will definitely be worn to death by them. At the start of the second half, we have to try to score as soon as possible! ”
Pazzini wiped the sweat from his face and said helplessly: "It's too difficult, their defense is too tight, we don't have a chance to form any effective breakthroughs, and in the face of Buffon, long-range shots can't have too good effect......"
Benitez didn't speak, just listened quietly to the conversation between the two men. He Xu thought for a while, then raised his head and said to Pazzini: "Believe me, there will be a chance in the second half!" You run away from the opponents up front, I'll tear them apart, wait for my pass! ”
Pazzini frowned, "But, your legs? ”
He Xu just waved his hand, then turned his head to look at the coach, Benitez nodded, acquiescing to He Xu's opinion.
Because of the three-line battle and the dense schedule, coupled with the extremely high defensive intensity of Italy, He Xu, who started the game as the main striker, faced more defensive intensity than others. Therefore, He Xu's physical fitness is not very good now, and there are still many dark injuries on his ankles and calves. It is precisely for this reason that Benitez made him break less, after all, losing the game is only a matter of one game, but the injury is something that I don't know how much impact it will have.
But the team is in a predicament, He Xu can't watch the team lose, and his confrontation with the "luxury lunch" is not over yet......
In the dressing room at Juventus, Conte is full of praise for his two loves. Chiellini and Marchisio basically did what he wanted, restricting the number 9 on the opposite side to death, which was what he wanted to see the most. After watching the previous video of Inter Milan, this No. 9 is indeed a difficult guy to deal with, and if he is allowed to play with feeling, then his team is in danger.
Before the start of the second half, Conte, who has played for Juventus for many years, stood in front of the players and said, "All right! Boys, there is still the final half of the race until the halfway championship is in hand, so make it through these forty-five minutes! Get those guys in white back to their Milan city! ”
At his instigation, the players seemed to be in high spirits and walked out of the locker room.
Benitez didn't have any pride, but just said to He Xu, "Anyway, the body is the most important, so be careful." ”
He Xu smiled, and then said, "Don't talk about this yet, Mr. Coach!" Don't forget to get a striker during the winter break! We're the ones you're tired of. ”
Benitez blinked awkwardly, "Okay! But you don't have to worry about your starting position? ”
He Xu finally got the headband and said to him, "If the team can really get such a striker, it will be a great thing for me!" ”
After speaking, He Xu turned his head and went to the court. Stand in the centre circle with Pazzini, ready to tee off. Vucinic, who scored twice in the first half, stood not far opposite He Xu, stretched out two fingers and put them on either side of his lips, facing He Xu and Pazzini.
This is Pazzini's usual celebratory move, and it looks like the Montenegro must be laughing at He Xu and Pazzini, who are also strikers but both have mediocre performances.
Pazzini felt very unhappy, but He Xu's reaction was unusually calm, he just followed Vucinich's movements and stretched two fingers to his face, but he picked his nose with two fingers. After watching He Xu's movements, Vucinic only felt that his whole person was not good. This kid behaves sharper than a breakthrough......
He Xu didn't pay any more attention to him, but after the referee blew the whistle, he received the ball from Pazzini, and then turned and passed the ball to Sneijder.
Pazzini ran towards the Juventus penalty area, but He Xu stayed where he was. Conte was stunned on the pitch, did Benitez want to use this kid as a striker in the second half? However, the subsequent actions of Inter Milan helped him to solve the doubts in his mind.
Sneijder received the ball and spun on the spot, and the moment the defender thought he was going to pass the ball backwards and ran back, Sneijder spun back again. Then passed the ball to He Xu's feet, because when He Xu received the ball, there was no one around to defend, so He Xu easily passed the opponent's midfield with the ball and rushed directly to Juventus's penalty area.
Marchisio had just run to Inter's backfield in order to grab Sneijder's return pass, and Sissoko faced He Xu and was shaken by He Xu's speed change without any suspense.
Conte was stunned off the field, it was unimaginable that such a big man could do this level of frequency change under his feet. If you don't watch this kid play football at the scene, I really can't understand why someone would hold him so high......
He Xu has now been rated by the Italian media as another talented striker in Inter Milan since Ronaldo, and there are many people who do not agree with this statement, but this does not affect He Xu's strength.
He Xu lowered his center of gravity and dribbled forward with the ball, thinking in his heart, no matter who the reinforcement is, no matter how he says, he has to give him a victory as a welcome before the promised reinforcement comes, right? (To be continued......)