Chapter Ninety-Seven: Using Your Opponent as a Prop
Millwall manager Wise's fears were somewhat justified, as Millwall didn't do well when the game started, as their players seemed to be in a daze, with no intention of quickly integrating into the game, and making frequent mistakes in the passing process to advance the attack.
They're doing a little bit worse.
Even Wigan Athletic didn't press too badly, they lost the ball themselves.
This poor form has affected the whole team, and the whole of Millwall is in a 'sleepwalking' and they seem to have been lost at JJB Stadium.
"They're careless!" Wise watched the game nervously.
He knew what the Tao was for.
He was worried about it before the game, his side have been going so well lately, winning five of six games and losing one in the league around Christmas, and with this wave of victories, they are ninth in the league, secure their position and just three points off the promotion play-offs.
Such results make the players impetuous.
In an impetuous mentality, when they meet Wigan Athletic who have won before, his players will feel that they will definitely not be able to run away from victory, and then they will be affected by this mentality.
What Wise didn't understand was that there was no such thing as a rival for the sake of the Wise.
Wigan Athletic's results have been much better than Millwall's, with seven wins in a row around Christmas, which is arguably more likely to make the team feel impetuous.
He didn't know that Jewell was actually worried about similar problems.
It's just that Millwall's players helped solve the ...... They hyped Millwall's 'must-win theory' before the game, and the Wigan Athletic players were holding their breath and wanting to teach them a lesson at JJB Stadium, so naturally they wouldn't be careless or anything.
Wise stood on the sidelines, watching the game on the field, his brow furrowed.
Fortunately, he was mentally prepared in advance, otherwise he would have been a little panicked now, and he only hoped that the team could integrate into the game as soon as possible and play to its strength. Thankfully, Millwall didn't play well and Wigan Athletic didn't take advantage of the opportunity to score.
……
The Wigan fans in the crowd were cheering their team.
Wigan Athletic took the initiative on the pitch.
Originally, the strength of the two teams was not much different, at the tactical level, both teams could seize the opportunity to take the initiative, but Millwall's mistakes always gave Wigan Athletic a chance, and as a result, the game lasted more than ten minutes, and Wigan Athletic's possession rate was as high as 61%.
'Levimore made a mistake and he passed the ball straight to Makarocchi's feet.
Mick Williams said with gusto, he loves to see opposing players pass the ball to his team.
He was delighted.
Every time he sees a mistake on the other side, Williams will comment and then look forward to the team passing, a few passes to the front of the court, and then Ellington or Zhang Tiehan will shoot and get a goal, this is the way Wigan Athletic attack.
Thinking of Zhang Tiehan, Williams looked over.
He saw that after Zhang Tiehan received the ball, he suddenly turned around with the ball on his back, and then ...... The ball was lost, and he couldn't figure out what he was doing, so he could only say, "Zhang turned around and made a mistake, Millwall was really lucky." ”
Others also noticed.
This is not the first time Zhang Tiehan has made a mistake, from the beginning of the game, when he got the ball, he has made a total of three 'mistakes', everyone can't understand what this is doing, only those who know Zhang Tiehan will know the way...... This guy is experimenting with a new way to get rid of training!
Several Wigan Athletic players looked at Zhang Tiehan and had some sympathy for Millwall.
"What did he take Millwall? Props at the training ground? ”
……
Wise watched the game with a frown, his face rather ugly.
It's all because of Millwall's performance.
Twenty minutes later, there are still a few players in the team who are 'sleepwalking', and I don't know when Lu Dao will really wake up, wasting opportunities again and again, his team only got a pitiful shot on goal in the first 20 minutes, and was beaten off.
What are you doing here......
Fortunately, the opponent's performance was also very bad, especially the number 13, he seemed to be restricted, and he began to make mistakes constantly, and he couldn't even pass the ball when he got the ball, so he could only lose the ball again and again.
Wise breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that the defensive strategy he developed before the game was correct.
Just as he was thinking, Zhang Tiehan received a pass again, he turned his back to protect the ball, glanced left and right, the look seemed to be looking for the point of the pass, the Millwall player who defended him couldn't help but come up to grab the ball, at this moment, Zhang Tiehan suddenly squeezed back, the Millwall player was squeezed back a few steps, and fell to the ground.
"Foul on attacker!"
The referee blew the whistle to stop the game and gave Zhang Tiehan a verbal warning.
Zhang Tiehan shrugged helplessly at his teammates.
The expression looked very innocent, as if the referee had misjudged at a glance...... But apparently Millwall's players didn't think so, especially Lawrence, who fell to the ground, who got up from the grass and said to the referee, "Sir, he's a malicious foul, you should give a card!" ”
……
At the same moment, Jewell had already covered his face with his hands.
To say that he didn't know what Zhang Tiehan was doing just now, and thought that he was just in a bad state, but he came down again and again, and he completely understood. Feelings: This guy treats his opponent as a training prop and experiments with his newly learned ability to get rid of it in the game?
The problem is that the opponent is not a fishy team......
If the game goes on like this, one mistake after another will see that the team's advantage is about to disappear, and if you don't take the opportunity to score a goal, it will be much more difficult to score goals when Millwall reacts.
But Jewell just watched the game and didn't say anything.
Now the team still has an advantage, the situation is not bad, the guy with a bit of a brain can do whatever he wants, he wants to see how this guy can perform, if not, no matter what, he has to stop, after all, the game is the most important thing.
……
Zhang Tiehan is still looking for an opportunity to test his ability to get rid of it, and his mistakes again and again make his opponent unable to see clearly.
What the hell is this guy doing?
Could it be that he is the team's mole at Wigan Athletic? Otherwise, how can you 'pass' the ball to your side again and again?
That's what the Millwall players thought.
In fact, it is also the case, Zhang Tiehan gets rid of mistakes, then there is only one end, that is, the ball is broken, sometimes it is okay, although he did not succeed, but it can also be seen that he did not make mistakes on purpose, but sometimes, his mistakes seem very bulky, as if he directly gave the ball to Millwall players, if people who don't know the way, they still think he is a member of Millwall.
The Millwall players looked funny.
Just this guy, and he uses the coach to keep a special guard? There's no need to be guarded at all, this guy is almost his own!
Especially Sweeney, who is in charge of defense, his feeling is more obvious.
Before the start of the game, Wise specifically told him to defend Zhang Tiehan, and even said something like 'your task is the most critical for the whole team', and when he played the game, Sweeney was still under a lot of pressure because of this sentence, he played like a heroic fighter, and then began what he thought was the most difficult defensive task.
But the situation was different from what he had imagined.
When other teammates made frequent mistakes, Sweeney was the best because he successfully defended the target, leaving Zhang Tiehan with little performance at all, and he felt relaxed and without pressure at all.
"Just this guy, and a lot of League One defenders can't do it? But in this case, it is not impossible to defend against my Sweeney? ”
Sweeney was secretly happy.
Whenever Zhang Tiehan arrived at Millwall halfcourt, Sweeney followed him, followed quite easily, and then waited for Zhang Tiehan to get the ball and kick out - a steal is so simple!
Over and over......
Three times in a row!
In less than half an hour, three steals were completed, an average of one steal in ten minutes, this kind of performance is definitely world-level, think about it, half an hour to give his side three more offensive opportunities, but also cut off the opponent's three offensive opportunities, one or the other, Sweeney's contribution to Millwall can be imagined.
He was very excited!
Sweeney thinks this will be his best game this season, perhaps because of this game, his value will skyrocket, and the team will have to force himself to give himself a salary increase due to his own strength.
"Keep up the good work!" Sweeney cheered himself up.
That's when football comes again!
……
Zhang Tiehan tried three times and was broken by the big guy next to him, and his accurate grasp of the body made him clearly know how he made mistakes just three times.
The big guy who defended him next to him has quite a lot of defensive experience. The opponent judged the direction of his turn, and then his turn was a beat slower, and the opponent could naturally grab the ball easily.
No way! This will not work!
Zhang Tiehan knew that he would definitely not be able to pass this guy like this, in comparison, he was not skilled in turning around, his movements were still a little jerky, and he was a little slow to start after seeing the ball, and he couldn't pass it at all, according to the way he did just now, there would be no difference this time.
The soccer ball flew over.
Zhang Tiehan looked back and forth, thinking about whether he wanted to pass the ball, but he couldn't see it behind him, at least there was no one to pass in front of him and on both sides.
He gritted his teeth.
Fight! Try again!
He jumped up hard to stop the ball, and when the ball didn't fall to the ground, he hooked back with his right foot, turned and rushed.
This coherent action is just too fast!
Sweeney was still thinking about the defense just now, he was quite leisurely, just waiting for Zhang Tiehan to stop the ball, he didn't care at all, anyway, there were no other opponents in front of him, this No. 13 wanted to pass the ball and no one could pass it, he would definitely choose to take the ball by himself, and then just judge the direction and hold it.
But then, before he was ready at all, he saw Zhang Tiehan rushing over from his side.
What about balls?
He didn't stop the ball!?
Sweeney realized that it was not good, so he reacted, the opponent did not stop the ball, and went straight back!
He didn't have a chance to chase anymore.
Sweeney instinctively stretched out his hand and pulled Zhang Tiehan, he suddenly turned around to keep up, his body was unstable, and when he pulled like this, he was taken by Zhang Tiehan's body and fell directly to the ground.
The referee was next to him, and he watched Sweeney stretch out his hand, but saw Zhang Tiehan catch up with the ball, and the attacking side did not blow the whistle to stop the game.
None of the Millwall players expected that to happen.
Sweeney was over?
It's that simple?
By the time they reacted, Zhang Tiehan had already caught up with the ball, and took a step, swinging his foot was a long shot! A long-range shot from 25 meters away from the fans!
Although the distance is quite far, Zhang Tiehan's shot is very large, and the opponent's goalkeeper Marshall pounced in the right direction, but he failed to catch the football, but unfortunately the football flew out of the bottom line by grazing the post, and at the same time, it also made the Millwall players afraid of a cold sweat.
"Zhang's shot! Ahh ”
Mick Williams let out a cry of regret.
The Wigan fans in the stands also felt very sorry, the ball shot just now was so good, but unfortunately it was a little worse, it was all caused by the big guy who fell to the ground, and it was obviously a foul action for the big guy to pull people just now.
Sweeney was sitting on the grass panting for breath.
He was also stunned by Zhang Tiehan's shot just now, even if the head coach Wise had said before that this guy's long-range shot was very threatening, but it was still shocking to see the opponent shoot such a threatening ball so far away outside the penalty area.
Now he knows that this thirteenth can't be underestimated!
Just one mistake and the opponent almost rewrote the score...... No, you have to defend more carefully!