Chapter Twenty-Three: I'm Scoring Again!?
Estadio-Deportivo are based in Sevilla, they are Sevilla's support media, and their relationship with Sevilla is similar to that of Manchester City and The Guardian – they have more access to Sevilla and they report Sevilla with great accuracy.
Beloki Gardeno is a football journalist for Estadio-Deportivo, but more Sevilla fans know him because he is a very professional football commentator.
Whenever there is a La Liga match, Beloki Gardeno appears as a football commentator for Sevilla fans, sometimes on the Spanish national sports channel and sometimes on COPA radio.
When not invited by the big radio stations, Gardeno also acts as a commentator for the Estadio-Deportivo webcast, analysing the live matches.
For this match between Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, Gardeno appeared as a commentator on the Estadio-Deportivo webcast.
Gardeno is not a pure Sevilla fan.
In fact, he was born in Valencia and came to Sevilla after work, so his comments on the game are relatively neutral, and of course, in order to 'please' the Sevilla fans, he will also be slightly biased towards Sevilla when there is a Sevilla game.
That's what happened in this one.
At the beginning of the game, Sevilla suppressed Atletico Madrid, and Beloki Gardeno immediately applauded Sevilla and ridiculed Atletico Madrid's performance, "In the summer, Atletico Madrid has undergone a big change, and their players have changed in half, Morris, Ozil, Klose...... The names of big names, but looking at their performance now, they can't match the fame of these players......"
He also said of Wan Sheng, "seeing that young Chinese failed to transform Atletico Madrid......"
However, as the game progressed, Atletico Madrid turned the deficit and scored a goal from Diego Costa to take the lead over Sevilla, and Gardno's commentary became much more serious...... Atletico Madrid's attack is fierce, judging by the last two attacks, they have sent almost all their players! ”
"That's not an exaggeration, look at their formation, oh my God!"
"They don't seem to care about defending anymore......"
Later, at half-time, Gardeno also talked about the situation between the two teams and believed that Sevilla were likely to equalize in the second half, "I believe that Sevilla will be much better in the second half, because Atletico Madrid will not be able to keep attacking like this!" ”
Gardeno's affirmative tone gave Sevilla fans confidence, but since the start of the second half, even Gardeno himself has not felt quite right.
"Atletico Madrid is still on the offensive and perhaps what bothers Sevilla is that Atletico Madrid are retreating too fast!"
A lot of people are watching the game, but very few people can find the problem with the speed of Atletico Madrid's retracement.
It also speaks to Gardeno's ability to analyze the game.
Then Gardeno looked more carefully, and he found that Atletico Madrid's attack was not a random swarm of people who rushed forward to suppress Sevilla with numbers, but there were rules and methods, and when defending, they had a stable formation and fast retreat, which brought a lot of trouble to Sevilla.
After watching it for a while, Gardeno couldn't help but shout in surprise, "Atletico Madrid is probably playing a completely new set of tactics!! ”
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Sevilla coach Alvarez also feels wrong!
Before, Alvarez originally felt that Atletico Madrid was fighting again with a momentum, they pressed up to attack on all fronts, and there must be big holes in the defense.
But for a while in the second half, Sevilla did not find any good chances, not because the team performed badly, but because Atletico Madrid retreated quickly enough and the formation was very solid.
Alvarez was surprised by the run of Atletico Madrid.
The first half was a bit chaotic, Atletico Madrid was suppressed at first, and then Sevilla was suppressed, and the two teams did not play their strength to play against each other, but now it is different, both teams played well, so the overall performance of Atletico Madrid is very clear.
What Alvarez saw was that every Atletico Madrid player was on the move all the time.
Fast or slow......
Whether it's the back line or the forward line, every player is constantly running, and the running looks very messy, but it ensures the stability of Atletico Madrid's third line, so it's not a free play for the players, everyone is running according to the tactics.
The complexity of the movement alone is astonishing enough, and the speed with which Atletico Madrid reacts when the ball is converted is even more staggering.
They'll be running back at a faster speed!
It's not a big deal for a single player to do this, but it's a little scary for each player to accelerate and run back.
But again, the question is - aren't they afraid of running out of energy?
Fitness is a big problem!
Many people know that more running brings more space and more opportunities, whether it is defensively or offensively, there is certainly no harm in running more, but many teams will not let players run more because of fitness.
A 90-minute football game is very physically demanding, some veterans can't hold on to the whole game, and it is difficult for young players to stick to the whole stadium running and scrambling.
Now Atletico Madrid's style of play, the physical consumption must be very large.
"Their stamina will be depleted early, right?" Alvarez thought silently in his heart, according to his estimates, this style of play will definitely not last a whole game, after all, not every player will have a very high physical reserve.
Thinking about this, Alvarez is a little more optimistic.
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Wan Sheng watched the game carefully, and he was also observing the team's physical condition.
Fitness is the foundation of the 'B-TF' system, and without physical support, players can't keep running, and no matter how subtle the style of play, it's all empty talk.
But Wan Sheng is not too worried, because the team's physical reserves are abundant.
From the football training master system, you can clearly see the physical condition of each player, after a summer of training, each player's physical reserves have improved a lot, and now the worst physical fitness on the field is the veteran Diego Forlan, who is in the 'B-TF' system, it is difficult to hold on to a whole game.
With just over 25 minutes left in the game, Diego Forlan is running a little bit away.
The other players, like Raul Garcia and Morris, don't have much of a physical problem, they can hold on to 90 minutes, but 90 minutes is the limit, they can't hold on longer.
Mesut Ozil, Diego Costa, and the players at the back will have no problem at all.
Mesut Ozil and Diego Costa are the best fitters in the team.
They are in excellent physical condition and with the 'B-TF' system of play, they are able to hold on for longer unless there are special circumstances.
The players in the back line don't have to worry because they have relatively little running, especially the two central defenders, and they don't need to be too far forward when attacking, so there is no problem with fitness.
That's where Atletico Madrid are at the moment.
After nearly 70 minutes of play, Wan Sheng already knew almost everything, and he was very satisfied with it.
Then it's time for a substitution.
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Taking advantage of a dead goal, Atletico Madrid completed the substitution adjustment.
Klose replaces Diego Forlan.
Seeing this substitution, Estadio-Deportivo live commentator Beloki Gardeno commented, "Atletico Madrid's style of play consumes energy too quickly, and Forlan is already a little unable to run. ”
'Klose came on for Forlan.'
"In the World Cup in August, Klose scored four goals for the German team, showing a very high forward efficiency, he is one of the most dangerous 'killers' in front of goal, Sevilla should be careful, Klose plays not necessarily worse than Forlan......"
From Gardeno's comments, it can be heard that he still has a lot of respect for Fran.
This is not unexpected.
Forlan has been playing in La Liga and is a very famous scorer in the Spanish league, playing for Atletico Madrid, and winning the top scorer in La Liga and the European Golden Boot is enough to see how good Forlan is.
In addition, in the past World Cup, Forlan scored five goals and became the Golden Boot of the World Cup.
He scored one more than Klose.
So in the minds of many Spaniards, Forlan is undoubtedly one of the best goalscorers in the world, and Klose is a little worse in comparison.
Atletico Madrid's substitution brought more professional media to the attention of fitness issues, and the Atletico Madrid players kept running, which also made the pace of the game very fast, so the game between the two teams looked very intense.
Such a fast-paced game is very physically draining for the players.
By this time, even the most professional can see that Atletico Madrid's tactical runs are much more than Sevilla's, and Atletico Madrid also relies on more runs and passes, and the situation slightly suppresses Sevilla.
A lot of people were surprised, they were surprised by the performance of Atletico Madrid, they were surprised that Atletico Madrid has persevered until now.
Compared to last season, this Atletico Madrid team is completely different.
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When more people pay attention to Atletico Madrid's running, more people will know that Atletico Madrid is not relying on a momentum to suppress Sevilla.
Instead, they relied on tactics and performance.
After another ten minutes, Alvarez began to worry because Sevilla had not yet been able to equalise, and he did not see Atletico Madrid suffering from fitness problems, as the opposition continued to play like that.
Alvarez's optimism was completely gone, and the only thing left on his face was solemnity.
The Atletico Madrid players on the field, no matter what Alvarez thinks, is like Wansheng thinks, this game is a tactical test for Atletico Madrid, and for Atletico Madrid players, the game is also a kind of training, so that they can understand tactics better.
So far in the game, a lot of the players have performed much better than when they first came out.
A regular game is a regular game, and the warm-up games are far from being effective, and some of the Atletico Madrid players are tired, but they feel much better than they did at the beginning, because they know how to run every moment, and there is no such awkward situation that they don't know how to run, so that they drag down the team.
Atletico Madrid as a whole has become more adaptable to the 'B-TF'.
The opponents, Sevilla, were in the opposite situation, they didn't have the problem of adapting to the tactics, but they were always passive.
Atletico Madrid's constant running made the game much faster, and Sevilla had to follow suit, and after the accelerated pace, they ran more than usual and consumed more energy.
Some of the Sevilla players felt they couldn't hold on.
Alvarez could never have imagined that Sevilla, not Atletico Madrid, would be the first to have a fitness problem.
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Seville's troubles are coming.
As time went by, Atletico Madrid's performance got better and better, and the pace of the game became faster and faster, and the Sevilla players were a little unable to keep up.
They played very passively and were suppressed in the half at one point.
However, the Sevilla players took to heart the instructions of their coach Alvarez and tried to press in their own half and try to find counter-attacking opportunities.
This time their efforts paid off.
Guarante, who had just come off the bench, stalked Ozil, Ozil made a mistake and the ball was a bit big, and Guarante grabbed the ball directly.
After a complete tackle, Sevilla immediately counter-attacked!
Guarente handed the ball to his team-mate and ran straight forward, the ball crossed the halfway line with three feet, and then full-back Capel dribbled forward quickly.
"Sevilla's quick counter-attack!"
"Capel! Capel! He's very fast! The Sevilla fans at the Estadio Pizjuán all cried out for Selivia's counter-attack.
Capel didn't go all the way forward, with Atletico Madrid dropping back very quickly and full-back Filipe Kasmirski already following up.
Capel was so fast that he couldn't get the ball out at all.
"Kasmirski is coming, Kapel should be careful......"
As soon as the commentator finished speaking, he saw Kasmirski make a clean tackle that put Capel to the ground, and the football shoveled directly to the side of Felipe Luiz's feet, the referee did not blow the whistle to stop the game, and Felipe Luis passed the ball out at the first time.
It's Atletico Madrid's turn to counterattack!
The situation is changing so fast!
By the time Raphael Varane dribbled across the halfway line, many at the Estadio Pizjuán had yet to get used to it, and the pace of the transition from Sevilla to Atletico Madrid was just too fast.
They also thought Felipe Luis might have committed a foul, and Atletico Madrid had already re-attacked Sevilla in the half.
Even many of the Sevilla players were uncomfortable with it, and they ran past the halfway line, and then Atletico Madrid came back, and they only hesitated a little, and it was too late to retreat to the defence.
Raphael Varane dribbled across the halfway line and kicked the ball straight to Maurice.
Morris is unguarded at the moment!
Sevilla realised the danger and centre-back Cáceres immediately pressed on, but Morris suddenly crossed the ball into the penalty area, and the ball rolled quickly against the turf, which Cáceres could not stop.
Then they watched as the football reached the feet of an Atletico Madrid player.
Is that...... Diego Costa!
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When receiving a pass from Morris in front of the penalty area, Diego Costa's mind went blank.
He didn't expect the opportunity to come so quickly!
Against Diego Costa, it was already fantastic to help Atletico Madrid score their first league goal in the first half, and now the opportunity is in the corner again? There was no one around him to defend at all, the nearest Cáceres was more than five meters away, and the opponent was still running to the left, so he couldn't adjust for a while.
This is the chance to face the goalkeeper alone!
Diego Costa was a bit of a fussier, almost instinctively receiving a pass, then taking two steps forward before facing the onrushing goalkeeper and instinctively swinging his foot...... It's like training on a regular basis.
He didn't think anything about it, and just finished shooting.
Then everyone in the stadium saw that the football flew past goalkeeper Palop and plunged headlong into the Sevilla goal.
It was only then that Diego Costa had something in his head.
"I ...... I scored again?? He was a little unsure, he thought it was like a dream. (To be continued.) )