Pan Yi watched the game with a deep brow.

He had expected this match to be difficult, after all, the opponents in front of him, these Swedish players, were his subordinates just over a year ago.

And these subordinates, executing his tactics, especially defensive tactics, are always in place.

This forced Pan Yi to be more focused on observing the game to find the flaws that the opponent might expose.

Of course, with a ball in hand, Pan Yi can actually give up the offense first, defend against each other, and then seduce the Swedish team.

But now Pan Yi doesn't want to do that.

On the premise that his defense is still safe for the time being, Pan Yi wants his players to be able to play offensive tactics in training.

After all, this is a team that is preparing to win the World Cup!

If they can score with the defensive intensity of the Swedish team, it will prove that they have the ability to attack the attack.

And this is also the most missing point of the Italian team in the past few editions.

In the 2010 World Cup, the Italian team was divided into a group composed of Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand, which was very weak at first glance.

But the Italian team played at the bottom of the group, and only scored one goal against Paraguay, and only one goal against a team like New Zealand! In the end, he lost to Slovakia, and it can be said that he was not unjustly eliminated at all.

The 2014 World Cup was even funnier, with Italy being drawn in the Group of Death alongside England, along with Uruguay and Costa Rica.

However, it is generally believed that Italy and England are the most likely to qualify, and at most Uruguay is expected to stir up the game.

I never thought that Costa Rica, which looked harmless to humans and animals, qualified first in the group, Uruguay second, and Italy and England went out together!

Italy's attacking weakness has also been exposed in this tournament, with zero wins against Costa Rica and Uruguay, only scored by Marchisio and Bashen in the defeat of England, but it was also the only goal scored by Italy in the entire tournament.

By the time of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the situation had not improved.

In a total of 10 games, Italy have scored a total of 19 goals, doesn't it look okay?

But Spain, in the same group, scored 36 goals!

Like other groups, Germany and Belgium have scored more than 40 goals, not to mention.

After all, there are so many countries in Europe, and there are many small countries with fish belly, such as Gibraltar, San Marino, Andorra, etc., which are all gift-giving boys and being brushed into professional households.

The same is true for Liechtenstein, who are in the same group as Italy, but Italy only played 2-0 and averaged less than two goals per game, which shows the weakness of their attacking line.

Even Sweden, who are now on the opposite side with a reputation for defending, scored 26 goals in the group stage!

Therefore, in this Italian national team, Pan Yi focuses on offensive tactics.

If you don't strengthen your attack, even if you can pass the play-offs, then it's no fun to go to the World Cup!

And that, of course, is the harder part.

At the club, if there is a lack of an attacking player, look for it in the transfer market.

If you can find Messi, that will solve a large part of the problem;

If you can't find Messi, then you can find Hazard, find Leao, and you can do it.

But in the national team, you can't just pick the players you need, you can only work out a tactical style of play that suits them based on the current player configuration you have.

This requires the head coach of the national team to have more and more experience in commanding, as well as better tactical literacy and knowledge.

It can also be said that luck is very important in the national team competition, especially in the big tournament competition, but it cannot be denied that the ability of the head coach and the overall strength of the team are also crucial.

Of course, Pan Yi has been prepared in advance, and the current Scamacca, Tonali, Barella, and even defenders Bastoni and Di Marco have their own best things in attack, and they have also started to train and grow in the professional league in advance.

But before they really develop into stars, they still need to play well in such a crucial game and understand how to tear apart the opposition's defence against the best defence.

As the head coach, Pan Yi will also help them on the sidelines.

He always plays with 120,000 points of attention and concentration, paying attention to every move on the court, observing everyone on the court, and then using the most suitable tactics for his disciples to perform.

Now, Pan Yi has noticed some details.

"There's something wrong with Larson." Pan Yi turned to Evani and said.

Evani on the side looked at it and nodded: "Indeed, he didn't run in place to intercept the few passes we made in the midfield just now. ”

Sebastian Larsson has always been known for his defensive aggressiveness and strong running ability, but he is 32 years old this year and not as physically fit as he was when he was younger.

Now, he relies more on awareness and experience to defend and predict, and when he really defends one-on-one, including intercepting the opponent's passing line, he has begun to have some feelings of being more than willing and not enough.

Last season, Sunderland, who was the main player of his team, were relegated, in fact, in part due to the decline in their running ability, which led to a sharp increase in Sunderland's defense.

He also moved to Hull City this season, but the downward trend in form is hard to avoid.

Jane Anderson doesn't see this problem, but first, after Karlström retired from the national team, Sweden did not have many substitutes in their hands, and secondly, the superstition of Pan Yi's tactics made Anderson grit his teeth and insist on using the double back composed of him and Ekdal.

This is a bit like a poor student who copied the test paper of a top student, and his grades were still passable, but if he had to make another solution on it, it would never be possible.

But the midfielder position is really crucial.

Compared to Larsson, his partner Ekdal is not a purely defensive player, and the two of them are a double midfielder who simply can't keep the Italian team at bay in midfield.

The reason why the midfield is becoming more and more important in today's football system is actually not just a matter of organizing the back, but because in the current football tactics, whether the offensive promotion is on the side or in the middle, whether it is a long pass or a short pass, there is a very critical point that will not change.

That's running in depth in a threatened 30-meter zone, which is called a back-cut score!

It is clear that the central defenders cannot take on the responsibility of preventing the opposition from cutting in and scoring, because they are more interested in watching the opposition's forwards and even wingers, so there is a key defensive point in the middle of the back, which is the midfielder.

It can be said that a very important reason for the existence of the midfield, or in other words, a very important reason why the midfielder is valued by all managers, is that they can give timely follow-up and even stop when the opponent runs deep into the 30-meter area.

But now, the Swedish midfielder is starting to struggle a bit at this point.

This is also because under the high-intensity attack of the Italian team in recent times, the back waist is too busy to supplement the defensive position, and their physical strength is squeezed out at once.

However, Pan Yi is not in a hurry to make any adjustments now, he is still waiting, waiting for a better time.

Now the game is less than 30 minutes, let the bullets fly a little longer......

——

"Larsson went to the sidelines to drink water again." Vialli's bald head suddenly appeared in front of Pan Yi, making his eyes suddenly brighter.

Don't underestimate drinking water during the game, which represents the level of physical exertion of a player.

In the course of the game, the coach will also pay attention to these clues to judge the opponent's physical condition.

Pan Yi nodded.

He has also noticed that Sweden's defence has indeed become a bit more disorganized in recent minutes.

It's not that Jane Anderson's defensive set-up is wrong, it's that the Swedes are exhausted and physically exhausted against the Italian attack.

As a result, the first half of the game was not over yet, and many of them were already very physically depleted, especially Eckel and Larsson, who played in the back.

The reason is simple, Italy's off-ball running and pressing up front are very fierce, and they also have a good ability to control the tempo, one fast and one slow, so that Sweden have to run to their rhythm.

The side that is subject to others will always be beaten passively, and it will always be more seriously consumed than the active side.

The Swedish players can be said to have no advantage at all in the face of the Italian team, whether it is one-on-one or team fighting, they have a big deficiency, so once they finally snatch the ball from the feet of the Italian team, but soon lose it again, it is a huge torture for the spirit and fighting spirit of the Swedish players.

It's not that the Swedes are reckless and don't know how to control the ball, but they can't control it at all.

The Italian team is responsible for controlling the area in a group of three, standing in a triangular position, always one up and one down, one strategy protection, one ring after another, the Swedish players can grab the ball, but as soon as they get the ball, they immediately find themselves facing not a player, but caught in the surrounding encirclement.

It took a lot of hard work to break the ball, but it was lost quickly, and the first few times were okay, but over time, it was a huge torture for the mentality of the players, and it was a serious drain on their fighting spirit.

After the Italian team gets the ball, they will continue their offensive tactics, continue to press, continue to bomb the Swedish goal, forcing the Swedish players to keep up.

Under both tactical and psychological pressure, the Swedish players are understandably too physically exhausted.

Pan Yi looked at the scoreboard, the score was still 0:0, and the time was 38 minutes, and it was not far from the end of the half.

But he also understands that it's time for a wave.

He immediately walked to the sidelines and waved at the Italian players who were dead-balled, especially at Tonali, who played in midfield today, and danced gestures that only they could understand each other.

After staying in York City for so many months, Tonali is very familiar with Pan Yi's tactics, and the intention of the head coach is also very obvious.

In the same situation, there are Scamacca, Barella, Di Marco and others, who, as Pan Yi's "descendants", have also been instructed by the head coach for the first time.

"The boss said, plug it in the back, hit the wings, pay attention to the width and depth!" As Tonali walked back, he whispered to each of his teammates.

It just so happened that there was a free kick from the back of the Swedish team on the field, and the Italian players were preparing to defend in their own half, and the personnel were relatively concentrated, and Tonali explained it easily and quickly.

"I'm in charge of pulling the edge, you have to pay attention to the width and depth of the pull, just like we usually cooperate in training!" Scamacca began to talk to his two forward teammates.

Chiesa Jr. and Insigne both nodded frequently, both knew how to fight, and they had rehearsed in training.

Pan Yi had previously trained to use the speed and breakthrough of Chiesa Jr. and Insigne to play the tactical routine of cutting into the penalty area to complete the scoring on the two wings, so they are no strangers to this set of tactics.

"You guys, deal with their double backs, plug in when you have the chance!" Tonali continued, gesturing to Barella and Verratti at the same time.

Both of them nodded, indicating that they understood that they would support and respond behind Tonali and others at any time, and even inserted into the penalty area to complete the score.

And when the Italian generals understood Pan Yi's new instructions, the Swedish team's free kick in the backfield was also issued.

Larsson kicked the ball wide and hoisted it straight into the box, but Isak couldn't get past Chiellini and the ball was headed straight back into midfield.

Barella gets the ball, turns quickly and immediately moves forward.

The three attackers in front of them were already on the ball and stabbed at the Swedish defence from the left, center and right at the same time like three sharp arrows, while Tonali was following behind Scamacca and ready to respond.

Barella's advance was quickly blocked and he immediately knocked the ball across to the left, where Di Marco followed up and dribbled down the left flank to quickly advance into the 30-metre zone of Sweden, who were then setting up their defence.

Jane Anderson was aware of the danger on the sidelines and immediately commanded the players' defensive positions.

However, he was not sure where Italy's main attack was, so there was no way to give specific instructions.

After all, these four players, whether it is Scamacca, Tonali, Chiesa Jr., Insigne, are very good to run without the ball, and they all have a certain amount of foot work, and everyone has the possibility to pass the ball or even shoot after taking the ball.

In the face of such an opponent, any player is very dangerous.

When Di Marco pushed the ball close to the opponent's penalty area, Scamacca, who was originally standing in the middle, suddenly leaned over from the middle to the left, as if to play on the left side with Chiesa Jr. and Di Marco, and Tonali also quickly leaned to the left at the same time.

The fact that the two central players chose to move to the left at the same time immediately set off a wake-up call in the Swedish backline that the Italians were going to play on the left this time and be careful.

Right-back Lustig and right-back Victor Lindelof immediately followed Scamaccara's flank, carefully following the Italian striker.

As a result, another central defender, Glenqvist, must also follow along, otherwise the two central defenders will be too far away and will be directly blown up by the opponent.

However, Insigne was always cruising on the right side, so their left-back Augustinsson could not easily get over, which directly caused a large vacuum of undefended areas in the middle and right of the penalty area.

"Dangerous !!" Jane Anderson's first reaction was to be taken aback, because with so many Italians in this area at the same time, even an ordinary fan looked like he was going to do something!

But the Italian attack was fast and did not give Jane Anderson time to warn at all.

The so-called bystanders are clear, and the authorities are like this, the players on the field are equivalent to two-dimensional creatures, they do not have God's perspective, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the degree of urgency of the current situation.

The ball is still at Dimarco's feet, while Scamacca and Tonali are more of a cover.

But by the time Di Marco cut into the corners, it was clear that the Swedes could no longer afford to allow the young York City left-back to push forward like this, and they had to limit it.

So Lustig let go of Chiesa Jr. and found Dimarco.

Di Marco didn't fight Lustig either, but passed the ball directly to Tonali, who leaned over to pick it up, who grabbed the ball before Larsson, the midfielder, and stuffed it forward.

That's where Tonali's physical advantage comes in.

Larsson had already anticipated Dimarco's pass, so the two were up at the same time, but Tonali was forced to carry Larsson, who was a little physically exhausted and his physical function was also declining, and then took the ball and passed it.

At this point, Chiesa Jr. scrambled on Lustig and cut horizontally to the middle along the line at the edge of the penalty area, where Tonali's pass came right in front of him.

He was right next to Glenqvist when he got the ball and could get into the box!

Now, on the edge of Sweden's penalty area, there is a huge hole in the whole defensive system.

Because Ekdal, who was supposed to be here, also went to help defend Scamacca because of Italy's previous pull, he was not in this position.

In this way, in front of Chiesa Jr., there is a large gap in the area that Laxqvist can't take care of!

So Chiesa Jr. immediately after winning the ball, he cleverly borrowed his body and running position, pressed Granqvist, cut into the gap, and it seemed that he was about to form a chance to get up.

Left-back Augustinsson abandoned Insigne from the right side of the penalty area at this critical moment, and frantically crossed the gap of about 20 meters to fill in the position, trying to flank Chiesa Jr. with Granqvist left and right, forcing the Italian youngster to not get off easily.

And Chiesa Jr. handled it very calmly and decisively at this moment.

As soon as he saw Augustinsson coming, he immediately distributed the ball to the right behind Augustinsson in the form of an oblique pass, and Insigne, who was moving with Augustinson, had a tacit understanding, inserted it directly from behind, stopped and pushed after getting the ball.

The ball was like an eye, between the goalkeeper who moved quickly from the left and made a save and the right post, and drilled into the Swedish goal, 1:0!

"The ball is in!!!!!!!" The on-site narrator roared excitedly!

"A textbook offense, a beautiful off-ball run!"

"Sweden's steely defense was shattered in an instant by the Italian team's incomparably precise running!"

After seeing Insigne's goal, Pan Yi clenched his fists excitedly and turned to high-five Evani and Vialli and others in celebration.

This offense is indeed played very beautifully, from pulling to create width, to playing depth, the whole offensive routine is almost flawless!

The Italian players executed the attacking tactics very well, and in this attack, the Swedish midfield's defensive weakness was also clearly revealed.

After almost 40 minutes of the game, they were in a state of mental and concentration and were in a state of inattention, so that they are now far less dense in defense than before.

Live TV cameras followed the Italian players as they ran to the stands to celebrate, and then to the dugout.

At this time, the two sides are naturally sad and joyful.

On the home team's side, Pan Yi was celebrating the goal with the coach and substitute players;

On the visitors' side, Jane Anderson has a grim face and is clearly very uneasy about the current situation.

1:0, 2:0 on aggregate!

He originally wanted to defend Italy's first half attack, wait for the opponent to be unable to attack, and after psychological fluctuations, as well as lack of confidence in his offensive ability, he would fight back in the second half, but now, ......

Italy's attack eventually broke down Sweden's defense.

While the lead was extended, it also brought huge psychological pressure to the players who met Sweden, and now the situation of the Swedish team will become even more difficult.

But what can he do now? Attacking and not being able to attack, and not being able to defend it, this is a dilemma!

At this time, Insigne, the scorer, had already finished celebrating with his teammates, and before returning to the field, he also ran to the coach's seat and hugged Pan Yi to express his gratitude to the coach for his trust and support.

Speaking of which, Insigne is not Pan Yi's "descendant", and even at the beginning he thought that it would be difficult for him to play in this national team, after all, whether it is Chiesa Jr. or Raspadori looks more like Pan Yi's favorite "Little Zhengtai".

But it is clear that Pan Yi is not the kind of person who is cronyistic.

When you perform well in training, when you are in good shape, when you can fit his tactical system, then Pan Yi will not hesitate to send you on the field!

And Insigne also seized the opportunity and repaid Pan Yi well!

He knows very well that as long as he can continue to improve and live up to Pan Yi's high expectations for him, then he will always be able to get the same opportunity to play as today and serve the country!

(End of chapter)