"The next games are definitely going to be more and more unfavourable for Switzerland."

Lineker explained.

"Today's game, the Swiss were very difficult to play because they were two goals behind now and the game hadn't even been more than five minutes away!"

"In addition, after the opening, their defense was rushed by the Italian team, and the momentum was completely suppressed by the Italian team, which made them completely lose any initiative in the game."

"I wonder if the Swiss expected such a bad situation before the game? Perhaps they still underestimated Pan Yi's team's ability to attack in the opening game......"

At this time, the live TV camera happened to be given to Petkovic on the sidelines.

He sat in the dugout of the Swiss team, looking helpless and confused.

Obviously, he still can't figure out what happened after the opening, what mistakes he made, and how he lost so badly.

"Now, the most important thing for the Swiss team is to wake up as soon as possible from the storm of attacks and goals created by the Italian team at the beginning, and re-stabilize the situation and position as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be difficult for them to pose a threat to the Italian team in this game, and it will be difficult to see any hope of winning. ”

It was clear that after such a successful round of attacks after the opening kick-off, Italy would be able to maintain that advantage and initiative.

Switzerland, on the other hand, will be in chaos, no matter how Petkovic arranges and arranges next, it will be difficult to regain the initiative of the game.

If you want to pull back 2 goals from the Italian team with such a solid defense in a passive situation, or even reverse the score, without being attacked and counterattacked by the Italian team, the possibility of this is almost zero!

Not to mention that Switzerland's attacking line is inherently flawed, or attacking is not their strong suit, it is really difficult to score goals.

The current Swiss frontcourt can basically only rely on Shaqiri's breakthrough, but with the title of "Swiss Messi", he is not as brave as he was back then.

This season, his side Stoke City have been relegated from the Premier League, and his three seasons at Stoke City have scored a total of 15 goals.

Besides, the Italian team can defend him to death when facing a genuine Messi, how can you be afraid of a Swiss Messi who is not even at the peak?

Therefore, when the scoreboard above the stands showed Italy 2-0 Switzerland, even the Swiss coaches and players, including the Swiss fans, did not have much hope in their hearts.

It can even be said that the quarterfinals of this World Cup, after the opening three minutes, are actually over......

"It's really Pan Yi! It was not easy to win Switzerland in 3 minutes!! ”

In the stands of the St. Petersburg Stadium, Southgate also appeared in the stands with his assistants to watch the game, and he also gave his own assessment.

The round of 16 between England and Colombia will be held later in the future, and the winner between them will meet the winner of Italy and Switzerland in the quarter-finals!

It stands to reason that Southgate should focus on the game against Colombia first, after all, he has to win to be qualified to study the next opponent;

But Southgate was so confident he could get past Colombia that he had come to see Italy as a potential enemy.

"Colombia didn't even win against Japan, so there's no threat." That's what Southgate had in mind.

For Southgate, he can be said to be almost the culmination of the British handsome's accumulated shortcomings: stubborn personality, conservative concepts, loose tactical concepts, nepotism, and insufficient on-the-spot adaptability......

Sadly, even so, he is already one of the best in the FA to find on home.

The previous unbeaten qualifiers in the European qualifiers with 8 wins and 2 draws made Southgate complacent, but even the British media, which has always been arrogant, believes that Southgate's ability is not worthy of England's elite players.

But luckily, Southgate is still self-aware.

In his eyes, Pan Yi's Italy is the most terrifying.

From the earliest days he knew about the grouping, he had already thought about the opponents he might face in the quarter-finals, and Italy was clearly the team he cared about the most.

Obviously, Italy did show him their strength today, and it took 3 minutes to beat the originally tenacious Swiss!

It also made Southgate realise that the Italian team was still stronger than he had estimated.

"That's right, in such a short period of time, the Swiss team is completely finished! Pan Yi will always be so ruthless! Sitting next to Southgate is the current assistant coach of the England national team, Steve Holland.

That's right, it's Pan Yi's assistant coach when he was at Chelsea!

After Southgate took charge of the England squad, he graciously invited the experienced coach to join him, and Steve Holland accepted.

Now, Steve Holland is still a little flustered when he sees that Pan Yi will become his potential opponent.

In his heart, of course, he hopes that Switzerland can beat Italy in an upset, so that there will be a lot less pressure on England, who are aiming for the title.

If England meet Switzerland after passing Colombia, it will undoubtedly be good news for them to continue their efforts to reach the semi-finals.

But the problem is that, in the current situation, such aspirations have largely come to naught.

Steve Holland thought about it for a long time, and he couldn't think of a game in which Pan Yi would lose the game with a two-goal lead......

Well, when he was next to Pan Yi back then, Chelsea seemed to have lost only a handful of times, let alone this situation of being overturned.

As if to confirm the claims of the two England coaches, the Italian team on the field launched another attack.

This time, Tonali pulled into the open space on the right to pick up the ball, and in the face of the flying defender, he made a deft feint and volleyed home.

After deceiving the blocked defenders, Tonali cleverly picked up a pass to the left, and after Chiesa Jr. blocked the defenders with his body, he directly volleyed the ball from close range to the incoming ball, and hit the ball into the Swiss team's goal, 3:0!

Chiesa Jr. scored his fourth goal of the tournament!

And at this time, the game was just in the 25th minute!

'Tonali is a very mobile player and he plays very smartly.

'He's certainly not the kind of player who can break through and get the ball straight in midfield. It can even be said that when he is alone, he doesn't pose much of a threat and is easy to defend. ”

"But as soon as he gathers players around him, helps him pull the defense, helps him create gaps, then his threat is revealed!"

Steve Holland is an old man after all, and he immediately saw the characteristics that Tonali is best at.

Of course, this is also because he had watched the report on Tonali earlier, so he was able to keenly identify Tonali's strengths.

"The three goals, all from Tonali's assists, and all three goals have a very obvious feature, which is that the players around them pull, Tonali runs to the open place to catch the ball and then shoots the ball."

"He was very fast and accurate in his shots, and he tore through the defense in one fell swoop!"

"We can judge that it is the tactics set by Pan Yi for Italy that allow Tonali to play like this."

When he said this, Steve Holan looked solemn, "If we can't contain him, then it will be difficult for us to prevent the Italian team's attack!" ”

While Steve Horan was analyzing, Southgate was always watching the game, but that didn't mean he wasn't listening.

On the contrary, every word of Steve Holland was heard by Southgate very clearly, and he also took it to heart, and the judgment of the two was the same.

That is, a Tonali who runs up to catch the ball, the biggest threat!

"This Italian team is so smart without the ball that they can't be guarded!" Southgate frowned and replied, "It's not just Tonali, you see Barella, Verratti, and Chiesa Jr. all ran very well today!" ”

Steve Holland pouted when he heard this.

The emphasis on running off the ball and team-mates is something that Pan Yi emphasised when he was at Chelsea, and Steve Holland certainly knows that.

But the problem is that knowing doesn't mean limiting it.

If anyone can restrain him, then Pan Yi will not become today's Pan Yi, and he will not be the admirable victorious general.

However, now as an assistant coach of the England team, Steve Horan of course still has to assist Gareth Southgate as much as possible to help England beat Italy!

"The Italian team is also very well controlled, slow with fast, fast with slow, really varied." Steve Holland analyzed:

"Switzerland died at this point in this game, and after the start of the game, they were stunned by the fast-paced attacking storm of the Italian team, resulting in the loss of the whole game!"

"But that doesn't mean Italy is a perfect team, with us...... Compared with Pan Yi's phenomenal seven-time champion Chelsea, this Italian team can only barely get by. ”

"They don't have players with a huge coverage area like N'Golo Kante, so there are obvious problems in the middle of the defense, including the transition from slow to fast, so Pan Yi now often turns to playing diagonal attacks with long passes from the back."

After hearing this, Southgate smiled: "It seems that we all want to go together." I saw this too, and I was thinking about what to do with them. ”

"This should be the most effective way to restrain the Italian team, and that is to make them unhappy!" Steve Holland also smiled and nodded, "And an Italian team that can't get up fast is difficult to create a threat!" ”

Southgate had a hint of excitement on his face.

Looking at the Italian game, in addition to observing the future opponent, there is also a very key point, that is, because their head coach is Pan Yi!

Being able to compete face-to-face with a master tactician like Pan Yi is undoubtedly a very exciting thing.

It's one thing to win or lose a game, but this kind of real battle of strategy makes a "new coach" like Southgate feel inexplicably excited.

Defeating Pan Yi is not the best opportunity to defeat the leader of the martial arts alliance, but it is not the best opportunity to make a name for himself in the rivers and lakes!

In the eyes of Southgate and others, compared with the super seven champions created by Pan Yi before, the current Italian team can be said to be two completely different teams, and the biggest difference is in individual ability.

Every Chelsea player is one of the best superstars in the world, which makes Chelsea's players have outstanding individual qualities.

One-on-one or even one-to-many, including the ability to take advantage of opportunities in front of them, is a great game for this group of Chelsea's superstars.

For example, Eden Hazard, such as Harry Kane, or N'Golo Kante, or Thibaut Courtois, their individual qualities are obviously better than those of the Italian team in the same position.

Now Italy is more of a civilian star, and there is arguably no superstar among them - except for Gianluigi Buffon, who has aged and faded from the main lineup.

It's just that they still have the kind of teamwork spirit unique to Italian football, and after Pan Yi's adjustment and running-in, they can immediately produce a chemical effect and exert a combat effectiveness that they don't have when they fight alone.

But that doesn't mean that Italy's problems will be weakened, and at best, they'll be covered up at a tactical level.

Because the Italian team does not have the individual ability of a superstar, and does not have the kind of player who can break the deadlock when he is restricted, Pan Yi was clear from the beginning, pursuing teamwork and pursuing more flexible off-ball running.

He wanted to cover up his lack of personal ability, and at the same time to play to the traditional advantages of Italy.

It can be said that under Pan Yi's tutelage, the Italian team's ability to advance to the front of the penalty area is already the best in the world, and the biggest problem for this team is how to break the opponent's iron wall once the ball is advanced to the front of the penalty area.

The ability to break through one-on-one and the ability to get rid of individuals are worse than those of the world, which is the objective defect of this group of players in the Italian team!

Chiesa Jr. and Insigne can indeed be considered stars, but first-class superstars? It's still far from it. Shaarawy, Raspadori? Worse.

Including Balotelli, he can't even be considered a star at all now.

Now Pan Yi's solution now is to let the center forward strengthen the passing and receiving cooperation in the front court through flexible running, and the diagonal attack, from the side to the side of the opponent's penalty area and then pull the defense line and then cut inside, which is still the way of team cooperation.

But to do these two days, there must be a premise, fast!

Everyone knows that fast is easier than slow to create a time difference, easier to create loopholes, and improve the difficulty of the opponent's defense and blocking, so in the final analysis, the Italian team's attack is to be built on a fast word.

Without speed, teamwork is impossible to create much of a threat!

Imagine a team that is constantly passing and receiving the ball, lacking speed and efficiency, and wants to slowly pass the ball into the opponent's penalty area.

It's easy for defenders to block their passes, which is simply not possible in a strong conversation!

So, Steve Horan said that the Italian team that can't get up fast is not scary, and that's not wrong!

If, give Pan Yi a Messi......

No, as long as you give a Chelsea Eden Hazard, as long as you give him a player with excellent individual ability and can break through the opponent's defense alone, then the attack of this Italian team can definitely go up a big notch!

But it's also a pity that Italy is still Italy after all, and it's not the team that could have Baggio, Signori, Vieri, Piero, Inzaghi, Totti...... Waiting for the striker's Italy, this is an objective fact that no one can change.

"In addition, the two center forwards that Pan Yi uses in Italy are also very important in his tactical system." Southgate said again.

He was of course referring to the two centre-forwards of Scamacca and Balotelli.

These two centers, which are slightly different in style, also give Pan Yi more options and means of tactical changes.

And no matter who is on the field, they can provide the Italian team with an effective penalty area fulcrum, so that the Italian attack can have a direction after reaching the front, even if it is densely defended.

If these two center forwards can be frozen, it will undoubtedly deprive the Italian team of a sharp weapon to break the deadlock.

"That's right, in addition to their quick counter-attack, how to defend against Italy's center tactics is also something we need to pay attention to." Steve Holland nodded, then sighed, "To be honest, I've been with Pan Yi for two years, but I still haven't been able to fully understand his thoughts. Or so to speak, there are too many tactics in his head, and the changes are too complicated to make it impossible to find a pattern! ”

This is actually the common view of many people in the industry on Pan Yi.

There is a hand in adjusting offense, and there is also a hand in adjusting defense, and more importantly, Pan Yi is not the kind of person who is stubborn to the extreme.

On the contrary, he is very tactful and flexible, and does not stubbornly insist on his own things, but changes according to local conditions. Countless competitions have proven this.

"But, no matter what, his World Cup road is destined to end in failure!" Southgate smiled confidently.

Now that the holes of the Italian team have been found today, it means that the targeted tactics and arrangements have been found.

Gareth Southgate is absolutely confident that his team can beat Italy!

——

Pan Yi apparently didn't know that there were two Englishmen in the stands who were judging him.

His immediate task was to take Switzerland first, and then think about the rest.

The first half ended with a score of 3:0, and the Italian team entered the break with a huge advantage.

In the second half, the Swiss team still could not recover from the shadow of the painful blow of the Italian team after the opening game.

Italy once again took the initiative, Chiesa Jr. and Spinazzola played a one-two on the left side, Tonali ambushed at the edge of the penalty area, and when Spinazzola cut inside with the ball, he came out to ask for the ball, and the ball was comfortably at the feet of Tonali.

Tonali took the ball and turned and kicked the ball through, as if it had eyes, through the entire Swiss backline, straight into the penalty area, and Scamacca had already been ambushed in the box, clean and clean!

4：0！

All the fans of the Italian team in the stands of the St. Petersburg stadium, in front of the TV, went completely crazy!

This is a World Cup round of 16 competition, and the opponent is the Swiss team, which has a solid defense and has always been difficult, and it has played such a disparity in scores!

This can even be said to be an overwhelming victory in terms of strength.

The Italian fans in the stadium were celebrating like a holiday, cheering.

But they all know very well that the key to winning this game is not only Tonali, who played the assist team, but also their manager.

It was the opening strategy formulated by Pan Yi that made this game lose suspense after 3 minutes, and the rest of the game was actually a formality!

Even who is responsible for promoting, who is responsible for pulling, who is responsible for passing, and who is responsible for the final shot, Pan Yi is very delicately arranged, and the two goals are the same, which can be seen Pan Yi's coaching ability and level.

Yes, the players are the executors of the game, and they are the key to the team's victory, but as the head coach, without Pan Yi's advice behind the scenes, the planning and command behind the scenes, there would be no such a game.

"Pan Yi, long live!"

There were even a lot of Italian fans who shouted like this.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the Italian fans in the stadium stood up in unison, chanting Pan Yi's name and celebrating the victory with the Italian coaches and players.

"In three group games and one knockout round, the Italian team played two 3:0 and one 4:0, which is a staggering record." Lineker couldn't help but continue to blow Pan Yilai:

"Their attacking prowess and their excellent form are incredible, they are definitely the favourites to win this World Cup, and I feel like neither Brazil nor France will be able to stop them!"

"We have enough reason to look forward to this Italian team. And Pan Yi, he will also likely lead the Swedish team to win the European Cup, and then take Italy to the World Cup! ”

However, at this time, Southgate and Steve Horan had already returned from the St. Petersburg Stadium.

Southgate, in particular, is convinced that they have found the key to victory over Italy.

For the World Cup semi-finals, Southgate is determined to win!