As Kane equalized the score, Southgate in the VIP stands nodded with satisfaction.
Speaking of which, Kane is a direct player he grew up watching in the U21.
In the past six months, he may be the most aware of Kane's progress.
This young man may not be as fast as Sturridge and Vardy, and his physical confrontation ability is not as good as Welbeck.
However, his sense of smell in front of the goal and his shooting skills are no less than those of other Premier League forwards!
He had already made up his mind. After this game, he recommended Kane to Hodgson and asked him to report to the senior team on the next international match day!
With Kane, the Three Lions will have a new choice at the center position.
Ling Feng's passing, coupled with Kane's finishing ability, the scene is awesome.
As Tottenham equalized the score, neither side achieved anything in the next ten minutes of the first half.
Under heavy rain, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half
Back in the locker room, all the Blue Fox players took off their jerseys and wiped their bodies with towels.
Pearson, on the other hand, stood aside with his two assistant coaches, discussing strategies for the second half.
"We have to make some changes!"
In the first half, although they did not lose at all, they even had the upper hand.
However, compared to Tottenham's several shots that hit the goal, Leicester City's offense was mostly limited to long-range shots from the outside.
Although the rain made the ball slippery, it also made the threat of long shots greater.
However, everyone knows that the closer to the goal, the higher the chance of scoring.
As for Lingard on the left, although he has excellent running ability without the ball, he is full of energy and covers a large area.
But the defensive ability and physical confrontation can only be said to be average.
Especially against Kyle Walker, England's historical right back, he was basically completely blown away!
In the first half, Tottenham frequently used Walker's explosive impact and advancement to tear open Leicester City's high-position pressing circle in the frontcourt, thereby handing the ball to an open teammate.
And Lingard can't play a big limiting role at all.
Shakespeare, an assistant coach specializing in tactics, immediately put forward his own opinions:
"Nigel, why don't we move Jesse to the middle to echo Leonardo (Ulloa)!"
"Then move Ling to the left and suppress Walker's backside!"
"Ling Feng has speed and can also cut inside to score goals."
Listening to the assistant coach's explanation, Pearson couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and suddenly fell into thinking.
These two changes can achieve two purposes.
First, enhance the frontcourt offense!
Move Lingard to the center and give full play to his characteristics of running without the ball.
While maintaining pressure on the opponent's midfielder in the middle, he can also connect with Ulloa.
Ling Feng, who came to the left, was far away from the defense of the two defensive midfielders in the middle, and could distribute the ball and organize the attack more calmly.
Secondly, limit Walker!
After Ling Feng came to the left, Walker must focus on how to mark Ling Feng, and he did not dare to add assists as frequently as in the first half.
As a result, Tottenham's backcourt advancement will definitely be frustrated!
In Leicester City, most of the positions Ling Feng played in the tactical formation were attacking midfielders.
However, his position is never fixed, but depending on the situation on the field at any time, he can be a central midfielder, a forward, or even a right winger!
The left winger will be the fifth position he will try this season!
Of course, changes may not necessarily bring benefits; they may also make the situation worse.
But if you don’t try, how will you know? !
The unknown is also the charm of life!
. . .
at the same time.
On the other side of the visiting team's locker room, Pochettino was also discussing the tactical strategy for the second half with his assistants.
Judging from the situation in the first half, they created many opportunities to attack the goal on the offensive end.
It's just that Kane was stared at too closely by Morgan and Vasilevskiy, and before he could take off his feet, he was pushed away by the two macho men with their butts.
Therefore, how to provide Kane with more support in the second half so that he can shoot more calmly will become the key to whether they can win this game!
On the defensive end, except for Fazio, who had a yellow card on his back and had some hidden dangers, the other three defenders performed very well.
The key lies in the midfielder position. Stambouli and Bentaleb are unable to effectively protect the area in front of the defense, and it is too easy for Ling Feng and Mahrez to get long-range shots.
Bentaleb is the hub connecting the midfield and backcourt. He has good foot skills and must stay on the court.
And Stambley's performance was really disappointing.
Must be replaced!
Therefore, Pochettino's eyes passed over several midfielders and finally landed on youth training midfielder Ryan Mason!
Regardless of whether Paulinho, Capoue or Mason are replaced, Ling Feng's performance cannot be restricted.
Since it is impossible to guard against Ling Feng.
It would be better to add a midfielder with stronger offensive attributes and add a ball release point in the midfield so that he can provide more support to the frontcourt.
As long as the offense is played, the pressure on the defense will naturally be reduced a lot!
"Benjamin (Stamboley), you come down. Ryan (Mason), you come up for the second half!"
Upon hearing this, Stambley, who was wiping his wet hair with a towel, moved his hands.
He knew very well that his disastrous performance in the first half had exhausted the little trust and patience he had in the head coach's heart.
He even felt that he was likely to be thrown into the cold palace.
However, no one in the locker room cared about his emotions, they just listened intently to the head coach's tactical arrangements.
Because this is professional football!
The player's task is to win. Only victory can the team win honors and the players can make more money.
As for players who cannot help the team, there is only one end.
"We have to press, press, press up front!"
"Eric (Lamela), Nasser (Chadley), you two can make more breakthroughs on the wing, they can't stop us at all,"
"Christian (Eriksen), you can move the ball out wide more."
After the short intermission, players from both sides returned to the court again.
At this moment, the rain is still falling.
"Dear viewers, welcome back"
"In the 18th round of the Premier League, the second half of Leicester City's home game against Tottenham Hotspur is about to begin."
"In the first half, the two sides were tied at one to one. In the second half, the head coaches of both sides seemed to have made tactical and personnel adjustments."
At the beginning of the second half, the head coaches of both teams were somewhat unexpected.
Pearson was surprised that Tottenham actually directly optimized Stambley.
And what he replaced was not a defensive midfielder, but an offensive midfielder Mason.
This is the King Power Stadium!
What does this little fat Argentinian want to do?
Are you going to fight me? !
Thinking of this, Pearson, who was sitting in the stands, couldn't help but look down at Pochettino, who had his arms folded across his chest, and couldn't help but praise in his heart:
He is indeed the young coach who led Southampton to eighth place last season!
Have courage!
Pochettino was surprised that Leicester City actually changed their formation and moved Ling Feng to the left to confront Walker!
What does this old English guy want to do?
Lingard couldn't guard Walker, so he asked Ling Feng to come?
Or are you planning to make good use of the huge gap left behind after Walker comes in? !
After thinking about it for a while, Pochettino couldn't help but glance at Pearson sitting in the stands and sighed in his heart:
He is worthy of being the head coach who brought the newly promoted team to the Champions League!
So sophisticated!
Coincidentally, after the two sides changed sides, Walker, who was playing the right back position, happened to be close to the coaching bench on the sidelines.
This is convenient for Pochettino.
"Kyle!"
Taking advantage of a dead ball, Pochettino quickly called Walker to the sidelines and gave him instructions:
"Stop getting involved in the attack and keep an eye on No. 7!"
Hearing the head coach's decisive tone, Walker just nodded silently to express his understanding.
He missed the World Cup due to injury and did not return until the middle of last month.
As the main right back of the Three Lions, Walker has never met Ling Feng in the national team until now.
Although I have watched a lot of Ling Feng’s game videos and highlights.
However, he did not have a clear understanding of Ling Feng's strength.
Therefore, when he first heard from the head coach that Ling Feng was fast, Walker was a little scornful.
high speed?
How fast?
Is it faster than me? !
When it comes to his ability to organize offense, he thinks he is definitely not as good as Ling Feng.
However, when it comes to speed, he dares to say one thing - in the entire Premier League, he ranks second, and no one dares to rank first!
But now, Ling Feng was moved to the left to confront him.
Just let this kid experience the speed of the fastest man in the Premier League!
In the 48th minute of the game, Tottenham controlled the ball in the backcourt.
Fazio, who was pressed by Ulloa, once again passed the ball to Walker on the right.
The moment he took the ball, Ling Feng quickly stood in front of him like a beast out of its cage.
Looking at Ling Feng, who was standing sideways and staring at the ball at his feet, Walker clearly felt the pressure from Ling Feng and Lingard, which were not on the same level at all!
Just in time, let me see if you can keep up with my speed!
Walker wanted to make soup, so he passed Ling Feng.
However, he didn't expect it. As soon as he put the ball out, he found that Ling Feng turned around without hesitation and immediately touched it!
This black-haired boy was faster than he imagined!
"So fast!"
However, Walker did not believe in evil and directly raised his arm, carried Ling Feng forcefully, and continued to advance with the ball.
However, under Ling Feng's interference, his dribbling was not so calm.
Just when the ball under his feet was slightly wider, Ling Feng immediately seized the opportunity, accelerated, stretched out his right foot, and used his toes to poke the ball to Brother Drinking, who came to help defend!
This wave of defense directly received bursts of applause from the home team fans!
"Nice defense!"
After completing this successful defense, Ling Feng did not forget to look back at Walker and couldn't help but smile.
Although his defensive ability and awareness are only average.
However, his burst and speed are enough to keep him from falling behind when defending Walker!
Walker, who refused to admit defeat, took the initiative to ask for the ball from the central defender, trying to get past Ling Feng.
However, after several one-on-one encounters, he was surprised to find that not only was his speed, but Ling Feng's seemingly thin body was not as crash-resistant as he had imagined!
Under Ling Feng's close defense, Walker was either intercepted by Ling Feng or forced by Ling Feng to be unable to move forward and could only pass the ball out.
It was only then that the Tottenham winger finally understood that he could not use his speed to defeat Ling Feng!
His thoughts also changed.
From scorn and disapproval at the beginning, it turned into...
Ouch, this kid has something!
He is worthy of being a genius who became the core midfielder of Leicester City and the Three Lions at the age of nineteen!
Under Ling Feng's intimidation, Walker indeed reduced the frequency of assists on the wing.
Without Walker's intervention, Tottenham's advancement on the wing will lack a hot spot.
Eriksen could only frequently drop back to catch the ball, and then organize in the midfield.
This gave Leicester City enough time to defend.
But where there's good news, there's also bad news.
Although Ling Feng moved to the left, he very effectively suppressed Tottenham's attack on the right.
However, Lingard, who moved to the middle, did not play a big role.
Lin Huang's foot skills and vision passing are more than one level behind Ling Feng.
In addition to being able to constantly run into open spaces in the middle, connect with Ulloa, and stretch the space, he really can't have a very tacit passing and receiving cooperation with Mahrez.
This resulted in Mahrez being on the right and having to take the ball and work alone.
However, under the interference of heavy rain, the ball became slippery and personal dribbling became not as easy as usual.
After repeatedly making breakthroughs to no avail, he could only reduce the number of dribbling breakthroughs and pass directly behind, allowing Ulloa to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the opponent's central defender;
Or after opening up the space, the long ball is transferred to the left, allowing Ling Feng to organize.
Under Walker's defense, Ling Feng was not as calm as he was in the first half.
Moreover, without Ling Feng's suppression in the middle, Tottenham's two defensive midfielders moved forward to participate in the attack more and more frequently.
As Kane once again got a chance to kick in the penalty area, the ball missed the goal slightly.
Pearson in the stands could not help but frown.
The changes made by the team have given the opponent more offensive opportunities.
This made him wonder if the change made at halftime was a wrong decision.
It has to be said that this tactical change of positioning cannot be called a failure.
However, from the beginning, this idea ran counter to Leicester City's tactical thinking!
They can limit the opponent's explosive points.
However, Ling Feng, the team's most threatening offensive core in the frontcourt, should not be sacrificed!
Defense is not what they are good at.
What they really want to do is to think about how to make Ling Feng play more comfortably and be able to better utilize his offensive talents, thereby making the team's offense more threatening!
However, after moving to the left, under Walker's defense, Ling Feng got the ball less often.
Leicester City's offense relies heavily on Ling Feng's performance.
In fact, it is very simple to win a football match.
Just do one thing, that is:
Always score one more goal than your opponent!
You know, replacing defense with offense is one of the important reasons why Leicester City was able to enter the Champions League as a newly promoted team.
Now, they are using Ling Feng to defend Walker?
This is completely using one's own shortcomings to attack the other's strengths!
(End of chapter)
