On November 28, Hamburg faced Schalke 04 at home.
From the moment the referee blew the whistle, Pan Yi felt that something was not right with Weiwei.
Schalke 04's starting lineup is indeed similar to what Pan Yi expected before the game, but it is not conservative at all in terms of playing style.
At the People's Park Stadium, they put on a posture of turning against the visitors and decisively pressed forward to attack.
In the center position, Dutch forward Huntelaar frequently crossed and switched positions with shadow forward Pukki, while wingers Obasi and Farfan on both wings kept running through the ribs to create space.
Neustadt and Jermaine Jones sit in the defensive midfielder, and behind them are Fuchs, Herwedes, Papadopoulos and Uchida Atsuto.
In the backcourt, the double midfielders and two full-backs often come forward to meet their teammates, and are not relatively fixed in their defensive positions as Pan Yi expected.
It seems that Schalke 04's 59-year-old Dutch head coach Hub Stevens has some ideas today.
By the way, this old coach has some similarities with Bayern's Heynckes, that is, he has coached Schalke 04 four times, and he definitely has true love for "Shakhtar".
Perhaps he also studied Pan Yi's tactics and even psychology, and predicted Pan Yi's prediction.
You think we are a defensive-oriented team, so we formulate offensive tactics; then, I will do the opposite for you and catch you off guard!
As a result, Schalke 04 even played a full-court pressing tactic with Hamburg.
When Hamburg's defense is in possession of the ball, Huntelaar and Pukki, including the two wingers, will immediately form a siege, making it difficult for Hamburg to play the ball out of the backcourt.
Schalke 04's midfield and back line gradually pressed forward, and they fought fiercely with Hamburg near the midline.
If they can intercept the ball, they will counterattack in the simplest way - quickly sending the ball to the feet of several frontcourt attackers and forming a shot.
And if the ball is lost, Schalke 04 players will immediately engage in counterattack and defense, building the defense line at the forefront.
This tit-for-tat style of play made Hamburg players feel a little uncomfortable.
And this kind of discomfort quickly showed up in the scene and score.
In the 15th minute, Pukki passed the ball to the right side of the penalty area. Farfan feinted and then hid it inside, and volleyed from a small angle. The ball hit the side net.
In the 26th minute, Atsuhito Uchida made a pass from the outside of the penalty area, and Huntelaar's header from the middle of the penalty area missed the left baseline.
In the 32nd minute, Pukki got the ball from the front of the penalty area and broke into the penalty area. He took two steps and shot directly. The ball was held by Navas.
In the 40th minute, Schalke 04 broke the deadlock!
After Hwedes intercepted the ball in the middle, he quickly passed it forward to Farfan.
The 28-year-old Peruvian winger made a cross from the bottom. Huntelaar in the middle got rid of Kjaer's defense, turned and shot in the small penalty area where he is best, and opened the scoring for Schalke 04.
0:1, Hamburg fell behind at home!
This was also the score at the end of the first half.
Pan Yi had already hurried back to the locker room before the referee blew the midfield whistle.
Of course he saw the problem.
He did underestimate his opponent today.
After all, Schalke 04 is not a weak team, and their head coach Stevens is not a rookie either.
This method of attacking with attack and using fast to make fast is indeed quite effective for Hamburg, and ultimately achieved good results.
The tactical competition between coaches is like this. As long as there is a problem in one link, the players will deviate in execution, and the overall rhythm of the team will have problems.
Pan Yi's pre-match deployment was mainly for offensive drills against Schalke 04's defense. This also made the players lack psychological preparation for today's opponent's sudden frontcourt pressure, and it is understandable that they were frustrated on the scene.
Of course Pan Yi also thought of a solution.
Now, he just needs to use every second to quickly convey the response method to the brains of all players.
…
Hamburg's players were obviously not in a good mood when they walked into the dressing room.
Who can be happy when trailing in front of tens of thousands of fans at home?
So everyone had their heads drooped and listlessly, and some were still cursing while walking in the aisle.
Pan Yi stood by the door, hugging the players who came in one by one, and encouraged: "Don't worry, cheer up!"
When everyone arrived, Pan Yi said: "Being behind at halftime is not your problem, but my responsibility."
All the players looked at Pan Yi.
Everyone knows that Pan Yi is a coach who has the courage to take responsibility and will not pass the blame to the players.
If a player does make a mistake, he will point it out;
But if there is a mistake at the tactical level, he will also bravely take the responsibility on himself.
Now that Pan Yi has said this, it is true that today's game may have little to do with the players' performance.
And this also means another thing, and it's a good thing - that is, the head coach already knows how to solve it.
Just such a word from Pan Yi relieved the players' psychological burden a lot, and at the same time gave them more confidence in the next second half of the game.
"Since they pressed us full-court in the first half, let them steal it. This is not the first time we have faced such a situation. Isn't Dortmund more aggressive than them?"
Pan Yi's second sentence put a smile on everyone's face.
This is the increase in self-confidence brought to the team by defeating strong teams before.
Without that experience, when players are faced with a difficult situation like today, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming.
But with the experience of defeating similar strong enemies, everyone will have a good idea and quickly know how to handle the next game.
"We still have to take the initiative to shrink the defensive line a little and lure them to press more. In this way, the space in their backcourt will become larger, including the distance gap between the two central defenders that I mentioned before the game, and it will be easier to seize. "
"Moreover, Schalke 04's starting lineup is not too young. They simply don't have enough physical fitness to support such an intense full-court press."
"When they lose energy in the second half and start to lower their pressing intensity, then our chance will come."
"We must be resolute in our counterattack. If we can get the ball out with one kick, don't take another kick. Give the ball to De Bruyne more often and try to let him handle the last pass. He will see the space between their central defenders."
"And when we attacked, everyone boldly pressed forward! When they were weak, we beat them hard..."
When the Hamburg players walked out of the locker room again, their mental outlook was completely different from 15 minutes ago.
There is light in their eyes!
That was the light of confidence that changed the situation in the second half and won the game!
(End of chapter)
