Because there was no training session in the morning, and because the team allowed family members to stay overnight last night, the players generally woke up later today.
Moreover, it seemed that because of the continuous artillery fire, everyone slept until after noon.
But after getting up, the players consciously arranged for their wives or girlfriends to take the bus and leave the manor hotel. After all, they were about to start training and prepare for the second group match against the Italian team.
Pan Yi also met with the coaching staff early to discuss corresponding strategies.
To deal with Italy, there are actually two main problems.
The first is how to break through Juventus' defense line composed of Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli, and Buffon.
The formation that Conte currently uses in the Italian team is mainly 3-5-2, which can be said to be exactly the same as the method used by Pan Yi at Chelsea.
Therefore, these three central defenders on the back line are undoubtedly the key to the Italian team's defense and transition from defense to offense.
Especially Bonucci, who stands in the middle, has always been an outstanding representative of ball-playing and defending in world football. He is not only good at deep and long passes, but also good at horizontal distribution.
How to cut off his connection with the midfield and frontcourt is also a topic that the Swedish team needs to study.
The second is how to defend Italy's offensive line, with the focus being on Pelle, their most powerful scorer.
Pelle, who currently plays for Southampton, is currently Conte's most relied-upon center and was also the top scorer of the Italian national team during the European Cup qualifiers.
In the first group match against Belgium, Pellet also scored a goal to help the team seal the victory.
As a center with a height of 194cm, Pellet has super header ability, and also has the unique tactical execution ability and teamwork ability of an Italian forward.
His movement is accurate. If his teammates can pass the ball that allows him to face the goal immediately, he can use his strong confrontation ability and good shooting skills.
At the same time, he can also rely on his strong physical fitness and good ball-protecting ability to form the first point of the team's frontcourt, sending fatal passes to teammates who come after him. This bridgehead role was also reflected in the first game. To the fullest.
It can be said that Pellet is a high-quality "Italian cannon". If he can be silenced, it will be equivalent to removing Italy's sharpest fangs.
Regarding these two points, in fact, even the Swedish media has been offering suggestions in the past two days.
For example, let the tall Granqvist guard Pellet throughout the game.
After all, although Lindelof is technically good, his heading ability is indeed average. Many people are worried that if he is suppressed by Pellet, the Swedish team's air defense will sound the alarm.
For another example, you can let Isaac rest and let Ibrahimovic and Guideti play as double forwards.
This is because Ibrahimovic is afraid that when he plays as a lone forward, he will easily get lost in the defense of Juventus' three veterans. This happened to him when he was in Serie A.
And if playing as a double forward, Ibrahimovic has an assistant next to him, which may alleviate this problem.
Pan Yi certainly didn't take the media's suggestions to heart.
Do they know how to play football?
Of course Ibrahimovic can play as a lone center!
He is one of the few very versatile forwards in today's football. Now that he is older, he is becoming more and more amazing, and he is better able to bring his characteristics to the field.
His movement without the ball is very good. He can keenly find space the moment his own player passes the ball, and seize the most favorable space to catch the ball in the shortest time.
Another very good characteristic of Ibrahimovic is his sense of shooting and his shooting accuracy is also very high. The two goals against Ireland in the first game have proved this.
Moreover, if you want to bring out Ibrahimovic's strength, the best way is to create opportunities and space for him to shoot in front, so that he can have a relatively relaxed environment.
And if he wants to get this kind of environment, the players on the two wings must help him share the defensive pressure.
Therefore, for now, Sweden's 4-3-3 system of double wingers + single center does not need to change.
However, in response to Italy's more European Latin style of play, Pan Yi is prepared to make some adjustments in the lineup and rotate one or two positions.
One of the more certain ones is to replace the older Kjellström with midfielder Weinblum, who plays for CSKA Moscow.
This is mainly to enhance the hardness of the midfielder and at the same time change the original inverted triangle position of the midfielder into an upright triangle, that is, a combination of one front midfielder + two back midfielders.
This is because the current Italian midfield is actually relatively soft. Once it encounters a tough or strong pressing team, it is easy to encounter difficulties.
Although Weinblum is very average in terms of technical attributes, he is highly aggressive, brave in style, determined, and has teamwork spirit. He is very suitable to disrupt Italy's midfield.
In addition, his header ability is also very good, which can also help the defense to prevent Italy's high-altitude bombing.
During training, the Swedish coaching staff conducted corresponding tactical drills according to Pan Yi's instructions.
At the end of the training, Pan Yi also held a mobilization meeting.
He asked everyone to muster up their spirits to face Italy's challenge.
"Italy is a four-time World Cup champion and we must deal with it seriously. As long as we don't lose to them, we may qualify from this group! Everyone, work hard!"
Pan Yi's mobilization also received positive responses from the players.
At least judging from the expressions of the players, they all hope to perform well in front of a strong team like Italy!
——
"Friends of the audience, friends of the audience, welcome to the Toulouse Stadium!"
When the TV screen switched to the crowded Toulouse Stadium, the high-pitched voice of the on-site commentator suddenly sounded.
Everyone can pick up the voices of the fans at the scene through the microphone and feel the atmosphere on the field.
"It is now 20:45 in the evening on June 17th, French time. There are still 15 minutes left and the game is about to start."
"This game is between Italy, the top two teams in Group E, against Sweden. They both won in the first round, so this game is also regarded as a key battle for the right to qualify in Group E."
"The Toulouse Stadium is already full of spectators. Although this stadium is not as big as the Stade de France, there are still more than 40,000 spectators."
"For Italian and Swedish fans, of course they come here to cheer for their teams. And for many neutral fans, especially female fans, I am afraid many want to see Pan Yi at the scene."
"Currently, the head coaches and players of both sides are nervously preparing for this game in the locker room, and we have already obtained the starting lineups for both sides in advance..."
Just as he was talking, Italy's starting lineup was shown on the TV screen, which was still 3-5-2.
Goalkeeper: 1-Buffon.
Defenders: 15-Barzagli, 19-Bonucci, 3-Chiellini.
Midfielder: 6-Candreva, 18-Parolo, 16-De Rossi, 23-Giaccherini, 8-Florenzi.
Forwards: 17-Edel, 9-Pellet.
"Compared to the first game, Conte only made one adjustment to the starting lineup, which was to replace No. 4 Damian with No. 8 Florenzi."
"Comparing the two, Florenzi is faster and more flexible. Maybe Conte has any thoughts on Sweden's wing today?"
"Let's take another look at Sweden's starting lineup..."
Then the Swedish team's starting lineup appeared on the TV screen, which was the same 4-3-3 as the first game.
Goalkeeper: 1-Isaksson;
Defenders: 5-Olsson, 14-Lindelof, 4-Granqvist, 3-Johansson;
Midfielder: 6-Forsberg, 8-Ekdal, 16-Weinblum;
Forwards: 19-Isak, 10-Ibrahimovic, 20-Guidetti.
"Pan Yi also made an adjustment to the starting lineup, which was to replace Kjellström with Wayne Bloom."
"We don't know yet what changes will happen to the players' positions, but it's clear that there will be some changes in the Swedish team's midfield play today."
"The trident in the frontcourt is still the starter in the last game, which shows that Pan Yi is very confident in this new attack combination. Ibrahimovic did perform at a high level in the last game..."
While the on-site commentator was talking, he saw players from both teams walking into the Toulouse Stadium under the leadership of the referee.
Then, a burst of overwhelming cheers was heard from the 40,000 fans at the scene to welcome the team's arrival.
"Okay, players from both teams are entering the field one after another, the game is about to start!"
——
How to play Italy?
Pan Yi has his own set of ideas that are different from others.
That is, he will not formulate the team's tactics around how to restrict Pellet. This is where he is completely different from everyone's predictions before the game.
It can even be said that Pan Yi was not prepared to deploy tactics around defending Pellet from the beginning!
In the pre-game preparation meeting, he had very clearly set a tone for this game.
Italy is a typical European Latin team, and its overall foot skills are better than Sweden's.
Therefore, the team must maintain a rigorous tactical system, maintain a strong pressing ability, and limit the performance and performance of the Italians.
As for Pellet, in fact, as an opponent in the Premier League, Pan Yi obviously knows much more about him than the media.
That is Pellet's position in this national team is mostly a finisher.
The so-called terminator is actually the scorer.
This also means that Pellet is responsible for scoring goals for the team, and the team must give him as much support as possible to give him the opportunity to show his strength;
And if the team cannot provide him with a lot of opportunities, then his performance will lose the threat.
Of course, Pellet is also a team player. When he cannot score by himself, he will also drop back to the midfield to get the ball;
However, due to limited speed, Pellet does not have strong breakthrough ability.
In other words, he still needs his teammates to respond and cooperate in time, otherwise he can only watch the ball and sigh.
Therefore, from the beginning, Pan Yi's positioning for this game was not to restrict Pellet at all, but to restrict Italy's midfield and backfield, firmly suppressing the opponent, and thus rendering Pellet useless in the front. The place of martial arts.
A very interesting thing is that Conte seems to be very afraid of the Swedish team's tactics today.
And he seemed to be aware of his team's problems, so he dragged the defense very far back in the opening tactics, posing as a way to lure the Swedish team to attack, and then planned a counterattack by the Swedish team.
"Is Conte so cautious? Are you ready to wait for us to make mistakes?" Arteta shook his head and laughed, "But we are Sweden, and they are the stronger Italy!"
He could see that Conte's tactics were based on stability from the beginning and did not dare to take even the slightest risk.
But judging from the comparison of strength between the two sides, Italy is obviously the stronger side.
Using the strong to defeat the weak, it immediately became a defensive and counterattack posture. This was obviously a fear of Pan Yi.
Everyone knows that Pan Yi has the ability to turn corruption into magic. Coaches like Conte who have suffered losses from Pan Yi before know this very well.
From this perspective, it is understandable that Conte was so cautious today.
"Then let's try not to make mistakes!" Pan Yi also laughed, "Just use Italy's steel defense line to practice our triangle offense!"
After saying that, I saw Pan Yi giving instructions to the players on the field, indicating that they don't need to care about how the opponent sets up their formation, but they should still attack directly like they did against Ireland!
Therefore, taking advantage of the kick-off opportunity, the Swedish team immediately launched an attack on Italy.
As soon as the ball came out, the Swedish team immediately started to advance and soon passed the ball to Forsberg's feet on the right.
Facing Candreva's defense, the latter first protected the ball, and then tried to take it to the center. However, he was caught in the double-team of De Rossi and Parolo, and had no choice but to knock the ball back to the midfielder. Ekdal on.
The latter got the ball near the midfield, looked up, saw Ibrahimovic raising his hand in the middle, and immediately kicked the ball out.
After the ball traced a very high arc, it landed in the middle of the goal. While Ibrahimovic quickly stepped in from behind, he blocked Chiellini firmly behind him with his body and jumped high into the air. , a lion shook his head to meet the ball.
The ball was hit by him, and there was a lot of force, but it was hit perfectly!
Italy's goalkeeper Buffon immediately occupied his position, grabbed the ball directly, and then threw himself to the ground.
"This is the first shot of the game, from Sweden's striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic! He hit the goal with a very powerful head shot, but unfortunately the angle was too right and he failed to score!" the on-site commentator also said. Playing the game.
Buffon got up from the ground, holding the ball in his hand. Looking ahead, he saw his teammates scattering like a tide.
But he did not choose to kick the ball out, but quickly kicked it to Bonucci.
This is also Italy's current regular way of playing the ball, with Bonucci dealing the cards in the backcourt.
After all, in the frontcourt, apart from Pellet, Italy does not actually have many experts who can compete for high points.
Another forward, Edel, is only 179cm tall. Not to mention the tall and powerful Granqvist, even in front of Lindelof, he has no advantage in heading for the top.
In this case, if you rashly send the ball to the front, you are definitely giving the Swedish team the ball!
Therefore, Conte requires that most of the balls pass through the backcourt and slowly be transmitted to the frontcourt.
In Italy now, there is no player like Pirlo who can play fatal long passes, and there is no star in the frontcourt who can make the final decision like Vieri before, so everything must be based on teamwork.
Just like Pellet is currently the strongest striker in Italy, but he is just a player for a mid-to-lower Premier League team.
Another example is Edel, although he comes from Inter Milan, he is actually a civilian player, and there is no highlight moment in his entire career - or it can be said that being selected for this Italian national team is his most noteworthy resume.
Parolo, Giaccherini and others in the midfield are not wealthy players. The biggest players in the entire Italian team are concentrated on the back line. Overall, it can be said that the star quality is dim.
This is why some people called it an "upset" after Italy defeated Belgium in the first round.
However, Pan Yi has long been on guard against Italy's way of playing the ball, which is also the basis for his dare to launch an opening attack against Italy today.
Isn’t this always the case when playing against Juventus in the club?
So, when the ball just reached Bonucci's feet, the fast Isaac immediately forced it over.
Bonucci had not adjusted the forward angle at this time, so he could only pass the ball to the feet of Barzagli beside him, and Barzagli immediately kicked the ball forward to De Rossi just to be on the safe side. feet.
As the team's central midfielder, De Rossi's position is relatively deep and is also a key node to get the ball from the backcourt.
But Weinblum, who started the Swedish team today, rushed over directly to press De Rossi, forcing De Rossi to pass the ball to Candreva on the left as soon as possible.
Weinblum didn't pause at all. As soon as he saw De Rossi passing the ball, he immediately changed direction and pushed towards Candreva, who immediately passed the ball back to De Rossi.
At this time, Ekdal had also moved to the front, while Forsberg kept a certain distance from the two teammates in front to create defensive depth.
Seeing that there was no chance, De Rossi had to pass the ball back and returned to the backcourt.
"The Swedish team pressed very fiercely after the opening, especially on the Italian midfielders."
"Whether it is the strikers or the three midfielders, the Swedish team showed full hard work and fighting spirit today."
"However, the Swedish team's defense has not taken the initiative to press forward yet. It is obvious that Pan Yi is also guarding against Italy's counterattack. After all, this is Conte's Italian specialty."
"So the Swedish team's defense is not willing to take too many risks, and the midfielders always maintain a certain appropriate distance between them to avoid exposing too much space."
As the commentator was talking, he saw that after the ball returned to the Italian backcourt, Bonucci saw that the midfielder could not pass the ball out, so he directly passed the ball forward with a big kick, trying to find Pellet.
But Granqvist had already secured his position, got ahead of Pellet, and headed the ball back into the Italian half.
As soon as Forsberg got the ball, he quickly passed it to the left. After getting the ball, Olsson quickly dribbled the ball along the left side very quickly.
Isaac in front of him chose to run towards the baseline, opening a gap for Olsson.
Sure enough, as soon as Isaac ran forward, Olsson chose to dribble the ball in the middle, attracting the attention of Florenzi, who was chasing after him, and then knocked it to the edge of the penalty area, and Forsberg inserted in behind. The ball was met with a powerful volley.
This is one of Forsberg's famous stunts!
This shot was so powerful that it was like thunder. Everyone at the scene could clearly hear the bang, and the ball had already reached the Italian goal.
But Italian goalkeeper Buffon was very focused and made a side dive, blocking the ball out of the baseline with his fingertips.
"Oh my God, Sweden's long-range shot almost penetrated the Italian goal. Buffon saved Conte's team."
The live TV camera switched to a slow-motion replay of the attack just now. It can be seen that the Swedish team's sudden advances and long-range shots were very determined without any sloppiness. This shows that these are tactics that the team has practiced regularly.
"Three minutes into the game, the Swedish team has already had two very threatening shots, one from Ibrahimovic and one from Forsberg. These two best stars of the Swedish team have already blown the team away. The call to attack.”
"It seems that Pan Yi's opening tactics are very proactive. He wants to break Italy's defense from the beginning and take the lead in gaining the initiative in the game."
"If it weren't for the Swedish team's bad luck, or Buffon's sword, the Italian team's goal might have been lost."
After the corner kick was taken, there was chaos in the Italian penalty area. Lindelof hit the ball under Chiellini's defense, but was unable to hit the right position due to interference. The ball went over the crossbar and it was a goal kick!
"Italy's defense, led by Chiellini, has performed fairly steadily from the beginning of the game to the present. At least it did not give the Swedish team an absolute chance. It is difficult to predict the outcome of this game."
The on-site commentator's comments were fairly fair.
At least judging from the game process, Italy was indeed inferior to Sweden on the scene, but they still defended quite steadily.
Fans who are familiar with Italian football know that this can be said to be the norm for the Italian national team.
Including the first game against Belgium, Belgium was dominant on the scene, but it was of no use.
Belgium played for a long time but failed to score, while Italy scored two goals in two clicks and took away three points.
Therefore, against a team like Italy, leading in control rate, leading in shots, etc. are all illusory, only goals are real.
After all, such a scene was also caused by Conte's desire for stability in the opening and Pan Yi's very positive opening tactics. It does not mean that the Swedish team is stronger than Italy.
If Conte was not so afraid of Pan Yi and chose to attack, it's hard to say who could control the situation.
Of course, Pan Yi's adjustments to the Italian midfielder today are also very effective.
Ekdal and Weinblum formed a double meat-beater combination, keeping Italy's backcourt route in check.
This allowed Sweden to easily get the ball that Italy kicked out hastily, and then form a siege in front of the Italian penalty area.
Such continuous attacks made the Swedish team very morale, while Italy seemed a bit frustrated.
After all, although Italy is based on defense, it still has to counterattack in the end!
Nowadays, it is difficult to get past the midfield, so how can we fight back?
It's not like before, where Pirlo could solve the problem with a 40-meter pass.
Therefore, Conte was also a little impatient. He also walked to the sidelines and frequently gave instructions to the players, asking them to move as soon as possible after stealing the ball and not to stick to their feet.
The Swedish team's pressing is so fierce that once the ball sticks to the ball, it is easy to get surrounded and intercepted.
As for the direction of the ball as soon as possible, Conte gave two wings.
Candreva and Florenzi will drop back to the defensive position to receive the ball from the central defenders.
After getting the ball, you can use your speed to advance forward, and immediately hand it over to the forward line when you have the opportunity, allowing Edel and Pellet to solve the Swedish team's defense!
Conte hopes that such adjustments can change the current overly passive situation to a certain extent, allowing Italy to display its offensive characteristics in addition to defense.
Why start Florenzi?
This is his intention!
(End of chapter)
