"Pan Yi made a lot of adjustments in the lineup today..."
When the game was about to start, Lineker of Sky Sports was introducing the lineups of both sides to the audience.
"He actually formed a 3-4-2-1 formation! This seems to have been rarely seen in previous games, and it seems that it has never been seen even in Pan Yi's coaching career."
"The goalkeeper is still Donnarumma, but the defender has become a three-centre defender consisting of Chiellini, Bastoni and Bonucci."
"In the midfield, Verratti and veteran De Rossi serve as double defensive midfielders, and in front of them there are still double defensive midfielders... Well, it should be Tonali and Barella who serve as attacking midfielders, although they were in Italy before. In the game, they are more often paired in the midfielder position. This makes people really uncomfortable."
"On the wings of the midfield, DiMarco and De Sciglio occupy the positions on the left and right. They are mainly responsible for the offense and defense on the wing. And there is only Chiesa at the front. Wow, Pan Yi is really today Damn it, neither Balotelli nor Scamaca, the two great centre-forwards, are on the pitch!"
Alan Shearer on the side laughed and said: "That's not all. Pan Yi brought six forwards this time, and only one came up today... I think he is going to play without a forward."
"Tsk tsk... That's awesome, that's awesome. As expected of Pan Yi, he would come up with something new like this in a competition like this." Lineker shook his head, then looked at the England team roster on the screen and read out:
"The England team's lineup has not changed much compared to previous games. It is still Southgate's favorite 3-5-2 formation. It is said that he also learned this from Pan Yi's Chelsea."
"The goalkeeper is Pickford. Among the three defenders, Walker is on the right, Stones is on the left, and in the middle is Maguire. The middle three in the midfield are Loftus-Cheek, Lingard and Rice, and the two sides The wing-backs are Ashley Young and Trippier, and the forward partners are Harry Kane and Sterling. This is also the main lineup that England has been using since the beginning of this World Cup."
"Today's game can be said to be England, which has remained unchanged, against Italy, which has suddenly changed. It's really hard to say which strategy is right now..."
Alan Shearer smiled again: "At least I know that FM2019, which will be launched at the end of this year, will update new formations and play styles, and the people in the game company will be busy again."
Lineker laughed too.
As the most successful game that simulates a football coach or football manager, many players and coaches play it.
The updated content of FM games in recent years, especially in terms of tactical formations, basically depends on what work Pan Yi did that year.
For example, when Pan Yi launched 3-2-4-1, FM Company quickly added relevant content in the next year's update and provided player responsibilities such as "midfielder swingman".
And today Pan Yi comes to do 3-4-2-1 again, so the game company will naturally follow suit.
Otherwise, fortunately, Pan Yi has been the image spokesperson and technical consultant of FM Game Company in the past few years, so it is not a big problem to make various formations and tactics closer to reality.
"Pan Yi never fights an unprepared battle." Lineker said with a little worry, "It is really uncertain whether Southgate can respond positively to such changes. .”
Shearer also nodded and said: "Pan Yi's appointment has brought about the biggest change in Italy's mental outlook, but in fact there are not many changes in the main tactics. But in such a knockout match, the tactics suddenly changed. It does make people a little worried for England."
Although these two commentators usually tend to favor Pan Yi, especially Lineker, who is a big fan of Pan Yi, they also have another identity, that is, they are English football celebrities!
Today, Italy plays against England. Of course, they have to offer suggestions for the England team, and by the way, they will also worry about the England team.
"However, under such circumstances, Southgate's response to constant changes may really be the most correct choice." Lineker added, "There were many coaches in the past who, after seeing Pan Yi change, He would get flustered during the formation, and then he would follow the random changes, and end up getting killed..."
Shearer agreed with Lineker's view, but he also said: "This is probably Southgate's helpless move, because with his coaching experience, it is probably too late to make any response... OK , in fact, from the qualifying stage to the World Cup group stage and the first knockout match, he basically has this lineup, what tricks can he do?"
Lineker smiled bitterly, and then said: "On the plus side, England is now very stable, and the players have a tacit understanding of cooperation. Especially the back line is very fixed, basically just those few people."
Shearer nodded: "That's right. Since Southgate took office, there have been some changes in other positions, but in the defense, he has never moved."
"But this is also normal. In the entire England national team, there is no better defender than these three people. At the same time, the tacit understanding between them has been gradually established. No one will easily touch this defense line. Unless it’s a suspension or someone gets injured.”
"This is our advantage. When a team plays in the league, it may not matter if it has some defensive problems. As long as it has strong offensive firepower and the ability to grab points, it may be able to win the championship even if its defense is even worse. But in the cup, if the ball cannot be defended well, It will be difficult for the team to reach the end. As long as there are no major defensive problems, we should have confidence in the England national team!"
"That's true..." Lineker couldn't help but look at the two coaches who appeared in the center of the screen, "But now I'm really curious, what does Pan Yi think..."
——
"I'm curious, what effect can a hasty change of lineup have?" When the two coaches shook hands, Southgate also asked curiously, "Yes, we did not make a targeted arrangement for this lineup, but I Do you think this also caused a lot of trouble for your team’s performance?”
"We'll find out if we fight." Pan Yi laughed, "Maybe it would be safer to stay in the same formation like you, but I am an adventurous person."
This sentence made Southgate's expression freeze for a moment. He took a deep look at Pan Yi, then nodded, let go of his hand, and turned to leave.
Indeed, no matter what the formation is, the final effect still has to be seen on the court.
He, Southgate, wants to defeat Pan Yi today and end Pan Yi's undefeated myth!
After the two shook hands, it was another "meeting" between Pan Yi and the old England generals.
Lingard, Loftus-Cheek, Harry Kane, Vardy, Gary Cahill and other players who were promoted by Pan Yi came over to hug and greet Pan Yi.
Rice, the only one still under Pan Yi's command, was hugged tightly by Pan Yi and patted his butt affectionately.
This scene also caused bursts of laughter from the English fans on the sidelines.
"Although it can't compare to the grand occasion when Italy played against Dragon Country, Pan Yi's popularity in England is also quite high." Lineker sighed.
"Of course, after all, he has stayed in England for so many years and won so many championships..." Shearer said with a smile, "And now he is still the owner of an English Championship... Premier League team, which is very important to York City and even Yorkshire. The economy will be greatly improved.”
"Haha, and we are two old fans of England..." Lineker also laughed, "If he hadn't faced our motherland today, then I would definitely still support him to win..."
At this time, as the coaches and substitute players of both sides took their seats, the captains of both sides on the field also exchanged team flags, and England won the right to kick off by guessing the side.
The referee looked at his watch and blew the whistle to start the game.
"beep--"
From the start, England launched a pretty good attack.
Rice launched an attack in the backcourt. Sterling quickly broke through Verratti's defense and then passed it straight to Harry Kane at the front of the penalty area. Kane got the ball back and Lingard stepped in and fired a beautiful long shot. , Fortunately, Donnarumma reacted quite well, turning sideways and holding the ball out with one hand.
Since Donnarumma was supported by Pan Yi and became Italy's first choice national goalkeeper, his self-confidence has become stronger and stronger.
Although he is not Pan Yi's favorite type of person who has good footwork and can serve as a goalkeeper, his advantage is that he is tall but flexible and has a relatively low turnover rate.
With the current strength of Italy's defense, as long as the goalkeeper behind doesn't get nervous, there won't be many problems.
As for shooting the ball, the main reason is that the current Italian goalkeepers are basically not strong in this aspect, including the current second and third goalkeepers Buffon and Perrin.
However, due to the existence of two ball-playing defenders, Bonucci and Bastoni, the shortcomings in this area are not a big problem. Pan Yi will also ask the defenders to use more pulling and running to solve this problem.
After holding on to England's opening attack, Italy immediately counterattacked.
Several of their frontcourt players were running very hard. Except for De Sciglio, one of the two wing-backs, whose position was basically fixed on the right, the other players were constantly changing positions to launch attacks, and even even DiMarco sometimes moves into the middle to provide firepower for the middle.
Why is there a saying of "the great Italian left back"? It's because the Italian left back's playing style is special!
Although England deployed heavy troops in the backcourt, they were very uncomfortable with Italy's fast and flexible running.
In England's current back line, especially the three central defenders, Walker's speed is sufficient, but sometimes he is a bit aggressive; Maguire in the middle has poor turning ability, otherwise he would not have been asked to turn around; and Stones' main task is to play the ball from the backcourt, and sometimes his position is not very good when defending.
The characteristic between them is that they can complement each other, but if they are led by the other party, their respective weaknesses will be amplified and their opponents will seize them.
In fact, the England national team has been able to reach this point in this cup mainly because of its offense.
In the three group matches, they scored a total of eight goals, which ranked second among all 32 teams, second only to Belgium in the same group.
And if you include the qualifying stages, they also scored a lot of goals.
This is mainly because this tactic was born out of Pan Yi's 3-5-2, which is indeed unique in offense.
On the striker, Harry Kane is the representative of an all-around center. He can shoot and score by himself, can be a fulcrum, can also retreat to play the ball, and can even be used as a midfielder;
Sterling is at the peak of his career. Although his final kick is a bit eye-catching, his ability to break through from the wing is extremely strong, which can be regarded as the biggest explosive point in England's frontcourt.
Behind them, Lingard is also in his favorite midfielder position, and has made rapid progress after being trained by Pan Yi.
In addition, both Chike and Rice are also capable players in Pan Yi's system. They are also very comfortable in this formation commonly used by Pan Yi and are extremely adaptable.
This is a bit like in FM games. If you coach the club and the national team at the same time, and then recruit many players from your own club to use the same formation, then the proficiency of the formation will be very high - at least better than that of ordinary countries. The team is much taller.
It is precisely because there are so many good offensive personnel that Southgate's England national team is full of offense.
As for the Italian side, they started to cooperate on the ground when no high center forward was on the court.
Although these frontcourt players are not particularly skilled, their simple and smooth cooperation still brings huge lethality.
The two sides formed an offensive posture for a while.
"This game is a bit interesting." Lineker laughed. "Both teams are making a fuss in the midfield, five here and six there, a total of eleven people! That's half of the two teams. They are all fighting in a small area in the midfield, which is really exciting.”
Shearer shook his head and said: "But looking at the current situation, Italy has the upper hand. Their wing breakthroughs basically suppressed England's wing. Walker and Stones could only passively defend in the backcourt, but unfortunately Neither of their defensive abilities are particularly good. Maguire's air defense ability is very strong, but Italy does not play high ball, but lets Chiesa, De Sciglio and others attack him, which also makes it difficult for Italy to play high ball. He was having a hard time coping..."
As Shearer said, during this period, the left wing guarded by Stones became the focus of Italy's attack. This was because Walker on the right was chasing quickly and Pan Yi deliberately avoided this side.
Maguire in the middle is supposed to cover both sides, and his slow speed makes it particularly difficult for him to cover on the left.
Chiesa Jr. is almost staring at Maguire to launch attacks. Maguire, who performed well in the group stage, is difficult to please when facing a wide player like Chiesa Jr.
Although there are many teammates around him, such as Rice, who will return to the defense to help, Maguire still always has to face one-on-one situations with Chiesa.
This time, after Tonali drew the attention of his club teammate Rice, Chiesa passed back to Verratti. Verratti immediately passed the ball to Chiesa, who turned around with the ball. , roaring towards Maguire.
"Chiesa broke through Maguire! He was moving as fast as lightning, and Maguire seemed to have no power to fight back! Foul! Foul, Maguire pulled down Chiesa with his backhand, no doubt foul!"
Amid the boos from the Italian fans, the referee ran over and gave Maguire a few warnings while he was still defending.
Maguire could only retreat obediently. The referee had no intention of showing him a yellow card. If he continued to struggle and get a card, the gain would outweigh the loss.
Pan Yi stood up and made a pressing gesture. All three Italian central defenders ran up, leaving only the two wing-backs and Verratti defending a little behind. Get ready to join the attack inside the opponent's half.
Chiellini, Bastoni, and Bonucci are crowded at the back point, Chiesa is wandering near the penalty spot, Barrera is also preparing to respond at the front point, and De Sciglio is preparing to respond next to De Rossi. , Southgate looked at his penalty area and found that there seemed to be insufficient people...
After seeing that his three midfielders, including the two forwards, all returned to the penalty area to participate in defense, and the number of people increased, Southgate relaxed a little.
The location of this free kick is on the right side of the penalty area, almost parallel to the penalty area line and close to the sideline.
A free kick from this angle is much better than a corner kick. No wonder the English are so nervous.
Italy's offensive players were basically concentrated at the back point, and England's defensive players were also concentrated at the back point. There were only two players in the middle, Barrera and Rice. Tonali put the ball in position and looked up. The situation in the restricted area.
The referee blew the whistle to take the penalty, and Tonali started to run.
Italy's players at the back point immediately dispersed. Chiesa and De Rossi ran towards the center of the penalty area, while others rushed towards the goal.
Rice's attention was attracted by Chiesa running over, and Barrera, who he was originally responsible for defending, had already run out of the penalty area.
Tonali ran close to the ball, but instead of passing the cross, he directly kicked the ball towards the edge of the penalty area!
Barrera took a step back to get the ball out of the way, and then immediately took a step forward. Without stopping the ball, he swung his right foot in the air, and then hit the rolling ball hard!
The ball drew a weird arc, bypassed the numerous figures in the penalty area, and flew straight to the goal!
No matter how quick Pickford's reaction was, it seemed a little too late when he saw the ball coming out of the crowd!
The ball flew past Pickford and then plunged into the goal!
"Barela...Barela scored!"
In the live broadcast booth, Lineker reluctantly said the name of the scorer, but the crazy shouts of the 10,000 to 20,000 Italian fans at the scene had swept the entire stadium, covering up Lineker's voice. Living.
In the 15th minute, Italy opened the scoring!
A beautiful free kick!
Barrera rushed to the sideline at high speed, waved his fist at the stands, then rushed directly to the coaching bench, and then hugged Pan Yi tightly!
His performance in this World Cup was very good, but he knew that it all stemmed from Pan Yi's trust and reuse of him!
And this goal was precisely because Pan Yi specifically asked the whole team to practice such a free kick after he had shown a hard toe and smooth foot style before.
Then, he really scored the ball! He was so happy!
Although Barrera also scored in previous games, this was in the quarter-finals of the World Cup and he scored against a strong team like England. Of course, the meaning is different!
"Okay, okay, you can let go now!" Pan Yi patted Barrera on the back, then curled his lips and snorted:
"Fortunately, you are a small man weighing only over 60 kilograms, otherwise my old waist would break again..."
(End of chapter)
