Seeing Alonso passing the ball, Ferreira and Gala, who were staying in the backcourt, couldn't help but change their expressions. As Chelsea's last line of defense before goalkeeper Akinfeev, the two are well aware of the great responsibility they shoulder. They also know that even if they are fouled and booked at this time, Tottenham will never be able to seize the opportunity to launch a quick counterattack. !
"Oops! Paul (Ferreira), William (Galla)! You two, hurry up and stop that damn ball for me!" At the same time, Mourinho, who saw this scene, was also screaming in his heart: "Oops." The Portuguese did not expect that George would cleverly combine set-piece defense and defensive counterattack, turning Chelsea's failed corner kick attack into a perfect opportunity for Tottenham to quickly counterattack!
Although the corner kicks and free kicks in the frontcourt gave Chelsea the opportunity to directly threaten Tottenham's goal, from another perspective, Chelsea invested a lot of force in the set kicks in the frontcourt, and even Terry and Carvalho were involved. Isn't it possible that the defense is in a state of emptiness?
And Tottenham are now seizing exactly such an opportunity. After all, except when attacking from set pieces, Terry and Carvalho will basically not go too far. In addition, Mourinho is an expert in this area, so under normal circumstances, it is simply difficult to defeat Chelsea's counterattack. Enter the sky!
Alonso's long ball accurately found Robben who was running high along the left. Facing Ferreira's pressing, the Dutch Peter Pan, who had already controlled the ball, did not have too much entanglement with the opponent. He only used a simple change of direction to leave the latter far behind!
It was different from the meeting between the two in the European Cup semi-finals last year. At that time, Ferreira had just won the Champions League with Porto and was at the peak of his career. At the same time, he relied on the team system and rich game experience to defend the fledgling Robben, coupled with Advocaat's incompetence. and stubbornness, which put Robben at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Ferreira.
But now, in the six months since joining Chelsea, Ferreira has not shown his elegance as the best right back in Europe last season at all, and his state can only be described as tepid; Robben is injured. After his return, his progress was extremely obvious, and his fiery state even pushed Ribery to the bench.
Under the circumstances, this encounter between the two naturally ended with Robben's victory!
Although Robben once had the idea of repeating his old tricks, cutting in and shooting directly to score another victory for Tottenham, but in the case of a one-man attack, doing so is really not safe. After all, Chelsea is not someone who has a long memory. Since they have suffered a big loss from this before, they will naturally take strict precautions against Robben's move at this time. Moreover, compared with when he was on the right, Robben's inward shots from the left were still obviously less intense.
Therefore, for insurance reasons, Robben chose to dribble the ball directly into the Chelsea penalty area, and have a direct confrontation with Akinfeev who abandoned the goal!
However, just when everyone was attracted by Robben's single-handed attack, the Dutchman, who was about to face off against Akinfeev, first made a fake move to break through, deceiving Akinfeev. After the husband shifted his center of gravity, he flicked his left ankle and knocked the ball across to the other side of the penalty area - where a white figure had already arrived!
It turned out that, at some point, Ronaldo, who was still moving around the midline when Alonso made a long pass to counterattack, had caught up with Robben, set up his gun mount when Robben passed the ball, and was waiting. The artillery shells are delivered in place!
Facing Cristiano Ronaldo's close shot, Akinfeev could not turn the tide even though he was possessed by Yashin at this moment. He could only watch the ball fly into the goal he was guarding again, two to zero!
Just like that, when Howard Webb blew the whistle at the end of the first half, Tottenham Hotspur, who was playing at home, temporarily led Chelsea by two goals in this battle!
After the fifteen-minute intermission, the players from both sides changed places to fight again. However, neither George, who is leading the team, nor Mourinho, who is temporarily lagging behind, have made any personnel adjustments to the team's lineup during this period. Obviously, both of them think that there is no need to make adjustments, or in other words, they don't think that making substitutions at this time will help the team's on-field situation!
There is no need to say more about Tottenham. Being able to take a two-goal lead in the first half is enough to prove the power of this lineup. Naturally, George does not need to make adjustments before Mourinho changes his tactics. As for Chelsea, Mourinho did not choose to make substitutions, more because he believed that this was the strongest lineup he could field - although with Abramovich's huge investment, Chelsea's bench depth was in the 20th league. The club can almost be said to be second to none, but most of the players have no problem completing the tasks assigned by Mourinho step by step. However, they lack enough creativity on the offensive end and it is difficult to help the team turn around on their own. Decline.
Tough enough but not smart enough, not easily defeated in the game but lacking a star capable of breaking the deadlock on the field. This is the biggest problem with this current Chelsea team. Although Chelsea in this life have made great changes in this aspect after acquiring Ibrahimovic, the changes that an immature Ibrahimovic can bring to the Blues at this time are really quite limited.
If it were the mature version of the Swedish God Tower in the previous life, then Vidic and Ledley King would never be so relaxed at this time. Because at that time, Ibrahimovic could not only use his top center model body and master-class footwork to directly attack Tottenham's defense, but also assist his teammates through his outstanding overall view and passing awareness. Although the current Ibrahimovic has a little bit of the prototype of his previous life under the guidance of Mourinho, and has also obtained the offensive autonomy he dreamed of, Rome was not built in a day, and the Swedes still need a lot of time to develop. Grow to the heights of your previous life!
Therefore, in George's eyes, this Chelsea team with Ibrahimovic as the main center will not be able to compare with the iron-blooded Blues team in the previous life in terms of strength in a short period of time. Because Ibrahimovic, who is three years younger than Drogba, does not have the defensive enthusiasm of the Ivorian, his offensive power has not been fully unleashed, and Robben is not in place, making Chelsea more powerful on both offense and defense than in previous generations. Much weaker!
Of course, if Ibrahimovic matures, and then he is equipped with some qualified helpers around the Swede and develops a complete tactical system, then Chelsea will definitely become Tottenham's most powerful competitor in the British arena!
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