"Guys, you performed very well in the first half. You effectively contained Tottenham's offense and did not allow them to create many scoring opportunities in the game." In the home team's locker room at Philips Stadium, Hiddink first praised with a smile. After looking at the players, a new round of mobilization work began, "However, although our defensive work is very good, if we want to eliminate Tottenham and advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League, we must find ways to open up the situation on the offensive end. If we relied on defense alone without putting enough pressure on Tottenham's backline, we wouldn't have been able to get through to the semi-finals."
As mentioned before, if Hiddink wants to lead the team to achieve the expected results, the premise is that he must be able to control these players so that they can play honestly according to the tactical framework he set. Only in this way can he play to the level that this team should have and lead the team to achieve the expected results. Otherwise, the fate of Real Madrid and Real Betis is a good example of the opposite.
And if Hiddink wants to achieve a breakthrough in performance on this basis, then his team must have one or more stars with outstanding personal abilities who can single-handedly change the situation on the court. For example, Gullit and Ronald Koeman were the coach of PSV in the early 1980s. When they coached the Dutch national team in the 1990s, Bergkamp and Kluivert were under their control. Famous players, as well as Robben and Kežman who still played under him last season.
At this point, the South Korean team in the 2002 World Cup is no exception. It's just that Bangzi's situation is special, because the person responsible for opening a breakthrough for them on the court is not a certain player in their formation, but the members of the referee team responsible for officiating the Korean team's game...
Therefore, although the departure of Robben and Kežman allowed PSV to make a fortune in the transfer market, it also freed Hiddink from worrying about how to balance the increasingly complicated relationships within the team after Robben's strong rise. , but it also caused PSV to lose their sharpest forward arrow and offensive engine!
However, although the departure of Robben and Kežman has reduced PSV's offensive firepower a lot, making Hiddink feel a little unable to score goals, the Dutch coach has no intention of surrendering to Tottenham - big winds and waves like the World Cup are not I've seen it before, how could you surrender when you encounter such difficulties: "Philippe (Cocu), I want you to participate more in the offense in the second half and let Tottenham see your scoring ability!"
Although several other midfielders also have good scoring abilities, unlike Cocu, their ability to create opportunities is not very good. Most of them rely on movement and passing to create opportunities and then carry out surprise attacks. Therefore, when it was time to break the situation, Hiddink naturally had no choice but to put this burden on Cocu's shoulders.
"No problem." In response to Hiddink's instructions, Cocu nodded without hesitation and accepted the task. "But this way, I won't be able to concentrate on organizing like I did in the first half. According to Tottenham's instructions With the intensity of the pressing in the half, there is a high risk of disorganization in the backcourt.”
"Mark (Van Bommel), in the second half, you will help Philip share the organizational tasks." Hiddink, who had already thought of a countermeasure, said while looking in the direction of Van Bommel. When the latter heard Hiddink's words, he quickly patted his chest and agreed without even the slightest hesitation - Van Bommel was not stupid. With such a good opportunity to perform, he would naturally try his best to seize it!
It has to be said that Hiddink's adjustment can be said to be the best use of talents. Although Van Bommel is famous in Dutch football for his fierce defense, his technical and organizational skills are actually not bad. Even if he cannot reach the level of Pirlo and Deco, it is not a problem to become the core organizer of a team and share some of Cocu's organizational tasks.
If he only had outstanding defensive ability, Van Bommel in his previous life would not have been favored by Barcelona after becoming famous at PSV and became a member of the Catalan Army. He even became a Hollywood star after moving to Bayern Munich. The only foreign captain since the team was founded.
"If it's Mark, then I'll be relieved." Hearing Hiddink's arrangement, Cocu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and his worries became much less. As for Van Bommel's ability, Cocu, as a teammate, naturally knows something about it. Therefore, Cocu is quite reassured about whether this junior can share his organizational work.
Sure enough, after the start of the second half, Cocu, who had changed his position on the field, frequently moved forward, using the cover of Hesselink and Farfan to attack the goal guarded by Cech, which caused a lot of trouble for Tottenham's defense. . Van Bommel, who was sitting at the back, took care of the midfield and backcourt in an orderly manner, and did not allow Tottenham to counterattack on the spot after the attack failed.
Although Tottenham were caught off guard by PSV who suddenly changed their tactics at the beginning of the second half, soon, without waiting for George to give the order, Ledley King and the others completed the tactical adjustments on their own, and Arsenal took the initiative to retreat. Ronso and Mascherano teamed up to block Cocu and regain stability in the ever-dangerous defense!
If it was Cocu five years ago, then the Dutch would still have a certain degree of confidence in completing the attack under the attack of Mascherano and Alonso. Now, Cocu is already a thirty-five-year-old veteran, and his physical strength and competitive condition are not as good as those at his peak, which makes it difficult for him to maintain stable performance!
In this way, when the game reached the 84th minute, as Cocu's physical exhaustion continued to increase, the balance of victory began to gradually tilt towards Tottenham. Cocu, who was physically exhausted, was accidentally intercepted by Mascherano while dribbling the ball. Alonso made a long pass to launch a counterattack. Drogba in the frontcourt pushed the ball to the right side of the court against Alex's defense!
After receiving Drogba's pass, Robben, who switched to the right, accelerated and changed directions to forcefully break through Lee Young-pyo's defense. Immediately afterwards, the Dutch Peter Pan did not wait for the Korean to put his foot down, and directly volleyed with his left foot from the corner of the penalty area!
To be fair, Shulelio Gomez is really good. Otherwise, in his previous life, he would not have been able to defeat Italian star Cudicini and secure his position as the main goalkeeper at White Hart Lane. But even Gomez at his peak was only at a quasi-first-class level in the Premier League. Gomez was able to save many attacks from Robben and Drogba in this game, which can be said to be a superb performance.
Therefore, although Gomez, who is tall and has long arms, tried his best to stretch his arms and try to push the ball out of the goal range, his efforts ended in failure when faced with Robben's curved shot that hit the dead center. He could only watch in despair as the ball flew into the goal behind him!
One to zero! With less than ten minutes left before the end of the game, Robben used his signature inward shot to break through the door of his old club, helping Tottenham temporarily lead Eindhoven by one goal!
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ps2: There has been something going on in the unit these past two days. I couldn't fix it last night, so the update has been delayed until now. I'm really sorry...
