Chapter 494： The ignorant are fearless

Chapter 494 The Ignorant is Fearless

Whether it is Argentina or Russia, they hoard heavy troops in their own half, and only two or three players are really involved in the offense.

In this case, even top offensive players like Messi and Aguero, facing Russia's dense defensive players, it is difficult to find a good chance to score.

The game was therefore very boring, because this is the knockout match of the World Cup. If it were a league match, the stadium would probably have already been booed.

Until the referee Bascunian blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the score on the big screen was still 0:0 without any change.

Intermission, Argentine locker room.

While the players were wiping their sweat and changing their jerseys, Simeone approached Chen Ran and asked in a low voice, "Boss, shall we continue to play defensive counterattacks in the second half?"

"Huh? Diego, haven't you always liked to play defensive counterattacks the most? What do you mean, today seems to be different from the past?"

"Boss, stop making fun of me."

Simone gave Chen Ran a wry smile.

"Of course I want to continue to play defensive counterattacks, which is the safest way."

"But looking at Russia's posture, they are determined to stay in the backcourt today."

"In this way, how can we fight back?"

"If we don't change the lineup in the second half of the game, then it is very likely that Russia's wish will be fulfilled and they will drag the game to the penalty kick stage."

"When it comes to the penalty kick stage, there are too many variables."

"Boss, I think that with our Argentine's offensive strength, if we change to a strong attack in the second half of the game, we still have a good chance of winning the game within 90 minutes. What do you think?"

Before in the Crystal Palace, with Guardiola and Southgate, Simeone was usually the most inconspicuous and least-talking one. I didn't expect this guy to say a lot today, and they all made sense.

It seems that after several years of training, both Simeone and Southgate have made great progress.

"Diego, your suggestion is very good, and it is similar to my idea."

Chen Ran reached out and patted Simeone on the shoulder approvingly, then turned and walked towards the group of Argentine players under his command.

"Ahem, guys, judging from the situation in the first half of the game, the Russians obviously made up their minds to take the bus."

"So, in the second half of the game, we have to start adjusting our tactics. We're going to launch a general attack."

"Gonzalo!"

"Boss, I'm here!"

Hearing Chen Ran's voice, Higuain jumped up from the corner with a "chuckle", startling everyone around him.

No way, since Chen Ran took over the Argentine national team, he began to vigorously promote defensive counterattack tactics.

In order to cooperate with the defensive counterattack tactics, Chen Ran mainly uses small strikers who are good at speed and flexibility.

Centers like Higuain can only sit on the bench as spectators and atmosphere group most of the time, with few chances to play.

It is because Chen Ran's cards are big enough and his methods are ruthless enough, otherwise Higuain would have been blown up by another coach.

Now when he suddenly heard Chen Ran calling his name, Higuain knew that he finally had the opportunity to show his talents.

"Gonzalo, after you played in the second half of the game, you served as the team's center. There was only one task, which was to score goals in the Russian penalty area. Do you understand?"

"Got it, boss!"

"very good!"

Seeing Higuain's fighting spirit, Chen Ran nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to look at Di Maria.

"Angel!"

"Boss, what are your orders?"

"You still play as a left midfielder after you play. However, this time the requirements are higher for you. Not only do you have to participate in the offense, but you also have to take good care of the defense on the left side of the midfield, understand?"

"Boss, don't worry, I will do my best!"

"Leo!"

"Boss, I'm here."

"In the second half of the game, you also returned to the midfield to play right midfielder."

"Understood, boss." Messi nodded honestly and agreed.

"Sergio, in the second half, Gonzalo, the center forward, will act as a fulcrum to attract firepower. You should hide behind him and play the shadow forward, focusing on grabbing the second point and supplementary shots."

"Okay, boss."

Aguero answered crisply.

"Javier!"

"boss!"

Mascherano responded.

"The premise of your position in the second half of the game, go back and play the defensive midfielder in the position you are most familiar with. The defense in the middle of the midfield will be left to you and DePaul."

"Once it is found that the Russian team has a chance to fight back, they will not hesitate to foul and destroy it as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

"Understood, boss."

After explaining several important players, Chen Ran looked around at the Argentine players in the locker room.

"In the second half of the game, we will switch from defense to offense, and the formation has changed from the previous 532 to the current 442."

"However, in this way, our defensive strength in the midfield will inevitably be weakened."

"Especially in the central defender position, from the original three central defenders to the current two central defenders. Christian is too young and has little experience in the game. Nicholas, you need to help him take care of him. Understand?"

While speaking, Chen Ran set his sights on the two central defenders, Otamendi and Romero.

"Don't worry, boss, I will try my best to help Christian."

Otamendi readily agreed to Chen Ran's request, and even reached out and rubbed Romero's head who was sitting beside him.

While Chen Ran was intensively adjusting his tactics, in the locker room in Russia, the head coach Cherchesov was in a good mood.

After all, if the situation of the first half of the game continues, then his plan to drag the game into a penalty kick is very likely to be realized.

Of course, Cherchesov is not a fledgling rookie. He knows very well that a top coach like Chen Ran will not let the game advance according to the opponent's desired result. The possibility of Argentina changing tactics in the second half of the game is extremely high.

So, during the entire intermission, Cherchesov kept instilling a concept in the Russian players in the locker room, that is, defend, defend, and defend again!

Before the start of the second half of the game, when everyone saw Higuain and Di Maria standing on the sidelines at the same time waiting to play, they knew that Argentina was going to launch a general attack.

"Good guy, this guy Chen Ran is finally going to make a move. Nima almost fell asleep for me in the first half of the game."

"Upstairs, you are not alone. If it wasn't for Chen Ran, I would have turned off the TV and gone to bed long ago."

"It's not easy. After playing so many defensive counterattacks, now I can finally see Argentina who is actively attacking."

"Hahahaha, I am worried now, after two years of training by Chen Ran, will the current group of Argentine players still take the initiative to attack?"

"Did the person upstairs drink too much? You don't think Chen Ran can only defend and counterattack, do you?"

"Exactly. Although defensive counterattack is Chen Ran's housekeeping skill, his oppressive offensive tactics are also terrifying."

"That's right. When Chen Ran was coaching Crystal Palace, he was able to seamlessly switch between defensive counterattack, pressing attack and high-altitude bombing in one game."

"Yes. Thinking about it now, I really miss the Crystal Palace at that time, it was too strong!"

Seeing that Argentina replaced Paredes and McAllister with Higuain and Di Maria, and changed the team's formation from 532 to 442, Cherchesov's heart suddenly sank. .

He knew that the last thing he expected to see happened.

Moreover, the substitutions were completed before the start of the second half, which means that Argentina has at least 50 minutes of attack time.

Russia's defense will be severely tested. Whether he can bear it, Cherchesov himself has no idea.

As everyone expected, at the beginning of the second half, the formation of the Argentine team immediately overwhelmed the half.

Except for the goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and the two central defenders Otamendi and Romero, everyone else crossed the center line.

Soon, many fans of Crystal Palace discovered that Argentina's current style of besieging Russia is exactly the oppressive attack that Chen Ran often used when coaching Crystal Palace.

This set of offensive tactics, until today, is still one of the commonly used styles of the Crystal Palace.

The ball is constantly shifting between Di Maria on the left and Messi on the right.

Messi and Di Maria are also constantly using their sharp breakthrough ability to test the loopholes in Russia's defense.

And Higuain, as a fulcrum and bridgehead, wedged into Russia's restricted area like a nail.

Aguero is responsible for running out of the penalty area to meet Di Maria or Messi to distract the attention of Russian defensive players.

In this way, Russia's defense line was like a piece of dough, constantly being pulled back and forth by Argentina's offense.

Although no flaws have been revealed for the time being, Cherchesov feels less and less at ease in his heart.

Now, many years have passed since Chen Ran coached the Crystal Palace club.

As time goes by, people have gradually forgotten many things at that time.

Although Cherchesov is much older than Chen Ran, when Chen Ran led the Crystal Palace Club to kill all directions, he was just an ordinary coach of a Russian domestic club.

He doesn't even have the qualifications to fight Chen Ran, so he naturally won't work hard to study people who have nothing to do with him.

Cherchesov really focused on Chen Ran when he discovered that Russia might encounter Argentina.

He did put a lot of effort into watching Argentina's South American qualifiers for the World Cup, as well as the videos of Chen Ran's coaching Belgium, Brazil and even Portugal.

However, Cherchesov did not watch the game video of Chen Ran when he coached Crystal Palace.

It's not that he is lazy, but that the situation of the club and the national team is very different. In addition, the time interval is too long, and Cherchesov feels that the reference value is not great.

However, Cherchesov never expected that Chen Ran's active offensive tactics for Argentina were precisely the tactics used in the Crystal Palace period.

During the mid-to-late period of Chen Ran’s coaching of Crystal Palace, most teams started to adopt defensive counterattack tactics when facing Crystal Palace.

And Chen Ran, relying on this set of offensive tactics, smashed the rock-solid shells of the tortoises.

There is an old saying that goes: "The ignorant is fearless!"

Cherchesov didn't know how powerful this offensive tactic was, so although he felt a little uneasy, he didn't take immediate action.

After all, the second half of the game has only just started.

If overtime is considered, it is the most appropriate choice to start changing players after 60 minutes.

Cherchesov felt that the defensive line he had carefully constructed would last another ten minutes without any problem.

However, fate likes to joke with people so much.

When the game lasted for fifty-nine minutes, it may be because the attention was focused on dealing with the Argentine team's pull for a long time, the mental consumption of the Russian players increased sharply, and some players began to lose concentration.

When the ball was transferred to Di Maria on the left again, Aguero immediately ran out of the penalty area to respond.

According to the request of head coach Cherchesov, Russia's right central defender Gudipf followed closely.

However, since Gudipf is 192cm tall, his movements are naturally a step slower than Aguero's.

By the time Gudipf posted it, Di Maria had already sent the ball to Aguero.

After passing the ball, Di Maria immediately began to advance at high speed along the left line.

At this time, according to Cherchesov's request, right back Mario Fernandez should keep an eye on Di Maria at all times and not give him another chance to catch the ball.

However, Mario Fernandez's reaction was half a beat slow, and he didn't remember to turn around and chase after Di Maria ran past him.

With such a time difference of less than one second, Aguero has already sent the ball to Di Maria's forward line with a through ball.

At this moment, the entire defense line on the right side of Russia was instantly penetrated.

There was nothing in front of Di Maria, and he dribbled the ball diagonally into the Russian penalty area.

Realizing that the situation was not good, Ignashevich, one of the three central defenders in Russia, who was in charge of supporting the center, had to rush over to intercept Di Maria.

At this time, being tall became Ignashevich's biggest shortcoming.

With a light tap of his left foot, Di Maria swayed past Ignashevich, who was turning slowly, and assumed a posture ready to hit the goal with his kick.

At this critical moment, another central defender Kudyashov who was responsible for marking Higuain was left behind and had to abandon Higuain, and a flying shovel wanted to fly to block the hole of the gun.

However, Di Maria played a false pass.

With a slight push with his right foot, the ball was passed to Higuain, who is now unmarked.

As a top center forward, Higuain didn't get much playing time in the entire World Cup. It would be a lie to say that he is not aggrieved.

Now, it's finally time for him to show his worth.

(end of this chapter)