The heat is rising in the visiting team locker room at St. Mary's Stadium.
The eleven players who started the game were all sitting inside, gasping for breath.
Even Cech as a goalkeeper is no exception.
The game in the first half ended with zero to zero, but this does not mean that the game was dull.
On the contrary, the pace of this game is very fast, the situation is also very tight, one after another, without any relaxation.
This also leads to serious physical consumption of players.
Especially for several veterans in the Chelsea team.
"Many players have physical problems." Ancelotti's chief assistant Demichelis observed the player's situation, walked back to the coaching area, and reported the situation to Ancelotti.
Ancelotti had a stern face because he found that Southampton was more difficult than he thought.
Demichelis was Ancelotti's assistant when he was coaching in Milan, and the best expert in the world-famous Milan laboratory. Ancelotti was hired heavily to Chelsea and became Ancelotti's right-hand man.
What he is best at is physical fitness and player control.
"The consumption rate is faster than imagined. We can't control the rhythm at all. It has become a war of attrition!" Demichelis said with helplessness and a little bit of anger at the same time.
From the perspective of war of attrition, Chelsea are at a disadvantage.
On the one hand, the aging of players is serious, and on the other hand, there is a problem with the schedule.
Since Christmas, Chelsea have been playing games without stopping.
After passing the Christmas Devil schedule, it immediately ushered in a month of intense competition.
After January, the schedule for February was equally dense.
More importantly, the Champions League matches that Abramovich values are about to reignite the war.
It stands to reason that Chelsea’s lineup is not generous and should selectively avoid some dispensable fronts, such as the FA Cup.
However, before the game, the owner Abramovich gave the order to die. In this game, he will win Southampton anyway, and even from Ron Gurley’s words, it is faintly revealed that once the game is lost, Ancelotti will dismiss class.
This is why the first half clearly knew it was a war of attrition, but Ancelotti had to go out against the scalp.
"How long can it last?" Ancelotti asked with a cold face.
The most conspicuous thing about him is undoubtedly his gray hair.
"The second half will last for another 20 minutes at most. If it is too much, problems will occur." Demichelis made a prediction.
Ancelotti closed his eyes and said nothing, but everyone could see that he was distressed.
The situation on the court is now very deadlocked. Both sides have not been able to break this deadlock, nor are they willing to make adjustments and changes casually.
"Or, are we holding a tie?" Demichelis suggested.
He is not clear about the bet between Yang Huan and Abramovich. The question he considers is that according to the FA Cup schedule, if the first round is tied, there will be a second round of the match, then Chelsea will be home. .
Isn't it a good thing to return to Stamford Bridge and kill Southampton?
Ancelotti also finds this proposal very attractive, and it is also the most suitable decision for Chelsea at the moment.
Just, is Abramovich Ken?
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At the same time, in the home team's locker room, the players are also panting, but the atmosphere is very different.
"Master Huan asked me to tell everyone that he was very satisfied with everyone's performance in the first half, and he wants everyone to continue their efforts to kill Chelsea!"
Although it was relayed by Luis Borini, it still made everyone in the dressing room jump for joy.
"Young Master Huan, don't worry, we won't let him down!"
"Yeah, Louis, you tell Master Huan that Chelsea is dead!"
"We must let Chelsea die at St. Mary's Stadium!"
"Well said, see if they dare to run wild in front of us in Southampton again!"
The players all looked very excited, very excited and very fighting spirit.
Head coach Bielsa walked out at this time, carrying a tactical drawing board with him.
"Okay, it's all quiet!" Bielsa was as calm as ever.
If you didn't see the excitement he was just in the game, I believe everyone would doubt, is there anything else that can move him?
"Our suppression in the first half was very good, especially for Lampard and Essien, which was in place."
Everyone in the locker room looked at the Argentine lunatic, listening to him.
"Mickel has a yellow card. He has become very cautious. This is an opportunity. We ignored it in the first half. We should make good use of it in the second half!"
This yellow card, which was given 20 seconds after the opening, should have been used, but the players of Southampton seemed to have forgotten it, and Bielsa had to remind the players to pay more attention at this time.
This is an opportunity for Southampton.
"I won't say much about the defensive issue. Positioning, assisting defense and response must be done well. Manuel must pay more attention to the goal and command the defense line and position more."
After being called, Neuer nodded heavily at the coach.
In Bielsa's tactics, his goalkeeper has gained a lot of freedom and tactical power, and can even command the line of defense.
Some people say that he is a scavenger-style goalkeeper, ruling most of the restricted area.
"One more thing, in the second half, we have to be calm and be patient. The situation in the first half is good for us, and we will continue to play like this in the second half. Don't worry, pay attention to the timing!"
Although Bielsa didn't say any timing, everyone knew in their hearts that he would observe from the sidelines.
When the time comes, Southampton will seize the opponent's loopholes and fight to death!
"Rest assured, this game is still under our control!" Bielsa calmly and confidently concluded.
The players all laughed.
This is the style of Bielsa!
So they often say that if Bielsa is mobilized before the game, it will be over.
Because it's so calm!
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"What the **** did it do?"
In the stands, Abramovich was venting his anger at Ron Gurley.
"Forty-five minutes, you can't even manage a League One team? It's embarrassing to say it!"
As if he hadn't finished venting yet, he walked a few steps in the aisle of the stands, and then cursed: "We have so many stars, so high salaries, so many bonuses, what's the use? Team A can’t clean up, what do they do for food?"
Ron Gurley smiled helplessly, bearing the anger from the boss.
Pini Zahavi had an expression that had nothing to do with me. He sat aside, dull, but wondered in his heart, wait a minute, would you like to send the information about the young teenagers that he had been able to find out? Where is Southampton?
Chelsea is undoubtedly his big gold master, and he also attaches great importance to youth training, but for the past two or three years, Abramovich has been tightening money, although this winter he bleeds a lot and hit Torres and David. Louis, but the budget is limited, are you still willing to introduce players for the youth training?
Relatively speaking, Southampton is undoubtedly more promising.
Yang Huan has made it clear that Southampton will continue to increase signings in the next few years to enhance the team's competitiveness.
Although many people wondered where Southampton's money would come from, with Yang Huan as a big benefactor, is money a problem?
"Pini!" Abramovich suddenly called Pini Zahavi.
"Huh?" Pini Zahavi was startled, thinking that his mind was exposed.
"Our team still has some problems, especially the midfielder. Do you have a suitable candidate?"
When Pini Zahavi heard that the business had arrived, he immediately nodded with a smile, "Yes, Arsenal has already considered selling Fabregas."
"Really?" This is a midfielder that Abramovich admires.
In his view, Fabregas is the representative of the creative midfielder and will be a booster for Chelsea to play offensive football.
"In terms of price, Arsenal's expectation is 60 million pounds."
Pini Zahavi's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing Abramovich's enthusiasm.
The subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis made his assets suffer miserable losses, and now he is really reluctant to spend so much money.
As for Torres, it was a forward and it was a transfer signing during the winter break, which is an emergency.
"I think if I try to talk, I should be able to talk about 50 million pounds."
The price is similar to Torres, who is the captain of Arsenal after all.
Abramovich didn't speak, and looked at the bottom of the court with a cold face.
As soon as he saw him like this, Pini? Zahavi knew that it was nothing!
Today's Abramovich is no longer the Abramovich before the financial crisis.
There was silence for about half a minute before Abramovich turned around again and looked at Ron Gurley.
"Go tell Ancelotti, I want to win, I want him to lead Chelsea to beat Southampton!"
In the end, he almost gritted his teeth.
Ron Gurley stood up immediately, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go right away." After that, he went to the stairs.
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After fifteen minutes of the game, both sides returned to the court.
"It can be seen that the coaches of both sides did not make substitutions and adjustments during the intermission." The commentator was analyzing the changes between the two sides in the second half, but found that there was no change.
The tactics and players have not changed much, and the situation has not changed much directly.
The two sides still continued the situation in the first half in the second half, and the situation was still stalemate.
The rhythm is fast, the two sides fight fiercely, the ball is transferred very frequently, and the two sides are facing each other.
But it has not been able to create many threatening opportunities.
Time passed by one minute and one second.
Starting from forty-five minutes, jumping into fifty minutes, jumping into sixty minutes...
Neither side still seemed to be moving.
Fans who watched the game on the spot gradually realized that Southampton's left wing was obviously more and more active and began to create several threatening attacks.
But relatively speaking, Chelsea's trident is like sleepwalking in front.
No one pulls the side, no one moves, and there is not even the slightest spark of passion.
And Bosingwa, the right back on the right, is not in perfect condition.
With the consumption of physical energy, the running ability of Lampard and Essien has also declined a lot, and the protection of the two wings has also weakened.
In this case, once David Alaba and Carvajal are almost full-backs used by Bielsa as full-backs, it is easy to add the active side-backs to Chamberlain. A two-on-one situation is formed on the side with the ball.
Seeing holes in the team's defense and formation, Ancelotti immediately asked the wide player Malouda to warm up after entering 60 minutes.
Five minutes later, at the 66th minute, Chelsea used the first substitution adjustment of the entire game.
Malouda replaced Mr. Torres with £50 million throughout the game, Torres only shot one goal and performed very badly.
Malouda's appearance also heralded the adjustment of Chelsea's tactics.
From the opening four-four-two midfield diamond position, switch back to last season and the first half of the season the team is familiar with the four-three-three, Malouda and Anelkara to the side, Drogba alone Top at the top.
As soon as he saw Malouda coming off the bench, Bielsa, who had been squatting on the sidelines, suddenly stood up from the ground.
He rushed to the sidelines, waved his hand gestures, and shouted loudly at the players on the court.
He is also adjusting the situation of the team.
All the Southampton players also immediately realized one thing.
The timing that Bielsa said during the intermission has finally come!
His gesture was like shouting: comrades, victory is right in front of us, let's rush! ()