Atletico Madrid launched a counterattack, and their offense remained calm. They continued to pass the ball in the midfield in an attempt to pass through Manchester United's midfielder. Manchester United relied on running to press in the midfield, perhaps because of the previous organization. Because it was smoother, Veron's condition seemed to be getting better. He also began to run actively in the midfield, intercepting Atletico Madrid's attack with his teammates.
There is no doubt about the running ability of Manchester United's midfield. One of the characteristics of Premier League teams is that they are all good at running, and Manchester United is even better at running. With such running, Atletico Madrid's offense also seems very difficult - for this point, Di Dick has considered it, but he is not worried. With Atletico Madrid's midfield control ability and tacit understanding, the opponent's pressing will not have much impact on their offense. Dick specially sent all the players in this game. The midfielder and frontcourt lineup, which have played together for a whole season last season, is to minimize the turnover rate.
Watching Atletico Madrid players passing the ball back and forth in the midfield, Ferguson was a little jealous - this is what his Manchester United lacked. Manchester United's overall strength can ensure that they can always catch more in the Premier League competition. They can catch the opponent's mistakes, and they will always make fewer mistakes than the opponent. This is their advantage. However, in the European competition, the battle is not who can catch the mistakes, but who can make fewer mistakes. In this regard, Manchester United His style of play seems too rough and not refined enough. Looking at the vigorous scenes, he does not fall behind, but he is often seized by the opponent twice to score goals that are not opportunities. If Manchester United can achieve the level shown by Atletico Madrid, Then Ferguson no longer has to worry about the team losing in the European arena like this!
After going through a back-and-forth organization, Atletico Madrid finally created an opportunity. Belleron passed back to Baraja who followed up. Baraja passed to Camoranesi, and Camoranesi crossed with the ball. Then he took a shot, but Barthez flew to block the ball.
Seeing that the attack was ended, Atletico Madrid's players began to run back like a tide to prevent Manchester United's quick counterattack. Irwin had just passed the ball to Giggs in front, and Giggs turned around and was counterattacked. Camoranesi's harassment, when he stabilized the ball, Atletico Madrid players had basically returned to defense
Ferguson frowned, and then nodded, because when Giggs saw that there was no chance to counterattack, he had already passed the ball to Veron who came to ask for the ball - when the counterattack could not start. , it is the wisest choice to control the midfield and prepare to quickly switch to positional warfare - he introduced Veron with this effect in mind. If he can play fast break, he can play fast break. If he can't play fast break, he can take advantage of the trend. Turning to positional battles, Manchester United's previous performance was somewhat dysfunctional in this link. They barely managed a fast break and failed, and then were immediately suppressed by the opponent, resulting in a passive situation on the scene.
Veron received Giggs' pass, and Baraja immediately pressed forward. Veron continued to control the ball in the midfield, and then passed the ball over. Atletico Madrid began to defend in its own half. , and Manchester United began to look for opportunities through passing back and forth in the frontcourt
Dick waved his hand on the sidelines to signal the players to defend deeper, leaving space for Manchester United and at the same time tempting them to press higher.
Seeing Dick commanding the players to recycle more, Ferguson frowned on the sidelines. It was obvious that Dick wanted to counterattack, and at the same time he did not want to give Manchester United too many opportunities. Although Ruud van Nistelrooy was excellent at grabbing points, there were opponents He is very familiar with Stam staring at him. Even if Beckham can pass a beautiful cross to him, it will be difficult to grab the first landing point - the cooperation between Beckham and Van Nistelrooy is not as good as the one that follows. There has been such a tacit understanding for a while. After all, they have only played together for about a month. They are far from being in such a tacit understanding that as long as Beckham takes the ball, he can basically assist Ruud van Nistelrooy
This is why Dick is worried about facing Manchester United in an away game. In the next game, I am afraid that Beckham and Ruud will be able to form a very tacit cooperation. At that time, even if they defend, it will be difficult to defend Manchester United's offense. !
Ferguson could see that facing the stubborn Atletico Madrid, Manchester United probably wouldn't have a chance to score even if they took the initiative on the field. However, he acquiesced to the current situation on the field. When facing Atletico Madrid's midfield, even if Being able to score more shots and pass the ball for a while on the court can better achieve a tacit understanding between the team - Ferguson is also a long-term head coach. This approach may not allow Manchester United to win, but it may allow Manchester United to win. Manchester United will make a qualitative leap in the future!
So he acquiesced to this situation and wanted to see what kind of changes the team could make in this tactic. In fact, in the next game, Manchester United had a pretty good advantage in the midfield. Long seems to have recovered his form at Lazio, using his constant dispatch to launch attacks for Manchester United again and again, and his own performance is also very active. In addition to dispatching the entire team'sIn addition to the rhythm, he also kept pushing forward in an attempt to use long shots to contribute to the team
The only regret is that Atletico Madrid did a very good job defensively, especially the midfielders. Not only did they cut off most of the through passes into the penalty area, they also constantly intercepted the shots of several Manchester United heavy hitters. Most of Manchester United's attacks are concentrated in the middle, which makes the number of attacks launched by Beckham and Giggs appear to be relatively small. It is also one of the reasons why Atletico Madrid appears to be more comfortable defensively.
Atletico Madrid's defense at the front of the penalty area is quite strong, because the two central defenders and midfielder are both players with excellent frontal defensive ability. Under such defense, although Manchester United has the advantage on the field, they can actually get more opportunities But very few.
Ferguson frowned and watched the game. He felt that Manchester United's current midfield was running pretty well, but there was always something missing - the real flow of control. The purpose was not to control the ball, but to find in possession the ball. Getting the chance to score is the ultimate goal of all tactics. Otherwise, even if you can stay at your feet for ninety minutes and get 100% possession of the ball, you will only get a draw and will be laughed at by everyone. , in later generations, Barcelona often had a ball possession rate of more than 80%. However, what really makes them a Cosmos team is that they can always score a lot of goals and win a lot of points when they have a high ball possession rate. Honor, what can they gain if they just keep the ball?
Therefore, possession of the ball is only a means, and scoring better and reducing the risk of conceding the ball is the ultimate goal. Now Manchester United's offensive possession of the ball has improved, but the offensive threat has become less. The way they play, with such a huge midfield advantage, they might have scored a goal long ago.
However, what Ferguson was thinking of was another question - could he achieve such a big midfield advantage if he changed his previous style of play? I'm afraid not, because although Manchester United's midfield attack was excellent in the past, their control ability was only average. They were very good at fast breaks and so on. However, it seems impossible to suppress Atletico Madrid in this way. .
Thinking of this, Ferguson couldn't help but sigh. Is it true that controlling the midfield and creating a lot of offensive opportunities are relative? Then why bother with yourself
However, Ferguson is an old and strong existence after all. Just at this moment of absence, he immediately hardened his heart - I will not go wrong. It is just because the team is not adapted to this kind of situation. Tactics, that's why we haven't been able to perform better. We have made progress now and will definitely get better and better in the future!
Just when Ferguson was thinking like this, Atletico Madrid's counterattack was launched quietly!
After Manchester United's attack failed, Molina quickly handed the ball to Belleron at the front of the penalty area. After receiving the ball, Belleron pretended to pass it to Baraja, but quickly spiked the ball. He came back and then beautifully got rid of Veron who came up to press him!
Belleron's sudden effort aroused the vigilance of the Manchester United midfielder. Keane did not press forward immediately, but quickly returned to defense. Just as he was returning to defense, Belleron had already initiated this attack with a long pass. Counterattack.
The long pass accurately landed near the center circle. Jardel, who had been swimming there for a long time, jumped high to meet the ball, then overwhelmed Johnson behind him, shook his head and headed the ball to the right!
Camoranesi defeated Manchester United's veteran Irvine in the physical confrontation, and then took the lead in getting Jardel's header. He did not take the ball more, but used his right foot to make an arc. The ball flew directly to the left!
There, Vicente was driving forward at high speed. Even though Gary Neville was constantly returning to defense, he was still thrown away by him for a distance!
Near the 30-meter area, Vicente caught up with the ball. He did not stop the ball or take the ball. Instead, he directly moved the ball forward and then accelerated forward - he even adjusted the angle. There was no time, because Neville was chasing very closely behind him. If he delayed a little, he might be caught up halfway.
When he was advancing, Jardel was also advancing quickly. He ignored the interference of Johnson and Blanco and just kept running towards the penalty area. As long as he reached the edge of the penalty area, Vicente would When the ball is passed, he can hit it in!
As expected, Vicente passed the ball over, but when Jardel was about to fly and hit the ball in, a figure got in front of him and dangerously blocked the ball directly out of the baseline!
There were cheers from Manchester United fans and sighs from Atletico Madrid fans in the stands. Keane made an accurate judgment at the critical moment and resolved a must-goal for Atletico Madrid!
Dick shook his head slightly. Such a good counterattack opportunity was destroyed by Keen
Ferguson was also shocked.Jing's counterattack was obviously planned for a long time. If Keane hadn't made a timely judgment, Manchester United might have lost the victory because of this goal!
After Dick kept waving his arms, Stam also ran up from the backcourt. Only Thuram remained behind. Thuram's scoring ability is not strong, but Stam is a very good header. The central defender also scored quite well after his forward penetration. His forward penetration also attracted the attention of Manchester United's defensive players - if Stam scored a goal, Manchester United would be a bit embarrassed
Even Ruud van Nistelrooy returned to defense to help the defenders defend the corner kick.
Belleron stood near the corner kick, observing the movement in the penalty area. After the referee blew the whistle to take the penalty, he raised his foot and passed the ball into the penalty area!
Players on both sides of the front and middle of the penalty area jumped up one after another, but the ball flew directly over their heads and flew to the back point - where, I don't know when Hector ran up to assist in the penalty area. The edge received a pass from Belleron and shot directly without stopping!
This shot drew an arc in the air, and in Barthez's stunned eyes, it fell diagonally into the back of the goal!