Barcelona's problems actually have nothing to do with Gao Shen, but more of a discussion between him and the coaching staff.
As the head coach of Real Madrid, Gao Shen also has a huge responsibility.
Due to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the European League schedule has been greatly compressed, so after playing Anderlecht away from home, Real Madrid has a series of intensive schedules.
In the fifth round of La Liga, they faced Getafe at home.
In the sixth round of La Liga, they challenged Elche away.
In the seventh round of La Liga, they faced Atletico Madrid at home.
Host Manchester United in the second round of the Champions League group stage.
There is also the eighth round of La Liga, an away game against Levante.
In just two weeks and 15 days, Real Madrid will play five consecutive games.
It can be said that Real Madrid's competition is also extremely stressful.
Gao Shen doesn't have much thought about Barcelona.
…
September 21st, the 5th round of La Liga.
Barcelona challenges Rayo Vallecano away.
With Pedro's hat trick, Barcelona defeated their opponents 4-0 away from home.
Martino's team won a crucial victory after suffering a crisis.
The pressure naturally fell on Real Madrid.
But just one day later, Gao Shen's team defeated Getafe at home with a 5-1 victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, and Pepe, Isco and Dzeko each scored one goal.
With this big win, Real Madrid continues to lead the La Liga standings with five consecutive wins.
Atletico Madrid also defeated Valladolid 2-0 away from home.
As a result, the three teams in La Liga that have maintained a complete victory continued to win this round.
This also caused a very interesting scene in La Liga.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, the three teams went hand in hand, significantly ahead of teams such as Villarreal and Espanyol in fourth place.
But everyone believes that this new situation will not last long.
Because in the 7th round, Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid.
…
September 24th, the 6th round of La Liga.
Barcelona faces Real Sociedad at home.
Neymar and Messi put on a wonderful show right from the start.
In the fifth minute, Sanchez assisted Neymar and scored a goal.
Just three minutes later, Neymar assisted Messi to score another victory.
In less than ten minutes, Barcelona was already leading by two goals.
In the end, Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 4-1. Messi and Neymar both passed and shot, and their performance was very eye-catching.
Almost exactly like Barcelona, Atletico Madrid also scored two goals in a short period of time. Diego Costa scored two goals in the 18th and 24th minutes, scoring twice, helping Atletico Madrid defeat Austria 2-1 at home.
Sasuna.
The two major competitors both won.
Real Madrid, who played a day later, encountered Elche's tenacious sniper attack.
Gao Shen once again made a big rotation, but the away game ended badly, especially the brutal defense from Elche, which made Real Madrid players suffer.
A total of 11 yellow cards!
Elche almost had a yellow card, but strangely, there were no red cards.
This is not the referee's favoritism, but Elche's players always deliberately avoid players who have received yellow cards when executing defensive tactics, especially when engaging in some foul tactics.
To put it simply, they take turns getting cards.
Real Madrid can't do anything about it.
Gao Shen asked the players to specifically target the opponent's players with yellow cards, but the effect was not very satisfactory.
Especially in the second half, the young players from Real Madrid played a little too hastily.
Until the 81st minute, Real Madrid got a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt.
Verratti accurately sent the ball to the back point, but the placement was not very good. Pogba grabbed the ball in front of the baseline and headed the ball back to the center. Ramos headed the ball from close range to break the deadlock for Real Madrid!
This was also the only goal in the game.
In the end, Real Madrid narrowly defeated Elche 1-0 away with Ramos' goal.
…
The victory at the Valero Stadium allowed Real Madrid to continue to lead the La Liga standings, but the outside world has questioned Real Madrid's performance.
Real Madrid did not play well in this game against Elche.
At the summary meeting the day after playing Elche, Gao Shen analyzed the team's various shortcomings in this game.
Some problems can be forgiven because Real Madrid's continuous games put everyone under heavy pressure.
Especially when Barcelona and Atletico Madrid played a day earlier and both defeated their opponents, there was less time left for Real Madrid and more pressure, so Real Madrid's players all wanted to win.
Sometimes, this kind of mood can be a bad thing.
But Gao Shen also said, "When you are a Real Madrid player, you must learn to withstand such pressure!"
Illarramendi performed poorly in this game and was replaced by Casemiro in the second half.
Xavi Alonso is injured, so Gao Shen wants to use Illarramendi and Casemiro for rotation, but now it seems that Illarramendi is not ready yet.
Casemiro is very strong defensively, but his offensive contribution is not enough.
Gao Shen softened his tone and reassured the players, saying that the game was won anyway.
"I know that everyone is under a lot of pressure right now, and I can see that you are all working hard to help the team win, but I still hope you remember to be patient!"
To a certain extent, it is difficult for Elche to become Real Madrid's opponent, as there is a huge gap in strength between the two sides.
But it was precisely this gap that made Elche give up all illusions.
Especially since this team is currently ranked 17th in La Liga, with the same points as the two teams ranked 18th and 19th.
Do you know how cruel La Liga is this season?
Sevilla, the team that all fans are familiar with, is currently ranked at the bottom.
Only 2 points were scored in the first five games.
However, in the sixth round, Sevilla defeated Rayo Vallecano 4-1 at home, and the ranking suddenly rose to 14th, so Elche fell into the relegation zone.
This is why Elche fought so hard with Real Madrid.
In La Liga, not all teams advocate offense and technology.
Such as Atletico Madrid, such as Elche, such as Osasuna and so on.
Especially at critical moments, all teams and everyone will work hard to avoid relegation!
…
After playing Elche on the 24th, there will be a city derby at Atletico Madrid on the 28th.
There was only 3 days in between.
Gao Shen and the coaching staff worked hard, but they could only spare one training session to conduct tactical drills against Atletico Madrid.
This is also thanks to the local derby.
But it was precisely this damn enemy in the same city that made Gao Shen rack his brains.
Atletico Madrid is really, really difficult to deal with.
Gao Shen has always felt that Simeone is very similar to an Italian head coach at heart, not only because of the tactics he created for Atletico Madrid, but also his suffocating full-court high press.
Simeone's pressing is an organized and strategic overall pressing. They are willing to invest heavily in the frontcourt to press. At the same time, in order to seize the ball, they really do everything possible.
Atletico Madrid players are particularly fond of Simeone's tactics.
Of course, it can also be said conversely that any player who doesn't follow Simeone's approach will not be able to gain a foothold in Atletico Madrid.
As a result, Atletico Madrid has now become a team that gives everyone a headache.
Gao Shen couldn't even find the other party's obvious weakness.
The left wing was a weakness last season, but last summer, Atletico Madrid signed Siqueira, which solved the problem on the left wing.
Facing Barcelona, Gao Shen can also choose to defend and give up the ball, but facing Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid cannot do this, and it is still at the Bernabeu Stadium.
Gao Shen was also extremely troubled by this.
So, before the game, he specially called Xabi Alonso, Modric and Toni Kroos at the same time.
…
Needless to say, in every game, almost every day, Gao Shen is chatting with the players.
Sometimes he goes over to look for players, sometimes he calls players over. The location can be in a restaurant, on the roadside, at the training ground, or in the office...
Anyway, as long as you want to chat, you can chat anytime and anywhere.
This is also where many people admire Gao Shen.
There are many people who can talk a lot, but among professional head coaches, there is no one as good as him.
Even Ancelotti, who likes to communicate with players, feels ashamed.
Gao Shen would often call several players together for short meetings to study the game together and listen to their thoughts.
Because Gao Shen has always felt that the players' feelings on the court are always more real than the head coach's feelings on the sidelines.
Many times, when the head coach lays out tactics, the players also need to cooperate on the court.
No matter how good the tactics are, if the players can't do it, what's the point?
Therefore, Gao Shen often chats with players to listen to their opinions, ideas, and suggestions.
This time Gao Shen called all three midfielders over, not because he had determined the starting lineup.
In fact, although Xavi Alonso has resumed training, it is still a bit awkward to play against Atletico Madrid.
Gao Shen is more inclined to let him play against Manchester United. It is also a crucial game and is related to the team's right to qualify in the group.
Xavi Alonso is also working hard to adjust his condition, hoping to reach the standard for playing games as soon as possible.
But Gao Shen called him here today, not to ask him to start, but to listen to his opinions.
In the midfield, Xabi Alonso has a lot of experience and a very good mind, and many of his suggestions are very useful.
Gao Shen brought Zidane, Carlo and Hierro together in a small conference room. He had also asked the restaurant to prepare some drinks and fruits before, which was considered a relaxed and pleasant exchange meeting.
Regarding Atletico Madrid, Gao Shen believes that the team must be mentally prepared for a tough battle, and a tough battle for 90 minutes.
The team is by no means easy to deal with. Simeone's team is considered the best in today's European football in terms of defense and tenacity.
As early as last season, Gao Shen said that Simeone's team has the quality to perform in the Champions League, but they cannot participate in the Champions League. But this season, they have entered the Champions League.
In the first round of the group stage, Atletico Madrid defeated Zenit St. Petersburg 3-1 at home, which was enough to prove the advanced judgment.
Simeone's team has no obvious weaknesses. When encountering such an opponent, they can only fight hard and fight hard. There are no shortcuts.
But how to play this game is still a bit particular.
Gao Shen had some ideas of his own, so he called the three midfielders over for a short meeting, just to listen to their opinions and see if they could be implemented.
If a preliminary consensus is reached, Gao Shen will call the other players together for another meeting, and finally a full team meeting.
Gao Shen has always used this method to convey his thoughts to the players.
