On the evening of October 2, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In the second round of the Champions League group stage, Real Madrid faced Manchester United at home.
This was definitely not a night worth remembering.
Because only 12 minutes into the game, Manchester United was in the middle of a frontcourt attack. Schneiderlin passed the ball straight to the right side of the penalty area to find Fellaini. After the Belgian Afro suppressed Xabi Alonso with his body, he stopped.
The ball turned around, entered the penalty area, and crossed to the center before Ramos.
Rooney followed up and pushed the ball past the goal guarded by Casillas.
One to zero!
After losing the ball, Real Madrid became more aggressive, but Manchester United began to retreat.
In particular, the Belgian explosive Fellaini was moved from the 4-2-3-1 midfielder position by Moyes back to the 4-3-3 midfield position, and together with Schneiderlin, he formed a protection for Carrick.
Manchester United began to retreat across the board and defend and counterattack.
This makes Real Madrid somewhat passive.
The situation was strong but no points were scored. It seemed that the offense was very powerful, but it was difficult to create threatening opportunities.
…
Gao Shen has always stood on the sidelines, watching the game indifferently, making some adjustments from time to time, but mostly still observing.
Real Madrid controlled the ball on the court and had nearly 68% of the ball possession rate. This can also show the technical gap between the two sides, but Manchester United also performed very tenaciously and their defense was also very well organized.
The tactics Moyes laid out today are quite interesting.
Goalkeeper: De Gea.
Defence: Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic and Smalling.
Midfielder: Fellaini, Carrick and Schneiderlin.
Forwards: Welbeck, Rooney and Valencia.
At the beginning of the game, Manchester United actually did not play 433, but 4231, and they defended from a high position.
The main thing is to let Fellaini go forward and suppress Xavi Alonso.
Everyone knows that Xabi Alonso has just returned from injury. This is his first game since his return. Before he has fully entered the rhythm, he was suppressed by Fellaini.
The Belgian Afro is tall and strong, has fine feet and can hold the ball in the frontcourt.
Manchester United's goal came from Fellaini using his body to suppress Xavi Alonso on the right side of the penalty area, then stopping the ball and turning around to break into the penalty area.
It is completely conceivable that not only Xabi Alonso, but also unless Casemiro is brought in, or one of Ramos and Pepe comes out to play as a defensive midfielder, otherwise he will not be able to hold Fellaini.
Fellaini is a really unique player.
In Europe's top leagues, players with such characteristics are often particularly popular.
Just like Fellaini, he is both offensive and defensive, has a good body and skills, is tall and strong, and if placed in the frontcourt, he can be the fulcrum of the offense and can hold the ball.
If you let him delay, he is a hard-working midfield defensive player and he has the body to fight.
So the key is how to use it.
Moyes' calculation was very precise, he wanted to let Fellaini maneuver.
It is best if Fellaini can step forward when one's own side is attacking and Fellaini can retreat when one's own side is defending.
This looks wonderful, right?
But if Fellaini can really do it, then he is not something Manchester United can buy for 27 million pounds.
There are not many midfielders who can really take into account both offense and defense at the same time, and can guarantee their accuracy at the same time. At the same time, there are very few midfielders who can perform well in this kind of strong dialogue.
The Belgian's speed and running ability make it difficult to balance offense and defense at the same time.
Especially when facing Real Madrid.
What Real Madrid is best at is the rapid transition between offense and defense. The transition from defense to offense is so fast and efficient that Fellaini can't keep up.
Therefore, Moyes made adjustments starting from the 25th minute and asked Fellaini to withdraw to the midfielder position.
This time it is considered an official change to the formation of 433.
From this moment on, the scene fell into a stalemate.
Gao Shen was not in a hurry and asked the team to remain patient and continue to organize the offense.
…
"Do you know the biggest difference between Moyes and Ferguson?"
When Gao Shen came back to drink water, he saw Moyes in front of the visiting team's coaching bench and asked casually.
Carlo, Zidane and others also looked sideways at the visiting team's coaching bench.
In fact, Moyes' current situation is really bad.
After six rounds of the Premier League, Manchester United is now ranked 12th. This should be Manchester United's worst ranking in recent years.
This summer, Manchester United failed to grab anyone in the transfer market, especially Leeds United's central defender Koulibaly. Manchester United was too slow to take action and was directly snatched up by Chelsea. As a result, Manchester United still has two veteran central defenders.
Because it was too late, Everton raised the price. Fellaini, who was originally worth about 20 million pounds, was suddenly raised to 27 million pounds. This outrageous move was criticized by many media and fans.
But in Gao Shen's opinion, this is because they are rare and strange.
On the long and arduous road of raising prices, Manchester United has just started.
However, Fellaini is indeed a good player.
Moyes' team has just suffered two consecutive defeats in the Premier League since the end of September.
First, they lost to their local rivals Manchester City in an away game, and then lost 2-1 to Leeds United at home, causing Manchester United's current league ranking to drop to 12th.
After experiencing a downturn in the first three rounds, Leeds United began to gradually regain its form.
After two weeks of national team games, they first drew with West Ham United at home, then defeated Liverpool 1-0 away from home, and then defeated Manchester United 2-1 away from home, winning both strong matches.
This has allowed Leeds United's ranking in the Premier League to improve again. It is currently ranked sixth with the same points as Chelsea.
Pochettino's life is getting better, but Moyes's situation is difficult.
It is estimated that this was also affected by this, and the fact that Real Madrid had just defeated Atletico Madrid gave Moyes some hope of winning, so he started the game against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Not to mention, Manchester United actually scored first.
And the number one hero is Fellaini.
But after taking the lead, especially as Real Madrid gradually adjusted, Moyes also began to reveal the biggest difference between himself and Ferguson. This does not come from tactics or players, but from the character of the head coach.
A small fortune means peace.
After taking the lead, Moyes did not pursue the victory or make a big push. Instead, when he saw Real Madrid's offensive, he withdrew Fellaini to the midfielder position to strengthen the team's defense.
Strictly speaking, this is not really a big problem.
If Fellaini continues to be in front, he may not be able to score again, but may expose his defensive deficiencies.
No matter how you look at it, this is a wise choice.
"If he is currently coaching Everton, then his adjustment is appropriate, rational, and there is no problem, but he is now coaching Manchester United."
"If the person sitting on the Manchester United coaching bench at this moment was Ferguson, I guarantee that he would not do this. He would continue to let Fellaini carry him, at least in terms of momentum, not to show weakness or lose to his opponent."
Everton is a small team and can lose momentum, but Manchester United cannot.
What the Red Devils and Manchester United are most proud of is this momentum and this domineering power.
Even when facing Barcelona, Manchester City, or any strong opponent, Manchester United will dare to show their sword!
You can lose the game, but you can’t lose your momentum!
But Moyes chose to show weakness, which in itself lost momentum.
More importantly, on a tactical level, Rooney is not a good center at all, and Welbeck has gradually exposed his problems.
When Fellaini originally suppressed Xabi Alonso, Manchester United still had a tactical fulcrum in the frontcourt and could still hold the ball.
But now, Fellaini has withdrawn, Rooney and Welbeck can't hold the ball in front at all. Valencia is good at attacking, but not good at taking the ball.
So, this turned out to be a very embarrassing aspect.
Manchester United's ball reaches the frontcourt and no one can catch it!
If the ball cannot be held in the frontcourt, the offense cannot be launched and the ball cannot be advanced. Even if Manchester United can steal the ball, what will happen?
Coupled with the fact that the head coach showed weakness at the tactical level, he lost his momentum and caused the morale of the players to be depressed.
Taken together, this has caused Manchester United to become more passive on the scene.
The adjustment was barely stable, but Real Madrid's advantage became even more obvious.
Of course, Real Madrid's formation tonight is not completely without problems.
Gao Shen originally started Xabi Alonso because Casemiro was exhausted in the game against Atletico Madrid, and against Manchester United, Gao Shen wanted to hold the ball and use the advantage of possession to beat Manchester United.
Unexpectedly, Moyes went crazy as soon as he came up and immediately threw Fellaini out.
But Moyes was under heavy pressure and was withdrawn to the defensive midfielder position by Fellaini, so there was not much suspense in this game.
"Don't be in a hurry, take your time." Gao Shen said with a smile.
…
Time passed bit by bit, but Gao Shen still hadn't adjusted.
It was not until nearly forty minutes, when there was not much time left in the first half, that Gao Shen made an adjustment.
He signaled Xabi Alonso to drop back and let the two full-backs press forward.
The purpose is to liberate the side lanes.
As long as Real Madrid's wingers threaten, then Welbeck and Valencia are still not allowed to retreat?
There is only one Rooney left in front, so what are you afraid of?
On the contrary, it is Manchester United's wings. Smallin is tall but not flexible enough. Evra is 32 years old and has long lost his courage. Manchester United's two wings have defensive problems.
After advanced adjustments, Real Madrid also began to put more pressure on Manchester United's defense.
Especially in the 44th minute of the first half, during a Real Madrid attack, Toni Kroos tried to pass a long pass behind him, but was headed back by Vidic and fell back into Real Madrid's half.
Ramos made a decisive move and headed back before Rooney, hitting the left rib of the frontcourt.
After Ronaldo stopped the ball, he quickly dribbled the ball forward and rushed straight to the left side of Manchester United's penalty area.
One-on-one, facing Smallin, Ronaldo made skillful fake moves, but Smallin remained unmoved and blocked Ronaldo's inward cut.
But just as Ronaldo stopped and was leading back, Marcelo cut in behind him at high speed, and Valencia was chasing after him all the way. When the two were about to pass each other, Ronaldo had an obvious
, interfering with Valencia's movements and moving the ball to the baseline.
Valencia slowed down, but Marcelo still hit the baseline at high speed.
Although Smallin reacted quickly and turned around in time to catch up, Marcelo still took the lead and passed the ball to the center with his left foot, sending the ball near the small penalty area line.
Dzeko didn't stop the ball and shot directly into the air. The ball went straight to the right side of the Manchester United goal.
