After all, Southampton has not conceded a goal in a row before, and its stable tactics have also produced very good results. Who would change their tactics if nothing happens.
However, Southampton did just that - and it was quite natural.
The reason is very simple. They are originally an offensive tactic and they have done well defensively recently. It is just a small adjustment.
There were no problems for the Southampton players when they returned to attack.
Schalke 04 is also a team that is good at attacking. Before the game started, they were thinking about how to tear apart Southampton's defense through their own offense - because in these seven games, Southampton's defense
It does appear to be quite outstanding, making it difficult for so many teams to break through their defenses.
Even with the contraction of defense, Southampton's defensive capabilities still appear to be quite outstanding.
So at the beginning of the game, when Southampton started to attack, they didn't notice anything. They just thought it was a normal attack after the opening and they just pushed through.
However, after Southampton's offense was blocked by them, they continued to control the ball and organize the offense.
"Be patient! Don't rush!"
Raul shouted on the court. As the captain of Schalke 04, Raul has quite a lot of experience. He knows that Southampton’s ball-control attack requires you to rush out and interfere, and then it will happen.
Revealing flaws that can be exploited by the other party...
Just be patient.
Then Southampton began to patiently pass the ball and attack with reverse kicks.
Constantly pass the ball, test the attack, and immediately pass the ball back after being disturbed...
This kind of passing really makes Schalke 04 people very annoyed.
After all, their defensive players are relatively young and restless.
Just think about the fact that their central defender partners are 23 and 20 years old - there is also a 19-year-old Matip on the bench. These are the three main players of Schalke 04 this season.
Central defender.
The players in the midfield are slightly older, but not that much older.
It's too difficult to expect such a young player to be as calm as a seasoned player.
Southampton is said to be young. The two central defenders are 28 and 22 years old, and the midfielder is also a player in their prime. Noriya likes to use young players, but he will not ignore experience.
importance.
Last season, Southampton's main lineup was actually not too young, so young players like Klein came out.
If a large number of young people enter the main lineup and want to perform well collectively, it will be too difficult.
After resisting a burst of Southampton's attack, Schalke 04's defense unconsciously began to press forward, trying to speed up the pace.
This game is their home court, and they cannot tolerate the opponent killing time slowly, otherwise the second game will be even more difficult to play.
This is what Southampton has been waiting for.
When Schalke 04's defense began to move forward, Southampton had already begun to prepare to attack behind them, but they did not move in a hurry, but continued to pass the ball, looking for decisive opportunities.
Opportunities like this are always easier to find if you look for them.
After a seemingly slow pass, Klose retreated to get the ball, and then he suddenly moved the ball to the wing!
William caught the ball and began to force a breakthrough. He accelerated, got rid of Escudero's defense, and made a cross immediately!
This cross was very fast, flying directly through the middle and to the back point. Ronaldo appeared at the place where the pass was passed, and shot directly in the air from a small angle!
The shot was of good quality and flew directly towards the goal. Hildebrand barely made a save and blocked the ball back into the penalty area with one hand!
Vidal, who started to push forward when William broke through, got the ball in front of the opponent's defender and fired in the air!
The ball hit the defender who was returning to defense, but bounced back in front of Vidal. With his feet unstable, Vidal forced himself to fly and tackle again!
This time no one could stop Vidal's shot, and the ball flew directly into the empty goal!
After scoring the goal, Vidal opened his arms and ran to the stands, kicking Schalke 04, which made him feel very comfortable - after all, he had always encountered them at least twice in the previous seasons...
He is very familiar with the Bundesliga.
Southampton scored early, which made Schalke 04 very unhappy.
They began to attack quickly.
What they are good at is attacking, but they are not afraid of your defensive counterattacks!
Moreover, Schalke 04's defenders are very fast, and Southampton's counterattack speed is just that. If Southampton starts to defend and counterattack, they will definitely be suppressed by them.
However, Noriya did not arrange any defensive counterattack for Southampton's players from the beginning.
The tactics he arranged were confrontational.
So the two sides began a vigorous confrontation.
Draxler soon sent a direct pass. Huntelaar received the ball and shot from the front of the penalty area, which missed the far corner.
Southampton also quickly launched an attack. Vidal took the ball in the middle and passed it to J. Ronaldo. J. Ronaldo continued to complete a two-on-one with Klose, and then took a shot from the front of the penalty area. The ball was slightly higher than the crossbar.
The pace of the game has become faster like this. Basically, if you attack once, I will attack once. The pace of the game between the two sides on the court can be said to be quite fast.
Regarding this, the fans of Schalke 04 did not think there was anything wrong. Their game was already so exciting.
Their head coach Stevens instinctively felt that something was wrong, because Southampton's style of play really exceeded his expectations.
However, in the 31st minute, captain Raul received a cross from the wing and scored from close range to equalize the score. Stevens was relieved.
He only took over the position of former head coach Rangnick in November last year. His current performance in leading the team is not bad, but his focus is on adjusting his team, and his investigation of Southampton seems a bit weak.
Raul's ability to equalize the score shows that the current offensive rhythm is beneficial to Schalke 04.
If we continue playing like this, Schalke's 04 victory will not be far away.
But what he ignored was that before the game started, Schalke 04, including him, were all thinking about how to tear apart Southampton's defense, and basically had no mental preparation for an attack. In such a situation
If you continue to compete, the entire team's reaction ability will drop a lot.
It's just that Stevens didn't notice it at this time. Even as the head coach, he didn't notice it. It would be too difficult to expect the players to notice it.
All a superstar like Raul can do is use his performance to inspire his teammates.
He has done a good job at this point so far, but in this game, his encouragement alone is not enough.
