Southampton's opponent in the second round is West Bromwich Albion.
This team has performed well in recent years, but this season their main task is to avoid relegation. After all, their overall strength is not very strong.
So meeting Southampton at the beginning of the season was a very lucky thing. Maybe it was because they kept selling their main players. Southampton has always been slow to get started. They dropped more points in the beginning, but
After getting better, they can always use a wave of winning streak to establish victory.
This was the case in the first two seasons. Their persistence and sprint in the second half were the most critical factors for them to win the league championship.
So this is also the best time to score points against Southampton.
They lost five main players and Suarez was unable to play, which is equivalent to missing six main players.
Under such circumstances, it will indeed be much easier to score points.
Noriya continued to make small rotations in this game. The goalkeeper was still Romero, the right back was Cancelo, the left back was replaced by the young Peters, the center back was partnered by Font and Rudiger, and the midfielder
Schneiderlin started as a defensive midfielder, with Coutinho and De Bruyne in front of him, and forwards Perisic, Lukaku and Vardy.
Last season, without Suarez, Southampton was unable to do anything when faced with the opponent's iron barrel formation. Therefore, in this game, West Bromwich Albion also set up an iron barrel formation, hoping to win a draw, and even
You can find opportunities to score goals through counterattacks.
Southampton continued to control the ball and organize the offense. They had the advantage of controlling the ball in the midfield. The three midfielders were all relatively skilled, constantly picking up the ball and passing it on.
West Bromwich Albion's defense also worked hard. They defended the penalty area very firmly, and then specially marked Coutinho to prevent him from scoring from long range. When Lukaku broke through, he
Fight and retreat, don't give him a chance to force a breakthrough...
Except for the fact that De Bruyne couldn't keep an eye on him, they had already pushed themselves to the limit of what they could do.
And De Bruyne's performance alone is difficult to truly tear apart the opponent's defense.
However, at this moment, two people they had ignored joined forces to open the door to victory for Southampton in the first half.
Cancelo advanced forward to assist, and after receiving De Bruyne's ball, he passed the ball at a 45-degree angle. The ball drew a beautiful arc in the air, bypassing the defender at the front point, and then started
Falling...
Vardy suddenly rushed out from between the opponent's two central defenders, faced the falling ball, and hit the goal with a standard head shake!
The ball quickly changed direction and plunged into the blind spot of the goal!
The full-back passed the ball and the center scored!
This is a very simple tactic, but it is also the most difficult tactic!
After scoring, Vardy ran towards Cancelo who assisted him, and then high-fived him.
During the training, the Southampton players knew that in addition to De Bruyne, there was another player in the team who could pass beautiful curve balls. Although Cancelo was average in other aspects, he just relied on his
This trick can play a huge role!
Ji Ya waved his fist: "Now you see, Vardy also has his strengths... Our three forwards can definitely take turns. Vardy is at least good enough to play in the league."
Benelli nodded involuntarily. Indeed, Vardy's characteristics are very useful in the Premier League, especially when dealing with mid-to-lower teams.
At least at this stage, Southampton doesn't have to worry about scoring goals.
Facing the Iron Bucket Formation, the biggest fear is that the first goal is delayed.
When the goal comes, it will be easy to handle from now on.
After losing the ball, West Bromwich Albion had to press forward and attack, and then the game quickly entered the rhythm that Southampton is most familiar with.
After receiving a long pass from Schneiderlin, Lukaku expanded his lead through a long-distance run. In the second half, Perisic assisted, and Coutinho broke into the penalty area and shot into the near corner to score again. Three to zero, Southampton easily won.
He won a big victory, proving that his defeat in the first round was just an accident...
"We are very strong, although many people don't seem to think so, but we are really strong. Suarez's inability to play is a loss, but we also have Vardy, who is not well-known, but is very useful. We have many players in the team
Although many of these players have left some of the main players, in what year does Southampton not leave some of the main players? Because of this, they feel that we are no longer good, which makes me feel funny..."
Noriya said at the post-match press conference.
In this round, Chelsea won again, Manchester City defeated Liverpool, Tottenham swept Queens Park Rangers, and the newly appointed Pochettino seemed to be very effective in transforming the team. Manchester United continued to struggle. They played Sunderland one to one away from home.
Even though it was a draw, Van Gaal still failed to win.
This allowed Manchester United and Van Gaal to continue to be at the forefront. Noriya's complaints were ignored by many people, and it also relieved Southampton's pressure a lot.
"Thanks to Manchester United, they always attract the most attention." Ji Ya said with a smile in the team.
But although this sounds like a joke, it actually proves Manchester United's influence - after decades of operation, whether other teams admit it or not, Manchester United's influence is indeed the largest in the Premier League, let alone now.
, even in the next few years, Manchester United, which was in turmoil due to Ferguson's retirement, can always attract more attention.
Looking at the whole of Europe, their revenue is at the top, so a team like Real Madrid and Barcelona can compete with Manchester United, which in itself proves a lot of problems.
Southampton has performed well in the past two years, but it can only be regarded as an upstart. It has seized the opportunity of Ferguson's retirement for more than a year and increased its influence. However, to truly have a huge impact, it still needs to maintain popularity all year round.
Just fine.
What can football clubs do to stay popular?
In fact, there is a lot that can be done. For example, Southampton cashed out more than 200 million pounds in the summer transfer market, which was quite shocking and made more and more fans around the world interested in Southampton.
However, in fact, to maintain influence, the most important thing is performance.
If Southampton does not win the Champions League and two consecutive Premier League titles, no matter how much money they make in the transfer market, they will be considered nothing more than a second-rate dealer.
It's like Porto is nothing more than a black shop no matter how it is used as a black shop.
Even if this is the Champions League, it may be due to luck, and the influence is not particularly large.
But if Southampton can get a few more and stay in the ranks of the wealthy clubs, then who would dare to question Southampton's status?
Long-term good results are laid down by foundation!
