On January 15, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals, Southampton challenged Blackburn away.
On January 18, in the first leg of the southern final of the English Championship, Southampton challenged Milton Keynes away.
On January 21, Southampton faced Blackburn at home in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals.
On January 24, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Southampton played Chelsea away.
Then there will be two league matches on the 27th and 30th. Until this time, Southampton has only had a week of rest. There will be a league match on February 6th, and the second leg of the southern final of the English Championship on February 10th.
, until this time, the busy cup competition will come to an end.
"The lower leagues are really scary. Fortunately, we should be playing in the Championship next season," Noriya told Benali.
"So confident?" Benali asked curiously.
"Of course, why play the game if you don't have the confidence." Ji Ya laughed.
Benelli also laughed, it was true - no matter whether the goal is difficult or not, if you are determined to lose, then there is nothing to say.
But looking at the schedule, Benali felt that with Kiya's habits, he would definitely try his best in the League Cup and Championship. As for the FA Cup, he would probably give up. After all, the away game against Chelsea would be a difficult test.
Chelsea are also very strong this season and have been catching up with Manchester United in the league.
In previous FA Cup games, Southampton always sent out all substitutes, and this time should be no exception.
Benelli's guess was right. Ji Ya is really paying great attention to the League Cup competition now. After all, he has already reached the semi-finals. The opponent in the semi-finals is not a strong team. He will work hard to reach the finals.
Although the runner-up in the League Cup does not increase the possibility of getting a chance to play in the Europa League, reaching the final will have a considerable impact.
The only thing that makes Ji Ya feel regretful is that Southampton has won the runner-up in the League Cup. The historical achievements cannot be highlighted unless they can win the final championship...
Although Southampton was lucky enough to encounter mid-to-lower teams, they were all Premier League teams after all! There is no English League One team in history that can defeat four Premier League teams in a row to enter the League Cup final!
If it weren't for Swindon's miracle of winning the League Cup as a third-tier team in the 1968-69 season...
But even so, as long as Southampton can enter the League Cup final, it will already be the second third-level team to reach the final in the entire history of the League Cup.
Of course, you have to fight hard for such an honor. Even if there are no additional achievement points to get, it will be enough to make Southampton more famous!
Blackburn's results this season are not very good. They have played 21 games in the Premier League so far. They have five wins, six draws and ten losses, ranking 15th. They are only two points ahead of the relegation zone. Although it is not urgent yet, the points are
My heart is in the League Cup, and it seems I can't bear it.
Of course, having reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, Blackburn have no intention of giving up easily.
Blackburn's offense and defense are not very good this year, especially defense. Chelsea beat them five goals, Arsenal beat them six goals, and Manchester City also beat them four goals, averaging one goal per game.
Conceded nearly two goals, the data is quite mediocre.
Their goalkeeper is former England national goalkeeper Robinson, but everyone knows the standard of England's national goalkeeper. Low-level mistakes are often made, and shots are common. The main player in the defense is French all-rounder Chimbonda. This player is best at playing two
On the wing, Blackburn has always played as a central defender, which seems to explain why their defense is unreliable. As for the offense, they mainly rely on South African forward McCarthy and Senegalese forward Diouf. These two African forwards were both
He is considered a famous player, but now that he is not young, he can only play a role in Blackburn.
This can also be regarded as a characteristic of Blackburn. There are two famous nursing homes in the Premier League, one is Bolton and the other is Blackburn.
The evil duo of Manchester United also got together at Blackburn Rovers after Manchester United couldn't play the game.
"Even if we have a head-to-head confrontation, we can beat them, but I have a better way." Ji Ya said to Benali.
"You don't want them to have less than seven people on the field." Benali thought of the Hong Kong movie he once watched - Shaolin Football.
"Of course not, it's just that when you said we were playing defensive counterattack, did you make a move?" Ji Ya said.
Benelli was stunned.
Southampton said he wanted to play defensive counterattack, and asked him if he had any clues. It was as nonsensical as if the senior brother heard King Kong Kung saying that Shaolin Kung Fu combined with singing and dancing would make a difference...
"I was thinking this before. In fact, we have the opportunity to play defensive counterattack... Although we don't have a particularly fast frontcourt, Blackburn's defense is slower each one, with Giroud playing the ball and Lambert up front.
Inserts, as well as long passes from Lallana and Schneiderlin, Mkhitaryan can still open up the situation with breakthroughs, why can't we play defensive counterattack? It couldn't work before because our central defender had loopholes in defense, but now?
We can really look forward to the partnership between Wundt and Lovren..."
Benelli, who thought it was nonsense at first, suddenly felt like it made a lot of sense after listening to it.
Former famous players like McCarthy and Diouf are now older, but their personal skills and impact abilities are still good. If they have enough space, they are likely to be released immediately, and if they are recovered for counterattack,
Diouf and McCarthy may be beaten to death in front of two defenders who have advantages in height and weight, such as Font and Lovren.
In the open play, Diouf and McCarthy have the advantage. When the defense is recovered, Wundt and Lovren have the advantage.
There is nothing particularly outstanding about Blackburn elsewhere, their strength lies in these two strikers with very strong personal abilities.
On the contrary, defensive counterattack can control the opponent's offense very well.
"Then you need to adjust the team members' thinking during training." Benelli said after thinking for a while.
Ji Ya nodded happily. Benali's other abilities were average, but he was able to understand Ji Ya's intentions very well and then implement them - for Ji Ya now, such an assistant coach is very rare.
He can continue to improve, and before he improves, it would be a good thing to have an experienced assistant coach like Benelli to help him.
"Francis, what would I do without you?" Ji Ya said half-truthfully.
