Chapter 45 Are you going to change the way the game is played?
Using defensive counterattack tactics to deal with Blackburn has indeed reached an extreme in terms of suddenness of tactics.
If Southampton's performance in the first two rounds has not aroused the vigilance of those Premier League teams, then they have reached the semi-finals. If other teams do not explore Southampton's strength, it can only mean that they are
Blind...
Although Blackburn are currently striving to avoid relegation, after all, there is still a long time in the league, and they will also perform well in the League Cup semi-finals.
Their head coach "Big Sam" Allardyce has been in the Premier League for many years. Although he has not coached any top teams, he is indispensable in the mid-range teams. Of course, he will not relax in the Southampton game.
.
He has carefully studied Southampton's recent games and clearly knows that this is a team with very good offensive capabilities, and the defense is not bad either. The two central defenders are very capable of frontal defense and complementing each other -
-At least in Allardyce's view, if Southampton is thrown into the Premier League now, it won't be a big problem whether it performs well or successfully avoid relegation...
They have many outstanding players, but the only problem is that many of them are too young and inexperienced.
But with such a lineup, and adding a few veterans with Premier League experience, they can play well in the Premier League.
This team cannot be viewed as a League One team.
That's what Allardyce had in mind.
However, since Southampton's offense is excellent, so is the attack. Although Blackburn has mostly veterans, as long as there is space, players with excellent impact capabilities such as McCarthy and Diouf can always get many opportunities.
Therefore, Allardyce feels that as long as it is a normal game and a comparison of offense, Blackburn should not lose to Southampton.
Not only did he think so, everyone at Blackburn thought so.
So at Ewood Park, they played for ten minutes before they realized something was wrong.
Southampton, who has a sharp attack, clearly wants to play defensive counterattack!
The four defenders did not leave the penalty area, and the midfielders all returned to defend. Only the two forwards stood in front and prepared to counterattack...
How to do this?
Blackburn's offensive ability is average. If there is space, the two forwards can create a lot of good opportunities. But now that the opponent is recovering and expecting them to take the ball and forcefully attack a well-prepared defense line, it will be too difficult.
They are just outstanding forwards, not that kind of talented forwards.
Frontal attack is not possible, and there is no space for through balls. Passes from both wings, whether in the air or on the ground, will be blocked by Wundt and Lovren.
Wundt is getting better and better now, and he is starting to show a characteristic that Lovren does not have - he can command the defense.
Such defenders are actually very rare. Even in the Premier League, there are not many defenders who can hold back and organize the defense. As a result, defenders like Font were wasted in the British Championship for several years. Even the English League One team can buy him.
Yes, this really makes people feel sad...
"I found a treasure." Ji Ya thought in his heart.
If Southampton's defense is not of a particularly high level when it comes to recovery, it is very suitable to deal with a team like Blackburn, whose offensive ability is not very strong in the first place.
Throughout the first half, Blackburn tried every method but failed to score.
This made Allardyce very depressed.
If this stalemate continues, Blackburn's problem is actually not that big, but if they can't defeat their opponents at home, won't it be more difficult to beat them away from home?
If you want to score, it seems you can only take risks in the second half.
"If Blackburn don't press forward and attack, we will continue to defend and improve our concentration. This is also a rare experience for us. If they press forward and attack, we will be ready to counterattack... Schneiderlin, that situation
You are the main force, remember to launch a counterattack as soon as you get the ball, do you understand?" Noriya said in the locker room.
The players nodded, including Schneiderlin, who was entrusted with the important task.
Now Southampton's frontcourt attackers are all young people, so relatively speaking, they are very obedient.
Noriya actually hopes that Blackburn can attack. After all, only by doing so can Southampton have a chance of victory.
Then Blackburn really came out in the second half...
Ji Ya was overjoyed.
Allardyce looked at Ji Ya on Qiqing from a distance, and felt extremely depressed in his heart - for such a guy who can't hide his troubles on his face, he can use tactics to make himself suffer. Is there any justice or law?
?
But no matter how great Allardyce's resentment was, he couldn't stop the fact from happening.
Blackburn's pressing attack did not result in a goal. Instead, in the 71st minute of the game, Schneiderlin made a wonderful long pass from the backcourt. Giroud headed the ball over and Lambert advanced.
After receiving the ball, he broke into the penalty area and shot low, scoring the only goal in the game!
One to zero, Southampton defeated Blackburn away from home and took a solid step towards entering the final!
"I have to say that I was deceived by Ji Ya tactically. I was very angry at first, but then I was relieved. This is football. If you underestimate your opponent, you will definitely be punished. I thought I didn't underestimate it.
Southampton, in fact, is still underestimated, but there is still a second round game, and we will try to get a victory at St. Mary's Stadium."
As a veteran coach of the Premier League, Allardyce still showed his own demeanor at the post-match press conference, and Ji Ya also seemed to respect his elders: "Allardyce is my senior, he has a lot of experience in the Premier League.
I have a lot of experience, I am in the dark, it doesn’t matter if I take advantage of it, the second round is the key game.”
Ji Ya's attitude like this has created another wave of good impressions, but it is obvious that many people don't know that Ji Ya's high profile will only be shown when he is in the upper hand.
This is actually less Chinese and more British.
Having tasted the sweetness of defensive counterattacks, Noriya also adopted defensive counterattack tactics in the first round of the Championship Southern Finals three days later. This also made Milton Keynes quite uncomfortable. After all, Southampton had relied on them in the league before.
The fierce attack defeated Milton Keynes 3-1, but now they are playing defensive counterattack?
The unsuitable result made Milton Keynes' performance quite confusing, so even though Southampton did not do very well on the counterattack, they still defeated their opponent 1-0 in the away game and took the lead in the two rounds!
"Is Southampton going to change the way it plays?" Many reporters asked questions in their columns.
