Loew felt that he benefited a lot from his "learning" at the Hamburg Training Center.
And then at the pre-game preparation meeting in Hamburg that he attended, he even felt how terrifying Pan Yi was in controlling the details when it came to arranging his opponents.
"Schalke 04 this season is a team that pays more attention to defense."
"In the past 13 rounds, they have only scored 20 goals, which is the lowest among the top eight teams."
"But the reason why they have this good ranking is their excellent defense."
"We only conceded a total of 12 goals in 13 rounds, which ranks third among all Bundesliga teams, second only to Bayern and us. It only conceded one more goal than us."
When Pan Yi came up, he first laid out the data and then started analyzing:
"In this team, the one that their offense relies on most is their main forward, the Dutchman Huntelaar."
"His style is a bit like his Dutch predecessor Ruud van Nistelrooy. He has a keen sense of smell in the penalty area and excellent shooting skills. He can send teammates' passes into the opponent's goal at any time."
"Last season, this efficient shooter made 48 appearances and scored 48 goals. At the same time, he also provided 19 assists. These pretty statistics allowed him to win the Golden Boot of the Europa League and the Bundesliga."
"His goals have decreased this season, but we still cannot relax our guard against him. Now I will talk about his weaknesses."
"First of all, he is a typical point-grabbing forward, so his ability to advance with the ball is very average. We must seize this and cut off his teammates, especially the passes from the two wings."
"Whether it is the restriction on Finn Pukki or the pressure on Peruvian winger Farfan, we need to use our advantages of active running and teamwork to prevent them from supporting Huntelaar!"
"In addition, although Huntelaar is in good physical condition, according to my observation, his confrontation ability is actually average. Our central defender can strengthen direct physical contact with him when necessary. In this regard, Rudiger and Kjaer I have already
The key points have been taken care of, so I won’t go into details here.”
"In addition, we can also limit his performance like this..."
While Pan Yi was talking, the coaches and players in the conference room were nodding frequently, and Loew, who was sitting in the corner, was taking notes in his small notebook.
This is a habit he developed when he was Klinsmann's assistant coach.
Of course, Loew did not accept everything Pan Yi said. After all, he himself would have studied things like Huntelaar's technical characteristics when facing the Dutch national team.
He was just surprised that Pan Yi studied the opponent's weaknesses so thoroughly, with almost no blind spots from 360 degrees.
In this case, even if the opponent has some response at that time, the players on the field can immediately find another way to deal with it because they are well prepared.
Now Loew is more interested in hearing Pan Yi's evaluation of the German players in the Schalke 04 team.
In the current Schalke 04 team, captain Hwedes is the key subject of Loew's inspection.
After all, he is the head coach of the German national team, and selecting suitable players to compete for the country is one of his most important tasks.
And soon, Pan Yi talked about what Loew was most interested in:
"The big reason why Schalke 04 has done so well defensively this season is because of the good performance of their captain Hwedes."
"Hewedes reads the game very well, so he can react quickly and disrupt the opponent's attack. This makes it difficult for the opposing forwards to break through his defense because Hewedes can strike before they can react.
Defuse the offensive."
"So far this season, Hewedes has averaged 3.3 interceptions per game, ranking among the top in the Bundesliga. This data also proves his excellent frontal defense."
"His excellent interception is also very helpful for wing defense. He will often help defend the wing, and the defensive area covers the entire right wing, allowing his teammate Atsushi Uchida to step in with confidence and provide more assists.
Right winger."
"When Héwedes covers the right wing, he sends a signal asking the whole team to cover for each other. For example, Matip/Papadopoulos covers for Héwedes, and Fuchs
Matip/Papadopoulos fill in, Afellay fills in for Fuchs, etc., without leaving any gaps for the opponent's forwards and midfielders to exploit."
"Hewedes uses this method to organize the defense of the back line well. At the same time, he can also play a leadership role on the court by constantly shouting and coordinating the overall defensive command. Schalke's performance this season, especially
The very small number of goals conceded can illustrate the role of Hewedes in the defense."
After analyzing the characteristics of Hivedes, Pan Yi began to propose solutions:
"So, what are his shortcomings? The most obvious one is that he is often too far away from his centre-back partner, and the huge space between them can be exploited by us."
"Our forwards are all very fast. At this time, we need to take advantage of this gap, repeatedly penetrate here, and tear open this hole!"
"The same goes for midfield passes. De Bruyne should give more through balls and don't be afraid of mistakes. As long as he succeeds once or twice, he may score a goal!"
"Also, his passing and speed are not very good. So at this time our frontcourt pressing tactics can come in handy."
"With Vardy as the center, Sun Xingmin and Wu Lei must control the ball release point of the teammates next to Hwedes at the same time, so as to force him to make a pass error and create shooting opportunities!"
"In addition, for his central defender partner Papadopoulos, we can also do this..."
Loew is truly amazing.
Herwedes's analysis is definitely better than that of him, or that of the entire German team's coaching staff!
At the end of the pre-game preparation meeting, Loew couldn't help but grabbed Pan Yi and asked:
"Coach Pan Yi, do you think Höwedes can have a place in the German national team?"
Pan Yi pondered for a moment and replied: "To be honest, if it is at the central defender position where he is best, he may only be a substitute. I think whether it is Boateng, Hummels, or even Modesa
He should be above him in the starting order."
"That……?"
"But he can also play as a left-back. You must be worried that there is no suitable candidate for the left-back position now, right?" Pan Yi said with a smile, "Besides, as a person who can play all positions on the defense, it is always a good idea to bring him with you.
That’s right.”
In the 2014 World Cup, although Höwedes was considered a weakness in the German team, he was always targeted by opponents.
But he finally withstood the pressure and test, and successfully completed his task as a guest left back.
He played all 7 games and played a decisive role in Brazil's World Cup victory!
As a time traveler, there is nothing wrong with giving such reliable advice.
"It makes sense..." Leif nodded, thoughtfully.
Indeed, compared with the talented center backs and the right backs with Lahm at the helm, the German team is indeed a bit unsustainable at the left back position.
How should I put it? Janssen, Ogo, and even Westermann in Hamburg's team were all recruited by Loew and tried this position in the national team, but they were all unsatisfactory.
This statement put forward by Pan Yi gave Loew a new idea...
At the end of the conversation, Pan Yi added another sentence:
"Oh, by the way, their Draxler is pretty good too. Although he is only 19 years old now and needs some competition training, you should be able to use him in two years."
Draxler, of course, was also a member of the 2014 German team that Pan Yi knew in his previous life...