Chapter 444 Atletico Madrid has been outstanding since ancient times
Author: Ant who loves watching football
Chapter 444 Atletico Madrid has been outstanding since ancient times
After the carnival inside the Stamford Bridge stadium, the joyful atmosphere continued outside the stadium.
Countless Chelsea fans took to the streets of London one after another, singing and dancing to celebrate the team's championship win.
Although the league championship trophy has not been officially awarded yet, winning the championship has become a fact and defending the title has become a fact!
This is Chelsea's second consecutive Premier League championship, the fifth Premier League championship in Chelsea's history, and the sixth top league championship.
Who would complain that there are too few league titles?
It can be said that a sufficient number of league championships is the most solid foundation for a team to become a giant.
No league title is not worthy of celebration.
Even if some teams win ten consecutive championships in some leagues, their fans will still be excited about it!
As for Chelsea, which has not won a particularly large number of championships, the fans are naturally even more proud and excited.
Soon, most neighborhoods in London were occupied by Chelsea fans wearing blue jerseys.
More and more fans also gathered around Stamford Bridge.
Especially when the team was getting on and off the bus and preparing to leave, the crazy fans surrounded them and cheered non-stop.
Tens of thousands of fans sang the Chelsea team anthem and "We are the champions" in unison, and the scene was very lively!
Pan Yi also opened the window of the bus and waved to the fans below.
At the same time, he raised his right hand high and showed five fingers.
Suddenly, countless fans became so loud that they all shouted Pan Yi's name.
They all understood what Pan Yi meant.
This represents Chelsea’s fifth championship trophy this season!
Now, from the promise Pan Yi made to the fans before the game, only the FA Cup champion and the Champions League champion are left!
In both cup competitions, Chelsea has reached the semi-finals and is very hopeful of winning the championship!
Because of this, the fans' celebration today was somewhat restrained.
They understand that it is not yet time to have a complete carnival.
When we win the FA Cup, and the most important thing is to win the Champions League again, and when Chelsea complete their unprecedented seven crowns, then will be the time to celebrate unscrupulously!
Therefore, the fans quickly made way for the bus to let the players and coaches go back to rest.
They have another league game to play in two days, and then they will have the FA Cup semi-final against Watford, followed by the Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
So even if it is the moment of celebration for winning the championship, at this time we must cheer up and start again.
In fact, at the post-match press conference, Pan Yi repeatedly stated that although the team had won the Premier League championship five rounds ahead of schedule, it was not the time to celebrate yet.
"As a mortal enemy, I won't praise Tottenham's performance, but they did play well."
"Especially Son Heung-min. He mainly played as a winger when he was in Hamburg. After coming to Tottenham, he stood more in the center position, but he also adapted well."
"The speed of their young people has caused us a lot of problems, which also shows that we still have considerable room for improvement. This also requires us to look at the current results of the team with a more peaceful attitude."
"Winning the Premier League is not the end point we are pursuing. As I said before the season, our goal is all championships. And I believe that every player at Chelsea is the same as me."
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Pochettino said regretfully that he was convinced of the defeat.
"I must admit I was frustrated losing to our arch-rivals and watching them win the league title."
"But I must also admit that Chelsea is indeed stronger than at the beginning of the season. We drew with them at home, so I have some thoughts about today's game."
"The fact is that in this game we have basically shown our strength, but we were still scored three goals by Chelsea. This also reflects the current gap between our two teams."
"I think the scary thing about Pan Yi is that even if his team looks very strong, he will still strive for excellence and improve the team again on this basis..."
But Pochettino also said that this defeat will not affect the team.
Although they lost the game, North London rival Arsenal also failed to win against West Ham United, so Tottenham are still ranked third in the standings.
In the remaining five rounds of the league, they will try their best to keep the top four in the Premier League and strive to qualify for the Champions League.
And as long as they qualify for the Champions League, after the reinforcements in the summer window, these young people from Tottenham can make a difference in the Premier League!——
On April 20, Chelsea went to an away game to challenge Bournemouth.
Since the league championship has been won, and this game will be followed by the FA Cup and Champions League games, Pan Yi naturally sent out most of the rotation players to let the main players rest.
And the game didn't go very smoothly either.
After winning the championship, players will be more or less mentally slack, their attention on the court is not very concentrated, and they are not very good at grasping the timing of passing and shooting opportunities.
But after all, Chelsea was still stronger than its opponents in terms of strength. After wasting a lot of opportunities, Zouma finally scored with a header from a corner kick in the 76th minute of the second half, beating Bournemouth 1:0.
In another arena, Manchester United played a make-up match against West Ham United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
As a result, with goals from teenager Rashford and Belgian midfielder Fellaini, Manchester United defeated West Ham United 2:1 and entered the semi-finals.
Their opponent in the semi-finals is Crystal Palace, while Chelsea will face Watford.
On April 23, Chelsea faced Watford in the FA Cup semi-finals, which started at Wembley Stadium.
Four days after this game, that is, April 27, was the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Pan Yi, who aspired to win seven championships, ushered in the most critical moment.
The more critical a moment like this comes, the more cautious he needs to be!
Of course, at this time, Chelsea's past accumulation, the team's strong bench, and especially the rich experience of Pan Yi's coaching staff showed their power.
Although the tournament is crucial and the schedule is tight, Chelsea still executes its training and recovery plan in an orderly manner.
Whether it's a coach, a player, or a staff member, you don't need to think about anything else at all. You just need to follow the overall rules formulated by Pan Yi, perform their duties, and do their job well.
The same goes for players on the pitch.
Watford head coach Quique Flores clearly knows how difficult it is to face the current Chelsea team, so he set up a -1 defensive formation and tried to fight by setting up a bus.
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After all, in the FA Cup semi-finals, the outcome has already been decided in one battle. If we can survive the penalty shootout, we might still have a chance.
But not everyone is Mourinho, and not everyone can succeed by setting up a bus.
The Bumblebee bus only drove for less than half an hour when it was overturned by the Chelsea Express.
In the 27th minute, Harry Kane received Lukaku's header in the penalty area and easily pushed it into the net, helping Chelsea take the lead in the first half.
After changing sides in the second half, Hazard contributed a pass and a shot to help Chelsea expand the score.
In the end, Chelsea defeated Watford 3-0 at home and successfully reached the FA Cup final.
This will be Chelsea's fourth trip to Wembley this season!
In another semi-final two days later, Manchester United, which had just come out of the make-up match, made persistent efforts and defeated Crystal Palace 2:1 again. This time it was Martial and Fellaini who contributed.
They also reached the FA Cup final!
Manchester United has shown very good form in these two FA Cup games, and their young players have also performed well. The media also believes that Manchester United has hope to prevent Chelsea from winning the FA Cup at the last moment.
The final between the two sides will be held at Wembley Stadium on May 22!
And with the two FA Cup semi-finals over, the much-anticipated Champions League semi-final is finally here.
——
When it comes to Atletico Madrid and Simeone, the first word that comes to everyone's mind may be "defense".
Yes, whether it is the players who directly confront them on the court or the fans who watch the game through the television broadcast lens, they can intuitively feel the fierceness and tenacity of Atletico Madrid on the defensive end.
Indeed, in Diego Simeone's tactical thinking, the defensive task is by no means limited to his own half.
At Simeone's request, Atletico Madrid's defensive area covers almost every corner of the court. As long as the ball is at the opponent's feet, Atletico Madrid players will press forward at all costs until the opponent makes a mistake.
It can be said that Simeone has created a tactical system for Atletico Madrid in recent years that is unique to them, and has also redefined the on-field responsibilities of wide players, especially wide midfielders.
However, Atletico Madrid will obviously not be able to succeed if it relies solely on defense.
They were able to win the league championship surrounded by powerful Real Madrid and Barcelona, and have performed brilliantly in the Champions League for several consecutive years. This is definitely not something that can be explained by just "putting a bus".
There is a saying in the martial arts world that "Atletico Madrid has always had a striking edge since ancient times."
From the early Vieri, Hasselbaink, Diego Forlan, to the later Falcao, Aguero, Diego Costa...
And now, it is Torres who has returned to his home team, and French forward Griezmann.
In short, Atletico Madrid's offensive capabilities must not be ignored.
If Atletico Madrid didn't have its own unique offensive system, it would be impossible to have so many outstanding forwards with extremely high scoring efficiency.
Although Atletico Madrid's number of goals is not comparable to teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, it is still firmly ranked third in La Liga.
And how did Simeone build Atletico Madrid's frontcourt offensive system?
This is the focus of Pan Yi's recent research.
Judging from Simeone's recent remarks and the game reports sent by scouts, Simeone seems to be really preparing to have a big fight at the Calderon Stadium this time.
After all, the last time Pan Yi eliminated Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, he used defensive counterattacks;
And this time, Simeone is preparing to use Pan Yi's best attack to defeat Chelsea in order to achieve perfect revenge?
But no matter what Simeone thinks, Pan Yi must take every situation into consideration and then prepare countermeasures.
"Atletico Madrid's offensive methods mainly include five types."
In the preparation meeting with the coaching staff before the game, Pan Yi first expressed his conclusions through the system and Atletico Madrid's recent games in the recent period.
"The first type is to attack in the east and attack in the west, holding the ball and cutting inside."
With that said, Pan Yi released a video.
If Pan Yi was just talking with his mouth, this kind of analysis would be too boring.
Combined with the video data, not only does it appear much more vivid, but the tactical terms in Pan Yi's mouth are also reflected more realistically, making it easier for everyone to understand.
Atletico Madrid's style of play is that when the ball is close to the wing, Atletico Madrid's "No. 10" player will pull to the edge and take the initiative to ask for the ball.
Take Griezmann as an example. As the core player on Atletico Madrid's offensive line, when Griezmann gets the ball on the wing, the opponent's defensive players are bound to block his passing line as much as possible.
At this time, other members of Atletico Madrid's attack will use false running routes to draw the opponent's attention.
The final result was that Griezmann completed a breakthrough toward the top of the penalty area without passing the ball to any teammate.
In many cases, this area is basically undefended and has a relatively open space. After Griezmann completes the breakthrough, he can either choose to shoot directly or pass the ball to a teammate in a more advantageous position.
It is worth mentioning that Atletico Madrid players are very particular about their false movements.
As shown in the video, this area is exactly in the middle of the defense of the opponent's center back and full back. If there is insufficient tacit understanding between the two defenders, or the defensive division of labor is unclear, it is very likely to cause serious consequences of being out of position.
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To release or not to release? To pursue or not to pursue? This poses a huge problem for the opponent's defenders.
From this point of view, Simeone's offensive design is indeed quite clever.
"The second type is to pass the ball diagonally at a 45-degree angle and look for the high point in the penalty area."
Simeone is similar to Pan Yi to a certain extent, that is, in order to win, he will not stick to a certain way of fighting.
This is different from Guardiola.
Guardiola, for example, is almost obsessed with controlling the ball and attacking.
Gua Shuai drives a bus? It seems that I have never seen him before.
Therefore, among Simeone's conventional weapons in Atletico Madrid's offense, there is such an "old" style of play, which explodes at 45 degrees!
This is mainly because the strong physique of Atletico Madrid players has a natural advantage in fighting for high-altitude balls. When short passes and penetration cannot open up the situation, they will try high-altitude operations.
In the second video played by Pan Yi, this time, the opponent's defensive player blocked the breakthrough route to the top of the arc.
During the rapid transition between offense and defense, Atletico Madrid's other players failed to provide sufficient support on the wing.
In such a situation, choosing a long diagonal pass and sending the ball into the penalty area is almost the only option. Using the excellent ability of Torres and others to grab points can also pose a great threat to the opponent's goal.
Of course, in order to successfully use this tactic to score goals, the timing of the pass is very important, which also places higher demands on Atletico Madrid's offensive midfielders.
Then Pan Yi listed another statistic to prove that Atletico Madrid has such an excellent midfielder.
In terms of the number of threatening balls sent per game, Koke is the most outstanding player in Atletico Madrid. This season, in the 27 league games played for Atletico Madrid, the Spaniard has sent out threatening balls as many as 52 times.
Both are close to 2 times.
Griezmann's average number of threatening passes per game is 1.1. As a player who often plays on the front line, this data is also very good.
In addition to being able to deliver the most threatening balls, Koke is also the player at Atletico Madrid who has sent the most crosses this season. So far this season, he has attempted a total of 202 crosses.
It should be said that Koke has completely won the recognition of coach Simeone. This young Spanish player born in 1992 has become the most indispensable member of Atletico Madrid's midfield line.
"The third type is to make full use of the depth of the court and let the full-back complete the pass. This is also what we must focus on preventing."
When there is a huge space on the opponent's wing, Atletico Madrid will use precise through balls to tear open the opponent's defense.
In the video, Gabi sent a long through ball, and right back Juanfran came in at high speed, and he had enough adjustment time to complete a high-quality cross.
At the other end of the court, midfielder Koke also quickly outflanked the opponent's penalty area, increasing the numerical advantage in the area and creating more options for his teammates' passing routes.
Under such circumstances, Torres and Griezmann began to position as close to the opponent's goal as possible, while Koke's position should be slightly further away from the goal. His main task is to complete the control of the two points.
Felipe, the full-back on the other side of the far end, also started to intervene in time.
This is because if the power of the cross is too strong and no one in the penalty area is competing for the ball, then the full-back can regain control of the ball and continue to organize the next round of offense.
So far this season, Atletico Madrid's two main full-backs Felipe and Juanfran have completed more than 190 wide crosses in various competitions.
Since Chelsea's main three-back system is slightly weak in wing defense - this was proved during the game against Tottenham;
Therefore, Pan Yi also included Atletico Madrid's attack method in the most important defensive drill plan.
"The fourth method is to kick the ball directly from the midfield and backcourt, looking for high points near the penalty area."
Although Torres cannot be called aerial dominance, he still has good frontcourt fulcrum ability, so Simeone designed another effective tactic for Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid players often take the ball directly near the midfield, looking for Torres near the penalty area line.
At this time, Torres can attract the attention of the opponent's two defensive players. At this time, Griezmann is obviously the one who is ignored, and he often appears in more dangerous areas.
Therefore, Torres's task is very clear, which is to fight hard to get to this point, quickly transition the ball to Griezmann's feet, and then let him finish the shot.
Griezmann and Torres are both forward players worthy of Simeone's trust. Their presence can basically ensure that Atletico Madrid effectively controls the ball in the frontcourt. This is precisely an important condition for Atletico Madrid to successfully use this tactic.
So far this season, nearly 30% of Atletico Madrid's shots have been completed outside the penalty area.
And among these 30% of long-distance attacks, a large part comes from the reasonable use of this tactic.
Due to the lack of protection of the two points by the opponent's defense, Atletico Madrid players can easily complete the shot from the outside of the penalty area.
"Finally, the fifth type is also their special skill, the use of set pieces."
In La Liga alone, Atletico Madrid has scored 12 goals from set kicks.
Judging from the current situation, Koke is Atletico Madrid's number one corner kick taker. Also involved in the corner kick attack are Griezmann, Torres, Savic, Godin and other header experts.
Atletico Madrid's corner kicks generally have two placement options, namely the near post or the far post.
When the ball is kicked out from the corner flag area, the shadow forward and one of the center backs will move towards the near post, while the forward players represented by Griezmann will run towards the far post.
In the middle of the penalty area, the remaining central defender is responsible for completing the task of grabbing points.
The same goes for free kicks in the frontcourt.
Generally speaking, there are still a few players with excellent header ability lurking in the opponent's penalty area.
The two defensive midfielders are responsible for standing outside the penalty area line. This not only effectively ensures the control of the two points, is conducive to reorganizing the offense, but also limits the opponent's rapid counterattack to a large extent.
Atletico Madrid's free kicks can also be seen in the video posted by Pan Yi.
If the position is better and closer to the goal, Gabi will usually choose to hit the goal directly.
And if the position is slightly worse, there will be corresponding free kick coordination.
Everyone saw that the moment the free kick was taken, Griezmann's movement direction was towards the far post.
In fact, Griezmann's movement is just to distract the opponent's defensive players and create opportunities for teammates who are outflanking in the middle.
Next, after Griezmann completes the false move, Torres, including Godin behind him, may get opportunities in the middle.
"We must pay attention to these offensive methods of Atletico Madrid and practice them in the following training, so that practice makes perfect."
Pan Yi finally said:
"I have a hunch that Simeone will take advantage of their home court this time and abandon their tradition of defensive counterattacks, and instead launch a fierce attack from the beginning."
"Of course we are not afraid of their offense. As long as we do what I ask, we can still win a victory at the Calderon Stadium!"
There were bursts of applause in the conference room.
This is a compliment to Pan Yi's wonderful "course", and it is also a positive response to Pan Yi's belief in winning!