On the afternoon of May 22, London, Wembley Stadium.
FA Cup final, Manchester United vs Chelsea.
The starting lineup arranged by Van Gaal was basically similar to Pan Yi's expectation.
A -1 formation, with Rashford forward, Martial and Mata on both sides, and Rooney and Fellaini in the middle.
Behind the single defensive midfielder Carrick are Rojo, Blind, Smalling and Valencia, as well as goalkeeper De Gea.
Compared with the last time the two teams met, Manchester United's two original full-backs Damian and Ashley Young were replaced, while the double midfielders Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger also did not play.
Of course there is also Van Gaal’s fellow Dutchman Depay.
This is mainly due to the tactical changes brought about by the formation change, so Van Gaal needs players who are more adaptable to this style of play, and he also needs to counterattack against Chelsea's strong control.
Therefore, after the opening, Van Gaal did not adopt the high-position pressing tactics at the beginning. Instead, he first set up his defense line and waited for Chelsea to attack.
This resulted in Chelsea getting the ball smoothly from the beginning of the game and controlling the rhythm.
Of course, based on the current overall strength, Chelsea still has an advantage. Even if Manchester United does not take the initiative to give up the ball, it will be difficult to overtake Chelsea.
Just over two minutes into the game, Chelsea created an opportunity on the left. Lingard broke through Valencia, cut inside and fired a long shot from the outside of the penalty area, becoming the first shot of the game.
Chelsea then created several more opportunities. Lukaku, Cancelo, and Kante each had a shot, but they were all long shots from outside the penalty area.
Manchester United was relatively passive on the scene, but the defense was very tight and did not give Chelsea a good chance.
Van Gaal's strategy for this game is very clear, which is to let Chelsea take the initiative to attack and then wait for opportunities to hit Chelsea behind.
So every time there was a chance to counterattack, Manchester United played very quickly, basically not dribbling the ball too much in their own backcourt, but sending it directly to the front with two or three kicks.
Either rely on a through ball from the midfield to find Rashford in front and use speed to break through, or directly play the ball from the backcourt and find Fellaini who comes in from behind to fight for the top. In short, the tactics are very simple.
And if the ball is lost in the frontcourt at this time, Manchester United's midfield and backfield will retreat very quickly and organize a tight defense within seconds.
After all, there are not many troops invested in the frontcourt, and Manchester United is not afraid of being hit by a counterattack during the attack.
This also forces Chelsea to face a tough position battle.
Although Manchester United's current back line is not the best in the world, after two years of training by Van Gaal, it can be said to have good defensive stability.
In addition, almost all Manchester United players returned to the penalty area when retreating, which made it even more difficult for Chelsea to break through Manchester United's defense.
——
Currently, the most active player in the Chelsea team is former Manchester United player Jesse Lingard.
As Lingard, who has the "Kill Old Owner" buff, he is the most energetic every time he plays against Manchester United, and he does perform well every time.
In addition to taking the first shot of the game, he then took another long shot from 20 meters away.
Later, he once stepped in and shot high in the penalty area.
This also makes him Chelsea's biggest threat to Manchester United's goal.
"This kid is very excited tonight!" Arteta laughed.
Pan Yi nodded.
As a Manchester United youth trainee, is there anything more exciting than facing your old club after being abandoned by your home team?
This is also the biggest reason why Pan Yi started Lingard today.
In fact, in the current Chelsea, when playing, Lingard can generally only be used as a regular rotation or substitute.
After all, among the three positions in the midfield, one of the defensive midfielder positions must belong to Kante or Matic. Lingard cannot play this position, so he can only compete for the two attacking midfielder positions.
But now Hazard and Seat B are in good condition, and they are basically Pan Yi's first choice.
In some situations where increased confrontation is needed, Goretzka is more useful. When a breakthrough is needed, Gnabry is undoubtedly the better choice.
Lingard's advantage lies in his ability to run back and forth in series, and if Pan Yi uses -1, he will have a better chance of making an appearance.
But in this system, he really doesn't have many advantages.
Of course, one good thing about Lingard is his optimistic personality, coupled with Pan Yi's frequent rotation policy, which makes Lingard quite satisfied with his current playing time.
In addition, the team's performance is so outstanding, there will definitely be no complaints.
And every time Lingard plays, he can always adjust his condition to the best and run relentlessly to make the greatest contribution to the team.
On the current court, Lingard intercepted the ball that Fellaini wanted to pass to Rooney through an active tackle in his own half, and then handed it to the left.
After receiving the ball, Cancelo took a step forward, saw an opportunity, and directly passed the ball diagonally to the penalty area of Manchester United in front.
The ball landed on the left side of the top of the arc in the penalty area and then rebounded and fell towards the penalty area.
Mbappe quickly penetrated between the two central defenders Blind and Smalling, and rushed straight into the penalty area ahead of them.
Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea decisively gave up the goal and the timing was just right. Almost when Mbappe hit the goal, his hands were just in time to block it.
The ball hit De Gea's hand, bounced high and fell to the right side of the penalty area.
Lukaku quickly caught up, stopped the ball before Smalling, and quickly passed the ball back to the outer area of the penalty area.
I saw Lingard rushing out of Manchester United's penalty area from behind. Before Blind had time to interfere, he stopped the ball and fired a volley with his right foot, trying to hit the ball to the far corner.
But his shot was saved by De Gea.
This time De Gea's second reaction was really very fast!
Almost as soon as he struck out to block Mbappe's shot, he immediately returned to the goal line, and then fought hard to save Lingard's shot.
The entire Wembley Stadium burst into warm applause for De Gea.
This is a very exciting, even great save!
If this ball is lost, Manchester United will be in danger!
After all, today's Manchester United mainly plays a defensive counterattack, and the thing that teams with this style of play fear most is conceding the ball first.
Even Pan Yi on the sidelines couldn't help but praise De Gea's wonderful save.
Although De Gea's technical characteristics are not in line with Pan Yi's offensive system, he will play a very important role when Manchester United uses squatting style of play.
His goal-line skills and reaction ability are definitely among the best in the world!
It is precisely because of his existence that Manchester United has the capital to play defensive tactics.
Otherwise, why would there be such a long-circulated saying:
The frontcourt is picturesque, De Gea in the backcourt!——
The game time is passing bit by bit.
Chelsea firmly controlled the situation and kept attacking Manchester United.
Manchester United was not powerless to fight back, but they failed to pose a threat after two or three counterattacks. This led to the scene looking like Chelsea was overwhelmingly suppressing Manchester United.
But this is not necessarily a good sign.
As the saying goes, if you attack for a long time, you will lose something. If Chelsea continues to fail to score when Chelsea has an obvious advantage, the mentality of the players on both sides will change.
The offensive team may become anxious, while the defensive team will become more and more confident.
This is also the turning point where some teams that set the bus or defend against counterattacks can win.
So Pan Yi also walked to the sidelines and began to make some on-the-spot adjustments.
He signaled to the players that when attacking, the two wings should be further apart and the two wing-backs could intersect more resolutely.
The main reason is that Chelsea's recent attacks have been concentrated in the center, but due to the contraction of Manchester United's formation, the center of the stadium is now very crowded.
This makes it difficult for Chelsea to cooperate smoothly in the middle. It is often difficult to find a breakthrough after multiple kicks outside the penalty area. In the end, they can only shoot from long range.
This is also the reason why most of Chelsea's shots after the opening were long-range shots.
Therefore, Pan Yi asked his players to pay more attention to opening up space on the wing. In addition to wing backs, including Hazard, Lingard can also develop to the left and right, open the defense from the wing, and then turn back.
Go to the middle road.
"Eden, you have to get the ball more and pay attention to breakthroughs and cooperation on the wing!" Pan Yi shouted towards Hazard, who was closest to him.
He also plays a forward position in the midfield. Compared with Lingard, who was more excited today, Hazard is indeed a bit too low-key.
He didn't get the ball many times, and he didn't make many breakthroughs.
This also means that Mbappe, who is more inclined to Hazard's side in terms of position, does not have many opportunities to get the ball, making it difficult to use speed to threaten Manchester United's defense.
Therefore, allowing Hazard to break through with the ball and do enough work on the wing may be a key to Chelsea breaking the deadlock.
After hearing the latest instructions from the head coach, Chelsea's players immediately began to implement them.
The ball is more often passed to the wings, and then the wing-backs on both sides, or the two midfielders who are wide, make the breakthrough.
Make full use of the width of the venue!
Lingard and Hazard will also frequently exchange positions, taking turns attacking the opponent's full-back on the wing.
This in itself is the characteristic of Pan Yi's formation.
These two players act as attacking midfielders when attacking in the center, and become wingers when attacking on the wing, and they do not have fixed positions.
Such flexible, wide-range running will make it difficult for the opponent's defensive players to find the corresponding personnel for targeted defense.
Gradually, the game entered 30 minutes, and Chelsea's offense also improved.
Lingard led forward along the right this time, Rojo came to defend, and Hazard came from the center to receive the ball, so Lingard passed the ball to him.
The two midfielders moved to the right to create a strong offensive side to beat Manchester United left back Rojo.
When Hazard came over, Manchester United midfielder Carrick rushed to defend, but Hazard stopped and dribbled past, then accelerated, just avoiding Carrick, and at the same time continued to dribble the ball laterally.
At this moment, Hazard is still some distance from the penalty area and cannot pose a threat with long shots, so Manchester United's defense is relatively lax.
Rooney, who also plays the role of attacking midfielder, comes up to block, allowing Rojo to return to the defense line in time, and Carrick in the center is also in place.
Rooney saw the opportunity and fell to the ground to tackle the ball, but the kick ended too early.
Hazard's continuous small steps changed the rhythm, causing Rooney to fall to the ground, and he cleverly avoided it.
At this time, he got a brief unguarded free time, so he glanced at the penalty area and sent a long diagonal pass with his left foot.
I saw the ball pass diagonally from the right side of the penalty area to the front of the small penalty area.
Mbappe moved forward smartly, rushed behind Manchester United's two central defenders, and got ahead of the attacking goalkeeper De Gea. He stepped sideways and intercepted the ball from mid-air.
But at this time, it was difficult for Mbappe to control the ball or shoot because Blind rushed up and blocked the path where the ball might pose a threat.
Mbappe also reacted very quickly. As soon as he saw that he had missed the best opportunity to shoot, he immediately picked up his left foot, got ahead of Blind, and passed the ball back, which happened to be passed to Blind's just now
in position.
At this time, Lukaku arrived just in time to meet Mbappe's pass from the inverted triangle and fired directly.
At this time, De Gea was still on the other side of the goal, and Lukaku sent the ball directly into the Manchester United goal!
"The ball went in!!!!!!"
"In the 32nd minute, Lukaku opened the scoring for Chelsea!"
"This is definitely a wonderful offensive cooperation!"
"Hazard cut in from the right and made a long diagonal pass with his left foot. Mbappe knocked back in an inverted triangle, and Lukaku fired an angry shot from behind."
"Chelsea's entire goal coordination was very skillful and had a tacit understanding. Manchester United's defensive players could not touch the ball the whole time and were completely powerless to stop it!"
"We can also see that Chelsea coach Pan Yi's fine-tuning of the team's tactics has had an effect. Lingard and Hazard moved to the wing to form offensive pressure, making it difficult for Manchester United to defend."
"Hazard's timely pass, Mbappe's counterattack, and Lukaku's shot were all done in one go! Such a three-dimensional attack is the key to Chelsea's ability to tear apart Manchester United's defense."
"This goal is very important. It broke the balance that had been maintained for half an hour."
"Now that Chelsea are ahead, can Manchester United maintain their defensive counterattack style?"
——
"It's over."
The moment Lukaku scored, Van Gaal's heart flashed with these words.
This season, Manchester United was able to draw one draw and lose one against Chelsea in the league, and both fought to the end. The most critical point was that Chelsea did not score first.
Being scored first by Chelsea often means the beginning of a player's psychological breakdown, especially when you are preparing for a defensive counterattack.
Today, everyone can feel Manchester United's disadvantages and pressure on the field, but they can still withstand it because they have not yet been able to break through the defense.
but now?
Van Gaal recalled the fear of being blasted eight goals by Pan Yi last season...
In the final analysis, it is still a question of strength.
Chelsea not only has the advantage of passing and controlling the ball, but also is obviously slightly better than Manchester United in terms of the overall strength of the players.
Therefore, Van Gaal can only try to make some tactical gains.
But now Pan Yi used his fine-tuned tactics to score the goal first, and it was very difficult for Manchester United to handle it.
"This world still belongs to young people after all." Van Gaal sighed and said.
Van Gaal suddenly felt that he was indeed old.
Seeing the 30-year-old Pan Yi in high spirits and scolding Fang Qiu, while the 65-year-old himself is facing the dilemma of being dismissed from get out of class, Van Gaal's heart is really filled with melancholy.
What if Mourinho takes over Manchester United?
Is it really possible to compete with Pan Yi and Chelsea like this?
This is a team that makes people feel desperate even if they score a goal.
Unless Pan Yi is no longer in the Premier League...
——
Although Van Gaal was already in full awe of Pan Yi, he still made adjustments when the game entered the second half.
He moved Valencia forward from the full-back position and asked Smalling, Blind and Rojo to form a three-centre-back position at the back.
In the midfield, Fellaini and Carrick formed a double defensive midfielder, with Mata and Valencia on the left and right.
Rooney was also pushed forward to the center position, with Rashford and Martial separated on the left and right to form a front three.
Van Gaal has adjusted his formation to become more aggressive and is ready to give Chelsea a try!
After all, this may be his last game at Manchester United. If he doesn't fight hard, he will have no chance in the future!
After making such adjustments, Manchester United's midfield has indeed improved greatly.
After all, the players no longer stay in the backcourt, but boldly press forward, and they receive more support from each other.
In the 60th minute, Carrick sent a direct pass in the midfield. After getting rid of David Luiz, Rooney took a shot from the ribs of the penalty area, but Martinez, who also reacted quickly, bravely blocked the ball.
Rashford's follow-up shot was also blocked by Van Dijk in time.
This has been Manchester United's most threatening offense so far in this game.
And Pan Yi obviously saw signs of Manchester United's counterattack.
He thought for a moment and then made his own adjustments.
This time, two people are replaced directly!
Hazard and Lingard in the midfield were both replaced and replaced by Goretzka and seat B.
This is mainly due to the fact that both Hazard and Lingard were physically exhausted after running across a wide range for a long time in the first half.
At this time, replacing the B seat with excellent ball control ability and stronger running ability can cause more trouble for Manchester United's defense.
The reason for replacing Goretzka was for the balance of offense and defense.
In such a cup final, with a one-goal lead, Pan Yi still needs to take stock of the situation on the field and let his midfielder improve its interception capabilities to give Manchester United some strength.
And despite playing two attacking midfielders in a row, in fact, under the protection of Goretzka + Kante, Seat B, including Mbappe and Lukaku on the front line, can actually liberate more powerful players.
offensive firepower!
In fact, this is also true.
After the substitutions, Chelsea quickly stabilized the midfield position, and Manchester United's offensive that finally took off was suppressed again.
On the contrary, Chelsea, with the support of the B seat, kicked out several threatening attacks, forcing De Gea to make several more key saves.
In the 75th minute, Van Gaal also made substitutions.
He replaced Carrick with Depay!
At this time, Manchester United's formation became a bit deformed, with four forwards attacking in the frontcourt!
It can be said that Van Gaal was completely prepared.
When attacking, Rooney, Martial, Rashford, and Depay will press forward, while Mata and Valencia on both sides will also rush in from the wings to support the forward.
This style of play still poses a certain threat to Chelsea, but their shortcomings are also obvious.
With so many people attacking, the defense must be unstable!
Basically, when defending, only Manchester United's three central defenders can stand in their positions, and at most Fellaini is included. In fact, when attacking, the tall Belgian still has to often go to Chelsea's penalty area to fight for the top.
As a result, Chelsea will often form a situation of attacking more with less when counterattacking.
In the 86th minute, Valencia quickly inserted in from the wing and was about to accelerate forward when he was entangled by Cancelo.
Cancelo is not slow either! This is why Pan Yi started with him today instead of Marcos Alonso.
The two got together on the wing and the ball eventually went out of bounds.
Cancelo got up from the ground very quickly, rushed out of bounds, picked up the ball and threw it to Mbappe in front.
Mbappe kicked his foot and shook off Freni, who was coming to defend him. After that, the front was almost flat!
He led the way and soon reached Manchester United's backcourt and began to dribble the ball towards the penalty area.
At this time, Lukaku had also moved to the right side of the top of the arc. After blocking Blind with his body, he raised his hand to ask for the ball.
Mbappe passed the ball to Lukaku, and he immediately moved forward as quickly as possible, directly into the top area of the arc.
Lukaku also understood the situation and sent the ball directly without stopping. It happened to be on the path of Mbappé, allowing the French boy to dribble the ball into the penalty area and directly into Blind's defense zone just now.
But Chelsea's offensive cooperation has long been noticed by Smalling. He tightly entangled Mbappe all the way, forcing him to not face the goal directly and had to make an emergency stop and pass the ball back.
Lukaku has also completed his turn, inserted into the penalty area, met Mbappe's pass, and shot directly.
But Blind reacted faster, took the lead, and flew to block the eye-catching shot.
Lukaku's shot hit Blind's body and bounced near the penalty spot.
At this moment, the restricted area was in chaos.
Everything happened in an instant. Even when Carrick, who was returning to defense, was still looking for traces of the football, Seat B, who was running as fast as a rabbit, had already quickly jumped in!
He rushed to the penalty spot before anyone else, faced the falling ball, and fired an angry shot.
De Gea opened his arms and fell to the ground sideways, trying to block the shot angle, but the ball was hit too fast.
The shot from Seat B seemed to use all the strength of the body, and the ball went straight into the Manchester United goal.
"The ball goes in again!!!!!!"
"In the 86th minute, Chelsea scored another goal!"
"Chelsea played an effective counterattack. Lukaku and Mbappe performed a series of beautiful coordination in the forward line, and then formed a shot and finally scored!"
"Bernardo Silva! This is a goal from the B seat who came on as a substitute!"
"This is another magical substitution by Pan Yi! Of course, the substitute players have made contributions, which is also a regular plot for Pan Yi..."
"Two to zero! There should be no suspense in this game by now!"
"Blues fans should be able to say with confidence: Chelsea are the champions!"
What the narrator said soon became reality.
After a few minutes, the referee blew the final whistle.
Chelsea defeated Manchester United 2-0 and won the FA Cup!
At the same time, this is also their sixth championship trophy this season!