Chapter 474 I have been a fan of the Swedish team for 30 years!
Chapter 474 He has been a fan of the Swedish team for 30 years!
Author: Ant who watches football ruthlessly
Chapter 474 He has been a fan of the Swedish team for 30 years!
When all the Swedish players and staff rushed outside the stadium frantically and jumped up and down excitedly outside the stadium, Pan Yi slowly walked back to the coaching bench and took his seat.
His tense nerves were completely relaxed at this moment. He rubbed the bridge of his nose vigorously and closed his eyes to rest for a short while.
Wasn’t that penalty shootout too painful?
In other words, it was a bit of a fluke.
The fact is, even if the game is decided through a penalty shootout, it can be said that there is an element of luck in it.
Considering the stability of the German team in the penalty shootout, maybe Pan Yi "hacked" the Swedish team goalkeeper Isaksson beforehand, and now he is celebrating the victory, maybe he is a player of the German team.
"What's the matter, boss?"
Arteta and Scaloni noticed something unusual about Pan Yi and hurried over to check.
"It's okay, he was just wondering why they couldn't defeat them in 120 minutes." Pan Yi said with a smile.
Arteta and Scaloni looked at each other wrongly and were a little confused at first, but soon became relieved.
Then deny their leader!
Sweden defeated Germany and entered the semi-finals of the European Cup. Isn't that something worth celebrating?
But now Pan Yi is wondering why he didn't win more happily...
Perhaps it is because of his attitude of striving for excellence that he became the number one coach in the world.
As for Pan Yi, he really doesn't want to pin the team's fate on something illusory like "luck."
In fact, in overtime, the tactics Pan Yi designed for the Swedish team were already considered successful.
The advantage of being present in the body gradually turned into the advantage of being present in the scene, and the offensive became very powerful.
However, the inability to achieve a midfield configuration that integrates offense and defense has made it difficult to convert those offensive attacks into victories. In the past, they were dragged into penalty shootouts.
After defeating Germany and entering the semi-finals, the Swedish team came east to face the winners of France and Iceland.
Regardless of the memory of the past life or the mismatch in strength between the two teams, the host France team should be the winner.
Will England, known as the "Dragon Team of Europe", capsize in front of Iceland?
France may be stronger than the German team!
In recent years, it can be said that their stars have exploded, their strength has greatly increased, and they already have the strength to win any championship.
The fact is that in Pan Yi's previous life, the French team did reach the finals in the 16th European Cup, the 18th World Cup, and the 22nd World Cup, and won the initial championship in the 18th World Cup.
In front of such a French team, it is obvious that Sweden needs to do better than tomorrow to have a chance to enter the finals.
But now, the Swedish team is really in trouble in the midfield.
Whether Ekdahl, Weinblum, Larsson, or Kjellström can all achieve a certain aspect and fulfill some specific tactical needs;
But if they can combine offense and defense like Pogba and Kante of the French team, it would be a bit difficult.
It is precisely because of this that the Swedish team's three-midfielder tactic can prevent the German team's attack tomorrow, but it will be very difficult to go further to counterattack the wrong leg.
And tomorrow's game will actually expose that weakness to the whole world, including France's head coach Deschamps.
Of course he also saw how the German team defended the Swedish team's attack.
Tactics must be demonstrated on the football field. In the eyes of professionals, there can be no secrets!
"But they really don't have any suitable candidates left."
After listening to Pan Yi's explanation, Arteta and Scaloni also laughed bitterly.
After all, the national team is not a club. Without people, there are no people.
If the Swedish team has Kante and Pogba, will they be a second-tier European team?
"If we want to completely eliminate the problems of midfield operation and offensive and defensive transitions, starting Kjellström and Forsberg together will have the best effect. The two form a dual-core, which can produce stronger effects, but it will not
Then the defense in the midfield will be a problem."
Scaloni analyzed.
After hearing this, Pan Yi nodded and said: "So, there must be at least one defender behind them. They didn't use Ekdal before."
"But a defensive midfielder is obviously not good at playing against France, right?" Arteta looked worried.
"So, they have to think again."
Everyone nodded.
Everyone also agrees that the French team can enter the semi-finals, and everyone knows the strength of the French team.
Especially midfield.
Kanter + Pogba + Matuidi, all of them are versatile fighters who can attack and defend well.
Griezmann in the frontcourt will often drop back to the midfield to help organize the attack.
The midfield combination they formed has become more and more smooth in this European Cup. The more they play, the better they are. They also showed a smooth offensive scene that has been very rare in France in recent years.
If the Swedish team cannot adjust its midfield configuration, then when it faces France, the midfielder of the wrong team will definitely defeat Sweden. No one has any doubt about this.
So for the Swedish coaching staff, seeking changes is the only way to beat France.
But how it changes and to what extent it changes will be the biggest test and the key to whether Pan Yi can lead the team to defeat France.
——
In July and April, the 2016 European Cup quarter-finals took place for the last time.
France defeated Iceland 5-2 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to advance to the semi-finals. The host country's wrong leg in the semi-finals will deny the Swedish team!
France arranged a 4231 formation for this game, with Giroud serving as the center, and Griezmann and Payet ambushing behind them.
Midfielder Kante and defender Lamy are suspended for this game, and Moussa Sissoko and Umtiti get the chance to play.
Iceland still uses the 442 formation, and the starting lineup has not changed from before.
In the 12th minute of the game, Matuidi sent an exquisite overhead pass from the center. Giroud broke into the left side of the penalty area and hit a volley. France led Iceland 1-0.
In the 20th minute, Griezmann passed a corner kick from the right. Pogba jumped high to grab a header. The ball flew into the left corner of the goal. France expanded its lead 2-0.
That was Pogba's first goal in this cup. The French national team scored 6 goals in 36 appearances.
In the 43rd minute, Sagna made a pass from the right, Giroud grabbed the first point with a header, Griezmann calmly responded in the middle, Payet adjusted slightly and then volleyed, the ball went into the right east corner of the goal, France 3-3
0 ahead of Iceland.
In the 45th minute, Pogba made a long pass from the backcourt, Giroud cleverly made a good pass, and Griezmann quickly moved forward to form a single shot. Facing Halldorson who was attacking by mistake, Griezmann calmly hit the ball with a lob.
France leads Iceland 4-0.
That is Griezmann's fourth goal in this cup. He also surpassed Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic to lead the scoring list alone!
In the 56th minute, Gylfi Sigurdsson made a pass from the right, and Sigurd Thorson fell to the ground and shot the ball into the right east corner of the goal. Iceland tied the score to 1-4.
In the 59th minute, Payet was in the penalty area. Halldorsson made a mistake and Giroud hit the header with a header. France led Iceland 5-1.
In the 84th minute, Skurasson made a pass from the left, and Birgier Bjarnason headed the ball into the right east corner. Iceland tied the score to 2-5.
The two teams contributed 7 goals, and that game became the most scored game in this cup so far.
Although the dark horse cannot be completely blacked out, Iceland has remained in the hearts of all fans watching this European Cup.
Whether it was their goosebump-inducing Viking war-dance celebration or bearded captain Gunnarsson's "leg grenade tactics", Iceland was impressive both on the court and on the court.
Everyone who has watched this European Cup may never forget the figure of Iceland's national population of 330,000. No, it is indeed a number that should be remembered.
The national team of 330,000 people is the smallest national team in the history of the World Series, and their achievement of advancing to the top 8 may wait for them to break it.
Of course, now that Iceland is out, the real dark horse is their Nordic brother Sweden...
In the other two quarter-finals held earlier, Portugal also eliminated Poland through penalty kicks and advanced to the semi-finals.
Their wrong leg in the semi-final was...Wales!
The Red Dragons unexpectedly defeated the European Red Devils Belgium with a score of 3:1 and also reached the semi-finals!
In this game, Belgium scored a goal from Nainggolan in the 13th minute to take the lead against Wales.
But the Welsh team scored three goals in a row and eliminated the wrong leg before!
The Belgian team with a luxurious lineup once again lost disappointingly and completely left this cup.
Belgian head coach Wilmots has been strongly criticized by foreign media and fans. The Belgian Football Association also officially announced that Wilmots will no longer serve as the head coach of the Belgian national team.
Soon, the two staggered schedules for the semifinals were also released.
In July, Portugal missed the match against Wales;
In July and August, France will miss Sweden!
——
In the two days after returning to the base camp, Pan Yi had been studying the game between France and Iceland, and thinking about his lineup.
Iceland and Sweden are both located in Northern Europe. The technical and tactical characteristics of the players are somewhat similar. They are both tall, able to fight and rush, but their foot skills are slightly weaker.
Moreover, Iceland's midfield structure is even similar to that of Sweden, so there is Sigurdsson who is more technical, and he is protected by captain Gunnarsson who is intercepting;
Doesn’t that negate Sweden’s Forsberg + Ekdahl model?
Therefore, it is of great reference value to watch the game between France and Iceland and see how the Swedish team figured out how to deal with France.
Of course, compared to Iceland, Sweden has its own advantages.
That means Iceland lacks a comprehensive superstar like Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the front line, nor does it have an impactful young player like Isak. This means that the Icelanders are not as rich as Sweden in their offensive legs.
Iceland's playing style is actually very simple and crude: make a long pass from the center to find a header from the center forward, or pass the ball from the wing. If the pass fails, use the won ball to throw a powerful leg grenade into the penalty area, and then pass the ball forward and attack from two points.
When France missed two goals, it was possible to use two 45-degree diagonals from the wing, allowing players outside the penalty area to grab the point and then complete the shot.
But France's offense played more smoothly.
The double midfielder of Pogba and Matuidi suppresses the midfielder, allowing Pogba to better utilize his dispatching ability. Giroud will be the fulcrum in front, and the grid will retreat to become the attacking midfielder, while also serving as the second forward and Payet.
Special impact in the restricted area.
That kind of attack made Iceland unable to resist and conceded five goals in a row.
Of course, France's defense team seems to be unstable at the moment.
Evra has always had a weakness, and his air defense capabilities are not strong. Iceland's several leg grenades and headers pose a great threat.
I bet goalkeeper Lloris played well and Iceland's forwards were not good enough. France really won't win that many goals.
Taken together, Pan Yi is trying to find a combination that can suppress the performance of the French midfielder and at the same time exploit the loopholes in the French defense to break the wrong-legged goal.
He doesn't want to risk victory on penalty kicks anymore!
After all, France has never played a penalty shootout in this cup, regardless of whether it was in the previous life or that timeline. It is impossible for Pan Yi to give as reliable a "strategy" as he did against Germany.
"What? Is it very tricky?" Arteta walked to Pan Yi's desk and looked at the tactical drawings he was drawing on the table with interest, which included France's starting lineup and player positions.
Brother Tazi is also very popular. The problem that has troubled the Swedish team has never been that one, how to configure the midfield.
There were three days to prepare, but Pan Yi hoped to set the tone of the tactics as soon as possible, and then spend the next three days practicing the tactics with all his strength.
In such a tournament system, time is really precious, and my room for mistakes is very small!
When I'm at the club, I can spend more time on trial and error, and I can even practice in less demanding games like the League Cup and FA Cup.
But it doesn’t work there. I will veto every battle. If I neglect even a little bit, I will ask to go home!
"France's style of play is indeed very mature. Deschamps seems to be consciously pursuing high-level cooperation and penetration. Griezmann's combination in the East has made their routines more and more sophisticated."
Arteta analyzed the wrong-leg attack and found out whether it was done one by one now:
"And the existence of a big center like Giroud makes France's offensive methods very diverse. Of course, this is a natural pursuit. The routine is simple and can easily be frozen by the wrong leg. Therefore, France's long and short passing combination, from a certain
To a certain extent, they are very complementary.”
"Is Iceland unable to defend Giroud? They sometimes blocked the French's joint penetration in the frontcourt, but were killed by their high-altitude balls. France's first two goals were both missed headers..."
"Very well. Iceland's attack and defense at the wrong corners of France on both wings were very poor. Pogba found Giroud and Griezmann with many long passes in the half. It turns out that they don't know how to reflect. It turns out that they don't know how to reflect.
Pogba directly opened the Icelandic defense with a through ball, and Griezmann initially scored the goal."
"Those attacks may seem simple, but they are not a reflection of France's offensive capabilities and they are not so easy to defend!"
Arteta analyzed it, with a look of embarrassment on his face.
"Unless they can fully suppress France's midfield, it will be difficult to contain their offense. But if they want to restrict their midfield, they will have to invest more troops and pay a greater price.
At that time, what will happen to their offense?"
In football fields, the advantage is largely reflected in the number of people. Without investing enough troops, it will be difficult to establish a sufficient advantage.
But there are only so many starting lineups in a game, and more investment there means less troops are invested in other aspects. This is a matter of choice for the head coach.
Pan Yi nodded slightly, then stood up and walked to the tactical board, writing the names of several Swedish players in the midfield:
"If he lines up like that, I don't think it can achieve the goal of a balance between offense and defense?"
——
After successively defeating the world's top teams in Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Germany, the Swedish team has caused a wave of excitement around the world, making the European Cup the center of attention.
Various "30-year Swedish team fans" have also appeared in major forums. Everyone said that as early as the 1994 World Cup, they liked the Swedish team with Brolin and Dachlin.
At that time, the Swedish team also made it all the way to the semi-finals. Before that, it lost to the Brazilian team that originally won the championship in the semi-finals.
In the quarter-finals, the Swedish team also defeated Romania through a penalty shootout, and there was a famous scene in that game.
Then there was a textbook penalty. At that time, Sweden obtained a man who was in an excellent position on the right side of the penalty area in the frontcourt. Two Swedish players stood in front of the penalty spot.
The whistle sounded, and just when everyone thought they would choose to attack the goal directly, the kicker found Brolin who was hiding behind the wall with a direct kick. Unguarded, he shot in the small penalty area and hit the leg.
At that time, the classic person was blowing the cockroach, tearing the cock, howling, and blowing the cockroach
Including later in the 1998 World Cup, Sarwaiti also performed the same operation when Argentina missed England, and the goal scored by the Dutch team Verhorst into Argentina in the 2022 World Cup also had the same effect.
And many fans believe that the current Swedish team allows everyone to see the Yongxuan of the Swedish team that won the third place in the World Cup.
Forsberg in the midfield is like Dachlin, and Ibrahimovic is like an enhanced version of Brolin!
Many people also said that after Pan Yi took charge of the Swedish team, the team's skills and tactics were further released. Both offensively and defensively, Pan Yi made huge progress compared to his predecessor.
Therefore, it is true that everyone thinks that Pan Yi's slogan for Sweden to win is absolutely groundless. They do have that ability!
But there are also many professionals who believe that although the Swedish team's performance is improving in every game and getting better every game, the team has natural flaws.
"For the Swedish team in Dangdong, they have performed their defense to a certain height. They unswervingly implemented Pan Yi's tactical policy in Dingdong, which allowed them to only concede one goal in the previous five games.
Absolutely phenomenal performance.”
"But for the Swedish team that aims to win the championship, the biggest problem is not their defense, but their offense and their performance in key games."
"The cup is different from the league. The league relies on offense, while the cup relies on defense. This is well known in the football circle. Pan Yi used a defensive tactic of three midfielders, which allowed them to withstand Germany's attack and pass a penalty kick.
The battle has reached the semi-finals. But will such a move be useful against France?"
"Pan Yi is a very great head coach. There is no doubt about his ability, and he has indeed brought great changes to Sweden. But he has done a good job in the team's offensive and defensive balance.
He really needs to enrich the East Sweden team's offensive routine and legs."
"Is it possible? Unlike defensive adjustments that can be effective immediately, with the current staffing of the Swedish team, it may be difficult for Pan Yi to make any changes on the offensive end. The main problem lies in the midfield. None of the three midfielders can
Defensively, it’s really hard for me to beg them to free up energy to attack, you know they don’t have the ability?”
"If he still fails to score against France, can Pan Yi really expect his team to drag the game into a penalty shootout again? From the current point of view, France's offensive power is definitely higher than that of Germany.
of……"
Is this a column report from the British "Times"? Obviously they are not very optimistic about Sweden's semi-final prospects.
This is not because of Pan Yi's ability, but because they believe that the current staffing of the Swedish team objectively limits Pan Yi's performance.
Pan Yi wondered whether Sweden's improvement on the defensive end was very good and whether it was the key to Sweden's victory over Germany. However, whether it would be possible to enter the finals in this way or even win the championship is still unclear.
Of course, each coach may have different views on this point.
Mourinho believes that Sweden can win the championship as long as they defend well.
He affirmed Pan Yi's three-midfielder style of play and said that he was deeply impressed by that style of play.
"When facing Germany and France who are much stronger than their opponent, we don't have to think about offense. Just defend honestly and then give it a try in the penalty shootout!"
Wenger obviously disagrees with Mourinho's statement.
He said: "How to think more about sending the ball into the wrong goal while maintaining a solid defense will be a moment that reflects the wisdom of a top coach. It will also be Pan Yi's biggest test after leading the team to the semi-finals!"
But he also added at the beginning, "What happened to Sweden in the past? In that case, Pan Yi reached the semi-finals. Pan Yi has done everything he can do, and the rest can be left to the Soviet Union."
Emperor!"
Ferguson obviously did not consider the issue from Pan Yi's perspective. He said:
"Everyone wants to play beautiful and winnable football, but he doesn't do the same."
"The fact is, when he was coaching Manchester United, he was thinking every week about how to win the game in the most beautiful way, so as to please the fans to the greatest extent."
"But when he lost to Barcelona in two Champions League finals, he also began to think about whether he should compromise more. After all, I couldn't play the way I wanted to when faced with a player who was stronger than me.
Begging for football.”
"The Swedish team is not like that now. The existing personnel configuration cannot bear more radical and risky tactics, so he can understand Pan Yi."
"Because he can adopt a tactic that is more likely to produce results to help the team and win the game as much as possible!"