Chapter 397 It’s not the Sevilla Cup, it’s the Emery Cup
"Sevilla's pressing is very fierce and strategic. When we play the ball in the backcourt, we must pay great attention to actively move to respond and not be forced to death by them. I want you to be aware of this at all times.
Remember."
In the Chelsea dressing room, Pan Yi reminded the players in a very serious tone.
Eleven Chelsea players nodded heavily.
Regarding this Super Cup match, Pan Yi has emphasized to them many times in the past few days the important things that Sevilla, their opponent, needs to pay attention to.
In other words, it is based on Emery's tactical characteristics.
The great flexibility of the midfield, relentless pressing, and efficient counterattacks are the biggest characteristics of this Sevilla team.
Since coaching Valencia, Emery has often used this style of play.
Sevilla's typical pressing method is that the players first use accurate positions to force the opponent to spread out, and then the two wingers penetrate into the small spaces on both sides of the court, thus containing the opponent's center back's defensive position, and at the same time forcing the full backs on both sides.
Retreat significantly.
The team's forwards lie deep in the attacking midfield, burying themselves in the midfield with the latter, and always pay attention to the movements of any unguarded players in the midfield and the assisting full-backs. At this time, they will form a
A similar "" type of position.
At this time, the best option for the opponent's goalkeeper is to pass the ball to the full-backs on both sides.
When he does this, three Sevilla players will immediately press forward, forcing the opponent to make a mistake or lose the ball.
Since the team presses deep, once the team seizes the ball, Sevilla players can make full use of the space to pass threatening balls.
If the opponent is very strong, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, or today's Chelsea, the strength gap with the opponent would have made it difficult for them to launch an effective attack easily, but this style of play can successfully create space during the forward pressing process.
and create opportunities.
Moreover, the offensive formation will not remain static, Emery will also make targeted changes according to different opponents.
So Pan Yi still attaches great importance to the king of the European League who is very good at playing in cup competitions.
In fact, in Pan Yi's previous life, after Emery won three consecutive Europa League titles in Sevilla, he went to Villarreal and also won the Europa League - and this was also the first time in the history of Yellow Submarine.
A heavyweight trophy.
This also proves that the Europa League may not actually be the "Sevilla Cup", but the "Emery Cup"...
"Sevilla's style of play determines that they don't need to have the ball, so the ball will be under our ball more. This is our opportunity, and it is also their opportunity."
Pan Yi said, opening a short video for the team members to watch.
This is a moment from the match between Barcelona and Sevilla last season.
In the video, Sevilla players used a tight defense against Messi who was deep in the midfield to get the ball. Messi was double-teamed by the opponent's left midfielder and left back.
Even Messi couldn't get rid of this kind of defense. After the ball was intercepted, Sevilla quickly launched a threatening counterattack and almost caused Barcelona to lose the ball.
"This is their main attack method. In this press, the team's defenders, midfielders and forwards formed a whole."
The difference from the frontcourt pressing is that the formation at this time is no longer a "" shape, but more like a peculiar hexagon.
At this time, if the player in the middle of the formation gets the ball, Sevilla can easily get a chance.
Therefore, Messi's only choice is to continue dribbling or pass back.
Once the ball is passed back to the midfield or back right side, the Sevilla forward will press the opponent's defense to try to steal the ball.
If Messi loses the ball, while Sevilla's ball carrier goes deep into the opponent's backcourt, the forwards, attacking midfielders and far-end wingers will press forward at the same time, thereby creating opportunities in the open space.
In both cases, Sevilla's pressing method allowed them to effectively obtain the ball.
Different from the way other teams play against Barcelona, Sevilla is good at making full use of the space on the court and can carry out effective frontcourt pressing.
However, if too many players participate in the frontcourt press, facing a strong team like Barcelona, if the interception of the ball fails, the team's defense will be fully exposed to the opponent.
Therefore, the positioning of Sevilla's two defensive midfielders also put a lot of pressure on Barcelona's players in the midfield area, and the forward pressure also prevented the defensive formation from being too loose.
"When defending, especially against a high defensive team like ours who usually move the defense forward, Emery usually forms a 4-4-2 formation in the backcourt."
"At this time, the offensive midfielder in the team's original 4231 formation will move forward and become the second forward, cooperating with the team's forward to put pressure on the opponent's defense."
"Their entire team usually adopts a defensive method that combines zone defense and full-court marking. The opponent's midfielder is usually the primary target of dedicated marking, while the wide players are selectively marked based on the direction of the dribbling."<
/p>
The video cuts to the next one.
In the picture, due to the interference of two defenders, it is difficult for Busquets on Barcelona's side to get the ball in the midfield, but he seems to be able to pass the ball to the two forward full-backs.
From the perspective of the Sevilla players, they shifted their defensive focus to the left, thus keeping a close eye on Barcelona's right midfielder and right back. At this time, Barcelona's only player on the left was Neymar, but he was already being closely defended.
.
There is a large space in front of Barcelona's left back. Once Busquets passes the ball to the left, this will play into the hands of the Sevilla players.
At this time, Sevilla will shift its defensive focus accordingly, and the defensive pressure on the right can be resolved.
"They like to mark our midfielders, and we must retaliate." Pan Yi continued, "Argentine midfielder Banega is their midfield commander, Goretzka, Matic, your task
Just to keep an eye on him and cut him off from his teammates."
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Both of them nodded: "Understood, boss."
The most interesting part of Emery's tactics is the use of three midfielders.
During the Sevilla season, Banega usually plays the role of attacking midfielder, with Krychowiak and Yinwora occupying the positions behind him. This season, Emery began to try Dehli and Nzonzi.
combination, but the effect is the same.
As the game progressed, Banega's position gradually retreated to better pass the ball. At this time, his vacancy was filled by Yin Wola.
When defending, Banega will not only help the forwards to defend, but also change the forward pressing method in time. This makes the team's midfield attack more diverse, and also gives the defense more options.
Sometimes Banega would even switch to a defensive position, which would help the team control the ball. When Krychowiak advanced, Banega would continue to defend in the midfield.
At the same time, the left midfielder Bitolo followed the space on the left side in front of Banega. This added a lot of defensive pressure to Sevilla's right, but it also brought some problems to other positions on the court.
Personnel advantages.
When the opponent focuses on Sevilla's poorly defended right wing, the ball will quickly move to other open areas.
In his last season at Sevilla, Rakitic played the role of a "box-to-box" all-around midfielder, and made a major contribution to the team's Europa League win; and now, Banega continues to pass on the legacy
Got Rakitic’s style.
"Today we must defend the left side well, because their usual focus of attack is here."
It can be said that Chelsea's left side has certain defensive weaknesses today.
Both Ake and Cancelo are very young, and Cancelo is better offensively than defensively.
Sevilla's opponent, former Arsenal player Reyes, has the natural talent and spirituality of a Spanish player. He has exquisite footwork and strong breakthrough ability, and is still very threatening.
"You two," Pan Yi pointed at Cancelo and Ake, "you need to get closer in this game to avoid too much space between the two. And Kanter must always pay attention to returning to defense to make up for them.
The space after pressing up."
All three of them nodded to express their acceptance.
Pan Yi looked at Cancelo again: "Especially for you, the pressure will be greater. You have to focus on defense. Don't make easy moves, follow the opponent, maintain communication with your teammates, control their crosses from the wing, and cut inside.
Just leave it to your teammates."
Cancelo nodded solemnly again.
He knows very well that his side will definitely be the target of the opponent's attack. If he is not handled well, he may become the number one sinner of the team's loss.
And when Pan Yi chose to let him play in such an important European Super Cup, he certainly didn't want to be such a sinner.
"That's pretty much it."
When Pan Yi said this, he looked at every player present with an extremely confident look:
"You have to believe me. As long as you play according to the way we arranged and practiced before the game, and don't take the initiative to make mistakes, the opponent will not get the slightest chance. And the final victory will belong to us!"
Pan Yi's words also excited everyone present. Cheers and shouts suddenly rang out in the locker room!
In the Sevilla dressing room, the atmosphere was a little tense.
Every player in Sevilla is facing a powerful enemy.
The players were divided into two rows, each sitting in front of the wardrobe. Emery stood among them, with a solemn look on his face.
"I believe I don't need to say more. Everyone knows that the opponent in this game may be the strongest team we have encountered in the past year."
"Their players all have outstanding personal abilities, and their head coach is Pan Yi, who is the best in today's football. They won the Premier League championship with an undefeated record and also won the Champions League championship."
Everyone nodded.
Chelsea's performance last season is already a legend, and the Sevilla players certainly know it.
In fact, except for the FA Cup and the League Cup, which were two relatively tasteless competitions, Chelsea remained undefeated in all other games!
And there are very few draws among them, otherwise the Premier League scoring record would not have been set.
"Let me remind everyone that our characteristic is counterattack. Ensuring efficiency is the first thing we have to do. And to do this, we must first do everything possible to destroy their possession of the ball."
"But we must not be in a hurry. You have to believe that Pan Yi and his Chelsea are not invincible. Like all teams, they have flaws, such as their defense on the left today."
"It's just that they are very good at using their advantages to cover up their flaws during the game, and what we have to do is to tear off their disguise and expose their flaws."
Emery said this and looked at Banega.
Just now, he got Chelsea's roster, and he saw Chelsea's three midfielders today: Kante, Goretzka and Matic.
Based on his research on Pan Yi, Emery can judge that Pan Yi's purpose of using this midfield combination is to force Banega.
After all, there are many more aggressive midfielders in Chelsea's squad, such as Hazard, B-side, Jesse Lingard, Gnabry, etc.
But Pan Yi chose several players with obviously stronger defensive abilities.
Banega is the lifeblood of Sevilla. Emery knows it and Pan Yi knows it even better.
Banega himself obviously understood this, so he raised his head and looked at Emery with a little firmness in his eyes.
Emery just nodded towards Banega and said nothing more.
Everything that needs to be said has been said, and the players themselves know what to do.
Emery also believes that as long as his players can execute their tactics well, defeating Chelsea will not be an unattainable dream!
With the referee's whistle, the much-anticipated European Super Cup finally kicked off.
Standing in the center circle, Lukaku made another classic reverse-foot kick, quickly kicking the ball to Harry Kane, who directly passed the ball back to the defense.
Van Dijk was not in a hurry after getting the ball, but stopped at his feet, waited for Sevilla forward Gameiro to grab it, and then passed it to the right and handed it to Moses.
Moses dribbled the ball forward along the right, but Bitolo came to defend immediately and had no chance. He dunked and passed it back to Kanter, then to Matic, and finally moved to the left.
At the feet of Cancelo, who played as a left midfielder today.
But Cancelo was pressed by Reyes and could only pass it back to Ake and then Zouma.
"Chelsea tried to keep the ball at their feet from the beginning, but now Sevilla is pressing higher and pressing very fiercely."
"After the back line passed the ball to each other, it is now Zouma who has the ball. Okay, it has been moved to the right again and handed to Moses."
"Moses stopped the ball well, took it forward, passed the center line, and passed it to Harry Kane."
"Harry Kane took the ball with his back, had no chance, and passed it back to Moses."
"The cooperation between the two new players is quite good. Kane is good at dropping back to get the ball, while Moses is fast and has first-class physical fitness. I believe that without Hazard, Chelsea's offense today will be the focus.
direction."
"It's just that Sevilla's pressing is very active now. Even Moses, who likes to dribble past people, doesn't dare to try it easily, so he passes the ball back again."
"This time it's at Van Dijk's feet again... He passed it to Goretzka, and the German directly passed a long pass to the right!"
"Harry Kane! He stopped the ball lightly and smashed the ball beautifully! After stopping the ball, he made a fake move, deceived Tremolinas and then smashed the ball inside, and then passed the ball with his left foot.
On the right, the whole process is done in one go."
"There's a chance! His strike partner Lukaku is right there!"
"Since Harry Kane joined Chelsea, the task of dropping back to catch the ball has often been given to him, while Lukaku more often acts as a fulcrum striker in front, and of course often waits to catch Kane.
The bread brought by grace."
"Now, this piece of cake is about to be made..."
"Oops, Sevilla's center back Rami reacted very quickly, blocked Lukaku, got stuck in his position, and headed the ball to clear the ball, pushing the ball over the baseline."
"This French defender who played for AC Milan last season performed very steadily. He just transferred to Sevilla this season and became the team's main force. And this defense also reflects his strength." "Chelsea's corner kick."
"Set-kicks are actually an offensive weapon that the Premier League champions are very good at. This time it was Matic who took the kick."
"Let's take a look at this corner kick attack. The penalty was taken and the landing point was in the penalty area..."
"The back point... is dangerous... Van Dijk! Ah, it's still higher than the crossbar."
"It can be seen that after the opening, Chelsea still showed their strength advantage and created good scoring opportunities."
"Sevilla is still a little passive on the scene. I wonder if Emery will have any adjustment plans?..."
In fact, Emery on the sidelines was indeed a little uneasy.
Since he coached Sevilla, he has become very proficient in this 4231 system. Even when facing strong teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, he is not weak at all.
Especially in a knockout competition like the Cup, the entire team already has a complete set of rules regarding how to pass the ball after the start, how to control the ball, how to press the opponent, and how to deal with the opponent's fierce press.
Mature implementation plan.
But tonight, in this game, when facing Chelsea, Emery suddenly discovered that the team's method seemed to be unworkable. Sevilla could not easily steal the ball from Chelsea's feet.
Ball rights.
Even in the first ten minutes of the game, Sevilla was relatively passive on the scene, and was attacked into the penalty area several times by its opponents, resulting in shots.
Especially Van Dijk's corner kick in the first three minutes. The Dutch central defender ran out of the gap and headed the goal, almost grazing the crossbar and going out of the baseline.
It can be said that if Van Dijk had lowered his head a little more, the ball might have been lost.
With that kind of distance and ball speed, it is impossible for his goalkeeper Beto to save the ball.
After that, Chelsea launched successive attacks, which made Sevilla a little tired of dealing with it and could only struggle to support it.
Fortunately, Chelsea began to slow down its attack after ten minutes, and Sevilla took advantage of this opportunity to begin to seize possession of the ball.
But Emery realizes that this is very difficult.
Chelsea's three midfielders today are really difficult to deal with!
Needless to say, Kanter’s range of activities and ability to cover the court;
Matic's coverage area is also very large, and he has the height of a central defender, a stable base, solid foot skills, and strong on-court confrontation ability.
In addition, he also has a strong ability to drive the ball and has a large coverage area.
It’s no wonder that these two are the main players in the Champions League. The new German boy Goretzka, although he is worth only 10,000 yuan, is also very active in fighting, defends very well, and even has a long foot.
Pass?
What kind of monsters are these?
As a result, both Banega and Vitolo and Reyes on both sides of him often lose the ball in their defensive areas.
Chelsea's three midfielders form a tight defensive barrier. Even if Sevilla's pass can finally be sent into the center of Chelsea's midfield, Van Dijk behind him can often block it immediately.
Use loopholes to disrupt Sevilla's passing.
This also shows that Chelsea's three lines, especially the midfield and back lines, are very closely connected, and each other's defense is also very good.
Van Dijk, Pan Yi's favorite general, quickly adapted to the position in the middle of the three-centre-back system after coming to Chelsea. He can coordinate the defensive responsibilities of teammates on both sides well, and can also actively move forward to provide support for the midfielder.
Provide more defense and even offense.
This situation has occurred several times in the first ten minutes or so.
Once, after Sevilla lost the ball in the frontcourt, Van Dijk directly passed the ball through the midfield line and sent it to the feet of Harry Kane.
This is simply De Bruyne’s possession!
Harry Kane and Lukaku played a one-two and almost entered the penalty area. Fortunately, Tremolinas blocked his position, allowing Harry Kane's shot to miss the post. Therefore, it is really difficult for Sevilla to threaten Chelsea through the center of the midfield.
On the contrary, Chelsea counterattacked very resolutely after stealing the ball. If it continues like this, it can be predicted that Sevilla will not be far away from conceding the ball.
Emery decided to make some changes immediately.
If the middle road doesn't work, we'll switch to the side road.
Using the breakthrough ability of Reyes on the right, coupled with Banega's support and Koke's assists, Pan Yi's 352 formation, which obviously focuses on the middle, completely exposed its flaws!