In the second half of 2o15, Ishii Masatada took over as the head coach and brought high-intensity training, strict management and physical-based pressing tactics, which are exactly the same as Zhang Sheng's tactical changes in the second half of the 2o15 season.
After receiving praise from the outside world in the Club World Cup, the internal conflicts seemed to have never occurred and no one mentioned them again, but all this was just covered up by the results.
Because Kashima fought on four fronts in 2o16, its pre-season rest and training time combined was less than 50 days, and then it was time to start a new year's journey. This was especially detrimental to Kashima Antlers, who placed great emphasis on physical fitness in tactics.
In the first round of the league, they lost to the underdog Hiroshima at home, and in the second round, they struggled to win against the relegation team 1:0 away. The team's decline is evident.
In addition, compared with the Longteng team, the Kashima young players and foreign players who have never played in the AFC Champions League, and Ishii Masatada, who is exposed to the AFC Champions League for the first time, the entire team is extremely lacking in AFC Champions League experience. In the last round of the AFC Champions League,
The away defeat to Muangthong United was not just an upset.
Before the game, Ishii Masatada seemed very low-key: "The Dragons are the top team in Asia. They have rich experience in the AFC Champions League. Compared to the previous two years, I think they are even stronger and their offense and defense are very orderly. However, despite this
, we will still go all out."
On his home court, saying this, Kashima Antlers' attitude is really low.
Zhang Sheng listened to Ishii Masatada's words, because judging from the historical record, Kashima Antlers not only remained undefeated against the Chinese team at their home court, they also won all seven games.
Of course, these competitions are relatively old and not very representative.
The home team was polite, but Zhang Sheng spoke very modestly: "Kashima Antlers have proven their strength in the Club World Cup, and away games are always difficult. We will treat this game very carefully."
After the game officially started, Zhang Sheng really felt that Kashima Antlers was different from several J-League teams in recent years.
In the past, the Longteng team's J-League opponents had good foot skills, smart running without the ball, and first-class passing and receiving skills. However, the pace of the game was relatively slow. The football advanced from the backcourt to the midfield step by step, and then circled around the opponent's ball.
The players move back and forth from the left to the right of the penalty area, seeking to score goals by creating gaps or sudden rhythm changes by the offensive players holding the ball.
The rhythm of Kashima Antlers is very fast.
As the two wing-backs of the Dragon Team like to press forward, they specifically play behind the two wingers of the Dragon Team. The two wing-backs and full-backs take turns to intersperse and assist to the frontcourt. In just three minutes of the game, they got the opening goal.
With the ball in hand, they have scored twice in a row into the Longteng team's half.
With a lot of investment in offense, Kashima Antlers' defense is also very active. The two full-backs keep chasing back and defending. After losing the ball, they immediately get up to fight with their bodies. Sometimes even the two forwards return to their own half.
An area of thirty meters.
The tactics Ishii Masatada instilled in Kashima Antlers are also the direction that Japanese football has slowly begun to change in the past two years.
The inherent impression of Japanese football is that it has a slow pace, emphasizes ball control, cross passing, small-scale cooperation, is not strong in confrontation, and has good skills. Although there are some differences in the details of most clubs, they are generally the same.
At the same national team level, after Zaccheroni left, both coaches Aguirre and Halilhodzic went against the so-called tradition. The failure of the 2o14 World Cup at least made the Japan Football Association realize the importance of confrontation.
First there was Nagoya during the Stojkovic era, then Tosu during the Yoon Kyung-hwan era, and now Kashima Antlers under Masatada Ishii. Teams in the J-League that can handle confrontations well have achieved success in recent years.
Now, like the Yokohama F. Marinos who took over from Mombalz, they abandoned the ball-controlling style of play led by Shunsuke Nakamura. After the "second-timer" Yoon Jinghuan took over the newly promoted Osaka Sakura, he practiced three times a day, and practiced physical fitness at 5 a.m. for more than a month.
It can be said that the talent has been trained into a soldier, and the pre-season warm-up match and the first two rounds were played with great force.
However, all these improvements are based on the players having good foot skills.
Zhang Sheng's plan for the Longteng team actually followed this path. In the early days, players such as Gao Jun and Liu Xing were all over 1.7 meters tall and had average fighting ability, but their foot skills were extremely good compared to domestic players.
The Longteng team initially played the same pass-and-control tactics used by J-League teams. However, with the help of the system, the team established a technology-centered style and atmosphere. Zhang Sheng decisively strengthened confrontation and oppression. At this time,
Among the players on the field, people such as Qi Ming, Nie Jiang and others are both technically and physically skilled.
"Higher, faster, stronger" based on good technology - higher tempo games, faster offense and defense transitions, stronger physical confrontation - is the current trend of football development.
On the court, Kashima Antlers played with great passion, and the Japanese commentators from nTV (Japanese Television), former international player Toshimi Mizunami, and sports commentator Kengo Nakano, who were in charge of the commentary, also used a consistent Japanese commentary style.
"Kashima's football is the most powerful in our J-League. As a team with a famous background, they have shown their strength in the AFC Champions League. Even if they are facing the Longteng team, known as the Dragon of China, in our case
At home, we still have the advantage." Nakano Kengo was very happy.
As a commentator who has explained that the Longteng team faced Japanese teams in the AFC Champions League many times, the previous Longteng team relied on faster rhythm, stronger pressure, and sharper personal breakthroughs to achieve many victories, and this time
Kashima Antlers can rely on running and confrontation to equal the score with the Dragons, and he is very happy.
"Now we have to score goals as soon as possible." As a player, Toshimi Mizunami is more aware of the details of tactics. "The Dragons have a good grasp of the rhythm. It is difficult for us to break into their 30-meter area, especially with them.
The deep-lying midfielder made up for his position in a timely manner, and the team's offensive rhythm needs to be accelerated."
Toshin Mizunami did express all of Ishii Masatada's current worries. The team's overall physical condition is not good. In the first half, they can maintain the smooth execution of tactics. In the second half, they are often powerless, so scoring early is the key to winning this game.
The key to the game.
The opposite head coach Zhang Sheng obviously has research on Kashima Antlers. In the past, the team did not care about anything, but all-round frontcourt pressure did not appear. For Silva, the midfielder who is mainly responsible for stealing
, the Longteng team didn’t pay much attention to it, and Mitsuo Ogasawara who was on the left and responsible for the ball in the midfield, Nie Jiang on the striker and Tao Wentao in the midfield kept interfering with him.
Mitsuo Ogasawara played very awkwardly, even if he switched positions with Silva, the back and forth attacks from Chavez and De Paul still did not allow him to easily hold the ball and distribute the ball.
Therefore, Kashima Antlers' offense relies more on wing attacks. In the 4-4-2 formation, once the midfielder cannot provide much support to the wings, the team's offensive layering will be very poor.
This is the reason why Toshin Toshinami said before that he could not successfully break into the 30-meter defensive zone of the Dragon Team.
In the last ten minutes of the first half, the impatient Kashima Antlers even sent two central defenders, Masako Gen and Ueda, to head the ball during the set-piece attack.
As for the Long Teng team, Lu Zhihui and Liming are better than these two Japanese players in terms of height, strength, and header ability. It is rare to force a Japanese team to play high ball.
In the 39th minute of the first half, because Ueda went straight up to participate in the corner kick attack, but did not have time to come back to defend, Ogasawara Mitsuo had to use a tactical foul and received a yellow card to prevent the counterattack of Fernando of the Dragon Team.
"This is simply a cheetah." Dong Lu, who was in charge of the commentary, marveled at Fernando's speed. "It was too fast. In just 0.51 seconds, he got rid of the defense of Kashima Antlers."
Dong Lu, who always likes to amuse himself with some messy numbers, is very confident in the Dragons: "Now the Dragons are playing smarter, Kashima Antlers' offense is heavy with thunder and small with rain, clinging to the two wings.
, the Longteng team obviously played with ease."
"This season, the strength of the Longteng team's midfield and backfield has declined. After Roque Gill and Du Zhenyu left, their midfield does not have as large an interception area as last season, so the team should play more steadily than before.
It was specially arranged by coach Zhang Sheng." Li Xin expressed his own opinion.
Li Xin's words are true. Qi Ming's potential value is higher than that of Roque Gill, but after all, he has not fully realized it now, and his actual ability is inferior. Lu Zhihui's age, body, and ability value are not as good as Du Zhenyu's, and the defensive area has shrunk.
For sure.
In Kashima Antlers, the "devil" away game of the Chinese team, it is necessary to adopt a certain strategy.
Fernando's counterattack not only made the Chinese commentators happy, but several Japanese commentators were also frightened.
"Fernando from Brazil was a foreign player bought by the Longteng team two years ago. He has been on loan and was only taken back this season. At that time, the Longteng team had top foreign players like Pato and Ben Arfa. He had no place for the time being. Now
It was finally his turn to take over the vacancies left after these top foreign players left." Toshinomi Toshinami looked at the information provided by Kengo Nakano and introduced Fernando, "I think everyone has seen his characteristics, such as fast speed, flexible turns, and good ball control.
It feels good, it reminds me of Guangzhou Evergrande’s former top foreign aid - Muric."
"We really cannot treat him as an ordinary foreign player." Kengo Nakano nodded in agreement, "His abilities are not inferior to those of top foreign players."
According to the analysis of the commentators on both sides, the Longteng team's steady maneuvering kept the score at o:o until the end of the first half. Zhang Sheng was very satisfied with this result.
During the halftime break, Ishii Masatada's first substitution was aimed at veteran Mitsuo Ogasawara, who was completely restricted, and his successor Ryota Nagaki was pushed onto the field.
For Yumesaki Kanazaki on the front line, Ishii Masatada did not save any face: "We need a stronger impact at the center position, but as a boxer in the penalty area, your performance did not meet the requirements. In the second half, we need to score goals
, the sooner the better.”
As soon as the broadcast camera returned to the game in the second half, the commentators from both China and Japan noticed the replacement of Kashima Antlers players.
"As a veteran, in a game like this, Ogasa-kun did his best, but Kashima needs a stronger midfielder with better physical fitness." Toshinomi Tsunami turned over the information in his hand, "Last year's AFC Champions League.
, the Longteng team demonstrated its ability to block veterans in the match against South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai. Their players are generally strong, and when it comes to confrontation, the veterans really suffer."
"I hope Nagaki-kun can assume the ball-distribution function in the midfield." Kengo Nakano almost said the words "please".
However, Ryota Nagaki was still severely restricted after he came on the field. The Dragons were very confident in their opponent's single-core play style. The broadcast cameras frequently focused on Masatada Ishii on the sidelines, with his slimmed-down black face.
He frowned again, as if he had been fished out of bitter water.
Compared with Mitsuo Ogasawara, Ryota Nagaki has an advantage, that is, his long-range shooting ability is good.
In the second half, the team could not rely on positional warfare to gain scoring opportunities. Nagaki Ryota's two consecutive high-quality heavy shots in the 52nd and 57th minutes surprised the Kashima Antlers players who had been singing and dancing in the stands twice.
.
Especially the u1tras fans in the Kashima South Stand, as die-hard fans of the team, although they are constantly singing and cheering for the team, they still hope that the team can score and win. Ryota Nagaki gives them the hope
Got on Tinder.
Just when the fans hoped that the next shot would score a goal, the Longteng team counterattacked, and Qiming passed the ball to Fernando.
After Fernando got the ball, Silva, who was also a fellow Brazilian, was surprised by his extra move. All he could do was follow Fernando like a bodyguard.
"This is another Muric." Toshin Toshin, who has commented on the AFC Champions League many times, fell into the fear of being dominated by Ji Ye on the court. "He broke into the penalty area and wanted to go solo! Pass the ball, and the one in the middle is
Nie Jiang, this talented player of the Chinese national team, shooooooot! The ball went in!"
"Ah. Fernando and Nie Jiang seized the opportunity to counterattack. This is the terrifying side of Asia's top teams, the terrifying side of Brazil's top foreign players, and the terrifying side of coach Zhang Sheng when facing the J-League team. Ah, the game is a bit
It's hard to beat." Nakano Kengo severely criticized the Dragon Team again.
Fernando was even more excited than Nie Jiang who scored the goal. He happily pulled Nie Jiang and put his arm around Nie Jiang's shoulders: "Good job."
Zhang Sheng is also very pleased. Fernando’s assist shows that he is a player who can cooperate. In the previous two league games, including the time before this game, when there were many opportunities to counterattack, Fernando subconsciously persisted for a long time.
The ball wasted several chances.
This time he finally restrained his thoughts of going it alone and decisively passed the ball to his teammate who was in a better position when he strayed from the goal.
