While Albertini was analyzing the possibility of Sporting Lisbon overturning Porto in the sky bar in Lisbon, in Porto in the far north, Mourinho and his coaching team were also studying their opponents in the office.
They all have a surprising consensus, that is, the first game after the winter break is crucial.
"We must win Sporting Lisbon!" Mourinho slammed the pen in his hand on the table.
This is the conclusion they came to after more than two hours of research and looking at the entire season schedule.
That is to expand the lead to ten points after defeating Porto, and in the following January, do everything possible to win all the games to further expand the lead.
In this way, Porto will be more relaxed when entering February and ushering in a two-front battle.
On the other hand, if we lose this game and the lead is reduced to four points, this will be very dangerous.
If Sporting Lisbon clings to it before the two-front battle, the four-point advantage is too subtle, and it will be difficult for Porto to devote itself to the two-front battle. This will be huge for Mourinho.
challenge.
"We must completely kill Sporting Lisbon's hope of winning the championship, so at the Alvalade Stadium, we must kill Sporting Lisbon and get all three points!" Mourinho said loudly.
Once the big goal is clear, the next step is to subdivide the work.
How to kill Sporting Lisbon?
This is a very broad question. The job of the coaching staff is to transform this illusory goal into tasks for the players to execute on the court.
"One of the important reasons why Sporting Lisbon has performed so well this season is because of the front three."
Boas was the first to stand up and express his opinions.
"After Jardel left for England, Nikule first took on the role of center forward. So far this season, Nikule has only scored one goal in the Portuguese Super League. On the contrary, it is the young player Su Dong who has scored six goals so far. At the same time,
There are also five assists, and it should be noted that these were obtained when he was a substitute in many games."
If Su Dong emerged last season, then the Chinese youngster this season has emerged from nowhere.
Under the pressure of Bologna in favor of Niculai, Su Dong still showed considerable strength and potential, which makes people believe that the future of this 18-year-old youngster will be bright.
When he heard the name Su Dong, Mourinho's eyes flashed with a complicated look.
He always remembered that in last season's Portuguese Cup final, it was Su Dong's goal that caused Porto to miss the championship.
But now, times have changed.
"The wings of Quaresma and Ronnie have also performed very well this season, but it is not difficult for us to deal with it, because the wings always have to create threats through the center. Therefore, from beginning to end, Sporting Lisbon has the best
The threatening player is Su Dong." Villas-Boas made the final decision and firmly targeted Su Dong.
This player competed with Porto last season and is familiar to everyone.
"Last season we suffered a loss from Su Dong, but Jardel, who was there to ferry Su Dong's header, is no longer there, and we are different now." Mourinho followed up on Villas-Boas's words and said with confidence.
He still clearly remembered that in the Portuguese Cup final last season, a thought came to his mind, that is, there was a lack of high school defenders, and neither Carvalho nor Andrade could restrain Su Dong. This was terrible.
But things are different now.
The old captain Jorge Costa failed to challenge for the Premier League and returned to Porto last summer. Now, Porto's main central defender combination is Jorge Costa partnering with Carvalho.
The former is 1.88 meters tall, but has excellent air control ability, while Carvalho is very flexible and has a strong sense of attacking.
Mourinho is confident that this season's central defender combination will be stronger and more solid than last season's central defender combination.
Also, Porto lacked two full-backs last season, but now they have filled them.
One is Paulo Ferreira from Setubal, and the other is Valente imported from Leiria. These two full-backs and central defenders form the most unbreakable defense in the Portuguese Super League this season.
Even in the UEFA Cup, Porto's defense was the strongest.
Today is different from the past. Although Sudong is comprehensive, Porto is not unable to freeze him.
"I specifically analyzed all Sudong's games from last season to this season, including his data and game performance." Rui Faria, a core member of the coaching staff, also came forward to express his opinions.
"This player's characteristics are indeed very comprehensive, but he has two weaknesses."
"Tell me about it," Mourinho said with interest.
"One is his left foot. From last season to this season, Su Dong's left foot has never performed well. The only time it attracted attention was when he assisted Quaresma, but to be honest, the quality of the pass was not
It’s very high and not too difficult.”
When Villas-Boas heard this, he nodded and said: "Su Dong is a right-footed player and his left foot is weaker. This is normal."
"So," Faria emphasized, "our defense should focus on restraining Su Dong's right foot. And I made statistics. Basically, the ball passed to him by Sporting Lisbon went to his right foot. We
You should pay a little more attention."
What is a saying?
The best defense is to not let your opponent get the ball.
If Sporting Lisbon can cut off the ball passed to Su Dong, can Su Dong still create a threat?
"Where is the other one?" Mourinho asked concerned.
Before Faria could say anything, he actually laughed and said, "I'm afraid you won't believe it if I tell you."
Everyone became more curious.
"Su Dong is 1.95 meters tall, but his header is very weak."
"This is impossible." Villas-Boas objected. "He has scored headers this season, more than one."
"Yes, but if you count the number of his headers and aerial duels, you will find that in fact, he does not take advantage very often. He uses his body more to block positions. I guess his judgment of landing points is not very good.
good."
As the saying goes, a blind cat meets a dead mouse.
With devilish wings like Ronnie and Quaresma, Sporting Lisbon has no shortage of crosses from the wing. Even if it happens by chance, they can still score two headers, right?
But Faria said so firmly that Su Dong was not good at heading the ball, which is really surprising.
Because in their impression, Su Dong has always been tall and burly, which has an advantage in heading the ball.
But thinking about it again, Faria was right.
Su Dong is only 18 years old, has little competition experience, and has poor judgment on placement, which is normal.
"No one of us could beat Su Dong before, but now we have Jorge Costa, and we can completely control him in the high ball." Faria stretched out his right hand and made a grabbing motion, which seemed like a sure win.
In hand.
This made Mourinho very happy and nodded constantly.
The ground pass restricts the right foot and the left foot is almost disabled. Porto has a high school defender like Jorge Costa, so what threat can Sudong still have?
Use his poor placement judgment to fight for a header with Jorge Costa?
Freezing Sudong is equivalent to freezing Sporting Lisbon's offense.
As long as Sporting Lisbon's goals are frozen, Porto will definitely win three points in the away game.
As a result, the lead expanded to ten points, and this season's Portuguese Super League champion was basically unable to escape.
Thinking of this, Mourinho felt a strong desire in his heart.
This will be his first championship trophy since coaching!
"In the next week of training, we will focus on practicing this style of play, especially offensive and defensive drills. We must focus on setting up defenses against Su Donglai. Jankauskas is 1.91 meters tall. Let him play the role of Su Donglai.
Our defensive line arranged the defensive formation around restricting Su Dong."
Targeted simulated sparring is also a common tactical method for all professional teams to prepare for games.
"Jankauskas's footwork is still a bit lacking. Our second team has a center named Ugo Almeida, who is also 1.91 meters tall. Unfortunately, he is left-footed, but I think he is more suitable to play Su Dong.
This role."
Assistant coach Brito, who had been silent until now, spoke now.
Mourinho thought about it for a moment, nodded and said: "Then move him to the first team and play this role together with Jankauskas. We must practice the defense well so that Su Dong can't break it.
Any storm!"
In the end, Mourinho gritted his teeth.
The first championship trophy in his life fell at the feet of Su Dong. With his vengeful character, if he doesn't take revenge, then he is still Mourinho?
Boy, this time I will make it difficult for you to fly!
…………
…………
Su Dong didn't know that in Porto in the north, Mourinho was preparing to freeze his tactics with unprecedented emphasis. He also didn't know that an 18-year-old youngster named Almeida was being arrested because of him.
Transferred to the first team in advance.
As usual, Su Dong got up early to train every day, followed Nuno Cruz in the gym to work out and build strength, and trained with his teammates every day, and practiced together after training.
The only difference is that the additional training content includes a heading contest.
Andre Cruz and Albertini are experienced veterans, especially Andre Cruz is a central defender. They will analyze Sudong's training situation, find out the pros and cons, and then help
He corrected it.
Pontes will give targeted professional advice and point out where Sudong should put its efforts.
Time passed by in this intensive preparation and fulfilling and compact rhythm.
After the winter break, Sporting Lisbon will finally usher in the sixteenth round of the Portuguese Super League.
vs. Porto at home!
This is the most important game for Sporting Lisbon so far this season, especially the loss to Porto in the pre-season Super Cup, which made the defending champion feel unprecedented humiliation.
Now, the top two teams in the Portuguese Super League standings will face off. This is bound to be a focus battle related to the trend of the Portuguese Super League in the second half of the season. Not only the two teams, but even the entire country of Portugal is paying unprecedented attention.
Some media even shouted that as long as Porto gets three points, the Portuguese Super League champion will lose suspense in advance.
Before the game, most people were not optimistic about Sporting Lisbon.
