Regarding Barcelona's decline this season, Cruyff pointed out the crux of the problem in his post-match column, believing that there are two main aspects.
At the tactical level, Barcelona's three lines have been stretched too far this season, which has weakened the team's control. Besides Sudong and Marcos Senna, only Giuly and Iniesta can play in the midfield and frontcourt.
The numbers of Ronaldinho, Deco and Xavi are much weaker than the same period last season.
You know, last season Deco was Barcelona's player with the most eye-catching defensive statistics, but this season it is obviously not that good.
The players did not actively participate in the counterattack, which in turn proved that the condition of several players had indeed declined.
Especially Ronaldinho's performance this season has been somewhat unsatisfactory.
Head coach Rijkaard is different from Cruyff in that he is unwilling to criticize Ronaldinho and Deco in public, even if the media asked him in person whether he knew that Ronaldinho had
Going to a nightclub with Deco?
Rijkaard said that it is normal for players to decline in form, and he believes that players have the ability to self-regulate.
Although there was no public criticism, everyone was surprised to find that Ronaldinho and Deco were not on the 18-man roster for the away game against Real Betis.
These two players are neither injured nor suspended, so why are they not on the squad?
Rijkaard's explanation for this was that he believed the two players were too tired and needed to rest.
"Then why does Su Dong, who has more playing time and is younger, appear on the roster?" Media reporters continued to ask.
They just wanted to force some truth out of Rijkaard's mouth that everyone knew but had no confirmation.
But Rijkaard just refused to say it.
"Su Dong's situation is different. Over the past two seasons, he has been the team's most important core player. Needless to say last season, so far this season, he has scored eight goals in four rounds.
He almost scored most of the team's goals. He is the team's best player and the key to the team's victory."
No matter how the media pressed him, Rijkaard refused to say something unfavorable to the players to save Ronaldinho's face. But in the Barcelona locker room, everyone knew that Tencart accused Ronaldinho with evidence.
Nardinho and Deco went to a nightclub before the game.
Ronaldinho and Deco also apologized in the locker room and accepted Rijkaard's punishment.
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Against Real Betis away from home, Barcelona not only lost Ronaldinho and Deco, but also did not have Sudong and Marcos Senna in the lineup. This was mainly to prepare for the Champions League group stage in midweek.
Although it was an away game and even though they had captured four main players, Barcelona still launched a stormy attack from the beginning, and even almost broke through Real Betis' goal at one point.
In the tenth minute, the Real Betis defender fouled Larsson in the penalty area and was sentenced to a penalty kick by the referee.
Larsson personally took the penalty kick, but he pursued the angle too much and hit the ball directly on the post.
In the 20th minute, Xavi assisted with a free kick from the right, and Van Bommel headed the goal in the penalty area, opening the scoring for Barcelona.
Subsequently, Real Betis launched a crazy counterattack, while Barcelona once again missed a goal opportunity in the 36th minute with a pass from Giuly.
This time Barcelona was punished.
Assuncao assisted with a free kick, and Juanito hit a header to equalize the score.
After that, no matter how Barcelona attacked, Rijkaard even replaced Edmilson with Iniesta in the 46th minute, letting Van Bommel play as a defensive midfielder, and Iniesta partnered with Xavi in the midfield.
.
As a result, the game scene still did not improve.
In the 65th minute, Rijkaard finally lost his composure and replaced Larsson with Su Dong.
It only took Su Dong three minutes to let everyone see his value clearly.
…
"Barcelona was going back and forth from the outside."
"Xavi passed to Giuly, who tried to break through but failed and passed back."
"Iniesta gets the ball and takes it forward."
"Send a direct pass!"
"pretty!"
"Su Dong squeezed Rivas away with his body, stopped the ball and rushed into the left side of the penalty area, very fast!"
"Just volley with your left foot!"
"The ball went in!!!"
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"Only three minutes after he came on the field, Su Dong scored a goal against Real Betis with a wonderful shot."
"Two to one!"
"We can clearly see from the slow-motion replay that Iniesta's pass, Sudong's stop and turn, and quick start were so fast and outstanding that Rivas didn't even have the ability to stop them.
"
"After dribbling the ball to the left side of the penalty area, Su Dong volleyed directly with his left foot."
"He's very good with both his left and right feet!"
"Barcelona surpassed the score again."
"The absence of Ronaldinho and Deco is not terrible. As long as Sudong is here, Barcelona's goals are guaranteed."
…
Rijkaard quickly made the last substitution of the game.
Messi replaced Giuly.
This is also to save energy for the Champions League group stage in midweek. Giuly's performance this season is still very good.
But no one expected that Messi changed the trend of the game again in just three minutes, and even more beautifully.
Harvey suddenly made a diagonal pass from the outside of the 30-meter zone and sent the ball to the right.
Messi grabbed the first spot and directly headed the ball to Iniesta who came in from behind.
Xiaobai didn't wait for the ball to hit the ground, and directly volleyed the ball into the penalty area.
Sudong, who had been in position long ago, directly caught up with Iniesta's pass and hit the ball with his right foot without stopping.
The ball passed through the lower right side of the goalkeeper and once again entered the Real Betis goal behind him.
Three to one!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Su Dong scored twice!
But what’s even more amazing is that the ball passed from Xavi to Su Dong’s goal and never touched the ground from beginning to end.
After the goal, Sudong, Messi and Iniesta hugged each other on the sidelines.
The three of them often do this kind of cooperation in training or in indoor football games, but this is their first time in a game, so they are very excited.
The most difficult thing about this goal, and also the most interesting thing to watch, is that it didn't hit the ground.
If it doesn't hit the ground, the opponent won't be able to defend it!
…
After leading three to one, everyone thought the game would come to an end.
Unexpectedly, at the last moment of the game, when Su Dong made a symbolic press, Assuncao made a mistake in passing the ball back to the goalkeeper. Messi seized the opportunity, passed the goalkeeper and then pushed the ball into the empty goal.
The Argentinian youngster ran around the field excitedly and was almost beaten.
In the end, Barcelona defeated Real Betis 4-1 away from home.
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After the game, World Sports regarded Su Dong's substitution as a key turning point in Barcelona's away victory over Real Betis. It believed that the team could do without Ronaldinho, without Deco, or even without anyone else, but
You can’t live without Su Dong.
"With ten goals in five games, this 21-year-old Chinese superstar has risen to a terrifying level!"
"He has joined the ranks of great stars with his amazing performance!"
World Sports News believes that based on Su Dong's current performance, there will be no suspense for this year's World Footballer Golden Globe Award.
However, in addition to defeating its opponents, Barcelona's defense has once again caused concern.
Marcos Senna rotated, Edmilson served as the defensive midfielder, and Van Bommel and Xavi advanced. As a result, the Brazilian players did not perform to a satisfactory level. This was why Rijkaard used Igne during the halftime break.
The reason why Star replaced him.
In addition, the combination of Van Bommel and Xavi also failed to produce results.
In Rijkaard's first season coaching Barcelona, he established an iron triangle in the midfield, with Cocu trailing behind and Davis and Xavi in the middle. This midfield set helped Barcelona catch up in the second half, which was also the case with Rijkaard.
Jaccard has been maintaining it.
But now it seems that Van Bommel is not qualified for the role of Davis, and Edmilson is not Cocu.
On the contrary, after Iniesta came on the field, Barcelona's offensive organization improved greatly in the second half. This also caused many media, including Daily Sports, to call for Iniesta to be corrected after the game.
Su Dong also publicly expressed his support for Iniesta in an interview, "I think he has the ability to take on more responsibilities. He is an incredible player. I work with him very well and we have a very good understanding of each other."
joy."
Regarding Ronaldinho and Deco, Su Dong said that the two were not punished by the head coach and suspended internally as the outside world said, but were resting.
"This is an arrangement we have already made. From mid-August to now, we have been playing almost all the time, even playing two games a week, which consumes a lot of physical energy, so sometimes we need to take a rest.
Next time it was Ronaldinho and Deco's turn, which is normal, next time it will be my turn."
Regarding the absence of two teammates, Su Dong said that it will definitely have an impact on the team's performance, but other players have made up for the shortcomings very well.
"Xavi has always been there, and Iniesta and Messi are also very commendable players. They make me feel at ease. It is definitely different without Ronaldinho and Deco, but I think they have done a great job.
."
On the contrary, Su Dong did not comment on Esquero, who played the whole game and played as a winger, mainly because his performance was not outstanding. What did Su Dong say?
As if to prove that there is indeed no problem as mentioned by the outside world, Barcelona's official website quickly released some training photos of Barcelona preparing for the Champions League group stage. In them, Sudong, Ronaldinho and Deco were playing and having fun on the court.
Especially the scene where Su Dong and Ronaldinho are hooking up is enough to make people believe that there is no conflict between them.
The Brazilian superstar does not seem to have any signs of being blocked or suspended. All signs seem to prove that it is really just an ordinary rotation.
…
Rijkaard seemed to have heard Su Dong's call. In the Champions League group match against Udinese at home in midweek, he really made adjustments.
