Chapter 676: Different England, Different Italy

The expression on Donadoni's face was really wonderful, especially when he got England's starting list in this game after entering the locker room.

Xiao Ming announced his starting lineup two hours before the start of the game again. This was the deadline before the end of the game. The Italian national team responded very quickly, but at that time the whole team was departing in the car for the player of St. Jacobs Park, Basel, so it was not until after entering the locker room that Donadoni got the starting list of England and was immediately burned by Ray.

At this time, the players were already warming up outside. When the warm-up was over, there were not many opportunities for him to adjust. Xiao Ming's move was too ruthless, basically depriving him of the adjustment time. Fortunately, his expression was not seen by the players...

After the players completed the warm-up and returned to the locker room, Donadoni had adjusted his expression and told the players about England's starting list.

The expressions of the Italian players are not much better. Although many of them are already world champions, the targeted training done by the team before is basically completely lost, and they can still see this...

"Andre, you boss is too..." Gattuso couldn't help but say something to Pirlo, who shrugged without answering.

"They made an act that surprised us." Donadoni said this, and couldn't help but curl his lips. Isn't that? Since Xiao Ming took office, except for the smoke bombs that he had put out a smoke bomb and said that he would play 4333, Bilic was a big frustrated, in all other games, no matter how the tactics changed, he could not escape the standard 442 range. It was just three back midfielders and one front midfielder, four powerful midfielders, or a fast wing forward and two fast wing forwards. They were all inseparable from the 442 range. However, this time, Xiao Ming completely got rid of the 442 range. His starting lineup was more like 451 or just 460.

"But it's just a little surprised. England's main tactics are 442, both from history and from now on. No matter how Xiao's tactics have changed since he took office, they still change based on 442. Now he has made huge changes, but he has not gained experience in actual combat. This change of their own is quite unfavorable to them, so we don't need to be confused about it at all. Fight according to the tactics we are used to and kill them!"

Donadoni's reaction was quite fast. He knew that there was no time for him to adjust his tactics at this time, so he could only choose to be myself. Temporary changes in tactics are indeed easy to cause chaos. In response to this point, perhaps the best choice is to remain unchanged and adapt to changes.

This statement is very correct, and Italian players also agree with this statement. Pirlo was a little murmured in his heart. He is the only one in the Italian national team who plays in the Premier League. Of course, he knows that the Premier League teams are not holding on to the 442 and not letting go, especially in the top clubs, which one is not a strong team with a flexible lineup that is not restricted by the formation at all?

But he is just a player after all, and he can't think too much about this.

It was not easy for Xiao Ming to stand in the locker room, looking at the tactical board carefully, changing tactics temporarily, and changing tactics almost earth-shaking. However, Xiao Ming had enough confidence to do so.

After so many years of development in the Premier League, few Premier League teams are still playing the 442 tactics. Ferguson, who used standard 442 to play all over the world, made changes. Last season, their combination of Rooney, Tevez, Giggs, Joaquin, Flecce and Carrick looked 442, but in fact everyone's position is very flexible. Benitez's Liverpool, Xiao Ming's Leiden East, former Mourinho and Grant's Chelsea, and old Redknapp's Tottenham, although they all have Torres and Fanny's

Top centers like Drogba and Berbatov are at the front, but under the cover of these centers, the players behind them are very flexible in playing. Whether it is running or transfer, they are familiar with this fast and flexible attack tactic. Although Wenger's Arsenal also has a fast and flexible attack method, the formation is still standard 442 - but Arsenal is famous for few English players, and this time there is not an Arsenal player in the English national team.

The six players in the frontcourt, except for Barry and Beckham who both take into account defense and organization behind, the other four players happened to be from Leiden East, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham. Whether it is Gerald, Lampard, Rooney or Lennon, they are all international players from Old England, and the tacit understanding between them is also quite good.

If it weren't for such confidence, Xiao Ming would not have adopted such a tactic at all. In football games, it is important to win by surprise, but if it is surprising to make his players lose their position, it is really uncommon. McLaren had made such a mistake before. In the away game against Croatia in the qualifiers, he used a three- or five-two formation, but was directly beaten by Croatia. The English players were at a loss under the brand new formation and tactics. That game was also the worst game in England in the qualifiers.

McLaren's temporary array change was hit hard, but Xiao Ming believed that his array change would have a completely opposite result. The reason was very simple - McLaren slapped his head and wanted to change the array, while Xiao Ming had been thinking about this tactical change for a long time. McLaren just prepared to sharpen his guns in the face of the battle for two days and pulled the team to the game. Naturally, he would be beaten up all over the ground, but Xiao Ming had been practicing brand new tactics before...

When the guns are sharpened and prepared, the gap will naturally be reflected.

After carefully thinking about the possible situations in the whole game from beginning to end, and thinking that he had nothing to miss, Xiao Ming nodded with satisfaction.

At this moment, players who completed the warm-up rushed in.

"Are you... ready?" Xiao Ming turned around and looked at the players and smiled slightly.

"It's ready!" the players answered in unison.

"Today Xiao made a big adjustment in the lineup... Goalkeeper Hart, defenders Daniel, Terry, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, in the midfield, he did not use Hargreaves, but let Beckham serve as the midfielder. Tottenham plays as the right midfielder, left forward Barry, and the two front midfielders who broke out were Lampard and Gerrard. Lampard made his first start in this European Championship, and Rooney broke out alone... This has changed a lot from the tactics used by England before. Italy has not changed much. The goalkeeper is captain Buffon, and the defender Zambrota is on the right.

Rosso is on the left, and his central defender partner is veteran Panucci and rookie central defender Chiellini. Midfielders Gattuso, De Rossi and Pirlo serve as three midfielders, Perotta broke in front, and Luca Tony and Casano on the front line are also the main lineup that Italy has been using since the beginning of this European Cup. "Motterson said with a little concern: "England performed very well in the strong dialogue before, and Xiao's appointment has brought the biggest change in England's mental outlook, but in fact, there are not many changes in the main tactics, but suddenly changing tactics in such a knockout match makes people a little worried."

"Actually, there is no need to worry too much." Hiller next to him laughed: "Did you find that after Xiao took office, the personnel in other positions have changed a lot. In the three group matches alone, there was no repetition of the midfield and frontcourt, but he never moved on the defense line."

"Daniel, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, is true. Since he took office, in the official games since he took office, except for the knockout match against Croatia and replaced him with King because of Terry's injury, this defense line cannot be broken in several other official games." Motson frowned and said, "But this is normal. There is no better defender than these four people in the entire England national team. At the same time, the tacit understanding between them has been gradually established. No one will easily move this defense line unless it is suspended or someone is injured."

"This is indeed, but it also proves that Xiao Ming's test lineup and rotation players have a major premise, that is, no matter how it is replaced, the defense must not be shaken!" Hiller said: "A team plays in the league, and some problems in defense may not matter. As long as they have strong offensive firepower and point-grabbing ability, the defense may be able to win the championship, but in the cup, it is difficult for teams that cannot defend to the end. As long as there is no major problem in defense, we should have confidence in the England national team."

While the two English commentators were discussing, the Italian commentators made a disdainful voice: "England has changed its lineup! They are scared! Our Warriors will definitely be able to defeat the opponent and win this game! Don't forget that we are the World Cup champions. We did encounter some trouble before, but after advancing, there will be no team that can cause us too much trouble. We will win the European Cup championship in one go!"

"I'm very curious, what role can a hasty change of the team play? Yes, we have not made targeted arrangements for this lineup, but I think this will cause great trouble for your team's performance?" Donadoni sneered when the head coaches of both sides shook hands before the game.

"You can't just play." Xiao Ming smiled: "If a team wants to win the championship, how can it be safe without taking any risk... If Mr. Lippi hadn't noticed that there was a problem with the full-back position in the group stage and decisively activated Grosso, there might not be an Italian World Cup championship."

This sentence made Donadoni's expression frozen for a moment. He glanced at Xiao Ming deeply, then nodded, let go of his hand, and turned around and left.

"Actually, this guy has already managed the Italian national team very well. Unfortunately, the Italian Football Association did not give him enough time, otherwise we might be able to see an alternative Italian national team in the South African arena." Xiao Ming thought in his heart, and then walked back to his position.

In history, Italy has played well in this cup. Chiellini, Casano, De Rossi and others who Donadoni reused have performed very well at a high level. Unfortunately, their performance in the group stage was not outstanding enough, and Donadoni's prestige was not enough. The Italian Football Association, which was eager for quick success and instant benefits, fired him after the European Cup and re-activated Lippi. However, Lippi smashed his signature in the World Cup two years later. The defending champion failed in the group stage, and Italian football began to fall into a trough.

No matter how bad Donadoni is, he is still gradually replacing the national team. After Lippi took office, he may be in order to pursue more steadily and allow a group of veterans and second-rate players to occupy the national team. On the contrary, he does not use Casano and Balotelli, a genius with flawed personalities but can play a big role. This is also one of the biggest reasons why Lippi lost all his money in two years.

On the field, the captains of both sides exchanged team flags, Daniel beat the opponent's captain Buffon in guessing the side, and Italy won the kick-off.

German referee Vander looked at the watch and then blew the whistle to the beginning of the game.

"beep--"

"The Italians started their defensive counterattack again... After an attack at the beginning was blocked by England, most of their players retreated, leaving only two forwards to restrain the frontcourt, and their four midfielders have strong defensive abilities. In the words of Mourinho, who is about to coach in Serie A, they drove the bus to the goal... I don't know how many times Mourinho will make such complaints in Italy."

Motson teased the Italians' defense. At this time, he naturally ignored the fact that England used a defensive intensity that was not much worse than this to make the Dutch unable to eat the turtle in the whole game. However, the England game is now playing so well that Motson feels refreshed. He interspersed and cooperated continuously and quickly, and the all-round three-dimensional offense in the air and ground was fully played, which made the cheers from more than 10,000 English fans at the scene never stop.

Italy launched a pretty good offense at the beginning. Pirlo launched an offense in the backcourt. Casano quickly broke through Beckham's defense and then passed directly to Tony at the front of the penalty area. Tony took the ball back and did it. De Rossi inserted it into a beautiful long shot. Fortunately, Hart's reaction was pretty good and held the ball out with one hand on his side.

Since Hart became England's goal, he has not made too many wonderful saves, but he has won steadily and basically does not make mistakes. England fans will no longer worry about the goalkeeper's inexplicable mistakes. With the current strength of England's defense line, as long as the goalkeeper behind him does not get nervous, there will basically be too many problems.

After defending this attack, England launched a counterattack. Several people in the frontcourt ran very hard. Except for Lennon's position, which was basically fixed on the right, the other Gerald Lampard and Rooney continued to switch positions to attack. Although Italy had deployed heavy troops in the backcourt, they were very uncomfortable with England's fast and flexible running. Two full-backs in England also took turns to attack, which ensured the firepower of the frontcourt offense.

The terrifying top central defender group in Italy is now in no place. Cannavaro has not been selected for the national team, Nesta is absent again due to injury, Maldini has retired, and even Matrazi, who played a big role two years ago, has now declined a lot. Zaccardo is too overused, so Donadoni can only choose the old defender Panucci and Chiellini to partner with - Chiellini has now become the stabilizing needle on the Italian defense line. Although his own rapid progress is also a proof of the Italian excellent central defender being out of the range.

No wonder Donadoni brought out an alternative Italian national team - offense is stronger than defense, and he is also helpless. Who made the current Italian national team's defenseman rarely get out of gear? On the contrary, the offensive power is not much loss. The combination of Tony and Casano is still the combination of Italian traditional powerful center and shadow striker, and their condition has not declined.

If there were those excellent central defenders, perhaps England's offense would not have been so smooth. Not to mention the Italian defense line, the ability to defend against high altitude balls is still good, but England abandoned their usual long pass and rushing tactics, and did not even send a high center forward, and began to cooperate on the ground. Although these frontcourt players are not particularly skilled, their simple and fluent cooperation still brings great lethality.

“This game is interesting.”

Espn's commentator laughed: "England, which does not play long passes and rush forwards, and Italy, which is not as good as the defense, but Italy, which strengthens interception and counterattack in the midfield, is not the original England and Italy... But judging from the current situation, England is going to gain the upper hand. Their wide-border breakthrough basically suppresses Italy's wing. Zambrota and Grosso can only passively defend in the backcourt, but their defensive abilities are not very good. Zambrota is a little better. Although his current state has declined very well, facing Cole alone, Grosso seems awkward. With the breakthrough of Lennon, who is not tall, fast and flexible, the left-back is struggling to deal with it."

During this period, Grosso's left road guarding became the key strike range of England. Lennon almost stared at Grosso in launching a surprise attack. Grosso, who performed well in the group stage, performed very hard when facing his wing players. Lennon's speed was much faster than he was close to 1.9 meters tall. In addition, Daniel often intervened in to attract the attention of De Rossi and others who were filling up. Although there were many teammates around him, Grosso still had to face the situation of single-on-one with Lennon.
Chapter completed!