Chapter 102 Counterattack

Ranieri is not a head coach who is good at adapting to the spot command. Faced with Tony Donn's sudden change of formation, he reacted as slowly as his team.

When Juventus was unresponsive, Nottingham Forest easily seized control of the midfield.

There is a saying in modern football - those who win the midfielder win the world.

It's a little exaggerated, but the importance of the midfield is self-evident.

If Nottingham Forest wants to defeat Juventus away and break the opponent's steady counterattack, it must first take the midfield into its own hands. Only in that way can there be capital to advance layer by layer.

Juventus' ball cannot be passed in the midfield, and the four men in Nottingham Forest both have both offensive and defensive responsibilities. Especially George Wood, who tirelessly runs and interceptions in the midfield, harassing Juventus' every attack. Under the fast-paced pressing of the Forest's midfield, Juventus' pass error rate began to rise.

Another weakness of Juventus' lineup is gradually emerging - they lack a midfielder who can control the football at their feet and control the offensive and defensive rhythm of the entire team. Camoranesi is a wing player and is old. Jovenko is still a little too tender. He has good ball control, but he doesn't know what the rhythm is. As for Maluda... he is more like a assaulter than a midfield organizer. Not to mention the muscular man Sissoko is just an engineer, and he has a promising job of grabbing the ball, but letting him pass the ball is just passing the football to the opponent.

Delpiero has the ability to do this, but he sits on the bench. Because of a slight injury, Ranieri did not dare to let his captain take risks.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nottingham Forest controlled the midfield and pushed forward, completely ignoring this. This was Juventus' home court. When the team was pressing overall, goalkeeper Akinfeyev's range of activity also changed from the goal to the entire penalty area. He even extended to outside the penalty area to act as a scavenger. The distance between the three lines is moderate, ensuring that even if the first wave of attack is hindered and there is a subsequent offensive, he will not be hit by the opponent if he fails to attack. The double-layer interception in the midfield also ensures that Juventus' offense cannot pass there quickly, giving the Forest's defense time.

Ranieri's goal for the team to score in the five-minute opening goal was not achieved, so it was the turn of Nottingham Forest's performance.

Forest, who masters the midfield, has many ways to send football to Juventus' penalty area, no longer being monotonous and boring on the sidelines.

George Wood took the football under his feet. Sissoko was far away and wanted to come up and grab it. But he just thought that if he really did this, the empty door behind him would be wide open and let Nottingham Forest go straight to Huanglong, and he would be not far from being replaced.

When I understood that Nottingham Forest's main attack direction was not the two sides, but the middle, Sissoko's role became more important.

Wood can no longer remember the fact that he had fought with Sissoko. In his eyes, all opponents are the same, and few people will impress him. He ignored Sissoko's provocative look and passed the football to Thiago.

Nottingham Forest launched an attack from the middle, but it does not mean that it must hit the opponent's penalty area directly from the middle. In fact, Fernandez and Shahin can disperse to the two sides when attacking.

For example, this time. When Fernandez saw Thiago receive the football, he understood and inserted it diagonally forward.

Sissoko looked at him, let him go, and did not keep a guard. His mission was in the middle.

After Thiago passed the football to Fernandez, he ran forward.

Juventus' defense line contracted quickly. Fernandez soon encountered resistance, so he had to stop and turn around to protect the football.

Italy's defense is not that easy to break.

Wood looked at the situation before, thought about it in his heart, and decided to go up and support himself.

After Fernandez handed the football to Wood, he continued to pull to the sidelines.

Fernandez went to the wing, and Juventus had to defend. The corresponding right guard Griguez stepped forward to guard. But Wood passed the football to Eastwood who was withdrawn.

Eastwood did not stop and gave the ball to Thiago.

Thiago was already facing the goal head-on when he received the ball, so he didn't hesitate. He kicked off a long shot.

Buffon tried hard to save the ball, but he did not touch the football. The ball flew out of the bottom line against the post.

The Juventus fans at Alpi Stadium were shocked and sweated.

In the following minutes, Nottingham Forest got three shots, but all were long shots.

This made Ranieri feel a little relieved. Although the Forest suddenly changed his tactics, he caught him off guard. However, Juventus' traditional football is still very effective - no matter how our opponents change, we just insist on our own football and deal with the opponent. Juventus' football must be the first football to make itself invincible!

Although they have a strong offensive, they can only threaten our goal through long shots. As long as they can't enter the penalty area, there is no threat.

He walked to the sidelines. He whistled and gestured, asking the team to push the Forest outward. Don't give them a chance to enter the penalty area. Don't be afraid of long shots, that's the lowest-scoring method.

Even the commentator discovered this: "Juventus' defense is very stable, and their defensive formation is maintained quite well. Nottingham Forest passed by and couldn't find a suitable offensive point, so he could only make a few long shots outside. It seems that facing Juventus' tactics, Tony Donn still couldn't find a better solution."

After several waves of Forest's offensives, Juventus began their counterattack.

The normal procedure of the game should be Nottingham Forest attack, while Juventus defends and counterattacks.

But this time they encountered strong obstacles in the midfield.

Joe Wenke's body is like a kindergarten child in front of George Wood. Unless he dribbles the ball far away from Wood, as long as he gets entangled by Wood, he will most likely lose the football under his feet.

Sebastian Giovanco, whose hair was shaved, looks a bit like former Italian national team captain central defender Cannavaro, but his height is much different. He is only 1.64 meters tall and weighs 61 kilograms. He is not thin. But in front of George Wood, his flexibility and body are useless.

Wood is as flexible as him and stronger than him. That kind of opportunity is 50% off the earth. As long as Wood uses a little force, Joe Wenke will definitely lose control of the football. Perhaps the easiest way is to use a quick pass to get rid of this inseparable person.

But he couldn't find a way to pass the ball forward, so he could only pass the football back. In this way, the team's offensive speed was forced to slow down. The two full-backs pressed by Nottingham Forest returned to defense. Juventus found that they also had to face the "impure" defense line in the offense...

Juventus has a way to call Nottingham Forest to threaten their goal by long-range shots. Is Nottingham Forest able to make them fire their guns at a long range?

For a time, everyone's offense was mostly completed with long shots, but the quality of the offense was not high. It was still 0:0 until the first half of the 30 minutes.

The commentator really wanted to yawn. Such a game was really boring. The offensive quality was low, and the rhythm was dragged slowly with the "joint efforts" of both sides, without any passion, and without any highlights. Both sides were careful not to make mistakes and not let their opponents catch possible mistakes. The mentality of not seeking merit but seeking nothing wrong determines that this game is absolutely not likable.

Ranieri is very satisfied with the current situation. Anyway, his original intention is to counterattack.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   �

He believed that with Tony Don't have any lessons in his decision-making. Don't look at his low-key behavior in this game, he is actually more eager to win the game than anyone else.

Why?

Because his record against Juventus is one loss and one draw.   There is no team in this world except Juventus.   He has not defeated any team.   If it were Ranieri, he might just forget it, but if Tony Donne was, he would definitely not be able to swallow it!

He will definitely attack, and it will be a fierce attack!

Then it will be Juventus' opportunity!

During these ten minutes, both sides were still in a stalemate on the court, and they could only threaten the opponent's goal through long shots. Occasionally, the balls that entered the penalty area several times did not pose a real threat to the goalkeepers on both sides.

Except for fans of both sides, I'm afraid no one will be interested in such a game.

Those neutral fans must be disappointed by this - before the game, the media hyped that this was Tony Donn's revenge battle, this was the "two heroes", but in fact? Any game with Juventus must be dull, and any game with Nottingham Forest will not be much exciting. These two teams meet together, the dull effect × 2, how good can it be?

Football matches require passion! Such a match is simply a shame for modern football!

Those people complained in their hearts.

Ranieri looked at his watch and there were six minutes left before the end of the first half. He stood up from the coach's seat and prepared to give the players a signal of attacking with all his might.

At the same time, Tony Donn, who had been standing on the sidelines for almost forty minutes, seemed to finally feel his legs sore. He turned around and walked back to the coach's seat.

Buffon stunted Eastwood's long shot wonderfully. He did not choose to kick off the ball this time. Instead, he looked up at the midfield and then threw the ball with his hand to launch an attack!

Sissoko headed the ball forward, and Camoranesi retreated to pick it up, passing the ball to Jovenko, who was sprinting forward with all his might.

Qiao Wenke looked back and rolled towards his earth, then looked up at the front - there was no one there now, but he glanced at a black shadow appeared from the corner of his eyes. You can know who it is without thinking carefully.

George Wood was like a silent wolf following Jovenko closely, and he had already entered a hunting state.

Although Wood did not do any moves. And it was still a long way from Giovanko, the Italian genius boy suddenly felt nervous out of thin air. He felt that if he continued to dribble the ball, he would probably be cut off by the silent No. 13 beside him. If a attack opportunity that Juventus finally waited for was ruined in his hands, he might be replaced in the second half. Captain Del Piero had been called by Ranieri to warm up, and he must be not satisfied with his performance...

Since he cannot drive the ball to break through this man's defense, then passing the ball is definitely OK! No matter how powerful he is, he will not care about the entire second half.

Qiao Wenke made up his mind. Suddenly, he stopped urgently and looked up again to look for the pass target.

He shouldn't have stopped the ball - this stop put himself in a "dead place". Wood was standing in front of him, choosing a very good position, almost blocking all routes he might be driving out - unless he turned around and took it back.

Wood is not in a hurry to grab the ball, as it may make himself easily pass. He just blocked Joe Wenke and prevented him from continuing to drive forward, slowing down Juventus' counterattack speed, and waiting for his teammates to return to defense.

Ranieri saw Qiao Wenke suddenly stopping off the court. She waved her fist in a hurry.

"Jovenko was blocked by Wood near the sideline! Nottingham Forest players have returned to defense, and Juventus' quick counterattack has not been completed!"

When Qiao Wenke looked up and saw Wood after stopping the ball, he understood his situation. He knew that he could not continue to dribble the ball forward. When he saw Wood's calm facial expression as if it was a deep pool, he felt even more panicked. He felt that he might be intercepted.

At this time, you can only pass the ball out quickly!

He thought so in his heart. He glanced at a person in the corner of his eyes - it was him!

"Jovenko passed the ball directly to the feet of Thiago back to the defense! Did he think Thiago was his teammate? Juventus was in trouble now - they were just about to complete a pressing attack, but the ball was inexplicably at the feet of the opponent's players."

Of course, Nottingham Forest accepted the gift to Joe Wenke with a smile.

Thiago has not forgotten to thank his former teammate in Italian: "Thank you."

This sentence suddenly stimulated Qiao Wenke, and he rushed towards Thiago with red eyes.

Wood called Thiago's name behind him, reminding him that Joe Wenko had pounced on him.

Thiago obviously had expected Joe Wenke's reaction. He directly knocked the football to Wood with his heel.

Qiao Wenke made a short pass and turned to save Wood. This time Wood passed the football directly to Shahin, who was in front.

Nottingham Forest counterattacked on the spot and launched a counterattack from Juventus!

When Shahin drove the ball forward, he was intercepted by Sissoko and rolled out with the ball, but the referee did not whistle to indicate a foul. It seemed that although Sissoko was fierce, it was very clean.

Maluda next to him planned to rush up and get the ball, and then continue to play the counterattack from Nottingham Forest. Just as his feet were about to touch the football, the ball in front of him suddenly disappeared!

As soon as Sissoko got up, she saw a yellow captain's armband wearing a red Nottingham Forest jersey passing by Maluda like the wind. Football is under his feet!

He didn't even think, and forced him to go over to the figure.

We finally face to face, boy!

Sissoko did not tackle the first time, but instead ran across his body towards George Wood, intending to knock Wood into a crooked way.

He succeeded, George Wood was knocked to the sideline by him, but the ball under his feet was not lost, and he hooked it up. He followed it obediently.

Seeing that the ball was not interrupted, Sissoko accelerated and tried to push Wood to the sideline. Just like what Wood did to Joe Wenko just now.

This time he failed. Just as he rushed towards Wood at full speed, Wood suddenly stopped and stopped the football at his feet, and Sissoko rushed over!

Sissoko swept through Wood with a look of surprise, and he couldn't stop even if he wanted to brake.
To be continued...