Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 242

Sunderland's next opponent, West Bromwich Albion, is an "old friend" who was promoted from the British Championship together last season.The fate of West Bromwich Albion this season can be described as twists and turns.

West Bromwich Albion, who was promoted to the Premier League as the top of the Championship last season, was full of ambitions at the beginning of the season. As a result, they were defeated by Chelsea 6-0 in the opening game, and then lost consecutively to Sunderland and Liverpool. The losing streak didn't slow down until September -- the 3-2 victory over Arsenal in the away game helped them usher in a small peak in the first half of the season.

进入11月，西布罗姆维奇的厄运再次来临，从11月1日到2月5日的总共16轮比赛中，他们总共输掉了12场,始终在降级区的边缘踌躇徘徊。2月6日,主教练罗伯托·迪马特奥黯然下课；2月11日，继任主教练位置的，不是别人,而是安东的“老朋友”,利物浦的前任主教练罗伊·霍奇森。

I have to say that Hodgson is not suitable for coaching a "big club" like Liverpool. He can't manage the red army with its own iron and blood attributes. But the old coach is very good at leading teams in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League and coaching teams with mostly local players. .Therefore, after Hodgson took office, the team immediately stopped the losing streak and turned to even draws. After three consecutive draws, they ushered in their first victory and defeated their relegation opponent Birmingham City.At this point, West Bromwich Albion finally recovered.

In the last round of the Premier League, Hodgson also led West Bromwich Albion to defeat his old club Liverpool, avenging his "being" dismissed from get out of class.

Facing Sunderland, who held the top spot, Hodgson was very calm: "It's just a defeat."

The old coach's logic is this: his team has just defeated Liverpool, and Liverpool has just defeated Sunderland and Manchester United-according to Hodgson's logic, the top two teams are his "defeated opponents".

In the face of Hodgson's arrogance, Anton's team is still preparing for this game carefully: Recently, because of the Europa League, Sunderland has maintained the intensity of a week of double matches for a long time, so Anton decided to rotate in the league. Key players such as Cloth, Royce, Eriksson, and Godin take turns.

Resting the main players in the league is a rather risky decision. After all, Manchester United is chasing after them. Losing a game may ruin the championship for the entire season.

But Anton was determined to put his trust in the lineup that came off the bench: he started Crouch and Vardy as a double striker, with Shaqiri dragging back to replace Henderson's usual position.On the defensive line, led by Hummels, with two small men, Colbeck and "rich second generation" Flanagan, playing three central defenders.

Before the game, Anton called Hummels and Pickford and told them: "Do everything possible to keep a clean sheet today, can you do it?"

Pickford and Hummels, the two chatterboxes, had been discussing for a long time before, and now they nodded to Anton together: "Yes, boss, we can do it."

Anton himself was still not at ease, staring at the tactical board for a long time, and finally said: "I will let the two midfielders Henderson and Garner drag back a little to help you..."

Hummels immediately grinned: "Yes, boss, the waist is good and the appetite is good... With the help of two back waists, we will not be afraid."

Unexpectedly, Anton added another sentence: "That is to say, if the two midfielders come to help, you have to express it, don't you?"

Hummels didn't understand now, scratched his head, turned his face to look at Pickford beside him.Pickford spread his hands, expressing that he was also in a daze.

Anton immediately asked Hummels to come over and teach him the opportunity face to face, and so on.

At the Stadium of Light, Sunderland fans looked at such a lineup on the field, and they were quite frightened. Facing the relegation team, Anton rotated so many people at once, is it reliable?

Especially in the back line, the red-haired boy and the "rich second generation" are not tall, and the only one with air defense capabilities is Hummels alone-he is the only central defender in front of the goal. Can the German guy be busy? ?

The answer given by Hummels is: get busy.

As the main central defender in the center, he has all the statistics in the Premier League this season. All kinds of interceptions, steals, turns, and chases are not difficult for him.

Coupled with the fact that Henderson and Garner are relatively late in this game, it is reasonable to say that Sunderland played five backs when the opponent attacked.

Although Garner and Henderson are the captain and deputy respectively, on the defensive line, Anton has clearly pointed out that Hummels will play the leading role.Therefore, Garner and Henderson are completely subject to Hummels' distribution, referring to where to play.

In the opening 20 minutes, Sunderland's defense looked very solid and impeccable.

The old coach Hodgson sat on the sidelines on the coach's bench, showing a bewildered smile.He said to the assistant coach beside him: "Sunderland's defense is at the expense of offense. We can at least get a draw today. Be patient. If we can score a goal, it is not impossible to win the top spot."

West Bromwich Albion's assistant coach nodded again and again, but secretly complained in his heart: beat the top of the list... Let's wait for 70 minutes to read this.

But Hodgson's evaluation is not wrong: Sunderland's current solid defense is indeed at the expense of part of its offensive strength.Garner and Henderson's two defensive midfielders are relatively late, and they are somewhat out of touch with the midfield.The card dealer in midfield today is not Eriksson, but Shaqiri.Junior brother Sha occasionally retreated to get the ball and was not so timely. After he broke this link, Sunderland could only rely on steals to get the ball in the frontcourt, which seemed very isolated for a while.

In this game, Anton has been sitting on the sidelines coach's bench with leisure, staring at the field intently.

But standing on the sidelines, dancing, yelling and directing, was the assistant coach Russell.

Russell stood in the command area on the sidelines and seemed to have unlimited energy. Half of the fans at the Stadium of Light could hear Russell shouting:

"Mats, Mats, what are you waiting for!" Russell shouted, "Let everyone see what you expected!"

The fans are sweating in the back of their heads: Did you expect it?Hummels is very predictable. He has completed many interceptions and steals since the beginning of the game. With him, there is an invisible wall in front of Sunderland's goal.

At this time, Hummels nodded to Russell from a distance, as if to appease the annoying guy, and then he kicked out with a big kick, and the ball went directly to the "high guy" Crouch in the front.

Crouch's chances of starting this season are slightly less, largely due to injuries in the middle of the season, and he has not recovered to his best state until now-but this can't stand Crouch's inherent advantages.With his height of more than two meters, Hummels' big-footed pass can't be reached by others. Only "Gao Guy" can hold the ball.

Hummels' pass was extremely precise. He reserved Crouch's running distance, and when Crouch ran to the point where the ball landed, the ball seemed to land on Crouch's side precisely. Same on top of head.

"Okay!" All the fans at the Stadium of Light shouted loudly in unison.

Crouch basically formed a one-shot. Unfortunately, he himself has not yet reached his best form. He hesitated for a moment when facing the goalkeeper, and his kick was half a beat late, allowing the opponent's goalkeeper to throw the ball out in exchange for a corner kick.

"Oh!" The fans felt it was a pity, but they immediately applauded Hummels and Crouch-this is a good attempt.

At this time, Russell continued to shout against the background of applause: "Matz, you are very promising, go on, go on!"

At this time, Hummels was running towards the West Bromwich Albion penalty area with his teammates, preparing for a corner kick.Hearing Russell's rough sound, Hummels suddenly blushed.

Many fans saw Hummels blushing - no one thought that this tall central defender who usually plays like an iron man in the backcourt would blush in public when he heard a compliment.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Matz is so cute!"

"Although I think Marco is more handsome, but I also love him..."

At this time, Russell returned from the command area to the coach's bench, sat next to Anton, and the two whispered to each other for a while.

Obviously, Anton was very satisfied with the performance of Hummels' kick just now.He has recently been committed to developing the potential of the players and promoting the "evolution" of his players.

The central defender launched an attack with extremely precise footwork and became a "metronome" in the backcourt. This became an important part of reshaping the connection when the front, center and backcourt were slightly out of touch.

The most important thing is that the striker on the field today has an obvious height advantage, and he is a guy with a head of 2 meters.Hummels kicked the ball forward, and with Crouch, others could not grab it.

Anton thought so, and Sunderland's corner kick had already been taken.There was chaos in the box, with at least three West Brom players marking Crouch.One grabbed his arm, and the other two tugged at the jersey.

In a blink of an eye, Hummels had rushed out from the crowd with his arms outstretched and ecstasy on his face.

The Stadium of Light suddenly fell into jubilation: "Goal, Matz scored!"

When defending set-pieces, all West Bromwich Albion players only remembered that Crouch was 2 meters tall, but they ignored that Hummels was also a big man of 1 meters.Sure enough, when everyone was marking Crouch, Hummels had already scored with a header and scored a goal.

Hodgson sighed sullenly on the sidelines: his earlier prediction was not accurate at all.

Sunderland doesn't seem to have sacrificed offense to complete defense, and the hope of a draw seems a bit slim now. As for winning the top spot...

Coach: Did I say "beat the top"?It seems that I never said it!

Not far from Hodgson, on the coaching bench of Sunderland, Russell said happily: "Anton, your trick looks good! Matz looks very different from when he first came."

Who would have thought that in less than a year, Hummels not only learned to speak English with a Northeast accent, but also developed many new functions.