Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 224

Sunderland had only just arrived at the Parc des Princes when the match was scheduled to start.

After entering the stadium, they got the news: due to the enhanced security of the stadium and the inspection of the fans' personal belongings, the fans formed a long queue outside the stadium, and many fans were forced to delay their entry. Until now, they have not all entered the stadium.

After the Sunderland players entered the field to warm up, Anton also walked into the infield of the Parc des Princes, stood on the sidelines, and observed the situation in the stands with folded arms:

The Parc des Princes is a very grand stadium that can accommodate more than 4 spectators.Before the construction of the Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris, it was also the home of the French national football team and played a pivotal role in French football.

Above the Parc des Princes stadium, there is a row of French letters, which are very eye-catching, saying "ICIC'EST PARIS" (here is Paris).This slogan is domineering, as if it is telling all visiting teams: This is Paris, and this is my site.

At the moment, the Parc des Princes is far from full, and a large number of seats are still empty.The fans in the stands were taking their seats one after another. They had already received the news that the game would be postponed, so most of them took their time.

However, some of the first fans who arrived earlier, most of whom had been waiting for an hour or two, booed dissatisfied players who were warming up at Sunderland.

There are also some Sunderland fans who have rushed to the Parc des Princes.When they heard the news of the attack on the team earlier, the fans were worried. They had been standing in the stands before, swiping their phones desperately, anxiously waiting for news from the team.

Until then, Sunderland players appeared on the field, and the Sunderland fans in the stands felt a little relieved.

But some fans who are familiar with the team carefully counted: Hey, where is Godin?Godin is gone! ——He was fine against Arsenal last time, and I have never heard of him being injured.

Where did Godin go?What about Sunderland's defense today?

After the players on both sides finished warming up, the game was delayed for a full hour before starting.

Before the players were ready to enter the tunnel, Anton called them together first.As the head coach, Anton "reminded" his players: "There are some Paris fans out there expressing anger at your late arrival. How do you feel?"

The players looked at each other, but no one spoke.Only Pickford, who has always been talkative, said at this time: "To be honest, we are also very angry!"

Anton said calmly: "Anger is right! Go, young people!"

——There are many ways to boost morale, one of which is called "anger".

And today the team just encountered an indiscriminate disaster.

Although the previous police report showed that the group of young people who attacked the Sunderland team at the first intersection after getting off the highway had nothing to do with Sunderland or the Paris Saint-Germain team. None of them are fans.

The group of young people raised stones and attacked just after seeing a bus with a foreign license plate entering the city of Paris.In all fairness, this should not be blamed on the opponent's head.But the Sunderland players, especially those on the defensive line, are suffocating because of Godin's injury, and they have nowhere to vent, so they can only release it on the court.

Because of Godin's absence, the original four-back system could not function normally.Anton simply arranged a change and changed to playing three backs.Before the start of the game, he called Hummels, one of the three defenders, and Henderson, who played as a midfielder, together to teach them face-to-face.

When the game started, people who were familiar with Sunderland immediately discovered that Sunderland's formation had changed dramatically.Hummels, who had been lagging behind and formed a "guard" combination with Pickford, pressed very high today, almost on the same level as Henderson.

"Why don't we seem to be defensive at all today!" Some Sunderland fans exclaimed from the sidelines.

The result of not defending is that the ball is lost quickly-in the 6th minute of the game, Paris Saint-Germain seized a counterattack opportunity and passed the ball directly behind Sunderland.

Hummels couldn't catch up, and the opponent's forward Brazilian Neely made a beautiful fake move, shaking goalkeeper Pickford and opening the scoring easily, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.

There was applause from the stands.

For the Paris fans, this game looked super relaxed and super cool. It was worth waiting for so long and undergoing extremely strict security checks.

"British, go home!" some fans shouted in French from the stands.

Sunderland fans are very anxious. Their main central defender Godin is gone, and the other main central defender Hummels is playing so abnormally?

"Mats, you have to be careful!"

Suddenly, the Sunderland fans in the stands shouted at Hummels in unison.

But Hummels seems to have turned a deaf ear.Facing the goalkeeper, he ran back into midfield while muttering to Pickford.Pickford stretched out his hand, gave Hummels a thumbs-up, which seemed to mean-go, leave me alone!

Then Hummels really turned around and ran to the middle circle without looking back, where he had a few more discussions with Henderson, and then he ran to kick off by himself.

Since then, Hummels' position has basically been set near the middle circle, and he has basically never retreated on a large scale in this game.

Behind Hummels, in addition to the two fast-running full-backs, there is a large field and his goalkeeper partner.

Sunderland fans saw Hummels moving forward in such a decisive way, and then thought of Godin's inability to play, they probably guessed something.The fans had no choice but to sweat for Sunderland.

As for the Paris Saint-Germain players, seeing that Sunderland's defense is so overwhelmed, they feel that the opponent may be stimulated by today's events and has gone crazy.

Yes, Sunderland does look crazy.They seem to have completely lost their defense: Hummels is too high, the two full-backs need to step forward from time to time for assists, and the only one who really concentrates on defense is actually only goalkeeper Pickford.

Although Paris Saint-Germain got off to a fantastic start, leading by one goal in the first 6 minutes, they did not dare to hide their defense in front of the home fans.

But they soon found that the ball couldn't pass near the midfield.

Hummels and his defensive midfielder, who are basically on the same level as him, pressed very high, and at the same time fought very fiercely. The ball under the Paris player's feet must be intercepted within a few yards. Once the ball is caught by the Sunderland player If you grab it, you will be immediately sent to the forward attacking foot.

Such a pass either caused Sunderland's offensive opportunity or caused a Paris player's foul.

Soon Sunderland scored with a free kick in the front court, and Eriksson hit the dead corner of the opponent's goal with a beautiful world wave.Although the goalkeeper judged the direction accurately, he could only feel helpless.

"The ball went in!—"

Sunderland not only equalized the score, but also scored an away goal.

The game has just progressed to the 18th minute.The fans on both sides in the stands were a little silly: This is... the rhythm of the goal battle?

But it looks like a goal shootout, but it's not a goal shootout.

Sunderland seems to have given up on defense, and Paris should have scored a goal.However, facing the undefended Sunderland, it is also very difficult for Paris to attack.

The first hurdle their offense faces: the counter-attack on the spot after the opponent loses the ball.

As long as the Paris players get the ball in the backcourt, there will be Sunderland players stepping up to fight back, regardless of whether the ball is lost from their feet, but as long as the Paris players win the ball, there will be someone from Sunderland Get the ball back.

Sometimes the Parisian players didn't even know which side they were on.

Even if the players in Paris successfully got the ball without being snatched by their opponents, they pushed forward steadily, but found that they could not pass the second hurdle - Sunderland's "waist".

Sunderland's "waists" are too stable, like tigers in the road, they can always stop you halfway and make you return without success.

But as long as the "waist" is passed, the Paris players will face a vast prairie, an undefended wide corridor, leading directly to Sunderland's goal——

This must be a goal, right? --No!At this time, the Paris players ushered in the third hurdle that could not be bypassed-Sunderland's goalkeeper.

Today Hummels pressed too far forward, causing Pickford to have no one to chat with him.But a live TV shot captured the shot of Pickford guarding the goal alone: ​​This young man is still moving his mouth, who is he chatting with!

Soon, Pickford caught a single shot. In the next 10 minutes, Paris got an offensive opportunity, twice in the center post, and once missed the goal by rubbing the post.After these lucky "escapes", Pickford would reach out and pat the goalpost before each kick-off, and continued to mutter.

oh? ——The Sunderland fans realized that this kid was chatting with the goal.

Fall! ——Paris fans were shocked. Could it be that they wanted to "instigate" the goal in their stadium and help the visiting team keep the goal together?

In short, Sunderland seems to be defenseless, but these three "checkpoints" always choke the opponent's attack to death.

This reduced the viewability of the game to a certain extent. It was not until the end of the first half that the home team scored another goal.

Prior to this, Sunderland also scored a goal, but because Hummels, who scored the goal, was suspected of colliding with the goalkeeper in the penalty area, the goal was blown away by the referee on duty.

Anton, who has been watching from the sidelines, is not worried about his team's temporary lag. On the contrary, his attention has been attracted by an old man on the sidelines.

This man who looks to be over 60 years old, like Anton, also wears a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose.