Football giants

Chapter 147

Surrounded by crowds of stands, the green turf became the stage for the concert.

Under the background of a group of dancers, Lin Yuner sang this single [Callmemaybe] in public for the first time.

The time was specially arranged before the whistle of the game, and the live TV broadcast had already started at this time, so her entire concert was broadcast live by the TV station, and presented to all the fans and audiences waiting in front of the TV all over the world.

Choreographer Lee Joo-sun from South Korea personally tailored the dance for Lin Yuner, which made her appear dynamic and energetic.

And this brisk song with a playful style is also very ear-catching, especially the chorus part, which is simple but very pleasant, catchy, and easily leaves a very deep impression on people.

Especially when Lin Yuner sang the climax, the explosive sound effect made many music-loving fans in the stands stand up at the same time, twisting their bodies in accordance with the melody and rhythm.

When the song was sung, the entire St. Mary's Stadium immediately sounded with overwhelming cheers for the first time since tonight.

"The live effect is very good!" Terry Matthews, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, was also infected by the music, and his emotions were also ignited.

Yang Huan smiled and remained silent.

Of course!

Since the last time Uncle Psy sang "Gangnam Style" live here and gained miraculous results, he has transformed the acoustics of St. Mary's Stadium, and Lin Yuner and the dancers have been secretly practicing here for several days.

Judging from the reaction of the fans at the scene, this song is still very contagious.

After Lin Yuner sang and left the field, the players of the two teams walked out of the player channel under the leadership of the referee team.

There was once again a burst of incomparably warm applause and cheers.

As soon as the players of the two teams entered the stadium, they immediately lined up in front of the player tunnel.

At this time, everyone realized that Southampton's starting lineup was completely different from usual.

"Change?" Mayor Carol Connell lost her voice in surprise.

It's a big taboo to change teams before a big game, the risk is too great.

If it succeeds, it will be a legend. If it fails, it will pay the most painful price.

Yang Huan knew very well that Bielsa would stick to his offensive football style. Although he didn't know what the game would be like, he believed in Bielsa and the Southampton players no matter what.

"The team has been rehearsing in secret for a while. Bielsa must have been prepared. After all, we are facing Chelsea. If we play according to the conventional routine, it must be a disadvantage. They have studied us very thoroughly, so they can only change."

Yang Huan's explanation is specious and reasonable, and it is difficult to object.

Carol Connell and Terry Matthews are not professionals, so they nodded incessantly after hearing this.

But Charlene Lahiri, who was sitting in the front row of Yang Huan, frowned when she heard this, turned her head and looked at Yang Huan worriedly, her delicate and lovely mouth moved, as if asking, is this really the case?
Yang Huan nodded without hesitation, indeed!
Chelsea's starting lineup is actually not surprising.

Petr Cech in goal, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Terry and Bosingwa in defense.

The midfield adopts a diamond-shaped position, with Mikel at the back, Essien and Lampard in the middle, and Anelka playing as a midfielder.

This set of tactical play has been rehearsed once in the middle of the week. Anelka performed very well in that game, and Chelsea almost defeated their opponents without breaking a sweat.

The double striker is indeed Drogba and Torres.

This set of starting lineups did not exceed Bielsa's expectations. From this, it is not difficult to see that before the key battle, Ancelotti still believed in the principle of prudence, and there were not too many changes and adjustments in personnel.

But Southampton has made a bold change.

The biggest change is that in addition to the two main central defenders, Benatia and Varane, in the starting lineup, there is also a Portuguese veteran Jose Fonte.

The veteran's performance at the beginning of the season was not very satisfactory. The main position was replaced by Benatia and Varane, and then he was able to play in some unimportant games or when the main team was absent due to injury.

But now, Bielsa has arranged for Benatia, Varane and Jose Fonte to start three central defenders at the same time.

But at the same time, the two full-backs who have performed very well this season, David Alaba and right-back Carvajal, also started at the same time, which surprised everyone.

Does Bielsa want to play back five?Adopt shrinking defensive tactics?
In terms of midfield, Southampton's three midfielders also started at the same time, Strowman, Vidal and Schneiderlin who was behind.

The starting lineup of these three players will also strengthen the hardness of Southampton's midfield.

Five players in the back line, three players in the midfield, and two players in the frontcourt.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the young player Chamberlain who has performed well this season.

Although captain Adam Lallana returned from injury at the last minute, Bielsa still did not include him in the starting list.

Five three two tactics?
This is an iconic defensive counterattack!

"It can be seen that when encountering Chelsea, the top Premier League team, even Bielsa, who regards offense as his life, has to compromise and adopt a more secure tactic."

A TV commentator dissects Southampton's starting XI.

"But we also have to see a hidden danger, that is, Ibrahimovic is obviously not suitable for this kind of defensive counterattack tactics. The farther he is from the goal, the less threat he has. Since he wants to play defensive counterattack, why not play Barnard?"

Barnard is Southampton's backup striker. He has also played many times as a substitute this season, and his performance is not bad.

But as the game started, everyone gradually changed their pre-match views.

Southampton did use five defenders, but it does not mean that the Saints will shrink their defense.

Among the five defenders, the three central defenders dragged at the end, three against two, limiting the double forwards of Drogba and Torres.

The two full-backs stood more forward and even rushed forward boldly.

In just 20 seconds of the opening, David Alaba made a diagonal pass from the left and found Vidal, who was pressing on the midfielder.

After the Chilean took the ball, he was tackled to the ground by Chelsea's midfielder Mikel.

The Nigerian was given a yellow card just 20 seconds into the game.

The cooperation of David Alaba and Vidal's oblique pass won the cheers of more than 3 fans at the scene.

"Mikel's shovel is too casual. Vidal is 30 meters away from the goal. The threat is not too great, and Terry is back behind him. It shouldn't be." The on-site commentator analyzed the situation.

But soon, it was still in this position.

After Chamberlain pulled to the left to cooperate with David Alaba, he passed it to Vidal.

The Chilean rushed up quickly, and when he was more than 20 meters away from the goal, he shot directly.

The ball was slightly higher than the crossbar, but it made people break out in a cold sweat.

"This toe is too hard!" The on-site commentator also had to change his words.

Within 30 meters, give Vidal a chance, and he will be able to score from a long distance.

Two consecutive offenses played momentum and threats, and Southampton continued to increase its offensive investment.

The two full-backs actively moved on the flanks, and the three midfielders, Stroman and Vidal stepped forward in turn, especially Vidal, who pushed forward with great strength, while Schneiderlin dragged more behind, staring at Anelka.

In the frontcourt, Chamberlain actively pulled to the two sides to respond.

This makes Southampton's entire offense seem to have little investment, but the effect is very good and very threatening.

Southampton insists on head-to-head, attacking and attacking, and Chelsea is also not weak.

The overall strength of Ancelotti's team is also very strong, gradually controlling the situation of the game.

Anelka took the ball in the front court and wanted to break into the penalty area, but was tackled jointly by Schneiderlin and Benatia.

But immediately afterwards, Essien passed the ball, and Drogba shot angrily from the front of the penalty area, slightly wide of the bottom line.

After that, Lampard made a pass from the left side of the penalty area, left back Ashley Cole quickly inserted, stopped the ball and made a pass.

Benatia overwhelmed Torres with a header in the penalty area to clear the siege. Anelka stepped in and hit Schneiderlin with a long shot from the outside of the penalty area. The French midfielder had to be temporarily removed from the field for treatment, but the game continued soon.

As soon as the game started, the two sides entered into a bayonet-to-bay hand-to-hand battle as if the tip of a needle was facing the wheat.

Without the slightest temptation, without the slightest camouflage, it was a direct confrontation with real knives and real guns.

Southampton is not as sophisticated and stable as Chelsea in terms of controlling the situation, but it is not far behind in creating threats.

The two sides fought fast-paced battles with you coming and going, and the game situation was one after another, with climaxes one after another, which made all the fans who came to the scene enjoy watching, and at the same time, their hearts were lifted high.

In such a game, who knows who will win and who will lose?

Yang Huan was attracted by the game from the very beginning, the pace was too fast.

To paraphrase a movie-watching saying, there is no peeing during the whole process.

Although he has full confidence in the team, he is also very apprehensive, unsteady, and terrified.

He is like this, let alone the people around him.

Mayor Carol Connell and Sheriff Terry Matthews were also very excited, especially the latter, a veteran Saints fan, who stood up from his seat and yelled excitedly from time to time.

The Saints fans in the entire Southampton chairman's stand, as well as Southampton's political and business celebrities, were also terrified, and they could always hear screams, just like watching a horror movie in a cinema.

Although Yang Huan is not a professional, he has watched football for so many years and can more or less understand the game.

Bielsa's tactic is head-to-head.

The three central defenders at the back limit Chelsea's double forwards. It seems that there are only three in the midfield, but there are actually four.

As long as Chelsea has the ball, Chamberlain has been pestering Mikel, Schneiderlin always delays and restricts Anelka, Stroman and Vidal are relatively free and have a larger range of activities, but basically they are facing Essien and Lampard.

On Chelsea's two wings, Ashley Cole is very active. Carvajal's side is under a lot of pressure and focuses on defense, but Bosingwa is relatively average. He doesn't play much forward and participate in the offense, so David Alaba's side can actively create threats forward.

The midfielder is restricted one-on-one, and the two wings become the key.

Chelsea play with a back four, with the full-backs at the back.

And what's more terrible is that Chelsea's two forwards and midfielder Anelka basically didn't go sideways.

This left Chelsea relying on two deep full-backs to carry the ball forward.

However, Southampton has no regular wingers for Chelsea, so the full-backs are pressed very high, and the focus is on guarding Chelsea's two full-backs.

Therefore, in the contest between full-backs and full-backs, the right side is basically flat. Carvajal is basically able to defend against Ashley Cole, but he is not strong enough to participate in the offense forward.

But David Alaba's side against Bosingwa is Southampton's advantage.

The Austrian often had the ball in Chelsea's half and was a threat whenever he got it.

Bosingwa also took the ball in his own half, but if he wanted to create a threat, he had to dribble the ball into Southampton's half.

This has formed Southampton's advantage in the local area.

So on the surface, Chelsea controlled the situation of the game, but it was difficult to organize an effective offense.

Southampton seems to be very passive, but in fact they are constantly making threats.

"The situation of the game is now very clear!"

After watching two or three 10-minute fast-paced games, the on-site commentator also had a good understanding of the formation of both sides.

"Southampton's biggest advantage is on the wing, especially on the left side of David Alaba. The weakness is on the front line. It is difficult for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to seize opportunities alone. The combination of David Luiz and Terry is very solid."

"Chelsea's advantage lies in the two forwards. There is a lack of threatening interaction between Drogba and Torres. If they can use their personal abilities to break through the restriction of the three defenders, then Chelsea's opportunity has come!"

Having said that, the on-site commentator is looking forward to it.

"Both sides have advantages and disadvantages. It depends on who can convert their advantages into goals as soon as possible."

The on-site commentator was talking, and the interaction between Drogba and Torres came.

"Drogba steals the ball, Schneiderlin loses it at the front of the box..."

"Southampton is in danger!"

"Look for Torres, pass it in..."

　Hematemesis broke out, the fourth update, brothers, smash tickets!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)