I'm 198cm tall. Are you giving me a Maradona template?

Chapter 25: Being Underestimated

"Yang, you are underestimated."

“This Swede is so arrogant.”

"I really want to slap him in the face!"

On the training ground.

Everyone was discussing the biggest news of the past two days: the media competition between the big Chinese man and the big Swedish man.

In fact, both of them only gave one interview.

Then the media became the "mouthpiece" for the two of them.

The hype is enjoying itself.

"I'll have a chance to slap him in the face this weekend!"

Sunshine said viciously.

"Yes! Kill Paris!"

"Damn it, why are the Swedes so arrogant?"

Everyone shouted.

Two consecutive victories have boosted Monaco's morale.

Head coach Jardim and the coaching staff walked into the training ground.

"Guys, I know you're all looking forward to the game against Paris, but first we have to go to London."

Yalding said.

"In order to give Paris a surprise, I suggest that when we play against Tottenham, we should still mainly play crosses from the wing."

Yalding's words fell.

The players all laughed.

"Yes, yes, yes. Now the media in Paris are saying that Yang is a striker who can only head the ball. Let them think so."

"We have to give Paris a surprise!"

The coaches on the coaching staff were all beaming with joy when they saw how confident each of the players was.

After six league rounds, Monaco had three wins and three draws, earning 12 points.

They are 16 points behind Paris, which has 4 points.

Ranked third in the league.

Ahead of them is Rennes with 13 points.

Rennes was in good form at the beginning of the season, but given the team's strength, no one thinks Rennes can maintain this form.

So, in the eyes of Monaco's coaches.

If we can take advantage of the team's momentum and beat Paris Saint-Germain at home, we can narrow the gap to 1 point.

Then Monaco can even imagine competing with Paris Saint-Germain for the league championship!
Compared to league games.

The Europa League matches are not that important to Monaco.

therefore.

In the midweek away game against Tottenham, veteran players including Carvalho, Moutinho and Toulalan will all be rotated.

And this Europa League match.

Jardim will continue to experiment with tactics.

This time, the experiment is about the effect of Mbappe and Yang Guang playing as double center forwards.

Compared to Monaco.

Tottenham Hotspur attaches great importance to the Europa League.

This is because the difficulty of competing for the top four in the Premier League is still a bit too great for Tottenham.

To advance to the Champions League.

For many Premier League teams.

Winning the Europa League is also a very important path - since the Europa League champion can qualify for the Champions League next season, the Europa League games are relatively less useless.

The North London media specifically mentioned the sun when looking ahead to this Europa League group match.

".This 198cm tall Chinese striker scored five goals in the first two games of his career. All five goals were headers, which fully proves that he is a striker who is very good at heading."

Inside Tottenham's training base.

Head coach Pochettino sat in his office and put down the reports on Monaco he had collected from the French and British media.

On his computer screen.

The game videos of Monaco's center forward Sunshine have also been edited.

He also read it again.

He couldn't help but be impressed by this big center who was nearly two meters tall.

This reminded him of the Czech striker Jan Koller.

He is 2.02 meters tall and weighs 103 kilograms.

He is a great threat standing in the penalty area, even if he doesn't jump.

With good back-to-the-basket ball-handling skills, even if he can't score, he can help his teammates attract firepower and create opportunities.

The Chinese center forward's ability to play with his back to goal is unknown, but his ability to head the ball into the goal must be guarded against. However, as the media said.

If Yang Guang is really a striker who can only head the ball.

It's not that difficult to defend him.

Pochettino wrote two words in his tactical notes: wing, speed.

Monaco won two consecutive games by relying on the tactic of passing the ball from the flanks.

In other words, Monaco is very dependent on advancing from the flanks.

But they have a weakness.

That is, Bernardo Silva and Lemar, who played as wingers in these games, are not fast.

They are more like wingers than wingers.

They rely on their footwork and the cooperation with the full-backs to create space and get passing opportunities.

Compared to Monaco.

Tottenham's wingers and full-backs are much faster.

The two wingers on the left and right, Lamela and Son Heung-min, are both good at dribbling.

Center forward Harry Kane is also a big guy.

But compared to the sun.

Kane's abilities are much more comprehensive.

Heading, shooting, positioning, passing, and excellent confrontation ability.

This is the template of a true modern center.

Instead of a "specialized" center forward like Yang Guang.

Spurs’ two main full-backs on the left and right sides, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose, are also fast flying wingers.

Therefore, Pochettino naturally thought of using Tottenham's flank advantage to suppress Monaco's flank.

Tottenham's midfield has two players, Eriksen and Dele Alli, plus Pochettino likes to use Dier as a guest defensive midfielder.

The three midfielders are good at both offense and defense.

The two central defenders, Vertonghen and Alderweireld, are also top central defenders.

Although they are not as tall as Yangguang, their experience and abilities are definitely better than Yangguang.

As long as Monaco does not frequently attack from the flanks.

The two of them should have no problem blocking the sunlight.

Think about it.

Pochettino felt that this game was foolproof.

Because the game was held in London.

Therefore, many Chinese reporters came to Tottenham's pre-match press conference.

The Premier League has high viewership in China.

Teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have a large number of fans in China.

Therefore, many domestic sports media have reporters stationed in London.

Because of the sunshine, reporters based in London also began to pay attention to this Europa League game.

When it was a Chinese reporter's turn to ask questions.

He asked Pochettino directly: "Monaco's center forward Sunshine scored five goals in two league games. Is Tottenham ready to deal with this?"

Pochettino's answer was rather perfunctory: "He is a very capable player with excellent physical fitness, but our two central defenders are also very good."

Such a formulaic answer is not very sincere.

This caused the English reporters present to burst into low laughter.

The Chinese reporter sat down somewhat unhappily.

And it was the players' turn to answer reporters' questions.

Tottenham player Dier, who attended the press conference, was blunt: "He is very good at heading the ball, which is an advantage in the French Ligue 1, but in the Premier League."

Dale shrugged.

"There are so many centre-forwards like this in the Premier League and even in the Championship that we are used to it."

The British reporters at the scene smiled and nodded when they heard this.

"A centre-forward who is a great header"

"If you hadn't told me, I would have thought he was from the Championship."

"Are Monaco going to play English football against Tottenham?"

"Hahaha"

These jeers made the Chinese and French journalists present feel a little uncomfortable.

"These arrogant British people."

"I really hope the sun can hit them hard in the face!"

Several Chinese reporters murmured.

(End of this chapter)