football world number one

Chapter 310 Florence
The first round after the end of the winter break, the No.18 Serie A matchup will officially start on January 2009, 1.

The whole Piacenza team resumed training five days in advance, and the most attempts Conte made in the training camp these days was to arrange the three qualified new aids into the team's tactics as soon as possible.

After continuous drills and training games, the progress of the new players' running-in was not bad, and this running-in, time passed quietly, and soon it was the day before the start of the game.

After a few days of training, the players of Piacenza gradually regained their tension from the relaxed state of the holiday. The three new aids including Raimondi also had a preliminary understanding of the team's tactics.

In the afternoon of the same day, Conte announced the candidates for the big list as usual. This time he did not take any risks. In addition to the main players in the list arrangement, there was no new player in the starting list. The three new players who joined the team will sit on the bench in this game without accident.

In the first game of the new year, Piacenza's opponent is Florence, known as the Viola. Since the game kicks off in the afternoon, the team will set off on the morning of the game and take the team bus to Florence.

As a strong team in Serie A in the past few seasons, the strength of Viola must not be underestimated. While this team has such powerful stars as Montolivo and Gilardino, it also has a powerful player like Mutu who is less famous but not inferior.

In the first half of the season, Viola ranked sixth in the league with their outstanding performance. In the match against the giants of Serie A, this team showed no less strength. If it weren't for the joint efforts of several giants this season and the appearance of a big dark horse like Piacenza, Fiorentina's ranking would definitely be higher.

Therefore, Conte was unequivocal about the pre-match preparations. He not only asked the coaching staff to collect sufficient information about Fiorentina, but he also watched all the key games since the start of Fiorentina. He has a certain understanding of the team's style of play and characteristics.

In the end, when arranging the team's formation, Conte chose the 433 formation, which is the same as the opponent's commonly used formation. The advantage of this formation is both offense and defense, because the defense of three midfielders and four defenders is sufficient most of the time. Once the opponent's army is pressed, the two wingers can retreat to the midfield to help the team defend.

Of course, there is another reason why Conte finally decided on this formation, and that is that Fiorentina showed a very threatening characteristic in the first half of the season, fast.

Yes, Viola has developed a very threatening offensive routine based on Gilardino, the 2006 World Cup champion striker. In the opening 10 minutes, this team ranked among the top three in scoring rate among the 20 teams since the start of Serie A.

Therefore, this is a team that is extremely good at opening and attacking, which is similar to Piacenza.

But Conte understands that the reason why the team he led has repeatedly performed successfully in the opening game mainly depends on the players' good state, and when the state is not good, the disadvantage of the team's lack of stability will be exposed.

If it was the beginning of the league, Conte would never mind a soul-stirring confrontation with Fiorentina. Just like the game against the Blue Eagles, it is now the second half of the league. What he needs to do is to help the team from a dark horse to a strong team.

Dark horses are only temporary, while strong teams will always be competitive. The difference between them often lies in stability.

Therefore, in this game, Conte adopted a relatively conservative approach to the team's tactical arrangements after the opening. The team's 433 formation was very tight in the first 10 minutes, whether it was the distance between the forward and the midfielder or the distance between the midfielder and the defender.

The advantage of this is that Piacenza can have enough defensive density to prevent Fiorentina's opening attack at the beginning, and once the time when Viola is the most threatening at the beginning of the game, Conte is confident that he will slowly use the team's outstanding individual ability to compete with opponents in subsequent games.

Conte explained this series of arrangements and organization with the players in the meeting room the afternoon before departure, so after announcing the roster and starting players, he directly asked the players to go back to rest.

On the second day, the team assembled at the gate of the club, and the bus of Piacenza slowly left the club under the welcome of many fans who were not eligible to travel with the team.

When the Piacenza bus drove into the city of Florence, Liu Feng, who was sitting by the window, felt a completely different atmosphere from Piacenza.

As the birthplace of the European Renaissance, Florence has a long history, and the whole city also has a different heritage under the influence of culture. Even the fans of this team who came to threaten the visiting team spontaneously organized it. Not as crazy as the fans of other teams.

Sitting on the bus with earphones and looking around, Liu Feng experienced another artistic conception of Italy. This is the second year he came to Italy, and everything is still so fresh.

"Here we are, cheer me up!"

Just as Liu Feng took advantage of the team bus turning left and right in the city in a daze, Conte's voice sounded first in the bus, and then the players who raised their heads saw the majestic Frankie Stadium not far away.

"Let's go, Feng, I haven't played a game for a while, and my feet are a little itchy." Cassia, who was sitting next to Liu Feng, stood up, twisted his waist in the aisle, and motioned for Liu Feng to get off the car together.

"Let's go, me too." Without grumbling, Liu Feng put the earphones back into his backpack, and got out of the car with Cassia, carrying his sneakers.

A group of players, led by the staff in charge of welcoming Florence, quickly entered the visiting team's locker room. With the cold weather, the jerseys of the players had been changed into long-sleeved jerseys, and they quickly changed into clothes. Under the leadership of Conte, everyone stepped into the turf of Frankie Stadium.

"Shh! Shh! Shh!"

At the first moment of stepping into the stadium, Liu Feng finally completely freed himself from the vague literary and artistic atmosphere after coming to Florence. The home fans of Florence used their grand boos to show the visiting team Piacenza that they were not as troublesome as imagined.

"Shit! I love the boos! Hahaha."

There is more than one person who has the same idea as Liu Feng. Cassia, who has always been cheerful, is now in a good state of mind. After a holiday, he heard the fans booing again, and he felt happy from the bottom of his heart.

"Okay guys, hurry up and start practicing!!!"

"Roar!"

　Chapter 1 here!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)