green shooter

Chapter 140 stalemate
On Wednesday, September 2008, 9, Inter Milan sat at home and ushered in the fourth round of Serie A against newly promoted Lecce.

This is a mid-week game, and it is against a weak team like Lecce that is far inferior to him. The Nerazzurri who came to watch the game today to support the Nerazzurri only have a little over [-], and there are a lot of empty seats in the stands of the San Siro.

Whether it is the outside media fans, or Inter Milan's internal coaches and players, they all think that there is no suspense for them to win.

"Have you heard how the outside world is discussing this game, how about us? They say that we must lose, it is impossible to win, and it is only a matter of how many losses, are you willing? Do you agree with them?" Mario Beretta, the head coach of Little Pepper, enthusiastically mobilized his players before the game.

As embarrassing as it can sometimes be, it's useful, and as long as you're not embarrassed, it's someone else.

This Italian coach who has coached teams such as Chievo and Parma was still coaching Siena last season. This summer, he was dug over by Lecce, who had just been promoted to Serie A.

Beretta firmly believes that he can lead the team to complete the task of relegation. In the first three rounds that have ended, Pepper, who has just returned to Serie A, ranks No.14 in the league with one win, one draw and one loss. It seems that it is really not impossible to stay in Serie A.

"Boys, go out and show 'em some good looks, and surprise those who look down on you!"

"come on!"

Zhu Hantao, who started two consecutive games and scored goals, was unexpectedly placed on the bench by coach Mourinho in this game and failed to continue to start.

Mourinho communicated with Zhu Hantao in private, the game is sure to win, so let other forward players play to find out how to play, in the second half depending on the situation, he will be replaced for one to two 10 minutes.

Not only because Zhu Hantao is still too young, fitness coach Faria is a little worried about his physical condition, especially when he returns to the team too late and his physical reserve before the season is not very sufficient.

Another reason is that this weekend, that is, four days later, Inter Milan will face the first Milan derby of this season. That game is obviously much more important, and it is also a big test for Mourinho.

Therefore, the Portuguese hopes that Zhu Hantao can stay strong for the next game. He needs his scoring ability to play against Milan, but this time against Lecce, he will rest.

Although Zhu Hantao wants to say that his physical fitness is absolutely fine, he can take drugs if he can't. He has accumulated a lot of points in his hand, which are useless, but since the coach has said so, it is best to obey the coach's arrangement obediently.

"Hey." Balotelli sat next to Zhu Hantao on the bench, laughing silly, why silly?Because he felt that Zhu Hantao was like him as a substitute brother today, even though Zhu Hantao didn't start today because there were other reasons.

Since when have you been like Director Zhang, hehe all day long, did you secretly watch the game commentary on the sports channel?Zhu Hantao secretly complained in his heart and ignored him.

Although there was a reason for the incident, it was still not a good mood for not being able to start. Zhu Hantao sat on the bench without saying a word.

This mid-week game started at 08:30 in the evening, Italian time, because it was a weekday to take care of the fans who went to work and school, but this made it difficult for the domestic audience. They had to set their alarm clocks and get up at 02:30 in the morning to watch the game.

"Good evening, viewers and friends. It is 02:30 in the morning Yanjing time. The sports channel of Huaguo TV is broadcasting for you the fourth round of the Italian Football League, the match between Inter Milan and Lecce at home."

"Good evening, audience friends."

"I'm Liu Jianhong, and Zhang Luzhang and I will explain this game for you."

"I'm Zhang Lu."

"As usual, at the beginning of this time, let me introduce the starting players of both sides."

"Oh? Zhu Hantao was put on the bench by Inter Milan's head coach Mourinho today. I don't know why? In the previous game, Zhu Hantao performed quite well in the first game."

"Mourinho must have his considerations in it, let's take a look at his starting lineup for this game, which is still a 4-3-3 system.

Goalkeeper Cesar, left back Chivu, center back Burdisso and Cordoba, right back Zanetti.

In the midfield, Stankovic was alone at the front, with Vieira and Cambiasso at the back.

On the front line are Mancini, Ibrahimovic and Adriano. "

"Recently, the games have been relatively intensive. Inter Milan have also rotated in multiple positions, and Maicon was also placed on the bench. Presumably this also gave him a rest."

Cordoba has played for the Nerazzurri for many years. He rejected the invitation of Real Madrid and chose to join the Colombian of Inter Milan. Over the years, he has partnered with Materazzi to grow step by step into the backbone of the Nerazzurri's defense and became the vice-captain of Inter Milan.

In 2005, due to the absence of captain Zanetti to participate in the Confederations Cup, Cordoba also led Inter Milan to win the Coppa Italia as captain.

With the arrival of Samuel and the growth of Burdisso and other reasons, the competition for Inter Milan's defenders has become increasingly fierce.

His number of appearances in the first two seasons has been significantly reduced, and this season he ushered in his first league start in the fourth round of the league.

"Adriano also unexpectedly returned to the starting list. The four strikers of Quaresma, Julio Cruz, Zhu Hantao and Balotelli are sitting on the bench. I don't know what Mourinho is thinking about."

Adriano returned to Italy from Sao Paulo, Brazil after a mess last season.

The Brazilian has lost a lot of weight this summer, and his form has improved during his six-month loan at Sao Paulo. Moratti is happy that his decision to send Adriano back to Brazil half a year ago has paid off.

He always believed that the best Adriano would come back, "Adriano left a very good impression on me."

It seems that Adriano is bidding farewell to the past life of drinking and drinking and loving prostitutes. His hard training has won him the chance to play. Whether he really comes back depends on his performance on the court.

In fact, the 4-3-3 that Mourinho has always wanted to play is that Ibrahimovic is in front, and there are two wingers behind him, one left and one right. This is why he put Crespo, Suyazo and Pele together on the cleaning list during the transfer period, and he also strongly demanded the introduction of Quaresma at any cost.

Although Mancini is not bad, Figo is no longer at his peak, and there is no serious winger in the Inter Milan team.

If Balotelli, Cruz, and Adriano recover, these players can be used, but they are all forwards after all, which is not in line with Mourinho's expected tactics. Of course, the effect of forcing them to play as a winger will not be very good.

In the previous few games, Figo gradually exposed his weakness that he could not meet the requirements of a madman winger, and his ability to create space was not enough, and he was not as fast as Mancini's adaption to Mourinho's tactics.

Not to mention that after more than a month, the members of the coaching staff have noticed Zhu Hantao's performance. Now Mourinho is already considering whether to adjust his tactical arrangements so that Zhu Hantao and Ibrahimovic can play their best in the frontcourt.

Back to this game, Zhu Hantao sat on the sidelines and watched the game absent-mindedly, looking at the expression of the head coach Mourinho from time to time, thinking about whether he had a chance to play.

What he doesn't know is that Mourinho is also struggling, should he simply abandon the tactical system that Inter Milan was mainly training and adapting before Zhu Hantao returned to the team, and build a formation around Ibrahimovic and Zhu Hantao that can maximize their role.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to introduce the starters of the Lecce team, so I still have to explain.

"Lecce coach Mario Beretta used a 4-4-2 formation for this game.

Goalkeeper No. 99 Francisco Benussi. "

"Hey, this goalkeeper is also interesting. It's rare to see a goalkeeper with such a big number. Isn't this number 99 the same as Zhu Hantao's number when he was in Turin last season?"

"Then the four defenders from left to right are No. 16 Andres Esposito, No. 14 Fabiano, No. 2 Stendaldo and No. 6 Angelo.

The four players in the midfield are No. 19 Ariati on the left, followed by No. 7 and Lecce's captain Zanketa, No. 21 Ardito and No. 8 Munari.

The last striker, the two starting forwards are No. 90 Tilipocchi and No. 9 Daniel Caccia. "

"The colors of the jerseys of both sides in this game are also very interesting. Inter Milan still wears the classic blue and black striped shirts at home, while the red and yellow striped shirts of the visiting team Lecce are also very bright."

"Hey, this Lecce is the little pepper that people often say, so let's see if their performance on the court can be as eye-catching as their jerseys."

At No. 40 minutes into the game, the score was still zero to zero. Zhu Hantao sat on the bench and watched his opponent's wave after wave of offensives being tenaciously defended by his opponent, tsk tsk and shook his head.

In terms of strength, the Lecce team is definitely far inferior to the star-studded Inter Milan. In terms of the technical and tactical level of the head coach, Beretta naturally cannot be compared with Mourinho.

But football is such a sport that is full of suspense and can always believe in miracles. It is not always the stronger side that wins.

This team from the south of Italy showed their quality of will, just relying on their running without hesitation and tenacious defense, making the Nerazzurri's tide of offense return without success time and time again.

Faced with such a situation, Mourinho can only frown and observe the situation on the court all the time.

For the time being, there is no good solution, and there is no need to rush to make substitutions and adjustments in the first half. If there is anything that needs to be explained, you can talk to the players in the locker room during the intermission.

They have always been so mentally tense, focused and concentrated on high-intensity defense. They probably won't last long. There will definitely be loopholes in the second half of the second half. At that time, just let me go up to find opportunities to score goals, Zhu Hantao thought so.

No. In the 403rd minute, Chivu moved too much in the defense on the left and received the first yellow card of the game, which also made the Inter Milan coach frown even deeper.

As the referee Mauro Bergonzi blew the whistle for the end of the first half, the soldiers of the Lecce team breathed a sigh of relief, the game came to an end, and they successfully defended the goal.

Inter Milan was very dissatisfied. The wildly bombed half of the game resulted in nothing. Nerazzurri in the stands was also very unhappy that the home team even played so hard for a team like Lecce.

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, the soldiers of the Nerazzurri did not hang their heads, they firmly believed that under the leadership of Mourinho, they would surely win, and everyone returned to the locker room in a relatively relaxed mood.

"It was very difficult in the first half. Why? Isn't the opponent's strength much weaker than yours?" Mourinho's voice was not loud, but it went straight to the heart.

Some of the Inter Milan players below did not dare to look directly at the coach and bowed their heads to listen silently, while some looked intently at Mourinho's expression to show that they were listening carefully.

"Let me just say it, I am very dissatisfied with your performance. Some of today's starters are not worthy of the starting position. I will not name and criticize them here. I hope you have a clear idea."

A few players who knew their poor performance and didn't work hard enough in the first half lowered their heads even deeper.

Zhu Hantao twitched his lips. As expected of someone who has studied psychology, if he doesn't name and criticize, it will make many players think that he is talking about himself, and then try to perform well in the second half, right?
"According to official statistics, the opponents ran far more than you in the first half, so what's the matter, you think you are stronger than them, so you can win by kicking casually, right?"

Mourinho said while observing the players' reactions, "So I will make some adjustments in the second half, and first try to consume the Lecce team's physical strength. After about 75 minutes, they will enter a burnout period. At that time, our chance will come..."

So I should play in the second half. Coach Mourinho must be counting on me to score a goal to change the situation of the game.

However, to Zhu Hantao's disappointment, Mourinho made two substitutions directly in midfield and did not send him on the field.

"Okay, the second half of the game is about to start. Mourinho must have explained his tactics to his players in the midfield, but he can't continue to play like the first half."

"That's right, Inter Milan has already made two substitutions and adjustments at the beginning of the second half. I don't know what changes will happen in tactics. I will explain to you as the game progresses."

"Quarez replaced Stankovic and Maicon replaced Vieira. Is there a midfielder now? Has the formation changed?"

"According to my estimation, Zanetti should play in the midfield, Maicon still plays his right back, and then four strikers. This formation has changed from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4. I saw that coach Mourinho is very bold. We need to further strengthen the offense."

(End of this chapter)