Red Rebels

When it comes to Curbishley, even those who are not experienced Premier League fans may not recognize him, but this guy is a veteran of the Premier League. He has been at Charlton for 14 years since he took charge of the club in 1991. Although he also left the Valley Stadium in Xiao Yu's previous life, he has not had any thoughts in this regard until now.

Xiao Yu didn't have much impression of this Premier League veteran in his previous life, but now, Alan Cubishli's name will be deeply engraved in his mind.

This round is called a dark week for the leaders. Not only did the top three teams in the Premier League all suffer draws, but Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga also lost, and Juventus and AC Milan in Serie A also suffered from opponents. Even Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga also lost. It can be said that the giants have collectively fallen.

Before the away challenge to Charlton, I received two pieces of extremely good news. Liverpool was held to a draw by Birmingham at home. Although Birmingham was sent off with a red card in the 28th minute, Gerrard also helped Liverpool score, but Alonso's own goal at the last moment helped Birmingham draw with Liverpool.

Chelsea was held to a draw by Aston Villa in an away game. The two teams played very fiercely, and Chelsea also scored first. However, Aston Villa equalized the score at the beginning of the second half. After that, Chelsea could no longer organize an effective attack. Shooting attack.

These two pieces of news are exciting. According to the current situation in the standings, as long as they defeat Charlton, which is ranked 13th in the league, they can directly reverse Chelsea and climb to the top, and at the same time get rid of the points gap with Liverpool.

Everyone seemed very excited, and Mourinho even issued a kill order for this game in advance.

Well, I have to admit that arrogance will lead to defeat, but the personnel are well organized. Except for Drogba and Essien who were absent due to participating in the African Cup, other players started the game. Among them, Villa's strength is not inferior to Drogba. Rossi can completely replace Essien's role.

You know, Charlton was slaughtered 6:1 at home. Although the Valley Stadium has been a famous tough match in the Premier League in the past two seasons, Mourinho still has full confidence that he can win the game.

However, even if all the main players were sent on the field, they still could not break through the iron barrel formation laid out by Curbishley for Charlton.

The score of 0:0 was so shocking that Mourinho was so angry that he cursed on the spot.

Charlton has always been diligent and frugal. This season Curbishli has introduced many players, but most of them are on loan and free transfer. Among these players, the most successful one is Smelkin, who was introduced from Chelsea. And Darren Bent, who was brought in from Ipswich for £2.5 million.

Yes, that's the double-20 forward who is known as the fastest in FM!

Charlton's tactics this season are based on defense, and the offense relies on Bent's speed to counterattack. Smerkin performed well in defense, and Bent was extremely effective in attack. This makes Charlton's anti-counterattack tactics It can be called a unique landscape in the Premier League.

However, in this game, Cubishli completely gave up the counterattack. Bent retreated to the midfield. His main task was to harass Beckham and De Rossi. At the same time, Charlton played in the defensive midfielder and central midfielder. In the area between, a defensive line of 5 players is organized, plus 4 defenders behind.

"I have to admit that Mr. Cubishli set a record by starting with 10 defenders and tied us at home. I feel helpless about it, but this is football. Who allowed them to introduce them in one go in the summer? What about up to seven defenders?"

Mourinho was helpless at the post-match press conference. What could he say?

Did he want to compliment Kubishli's successful iron barrel formation? Or do you want to attack Kubishli's conservatism?

No, these are not important. The most important thing is that Mourinho knows very well that he has missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reach the top. If he can reach the top of the league this round, maybe the next situation will be completely different. It’s different.

But who could have imagined that Charlton would be so tenacious.

Sitting at the Valley Stadium, Charlton only had a measly 3 shots in the game, none of which were on target. Instead, they had 16 shots in the game, and 5 of them were on target. Is the shooting efficiency low?

Come on, there are people everywhere, no matter how hard you shoot, you can’t get it straight!

Compared to Mourinho's depression, Cubishli seemed very happy. Yes, with this game, his team successfully improved to another level. It is currently ranked 11th in the league. The Charl he coached Dun's record steadily increased, and he himself became a mother-in-law. After 14 years of keeping a low profile, he ushered in his second spring.

This made the face of the 48-year-old but already gray-haired Cubishli smile like a blooming chrysanthemum, while Mourinho was as angry as if his chrysanthemum had just been exploded.

But these are not the most depressing things. Manchester City, which started at the same time, defeated Newcastle neatly 3:0 at home. Van Gaal's team once again showed an astonishing performance in this strength confrontation. .

Manchester United's away game against Blackburn kicked off 15 minutes later. As a result, Blackburn took the lead three times at home, and Manchester United tenaciously pulled back the score three times. After that, the game entered a stalemate stage, but with the news that it was also tied, it seemed that Injecting incomparable courage and fighting spirit into Manchester United, Ruud van Nistelrooy's lunatic volley at the last moment incredibly scored the winning goal for Manchester United. 3:4, Manchester United narrowly won!

This makes the Premier League after 24 rounds, Chelsea still tops the list with 59 points, followed by 58 points, Liverpool with 57 points, Manchester City and Manchester United are closely behind with 56 and 54 points respectively.

Arsenal, who were ranked lower, lost an upset 2:3 at home to West Ham United, and Droylsden drew 1:1 at home with Everton. The two teams gradually pulled away and won the championship. The points difference between the legions.

Judging from the current situation, there are 14 rounds left in the Premier League. Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all have a chance to win the championship. The gap between the top and fifth place is only 5 points, which may be rewritten at any time, especially since Manchester United currently only has the league To play, they had just unexpectedly lost to Wolves away from home in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

After the 24th round, almost all the pundits around the world had to shout that the Premier League is so exciting this season. No one expected that the round that should have completely exploded after rest and adjustment was completely unexpected. It became the funeral song of the leaders.

However, they all agreed that although the top three opponents in this round of the league all adopted conservative tactics, from another perspective, the Premier League teams are still quite strong. At least even Birmingham in the relegation zone can draw with Liverpool away from home. , Charlton and Aston Villa, who are ranked in the middle, can draw with Chelsea and Chelsea who are aiming to win the championship. It is impossible without any strength.

At the same time, everyone is looking forward to the 25th round three days later, because there will be a focus game in this round, Chelsea vs. Liverpool at home.

…………Mourinho was very annoyed with the team’s defeat in the 24th round, but apart from that, he analyzed the gains and losses of this game with the coaching staff, and everyone realized one thing , that is, Charlton's tactics are similar to Werder Bremen's tactics. They both set up regional defense in the midfield to limit the attack.

The difference is that Charlton is more thorough and determined than Werder Bremen.

Facing the iron barrel formation, the whole world had a headache, including Mourinho, but Mourinho had to start thinking about how to deal with this tactic, especially the opponent's zone defense in the midfield.

At the same time, Mourinho is also very aware that Chelsea faces Liverpool. This is another opportunity. He must win Blackburn at home in order to create pressure on Chelsea and Liverpool.

So Mourinho told the players during training that he had originally decided to punish the players for the draw with Charlton, but now the punishment has been postponed. If the team can beat Blackburn at home, the punishment will be reduced.

This immediately excited the players, because everyone knows that Mourinho's devilish training is very unbearable.

Once again the main force was sent out to play, this time a clean 3:0 victory over Blackburn at home.

Among them, Kaka was the first to break the deadlock only 5 minutes after the opening, and then still controlled the situation on the court. In the 33rd minute, Ronaldinho's kick from the outside of the penalty area once again penetrated Blackburn's door.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and continued to put pressure on Blackburn. After Blackburn adjusted, they based on defense and effectively curbed the offensive. The situation remained stalemate until stoppage time. Kaká made a breakthrough in the middle and took advantage of Personal ability just made a low pass from the front of the penalty area to the right side of the penalty area. Messi, who came on as a substitute for Robben, performed well and scored a solo goal.

While defeating Blackburn 3:0, Arsenal defeated Birmingham 0:2 away from home, but Droylsden drew 1:1 away with Bolton Wanderers, causing Arsenal to overtake the standings again, while Manchester City lost 0 away from home. :1 In the victory over Everton, this team played steadily and quietly, but has been very stable.

In the evening, Manchester United sat at home and defeated the visiting Fulham 4:2 with Robinho's brace and goals from Diego and Rooney. However, Ferguson focused on praising Quartz after the game. Reisma believes that the Portuguese has gone through the adaptation period, integrated into the team, and scored 3 direct assists and 1 indirect assist for his teammates in the game. This was his best game since joining Manchester United.

The competitors have won one after another, and then everyone's eyes are focused on the highlight of the 25th round, the key dialogue between Chelsea and Liverpool.

Mourinho and Ferguson unanimously chose to talk to the media before the game. They both believed that Chelsea's strength was more stable, especially the arrival of Ballack, which completely liberated Deco. The Portuguese star completely integrated into the Premier League and became a player. Becoming an indispensable member of Chelsea's team, Ancelotti successfully transformed Deco just like he transformed Pirlo.

However, Ferguson felt that Liverpool's winter signings were more successful. The arrival of Kuyt strengthened Liverpool's wing strength and also liberated Gerrard. Bellamy performed well on the front line, plus during the winter break The signing of Daniel Agger at the last moment of the period has steadily improved Liverpool's strength.

Both sides also showed a strong desire to win in this game. Ancelotti was at home. He adopted Chelsea's most common Christmas tree tactics this season, and the starting lineup was also Chelsea's main force.

Goalkeeper Hildebrand and the defense from left to right are Ashley Cole, Stam, Carvalho and Ferreira; the three midfielders are Ballack, Deco and Emerson, and the double front The midfielders are Joe Cole and Lampard, and the lone forward is Shevchenko. It can be said that this is the strongest lineup Ancelotti can arrange for this game.

Regarding Chelsea's lineup, Benitez made some adjustments to the starting lineup, removing Cisse, who had been performing poorly, and using Aimar as the forward, with Luis García on the two wings. Siya and Kuyt, Gerrard plays the attacking midfielder position, behind Xavi Alonso and Sissoko, the defense is Riise, Hyypia, Carragher and Finnan, the goalkeeper is Reina.

The previously introduced Daniel Agger was not placed in the main position, but was placed on the bench together with Bellamy. Only Kuyt was placed in the main right wing position, and Gerrard was Was transferred to play midfielder.

Judging from the game process, Benitez consciously used Gerrard to restrict Deco. At the same time, the Liverpool captain has strong impact and long-range scoring ability. He used him to attack Chelsea's midfielder and even the defense. Although Aimar is a forward, he actually retreats in almost every attack.

So judging from the scene, Benitez arranged a strikerless tactic this time, but once Aimar and Gerrard got the ball in the frontcourt, Kuyt and Luis Garcia became very active on the two wings. The position is also very forward, and he can cut into the penalty area at any time and become a forward. Gerrard's back row insertion has become Chelsea's fatal point.

In the 35th minute, Kuyt didn't get a chance in the penalty area and knocked back to Aimar. The latter crossed the ball and Gerrard shot angrily. Hildebrand made a save, but was out of reach, 0:1. !

Being behind in the score prompted Chelsea to press forward. Especially in the second half, Chelsea played more actively, even anxiously. On the contrary, Benitez frequently signaled Alonso to stabilize. Then in the 68th minute, Liverpool's midfielder After stealing the ball, it was handed to Gerrard, who passed it to Aimar under the interference of Emerson.

When the Argentinian star faced Stam's overmatch, he turned around and passed Stam with a deft movement of his body. His beautiful passing action aroused warm cheers from the Red Army fans at the scene, and then passed to the right, Cu Itte rushed in and scored with a shot, 0:2!

This goal also completely ignited the emotions of Chelsea players. In the 83rd minute, Stam was suspected of hurting his elbow during a clearance and was directly shown a red card. Chelsea questioned this and lodged an appeal.

But none of this can change the fact that Chelsea lost 0:2 at home to Liverpool!

After watching the game, Mourinho and others in Xiao Yu's office almost fell silent.

"He is indeed an admirable tactician!"