Super Marshal

The day before the Champions League final, in the private golf club where Inter Milan stayed, a shuttle bus passed through the green golf course and arrived at the entrance of the villa area where Inter Milan stayed.

Gao Han had been waiting for a long time, and when the shuttle bus stopped, he immediately went to greet it.

"Ha, you guys really know how to choose a place." Ferguson was the first to get off the shuttle bus.

He took off his usual serious suit, put on a casual sports POLO shirt, and wore a sun-visible peaked cap on his head. He still looked like the godfather of Manchester United. It was as if he was coming here to play golf on vacation.

Look at the other famous marshals who got off the car and they were all dressed like this.

In fact, Gao Han called and invited them over just to invite them to play golf.

"Sir, let me tell you, there is a horse farm behind the club, you must go and see it." Gao Han said with a smile.

"Really? That's great!" Everyone knows that Ferguson's biggest hobby is horse betting, and he also owns a racehorse.

He even offended the two major shareholders of Manchester United over that horse race and almost got fired.

However, the two major shareholders later sold their shares to the Glazer family.

Heynckes took off the peaked cap on his head and looked at the infinite scenery around him. He was in a very good mood, "You have suddenly disappeared in the past few days. The media around the world almost went crazy. They thought you Attacked by terrorists and disappeared.”

Both Bosque and Heathfield burst out laughing.

They were able to accept Gao Han's invitation to come to Athens for vacation purely out of personal friendship. If the outside media found out, they would definitely go crazy.

Think about it, Ferguson, Hitzfield, Del Bosque and Heynckes are all gold-medal coaches who have led their teams to win the Champions League. Any one of these four famous coaches will be successful in European football with just one step. The one who can cause an earthquake.

They were able to accept Gao Han's invitation to come to Athens, which shows that they have a good relationship with each other.

Gao Han also knew that the four seniors were hard-earned and he was very attentive in greeting them. Not only was he personally responsible for their daily life, he also received them warmly and invited them into a high-end club in the villa area.

From the floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall of the clubhouse, you can overlook the entire golf course, and the scenery is unique and moving.

Except for Serie A, which has its final round left, the four major European leagues, La Liga, the Premier League and the Bundesliga have all concluded their games.

The final champion of the Premier League was Chelsea. With a massive investment of 70 million euros during the winter break, the Blues' overall strength improved significantly in the second half, and finally reversed Ferguson's Manchester United to win the championship.

La Liga was ultimately dominated by Jupp Heynckes' Atletico Madrid, who defeated Real Madrid and Barcelona one after another and finally reached the top of La Liga.

In the Bundesliga, after Hitzfeld took over Magath midway, Bayern Munich's performance improved somewhat, but in the end they were unable to reverse the decline and ended up ranking fourth in the league, behind Stuttgart, Schalke and Werder. Bremen.

According to the Bundesliga points, the top three can participate in the Champions League, while Bayern Munich can only play in the UEFA Cup.

But no matter what, there is no doubt about Heathfield's coaching strength.

A group of people gathered together, and the topic of discussion quickly shifted from this beautiful golf club to the upcoming Champions League final, and they obviously knew Gao Han's purpose of inviting them here.

In Ferguson's words on the road, "This guy has no profit and can't afford to be early. How would he be so kind as to invite us here for a meal, a drink, and a vacation?"

But when it came to football, they immediately stopped joking and became serious.

"To be honest, I'm a little confused. How could you lose to Chelsea in the semifinals?" Gao Han asked Heynckes incomprehensibly. This was also the doubt that had been on his mind for some time.

Judging from the overall strength of the team, Atletico Madrid is undoubtedly better than Chelsea and has stronger offensive power. Even if the Blues' defense cannot be broken in the away game, there should always be adjustments at home, right?

Heynckes waved his hand with a very regretful expression, shook his head and said: "That guy is smarter than anyone else."

"He is very clear about the strengths and weaknesses of his team. He knows that there is no way to match us on a technical level, but their physical strength and strong physical fitness are their advantages. Therefore, he adopts a very rare method in the game. The pressing tactics, you saw this in the first round, right?"

Gao Han nodded. In that game at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's football was indeed very aggressive.

But if you think about it from another perspective, this is normal.

Mourinho's team is not as good as Atletico Madrid on a technical level. It is impossible to control the ball and pass the ball with the Shenlian Army, right?

"To be honest, I quite admire Mourinho for this." Gao Han smiled and said, "The tactic of rushing and surrounding seems very simple, but in fact it is very difficult to make it watertight. It will be crushed and disintegrated by the opponent."

Those present were all Europe's top coaches, and they all understood what Gao Han meant.

Many people say that defense is easier than offense, but this may not be the case.

Just like Chelsea's pressing and surrounding, some people accuse Mourinho of being anti-football, but in fact, behind the pressing and surrounding, Chelsea's tactics are very risky. What if they can't catch, force, or surround?

With the strength of Atletico Madrid, as long as there is a flaw in their tactics, the sheet army may tear apart their defense at any time. Therefore, it is still very risky for Mourinho to adopt this style of play.

Of course, he definitely had his own considerations and trade-offs, and he succeeded.

"After the first round of the game, I adjusted my tactics in the second round. First, I focused on their right side. Paulo Ferreira's side is a weak spot. Everyone knows this."

As soon as Heynckes finished speaking, Del Bosque took over the topic, "He must have carried out targeted defense on this side."

"Yes, but my other target is Makelele."

Heynckes said this and looked at Gao Han, "We all know that since you brought Makelele to Chelsea, the French midfielder has always been the best choice for Chelsea's midfielder position, but he has been three He is fourteen years old, and although Mourinho consciously asked him to focus on the Champions League in the second half of the season, he is indeed no longer in his prime."

"He can predict blocking positions in advance. He can still rely on his rich experience to do a good job, but he can no longer provide a wide range of running coverage, especially in one-on-one situations, his lateral transfer is very slow. , which makes him obviously unable to keep up when faced with inward cuts and lateral breakthroughs."

"So, I focused on arranging Arshavin and Villa during the game to target this point, and at the same time, grab Makelele, because he is the player with the best short passing ability in Chelsea's midfielder position, and he is also Chelsea's midfielder. The hub of the ball out of the field.”

When everyone heard this, they immediately understood Heynckes' depression.

In fact, if what he said is true and Atletico Madrid makes a fuss about this in the second round, Chelsea is very likely to be attacked.

"In the second round, Makelele made 56 passes, but the success rate was only 75%, which is quite a gap from usual, and the success rate of his forward passes was only 75%. Sixty-five point eight.”

Atletico Madrid's data analysis system was built by Gao Han himself, so he understands the meaning behind Heynckes' words and the tactical significance they represent.

According to Gao Han's understanding of Makelele, the short pass success rate of the French midfielder at his peak was close to 100%. Even when he was coaching Chelsea, it was extremely close to this number.

This is not to say how good Makelele is in passing, but because his position is deep and far away from the opponent's pressing area. It is normal for his passing success rate to be high. Chelsea's center back Terry is also very high.

It should be said that Heynckes was able to push Makelele to this point, which can be considered a success on a tactical level.

"However, in the end, we still missed a move. Mourinho's strict defense was very well organized, but at the same time he created opportunities for the two wings of Jankulovski and Srna. As a result, not only did we He failed to break down Chelsea's defense and instead scored a goal."

Speaking of this, Heynckes is still full of regret and sadness.

In this game, his tactics can be said to have worked, but they failed to translate into victory.

This is also a normal thing, just like some teams bombarded for ninety minutes, but couldn't score a goal. Instead, the opponent scored a sneak attack on a counterattack, and finally lost the game.

Therefore, sometimes, the outcome of a football match is really hard to say.

"Mourinho is indeed a very tenacious head coach." Ferguson also agreed very much with his Premier League colleague and praised him highly. "I heard that in order to get Abramovich to spend money, he operated During the winter break, we made a transfer and even issued a military order: we must win the Champions League this year, otherwise we will take the blame and resign.”

"Is this really happening?" Gao Han took a breath of cold air.

This is gambling with one's own future and real interests.

If nothing else, Mourinho is not simple in this regard.

"So, for the two semi-final games, I can only say that Atletico Madrid won on a tactical level, but they seriously underestimated Chelsea's belief in winning and determination to win."

Ferguson's words undoubtedly hit the nail on the head and were unanimously recognized by everyone. Even Heynckes had to nod in approval.

"For tomorrow night's final, I still have to remind you that Inter Milan's overall strength is higher than Chelsea. There is no doubt that it is not a problem if you suppress Mourinho at the tactical level, but this It doesn't mean you can win, but you must not make the same mistake as Atletico Madrid."

Gao Han understood that this was what Ferguson was thinking.

Mourinho has made a huge gamble. He has pushed himself into a dead end. There is only one option, and that is to win.

If he wins, he will shine brightly and ascend to the altar, but if he loses, he will have to walk off the stage in despair.

The so-called "fighting against the odds" and "breaking the boat" just describes the current Mourinho.

Gao Han exhaled heavily, nodded with a smile, and said: "You are right. Mourinho and Chelsea's belief in winning cannot be underestimated. But by the same token, no one can underestimate our belief and determination. I I firmly believe that as long as we play according to our plan and according to our rhythm, the final winner will definitely be us!"

Everyone nodded when they heard this.

Mourinho has made up his mind, isn't Gao Han and his Inter Milan not?

The game has reached this point, and no one has any way out.

The only way to move forward is to win the championship or become a stepping stone for others.