Chapter 197: Attacking midfielder, get to know Lin Feng again!
"Gilberto Silva, the "silent leader" of the Gunners, completely stifled Lin Feng!"
"Wenger's man-marking tactics have achieved miraculous results!"
At the end of the first half, all major media outlets praised Arsenal head coach Wenger's lineup.
As the offensive command core of Inter Milan, Lin Feng's performance directly determines the team's fate in the game.
Mancini relies heavily on Lin Feng in tactical arrangements, resulting in Inter Milan's current offense almost entirely relying on Lin Feng to sort out and organize.
Once he was restricted, Inter Milan seemed to have lost their brains, becoming like a headless fly on the field, playing without any order.
Although Inter Milan's wingers on both the left and right sides are very strong, the striker is still Cruz, who has a very high goal efficiency.
But Wenger did not waste his manpower to deal with the Three Musketeers. Instead, he directly cut off their firepower supply line from the source.
He arranged for the World Cup champion midfielder Gilberto to specifically guard Lin Feng and let Flamini assist him. It was simply a stroke of genius. Judging from the results at halftime, the performance of these two people fully achieved his tactical goals.
"Very good, let's play like this. In the second half, continue to increase the intensity of the midfield and don't give the opponent any chances!"
In the locker room, Wenger was extremely excited and continued to emphasize his tactics to the equally excited Arsenal players.
The Gunners' young players looked at Wenger with admiration and obeyed every word of the famous coach.
On the other side, there was a gloomy atmosphere in Inter Milan’s locker room!
"Damn it! If we weren't injured so many times, we wouldn't be so short of manpower when it comes to arranging our troops and having no one to use!"
Mancini cursed in his heart, thinking that his luck was really bad.
Inter Milan's midfield is actually not that thin, and there are many players who can be used, but there were too many injuries before, leaving him with no choice.
If in the past, the opponent chose to target Lin Feng, he only needed to substitute Veron and the offensive problem would be solved.
But Veron's injury hasn't healed yet, so he can't be relied on now.
If Veron is not used, Cambiasso can barely hold on.
However, Cambiasso was injured half a month ago and has not recovered yet.
Since these two players are unable to play, Lin Feng is the only one left with creativity in the midfield.
What’s even more annoying is that Figo, who has certain organizational skills on the wing and can play as a central midfielder, was also injured in the last game against AC Milan.
This time, even the spare tire is gone.
The absence of these players greatly weakened Inter Milan's offensive system in the frontcourt, and all the burdens in the midfield and frontcourt fell on Lin Feng alone.
What can Mancini do?
He is also desperate!
If he were the coach of Arsenal, he would also focus on Lin Feng.
"Coach, I think we can change our formation in the second half!"
Just when Mancini was at a loss, Lin Feng suddenly spoke up and made a suggestion.
"Oh? What do you think? Tell me now!"
"Let's learn from AC Milan and put the attacking midfielder at the back!"
……
"Hello, audience friends, the halftime break is over and the players from both teams are back on the field!"
In the CCTV commentary booth, the two commentators were immediately cheered up when they saw the players re-enter the field.
"Mr. Huang, do you think Inter Milan has a chance to turn the game around in the second half?"
The commentary combination arranged by CCTV for this game is Huang Jianxiang + Zhang Lu, which is a golden pair and one of the most popular commentary combinations among fans.
Huang Jianxiang heard Zhang Lu's question and shook his head slightly:
"I think it's difficult, Inter's injury situation is too serious, Mancini doesn't have many good cards in his hand.
In addition, Arsenal's attack was too sharp, especially on the left side of Ashley Cole + Pires and Henry, Inter Milan found it difficult to resist. "
Zhang Lu nodded slightly. His opinion was similar to Huang Jianxiang's.
Inter Milan lost the ball in the first half because of a gap on the left side. The combination of Ashley Cole, Pires and Henry is probably one of the best wing combinations in the whole football world and is indeed difficult to resist.
But Inter Milan’s main problem is not in defense, but in the poor functioning of the offensive system.
If they cannot put pressure on Arsenal's defense in the frontcourt, then Arsenal's full-backs can naturally rush up and participate in the attack without restraint, which in turn will put more pressure on Inter Milan's defense.
On the court, offense and defense are integrated. If the offensive system does not function smoothly, it will naturally affect the defense.
There are many people who share the same view as the two Chinese commentators. Most of the people watching this game are not optimistic about Inter Milan.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the second half of the game began soon.
Gilberto received unanimous praise from his teammates and head coach during the half-time break, which made him feel quite excited. After the game started, he continued to perform his duties - keep an eye on the opponent's number 8!
However, after taking a look at Lin Feng's position, Gilberto was a little confused:
Why did this person retreat so deep?
Is he afraid of being robbed by me and wants to avoid me?
How can he get what he wants?
Gilberto rushed over without thinking and stuck to Lin Feng like a piece of taffy.
He is the only defensive midfielder in the Gunners' lineup at the moment. His performance in front of the defense not only affects his partner Fabregas' participation in the offense, but also affects the overall balance of Arsenal, which uses a 451 formation.
So his every move affects the entire Arsenal!
After Gilberto was taken away by Lin Feng, Arsenal's overall formation balance was disrupted.
The one who was most affected was Fabregas. As soon as his teammates left, Fabregas immediately felt the pressure.
Inter players nearby are more likely to press or even double-team him when he has the ball.
Faced with the opponent's pressure and without a support point, he suddenly became a little flustered and almost lost the ball several times.
"Be steady, pass the ball back, don't rush to attack, control the ball first!"
Wenger also noticed that something was wrong on the sidelines and immediately shouted to Fabregas on the field, asking him to calm down and not lose his composure.
Fabregas obediently chose to pass the ball back to the defender. Inter Milan's forwards and midfielders did not press too hard, but continued to wander around Fabregas.
This made Xiaofa feel very uncomfortable, as if he had experienced what Lin Feng felt in the first half. At this time, Lin Feng's pressure was much less than in the first half.
Compared to the attacking midfielder who is in a forward position, the defensive midfielder is in the middle of his own formation, with more teammates and fewer opposing players around him, so Gilberto's close marking effect is greatly reduced.
Without the help and double-teaming of his teammates, it would be difficult for him to completely restrict Lin Feng by himself.
It's not that he didn't call on his teammates to come over for help, but his teammates in the frontcourt were all offensive players, and their intercepting and pressing abilities were no match for those of his teammates in the midfield and backcourt.
What's more, Lin Feng is not standing still in one place, waiting for the other party to come and encircle him.
He kept moving on the court, and in the process of moving, he sought to cooperate with nearby teammates, pulling and mobilizing the opponent's formation, waiting for opportunities.
Faced with this constantly moving opponent, Gilberto, who already had a poor coordination with his teammates in the frontcourt, had even less tricks to deal with Lin Feng.
Relying on this trick, Inter Milan, under the organization of Lin Feng, successfully launched two extremely threatening attacks, which made Arsenal fans sweat.
"What are you doing as a defensive midfielder? Keep your eyes on the opponent and don't let Inter Milan's No. 8 pass the ball casually!"
"That ball was too dangerous. We should have kicked it away immediately. How could we let him pass it?"
Seeing Lin Feng's condition gradually recovering, Arsenal fans felt something was not good and began to complain about their own midfielder, hoping that the midfielder could give some support.
Gilberto felt miserable, he had tried very hard, but this guy was like a loach, slippery and elusive. Plus, the backcourt was full of opponents' players, and he could fool him if he just needed to find someone to cooperate with him and do a two-pass. No matter how hard he tried, it was useless!
At this moment, Gilberto realized a truth:
If you come out, you will have to pay it back sooner or later!
As impressive as he was in the first half, he was in a mess in the second half!
Wenger was already frowning on the sidelines. Why did this situation feel a little wrong?
At first, he, like Gilberto, thought that Lin Feng was just going to the backcourt temporarily to receive the ball.
But after playing for ten minutes, the opponent still showed no sign of returning to the attacking midfielder position, which made Wenger gradually feel something was wrong.
This kid, could it be possible that he has changed to play as a defensive midfielder?
If this is the case, then using the defensive midfielder to restrict the defensive midfielder is a bit misplaced.
Wenger thought for a moment, waved his hand, signaling the team to press forward, and at the same time asked Gilberto to return to his position and give up one-on-one marking.
It is easy to restrict the opponent's attacking midfielder, but it is very difficult to restrict the opponent's defensive midfielder.
This is because the area where the attacking midfielder is active has more defensive players, and they are outnumbered when defending.
However, the position of the defensive midfielder is too deep, the space around him is too large, the attacking team has fewer people and the defending team has more people. It is naturally difficult to be effective when there are fewer people against a larger number.
To change this situation, the best way is to move the formation forward as a whole, allowing your own players to break into the opponent's formation and change the situation of numerical disadvantage in some local areas.
This method is definitely not wrong, because many teams in later generations like to do this.
Move the defensive area forward, madly press the opponent who has the ball, put more pressure on the opponent, and make it difficult for the opponent to organize an attack calmly in the backcourt.
Once the pressing is successful, you can counterattack on the spot, because this position is closer to the opponent's goal. Once such a counterattack is launched, it can easily turn into a goal.
But doing so is also very risky, because as the formation is pushed out, the backfield will become more empty, and once the opponent launches a quick counterattack, it will be very dangerous.
Therefore, the position of defensive midfielder is very critical. They are responsible for cutting off the opponent's counterattack transmission chain and resolutely cannot let the opponent's ball holder pass the ball!
Thinking of this, Wenger took advantage of a dead ball opportunity to call Gilberto over to give him instructions.
The latter listened very attentively, and nodded heavily after listening. He knew what to do.
After Lin Feng changed to play as a defensive midfielder, Inter Milan's offense improved to a certain extent, but the defensive pressure was still very high.
Although Henry plays as a center forward, he used to be a left winger, so he likes to cut in from the wing to the middle and shoot long shots, which is one of his special skills.
Pires and Ashley Cole on the left are players who are very good at assisting, especially Pires. He has delicate techniques, certain organizational skills and excellent passing ability.
With these two people constantly delivering ammunition, Henry frequently used his cuts from the wing to make extremely threatening shots.
Although the second goal has not yet appeared, no one knows when Inter Milan's door will be knocked on for the second time if Henry continues to shoot like this!
In the 65th minute, Arsenal repeated their old tricks and once again took the left corridor to launch a quick attack on Inter Milan.
But the moment Pires got the ball, a figure rushed over from the side and made a clean tackle, knocking the ball out of the sideline and disrupting the opponent's fast break.
Pires jumped up quickly to avoid the opponent's tackle. After landing, he looked back and saw Lin Feng patting his butt and standing up from the ground.
It turned out to be this guy. Pires was stunned for a moment. Obviously, he didn’t expect that the other party would actually defend!
"nice shot!"
"This tackle was very decisive and clean. If the ball had not been destroyed in time and Pires had passed it, it would have been very bad!"
"It's really surprising. I didn't expect that Lin Feng has such excellent defensive ability besides his offensive ability. The timing and angle of this tackle were just right. If it was faster or slower, he might have gotten someone a card."
However, what is even more surprising is yet to come. In addition to this tackle, when Arsenal attempted to launch an attack through the middle, Lin Feng froze Arsenal's midfield star Ljungberg in a one-on-one defense!
Ljungberg was restricted by Lin Feng and had no way to stop him. He was forced to pass the ball back and was even nearly intercepted by Lin Feng while passing the ball.
This startled him, and a strange thought suddenly occurred to him:
Why do I feel like I am facing Chelsea's midfielder Makelele when facing this guy?
Not only Ljungberg feels this way, Fabregas, Flamini and others also have similar feelings.
The defensive coverage is large, the interception ability is strong, the tactical execution ability is outstanding, and he is good at fighting and stealing.
Isn’t this just a smaller version of Makelele?
They had all played against Makelele in the Premier League, and when they met Lin Feng at this time, they all had an inexplicable feeling of familiarity.
But, isn’t this guy an attacking midfielder?
When did the attacking midfielder's defensive ability become so abnormal?
Seeing Lin Feng's performance, the commentators' eyes suddenly lit up:
"When Lin Feng played as defensive midfielder just now, I was worried that his defensive ability would not be enough and would affect Inter Milan's defense. Now it seems that I was overthinking!"
"This kid always brings surprises to people!"
His teammates didn't seem to expect that Lin Feng could adapt so well to the position of defensive midfielder, especially the defensive players. They thought they had to clean up Lin Feng's mess, but now it seems that they are actually a strong support. With Lin Feng around, their pressure is actually reduced a lot!
This boosted Inter Milan's morale a lot!
Now, all we need is a chance to fight back!
(End of this chapter)
