I AM the Football Star

Chapter 111: Chapter 44: Targeted Tactics, Rotational Play Among Three Players (Part 2)

Moreover, Parrot is a speed-type central forward who needs to be in motion to capture good offensive opportunities.

But Aguilar often only passes the ball to Parrot when he is in trouble, surrounded by people, what’s the use of having the ball then? Do you want Parrot to crash into them?

That’s simply unrealistic.

Speaking of dribbling, everyone thought of Lu Yang’s perfect dribbling earlier.

”I will not let him get past me again!” Lam clearly knew what Parrot was thinking, his tone firm.

In the first half, he underestimated him.

He didn’t expect Lu Yang’s breakthrough to be at that level.

Although he had said before that the breakthrough of top offensive players is impossible to defend, top defensive players are not without ways to compensate.

As long as Lam doesn’t rashly step in, even if Lu Yang gets past him, he can rely on his excellent speed and explosive physique to keep up with Lu Yang and then put pressure on him in the confrontation to accomplish a steal or defense.

Lam has that ability.

Sevajos originally thought he would sacrifice himself in the second half, playing as a midfielder to distribute the ball and certainly improve the team’s offense.

However, seeing Aguilar’s state, he was instead stimulated to be selfish.

Since Aguilar is only playing for his own stats, why should I, Sevajos, sacrifice myself for the team?

In essence, this Star of Italy Training Camp is actually an individual battle, as long as the team isn’t fully formed, there is no team honor to speak of.

Looking at the obvious difference in atmosphere between the Team A and Team B locker rooms, the five mentors didn’t know what to say.

Actually, Team A isn’t bad either; their super players are equally sharp through small combinations. But... the problem lies with Aguilar, who as a selfish leader, has corrupted the whole team’s spirit.

In contrast, Team B’s captain, Lu Yang, actively undertaking defensive tasks, won everyone’s admiration, and thus they followed his direction.

At this rate, there might be a different change in the second half.

Because Team A remains unchanged, while Team B has already made targeted adjustments.

Fifteen minutes later, the second half began.

Team B immediately intimidated Team A.

As a defensive midfielder, Lu Yang didn’t stay in his own half but instead defended all the way to near the opponent’s penalty area, causing immense pressure on Team A’s ball carriers.

If not for Lam being steady enough to timely support teammates and distribute the ball to the left, Lu Yang would have likely completed a frontcourt steal.

”He rushed too fast, I didn’t even have time to kick it long!” apologized Team A’s right center back to Lam, ”I saw the open space in the distance, but I couldn’t pass it out.”

Lam nodded in understanding; in fact, he also saw the open space in front of the right side, but he couldn’t pass it out either.

A long pass requires preparation.

The swing of the passing player’s leg, the degree of body tilt, and the power-up time of a long pass are different from short passes.

If the opponent is too close to you, it’s hard to prepare for a long pass. During your power-up time, the opponent can rush in, poke the ball, or intercept your pass.

Just now, it was that situation.

But Team A’s right forward Aguilar ignored this, spreading his hands and shouting loudly in the front field, expressing his dissatisfaction.

”Why didn’t you pass it over, I was already open! If you had passed it, we could have scored!” Aguilar kept complaining, and neither Canyes behind him nor Parrot in the middle said anything, but their expressions became increasingly impatient.

Canyes and Parrot have had many empty runs, it’s a tactic, running empty is normal.

So why did Aguilar become impatient after just one empty run?

Does he really think he’s the captain?

Aguilar failed to show the strength comparable to his temper, and gradually faced backlash.

As the match approached the 60th minute, the situation on the field changed dramatically.

”How many times has Lu Yang pushed forward to the front now?” Carrel suddenly felt something amiss; Lu Yang seemed very active in the second half.

”The fifth time? Or the seventh time?” Ancelotti said, ”His playstyle in the second half is very dangerous, he’s pushing forward too often.”

Maniero shook his head and said, ”Salvich is covering for him, and Lu Yang’s oppressive defense in the frontcourt makes it hard for the opponent to move the ball directly to the backfield, so Salvich faces little defensive pressure when covering. He is an all-round warrior, capable of handling this role.”

”And Lu Yang’s impact in the front is too strong, look, apart from Lam, the other midfielders and center-backs are a bit fatigued; Lu Yang has increased their running range.”

Perrotta nodded and said, ”Sogel is also pulling to the left, leaving the center for Lu Yang to charge. This is a triad position swap tactic. The defensive midfielder pushes to the center forward position, the center forward pulls wide to the left midfielder position, and the left midfielder retracts to the defensive midfield position.”

”The essence of this tactic is Lu Yang’s breakthrough and consumption against the opponent’s defensive line from backward insertion. His stamina is excellent, and so far he shows no signs of fatigue.”

Taji: ”Lu Yang is accelerating! Sogel has drawn Lam away; this is a great opportunity!”

On the field, Morici suddenly passed the ball, and the forward-pushing Lu Yang received it smoothly.

Team A’s midfielder approached.

Lu Yang directly kicked the ball six or seven meters forward and started sprinting with the nearby midfielder.

The opposing midfielder was clearly outpaced by Lu Yang.

By the time Lu Yang received the ball again, he was not far outside the arc of the penalty box.

Team A’s right center back came up trying to delay Lu Yang.

But Lu Yang directly did a step-over.

The memory of Lu Yang’s previous step-over was vivid, putting this center back on high alert.

But in his heart, he relaxed a bit.

Keep doing step-overs; soon, our defending players will surround you.

However, he didn’t anticipate that after just a feigned move with each foot, Lu Yang would directly nudge the ball to the left and break through.

This time there weren’t continuous step-overs, just a simple dip before breaking in.

The opponent, unprepared, was bypassed by Lu Yang.

By this point, Lu Yang was facing the goalkeeper directly.

But because he had just broken to the left, the actual shooting angle was very narrow.

Normally, one wouldn’t choose to shoot, being more likely to make a back-pass!

Team A’s left center back saw Bai Zhami moving from the wing to the middle and decisively defended out, not giving Bai Zhami a chance to steal the ball.

And Team A’s goalkeeper was also fierce, rushing out directly, further narrowing Lu Yang’s shooting angle.

Basically, he blocked all shooting spaces.

Lu Yang glanced at Bai Zhami.

The right center back, whom Lu Yang had passed, stopped his rush, stood in the pass path between Lu Yang and Bai Zhami, blocking Lu Yang’s passing space.

For a moment, there were no outlets around Lu Yang.

If he passed, the ball would definitely be intercepted!

But...

The ball was suddenly flicked by Lu Yang’s toe, tracing a rainbow-like arc through the air.

Team A’s goalkeeper’s pupils shrank, never expecting Lu Yang to complete a high-arched lob in such a small space!

This requires very high shot technique.

It’s very irrational!

On one hand, hitting such a high-arched lob is not easy, and if the arc isn’t enough, the goalkeeper can block it.

On the other hand, even if it goes over the goalkeeper, the high arc means the ball hangs in the air longer, making it easy for a recovering center back to clear it.

The goalkeeper instinctively looked at his team’s left center back behind him.

But the goal was empty.

The left center back had already run out to follow Bai Zhami!

Lu Yang’s glance at Bai Zhami fooled everyone!

”GOAL! An exquisite push forward, efficient and simple step-overs! Especially the final no-look lob, truly courageous with high skill! Everyone was fooled by Lu Yang’s gaze, including Bai Zhami, who always thought Lu Yang would pass to him!”

”Two to one, Team B has taken the lead! They are ahead!”

”Lam was pulled away by Sogel, he is sighing on the side, if he had been there, maybe Lu Yang would have been defended!”

”This is Lu Yang’s eighth push forward in the second half, his efforts paid off. Whether due to fatigue or thinking Morici wouldn’t pass to Lu Yang, in short, Team A’s midfield made a huge mistake!”

”Scoring twice! Lu Yang controlled the game single-handedly, this is something we couldn’t find out from previous tests!”

”A match player, this is the match player Maniero talked about, all of this is real! Viewers, let’s take another look at that wonderful offensive replay just now!”