I AM the Football Star

Chapter 443: Chapter 124: There Can Be Only One Shit-Stirrer! (Part 3)

The classic central forward, apart from a very few, is almost always labeled after retirement with phrases like ”he was an extremely underestimated player,” or ”he is one of the top ten most underestimated players of this century,” etc.

This fully demonstrates that the central forward has not received the market respect and attention they deserve; such a profession often doesn’t attract people’s favor.

As for the speed wingers... joking aside, they are undoubtedly the most fan-attracting position in football.

The thrill of a swift breakthrough is unmatched by any intricate pass or shot.

That is the exclusive passion of the youth.

Therefore, English players with favorable conditions will primarily choose the path of the speed player, and nobody wants to be a mere pillar, doing hard work that goes unnoticed.

Therefore, letting the England Youth Team ravage the flanks might seem dangerous on the surface, but who knows if they can even score.

With the three center-backs pulling inward and Cortino ready to sit back at any moment, the penalty area is theoretically tighter than before, making it harder to score through cuts.

And Canyes, in the defensive midfield position, can showcase his advantage in long passes, his crosses are the best in the team, and his long passes naturally are not bad either.

If you have to lose position anyway, letting Canyes play as a right-back like a right midfielder is no different than directly moving him to the midfield.

At least for this game, such an adjustment seems like the best choice.

As for the front line, no need to say more, they are obviously preparing to go all out.

In the regular 433 formation, about three to four players participate in an attack.

In a 442 formation, it’s about the same, or even fewer.

But how about this 325 proposed by Lu Yang?

Five-man attack!

Moreover, given Canyes’s tendencies, after a long pass to the left, it’s not uncommon for him to run up the right flank to the opponent’s big penalty area.

Six-man attack!

Just ask how the opposing four defenders are going to defend?

Don’t forget, Sevajos is also someone who can pose a threat even when closely marked.

Not to mention Morici and Lu Yang, these players who can pass and shoot, once they join the attack, are not the type that one person can completely guard.

”Good!” Maniero’s tactical mind is very high-level, with just a point from Lu Yang, he immediately understood and even came up with detailed tactical evolutions.

He made a sweeping motion, quickly setting up some simple set plays.

For example, the follow-up after Canyes makes a long pass to the left.

If the long pass goes to the right, he had better not advance, to avoid completely leaving the right side empty.

You can let it go, but not too much, to prevent them from really charging through.

After such a series of adjustments, the offensive core of the Italy Team has actually subconsciously changed in the second half.

In the first half, the offensive core for Italy was Sevajos.

But in the second half, the offensive core is Lu Yang and Morici in the center.

Because they will stand in the left and right half-spaces, while the two wingers are mainly used for running down the flank to create space.

Doing so is actually the same nature as full-backs running down the flank or wingers cutting inside.

But from the perspective of physics, math, and other sciences, in this way, the overall running distance for players is reduced.

Originally, a winger cutting inside would on average need to run ten meters to reach the shooting point. A full-back would have to run over thirty meters to achieve an overlap down the flanks.

But now, a winger only needs to run down ten meters. And an attacking midfielder finding shooting opportunities in the half-space or breaking into the box would similarly only need to sprint about ten meters.

Together, they roughly save more than fifty meters of running.

This fifty meters is normally run at full speed, a key distance, not those leisurely positioning adjustments.

The effectiveness of the two is worlds apart!

This adjustment could greatly increase the speed of Italy Team’s pivotal attacks.

Tempo accelerates!

Speed increases!

In such high-pressure moments, player errors will significantly increase.

Whether it’s the attacking side or the defending side.

But the costs for mistakes on both sides are completely different.

Attacking errors only mean losing possession once, and if luck is good or with active counter-pressing, possession might not even be lost.

The reason Sterling often has joyful moments in front of goal, besides his underwhelming shooting, is not unrelated to this accelerated offense.

But defensive errors most likely result in conceding a goal!

As for the Italy Team, Morici and Lu Yang are experts at quick play.

The former is like a turbocharged engine, a supercharger!

The latter has exceptional vision and unique anticipatory positioning and route judgment.

On what basis wouldn’t Maniero go all-in?

...

The second half, the match begins.

Mancini is still in the high spirits from before.

He once again dribbled past both Morici and Canyes.

But this time, Cortino played his part.

He forcefully tackled and intercepted Mancini.

Affected by his vision and pulling, Mancini couldn’t avoid Cortino’s tackle.

Even someone like Messi, Maradona, Ronaldinho, or Zidane can’t avoid being dispossessed every time, right?

Messi’s dribbling success rate is as high as sixty-nine percent, second only to the seventy-four percent of the Premier League’s Adama Traore, but Messi still loses possession an average of fifteen times per game.

This means Messi loses the ball twice per game from dribbling, twice from poor control, and eleven times from passing... But such data is already top-notch.