After signing with AC Milan, I will be the king of football!

Chapter 1681: Chapter 460: Regrets of Lampard

Just as he was about to remind his teammates, Huang Kaiwen noticed the situation on the sidelines.

He turned his head and was stunned.

No way.

Is Mourinho doing the splits again?

Originally, he wanted to ask Mourinho about the situation, but thinking that Mourinho probably wouldn’t want others to notice his embarrassing moment, Huang Kaiwen decided to let it go.

As long as you don’t ask, you can pretend you didn’t see it.

Being too proactive at times like this would just make it awkward.

”Guys, stay focused!”

Huang Kaiwen waved at Gattuso and said.

”Speak.”

Gattuso said, hands on his knees, panting heavily.

Defending the left wing against Ronaldo and Marcelo had exhausted him quite a bit.

Marcelo’s defense isn’t great right now, but his partnership with Ronaldo on this flank is devastatingly strong offensively.

The recent interception had been a big blow to Gattuso.

”Just stick to him, leave the rest to the others.”

Huang Kaiwen pointed at Ronaldo and said.

Ronaldo has been too lively today; if Paolo Maldini hadn’t retired, he might have done better, and could’ve been tasked to track Ronaldo on the right.

Ramos’s defense isn’t quite up to par.

”I don’t worry about the others?”

Gattuso asked.

”Right.”

Huang Kaiwen nodded and said, ”If we don’t mark him, we’ll have a tough time playing.”

”Got it.”

Gattuso nodded and said in a muffled voice.

As a player who was interested in coaching after retirement, Gattuso had also noticed this issue.

Nevertheless, focusing solely on Ronaldo still made him a bit anxious, especially as Pirlo’s athletic ability was also declining, further weakening Milan’s defense on the flanks.

Huang Kaiwen also gave Ramos some instructions.

Telling him not to move too far forward with his assists today.

This Real Madrid team is exceptional both in effectiveness and on paper.

Especially in attack.

Ronaldo’s performance is outstanding, but Benzema and Di Maria are also exceptional, providing a lot of support to Ronaldo. This attacking lineup is considered one of the strongest tridents in Europe today.

Even Bayern can’t compare.

Though Bayern’s wings are formidable, they lack suitable choices up front.

Klose isn’t favored by Van Gaal, and Olic is a striker only commendable for his hard work.

In this era, there are so many outstanding strikers; it’s not like later, when being able to control the ball with your back was worth millions.

Guardiola watched as Huang Kaiwen constantly communicated with his teammates and considered speaking up, but then he thought about it. Huang Kaiwen is also part of the coaching staff, so it wasn’t inappropriate.

Watching Mourinho being carried off on a stretcher.

Guardiola shrank his neck, began bending and rubbing his legs, pretending to be tired from standing.

He turned back to the coaching bench.

He had already noticed a problem.

The place where Mourinho did the splits was precisely the spot where he had dropped the water bottle.

The water from the bottle spilled on the grass; perhaps, maybe, it likely... had nothing to do with Mourinho’s injury.

Suppressing his unease, Guardiola continued watching the match.

He discovered other issues.

Among the four midfielders, only Gattuso and Huang Kaiwen had decent defensive abilities.

In the middle, both the forward and backward players leaned towards being playmakers. With Gattuso focused on marking Ronaldo, Huang Kaiwen had to frequently retract to assist Pirlo and Antonini.

His double forward tactic clearly had some problems.

Milan was not like Barca; the whirlwind fast-break mode could not let Milan defend with possession like Barca could.

When Milan players saw an opportunity, they would immediately use a long ball to hit the danger area, letting the frontline players use their individual ability to break through the opponent’s penalty area, rather than continuously passing around the edge of the area looking for chances.

It was necessary to add another midfielder to free up Huang Kaiwen; otherwise, today the number ten would only serve as a defensive player.

Substitute Ibrahimovic!

Guardiola quickly decided to take Ibrahimovic out, keeping Torres on the field to penetrate Real Madrid’s defense alongside Huang Kaiwen.

He wanted to make substitutions now.

But the potential backlash of a direct substitution in the first half made him hold back.

This substitution method carried a humiliating nature.

Guardiola sighed, rubbing his forehead, regretting the starting lineup decisions.

He hoped the team wouldn’t concede any more goals in the first half.

Ronaldo was closely tracked by Gattuso.

However, the confrontation between the declining Gattuso and the explosively strong Ronaldo was worrying.

When Ronaldo suddenly changed direction with the ball, Gattuso slipped, frantically trying to regain balance to chase back.

But he could only trail behind Ronaldo, unable to find an opportunity to stretch a foot.

”The match situation isn’t quite what we expected. AC Milan is on the back foot today.”

”Yes, mainly due to the midfield’s weak defensive capability. Huang Kaiwen had to frequently track back to defend, and Torres’s average form didn’t pose much threat to Real Madrid, so now AC Milan is forced to defend.”

”Wow, Ronaldo just stepped over and took a sudden lateral shot from 38 meters out. The power was intense. Thankfully, Buffon stretched to block it.”

”Real Madrid has another corner kick coming. Can AC Milan withstand wave after wave of attacks?”

Buffon was not as calm as in the previous matches, continuously shouting from the penalty area.

Huang Kaiwen pulled Ramos aside, covering his mouth and whispering: ”You mark Ronaldo. His headers are pretty good; make sure he doesn’t get a chance to run and jump for a header.”

”Watch me!”

Ramos gave a thumbs up.

The struggles in defense today frustrated him.

He was ready to show that Portuguese kid a lesson.