When Yang Huan returns from the stands where the Saints Fan Club is located to the chairman's stand at Sun Life Stadium, the game is about to start.
Under the leadership of the head coach, both teams walked out of the player tunnel one after another.
Barcelona sent all their main players to play in this game.
The new head coach Vilanova inherited the tactical framework from Guardiola's period, and overall there were not much changes.
Alexander Song and left back Alba introduced in this summer's transfer market are both complementary signings.
Barcelona's starting lineup for this game is goalkeeper Valdes, the defense is Alba, Pique, Puyol and Alves, and the midfield is the iron triangle of Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi combination.
The frontcourt offensive combination is Villa, Messi and Sanchez.
Southampton also played their main force here.
Goalkeeper Neuer, the defense is Alaba, Javi Martinez, Varane and Azpilicueta, the three midfielders are Modric, Toni Kroos and Vidal, and the frontcourt trident It is Neymar, Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale.
When the players from the two teams lined up in their respective halves, Russell was a little surprised.
"Why is Gareth Bale still playing on the right?"
the Barcelona president asked a little strangely.
When Gareth Bale was at Tottenham Hotspur, he played as a left winger and became famous for his power on the left in the Champions League, where Maicon, the world's top right back at Inter Milan, was stationed on the right.
But after coming to Southampton, Bielsa placed Gareth Bale on the right.
Judging from the results of the previous warm-up games, Gareth Bale's effect on the right is not ideal.
"Players are used to playing on the left, but as a left-footed player, it is more advantageous to play on the right wing, and this can make Bell more comprehensive," Yang Huan explained with a smile.
After hearing this, Russell also nodded.
Wingers with reverse feet are also a common phenomenon in European professional football.
Real Madrid president Florentino, who came specially to participate in the International Champions Cup final, looked envious and jealous when he saw Modric wearing a Southampton jersey in the midfield area.
Modric is definitely the top controlling midfielder in the Premier League, very comprehensive.
Judging from the past few warm-up matches, he is slowly establishing a tacit understanding with his teammates.
On the contrary, Real Madrid missed Modric and Stroman, and the midfielder is still adjusting.
This also led to Real Madrid's poor performance in the International Champions Cup and was eliminated early.
"Would it be possible to play Modric and Toni Kroos in the midfield?
Wouldn't it be too thin?"
Yang Huan smiled and said nothing, but Bielsa's words could not help but come to mind.
Some people within the team were worried about this at the beginning, thinking that both Modric and Toni Kroos were technical players.
Although there was Vidal in the midfield, his position was obviously earlier.
In this way, how to ensure Southampton's midfield defense?
You know, the Premier League is famous for its fast whirlwind and strong impact.
Once the midfielder is not strong enough, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the opponent.
How can the game continue?
But Bielsa gave a very positive attitude.
He believed that the defense of modern football has undergone tremendous changes from the past.
As far as Barcelona’s midfield is concerned, is the combination of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta strong enough?
It's obviously on the soft side, you could even say it's a soft persimmon.
But how is Barcelona’s defense?
I believe that all opponents who have played against Barcelona will give it a thumbs up.
So how did they do it?
Defensive order and integrity To put it simply, it relies on forming a numerical advantage in a local area to compress the activity space of the opponent's players.
During the fight, the focus is not on physical confrontation, but more on blocking the opponent's ball route to complete the defense.
This kind of orderly overall defense is much more effective than individual combat in the past.
Not only that, the advantage of being equipped with technical midfielders with a balance of offense and defense is that they use their brains to play football and know how to use awareness and anticipation to achieve defensive effects.
After the team completes the interception of the ball, the technical midfielder's advantage in game awareness and ability to read the game can ensure that the team completes the transition between offense and defense in the shortest time, maximizes the effect of counterattack, and even scores a goal.
These are things that traditional physical midfielders do not have, even top midfielders such as Vieira and Roy Keane.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
But this tactic also places particularly high demands on midfielders.
The first point is tactical execution, which requires the ability to understand and implement the head coach's tactical intentions.
Also, you have to be able to run Running is really important to modern football, especially purposeful running.
It can even be said that the movement of players is equivalent to the vitality of a team.
Of course, the combination of Modric and Toni Kroos is also an experiment.
If not, there will still be Matic in the Southampton team.
The Serbian midfielder is definitely one of the top midfielders in today’s football.
Just like Yaya Toure, he is also a wonderful flower among midfielders.
It’s just that the tactical functions between the two are different.
Yang Huan didn't speak, and Florentino and others couldn't say anything more.
They could only sit down and watch the game.
At the beginning of the game, Southampton still adhered to the offensive football style of the past.
Bielsa's side pressed heavily from the first minute, keeping all three lines tight.
This game was the first time Ibrahimovic met his old club after leaving Barcelona, so the Swedish center seemed very excited, especially when he saw Gerard Pique defending him in front of him, he couldn't help but feel cold He sneered.
This big mouth who once humiliated himself and Southampton on Twitter and WeChat Gerard Pique looked at Ibrahimovic, feeling uneasy and not daring to be careless at all.
Seeing Ibrahimovic sneering at him again, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"why are you laughing" Ibrahimovic pointed to the sky, and the joke in his sneer became even more intense.
Piqué raised his head and looked at the night sky, dotted with stars, wondering what it meant.
"Just remember to raise your head and see what Southampton from the Stars is."
Pique was stunned.
What do you mean?
southampton from the stars But soon, he remembered that this was not what he said when he humiliated Southampton two years ago.
Damn Swedes, they still remember "Hey, Gerald, pay attention, we're coming."
Puyol, who was not far away, saw that Pique was distracted and immediately shouted a reminder.
Pique looked up and saw the ball passing back and forth between the two Southampton midfielders, already past half-court.
"Damn it, don't try to fool me into thinking" "I don't use those little tricks to deal with you," the Swede said with a disdainful smile.
This time Pique couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
Damn you, I know you are the world’s top center, but are you so arrogant?
I really think I'm dead "Wait a minute, don't cry when I score a goal above your head."
Pique is really angry and wants to score a goal over my head You deserve it "Gerrard, don't talk to him, he is deliberately distracting you," Puyol shouted from the side.
Ibrahimovic chuckled and looked at Puyol, "Watch the top of your head, dwarf."
Wow, this is simply a personal attack.
What Puyol hates most in his life is people making fun of his height.
The reason is simple, his biggest scar is his height.
He has imagined countless times that if he were taller, he would definitely be the best and most perfect central defender in the world.
However, God was joking with him and gave him such a height that is not even 1.8 meters.
It is quite sad.
Therefore, every time he sees a tall and powerful high center, he feels envious and jealous, especially towards Ibrahimovic, who has an almost perfect center body.
This kind of envy, jealousy and hatred is simply beyond words. .
Now, I am being called a dwarf in front of my face. too much It's really unbearable for my uncle and aunt.
"You're dead, Ibrahimovic" Puyol immediately became furious.
But Ibrahimovic still had the same sneer on his face, as if he didn't take Puyol and Pique seriously at all, which couldn't help but make the two of them even more annoyed.
Suddenly, Modric dribbled the ball forward in the midfield.
After attracting Busquets' attention, he passed it to Neymar, who quickly cut inside from the left.
After the latter stopped, he rubbed his right foot.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
I saw an overhead ball, arced, and fell behind Pique.
The kick came suddenly.
Pique hurriedly adjusted his position and jumped in a hurry, but the ball went past his head.
It actually missed the top All the fans in the audience were in an uproar I saw Ibrahimovic suddenly started and passed by Pique.
When Pique turned around after landing, Ibrahimovic had already stopped the ball at the edge of the penalty area and could not catch up.
Puyol was relatively small, but his body was very flexible, and he was always paying attention to Ibrahimovic, so he kept up.
But, what's the use?
As soon as the Swede stopped the ball, he ran over him with his tall and strong body.
This simple and crude action almost made Puyol burst into tears.
Damn you, are you bullying me because I'm not taller or as big as you?
Puyol is small and flexible, and knows that he will suffer too much in a head-on fight.
But the problem is, now people take the initiative to bully you.
If you don't follow up, you will lose your defensive position.
He felt a huge force, like a mountain pressing down on him, coming towards him.
Puyol almost tried his best to push up, but he almost couldn't hold on.
He also didn't expect that after two years of not seeing each other, this thirty-year-old Swede would still maintain such good physical condition.
Too scary But soon, Puyol felt the force was lighter, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
But he immediately sensed something was wrong.
Sure enough, when he reacted, he saw that Ibrahimovic had already used his long legs to suppress Puyol, then skillfully dribbled the ball and created an open space, just before Puyol.
Right under your nose, you started to take action.
All the fans in the audience cheered Too strong Simple, crude, direct, but enjoyable The ball hit the goal guarded by Valdez like a cannonball.
The Barcelona goalkeeper tensed his nerves, his eyes fixed on the ball that was fast and a little unpredictable in its direction.
At the critical moment, he made a judgment, moved his body quickly, and made an upward movement with his hands.
"Wow" "Within less than a minute of the opening, Ibrahimovic fired a heavy long-range shot from the front of the penalty area.
Valdes was unable to catch the ball and was forced to lift the ball over the crossbar."
"What a pity, Ibrahimovic's shot was too powerful" "Neymar's long-distance pass was also quite beautiful."
"Southampton gave Barcelona a thumbs up from the start" "It seems that many fans predicted before the game that Barcelona will ravage Southampton.
I am afraid that the scene will not happen.
Southampton used the first attack after the opening to create a threat to tell Barcelona the next word."
“We at Southampton are not soft persimmons” After completing a high-quality long-range shot, Ibrahimovic couldn't help but curled his lips when he saw that it didn't go in: