After being rejected, I became Shi Yijiao

Chapter 451 The sixth trophy of the season!
On the afternoon of May 5, London, Wembley Stadium.

FA Cup final, Manchester United vs Chelsea.

Van Gaal's starting lineup is basically the same as Pan Yi expected.

A 4-1-4-1 formation, Rashford forward, Martial and Mata on both sides, Rooney and Fellaini in the middle.

Behind the single midfielder Carrick, there are Rojo, Blind, Smalling and Valencia, goalkeeper De Gea.

Compared with the last time the two teams met, Manchester United's original two main full-backs Damian and Ashley Young were replaced, and the double midfielders Schneiderling and Schweinsteiger also did not play. Of course, there is Van Gaal's fellow Dutchman Depay.

This is mainly the tactical change brought about by the change of formation, so Van Gaal needs players who are more adaptable to this style of play, and also needs to counterattack against Chelsea's strong control.

Therefore, after the opening, Van Gaal did not adopt the tactics of pressing and pressing at the beginning of the game. Instead, he set up his defense first and waited for Chelsea to attack.

This led to Chelsea getting the ball smoothly and controlling the rhythm from the very beginning of the game.

Of course, in terms of current overall strength, Chelsea still has an advantage. Even if Manchester United does not take the initiative to give up the ball, it must be difficult to win over Chelsea.

Just over two minutes into the game, Chelsea created a chance on the left. Lingard forced a breakthrough to Valencia. After cutting inside, he took a long shot from the outside of the penalty area and became the first shot of the audience.

Then Chelsea created a few more chances. Lukaku, Cancelo, and Kanter each had a shot, but they were all long shots from outside the penalty area.

Manchester United was relatively passive on the scene, but the defense was very tight and did not give Chelsea a good chance.

Van Gaal's strategy for this game is very clear, which is to let Chelsea take the initiative to press and attack, and then wait for an opportunity to hit Chelsea's back.

So every time there is a chance to counterattack, Manchester United plays very fast, basically they don't have too many dribbles in the backcourt, but directly send them to the front with two or three kicks.

Either rely on the through pass from the midfield to find Rashford in front to break through with speed, or directly kick the ball from the backcourt to find Fellaini who is plugged in to compete for the top. In short, the tactics are very simple.

And if the frontcourt loses the ball at this time, Manchester United's midfield will retreat very quickly, and a tight defense will be organized within a few seconds.

After all, there are not many troops invested in the frontcourt, and Manchester United is not afraid of being hit back in the attack.

This also forced Chelsea to face a tough battle.

Although Manchester United's current back line is not considered the top in the world, after Van Gaal's training in the past two years, it can also be said to have good defensive stability.

Coupled with the fact that almost all of Manchester United returned to the penalty area when they retreated, this made it even more difficult for Chelsea to break through Manchester United's defense.
-
Currently in the Chelsea team, the most active performer is the old Manchester United player Lingard.

As Lingard with the "killing the old master" buff, he is the most energetic every time he plays against Manchester United, and he does perform well every time.

In addition to hitting the first shot of the game, he then took another long shot from 20 meters away.

Later, he also inserted in the back and shot high in the penalty area.

This also makes him Chelsea's biggest threat to Manchester United's goals.

"This kid is very excited tonight!" Arteta laughed.

Pan Yi nodded.

As a Manchester United youth training, what is more exciting than facing the old club after being abandoned by the mother team?
This is also the biggest reason why Pan Yi let Lingard start today.

In fact, in the current Chelsea team, when playing 3-5-2, Lingard can only be used as a regular rotation or a substitute under normal circumstances.

After all, among the three positions in the midfield, one of the defensive midfielders must belong to Kanter or Matic. Lingard could not play in this position, so he can only compete for the two front midfielders.

But now Hazard and Seat B are in good shape, and they are basically Pan Yi's first choice.

In some occasions where confrontation needs to be strengthened, Gretzka is also more useful. When a breakthrough is more needed, Gnabry is undoubtedly a better choice.

Lingard's advantage lies in his ability to run back and forth in series, and if Pan Yi uses 3-2-4-1, he will have a better chance to appear.

But in this 3-5-2 system, he really doesn't have much advantage.

Of course, one advantage of Lin Huang is his optimist personality, coupled with Pan Yi's frequent rotation policy, this also makes Lingard quite satisfied with his current playing time.

Coupled with the fact that the team's performance is so outstanding, there will certainly be no complaints.

And every time Lingard plays, he can always adjust his state to the best, run unremittingly, and make the greatest contribution to the team.

On the current field, Lingard blocked the ball that Fellaini wanted to pass to Rooney through an active tackle in his own half, and then handed it to the left.

After receiving the ball, Cancelo took a step forward, saw an opportunity, and directly sent the ball to Manchester United's big penalty area with a long diagonal pass.

The ball rebounded after landing on the left side of the arc top of the penalty area and fell towards the penalty area.

Mbappe quickly inserted between the two central defenders Blind and Smalling, and rushed straight into the penalty area before the two.

Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea decisively abandoned the goal and the timing was just right. Almost when Mbappe hit the goal, his hands just happened to be sealed.

The ball hit De Gea's hand and bounced high, falling to the right side of the penalty area.

Lukaku quickly caught up, stopped the ball before Smalling, and quickly passed the ball back to the outer area of ​​​​the penalty area.

I saw that Lingard also rushed out of Manchester United's penalty area from behind. Before Blind had time to interfere, he stopped the ball and hit a volley with his right foot, trying to hit the ball to the far corner.

But his shot was saved by De Gea.

This time De Gea's second reaction was really fast!
Almost as soon as he struck out to block Mbappe's shot, he immediately returned to the goal line, and then struggled to save Lingard's shot.

The whole Wembley Stadium applauded De Gea.

This is a very wonderful, even a great save!

If this ball is lost, Manchester United will be in danger!
After all, today's Manchester United focuses on a defensive counterattack, and the one thing that teams with this style of play are most afraid of is conceding the ball first.

Even Pan Yi on the sidelines couldn't help but praise De Gea's wonderful save.

Although De Gea's technical characteristics are not in line with Pan Yi's offensive system, he will play a very important role when Manchester United uses squatting style of play.

His goal-line technique and responsiveness are absolutely top-notch in the world!

It is precisely because of his existence that Manchester United has the capital to play defensive tactics.

Otherwise, how could there be such a long-standing saying:

The frontcourt is picturesque and the backcourt De Gea! ——
Game time is ticking by.

Chelsea firmly controlled the scene and kept attacking Manchester United.

Manchester United was not helpless to fight back, but two or three counterattacks failed to pose a threat, which made it look like Chelsea was overwhelmingly fighting Manchester United.

But that's not necessarily a good sign.

As the saying goes, there will be losses under a long attack. If Chelsea has an obvious advantage and has not been able to score, the mentality of the players on both sides will change.

The offensive side may become anxious, while the defensive side will become more and more confident.

This is also the turning point where some bus-positioning or counter-defense teams can win.

So Pan Yi also walked to the sidelines and began to make some on-the-spot adjustments.

He indicated that when the players are attacking, the two wingers should be further apart, and the two wingbacks can be more resolute in interspersed.

The main reason is that Chelsea's recent offenses have been concentrated in the middle, but due to the contraction of Manchester United's formation, the middle of the stadium is now very crowded.

This makes it difficult for Chelsea to play smoothly in the middle. It is often difficult to find a breakthrough after many downs on the periphery of the penalty area. In the end, it can only be a long-range shot.

This is also the reason why most of Chelsea's shots after the opening were long shots.

Therefore, Pan Yi is to make his players pay more attention to open the space on the side. In addition to the wing backs, including Hazard and Lingard, they can also develop to the left and right. After opening the defense line from the side, they can turn back. to the middle.

"Eden, you need to get more balls, pay attention to the breakthrough and cooperation on the side!" Pan Yi shouted towards Hazard who was closest to him.

Also playing in the front of the midfield, Hazard is indeed a bit too low-key compared to the more excited Lingard today.

He didn't get the ball a lot, and he didn't make a lot of drives.

This also led to Mbappe, who is more inclined to Hazard's side in terms of position, and there are not many opportunities to get the ball, so it is difficult to threaten Manchester United's defense with speed.

Therefore, allowing Azar to break through with the ball and make a fuss on the wing may be a key for Chelsea to break the deadlock.

After hearing the latest instructions from the head coach, the Chelsea players immediately began to implement them.

The ball is poured to the side more often, and then the wing backs on both sides, or the two midfielders pulling the side to break through.

Make the most of the width of the site!
Lingard and Hazard will also frequently switch positions, taking turns attacking the opponent's full-back on the wing.

This in itself is the characteristic of Pan Yi's 3-5-2 formation.

These two players are attacking midfielders when attacking from the center, and become wingers when attacking from the side, and they do not have a fixed position.

Such flexible and wide-ranging running will make it difficult for the opponent's defensive players to find corresponding personnel for targeted defense.

Gradually, the game entered 30 minutes, and Chelsea's attack also improved.

Lingard moved forward along the right this time, Rojo came to defend, and Hazard came from the middle to respond, so Lingard passed the ball to him.

These two midfielders are all leaning to the right, just to create a strong offensive side to beat Manchester United left-back Rojo.

When Hazard came over, Manchester United midfielder Carrick hurried over to defend, but Hazard stopped and dribbled, and then accelerated, just avoiding Carrick, while continuing to dribble the ball laterally.

At this moment, Hazard is still some distance away from the penalty area and cannot shoot long shots to pose a threat, so Manchester United's defense is relatively lax.

Rooney, who is also in charge of the front midfielder, came up to block, allowing Rojo to return to the defensive line in time, and Carrick in the middle was also in place.

Rooney saw the opportunity and directly tackled the ball, but it turned out to be early.

Hazard's continuous small steps changed the rhythm, tricking Rooney into falling to the ground, and then tactfully avoided it.

At this time, he got a short unguarded time, so he glanced at the penalty area and sent a long diagonal pass with his left foot.

I saw the ball pass diagonally from the right side of the penalty area to the front of the small penalty area.

Mbappe moved forward smartly, rushed behind the two Manchester United central defenders, and before the attacking goalkeeper De Gea, he stepped sideways and intercepted the ball from midair.

But at this time, it was also difficult for Mbappe to control the ball or form a shot, because Blind rushed up and blocked the possible threat route of the ball.

Mbappe also reacted very quickly. When he saw that he had missed the best chance to shoot, he immediately raised his left foot and passed the ball back before Blind, which happened to be passed to Blind's goal just now. position.

At this time, Lukaku just rushed to the horse, facing the ball returned by Mbappe in an inverted triangle, and directly pulled his legs and shot angrily.

At this time, De Gea was still on the other side of the goal, and Lukaku sent the ball straight into Manchester United's goal!

"The ball went in!!!!!!"

"In the 32nd minute, Lukaku opened the scoring for Chelsea!"

"This is definitely a wonderful offensive cooperation!"

"Azar's right cut inside, his left foot made a diagonal pass, Mbappe knocked back in an inverted triangle, and Lukaku inserted an angry shot from behind."

"Chelsea's entire goal coordination was very skillful and there was a tacit understanding. Manchester United's defensive players couldn't touch the ball throughout the whole process, and they were powerless to stop it!"

"We can also see that Chelsea coach Pan Yi's fine-tuning of the team's tactics has had an effect. Lingard and Hazard formed an offensive suppression after pulling to the wing, making it difficult for Manchester United to defend."

"Azar's timely pass, Mbappe's response, and Lukaku's shot all in one go! Such a three-dimensional attack is the key to Chelsea's ability to tear through Manchester United's defense."

"This goal is very important. It broke the balance that has been maintained for half an hour now."

"Now that Chelsea are leading, can Manchester United maintain their counter-attacking style of play?"
-
"It's over."

At the moment Lukaku scored a goal, Van Gaal flashed such a sentence in his heart.

Manchester United have been able to draw one and lose one with Chelsea in the league this season, and they can fight to the end. The most critical point is that they did not let Chelsea score first.

Being scored first by Chelsea often means the beginning of a player's psychological breakdown, especially when you are going to play a defensive counterattack.

Everyone can feel Manchester United's disadvantage and pressure on the field today, but they can still withstand it because they have not been broken through the defense.

but now?
Van Gaal recalled the fear of being bombarded with eight goals by Pan Yi last season...

In the final analysis, it is still a question of strength.

Chelsea not only has the advantage of passing and possession, but also is obviously slightly better than Manchester United in terms of the overall strength of the players.

Therefore, Van Gaal can only think of breaking back a little bit tactically.

But now that Pan Yi has used his fine-tuning tactics to advance the goal, it will be very difficult for Manchester United.

"This world belongs to young people after all." Van Gaal said with a long sigh.

Van Gaal suddenly felt that he was indeed old.

Watching the 30-year-old Pan Yi vigorously scolding Fang Qiu, while the 65-year-old himself faced the dilemma of dismissing get out of class, Van Gaal was really full of melancholy.

What if Mourinho came to take over Manchester United?
Is it really possible to compete with such a Pan Yi and such a Chelsea?

This is a team that will make people feel desperate if they score a goal.

Unless Pan Yi is no longer in the Premier League...
-
Although Van Gaal was already in awe of Pan Yi, he made adjustments when the game entered the second half.

He moved Valencia forward from the full-back position, allowing Smalling, Blind and Rojo to form a three-back position at the back.

In the midfield, Fellaini and Carrick form a double midfielder, Mata and Valencia are on the left and right.

Rooney was also pushed forward into the centre-forward position, with Rashford and Martial separated to form a front three.

Van Gaal has adjusted his formation to an aggressive 3-4-3, ready to give Chelsea a go!

After all, this may be his last game at Manchester United, and if he doesn't fight, he will have no chance!

After making such adjustments, Manchester United's midfield has indeed improved a lot.

After all, the players no longer stay in the backcourt all the time, but press forward boldly, and they get more support from each other.

In the 60th minute, Carrick sent a direct pass in the midfield. After Rooney got rid of David Luiz, he shot from the ribs of the penalty area, but Martinez, who reacted quickly, bravely blocked the ball.

Rashford's follow-up shot was also blocked by Van Dijk in time and blocked.

This is already Manchester United's most threatening offense so far in this game.

And Pan Yi obviously saw the signs of Manchester United's counterattack.

He thought for a while, and then made his own adjustments.

This time it was a direct exchange of two people!
Both Hazard and Lingard in the midfield were replaced, replaced by Gretzka and seat B.

This is mainly because whether it is Hazard or Lingard, after a long and large-scale interspersed running in the first half, the physical consumption is still relatively large.

At this time, changing to the B seat with excellent ball control ability and stronger running ability can cause more trouble for Manchester United's defense.

The replacement of Gretzka is out of consideration of the balance of offense and defense.

In such a cup final, with a lead of one goal, Pan Yi still needs to take a look at the situation on the field, so that his midfielder can improve his interception ability and give Manchester United some strength.

And don't look at two attacking midfielders in a row. In fact, under the escort of Gretzka + Kanter, the B seat, including Mbappe and Lukaku on the front line, can liberate more powerful players. offensive firepower!

In fact it is.

After the substitution, Chelsea quickly stabilized their position in the midfield again, allowing Manchester United's offensive, which had finally taken the lead, to be suppressed again.

On the contrary, under the support of the B-seat's swimming, Chelsea made several threatening attacks, forcing De Gea to make several key saves.

In 75 minutes, Van Gaal also made substitution adjustments.

He replaced Carrick with Depay!

At this time, Manchester United's formation has become a somewhat deformed 3-3-4, with four forwards attacking in the frontcourt!
It can be said that Van Gaal completely went all out.

When attacking, Rooney, Martial, Rashford, and Depay will all press forward, and Mata and Valencia on both sides will also rush in from the wing to support the striker.

This style of play still poses a certain threat to Chelsea, but their shortcomings are also obvious.

With so many people attacking, the defense line must be unstable!
Basically, when defending, only Manchester United's three central defenders can stand in their positions, and Fellaini can be counted at most-in fact, when attacking, this tall Belgian still has to often go to Chelsea's penalty area to compete for the top.

Ever since, Chelsea will often form a situation of playing more and playing less when counterattacking.

In the 86th minute, when Valencia inserted quickly from the wing and was about to accelerate forward, he was entangled by Cancelo.

Cancelo is not slow!This is why Pan Yi started with him today instead of Marcos Alonso.

The two mingled together on the wing, and finally the ball went out of bounds.

Cancelo got up from the ground very quickly, rushed directly out of bounds, picked up the ball and threw it to Mbappe in front.

Mbappe kicked his feet, and after throwing away Flenny who was coming to defend in front of him, there was almost a flat river in front of him!
He led all the way, and soon reached Manchester United's backcourt, and began to drive the ball towards the penalty area.

At this time, Lukaku has also pulled to the right side of the top of the arc, blocked Blind with his body, and raised his hand for the ball.

Mbappe passed the ball to Lukaku, and he immediately advanced as fast as possible, straight into the top of the arc.

Lukaku also understood. He sent the ball lightly without stopping the ball, and it happened to be on the line that Mbappe advanced forward, allowing the French kid to rush into the penalty area with the ball and go straight into Blind's defense zone just now.

But Chelsea's offensive coordination has long been noticed by Smalling. He entangled Mbappe tightly all the way, forcing him to be unable to face the goal directly, and had to make an emergency stop and pass the ball back.

Lukaku has also completed his turn, inserted into the penalty area, faced Mbappe's pass, and shot directly.

But Blind reacted faster, took the first step, and flew to block the eye-catching.

Lukaku's shot just hit Blind's body and bounced near the penalty spot.

At this moment, the restricted area was in chaos.

Everything happened in an instant, and even when Carrick, who was returning to defense, was still looking for the trace of the football, the B seat, who was running as fast as a rabbit, had already jumped in quickly!

He rushed to the penalty spot before everyone else, faced the falling ball, and shot directly.

De Gea spread his arms and fell straight to the ground, trying to seal the angle of the shot, but the ball was played too fast.

Seat B's shot seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and he blasted the ball straight into Manchester United's goal.

"The ball went in again!!!!!!"

"In the 86th minute, Chelsea scored another goal!"

"Chelsea played an effective counter-attack, Lukaku and Mbappe in the forward line made a series of beautiful cooperation, then formed a shot, and finally scored!"

"Bernardo Silva! This is a goal from the B seat who came off the bench not long ago!"

"This is another miraculous substitution by Pan Yi! Of course, it's a regular plot for Pan Yi to make a contribution from a substitute player..."

"Two to zero! There should be no suspense in this match!"

"Blues fans should be able to say with confidence: Chelsea, the champions!"

What the narrator said quickly became reality.

A few minutes later, the referee blew the final whistle.

Chelsea defeated Manchester United 2-0 and won the FA Cup!

At the same time, this is also the sixth championship trophy they have won this season!
(End of this chapter)