After being rejected, I became Shi Yijiao

Chapter 474 I have been a fan of the Swedish team for 30 years!

When all the Swedish players and staff rushed into the stadium crazily, jumping and jumping excitedly, Pan Yi slowly walked back to the coach's bench and sat in his seat.

His tense nerves were completely relaxed at this moment, he rubbed the bridge of his nose vigorously, and closed his eyes to rest for a while.

This penalty shootout is really tormented!
Or rather, a little fluke.

In fact, as long as the game is decided by a penalty shootout, it can be said that there is a bit of luck in it.

Considering the stability of the German team in the penalty shoot-out, if Pan Yi hadn't "opened" for the Swedish goalkeeper Isaacsson in advance, it might be the players of the German team who are celebrating the victory now.

"What's the matter, boss?"

Arteta and Scaloni noticed Pan Yi's abnormality, so they hurried over to check.

"It's okay, I was just wondering why we couldn't win them in 120 minutes." Pan Yi laughed.

Arteta and Scaloni looked at each other, a little puzzled at first, but soon relieved.

This is their leader!
Sweden beat Germany and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. What a celebration!

But now Pan Yi is still wondering why it is more refreshing not to win...

Perhaps it is precisely because of his attitude of striving for perfection that he became the number one coach in the world.

As for Pan Yi, he really doesn't want to pin the team's fate on such illusory things as "luck".

In fact, in overtime, Pan Yi's tactics for the Swedish team have been considered a success.

The advantage in physical fitness has gradually turned into an advantage in the field, and the offensive has also become very strong.

However, the inability to achieve a midfield configuration that integrates offense and defense has made it difficult for these offensives to be converted into victories, and was eventually dragged into a penalty shootout.

Having beaten Germany to reach the semi-finals, Sweden will next face the winners of France and Iceland.

Whether it is the memory of the previous life or the strength comparison between the two teams, the host French team should be the more likely winner.

They are not England, known as the "European Dragons", who will capsize in front of Iceland.

The strength of France may be stronger than the German team!
In recent years, they can be said to have a star blowout, their strength has soared, and they already have the strength to win any championship.

In fact, in Pan Yi's previous life, the French team did reach the finals in the 16th European Cup, the 18th World Cup, and the 22nd World Cup, and won the final championship in the 18th World Cup.

In front of such a French team, it is clear that Sweden needs to do better than today to have a chance to enter the final.

But now, the Swedish team is really almost meaningless in the midfield.

Whether it is Ekdal, Wayne Bloom, Larson, or Kjellstrom, they can all achieve certain aspects and fulfill some specific tactical needs;
But it is a bit embarrassing to ask them to be able to attack and defend like the French team Pogba and Kanter.

It is also because of this that today the Swedish team's three-back tactic can prevent the German team's attack, but it is very difficult to go further and counterattack the opponent.

Today's game actually exposed this weakness to the whole world, including the head coach of the French team Didier Deschamps.

Of course, he also saw how the German team defended against the Swedish team's attack.

As long as tactics are shown on the football field, in the eyes of professionals, there can be no secrets!

"But we really don't have any suitable candidates on hand."

After listening to Pan Yi's explanation, Arteta and Scaloni also smiled bitterly.

After all, the national team is not a club, no one is no one.

If the Swedish team had Kanter and Pogba, would they still be the second-tier European team?
"If you want to completely solve the problems of midfield operation and offensive and defensive transitions, it is best to let Kjellstrom and Forsberg start together. The two form a dual-core, which can exert a stronger effect, but in this way Field defense is an issue."

Scaloni analyzed.

After hearing this, Pan Yi nodded and said, "So, there must be at least one defender behind them. We used Ekdal before."

"But a defensive midfielder is obviously not enough to deal with France?" Arteta looked worried.

"So, we'll have to think again."

Everyone nodded.

Everyone also defaults that the French team can enter the semi-finals, and everyone knows the strength of the French team.

Especially midfield.

Kanter + Pogba + Matuidi, all of them are all-round fighters who can attack and defend well.

And Griezmann in the frontcourt will often retreat to the midfield to help organize the offense.

The midfield combination formed by them has become more and more smooth in this European Cup, and the more they play, the more they play, and they also show a smooth offensive scene that France has rarely seen in recent years.

If the Swedish team cannot adjust their midfield configuration, then when facing France, the opponent's midfielder will definitely blow Sweden completely, and everyone has no doubt about this.

So for the Swedish coaching staff, seeking change is the only way to beat France.

But how to change and to what extent, this is the biggest test, and it is also the key to Pan Yi's ability to lead the team to defeat France.
-
7月4日，2016欧洲杯1/4决赛进行了最后一场交锋。

As expected, France beat Iceland 5-2 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to advance to the semi-finals. The host's opponent in the semi-finals will be the Swedish team!

France has a 4231 formation in this field, with Giroud as the center forward, and Griezmann and Payet dual-core ambushing behind them.

Midfielder Kanter and defender Rami are suspended for the game, while Moussa Sissoko and Umtiti get chances to play.

Iceland still adopts the 442 formation, and the starting lineup has not changed from before.

In the 12th minute of the game, Matuidi sent an exquisite over-the-top pass from the middle. Giroud broke into the penalty area and hit a volley from the left side. France led Iceland 1-0.

In the 20th minute, Griezmann made a pass from the right corner, and Pogba leaped high to grab a header and the ball flew into the upper left corner of the goal. France expanded its lead 2-0.

This is Pogba's first goal in this cup. The French national team has sent 36 goals in 6 appearances.

In the 43rd minute, Sagna made a cross from the right. Giroud scored the first point with a header. Griezmann calmly responded from the center. Payet volleyed after a slight adjustment. The ball went into the lower right corner of the goal. France 3-0 ahead of Iceland.

In the 45th minute, Pogba made a long pass from the backcourt, Giroud made a clever miss and made a strike, and Griezmann quickly advanced to form a single goal.Facing the attacking Halderson, Griezmann made a calm shot and France led Iceland 4-0.

This is Griezmann's fourth personal goal scored in this cup. He also surpassed Ibrahimovic of the Swedish team and leads the scorer list alone!
In the 56th minute, Gilfi Sigurdsson made a cross from the right. Siegtorsen fell to the ground and tackled the ball from the front point. The ball went into the lower right corner of the goal. Iceland tied the score at 1-4.

In the 59th minute, Payet took a free kick from the middle and passed the penalty area. Hallderson made a mistake and Giroud made a header. France led Iceland 5-1.

In the 84th minute, Skurasson made a cross from the left, Birgil Bjarnason hit the lower right corner with a header, and Iceland tied the score at 2-5.

The two teams contributed 7 goals, and this battle became the game with the most goals so far in this cup.

Although the dark horse failed to reach the end, Iceland has remained in the hearts of all fans watching this European Cup.

Whether it's the goosebump-inducing Viking war dance-style celebration, or the bearded captain Gunnarsson's "grenade tactics", Iceland is impressive off and on the field.

All those who have watched this European Cup may never forget the number of Iceland's national population of 33. Yes, it is indeed a number that should be remembered.

The national team with 33 people is the national team with the smallest participating population in the history of the World Series, and their achievement of advancing to the top 8 may only wait for their own breakthrough.

Of course, now that Iceland is out, the real dark horse depends on their Nordic brother Sweden...

In the other two quarter-finals earlier, Portugal also eliminated Poland through a penalty shootout and advanced to the semi-finals.

Their opponent in the semi-finals is... Wales!

The Red Dragon Army unexpectedly defeated the European Red Devils Belgium with a score of 3:1, and also reached the semi-finals!

In this game, the Belgian team led Wales with a goal scored by Nainggolan in the 13th minute.

But the Welsh team scored three goals in a row and finally eliminated their opponents!

The Belgian team with a luxurious lineup once again disappointed and left the cup completely.

Belgian head coach Wilmots has been strongly criticized by the domestic media and fans, and the Belgian Football Association has officially announced that Wilmots will no longer serve as the head coach of the Belgian national team.

Soon, the schedule for the two matches in the semi-finals also came out.

On July 7, Portugal played against Wales;

France vs Sweden on July 7!
-
In the past two days after returning to the base camp, Pan Yi has been studying the match between France and Iceland, and at the same time thinking about his lineup.

Iceland and Sweden are both located in Northern Europe. There are actually some similarities in the technical and tactical characteristics of the players. They are both tall and able to play and rush, but their skills are slightly weaker.

Moreover, Iceland's midfield structure is even similar to that of Sweden, that is, a more technical Sigurdsson, accompanied by an intercepting captain Gunnarsson to escort him;

Isn't this the model of Forsberg + Ekdal in Sweden?
Therefore, watching the game between France and Iceland is of great reference value for the Swedish team to find out how to deal with France.

Of course, compared to Iceland, Sweden has its own advantages.

That is, Iceland lacks a comprehensive superstar like Ibrahimovic of the Swedish team on the front line, and there is no impactful young player like Isaac, which makes it impossible for the Icelanders to be as rich in offensive means as Sweden.

Iceland's style of play is actually very simple and rude: long pass from the center to find the center forward to ferry the header, or cross from the side. If the pass fails, use the won throw-in ball to throw a strong grenade into the penalty area, and then attack with two points forward.

The two goals against France were achieved through two 45-degree slant hangs from the side, allowing players in the penalty area to grab points and complete the shots.

But the French attack played more fluidly.

Pogba and Matuidi's double defensive midfielder encircled the midfield, allowing Pogba to better exert his dispatching ability. Giroud was set as the fulcrum in front, Grid retreated as the midfielder, and at the same time acted as the second striker and Payette Hit the restricted area.

This kind of attack made Iceland unable to resist, conceding five goals in a row.

Of course, the French defense team still seems to be unstable at present.

Evra has always been a weakness, and at the same time the air defense ability is not strong. Iceland's several grenades and headers are very threatening.

If it weren't for goalkeeper Lori's good performance and the poor level of the Icelandic striker, France really wouldn't have won so many goals.

On the whole, Pan Yi wants to find a combination that can restrain the performance of the French midfielder and at the same time take advantage of the loopholes in the French defense to break through the opponent's goal.

He doesn't want to bet on the penalty shootout anymore!
After all, no matter whether in the previous life or in this timeline, France has never played a penalty shootout in this cup, and it is impossible for Pan Yi to give a reliable "strategy" like against Germany.

"What? Is it tricky?" Arteta walked to Pan Yi's desk and looked with interest at the tactical sketches he drew on the desktop, which included France's starting lineup and player positions.

Brother Tazi also understands that the problem that plagues the Swedish team has always been that one, how to configure the midfield.

There are still three days to prepare, but Pan Yi hopes to set the tone of the tactics as soon as possible, and then try his best to practice this set of tactics in the next three days.

In such a tournament system, time is really precious, and there is very little room for you to make mistakes!
When you are in the club, you can spend more time on trial and error, and even play relatively unimportant games such as the League Cup and the FA Cup, so you can practice.

But not here, every game is a decisive battle, if you are negligent, you have to go home!
"France's style of play is indeed very mature. Didier Deschamps seems to consciously want to pursue high-level coordination and penetration. Griezmann's up-and-down connection has made their routines more and more proficient."

Arteta analyzed the opponent's offense, and now it is also a set:

"And the existence of a big center like Giroud makes France's offensive methods very diverse. Of course, this is a natural pursuit. The routine is simple and it is easy to be frozen by the opponent. Therefore, France's combination of long and short passes is to some extent They are very complementary.”

"Iceland just couldn't defend Giroud. They sometimes froze the French's cooperation and penetration in the frontcourt, but they were killed by their high-altitude ball. France's first two goals were actually headers..."

"Also, Iceland's diagonal attack and defense against France on the two sides was not in place. Pogba made many long passes to find Giroud and Griezmann in the first half, but they didn't know how to reflect. Pogba directly tore through the Icelandic defense with a through ball, and finally Griezmann scored the goal."

"These few attacks seem simple, but they are all the embodiment of France's offensive ability, not so easy to defend!"

Arteta analyzed, with a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Unless we can fully suppress the French midfielder. Otherwise, it will be difficult to contain their offense. But if we want to limit their midfielder, we have to invest more troops and pay a higher price. By then , what about our attack?"

On the football field, the advantage is largely reflected by the number of people. It is difficult to establish a sufficient advantage without investing enough troops.

But there are only so many starting lineups for a game, and more investment here means that less troops will be invested in other areas. This is a matter of choice for the head coach.

Pan Yi nodded slightly, then stood up and walked to the tactical board, and wrote down the names of several Swedish players in the midfield position:

"If I line up like this, do you think it can achieve the goal of offensive and defensive balance?"
-
After beating Italy, Belgium, Spain and Germany successively, the Swedish team seems to have caused a wave in the world and has become the most eye-catching focus in the European Cup.

All kinds of "30-year Swedish team fans" have also emerged in major forums. Everyone said that as early as the 1994 World Cup, they fell in love with the Swedish team with Brolin and Dahlin.

At that time, the Swedish team also went all the way to the semi-finals, and finally lost to the final champion Brazil in the semi-finals.

In the quarter-finals, the Swedish team also defeated Romania through a penalty shootout, and there was a famous scene in this game.

That was a textbook free kick routine. At that time, Sweden won an excellent free kick on the right side of the front penalty area, and two Swedish players stood in front of the penalty spot.

The whistle sounded, and when everyone thought they would choose to attack the goal directly, the penalty kicker went straight to find Brolin who was hiding behind the human wall. Unguarded, he burst into the small penalty area and succeeded.

The classic free kick cooperation this time also inspired a lot of later teams.

Including later in the 1998 World Cup, when Argentina played against England, Zanetti also performed the same operation, and in the 2022 World Cup, the Dutch team Verhorst scored Argentina's goal, which is also similar.

And many fans believe that the current Swedish team allows everyone to see the shadow of the Swedish team that won the third place in the World Cup that year.

Forsberg in the midfield is Dahlin, and Ibrahimovic is an enhanced version of Brolin!

Many people also said that after Pan Yi took charge of the Swedish team, the team's skills and tactics have been further released. Whether it is offensive or defensive, they have made great progress compared with their predecessors.

Therefore, it is true that everyone thinks that Pan Yi's slogan for Sweden to win the championship is definitely not groundless, they do have this ability!
But there are also many professionals who believe that although the performance of the Swedish team is improving every game and getting better every game, this team has natural flaws.

"For the current Swedish team, they have played defense to a certain height. They have unswervingly implemented the tactical policy set by Pan Yi, which allowed them to concede only one goal in the previous five games. This is definitely a phenomenon. class performance."

"But for this Swedish team that is aiming to win the championship, the biggest problem is not their defense, but their offense and their performance in key games."

"The cup game is different from the league game. The league game relies on offense, while the cup game relies on defense. This is well-known in football circles. Pan Yi used a defensive tactic with three midfielders, which allowed them to withstand the German attack and pass the penalty. The big battle reached the semi-finals. But will such a trick work for France?"

"Pan Yi is a very great head coach, his ability is beyond doubt, and he has indeed brought great changes to Sweden. But he is still not enough in the team's offensive and defensive balance, he still needs to Let’s enrich the Swedish team’s offensive routines and means.”

"However, unlike the defensive adjustments that can be effective immediately, with the current staffing of the Swedish team, it may be difficult for Pan Yi to make any changes on the offensive end. The main problem lies in the midfield. The three midfielders are all defensive. Yes, it's really hard for you to ask them to spare more energy to attack, don't you know if you don't have that ability?"

"If you still can't score against France, can Pan Yi really count on his team to drag the game to a penalty shootout again? From the current point of view, France's attack power is definitely higher than that of Germany... ..."

This is a column report from the British "Times". Obviously, they are not very optimistic about Sweden's semi-final prospects.

This is not because Pan Yi's ability is not enough, but they believe that the current staffing of the Swedish team objectively limits Pan Yi's performance.

Pan Yi's improvement of Sweden's defensive end is very good, and it is also the key to Sweden's victory over Germany, but it is far from enough to enter the final or even win the championship in this way.

Of course, on this point, the views of various coaches are not the same.

Mourinho believes that as long as they defend well, Sweden can win the championship.

He affirmed Pan Yi's three-pivot style of play, saying that such a play won his heart.

"When facing opponents such as Germany and France that are far stronger than you, you don't have to think about offense. It's better to defend honestly, and then fight in the penalty shootout!"

Wenger obviously disagrees with Mourinho's statement.

He said: "How to consider sending the ball into the opponent's goal more while maintaining a solid defense, this is the moment to reflect the wisdom of top coaches, and it is also the biggest test for Pan Yi after leading the team to the semi-finals!"

But he also added at the end, "Regardless of Sweden's final results, Pan Yi has done everything he can to reach the semi-finals under such circumstances, and the rest can only be left to God!"

And Ferguson obviously considered the issue from Pan Yi's point of view, he said:

"Everyone wants to play good football and win, and so do I."

"In fact, when I was coaching Manchester United, every week I thought about how to win the game in the most beautiful way, so as to please the fans as much as possible."

"But when I lost to Barcelona in the Champions League final twice, I also started to think, should I compromise more. After all, you can't play what you want when you face opponents who are stronger than you. football."

"The same is true for the Swedish team now. The current staffing simply cannot afford more aggressive and risky tactics, so I can understand Pan Yi."

"Because he can only adopt a tactic that is easier to achieve results to help the team and win the game as much as possible!"

(End of this chapter)