Chapter 80 Simple Routine, Ultimate Destruction
Sports journalists across England are now eager to get first-hand information about Newcastle’s closed training.

According to past practice, the English Football Association will not interfere with the media’s inquiries into the tactical content of the final teams.

After all, the Premier League attaches great importance to traffic hype.

Between getting more fans to discuss and the passion for the event and the satisfaction of the two head coaches, the English Football Association has always chosen the former.

But this year is different.

It has only been two months since Sir Li led the England team to win the World Cup. After being knighted, his status in English football has risen even higher.

The English Football Association has offended Guardiola and Klopp successively, and does not want to offend Li Chen, who has given the royal family a very good impression.

So the greetings were given in advance.

The eagerly awaited British media also received more or less information from their superiors and could only patiently wait for the pre-match press conference.

On February 2, Li Chen took Joelinton to attend the pre-match press conference for the League Cup final.

Facing the active questions from reporters on the scene, Li Chen frankly stated that the three main players who were injured before would indeed not be able to start in the League Cup final.

“Will Newcastle change their formation? Will Anthony Gordon get a chance to start again?”

“Sir Lee, are you going to use Chris Wood or Wilson as the center forward?”

“Will Madison still play as a central midfielder? How will you arrange Ronaldo’s starting position in the final?”

“About Pepe…”

Li Chen, who had long anticipated that these reporters would ask sensitive questions, winked at the press officer.

The press officer, who understood the question immediately, decisively passed over several reporters who asked sharp questions, and finally helped Li Chen answer only a few routine questions that were not very important.

In comparison, the now successful Ten Hag is much more “generous” to reporters.

At the pre-match press conference, Tenten almost made his intention of “starting Rashford and Greenwood” clear.

Now that Manchester United has just gotten rid of the impact of injuries and all its players are finally healthy, it is actually not difficult to guess what the starting lineup will be.

In a sense, this is bad news for Manchester United.

However, the confident attitude shown by Ten Hag at the press conference still infected many Manchester United fans.

Many Manchester United fans also chose to continue to give more trust to Ten Hag, who recently led Manchester United back to the top six in the league standings.

For a while, in terms of public opinion, Manchester United seemed to be more active and confident than Newcastle.

It’s really the opposite of Tiangang.

On the morning of February 2, the Newcastle team, which had checked into the London hotel early and completely ended its closed training, conducted activation training as normal.

The reporters on the scene finally managed to capture a lot of training content.

However, the Newcastle coaching staff made too many substitutions in the group confrontations and changed the formation many times, which made it difficult for reporters to guess the starting lineup.

Ten Hag, who was waiting for the first-hand news information of the day, was also confused after reading the relevant reports.

In desperation, Tengzi could only wait patiently until the last hour before the game started, and then he got the Newcastle starting lineup he had been longing for.

“442?

Or 352?

Javier Manquillo did not start the game. Did he want Guavardiol to play as a right back? “

Ten Hag pondered over Li Chen’s starting lineup in the locker room for a while, touching his bald head and unable to make a decision.

Finally decided to wait until the game started.

By the evening, Li Chen’s long-hidden tactical backup plan was finally unveiled at Wembley Stadium.

“Newcastle chose a 352 starting formation today.

The double striker is Chris Wood and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The three central midfielders are Joelinton, Maddison and Guimaraes, with Marcelo as left wingback and Elanga as right wingback.

The three central defenders consist of Guavardiol, Pepe and Ramos.

Sommer is the starting goalkeeper. ”

“Manchester United continued to play 4231 today.

Starting center Weghorst.

The left midfielder is Rashford, the right midfielder is Anthony, the attacking midfielder is Bruno Fernandes, and the double defensive midfielders are Casemiro and Fred.

The double central defenders are Lisandro Martinez and Varane, with Luke Shaw on the left and Dalot on the right.

De Gea is the starting goalkeeper. ”

Along with the commentators’ introductions, fans from all over the world also clearly understood the positions of the starting players of the two teams.

Li Chen’s tactical decision to change the formation to 352 in the crucial final still surprised many reporters.

Having the courage is one thing, but on the other hand, these reporters still think that Li Chen’s choice of changing formation is too risky.

It would be normal for a player like Ten Hag to use a safe 4231 formation in the final, or a more familiar 433 against Newcastle.

Many reporters even wondered if Li Chen had picked up Guardiola’s “bad habit” and now liked to change formations in key battles.

His words almost showed that he was not optimistic about Newcastle’s performance today.

This made many Newcastle fans who were watching the game on TV feel uneasy.

Fortunately, in the live broadcast, Li Chen and a group of Newcastle starting players appeared very calm.

This gives more Newcastle fans who believe in Li Chen confidence.

Soon, after the players of both teams completed the pre-match line-up ceremony, they conducted the final mobilization and then stood in their respective positions.

Ten Hag stood on the sidelines with a serious face, staring at the game. No matter what he was thinking at the moment, on the surface he still looked like a famous coach.

Li Chen, who was standing not far from him, did not look so serious and even had a smile on his face.

If you ask him why he is laughing, it is of course because Ten Hag let Weghorst and Anthony start the game.

One of these two players will slow down Manchester United’s counterattack rhythm, while the other will directly take Manchester United’s breakthrough threat on the right to the next level.

As for their tactical role as fulcrums and the threat of cutting inside and shooting?
Easy to solve. Li Chen hoped that Weghorst would take the initiative to enter Newcastle’s penalty area and fight with his three central defenders.

He really didn’t believe that Weghorst could defeat Gvardiol and Ramos.

If the big Dutch guy doesn’t believe in evil and goes straight to Pepe, then Li Chen can only wish him good luck.

The three central defenders Newcastle fielded today are not afraid of the center forward at all.

Anthony’s cut-in shot just requires Gvardiol and Marcelo to pay more attention to limit it.

Apart from a decent left-foot shot, Anthony’s other personal abilities are simply not up to the average level of upper-middle players in the Premier League.

His footwork is not good enough, his absolute speed is not fast enough, and he can’t withstand confrontation.

Li Chen simply couldn’t imagine the possibility that Anthony could pass Marcelo and Guavardiol in succession in the right half of the defense zone.

Manchester United sending this guy on the field is equivalent to cutting off their own right side.

For Newcastle, the counterattack tactics of Manchester United that they need to be wary of are Rashford receiving long passes or taking the ball and advancing quickly.

Well, we may also have to guard against the long shots from Big B and Casemiro.

Apart from these two points, Manchester United’s ability to break through the offense is really lacking.

Without Greenwood, there will be one less tactical play from the inside forward, and without Sancho, there will be one less offensive engine in the frontcourt.

If Manchester United’s lineup was in Li Chen’s hands, he would directly deploy the forward trident of Rashford + Greenwood + Sancho and play a rotation attack in the frontcourt.

Although there is less of a fulcrum center forward to distract the defense, the team can switch positions more often to attack the opponent’s defense and create more comfortable shooting space for both sides.

Increase the flexibility and uncertainty of the offensive routine. In the chaos of the battle, Rashford and Greenwood’s finishing shots can be trusted.

Sancho’s smart passing can also create many threatening opportunities.

Besides, Big B had already played as a central midfielder last season. Why did you, Ten Hag, let him play as a central midfielder just for a little more offensive threat?
It’s not like the double central midfielder combination of Fred and B Fee can’t produce a linking effect. Why do you have to rely on your double defensive midfielder formation? Is it so difficult to make some adjustments?
Li Chen felt sorry for these Manchester United players and fans from the bottom of his heart.

But from the opponent’s point of view, Ten Hag’s illness is what he wants most.

On the court, Marcelo, who had become slightly familiar with Anthony’s ball-handling rhythm, quickly taught his new national team member a lesson with a close-range steal.

Anthony, who lost the ball, was very active in counterattacking, but facing Joelinton who was advancing with the ball, his defensive interference only caused a little interference to Joelinton.

Joelinton successfully pushed the ball into Manchester United’s defensive third and made a timely cross pass. After receiving the ball, Maddison quickly transitioned and lifted the ball to the right.

Elanga, who was running down the wing, did not give Luke Shaw a chance to catch up and sent a cross in time.

Ronaldo, who was trying to get to the front point, finally headed the ball a little off target due to the desperate interference of Martinez.

Looking at the football that flew slightly over the crossbar and out of the bottom line, Ronaldo patted his forehead and gave a thumbs up to Elanga who was actively returning to defense.

At this moment, Martinez, whose heart was still pounding, couldn’t help but loudly remind his teammates on the wing not to give Newcastle an easy chance to pass the ball.

Ten Hag subconsciously felt that something was wrong, but he did not think that Li Chen’s offensive routine was a combination of the side and the middle with long passes.

He always felt that Li Chen was setting a trap for him, waiting for him to jump in after a brief thought.

Not wanting to be fooled easily, Ten Hag decided to wait and see how the game developed.

But four minutes later, Newcastle’s offensive advance returned.

This time, Marcelo made a cross from the left, and Guimarães, who came in from behind, took advantage of Ronaldo’s movement to successfully head the ball into the goal!

Luke Shaw also failed to withstand Guimaraes’ header. At the critical moment, De Gea stepped forward and blocked the ball out of the baseline with both hands to keep the goal safe!
Now, the vast majority of fans watching the League Cup final are certain.

Li Chen wanted to use the simple crossing tactics to destroy Manchester United’s defense!

Seeing this, they all looked at Martinez, who had a serious expression on his face.

When it comes to dealing with the opponent’s ground attack, Martinez, who is flexible and brave, is indeed a good defensive player.

But when Newcastle put the main battlefield in the air, Martinez’s height of 1 meters became his embarrassing flaw.

Ten Hag finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

His on-the-spot adjustments were timely. He decisively asked the two full-backs to increase their defensive efforts, while also allowing Fred and Casemiro to help more on the wings.

But facing Manchester United’s targeted defense, Newcastle adjusted very quickly.

The defenders advancing on both wings drew away the defensive attention of Manchester United in the middle. Maddison and Guimaraes, who were running in between, received the ball in the left and right flank areas of Manchester United and continued to make 45-degree passes towards Manchester United’s penalty area!

The quality of the cross was not bad at all, and the scene made tens of thousands of Manchester United supporters at the scene extremely uncomfortable!

Ten Hag was a little restless. Li Chen’s timely adjustment obviously predicted what defensive choice he would make.

Now, apart from shrinking the formation as quickly as possible and parking the bus to withstand Newcastle’s offensive firepower, he can only treat the symptoms instead of the root cause.

If the ribs are lost, let the two defensive midfielders shrink their positions and lock the ribs first.
In addition to letting the two full-backs hold the wing, the two wing forwards can only retreat further to assist in defense.

This will undoubtedly reduce Manchester United’s already limited offensive threat, but Ten Hag has no other choice at the moment.

Li Chen was somewhat disappointed when he saw that Ten Hag did not take any further action.

However, he was not slow at all in giving new tactical instructions.

In the 21st minute of the first half, Ronaldo did not immediately rush back to the Manchester United penalty area after exchanging positions with Joelinton and completing a retreat pass.

He chose to quietly move forward and to the side.

The next second, Marcelo cut inside and received Madison’s diagonal pass, choosing to use his heel to make another continuous pass without stopping!
The football seemed to change direction quickly and rolled towards the back of Manchester United’s defense!
Ronaldo accelerated forward and perfectly unloaded the ball, then sped away from Dalot by half a body length!
This half-body difference is enough for Ronaldo to deliver a threatening cross!

The cross from Ronaldo was not as comfortable as those from Marcelo and Elanga. The ball he passed was relatively flat and fast, but the landing point was still very accurate and more sudden.

Varane suddenly couldn’t close in with Martinez.
Chris Wood seized the opportunity, stepped on the ground and jumped hard. His huge body almost bounced away Martinez who was defending hard with his teeth in the air!
The football was like a whistling cannonball, and in the blink of an eye it blasted into Manchester United’s already crumbling gate!

After Chris Wood landed, he opened his arms and ran wildly, roaring!

Wembley Stadium also erupted in wild cheers for the first goal of the final!

Li Chen stood up and applauded Chris Wood for his outstanding performance with a smile.

Today’s final was a stage set up for him to perform.

Why would we need any complicated tactics to deal with Manchester United’s obviously flawed defense?
All it takes is the most unpretentious and simple routine to bring about the most extreme destruction.

(End of this chapter)