Fox in the Penalty Area

Will Real Carterjon choose the Europa League or the league?

In the game against Leeds City they gave the answer:

At least in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, they did not intend to give up the Europa League so soon.

Perhaps it is because there are still eleven rounds before the end of the league, and these two Europa League matches will not affect the final league result.

Even if they want to give up the Europa League, they have to wait until they reach the quarterfinals.

In a game like the UEFA Europa League, every time a round is advanced, more money can be distributed in the end.

Who has trouble with money?

Anyway, Royal Carterjon is still very confident about the success of relegation.

Eliminate Leeds City first, and then turn around to solve the domestic league problems. Maybe you can go further and go further in the Europa League...

That's what Real Catalejon head coach Jean Osvaldo thinks.

So in the first round of the Europa League quarter-finals, Real Carterjon prepared very seriously, took targeted tactical measures, and played very tenaciously.

Because there is no so-called away goal advantage rule in the current Europa League, Osvaldo did not arrange for his team to attack Leeds City's goal at the beginning of the game.

Apparently he had studied Leeds City's first leg with Alvara.

There are also a lot of analysis articles on Alvara's tactics in that game. After the game, everyone thinks that the head coach Ricardo Moya made a wrong choice of tactics-he thought that at his home court, he could use offensive tactics to overwhelm Leeds City. As a result, they encountered an opponent whose offensive strength was stronger than theirs...

After learning enough lessons from the loser Alvara, Jean Osvaldo chose a more pragmatic style of play in the away game, that is, defensive counterattack.

First solidify the defense, and then look for opportunities to counterattack. A solid defense is the first priority, make sure you don't concede the ball, or if you must concede the ball... try to concede as little as possible, and leave some opportunities for the second round.

So, as the organizer of the team, Masao Yonezawa, who is stronger in offense than defense... did not start this game!

When Hu Lai saw the starting lineup of Real Carterjon, he almost laughed out loud - he really wanted to know what the head coach of the Japanese national team Hiroto Motegi, who is now in the box at the Flanders Stadium, thought...

He wanted to observe the performance of two Japanese players at once.

As a result, Masao Yonezawa did not start due to tactical reasons. He sat on the bench and didn't know when he would be able to play, and he didn't know if he would have a chance to play.

Junpei Morikawa started, but because Royal Carterjon's tactic was defensive counterattack, he didn't really have much to play as a defensive midfielder.

Most of the time he is just responsible for taking care of the defense zone, helping Jay Adams and Pete Williams, and there is no specific task.

The performance is mediocre, and there will be no moments that are too eye-catching.

But as a professional football coach, even if Junpei Morikawa's performance is very ordinary, I believe Hiroto Motegi can see something he wants to observe.

On the other hand, Masao Yonezawa didn't play at all, so he had no chance to observe at all.

Hiroto Mogi sat in the box, holding a notebook and a pen in his hand, watching the game intently.

Occasionally he would lower his head to write and draw in the notebook, recording.

On the field, Junpei Morikawa seemed to have forgotten that the head coach of the national team, Hiroto Motegi, was sitting in the stands watching him play. There is absolutely no desire to show off in the game. Whatever tasks head coach Tony Clark assigned him before the game, he followed them and executed them meticulously.

Looks...lack of some creativity, but who needs creativity from a midfield engineer?

I even wish that Junpei Morikawa would be more rigid.

There are already too many such precedents in football-a certain player initially won a position as a midfield engineer, and he was not satisfied after kicking, and he was not willing to continue to wipe people's ass behind like a blue-collar worker. After all, such a player does not earn much money, and it is difficult to negotiate a contract with the club to increase the price. So they are all eager to move, hoping to participate more in the offense and show their talents in the offense.

In the game, he consciously rushed forward, even ahead of the attacking midfielder and forward.

The result is that the defense is not as good as before, and the offense is still stretched.

After kicking and kicking, he couldn't even hold his original position, so he could only be reduced from the main force to the substitute, and then from the substitute to the target of being sold.

Such a problem does not exist in a stubborn chuuni like Morikawa Junpei.

Whether it is in the Flash or in Leeds City, the head coach asked him to protect the area in front of the back line, and he was like a conscientious guard protecting it.

※※※

Real Catjon, who had learned a lesson from Alvara, shrunk his defense, and it was indeed not as easy for Leeds City to play against Alvara in the last round.

But this does not mean that Leeds City is completely at a loss, they still created some murderous intentions.

In terms of overall strength, Leeds City is stronger than Royal Catjon.

After all, Leeds City was the champion of the Premier League last season, and being able to win the title in the fiercely competitive Premier League, no matter how watery they are, is better than Real Carterjon, who was only fifth in La Liga last season.

Relying on a stronger overall strength and the firm belief that Clark instilled in the team.

Leeds City launched wave after wave of fierce attacks into the penalty area of ​​​​Royal Carterjon.

In the 37th minute, Hu Lai almost found a chance for Leeds to open the deadlock.

At that time, he received a pass from Pete Williams in the penalty area, stretched his foot to shoot without stopping the ball, and caught the Royal Carterjon defenders by surprise.

But he kicked the football against the goal post...

The cheers in the stands of the Flanders Stadium all started, but when they saw that the football was not scored, they turned into exclamations again.

"Oh! What a pity! What a pity..." Matthew Cox sighed.

Hu Lai himself was very sorry. After finishing the shot, he knelt on the turf, put his head in his hands, and looked at the post in disbelief:

Brother, where are you from? You figure it out, you are the goal of our home field! You have to be worthy of the careful maintenance of our home workers!

But the doorpost stood there quietly, facing Hu Lai amidst the huge din, but ignored him and remained silent.

Hu Lai shook his head and got up from the ground. He glanced at the doorpost again before turning around and running back.

It is a pity that Hu Lai's shot that hit the post did not score. The chances created by Leeds City in the first half did not turn into goals.

Until the end of halftime, Leeds City failed to break through the goal of Royal Carterjon.

From this point of view, Jean Osvaldo is obviously better than Ricardo Moya, and the tactics he chose are very correct.

Although the scene looks a little passive and not very beautiful, what's the use of a beautiful scene in this kind of European knockout match? Being able to win, or other practical benefits is the most important thing.

With Leeds attacking non-stop, the stands are lively, but Osvaldo can guarantee that it will be difficult for them to move on.

After all, offense wins fans and defense wins games.

Osvaldo has a high respect for Ricardo Moya, the head coach of Alvara who has been eliminated-it was he who sacrificed himself that reminded the latecomer Osvaldo and let him choose More pragmatic tactics, while making targeted defensive arrangements.

"You guys did a great job in the first half!" In the locker room, Osvaldo praised the team's performance. "Keep enough attention and didn't give Leeds any chance..."

In fact, it's not that they didn't give a chance, it's just that Royal Catjon's luck is better. If Hu Lai's kick hadn't been helped by the goal post, they would have fallen behind.

However, Osvaldo will not be fussy about this, and criticize the performance of the whole team just because Hu Lai hit the goal post... This is too unreasonable. After all, no one can guarantee that there will be no mistakes in defense throughout the game.

"We will continue to play like this in the second half. We must be more patient than them. This is their home court, and they must not be reconciled to being tied by us at home, so they will definitely press further in the second half, and may even adjust their tactics. Substitutions and adjustments. No matter what, we must hold our breath. If there is no particularly good opportunity, don’t think about counterattacks. Try to be able to defend 0:0 in the away game and return to home!"

※※※

After the start of the second half of the game, Real Carterjon did play the same tactics as the first half without making any adjustments.

Facing the attack of Leeds City, they quickly retreated to the half. Even if he has the chance to attack, if he fails to make it, he will quickly return to defense. He will not get entangled with Leeds City in the frontcourt at all. All the players turn around and run away.

After returning to your own half, organize the defense.

And Leeds City has indeed stepped up its offensive.

This made Jean Osvaldo, who was standing in front of the coach's bench watching the game, feel more secure in his heart-everything was as he expected.

Next, Royal Carterjon only needs to withstand the offensive of Leeds City.

Leeds City, which has been unable to attack for a long time, will definitely become more impatient.

Maybe by then we'll even have a chance to win the game...

Do not!

Osvaldo reminded himself in his heart.

No, don't have such thoughts.

When I think so, it is actually the most dangerous!

Osvaldo repeatedly warned himself not to get carried away, while maintaining a posture of looking at the court expressionlessly.

In the eyes of outsiders, the head coach of Royal Carterjon still looks calm even when the team is in such an unfavorable situation.

It is admirable and respectful.

※※※

Less than ten minutes into the second half, Leeds City's offensive is still fierce.

Facing the shrinking defense of Royal Carterjon, Leeds City increased the number of long-range shots from outside the penalty area, and even Hou Lai took two long-range shots.

This time it was Jay Adams who fired long-range from outside the penalty area, but he was disturbed when he shot from long-range. The ball didn't kick up and the speed wasn't fast.

Looks like a no-danger attack on the Real Carterjon goal.

Real Catalejon goalkeeper Salva Rodriguez shouted: "Let me do it!"

In order to remind my teammates, lest someone in the middle want to intercept with good intentions, if the football is touched and changed, it will be embarrassing... No, it is not just a matter of embarrassment!

That's fatal!

Then he lowers his weight and prepares to catch the ball.

But at this moment, a leg stretched out abruptly from the crowd, just in time to stop this feeble shot... to stop it!

Immediately afterwards, the owner of this leg pulled the football back, swung his foot and shot!

Goalkeeper Salva Rodriguez was almost lying on the ground at this time. His hands were folded together in front of his chest, maintaining such a standard posture for catching the ball, but he could only watch the football pass from the other side. Flew into the goal!

"Hu——!! He intercepted Adams' shot very smartly and then turned around and shot successfully! Opened the scoring for Leeds City and broke the deadlock! Leeds City 1-0 Royal Catjon!"

Amidst the huge cheers at the Flanders Stadium, the general-looking Jean Osvaldo didn't hold back. He first stared blankly at the front of his team's goal, and then turned his head left and right, with equally dull eyes.

This is like asking someone around you to ask:

Did we drop the ball?

Did we lose the ball?

Did we really drop the ball?