Super Marshal

If everyone at Manchester City had been mentally prepared for Gao Han's lofty status before this, then in the first core high-level meeting of the new season, through Mansour's video and Mubarak's approval, it was completely Established Gao Han's absolute authority in the team.

Manchester City's astonishing investment of more than 400 million euros this season is entirely to conduct an unprecedented experiment for Gao Han.

If this experiment succeeds, Gao Han's status in Europe and even world football will undoubtedly be further enhanced, until he can become a god.

Because looking at the history of European football for more than 100 years, there has never been such an experiment.

At that time, Chelsea was halfway through the success, but suddenly died midway, and the head coach of Chelsea at that time was also Gao Han.

The first core high-level meeting was held, headed by Gao Han, general manager Paul Futrey, chief assistant coach Brian Kidd, youth training director Rodolfo Borrelli, and scouting department director David Harrison and others held a technical department seminar in the same conference room.

This was also proposed by Gao Han.

As a head coach, he needs to make all his assistants and subordinates understand his thoughts and ideas and his tactical intentions from the beginning.

Everyone knew he wanted to test it, but how? Which direction should you try? To what extent?

These are all questions, and they all require Gao Han to give an accurate answer.

One of the first issues is Gao Han's decision to implement a three-back approach. Many people have reservations, especially England's veteran coach Brian Kidd. He believes that a three-back style of play is difficult to succeed in the Premier League.

"The Premier League's league structure is completely different from the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga. It is fast, impactful and has particularly obvious changes in rhythm, especially on the wings. Now every Premier League team has its own unique skills on the wings, using With a three-back style, especially without regular wing defenders, how can we defend the wings?"

Brian Kidd seemed to still have some unfinished thoughts. When he said this, he kept looking at Gao Han, as if he was checking Gao Han's face, for fear that his rebuttal in public would offend this super famous coach in European football.

Gao Han noticed his eyes and smiled slightly, "It's okay, Brian, we are a team. I said that we are now meeting to discuss and speak freely. Even if you point your finger at me and scold me in front of everyone, as long as you say what you say. I accept all things."

Paul Futrey also knew Gao Han's temper very well, and nodded: "I can testify to this, you can scold him, I will take care of him if anything happens."

This statement immediately made everyone in the conference room burst into laughter.

This is the advantage of having an acquaintance. If Gao Han was the only one who said it, others would still have doubts, but when Paul Futrey came forward and said it, everyone believed it.

"I have been coaching in the top league since the 1980s, and I have witnessed with my own eyes the technical and tactical changes in the English league. In fact, as early as the 1980s and 1990s, there were already many famous head coaches who were constantly trying and innovating bravely. The defender system has been used by many people, but it has never been popular in the Premier League. This is not without reason."

As a veteran of the Premier League, Brian Kidd knows the Premier League thoroughly and is very familiar with it. Gao Han was also particularly interested. He nodded and said: "Then please tell me in detail, Brian."

Brian Kidd thought for a while, "Everyone should know that when Wenger took over Arsenal, many people mentioned the five veterans in the defense. This was left over from the George Graham era. They played fiercely. football, and in the 1988-89 season, they won the league championship after more than ten years.”

When he said this, Brian Kidd stopped again and sorted out his thoughts.

"I still clearly remember that in the last round of the league that season, Arsenal, who were second in the standings, were three points behind the leader Liverpool. Only by defeating their opponents at Anfield could they counterattack and win the championship. At that time, Liverpool Their defense was the best in the Premier League, and as a result George Graham lined up with a back three on the road and attacked at full speed."

"As a result, in that final, Arsenal defeated Liverpool 2-0 away from home, and the Gunners won the championship."

Although everyone was just listening, they could feel Graham's high spirits from Brian Kidd's words. He dared to boldly change his formation at such a critical moment and finally defeated his opponent. Graham won the championship. The gain is worth it.

"Perhaps due to the influence of Graham, more and more Premier League coaches began to try the three-back play, including Chelsea player and coach Hoddle. He also tried the three-back play, but the results were never the same. Chelsea’s league rankings have not reached the top ten.”

"You know, after Chelsea was promoted from the second level, they finished in the top five in the league in the first season. The team has famous players including Gullit, Hoddle, Mark Hughes, Petlescu and so on. The strength is not good. Poor, but as a result, Chelsea’s best result was eleventh in the league, and they reached the FA Cup final, but were beaten 4-0 by Manchester United.”

"And what's even more interesting is that Chelsea's worst finish so far since Hoddle left is sixth in the league."

"However, Liverpool coach Roy Evans also adopted a three-back style of play at the same time. As a result, his performance improved by leaps and bounds. He occupied the top four in the league for four consecutive years and was even very close to the league championship at one time. However, at the critical moment, he lost one to three. To Manchester United, they missed the opportunity to reach the top and ultimately failed to win the championship."

Gao Han nodded repeatedly after hearing this. Brian Kidd is indeed experienced. When talking about these dusty past events, he is very familiar with them. And if Gao Han remembers correctly, he should have been Ferguson's right-hand man in the 1990s. These historical events People who have personal experience often have more weight when speaking from them.

"The last time a back three made an impression was in the England national team. McLaren faced Croatia in a crucial match in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. The result was a disastrous performance and a disastrous defeat."

Gao Han listened silently to Brian Kidd's words and nodded: "Thank you, Brian, for letting me understand the efforts of the Premier League in the past few years, but now I want to express my views."

Brian Kidd and everyone else nodded in unison, listening attentively, and some even took notes.

"As early as two years ago at the European Coaches Summit, I had discussions with Ferguson, Benitez, Wenger, Guardiola and Ancelotti. The focus was on the three defenders, and what we have reached Defending with a back three won't be a problem when there's a consensus."

"Why do you say that? Because the current defense mainly relies on the whole body and coordinated operations, even if it is a wing with more space, so the quality of defense does not depend on whether we have wing defenders. , but depends on the meticulousness of the defensive formation, as well as the players' execution and arrival rate."

Everyone had to agree with Gao Han's judgment, because this has long become the consensus of Europe's top teams.

At Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich, Gao Han resolutely used a single midfielder, and it was a technical single midfielder. But as a result, he never had any problems with defense.

And like Barcelona, ​​in the three midfielders, Xavi and Iniesta are both creative and technical players, and Busquets is not a traditional defensive player, but is their defense a problem?

"With this level of consensus, we can continue to talk." Gao Han said slowly.

"Early when I was coaching Chelsea, my midfielder Deco told me something. He said that the Premier League presses very quickly, often when he has just received a pass from his teammate and has not yet stopped. The defensive player pounced on him, forcing him to pass the ball out immediately."

When everyone heard this, they all nodded and smiled tacitly. This is indeed a characteristic of the Premier League, fast-paced offense and defense.

"Many people understand this as passing and controlling play cannot work in the Premier League, but I don't think so. On the contrary, I will be happy to let the opponent press up and play, to use a widely popular saying in football. In other words, the ball is always faster than people, and the reason why pass-and-control play is suppressed is because the passing skills are not solid enough, the speed is not fast enough, and there are not enough contact points, which has nothing to do with the opponent's play style itself."

Gao Han has always believed that passing and controlling play should be based on me, and there is no need to consider the opponent's tactical play. Whether they want to press and press, or they want to defend the penalty area, it has nothing to do with their own side.

It's not like Gao Han has never encountered teams that like to press and press. What's the result?

As long as the pass and control are played well, the opponent will often die more miserably, and it is terrible to watch.

"In my opinion, the biggest improvement of the Premier League in the past few years, or should I say, the biggest improvement brought to the Premier League by head coaches such as Wenger and Benitez, as well as many high-level foreign players, lies in the precision of the two A word."

After Gao Han said this, everyone present was surprised. Brian Kidd frowned even more, looking like he was thinking hard, as if he was thinking about the meaning of Gao Han's words.

"Passing and receiving, running, spacing, marking... all of this has become more precise, and many traditional English players, even including Gerrard and Lampard, they seem brave and can They are good at attacking and defending, they can attack forward and defend when they retreat, but their role is far less than it seems on the surface because they are not precise enough.”

Brian Kidd is quite young and has assisted many head coaches. He can be regarded as a human spirit. Naturally, he can hear the implication of Gao Han's words, that is, the Premier League is too shoddy from player level to technical and tactical level.

But this sentence is undoubtedly too strong. It is okay to say it here. If it spreads, it will definitely be sprayed to death by the British fans. But as a veteran coach, Brian Kidd has to admit, Gao Han's words hit the nail on the head.

Why can Ferguson's Class 92 sweep the Premier League?

The golden four midfielders are indispensable for their skillful and precise passing and transfer. They are like high-mounted cannon barrels. The Black Wind Shuangsha and Ruud van Nistelrooy in front are taking advantage of every opportunity in the frontcourt to run out. Neutral, hit wherever you point.

Why is Arsene Wenger's Arsenal so invincible?

You know, when Wenger first came to the Premier League, he drank alcohol, had irregular lifestyles, and messed up training. This was the norm in the Premier League, but he alone completely changed these bad habits at Arsenal.

The players he introduced such as Pires, Bergkamp, ​​Henry, Vieira, and Ljungberg have made Arsenal's overall technical and tactical level more rigorous and precise.

Gao Han, Mourinho and Rijkaard's Chelsea, Benitez's Liverpool...

Brian Kidd had to admit that Gao Han was right.

Perhaps, many people will still miss the passionate bravery of the early Premier League, but in recent years, the Premier League is gradually leaning towards a mainland style, making itself more precise and delicate.

And suddenly, Brian Kidd's eyes lit up, as if he had gained something.