69novels Chapter 4 How to Play Against Brazil
Chapter 4 How to Play Against Brazil
Playing against Brazil is like playing against Costa Rica – it's on completely different levels.
Costa Rica's biggest star, Wanchope, plays for mid-to-lower table Premier League teams such as Derby County, West Ham United, and Manchester City.
And what about the Brazilian team?
Any one of them is a world-class star, and most of them play for top European clubs.
Many superstars have even made their mark on the history of world football:
Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Carlos, Cafu...
Especially in terms of offensive power, it can be said to be the most advanced on Earth.
When facing Costa Rica, the Chinese team was unable to withstand their attack;
The next match is against Brazil...
Even Bora Milutinovic, the veteran coach who has led five different national teams in the World Cup, is now feeling a headache.
Losing to Brazil is not shameful, and no one would be surprised at all.
However, having already lost three points in the first round, another loss would essentially mean that the Chinese team is out of the World Cup.
This still left Milutinovic with some lingering resentment.
After all, he led four different national teams in the World Cup in his previous four appearances, and each time he successfully advanced from the group stage!
Therefore, although he felt the chances were slim, he still wanted to hear Ye Xian's opinion.
Ye Xian was clearly prepared.
He walked directly to the tactics board and began setting up the chess pieces.
Soon, a brand new 5-4-1 formation appeared before Milutinovic.
"Abandon the 4-4-2 formation and use a five-man backline for a tight defense. Fan Zhiyi is injured, so let Li Weifeng and Zhang Enhua play in the center of the defense, with Du Wei covering in the back."
Ye Xian then pointed to the flank guard positions: "Wu Chengying and Xu Yunlong will play as flank guards, focusing solely on defense and never attacking. They will never advance rashly, but will specifically block the flanks."
"The wing-back isn't attacking?" Milutinovic frowned. "Wu Chengying's attacking runs were good; this arrangement is a waste."
"Now is not the time to focus on attacking," Ye Xian shook his head and pointed towards the Brazilian team. "Cafu and Carlos are too fast, and the wing-backs can't keep up with their recovery, leaving huge gaps."
Milutinovic traced the midfield area with his fingers: "Where's the midfield?"
"The four midfielders are positioned in a disc formation, with Li Tie and Zhao Junzhe playing as double defensive midfielders," Ye Xian drew a horizontal line in the midfield. "Li Tie's job is to sweep up, marking Ronaldinho throughout, and focusing on cutting off his passes."
"Zhao Junzhe is responsible for blocking Rivaldo's space when he has the ball, not pushing forward recklessly, and maintaining a distance of within five meters from the defensive line."
"Ma Mingyu and Qi Hong take turns defending on both sides, ready to fill the gaps left by the two defensive midfielders if they are breached."
"This will completely restrict Brazil's central penetration space, preventing them from easily passing the ball to the vicinity of the penalty area."
Milutinovic hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Didn't you say before that Ma Mingyu's ability to advance the ball in midfield was insufficient? Why are you still using him?"
Ye Xian explained, "Back then, we were playing Costa Rica, and we needed to attack and score. But against Brazil, our chances of scoring were slim, so we needed an even more extreme defense."
"Ma Mingyu's ball control is not good now, but he is still quite aggressive in his tackling. Moreover, as the veteran captain, he can also play a motivating role on the field. When Fan Zhiyi and Helidon are not on the field, having a veteran is still very important."
"As for Qi Hong, although his defensive ability is average, he is younger, has better running ability, and more importantly, he has the ability to pass the ball forward."
"After we intercepted the ball, we passed it to Qi Hong and had him go straight to Yang Chen up front for a quick counter-attack."
"This isn't about scoring goals, but about using counter-attacks to stretch Brazil's defense and prevent our defense from being constantly under pressure."
Milu nodded: "I understand. You can continue."
Ye Xian took a deep breath and began to display the tactical knowledge he would learn in the future on the tactical board.
This tactic actually evolved from Mourinho's "park the bus" strategy.
When Mourinho was managing Inter Milan and Chelsea, he repeatedly used a tight defensive tactic to completely shut down Barcelona, who had Messi.
Today, facing a Brazilian team with Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, the Chinese team must also use similar tactics to have any hope of getting points.
Don't think that parking the bus is easy; it requires all players to have extremely strong tactical execution!
Therefore, Ye Xian also made some minor adjustments based on the characteristics of the Chinese team players.
For example, the "high-pressure pressing" tactic cannot be replicated. Instead, the focus should be on "limiting the Brazilian stars, compressing the defense, and occasionally launching counter-attacks."
The first step is to employ a tight defense to compress space.
The five defenders and four midfielders form a two-layer defensive system, with the four midfielders and the defenders no more than 5 meters apart, which compresses the space for Brazil to penetrate through the middle and cut inside from the flanks.
Maintain at least six defensive players inside the penalty area, and strictly prohibit easy tackles. The main goal is to block passing routes. When facing forwards such as Ronaldo and Rivaldo, use double-teaming and avoid blindly making tackles to prevent fouls and conceding free kicks.
After all, Brazil has an extremely strong free-kick ability, with players like Carlos and Ronaldinho being adept at scoring from long distances. In reality, Carlos even scored the fastest free-kick goal in World Cup history against China.
Secondly, it emphasizes tactical discipline, with the primary goal of preventing the opponent from scoring.
All players are required to strictly adhere to their defensive positions. Full-backs Wu Chengying and Xu Yunlong are strictly prohibited from pushing forward and must focus on defense throughout the game, only briefly moving forward during counter-attacks.
Midfielders Li Tie and Zhao Junzhe are dedicated to intercepting and marking the opponent's key attacking players, such as Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, while Qi Hong and Ma Mingyu provide support and cover, avoiding easy participation in the attack to prevent the midfield from becoming disconnected.
Forward Yang Chen usually needs to drop back to midfield to participate in defense, forming a "5-5-0" defensive formation to compress Brazil's attacking space to the maximum extent.
Finally, there's the minimalism of the counterattack.
Abandoning complex passing and cutting, only 3-4 players are involved in counter-attacks. Yang Chen acts as the lone striker, while Ma Mingyu and Qi Hong quickly move forward. They take advantage of the gaps behind the Brazilian team after they push forward to attack, and use long passes and quick forward runs to attack the Brazilian defense.
If an opportunity is lost or the attack is intercepted, all players must immediately return to their defensive positions, reorganize the defensive line, and prevent the opponent from switching to offense.
"Especially in the first half, we must defend firmly."
Ye Xian's lengthy explanation is gradually coming to an end:
"Because Brazilians play with a lot of different rhythms, we need time to adapt. If we concede a goal too early, we'll be on the back foot in the entire game."
"If we can hold on and not concede a goal in the first half, we can wear down the Brazilian team's physical strength and also make them feel anxious."
"If we can keep a clean sheet around the 60-minute mark of the second half, we should substitute players with poor stamina, such as Ma Mingyu and Qi Hong, to further tighten our defense."
"At this point, we can even completely abandon any counterattacks and focus all our efforts on securing a draw!"
Throughout the process, Milutinovic kept his eyes glued to the tactics board without uttering a word.
Even after Ye Xian finished speaking, Milu was still staring at the tactics board, deep in thought.
Half a minute later, he finally smiled.
His eyes were now filled with admiration for Ye Xian!
He patted Ye Xian on the shoulder with a smile: "Ye, your tactics are really targeted. You even took into account the characteristics of each player. It's much more suitable than our original tactics."
"This is just a tactic; the more important thing is execution on the field, otherwise it's useless," Ye Xian said honestly. "The players must strictly abide by discipline, not make mistakes, and also hurry up and train to familiarize themselves with the tactical details."
"Don't worry, leave it to me." Milutinovic picked up the tactics board, his tone firm. "We have four days left. I'll have the coaching staff arrange training according to these tactics. Anyone who can't do it won't get to play!"
Ye Xian nodded.
He appeared calm on the surface, but he was actually quite excited inside.
He really has a chance to let the Chinese team try to counter the Brazilian team with "Mourinho's style of defense"!
Milu continued, "From today onwards, you are no longer my translator. Oh, to be precise, not just a translator."
"You're my top assistant!"