Chapter 438 Hidden dangers in the midfield

Chapter 438 Hidden dangers in the midfield

"Who can stop this German team!"

The Colombian head coach, who was watching the knockout match, let out a long sigh, feeling that their good luck had ended here and gave up hope that the team could go further in the second half.

After the match in Germany, Colombia will compete with England for a spot in the quarter-finals, and their opponent in the quarter-finals is the winner of the German team and the Swiss team.

But for them, reaching the World Cup finals, finishing first in Group H, and even having great hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals is enough.

After all, the best result in the history of the Colombian team was only in the quarter-finals. Now that they still hope to reach the quarter-finals, it is already equal to history for them.

The Colombian coach's open-minded mentality is obviously not something everyone can have.

The head coaches of Croatia, Spain, and the host Russia, who were also in the second half, had worries written all over their faces after seeing the score in the first half.

They will not encounter the German team in the quarter-finals, but if they advance to the semi-finals, they are likely to encounter the German team in the semi-finals.

Judging from the situation of this game and the opponents that the German team may encounter in the next game, they have a very high probability of advancing to the semi-finals.

Unless the German team makes a huge mistake, or their opponents produce a god-level performance, no one can change this result.

The head coaches of Croatia, Spain, and the host Russia all feel very uneasy at the thought that they are likely to encounter the German team in the next round. It seems necessary to start collecting information about the German team in advance and study how to deal with them.

As for England, they have long been prepared to re-stage the England-Germany war in the quarterfinals!

During the halftime break, Loew praised the players in the locker room and made no tactical or personnel adjustments.

On the contrary, the Swiss team went all out and directly replaced two players, assuming a desperate fight.

In this regard, the German team expressed its willingness to accompany it.

After the second half started, the players of the Swiss team played very proactively.

They know very well that if they don't want their World Cup journey to end, they must risk their lives.

The head coach of the Swiss team, Petkovic, made certain adjustments to the team's offensive and defensive tactics during the halftime break.

The main thing is to increase the intensity of fighting in the midfield, in an attempt to contain the German team's offense by restricting the German team's midfield.

Just looking at the roster, the German team's midfield lineup can be said to be very good among the 32 teams participating in the World Cup.

However, with the decline of Khedira and the Turkish Dead, Gundogan and Toni have not returned to their peak physical condition because they have been fighting in the club until the Champions League final, so the strength of the German team's midfield is not as strong as it seems.

Because of this, Petkovic feels that if he can limit and destroy the smooth operation of the German team's midfield, he can regain the initiative in the game and relieve the huge defensive pressure they face.

Moreover, in addition to destroying the opponent's offense, playing in the midfield has another advantage. Once they steal the ball in the midfield, they can hit the German team's counterattack on the spot.

This is closer to the opponent's goal than if they counterattack from their own half, and the threat of counterattack is much greater.

If it were the German team four years ago, they would certainly not be afraid of the Swiss' tactics.

But it doesn't work anymore. Their midfield lineup is a bit aging. Although Toni Kroos is only 28 years old and in his peak period as a player, his physical function and physical condition are already better than what he was four years ago. There has been a certain decline.

Therefore, under the fierce pressing of the Swiss team players, his performance fluctuated significantly.

Toni Kroos's physical fitness and condition were relatively good in the first half, and his ability to protect the ball and get rid of the ball could be fully demonstrated. However, as the game progressed and his physical strength was further consumed in the second half, many of Toni's technical moves have become deformed. .

It’s not that Teacher Tony’s skills have declined, it’s just that he doesn’t have enough physical strength to support him in completing these actions, especially under fierce physical confrontation. After all, he had almost no rest time in Real Madrid last year.

This resulted in Toni Kroos making several consecutive mistakes at the start of the second half.

The Swiss team took advantage of his mistakes and tried to organize several counterattacks. However, before their counterattack even started, Brandt strangled them in the cradle.

Brandt plays football with a brain. He was very aware of Toni Kroos' situation, so he consciously approached him to provide him with support and protection.

This choice made a great contribution in these defenses!

On the sidelines, the coach of the Swiss team pulled out his hair in annoyance when he saw that the team's counterattack had been defused once again.

Damn Brandt, why does he show up so promptly every time?

If it weren't for this guy's hindrance, the Swiss team might have been able to fight back in these few counterattacks!
Their morale is still relatively low at the moment and they urgently need a goal to boost their morale.

As long as they can get a goal back, the morale of the players will be completely different. At that time, the players of the Swiss team may be able to catch up with two goals in a short period of time and even the score!

It's a pity that his opponent is not a wooden stake, he just takes a beating without fighting back.

Loew keenly sensed the opponent's intentions, and the opponent seemed to be planning to beat Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos has not had a good rest and his competitive condition has declined greatly. Loew has long known about these situations.

However, as one of the absolute core midfielders of the German team that won consecutive World Cups and European Cups, after Xiaozhu retired and Khedira and Turkey's dead men declined more seriously, in order to maintain the stability of the midfield, Loew could only Bite the bullet and continue to entrust him with important tasks.

However, looking at it now, someone else must step forward to share the pressure for Teacher Tony.

Loew also had a countermeasure for this, which was to replace Toni Kroos when his physical condition declined in the second half.

However, looking at the bench, Loew was in a bit of trouble.

Who would it be better to replace? There are not too many backup candidates. The most suitable Gundogan and Brandt are already on the court. Draxler is still recovering from injuries. There is really no particularly suitable candidate for the German team's midfielder.

Forget it, play it safe and find a player who is younger, more active in running, and more solid in defense!

Thinking of this, Loew called Goretzka's name and asked him to get up and warm up.

Goretzka is much younger than Toni Kroos, which gives him more physical fitness to deal with the Swiss team's midfield stranglehold. Young, able to run, and with a positive defensive attitude, these are what the current German team needs.

The reason why Loew gave up Gotze and brought Goretzka was to use a competition stage like the World Cup to train these young players and lay the foundation for the next generation of the German Army!

Seeing that the German team quickly replaced Toni Kroos, the head coach of the Swiss team sighed with regret.

Toni Kroos was the breakthrough they just found. They originally planned to make good use of this to make a fuss, but they didn't expect Loew to be so stable and replace Toni Kroos so quickly.

Although the newly replaced midfielder is very young, only 23 years old, he has already firmly established himself as the absolute main force of Schalke 04 and has performed well in the Bundesliga.

It is rumored that Bayern Munich is already preparing to take him to the Allianz Arena. Such a player may not be so easy to deal with.

Facts have proved that his concerns were right. After Goretzka came on the field, the defensive intensity of the German team's midfield increased.

I don’t know if it’s natural or a habit cultivated by Germany’s junior youth training.

Goretzka implemented the tactics arranged by the head coach very thoroughly. He did not skimp on his physical fitness and ran all over the field without hesitation after taking the field.

You can see him on the offensive end and you can see him on the defensive end.

And when he was defending, his tackles were unambiguous at all, giving people a rough and wild feeling, as if he was a player like Ramos.

However, when he attacks with the ball, his foot skills, wide vision and precise passing all shine.

This guy feels like a younger version of Khedira or a combination of Khedira and Piggy.

Full of stamina, strong body, broad vision, flexible feet, and accurate passing, Goretzka is really very comprehensive!

Zhao Jinge and Goretzka didn't play together much. After the German team qualified early in the world preliminaries last year, Zhao Jinge missed the national team games for several months.

It was also during this period that, with his outstanding performance in the club, Loew recruited young players such as Goretzka into the team and took them to play many remaining games and some friendly matches.

Among them, the midfield combination of Goretzka and Dortmund's Brandt has high hopes from many German players, believing that these two young players may be able to succeed the classic combination of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Khedira in the future. .

Although there is little cooperation, the strength of teammates can be seen on the court.

I saw that Goretzka got into the state quickly after coming on the court and got better and better as he played.

Zhao Jinge felt relieved, and he began to consciously move the formation forward, igniting the flames of war towards the Swiss team's half.

The players of the Swiss team naturally could not sit idly by. Their midfielders and defenders worked together to strangle Zhao Jinge, trying to steal the ball from his feet.

Zhao Jinge's purpose is not to rely on his own personal strength to forcefully break through the opponent's defense line. Although it is not impossible to do so, the success rate of doing so is too low, and it is too inconsistent with the team.

After he saw that he had attracted the attention of the defender, he immediately divided the ball and consciously pulled the Swiss team's formation to the wing, leaving their midfield vacated and creating conditions for the German team to launch an attack from the center.

The two wingers of the German team are both players with strong offensive ability, and Zhao Jinge took the initiative to lean over after passing the ball, which made the Swiss team players dare not let down their guard.

They assigned a defensive midfielder to work with the full-backs and wingers to strangle the German players holding the ball on the wing.

In the not-so-open space on the wing, five players from both sides suddenly appeared, and it was immediately crowded.

At the same time, after being pulled away from a defensive midfielder, the Swiss team's defense in the middle became a lot empty.

Gundogan protected the ball under the opponent's pressure. When he saw Zhao Jinge approaching, he quickly handed the ball back to Zhao Jinge's feet. He then headed towards the opponent's half along the wing, seemingly. We need to cooperate tactically with Zhao Jinge.

The Swiss team's full-back pressed closely against Gundogan, trying desperately to prevent him from getting the ball comfortably.

After Zhao Jinge stopped the ball, he tried to pass it to Gundogan who was running forward. Seeing this, the opponent's midfielder immediately blocked the passing line and planned to intercept in the middle.

However, Zhao Jinge feinted a shot and instead of passing the ball to Mr. Guo who was crossing forward, he knocked back to Goretzka who had already passed the center line.

After receiving the ball, Goretzka quickly drove the ball towards the Swiss half-court. Another midfielder of the Swiss team rushed up to steal the ball from Goretzka's feet.

Goretzka did not waste time passing the opponent, but quickly moved the ball to the wing in a wide range and handed it to Thomas Muller.

Since the Swiss team's two defensive midfielders were taken away, the Swiss team's center seemed a bit empty.

Muller saw the opportunity and immediately cut inside with the ball, heading towards the center.

He is not far from the goal at this time. If the opponent does not step forward to intercept, Muller can even take a long shot directly.

The Swiss defenders couldn't sit still. Two of their defenders rushed towards Muller, intending to double-team him and completely stop the German team's attack.

However, they seem to have forgotten that Thomas Muller is not a pure attacker, he also has the organizational ability of a first-class midfielder.

Before the opponent's double-team was in place, Thomas Muller calmly passed the ball to Sane who came from the wing to receive the ball.

In this game, Sane's role on the court is the German team's wing breakthrough. Without an absolute chance, he will not shoot easily.

This time is no exception! After receiving a pass from his teammate, Sane resisted the push from the opponent's full-back and deftly passed the ball back to break through the opponent's interception and reach Zhao Jinge at the front of the Swiss team's penalty area.

Sane's pass was very good. Zhao Jinge didn't need to adjust after receiving the ball. He took a step forward and entered the penalty area.

In the penalty area, the Swiss defenders were a little panicked.

The German team's offensive rhythm was too fast, and their defensive players were either led astray or did not have time to get into position. At this time, only the lonely back line was left to face the German team's attack.

Moreover, the defenders of the Swiss team were a little frightened when they saw that the person dribbling the ball in was Zhao Jinge.

In the first ten minutes of the first half, they gave the opponent a penalty kick, which made them feel like they were throwing a bullet. Every defensive player looked at Zhao Jinge and did not dare to take it easily, for fear of committing another foul and giving it to the German team. A penalty kick.

(End of this chapter)