Chapter 472 Adapting to the Game

Author: Sanjingshou

After just one week of joint training, Real Madrid began the last two warm-up games before the season.

The first game is the A-League champions, Red Bull Salzburg.

This is a young, energetic and aggressive team that can often play passionate offensive football.

Their characteristic is speed.

Attack quickly!

Counterattack quickly!

Quick transition between offense and defense!

In the pre-match analysis, head coach Zidane highlighted one player.

Erling Haaland.

The 19-year-old Norwegian genius is nearly 190cm tall, but he still has explosive speed and physical confrontation.

What's even more rare is that his shooting skills with his feet are also very superb.

For a moment, everyone looked at Odegaard.

Also from Norway, he was chased by many wealthy families when he was a teenager.

"I'm not familiar with him!"

Erd shrugged.

He and Haaland are two years apart and are not in the same youth echelon, so naturally they are not familiar with each other.

However, in next year's European Super Qualifiers, the two will play together for the Norwegian national team.

"In short, the opponent's attack will be very sharp, so don't let Haaland charge." Zidane warned again and again.

Real Madrid captain Ramos snorted coldly with a hint of contempt in his eyes.

Although it was a friendly match, the stadium was still full and the media came in droves.

They just want to see a game played by Mr. Ballon d'Or Rossi in Real Madrid.

Two hours before the start of the game, Rossi did not appear in the starting list submitted by Real Madrid, but sat on the bench.

This disappointed the media and fans who came from afar.

Home team Red Bull Salzburg started the game.

Goalkeeper: Chikan Stankovic.

Defense: Ulmer, Onquine, Ramalho, Rasmus.

Midfielder: Szoboszlai, Bened, Samaseku, Minamino Takumi.

Forwards: Haaland, Coita.

The visiting team Real Madrid starts.

Goalkeeper: Courtois.

Defense: Militao, Ramos, Varane.

Midfielder: Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Carvajal.

Attacking midfielder: Isco, Odegaard.

Forward: Benzema.

It can be seen from Zidane's formation that Real Madrid hopes to use two wing-backs to limit the opponent's wing attacks, cut off the connection between the opponent's midfield and frontcourt, and weaken the threat of Haaland.

Four technical midfielders can allow Real Madrid to control more possession of the ball.

After the game started, Isco frequently retreated to get the ball, helping Real Madrid quickly gain the advantage in the midfield.

Once the advantage is in hand, Odegaard can play a subtle through ball forward from the attacking midfielder position.

Only ten minutes into the game, Real Madrid scored first.

After Odegao scored the ball, Marcelo took the ball and attacked the penalty area.

Isco stepped in, received the pass and passed it to the goal.

Benzema's header helped Real Madrid score.

This is one of Real Madrid's familiar attacking routines.

With Bell unable to start, Zidane asked Isco to make more forward runs and link up attacks.

Red Bull Salzburg, which conceded a goal first, made adjustments and passed long passes from the midfield to both sides of Real Madrid's three central defenders.

Coupled with the fact that the two full-backs Minamino Takumi and Szoboszlai frequently harassed the two wings, Real Madrid had to shrink its defense.

When Real Madrid shrunk their defense and had only Benzema as a forward, they seemed to be unable to support themselves alone.

In addition, after Toni Kroos was restricted from playing the ball, Isco, who played the ball slowly, was lost in the opponent's rapid offensive and defensive transition.

In the first half, apart from the opening goal, Real Madrid had almost no threatening goals.

It was difficult for the midfielder to move forward. Only Kroos and Casemiro's organization in the backcourt could barely keep the ball under the opponent's high pressure.

But once the ball is lost in the backcourt, Red Bull Salzburg's counterattack will threaten Real Madrid's goal in an instant.

Haaland frequently attacked Real Madrid's defense line in the ribs, causing a lot of trouble for the defenders.

Especially in the area where Ramos defends.

In the 25th minute of the first half, Haaland shook off Ramos' defense during a counterattack. Just as he was about to take a shot, the Real Madrid captain shoveled the ball out of the baseline from behind.

This is a very dangerous tackle. Only Ramos dares to tackle decisively in the penalty area.

Success means world-class defense.

Failure means a card + penalty kick package.

In the first half, the shooting ratio between the two sides was 7:8, which was evenly matched.

In terms of ball possession rate, Real Madrid has a slight advantage with 58% of the ball possession rate.

At halftime, Zidane was not satisfied with the performance of the first half.

In the absence of Modric, it is difficult for the team to break through the opponent's high press.

This is also a problem he will solve in the new season.

Once one of Kroos, Casemiro and Modric is absent, what will happen to the team's organizational operation?

Zidane originally hoped that Odegaard could become a regular substitute.

But judging from the first half of the game, Modric does not have the ability to break through with the ball in the attacking midfielder position.

At the central midfielder position, the defensive interception is not strong enough.

Valverde on the bench is not as smart as Odegaard in his playing style, but he is very aggressive on both offense and defense and can become an outstanding midfielder in the future.

After the midfield problem is solved, the next step is the striker.

Benzema still maintains a very high scoring status, but in the face of high-pressure pressing, it is difficult for his teammates to provide him with much support.

In the second half, Zidane made a substitution.

Rossi replaced Odegaard, Vazquez replaced Casemiro, and Valverde replaced Militao.

Real Madrid changed the game.

Without the threat from the wings, Red Bull Salzburg pressed further forward on the wing.

Also, after adapting to Real Madrid's style of play, their counterattacks began to speed up.

In the 48th minute, under the pressure of the opponent, Cross and his teammates kicked the ball continuously, and then suddenly sent a through ball forward.

Rossi runs along the ribs to chase the pass.

However, the shot was too deep and was intercepted early by the opponent's defender.

Two minutes later, Isco passed a diagonal pass to Rossi, but the opponent still intercepted the ball one step ahead.

From these two attacks, Rossi felt vaguely uncomfortable.

When he was at Bayern before, he and his teammates' timing of passing and running were perfectly coordinated, which allowed him to give full play to his starting speed and prevent offside to form an absolute one-on-one shot.

But in the two passes and runs just now, he was obviously chasing the ball.

In football matches, especially attacks near the opponent's penalty area, even half a second of passing and running timing is enough to affect the success or failure of the attack.

Zidane also discovered the problem.

Firstly, Rossi has not yet been able to integrate into the team's tactical system.

The second reason is that he and his teammates have not yet formed a tacit understanding of cooperation.

There is no way to improve this immediately, it can only be cultivated in actual combat and training.
To be continued...