During his tenure at Liverpool in England, Yang Cheng learned a lot about English football, or English football, and Europa continental football.

Everyone knows that football was born in China, but modern football originated in the United Kingdom, but with the occurrence of the Heysel tragedy and the Hillsborough tragedy, England began to lag behind the European continent by a large margin in terms of tactics, training methods, youth player training, etc., if you want to continue to trace back in the general direction, it should have something to do with the decline of the British economy.

Football in England, like the British economy, has gone downhill, but England fans and Britons alike have always regarded themselves as old powerhouses, proud of tradition, and do not know how to keep up with the times, which further contributed to some of the things that happened during Yang Cheng's later tenure at the helm of Liverpool.

Once again, after reconciling with Yang Cheng, Steve? Haiwei complained to Yang Cheng.

"Have you heard of Saki?"

Yang Cheng replied, of course.

"Have you heard of Sachi's training method called shadow play, which is admired by many people?"

Yang Cheng also nodded.

"Then let me tell you, this method was used in this way in the 60s, we were training in this way throughout England, it was very common, but Sacchi used it in his time, but it became revolutionary, don't you think it's funny?"

From this conversation, you can reflect Steve? The mentality of Haiwei, a veteran English footballer, also gave Yang Cheng some understanding of the so-called shadow game.

Yang Cheng made a point of getting to know Butragueno, who confirmed that in the 88/89 season, when Real Madrid were ambitious to attack the Champions League title, they met Sacchi's AC Milan in the semi-finals.

AC Milan's 11 players train in a stadium with no opponents and no football.

This is the shadow game that was later admired by countless football people!

The so-called shadow game. In fact, it is the player's ability to run off the ball and coordinate his reactions.

Ferguson once relayed to Yang Cheng about Eric? Harrison's words, the latter is the founder of Manchester United's off-ball running, he created the same system of running without the ball in Manchester United's academy, and this system is also the best off-ball running system in today's football, even the current Real Madrid and Barcelona are ashamed of themselves.

Eric? Harrison says United's off-ball movement is outstanding because he sees it clearly. The technical gap between English players and continental European players is irreparable in the face of the same high-intensity pressing.

'We have to face up to this huge gap in the ability to have the ball and if we want to compete with the European teams we have to find a way to close that gap, so we thought about our strengths. Run! ”

"By running in an orderly manner, interfering with the opponent's defense and weakening the pressure of the ball carrier, this can avoid the defects of our ability to play the ball by the opponent to the greatest extent, and once we run more, there will be more contact points, and the pressure on the ball will naturally decrease, so we use the ability to run without the ball to make up for the shortcomings of ball control."

This is undoubtedly the core of Manchester United's excellent running system without the ball!

And according to Yang Cheng's own observations. Premier League teams are always advocating for speed, but in fact it is also because they have a lack of skill on the ball, and they can't keep the ball for as long as a continental team, even if you can run and move fast for how long?

So, use the fastest speed to send the ball into the most threatening area and directly form a threat! ..., that's why the pace of attack and defense in the Premier League changes quickly!

The reason why Arsene Wenger's Arsenal is closer to the continental tactical system is that his players usually have a higher ability to have the ball. This makes them good on the ball. Even if they don't run as well off the ball as Manchester United, they can slow down the tempo. Even reaching the level of a continental European team is tantamount to following a different path from Manchester United.

If England teams make up for the lack of possession by running without the ball, while continental European football is about controlling the game by controlling the ball, then Yang Cheng's football philosophy is to further improve on these football ideas.

Sacchi once said that Yang Cheng is very similar to him in many tactical ideas, such as the two have a deep understanding of English football, and they also respect the Dutch all-out attack and defense, but they both combine Italy's own high-pressure defensive characteristics, and their concept is a dynamic system composed of a set of off-ball players and ball-handling players.

The difference is that Yang Cheng places great emphasis on wholeness, and Sacchi feels that Yang Cheng's football ideas are more aggressive and proactive than him, because he was more based on the defense of Serie A football back then, and completed the transformation of AC Milan through midfield pressing and pressing, but it turned out that the reputation was mixed, so that Capello later subverted the system left by Sacchi, and achieved great glory.

The biggest difference between Yang Cheng and Sacchi is that Sachi's philosophy is unity, he hopes that all players can have the same idea as him, abandon other ideas, and can only have his kind of thinking, which is exclusive, which is a bit similar to the current style of Barcelona, and Ibrahimovic can't fit in.

But Yang Cheng's idea is to integrate, to treat all kinds of football concepts and ideas, are to take their essence, to their dross, can be used by me, I will absorb, and to treat the player's personality and technical ability, Yang Cheng is also to establish a set of overall framework, let the players play on their own, and then blend them together into a whole.

It's hard to say who is superior and who is inferior, but Sacchi himself has said that his tactics have been successful in AC Milan, but not in the Italian national team, and it is still very controversial whether it is the player's individual performance or the success of Sacchi's football in the final of the 94 World Cup.

But Yang Cheng's tactics have been successful from the Bundesliga to Serie A to the Premier League to La Liga, which is indisputable!

So Sacchi feels that Yang Cheng's integration is actually a step further than his unification, at least more adaptable, and more dynamic, more able to keep pace with the times according to the change in football style.

"The current football environment is full of flowers, and there is a place for all kinds of football styles. But the individual performance of the players should not be abandoned and stifled, because a manager's thinking, no matter how smart, can compare to the creation and development of eleven players on the pitch anytime and anywhere. ”

"The overall idea and philosophy of the team is very important, which is what the manager should adhere to, but it also needs the players to complete, so the head coach should encourage the players to play individually and create infinite possibilities on the basis of adhering to the overall thinking and framework of the team!"

This is a summary of Yang Cheng's tactical thinking. He likened a player's understanding of tactics to acting.

is also a fool, but there can be many different ways of interpretation, you can drool, you can also crooked mouth and runny nose, and different actors can have different understandings. And the stupidity they understand, as long as it can be integrated into the overall atmosphere and rhythm of the movie, that's fine, and it may even add highlights to the movie.

The team's tactics are like a movie, the players are the actors, the head coach is the director, the script and role positioning are given, the actors play on their own, and the head coach is responsible for mastering a scale. Together, we make a perfect movie! ..., that's what he wants!

And not so long ago, Yang Cheng was in Melissa? Trio wrote a paragraph of his own in his column, which was once again affirmed by Sacchi, saying that the strength of the individual players determines the team's tactical play, but there are two things that he feels should not change, one is trust, and the second is running without the ball!

Yang Cheng feels that trust is the foundation of any team's combat effectiveness. This is indisputable. Running off the ball is a combination of the ability to control the ball and the ability to control space, and then achieve a certain balance.

Other words. If your player has less ability to have the ball, you can limit the space by adding more off-ball runs, and then break down the opponent's advantage in possession, just like Manchester United and Chelsea; If you have players who have the ball, you can run off the ball and tend to increase possession, which can break down the opposition's defence, just like Barcelona.

Of course, the specific situation must be different, and it must be carried out according to the individual situation of each team, and it is up to the head coach to grasp it, but Yang Cheng's remarks can't help but raise the off-ball running system he has admired over the years to a new height.

This also made Sacchi, Ferguson, Heathfield and others look forward to Yang Cheng's upcoming book, and even asserted that maybe this will be a book on football tactics theory that Yang Cheng pioneered the genre.

But before that, Yang Cheng's every move was destined to attract the attention of football coaches all over the world, but no one thought that Yang Cheng would re-move the shadow training of English football in the 60s and Sacchi's short-lived in the 80s to Real Madrid's team.

But Yang Cheng's shadow training is definitely different from Sacchi's, just like Sacchi's shadow training is different from England's back then, and it must be kept pace with the times to be effective.

Sacchi's approach back then was to let the players imagine what formation the opponent would have, how he would mark it, where the ball would be, how he would move accordingly, and how to maintain the overall uniformity of the team and the balance between advance and retreat.

But Yang Cheng's training method is not, he tells all the players that it is up to him to serve, and whoever the ball falls at his feet will be the one who will attack, and all the players must move around this player, but the premise is that all the markers are moving with the attacking players, close to the mark.

That said, while there were no enemies on the pitch, Yang Cheng asked them to assume that there was one of the strongest defensives in the game, which was what he learned from the Chelsea game.

Don't underestimate this difference, this is a team with very high requirements for running without the ball, tackling and passing ability, for example, you can't pass the ball to his feet when he is facing the goal, because the defender will break, usually when encountering this kind of pass, Yang Cheng will blow the whistle.

Through this training method, Yang Cheng wants each of them to learn how to use off-ball running more skillfully to tear through the opponent's defense, and at the same time let them abandon the opponent's interference, and think about how to better ensure the overall movement of their own side and the orderly and effective running without the ball, because without the opponent, the players will know everything about their side at a glance.

It's like this time, Mascherano takes this imaginary ball, and he can't pass it to Xavi? Alonso, he has to assume that the opponent blocks his way of the ball, so he can only look at Kaka, who is eager to retreat, and pass to Kaka's feet.

Kaka didn't turn when he got the ball, because he had to assume that his opponent stopped him from turning. So he saw Harvey running forward? Alonso, just diagonally back to Xavi? Alonso, because this kind of back-and-forth passing in cross-runs is difficult for defenders to defuse.

Harvey? After Alonso got the ball, he saw that Xiao Xiao Luo and Villa were ready, and a long diagonal pass directly passed the ball to the front of the opponent's penalty area, Xiao Xiao Luo and Villa arrived at the same time, Villa stepped into the penalty area, and Yang Cheng's whistle sounded. ..., according to the rules. Entering the restricted area counts as valid!

In other words, Yang Cheng's approach is to deliberately create players, create and open up more offensive space through running, prevent himself from being targeted by the opponent, and once the ball reaches the penalty area, it is effective. Because he wants to push forward, not score.

Some people may be surprised, how can everyone cooperate without the ball?

Yang Cheng asked them to shout, Mascherano wanted to pass to Kaka, he called Kaka's name, and then Kaka predicted the speed and direction of the ball by himself, raised his hand when he received the ball, and then passed to the ball and shouted again. And so on and so forth, and because all imaginary opponents are the strongest defenders, they have to be asked to stop the ball at one foot and find a way to protect it.

For example, Kaka just now, if he doesn't bring it back after getting the ball, then Yang Cheng will blow the whistle, because let's say he is trapped; If Harvey? Alonso didn't move forward, while Kaka passed the ball back and Yang Cheng blew the whistle. Suppose the defender is blocking Xavi? Alonso's front.

The whole process is demanding. There were a lot of restrictions and the players didn't get used to it at first.

Yang Cheng divided the team into three groups. Each group consisted of exactly 11 people, each consisting of himself, Paul? Bair and Rafael Benitez led the team for the 90-minute training, the final session of the day's three sessions.

In Yang Cheng's words, if the defender is your shadow, you have to rely on movement, leave your shadow behind, take the initiative, if you stop, your shadow will be in front of you, so you have to keep moving, keep passing and receiving the ball, and then form a complete and rigorous offensive system.

Therefore, those fans who came to watch Real Madrid's third training session on the sidelines were puzzled from the high vantage point, because there was neither the ball nor anyone, and it was hard to believe that Real Madrid players were each shouting the names of their teammates on a field and doing all kinds of technical movements.

Because they can't figure out what these Real Madrid players are doing?

Even the Real Madrid players themselves in training didn't quite understand what the use of this kind of training with frequent mistakes was, but when they arrived at the tactical meeting that night, when Yang Cheng took the coaching staff to the players and analyzed the problems in the training process one by one against the training videos, the players immediately understood.

This kind of training can develop their ability to handle the ball during the game, when they are under strong pressure from the opposition, forcing all players to touch the ball with one foot, and it can also develop the players' reflexes during the game.

For example, if the passer on this side calls his name, the receiver on the other side must react and immediately make his own prediction of the ball's route, otherwise it will be too late to make a decision once the ball is at his feet.

Of course, training is always training, shadow training can cultivate the tacit understanding of the players, cultivate the players' thinking ability and immediate reaction ability in the game, and increase the coordination of the team's team operation, but it can never create that immersive sense of pressure for the players.

Through the video, Yang Cheng hopes that all players can understand a deeper meaning, that is, running without the ball is not a desperate run, but to have wisdom.

"Many times, creating and limiting a space to catch the ball and prevent the opponent from receiving the ball may only require you to move a small step to the side, don't look at this step is small, but it is related to the development and limitation of space, and the effect may be that you run a few kilometers, or even a dozen kilometers, can not be compared!"

"It's easy to run more than a dozen kilometers, but how to run this small step, it's very difficult, which requires all of you to think more deeply on the field, be better at analyzing, and also need each of you to believe in yourself, believe in your partners, believe in all of us, this is what I have been training in this summer, I hope all of you can master!" In addition to running without the ball, Yang Cheng is also adding more content to the team's tactics, such as pressing the opponent during the game.

Pressing is a very important topic in Yang Cheng's tactics, because pressing can change the opponent's rhythm and make the opponent play according to the rhythm that he is willing to see and get used to.

However, Yang Cheng feels that the current pressure of football should start from the front line, that is, from the front line, and the means to achieve pressure is to run without the ball.

For example, all-round pressing, that is, pressing from the front line, with the goal of snatching the ball in the shortest possible time; For example, the semi-pressing state is more about the consistency of the formation, and more about delaying the opponent's counterattack and attack; There is also the type of false pressing, which is more symbolic, but it is actually to give the players some time to recover on the playing field.

Yang Cheng has long instilled these pressing methods in his players, and now he wants to emphasize how to change more fluidly in the game.

Pressing isn't just about defending, it's also about attacking.

When you press the holes in the opposition's defence, even if you don't have the ball at your feet, the pressure on them will be distributed to you, and this will reduce the pressure on your own ball carrier.

Therefore, Yang Cheng can be said to be a comprehensive summary and improvement of his coaching philosophy this time, which is also because he has recently conceived his own book, which makes him have a comprehensive and systematic sorting out of his coaching experience, especially during this period of time on the island, which has made him figure out a lot.

Now he hopes to instill all the gains and accumulations he has gained in the past ten years into the current Real Madrid player, because he has a hunch that this Real Madrid team is likely to be a rare opportunity for him to reach his goal and allow him to create a perfect team.

If it were someone else, there would definitely be no way to make Real Madrid's superstars so obedient, but Yang Cheng could make each of them willingly obey their own arrangements, conduct every training diligently, and devote themselves to every aspect of the training, so as to gain and make progress.

All this makes Yang Cheng full of confidence in the future of the team, and he believes that his goal will no longer be so unattainable!