Aldridge's Three Lions have always had the reputation of "passionate lions", even if they played defense before the end of the World Cup, they also invested a lot of troops in the counterattack.

After the World Cup, the tactics of crazy encirclement and suppression in the midfield seem to be more abrupt of the spirit of the Three Lions, hard work, tenacity, and bravery!

When Xiaobei dribbled the ball across the half, the shape of the offensive and defensive comparison between the England team and the French team began to gradually become clear.

England has 5 players.

Owen, Gerrard, Becky, Lampard, Scholes.

The French team also has 5 players in defence.

Vieira, Makelele, Silvestre, Thuram, Gallas.

England have space to move forward, and from the point of attacking advance, it is the point where the opposition defence is slightly weak.

Lizarazu was not in the left wing-back position, and England's Becky was rushing forward along the wing.

This first required France to move their defensive formation smoothly from the other side to the side of England's main attack.

However, during the move, the space will become larger!

Because the movement between players will not be synchronized in an absolute sense!

If you add to that the movement of a single player defensively, the space becomes larger.

For example, at this time, Vieira did not dare to let Xiao Bei go down to the bottom, in that way, the French team's defense line would be withdrawn, Xiao Bei's cross was a huge threat, and at the same time, the retreat of the defense line was empty!

So he moved laterally to intercept Becky, who didn't wait for Vieira to get close and crossed the ball to Scholes, who followed up, and continued to move forward.

England are almost sapper midfielders.

But. The sapper midfielder doesn't mean it's really untalented.

Scholes, for example. Frank Lampard. A midfielder like Steven Gerrard, they are a big threat when they come in the back, why?

Plugging in the back is not as simple as running up!

The back insertion, which can generate a huge threat, represents the player's own ability to catch the void with a super awareness.

They may not be delicate in handling the ball in small areas, but when it comes to the ability to catch an open space and plug in the attack, England have a lot of good players in the team.

Paul Scholes is, Lampard is. Gerald, too!

When Scholes dribbled forward, Vieira immediately chased back to defend Scholes, who quickly passed the ball back to the right wing, in front of Becky!

Patrick Vieira knew he couldn't stop the opposition's attack.

Xiaobei took the ball to the side position parallel to the big penalty area line, and crossed at an angle of 45 degrees.

He was very well timed, and the distance between Sylvester and Thuram's centre-backs in the box widened as he headed over to block him.

Becky's cross landed in this area!

Owen, who was at the front of the goal, was running to the back of the goal, and he was a player with excellent running awareness. Otherwise, he can't be a top pure shooter, and his running. In addition to being a receiver at the far point, it also has the effect of attracting Thuram's defensive movement to create a front point gap for teammates.

Gerald is ferocious!

When Sylvestre turned to look back, he suddenly saw Gerrard leap high and head the ball towards the goal in a standard head-to-head stance!

The ball flew to the bottom right of the middle of the goal, and Gerrard was well prepared, and his header deflected the ball downward.

Although the goalkeeper Barthez is in a good position, but the distance is close, the ball is pressed down very well, and the speed is not slow, he hurriedly lies to the right and blocks the ball with both hands, he touches the ball!

But, he didn't hold the ball!

The butter hand goalkeeper who was abandoned by Manchester United looked like he had blocked the ball, and the ball was unloaded and bounced out, still in the small penalty area, still in front of the middle of the goal!

Owen, who started running to the back post, judged that the landing point would not be at the back post the moment the ball flew out, he stopped, and then when Gerrard headed the goal, he was ready to make up the shot, which is the top scorer awareness!

Thuram didn't expect the ball to bounce in the small penalty area, it was blocked by his own goalkeeper, he blocked Owen behind him with his sense of experience and was ready to clear, but Owen was faster than him, Owen barely fought against this tough guy who was still strong even at the age of 32, grabbed the position, and pressed down with his body's center of gravity, and shot in a way similar to a sliding tackle!

He's half a step faster than Thuram!

The ball, which he tackled, flew into the bottom right corner of the goal!

Owen quickly got up and ran to celebrate, Gerrard followed with a happy face, and the Three Lions announced their participation in the European Championship in Lisbon at the Stadium of Light!

"Owen opened the scoring for England! The French team's defensive table is so bad, Lizarazu assists and can't go back and forth, goalkeeper Barthez gets out of his hands, no wonder the French media think Barthez should be on the bench! It is not for nothing that he was given up by Manchester United, such a scene has appeared many times, and now, this goal is lost, and it is very likely that his position as the main goalkeeper of the French team is also hanging! England have improved their overall mobility and defensive hardness compared to two years ago, and the players appear confident and calm on the field, they are not agitated, they seem to be confident, the attack and defense are very purposeful, sometimes it looks messy, but in fact they know how to play, everything is in order! ”

Santini almost scolded, the development process of this ball is indeed dangerous, but Gerrard is not a striker after all, the threat of heading the goal is there, the angle is not absolutely tricky, this goal, at least 30% of the blame is on Barthez, if he holds the ball, or better handles, instead of the goalkeeper taboo to block the ball in the box, and in the middle! Then this ball should not be dropped!

Perhaps because the goalkeeper is particularly conspicuous, Santini did not think about the pertinence of England's attack.

Aldridge didn't care so much, he nodded on the sidelines, Gerrard's efforts he saw in his eyes, especially in the tactical execution, Gerrard was perfect.

With his ability, he can drop back and defend deeper, and play with his subjective awareness. He could have missed a header just now. Instead, wait for a team-mate to pass the ball from outside the box. But Aldridge played him as a shadow striker, and when he needed to get into the box, he had to do it, and he did!

The main idea of playing Gerrard's attacking ability is also his ability to catch open space and insert it.

England opened the scoring first, but Aldridge did not let his team back and waved his hand to let the team pick up the tempo. The midfield counter-robbery efforts are increased again!

The Three Lions are more imposing, and the French team will take the initiative to speed up the pace of the game if they are behind and want to fight back, but they still haven't solved how to move smoothly in the midfield.

In particular, the England team is crazy about counter-robbing, and it will not give them much time to observe, think, and judge!

The fast-paced game, the tacit understanding of the team, and the operation of a team's system are more tested.

Theoretically, the French team could reach the balance. Wouldn't it be balanced to put the players in each matching role like a textbook?

Pity. Santini is not Aldrich.

He doesn't have the supreme authority in the French team!

Aldridge asked Gerrard to play Shadow Striker, and Gerrard didn't complain a word, only one sentence.

"Coach, what exactly should I do?"

If Santini says to Zidane: "Don't retreat, leave the central midfield organization to Vieira, and you stay in the forward area to organise the front. ”

Will Zidane listen to him?

Or did Santini tell Henry to play winger, not center, Henry would listen to him?

Santini has drummed up an asymmetrical 442 formation, which may have been perfectly envisioned by himself, but when it comes to England's ferocious counter-attacking and tight defensive system today, their midfield is completely fragmented, and the front-court formation that looks unbalanced is completely dismembered!

Or it can be compared like this, two years later, the French team, although there is still Zidane's left-leaning attack, but at least the frontcourt system is balanced, Malouda, Ribery, Henry, two wings, center forward position, this is at least a roughly fixed routine.

And what about today?

If France want to play an invincible attack on the left flank, they must rely on mental cooperation.

Lizarazu, Zidane, Henry, any two people cooperate on the left side, they may be able to play a threatening attack, but this kind of cooperation by relying on player awareness, especially the cooperation between the two may be very good, and the three will absolutely clash!

It's all a matter of chance!

Moreover, now Lizarazu's defensive problems have also been exposed, that is to say, Henry does not play as a winger, and the French team wants to make an article on the left side, so it can only rely on Zidane alone!

The problem faced by Henry is that he can pull the side, but the team's use of the space in the middle of the front is not enough, and if the midfield area is not contained, England's defensive center of gravity will move to the side at the same time, which will completely force the French team's side attack into a desperate situation.

Therefore, although the French team also has a history of many contradictions in the dressing room, today, what happened to them is that there are more and more contradictions in the tactical system of the players, not to mention the lone palm of Pire, who is cold on the right side.

After conceding the goal, the French team counterattacked, and Santini looked closely at the team's attack today, and his face became more solemn.

Zidane is actually similar to Pirlo, Xavi, and other organizational cores, and must have a strong defensive back behind him to escort him, and at the same time play a role in solving the siege when he is in a crisis, revitalizing the attack, and liberating Zidane, who is restricted by the focus.

The same is true for the French team, but this system has been in use for a long time, and winning the World Cup six years ago was already this strategy of double midfield protection, and six years later, it is still the same, and the opponents must have been prepared in the targeted restriction arrangement.

This is the case with England, restricting Zidane, mainly restricting his space, rather than stealing his ball, which is known to the world, and the purpose of limiting space is to block Zidane's contact with his teammates.

In this predicament, Vieira or Makelele stepped forward to respond, continue to lead the attack, and then wait for Zidane to run, and the attack can be reinvigorated.

However, the England team limited the opponent's midfield today, and there were obviously more people!

Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard, Xiaobei, just these four, not counting Hargreaves who cut the contact in front of him, Zidane wants to make an offensive advance with Vieira or Makelele in the midfield at a short distance, it is too difficult, if you go to the side, Gallas's assist ability is average, Lizarazu is up and behind, the shape is completely changed, the England team does not intercept Lizarazu at all before the 35-yard line in front of the goal, or block Lizarazu's contact with his teammates in the middle.

The more Santini looked at the sidelines, the more bottomless he became, and he vaguely felt that the French team seemed to have fallen into the trap of England!

The England team always forced the French team to expose their goals step by step! (To be continued......)