Chapter 232: consecutive hat tricks, the future of football in the Premier League

Li Mo's goal before halftime made the 10,000 Sheffield United fans in the away game cheer again.

The huge Stadium of Light seemed to be filled with the cheers and celebrations of Sheffield United fans at this moment, while the remaining Sunderland fans were almost dead silent except for sporadic boos.

It was 0-3 at halftime, and Sunderland had almost no good offensive opportunities.

If Sheffield United hadn't slowed down their pace, wanted to strengthen their defense, and released control of the midfield, Sunderland might not have had the opportunity to attack in just ten minutes.

But if I give you a chance, it will be useless. Up to now, in forty-five minutes, Sunderland have only shot two times, and neither of them were within the goal frame. With such offensive ability, how can it compare with Sheffield

League game?

When Bendtner was here last season, many Sunderland fans believed that his scoring efficiency was not high and that he sometimes wasted opportunities when his mind was full of enthusiasm. This is not good and that is not good.

Only after Bendtner left this season did they realize the importance of a high center, especially for a mid-to-lower team like them.

Last season when we played against Sheffield United, with Bendtner on the team, we were beaten a bit miserably by Matic and Maguire, but we were still able to win a few goals.

Steven Fletcher, who now spent 12 million pounds in exchange, almost disappeared in the first half like his teammate Sessegnon.

For a time, disappointment spread among the Sunderland fans. After the referee blew the halftime whistle, the Sunderland fans were the first to leave before the Sunderland players came off the field.

The seats were moved outside the stadium one after another.

They chose to quit the game to protest the team's poor performance!

"Oh! Oh! Sunderland fans began to line up to leave. It seemed that there were quite a lot of them. Martin O'Neill's face looked very solemn, but now he has no players to replace. The one he wants

The South Korean players don’t know when they will come and they can’t rebuild the midfield, which may really affect his tactical arrangements too much.”

Martin O'Neill's coaching ability is very strong. He previously led Celtic to achieve very good results in the European competition. When he coached Aston Villa, he also led Villa to win the European Championship for three consecutive seasons.

qualifications.

In such a fiercely competitive Premier League, Martin O'Neill can lead non-rich teams to the top six for three consecutive seasons. If Villa's boss was not too short-sighted and kept selling the core players of the team to cash out, Martin O'Neill might now be

He can lead Villa to compete for Champions League qualification.

However, with strong ability comes strong, Martin O'Neill now has no cards to play, and Sheffield United are not afraid that he will use the existing players at his disposal.

The 3-0 score also gave Sheffield United a large enough advantage. Speed ​​happily patted the back of every Sheffield United player who came off the field, looking very relaxed.

"Brother, you were too cruel. You drove all the fans out of the stadium."

Medel winked at Li Mo and made a joke, but Li Mo said that he would not take the blame.

"Don't you guys not give Sunderland a chance in the midfield? If you give Sunderland a little more and give our fans a little hope, they won't have to leave the game."

The two exchanged business blows, and the atmosphere in the locker room was extremely relaxed.

At this point in the game, they are not Milan brothers. Although they are confident, they will never give Sunderland a chance to come back. In the second half, as long as they find opportunities to score another goal, they can control the game and get off work.

Although the opponents they encountered in the first two games were at a mid-to-lower level and could not test the current Sheffield United, they defeated their opponents at halftime in both games. Such a result still made the Sheffield United players

They are very satisfied.

Any championship team gets most of its points from its stable performance.

It is very important to win games against strong teams, but many times a team that beats strong teams well may not necessarily win the final championship.

After all, winning against any team will only result in three points. Even if you beat all the strong teams in the league, if you are unable to stabilize against weak teams and often overturn, you may still be a runner in the end.

Just a relatively strong runner.

Speed ​​is very satisfied with the current team's ability to abuse opponents. The main reason is that Li Mo is sure to seize opportunities. In addition, Berbatov, Vardy and Kuit can be rotated. In terms of finishing ability, Sheffield United

It's still very strong now.

Everything is on track, and the team's current performance makes the coaching team feel that all their efforts in the summer were worth it.

And Speed, just like in the last game, had several players get ready to play during the halftime break.

More rotations will allow the players to find more form at the beginning of the season. Now that they will play in the Champions League in half a month, and a large number of the main players in the team will soon return to the national team to participate in the World Cup preliminaries, Speed ​​is still relatively worried.

nervous.

Letting the players adapt to the rhythm of the game early, and at the same time saving energy as much as possible while ensuring victory is also a way to protect them.

However, Li Mo could not come off early in the second half. Although Speed ​​also wanted Li Mo to rest more, before completely defeating Sunderland, Li Mo still had to stay on the field to provide Sheffield United with an extra layer of insurance.

If nothing else goes wrong, the 4-4-2 formation should remain unchanged in the second half. Kuyt will replace Joaquin. Anyway, he can play in the center and wing. Speed ​​is also very confident in his ability and attitude.

Kuyt still had the opportunity to play in 44 games with Liverpool last season. This attendance rate is nothing to say, and no matter how the coach is changed, Kuyt will not lack a lot of playing opportunities and can perform well in various positions.

The performance and adaptability are evident.

Vardy can replace Berbatov or Li Mo, or even replace Bale. He has no problem playing on the left now. When the time comes, he will just make more diagonal runs into the penalty area to find opportunities.

The last substitution is Speed's plan to see how Martin O'Neill adjusts. If Sunderland focuses on set-piece tactics, he will replace Drinkwater with Matic to strengthen the hardness and defensive height of the midfield.

If the opponent does not use set-piece tactics, he will replace Drinkwater with Moussa Dembele and let Dembele play the core position of the playmaker to get more feel.

The multiple substitution options made Speed ​​once again feel the "trouble of happiness".

If the season were to be postponed, how could he dare to consider replacing Drinkwater at half-time?

Now that there are reliable rotation candidates at every position, there is no need to worry about the team's tactics being greatly compromised after substitutions. Speed ​​has realized the coaching dream that all coaches want to realize.

After a short intermission, the two teams changed sides and fought again in the second half. Faced with the situation that a large area of ​​​​the stands was empty, Sunderland's players seemed to be stimulated.

Press, attack, and then press like crazy after losing the ball.

Li Mo was surprised by the physical exertion and positive attitude of the Sunderland players.

He originally thought that the second half of the game would be much easier, but now it seems that despite their average strength, Sunderland's players still want to maintain the team's face.

The fans' exit made them all feel disgraced. Martin O'Neill may have mobilized a lot in the dressing room. Now the Sunderland players are like chicken blood. They know their shame and then act bravely. At least they don't want Sheffield to lose.

The alliance won too easily.

This state of excitement usually doesn't last long, but at least in the opening stage of the second half, the performance of Sunderland players helped them win back the hearts of many fans.

Amid the loud cheers from the remaining die-hard Sunderland fans, Martin O'Neill's solemn expression softened slightly.

He doesn't know how long his players can last, and they may lose goals after their physical strength is exhausted, but the mental outlook of the team is what he values ​​​​extremely.

We can lose, but we can't lose as ungratefully as we did in the first half.

He has no hope of equalizing the score now, but he hopes that after this game, his players can remember this feeling of fighting.

On the other side, Speed ​​called Matic and Dembele and asked them to warm up together.

On the court, Medel calmly directed the midfield defense, and Li Mo also retreated decisively.

They have all experienced this situation where mid- and lower-tier teams press hard at all costs.

Don't be anxious at this time. Whether it's offense or defense, if you stay steady and don't mess up, you can basically survive it.

Because of this physical style of play, at least a team of Sunderland's level cannot hold on for too long. If it lasts, it can slaughter Sunderland at will.

Five or six minutes later, Speed ​​also decisively replaced Berbatov with Matic.

Bell was pushed forward, ambushing Li Mo on the left, and his intention to counterattack was obvious. Drinkwater was pulled to the left of the midfield, with Matic and Medel in the middle.

Sheffield United's defensive combination reappeared. No matter how ferocious Sunderland's offense was, Sheffield United's dam remained unmoved.

After the 65th minute of the second half, the Sunderland players, who had been going crazy for nearly 20 minutes, also became heavier on their feet and seemed to be unable to hold on.

"Speed's adjustment is very decisive and very safe. If you want to attack quickly, then you attack yours and I defend mine. There is no need to fight with the opponent. It is completely for yourself.

The defense is looking for pressure. After overcoming this formation, it's Sheffield United's turn. Look, Sunderland's players are now unable to run."

Zhang Lu's analysis was to the point, while Zhan Jun was looking forward to Li Mo's performance.

"Sheffield United's previous counterattacks were intercepted by Sunderland's players. I wonder if Sheffield United's midfielder can find some good passing opportunities later. Li Mo and Bell can also help Sheffield United."

Will PJ extend its lead?"

The Sunderland fans at the scene also saw that their players had reached a critical point of physical fitness.

After getting through it, we can still hold on for a while, but it is impossible to press as crazy as at the beginning of the second half.

But they were still satisfied. This fighting spirit at least gave them hope.

The situation of the game was gradually restored by Sheffield United.

Medel and Matic began to take turns attacking and pressing, and with the cooperation of Drinkwater and Joaquin, the ball was once again under Sheffield United's control.

Li Mo's threat of retreating and passing the ball gradually became greater.

Even though he is the only high center forward on the field, Sunderland has not been able to interfere with his defensive players. Under his fulcrum, both Joaquin and Bell have gained many offensive opportunities.

In the 72nd minute of the game, Li Mo held Danny Rose with his back and passed the football to Matt Ritchie who was running in from the left side.

Drinkwater's feigned response distracted Adam Johnson's attention, allowing Matt Ritchie to advance successfully. When faced with Sebastian's interception, Matt Ritchie also decisively distributed the ball and stepped in.

Teach got the ball easily.

After their energy was exhausted, the Sunderland midfielders were a little slower to catch up, and Matic no longer distributed the ball safely, but chose to take risks through the ball.

Although it has been a year since he switched to playing as a defensive midfielder, Matic has always had a forward figure in his heart. He has played as an offensive midfielder for many years, and his footwork and awareness are not outstanding.

Bell suddenly turned around and ran towards Matic in a tacit understanding, as if he was going to receive his pass. O'Shea also followed Bell out.
To be continued...