Emery and his Villarreal are still working wonders.
In the past year alone, this is the fourth top European giants they have beaten in Europe. Arsenal were eliminated by one win and one draw over two legs in the Europa League semi-finals, Victory over Manchester United on penalties in the Europa League final, Juventus with one win and one draw over two legs in the Champions League quarter-finals, and 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the quarter-finals.
And in a way, even if they are a little bit luckier, the score of this game may be bigger.
You know, they are only a little bit away from the European Super Cup and the victory over Chelsea in the penalty shootout.
Over the past year, Emery and his players have proven that football is not simply a game of size.
In particular, this game, facing a 20-year champion, last year's final four, Villarreal is even less than half the value of Bayern players.
However, football is played by people, not by money, and this includes both players on the field and coaches off the field.
It's a game worth learning from all coaches and appreciating by all fans.
In this game, Huang Qian's goal came very early.
In the 7th minute of the game, Huang Qian sent a cross from the right, and The forward Parejo shot flawlessly, but it landed at the feet of Danjuma:
It may seem like it was just a simple cross, plus an unexpected goal, but the highlight of this goal actually happened before the goal.
In this game, Huang Qian's initial position is 442:
However, fans familiar with Emery are well aware that he has never been a conformist coach.
In this attack, first left forward Koquelin closed in the middle and retreated to create a catch line for center-back Paul Torres, and midfielder Parejo saw his retreat and took Kimmich away, and immediately stepped forward into Kimmich's original defensive zone:
But Instead of passing to Corquelin, Paul Torres passed to Capue, and Mucciara immediately pounced to prevent him from turning around, but Capue chose to knock directly to Parejo, who was inserted in front of him.
Meanwhile, Mucha's front plug exposes Parejo's direct lateral connection to Lo Celso's line:
So Huang Qian not only hit bayern behind the back of the double waist, but also successfully completed the split:
Please enjoy the whole process:
Huang Qian advanced all the way to the front and handed over to Herard Moreno, who was already on the sideline. Please recall Moreno's position in formation, yes, he was one of the two strikers in the 442s.
Moreover, at the moment when Moreno took the ball, Bayern formed a two-three defense in the local area, and Mucciara had yellow divers in front of and behind him:
So in a moment of hesitation, Huang Qian penetrated the ribs:
At this point, Kimmich rushed back to the defensive line to try to fill the gap between the lines, but the penalty spot was empty, and it was Parejo who had inserted it at the beginning.
Moreover, Danjuma, another striker in Huang Qian 442, had already pounced on the goal, changing the line on the way and completing the goal:
The whole scoring process, back and forth, side and center, is incredibly smooth.
During Villarreal's game, you can often find similar footage, such as this side push in the 3rd minute:
Pulling the side is right striker Moreno and right midfielder Capué.
For example, in the 5th minute, this time the advance:
The forward sending the heel pass is left striker Danjuma, who transforms into the front waist, and it is the right striker Moreno who completes the reception, tandem and split.
For example, in the 31st minute, this time the advance:
Pulling the edge is right striker Moreno and right wing forward Lo Celso.
There's also a point that's very interesting.
From the defensive position, Coquilin, who played on the left wing, actually played at the back during his time at Arsenal, so it is unrealistic to expect him to play on the left side.
So who is the first attacker of the left half of the fan, and the question can be answered in this attack:
It's actually left striker Danjuma.
So if you rigidly understand Emery's tactics according to 442, it will be a big mistake.
Danjuma may pull to the left or break forward in attack; Moreno may pull to the right side, retreat or break forward in attack.
When the striker is not in the position, Emery will ask other players to come to the forward position, such as Lo Celso, Capué, Parejo.
This is the superiority of Emery's tactics: no one has a fixed position and responsibilities, everyone moves according to the game plan, moves wherever they move, play their roles, assume their responsibilities.
As long as the execution is in place, you have no idea who will be in the most dangerous place in front of the door.
However, in front of Bayern, Villarreal is a weak team after all.
Even if they play well in this game, they only get 41% of the ball, which means that they have to fence the fence in the remaining 59% of the game share.
Considering the difference in strength between the two teams at the personnel level, this is actually the first thing they need to do well.
In the 4th minute of the match, Bayern played a threatening attack for the first time:
Upamecano's long diagonal pass found Gnabry, who directly passed right-back Voyt, and if the principles of the four-back system are followed, the right centre-back needs to quickly pounce to make up for the space behind the right-back.
However, it was right midfielder Capué who pounced forward:
In that instant, Villarreal became a five-back system.
Voith's being passed no longer means that the right-back of the four has been passed, but the right-winger of the five-back has been passed, and Capué has become the right-back of the five:
This is by no means an impromptu remedy for a player on the pitch, because just a minute later, Coquelin became the left centre-back in the five-back line:
In the 23rd minute of the match, Lo Celso moved into the defensive line and became a right wing-back:
In the 28th minute, Parejo moved into the defender line to become a left centre-back:
It seems to be a 442 formation, but in fact, with the different Bayern players in front, the Four of Villarreal's midfielders will always be vigilant and ready to enter the defensive line at any time.
Emery is well aware that Albior is 36 years old and Paul Torres's single defence is not outstanding, so it is necessary to rely on the team to reduce the burden on them and minimize the possibility of their exposure, and the switch between four or five defenders is the best way.
On the one hand, this can compress the space between the defensive lines and increase the protection ability of the defender line to protect the width, on the other hand, after shrinking into five defenders, there are still five people in front of the body, you can try to ensure the ability to counteract, so as to reduce the pressure on the defensive end with the offense. As shown above, threatening Bayern's goal with repeated pushes and counter-attacks at least dragged Bayern's formation back into the backfield.
Therefore, when the nominal left forward Pedrosa, who came on as a substitute, fell into the defensive line on the strong side, Lo Celso, who defended the weak side, would not fall into the defensive line again, in order to ensure the strength of the midfield and the resilience of the counterattack:
To be able to switch formations so skillfully, not only does it take a lot of effort in training, but the 11 players on the pitch have to have a clear judgment of the situation on the field.
In addition, when Bayern have crossed the left this time, look at the mutual tips of Lo Celso and Voith on their respective defenders:
Reaching out for the first time, Voyt prompted Lo Celso to press the adducted Gnabry not to let him take the ball:
Reaching out for the second time, Voith prompted Lo Celso that his defensive duties remained the same, and he came to keep an eye on Alfonso Davis on the outside:
Reaching out for the third time, Lo Celso prompted Voyt to defend himself against Gnabry, which he had thrown:
Finally, Bayern split the attack, Voith came to the outside to defend the cross, Lo Celso immediately accelerated to defend the Gnabry he had thrown:
How well the players are with each other, and how smooth the exchange of duties is.
It is with the always reinforced defensive line and the always pop-up counter that Bayern cannot form an advantage in front of the goal, nor can they find space between the two lines, but can only go back and forth around Villarreal's defensive perimeter, looking for space back and forth.
This is not a bus, but a backcourt structure created by the movement of people and through exquisite design.
Of course, for 90 minutes, due to the gap in strength at the personnel level, Villarreal still exposed problems in some periods.
In the opening stages of the second half, Bayern twice hit the space on the back side of the back, and Villarreal did not have time to form a five-back, leaving the team with two crises on the right side:
In the first half, Musharra single-handedly hit Capuel behind him and handed it to Gnabry, who was straddling:
It was the 21st minute of the game, so Albiol could also shovel with his foot.
But even though Emery laid out and designed a lot of protection on the perimeter of the centre-back, in the 80th minute, Albiol still had cramps, so there were only 10 minutes left for Bayern to wreak havoc.
Bayern may feel some regrets because they are not completely without opportunities, but at the same time, Villarreal should be more sorry because they have a better chance of extending the score:
If the score is extended to more than two goals, then Huang Qian has a good chance of advancing to the semi-finals.
Unfortunately, the gap is only one goal, and the next game is at bay Munich's home stadium, so in the high probability, Villarreal is still likely to stop here.
Back in the league, Villarreal needs to boost his league standings and win himself a spot in next season's Europa League.
This is a very sad thing. Last season, Villarreal would not have been able to play in Europe if Emery had not helped his team win the Europa League, but at the European level, they could play such a wonderful football.
The reason lies in the logic of the league and European games.
In the league, many times there is no need to pay too much attention to the balance of attack, even if it is a mutual poke, scoring 3 goals and conceding 2 goals, you can get 3 points and get excellent rankings.
Big deal, no this week, come back next week.
However, in the cup, in Europe, a season of performance may be maintained in these 90 or 180 minutes, you can not concede the ball, because you can not guarantee that you can score, so you must first ensure that you do not lose, pay attention to the balance between attack and defense.
These are two kinds of logic, but it is difficult to complete the switch in a week.
Ancelotti can do it, but Emery isn't top notch, so he can't.
Looking back on arsenal experiences, Emery attributed his failure to the departure of veterans such as Monreal and Koscielny, as well as his failure to successfully bring in Zaha.
Although Emery never considered his spoken English ability to be one of the reasons, he also had to admit that his best period was in Spain.
As a result, it will be difficult for him to take over a Spanish big team, and it will be difficult for the big players to accept his coaching style for a long time.
Even so, even if he leads a team that is not strong on paper, he can stimulate the highest combat effectiveness of the players.
In today's era when defenders are like midfielders and full-backs are like wingers, it's hard to see such a delicate arrangement, such a beautiful football.
Regardless of the offensive and defensive ends, the players walk like flowing water, seemingly weak, but everywhere.
Although it may be small, it is hoped that Emery and Villarreal will refuel.
For their own sake, but also for the balance of attack and defense.