A few days ago, we beat Vietnam 3:2 and won the first game of the round of twelve. This victory not only saved us the hope of entering the World Cup, but also largely restored the confidence of the players, which helped us to meet the next game of the round of twelve with a better mental outlook.
Former national football coach Zhu Guanghu
Against Vietnam, the Chinese team maintained a strong competitiveness in the first 80 minutes, and improved in many aspects such as technical movements, mental outlook and physical fitness. However, throughout the game, we were equalised by conceding two goals in 10 minutes with a 2:0 lead. Although in the end, there are still 3 points, but there are still areas for improvement, the most important of which is the position of the backcourt players and midfielders, how to do a good job of keeping an eye on people and assisting, how to more effectively limit the opponent's attack, in this regard we still exposed certain problems in the game.
In the face of the Vietnamese team's attack, the high pressure and forward pressure strategy we adopted was correct. In modern football, high-pressure pressing is a tactic that can limit opponents very well. However, it should be noted that in the high-pressure rush, after the overall formation of high pressure and front pressure, it is crucial to force the opponent, especially the ball holder, and both are indispensable. If there is no persecution after pressing, or if the force is slightly lacking, the effect of high pressure will be greatly reduced.
Wu Lei scored a goal
In this game, when we adopt a high-pressure strategy, the pressure on the opponent can be better, and the distance between the defender and the opposing team member should also be better controlled, so that the opponent cannot easily play the ball, and the selection and positioning of our other players will be more relaxed. Revisiting our two goals conceded, if we could have done better details about the movement of the opposing players and the restrictions on the opposing team's controlling players, I think we might be able to harvest this victory in a more relaxed way.
Another problem is that the position and distance of the players in the back and midfield are not tight enough. It was observable that our last line of defence had retreated too close to our own goalkeeper, which brought the opponent closer to our goal and increased the danger. On the offensive end, when we counterattacked, the midfielders didn't follow up enough. If we can be more compact, it will be difficult for the other side to fight back even if they want to fight back, because our whole formation is in the front, we can suppress him and limit him.
Zhang Yuning
In addition, it is particularly important that the midfield is often obviously lacking in thickness and hardness when defending due to the lack of compact formation, which makes it difficult for the center-back to keep an eye on the opponent, and it is difficult to compete for control of the second point at both ends of the attack and defense. So I feel like we also need to have tougher, thicker midfield defenses to be able to do a better job of defending each other. If the midfielder can play a more critical role in providing more passes to Wu Lei, Zhang Yuning, Axon, or to the players inserted on both sides, then we will attack more points, the attack will be wider, and the way and means of attack may reflect a more ideal and comprehensive effect.
Since departing from Shanghai on August 26, the national team has been playing outside for more than 40 consecutive days, and this pace and way of life is indeed difficult for our current group of young people, but they have overcome the difficulties and finally won a victory. For the national team, some of the problems exposed in the middle of the game are actually loopholes in the details, if you can check the details and fill in the gaps, if there are changes, I think the process and results of the game will change a lot.