pitch ruler

Chapter 273

On September 9th, Chelsea ushered in their first game in the Champions League group stage, and played against Schalke 18 at home.

Schalke 04 had a poor start to the season. They only accumulated 3 point in the first 1 rounds of the Bundesliga and ranked third from the bottom of the standings. Whether it is in terms of morale or the level of skills and tactics shown, they are considered Not against Chelsea.

But football is not such a simple game of addition and subtraction. Otherwise, why would everyone play the game, just put up the formation, and just admit defeat for the weak.

It is precisely because there is always the possibility of the weak overcoming the strong on the football field, Denmark and Greece can stage myths, and the charm of football is so enduring.

The enemy can be despised strategically, but the enemy must be taken seriously tactically.Mourinho attaches great importance to this game and must win a good start in the Champions League.

However, during the training, he discovered that there were some disharmonious factors in the team. On the surface, everyone seemed to be in harmony, but inside there was an undercurrent.

This season Chelsea let go of Eto'o and Torres on the front line, but added Shi Hao and Diego Costa, and the performance of these two was surprisingly good, which greatly reduced the playing time of others.

William and Schurrle had a lot of opportunities to make appearances last season, but in the first 4 official games of this season, they could only use garbage time to feel the atmosphere.The new aid Remy only played less than 10 minutes, and the Warcraft Drogba who returned to the team for free also played very few games.

It's not that Mourinho doesn't want to rotate. No coach will easily make adjustments when he sees the team's state is so good and they have won consecutive victories.

But if this continues, the atmosphere in the locker room will be bad, and Schurle and William complain a lot in private.Oscar had always played in the middle, but now he was squeezed to the right, which he was not good at. His performance was not outstanding, and he also had thoughts on this.

It would be fine if these few were veterans, maybe they would be happy to retire with high salaries.The problem is that they are all young players between 22 and 24 years old. They are all international footballers. They have become famous as teenagers, are high-spirited, and are in the rising period of their careers. Naturally, they are not willing to guard the drinking fountains.

If this problem is not resolved, the contradictions within the team will accumulate and deepen, which will greatly damage the team's combat effectiveness.

Mourinho is very good at psychological warfare and is also good at dealing with internal conflicts in the team.He is used to artificially making enemies everywhere, creating an atmosphere of enemies on all sides, arousing players to fight for the same goal.

And within the team, he usually chooses a target character, puts great pressure on him, and stimulates his growth.

During the first time he coached Chelsea, he chose Hazard as a character, and he was very satisfied with the final result. Hazard shined after breaking through the pressure.This time, how should we deal with the team's internal conflicts this time?Who should be chosen as that target, and who should really be abandoned?
Mourinho was deeply puzzled.

Finally came September 9th.Chelsea's starting lineup has made some adjustments, first of all, after Costa played a hat-trick, there were signs of a relapse of old injuries. To be on the safe side, Mourinho replaced him with Drogba in the starting lineup.The left winger is still Hazard, the front midfielder Shi Hao, but the right winger has been replaced by William, who started for the first time this season.

The two defensive midfielders have not changed, and Fabregas' partner Matic is still in a stable state.Felipe replaced Azpilicueta in the starting line-up at left-back, the Brazilian's first start this season.The positions of the other three defenders and the goalkeeper have not been adjusted.

At the beginning of the game, Schalke 04 turned away from the opponent, using the skills and speed of the frontcourt players to play threatening attacks several times.In the 7th minute of the game, Draxler passed the ball, and Sam's long-range shot from the right was slightly wide, which scared the Blues fans into a cold sweat.

But the game quickly entered the rhythm of Chelsea.In the 11th minute, Chelsea's high pressing worked again as Fabregas successfully tackled Boateng up front and the ball rolled to Hazard.

Hazard turned around with the ball and made a through pass. Shi Hao inserted at high speed. After receiving the ball, he quickly dunked and wiped away from Ogo. He calmly pushed the goalkeeper Felman on the left side of the penalty area and broke through easily. Felman's ten fingers off.

Blues fans sang and danced to celebrate their lead.Shi Hao waved to a certain place in the stands. In the crowd, Liu Xiyu blew a kiss to Shi Hao with a smile, and the live broadcast camera keenly captured this scene.

Huntelaar received a yellow card at this time. It turned out that he thought that Shi Hao was offside when Fabregas passed the ball, and argued loudly with the referee.This is a self-seeking yellow card.The slow motion shows that when Cesc Fabregas passed the ball, Shi Hao was still one position behind Ogo, which was undoubtedly a good shot.

In the next period of time, Schalke 04 stepped up their counterattacks, but Chelsea's defense was very solid, and they played sharp counterattacks from time to time.

In the 16th minute, Hazard received a pass from Shi Hao on the left side of the penalty area and shot directly and was blocked; in the 21st minute of the game, Meyer passed the ball, and Draxler shot high from the left 25 yards.Boateng's long-range shot was blocked by Terry. In the 31st minute, Huntelaar and Sam's shots were blocked by Terry and Matic successively.Chelsea is united as one, and it seems that Schalke 04 has continued to attack, but in fact most of them failed to pose a threat.

In the 37th minute of the game, Chelsea almost expanded the score. Shi Hao broke through the bottom line along the right side of the penalty area in the counterattack and then passed back in an inverted triangle. Fabregas, who was unguarded, missed a shot near the penalty spot.He was also very annoyed by this mistake. If he could score another goal, the game would almost be won.

In the 45th minute, Schalke 04 almost equalized the score. Ogo made a low pass. The teenager Draxler faced 4 Chelsea defenders and broke through to the small penalty area before shooting wide.

During the intermission, Mourinho did not make any adjustments. He believed that the current situation was favorable to Chelsea and that everything was under control. He just encouraged the players to defend firmly and keep the ball advantage.

After changing sides and fighting again, Chelsea took the lead in launching a wave of offensive.In the 49th minute, Hazard passed the cross from the left to William. William made a pass from the bottom. Drogba was half a step too late to touch the ball. on the doorpost.In the 53rd minute, Hazard dribbled along the left after receiving a pass from Drogba. After entering the penalty area, he passed a defender and shot wide; in the 58th minute, Terry rushed to the goal of Schalke 04. A high tackle near the penalty area was called a foul, but the captain of the blue team still hit the goal after blowing the whistle and received a yellow card.

In the 60th minute, Drogba almost scored again. Cesc Fabregas sent a pass near the center circle. Shi Hao directly kicked the pass to the front of the penalty area. Drogba shot from the right side of the penalty area. The ball went wide against the left post.

(End of this chapter)