Chapter 398 It’s not the Sevilla Cup, it’s the Emery Cup

Author: Ant who loves watching football

"Sevilla's pressing is very fierce and strategic. When we play the ball in the backcourt, we must pay great attention to actively move to respond and not be cornered by them. I want you to keep this in mind at all times.

.”

In the Chelsea dressing room, Pan Yi reminded the players in a very serious tone.

All eleven Chelsea players who started the game nodded heavily.

Regarding this Super Cup match, Pan Yi has emphasized to them many important things that Sevilla, their opponent, needs to pay attention to in the past few days.

In other words, it is based on Emery's tactical characteristics.

The great flexibility of the midfield, relentless pressing, and efficient counterattacks are the biggest characteristics of this Sevilla team.

Since coaching Valencia, Emery has often used this style of play.

Sevilla's typical pressing method is that the players first use accurate positions to force the opponent to spread out, and then the two wingers penetrate into the small spaces on both sides of the court, thereby containing the opponent's center back's defensive position, and at the same time forcing the full backs on both sides.

Retreat significantly.

The team's forwards lie deep in the attacking midfield, burying themselves in the midfield with the latter, and always pay attention to the movements of any unguarded players in the midfield and the assisting full-backs. At this time, they will form a

Similar to an "H" shaped stance.

At this time, the best option for the opponent's goalkeeper is to pass the ball to the full-backs on both sides.

When he does this, three Sevilla players immediately press forward, forcing the opponent to make a mistake or lose possession of the ball.

Since the team presses deep, once the team seizes the ball, Sevilla players can make full use of the space to pass threatening balls.

If the opponent is very strong, such as Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, or today's Chelsea, the strength gap with the opponent would have made it difficult for them to launch an effective attack easily, but this style of play can successfully create space during the forward pressing process.

and create opportunities.

Moreover, the offensive formation will not remain static, Emery will also make targeted changes according to different opponents.

Therefore, Pan Yi still attaches great importance to the king of the Europa League who is very good at playing in cup competitions.

In fact, in Pan Yi's previous life, after Emery won three consecutive Europa League titles in Sevilla, he went to Villarreal and also won the Europa League - and this was also the first time in the history of Yellow Submarine.

A heavyweight trophy.

This also proves that the Europa League may not actually be the "Sevilla Cup", but the "Emery Cup"...

"Sevilla's style of play determines that they don't need to have the ball, so the ball will be under our ball more. This is our opportunity, and it is also their opportunity."

Pan Yi said, opening a short video for the team members to watch.

This is a moment from the match between Barcelona and Sevilla last season.

In the video, Sevilla players used a tight defense against Messi who was deep in the midfield to get the ball. Messi was double-teamed by the opponent's left midfielder and left back.

Even Messi couldn't get rid of this kind of defense. After the ball was intercepted, Sevilla quickly launched a threatening counterattack and almost caused Barcelona to lose the ball.

"This is their main attack method. In this press, the team's defenders, midfielders and forwards form a whole."

The difference from the frontcourt pressing is that the formation at this time is no longer an "H" shape, but more like a peculiar hexagon.

At this time, if the player in the middle of the formation gets the ball, Sevilla can easily get a chance.

Therefore, Messi's only choice is to continue dribbling or pass back.

Once the ball is passed back to the midfield or back right side, the Sevilla forward will press the opponent's defense to try to steal the ball.

If Messi loses the ball, while Sevilla's ball carrier goes deep into the opponent's backcourt, the forwards, attacking midfielders and far-end wingers will press forward at the same time, creating opportunities in the open space.

In both cases, Sevilla's pressing style allowed them to gain possession of the ball effectively.

Different from the way other teams play against Barcelona, ​​Sevilla is good at making full use of the space on the field and can carry out effective frontcourt pressing.

However, if too many players participate in the frontcourt press, facing a strong team like Barcelona, ​​if the interception of the ball fails, the team's defense will be fully exposed to the opponent.

Therefore, the positioning of Sevilla's two defensive midfielders also put a lot of pressure on Barcelona's players in the midfield area, and the forward pressure also prevented the defensive formation from being too loose.

"When defending, especially against a high defensive team like ours who usually move the back line forward, Emery usually forms from the back."

"At this time, the attacking midfielder in the team's original -1 formation will move forward and become the second forward, cooperating with the team's forward to put pressure on the opponent's defense."

"Their entire team usually adopts a defensive method that combines zone defense and full-court marking. The opponent's midfielder is usually the primary target of dedicated marking, while the wide players are selectively marked based on the direction of the dribbling."

The video cuts to the next one.

In the picture, due to the interference of two defenders, it is difficult for Busquets on Barcelona's side to get the ball in the midfield, but he seems to be able to pass the ball to the two forward full-backs.

From the perspective of Sevilla players, they shifted their defensive focus to the left, thus keeping Barcelona's right midfielder and right back tightly focused. Barcelona's only player on the left was Neymar, but he was already being closely defended.

.

There is a large space in front of Barcelona's left back. Once Busquets passes the ball to the left, this will play into the hands of the Sevilla players.

At this time, Sevilla will shift its defensive focus accordingly, and the defensive pressure on the right can be resolved.

"They like to mark our midfielders, and we must retaliate." Pan Yi continued, "Argentine midfielder Banega is their midfield commander, Goretzka, Matic, your task

Just to keep an eye on him and cut him off from his teammates."

Both of them nodded: "Understood, boss."

The most interesting part of Emery's tactics is the use of a three-man midfield.

In Sevilla's 2014-15 season, Banega usually played the role of attacking midfielder, with Krychowiak and Ivora occupying the positions behind him. This season Emery began to try Dehli and En

Zongqi's combination, but the effect is the same.

As the game progressed, Banega's position gradually retreated to better pass the ball. At this time, his vacancy was filled by Ivora.

When defending, Banega will not only help the forwards to defend, but also change the forward pressing method in time. This makes the team's midfield attack more diverse, and also gives the defense more options.

Sometimes Banega would even switch to a defensive position, which would help the team control the ball. When Krychowiak advanced, Banega would continue to defend in the midfield.

At the same time, left midfielder Bitolo followed the space on the left side in front of Banega. This added a lot of defensive pressure to Sevilla's right, but it also brought some problems to other positions on the court.

Personnel advantages.

When the opponent focuses on Sevilla's under-defended right wing, the ball will quickly move to other open areas.

In his last season at Sevilla, Rakitic played the role of a "box-to-box" all-around midfielder, and contributed greatly to the team's Europa League win; and now, Banega continues to pass on the legacy

Got Rakitic’s style.

"Today we must defend the left side well, because this is where their usual focus of attack is."

It can be said that Chelsea's left side has certain defensive weaknesses today.

Both Ake and Cancelo are very young, and Cancelo is even better offensively than defensively.

Sevilla's opponent, former Arsenal player Reyes, has the natural talent and spirituality of a Spanish player. He has delicate footwork and strong breakthrough ability, so he is still very threatening.

"You two," Pan Yi pointed at Cancelo and Ake, "you need to be closer in this game to avoid too much space between the two. And Kanter must also pay attention to returning to defense at any time to make up for them.

The space after pressing it up."

All three of them nodded to express their acceptance.

Pan Yi looked at Cancelo again: "Especially for you, the pressure will be greater. You have to focus on defense. Don't make easy moves, follow the opponent, maintain communication with your teammates, control their crosses from the wing, and cut inside.

Just leave it to your teammates."

Cancelo nodded solemnly again.

He knows very well that his side will definitely be the target of the opponent's attack. If he is not handled well, he may become the number one culprit for the team's loss.

And when Pan Yi chose to start him in such an important European Super Cup, he certainly didn't want to be such a sinner.

"That's pretty much it."

When Pan Yi said this, he looked at every player present with an extremely confident look:

"You have to believe me. As long as you play according to the way we arranged and practiced before the game, and don't take the initiative to make mistakes, the opponent will not get the slightest chance. And the final victory will belong to us!"

Pan Yi's words also excited everyone present. They cheered each other on and the shouts suddenly rang in the locker room!

——

In the Sevilla dressing room, the atmosphere was a little tense.

Every player in Sevilla is facing a tough enemy.

The players were divided into two rows, each sitting in front of the wardrobe. Emery stood among them, with a solemn look on his face.

"I believe I don't need to say more. Everyone knows that the opponent in this game may be the strongest team we have encountered in the past year."

"Their players all have outstanding personal abilities, and their head coach is Pan Yi, who is the best in today's football. They won the Premier League championship with an undefeated record and also won the Champions League championship."

Everyone nodded.

Chelsea's performance last season has become a legend, and the Sevilla players certainly know it.

In fact, apart from losing in two relatively tasteless competitions, the FA Cup and the League Cup, with a rotating lineup, Chelsea remained undefeated in all other competitions!

And there are very few draws among them, otherwise the Premier League scoring record would not have been set.
To be continued...