What this means is that Dortmund often suddenly loses its footing at critical moments in league and cup matches and quickly loses its lead.

Sometimes, they can win the championship as long as they defeat an opponent who has no desire in the last game, but they often lose such a great opportunity.

This was actually an important reason why Bayern later became so outstanding in the Bundesliga.

In the Premier League, there is obviously an example, and that is Arsenal.

For all gun fans, the three signs of spring are: 1. The temperature is rising; 2. The days are getting longer; 3. Arsenal is out of contention.

In history, among the teams that have occupied the top spot in the Premier League for a long time and then were reversed and lost the championship, Arsenal has the most times and cumulative days.

In the 2022-2023 season, Arsenal went from leading Manchester City by 8 points to finally falling behind Manchester City by 8 points and losing the championship. This was accomplished in the sprint stage of the league using the results from April to May.

Of course, Pan Yi reminded me that he still believes that his disciples will not fall behind like Dortmund or Arsenal.

This is not just because Chelsea are currently in good form and have no tendency to fall off the charts;

Another part of the reason is that their opponent Manchester United in the FA Cup final has circumstances that are favorable to Chelsea.

That is the issue of Van Gaal's coaching position.

Rumors about Manchester United's senior management contacting Mourinho have been circulating for more than a day or two. Some reporters have even claimed that Manchester United has confirmed Mourinho's joining and has notified current coach Louis van Gaal.

No matter how strong Van Gaal's mental quality is and how high his professional quality is, as a man who only wants to make a name for himself in the Premier League and Manchester United, he will definitely be disappointed with such a decision.

Incidentally, this will more or less affect Manchester United's preparations for the FA Cup final.

It can be said that this is also indirectly helping Chelsea.

"We played two games against Manchester United in the league this season, winning one and drawing one. We drew with them 2:2 in the away game, and we only came back at the last minute to win at home."

"This also means that we are not 100% sure of winning Manchester United. They have stars like Rooney and Martial, and they have the opportunity to change the game."

"Therefore, in this FA Cup final, I ask you to give me a 120,000-point spirit. I want to see you show your best state and performance, and I want to see the FA Cup after the game.

Cup winner’s trophy!”

The players also nodded and clapped.

At this time, Pan Yi doesn't need to say anything, the players all understand the importance of this game.

Not to mention the seven crowns, even the triple crown is only the second time in the history of English football.

The only team that could win the treble of the season before was 99 Manchester United.

And this time by defeating Manchester United to win the FA Cup, it is an important step for Chelsea to complete the second treble in the history of English football, and then move towards the miracle of seven crowns that is unique in the history of world football!

Coupled with the bonuses for various championships that Abramovich has offered early...

It can be said that whether it is for fame or profit, Chelsea players will definitely try their best!

As for the tactics of this game, what Pan Yi emphasized the most is still the need for a stable start.

In the two games against Manchester United in the league, whether it was home or away, whether it was a win or a draw, Manchester United scored two goals.

This shows that Manchester United's offensive firepower is still quite good this season, while Chelsea also needs to improve defensively.

Pan Yi also played these four goals on the big screen several times in the conference room to remind his players that similar mistakes must not occur again.

Then, Pan Yi talked about Manchester United’s tactics:

"Manchester United's starting lineup may have some changes from the last two times we met."

"The biggest change is that Rashford may be allowed to start."

"He is a player with great speed and excellent skills at his feet."

"Since Van Gaal has such a forward, he is also likely to focus on defensive counterattacks in the FA Cup final and use Rashford's speed to attack us."

"So we just need to steadily control the game, control the rhythm, and then suppress the opponents and not let them have the opportunity to easily counterattack."

Marcus Rashford is known as "Master La" by people in the world, and this "master" refers to the old master Louis van Gaal.

This future British star was born in October 1997 and is only 18 years old now. He is also a native of Manchester, a member of Manchester United's youth training, and a man of Manchester with a good reputation.

On February 25 this year, Rashford made his Manchester United first-team debut in the second leg of the Europa League round of 32 knockout match between Manchester United and Denmark's Midtjylland.

He scored 2 goals for the team in this game, helping Manchester United defeat Midtjylland with a score of 5:1.

Four days later, in the 27th round of the Premier League, Manchester United played against Arsenal at home. Rashford made his Premier League debut and scored 2 goals, helping Manchester United win 3:2.

Beat Arsenal.

As he was named Manchester United's Player of the Month for February, Rashford gradually took up the main position in Louis van Gaal's team.

He made 11 appearances in the remaining Premier League games, scoring 5 goals and providing 2 assists.

Due to his outstanding performance, he, together with the 20-year-old Martial, has become the future hope of Manchester United's striker, and has also become an important support for Van Gaal now.

There is a joke that has been circulating in the football world for a long time. When Rashford scored a goal to help Manchester United win in the Manchester City Derby, Fan Shuai helped Rashford do his homework on the sidelines in order to express his gratitude...

…

After all, I am still only a high school student, so I do have a lot of homework to do!

"In terms of formation, Manchester United has also been using -1 recently, but because they focus on defensive counterattacks, their playing style is different from Guardiola's -1."

"In the defensive midfielder position, it is usually Carrick who is their center forward, and the center forward is Rashford. Rooney will support Rashford in the attacking midfielder position, while Mata and Martial

I will be on both sides."

"As for the other midfielder, it might be Fellaini or Herrera, but it doesn't matter much."

"The key point is to keep an eye on the two '1's' in their formation, then it won't be a big problem!"

Guardiola's -1 can be said to be a variant of -1, while Van Gaal's -1 is a variant of -1 or.

Compared with 433, 4141 is similar to retracting the two forward wingers to the full forward position, thereby becoming more flexible, and the offensive and defensive ends are also more balanced compared to 433.

In terms of player configuration, this formation is also similar to 433, with distinct requirements for the characteristics of the players:

First of all, in terms of defense, it is basically the same as other four-back formations. The two central defenders should have strong defensive ability and physical fitness, while the two full-backs need to have both solid defense and offensive attributes.

This skill allows the team to quickly jump in and launch a quick counterattack when the team switches from defense to offense.

As for the midfield, as the essence of this formation, the requirements for the characteristics and abilities of the five players in the midfield are naturally not low.

Perhaps at first glance, 4141 seems to be a deformation of 4231, just placing a defensive midfielder in front of the front midfielder, but judging from the positions in the actual game, the two people in the middle are more like "player No. 8"

"Central midfielder, rather than the role of "No. 10 player" as an attacking midfielder.

In other words, as the dual core of the team, these two people must have the characteristics of being able to attack, defend, play and rush.

When the team launches an attack from the center, the two people can have a clear division of labor. One of them will step in and become a pseudo center (Rooney), and the other will be responsible for passing the ball (Herrera or Fellaini).

In this way, the two can not only serve as the starting point of the attack, forming a good response to the forward through overhead balls or ground passes, but they can also directly threaten the center through long shots, breakthroughs, etc. when the center is completely blocked.

When the opponent is defending, the two central midfielders must also recover in time and change into 451 to assist the midfielder in completing the task of defensive interception in the midfield.

As for the role of the defensive midfielder, it is mainly responsible for the defensive tasks of the team's midfield. It is mostly played by some "sweeper" or "beast midfielder" type players. This is also a link required by most formations.

It's just that this formation is equipped with only one defensive midfielder. Therefore, in addition to having strong B2B attributes and strong physical fitness, this defensive midfielder must also have excellent defensive coverage in order to become one man against ten thousand men.

Mokai's huge barrier shoulders the important task of advancing, attacking, retreating and defending.

Therefore, for defensive midfielders, it is necessary to try to choose the kind of strong players who can fly up and down and never tire, such as Kanter.

But there is no Kante in the current Manchester United team, so we can only use the aging Carrick to solve this problem.

And this is actually the biggest shortcoming of this conventional-1 formation.

First of all, in terms of tactics, the difference between 4141 and other formations is that frontcourt pressure and pressing is one of the key tactics they must play.

Once the momentum and intensity of frontcourt pressure cannot be exerted, or the full-line retreat is not timely enough, it often means tactical failure. This is due to the shortcomings of the 4141 formation with a single defensive midfielder.

Because if the opponent easily breaks through the forward line and enters his own half, relying only on the weak lateral coverage of the only single defensive midfielder, it will be difficult to block the connection between more than two offensive players in the opponent's center. In this way, the opponent can easily

You can break through the defensive area of ​​the midfielder and directly face your own last line of defense, thus posing a threat.

In other words, if you want to make good use of 4141, pressing on the spot in the frontcourt is the most critical factor. After all, when the team that mainly plays this formation is in a defensive posture, the single midfielder is destined to become the focus of the opponent's attack. In order to ease the defense of the single midfielder

If there is pressure, the five players in front of him must "advance before retreating". In the past, they pressed and grabbed to limit the opponent's ball.

This not only prevents the opponent from successfully hitting the ball into the single defensive midfielder area, but if the ball is successfully won while harassing, it can also create opportunities to deal a fatal blow to the opponent at any time. Therefore, how strong the ability to press in the frontcourt can hinder the opponent.

The length of the quick counterattack, from the massive pressure during the attack to the efficiency of the retreat, will all be the key to the success or failure of this formation.

But the current Manchester United team is still difficult to achieve a truly effective frontcourt press, and this pressure will eventually be passed on to the defensive midfielder.

Precisely because of this, Pan Yi is still very confident in focusing on this "1".

In addition, since the main essence and core of the 4141 formation lies in the midfield, but the midfielder lacks an attacking midfielder role similar to that of 4231, both the wing midfielder and the two central midfielders are more important than the attacking midfielder.

A little further back.

As a result, if these players themselves do not have the advantage of speed and accurate long-passing skills, the counterattack will be very slow, and it will become a positional attack.

In addition, because the forward in the formation is alone in the frontcourt for a long time, it is easy to be surrounded and isolated by the opponent. Once the forward does not have the ability and physical fitness to strangle the defender and fight for the ball, the success rate of counterattack will be greatly reduced.

It can be said that Chelsea's Lukaku is the most suitable candidate to play this center.

As for the young Rashford, his body has not yet grown strong. He can use speed to counterattack, but if he wants to be a fulcrum, he is still a little green...

After analyzing Manchester United, Pan Yi also announced his starting lineup.
To be continued...