I AM the Football Star

Chapter 249 - 87: A Top Defender Can Steal From Opponents—and Teammates

Sotu thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, I’ll make the appropriate adjustments. But we don’t have much time, just two matches later, it will be the fifth round of the Italian Cup. In this match, I hope we can go one step further because the opponent is not unbeatable."

San Remo’s opponent in the fifth round of the Italian Cup was actually an old rival of Lu Yang.

Currently, it is also the leader of the Italian Second Division standings, Chievo!

They are a team above the standard of the Second Division, as they played in Serie A last season.

There are many reasons why they were relegated last season, and an important one was the conflict between their strong forward line, leading one to be loaned to a Fourth Division Turi team.

And it turns out, the one who was loaned out might have been the more reliable one.

Because this season, with both the star forward and the head coach gone, that Second Division divine striker once again leads the team far ahead of other Second Division teams.

Brescia, Benevento, these strong Second Division teams aiming for promotion are all suppressed by Chievo.

And that divine striker is named Diego Talista!

Originally, it was thought that the next encounter would be on the stage of Serie A.

Unexpectedly, Lu Yang will meet that old opponent again so soon.

Honestly, Lu Yang is someone who cannot accept failing in front of "old friends."

He doesn’t want to lose the game against Talista at all.

So he must settle the recent turmoil within the team before this.

In this regard, he and Sotu have a very unified opinion.

...

On February 2nd, just two days after the winter transfer window closed, San Remo ushered in their second match after the winter break.

They faced Allez, currently the leader of the Italian Third Division standings!

The two teams had met last season, at that time San Remo won but it was hard-fought, solely relying on Lu Yang’s last-minute goal.

Just like San Remo, Allez is extremely stable in the league. San Remo had three draws and two losses for the rest of the first half of the season, yet they were three points behind Allez.

So, this is a super match worth six points, likely to determine the ownership of the Italian Third Division champion for this season.

As soon as the match started, Allez posted a 352 or rather a 532 formation.

This is their second formation, not their first choice.

But they believe that such a formation against San Remo can establish a tactical advantage.

They rely on their numerical advantage in the midfield to exploit San Remo, which has no midfield, and forcibly separate San Remo’s front and back lines.

To get through the half, San Remo had to greatly increase the fallback of both wingers and even the central forward.

This was intentionally further consuming San Remo’s already fatigued wingers.

It also capitalized on the fact that San Remo’s fullbacks didn’t have the ability to press forward.

This indeed was a tactical suppression.

And from the overall season’s perspective.

If other teams persist in playing this way, increasing the burden on San Remo’s flanks, then at the end of the season, San Remo might face a new wave of injuries.

At that point, even if San Remo can advance, they will lose their qualification to compete with Allez for the Italian Third Division champion.

It’s been half a season, so the opponent finding out the shortcoming of San Remo’s formation is very normal. No team leading the standings was just sitting around.

"Why don’t you come up? What are you afraid of? Lace up with me, we can make it!"

San Remo’s starting right winger Becher’s was quite dissatisfied with his right-back Matias on that side.

Becher’s didn’t want Matias to transform into Italy’s legendary fullback Taji; he just needed someone to help share defensive pressure and act as a tool for wall passes.

But Matias is a defensive right-back, especially during the time Lu Yang played as left-back, Matias often swayed to the rightmost position in the three-center-back formation.

In his bones, there is no gene for advancing and taking risks.

This is his flaw but also his strength.

Many people say Lu Yang’s all-round play impedes the creativity and development space of his teammates.

But the premise is that teammates must have the space and willingness to improve.

In fact, put another way, Lu Yang’s versatile play was born to compensate for his teammates’ deficiencies, allowing them to play comfortably.

Fernandez cannot perform charges, Matias is unwilling to take risky advances, when Lu Yang responds on the right, he naturally falls back deeper.

Bai Zhami is not good at cooperating, Rondo is slow and can’t push up, when Lu Yang responds on the left, he prefers more dribbling breakthroughs, only linking with Bai Zhami in the attacking third, giving Bai Zhami room to play.

Whether the teammate’s versatility hurts others’ development is a very worthy topic of discussion.

Previously, many media accused Sotu’s approach was sacrificing for the whole team to cooperate with Lu Yang’s movement.

But this was already the only option, Lu Yang was indeed also sacrificing for everyone.

But Becher’s is different, he demands the whole team to serve him alone.

When he needs wall passes, you have to come up as a wall, even if you lose your defensive position, he doesn’t care!

When he needs space, you have to help him create it, even if once you pull apart there is no passing option for him, he doesn’t mind.

Then when he needs support, he will complain about why you are so far away, and the reasons, he doesn’t care, he wants what he feels, not listening to any explanation.