I AM the Football Star

Chapter 699 178: Mei Luo Will Not Fall, Kan Blade Can Still Be Drawn (16,000-Word Special) (9)

Unless there are special circumstances, their disciples are also engaging in an evenly matched battle.

Such conflicts are the most dramatic and resonate most with people.

So, the emergence of Messi and C Luo, James and Kobe, may be accidental, but the war between talent and effort in sports competition is not accidental in this world; it will always exist.

Lu Yang's image in the Italian Football is definitely "a non-talent type player."

Because at the beginning, his dribbling, passing, and shooting were really terrible!

While he might dominate the leagues in the Italian D Division and Italian Third Division, he really didn't have the shadow of a superstar on him.

But players like Morici, Sevajos, Enriquez, and Mancini are different.

When they were kids at the youth training bases, they already had superstar flashes that people could see and believe in.

It's not that people are unfair to Lu Yang or more harsh on him.

It's because for players like Lu Yang, sharp eyes can't prove their greatness; only time can.

This is also the reason why countless professionals always favor Messi but not C Luo.

Because the former's greatness can be seen through experience, intuition, and professional knowledge, when you see the former, you'll exclaim how can someone have such godlike prowess?

But when you see the latter, you'll only marvel at how can someone have such godlike luck? When time passes, you realize, oh, his godlike aspect is not just luck, but also skill.

...

Beep!

With a sound of the whistle, the match officially begins.

San Remo immediately felt how well-prepared Udinese was.

Regional defense!

Udinese arranged a zone defense specifically in their midfield!

This position is exactly where San Remo executes chain swapping.

Their defensive players manage zones in this position rather than strictly man-marking.

No matter how San Remo's players dart around here, their defense won't have significant flaws as a result.

As a consequence, the passing and positioning of San Remo in this area gives an impression that is very... comical!

Yes, comical!

A futile scurry.

To break this zone defense, one has to understand how Udinese's zone defense divisions are set up.

Especially where the boundaries lie.

Only by repeatedly threading through the boundaries of their defense zones can confusion be created.

And top-notch zone defense teams might not even have such sensitive areas; their zone defense has reached perfection!

Italian teams are already proficient at this kind of zone defense, and a bit of tailored design can really counter alternating strategies.

And to figure out the other team's zone defense divisions, unless you see the grid drawn on the field, like the aerial photography of Guardiola's training ground divisions.

Or expand San Remo's swapping strategy into other areas.

But Barcelona might achieve that; San Remo cannot reach this level.

Even for Barcelona, facing a perfect zone defense, infinite swapping can be countered.

This is also why Lu Yang said that Barça would most likely be eliminated if they faced AC Milan.

AC Milan's offensive and defensive systems are both the nemesis of Barça!

Moreover, their offense and defense cores are still at their peak, especially Izalelt, who could kill with a single opportunity given by Barça.

Of course, if Barça were in full form and developed Mateo's Origin Burst ability, then a world-class Origin Burst capability with infinite switching, it would really be insurmountable.

So... here comes the answer.

Origin Burst!

The best state for switching defense is to exploit vulnerabilities.

But as positioning gets analyzed, the limit of switching defense is to create one-on-one situations.

At this moment, players with burst capability will determine the outcome of the match.

"Morici, break through them!" Lu Yang spoke, "There are plenty of one-on-one opportunities when they're in a zone defense."

Morici understood and made a crossover swap with Sogel.

Bam!

Morici's Fried Meatballs move was blocked, and the football was intercepted.

The difficulty of one-on-one breakthroughs is actually very high, especially when speed isn't a factor.

With continuous positioning and passing, the ball speed certainly isn't fast.

If you could continuously and quickly pass the ball, then no tactics would be needed to send the football to the opposing goal. If everyone in the team could play a ping-pong style of passing and fast wall-passing with Lu Yang or Morici, San Remo would be declaring invincibility.

With a slow ball speed, the defenders have a huge advantage, especially in the middle.

On the flanks, they might let you go; with a burst, you might have a chance to leave them behind.

In the middle, even if your burst is godlike, once they recognize your move, they can bring you down.

The so-called Origin Burst refers to a player's ability to break through at low speeds or even from a standstill.

Morici's turnover is not surprising.

He is not strong at Origin Burst.

There aren't many players in the world with strong Origin Burst ability.

Izalelt, Zidane, Gutierrez, Jelando, Vedian, Bai Zhami, Talista, whether at Golden Ball level or Serie B level, no matter how excellent the player, it's hard to have an overwhelming advantage in Origin Burst.

Except... Barça's Mateo!

Currently, Gudiola hasn't realized this yet; he hasn't perfectly combined Mateo with his tactics, but once he does... the football world will face a concluding era.