Chapter 121: No Front Formation Mancini was also scared and broke out in a cold sweat. When Montella shot the ball, he really felt that he was finished. He even imagined Moratti firing him in a rage, and he could only accept Inter Milan's sky-high penalty fee with tears. So after seeing Lin Feng clear the ball on the goal line, Mancini cursed directly. I don't know whether I should feel lucky to have survived the disaster or feel upset about missing out on the sky-high penalty. The continuous threatening attacks made Roma a little too complacent, and their formation was unknowingly pushed forward. This gives Inter Milan a chance to counterattack! In the 41st minute, Lin Feng passed the ball to the wing after passing the opponent in the middle. Recoba used his speed to pass the defender and sprinted with the ball at high speed. Inter Milan's formation quickly pressed forward, and Cruz, Lin Feng and others followed up immediately.

The Uruguayan dribbled the ball to the left side of the penalty area and made a lob pass. Cruz rushed in from outside the penalty area, snatched the ball between two opposing defenders, and headed the ball towards the goal with a diving header. Such a close-range header left Roma goalkeeper Doni helpless, and the ball crashed into Roma's goal. Inter Milan finally equalized the score at the end of the first half! Super substitute Kroos scored for Inter Milan again. This is his seventh goal this season! After scoring the goal, Cruz was very excited, and then he did something that Lin Feng didn't expect - he actually used Lin Feng's 'SIU' celebration move! “Haha, fans who are familiar with Lin Feng should know that this celebration was created by Lin Feng. I didn’t expect it to be imitated by his teammates.” "This also shows from the side that Lin Feng's celebration is indeed very handsome and cool, otherwise Cruise would not have imitated it so easily!" …… Inter Milan's goal brought both sides back to the same starting line, but Inter Milan, with high morale, was obviously not satisfied with the result. At the end of the first half, Inter Milan pressed forward, trying to seize the last time and launched a fierce attack on Roma. In the 44th minute, Cruz, who had just scored a goal, got another chance. He received the pass from his teammate with his chest in the penalty area, turned around and shot, but his shot was saved by Donny. The latter immediately launched a counterattack with a thrown ball. Totti started dribbling the ball from behind the center line, dribbled past two blocking players, and then cut diagonally into the middle from the left rib. Although Roma's teammates were a little slow in responding, he was put in the disadvantageous situation of fighting alone. But the Wolf King was very calm at this moment. Facing the pursuit and interception of Inter Milan defenders, Totti was not panicked at all. He calmly did not choose to shoot directly, but after seeing the goalkeeper choose to attack, he suddenly kicked the ball 20 meters in front of the goal and completed a clever lob with his right foot. The ball flew over Cesar who flew to save the ball and once again flew into Inter Milan's goal. 1: 2! Roma takes the lead again! This goal made Mancini shake his head repeatedly on the sidelines. Inter Milan's defense hardly posed much obstacle to Totti, allowing Totti to break through like an empty space! Is it that there is something wrong with his defensive tactics, or is Totti too strong? This goal made him feel the crisis of being sacked again, and Inter Milan's huge penalty fee seemed to be beckoning to him again. But Mancini still has dreams and he doesn't want to give up like this.

If he fails at Inter Milan this time, he will definitely be labeled a fake by the outside world, and it is very likely that he will never be able to make a comeback in the future. So, we must not lose! As the first half was about to end, Mancini did not stay on the sidelines, but simply turned around and walked towards the locker room. He needs to hurry up and think about the tactics for the second half, as there must be problems with the team's defensive arrangement in this game. How to limit Roma's offense is a question Mancini must think about. Otherwise, even if the team scores a goal on offense, it will lose because the defense line cannot withstand the opponent's offense. When the reporters at the scene saw that Mancini had not finished the game yet, he just left. Their eyes lit up and they picked up their cameras to take pictures of Mancini's back. They already had a caption in mind for the photo: "Mancini was dissatisfied with the team's performance and left the field early!" "The Nerazzurri's coach and generals are at odds, and they may miss the championship again in the new season!" "Mancini leaves the field sadly, is Inter Milan's coach in danger?" Mancini didn't know that the reporters were so imaginative. If he had known, he probably wouldn't have left so early. As soon as Mancini left, Roma almost scored another goal. In the injury time of the first half, Mancini Jr. and Montella passed the ball quickly, Taddei made a diagonal pass to the back post from the left, and Montella made a low shot with his right foot from 9 meters in front of the goal. Fortunately, Samuel returned to defense in time this time and flew to shovel the ball out of the baseline! Without him, Inter Milan would probably lose the ball again, and lose two goals within one minute! If this ball had gone in, Inter Milan's morale would probably have really collapsed. The Inter Milan fans in the stands can’t stand it anymore! Our offense was like constipation and we couldn't score a goal for half a day. The opponent's attack seemed to be sparse, always threatening their goal. Including Samuel's save, Roma has created four or five excellent scoring opportunities. If it weren't for bad luck, the score on the field would probably have become 1:3 or even 1:4! This made Inter Milan fans couldn't help but think: What happened to the team's defense today? Hasn't it always been rock solid? How come this scene was suddenly brought back to square one? The Inter players on the field were also thinking about this question. The opponent did not send out a strong center forward, and even Totti often retreated to the middle to receive the ball and rarely attacked the penalty area directly. But why is Roma's attack so sharp? Throughout the first half, they felt like they were surrounded by a pack of wolves. If they were not careful, the opponents might rush up from an unexpected direction and bite them. It would have been fine if Roma's wingers on both sides were active, but the key was that the opponent's two full-backs and even the central defender were also extremely active in the attack, joining in the attack many times. Faced with the opponent's offensive tactics, Inter Milan really had no good solution and could only passively take the beating. Finally, the first half ended and Inter Milan players dragged their tired bodies and walked towards the locker room with heavy steps. Their spirits were as tired as their bodies. Almost no one spoke along the way. Everyone lowered their heads and walked in silence. On the other hand, the Romans looked extremely relaxed.

When leaving the field, the Roma players were talking and laughing, and some even ran to sign autographs for fans near the player tunnel. Back in the locker room, Mancini had been waiting for a long time. He folded his arms and quietly looked at every player who walked into the locker room, his eyes sharp as if he wanted to pierce through the players' disguises and point directly into their hearts. Everyone lowered their heads and sat in silence on the bench in the locker room, waiting for the head coach's storm. But to their surprise, Mancini rarely got angry. This is not the style of the head coach. Everyone knows that he is a guy with a hot temper! If you're not angry now, are you planning something big? The players' hearts were beating fast and they became more and more uneasy. Da da da! Mancini knocked hard on the tactical board, and after all the players had looked over, he spoke: "The first half is over. How do you feel about the game?" The players thought Mancini was finally going to lose his temper, but unexpectedly he just asked a question. This will not fix them all. "Cordoba, you are a central defender, tell me what you think!" Seeing that everyone was stunned and no one volunteered to express their opinions, Mancini called on Cordoba's name. Cordoba scratched his big bald head: "My feeling? I feel that the opponent's attack, especially the attack in the flank area, is very sharp. It can always penetrate our waist and directly threaten the back line." When Cambiasso and Veron heard Cordoba mention them, they couldn't help but want to speak up to defend themselves. Mancini ignored the actions of Cambiasso and Veron and looked at goalkeeper Cesar. Cesar was very depressed. Not only was his home clean sheet record broken, but he also allowed the opponent to score two goals. What’s even more frightening is that with the opponent’s offensive strength in the first half, they might even lose the ball in the second half. So when Mancini looked at him, he immediately spilled all his dissatisfaction: "The opponent doesn't have a center forward in the penalty area. Totti doesn't like physical combat in the penalty area. I think our full-backs can block the inside and give up the outside when facing the opponent's attack from the wing, forcing them to the bottom line and forcing them to cross near the bottom line. In this way, our defensive success rate will be higher. In addition, we must be wary of their ground cooperation, especially the cross-position substitutions between the opponent's two wingers and their cooperation with Totti. The defensive midfielders and defenders should pay attention to the opponent's players who are running forward, and not just focus on the ball without looking at the players. As for the players in the front court, they must pay attention to the defenders coming from behind and not give them easy chances to shoot. " Because of his position, Cesar is facing the opponent's offensive direction, which allows him to see many things that defensive players cannot see. Mancini wrote down his suggestions one by one and his eyes swept over Cambiasso and Veron. The two men quickly began to defend themselves: "We have been helping the full-backs and wing midfielders to defend against the opponent's flank attacks, and we have also helped the central defenders to pressure Totti's position. The responsibility for the team's loss of the ball should not be blamed on us. We definitely ran the most distance in the first half!" After Cambiasso finished speaking excitedly, he seemed to have thought of something and quickly added: "Except Lin Feng!" Everyone was trying to hold back their laughter, but they didn't dare to laugh out loud. Mancini glared at Cambiasso, then looked at Lin Feng, changed his tone, and asked gently: "Lin, what do you think of the first half of the game?"

He left early and did not see Samuel's final clearance on the goal line. He only remembered Lin Feng's previous clearance. In addition, Lin Feng also orchestrated a goal, which made Mancini's attitude towards him completely different from that of others. "Coach, I think the opponent's offensive focus is in the midfield, not on the two flanks!" As soon as Lin Feng opened his mouth, he put forward a different point of view. After hearing Lin Feng's words, the teammates had different reactions. Veron raised his eyebrows and looked at Lin Feng deeply. Zanetti seemed to be thinking about something. He closed his eyes and tried hard to recall the opponent's several offensive processes in the first half. The other defensive midfielder Cambiasso sneered in his heart after hearing this: Haha, a yellow-haired kid who hasn’t even fully grown his hair, what does he know about defense? As a defensive midfielder, doesn't he know where the defensive pressure is greater? And this is not just his opinion. Everyone thinks that the defensive pressure on the wing is greater, but he is different. Who does he think he is? Mancini became interested in Lin Feng's answer: "Oh? Tell me!" Lin Feng stood up and walked towards Mancini: "Coach, can I borrow your tactical board?" Mancini nodded and signaled him to do as he pleased. After Lin Feng thanked him, he drew out several offensive routes of Roma in the first half on the tactical board according to his memory. "Please look at these, these are Roma's attacking routes in the first half. Pay attention to Totti's position. Although he plays as a striker, his position and role on the field are more like a midfielder." Everyone recalled carefully that Totti seemed to seldom rush into the penalty area. He was more often floating outside the penalty area and made many key passes. With this style of play, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a midfielder. "Totti plays like this because he is the tactical core of the team in Roma's offensive tactics. If Totti holds the ball in the midfield, our defensive midfielder must press forward, thus giving the opponent's two wingers space to advance in the flank area. If Totti passes the ball at this time and quickly moves forward, he can take advantage of the opportunity of our midfielder moving closer to the ball holder, shake off the player who is marking him, and create an opportunity to receive the pass from his teammate in an open space. This tactic can even be used again, using continuous two-on-one, two-on-two and other wall-type combinations to form a progressive forward advance and tear open our midfield and back line of defense. At the same time, Roma's two defensive midfielders and even the full-backs will press forward to form a 3-4 man offensive combination in local areas. This not only provides support and protection for teammates who are advancing, but also helps to resolve any counterattacks we may have after stealing the ball." The offensive tactics used by the Roma team have become popular 20 years later. But in this era, the strikerless formation is still very novel. When Spalletti came up with it at Roma, the entire football world had never seen it before and didn't know how to deal with it. It was precisely with this novel tactic that, after the Calciopoli scandal, Roma became the only team in Serie A that could compete with Inter Milan for the league championship. But it was Guardiola's Barcelona team that really promoted the strikerless formation! After all, they have a player in their team who is perfectly suited to the strikerless formation - Leo Messi! Mancini's brows relaxed. Lin Feng's explanation opened his eyes, and all the problems that had troubled him before were solved. I didn’t expect Lin Feng’s understanding of tactics to be so profound. Is this kid really only seventeen years old?

(End of this chapter)