Football Feast, Starting From the Acquisition of European Clubs: Chapter 302 G14
Chapter 302 G14
After the game against Arsenal, Crystal Palace can take a breather.
Although the League Cup game will start in three days, their opponent in this round is the lower-level team South Allianz, which is weaker.
Chen Ran not only prepared to let the substitutes deal with the game, but also handed over the command of the game to Guardiola and the three of them.
No surprises, Crystal Palace beat South Allianz 4:1 at home with goals from Dzeko, Cesc Fabregas, Cavani and Alves.
While successfully advancing to the fourth round of the League Cup, Chen Ran also got a "Level 1 Rehabilitation Card" from the system.
After a two-day break, Crystal Palace ushered in the eighth round of the Premier League.
This time, they are going to play Bolton at home.
After Allardyce left, Bolton's performance in the new season has plummeted. Currently, he is only ranked second to last in the Premier League standings, and the relegation situation is in jeopardy.
In the face of such an opponent, the game is naturally no suspense.
With goals from Tony, Ronaldo and Kaka, Crystal Palace beat Bolton 3-0 at home. While getting three points, Chen Ran also got a "first-level sight card" from the system.
In the other matches of this round of the Premier League, several strong teams have all won.
Manchester United beat Birmingham 1:0 away, Chelsea beat Fulham 1:0 at Stamford Bridge.
And Arsenal and Liverpool also beat Aston Villa and Wigan Athletic with the same score of 1:0.
Just when Chen Ran was busy preparing for the Champions League away game in Valencia four days later, he suddenly received a very unexpected news.
"Chen, G14 sent us an invitation today, hoping that Crystal Palace can become a new member of G14. Do you think we accept or reject?"
Hearing what Stephen reported, Chen Ran couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
G14?
Has this organization been disbanded yet?
Although there was a lot of noise when it was established, G14 gradually became silent.
Unexpectedly, they are now eyeing their own Crystal Palace. For a while, Chen Ran didn't know how to answer.
Because he knew very well that the final end of G14 was nothing but nothing, but this organization seems to have a role in enhancing Crystal Palace's force.
After all, being able to become a member of G14 means that Crystal Palace has been recognized and accepted by those old giant clubs.
Moreover, from the memory of his previous life, even if G14 was disbanded later, those member clubs lived well and were not sanctioned by UEFA, so the risk was not very big.
After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Chen Ran turned to look at Stephen.
"Stephen, I plan to accept G14's invitation to join this organization, what do you think?"
"Er Chen, UEFA has always regarded G14 as a thorn in its side. Will joining us at this time make UEFA unhappy?"
"There are so many old and powerful clubs in G14, and UEFA's main focus is on them. As long as we don't stand out after joining, UEFA probably won't care about our juniors."
"Stephen, the reason why I am willing to join G14 is mainly because I want to break into the circle of giant clubs. Although Crystal Palace's results have been good in recent years, they have always been excluded from this circle. This time is a rare opportunity, I don't want to. miss."
Hearing Chen Ran's thoughts, Stephen couldn't help but nodded, which he felt deeply.
Circle culture is prevalent not only in China, but also in Europe and the world.
"Okay, then I'll go back to them in a while, Crystal Palace is willing to join G14."
After handing over the matter of joining G14 to Stephen, Chen Ran took the Crystal Palace team to Valencia, Spain.
The years after entering the 21st century are the most brilliant times for Valencia.
Not only won the La Liga trophy from Real Madrid and Barcelona twice, but also won the UEFA Cup.
Even reached the Champions League final twice, only to fall short in the end.
In the summer transfer period this year, Valencia continued to strengthen the team's lineup.
They spent 17 million euros to buy the 202cm-tall Serbian high center Zikic from Sporting Santander, and also used 15 million euros to introduce Portuguese midfielder Fernandes from Benfica, and 6 million euros to buy Spanish defender from Getafe Alexis.
In addition, they also used the free transfer method to introduce Spanish central defender Elgra, Spanish striker Mata from Real Madrid, and German goalkeeper Hildebrand from Stuttgart.
Coupled with the already strong team lineup, this Valencia team can be called a strong team.
Coach Ronald Koeman is also Chen Ran's old rival. He played against Crystal Palace in the Champions League last season when he coached PSV Eindhoven.
Although he lost to Crystal Palace in the end, he led PSV to win the Eredivisie title last season. So after just one season in charge of PSV, he was dug over by Valencia.
This time, after taking over the more powerful Valencia, Ronald Koeman tried his best to face the Crystal Palace who beat him last season.
striker Morientes, striker Zhikic
Left MF Vicente, MF Albelda, MF Baraja, MF Joaquin
Left-back Moretti, center-back Elgra, center-back Albiol, right-back Miguel
Goalkeeper Canizares
On the Crystal Palace side, Chen Ran, who had done his homework, did not dare to take his opponent Valencia lightly.
Chen Ran, who has always paid attention to the height of players, has hoarded a batch of tall men for Crystal Palace.
This makes it possible to directly use the unreasonable method of high-altitude bombing to break the game even if the Crystal Palace's attack falls into a dead end, and the effect has been very good.
Now, after learning that Valencia also brought in Zikic, who is 202cm tall like Jan Kohler in the summer, and checked the heights of other Valencia players, Chen Ran understood that it was Crystal Palace's turn. The line of defense is about to undergo a severe test.
In addition to Zhikic's height of 202CM, there are also Albiol's height of 190CM, Moretti's height of 187CM, Morientes' height of 186CM, etc.
And on the wing, Valencia also has players who are good at breaking through. Whether it is Joaquin or Vicente, they have the ability to send enough crosses to the two centers of Zhikic and Morientes.
Therefore, after thinking it over and over again, Chen Ran made some fine-tuning of the starting lineup.
Center Tony
Left midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, midfielder Kaka, right midfielder Ribery
Vieira, midfielder, Yaya Toure
Left-back Chiellini, center-back Thiago Silva, center-back Vidic, right-back Maicon
Goalkeeper Cech
He replaced Modric with Yaya Toure, a black big man, in order to increase the hardness and height of the team's defense.
And at the pre-match preparation meeting, Chen Ran also specifically explained his two main fullbacks, Ronaldo and Ribery.
"Chris, Frank, Valencia's two full-backs, Joaquín and Vicente, are both players with strong breakthrough ability. It would be very difficult to defend only by Maicon and Chiellini. "
"So, my request to you two is that if Valencia attack from the wing, the two of you have to come back and help the full-backs defend. Understand?"
"Okay, boss."
"Don't worry boss, wrap it on me."
When the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game, Valencia's tactical play was exactly as Chen Ran had judged. One pass after another was sent to the feet of Joaquin and Vicente on the two flanks.
Regarding Chen Ran's orders, neither Ronaldo nor Ribery dared to neglect, and honestly returned to the defense to help Chiellini and Maicon defend.
For a while, it was successful in containing Valencia's two wing offensives.
Even though Joaquin and Vicente barely managed to send the ball into the penalty area of Crystal Palace, they were destroyed by Vidic or Thiago Silva because of the poor quality of the pass.
This time, seeing that he made a pass from the flank, and couldn't play the good trick of outflanking and grabbing points in the middle, Ronald Koeman on the sideline was suddenly a little dumbfounded.
It's not that he doesn't have a backup plan. It's just that the game has just started. Would it be too early to change his tactics now? Is this a disguised admission of the failure of his tactical arrangement? Will you be laughed at?
After hesitating for a while, Ronald Koeman finally decided to observe again, maybe the situation would open up after a while.
Holding a fluke, Ronald Koeman did not take any action even if he found a problem.
On the Crystal Palace side, although Valencia's wing attack was successfully contained, it also greatly restrained the physical strength and energy of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribery, making Crystal Palace's own wing attack also affected, not as usual. Sharp.
Seeing this situation, Chen Ran immediately went to the sidelines and called Kaka over by taking advantage of the dead ball.
"Ricciardo, Ronaldo and Ribery's energy is now mainly on defense. Next, you will be the starting point of the attack, and you should dribble the ball from the middle. As for whether to pass or shoot, you make up your own mind."
"Understood, boss."
Kaka, who received Chen Ran's latest order, returned to the field and gave Valencia a heavy punch.
After receiving a pass from Vieira, he passed Baraja and Albelda in the middle in succession, and then scored a powerful shot before Helguera got on it.
The ball was very heavy, that is to say, the angle was not very difficult, and was saved in time by Valencia's goalkeeper Canizares.
Ronald Koeman, who was on the sidelines, broke out in a cold sweat and ordered Baraja and Albelda to strengthen the defense against Kaka.
In the next game, the two teams will see back and forth between restrictions and anti-restrictions. Until the end of the first half of the game, the score on the field had not changed, and it was still 0-0.
At halftime, neither Chen Ran nor Ronald Koeman made any substitution adjustments.
At the beginning of the second half, the field was still as anxious as the first half.
When the game reached 60 minutes, Ronald Koeman finally couldn't help but shoot.
Without enough crosses from the flank, the 202CM high center Zikic became a display.
You want him to go out of the penalty area to cooperate with his teammates, and then turn around and go forward to grab some points. That's impossible.
So Ronald Koeman replaced Zhikic with Huluwa Villa and played forward with Morientes.
The main striker configuration of the Spanish national team is Torres, Raul, Morientes and Villa.
Seeing Villa playing, although Chen Ran also attached great importance to it, he was quietly relieved.
Zhikic with a height of 202CM came off the field, and the threat of Valencia's side pass was immediately reduced by half, and Ronald Koeman couldn't use the tactics of high-altitude bombing at the last moment.
"Josep!"
Valencia just finished changing people, and Chen Ran immediately turned around and called Guardiola over.
"Boss, what instructions do you have?"
"You go and tell Messi to warm up and replace Ribery with him later. Then tell him and Ronaldo that Joaquin and Vicente are not to be dealt with by them, and they are all left to Chiellini and Maicon to defend. The two of them The next task is to attack, attack, attack. Understand?"
"Understood, boss!"
Soon, with the arrival of Messi, the tactical play of the entire Crystal Palace suddenly changed dramatically.
From the first minute of the game, Joaquin and Vicente, who had suffered from double-team defense, suddenly found that they only needed to face a full-back from Crystal Palace, and they were instantly happy.
However, they both found themselves rejoicing a little too early.
Whether it is Chiellini or Maicon, the one-on-one individual defensive ability has also been tested by countless games.
Although there is no way to prevent the two from losing their temper as before, the number of times they can successfully break through is still very limited.
In the penalty area of Crystal Palace, after Zhikic came off, Chen Ran also made adjustments to the defensive tasks of the two central defenders.
Vidic, who was originally in charge of marking Zhikic, now switches to Morientes; and Tiago Silva, who was originally responsible for marking Morientes, now switches to Villa.
After this adjustment, even if Joaquin and Vicente were able to send the ball into the penalty area of Crystal Palace, they were all destroyed by Vidic and Thiago Silva one by one.
Without any worries, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was released from the seal by Chen Ran, and Messi, who was newly replaced, immediately showed Crystal Palace's sharp wing attack to the fullest.
When the game reached the 69th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was holding back for most of the half, after receiving Vieira's pass, first played a two-to-one with Kaka to pass Joaquin.
Then used his speed advantage to force overtake Valencia's right-back Miguel, and finally sent the ball into Valencia's penalty area before it was about to cross the baseline.
At this time, Tony, who was in the restricted area, had already waited long enough.
(end of this chapter)