Breath of The Interferer - Chapter 109
Only Noblemtl
#109 – Breath of the Interferer_Key – 1689428
#
A first half with great significance
Gray rarely felt tired in the first half. I say rarely because he has felt that way before. He felt it against Dortmund and Real Madrid in the Champions League two years ago.
Marking Pogba now, I felt tired even though it was the first half. My body was still strong, but I felt mentally tired. Fortunately, thanks to Cha Beom-soo’s proper support, I was able to maintain my concentration. Benjamin, who played as a left midfielder, and Bonavich, who played as a right midfielder, were hardly able to attack and were concentrating on defense.
Renault and Hector, who started as attackers, did not get to play the ball many times. However, they surprised Manchester United players and fans in the few opportunities they had. Mourinho expected Hunter to play and sent out two physical players, Smalling and Phil Jones.
Thanks to this, two players with excellent dribbling skills, Renault and Hector, showed several threatening scenes. However, it was not only Mourinho’s prediction that was wrong. If Mourinho had sent out the starting lineup as predicted by Gisin, Notts County would not have had such a hard time.
Mourinho deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation. Pogba and Matić played as defensive midfielders, and Lingard, an attacking player, unexpectedly played. And Rashford, not Lukaku, played as the striker. Black failed to properly mark Rashford, who was good at dribbling and breaking through.
Moreover, because he frequently switches positions with Sanchez, Martial, and Lingard, Black often misses his opponents because he doesn’t know who to mark. He is barely holding on with the help of Cha Beom-soo and Beno.
‘If you’re a strong team, you should just use your strength and do your best. Why are you using your head and making a fuss?’
Compared to the limited number of players that can be fielded, Mourinho has a lot of leeway in tactical arrangements. Aside from the current starting lineup, Manchester United’s squad can field one more starting lineup that can compete closely with Notts County.
It was a draw in the starting lineup. Kishin made it difficult for Manchester United’s defense by not sending Hunter, and Mourinho also soiled Turner’s uniform by putting in one more attacking player instead of sending Lukaku. Mourinho’s greed was in his eyes as Turner’s reaction speed reminded him of De Gea in his prime.
The two wingbacks that Manchester United brought in last season are a Brazilian who is trusted and a Spanish who has a high success rate in investment. With the two wingbacks constantly participating in attacks, Benjamin and Bonavich were only focused on defense. The starting lineup was arranged to focus on defense anyway, but they were not able to resist at all, which made me angry.
But if you change players first, you will continue to be in a passive position. If you change tactics clumsily, there will be an opening and you can be exploited by the opponent. Tactical corrections should be made during the 15 minutes of rest. In the first half, you have no choice but to trust the players.
Sanchez, who had the ball, easily beat the Notts County defenders blocking his way. He beat one player, and another defender blocked his way. He beat another, and another defender appeared. He guarded the ball and looked ahead, but there was no space to pass. The two defenders he had broken through were now filling other defensive positions.
Notts County is playing a tight defense, not a solid defense. It is not a defense line that cannot be broken through if you put your mind to it, but even if you do, there is a new defense line waiting for you. They tried to confuse the defense with frequent changes of position, dribbling, breakthroughs, and passes, but Notts County’s defense line only wavered and did not break apart.
Sanchez didn’t see it with his eyes, but he passed it by feeling. He felt that someone was in that position. Lingard, who received Sanchez’s true no-look pass, poked a penetrating pass to Martial. Kim Si-woong’s agility is not bad, but he fell behind Martial because he couldn’t predict the pass.
Lingard and Martial’s attack was not prepared in advance, but was a temporary collaboration between the two. That’s why there was a lack of players to respond in the middle. Martial held his breath after putting strength into his right foot and waist. The moment his left foot drew a beautiful arc and hit the ball, several muscles tensed up. A powerful shot aimed at the square from less than 3 meters away from the goal was fired.
The ball bounced with a ding. Cha Beom-su trapped the bounced ball with his chest and kicked it over the touchline with an overhead kick. Marshall thought about the number three in his head. This opportunity was narrow, but it was definitely a one-on-one opportunity. The crazy keeper had already blocked three one-on-ones.
Martial had three one-on-one chances, and Rashford had two saves by Turner. Sanchez and Lingard’s shots from the arc were also all blocked by Turner. Manchester United’s attack began again with a throw-in. Mourinho shouted for the attack to speed up the tempo, but it was of little use. As they were repeatedly blocked by Turner’s saves, Manchester United players attacked more cautiously.
“Pogba, you’re a defensive midfielder. But why do you like to run around so much?”
Pogba stayed behind as Matić went up to support the attack. Gray followed Pogba because of his task of marking him. In this situation, Renault joined the defense.
“This is the stage. I like to use the stage big.”
Unfortunately, Pogba couldn’t remember Gray’s name. Of course, if you ask Gray to look at your back, you can see the name on the back of your jersey. But Pogba didn’t feel the need to do that.
“What if you don’t keep your spot and the team loses a goal? It’s all your fault.”
“I could go up and contribute to the team’s offense and help the team win. It would be more wrong to worry about making mistakes and not show the fans a great and great play.”
‘This kid is so shameless.’
Gray gave a subjective assessment of Pogba’s football philosophy. At that moment, as Pogba’s body became tense, Gray approached Pogba and glanced at him. Turner had the ball and Renault was running forward.
Gray stopped approaching Pogba and instead moved away, then raised his hand to signal Turner to pass the ball. Turner kicked the ball hard and it flew towards Gray. The roles were reversed, with Pogba guarding Gray.
Pogba is about 10 centimeters taller. However, Gray has better jumping ability. Gray, who had a chance to head the ball, delivered the ball to Renault. After landing, Gray gave a rare ‘instruction’.
“Hurry up, Hector.”
As Renault thrust the ball forward without stopping, Gray stopped talking and looked forward. But he did not forget to grab Pogba’s arm. With a sudden acceleration, Hector shook off two defenders and was about 35 meters from the goal, but he fired a powerful shot without hesitation.
De Gea, who was running forward, could only stare at the ball that was shot in a path that was completely out of his reach. The ball, which seemed to be heading out of the goal, suddenly sank as if someone had pulled it. A wonderful spinless shot split the Manchester United goal.
After thinking for a moment, Kishin instructed Renault to help with the defense. If I had my way, I would have brought Jeremy up right away to strengthen the defense. I would have liked to stabilize the three-back before Mourinho brought up Lukaku. However, I cannot act rashly against Mourinho, who has many cards to play.
In today’s game, Matic was deployed more in the attack than Pogba. The reason is that Gray kept following Pogba. This type of man-marking is not used much these days. Notts County is using this tactic due to Gray’s special nature. Gray, who suffers from mild autism, has difficulty carrying out overly complex instructions.
Sanchez’s powerful shot deflected off Cantu’s leg. Turner, who was about to fly, quickly touched the ground with his left hand to regain his balance and then flew again. The ball brushed Turner’s fingertips and hit the goal post. Black quickly handled the ball on the goal line.
When the corner opportunity arose, the two wing-backs dropped back and Smalling and John Fields entered the Notts County half. Pogba was marked by Gray and Matic by Cantu. Smalling and John Fields were marked by Black and Benoit.
Kishin sent a signal to Kim Si-woong. It was a tactic that he had promised to use only once in this game. Kim Si-woong headed to the arc area, which was Cha Beom-soo’s defensive zone, and left Sanchez to Cha Beom-soo.
Martial’s corner was a sharp corner kick from the far post. And it found the head of Sanchez, who has excellent spatial sense. However, what they did not expect was that Cha Bum-soo also has excellent spatial sense. He does not lose to Sanchez in jumping, body contact, or heading.
Cha Beom-soo’s heading ability of 10 finally shined. Because he was short and had a disadvantage in the fight for position, he didn’t have many opportunities to show off his heading skills. Cha Beom-soo’s heading was delivered accurately to Kim Si-woong.
Kim Si-woong dribbled forward after picking up the ball. The two wingbacks were unable to block Kim Si-woong because they were marking Renault and Hector. Most of the Manchester United players were unable to immediately follow Kim Si-woong due to the physical contact and jumping. Only Lingard was able to follow Kim Si-woong.
Kim Si-woong’s dribbling is not bad. He lacks penetration, but his fundamentals are solid, so he doesn’t kick the ball far when he dribbles. However, as Lingard followed him at a fast pace and interfered with him, he gradually moved to the right.
Manchester United already has three players back in defense. Lingard has no intention of stealing the ball. He just wants to hold on to Kim Si-woong. He wants to buy time until the other players return and re-establish the defense. That’s why he didn’t fall for Kim Si-woong’s fake.
“Hey, whoosh.”
When he heard a familiar voice from behind, Kim Si-woong passed without hesitation. After passing, he ran forward immediately. It was a pattern he had become accustomed to through training. Lingard followed Kim Si-woong.
Gray held the ball steadily and rolled it lightly with his toes. His heart pounded, making its presence known to Gray. Even in the tense moment, Gray thought that it would be embarrassing if the audience could hear his heartbeat.
‘Heel aligned with the back of the ball, toes pointing in the direction you want to send the ball.’
Gray’s left foot was placed exactly next to the ball. Gray has excellent control over his body. He can do any movement exactly if he puts his mind to it. The only problem is that it is very difficult for him to do so because of his autism.
‘It feels like my two legs are separate, and I’m swinging my right leg with the strength of my hips.’
Gray didn’t do any cross training, but he learned it by watching other athletes train.
‘The moment your foot hits the ball, twist your ankle in the opposite direction you want to rotate and apply force to your hips and thighs.’
“Beckham?”
Kishin was surprised by Gray’s unexpected attack and cross. However, the trajectory of the ball increased Kishin’s surprise dozens of times. Beckham’s cross, which had almost disappeared as the weight of the soccer ball became lighter and the material changed, was reproduced at Meadow Lane.
Hector used his leg muscles to head Gray’s ball. De Gea wasted no time in parrying Hector’s header from about 3 meters away. He spread his limbs and swung his arms, and the ball fortunately hit his left upper arm.
“mine.”
The ball that flowed out was shot into the goal by Renault, who arrived a step late. Hector and Kim Si-woong held Renault tightly as he tried to take off his uniform in excitement. After sending a cross, Gray stood still and pressed his heart area with his right hand. A pleasant thumping sensation spread throughout his body.
#