Chapter 120: Continuous Suppression

"The first half is over! Ajax has not been able to adjust its form against Arsenal!"

"The overly young age structure can certainly make the team burst out with enough enthusiasm and momentum, but the inability to reasonably use this enthusiasm has led to Arsenal firmly controlling the situation throughout the first half!"

"Especially the absence of veteran captain Schone has put the team in a situation of organizational weakness!"

After Paul Merson finished speaking, Dixon on the side added:

"We all underestimated the importance of Schone to this Ajax. He certainly can't burst out with enough momentum like De Jong and other young people, but his experience can help the team stabilize the rhythm of the midfield! This is his most critical role!"

"Without Schone, we can clearly see that Ajax has no way to compete with Arsenal's control of the midfield!"

As the two commentators said, Ajax's performance in the first half was unsatisfactory.

Although they have many talented young players in the team, they are unable to integrate this power and burst it out. Everyone can only fight alone and cannot form a unified tactical positioning, which makes Arsenal play very easily.

And Arsenal is also deliberately splitting this team.

Compared with the too young Ajax, Arsenal's age structure seems extremely reasonable.

The team has veterans like Hummels, as well as backbones like Lucky, and young players are constantly showing themselves.

In this case, it is a bit unrealistic for Ajax to win from Arsenal.

At least from the situation in the first half of the game, Ajax is in an absolutely passive situation.

In the locker room of Ajax, head coach Bos is shouting loudly.

The young players lowered their heads one by one, and De Jong, Ziyech, De Ligt and other players had a frustrated expression on their faces.

They couldn't understand why it became so difficult to play.

And Arsenal has already scored two goals, which makes them more urgent.

"There must be some changes in the second half. The midfield cannot play so passively!"

After the head coach Bos said this, he turned to look at De Jong and said, "Your task is to help the team stabilize the midfield. Don't be carried away by Arsenal's rhythm. If you really don't know what to do, just control the ball and wait for the rhythm to slow down!"

Head coach Bos understood.

It is unrealistic to let Ajax and Arsenal attack at a fast pace.

Every pass of Lekai is constantly attacking Ajax's defense, while Ajax passes aimlessly.

Instead of playing so passively, it is better to take the initiative to slow down the rhythm. As long as they play slower, these young players will eventually find their form.

But that being said, will Arsenal really give them a chance to slow down the rhythm?

"In the second half, we must speed up the pressing in the middle and front court and not let Ajax find the rhythm. As long as we can continue to press and put pressure on them, their transmission will inevitably be chaotic, and we can use this chaos to kill them with one blow!"

Mourinho said it with great confidence.

Arsenal is very good at breaking this kind of chaotic scene.

Or, because of Lucky's existence, Arsenal is very good at doing this kind of thing.

Lucky's ability to find opportunities in chaotic situations is amazing.

Mourinho also believes that Lucky can complete the tasks he has assigned.

Lucky also nodded to Mourinho in response.

After the tactical arrangement was completed, Lucky was also drinking water slowly.

The physical energy consumption of this game was not large. Although the game seemed to be fierce, the rhythm was actually controlled by Arsenal. Therefore, the physical fitness of Ajax players was more tested.

On the other hand, Arsenal seemed to play actively, but in fact they were more passing the ball, so they saved a lot of physical energy.

The whole first half was suppressing!

In the second half, Arsenal had to suppress more fiercely.

Mourinho's tactics were very simple, disrupting the situation, seizing opportunities, killing with one blow, and completely killing the game!

Players from both sides returned to the field.

Under the camera, the players of Ajax all had tense faces, and their performance was not as serious and dignified as before.

Obviously, they were conceded two goals in a row by their opponents when playing at home, which was not good.

Even when they were young, they could not play so loosely.

The young players of Ajax wanted to regain some scenes in the second half, and they all tried their best.

"Play more focused and wait for my pass!"

De Jong rarely spoke, trying to motivate his teammates.

But after saying this, he got stuck.

On the other hand, Arsenal, led by Lukay, began to scream one by one.

I don't know who is the young man.

In the second half, Arsenal took the lead.

The whistle sounded.

Lukaku passed the ball back to Lukay.

At this time, the opponent's center forward Dolberg sprinted towards Lukay.

Lukay turned around and continued to pass back, Dolberg passed Lukay and continued to rush towards Hummels.

Hummels made a direct pass, and Robertson didn't even stop the ball, and passed it back to Lucky.

Lucky stopped the ball and turned around in one go.

Dolberg sprinted around Arsenal's half without even touching the ball.

Lekai turned his head and looked over. This sprinting and pressing was indeed impressive, but the problem was that no one else from Ajax came to help defend.

Arsenal only needed to run to the empty space, and it would be a monkey-walking situation.

You say he is active, he is indeed very active.

But it is useless to rob like this.

Lekai passed the ball forward, and after entering the Ajax half, their pressing formation became more formal.

Everyone was running actively, after all, they were assisting in defense and blocking.

Lekai couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

Is this to compete with them for the rhythm of the midfield?

Ajax pressed fiercely, and with the advantage of numbers, Arsenal lost the ball.

But Arsenal did not retreat, but directly counter-robbed on the spot.

Arsenal's high-pressure pressing is not inferior to any team, and with Lekai, a player who always appears in the key passing channel, Ajax has difficulty controlling the ball.

De Jong is trying to fulfill his duties, but he finds that this is not an ordinary difficulty.

Under Arsenal's pressing, he can't slow down the rhythm at all.

The ball cannot be controlled at the feet.

This also led to Arsenal still dominating the rhythm of the game.

Arsenal was pressing, so Ajax had to pass the ball quickly according to the pressing rhythm.

Once they failed to keep up with the rhythm, or were a beat slower, they would be directly surrounded by Arsenal for multi-player pressing.

Encountering this situation in Ajax's half, this was not what they wanted to see.

"I can't control the ball!"

Paul Mossen shook his head.

He was worried about playing against Ajax.

After entering the second half, Arsenal's pressing rhythm in the midfield became more turbulent.

They did not give Ajax any chance to "slow down".

De Jong could not control the ball and could not observe calmly.

Arsenal was used to this rhythm.

Under repeated pressing, Ajax's passing rhythm became chaotic.

The central midfielder had to retreat to receive the ball to help the team solve the dilemma.

But it still didn't work. Without passing forward, how could they score a goal or clear the siege?

In this situation, De Ligt finally couldn't bear the pressure and kicked the ball out of the half court.

"Pass the ball forward! What are you waiting for? Why are you passing it backwards!"

De Ligt is young, but has a loud voice.

In this situation, the central defender is under the most pressure.

Passing back again and again, watching the opponent's forward rushing towards him again and again, as long as his movements are a little slower, or there is a little mistake, it will be fatal.

In this situation, it is difficult for De Ligt to maintain his mentality.

De Ligt's long-foot clearance also allowed Arsenal to control the ball steadily again.

Lekai held the ball again, and he opened his hands and pressed down.

"Slow down!"

Immediately, Lekai passed the ball to Aubameyang, and he ran to the empty space.

The ball came back to Lekai's feet.

Facing the opponent's midfielder's pressing, Lekai turned around and passed the ball, but he did suddenly stand and shoot from a distance.

This was a shot near the penalty area line, and the ball went to the dead corner of the right goal.

The ball was about to enter the goal, but the opponent's goalkeeper made a wonderful save and lifted the ball out of the goal.

"A dead-angle shot! Kai's long shot was extremely sudden, but the Ajax goalkeeper still reacted, and Kai did not run up, resulting in a lack of power in the ball. Although the angle was tricky, the speed of the ball was not too fast!"