Chapter 227: Chapter 226 Ineffective Ball Control (Double monthly tickets event at the end of this month, oh)
On the contrary, Rio Ave maintained an extremely strong resilience and launched a fierce onslaught at the start of the second half.
Finally, in the fifty-seventh minute and the sixty-first minute, they scored two goals in quick succession, overtaking the score and assertively claimed the top spot with fifty-four points in real-time!
Moreirense were stunned.
Ronaldo in the front angrily punched the air and cursed, as he hardly touched the ball except when dropping back.
The team reverted to its lifeless state.
Similarly, Deng Kai also experienced for the first time what it felt like to be helpless up close.
This was the limitation of the team’s upper limit.
It wasn’t anybody’s fault; it was the most authentic part of Moreirense.
On the professional pitch, individual players may be able to change the score by their sole efforts, but it is hard to change the situation on the field by themselves.
This is something that future Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Ibrahimovic, and Debruyne would not be able to do.
In the past youth teams, Deng Kai had the confidence and the ability to completely change a team in a short period of time. The match he led against the Wahaha team was the best proof.
Wherever he went, that side would win by a large margin.
Such occurrences would be hard to come by in the future.
"Stay calm... keep calm... there will be opportunities..." Deng Kai furrowed his brow, retreated to the defensive midfield position to participate in defense, and carefully observed the situation on the field.
He quickly spotted an opportunity.
Or rather, he saw another version of Moreirense.
Bang!
Deng Kai, after gaining possession, sent a long ball towards the left flank.
The ever-ready Ronaldo would not miss any crucial moment, his feet as fast as the wind... only to be brought down.
"Too simple-minded, is this the so-called genius midfielder who is said to be even better than Sneijder and Van der Vaart?" Van Gaal swirled his wine glass in the box.
He actually knew about Deng Kai; Guardiola had mentioned him many times.
However, Van Gaal and Guardiola gradually had tactical disagreements, and after their honeymoon period, they entered an awkward phase.
So naturally, Van Gaal disapproved of the players that Guardiola favoured.
He even knew that Guardiola often asked for autographed footballs from teammates and then sent them to Deng Kai, people like Rivaldo, Cruyff, and others.
Next to Van Gaal, Ajax’s head of scouting was laughing along obsequiously.
It was he who invited Van Gaal to come here to help them have a lookout; they were very interested in Kilop and planned to buy Kilop at the end of the season.
About three minutes later, Deng Kai, who got the football again, launched another long-range counterattack.
Van Gaal watched with a furrowed brow.
This was simply without any level of organization.
Guardiola even said that the kid was a bit like Xavi and the Iniesta from the youth team... Could this compare to even a hair on the leg of a Barcelona player?
Bang!
Deng Kai initiated a long pass counter-attack targeting Ronaldo for the third time.
Van Gaal’s brow suddenly furrowed.
Because on the field... it suddenly opened up!
With Deng Kai’s three long-range counterattacks, Ronaldo’s speed and explosive advantage were fully realized.
Actually, even as he charged into the offensive third with the ball, he couldn’t possibly cause too much trouble for Rio Ave’s defense. After all, there were several defenders, and it was unlikely a single person could break through.
But it looked terrifying!
A single player, dribbling down the wing like a one-man show, cutting inside trying to penetrate the penalty area—it was enough to get anyone’s blood pumping.
This was a threat that was clearly visible to the naked eye.
Because of this, Rio Ave’s advanced formation instantly retracted as a whole.
Voluntarily relinquishing midfield control to Moreirense.
They were scared!
They didn’t want to concede a goal.
In their bones, they experienced the same "frailty" that stemmed from squad limitations, just like Moreirense!
When both teams wanted possession, the one better at control and with a stronger midfield could get more of the ball.
When neither team wanted it, the leading side could genuinely give it up.
So even though the Moreirense players didn’t really want to push forward, when the opponent backed off, we couldn’t just not press forward, right?
We still had to chase the score!
Moreirense started to push forward.
Deng Kai’s sense of powerlessness vanished, as he took control of the team once again.
In the 73rd minute, Deng Kai passed the ball to Alex, who was making a move on the right flank.
Alex’s cross created a dangerous situation, causing cold sweats for Rio Ave’s defense line. They urged their midfield teammates to close ranks even more, to protect the defense and not allow the opposition free chances to contest headers in the penalty area.
In the 76th minute, Alex feigned a move down the line but actually passed the ball to Flavio.
Flavio swept the football across the front of the goal, but unfortunately, it didn’t get past the Rio Ave defenders and was kicked away.
In the 77th minute, Serafim crossed from the left, resulting in a corner kick.
Then, the corner kick taken by Deng Kai attempted to catch the goalkeeper off guard with a direct shot on goal, which the goalkeeper reacted to in time, easily holding on to the ball.
Rio Ave even launched a counterattack, with Kilop receiving a yellow card to stop the opposition’s break.
The coach, players, and fans of Rio Ave were all incredibly relieved.
They had made the right decision.
Retreating after taking the lead to reinforce their defense, it wasn’t easy to lose a goal while they could also counterattack effortlessly, carving out high-quality opportunities—how comfortable is that!
Even Van Gaal thought that although Deng Kai managed to make the opponent pull back, it was actually disadvantageous for Moreirense to recover the score.
Teams on the offense are definitely more likely to concede goals than those playing defense—it’s such a simple truth. Could Deng Kai’s head not understand this?
"Many times, the team on offense is even harder to break through than the team on defense," Trigella explained to his assistant coach, who shared Van Gaal’s understanding of the game. "Our defense is actively positioned; the essence is to not give the opposition space to control the ball in our area."
"That’s why many teams have a higher possession rate than us, but if we are talking about ball control in the opponent’s half, we might even have more."
"Controlling the ball in your own half, is that threatening? Not really, especially when compared to controlling the ball in the opponent’s half."
"And a stat even more useless than controlling the ball at the back is called passive possession, which refers to ball control aimed at avoiding the opponent’s pressing. This type of possession, even if it reaches a hundred percent, is useless!"
"Rio Ave, with two consecutive goals earlier, were high on morale, controlling the ball in our half for extended periods. Our players’ passes, all aimed at dodging their pressing, were purely passive possession, simply ineffective control."
"Now, our ball possession is mainly focused in their half, which is the most efficient form of front-half control. The chances of scoring are much higher than before with passive possession, even considering the difficulties their defense brings, it’s still more advantageous than disadvantageous."
"The specific benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and the performance of Moreirense in the first half of the season has already provided the answer. Almost none of the matches where this team led ended in a win, which is very telling."
