Chapter 405: Chapter 404: Shaping Players into the Desired Form
"Honestly, you can’t possibly not see that Ronaldinho is stronger on the left wing. From Ronaldo’s perspective, moving to the right doesn’t play to his strengths, but from the team’s perspective, that’s where the maximum benefit lies." Guardiola’s eyes were spinning round and round, clearly up to no good, the sly baldy.
What he meant was probably not just that Ronaldo should go to the right.
It also included that Deng Kai should move to the backfield.
Deng Kai completely ignored Guardiola.
The bald man was embarrassed.
It wasn’t until Guardiola noticed that Deng Kai had forgotten to serve himself soup and helped him get a bowl that Deng Kai leisurely began to speak, "Generally, I wouldn’t discuss tactical strategies related to team-building with the players."
"Unless I need to motivate them, then I would only talk about the part that involves them."
In other words, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo’s positions are none of your business!
"But... I’ve seen the application you submitted to join the Trigella-Maxa tactical study group," Deng Kai said after finishing his soup, signaling Guardiola to serve another bowl.
The group was established at the initiation of Deng Kai, focusing mainly on tactical research with members including Deng Kai, Trigella, Maxa, Matthaus, Deschamps, Schmeichel, Joao Pinto, Paolo Bento, among others.
The team’s tactical analysis and player movement and so on would all be discussed in this group.
The two-legged contest against Barca in last year’s European Union Cup was the group’s crowning achievement, already gaining some fame in the industry.
Part of ’Santo’s’ reputation also came from here.
After finishing the second bowl of soup, Deng Kai said, "At first, I thought with your tactical expertise and personal experience, you would understand this move. But to my surprise... you’ve let me down a bit, Guaguo."
Guardiola racked his brains, then a lightbulb went off, "Wait! Are you talking about... possession!"
Deng Kai smiled.
No wonder he could become the mighty Guardiola in the future.
The bald man had potential.
Guardiola’s momentum was unleashed, "Ronaldinho’s style is flamboyant, his footwork is excellent, boasting a feel for the game, technique, speed, and imagination. But the more this is the case, the harder it is for him to pass the football to someone else as soon as he gets it."
"It’s not that he’s selfish but with his abilities, indeed, he can handle a lot of one-on-one challenges. From his point of view, he hasn’t lost possession; he’s done his job creating threats and he might even score directly, which is a successful attack."
"But from a macro perspective, his long time on the ball turns multiple threat opportunities into a single threat, indirectly strengthening the opponent’s defense, and lowering the team’s success rate on the offense."
"Even if he boosts the success rate of attacks with his personal ability, the lack of subsequent variations is still a huge loss for the team."
"The ball passed out by a skilled dribbler in a tight spot has a five percent chance of being a superb pass, but a far greater chance of being a poor one."
Deng Kai nodded in agreement this time.
Young Guaguo shows promise.
Deng Kai and Guardiola left the canteen and headed to the leisure area to play Go, "If Ronaldo goes to the right wing, his cutting-in will be wasted. The effectiveness is not even half of what it could be on the left!"
"He indeed can practice crossing on the right wing, become a traditional winger, or a wide midfielder."
"I also believe that eventually, he could master it, becoming the world’s number one right midfielder."
"But the issue is, time!"
"To be equally sharp on the right, Ronaldo would need at least two years. But this year, we should be making some achievements in the Champions League. I’m not content with just qualifying from the group stage."
Guardiola nodded.
Aiming for the Champions League quarter-finals is a reasonable goal for the winners of the Union Cup.
If it weren’t for the team being too young, even the semi-finals wouldn’t be out of the question for some.
Deng Kai, "On the right wing, even though Ronaldinho wouldn’t be playing to his fullest, it wouldn’t be hard for him to perform at eighty percent."
"Plus, since the right wing is easier for him to find space to get to the bottom line, the defense he faces won’t be too strong, often just a single defender. After he beats his opponent, he’s got great conditions for a cross, and therefore he’ll have to cross the ball."
Guardiola felt that he had touched upon something deeper in terms of tactics.
This is... using tactics to limit and guide players?
Many fans can actually spot some of the issues with players.
If Zidane weren’t hot-tempered, he surely would’ve won more honors.
If Ronaldo hadn’t been injured, his career would’ve definitely been stronger.
If someone didn’t shoot wildly, if someone didn’t dribble aimlessly, if someone was willing to pass the ball... There are too many flaws that could have been rectified.
But this kind of thinking is too presumptuous.
People are very difficult to change.
Even a tiny change is extremely difficult.
No matter what anyone says, it’s useless.
Many people spend their entire lives waiting for a moment of profound remorse and transformation.
But circumstances are more compelling than individuals, and the right circumstances can shape a player into the form the coach wishes to see.
Ronaldinho is a right-footed player, and naturally stronger on the right wing when it comes to crossing than cutting inside.
Even if he has a strong desire to cut inside, at most the ratio between cutting and crossing would be 40-60, with crossing still taking precedence.
With his minor ability to cut inside from the base line into the penalty area, at the very least, he can maintain a 50% chance of crossing.
That’s absolutely enough.
Because with his dribbling ability, he’s guaranteed to cross more frequently than other players.
Similarly, a Ronaldinho who crosses often inherently won’t consume much ball possession time, and unwittingly hands over some of the ball rights.
Therefore, this right winger must be Ronaldinho; he couldn’t avoid it even if he tried.
Basically, he is a top-tier version of Quaresma.
It seems like he’s leading the team’s offense, but it actually depends on whether Deng Kai passes to him, and whether Deng Kai chooses to pass for crossing or for cutting inside.
As for Ronaldo, because Deng Kai was guiding from the beginning, his off-the-ball capability is quite excellent, allowing him to flexibly switch between cutting inside, crossing from the bottom, and being off the ball.
Considering Deng Kai’s passing quality, the latter two styles of play will also ensure that Ronaldo doesn’t monopolize possession.
At the left wing position, he’s a true triple threat, the team’s strongest scoring point.
Guardiola reset the chess game and knew he couldn’t win the Go match against "Kai Dog": "What about Kaka? It seems that the condition for bringing him to the team was a starting position."
"Yes, he plays right midfield, I play left midfield, and you play defensive midfield." Deng Kai directly informed Guardiola of one of the team’s two major regular formations, the 4-3-3.
Ronaldo, Drogba, Ronaldinho
Deng Kai, Guardiola, Kaka
Evra, Vidic, Barzagli, Maicon
Schmeichel
The main substitutes for the midfield are Matthaus, Pepe, Yaya Toure, Deschamps, Veloso, Paolo Bento, in that order.
The main substitutes for the defense are Pepe, Wu Xudong, Feng Te, Veloso, Matthaus, in that order.
The main substitutes for the forward line are Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Joao Pinto, Wu Xudong, Feng Te, in that order.
Guardiola reflected for a moment: "You’ve always played right midfield, right attacking midfield before, why did you move from the right to the left? You should know that Kaka is also a left-sided player. This might give the impression that you’re deliberately trying to take his position."
