When 4-2-3-1 meets 4-2-3-1, what should I do?

  This was the problem Gao Shen faced on the night of March 11 at Mestal.

  Ba 2004, wheez left Valencia for Liverpool in the Premier League, the straightforward tinker Raook over a hot potato: the championship team.

  And the whole world khis was a trap.

  Sure enough, Ranieri faced another painful lesson in his coag career at Valencia.

  Benitez's Valencia was an unstoppable 4-2-3-1 team. Raried to add more variety to this championship team by incorporating Italian tactics, making their strategy more diverse.

  He brought in many Italian pyers, which greatly dissatisfied Valencia's champion pyers, leading to disaster.

  After Ranieri was dismissed, Quique Sánchez Flores, who led newly promoted Getafe to avation, became his successor.

  Many people may not know that Valencia's current coach, Quique Sánchez Flores, not only pyed for Real Madrid during his career, but also started coag in the Real Madrid youth team after retirement.

  From 1997 to 2004, he coached Real Madrid's U17 team for seven years, gaining invaluable coag experience, before being the head coach of newly promoted Getafe, leading the team to avation. In 2005, he took over Valencia.

  This is another cssic example of accumuting experience.

  When Gao Shen saw Flores' resume, he marveled at how Real Madrid truly was the oa Military Academy of Spanish football. He also realized that this was the step-by-step upgrade mode Carlo and Lucas had advised him to follow.

  After Flores took over Valencia, Ranieri left Spain with his Italian legion, so Flores set things right, reactivating the 4-2-3-1 formation. He brought back the double midfielders of Albelda and Baraja, reactivated Aimar as the attag midfielder, and spent 10 million euros t in David Vil from Zaragoza.

  Valencia has performed strongly this season, even outperf Real Madrid for a long time, ranking sed in La Liga.

  But unfortunately, her Ranieri nor Flores fully uood Benitez's 4-2-3-1, or they only grasped part of it.

  Under Flores, Valencia's defense was solid, but their offense was a mess. Especially after Vite was injured, almost all the offensive burden fell on Vil.

  Vil's personal ability and sg prowess are strong, but the forosition in a 4-2-3-1 formation needs a pyer like Mista, not Vil.

  However, Mista, after enduring Ranieri's "devastation," couldn't return to his form under Benitez. Despite Flores' repeated adjustments this season, he couldn't reignite Mista's spark.

  Valencia's offense was stagnant, relying on Vil's goals, Aimar's occasional brilliance, and the team's tenacious defehis season, they mao avoid defeat in fifteen rounds.

  Notably, Valencia has an impressive record of two wins and one draw in three matches against Real Madrid and Bara this season, including a 1-0 home win against Bara, a 2-1 away win against Real Madrid, and a 2-2 draw with Bara at Camp Nou.

  Valencia's stats and performan these major matches highlight how formidable Benitez's 4-2-3-1 was.

  Fag such a team, what could Gao Shen do?

  There's no easy solution, so you just have to fight.

  ...

  Goalkeeper Casils, Felipe, Woodgate, Ramos, and Arbeloa at the back; Pablo Garcia and Borja in midfield; Raul, Guti, and Cassano in front; and Soldado up front.

  This was Gao Shen's starting lineup at Mestal. Except for the bae and Raul, all other pyers were rotated.

  The game was very dull.

  Valencia has the best defense in La Liga, but their offense is weak. Expeg Valencia to take the initiative to attack was unrealistid with Real Madrid missing key pyers after a major rotation, they naturally couldn't afford to be overambitious against Valencia's superb defense.

  The servative styles of both teams resulted in a ckluster game at Mestal.

  Real Madrid, trolling possession, mostly passed the ball bad forth without peing Valencia's defense. Valencia, g ambition, sought stability and capitalized on terattacks.

  With Woodgate in the bae, Ramos had more freedom. Gao Shen assigned him to mark Vil, effectively ralizing Valencia's offense.

  Real Madrid's attack also couldn't break through Valencia's defense, leaving the game in a stalemate.

  After Gao Shen took office, Soldado started for the first time, w hard and running aggressively, exeg tactics well. But against Albiol and Mara, it was hard for him to find an advantage.

  In the first half, the teams drew 0-0, but Real Madrid had 65% possession.

  After switg sides in the sed half, Real Madrid tio py cautiously, stantly passing the ball to exhaust Valencia's pyers.

  But the breakthrough still didn't e.

  However, Gao Shen was not in a hurry.

  He was waiting.

  ...

  How do you break through a dense defense?

  As a seasoned fan, Gao Shen could immediately list three strategies: set-pieces, le shots, and high ter forwards.

  But iy, these tactics are only effective wheeam create space, which means the dense defense has already been broken to some extent.

  For example, set-pieces, whether er kicks or free kicks, rely on the ball going out of py or fouls by defenders. In a well-disciplined defense, who would easily it a foul?

  Regarding le shots, Valencia has two world-css midfielders and a tight defensive system built from Rao Cooper to Benitez. Will they easily allow le shots?

  Lastly, the high ter forward. Everyone knows that pying high balls from the wings is ineffit and has a low success rate. For effective crossing, you need space, like the kind Beckham o swing his legs.

  So, the problem keeps ing back to the fual issue: space!

  The key to breaking a dense defense is creating space.

  How do you create it?

  When the oppo's formation is tight, you 't easily create space.

  So what do you do?

  You pull them apart!

  As the saying goes, if you dance well enough, you even bring down city walls.

  Simirly, if you keep pulling and wearing down the oppo's stamina, you eventually create offensive space.

  To a certaient, Bara's pass-and-trol style under Guardio is essentially about stant pulling to create space. Passing trol and high pressing are just their means.

  Therefore, ich against Valencia, Gao Shen's starting lineup wasn't meant to scoals but to exhaust the oppo, running, pulling, and wearing them down.

  Time passed slowly, but Gao Shen remained calm.

  In the 63rd minute, Flores substituted Angulo with Rufete.

  Three mier, Mista repced Regueiro.

  Both substitutions aimed to adjust the team's frontcourt offense. With Mista, Valencia switched to a two-forward tactic with Mista and Vil.

  Flores clearly still wao win, especially at home.

  Seeing Valencia make two substitutions, Gao Shen had Callejon warm up ih minute.

  After ten days of w together, he finally firmed it was José Callejon, the older twin brother who would ter perform well at Napoli.

  Callejon, niamed Little Moto, was fast and hardw. Gao Shen repced Cassano with him ih minute.

  The iion was clear: to quickly hit Valencia on the terattack.

  ...

  As Valencia pushed forward in attack, their formation loosened, frequently pressing up.

  Real Madrid still trolled possession but also pulled back a bit, allowing Valencia to press forward.

  Ih minute, Ramos intercepted a pass intended for Vil, dribbled forward, and passed to Guti.

  Guti, pying as the attag midfielder, had no defensive responsibilities in this game, allowing him to focus on his offealents. Though Albelda and Baraja stifled him earlier, this time he seized the opportunity. He delivered a long, diagonal pass behind Valencia's left-back Moretti.

  Callejon sprinted down the right fnk, getting ahead of Moretti, stabbing the ball towards the goal lihen making a low cross.

  Soldado, chased by Albiol and Mara, iionally missed the ball, letting it fly to the back post.

  Raul, unmarked at the far post, pushed the ball into the almost empty Valencia goal.

  izares stood helplessly on the right side of the goal as Raul scored from the left.

  Ih minute, Raul broke the deadlock for Real Madrid!

  The Real Madrid captain celebrated wildly, running off the pitch, joined by his teammates.

  Real Madrid led 1-0!

  What a hard-fought goal!

  he visitors' bench, Gao Shen ched his fists, celebrating with upraised arms, venting his excitement.

  Behind him, Maqueda, Lucas, and others hugged, celebrating the crucial goal.

  They had pheir tactics before the game but were uneasy until Raul's goal settled their nerves.

  If Valencia hadn't made a mistake, this game would likely have ended 0-0.

  However, Gao Shen quickly made adjustments.

  Diogo repced Arbeloa, who had expended a lot of energy, and Borja was substituted by Javi Garcia.

  Both substitutions aimed tthen the defense.

  Anyone could see that Gao Shen's iion was clear: to defend this lead.