Football: Messi, I am your wallbreaker!

Chapter 13 Mad Dog Football!

The substitutes' through ball was cleared out of bounds by Courtois' long kick.

There was a pause of a few seconds on the training field.

Gabi forcefully wiped the sweat from his chin.

The Atlético Madrid captain was panting heavily, but his eyes kept glancing to the side.

Li Jing was jogging back to his defensive position without even taking a breath.

Others might not have understood that defensive play, but Gabi, being in the thick of it, felt it all too clearly.

The double defensive midfield position has always been the most difficult to play, bar none.

He and Pizzi usually partner as two defensive midfielders, and they inevitably have to shout at each other to confirm their positions.

If one person rushes in to grab the ball, the other must quickly move behind to provide cover.

If communication is delayed by even a second, or if positioning overlaps, the defensive line on the flanks of the middle lane will be breached immediately.

This causes Gabi to subconsciously hold back a bit when diving for the ball, always ready to cover back at any time.

I feel frustrated and unhappy.

But in the last few minutes, Gabi discovered something extremely strange.

He didn't need to worry about the gap behind him at all.

As soon as he moved to the left to prepare to attack, he didn't even need to turn around to feel that Li Jing had already filled the area he left behind.

There were no shouts or commands, and no gestures used for communication.

Li Jing's runs were perfectly timed, always managing to get on the opponent's preferred passing lane.

Gabby felt that his back was completely protected.

This was an extremely comfortable match experience. The professional defensive midfielder's tactical awareness, combined with Li Jing's insightful movement, made the entire defensive line incredibly smooth.

Gabby turned his neck, and his bones cracked a few times.

If there are no worries about the future, then why keep it?

"Keep an eye on him! Push him down!"

Gabi yelled and charged forward, abandoning all pretense of formation.

The substitute team throws the ball out of bounds.

The substitute left winger, who had just received the ball, turned around and saw the captain in his red and white vest charging towards him with immense pressure. Gabi completely abandoned the rigid parallel defensive line and went straight for close-quarters combat.

"Leave the ball here!"

Gabi forcefully shoved his opponent aside with his body and decisively thrust his left foot out to poke.

The substitute left winger lost his balance and, in a panic, managed to barely glide the ball with his toe, attempting to pass it to a teammate in the middle.

The ball was passed hastily with very little power, and the path was full of human legs.

This kind of chaotic battle is the easiest to lose possession of the ball and the easiest to break into a melee.

But just as the ball was still slowly rolling on the grass, Li Jing made a move.

He even anticipated this outcome when Gabi went for the ball, starting two seconds in advance and taking two steps out of his original defensive position.

He gave no time for any of the substitutes to react, and with a steady block of the ball with the inside of his right foot, he stopped it completely.

A defensive system with two defensive midfielders, one primarily pressing and the other primarily intercepting.

Perfectly fitted.

Gabi saw Li Jing control the ball and excitedly waved his arms.

"Great! Push forward! Push straight ahead!"

Li Jing stood with his foot on the ball, looking up to observe the frontcourt.

The steal has been made, what's the next step?

Li Jing watched Atlético Madrid's match footage from the first half of the season on the plane.

The team played extremely poorly when transitioning from defense to attack.

After each interception, the backcourt always passes the ball to the shadow striker Diego.

Diego, a South American technical attacking midfielder, orchestrates the tempo, dribbles forward, draws the defense, and then looks for the decisive pass.

The tactical intent was good.

The problem is that Diego's form has been inconsistent this season, and his style of play is too sluggish. By the time Diego leisurely retrieves the ball, the opposing defense has already retreated into position.

This resulted in Radames Falcao, the lone striker at the forefront, experiencing extreme frustration in every match.

Falcao had to fight his way through the space between the two opposing center-backs, making it impossible for him to get a comfortable space to sprint, let alone have any shooting opportunities.

This is the root cause of attacking constipation.

Sure enough, just as Li Jinggang gained control of the ball, Diego had already retreated five or six meters from the center.

"Newbie! Over here! Give me the ball!"

Diego waved and shouted, his tone tinged with impatience.

"Move over here quickly, let me control the pace!"

If it were an ordinary newcomer who had just come for a trial, upon hearing the starting attacking midfielder ask for the ball, he would definitely pass it to the starting midfielder without hesitation and do his job.

But Li Jing didn't even glance at him.

If the ball is given to Diego, the chance for this counter-attack is completely gone.

Tens of thousands of hours of off-the-ball running training in the simulator gave Li Jing an extremely keen sense of space. He not only knew where he should run, but also clearly saw the running trajectories of his teammates and opponents.

Upon seeing the ball intercepted in the attacking third, Falcao instinctively accelerated and made a diagonal run into the right flank of the substitutes.

There is an extremely narrow passing lane in the middle, with an opening time of less than one second.

Without any further adjustments, Li Jing swung his right leg up and slammed the instep of his foot hard against the bottom of the ball, slightly above the center.

An extremely sharp, low through ball!

The ball didn't go high at all, rolling at high speed along the grass with a strong spin, forcefully cutting through the two layers of defense that the substitute team had just broken up by Gabi.

The route was extremely tricky.

"What are you doing?!"

Diego, having failed to get the ball, angrily spread his hands.

"Why won't you give it to me...?"

Diego stopped speaking before he could finish.

Because he saw that the ball had already penetrated the midfield and was heading straight for the open space in the attacking third.

Falcao is still running.

This center forward, nicknamed "The Tiger," hasn't made such a direct and crisp pass in a game for most of the season. No lingering passing, no unnecessary lateral passes, he receives the ball and goes straight behind the opponent's defense.

Falcao's eyes lit up instantly, all his muscles tensed, and he sprinted towards the ball's landing point.

But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

Arda Turan, who was making a run down the right flank, was moving towards the center to support the tactical positioning. He was completely unprepared for Li Jing's pass and couldn't dodge it in time.

"Ouch!"

Turan's shoe tip accidentally grazed the ball while he was running.

The slight contact caused the ball to change direction, slowing down the originally precise through ball and deviating from Falcao's running path, landing in a somewhat awkward position.

That area happened to be within the defensive coverage zone of the substitute team's center-back.

"My bad! I didn't dodge!" Turan clutched his head in frustration.

In normal circumstances, a striker would stop in his tracks or simply complain that his teammates had ruined the attacking opportunity.

But Falcao didn't stop.

This kind of direct passing is exactly to his liking. Even if the pass goes astray, he absolutely will not allow the ball to slip away from his sight!

Falcao let out a deep roar, his speed increasing instead of decreasing, and he charged towards the ball with tremendous momentum.

The substitute team's center-back also ran over, ready to block and clear the ball.

The two people bumped into each other.

Falcao didn't try to protect the ball at all. Instead, he used his powerful core strength to lean back heavily, his shoulder pressing hard against the opponent's chest.

With a thud, the substitute center-back was knocked off his balance and staggered back several steps before falling hard on his backside onto the grass.

Falcao forcefully snatched the ball from the opponent's feet.

He didn't continue dribbling, nor did he check his teammates' positions.

The tiger was now in a state of extreme excitement.

His calf muscles suddenly bulged, his left foot firmly planted on the grass, and with a powerful thrust of his right leg, he unleashed a furious, powerful shot into the air ahead.

This was a shot that completely violated the training rules. The first team's task today was simply to control and pass the ball, not to mention that the reserve team didn't even have a goalkeeper in front of their goal.

But Falcao didn't care.

The pent-up emotions from the past half-season needed an extremely violent outlet at this moment.

The ball flew away from his foot with a whistling sound.

boom!

The soccer ball slammed heavily against the wire mesh behind the net, the force of which caused the entire mesh to shake violently, producing a screeching sound.

The sound was particularly jarring in the empty training base.

Falcao clenched his fists, the veins on his neck bulging, and let out a long howl as he looked up at the gray sky.

The entire training ground fell silent instantly.

Everyone stared blankly as Falcao vented his anger. Turan swallowed his apology, and Diego stood there, his face turning pale and then red.

Sidelines.

Simeone clenched his fists tightly, freezing in place, his hands gripping the outside of his thighs. Burgos could even see the coach's knuckles turning bluish-white from the force of his grip.

Simone's body was trembling slightly. This wasn't anger, but a physiological reaction caused by extreme excitement.

He stared at Li Jing on the field, then glanced at Falcao.

In defense, they cover a wide area to intercept, and after winning the ball, they don't go through complicated passing and directly shoot to break through the defense. The strikers end the battle in the most brutal way.

This is exactly what he dreamed of achieving at Atletico Madrid!

He hates slow, sluggish ball control and drawn-out, piecemeal attacking play. What he wants is this simple, brutal, and ruthless "mad dog" tactic!

On the court, Gabi was panting heavily as he turned to look at the sidelines.

His and Simone's eyes met in the air.

The head coach and the captain achieved a complete spiritual resonance at that moment.

The tactical blueprint they had been trying to implement for half a season but had never been able to was clearly drawn up by this Asian kid who had just arrived on his first day and was embroiled in scandal in just a few tens of minutes of half-court scrimmage!

Li Jing stood in midfield, turned his head to look in the direction of the substitutes' bench, and casually swung his right foot.

Simeone strode onto the pitch and immediately blew his whistle.

"Beep—"

All the players tensed up, and Falcao also stopped yelling, thinking he was going to be scolded for violating the training rules.

But Simone didn't go to Falcao; instead, he went straight to Li Jing.

The entire stadium fell silent, everyone staring at the head coach.

Simone stared at Li Jing for several seconds, then suddenly grinned, revealing a highly aggressive smile.

"Kid." Simone's voice was loud and echoed throughout the training ground.

"Just a guess?"