There is a saying in Italian football: Defense never goes out of style.

  At first gnce, many people might scoff at this statement, but if you delve deep into the history of football's teological and tactical development, you'll find that this sentence is quite reasonable.

  The world of football is always ging. Sometimes the wings are dominant, sometimes the tre is strong; sometimes it's a 4-4-2 formation, sometimes it's 4-3-3...

  But no matter how the world ges, defense is indispensable on the football field.

  Because the essence of professional football is winning and losing.

  Some say that the 2006 World Cup was Italy's revenge for the European Cup that took pce two thousand years ago.

  In the European Cup of 2000, Germany couldn't rise to the challenge as their tactics were outdated; Engnd, a perennial favourite, was absent; the golden geions of the hernds and Pal both performed well, but in the end, it was Italy, which relied on defehat made it all the way to the final.

  However, Italy lost to France 1-2 in the final.

  After a pse of six years, the two teams met again in the World Cup final. Zidane was no lohe Zidane of yesteryears, but Italy remained as it was before.

  Relying on an almost imperable defealy, devastated by the Calciopoli sdal, went on to win the World Cup, lifting the spirits of Italian football.

  Does this mean that Italian football will always be strong?

  Not necessarily.

  Over the years, Italian football has gradually deed, especially in youth training where the supply of talent has weakened.

  Even at the tactical level, which Italy prides itself on, they have faced criticism.

  Ai's use of Pirlo in a deep-lying pymaker role was widely praised, but the 4-3-2-1 "Christmas Tree" formatioried out was questioned and ultimately failed. The reason is simple: it causes a tear.

  There is a plete separatioween offense and defense.

  This sparked heated debates as early as the European Cup in 2000 and tio be discussed today.

  Everyone knows the tactical impact when offense and defense are separated.

  Being too stubborn and servative lead to another problem: pyer development.

  Take the tre-forosition, for example. Italy mainly produces tre-forwards who break through an oppo's defense, such as Toni and Iaquinta.

  These types of tre-forwards spend most of their energy and stamina on breaking down the oppo's defense, which results in little or no tribution to defense.

  This is the sequence of a tear between offense and defense, and tactics leaning towards defense.

  Even in A's "Christmas Tree" formation, it rimarily the three forwards who went into attack.

  It is well known that Italian football has reached a dead end. This was especially evident in the Champions League st season. Even winning the World Cup couldn't ge this reality for Italy.

  The key question is, what should be done?

  ...

  The 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-2-1 formations are essentially the same, both utilising a five-midfielder figuration.

  The former was inally developed to ralise a "super 10" like Maradona, because a single defensive midfielder couldn't stop a superstar like him. Therefore, two defensive midfielders were needed.

  And one more pyer was taken from the forward line.

  Thus, in the beginning, the 4-2-3-1 formation was all about defense.

  However, with the passage of time and ges in the football tactical enviro, especially in Spain, where stant updates and iterations took pce, the 4-2-3-1 has been given a actical mission different from the past.

  "Defensively, it uses a prehensive pressing system, with all lines moving forward together as close as possible to the oppo's goal tain possession. That's the Dutch 'Total Football'."

  This is also the in of high pressing tactics.

  But another issue arises. When a team uses high pressing, traditional tre-forwards like Toni and Iaquinta bee redundant because they ot provide the team with high pressing and pressure iag third.

  They scoals, but they 't defend, support, make pys, or serve as a tactical pivot.

  Such tre-forwards not only fail to help the team but als doweam's overall tactics.

  As a result, all teams that py high pressing opt for a different type of tre-forward a support forward.

  This type of tre-forward is very active on defense. Wheransition from attack to defehey immediately engage in ter-pressing. More importantly, they are adept at pymaking and creating space for teammates.

  Yes, they may not sany goals, but their tactical role is signifit, even indispensable.

  ...

  Gao She more than half an hour meticulously going over tactical evolutions and the rise of the support tre-forward role with Pelle.

  He wanted Pelle to fully uand the why and how.

  "Actually, at Ajax, from Petterson to Ronald de Boer to Kluivert, these pyers weren't highly effit goal scorers; only Kluivert was retively better, and he was even called the epitome of the perfect tre-forward by Van Gaal."

  "You see that these forwards aren't known for their sg efficy, but more for being a pivot. Even pyers like Litmanen and Bergkamp have pyed the role of a support tre-forward, and they often pyed pivotal roles."

  "Nowadays, support tre-forwards are all the rage. I used Negredo in that role when I was at Real Madrid, and Raúl's goal rate immediately increased. At Chelsea, Drogba was the best in that regard."

  "Wheez coached Valencia, he had Carew first, then Mista. Whe to Liverpool, he kept searg for a support tre-forward, such as Baro? and Crouch."

  "At Bara, Rijkaard was always dissatisfied with Eto'o because Eto'o could scoals, but he never did well in support. Rijkaard was also looking for a support tre-forward."

  "Of course, there are many other teams and managers who prefer this approach, particurly ihernds and Spain. I even say with absolute certainty that support tre-forwards will py an increasingly important tactical role iure, just like Drogba's role at Chelsea."

  Gao Shen's expression was firm as he spoke.

  This is something he has witnessed and experienced firsthand.

  If nothing ges, in a few years, who will want a tre-forward like Toni, Iaquinta, uet?

  Even someone as strong as Eto'o would o move to the wings in a 4-3-3 formation, wouldn't he?

  Diego Milito, Benzema, Drogba this type of tre-forward will bee the norm.

  Pelle certainly fits this dire.

  Over the years, Pelle has been lost, never figuring out what kind of pyer he should bee.

  This is the first time someone has systematically and prehensively expihe past and present of the support tre-forward to him, pointing out a clear path and dire for Pelle's career.

  "Boss, what do you think I should do?" Pelle asked, his evident.

  Gao Shen knew Pelle was moved and immediately smiled. "You o bee the core of our frontcourt attack."

  Pelle raised his head in disbelief, looking at Gao Shen with a face full of surprise.

  To use him as the core?

  "The defeask, as I just mentioned, involves ter-pressing immediately after losing the ball, wearing down the oppo's tral defenders, etd when we regain possession and transition from defeo attack, you must quickly move to a favourable position and bee our team's primary attag point."

  "After seg the primary point, teammates will support you from all sides. Your job is to distribute the ball wisely to your teammates. After pleting this step, your ask is to support or score."

  Through Gao Shen's expnation, Pelle clearly uood his role ieam's tactical system.

  He also believed in what Gao Shen said about the future of the support tre-forward role. There were so many examples in front of him; he had no reason not to believe it, and he had no other choice.

  For years, he had been hitting walls everywhere, never able to find his pce.

  He is tall and strong, with excellent footwork his advantages and the reasons why many coaches have high hopes for him, yet he has never been able to dispy them and has scored few goals.

  Now, the path that Gao Shen has pnned for him may be his way out.

  Besides, Gao Shen is the head coach. If he assigns this role, how could Pelle resist?

  "I uand, and I'll give it my best," Pelle assured.

  ...

  Talking with Pelle was just the beginning. Gao Shen would then unicate with the coag staff te some targeted training programs for Pelle to help him familiarise himself with his new role as soon as possible. One drill frequently used by Ajax for training pyers came to mind.

  Five vs. Three.

  As the name suggests, five pyers py against three, with the five-man team attag with the ball.

  This seems unfair, right?

  Don't rush to clusions.

  The five-man team is spread out, four on the perimeter and one in the middle, surrounded by three defenders.

  To maintain possession, the middle pyer in the five-man team must not only move actively but also stantly observe the positions of oppos and teammates, pass the ball with oouch, and transition it out as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the four pyers outside must also move actively to open passing nes, preventing the three defenders from blog the middle pyer's options.

  This is a retively rough trainihod, and the coag staff still o adjust it based o's habits and teical characteristics. However, the overall training cept remains the same.

  The purpose of this training is to improve Pelle's ability to hahe ball under high-pressure defeuations. To a certaient, this is a fual skill for a link-up forward.

  When Gao Sheed his ideas to the coag staff at an internal meeting for discussion, both Carlo and Borrell provided several suggestions for revisions. Borrell, in particur, is an expert in this area, having spent many years immersed in Bara's system. He even had some knowledge of how Van Gaal trained Kluivert ba the day, so he was naturally more familiar with it.

  As a result, Gao Sherusted the task to Borrell.

  "Whether we defeat Juventus depends on you, Rodolfo!" Gao Shen said sincerely.

  Borrell and the others all responded with wry smiles.

  W fao Shen es with a lot of pressure.

  But the speed ress and the sense of aplishment are equally rewarding.