Starting With Real Madrid

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 Mestalla.

Back in 2004, when Benitez left Valencia for Liverpool in the Premier League, the straightforward tinker Ranieri took over a hot potato: the championship team.

And the whole world knew this was a trap.

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is another classic example of accumulating experience.

When Gao Shen saw Flores' resume, he marveled at how Real Madrid truly was the Whampoa 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 attacking midfielder, and spent 10 million euros to bring in David Villa from Zaragoza.

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

But unfortunately, neither Ranieri nor Flores fully understood 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 Vicente was injured, almost all the offensive burden fell on Villa.

Villa's personal ability and scoring prowess are strong, but the forward position in a 4-2-3-1 formation needs a player like Mista, not Villa.

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 Villa's goals, Aimar's occasional brilliance, and the team's tenacious defense. This season, they managed to avoid defeat in fifteen rounds.

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

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

Facing such a team, what could Gao Shen do?

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

...

Goalkeeper Casillas, 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 Mestalla. Except for the backline and Raul, all other players were rotated.

The game was very dull.

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

The conservative styles of both teams resulted in a lackluster game at Mestalla.

Real Madrid, controlling possession, mostly passed the ball back and forth without penetrating Valencia's defense. Valencia, lacking ambition, sought stability and capitalized on counterattacks.

With Woodgate in the backline, Ramos had more freedom. Gao Shen assigned him to mark Villa, effectively neutralizing 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, working hard and running aggressively, executing tactics well. But against Albiol and Marchena, 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 switching sides in the second half, Real Madrid continued to play cautiously, constantly passing the ball to exhaust Valencia's players.

But the breakthrough still didn't come.

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, long-range shots, and high center forwards.

But in reality, these tactics are only effective when the team can create space, which means the dense defense has already been broken to some extent.

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

Regarding long-range shots, Valencia has two world-class midfielders and a tight defensive system built from Ranieri to Cooper to Benitez. Will they easily allow long-range shots?

Lastly, the high center forward. Everyone knows that playing high balls from the wings is inefficient and has a low success rate. For effective crossing, you need space, like the kind Beckham needed to swing his legs.

So, the problem keeps coming back to the fundamental issue: space!

The key to breaking a dense defense is creating space.

How do you create it?

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

So what do you do?

You pull them apart!

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

Similarly, if you keep pulling and wearing down the opponent's stamina, you can eventually create offensive space.

To a certain extent, Barcelona's pass-and-control style under Guardiola is essentially about constant pulling to create space. Passing control and high pressing are just their means.

Therefore, in the match against Valencia, Gao Shen's starting lineup wasn't meant to score goals but to exhaust the opponent, running, pulling, and wearing them down.

Time passed slowly, but Gao Shen remained calm.

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

Three minutes later, Mista replaced Regueiro.

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

Flores clearly still wanted to win, especially at home.

Seeing Valencia make two substitutions, Gao Shen had Callejon warm up in the 68th minute.

After ten days of working together, he finally confirmed it was José Callejon, the older twin brother who would later perform well at Napoli.

Callejon, nicknamed Little Moto, was fast and hardworking. Gao Shen replaced Cassano with him in the 70th minute.

The intention was clear: to quickly hit Valencia on the counterattack.

...

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

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

In the 78th minute, Ramos intercepted a pass intended for Villa, dribbled forward, and passed to Guti.

Guti, playing as the attacking midfielder, had no defensive responsibilities in this game, allowing him to focus on his offensive talents. 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 flank, getting ahead of Moretti, stabbing the ball towards the goal line, then making a low cross.

Soldado, chased by Albiol and Marchena, intentionally 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.

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

In the 78th 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!

Near the visitors' bench, Gao Shen clenched his fists, celebrating with upraised arms, venting his excitement.

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

They had planned their 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 replaced Arbeloa, who had expended a lot of energy, and Borja was substituted by Javi Garcia.

Both substitutions aimed to strengthen the defense.

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