The essence of a football match is a game of time and space.
This idea is actually not difficult to understand.
Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff once said, "It's like everything in football and life. You need to look, you need to think, you need to move, move to find space, and you need to help others." In the end, it is very simple.
The implication is that once you master time and space, football becomes a simple game.
The spatial concept of football reached its peak during the Sacchi era, which was also the greatness of the Milan dynasty.
Sacchi's football philosophy stemmed from the total football of Michels and Cruyff.
From that foundation, more and more tactical innovations have continued to emerge.
The importance of space was clearly demonstrated in FIFA's technical report on the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
As for time, the technical report of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil used Real Madrid as an example.
In 2014, FIFA's technical experts concluded that attacking football was the dominant trend and that the speed of transition between attack and defense was the key to winning matches.
They believed that formations were now more fluid, rotating frequently instead of remaining static, and that mere possession was no longer enough to secure victory.
At that time, Real Madrid was considered the team that best embodied this concept. Gao Shen's name appeared prominently throughout the report, and many of his tactical theories were directly cited by FIFA.
For example, the reasoning behind using a single defensive midfielder.
Gao Shen believed that a single defensive midfielder could form a defensive triangle with the two center-backs and also an organizational triangle with two midfielders. In this way, the defensive midfielder became the crucial link in transitions between attack and defense. He was not only the initiator when transitioning from defense to attack, taking on an important organizational role, but also the barrier when switching from attack to defense, responsible for protecting the central defenders.
FIFA directly quoted Gao Shen's explanation and included it in their technical report.
In addition, FIFA experts also highlighted the full-backs and goalkeepers, identifying them along with the defensive midfielder as the three positions that had undergone the most revolutionary changes in recent World Cups.
For example, before the 2014 Brazil World Cup, it was rare for both full-backs to advance simultaneously. But during that tournament, this became a common sight. When both full-backs pushed forward, it effectively widened the team's attacking width.
Goalkeepers also saw their responsibilities expand. They were now required to act as auxiliary defenders, helping circulate possession under pressure, and to deliver long passes or goal kicks to initiate quick counterattacks.
From the defensive midfielder to the full-backs to the goalkeeper, the evolution of these roles clearly demonstrated the growing dominance of attacking football.
At the end of the technical report, Gao Shen was praised as one of the pioneers of world football's tactical revolution in recent years. Both Leeds United and Real Madrid were described as products of his tactical influence.
While fans and the media didn't deeply analyze this statement, those within professional circles immediately began to speculate.
Take the example of both full-backs advancing simultaneously.
FIFA's report made it clear that the full-back's first duty was still to defend.
So why didn't coaches previously allow both to push forward at once?
The answer was simple: risk control.
If both full-backs advanced, it would leave massive gaps on the flanks. If the opponent counterattacked, the team would be exposed.
Even now, coaches like Mourinho and Benítez still adhere to that traditional mindset, insisting that only one full-back can push forward at a time to avoid being caught out.
So how did Real Madrid under Gao Shen manage it?
Part of the answer lay in the single defensive midfielder. During transitions from attack to defense, the midfielder could drop between the center-backs, allowing them to spread wide and cover the flanks.
That was one solution, though a reactive one.
The proactive solution was to control the midfield.
FIFA's experts believed that when both full-backs advanced, the ability to dominate the midfield became even more important. By controlling the midfield, the team could maintain balance while maximizing the attacking potential of both full-backs.
If the midfield lost control, the result would be disastrous, with the team constantly exposed to counterattacks.
No matter how strong the defenders were, they would eventually be overwhelmed.
This was why Gao Shen often repeated his mantra: whoever controls the midfield controls the world.
Controlling the midfield not only unlocked the full attacking power of the flanks, widened offensive play, and created more scoring chances for forwards, but also allowed the team to dictate the rhythm of the match.
"Rhythm" is an abstract concept, difficult to define, but it can be compared to driving a manual car.
You shift between fast and slow gears.
Gao Shen once heard a saying: rhythm is the art of playing with time.
In football, whether it is transitioning between attack and defense or changing the tempo, it all comes down to creating a time difference.
By varying rhythm, you force defenders and defensive formations to hesitate, to pause for a fraction of a second. That moment of hesitation creates a time gap, a positional advantage that cannot be easily defended.
Gao Shen had previously criticized Leeds United for being too monotonous in tempo and lacking variation. He had even accused Barcelona of always playing at a fixed rhythm. It was not that their ball control was poor, but that they lacked rhythm changes.
Only change brings unpredictability.
Why did Modric win the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year?
Because he mastered the ability to alter rhythm, the magic wand that manipulates time.
Toni Kroos was also a world-class midfielder, stable and consistent, but he lacked Modric's ability to bend time to his will.
Older generation playmakers such as Zidane, Riquelme, and Verón could no longer adapt to modern football. Modric became the ultimate rhythm master of the modern game.
He didn't score many goals, didn't assist often, and his statistics seemed unremarkable, yet he led Croatia to a World Cup final purely through his control of tempo.
But many people still wondered.
Why did Modric possess such magic under Gao Shen, yet lose it during Benítez's time?
The answer lies in the essence of football.
Football is a team game.
There is a saying in football: it's not the player with the ball who decides where the ball goes, but the player without it.
The receiver's movement determines the next pass.
This is why, before Guardiola, neither Bayern Munich nor Manchester City were known for their possession football. But under his guidance, even a group of "physical players" could adapt and thrive in a possession-based system.
The system is the true key to ball control.
If Modric wanted to control tempo and dictate play, he needed his teammates' cooperation and positioning.
However, Benítez's tactics were fundamentally different from Gao Shen's. His system did not support Modric's playing style. As a result, Real Madrid's midfield appeared awkward and disjointed, as if no one could properly control the game.
This was the issue Toni Kroos had referred to earlier when he mentioned struggling to adapt.
Why did Gao Shen insist on keeping Mbappé?
Because Mbappé's pace maximized Leeds United's strength in attacking transitions, a quality that had already been proven during the World Cup and was further refined under Gao Shen's system.
In midfield, Bernardo Silva played the role of an excellent rhythm controller.
…
"I've watched almost all of Real Madrid's games this season, and I've noticed the problems you mentioned. It's true, the players look uncomfortable, like they're not adapting well," Zidane agreed with Gao Shen's assessment of Benítez and Real Madrid's issues.
"Honestly, it's a tough problem to fix, because so many of these habits are deeply ingrained in the team, and even more so in the manager."
That was also why many head coaches eventually stepped away from the frontline. They couldn't keep up with the pace of change.
It was inevitable.
Perhaps one day, even Gao Shen himself might face that same problem.
As for Ferguson, he was never a pioneer.
In the Premier League, the first true revolutionary was Wenger. When he took over Arsenal, he transformed not just tactics and playing style but also training, diet, and even club management.
Ferguson learned a great deal from Wenger, but Manchester United still lagged behind in certain areas of infrastructure and logistics.
For example, few would believe that a top team once chose a hotel with poor soundproofing for a Champions League final, yet that was what Manchester United did.
Even now, while their training facilities are not bad, they no longer rank among the best.
Compared to clubs like Leeds United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham, who all built state-of-the-art training centers in the new century, Manchester United's facilities had fallen behind.
What truly made Ferguson remarkable was his willingness to learn and adapt to changing times.
In this respect, Gao Shen still admired and sought to emulate the old master.
"Real Madrid's problem is difficult to solve. With top full-backs like Carvajal and Marcelo, it makes no sense not to use their attacking power. But for that to work, the midfield must remain stable. Benítez insists on his 4-2-3-1 double defensive midfielder setup, but Real Madrid simply doesn't have the right players for that system," Gao Shen said with a sigh.
"Real Madrid now has a table full of top-quality ingredients, but not every chef can turn them into a Michelin three-star meal."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
That was indeed the reality.
Real Madrid had hired Benítez hoping for change and innovation.
But the problem was, Benítez simply wasn't capable of managing that transformation, and he couldn't even make Real Madrid function properly.
The biggest difference between Gao Shen and Ferguson was that although both were champions, Ferguson's Manchester United squad had serious flaws when he left, while Gao Shen's Real Madrid lineup was exceptionally strong.
"Honestly, Gao, seeing the team we built with so much effort, this group of geniuses, reduced to this state... if it really collapses one day, none of us will be able to accept it," Carlo said with a touch of sadness.
The others nodded, including Zidane.
They had all poured years of effort and emotion into building that team.
But what could they do now?
(To be continued.)