See? Didn't I tell you Sunderland couldn't beat Leicester City?"
Inside the Sky Sports live broadcast hall, upon seeing Vardy's goal, Gary Neville happily looked at Jamie Carragher:
"I said it long ago, a team of Sunderland's caliber can play defensive counter-attacks, but it's too difficult for them to control the midfield and deal with others' defensive counter-attacks."
"And today, Zhao Zhao, he's clearly a bit overconfident. Did beating Manchester City make him arrogant? He even benched Defoe!"
"I was teammates with Defoe in the national team; I know his level. He's even in the top ten all-time Premier League goal scorers!"
"It's safe to say there's no better striker than him in this Sunderland team! And Zhao Zhao actually isn't using him? He's crazy."
"Look, they got their comeuppance. Letting a defense-oriented team like Leicester City score first is like a death sentence!"
"What do you say now, Mr. Jamie Carragher? Haha!"
But facing Neville's provocation, Jamie Carragher remained unfazed:
"From Sunderland's previous three matches, this team, under Zhao Zhao's leadership, has actually undergone many changes, and willpower and resilience are among them."
"Regardless of whether they're trailing or on the back foot, they always resolutely execute the coach's tactical intentions and ultimately achieve a comeback or a last-minute winner."
"Therefore, saying Sunderland has already lost is still premature."
"Gary? Why don't you look at Zhao Zhao on the sidelines again? Is there even a hint of panic on his face? And think about yourself, weren't you often panicking when you coached Valencia?"
Seeing that this remark somewhat broke Neville's composure, Jamie Carragher grinned broadly and continued:
"To be honest, if I were a Sunderland player, seeing my coach so calm, even if we were two or three goals down, I wouldn't panic!"
"This is why I'm optimistic about them, because Sunderland has a good coach with excellent psychological fortitude and who is a tactical genius!"
At this moment, Alan Shearer also nodded, continuing the conversation:
"Indeed. Coach Zhao Zhao possesses a maturity and composure that belies his age; he's truly born to be a coach."
"And from a tactical perspective, Defoe's characteristics are actually more suited for counter-attacks, while Anichebe might be better for such a positional battle."
"Although he hasn't yet displayed his characteristics so far, this might be because he plays fewer matches normally and needs time to adapt."
"After all, he scored with his first touch against Manchester City; he still has ability, including decent ball control and shooting, and his pivot role is even more obvious."
"So, although Leicester is leading now, I still hold my previous view that the outcome of this match is still hard to predict!"
Host Gary Lineker, seeing all the guests had expressed their opinions, pointed to the statistics of both teams displayed on the screen and said:
"This Sunderland team is truly flexible. They can completely sit back and defend against Manchester City, or they can push up and control the midfield to attack."
"Up to now in this match, Sunderland's possession rate has reached 70%, and their shots on goal are 10, far higher than Leicester City's 2, making them clearly an attacking team."
"Considering that Zhao Zhao has not been in charge of this team for very long, and this squad was not personally assembled by him, achieving this is truly not easy."
"Furthermore, in previous matches, his on-the-spot commanding performance was indeed impressive."
"Seeing him so calm after conceding a goal, it makes one feel that he truly has a plan."
"Does he have another trump card up his sleeve? From the changes in their starting lineup today, one can perhaps get a glimpse. For example…"
At this point, Gary Lineker suddenly pointed at the screen again, exclaiming in surprise: "Look, he's really making substitutions! And so many at once!"
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On the sidelines.
Zhao Zhao was indeed preparing to make substitutions.
And it was a direct three in, three out!
His final formation today was a 4-3-3, and besides the attacking trio in the front becoming Borini + Anichebe + Januzaj, all three midfielders were also changed.
The starting three midfielders were Rodwell + Gibson + McNair!
The reason for doing this was that Zhao Zhao "anticipated" that Leicester City would definitely play counter-attacking football, so he would voluntarily concede midfield control.
Then, Zhao Zhao could use some high-energy players to wear down the opponent, and only when they were sufficiently tired would he bring on his true trump cards!
And now, after more than sixty minutes, it was about time.
In the final simulated match, he also did the same.
That was to substitute all three starting midfielders, bringing on Larsson and Cattermole, two experienced players good at both offense and defense, as well as Khazri, a player with dribbling ability.
At the same time, he would change the formation to 4-2-3-1, and truly begin a full-on attack!
"When you go on, try to attack Simpson's side more, and strive to create a breakthrough on that flank, through him," Zhao Zhao specifically instructed Khazri.
The basis for Zhao Zhao choosing to play this way was precisely because the aging of Leicester City's current main lineup was very serious.
Their four starting defenders, Fuchs, Morgan, Huth, and Simpson, were all quite old, and their physical condition inevitably declined. In such a high-intensity match, their stamina was somewhat problematic by now.
Right-back Simpson was the youngest, but he was already 30 years old, and he was also relatively weaker among these defenders.
In the past sixty-plus minutes, he had been heavily worn down in his battles with Sunderland players, and his speed in tracking back had also slowed considerably.
At this point, Zhao Zhao was putting the physically strong Khazri directly in front of Simpson, to relentlessly attack him!
"Understood," Khazri nodded in agreement.
Defoe, who was on the bench today, also walked over and said a few words to Khazri:
"I've faced Simpson many times. He doesn't like sliding tackles, and his interception ability is actually average, so you can confidently try to dribble past him. If he gets the ball, you can also press him immediately, because his ball retention and carrying abilities are not very good."
Khazri also nodded repeatedly.
Zhao Zhao also smiled; this is what excellent veterans are like—they can pass on their experience and help young players grow quickly!
Then Zhao Zhao had Khazri relay a message to his starting center-forward for today:
"Tell Anichebe not to directly clash with Morgan and Huth. He can drop back a bit to draw them out, and then use his speed and skill to attack them, which will catch the opponents off guard."
Just as Zhao Zhao had anticipated, it was truly very difficult for Sunderland to penetrate Leicester City's defense directly through the middle today.
It could be said that up to this point, Sunderland's attacking line had not been able to gain any advantage over Leicester City's experienced veteran defenders.
But now it was different.
The veterans' stamina was declining, and Zhao Zhao had directly brought on fresh legs.
With this shift in momentum, Sunderland's true attack was about to begin!