Increase long passes? Is it that simple?" Clement frowned.
Clement had served as Ancelotti's assistant Coach for a long time and was deeply influenced by Ancelotti.
Therefore, after he became the Coach of Swansea, his tactical style also focused more on short passes and quick counterattacks launched by rapid through balls after gaining possession.
Although he now had the tall center forward Llorente, he only used him as a fulcrum for the team in the front field, and did not actually use long passes to target tall players as a regular means for the team.
Or, to put it another way, in Clement's subconscious, he felt that long ball tactics were an outdated English classical tactic that had no place in modern football.
And this Alan Tate actually said that his team could simply increase long passes? That's ridiculous!
This guy was a Swansea legend, having played over 250 games for the team during his playing career, and at 34 years old, after retirement, he was arranged by the management to serve as a youth team Coach.
Today, he was brought to the first team's match to experience it, which was considered a form of "further study."
What he didn't expect was that he would dare to stand up and talk nonsense...
However, Alan Tate didn't notice Clement's disdain, and continued to express his thoughts:
"Under Sunderland's high-pressing tactics, in order to maintain a compact formation, their defensive line will advance, which might leave a larger space in the midfield and backfield. If we use long passes to directly get behind them, we can bypass the opponent's front-field press and quickly pass the ball to the front field, thereby reducing the opponent's pressing opportunities..."
But Clement no longer had the patience to listen.
He just waved his hand, signaling Alan Tate to stop talking and to sit back on the bench.
Alan Tate understood now, closed his mouth, and retreated.
But clearly, he was very unhappy inside, hitting the back of the chair heavily when he sat back down.
And this scene was seen by Zhao Zhao on the other side.
"Oh, this Coach from Swansea actually has quite some insight, doesn't he?"
Because both Coaches were standing in the coaching technical area, and the so-called technical area was actually two rectangular marked areas, the home and away teams were very close to each other.
Zhao Zhao stood there and heard everything Alan Tate said to Clement.
And obviously, the method Alan Tate mentioned was indeed effective!
When facing high pressing, there are certainly some ways to deal with it.
For example, one can use quick and accurate passing to quickly break the opponent's pressing rhythm.
But this requires players to have good passing technique and vision, able to find and pass to open teammates under pressure.
Another example is through quick transfers and breakthroughs on the wings to stretch the opponent's defense and create space.
But similarly, this also requires the wing players to be relatively outstanding, at least possessing very good ball control and passing skills.
And the simplest method, or the method that requires the lowest player ability, is what Alan Tate said: using long passes to directly get behind the opponent, making good use of the space left behind after the opponent presses high.
"Fortunately, this Clement is a fool and didn't listen to his assistant Coach, otherwise I would have to come up with new ideas on the fly," Zhao Zhao thought, stroking his chin:
"However, this assistant Coach of his seems quite good; he has some understanding of tactics."
"Since Clement doesn't value this assistant Coach, can I find an opportunity to poach him? That way, I won't be so tired."
Zhao Zhao didn't know this Alan Tate, which meant he wasn't some incredibly awesome Coach in his previous life.
But if he could poach him to be his assistant Coach, it would definitely help him, at least in terms of tactical communication and daily training.
Currently, in his team, since David Moyes took his coaching staff with him, and he hadn't supplemented the personnel after taking office, the coaching staff's level was actually insufficient.
Or, one could say that only the old Coach Breswell could cope; everyone else was completely inadequate!
So, supplementing the coaching staff was a must-do.
To ask someone to be an assistant Coach, those who have already achieved fame and success certainly wouldn't do.
Even this Clement on the other side, who has already been a Coach, would definitely not be willing to be an assistant Coach for a young kid like you! No one would be willing for both fame and profit.
So, he could only look for young Coaches.
And at this current point in time, it was actually not easy to find a young Coach who would become awesome in the future.
For example, Mikel Arteta, the future Coach of Arsenal, was already an assistant Coach at Manchester City at this time.
He and Guardiola were old acquaintances, and the latter personally invited him to Manchester City, so he certainly wouldn't be willing to come to a small team like Sunderland as an assistant Coach.
Another example is Scaloni, who led the Argentina national team to win the World Cup in 2022; he was also an assistant Coach for the Argentina national team now, and obviously very difficult to convince...
In fact, Zhao Zhao already had a target in mind: the Spanish midfielder Xavi Alonso!
This guy, when he served as the Coach of Leverkusen in the future, practically performed a miracle, directly breaking Bayern Munich's monopoly on the Bundesliga, winning the Bundesliga title with an undefeated record!
He not only created a hundred-year history for the pharmaceutical factory but also set an unbeaten record in the European League.
This was definitely the making of a famous Coach; getting him into his team would certainly help the team a lot.
However, Alonso was still a Bayern player right now and would only retire at the end of this season.
So, getting him sorted out would be a matter for next season at the earliest.
Therefore, at present, Zhao Zhao had very few targets he could act on.
Glancing sideways at Alan Tate, who was sulking in his seat, Zhao Zhao thought:
"It seems this Swansea assistant Coach must also be very dissatisfied with his incredibly stupid Coach, so I'll find an opportunity to talk to him later..."
-----------------
Halftime finally arrived.
As soon as the whistle blew, Clement walked straight to the locker room.
On one hand, he needed more time to arrange the tactics for the second half, and on the other hand, this was also to conceal his inner panic.
With the media's extensive hype before the match, Clement had indeed become a bit carried away.
He also believed that the opposing team, which had suffered a 0:5 defeat to Chelsea, was definitely not as high in morale as his own team, which had just drawn with Manchester United.
He even thought that beating Sunderland should be as simple as eating a piece of bread.
But what was the result?
Although the first thirty minutes indeed seemed that way, once Zhao Zhao exerted pressure, Swansea couldn't hold on.
Whether in terms of mental preparation or physical reserves, it seemed Swansea was completely dominated by Sunderland.
As a result, they didn't get to eat the bread, but instead were about to choke to death!
James Jun also mentioned this in his commentary:
"Zhao Zhao's team exploded with astonishing energy in the final stage of the first half, instantly leading by two goals."
"Facing such a team that is full of energy, highly motivated, and runs actively, does Clement now feel that he spoke too confidently?"
"I wonder what his thoughts are now? Is he racking his brains trying to figure out how to turn the game around in the second half?"
"Clement's underestimation of the opponent before the match seems to have come at a cost; he must come up with some solutions."
Zhang Lu also said:
"Clement is actually in a very awkward position now, because I can't see any way for him to respond."
"Sunderland's rhythm completely exceeded his expectations; if Swansea wants to keep up with the opponent's rhythm, they must also run more actively."
"But considering the physical gap between the two sides..."
"It's going to be tough, hehe."