Today, I'm going to introduce a brand-new training method to everyone."
Standing in front of all the players, Zhao Zhao pointed to the training ground behind them:
"You may have noticed that this pitch has been marked with many vertical and horizontal lines. Januzaj, stop counting, the pitch is divided into exactly 20 areas."
Everyone laughed.
Zhao Zhao continued, "So this training method is called the 20-Area Training Method."
"Why use such a method? It's to allow everyone to be clearer about their position on the field and to maintain distance from their teammates."
"There's an old Chinese saying, 'Bystanders see clearly, while those involved are confused,' and football matches are the same."
"When you're outside the sideline, you can see everything: the chaos, the crowding, all the actions are in plain sight. But when you're playing on the field, you can see almost nothing, because everything happening around you is in such a small space."
"Therefore, as long as you can focus on doing well in the space you are in, it can help the entire team operate smoothly!"
At this moment, Breswell, standing beside Zhao Zhao, quietly asked, "Boss, this set of stuff is so new, why haven't I heard you talk about it before?"
Zhao Zhao casually replied, "I just researched it recently."
Currently, he certainly didn't have the ability to research anything amazing himself.
This so-called "20-Area Training Method" was actually a training method that Guardiola often used at Bayern and Manchester City.
However, due to excellent confidentiality, not many people in today's football world knew about it.
And Zhao Zhao also understood this method through systematic course study and applied it to Sunderland's daily training.
The reason was simple: he wanted to use Guardiola's style of play to defeat Middlesbrough!
Unlike Manchester United, Middlesbrough's strength was weaker, and since the match would be at Sunderland's home ground, it was imaginable that they would definitely adopt a defensive counter-attacking stance.
Guardiola's training method was actually designed based on positional play, after all, whether it was Bayern or Manchester City, the situations they encountered more often were attacking tough defenses.
His tactical principle was to constantly move the opponent through ball possession to disrupt their defensive structure, and then exploit the gaps!
This undoubtedly aligned very well with the current Sunderland vs. Middlesbrough match.
Although the individual abilities of Sunderland players were far inferior to Bayern or Manchester City, there were still some technically outstanding players, such as Defoe, Januzaj, and Khazri.
As long as they got used to this 20-Area Training Method, and then Coach Zhao made some minor tactical adjustments, it might be possible to achieve a "beggar's version of Manchester City" effect.
"Now the field is divided into 4 vertical channels and 5 horizontal channels, and the principle when using these channels is to use positional or numerical superiority to create forward passing options, or to exploit weak-side space and internal channels."
Zhao Zhao continued to impart this training method and tactical philosophy to everyone:
"On the same horizontal channel, as a rule, no more than three players are allowed. This also means that you must constantly observe and examine your position to create diagonal passing options or provide support behind the ball, thereby allowing the team to advance steadily with balance and protection."
"If a fourth player enters this area, then one of the players in the area must choose to drop back to defend or move forward. This way, the formation can maintain a balance between offense and defense!"
"For the same vertical channel, as a rule, no more than 2 players. For example, when our left-back Oviedo and left-winger Januzaj are both in this channel along the left sideline, then Larsson in the midfield should not come over anymore."
"You can occupy this position in the internal channel, which provides the team with a passing route diagonally forward. At this time, you can either receive the ball and advance, or break through the opponent and tear open the defense…"
Zhao Zhao spoke very detailedly, and it could be said that he was full of practical knowledge.
When he spoke about some details, he would also directly use players from the team as examples, allowing everyone to understand their roles and responsibilities more quickly.
Many of the ideas and thoughts he spoke of today were unheard of by the players, which left everyone greatly impressed.
This was not surprising, after all, no one here had ever attended Guardiola's lectures.
Moreover, the Guardiola course in the system could be said to have directly distilled the essence of Guardiola's tactics and training methods, with no fluff and more organization.
In other words, even if Guardiola himself came here, he might not speak better than Zhao Zhao…
"By utilizing these 20 areas during the match, especially the 2 internal channels and the central area, to break the opponent's defensive balance, you can create opportunities to penetrate and advance forward."
"Receiving the ball in the internal channel is most likely to break through or penetrate the opponent's defense, and it faces the goal diagonally, forcing defenders to move forward to block."
"At this time, the attacking player must judge and make decisions based on the position of the ball and teammates' positions, so that the team maintains balance and provides passing options for penetration, near the ball, or in front of the opponent."
Saying this, Zhao Zhao then pointed to Januzaj and Borini, the two players who often played as wingers:
"When attacking, you two should stretch wide and push forward as much as possible, which can maximize the stretching of the opponent's defense, further creating space for Defoe to drop back and receive the ball in the middle."
"At the same time, it can also free up space for Cattermole and Larsson to make forward runs in the middle. To achieve this better…"
Zhao Zhao then pointed to the two starting full-backs, Oviedo and Billy Jones:
"You two can also cut inside into the internal channels at this time, because the wingers have already provided you with width support. Do you understand?"
Oviedo and Billy Jones simultaneously scratched their heads in the same way: "Uh…"
Apparently, they didn't understand.
Zhao Zhao also chuckled wryly.
Alright, for two average traditional full-backs like them, asking them to understand the theory of inverted full-backs or defensive midfielders was indeed a bit beyond their scope.
This might also be a key focus for future team recruitment; otherwise, it would be a bit difficult to fully implement such advanced tactics and make Sunderland a truly strong team.
Of course, this was something to consider during the summer transfer window…
"Okay, then you two stay in your original positions and assist in the attack along the sideline when appropriate." Zhao Zhao waved his hand, "But in that case, our midfielders must cover more positions to avoid leaving gaps."
Cattermole, Larsson, and other midfielders all nodded.
These principles were much easier for them to absorb.
Given the current player conditions, Zhao Zhao could only flexibly apply the coaching courses he learned, adapting his teaching to individual abilities.
As for using the system to simulate matches…
He could wait until these few days of training were over, as that would yield the most realistic simulation results!
Anyway, the real world pauses during simulation, so there's no need to rush at all.
When playing Manchester United, the simulation only started in the second half, and there were no problems either…
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After Zhao Zhao finished explaining, the players began their new training under the guidance of the coaches.
They were all professional players and professional coaches, so they quickly understood the benefits of this training method.
Because it could truly and quickly improve their positional awareness on the field and their coordination with teammates!
Although there were still some issues with progression in certain areas, they were also very clear that this was because their technique had not met the requirements—just like the two full-backs couldn't invert.
But Zhao Zhao could quickly provide alternative solutions to help everyone learn this system better.
This also made everyone look at Coach Zhao with even greater admiration.
Despite him being only 25 years old, whether it was on-field command or daily training, he truly had something substantial!
As a result, the entire team was filled with confidence for the upcoming next match!