Chapter 62: What Kind of Team Is This?
For Arsenal, Mallorca's performance in this match was truly a surprise, and for the fans in the stands, it was also a "surprise"—though, in quotation marks...
In one of the private boxes on the neutral side of the park stadium, a young gentleman couldn't help but yawn. Though this action was quite impolite in a public setting, his group of young companions shared similar looks of boredom.
Most of them came from the Danish royal family. Some enjoyed sports, but most weren't football fans. They had been invited to watch the UEFA Cup final held in Copenhagen, an event that was a significant occasion for Denmark. Initially, they thought this important match would be exciting, full of twists and turns... but after watching for just a few minutes, they were disappointed to find it—well, boring.
Yes, boring. Extremely boring.
From the very first minute, Mallorca set up a tight defense. No one had expected that in such a final, José would deploy such an extreme defensive strategy right from the start!
Although the trend in football was for both teams to play conservatively in important matches, this was pushing it too far...
"Oh, this is such a dull football match," someone sighed, and soon, a chorus of agreement echoed from the royal family members around him.
The match commentators were aware that finals often turned out to be dull, but they had their own question—how long could Mallorca maintain this extreme defensive approach? Twenty minutes? The first half? Ninety minutes? Or even one hundred and twenty minutes?
It seemed unlikely... no player could avoid making a mistake, and no matter how strong the defense, a single mistake could ruin all the efforts of the game.
José knew this very well. However, he had no other choice. If he were to face Arsenal head-on, both individually and as a team, they would be completely outclassed. The only chance he had was to adopt this extreme strategy, which gave him the best opportunity to win.
No matter how others criticized, José was set on the path he'd chosen. He knew that if they won, everything would be fine. But if they lost, his tactics would likely be heavily criticized.