Chapter 173: Hitzfeld’s Blunder
José shook his head helplessly. There was nothing he could do about that goal. He could only make adjustments during halftime.
But there was still half the match to play. If Mr. Hitzfeld wanted to celebrate already, wasn't that a bit too soon?
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"In the second half, we need to make some tactical adjustments."
Looking at his players taking every second of halftime to recover, José spoke calmly, "Bayern is using their wingers to stretch our defense and then relying on their forwards to create chances, mainly exploiting Miguel and Daniel's slower turning speed. So we need to strengthen our coverage in front of the penalty area. If one of our defenders gets beaten, there must be someone there to cover."
He turned directly to Francisco Rufete. "Francisco, you'll have to make a sacrifice. I'm subbing you out in the second half."
Rufete nodded. He had played well in attack during the first half, but defensively, he didn't contribute much. Adding to that, George was also more attack-minded than defensive, meaning Mallorca's right side was under a lot of pressure.
"Pablo, you're coming in for Francisco." José looked at Pablo García. "You have one job—protect the area in front of the penalty box. Whether it's Elber or Pizarro dropping deep for the ball, or Effenberg and Sergio attacking through the middle, your job is to shut them down. Knock them over if you have to! Don't be afraid of committing fouls—Bayern doesn't have that many great free-kick takers now. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had to rely on that French guy as their primary set-piece taker... As for attacking, leave that to Motta and the others."
Pablo García nodded excitedly. Ever since his move to Mallorca, he hadn't secured a starting spot, but he was still getting way more game time compared to his spell at AC Milan last season. It was a night-and-day difference.
"In attack, we'll rely on counterattacks. This is an away game, and they're putting a lot of pressure on our defense. Ronaldinho, Albert, Samuel—the attack is on you three. Thiago might provide some support, but not much. Bayern will push forward even more in the second half, which means we'll get more chances. Be bold, exploit the space behind them, and use our speed and skill to break through. Bayern's center-backs are nothing special. If we can't create chances against them, then we can forget about making an impact in the Champions League."
The locker room filled with chuckles. Even with just three attackers, facing Bayern's less-than-elite central defenders, creating chances shouldn't be too difficult.