amazing coach

In the league, Jiang Mu dared to take risks with two young central defenders, but in a cup match where the outcome was determined, Jiang Mu was a little more cautious. He used midfielder Enke as a central defender and led Hoffs to guard the middle. For the sake of insurance,

In front of the two players, Jiang Mu put on Gattuso and Van Bommel, and the only offensive player in the midfield was Altidore.

This kind of defense is more stable than the last game against Utrecht. The offensive players in front did not have to worry about both ends, and the game was much easier. After Van Bommel scored a goal from Fortunaci in the first half,

Alkmaar's players steadily controlled the game until the end of the first half. Drogba scored another goal at the beginning of the second half, and the game seemed to have no suspense.[]

However, in the last ten minutes, the situation suddenly changed. Enke, who switched from a defensive midfielder to a central defender, made a fatal mistake. He made a mistake in stopping the ball on the penalty area line. The opponent's forward grabbed the ball and entered the penalty area to score a single goal.

This mistake could have been avoided, because Enke should not have stopped the ball at all. As the last defender, the center back should have cleared the ball back from his teammate instead of stopping it.

Enke's missed goal caused tension in the entire defense. Three minutes later, the young Hoffs finally couldn't bear the pressure. When his opponent took a low-threatening free kick, he headed the ball into his own goal.

At the gate, he used an own goal to help his opponent equalize the score.

Subsequently, although Alkmaar bombarded Fortunasi's goal, there was too little time. They were still unable to break through Fortunasi's goal and had to play overtime with their opponents.

Overtime is the last thing Jiang Mu wants to see, because the players' physical fitness has reached the limit at this time. If they play overtime, they may not be able to rest for the next game, which will affect his overall plan.

It's very big, but at this time, he can't fight even if he doesn't want to.

Overtime is still very difficult, the opponent's defense is very tenacious, and Alkmaar's own defense prevents the midfielder and frontcourt from fully committing their forces. This kind of game with two hearts is the most difficult to play, until stoppage time

In the 5th minute of the second half, Alkmaar scored with Thomasson's rare long shot, and relied on this goal to defeat Fortunasi and advance to the quarterfinals of the Dutch Cup.

After the Dutch Cup, AZ Alkmaar rushed to the Spartak Stadium in Rotterdam almost non-stop, where they will strive for their 18th consecutive victory in the league this season and their 20th consecutive victory including cup matches.

Sparta Rotterdam was Alkmaar's first league opponent. When we met again after a cycle, I felt a special feeling in my heart. For the first time, Sparta Rotterdam was still an old Eredivisie team. They looked at Alkmaar with a bird's eye view.

Kemar, the little brother of the newly promoted team, whether it is coach Jane Evans or their players, has the mentality of a big brother giving first-class lessons to the little brother.

But now, four months later, AZ Alkmaar is already the league leader, the favorite to win the championship, a super powerhouse with 17 consecutive wins, while Sparta Rotterdam is still hanging around in the middle and waiting to die. Facing such an old rival, Rotterdam

Sparta's head coach Jane Evans could only meet the opponent's challenge with the status and mentality of a weakling.

"There is no denying the strength of Alkmaar, but this is not a reason for us to give up the fight. We don't want to become a number on Alkmaar's winning streak. We must have the courage to end their victory. Although this is very difficult, for us

Said, the only good thing is that they had a tough Dutch Cup match three days ago, and neither of the two central defenders were the original main players. We will try our best to seize the opportunity."

Before the game, many media encouraged Alkmaar to break PSV Eindhoven's record of 22 consecutive wins in the 1986-87 season. Jiang Mu objected to this. He believed that these records are meaningful in track and field, but in football they are just the icing on the cake.

, he doesn’t want this record to become pressure on the players.

Jiang Mu was fully prepared for the start of a new cycle. Most of the main players who participated in the Dutch Cup three days ago were substitutes. Jiang Mu, who was physically exhausted, was all placed on the bench. He was well prepared for this game.

For the center back position that attracts attention, Jiang Mu still ranks the combination of Enke and Hoffs. Although this combination made major mistakes in the last game, Jiang Mu really can't come up with a better combination. The two major players

It was really beyond Jiang Mu's expectation that the central defender was injured at the same time.

After the game started, Alkmaar, who were playing away from home, took the initiative to attack. Recently, attacking instead of defending has been their main tactic. No matter what kind of opponent they face, Jiang Mu always wants the players to press forward, overwhelm the opponent with momentum, and let the war rage.

Staying away from their own penalty area is also the main reason why Alkmaar continues to maintain its winning streak after the two defenders were injured at the same time.

Although Sparta Rotterdam knows that Alkmaar's back line is unstable, they are currently unable to penetrate the hinterland of Alkmaar. In terms of cooperation, they are almost the same as Alkmaar, but in terms of personal ability, Alkmaar has many potential superstars.

Marl is far better than Sparta Rotterdam.

However, after experiencing the disastrous defeat in the first confrontation, Jane Evans also learned a lesson, which is to press like crazy and not play long passes through the midfield, or even through the wings, directly threatening the opponent's defense.

Alkmaar had a fierce battle in midweek, and Sparta Rotterdam was eliminated early in the Dutch Cup. Now they are waiting to work. They have the upper hand in terms of physical fitness. Alkmaar cannot compete with them physically and can only use their technical advantages.

To avoid the opponent's pressing.

Jiang Mu knows very well what tactics his opponent will use to deal with him, because this is how he often deals with technical teams. Facing the opponent's fight, Jiang Mu's approach is to avoid the dense center and go to two wings.

, the mid-range pass avoids the midfielder and passes directly to powerful centers Drogba and Toni. The twin towers connect inside and outside the penalty area, directly posing a threat to the opponent's goal.

Jiang Mu's tactics are very good. Of course, the main reason is that they have such players. Without two centers like Drogba and Toni, if you can't even get the ball in the penalty area, how can you pose a threat? There are no edges.

The fast horse Suleiman on the road and Kronkamp, ​​who is both offensive and defensive, cannot form a breakthrough on the wing.

Half an hour into the game, AZ Alkmaar scored a goal. It was a very typical goal. Kronkamp broke through from the wing and passed across the middle. Toni, who has frequently appeared as the main force recently, performed very well. He took advantage of

With his height advantage, he scored with a header and scored his fifth league goal of the season.

After the goal, AZ Alkmaar did not retreat, but continued to expand the victory. The offensive wave after wave hit a small climax. Sparta Rotterdam was beaten a little chaotic, and the midfield fight looked more like

It's a bunch of headless flies, rather than an organized, planned and skilled fight.

Three minutes later, AZ Alkmaar scored another goal, this time Drogba scored his 15th league goal, second only to Thomasson with 17 goals.

But Tony was not willing to fall behind. At the last moment of the first half, he received a long pass from the backcourt, headed the ball, and completed an unexpected goal. The goalkeeper of Sparta Rotterdam was deceived and could only stare blankly.

Watching the ball fly into the blind spot.

Leading 3-0 in the first half, it seemed that Jiang Mu's team would win their 18th consecutive victory. Jiang Mu did not make any special arrangements in the locker room, but only asked the players to improve their performance in the second half.

Play the first thirty minutes like the first half, and play defensive counterattack in the last fifteen minutes.

There is nothing wrong with this arrangement, but the physical fitness of the Alkmaar players is very problematic. After another half-hour of fierce attack in the second half, their physical fitness suddenly collapsed. What made Jiang Mu even more headache and angry was Altidore's performance in the second half.

He was injured in the 20th minute, which was almost a fatal blow to Alkmaar.

Because in this Alkmaar camp, Altidore is the metronome of the team. He doesn't score many goals and his defense is average, but he controls the rhythm of the game and embodies Jiang Mu's meaning on the court. He lacks

Without Altidore, this Alkmaar team is almost brain dead.

In this case, Jiang Mu could only let the team return to defense, replaced Altidore, replaced Klose, replaced Toni, replaced Thomason, and launched a defensive counterattack.

Of course it is not a problem to defend and counterattack at this time. The problem is that when the defense is difficult, you cannot counterattack, and the result is that you defend without counterattacking.

This is what Alkmaar is like now.

The two deceitful central defenders made every player, including goalkeeper Silva, terrified, worried that Engel and Hoffs would suddenly become ill.

But according to Murphy's law, the more you are afraid of making mistakes, the more likely you are to make them. As a result, in the 78th minute of the game, Hoffs missed a man and allowed the opponent's main forward Ossie to grab a shot and score.

The score became 1:3.

Alkmaar still had the advantage of two goals. They continued to defend, hoping to hold on for the remaining ten minutes. However, the game was no longer controllable by Alkmaar. Five minutes later, Sparta Rotterdam made an attack.

In the climax, Os took a long shot from outside the penalty area. The ball hit his own player's leg and flew into the net. The score became 2:3.

At this time, Jiang Mu couldn't sit still anymore. He didn't dare to defend anymore and quickly asked the players to use their last strength to press out. However, at this time, they were defeated like a mountain. The opponent's morale was up, and they fought extremely fiercely. Jiang Mu couldn't hold on.

After a while, the match continued with the opponent pressing Alkmaar and attacking continuously.

When the game reached the 90th minute, Oss, who was already playing crazy, scored directly with a free kick, completing the hat trick of the game and helping Sparta Rotterdam equalize the score.

AZ did not want to be tied because they were only five games away from the record of 22 consecutive wins set by PSV in the Eredivisie in the 1986-87 season.

95--1995

In 1996, Ajax was only two short of the 19-game winning streak set by Ajax. Although Jiang Mu said not to care about these records, who wouldn't want to set a record when there is a high hope of winning the championship.

The three minutes of stoppage time were three minutes of bloody battle between the two sides. Alkmaar really tried their best to fight. Every player rushed to attack. In the last minute, goalkeeper Silva rushed to the opponent's half.

In the end, fate favored Jiang Mu again. Gattuso, who had been making no progress in attack, broke through the opponent's goal with a header in the melee, helping Alkmaar beat Sparta Rotterdam in the away game, a thrilling completion.

18 consecutive league wins.