The Godfather of Football

Chapter 118 Van der Sar's fatal weakness

Obviously, Gretz's belief is not as firm as Ye Qiu's!

This directly led to the fact that the PSV players' belief was not as firm as that of the Ajax players, and the execution of tactics on the court was not as decisive and resolute as that of the Ajax players, which made the Ajax players successfully complete a game of their own.

In this game, the starting lineup of PSV was goalkeeper Watrus, the back line from left to right was Bouma, Nikiforov, Hovland and Oye, the four midfielders from left to right were Kezman, Van Bommel, Vogel and Rommedal, and the two forwards were Bruggink and Hesselink.

Gretz's preparations before the entire season were based on this set of main lineups, and their warm-up match results were also very good, including an outstanding result of a 7:0 victory over the opponent, but overall, the strength of the warm-up opponents was obviously not a little different from that of Ajax's warm-up opponents.

But overall, PSV's running-in was still in place.

Ajax's starting lineup for this game was goalkeeper Van der Sar, the back line was Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon, the three midfielders were Keita, Gilberto Silva and Sneijder, and the front trident was Robben, Huntelaar and Van der Meyde.

Ibrahimovic had a cold and fever the day before the game, and Van der Vaart was slightly injured in training. Both players missed this game, so Ye Qiu sent Huntelaar and Van der Meyde to the starting lineup.

But the substitution of the striker and the right winger did not affect Ajax's overall tactics.

At the beginning of this game, Ajax took the initiative to attack, using its own skilled tactics to actively press and press PSV Eindhoven, especially the suppression in the midfield, which was carried out very resolutely, which forced PSV Eindhoven's defense to retreat step by step, while Ajax took the opportunity to push the defense forward to form a high-position defense.

After the defense line moved forward, Ajax's control over the game became even stronger. In addition, PSV's two forwards, whether Bruggink or Hesselink, were not the kind of speed players. The so-called double towers still needed players who could kick the ball from both sides and let them play a role in the penalty area, so that they could form a threat. But now Ajax has pressed the defense line to the area close to the center circle. How can they create a threat?

Gretz has experienced Ye Qiu's high defense, and he also thought about using Kezman's speed to threaten Ajax's back, but the right corridor formed by Van der Meyde and Maicon suppressed PSV's left side in offense, especially Van der Meyde's suppression of Bouma, which completely isolated Kezman in the frontcourt.

As for the left side, Romedal met his old enemy Abidal, and the former was as soft as ever.

After completing this series of layouts, Ajax completely controlled the game, and the goal came naturally.

In the 14th minute of the game, Ajax's Van der Meyde made a breakthrough on the right and passed the ball to the penalty area. The penalty area had been waiting for an opportunity. Huntelaar, who wanted to score against PSV Eindhoven and prove his strength in Ajax, would not miss such a godsend opportunity and scored a goal through Watrous' goal.

The second goalkeeper of the Netherlands had to fish the ball out of the goal line and then kicked it to the midfield angrily.

But just 10 minutes later, PSV Eindhoven once again lost the goal. This time, Vogel missed Sneijder. After entering the penalty area, the latter attracted the attention of the defensive players and then passed the ball back to the front of the penalty area. Gilberto Silva was invincible and hit a heavy cannon to meet the ball and scored again through PSV Eindhoven's goal, 2:0!

Two consecutive goals completely destroyed the fighting spirit and morale of PSV Eindhoven players. Gretz sat in the coaching booth in a depressed mood, with a helpless expression on his face, not knowing how to accept such a situation.

After scoring two goals in a row, Ajax obviously slowed down its offensive, especially PSV Eindhoven's frontcourt pressing was not enough, which made Ajax's triangle area with Van der Sar, Lucio and Kivu as the main force, plus Maicon and Abidal as the corners, the backcourt control was very smooth, and the support to the frontcourt was very strong.

Entering the halftime break with a score of 2:0, all the players were happy with the score and the situation, but Ye Qiu poured a bucket of cold water on everyone.

"In the 5,000-year history of the Chinese people, there are countless profound lessons, one of which is to be prepared for danger in times of peace!"

"When you think you have everything under control and everything evolves and develops as you wish, then what you should do at this time is not to celebrate, nor to be careless, but to be careful, because often at this time, it is when you are most vulnerable and weakest!"

"And your enemies, especially the more dangerous ones, are more likely to choose to launch a fatal attack when you are weakest!"

Ye Qiu's reminder really came true in the second half.

After the halftime break, even if Eindhoven was a clay man, Gretz would be aroused by some earthiness, not to mention that they are the Dutch champions for two consecutive seasons and are also a number one team in Europe. How could they just give up like that?

At the beginning of the second half, Ajax was in a situation of being completely passive, but with Ye Qiu's reminder, Ajax's defense was arranged in an orderly manner, especially Van der Sar, who wore the captain's armband for the first time in an official game.

This Dutch goalkeeper, who performed poorly at Juventus last season, brought a wonderful performance to the fans as soon as he returned to Ajax and Arena Stadium.

First, in the 52nd minute, Romedal broke through on the right and made a cross. Lucio and Hesselink competed for a header in the penalty area. The Brazilian central defender grabbed the first point, stuck in position steadily, jumped high, and headed the ball out.

But Lucio's header was not strong enough under the interference of Hesselink, and slowly fell to the front of the penalty area. Van Bommel, who came in from behind, saw the opportunity and shot a powerful shot from the outside of the penalty area.

This shot was very powerful, and the angle was to the left, which was obviously aimed at Van der Sar's shot just now to defend Hesselink and stand to the right side of the goal.

But Van der Sar seemed to have judged Van Bommel's angle in advance. He ran quickly to the left and pushed the flying ball to the ground with both hands before the ball arrived.

Van Bommel's heavy shot was pushed by Van der Sar with both hands, and the direction was immediately changed. After hitting the ground and rebounding, Van der Sar grabbed it in his hands. It was very steady, and Van der Sar's wonderful save also won cheers from Ajax fans who could see clearly behind the goal.

But soon, another cross came from Romedal on the right. The latter was very active after the start of the second half and repeatedly created threats. Abidal couldn't support it alone, and Hesselink also got a chance at the front of the small penalty area this time, and headed the ball before Lucio.

In order to create a threat, Hesselink's header deliberately bounced back, and then bounced up again after touching the ground, but Van der Sar seemed to have made a prediction in advance and stood firmly in his position. After determining the landing point and the direction of the bounce, he immediately flew up to make a save and blocked the ball with one hand.

After falling to the ground, Van der Sar had lost the ability to save again. Fortunately, Kivu, who landed in time, kicked the ball away and barely saved Ajax from losing the ball.

Ye Qiu, who was standing on the sidelines, applauded Van der Sar's wonderful save. This was indeed a very difficult save.

Sometimes, when fans watch live broadcasts on TV, they cannot see the whole process. They can only follow the camera and the ball forever, but they can't notice the players' actions at all, but the head coach can.

There is a saying in the field of head coaches that the most important ability to judge a goalkeeper is not his height or his goalkeeping skills, but his positioning, which is what many people call a sense of position.

If a goalkeeper has a good sense of position, then the shots that appear in the eyes of the fans will be that the opposing players almost all shoot into the goalkeeper's arms. They shoot wherever the goalkeeper is, so they will complain that the shooter is too bad.

But think about it carefully, they are all professional players, don't they even know the most basic thing to pay attention to the goalkeeper's position before shooting?

Wrong, they know that they must be looking at the goalkeeper's position before shooting, but the problem is that when they shoot or after, the goalkeeper's movement makes their shots useless.

Just like when Van Bommel saw the ball flying towards him just now, he also saw Van der Sar standing on the right, and at this time, Van der Sar also saw the ball flying towards Van Bommel. The two knew each other's positions clearly and did it at the same time. At this time, Van Bommel decided to shoot on the left, and Van der Sar judged that there was a gap on his left.

So, when Van Bommel was about to shoot, Van der Sar had already moved to the left.

But fans who watch the live broadcast of the game will never see the intrigue between the two players, as well as the countermeasures and changes of the two players at the moment of shooting. What they see is that Van Bommel shoots directly to Van der Sar, who intercepts the ball steadily with both hands.

So, many times, fans may think that a player performs poorly or is completely useless, but in the eyes of the head coach, the situation may be completely the opposite, because the vision and angle between the two are completely different. Fans will never see what the head coach sees through the live broadcast of the TV.

"Van der Sar's control of the right side of the body is absolutely the best in the world!" Bobby Hams nodded in approval after seeing Van der Sar's outstanding performance.

As a right-handed and right-footed goalkeeper, Van der Sar's left hand and left foot are also good, but after all, they are not as good as his right hand.

Bobby Hams knows Van der Sar too well. He knows very well that the right-handed Van der Sar's control of the right side, whether it is a low ball or a high ball, is the best in the world. What hinders him is his weakness on the left side of the body.

All right-handed people can try to see if the same item is placed on the left or on the right for easier access.

The answer must be on the right, and the goalkeeper has to use his hands to catch the ball.

If Van der Sar's control of the right side of the body is the best in the world, then his control of the left side is his biggest weakness, especially the area above the left waist, which is his most fatal weakness and the blind spot of countless right-handed goalkeepers.

The so-called blind spot is only for ordinary or first-class goalkeepers. The real top goalkeepers, such as Buffon, Casillas, or the future goalkeepers of Cech's level, have no blind spots in their saves, that is, they can give full control to the left and right sides of the body and any area of ​​the goal.

Only by doing this can one be considered the top goalkeeper.

But there is one who is special, that is the Lion King Kahn.

Kahn is also a goalkeeper who has a blind spot for saving, but he has become the world's number one goalkeeper. On the one hand, this is because his control over the right side of his body has reached the pinnacle, and on the other hand, the team understands his problem and pays special attention to Kahn's blind spot on the left side of the half-high ball in defense.

No player is perfect. Only by cooperating and complementing each other can they be the best partners!

Ye Qiu is now also ready to further strengthen the defensive arrangement of Van der Sar's left half-high area in defense. He will not take the initiative to reveal Van der Sar's weakness, but the opponent will find it sooner or later, and there must be targeted methods at that time.

…………

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Van der Sar's outstanding performance gave Ajax players great encouragement. After enduring PSV's crazy attack for 20 minutes, they finally played a sharp and powerful counterattack.

In the 68th minute, Robben and Keita made a two-on-one match on the left, and then used their speed to forcefully break through the defense of PSV Eindhoven, went straight behind the defense, cut into the penalty area from the left, and faced Hovland who was flying to grab the ball. Robben made a low pass, and Keita entered the penalty area from the side, facing the ball and shot low, once again penetrating the goal of PSV Eindhoven, 3:0!

If it is said that PSV Eindhoven lost its fighting spirit after 2:0, but the advantage in the first 20 minutes of the second half made them see hope again, then this goal completely declared their despair, because they had to collapse and find that their offense could not break through Ajax's defense, but their defense could not stop Ajax's offense.

Ye Qiu's team once again pursued a fast-paced and overwhelming offensive, exerting the team's impact and completely controlling the rhythm.

Therefore, after scoring again, Ajax immediately sounded the horn of counterattack, especially the combination of Maicon and Van der Meyde on the right, and began to launch a fierce attack on the left of PSV Eindhoven.

10 minutes later, it was Van der Meyde and Maicon's cooperation on the right. Maicon advanced to the right corner of the penalty area and made a 45-degree pass behind the PSV Eindhoven defense line. Huntelaar was lurking beside Nikiforov and Hovland, saw the opportunity, quickly inserted himself, and headed the ball to score another goal, 4:0!

Huntelaar, who scored twice, rushed out of the penalty area excitedly, with his arms stretched out, and his young face was full of excitement and excitement, because he broke through the goal of PSV Eindhoven, and he defeated the second goalkeeper of the Dutch national team, Watrous.

Youth is the label of this Ajax youth guard, and today is Huntelaar's 18th birthday. Scoring twice is undoubtedly the best gift from God for him, making him ecstatic.

In the competition with Ibrahimovic, Huntelaar is always at a disadvantage. This is partly because of his youth and partly because of his single technical characteristics. He lacks the kind of connection and personal technical ability that the Swede has in the team's frontcourt offense.

But Huntelaar also has his own advantages, that is, his scoring sense and shooting skills, which Ibrahimovic still cannot match him even now. This is his advantage!

"Gretz has obviously given up on this game and has no hope. It's not just him. PSV's overall performance in this game gives people a feeling of lack of confidence, or it can be said that they are not resolute enough!"

"Want to win, but afraid of losing, want to attack, but worried about defense, this is indeed an embarrassing contradiction, because PSV seems to have a certain advantage against Ajax, but in fact it is completely at a disadvantage, because in the past 5 games that Gretz faced Ye Qiu, PSV lost 4 and tied 1, this record is very embarrassing, and now they may have lost one more game!"

The live TV camera shifted from the frustrated Gretz to Ye Qiu. If Gretz's face was full of frustration and disappointment, then Ye Qiu's face was full of hope and a bright smile.

"Early before this season, many commentators believed that Ajax's strength has improved a lot after maintaining the stability of the overall lineup last season and adding Van der Sar as the goalkeeper. This season, it has reached the point where it is on par with PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie, and even has the momentum to suppress PSV Eindhoven."

"But no one expected that this team, which still has the youngest average age in the Dutch Eredivisie, now has the strength to beat PSV Eindhoven 4:0. This is definitely an unexpected result for everyone, but it also fully reflects the amazing progress made by this young Ajax in the past year!"

If it were a time traveler like Ye Qiu, he would definitely not be surprised by the progress of this group of Ajax players, because each of them would be a well-known first-class star in Europe in a few years. It's a pity that in this world, there is only one time traveler, Ye Qiu.

Because of this, in the eyes of everyone, Ajax's progress is astonishing, and Ye Qiu, who personally created this Ajax Youth Guard, is full of magical colors. He seems to carry the mystery from the East and has an incredible magic that can turn stones into gold.

Ajax fans don't care about these. They only care about one thing, that is, Ajax defeated PSV Eindhoven 4:0 at the Arena Stadium, returning the shame of the complete defeat two years ago to PSV Eindhoven, and once again won the Dutch Super Cup.

This made them happier than anything else, because they saw that the team had regained its strong competitiveness and saw the hope of the team's revival.

And there is no doubt that it was Ye Qiu who brought them this hope!

So, after the game, all the Ajax fans in the Arena Stadium shouted Ye Qiu's name in unison to express their gratitude and support for the head coach. This was the first time for Ye Qiu!

This treatment also raised Ye Qiu's status in Ajax to a new height again!

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