The Godfather of Football

"We will completely block Ajax's attack in this game!"

When the Dutch derby came, Eindhoven coach Gretz, who led the team to Amsterdam, expressed his confidence in this game in an interview with the media.

If it was a week ago, many people would definitely think that he was deliberately exaggerating to boost the morale of the team, but now no one would think so, because Ajax has suffered serious casualties in this game.

The two main players who left the game due to injuries in the game against Boavista, Sneijder and Robben, have been confirmed by the club and will be out for at least two weeks. Among them, Sneijder's injury is more serious, and it is conservatively estimated that he may not be able to return for two weeks.

Ye Qiu can only entrust Yaya Toure with an important task in this game, but the performance of this Ivorian teenager is not as stable as Sneijder. Whether he can fill the gap left by Sneijder is a question for everyone, and Robben's position is taken by Hleb.

After the Belarusian player joined Ajax, although he had good performances from time to time, he could not be compared with the brilliant talented winger Robben. When he talked to Ye Qiu many times and accepted media interviews, he repeatedly stated that he could not adapt to Ajax's tactical system.

This undoubtedly made many people not very confident about him. Once Ajax's trident lost the threat on the left and lost the deterrence in the middle, how much power could be left? This is why Gretz was so confident.

Ye Qiu did not refute Gretz's remarks because he knew very well that it was not the right time.

Now he was sitting in the office and having an in-depth conversation with Yaya Toure. The most important thing was to talk about the upcoming game. Ye Qiu told him without any concealment that he would be qualified to start in this game and partner with Keita and Gilberto Silva in the midfield.

"I never doubt your potential and talent. This is why I brought you from Cote d'Ivoire to Amsterdam. I believe you can become a top midfielder in Europe and even the world, but you must prove to me that I can absolutely trust you at critical moments, and you have such strength!" "Tell me, can I trust you?" Facing Ye Qiu's serious inquiry, Yaya Toure nodded heavily, "Please believe me, I won't let you down!" Ye Qiu nodded, "Remember what I told you, a good player must always stay calm, have a big picture and strategic awareness, and trust his teammates. If you pass the ball well, you can dominate a game!" Yaya Toure knew what the head coach meant. Ye Qiu and other coaches had told him many times. He himself was aware of this problem and was working hard to improve it. But sometimes, personality and playing habits cannot be changed just by saying so. "I promise you, boss, I will try harder to control myself in this game!"

Yaya Toure knows better than anyone that the opponent in this game is PSV Eindhoven. The gap between the two teams is 4 points. If they lose, although Ajax still has a 1-point lead, their morale has been greatly weakened by their opponents, which will inevitably lead to a heavy blow to the morale of Ajax.

Ye Qiu trusts him in such a crucial match, which is equivalent to pinning all hopes of winning the championship on him.

In such an important game, if Yaya Toure cannot guarantee to control himself, how can he be worthy of starting?

"Go, don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't pay attention to the suspicion of the outside world. You have to remember that you don't play for them, you are only responsible for me, and only I can judge your performance, understand?"

Yaya Toure nodded and stood up. After saying goodbye to Ye Qiu politely, he left Ye Qiu's office.

After watching Yaya Toure leave, Ye Qiu took a deep breath. He was under a lot of pressure now, but he was in a lot of trouble. Yaya Toure was just one of them, and there was also Hleb, the shy and low-key Belarusian.

Since joining Ajax, although his performance was good and bad, he always seemed to be unable to integrate into the team. Ye Qiu had communicated with him and asked him the reason and the crux. Hleb did not hide it and told Ye Qiu his problem.

"Your tactical rhythm is too fast, and you keep asking me to run, which leaves me with insufficient time to think. Without thinking, it is difficult for me to find the target."

Hleb did not say it, but Ye Qiu understood that without a target, it is easy to be blind, run blindly, and dribble blindly. Once oppressed and pressed by the opponent, it is easy to fall into a hard battle. Moreover, Hleb is a bit melancholy. Sometimes he is not decisive enough, and his desire to shoot is not strong enough. He prefers to pass the ball instead of shooting himself.

Ye Qiu did not give up on Hleb because of this. That was not his style, because he always believed that no player was perfect. Every player would have problems of one kind or another. If a player did not solve a problem but chose to give up, he would definitely not be a qualified head coach.

So he gave Hleb a lot of time. In the past year and a half, Hleb was always Robben's substitute. But once he performed well, assisted or scored a goal, Ye Qiu would give him special rewards and encourage him to be more confident. Once he made a mistake, Ye Qiu would take all the responsibilities and give him protection.

"You know, boss, we all loved the snow when we were in Belarus."

Sitting in the office chair, he turned around with his back to the desk and faced the second team's stadium. Ye Qiu's mind couldn't help but think of last winter, when it snowed in Amsterdam and Hleb was in hot form. Ye Qiu asked Knowing his reasons, he talked about his past full of vicissitudes of life.

"My teammates and I were all poor children. My father was a tanker truck driver, and my mother was a worker at a construction site. My football career started on the cement floor, and I always wore skin at first. Even my feet were injured, sometimes till they were bloody.”

"It wasn't until I was 12 years old that I got a pair of sneakers. They were very cheap. I regarded them as my treasures. So I like snow, because snow makes the ground soft, even though it makes the ground soft. It’s very slippery and easy to get injured, but the sneakers are not easy to break. In the summer, our sneakers always break down very quickly.”

From what Hleb said, Ye Qiu could imagine how difficult his life was, and he could also imagine that an Eastern European who had lived in a slum since childhood suddenly came to a place full of flowers. In Western Europe, facing such a colorful world, it is inevitable for a sentimental character like Hleb to feel inferior.

And often, low self-esteem easily leads to lack of confidence.

In the past year or so, Ye Qiu has always been protective of him, but Hleb didn't seem to have made much progress. This undoubtedly made Ye Qiu feel a little disappointed, and he had to rethink his attitude towards him. Is Hleb's approach correct.

But I have to admit that Ye Qiu is really not a hard-hearted person, especially when facing his own players.

When he saw Hleb walking into his office timidly, sitting in front of him, lowering his face full of vicissitudes of life, he couldn't say many hard words.

"You will start this game." Ye Qiu announced.

Hleb nodded and said yes. He was not surprised by this. He usually started in games where Robben was absent.

"In this game, our offense will focus on building two wings. We must make a good start as usual and attack. I must use the midfield to firmly suppress PSV's midfield and completely incorporate the game into the game. In the rhythm we are best at.”

Hleb nodded again, but did not respond this time, but raised his head, looked at Ye Qiu seriously, and listened to what he said.

Seeing Hleb like this, Ye Qiu sighed secretly, "Alexander, it has been more than a year since you came to Amsterdam, and you have experienced a lot in the Eredivisie. I believe you know very well what this game means to you. The importance of the team!”

"I understand, head!" Hleb finally spoke.

"That's good!" Ye Qiu was quite satisfied. "When you first come to a team, you will inevitably need some transition and adaptation period. Zidane went to Real Madrid and Pires went to Arsenal. They both performed well at the beginning. It’s far from ideal, but the key is to open up your mind, adapt, blend in and trust the teammates around you.”

"I believe you can do it, and you will definitely be able to do it well. Never doubt yourself, do you understand?"

Ye Qiu's encouragement moved Hleb a little. I don't know how many times this happened, but every time, Ye Qiu still took the trouble to encourage him and even defend him. This made Hleb nod heavily. At the same time, I kept reminding myself in my heart that I must not be disappointed again.

After sending Hleb away, Ye Qiu fell into deep thought again. He had no doubt that the biggest weakness in Ajax's lineup against PSV was Hleb and Yaya Toure. If these two players If the performance is not good, then Ajax will be in trouble in this game, because he can feel that Gretz is well prepared this time, and he is coming fiercely.

The importance of this game can be seen from the fact that Ye Qiu sent all his main players to play. Even if it affects Ajax's midweek game with Bayern Munich, he doesn't care at all.

The league has always been Ye Qiu's most important battlefield.

…………

…………

When the roar of the Ferrari sounded outside the gate, Eliza had just hung up the phone with Huang Chu.

This silly girl learned about the current situation of Ajax from the newspaper, and guessed that Ye Qiu must be under a lot of pressure now, so she called Eliza from England to ask about Ye Qiu's situation, and asked Eliza to tell her more Help Ye Qiu.

There is a saying that is true, smart people use their brains. Eliza's agency is getting bigger and bigger, but she herself is not very busy, and her mantra is that work should not affect her. Rest, because the most important thing for a woman is to maintain her body through sleep and rest.

But Ye Qiu, the head coach of Ajax, seems to have endless things to do every day.

"Back!" Eliza turned her head sideways when she saw Ye Qiu opening the door and continuing to watch her TV.

God knows why a stupid girl who is extremely smart would like to watch those vulgar sitcoms, and watch them with relish. She is very fond of the vulgar plots and disgusting emotional scenes in them.

"Please, it's this drama again, from Wheat Cake!" Ye Qiu kept shaking his head.

This drama is called "Good Times, Bad Times", which is the most popular drama in the Netherlands. It has been broadcast for thousands of episodes since 1990, and it seems that there is no sign of ending. God knows how they write it?

However, I have to say that I heard that this drama has almost everything, love, conspiracy... and the most important thing is that it has high ratings.

Eliza held a box of potato chips in her hand and ate them without turning her head, staring at the TV, "If you don't know how to watch it, don't always disturb me watching TV. I packed dinner and put it on the dining table. Go eat it yourself."

Since Huang Chu left, Ye Qiu and Eliza basically packed their three meals a day, or went directly to the club restaurant.

Eating these foods that were obviously incomparable to Huang Chu's cooking skills, Ye Qiu listened to the bombardment of soap operas in his ears, and he was surprised. With Eliza's IQ, why did she like to watch such a TV series?

"Eliza, stop watching this kind of IQ-lowering TV show, go out for a walk!"

"I'm enjoying it!" Eliza refused immediately, but soon, she thought of something. Huang Chu asked her to help watch Ye Qiu, so she turned around and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Go for a ride!"

It was really a ride, and it was a ride that was very fast!

In the middle of the night, when no one was around, a Ferrari was speeding at a speed of more than 200 kilometers per hour, almost like lightning, on the A1 highway, quickly heading south, passing Naarden, and coming to Hilversum, then turning from A1 to A27 highway, bypassing Lake Hoy, coming to Almere, taking A6 to Lelystad, and then entering the ring road to the shore of Lake IJssel.

There is a road across Lake IJssel from Lelystad. This embankment, like the famous Afsluitdijk, cuts through Lake IJssel and has a road built on it. In the middle of the embankment, there is an area similar to a docking station. This is not only a monitoring station for the embankment and the lake gate, but also a cafe called Charlie.

Ye Qiu drove very fast all the way. Eliza held the handle above the door tightly, fearing that she would be thrown out of the door if she was not careful. Every time she met a car, she couldn't help screaming.

So, when Ye Qiu turned into Charlie's Cafe and parked in the parking lot outside, her towering chest rose and fell rapidly, as if with some kind of moving rhythm, but her face was not good-looking.

"I swear, Ye Qiu, I will never dare to ride in your car again!" Eliza opened the door and went out. She found that her legs were a little weak, and immediately looked at Ye Qiu angrily, "You lunatic!"

Feeling the cold wind blowing from Lake IJssel in winter, Ye Qiu felt refreshed.

The waves under his feet were not big, but they hit the pebbles on the embankment one after another. The entire embankment separated Lake IJssel. The lake water naturally wanted to erode this narrow embankment, but decades later, it was as stable as Mount Tai.

Ye Qiu stretched his arms with all his strength, twisting his sore neck constantly, and slowly walked to the end of the embankment, opened his arms, and let the wind blowing from the lake hit him. That feeling was great.

"Crazy!" Eliza knew he was under a lot of pressure and was venting, "Come back a little, it's too dangerous to stand there. If you fall in, I can't swim and I'll drown you!"

Ye Qiu laughed, "I can't swim either. I'm planning to learn, but you can come over and try it. Standing here and looking at Lake IJssel is completely different from standing inside!"

It was pitch black all around, with only the lighthouse in the distance still flashing, guiding the direction of the boats on the lake. Looking around, you can't see the other side of Lake IJssel. This lake is too big, too big!

You can step into Lake IJssel with just one foot, but Ye Qiu stood at the end of the embankment, facing the lake without any light, and vented his anger. In Eliza's ears, it was like a ghost roaring.

"You can try it too, it's very exciting!" Ye Qiu suggested with a smile.

Eliza shook her head vigorously, "I'm not crazy!"

"What are you afraid of?" Ye Qiu laughed, "Remember James Cameron's Titanic? Just learn from Rose, imagine yourself standing on the bow of the Titanic, and I am the handsome Jack, I will hold you when the time comes!"

"Ugh!" Eliza made a playful vomiting gesture, "I don't think you look like Jack, and you are handsome, are you as handsome as Leonardo?"

Ye Qiu shook his head, "Can't you have a little imagination?"

Eliza shook her head like a rattle, "It takes such amazing imagination to imagine you as Leonardo?" After saying that, she couldn't help laughing, obviously happy that she could hit Ye Qiu.

But while talking, she still slowly approached Ye Qiu. I don't know why, she felt that Ye Qiu seemed very happy standing like this, but as soon as she approached Ye Qiu, the latter pulled hard, scaring her to scream, and Ye Qiu pulled her to the end of the embankment.

"Step here, yes, step firmly, don't move, otherwise it's not Ruth, it's a drowned ghost." Ye Qiu shouted with a laugh.

Eliza was so scared that she grabbed Ye Qiu's hands with both hands, and closed her eyes in fear, not daring to open them, but when Ye Qiu shouted, she didn't dare to move, and could only let Ye Qiu hold her soft waist.

At this moment, she felt that her whole body, heart, and life were handed over to Ye Qiu. As long as he let go, she would be dead, but Ye Qiu's hands around her waist were indescribably strong, as if he couldn't let go even if he cut her with a knife.

"Open your eyes!" Ye Qiu laughed beside her ear, "Come on, don't be afraid, open your eyes and take a look at Lake IJssel. You will find that it is completely different from the Lake IJssel you have seen before!"

I don't know if she was very confident in Ye Qiu, Eliza slowly opened her eyes, she was really stunned.

At this moment, she felt as if the entire Lake IJssel was under her feet, and those lake waves seemed to be coming towards her.

As long as she went up a little bit, or she went a little bit forward, she would be swallowed by the waves, but Ye Qiu's hands around her waist pulled her so strongly that she was not afraid at all.

"Wow!" Eliza opened her arms excitedly, looking like Rose in Titanic.

"Hey, be careful, don't twist your waist, damn it, I can't hold on!"