The Godfather of Football

The great Ajax is back!

The next day, the Amsterdam Evening Post in the Netherlands used such a conspicuous red and white arrow stripe font as the headline on its front page cover to show the newspaper's tribute to Ajax.

"Before commenting, please allow me to call on all Ajax fans to please remember this number, 2002.11.13, because on this day, we saw a powerful Ajax team at the Arena. "X, that group of Ajax players who fought bravely reminded me of the 1995 Champions League final at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna!"

"Van Gaal's Ajax team once again won the Saint-Bloid Cup for Ajax after an absence of twenty years!"

"And just last night, at the Arena Stadium, our opponent was still the star-studded AC Milan. Our head coach was replaced by the young coach Ye Qiu from China. We still have a group of talented young people gathered together. We are still Showing a traditional football style that belongs to us at Ajax.”

"3:0, we can almost be said to be massacring the top giants from Italy. In this game, we used a bloody victory and our outstanding and perfect performance to once again send our message to fans all over the world. We can proudly tell them that the great Ajax team is back again!”

"We have no way to ask for more from Ye Qiu and his team. Today's European football is no longer the European football in the 1970s or 1995. The current environment of Ajax is much better than that of Ye Qiu and his team. It has always been bad and dangerous.”

"The impact of the Bosman Act has caused us to lose countless outstanding talents. The giant teams in the four major European leagues have sucked our blood at extremely low prices to strengthen themselves, but have made us very vulnerable. , This can be seen from the fact that after the Bosman Act, the Champions League has completely become a wealthy game.”

"But Ajax has never lacked rebels. From the distant Michels, to Cruyff, to Van Gaal, and now to Ye Qiu, they have never believed that the environment can defeat one person and one team. , they always only believe in themselves and believe that as long as they are strong enough, they can defeat any opponent!"

"Ye Qiu is right. No one is born into a rich family, and no one is born to stand on top of others' heads and dictate and shit. This world is about strength and relies on fists."

"I believe that after this game, the whole of Europe will get to know Ajax and Ye Qiu again."

Compared with the direct high-profile praise from the Amsterdam Aftenposten, Schulde Mosso of the Common Daily mentioned one thing in his column, and the title of his column seemed a bit refreshing, "Let us start to believe." …”

"The moment the final whistle blew, I was sitting on the podium at the Arena and I noticed that there were a lot of die-hard Ajax fans around who were excited and crazy and hugging each other. , even stood directly on the seat, raised his arms high, and shouted loudly over there.

"I heard the shouts of an elderly fan who was about sixty years old and was nearest to me. He was shouting like those young guys. Well done Ajax. This is how we are going to kill those bastard giants. Tell the world we are not afraid of them!”

"While shouting and shouting, this fan shed two lines of tears. I was very curious and asked him why he was so excited?"

"He told me that in the past few years, Ajax has lost too many things. It has lost the stars that it has worked so hard to cultivate, and it has lost the European team that its predecessors have worked hard to build for countless years. The status of a wealthy club has lost a lot of the traditional spirit that makes fans proud."

"For many fans who have experienced the era of Michels and Van Gaal, Ye Qiu's team does not make them feel close to each other strictly speaking, because the real Detok Moste in this team is There are not many players. Van der Sar, Van der Vaart and Sneijder are the main players, but De Jong, Heitinga and other players are not yet able to be the main players.”

"But he also said that we can all understand the decision of the club and the head coach. Football clubs should also follow the trend and become more and more international. So although emotionally, we feel that this Ajax is no longer the same as in the past. The local flavor, even the head coach is from a strange east, but the fighting spirit of this team moved them and made them feel that the traditional spirit of Ajax has returned again.”

"He told me, you know, young man, many young people don't understand. They will tell you that football has been professionalized and industrialized. No one cares about empty spirits and bullshit traditions. They will tell you, Players play for life, and life is for money. This is an era where money matters."

"But, you know, young man, I have experienced many more things than you. I know better than you that in everyone's life, there will be many precious things that money cannot buy, and Often when you give up these things for money today, you will regret it tomorrow.”

"Money cannot support a person living in this world. You see many people working hard, fighting hard, and snobbishly fighting for power. Do you think he is doing it for money? For status? Wrong, he is not doing it for money. It’s not for status, he’s for making money and doing things that he can do after gaining status, such as living a more eye-catching life, or to change his family, there are many, many more.”

"Money is the most worthless thing in the world, because you don't know when it will depreciate. Even when the financial crisis comes, it can become worthless at any time and at any time. It is just some numbers and a piece of paper. That’s all, only feelings are the foundation for a person’s survival and can make a person’s life valuable and meaningful.”

"I listened to what this old friend said a lot, and then he told me that in his opinion, Ye Qiu's transformation of Ajax was very successful. In the eyes of many people, this success is competitive. Success, but in his view, it is not only a competitive success, but also a spiritual return.”

"Ye Qiu has put a profound mark on Ajax. He has engraved his own values ​​​​and his rebellious spirit of not admitting defeat deeply into the soul of Ajax, just like the Mi Scheers did the same thing as Van Gaal did for Ajax, and he also believes that in the next ten years, no Ajax coach can surpass Ye Qiu, even in terms of performance. "

"Finally, this old fan told me that I began to believe that Ye Qiu can lead Ajax back to the top, not only in terms of performance, but also in spirit, so he will wait, no matter how long it takes. Wait!"

"I have been thinking about this issue for a long time, and I began to understand some of the truth in this elderly friend's words. It is very common and ordinary, but it is a truth that many people can't understand in their lives. Therefore, I also began to believe it. wait."

Schulde Mosso's report caused a great response on the Internet, and some Ajax fan websites also reprinted it. Many fans expressed that they were greatly touched after reading it. People even think that if you want to evaluate Ye Qiu's contribution to Ajax in the past three years or so, you have to wait until ten years later to look back in order to be fair.

After the first round of the Champions League group stage, the three Eredivisie teams participating in the Champions League, PSV and Feyenoord, were eliminated from the Champions League with last place in the group points. Only Ajax, in the Super Death Standing out from the group, this is regarded as a matter of pride by the entire Dutch football community.

This time even the Eindhoven daily published a picture of Ajax celebrating after the game on its cover, with the headline, "Let's take off our hats and pay tribute to Ajax!"

The Feyenoord Evening News regards Ajax's qualification as the pride of Dutch football and believes that Ajax is worth learning from all Eredivisie teams, especially Ye Qiu's improvement in the team's tactical style every year in the past few years. Adapt and innovate.

"Cruyff is right. No set of tactics can conquer the world. Tactics are developing and improving every moment. As users of tactics, coaches should also be able to conquer the world anytime and anywhere. Only through self-improvement, absorbing the strengths of others, making up for your own shortcomings, and advancing with the times can you become stronger. Staying stubborn will only lead to elimination! "

After playing all the games in the first round of the Champions League group stage, the 16 teams that advanced to the second round of the group stage have also been freshly announced. According to UEFA's pre-season statement, this season will be the last time that the top 16 will be selected. In the group stage, next season they will respond to the G14's request and reform the group stage into a knockout round and reduce the schedule.

Ye Qiu had already prepared for this. Van Praag was also a member of G14, and Ajax had already received the news.

In Ye Qiu's view, the UEFA Champions League in the 2003/04 season was a bit turbulent. The reason why Mourinho's Porto and Deschamps' Monaco were able to win all the way to the end actually had a lot to do with the schedule reform, because the rich teams all Some are not adaptable to the new schedule, especially the round of 16 knockout rounds. Even UEFA itself is a little uncomfortable.

Don't underestimate the fact that the group stage has turned into the knockout round. The game has changed from 6 games to 2 games. It may not seem like there is much difference. In fact, there is a big difference. In particular, the group stage allows more opportunities for mistakes, while the knockout stage only requires If you make a mistake, it's doomed, especially after the winter break, when the Champions League goes directly to the knockout rounds.

Relatively speaking, the group stage is more beneficial to stronger teams, while the knockout stage is better for tactical teams. The latter is more exciting and risky than the former, that's for sure.

However, these have nothing to do with Ye Qiu for the time being. Instead, he is more concerned about the team's grouping.

Ajax relied on its performance in the European arena in the past three years, coupled with its performance this season, to finally move up a level this time and qualify for the second level. This is really something that should be thanked. Look at UEFA.

Grouped in the first pot are Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona and Valencia.

According to the rules, teams from the same group and from the same country will not be divided into the same group in the first round of the group stage. Ajax finally drew Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow. Strictly speaking, the draw was average. , not good, but not too bad either.

At the draw in Geneva, after the results came out, the head coaches, management and players of each team expressed their opinions on the draw results. This has become a routine part of the Champions League draw.

Manchester United head coach Ferguson said in an interview that he was satisfied with the result of the draw.

"I think Ajax and Bayer Leverkusen are our biggest threats to advance from the group, but I'm not worried at all about the battle with these two teams because we will definitely beat them and advance from the group. Out of line.”

Leverkusen chairman Carlmund said, "This is a very difficult group. Manchester United is one of the strongest teams in Europe. Ajax can stand out from the group of death, which already illustrates this. The strength of the team, as for Lokomotiv Moscow, everyone knows how difficult the away game in Moscow is.”

But Carlmond obviously didn't intend to say anything depressing, so at the end, he couldn't help but say, "But we will not be afraid of any opponent, and we are confident that we can stand out from the group."

Ye Qiu also went to Geneva in person to participate in the UEFA draw ceremony this time. After receiving the results, he faced reporters' inquiries and smiled and said that he had nothing to say about the draw results.

"We are divided into a very competitive group, which is very exciting. I believe every game will be difficult, but there is nothing to say, because overall, every group in the second round of the Champions League is very good. Strong, the games will be difficult, but I am confident that I can lead the team out of the group.”

"Manchester United is a very good team. They have a group of outstanding stars. I think the results of playing against such a team are often secondary. Improving one's own strength through the excitement of the game is the most important thing. "Leverkusen is a terrible opponent, they were the runner-up last season and it is difficult to beat them."

"There is also Lokomotiv Moscow. I don't know much about this team, but I know that it is not easy to play in Moscow."

"No matter what, we are facing a group of opponents that are difficult to deal with. This will stimulate us to work harder to prove our strength. We will not belittle ourselves and strive to play our own football style, because we were in the Champions League last season. The top four."

Ye Qiu's words can be described as neither humble nor arrogant, but experts are not optimistic about Ajax. Even though this team has emerged from the group of death, there is one flaw that everyone has criticized, and that is defense. .

As Beckenbauer said in his column, "The Champions League is very important for any team. This kind of competition with strong opponents can often stimulate the team to perform at its best level, but it is not All teams can have the last laugh.”

"Real Madrid is very good and star-studded. They have a group of world-class attackers, but they cannot hide the problems in the team's defense. In the Champions League, defense is often very important. Teams that can win the championship often The defense is the best, and this is Real Madrid’s Achilles’ heel.”

"On the contrary, Juventus and Valencia are undoubtedly the most promising teams. Lippi's team only conceded 3 goals in the group stage. This is very, very rare. Benitez's goal The team only conceded 4 goals, and their defense was very good. I think they are the two teams with the best chance of reaching the end.”

"Oh, some people may say that Capello's Roma also conceded 4 goals, but don't forget, they only scored 3 goals in the group stage. I think it will be difficult for this team to compete in Europe. Make a difference.”

Valencia is indeed the most eye-catching team in the first round of the Champions League this season, scoring 17 goals and conceding only 4. Such an amazing record really made Benitez amazing, and Juventus' offense Although not as good as Valencia, they still scored 12 goals and conceded 3 goals, and their performance was very stable.

There is also one team that must be mentioned, and that is Barcelona.

Van Gaal's team won six consecutive games in the group stage this season and became the best team in the group stage. They also scored 13 goals and conceded 4 goals, but not everyone is optimistic about this goal. Team, as Beckenbauer said, watching Barcelona games always gives people a feeling of trepidation.

As for Ajax, Beckenbauer believes that it is likely to stop in the second round of the group stage, because Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen in the same group are both very strong and relatively balanced teams. Ajax The biggest problem is defense.

"I have a very deep impression on this team. They played us 3:3 at the Olympic Stadium. It was also that game that made me remember this team and made us leave the Champions League, but I think This team is too young, with an average age of over 20, and is far from mature, especially on defense.”

"Looking at the outstanding performances of Gilberto Silva and Seydou Keita at Arsenal and Barcelona, ​​it is not difficult to understand that Ajax's defensive problems will be so obvious this season."

Ye Qiu still admired Beckenbauer. At least the football emperor's words were meaningful. He also knew very well that the team's defense did have some problems. Although Mascherano gradually gained a firm foothold, He still needs exercise and time.

But Ye Qiu didn't lose his confidence at all because of this. On the contrary, he was still full of confidence, because who doesn't have problems?

No problem for Juventus? No problem with Valencia?

Every team will have various problems. The key is to see how a head coach can better adjust the team in the league and cup games, arrange targeted tactics, avoid the team's loopholes, and play the team's strengths. This is the most critical.

Moreover, the schedule is very tight now, and there is no extra time for Ye Qiu to adjust and polish the team's defense system. After all, Mascherano lost his position due to injury at the beginning of the season and missed the key running-in period. After that, the games were one after another, and Ye Qiu had no time to prepare.

He decided to make good use of the winter break to adjust and polish the team's defense, especially the coordination between Mascherano and the back line. I believe that the team's defense problem can be better solved by then.