The Godfather of Football

Warning! Warning! You are close to the desperate situation of death, please evacuate quickly, please evacuate quickly!

This scene should appear in Hollywood science fiction blockbusters. As the male protagonist, Pires is as thorny as ever. He never believes that there is a desperate situation of death in this world, so he decides to be a lone hero and be the superman who saves the world.

But just when he was about to cut in from the left side of the court with the ball, he suddenly found that he was really in a desperate situation, and it was a desperate situation of death. He was surrounded by alien monsters.

At the moment when he had no time to react, Makelele immediately stuck to him and tightly entangled him. This teammate from France had an amazing judgment. Once he was approached by him, Pires was entangled and couldn't stand it, so he had to slow down his sprint.

He began to regret his arrogance. He began to regret that he had entered this desperate situation alone, and he began to look for reinforcements.

Just a glance, he noticed something that made him completely desperate, that is, all around him were blue jerseys.

Deco, Lampard, Davis, Maicon, Terry... Chelsea's players have returned to their positions, but their defense line has not shrunk back, but is still arranged a little bit back from the center line, with a large space behind them, very large.

In Pires' view, it was like the runway of London Heathrow Airport, and Henry was an F22 ready to attack at any time.

As long as I pass the ball, as long as I can kick the ball behind their defense line, you can go to hell!

This became Pires' belief and the will that supported him to continue to persist, but in just a moment, Makelele's entanglement made him completely forget all this, because he had to find out with grief that once he entered Chelsea's midfield encirclement, the only thing he could think about was not passing the ball, but protecting the ball.

Pires couldn't help but think of Wenger's words before the game, playing Chelsea, try to make the ball move quickly, don't stick, sticking is easy to cause trouble, especially don't let the opponent's players get close, and tear Chelsea's defense with quick interweaving and changing positions.

But what is the reality?

Chelsea's protection of the front line of their defense is very good. Makelele is almost sitting in front of the defense line. Davis and Lampard are running everywhere. As long as Henry pulls to the left, Maicon will follow him immediately. Add Deco, and the central defender combination of Terry and Cannavaro, Arsenal's offense can't penetrate effectively at all.

Since the opening, Arsenal has organized countless attacks, hoping to break through Chelsea's defense, but they have been unsuccessful again and again, which makes Arsenal feel annoyed and weak.

Obviously, Ye Qiu made targeted arrangements for Arsenal's offense.

Chelsea made special arrangements for Ashley Cole's forward insertion on the left, the offensive iron triangle formed by Pires and Henry, Bergkamp's retreat, and Pires and Ljungberg's sprinting and plugging in on both sides, especially Ye Qiu put Makelele in the most critical position, which is very obvious for Arsenal's tactics.

According to Wenger's pre-match arrangement, Chelsea's 4321 tactics were weak in protecting the wing, but Ye Qiu made adjustments in this game. The back line was basically unchanged, but midfielder Ronaldinho returned to his country to participate in the national team competition and did not start this game.

The midfield combination became Makelele dragging back, Davis, Lampard and Deco lined up, Davis and Deco's positions were obviously closer to the wing, and they attached great importance to the defense of the wing, while Gudjohnsen and Drogba were in front, one after the other, specifically strangling Arsenal's defense.

But if you just think Chelsea is going to counterattack, you are wrong. They took the initiative against Arsenal at the beginning and launched a fierce attack on Arsenal at Highbury Stadium. First, in the first 2 minutes, Evra made two forward runs on the left and passed the ball, and Drogba and Lampard got shooting opportunities in Arsenal's penalty area.

In the 4th minute, Davis' long shot almost penetrated Arsenal's goal, making everyone in Highbury Stadium sweat. Even Wenger, who was always calm, walked to the sidelines and kept reminding the players to be careful.

But in the 9th minute, Chelsea finally caught it. Drogba retreated and held Campbell with his body, knocked it back to Lampard who came in from behind. The Blues' vice-captain kicked the ball directly from about 25 meters away from the goal, and the ball went straight to the upper right corner of the goal. Lehmann was powerless to do anything about it.

The 0:1 deficit made Arsenal panic, and they almost went crazy and launched a fierce counterattack against Chelsea.

But Chelsea restricted Arsenal's offensive route. Whether it was going to the side or the middle, they had to face Chelsea's iron wall that was enough to suffocate any opponent, and they returned empty-handed again and again.

Including Pires, Vieira, Henry and others, they had to find out helplessly that the fast-paced attack and defense transitions they were best at before could not create the same time difference as when facing other Premier League teams in the face of Chelsea's faster attack and defense transitions. Once this time difference was lost, they had to face Chelsea's defensive formation again and again.

Positional warfare has never been Arsenal's specialty.

So, Pires clearly saw that there was a large gap behind Terry and Cannavaro, but he had no way to catch it, because it was already very difficult for him to protect the ball when Makelele was close to him. How about trying to pass the ball?

When Pires used his not delicate but very practical footwork to create a loophole in front of Makelele and wanted to pass the ball, the French midfielder did not hesitate to make a shovel, clean and just right, as if he had been waiting for Pires to kick.

He fell to the grass, but the ball was lost.

Immediately afterwards, Chelsea's counterattack came very quickly. Because of the high defense, Chelsea only needed one pass. Deco quickly passed the ball to Gudjohnsen, who moved forward and entered the 30-meter area of ​​Arsenal, and passed it to Lampard before Vieira came over.

Lampard kicked a lob towards the ball, wanting Drogba to eat up the two central defenders of Arsenal, but under the interference of Campbell's body, Kolo Toure took the lead and intercepted the ball.

The Ivorian defender passed the ball directly to Lehmann, panting heavily. Even though he and Campbell were two people, he felt extremely hard to deal with the monster from Ivory Coast. This guy was simply a pervert.

When he was in Ajax, Kolo Toure suffered from Ibrahimovic. The height and strength of the Swede were very abnormal, and he also had delicate footwork, which made it very difficult to defend him, but Drogba was different.

Drogba's body and strength are worse than Ibrahimovic. His footwork is not as good as Ibrahimovic, but it is also very good. But the real headache is that his body is very flexible, his speed and explosiveness are very fast, plus his active running, as long as you are not careful, he may cause you some trouble.

Therefore, in Kolo Toure's opinion, defending Drogba is no less troublesome than defending Ibrahimovic.

"The boss is also a pervert. Where can he find such a perverted striker to torture our defenders?" Kolo Toure walked back panting, but he did not forget to glance at Ye Qiu next to the court.

Even though he now belongs to Arsenal, he calls Wenger the boss and Ye Qiu the boss.

Facing such a strong clamp and oppression from Chelsea, even a strong team like Arsenal felt helpless, not to mention the Premier League and other teams, and this is when Ronaldinho did not play. If the Brazilian who has performed well this season plays, Chelsea's offense will be sharper than it is now. What will it be like then?

No one can imagine it, because this is the first time they have encountered Chelsea in such a real way.

If you read too many reports, you will feel fake, but when you really meet them on the court, they believe it.

Wenger stood on the sidelines, also thinking about a question, how to break Chelsea's control.

"Actually, they don't seem to be that fast!" Assistant coach Pat Rice, who stood next to Wenger, had been frowning since they fell behind, and only now did he relax a little, obviously seeing something.

Wenger glanced at his assistant, with a slight arc on his lips, without any expression, "They put chains around our necks and tied us up, so we can't be fast at all, which makes them look fast!"

The speed on the court is mainly reflected in the moment of attack and defense conversion, and Ye Qiu's tactics this season are very bold, but at the same time worth everyone's thinking, that is, he did not rely on speed players like Robben and Van der Vaart to reflect the speed of impact play like he did in the past when he was in Ajax.

Looking at Chelsea's entire lineup, almost no one's absolute speed can be said to be very fast. Ronaldinho and Drogba are much slower than Henry, but why do Chelsea's offense and defense look fast?

This is where Ye Qiu is smart!

When defending, Chelsea players have a very high rate of arrival, and from front to back, except for Ronaldinho, almost every player is the first to fight back on the spot. The midfield composed of Drogba, Lampard, Davis, Deco and Makelele can completely cover every ball route of the opponent at the moment of losing the ball, and harass and delay the opponent's counterattack speed.

As long as the delay is achieved, Chelsea will quickly organize a defensive formation. It is almost impossible for anyone to break their formation because they have a very meticulous defensive order.

In other words, they show their speed in defense by slowing down the opponent.

Many people are surprised and say that Chelsea's high defense, such a large gap behind, how can it not be used?

It's very simple. Chelsea's entire midfield and frontcourt are the first to fight back and surround after losing the ball. As soon as the opponent gets the ball, someone will approach and fight back. At this time, the player who has the ball is not considering passing or hitting behind, but protecting the ball.

As long as the ball is protected, the speed of attack will definitely slow down, and the opportunity will be fleeting, and it will be too late to regret.

So what about when attacking?

Chelsea has many games that look fast and impactful?

A careful analysis of Chelsea's offensive routines is simple and complex.

The reason why it is simple is that Chelsea's offense is actually concentrated on three points, Drogba, Ronaldinho and the full-backs. Almost all Chelsea's offense is launched through these three points, and this The three points are all reflected in different places. Drogba's frontcourt dominance and ability to suppress the opponent's central defender enable him to become the first point of counterattack and also play a role in tough battles. The tactical effect is very huge.

Without Drogba, there would be no way Ronaldinho, Lampard and Davies could attack from behind.

The wing is used to create width. When the opponent's defense is in position, Chelsea actively plays the wing, uses the wing attack to stretch the opponent's defense, and then completes the transfer through wing crosses. Chelsea has Drogba and Ronaldi. With excellent central support points like Neo and Lampard, the effect of this set of tactics is obvious.

As for the Brazilian Ronaldinho, once the opponent completes the defensive organization, establishes a solid defensive formation, and contains the threats of Drogba and the wing, the ball will be handed over to the Brazilian, using his personal ability to create opportunities.

With Drogba's rampage in the penalty area, Lampard and Ronaldinho took turns to attack, coupled with the two full-backs to open up the tactical width, and the powerful destructive power of Davis and Makelele And the ability to cover a large area has built Chelsea's strong midfield and frontcourt formation.

So, what does Deco do? There seems to be no need for the Portuguese to exist at all?

Even though Wenger had strong objections to Ye Qiu, he had to admit that Ye Qiu calculated every step very accurately.

Deco's existence is to sort out the midfield on the one hand, but more importantly to distribute the ball.

When to look for Drogba, when to look for full-backs, when to look for Ronaldinho, or how to redistribute it among many different offensive routines, these are Deco's responsibilities, and he does it well. Well, the most effective reconfiguration of Chelsea's offensive resources can be achieved.

Moreover, Chelsea plays high defense, and often can send the ball into the opponent's 30-meter area with just one pass. With the strength of Drogba, Ronaldinho, Lampard and Davis, etc. , entering the 30-meter area means being able to fire directly at any time and anywhere, creating a direct threat.

Such an opponent is the most terrifying threat not only to Arsenal, but to any top European team.

Even Wenger had to admit that it was very, very difficult for Ye Qiu to build such a strong tactical system and lineup for Chelsea in just one summer. Even with this Chelsea team, Ye Qiu completely established himself. No one can question the status and qualifications of a famous European coach.

Of course, Chelsea is not completely without shortcomings, because any team will have shortcomings.

A very important issue is that it relies heavily on players and physical fitness.

Without Ronaldinho in this game, Chelsea's offense seemed a bit mechanized, making it easier for Arsenal to defend. Wenger asked Campbell and Kolo Toure to team up to strangle Drogba, and Chelsea's offense was Weakened by more than half.

There is also the physical fitness of the players. Because of Ye Qiu’s high-intensity pressing and controlling style of play in the midfield and frontcourt, the players have a large running range. This aspect places high demands on the players’ tactical enthusiasm and execution ability. , on the other hand, the physical requirements for players are also very high.

Chelsea's performance declined a bit in this game. It is probably related to the fact that the players traveled back and forth during the two-week national team match day.

If Wenger is not wrong, this is just a compromise made by Ye Qiu to avoid being unfamiliar with the Premier League, because such a tough pressing and controlling style of play is not like Ye Qiu's style. He likes clever changes and Control and over-reliance on players to achieve tactical effects are not what Ye Qiu admires.

So, this is just version 1.0 of Chelsea. I believe that upgraded versions of 2.0 or even 3.0 will be launched in the future.

Thinking of this, Wenger couldn't help but sigh. In the past, in his eyes, there was only one opponent in the Premier League, and that was Ferguson of Manchester United. In those years, he really longed for a few more opponents like Ferguson to compete with each other and stimulate each other. , which is good for any head coach.

But now Ye Qiu is here. In just a few months, he has already deeply felt the threat from Ye Qiu. He even couldn't help but think about it. He heard that Ye Qiu boasted about Haikou and said he would give him money. Give him time, he will build another powerful team, and now it seems that he is not exaggerating, because he is doing such a thing.

Just when Wenger was thinking about it, Chelsea still firmly held the advantage on the court. Although Arsenal also counterattacked, it was difficult to threaten Chelsea's goal. This made Wenger's assistant Pat Rice feel uneasy. .

"We should make adjustments quickly and cannot continue to let them continue to fight like this!"

This is human nature. The opponent has pushed their defense to the center circle. If they continue to play like this, what will happen if they lose the ball again? Do we really want to lose at home?

After hearing this, Wenger shook his head, with a confident look on his face, and a pair of deeply sunken eyes flashing with wisdom and depth, "To avoid their sharp edges, first ensure the team's defense. Since they want to press forward, then we I don’t mind shrinking back and grinding against them slowly. When their physical fitness fails in the second half, we will slowly settle this account!”

At the end of the sentence, Wenger looked at Ye Qiu as if he wanted to cut him in half with a knife.

In fact, after Wenger decided to retreat, Arsenal's defense stabilized. Chelsea's personnel were not complete, and the players were generally not excited after running back and forth, so the offensive effect was greatly reduced, and they were ultimately unable to break through Arsenal's goal.

In this way, the two teams entered the halftime break with a score of 0:1.