The Godfather of Football

Sometimes, the players' status is really hard to say and hard to figure out.

After the second round of the Champions League quarter-finals, Chelsea's internal morale was boosted by the doubling of the bonus.

Of course, because of the fear of the Premier League's investigation, the doubling of the bonus was not disclosed to the outside world. Everyone got the bonus and the benefits, so they naturally wouldn't leak it to the outside world. After all, they still had to consider whether there would be a next time.

But when the team returned to the Premier League and ushered in the 32nd round, Chelsea was forced to a 0:0 draw by Middlesbrough at home, while its top competitor Arsenal won 4:2 at home against Liverpool, and the points gap between the two teams was narrowed to 6 points again.

If it is said that Chelsea played Middlesbrough and many players were in poor condition due to rotation, it would be acceptable, but 3 days later in the middle of the week, the 33rd round of the Premier League was ushered in. Chelsea challenged Aston Villa away, and the two teams tied 2:2 again. What's interesting is that Chelsea led twice and was equalized twice.

After two consecutive draws, Chelsea's situation seems to have plummeted, but Arsenal also failed to defeat the opponent in this round. They tied Newcastle 0:0 away. The points gap between the two teams remained at 6 points, but everyone began to feel that the suspense of winning the Premier League championship seemed not as ironclad as they imagined.

The reason is also very simple. Chelsea's recent situation does not seem to be very good.

At the weekend, in the 34th round of the Premier League, Arsenal slaughtered Leeds United, which had fallen into the relegation zone, 5:0 at home, strongly pulling the horn to launch another sprint for the Premier League championship. However, as the leader of the Premier League, Chelsea was forced to a draw at home by Moyes' Everton 0:0.

Everton is currently desperate to avoid relegation. Moyes even set up an iron bucket formation in this game. In addition, Chelsea's state is indeed not very good, which directly led to the Blues' home draw again and ushered in three consecutive draws in the league.

From leading by 8 points to 4 points, with 4 rounds left in the league, Chelsea's situation seems to be gradually declining, and there is even talk that Chelsea will collapse. Many people think that Chelsea is likely to be reversal by Arsenal in the final stage of the season.

You know, there is no shortage of such good plays of Jedi counterattacks in the Premier League. Ferguson is an expert in this aspect, and Wenger is naturally not too bad. Moreover, Chelsea has to take into account the Champions League, but Arsenal has lost everything and only has the league left.

Just when everyone began to think that Chelsea was going to collapse, Ye Qiu took the initiative to stand up and explain that Chelsea did encounter problems, but it was definitely not as serious as the outside world guessed.

"The league is a very long process. During this process, we will encounter various problems. This requires us to make constant adjustments to solve all the problems. This is what we are doing now."

"But encountering problems does not mean that we cannot solve them. On the contrary, no team can maintain its peak state for a long time in a season. There will always be ups and downs. We are at a low point now, but I believe that we will soon be able to usher in a peak period again!"

There are also many professionals who believe that Chelsea's current low point may not be a bad thing.

"Almost all teams that fight on multiple fronts have a typical feature, that is, they use different stadiums as strategic points at different times. Chelsea already has an 8-point lead in the league, which gives Ye Qiu more time and space to adjust the team, especially physical fitness."

"Arsenal's collapse is caused by their lack of physical fitness. Even if Ye Qiu's Chelsea has a strong bench lineup, it still has a physical fitness crisis, but it is less severe than Arsenal. The problem is that in the next period of time, Chelsea will fight on two fronts, while Arsenal will attack the league directly, and the Gunners have more advantages."

"Chelsea's current strategy is to ensure the leading position while adjusting the players' physical fitness, so we can see that Ye Qiu has arranged three different lineups for rotation in the past three games, which has affected the team's performance, but also allowed many players to get valuable rest time."

"And to some extent, the lead has been reduced from 8 points to 4 points, with 4 rounds left in the Premier League, and the 4-point lead is For a team like Chelsea, it is still a very obvious advantage. "

"People who think Chelsea is going to collapse are mainly because they don't see one point, that is, in the current Premier League, Chelsea and Arsenal's leading advantages are too obvious. Arsenal leads the second-placed Manchester United by as many as 15 points, and Chelsea leads Arsenal by 4 points, which means that Manchester United has no chance to win the championship. "

"Since Manchester United has no chance to win the championship, the problem arises. The championship is a game between Chelsea and Arsenal. Ye Qiu doesn't need to consider other opponents at all. He only needs to consider the points gap between himself and Arsenal. With 4 points in 4 rounds, plus Arsenal's physical fitness has obviously had problems, Ye Qiu doesn't need to let the team fight with the opponent in every game. It can be played more easily. "

"The meaning is also very simple. I am leading by so much, I can afford it, and you Arsenal have to chase desperately. When you catch up with me and make me feel pressured, I will work hard to maintain the advantage. "

"This is a very strong self-confidence. We can see from Ye Qiu's strategic and tactical play that he is very confident in Chelsea's lineup and has a very clear understanding of the player's status and strength. , We can even say that if you want to win the game, Ye Qiu can do it anytime and anywhere."

Martin Samuel's analysis caused a lot of controversy. Many people believed that Ye Qiu was not as magical as he said. Chelsea's three consecutive draws was because Ye Qiu had obviously lost control of the team. Some even thought that, Chelsea will probably collapse directly at the end of the season and end up empty-handed and gain nothing.

But some people feel that various signs indicate that Ye Qiu is adjusting the team's physical fitness, and at the same time using his lead in the league to further relieve the team's pressure.

Everyone agreed that the best demonstration of Chelsea's strength was the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Monaco. Many people even felt that Ye Qiu's confidence had gone too far, which might directly lead to Chelsea's defeat against Monaco.

But what is unexpected is that Chelsea directly used a hearty victory at the Louis II Stadium to tell everyone what it means to be in control of the overall situation and what it means to have the winning ticket.

Ye Qiu's formation in this game was still the 4321 tactic, but it was obvious that even in an away game, Ye Qiu still boldly played Chelsea's offense and actively used Evra and Mai on the two wings. Kong came to suppress Monaco's wing and took the lead in the 25th minute. Lampard pulled to the right and received a through ball from Maicon after a breakthrough. Drogba shot in front of the goal and opened the scoring for Chelsea.

After changing sides in the second half, Chelsea still firmly controlled the situation and launched wave after wave of offensive attacks.

In the 78th minute, Evra quickly broke through from the left and passed a long pass. Drogba headed the ball and Lampard calmly volleyed from behind, giving Chelsea another victory, 2:0!

Immediately afterwards, there was another diagonal pass from Evra from the left. Monaco's defense made a bizarre mistake and missed Ronaldinho. The Brazilian calmly headed the ball and scored for Chelsea. scored the third goal.

After that, although Monaco kept harassing and counterattacking Chelsea, their morale was exhausted and the French team could no longer pose a threat. In the end, they lost 0:3 at home, and Chelsea also entered the Champions League final with one foot.

This away victory caused an earthquake all over Europe. Those who thought Chelsea was about to collapse before the game now either changed their minds or fell silent collectively, because they obviously did not expect Chelsea to lose in this game. The state in the game will be so outstanding.

But when the media posed this question to Ye Qiu and asked him why Chelsea was in such good shape, Ye Qiu smiled and shook his head.

"I don't think we were in great shape at all. We made several mistakes during the game that we shouldn't have made, one of which almost resulted in us conceding a goal. We got 26 shots in the game, but only 9. The shooting efficiency is too low for us!”

"My performance of the players in this game can only be regarded as average. I don't think our state is very good, but we can win the opponent. I think this is very good, and I believe those who doubt and doubt us can stop. ”

Encountering his old club again, Evra became the most active player in this game. This also made the French left back, who has been a bit low-key this season, famous. Ye Qiu affirmed this, thinking that Evra has always been He is an important member of the team.

"I'm very happy that we have powerful players like Evra and Gallas on the left. With them, I can be very confident on the left, and William can also play in the center and right. They are both good players for the team." A very, very important part.”

In this game, there was a controversial scene when Cannavaro was defending Morientes. The Italian national team captain hit Morientes with his hand, and the latter fell in the penalty area. The referee did not give a penalty. Deschamps was very dissatisfied with this and felt that this was intentional favoritism.

"We all know that there is a gap between Cannavaro's height and Morientes', so it is inevitable that there will be some ways to protect oneself during the defensive process, such as using open arms. I think that is to protect oneself. , Of course, I know that Morientes’ fall to the ground was not a dive, but I want to say that it was definitely not an intentional foul, and the referee made a correct decision!”

However, Deschamps felt that it was that foul that affected Morientes, and his subsequent performance was not ideal. Among them, Monaco's most threatening shot was when Morientes got a chance in front of the goal. Nine sure shots missed, causing Monaco to fail to score in this game.

Regarding this point, Ye Qiu responded directly with laughter. His expression seemed to be saying, even if you score a goal, does it make sense? It was already 3:0 at that time, and even though I let you in, it was only 3:1, and you still lost!

But this was just the media's interpretation. Out of respect for his opponents, Ye Qiu did not respond to Deschamps' complaints. He always maintained a polite attitude. Because the team won the game, there was no need to argue and argue with the opponents like this. .

Because they played the Champions League in the middle of the week, Chelsea's 35th round of the Premier League was one day behind other teams and was moved to Monday.

As a result, in the 35th round, Manchester United lost 0:1 to Liverpool at home. The Reds also returned to the fourth place in the league with this victory. Houllier's team's goal this season has become to secure the Champions League qualification, and the possibility of achieving the goal is very high.

Arsenal ushered in the North London derby. As a result, they scored two goals in the first half to take the lead. Everyone thought that the Gunners were going to defeat their opponents, but they unexpectedly collapsed in the second half. Tottenham Hotspur scored two goals in a row, and even almost completed an amazing reversal, but in the end it ended in a 2:2 tie.

This also made many people feel sorry for Wenger's team, and even angry.

Taking advantage of Chelsea's poor performance and continuous loss of points, this was originally a great opportunity for Arsenal to keep chasing, but now the situation is that Chelsea has lost points one after another, and Arsenal is also losing points. If Chelsea is the leader and fighting on two fronts, it is understandable, but Arsenal is the chaser and also lost points like this, which undoubtedly disappoints those who support the Gunners.

"Such a performance is definitely not what a pursuer should do, and Arsenal did not show the fighting spirit and morale of a pursuer from beginning to end. They gave people more of a lazy feeling. They did not want to fight for it, but just played slowly according to their own ideas. If they could win, they would win, and if they could not win, it did not matter, and then waited for Chelsea to make mistakes."

"This is a very negative, even passive pursuit strategy, and Arsenal's laziness also gave Chelsea a chance to breathe. The reason why Ye Qiu dared to make such bold adjustments is because Arsenal's pursuit was not fierce."

"Perhaps, Wenger and his Arsenal have never been that kind of iron-blooded team, and they have never played the legendary reversal of Ferguson and Manchester United's Jedi counterattack."

After Arsenal drew with Tottenham Hotspur away, Chelsea also drew 1:1 when they challenged Newcastle away the next day. Chelsea ushered in four consecutive draws, but the lead remained at 4 points.

In this game, Ye Qiu made a rotation. Except for three or four core players, the others were arranged to play with substitutes and young players. The fighting power did decline a lot, which led to the team's draw. Among them, Robert Huth's mistake caused the team to lose the ball.

Ye Qiu still gave affirmation to this young German player. After all, he is still young and needs to accumulate more experience and increase training opportunities. As a defender, which defender is not abused by offensive players?

Therefore, after the game, many media and reporters doubted Robert Huth, but Ye Qiu still gave affirmation.

Although the German central defender in the previous life did not play well, it does not mean that he has no talent. On the contrary, Robert Huth has a high talent, has a nearly perfect central defender physique, and excellent defensive skills and awareness. After coming to the Premier League, his performance is also very good. In addition to his youth, Ye Qiu firmly believes that if he is given a chance, his achievements will definitely be better than in his previous life.

After 35 rounds, with a 4-point lead, everyone once again gave confidence in Chelsea's Premier League title. The media changed their tune one after another, changing their previous comments on Chelsea's collapse, believing that Chelsea's title was almost certain, but the reason was also very interesting. They did not think it was because Chelsea was strong, but because Arsenal, the pursuer, performed too poorly.

When Ye Qiu saw the report, he almost laughed to death. He wanted to take this Times and go to Wenger's house to ask what kind of mood the French professor was in when he saw the report.

But in the end, he gave up this tempting idea because he was worried that Wenger would stab him to death.

It was the weekend again, ushering in the 36th round of the Premier League. This time, Arsenal beat Birmingham 1:0 at home, and Chelsea beat Southampton 4:0 at home. These two games actually had one thing in common, that is, dullness.

Arsenal scored a goal at the last moment, and even though Chelsea scored 4 goals, they failed to break the opponent's goal in the first 70 minutes. It was not until Ye Qiu replaced Fabregas and Joe Cole with Deco and Ronaldinho that Chelsea's offense improved.

After that, Lampard scored twice, Ronaldinho made an assist and a shot, and Deco scored. Ye Qiu's two substitutions helped Chelsea win 4:0, but ultimately did not allow Arsenal to narrow the points gap again.

Obviously, Ye Qiu's mind is fixed at a safe points gap of 4 points, that is, if Chelsea accidentally loses a game and Arsenal wins, they cannot directly reverse the situation, so that he can make arrangements with more confidence.

After defeating Southampton, the most popular player in Chelsea was not Lampard who scored twice, because the Blues' vice-captain performed very poorly in the game. If it weren't for the explosion at the last moment, many people would probably criticize him. Ronaldinho's pass and shot were also expected, but Deco's assist hat trick surprised everyone.

This low-key Chelsea midfielder has never been valued by the media and fans, but Ye Qiu is very sure of his role, and he has almost become the player with the most appearances in Chelsea.

As for what Deco's role is, Ye Qiu smiled and made a very vivid metaphor.

"Drogba is our African giant elephant, no matter how strong the iron wall is, he cannot withstand his attack; Ronaldinho is our poisonous snake, he can kill people anytime and anywhere; Lampard is our perpetual motion machine, He will never get tired and is always working hard; Davis is our security captain, he can ensure that everyone in our team feels at ease behind us, and Makelele is the battery of the team, providing a steady stream of teammates in front. Absolute power.”

After a pause, Ye Qiu smiled again: "But the battery needs a motor to convert electricity. Deco is our motor, responsible for converting the electricity provided by the players behind him into kinetic energy, and providing it to the teammates in front of him in an endless stream. !”

"I'm not surprised at all by Deco's wonderful performance, because he is seriously underestimated, he is very low-key, but he is definitely a superstar player!"

As a result, the media attached these nicknames to Chelsea, and even jokingly drew Chelsea stars as cartoon characters, and even made some humorous cartoons called Blues All-Stars!