The Godfather of Football

Sometimes, experience is really a good thing, so good that you can't live without it.

Having had the experience of a Champions League final, Ye Qiu was still a little nervous before the game and still felt the pressure, but he seemed to be more calm in dealing with it. After the coaching staff had also gone through the baptism of a Champions League final, everyone knew clearly what they should do. Everything was arranged in advance. As the game approached, it was carried out step by step without any disorder.

If the coaching staff is not chaotic, the players who follow orders will naturally not be chaotic.

A year ago at Manchester's Old Trafford Stadium, Ye Qiu's Ajax warmed up nearly two hours in advance, but this time at the Schalke Stadium, Ye Qiu's training time was only one hour in advance.

One hour in advance should be considered relatively normal. Generally, the two teams participating in the finals come to the stadium to warm up around this time period, because according to the rules of sports, the real warm-up time should be about half an hour, plus some other preparatory activities, and familiarity with the venue, etc., which is about an hour in total.

When Chelsea arrived at the Schalke Stadium, they found that Porto had already started warm-up training here. According to the information provided by the coaching staff, Mourinho's team arrived at the scene about 20 minutes earlier than Chelsea. This also confirmed Ye Qiu's judgment to some extent that the Portuguese would launch a round of pressing and oppression against Chelsea from the beginning of the game to compete for the initiative.

This is no longer a secret. Many people played Chelsea and Ye Qiu, and the start was almost the same, that is, to avoid letting Ye Qiu's team make a good start as much as possible. If you want to avoid letting Ye Qiu make a good start, generally speaking, in addition to having an absolute advantage in strength, there are two ways, one is to defend, and the other is to compete with Ye Qiu.

Both methods have their pros and cons, opportunities and risks, and it is difficult to say which one is more effective.

Don't think that Ye Qiu is arrogant for coming to the scene an hour earlier. In fact, it is not. He has his own purpose and arrangement for doing so. First of all, he wants to give all the players an impression that he does not take Porto too seriously.

Ajax arrived at the scene nearly two hours in advance a year ago. Ye Qiu's purpose was to let all the players feel his attention to Real Madrid, and also to enable all the players to directly exercise their bodies, enter the state directly from the beginning of the game, and catch Real Madrid off guard.

But now Chelsea has an absolute advantage in strength. If Ye Qiu goes to meet Porto like an enemy, the effect will be bad. It will more or less mean that he will lose morale. So Ye Qiu entered the stadium one hour in advance as usual.

Another point is that Ye Qiu adjusted the combat strategy for this game.

It must be understood that all training and warm-up, in the final analysis, still serve the game. The strategy of the game has changed, and the training and warm-up items will naturally change. Chelsea's strategy and tactics in this game are completely different from Ajax a year ago, so there is no need to adopt the same strategy.

Peter Brandt, Ten Cate and other members of the coaching team had already considered the pre-match warm-up arrangements when the team entered the final. They even arranged the time of all warm-up items accurately to the second, ensuring that the time error of each warm-up training would not exceed 30 seconds.

In addition, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the warm-up training, they kept supervising the players on the sidelines, making sure that every player completed all the training items meticulously to ensure that the pre-match warm-up could achieve the corresponding effect.

It should be said that the current group of Chelsea players, even Davis, Cannavaro and others, are full of hunger for the Champions League title, let alone Ronaldinho and Lampard. Among them, the Brazilian is now in a state of great popularity and is in the limelight. As long as he can win a Champions League for Chelsea, he will definitely be one of the hot candidates for the World Footballer of the Year next year.

Imagine, in such a situation, how could the players relax?

During the entire warm-up process, Ye Qiu stood on the sidelines, with his hands folded in front of his chest, watching calmly.

In the warm-up, when Chelsea played the common monkey game, many fans in the Schalke Stadium were amazed. They were obviously Portuguese fans. They didn't know Chelsea before and thought Chelsea was a tough team. But they didn't expect that when playing monkey, Chelsea would attract attention with amazing quick touch.

And unlike the general monkey game where only one person is arranged to grab, Chelsea divided the 18-man roster into two groups, 9 in each group, and directly played 3 to 6. Whoever's pass was intercepted would go down to be the monkey. All the players seemed to be accustomed to this. They would go off the field directly if they made a mistake, and the training was never interrupted, which made everyone's eyes light up.

Mourinho was also a little surprised on the sidelines, because he had to admit that even though Porto was a Portuguese team known for its South American Latin style, it was really not as good as Chelsea in terms of quick one-touch passing and receiving.

Of course, you can say that Chelsea has become accustomed to it and practice makes perfect, but the fact that they have been able to sculpt English players such as Lampard and Terry to this level is enough to prove Ye Qiu and his coaching staff's skills in refining technical details.

I believe that seeing this scene, many fans who vowed before the game that Portugal could use its technical advantage to play with Chelsea should be silent, because this scene will make them sadly discover that they don’t know who is playing with whom.

Moreover, the training quality of this 3-for-6 monkey game is very high. Ye Qiu has obviously made detailed arrangements and arrangements for the 6 passers and 3 ball grabbers, so the players look very methodical and organized in the training process, whether it is passing and receiving, or joint pressing and oppression.

This can't help but remind everyone of the impression given by Chelsea, which has both skilled and meticulous fast passing and receiving, and strict high-intensity pressing and oppression. Obviously, they usually adopt this high-quality and high-level training to achieve their goals, and the players have developed enough tacit understanding in training, whether it is passing and receiving or pressing and oppression. No matter where they run in the game, no matter who they cooperate with, they can be very skilled and tacit.

Rome was not built in a day. If you don't see Chelsea's warm-up training, I believe no one will have this feeling. But after watching it, they will find that Chelsea's rise and success are not accidental, but accumulated over time.

The reason why famous coaches are famous coaches is that they have their own set of tactical concepts and ideas. They will only innovate and improve constantly, and will not easily change their core concepts. Therefore, no matter where they go, they can play their own things.

There is no doubt that Chelsea has been deeply branded with Ye Qiu's mark, and Ye Qiu has also stepped onto the stage of European famous coaches with this team, showing everyone his football philosophy.

To go further, all you need is this Champions League!

Perhaps it was because Chelsea showed off in the warm-up match and put pressure on Porto's players, so when they finished the pre-match training and returned to the locker room, Porto's players were obviously under pressure, and they all looked serious.

No wonder, compared with Chelsea, they have no advantage.

In terms of offense, this is not their strong point, and they are not as good as Chelsea. In terms of defense, they are still not as good as the Blues. In terms of tactics, Chelsea's high-pressure control flow has long been famous throughout Europe, and Porto can't catch up. Originally, they thought that their Latin and South American style would have some advantages in footwork, but now it seems that it is still unclear who has the advantage.

Mourinho was also standing in the locker room. He had to admit that he was also shocked by Ye Qiu's move, which made him have to admit that Ye Qiu's ability to get to where he is today was not accidental, but a necessity.

And you have to know that this was Chelsea's direct public display in the pre-match warm-up activities. What are the core links of this team's training programs that are not disclosed on weekdays? The intensity and difficulty may be higher than this 3-for-6 monkey game, which makes Mourinho, who usually attaches great importance to training intensity, sigh.

Boas pushed open the door of the locker room and walked in. What he held in his hand was obviously the starting list of Chelsea that he had just received.

"It's starting to rain outside, lightly, but the ground is wet!" Boas said something unexpected.

Today's weather has not been very good, gloomy, giving people a sense of oppression that a storm is coming, but it really rained.

However, this type of light rain is not uncommon in Germany, and it shouldn't last too long.

Mourinho just let it go and flipped through the starting list in his hand, which didn't surprise him too much.

Goalkeeper Van der Sar, the back line from left to right is Evra, Cannavaro, Terry and Maicon, the midfield is Davis, Makelele and Deco, Ronaldinho and Lampard are behind Drogba, forming Chelsea's offensive trident.

4321, this is Chelsea's standard tactic this season, there are no injuries, no suspensions, Chelsea still arranged this strongest tactical lineup, but Ye Qiu still has a lot of changes in his hands, sitting on the bench are wingers like Joe Cole and Ribery, and there are also defenders like Gallas.

Mourinho also made many changes. Porto did not reduce any players in this game. The goalkeeper was Baia, the back line was Valente, Carvalho, Jorge Costa and Paulo Ferreira, the midfield was Maniche, Costinha and Mendes, Thiago played as a central midfielder, and Delle and Alberto formed a double striker, a standard 4312 tactic.

McCarthy performed well in the Portuguese Super League, but Delle was better in the Champions League, and the Brazilian striker Alberto's ability to get the ball is what Porto needs now, so Mourinho let Delle and Alberto start.

Russian winger Alenichev is a trump card in Mourinho's hand. His skills are very threatening on the wing and can always open up the situation when the team is in a stalemate. This is the same reason why Ye Qiu likes to let Ribery come on as a substitute.

In fact, many media commented before the game that Mourinho's Porto and Ye Qiu's Chelsea are very similar. Although one is 4321 and the other is 4312, in fact, if Ronaldinho is regarded as a striker, he is equivalent to Alberto, and Chelsea also plays 4312.

The difference is that Chelsea is the luxury version and Porto is the loser version. Unlike Porto who attacks too much and focuses on the center, Chelsea's wing attack is also very threatening. After all, Maicon and Evra are the kind of wing defenders. The offensive players who intervene are strong players like Davis, Deco and Makelele in the midfield. They can play more decisively and play a larger and more critical role when they take turns to intervene.

This is something that the defensive-minded Ferreira and Valente do not have, so Porto's wingers hardly have a good offense. What this team is best at is defensive counterattacks.

When Mourinho told the players about Chelsea's starting lineup, none of the Porto players were too obviously surprised, because there was nothing surprising about Chelsea's starting lineup.

"As I said before, we don't have the slightest advantage against Chelsea. Even the only thing we are worse than our opponents is because we are far inferior to our opponents, so we must put aside our pride and self-esteem and go Fight back when others don’t want to fight.”

"I also know that you are unwilling to do this. I know even more that you hope to have a vigorous fight with Chelsea. Believe me, guys, my desire for this aspect will not be less than yours. On the contrary, I hate their head coach more than any of you, that damn guy named Ye Qiu!”

As for the grievances between Mourinho and Ye Qiu, Porto players are very clear that in the final analysis it is a matter of media hype. They like to call Mourinho Ye Qiu II, while Mourinho feels that He had been humiliated, and coupled with the issue of the ownership of previous UEFA awards, it was not surprising that the two were at odds.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems that Ye Qiu didn't say anything from the beginning to the end.

"When playing against Chelsea, the start is very important. They like to attack. Ye Qiu can be said to be the best coach in the world at attacking. Countless teams have suffered from this, so I hope that after the start, Don’t press blindly, don’t leave our defense zone easily, our start will be defensive and we will run at all costs to disrupt their rhythm.”

"The opponent's players are better than us in terms of personal ability. We should tighten the three lines as much as possible and avoid one-on-one situations to the greatest extent, because Ronaldinho has excellent personal ability and Deco's ability I believe you are also very aware that, coupled with the big man Drogba, as well as the extremely capable Lampard, and the rampant Davis, this requires us to be prepared and stay close at all times after the opening. defensive formation."

If the strength is weak, it can only be made up for through the team. This is the role of tactics.

"But this does not mean that we have to be beaten passively. I always believe that no matter how powerful a tiger is, it will take a nap. As soon as Chelsea shows a flaw, we will give them the most fatal blow, just like We faced Manchester United, faced Lyon, and faced Deportivo with a fatal blow!”

Although Mourinho played 4312, Thiago's position is actually relatively deep. His responsibility is to distribute the ball and sort out the midfield. The offensive method is more directly transferred to the frontcourt and handed over to the frontcourt. Carlos Alberto went to deal with it.

Carlos Alberto played as an attacking midfielder in Fluminense and was introduced to Porto this summer. He has excellent skills with his feet and is very capable of holding and playing the ball. Even in Brazil, there are Many people were more optimistic about Alberto than Kaká, who was very popular in AC Milan.

A very important reason why Mourinho introduced Alberto is that Deco transferred to Chelsea. Without Deco, he also lost his route to the ball. Therefore, Mourinho relies heavily on Alberto this season. I hope He can become the connector for the team's offensive progress, connecting the midfielder and forward, and bringing out the scoring ability of Del Rey and McCarthy.

This is also the best change Mourinho can make after a season of familiarity and adjustment.

Mourinho's strategy in this game is also very clear. I am not as strong as you, so I will let you control the ball and I will shrink the defense. Before you enter my defensive zone, I will do whatever you want, but once you enter my half , I will firmly limit your scope of activities.

Football matches are like two ends of the scale. If I shrink, you will naturally want to press forward. In addition, Chelsea itself is the kind of team that likes to defend high, and usually defend high, the defense and the goal. The space in between is always exposed at the moment when the offense switches to defense.

Porto's two forwards, whether it is Delle or Benny McCarthy, are the kind of forwards who are very fast and have a strong ability to seize scoring opportunities. However, the 28-year-old Delle appears to be more mature and stable, so in Mourinho paid even more attention to him in the Champions League.

It should be said that defensive counterattacks have always been the magic weapon for Porto to reach the finals of the Champions League this season. Mourinho does not need to say much about many things, the players themselves can understand them, and Mourinho just does not I would like to emphasize one point, that is, you must remain tight when defending.

"The rib penetration is one of Chelsea's most important scoring methods. Our midfielder must closely protect the ribs of the defense, especially the gap between the two full-backs and the two central defenders, and we must keep an eye on it. Drogba, they will definitely use the Ivorian to create attacking opportunities.”

"As long as we can do these two things, we can weaken Chelsea's offensive threat by more than half, and then curb their offense, forcing them to reveal their weaknesses and loopholes in defense. That's our chance!" Mourinho slapped the tactical board next to him, as if he regarded it as Chelsea's collapse.

This action immediately aroused the blood and fighting spirit of everyone in the locker room, and everyone seemed to be inspired by the head coach.

Mourinho's thoughts were clearly stated at the pre-match tactical preparation meeting, and all Porto players were familiar with this. It's just that now hearing Mourinho's re-analysis so confidently makes them clearer and more clear about their game goals, unifying everyone's game strategy.

This is very important, because teams fighting alone often die miserably.