The Godfather of Football

"Ronaldinho... went over and he broke through from two defenders."

"Carrager came to block, beautiful, a beautiful gyration from Marseille, Zidane's stunt, Ronaldinho broke through!"

"Hypia, a fake move, another pass, a wonderful pass directly behind him!"

"Rooney, the ball went in!!!"

"Liverpool's goal was finally knocked open by Chelsea!"

"With a shot from young player Wayne Rooney, Chelsea finally broke the deadlock!"

Along with the series of shouts from the on-site commentator, all the fans in the whole bar suddenly cheered hoarsely. The crisp sound of beer bottles hitting each other was endless. Everyone in the bar raised their arms and cheered!

On the TV screen, Wayne Rooney, who had scored a goal, quickly rushed out of the Liverpool penalty area and rushed to the bottom of the stands where Chelsea fans were. He kept celebrating his goal, while the fans in the bar saw him. Constantly chanting Rooney's name, the youngster from Everton conquered the Chelsea fans in a short period of time.

In the past, he was the hope of English football, and now, he is also the hope of Chelsea fans!

"Ronaldinho, a very, very wonderful personal performance. Although his performance in this game was not very good and it seemed that his condition did not improve much, this time he had a flash of inspiration that we all saw. When it comes to his magic, he doesn’t need to perform well for a long time, just a flash of light is enough to destroy a team.”

As the TV commentator analyzed, the fans in the bar also chanted Ronaldinho's name at the same time, because many people said that he would become the first real world footballer in the history of Chelsea football.

There has been one World Footballer of the Year in Chelsea's history, that is George Weah from Liberia, but this former World Footballer came to Chelsea to retire when his glory was no longer good, and he only played one game at Chelsea. Years ago, and he is not the main player, so neither Chelsea fans nor Premier League fans recognize Weah as the Premier League's first World Footballer, but hope to cultivate one themselves.

Today, Ronaldinho and Lampard are undoubtedly the most promising candidates. This is also where Premier League fans are conflicted.

Lampard is a local star. In the eyes of Premier League fans who pay more attention to the local area, it would be great for Lampard to win the award, but Ronaldinho has more global influence. The Brazilian's magical footwork has repeatedly Saving the team from crisis, and his almost dreamlike performance in the Champions League final won him the biggest bargaining chip.

UEFA's MVP of the season was given to Ronaldinho. I heard that the Brazilian is also a favorite for the European Footballer of the Year selected by French football. Therefore, Premier League fans' treatment of Ronaldinho is still a bit complicated. But most of them are amazed.

After all, seeing his outstanding performance, everyone will be looking forward to it. When their country can also cultivate such an outstanding top talent, it will be perfect!

After a wild celebration, play soon resumed with Liverpool awarded the kick-off.

But what is obvious is that Chelsea began to consciously strengthen the pressure in the midfield and frontcourt. The return of the three midfielders made Chelsea's pressure and pressing in the midfield and frontcourt very strong, almost suffocating, and this almost abnormal pressure and pressure The pressing exposed Liverpool's biggest problem, which was that the offensive routine was too monotonous.

"I still remember that when I was in Valencia, Benitez's bat team had many different ways of advancing the ball. There were Vicente and Rufete on the wings, Mista on the front line, and in Meese Behind Ta, there is a technical genius like Aimar who is responsible for the connection, and the double midfielder Baraja and Albelda are definitely one of the best double midfielder combinations in today's football."

The on-site commentator was analyzing Liverpool's current problems based on Valencia's lineup and tactics.

"We should note that after Benitez came to Liverpool, he introduced Xabi Alonso. This Spanish player also has a more classical intercepting midfielder style. His long passing ability is very good. Benitez Steve obviously hopes to use him to reorganize Liverpool's double midfielder, so whether he lets Gerrard play as a defensive midfielder or partners with Hamann, Xavi Alonso is a crucial member, and the Spaniard's Benitez also made full use of his long-pass dispatching."

"But apart from Xavi Alonso, we have to clearly see that Liverpool seems to have no other stable route for the ball, and there are big problems in advancing the ball, so once Xavi Alonso is The players in the frontcourt were restricted, and they began to return to the British style of playing with frequent long passes. "

"Perhaps this is why it is good for Liverpool to play against strong teams, but not against weak teams, because strong teams will not retreat when playing against Liverpool, while weak teams basically put themselves in a weak position to defend against counterattacks."

Alan Hansen supported this analysis, "I think the most important thing is Aimar. After Benitez came to Liverpool, he wanted to introduce Aimar, or a midfielder who can hold the ball, but because of For various reasons, we were unable to get an attacking midfielder in the end. Luis Garcia's performance was not stable enough, Gerrard lacked the ability to push the ball through the middle, and his own position was also very unclear."

This is where Gerrard's trouble lies. Playing as a defensive midfielder, he doesn't have a strong sense of position. His partnership with Xavi Alonso seems to be very good, but in fact there are many problems. Once he encounters a head-to-head match with a strong team, It will be obviously exposed, and Gerrard's attacking ability is definitely wasted playing in the defensive midfielder.

Ye Qiu's use of Lampard has made all Premier League fans full of praise, thinking that he has activated Lampard's offensive power. Liverpool fans also hope that Gerrard, whose offensive ability is not inferior to Lampard's, is The head coach can give Gerrard more freedom to fire and activate his offensive power.

But the problem is that at Chelsea, Lampard has Drogba in front of him, Davis, Deco and Makelele behind him, Ronaldinho beside him, and Maicon and Evra on both sides. When this whole lineup is put together, even the current Liverpool cannot compare.

At least Benitez recruited Luis Garcia, hoping that he could play the role of Aimar, but in fact he couldn't do it at all. The same is true of Baros, who shined in the European Cup, and the Czech Republic Man is not Mista either.

After all, Benitez is not Ye Qiu. Without Ye Qiu's more than ten years of football knowledge than others, he will inevitably be restricted in player selection. Therefore, even if it is also reorganizing, Ye Qiu's first year It would allow Chelsea to exert its fighting power, but Benitez's first year was full of problems.

Of course, because of this, it better reflects the excellence of Benitez, a master tactician, because he was able to lead such a problematic Liverpool team to the Champions League, which is definitely a great feat.

. .

. .

In the end, this game ended with Chelsea defeating Liverpool 1:0 at home.

On the same day, Manchester United tied with Middlesbrough 1:1 at home. The Red Devils ended up ranked 6th in the Premier League, but Arsenal defeated Charlton 4:0 and continued to lead the Premier League standings. The Gunners' performance so far this season, It's really surprising.

However, at the post-match press conference, when Ye Qiu was asked this question by reporters, he clarified it.

"We have played against Manchester United and Liverpool so far. We have defeated our opponents in two key competitions, and even now, we are only 2 points behind Arsenal, one game away. Things, so I don’t think we performed poorly, on the contrary, I am satisfied with the current performance of the team.”

Unlike Chelsea, which has faced two major opponents, Manchester United and Liverpool, Arsenal has not encountered a truly strong competitor even so far. It is more like Everton, Middlesbrough and other teams. Therefore, Ye Qiu is not worried at all because he is only 2 points behind.

If you really want to be anxious, you have to wait until Arsenal defeats Manchester United and Liverpool. Moreover, there will be a duel between Chelsea and Arsenal in December. This game is the highlight. It is too early to be anxious now.

"Mr. Ye Qiu, we noticed that when you were making adjustments in the second half, you replaced Drogba with Davis and regained the three midfielders who reached the top of the team last season. This also directly caused the loss that followed. After Chelsea’s goal, I would like to ask, many fans are confused about Chelsea’s adjustments this season. Will this game make you want to return to the three-midfielder strategy?”

This was an unavoidable problem, and Ye Qiu had already been mentally prepared for it, starting from the moment he changed players.

"For me, there is no tactic that can cure all problems. Some opponents have strong offensive capabilities, some opponents have excellent defensive capabilities, some are good at playing on the wing, and some are good at attacking the center. There is no set of tactics that can adapt to all situations. The opponents change, so we have to make targeted adjustments, which is why I will play three midfielders in the game.”

"I said at the beginning of the season that we don't want to rest on our past laurels and sleep with the championship trophy in our hands. Many people felt that the Chelsea team last season was very strong and outstanding, but they didn't notice that we In the second half of last season, many players experienced a decline in form and physical fitness, and even suffered injuries. "

For example, Davis, the Dutchman's performance in the first half of the season was absolutely amazing, but his performance declined in the second half of the season. Although many people feel that Davis was very good even in the second half of the season, injuries and Physical fitness is a big issue.

This is the problem with playing 4321. It is too strong and tough. This kind of almost abnormal high-intensity pressure puts high demands on the players. Moreover, compared with last season, Davis and Makelele are one year older. Navarro is also a year older, and the team cannot continue to remain the same.

"I told my players that we should take the initiative to seek changes. We have to make adjustments, not only to adjust our tactics and play styles that are more suitable for us, but also to adjust our play styles that can better bring out our strengths and characteristics. So I told They, we have to play more rhythmically, smarter, and more aggressively.”

"None of you believe a lot of what I say, but one fact is that we are definitely the biggest victims of the national team competition this season. You can go and see who has the most international players among all the Premier League teams, and whose The international player has played the longest time in the national team, and that is undoubtedly our Chelsea team!”

"A lot of people like to ask me why you always say Chelsea would be better but worse, and that's why!"

Speaking of this, Ye Qiu also felt that he had said too much. Those who believed would still believe, and those who did not believe, no matter how much he said, could not convince them, they would only think that he was making excuses.

"I never need to make excuses for myself. Are we bad? We have achieved 6 wins and 2 draws in 8 league games. Is that bad? I don't think so! On the contrary, I have always been confident that we will usher in a peak of form around the winter break, and we will also exert our strength in the second half!"

Some people agreed with Ye Qiu's words, some doubted, and many people felt that Ye Qiu was worrying about nothing, because Chelsea was obviously better at playing three defensive midfielders, but some people also produced evidence.

After the 8th round of the Premier League, there were two weeks of national team match days, and this time, Martin Samuel, a famous reporter from the Times, made a special data comparison in his column.

Chelsea has been called up to 21 international players, including Drogba, who was injured in the match against Liverpool, and was called up to play in the national team in Africa. This list of international players is the sum of Manchester United and Arsenal.

As soon as this report came out, it immediately caused quite a stir. Many people realized for the first time that Chelsea had unknowingly become an indispensable part of European football and even world football. There were 21 international players in the 25-man first-team list.

The remaining 4 players who were not shortlisted for the national team were substitute goalkeeper Cudicini, Fabregas, Messi and Robert Huth, and the latter three players were selected for the national youth team. The advantage of Chelsea's strong lineup of international players is the team's strong strength, but the disadvantage is that it is always affected by the national team's games.

As if it was finally a little proud, Chelsea's official website also released its own list of international players at the first time. The club also expressed its grievances behind the list, hoping that the national team coaches would consider Chelsea more.

This time, Ye Qiu did not continue his vacation. Instead, he took advantage of the national team's game and flew around with Ten Cate and Roland. He first went to South America and met with the head coach of the Argentine national team, Jose Pekerman, and the head coach of the Brazilian national team, Pereira, and put forward his own suggestions during the meeting.

For example, Ye Qiu hoped that Chelsea's South American players would not be recruited for the national team game in November.

In fact, Ye Qiu was the most straightforward when it came to the issue of recruiting players for the national team. He always maintained a good relationship with the national team because he knew very well that all the international players were proud to play for the national team. If he had a falling out with the national team, it would only make it difficult for the players in the end. There was no need.

And the good cooperative relationship in the past, when Ye Qiu made a request, and the game in November was not very important, Pekerman and Pereira agreed very readily, which made Ye Qiu feel relieved.

The national team matches in November are in the middle of the week, but the league is not suspended, that is to say, players have to travel back and forth to play three games in a week. Even an iron body can't support it. If they can not be called up, it would be the best.

In the communication with Pekerman, Ye Qiu also mentioned Messi. He thinks Messi is a very good player. Pekerman also said that he has set his sights on this young player, but he is still too young and hopes that Ye Qiu can give him more opportunities.

From South America to Africa, this time Ye Qiu mainly met with the head coach of Cote d'Ivoire to talk about Drogba. The requirements are the same. He hopes to minimize the call-up of international players in some warm-up matches and unnecessary matches.

Finally, he returned to Europe and met with the head coaches of national teams such as France and England.

For Ye Qiu, this is a public relations. Although FIFA has a hard rule that during the national team matches, clubs shall not refuse the national team to call up players for any reason, so Ye Qiu has to negotiate through this public relations method. It is best if everyone is happy. If you really want to compete, there is no saying that who is afraid of who.

It's really not giving face. Ye Qiu has countless ways to help players refuse the call-up of the national team. If they fall out, no one will lose face. So basically, the head coaches that Ye Qiu has talked to personally are very face-giving. It's just that the situation of some teams is not very ideal. It depends on the specific situation.

After all, the head coach of the national team has to play in major events such as the World Cup qualifiers, and they also have their own pressure to qualify.

After a circle around the earth and watching a few national team games, when Ye Qiu returned to London, the international players began to come back one after another, and the situation of the team was obviously not satisfactory.

After two days of rest, especially considering that the third round of the Champions League group stage was about to come, Ye Qiu had to make a choice. In the away game against Manchester City, most of the substitutes were arranged to play, basically some players who did not play many games in the national team.

But not every time Chelsea can get away with it. This time Chelsea suffered a Waterloo in Manchester City.

This is also Ye Qiu's first league defeat in Chelsea. The team lost 0:1 to Manchester City away.

On the other hand, Arsenal beat Aston Villa, who are good at home but bad at away, 3:1 at home, while Manchester United was tied 0:0 by Birmingham away from home, and Chelsea's gap behind quickly widened to 5 points.

The 47-match unbeaten streak came to an end, the team was 5 points behind Arsenal, the team performed poorly, the players were in poor condition, and Ye Qiu's adjustments to the team were questioned since the start of the league. For a time, the debate about Chelsea became the focus of attention of major European media.

Some newspapers even suggested that Ye Qiu had great flaws as a head coach. He could lead a team from scratch and reach the peak, but he could not lead a team to maintain its peak state to the maximum extent. This is why he chose to leave Ajax at the most glorious time a year ago, and now he is frustrated in Chelsea.

At the same time, some media also published news that Ye Qiu was likely to be dismissed because of poor performance.

The media is like this, one round of heaven and one round of hell. When the performance is good, they praise the merits, and when the performance is bad, they add insult to injury. Especially after their exaggeration and hype, it seems to give people a feeling that Chelsea is no longer glorious.