The Godfather of Football

Standing under the Irish sky, looking up, you can always see dense dark clouds, so you don't know when it will rain.

But put your head down and look straight ahead, you will see a green grassland, especially in summer, dotted with a few tall and lush green trees, connected to the dark sky at the far end, which will give people a very different feeling.

In fact, many people say that the British Isles like rain, which is true, but sometimes it depends on luck.

Tottenham Hotspur came to Dublin from London for training. In the past four days, they haven't seen a drop of rain. The luck is really good, because it has always been this kind of cloudy and cool weather, which is very suitable for the team to train.

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Joe Hart;

Defenders: Daniel Alves, Juan Manuel Vargas, Arbeloa, Thiago Silva, Brad Hanglander, Kompany, Michael Dawson, Gareth Bale;

Midfielders: Mascherano, Yaya Toure, Davis, Fabregas, Huddlestone, Lucas, Ribery, Arshavin, Messi, Ashley Young;

Forwards: Robin van Persie, Van Nistelrooy, Cavani and Carroll.

This is the first-team lineup of Tottenham Hotspur in Dublin. Aaron Lennon did not come to Ireland with the team in the end. His agent has informed the team that he hopes the club can consider the offers from Manchester United and Chelsea. Ye Qiu did not put him on the list in the end, but he refused to let go and said that Aaron Lennon is not for sale.

This time, Tottenham Hotspur's training location was not in Dublin, but in Maynooth, a small town 20 to 30 kilometers west of Dublin. They stayed in a castle hotel called Carton Manor on the outskirts of Maynooth.

This hotel is very old and covers a very large area. It is nearly two kilometers from north to south. All the rooms are made of single-family castle buildings. The most famous thing about this hotel is that it has two world championship standard 18-hole golf courses and a luxurious SPA center. All the buildings in this hotel adopt a wonderful style and atmosphere that combines the ancient and the modern, but conflicts with each other.

In fact, Tottenham Hotspur has a total of nearly 70 people, all of whom stayed in this hotel. The cost is not high, because the hotel fully considers the advertising effect, so it almost takes a half-buy and half-give way to invite Tottenham Hotspur to stay, and even takes the initiative to help Tottenham Hotspur contact the only open-air football field in Maynooth town to serve as a training ground for the team.

In fact, in Maynooth, there are green grass everywhere, and you can play football anywhere, but it is better to have a professional training ground, so that the team can practice and train more conveniently.

At this moment, Ye Qiu was standing in this training ground in Maynooth, watching the chief assistant coach Mauro Tassotti using the tactical board to explain the running position and assisting defense strategy to the players during defense.

During the period in Dublin, Tottenham Hotspur had three training sessions and one tactical meeting every day, which was very intense. They had to get up early in the morning, rest for a while after breakfast, and conduct a stretching training, mainly to restore the body. After resting, the second training session was held near noon, which was physical training.

After lunch and rest, a tactical meeting began in the afternoon, mainly for the coaching staff to explain the tactical details and key points to the players, and the most important thing was to instill it into the players, so that the players knew what the head coach wanted him to do and what he should do in the game. The last training session was in the evening, which was specifically for technical and tactical training.

This season's Premier League kicked off on August 19. Tottenham's first game was an away challenge against Bolton. Before that, Tottenham had no games, so the entire league preparation period lasted five weeks.

Five weeks is not very long, but it is not very short either. It depends on whether a team can be well run-in and formed. Five weeks is indeed very tight, but for a mature team, it is easy to adjust to the state, so Ye Qiu attaches great importance to preparation.

While he was busy with transfer operations and club management, the coaching staff had drawn up a very detailed pre-season preparation. Tottenham arranged a total of six pre-season warm-up matches, mainly in the middle and late stages of training, one after another, very closely, because the team needs more games to inspect the team, find problems, and solve them.

In the early stages of training, the most important thing is to instill the team's tactics into the players.

Ye Qiu's tactical idea for Tottenham Hotspur this season is to bring the old with the new. It is indeed regrettable. Originally, he wanted to get Zambrotta and Thuram, and even offered a package price of 25 million euros for this, and promised to pay the two players their annual salary in Juventus, which has exceeded the current salary structure of Tottenham Hotspur.

Especially for Thuram, the veteran who has obviously gone downhill can get such a contract, which is a great temptation in itself, but they finally chose to go to Barcelona because Tottenham Hotspur cannot play in the Champions League.

Edgar Davis is old, and his condition is getting worse day by day, but he can still be used for the time being, but there is no guarantee, and Ye Qiu hopes that he can bring more young players in the team. After all, he and many young players in the team were teammates when they were in Chelsea. Now that they are in Tottenham Hotspur, they should naturally take care of each other.

Van Nissan is the only striker that Ye Qiu can trust and rely on. Van Persie is very strong and has no problem adapting, but he needs to strengthen his physical strength. Ye Qiu now plans to put him in the middle and let him try to play as a center forward. Cavani is still too thin and lacks confrontation ability. Carroll is too young and can still play as a substitute.

From the past few days of training, Ye Qiu has already vaguely formed a prototype of trying to run-in.

The goalkeeper is undoubtedly Cech, the back line is Vargas, Hangeland, Thiago Silva and Alves, the midfield is Yaya Toure, Mascherano and Fabregas, and the front line trident is Ribery, Van Nissan and Messi.

Van Nissan is the kind of scorer who stays in front and waits for his teammates to pass the ball. His scoring ability will definitely surprise you, as long as you can create enough opportunities. The most important thing for Ye Qiu now is to let the team have a stable set of tactics as soon as possible to cope with the upcoming league.

Ribery is very strong, and his outstanding performance in the World Cup also makes him full of confidence. Although Fabregas and Messi are young, they are strong, especially Fabregas, who is very mature and steady. Although his organization in the midfield is still a little immature, his passing is very threatening, and his overall view and ability to organize the midfield are also very good.

Mascherano will lag behind to protect the defense, which is his responsibility in Ajax, and he does it very well. Yaya Toure still plays more of his characteristics of running and pressing in a large range to fill the gaps in the midfield, and he also needs to coordinate with the front and back at any time.

Ye Qiu's tactics are actually not difficult to understand, that is, both wings fly together.

Ribery and Vargas form the left side, and Messi and Alves form the right side to take turns to attack the opponent's side, tear open the opponent's defense from the side, and then create scoring opportunities for Van Nistelrooy in the penalty area.

Of course, this is just a framework, but there are many details in it. For example, Ribery and Messi can switch positions anytime and anywhere. Ribery is a very good player with both feet. Although Messi is a left-footed player, his right foot ability is not bad under Ye Qiu's supervision. The two frequently switch positions, or cooperate to break through the bottom, or get the ball to connect with teammates, or dribble inside to pass the ball, which can create killing opportunities, and it is necessary to practice a variety of offensive routines to enrich the team's offensive means.

Unlike in Chelsea, this time Ye Qiu not only has to control the rhythm, but also has to fight for possession of the ball, but there is one thing that has not changed, that is high defense!

Even though it has been four days, the players' defense on the training ground still looks a mess.

Van Persie, Fabregas, Messi, Ribery, Mascherano, Yaya Toure and Thiago Silva are the players who understand Ye Qiu's tactical intentions best, because they all play high defense in Chelsea and Ajax. Even though Ajax's high defense is different from Ye Qiu's requirements, it is not difficult to adapt because some things are the same.

The biggest difference between high defense and ordinary defense is that ordinary defense usually requires that all players in the front court, except for the players close to the ball holder, return to their positions as soon as possible. This is called positioning.

But high defense is different, because there is a large space behind you, so once you lose possession of the ball, the next few seconds are very critical and important. You must do your best to get the ball back, and even if you can't get it back, you must not let the opponent form a quick counterattack, because you can never run faster than the ball.

Therefore, one of the important points of high-position defense is the pressure and counter-attack in the front and midfield. This requires players not to get into position as soon as possible, but to quickly close to the nearest player, and other players to surround him as soon as possible, forming a number advantage in the local area, maximizing the possibility of seizing the ball.

This requires players to adjust and change their consciousness, ideas and playing habits, which takes some time to adapt.

In addition, many head coaches have always had a misunderstanding about high-position defense, believing that high-position defense requires many prerequisites. For example, some people say that they need to have excellent technical and tactical awareness like Barcelona, ​​and some people say that they need to press the front and midfield crazily, but in fact, these are not said to the bones.

The core of high-position defense is in the midfield.

All teams that have played high-position defense have a very interesting feature, that is, the midfield is flexible.

For example, Benítez's Valencia, the Bat Corps has two double defensive midfielders Baraja and Albelda who are very good at intercepting and running. So how do the double defensive midfielders do when defending in high position?

When the team is attacking with the ball, they will lag behind and always stay around the 30-meter area. They will not easily enter the 30-meter area, because when all teams that play high defense attack, the opponent's 30-meter area will become crowded, because you have already pressed up, and the opponent's three lines have shrunk in, so it's not crowded?

At this time, there is a requirement for the midfielders, neither can they let the frontcourt players fall into a situation of isolation and helplessness, nor can they create congestion for their own offensive players, which undoubtedly tests the wisdom of the midfielders.

Therefore, for all teams that play high defense, midfielders generally do not easily enter the 30-meter area, but once they enter this area, they will definitely be able to pose a threat, either threatening the opponent, or counterattacking after the opponent steals the ball to create a threat.

This is when attacking with the ball, so what about when defending when losing the ball?

Press up!

Some people say, you are stupid, there is such a big gap behind you, why are you still pressing forward?

This undoubtedly requires skills. It is not blindly pressing forward, but when the front players surround the opponent's ball holder for the first time, predict the opponent's possible ball routes and kill these ball routes in time.

Therefore, the midfield defenders of high defense are generally not large-scale running midfielders like Essien and Gattuso, but those interceptors with excellent awareness, strong position sense, and sufficient predictive ability.

Therefore, the core of high defense is not whether the technology is delicate. Of course, you must have the ability to take the ball and pass the ball in a small gap, otherwise why do you play high defense?

But the requirements for technology are limited to this. Instead, they are requirements for the team's midfielders, as well as the rigor of the team's overall system from front to back, and the awareness and execution of the players.

Why are Benitez's Liverpool and Ye Qiu's Chelsea the two teams with the highest tactical execution? Because they both want to play high defense. Playing high defense without excellent overall tactical execution is simply courting death.

Why can't Manchester United play high defense?

Do you think Ferguson doesn't want to? He wants to, and he wants to go crazy, but the problem is that Manchester United's players are not suitable!

After Ye Qiu came to Tottenham Hotspur, he directly sold Defoe and Robbie Keane, two generals, because they were not suitable for this set of tactics, and Aaron Lennon was not necessarily for Ye Qiu to keep, because he might not be suitable, because his side breakthrough is more about speed.

Ye Qiu watched the players' training on the court with many mistakes and omissions, listened to Mauro Tassotti calling the players' names and pointing out the problems in his running and coordination in the game, and goalkeeper coach Frans Hoch kept pointing them in front of Cech and Joe Hart, indicating that they should take the initiative to expand the defense range.

All of this made Ye Qiu full of hope for the future.

While Tottenham Hotspur was training and preparing for the match in Dublin, Eliza Moon in London was running the team in an orderly manner, making some necessary repairs to the White Hart Lane Stadium, contacting sponsors for the team, and trying every means to increase the team's operating income.

A week after the team started training, the transfer rumors of Aaron Lennon, who failed to go to Dublin with the team, finally came to an end. Chelsea, who was eager to further improve their wing strength and felt dissatisfied with the two generals Duff and Wright-Phillips, finally got Aaron Lennon for 25 million euros.

After the transfer was completed, Tottenham Hotspur also announced the end of the transfer market this season. According to outside speculation and calculations, Tottenham Hotspur made a total profit of 30 million euros in the transfer market, but only the top executives of Tottenham Hotspur, such as Eliza Moon and Ye Qiu, knew that Tottenham Hotspur made a profit of 60 million euros.

This money will be used by the team to build the Theobald training base in the north of Enfield, and strive to make the Theobald training base the world's top and most complete training center in two to three years.

Two weeks after arriving in Dublin, Tottenham Hotspur finally ushered in the first warm-up match, the opponent was the Irish league powerhouse Shamrock Rovers. This team is a powerhouse in the Irish Premier League, but it was relegated from the Irish Premier League last season, but the team itself is not weak.

Facing this team, Tottenham Hotspur played a sharp offensive football in Dublin. The breakthroughs on both sides were very fast and sharp, and the overall rhythm of the team was also very light and fast. The rhythm style of a typical Premier League team obviously hopes to play more delicate cooperation, but there is a lack of tacit understanding between each other, and the tactics are a bit disordered.

But even so, Tottenham Hotspur still defeated Shamrock Rovers 2:1 with two goals from Van Nistelrooy.

In this game, Tottenham Hotspur had 68% of the ball possession rate, and the overall strength occupied an absolute advantage. However, the team still had obvious deficiencies in offense, and some problems were exposed in defense, that is, the tacit understanding between Hangeland and Thiago Silva in division of labor and cooperation.

According to Mauro Tassotti, any defense is not a problem for central defenders, the problem lies in whether the construction of the defense system is reasonable.

Some people would say that Hangeland, who is tall and strong, has outstanding frontal defense and air defense capabilities and is afraid of fast players breaking through, but the question is, how can you know this when arranging defense, and still force him to face the players he is afraid of?

If you encounter a fast player, let Thiago Silva go up and stare, and Hangeland will lag behind to assist in defense, which not only forms a defensive level and depth, but also avoids Hangeland's disadvantages and plays his advantages.

Of course, everyone knows that the opponent will exploit your players' weaknesses if they know them, so the solidity of the defense depends not only on the players' personal abilities and strengths and weaknesses, but also on the system and the degree of cooperation between the players. In fact, Ferguson highly advocates the latter, which is why he has been reluctant to introduce defenders.

Three days after playing against Shamrock Rovers, the team had another warm-up match. This time, the opponent was the Irish Premier League team Dublin University. In the end, Tottenham Hotspur defeated the opponent again 3:1. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ribery and Robin van Persie, who came on as a substitute, scored goals.

After finishing the two warm-up matches, Tottenham Hotspur also ended the three-week training camp in Dublin, Ireland, and returned to London. Soon, they had a game that really honed the team's value. The opponent was Inter Milan!