The Godfather of Football

Last night, Ye Qiu drank a lot of wine and talked with Ferguson and Wenger for several hours. They had reached a tacit understanding and agreement, and he also believed that this agreement would be recognized and affirmed by Liverpool and Chelsea.

In other words, this is good for any team.

After waking up the next morning, Ye Qiu had some breakfast and drove to the Theobald Training Base.

When Ye Qiu arrived at the gate of the Theobald Training Base, the garden sprinkler had just completed the watering and cleaning of the road surface and the park area outside the gate, so the entire asphalt road was still wet.

The security guard was very professional. As soon as he saw Ye Qiu's car, he immediately came out of the security room, opened the electric gate, and greeted Ye Qiu, "Good morning, Mr. Ye Qiu!"

"Good morning, thank you for your hard work!" Ye Qiu politely said to the security guard in the car, nodded and drove in. When passing outside the Central Lake Park, Ye Qiu noticed that there were people in the youth training area, smiled, parked the car outside the first-team training building, and walked directly to the youth training area.

Next to the central park area in the youth training area is an independent building with two floors. This is where Tottenham Hotspur's scout department is located. The so-called scout department is not a bunch of scouts from all over the world, but a data and analysis center.

As early as the Eliza Moon period, Ye Qiu developed a set of Internet software through an American company, and then equipped every agent and scout outside with a computer, which was later changed to a Zeus mobile phone. There will be a software or APP application in the mobile phone and computer.

When they find a player, or go to re-examine a player who has been registered, they can directly enter their observations and reports, as well as the scores of various data through computers and mobile phones. These data will be directly stored in the host of the scout center and analyzed by the host's analysis software.

Once the team needs it, the corresponding data can be directly entered from the host. The host will automatically analyze the team's needs and recommend a big list, as well as detailed scouting reports and data of all the players in the big list. If the team's head coach and coaching staff think it is appropriate, they will arrange for the scout to re-examine the system.

Of course, Tottenham Hotspur will also give scouts a lot of freedom. If the scout thinks that the player is indeed full of talent and potential, he can submit a detailed report and application to the club and recommend the player to the team for trial training. All expenses during the trial training will be borne by the club.

Over the years, Eliza's scout network, especially in South America, Africa and Europe, has been very complete. Now Tottenham Hotspur directly borrows this scout network and further improves the analysis ability of the scout system, such as establishing a player analysis module that belongs to the technical and tactical style of its own team.

Many people may feel a little unfamiliar, that is, how do European teams examine players?

This involves the analysis module, that is, let all scouts know what type of player I want.

For example, Tottenham Hotspur attaches importance to players with solid technical skills and creativity, so aspects such as stopping the ball, technology, imagination, etc. are very important. These values ​​will have a relatively large weight when the scout system analyzes a player's score. In addition, Ye Qiu attaches more importance to explosive power, which is also very important.

To put it simply, FM Football Manager is indeed as close to Tottenham Hotspur's scouting system as possible. The difference is that the numerical assessment of players in FM Football Manager is done by some fans, which is less professional and sometimes more impressionistic. Tottenham Hotspur's player numerical values ​​are more professional, and in order to avoid missing some potential rising stars, Tottenham Hotspur will also adopt a more relaxed strategy.

But in the final analysis, data cannot reflect the tactical value of players at all, so there is another very important section, that is, the scout report, which will also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of players, but it will be more detailed than FM Football Manager. After all, it is a report given by computer AI, which cannot be compared with professional scouts. Sometimes Tottenham Hotspur's scout report will even be detailed to the player in which area and under which circumstances to perform best, when and under what circumstances to perform worst, which is obviously impossible for computer games.

Ye Qiu heard that De Visser's scouting report for central defender Alex was astonishingly thick, reaching more than 40 pages, but PSV Eindhoven was financially insufficient and could not sign Alex. In the end, it was agent Lemic who, through Pini Zahavi's relationship, let Abramovich sign Alex and then rent him to PSV Eindhoven, and this transfer was naturally recorded under Arnesen.

"Hi, Peter!" Ye Qiu walked into the youth training area. The training building of the youth team was still undergoing exterior decoration, so dense steel frames were built outside. Peter De Visser was staring at the steel frames.

As a veteran like Bobby Hams, both of them were Dutch celebrities who had won the Michels Lifetime Achievement Award. They both had a very interesting common point, that is, they were not well-known and were very low-key.

If Ye Qiu were allowed to choose, he would have many excellent options, such as the former Valencia technical director Javier Subiratz who is currently unemployed at home. The role of this former Valencia star to the Bats is equivalent to that of Monchi to Sevilla. Without him, Valencia would hardly have had the glory it had around the century.

There is also the profiteer Monchi of Sevilla who many fans talk about. However, these two people are indeed very good at scouting networks and discovering talents. But the problem is that they both have one problem, that Just too strong.

Subirac was indeed very brilliant in Valencia. Although he was not very well-known, even Benitez, who was later single-handedly promoted by him, had a relatively normal relationship with him because he liked to interfere. , it will more or less limit the authority and prestige of the head coach.

Not to mention Monchi, there was a popular saying in Sevilla at that time, it doesn’t matter if anyone is missing, but Monchi cannot be missing, because his eyes are Sevilla’s biggest treasure.

For a team to reach this point, Ye Qiu didn't know whether it would be a success or a failure for Sevilla.

In addition, there must be others, such as Arsenal's Steve Lawley and Liverpool's Eduardo Macia. They are all very outstanding professional talents, but these talents are either difficult to poach or are prone to conflict with the head coach, such as Frank Arnesen, although many of his deeds are the work of Peter de Visser, his network of contacts cannot be denied.

What Ye Qiu most valued and admired about Peter Devisser was his low profile.

Devesel, who was a head coach, knew very well what the head coach was most taboo about, so throughout his time at Eindhoven, he seemed very low-key and never interfered with the team. He just silently followed the team's instructions. Need to select and recommend talents.

As for the reason why he left Eindhoven, it has something to do with Ye Qiu and Ajax.

Ever since Ye Qiu took charge of Ajax, the Amsterdam team has been fully revived. Even after Ye Qiu left, Van Basten, who took over, ensured the continued glory of Ajax to the greatest extent. suppressed their arch-enemy PSV.

The results were unsatisfactory, and internal conflicts naturally emerged step by step, especially between Devisser, who had been a long-time member of the team, and technical director Valex, who had a very strong conflict with the newly appointed general manager of the club, Lake. Conflicts arose, and a very important factor in Lake's dissatisfaction with them was Alex.

He believes that Alex’s stay at PSV will not be of any benefit to PSV, because he belongs to Chelsea, and PSV will be completely reduced to Chelsea’s processing factory. This is not what he wants to see, and Technical director Valeks has a close relationship with agent Lemich, and Lemich trusts Devisser's vision, so he began to have some players unearthed by devisel were manipulated by Lemich and sent to Ein. Howen comes, such as Brazilian goalkeeper Gomez.

It is said that so far, 7 players in the Eindhoven team belong to Lemich, coupled with the relationship between technical director Valeks, making Lake feel threatened. After the showdown, the club's board of directors supported Lake because they also wanted to To break this pattern of interests, Valeks eventually stepped down and Lemich was restrained.

Although De Visser was not directly involved, because he is the team's head of scouting and is directly managed by the technical director, he is naturally included in Valex's group. In addition, he has an annual salary of Gu Xi was no longer accepted by Lake, who wanted to vigorously reform, so he was disheartened and thought of leaving Eindhoven.

In this case, Ye Qiu found the Amsterdam native through the relationship between Eliza Moon and Bobby Harms, and successfully persuaded him to come to London, while de Visser was also interested in the Premier League and the Tottenham Hotspur, which is obviously a larger and broader development space and platform than Eindhoven, came to London.

De Visser is a silver-haired, thin-looking old Dutch man. He wears a pair of glasses. He looks very frail, but he gives people a very knowledgeable impression, and he speaks very softly. He is a typical gentle man. .

Such people are rare in the management of football clubs, because football has always advocated blood. Even the management is almost always a majestic and strong man. It is rare for weak scholars, so they seem a bit different. .

Although it has been decided not to renew the contract with Eindhoven, and Eindhoven has also agreed to let Peter de Visser leave, Peter de Visser is still under the contract for the time being and will have to wait until July to officially After entering the Tottenham Hotspur management, Ye Qiu had already let him join the team in advance and attended some important meetings.

"How do you feel about this place?" Ye Qiu walked to Devisel's side and asked with a smile.

"Very good!" Devisel chuckled softly, but added, "The environment is very good."

After hearing this, Ye Qiu also laughed, "It's just that the environment is good, but it doesn't matter. I hope that in a few years, everyone will smell the smell of Tottenham Hotspur football when they walk in. That will be truly good!"

De Viesel knew what Ye Qiu meant. They were both from the Netherlands, and Ye Qiu was from Ajax. They obviously had a deeper understanding of the shaping of youth training culture than others.

"I noticed that there are many small stadiums in the youth training camp. It seems that you are planning to promote small-field youth training in the youth team, is that true?" Devisseur has obviously walked around and noticed it. Training ground for the youth team.

In fact, it is not just the training ground for the youth team, the first team also has an outdoor small field training ground. Ye Qiu even built an indoor football stadium, which is full of small indoor football fields, so that the players of the first team and the youth team can play and train freely in it.

Ye Qiu nodded, "Unlike the small-field youth training that is already popular in the European continent, the Premier League, even in Manchester United and Arsenal, generally adopts standard field youth training, because they believe that this can accumulate and train the players' physique and running ability from a young age."

There has always been a serious debate in England about the advantages and disadvantages of large and small fields. Some people believe that from the perspective of football technology, small fields are more about advocating technical details in a small range, while large fields are closer to actual combat, and can train players' physique from an early age, making them more adaptable to the style of Premier League and English football.

But some people also believe that the top youth training in Europe uses small fields, because small fields pay more attention to the technical details of players, and can also cultivate the technical application of players when they encounter urgent pressing and double-teaming in a small range.

Such debates have been going on for several years. It's not that England doesn't value youth training, but it's been tangled in the debate between small and large venues for many years, and no one is willing to invest money. After all, the English Football Association, which is responsible for youth training, can't protect itself, so where does the money come from?

Ye Qiu has no position on the debate between small and large venues. There is no difference between small and large venues, and it can't be generalized. It depends on the situation. For example, at what age is it better to use a small venue and at what age is it better to use a large venue. Ajax has a clear concept of this.

As for the training of basic technical details, whether it is a small venue or a large venue, it is very important and can be guaranteed.

"Small venues have their own advantages, and large venues have their own advantages, but I think the most important aspects of youth training for players are the reasonable and skillful use of basic technical skills, stimulating players' creative thinking, and cultivating players' sense of space."

The former has already gained widespread consensus. Even the English are very clear that technology will receive more and more attention, so strengthening the skills of youth training players has also received widespread attention.

As for the creative thinking of players, this is also valued by many teams. For example, Manchester United and Arsenal attach great importance to the cultivation of this aspect. Therefore, they are different from other English teams that attach importance to hard training. They adopt a more liberal youth training method to cultivate players' creative way of playing.

But Ye Qiu thinks that the biggest problem of English players is the sense of space, or the sense of presence in the game.

For example, anyone who has played football may encounter a situation where when the ball is far away from you, you may not feel it, or even have no consciousness, and don't know what you can do. Then suddenly, when you realize the ball, the ball suddenly rushes towards you. At this time, you will feel flustered and you may even be at a loss.

This situation is a serious lack of sense of space, or sense of presence in the game, because during the period of his trance, he lacked sufficient awareness of integrating into the game.

If it is in amateur competitions, this phenomenon is very common, but it is not allowed in the top league, because in the top league, a game is changing suddenly almost every minute and every second. If you can't handle sudden changes anytime and anywhere, and can't make early warnings, when the ball or the opportunity comes, you are at a loss, then you will cause huge losses to the team.

If it is an attacker, this will cause the team to miss opportunities, and if it is a defender, it will cause the team to lose the ball.

Why are there so many fouls against opponents in the Premier League? Why is the foul scale in the Premier League relatively wide? There are even frequent tragic incidents of injury?

In the final analysis, no one will deliberately invade and hurt the other party, because everyone is a professional player. Cases like Keane are relatively special. More people are thinking of playing their strength and level well.

But the problem is, when you lack a sense of presence in the game, when an opportunity suddenly appears, everyone will subconsciously make some dangerous reflexive movements, just like someone hits your knee joint with a hammer, you will kick out reflexively, even if you don't want to kick him, but you will still kick because you can't control it.

For any professional player, the most terrible thing is that you can't control your body and consciousness.

Some people say that the most important thing in football is technology, but Ye Qiu thinks it's not, because technology can be practiced, it can be practiced in early years, and it can still be practiced in adulthood. These are projects that practice makes perfect, it's just a matter of how fast or how slow the progress is.

The body can also be trained, especially in the current situation where training is so scientific, scientific training of the body is no longer strange, so the body is not important for youth training.

The most important thing is consciousness, especially the sense of presence in the game.

So this time, Ye Qiu analyzed and discussed with many Ajax youth training experts including Bobby Hams and Ricklink early on, and decided to gradually transform from small-field youth training to large-field youth training. In addition to relying on the scientific youth training plan of Meulensteen and Moniz, some training programs also appropriately strengthen the training of young people to cope with complex scenes and environments.

In the final analysis, when you encounter more complex situations, when you have been accustomed to dealing with those emergencies since childhood, when you step onto the football field in the future, you will not be confused and will not feel at a loss when encountering such a situation.

Of course, another very important thing is to play more high-level games. This is also the result of the discussion between Ye Qiu and Wenger, Ferguson and others yesterday, that is, it is proposed to organize more youth team games.

Peter De Visser listened to Ye Qiu's analysis, and the two walked from the training building to the youth team's training ground. It has been divided into areas to prepare for the construction of the youth team's training ground and lay the grass.

The Dutchman sighed with emotion, because even though he thought Tottenham Hotspur had great potential before, after coming to this club and this training base, he felt that he still underestimated Ye Qiu and the entire team behind him.

And this understanding also made him more convinced that Tottenham Hotspur's future is bright!

"By the way, Peter!" Ye Qiu didn't notice Devisser's exclamation, "Do you have time? Let's go watch a game tomorrow!"