The Godfather of Football

Avran Grant stood in the command area of ​​the home team coach's bench at Stamford Bridge, looked up, and saw the scene of the two teams arriving at Stamford Bridge being played on the big screen at Stamford Bridge.

That happened half an hour ago, he led the Chelsea players into the team bus and into Stamford Bridge.

He is Chelsea's head coach, and at that moment, he is the center of attention!

Being a technical director and a head coach are two completely different choices, and they face two completely different pressures. The pressure faced by the head coach far exceeds the former, especially when you are before some key important games, the pressure is enough to drive you crazy.

Tonight's match is against Chelsea's city rival Tottenham Hotspur, Ye Qiu's team!

Since Tottenham Hotspur reversed Chelsea in the last round last season, at Stamford Bridge, under the eyes of tens of thousands of Chelsea fans, when they could enter the Champions League with a draw, and gave the Blues' championship throne to Manchester United, this is definitely a great shame for all Chelsea fans.

Maybe some people didn't notice it, but Avran Grant saw it clearly. One of the important reasons for Mourinho's dismissal was that he failed to win four consecutive championships, especially in the most crucial game, he lost to Tottenham Hotspur at home, especially Ye Qiu's team.

It can be said that from that moment on, Abramovich no longer trusted Mourinho's coaching ability. At the beginning of this season, Mourinho's team performed poorly, and it became natural for the Russian to directly announce Mourinho's dismissal.

For Abramovich today, Ye Qiu is a taboo. He even compares all Chelsea coaches with Ye Qiu involuntarily. Since then, every season against Tottenham Hotspur will be the most important game for all Chelsea coaches, and it is also a game that cannot be lost.

Avran Grant saw clearly that playing against Tottenham might affect whether he could be promoted from a firefighting head coach to a formal head coach. If he could beat Tottenham in this game, a thick formal contract should be waiting for him after the season.

But it is not easy to beat Ye Qiu's Tottenham. The offensive ability of this team is a big test for all opponents. Sometimes Avran Grant even has to admire Ye Qiu. After selling Van Nistelrooy this season, Tottenham's offense has not declined, but has been greatly improved.

Today, Tottenham fans are most proud of it, and even many reporters and media like Tottenham. One of the important reasons is that even though this North London team has not won the league championship for nearly half a century, they just like the change in the style of play of this team in the past year or so.

In the eyes of many traditional Tottenham fans, this is the revival of the club's traditional style of play, because before Arsenal and the Liverpool team in the late 1990s, Tottenham had the best style of play in the Premier League.

After entering 2008, Tottenham's performance was good. They defeated Aston Villa in the 21st round, and then played with substitutes and youth team lineups in the third round of the FA Cup knockout, and defeated Reading 3:1 at home, but they were tied 1:1 at home by Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final on the 8th.

Chelsea's performance was also good. In the 21st round, they defeated their city rival Fulham 2:1 away, and in the FA Cup, they won a small victory over Queens Park Rangers 1:0. Then they defeated Moyes' Everton 2:1 at home in the League Cup semi-finals, and the possibility of entering the final is very high.

But Avran Grant still dared not be careless. One very important reason was that Ye Qiu had saved his strength in both the FA Cup and League Cup. The main lineup was rotated, obviously to adjust his physical fitness, because they had to face Fulham in the fifth round of the make-up match in the middle of the week, and Roy Keane's Sunderland in the 23rd round.

All three games were tough, so Ye Qiu made a large rotation in the FA Cup and League Cup, and even arranged for the youth team to play. In addition, Tottenham Hotspur only had one player, Yaya Toure, to participate in the African Cup, but Chelsea had four players missing, namely Drogba, Essien, Kalou and Mikel.

Whether from the strength of the players participating in the African Cup or the importance to the team, Chelsea's loss was obviously greater, because in the midfield where Yaya Toure was, Tottenham Hotspur still had Mascherano, Lucas, Modric, and even the young player Aaron Ramsey to play, so the impact was not very big.

Because of this, Avran Grant decided to adopt a defensive counterattack strategy when formulating tactics for this game, even though this is Stamford Bridge, because he has enough confidence in Chelsea's defense.

But even with confidence, he still seemed very nervous and uneasy, because this game was too important to him. It was so important that he made full preparations from the selection of players for each position in the starting lineup to the targeted tactics during the game, striving to completely defeat Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, increase his influence in Abramovich's mind, and at least make him confident in his coaching ability.

Power, fame and women, these are three obstacles that no man can escape. The most fatal thing about them is not that they keep tempting you, but that when you taste their sweetness, you will find that you are no longer willing to give up.

Now Avran Grant has only one idea, that is to stay at Stamford Bridge!

Even if it is an away game, Tottenham Hotspur's main lineup is still mainly offensive.

The goalkeeper is Peter Cech, the back line is Marcelo, Hangeland, Thiago Silva and Alves, the midfield is Mascherano, Modric and Fabregas are forward, the front trident has not changed, it is still Ribery, Van Persie and Messi, except for Beckham and Vargas who are absent due to injury, all other main players are on the field.

Chelsea was affected by the African Cup. The goalkeeper is Cudicini. Since Mourinho was dismissed, Hilario has been put in the cold palace. The back line is Ashley Cole, Carvalho, Terry and Belletti. The double defensive midfielders are Ballack and Makelele. The front court is Malouda, Joe Cole, Anelka, and the single striker is Peruvian striker Pizarro.

Anelka is a striker introduced by Chelsea from Bolton during the winter break this year, hoping to strengthen the team's frontcourt attack, while Avran Grant is trying to pull him to the side.

Ye Qiu is obviously very clear about the advantages and disadvantages of Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Tottenham Hotspur is good at attacking but not good at defending, while Chelsea has a solid defense, but has encountered some troubles in offense. But the problem is that with the absence of Drogba and Kalou, Chelsea's offensive threat has declined a lot, and the defense is also affected by the absence of Essien and Mikel.

No one knows the role of Essien better than Ye Qiu. Without Essien, the two veterans, Ballack and Makelele, can't fill the gap in the midfield. Joe Cole and Anelka's contribution to defense is very small, which makes Tottenham Hotspur formulate a tactic of strong attack away from home from the beginning.

So after the start, Tottenham Hotspur took the initiative to attack, and under the boos of the fans at Stamford Bridge, they kept pressing the home team. Even Andy Gray, the Sky TV commentator who was responsible for the game commentary, joked that thirteen minutes into the game, Cech had not been seen.

It was not until the seventeenth minute that Cech appeared in the live TV camera, but that time Chelsea's attack entered the Tottenham Hotspur penalty area, and was firmly held by Cech who attacked in advance. Then he launched a quick attack. Ribery got the ball on the left and cut inside, handed it to Van Persie, and Van Persie passed it diagonally to the right side of the penalty area.

Messi quickly inserted, attracted Ashley Cole to the baseline, and knocked the ball back to Alves. The Brazilian dribbled the ball inside and shot with his right foot, directly breaking through Cudicini's goal, 1:0!

After the goal, Tottenham Hotspur obviously played smarter, actively retreated, and gave up more control, a bit like waving to Chelsea, indicating that they should attack more and please the Chelsea fans at home.

Chelsea did have this idea at first, but Tottenham Hotspur's two attacks easily tore through their defense.

One was a precise through ball from Fabregas in the midfield. Van Persie stopped the ball and turned to sprint, but the ball stopped a little too far, and Terry's interference made him follow up and chase the ball for nearly half a second slower. He retracted his foot in front of Cudicini who was attacking, and finally missed an attack opportunity.

Then Messi dribbled the ball from the right and cut inside. Seeing Cudicini standing forward, he shot a left-footed arc ball and hit the left post. He almost scored again.

The two attacks made Chelsea tremble with fear. Grant quickly asked the players to stabilize the situation and strive to ensure the quality of defense first, and then plan counterattacks and attacks. However, Tottenham's midfield lacked Essien, the troublemaker. Fabregas and Modric were given a lot of room to play. The two partners cooperated, and Tottenham's midfield operated smoothly, launching waves of attacks, while Chelsea was defeated.

Even when changing players in the midfield, Grant failed to come up with an effective way to reverse the situation. On the contrary, in the 71st minute, Chelsea's players' physical fitness obviously declined a lot. After Messi formed a cooperation with Alves on the right, the Argentine made a diagonal pass from the right side of the penalty area to the left side of the goal. Ribery quickly inserted and pushed the ball into the goal in the penalty area, 2:0!

It was also after this that Grant's substitutions came late, replacing Wright-Phillips with Sidwell and Malouda with Bridge, both of which were substitutions to strengthen defense. This also made the Israelis booed by the Chelsea fans in the stadium because such substitutions were too unprogressive.

But the problem is that Tottenham Hotspur's offensive did not weaken at all in the final stage. If they did not continue to make substitutions to strengthen defense, they would be scored again sooner or later as the players' physical fitness declined.

In the end, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea 2:0 away with goals from Alves and Ribery.

Regarding the away victory over Chelsea, Ye Qiu said in an interview with reporters after the game that he was not surprised at all, but he also politely said that the reason why Chelsea lost was mainly due to the influence of the African Cup, especially Drogba and Essien.

Don't underestimate the role of these two players in the team's tactics. Without Drogba, Chelsea's offense is a bit confused and has lost a very important means of advancing the ball. Without Essien, the midfielder The coverage and pressing intensity have dropped a lot, and it is difficult for the two veterans Makelele and Ballack to exert enough pressure on Tottenham Hotspur's midfield.

Of course Ye Qiu would not say that this was Avram Grant's problem. For example, why not go to Deco? Also, he didn't seem to have considered whether playing Joe Cole and Anelka at the same time would affect Chelsea's midfield press and pressure.

It can be said that his formation was also a very important reason for the loss in this game.

But if Ye Qiu doesn't say it, it doesn't mean that reporters, media and fans don't understand. Today's reporters and media seem to know more about football than many head coaches. They are the ones who really understand football, and there are also many fans. After losing, he directly directed his anger towards the head coach. After all, it has become normal to find trouble with the head coach after losing.

After withdrawing from Stamford Bridge, Tottenham Hotspur officially reversed Chelsea's ranking and climbed to third place in the Premier League. Moreover, the team defeated 3:0 away from home in the fifth round of make-up match in midweek. Fulham, causing this west London team to suffer three consecutive defeats in the Premier League in recent times.

As a result, Tottenham Hotspur scored 49 points with 15 wins, four draws and three losses in the 22nd round, surpassing Chelsea's 44 points, and firmly sitting in third place in the league. , there is only a two-point gap with Manchester United and Arsenal, who have the same points as the top two in the league. They both have 51 points. Among them, Manchester United defeated Arsenal with their goal difference advantage and successfully entered the league. The position of the leader.

The situation has taken a turn for the worse. Although Tottenham Hotspur performed poorly before the Christmas schedule, they relied on two rounds of make-up games, as well as their performance during the Christmas schedule and the subsequent winter break to catch up with the league leaders again.

As analyzed by many media, a two-point gap is not impossible for Tottenham Hotspur. On the contrary, relying on the excellent performance after the winter break, it is entirely possible for Tottenham Hotspur. reverse.

But there are many worries. For example, Tottenham Hotspur are currently in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, and have not yet been eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup. The four-line battle has indeed made many people doubt their multi-line battle. ability to feel worried.

At the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur still played with their main lineup and defeated Sunderland 2:0 at home, avenging their upset in the first round of the season. After the game, Keane praised him fiercely. Bundle.

The former Manchester United captain said in an interview with the media, "The favorites to win the championship this season are Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. As for Arsenal, I am not optimistic about this team because they are always in the second half. Poor performance, for example, Manchester United has taken away the leading position now, and soon they will not be able to keep second place in the league. "

"Ye Qiu's transformation of Tottenham Hotspur has been very successful. Since the second half of last season, they have been the most competitive team in the Premier League. And by this season, they can even be said to be the strongest team in the Premier League. I won’t be surprised if by the end of the season they win the first Premier League title in their history!”

But it was Keane's praise that caused Tottenham Hotspur to be eliminated by Arsenal 1:0 at the Emirates Stadium.

In this game, Ye Qiu still played with a lineup dominated by substitutes and youth team players. However, Arsenal obviously aimed to win the championship and change the embarrassing situation of being empty-handed last season. Therefore, Wenger issued a must-kill order for this game. make.

Tottenham performed well in the last game, but were defeated by Arsenal and ultimately missed the final.

But despite this, this group of young players in Tottenham Hotspur have still won praise and recognition, especially Aaron Ramsey, Eden Hazard and Eden Hazard, who have been highly valued by Ye Qiu this season. Kyle Walker, these three young players have already played the main role in the League Cup and FA Cup and performed well.

Losing to Arsenal and being eliminated from the League Cup obviously did not affect Tottenham Hotspur's outstanding performance in the Premier League. In the weekend's FA Cup match, Tottenham Hotspur continued to perform well. In order to train substitutes and youth team players, the main lineup was arranged to take turns, but they still defeated Coventry 4:1 away from home and successfully entered the next round.

Returning to the Premier League, in the 24th round, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Everton 1:0 on the field and continued to maintain its third place in the league.

Arsenal and Manchester United have also performed well recently, basically maintaining a two-point advantage over Tottenham Hotspur. Although Chelsea has overcome the shadow of losing, they are still five points behind Tottenham Hotspur. Ranked fourth, it is Liverpool who have lost several points recently and are currently two points behind Chelsea.

With the winning streak in January, Ye Qiu won the second Coach of the Month award this season, and Franck Ribery also won the Player of the Month honor, but it seems that the curse of Coach of the Month has struck again. Tottenham Hotspur once again lost 0:1 to Manchester United at home in their first game in February.

This made Tottenham Hotspur feel humiliated. The team worked very hard and took advantage. Even Manchester United played very passively throughout the game. Whether it was from the scene or the data, Tottenham Both Naham and Spurs had enough advantages, but with Tevez's goal in the 94th minute of stoppage time at the critical moment, they created a buzzer beater.

After the game, even Ferguson himself felt lucky. The old man was able to take away three points from the away game in a thrilling way. He was grinning from ear to ear, as if he had found a treasure.

But it was after this game that Tottenham Hotspur announced a transfer that made Chelsea and Manchester United depressed.