The Godfather of Football

May 11, 2008, 16:42

There were about ten minutes left before the end of the last Premier League game of this season, but Ye Qiu received a message that he didn't want to receive. Manchester United scored again.

At this moment, the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton was held at White Hart Lane. The score was 4:0. Tottenham Hotspur was unstoppable, because all Tottenham Hotspur players knew that as long as they beat Bolton, they would have a chance to win the championship, so they tried their best.

But even so, they still had to look at another schedule and the result of another game to know.

Manchester United played away against Wigan, and the latter didn't want to lose at home, but less than 20 minutes into the game, Cristiano Ronaldo knocked on the goal, and then Wigan and Manchester United continued to fight fiercely. All fans who supported Tottenham Hotspur hoped that Wigan could equalize the score.

For Tottenham, who had a sufficient advantage in goal difference, as long as Wigan equalized the score and kept the tie until the end, the championship of this season would belong to Tottenham. However, with Giggs' goal in the 80th minute, all hopes were gone, because no one dared to expect Wigan to knock on Manchester United's goal in the last ten minutes.

In other words, even if Tottenham wins more than Bolton now, it can't change the result.

In the last round, Manchester United reversed West Ham United 4:1, and Tottenham beat Reading 1:0 away. Both sides persisted to the end, and no one wanted to relax until the last moment, and the suspense of the Premier League championship was maintained until the end. Now, this suspense has lost its suspense, and the answer has surfaced.

Although this answer is somewhat bitter for Tottenham.

Seeing Ye Qiu lowering his head and walking back to the coaching booth, Mauro Tassotti and Roland Shepas both felt the same way. After all, they had fought side by side and worked together in the past year. They finally managed to hold on until now. The championship was within their reach, but they just missed it. This feeling was very uncomfortable.

"Don't be like this, let's come back next season!" Roland patted Ye Qiu on the shoulder and comforted him.

Mauro Tassotti also nodded and said, "Yes, and we still have the Champions League!"

"Now is not the time to be discouraged, don't let the players see it!"

The assistants were all persuading him. Ye Qiu really felt bad. This season, Tottenham Hotspur had an excellent record of 27 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses in the Premier League, but in the end they lost to Manchester United, which had 28 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses, by two points and finally missed the championship. This really made Ye Qiu very depressed and unwilling.

In terms of the number of goals, Tottenham Hotspur completely beats Manchester United. This season, Ferguson insisted on using the trident combination of Berbatov, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tevez, with Berbatov holding the ball with his back and Cristiano Ronaldo diagonally inserting the two ribs. Although this activated Cristiano Ronaldo's offense, Manchester United's overall offense was not very good.

Manchester United scored only 78 goals in 38 Premier League rounds this season, and Cristiano Ronaldo alone scored 31 goals, while Tottenham Hotspur's total Premier League goals this season reached 92 goals, more than Manchester United.

But Ye Qiu also admitted that Manchester United's defense was indeed better. They lost 22 goals, while Tottenham Hotspur lost 29 goals. The number of goals lost was not only more than Manchester United, but also more than Chelsea, which lost 26 goals, and Liverpool, which lost 28 goals, ranking fourth in the Premier League.

After Tottenham Hotspur let Van Nistelrooy go this season, many people thought that Tottenham Hotspur's offense would be greatly affected. After all, a large part of the team's score last season depended on Van Nistelrooy's goals. However, this season, Ye Qiu adjusted the frontcourt offense and let the trident adopt a free running offensive method.

Ye Qiu's adjustment and change have been praised by countless professionals after his outstanding performance this season. It is called a major feature of Tottenham Hotspur's offense, because these three players almost have no fixed positions, either retreating or pulling to the side, making passes and assisting teammates, running crosswise, and frequently changing positions, which brings great trouble to the defensive players.

Tottenham Hotspur's trident offensive combination is called the most difficult offensive combination to defend in the European arena this year. It is almost the nightmare of all defenders, because they have no clear division of labor, no fixed running route, and more move according to the situation on the field and the needs of the ball route. This is really difficult to defend.

What is even more troubling is that if it is just running like this, it would be fine. More importantly, these three players have very outstanding personal abilities. With the support of Fabregas behind them, they can not only attack the opponent's weaknesses and loopholes at will, but also suddenly move to a small area, run in a small area, and pass and penetrate delicately, which makes all defensive players feel terrified.

Ye Qiu relied on this sharp trident offensive combination, and after the team sold Van Nistelrooy, he adjusted and reorganized the team's tactical system, and defeated Ferguson and won the title of the official Premier League Coach of the Year. This is also the third Premier League Coach of the Year in his career.

Franck Ribery also beat Cristiano Ronaldo's 31 goals this season with 34 goals, becoming the top scorer of the Premier League this season. The second place is Liverpool's Torres and Arsenal's Adebayor, both of whom scored 24 goals.

The fourth place in the scorer list is Van Persie with 21 goals, followed by Blackburn's Santa Cruz with 19 goals, and then Messi with 17 goals. Tottenham Hotspur's trident contributed 72 goals to the team, which ranks fifth in the total number of goals scored by Premier League teams, even more than Liverpool's goals, and only two goals less than Arsenal.

Ribery not only scored 34 goals, but also made excellent assists, which made him successfully suppress Cristiano Ronaldo and become the official best player of the Premier League this season. He is the most dazzling star in the Premier League this season. Some people even think that if Tottenham Hotspur can win the Champions League, Ribery has a good chance to compete for the throne of World Footballer of the Year and European Footballer of the Year.

Van Persie's number of goals is not much, but he has one data that is the best in the Premier League, that is, his shooting accuracy, which is as high as an astonishing 67.6%. Ribery's accuracy is 62.4%, ranking second, and the third is Chelsea's Rooney, as high as 61.3%, and Cristiano Ronaldo ranks fourth.

But there is nothing worth talking about this data, the reason is very simple, the shooting accuracy may not be a reflection of a shooter's ability, because you should also consider the quality of the scoring opportunities created by your teammates passing the ball to you, so this data can only be regarded as a reference and has no value.

On the contrary, in terms of assists, Fabregas, Messi and Van Persie ranked in the top three of the assists list, Berbatov of Manchester United ranked fourth, and Rooney of Chelsea ranked fifth.

Tottenham Hotspur has excellent results in a series of important data lists, but it is relatively poor in crossing, which is mainly related to Tottenham Hotspur's more wing-cutting style of play, so the cross king is Bentley of Blackburn, and Tottenham Hotspur did not even enter the top ten.

In the various best awards officially announced by the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur successfully won the two major awards of the best coach and the best player, and five players were shortlisted for the annual best team.

The goalkeeper is David James, the back line is Vargas, Vidic, Ferdinand and Alves, the midfield is Ribery, Fabregas, Gareth Barry and Messi, and the forwards are Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo.

David James was shortlisted mainly because of his outstanding performance in saving shots. As the main goalkeeper of Portsmouth, he kept a record of 16 games without conceding a goal, making him the best goalkeeper in the Premier League this season.

There are many candidates for the left and right full-backs, but whether it is Sagna and Clichy of Arsenal or Evra of Manchester United, they are obviously not as good as the two full-backs of Tottenham Hotspur. Vargas and Alves can do well whether they are advancing to participate in the attack or retreating to participate in the defense.

The only more competitive one is Lescott of Everton. This left-back has performed quite well in Everton this season, but unfortunately, in the competition with Vargas, he was limited by Everton's performance and ultimately failed to be shortlisted.

Central defenders have always been the weak point of Tottenham Hotspur. This season, Hangeland's performance is as stable as ever, but compared with Vidic, Ferdinand and Terry, it is still somewhat inferior, and Thiago Silva is even more so.

Manchester United has lost so few goals this season. Vidic and Ferdinand are definitely worthy of a place in the best team of the year, so their nominations are well deserved.

There is not much controversy in the midfield. Ribery and Messi are on the left and right sides, that's for sure. Looking at the entire Premier League, whether it's Bentley or other players, they can't compete with Ribery and Messi in this position. Fabregas will definitely occupy a place in the middle of the midfield. Gareth Barry has also performed very well this season and has been targeted by Liverpool's Benitez.

The competition on the front line is fierce. There is no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo occupies a position, but the other candidate is a matter of opinion. Whether it's Torres, Adebayor, or Tottenham's Van Persie, they are all very competitive, but in the end, considering the role of the team, Torres was chosen.

These awards were announced before the last round, so Ye Qiu was so unwilling to accept it, because Tottenham Hotspur, from the overall point of view, except for the poor start, performed better than Manchester United for most of the rest of the time, but still failed to win the championship.

This was not only a blow to Ye Qiu, but also to the coaching staff, the players, and even the fans.

But Ye Qiu had experienced many years of professional league training, and his disappointment was only a very short time. He quickly cheered up, took a deep breath, and then exhaled, as if to spit out all the depression in his heart.

"Don't worry, it's ours, we will get it back sooner or later!"

After saying that, he stood up and walked out of the coaching seat again, and then not long after, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

After ten months of hard work, the curtain of the Premier League finally came down. Tottenham Hotspur finally missed the league championship with a gap of two points. This also made the Tottenham Hotspur fans in the stands feel extremely regret.

But, this is professional football. You can't always win and win everything, so you must learn to lose and learn to accept failure, because only in this way can you be qualified to win!

"This season is not easy for us. I believe that all fans who have followed the team through this season will agree with what I say, because we have encountered many difficulties and challenges, but we have encountered many difficulties along the way. Come and win respect and recognition.”

At the post-match press conference, Ye Qiu faced reporters and summarized the team this season.

"I sent a text message to Ferguson immediately after the game. I must congratulate him on successfully defending the title. I believe this is a reflection of Manchester United's strength. They are indeed the best team in the Premier League. One of the strongest teams!”

Many reporters present took down every word Ye Qiu said carefully and carefully. When they heard Ye Qiu say [One], they clearly felt Ye Qiu's confidence. That is, Tottenham Hotspur already has the strength to keep pace with Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and other teams.

After two years of growth and progress, this team has completely become the top team in the Premier League. What is even more frightening is that this team is still improving.

“I never thought we had a bad season, we reached the FA Cup final, we reached the Champions League final, we finished second in the Premier League and we scored 92 league goals, and Eighty-seven league points, if this is said to be a failure, what about other teams? "

"I am proud of our team's performance this season. We have had an outstanding performance. We have played many high-quality games in a row. This is like a wonderful 100-meter race. Everyone starts from the same starting line. We set off, but in the end only one person can cross the finish line first. This is the cruelty of professional competition.”

"But we cannot judge the other runners behind as failures because they have also passed the finish line and are worthy of respect, and if Tottenham Hotspur's points this season are placed in some other seasons, they are also worthy of respect. That’s a guaranteed league championship point.”

When reporters asked Ye Qiu to comment on the players in the team, the first thing Ye Qiu praised was the team's main goalkeeper Peter Cech.

"Actually, I have known Peter for many years. I have been paying attention to him for a long time before he came to Tottenham Hotspur. I have always believed that he is a world-class goalkeeper, and our team's defense has always been a bit weak. The problem, coupled with the fact that we are an attacking team, is a big test for any goalkeeper, and I think Peter did it perfectly.”

"Next step we will further adjust the team's midfield and backcourt, and adjust the team's defense. I think the reason why we failed to win the championship this season has something to do with our defense. I also think we can improve our defense. do better.”

"There is no doubt that Brad Hangland is the backbone of the team's defense. He performed very steadily. He did almost everything that any defensive player can do, which is to stay in front of the goal stably. He He is a very reassuring central defender, and Thiago Silva and Kompany are still very young. I always believe that with the accumulation of experience and more and more training, their performance will be better. Getting better and better."

"In the midfield, Cesc Fabregas did perform at a world-class level, but we should not ignore players such as Mascherano, Beckham, Modric, Yaya Toure, and Lucas. The contribution made by the team, especially Mascherano, he is a strong barrier in the midfield and backcourt of our team, no one can deny this.”

"I believe that after training and training in the Premier League this season, the team's players will reach a higher level in terms of strength and experience. Tottenham Hotspur next season will be even stronger than now. I believe that Tottenham Hotspur will launch the strongest attack on the Premier League title next season.”

All the reporters at the scene felt Ye Qiu's strong confidence. Tottenham Hotspur's performance in the past two seasons has indeed been rising steadily, but this season's outstanding performance has made many players in the team feel confident. Being targeted by outside teams, when reporters asked Tottenham Hotspur if they would let go of the team's core players, Ye Qiu refused.

"Our goal next season is to hit the league championship. We will not consider letting go of any star in the team, because every player in the team is an important part of the team and is indispensable. member!"

When reporters asked about the Champions League final held in Moscow, the Russian capital, ten days later, Ye Qiu took the initiative to provoke.

"I sent a text message to Ferguson. I congratulated him on winning the championship. I thought their defense of the title was excellent, but I told him that the first game in Moscow will be an extraordinary experience. It was the first in our history at Tottenham Hotspur. Participating in the Champions League final for the first time is also the first Champions League final in the careers of many players on our team.”

"Not winning the league title is indeed disappointing to many of us; losing to Manchester United twice in a row this season is indeed frustrating for us, but it does not mean that we will definitely lose this most important final!"

"Just now, at White Hart Lane, after the game, our fans were singing the team anthem and fan songs, and shouting the names of the players. Even now, more than half an hour after the game, they have not left, and are still in the stands, continuing to support and encourage the team."

"I want to say that this battle in ten days is not only to defeat Manchester United and wipe out the shame of two consecutive defeats this season; it is not just for ourselves, to win a Champions League title in our career; it is also for the group of fans outside who have always supported us!"

"I believe that all Tottenham Hotspurs are eager to win a Champions League title, because this is our honor!"