The Godfather of Football

Tottenham Hotspur is not doing well recently, but Chelsea is obviously not doing much better.

Their performance in the Christmas schedule was not very ideal. After entering January, they first lost 0:3 to Manchester United, who was in great form. After that, although they defeated Stoke City and Middlesbrough successively, they soon lost 0:2 to Liverpool at Anfield.

Scolari's team obviously did not have an effective way to suppress the opponent when they encountered strong opponents twice in a row. They were defeated by the opponent in both games, which made Chelsea fans very dissatisfied. Even after that, they were tied 0:0 by Hull City at home, widening the points gap with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, and were booed by Chelsea fans.

They put up slogans demanding Scolari's dismissal in the stands of Stamford Bridge, and even gave overwhelming boos as soon as Scolari showed his head to vent their dissatisfaction with Scolari.

In fact, as early as before the season, many people, including Ye Qiu, were not optimistic about Scolari's future in Chelsea. The reason was simple. He was equivalent to another Mourinho. Both in personality and coaching style, they were very similar. So on the one hand, he could not bring the beautiful football that Mourinho could not bring to Chelsea. On the other hand, he would definitely clash with the management in character like Mourinho.

After Scolari came to Stamford Bridge, he suppressed Drogba. As a result, the Ivorian wanted to leave. There was also news that he wanted to leave Manchester City, but was rejected by Chelsea. Pini Zahavi wanted to introduce Carroll to replace Drogba.

But what really decided Scolari's dismissal was his failure to win against strong teams. He lost to Arsenal, lost to Liverpool twice, and drew and lost to Manchester United. Scolari's results in the competition with strong teams were indeed unsatisfactory. Although Chelsea followed Liverpool from the start of the league, they were overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, which made Abramovich very dissatisfied.

However, Ye Qiu is very clear about one thing. The reason why Scolari encountered difficulties in Chelsea, and even Ye Qiu felt that it might make Scolari stay away from professional teams in the four major European leagues in the future, is that he is not adapted to the club coaching style of the four major European leagues.

Coaching the national team and coaching the club are two completely different environments. Although coaching the national team has difficulties in selecting players, the pace is slower, because only in major competitions, there is enough time for you to slowly select players, slowly prepare the team's tactics, and even slowly adjust them. And everyone recognizes that at the tactical level, the national team is far behind the club.

But coaching a club is completely different, because it is too fast, so fast that if there are serious problems with the tactics you formulated at the beginning of the season, you may not even have enough time to adjust it, and you can only play one game after another.

So Ye Qiu said that the pre-season training of each season is very, very important, and it almost affects the team's entire season.

After leading Portugal to the European Cup, Scolari immediately took over as Chelsea's head coach. During the whole process, he didn't even have much time to think about what tactics he would play at Chelsea, so the beautiful football he shouted at the beginning of the season was more like a slogan to please the fans.

Ferguson was surprised by Scolari's dismissal, and Ye Qiu expressed regret, but they didn't say what they really thought, after all, it had little to do with them, and Chelsea soon announced that Hiddink would take over the team.

Speaking of which, this is also Ye Qiu's old enemy. Sometimes Ye Qiu really didn't think it would be so coincidental. At the beginning of the season, he met Marseille, and the head coach Gretz was the head coach of PSV Eindhoven at the time, and now he met Hiddink, who was Gretz's successor during the PSV Eindhoven period.

"What a season full of nostalgia!" Ye Qiu said with a smile when he met Hiddink before the game.

But in the game, Tottenham Hotspur, who was eager to win, showed no mercy.

Hiddink had just arrived and did not adjust the tactics left by Scolari. Instead, he continued to use a single defensive midfielder, with Cudicini as the goalkeeper, Ashley Cole, Terry, Alex and Ferreira as the back line, Mikel as the single defensive midfielder, Arshavin, Ballack and Lampard as the midfielders, and Drogba and Anelka as the two forwards.

The biggest change was that Drogba reappeared in the starting lineup, but the Ivorian, who had been out of action for a long time, was closely watched by Thiago Silva in this game and had almost no performance. Thiago Silva also completely broke his past shadow of Drogba and the center forward by blocking Drogba in this game.

Not only that, Thiago Silva also took advantage of a free kick opportunity in the first half and headed the free kick taken by David Silva into Chelsea's goal, 1:0!

After the two sides changed sides in the second half, Tottenham's offensive continued. After Ribery was injured, Gareth Bale returned to the starting lineup again. He attacked Ferreira again and again on the left. The Portuguese right back was broken through by Gareth Bale again and again and was completely helpless.

In the end, Messi and Van Persie scored successively, and Tottenham beat Chelsea 3:0 away and successfully got three points!

When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the entire Stamford Bridge stadium was filled with deafening boos, making it impossible to tell who the boos were directed at, Ye Qiu? Or Abramovich and Pini Zahavi sitting on the rostrum?

Perhaps, from the perspective of power struggle, they won, as they successfully forced Ye Qiu out of Stamford Bridge, but from the perspective of the team's interests, they lost, lost completely, and lost miserably.

Every time Abramovich saw Ye Qiu and his Tottenham Hotspur, he felt as if his face had been slapped. Every time he heard news about the team, he was slapped. Even though more than two years had passed, he still felt that the slap was very painful.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, he knew it very well in his heart and regretted the choice he made at the time.

Sometimes the club owner's selection of a head coach is like a blind date.

There is always a rule in blind dating, that is, when you miss a person you thought was OK at the time for various reasons, then what awaits you is likely to be a long-term waste of time. The reason is very simple. You can't help but compare your current blind date with the one you missed before.

Everyone has a more or less competitive heart, especially people like Abramovich who have such a strong possessiveness, and the competitive heart is stronger than ordinary people, so he always has a feeling in his heart, that is, to find a coach who is better than Ye Qiu, not only to overwhelm Ye Qiu in terms of performance, but also to completely win Ye Qiu in terms of the team's technical and tactical style.

This is the requirement for Mourinho, Grant, and Scolari. It is precisely this kind of character that has led him to go further and further on the road of selecting coaches, and to go further and further away.

Perhaps there is a sentence that can well describe Abramovich's current mood: what you miss is always the best!

But it is easy to say, but it is very difficult to see through this fog.

When he saw that Hiddink, who he had invited from the Russian Football Association with all his might and who was humiliated by his old enemy Ye Qiu with three goals in his first game, took the initiative to walk to the visiting team coaching area after the game and stood outside to talk with Ye Qiu, he kept asking himself in his heart, "Will he be the most suitable head coach for the team?"

"How does it feel to have two jobs?"

When Abramovich asked himself in the chairman's stand, the two people he compared in his mind were chatting in the visiting team coaching area. The relationship between them should be traced back to when Arshavin was still playing for Tottenham Hotspur.

In the early years, the relationship between Hiddink and Ye Qiu was the same as that between PSV and Ajax, but when he came to the Premier League, Ye Qiu was able to accept Peter de Visser from PSV, and was able to forget the grudges with Gretz, so he naturally would not bear grudges against Hiddink, and there was no grudge between him and Hiddink.

"That feeling..." Hiddink put on a complex expression of helplessness and enjoyment, which can be said to be painful and happy, ".. You won't understand!" After saying that, he couldn't help laughing.

Ye Qiu shrugged and laughed: "Then you just continue to enjoy it!"

"This is not an easy job, Gus!" As an old friend, Peter De Visser has a closer relationship with Hiddink and speaks more directly.

"I understand, thank you Peter!" Hiddink nodded to his old friend in gratitude, "But sometimes, we are just like players, and there will always be times when we can't help ourselves!"

It is reported that one of the important reasons why Hiddink took over Chelsea is that half of his salary was paid by Abramovich to the Russian Football Association, so when Abramovich came forward to persuade the Football Association, it was difficult for Hiddink to refuse the invitation of the Russian tycoon, and they had a good relationship.

"Then I can only wish you good luck!" Ye Qiu smiled and stretched out his hand.

After shaking hands, the two returned to their own locker rooms.

Ye Qiu never doubted Hiddink's ability. As the saying goes in the football circle, almost every head coach from the Netherlands is a tactical master with very deep tactical knowledge. Because the Netherlands has always attached great importance to research in this area, the tactical quality of Dutch coaches is very high, and Ye Qiu himself is also regarded as a Dutch coach.

Hiddink is undoubtedly the best among Dutch coaches, so there is absolutely no problem with his ability, but the current Chelsea is obviously worse than in the past. Let's talk about the goalkeeper position. Neither Cudicini nor Hilario is a trustworthy goalkeeper, which is also Chelsea's biggest weakness.

In the big environment, the rise of Tottenham Hotspur has made the difficulties encountered by Chelsea obviously greater than in the past. At least Hiddink suffered a disastrous defeat in the first game. Although everyone knows that this has nothing to do with Hiddink, it is more or less a black start. No one is sure about the future.

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea 3:0 away and finally caught up with all the Premier League teams in the number of games. In the 25 rounds of the Premier League, they achieved an impressive record of 20 wins, 5 draws and remained unbeaten, which really amazed the entire Premier League and even the whole of Europe.

With 65 points, Tottenham Hotspur successfully expanded the points gap between themselves and Manchester United to 6 points again, and returned to the safety line. Ye Qiu was relieved about this, but he could not feel the slightest relaxation for the problems that the team had encountered in the past period of time.

So, after the team played Chelsea, at noon the next day, Ye Qiu summoned the core coaching staff of the first team to his office for a meeting. The main content of the meeting was to adjust the team's skills and tactics again.

With the ball and without the ball, this is a very contradictory opposite.

Ye Qiu once thought about a question himself, what is the biggest difference between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United during the Triple Crown period?

Many people say that the two teams are actually very similar, because they both highly advocate one-touch ball and pay attention to fast and sharp attacks. In addition, Manchester United had the Black Wind Twins in the frontcourt, while Tottenham Hotspur now has a trident in the frontcourt, and they all emphasize switching and pulling, and then let the midfielder behind them be responsible for passing.

Ye Qiu also once thought, has his team found the style that suits him best?

But as Ribery got injured again after recovering from his injury, Gareth Bale was still making more strong attacks on the left, while the small Messi and David Silva adapted well, which made Ye Qiu gradually realize a problem.

Many people say that Messi scored more goals this season because Ribery was injured, but in fact they only saw the superficial factors.

Yes, Ribery was injured, and the team needed someone to fill the final touch, and Messi happened to fill this position, so he used to get the ball to attract the attention of the defense and then pass the ball to his teammates, but now he actively runs to the gap and lets his teammates pass the ball for him. This change has led to more goals for Messi.

And this change is simply said to be a change from having the ball to not having the ball, from having the ball before to running now.

David Silva is another type, that is, he is very smart in combining between having the ball and not having the ball, that is, between controlling the ball and running, and it seems that he can always achieve a balance between these two aspects on the court.

Too much off-ball play is not a good thing, just like Cristiano Ronaldo, who used to be better with the ball than without it, but now he almost completely prefers to play without the ball, so his ball-driving breakthroughs often lose their threat. On the one hand, this is because his body has become stronger, but on the other hand, it is also because he has been playing without the ball for a long time, which has caused his ability with the ball to degenerate.

A player's technical ability will keep changing. It does not mean that it will always be fixed there after you reach a certain level. It will change. If you do not advance, you will regress. If you do not insist on training in this aspect for a long time and do not use it frequently on the court, you will become unfamiliar with it, degenerate, and gradually forget it.

And having too much ball is not necessarily a good thing, just like Ribery, although he also started to run without the ball last season, when he got the ball, he still liked to force a breakthrough. Although this maintained his individual combat ability, the probability of injury increased.

With or without the ball, it is not only the coach's control of the team, but also the players' use of their own abilities in both aspects. It is difficult to achieve a balance, just like a player cannot keep breaking through after getting the ball like Robben, and at the same time, keep digging into the gaps to score goals like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Of course, in theory, it is very simple, that is, to make the best choice according to the situation on the field, break through when you need to break through, and dig into the gaps when you need to score goals, that's perfect.

But this is only in theory. No matter whether it was Pele in the past, Maradona later, or Ronaldo, Zidane and others later, no one could reach this perfect state. Otherwise, how could Maradona and Ronaldo be injured so badly?

Looking at the history of football, almost all stars who rely too much on the ability to have the ball are often injured, Maradona, Ronaldo, Robben, and even if Gareth Bale does not change his playing style, he will be involved in injuries sooner or later if he keeps taking the ball and forcing on the left. This has nothing to do with whether you are physically strong.

Because, when the opponent is forced to use aggression to stop you, you have become a relative of injury.

"I also suggest that Ribery and Messi should reduce personal breakthroughs appropriately, but in this way, we will become a big trouble when we encounter dense defense!" Mauro Tassotti also feels that the team style needs to be adjusted, but once the scale is not well grasped, it is likely to cause problems for the team.

"Now almost all teams know that we are good at attacking, and they will play defensive counterattacks when they meet us. Without enough personal breakthroughs to destroy the opponent's defense, we will have no way to break the dense defense."

"And this change may lead to another problem. Van Persie's running and counter-grabbing strength are not very strong. If we can't use the ball to suppress the opponent's defense in the front court and create a strong threat, then our front court control will decrease, and the possibility of being hit behind by the opponent will be greater."

Tottenham Hotspur's high-position defense is still based on suppressing the opponent's defense in the front court. Once the front court cannot suppress the opponent's defense, then the opponent will have more opportunities to hit the gap left by your defense line moving forward.

Ye Qiu listened to the analysis of the coaching staff in silence, but his brows were tightly locked, because he knew very well that this was another problem that Tottenham Hotspur had to overcome in order to further liberate the team's offensive power and reduce injuries to front-field attackers.

But adjusting the team's tactics is like a 100-meter sprint. For track and field athletes, if you want to run in eleven seconds, it is not very difficult as long as you persist in training, but if you want to run from eleven seconds to ten seconds, the difficulty will increase by many times compared to before, and if you want to run from ten seconds to nine seconds, it is almost a threshold that countless track and field athletes will find difficult to cross in their lifetime.

This is the situation that Tottenham Hotspur is facing now. With the formation of the tactical framework and the finalization of the overall technical and tactical style, the difficulties and challenges encountered by the team in each subsequent adjustment will be greater.

But it is not possible not to change, because in professional football, especially in top leagues such as the Premier League, once your set of tactics is familiar to others, then congratulations, you will soon be restrained by others, and the situation will be more severe than if you actively seek change!