The Godfather of Football

Crossing the English Channel, landing on the European continent, crossing most of the Belgian territory, and arriving in the eastern city of Liege, Tottenham Hotspur was greeted by a heavy rain.

As a Belgian football that once created outstanding glory in European football, it has gradually declined over the years. If it were not for the rise of Kompany, Hazard, Fellaini and other young generations in recent years, Belgian football would probably have been forgotten by the majority of fans.

And this can be seen from the Du Frassen Stadium of Standard Liege, which is known as the top Belgian League. I don’t know if it’s because of the heavy rain, or the original drainage system and various hardware facilities of this stadium are not very good. The Du Frassen Stadium in this game looks as bad as a swamp.

The muddy and slippery grass is obviously very unfavorable to Tottenham Hotspur. Even though Ye Qiu has already considered the team’s two-line battle in this game, and also considered the rainy days and away factors, so there have been some adjustments in the lineup and tactics, but the players still made frequent mistakes in the game, and even exposed problems in defense several times.

Fortunately, playing in front of the people of Jiangdong, his motherland, Kompany performed very conscientiously, and his partnership with Thiago Silva also ensured that Tottenham Hotspur did not concede a goal. As long as they defended, Tottenham Hotspur's attack would be effective sooner or later.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, David Silva dribbled past the opponent on the left and passed the ball to the back post. Cavani, who was unguarded, volleyed with his right foot directly on the right side of the goal post, and Tottenham Hotspur was the first to break the goal of Standard Liege of Belgium, 1:0!

But after the goal, the game was still very difficult. Tottenham Hotspur still calmly controlled the situation of the game, slowly looking for the feeling of ensuring the success rate of passing and receiving on rainy days and slippery grass, and then through this slow and effective ball control, slowly led the situation to their advantage.

But the situation took a turn in the second half. Standard Liege began to press forward and pressed hard. It was clear that they wanted to take advantage of the start of the second half to catch Tottenham off guard, especially considering that Tottenham was already treading on thin ice in the first half.

Away, away in the Champions League, every opponent is not easy to deal with!

If it weren't for Thiago Silva's thrilling flying interception in front of the goal in the 49th minute, Tottenham would have been penetrated by the goal long ago, but immediately afterwards, Fabregas was injured after a physical contact with the opponent.

"David!" Ye Qiu was soaked like a drowned chicken, but he pulled Beckham who was about to play on the sidelines, "Their physical condition is better than ours now, so we can't go head-to-head with them now. Retreat first, let them press forward to attack, we counterattack, and consume their physical strength first!"

Beckham nodded and agreed, and ran onto the court quickly.

Tottenham Hotspur has been playing two matches a week since the first round of the Premier League in mid-August. In September, they had to travel for two weeks to play national team matches. The players' physical condition was indeed much worse than that of Standard Liege.

As a former star, Standard Liege's Romanian head coach Laszlo Boloni naturally knew Tottenham Hotspur's weaknesses very well, especially since the North London team had just fought a fierce battle with Manchester United in London and would face Chelsea immediately after returning to London at the weekend. If he didn't know how to seize the opportunity to sneak attack in this situation, then he would have been in vain.

Therefore, from the beginning, Standard Liege's goal was not to draw, but to win at home, because they wanted to qualify from the group, so they took advantage of Tottenham Hotspur's two-front battle and the physical problems of long-term double matches to swallow the opponent in one breath.

Moreover, Laszlo Boloni was also very smart. He played a rush attack after the opening, but the effect was not very obvious, because at this time Tottenham Hotspur's physical fitness was still very good, and they had an absolute advantage in technology and strength, so he chose to arrange the rush attack at the beginning of the second half. At this time, after the consumption in the first half, Tottenham Hotspur's spirit was almost worn out.

It can be said that this heavy rain also helped Laszlo Boloni a lot!

Thinking of this, Ye Qiu looked in front of the home team's coaching bench. Laszlo Boloni, who was in his early fifties and holding an umbrella and wearing a pair of frameless glasses, was not a simple person!

Over the years, Ye Qiu has also experienced a lot, and it is also very clear that European football is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. The real great people may not all be familiar to people, and they may not even have the opportunity to appear in the top five leagues. Therefore, many times, second- and third-rate leagues may create a surprise for you at any time. Whether it is the players here or the head coach here, there is no lack of such strength.

Laszlo Boloni may be such a person.

However, Ye Qiu was also clear-headed. After some chaos at the beginning of the second half, he quickly made adjustments to stabilize the team's position. Especially under his targeted arrangements, the team as a whole retreated appropriately and maintained a compact formation, allowing Standard Liege to press forward.

In order to suppress Tottenham Hotspur, Standard Liege had to resort to crazy fighting, and the physical energy consumption must be greater than Tottenham Hotspur, especially in such heavy rain, the consumption is many times more than usual, so Standard Liege's tactics are also difficult to sustain, and the situation was quickly regained by Tottenham Hotspur.

After about 20 minutes of crazy attacking in the second half, Standard Liege was basically out of control. Tottenham Hotspur began to consciously counterattack. Beckham's long pass accurately found the substitute. Hazard, who quickly made a breakthrough pass from the left, and Cavani scored with a header in front of the goal, scoring twice, 2:0!

This was also the last goal of the game. After this, neither side could score again.

It was only when Cavani scored his second goal that Ye Qiu truly felt at ease, because he knew that he had finally obtained these three points. It was a near miss, but it fully demonstrated one thing. That is, there is no absolute overwhelming advantage on the football field.

In the words of the Chinese ancestors, the right time, right place, and right people, and any lack of one of the three may cause you to encounter Waterloo.

At the press conference after the game, Standard Liege's head coach Laszlo Boloni not only did not realize that his skills were inferior to others, but seemed to be very aggrieved by the loss of this game, thinking that the heavy rain had become his own The biggest obstacle to beating Tottenham Hotspur.

"Tottenham Hotspur is indeed a strong team. They took advantage of our two mistakes. One of them was a lack of concentration on the defensive line and missed Cavani. The other was a counterattack. They made good use of it. I think it’s a pity that we missed these two opportunities that were not opportunities and scored two goals.”

But soon, Laszlo Boloni said again, "But this is always the case when playing against strong opponents. They can perform very well even when facing very difficult and complex environments and situations. We must show our strength and keep the overall formation compact and tactically orderly, but we are very young and lack experience in this area.”

"No matter what, this game is a good learning opportunity for us. He clearly told us where the gap is between us and the strongest teams in Europe!"

Ye Qiu himself also spoke highly of Standard Liege. Tottenham Hotspur has two Belgian players. He believes that Belgian football will usher in a renaissance, especially the new generation led by Kompany. Players will have the opportunity to show their strength in European football, and Standard Liege's performance in this game proves this.

As for Laszlo Boloni, Ye Qiu also spoke highly of him, thinking that he caused a lot of trouble for himself and the team during the game, and once made him a little unable to sit still, but he was very happy that he The players finally withstood the pressure from the home team, suppressed the home team's counterattack well, and successfully scored three points.

"We often say that everything is difficult at the beginning. Three points in the first game of the Champions League group stage. I think this is of great significance to us this season. I believe it will be a very good start!"

Otherwise, why do people always say that there are unforeseen circumstances?

Just across the English Channel, there is heavy rain on that side, but it is sunny and windy on this side.

On the night after playing Standard Liege, Tottenham Hotspur returned to London from Belgium. After disbanding, the training session the next morning was cancelled, but everyone must return to the training base on time to report at noon. Prepare for this crucial game against Chelsea two days later.

And every time he meets Chelsea, Drogba, the elephant king of Ivory Coast, will inevitably appear in front of Thiago Silva. He can never forget how he played in Drogba when he first landed in the Premier League. Under the ravages of Ba, he was ridiculed and questioned by everyone outside.

Even though it has been a few years, Drogba seems to have shown signs of decline in recent years. On the contrary, Thiago Silva himself, with his strong strength and stable performance, has steadily become one of the top central defenders in the world. But he still has never forgotten the humiliation he encountered with Drogba.

Driving on the road to Theobald training base, the rare sunshine along the way failed to bring even the slightest smile to the Brazilian's face. Instead, he looked even stiffer because he was about to welcome A monster who is said to be unstoppable by anyone in the world.

Didn't someone say that? If you want to guard against Drogba, there are generally only two situations. One is that Drogba is not in good condition, and the other is that your condition is out of control. No matter which one it is, you have no way to control it.

Of course, this is purely a joke. Although Drogba is strong, he is not that strong.

After successfully passing the security check at Theobald Training Base, Thiago Silva's BMW X5 quickly parked in the parking lot of the first team training building. At this time, there were already some other teammates' cars parked in the parking lot. The cars are all BMWs.

After getting out of the car, I grabbed my handbag and went directly into the locker room of the training building.

After changing clothes, all the teammates had arrived, and a group of people gathered together in twos and threes in the locker room and talked.

"There is a notice posted outside, there will be a meeting after the lunch break!" Thiago Silva casually told his teammates.

Yaya Toure is the closest to him, and they have been teammates for many years when they were in Ajax, so he obviously guessed what Thiago Silva was thinking now and patted Thiago Silva. shoulder, "It's okay!"

Although the morning training session was suspended, the lunch gathering and lunch break would continue, so the players all arrived at Theobald Training Base on time. After having lunch together, they each returned to their dormitories to rest and have a good sleep. As soon as I woke up, it was already afternoon.

Ye Qiu's meetings usually don't take too long, because he doesn't like long meetings because he thinks players can't remember them, so he likes to hold shorter meetings, usually about ten to half an hour, and the time is usually Arrange it before the training session. After the meeting, go directly to the training ground to practice, practice and increase your impression.

The same is true today.

When teammates entered the meeting room one after another, Ye Qiu and the coaching staff had already arrived and were ready. They drew the 442 set that Ancelotti implemented at Chelsea this season on the tactical board. Midfield diamond position.

The so-called tactical preparation meeting is actually dedicated to some intelligence about the next opponent and some targeted analysis, such as the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, our strengths and weaknesses, etc., as well as what to pay attention to during the game. What might happen, that sort of thing.

In Ye Qiu's view, a very important reason why Ancelotti implemented the 442 diamond position is that Chelsea lacks a powerful attacker who can break the balance in strategic depth, because this season's Arshavin, who plays the midfielder position in the diamond midfield, is mainly focused on taking the ball and controlling and delivering the ball in a narrow range. Attacking is not his strong point.

"Chelsea is very strong. Even now, this team is still one of the strongest teams in European football today, but its strength lies in its comprehensiveness, very, very comprehensive, and its tactical execution is very high. , his running is very active, his coverage and running are among the best in today’s European football!”

In internal meetings, Ye Qiu never hides his praise and praise for his opponents, because only by clearly analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of both the enemy and ourselves can you ask the players to defeat the opponent. Being blind and careless will only make yourself miserable in the end. Suffer.

"In the past, under Mourinho, Chelsea gave people the impression that they were not sharp enough. In fact, an important reason was the lack of depth in the midfield. Ancelotti had two solutions. One was Drogba's retreat. The body takes the ball, and the other one uses the full-back to advance with the ball, which are all old tricks!”

Everything remains the same. Many things at the football tactical level are actually the same thing. It's just that different cruxes are solved in different ways, which may lead to different effects, that's all.

In other words, to put it bluntly, there are only two ways to advance in depth in football. The forwards retreat, the midfield advances, and the full-backs step in. Is there anything else? Basically no more, unless you want to try the free agent tactics of Beckenbauer's period!

"Although the routine is old, it is very effective. Chelsea's results so far this season have been very good. The diamond midfielder has activated Ashavin, and also activated Drogba, and successfully activated the entire Chelsea midfielder, especially Ballack. , a very important player.”

As Ye Qiu called out the names above, the players sat below, each one remembering that they worked hard and were attentive.

"However, the diamond midfielder has a natural disadvantage, which is that the coverage area is not large enough. Because for a team that adopts the diamond midfielder position, the defense on the wings of the midfielder will be a weakness, so the requirements for the full backs are very high. Because they not only have to be able to connect with the frontcourt, but they also have to connect with the defense when they retreat, which is a coverage distance of 80 meters!”

Everyone who has played football knows how outrageous the requirements for players are to cover the entire sideline for eighty meters and run back and forth non-stop. It can almost be said that no one can achieve it.

"So, to play against Chelsea, we need to achieve two key points on offense and defense!"

"First, when attacking, we must pay attention to taking advantage of the weaknesses and weaknesses of their midfield wings. As soon as the full-backs get a chance, they will press forward decisively and boldly, penetrate forward to participate in the attack, and use the two wings to suppress Chelsea's wings."

"Second, on the defensive end, contain the opponent's midfielder, but more importantly, keep an eye on Drogba!"

Ye Qiu mentioned that he wanted to target Drogba, and everyone in the conference room naturally glanced at captain Thiago Silva.

Even though he and Drogba don't seem to be in the same weight class in terms of size and size, in the past few years, there have been many direct conversations between them. Thiago Silva ate a lot at first. Losing money, but recently it has gradually started to push back against Drogba.

But Drogba is in very good condition this season, and his physical fitness has not declined as rumored by the outside world. Facing such a head, almost all defenders in the world describe it as the nightmare monster of Côte d'Ivoire, and everyone can't help but feel in their hearts. Worry about Thiago Silva.

You know, almost all the central defenders in the Premier League have been ravaged by Drogba. The most tragic one is Arsenal's Senderos, who was directly ravaged by Drogba and completely lost his confidence. It can be imagined that this giant elephant How terrifying is his strength.

"Thiago, Yaya, Dmytro!" Ye Qiu called the names of Yaya Toure, Thiago Silva and Dmytro Zygrinski, "No matter what, we must Kill Drogba!"

"As long as you can freeze Drogba, you will be the first to win this game!"

From this sentence, it is not difficult to hear that Ye Qiu attaches great importance to Drogba. He even obviously regards whether he can freeze Drogba as the key to winning the game against Chelsea.

"Don't worry, boss, leave it to me!" Thiago Silva mustered up his courage, stood up, and took on this task!

At this moment, in the eyes of all the teammates in the conference room, the captain's eyes were somewhat full of the momentum of the wind whistling and the cold water...