The Godfather of Football

Many fans gathered outside the barbed wire fence of the training ground, and the crowds of people crowded around the training ground.

The players of Tottenham Hotspur's first team were divided into five different training grounds to train with fifty children from all over the UK. It was said to be training, but in fact it was more about playing some football. type of games.

Tottenham Hotspur has a very clear arrangement for the talent day training sessions. All training programs have only one purpose, which is to comprehensively examine all aspects of the young player's qualities, including their passing and controlling belts. Including their sense of the ball, including their physical fitness, including their reactions without the ball, etc.

To be honest, it is really difficult to complete an accurate analysis of a young player in three days. Even if Tottenham Hotspur can use instruments and advanced equipment, it will be difficult to achieve 100% of the results. If it's one hundredth accurate, there will inevitably be some omissions, but Tottenham Hotspur's attitude is to try to do the best it can.

The training mainly revolves around the new training methods Ye Qiu got from the coach development system when he was at Ajax. However, in order to obtain different data, the training will also have some differences in details. Basically, they are Some training moves.

Each group will be assigned multiple coaches, and the coaches will emphasize the key points of training before training. For example, the morning training session is centered around passing and receiving. The purpose is to observe the players' running, judgment of passing routes, Pay attention to the movement of defensive players, the technical details of passing and receiving, etc.

The training began with a demonstration by the Tottenham Hotspur first team players. This group of players, who were already familiar with the training content, used an almost dazzling fast pass and receive combination to drive the team forward. It enhanced the atmosphere of the scene and won applause and screams from countless fans on the sidelines.

During the entire training process, all players' running, passing and receiving were completed within one kick. As long as anyone made a mistake, he immediately ran to grab the ball. Especially later, after the groups formed a circle, they The monkey game, but different from other teams' monkey games, Tottenham Hotspur's monkey game requires everyone to move back and forth quickly on both ends of the court while playing the monkey game. This is obviously harmful to the players. There are higher requirements for collaborative operations and technical skills.

It is this kind of training program that makes everyone fascinated and full of praise.

Another obvious feature is that Tottenham Hotspur encourages all players to use their creativity on the pitch, especially in the last fifteen minutes of the training session. They even allow players to do some while passing and receiving the ball. Improvise movements, but with time and technical details constraints.

In addition to allowing players to display their strengths, there is another aspect of training that is the interaction between stars and young players.

Tottenham Hotspur arranges first-team players to train with young players. In addition to relaxing the training intensity of the first-team players and helping the players recover, it also aims to stimulate the young players' desire for performance. At the same time, they also hope that the stars will show their enthusiasm for the young players. Players receive some professional guidance to increase communication between the two parties.

Judging from Ajax's past experience, this kind of communication and interaction between young players and first-team stars can not only improve the progress of young players, but also enhance the players' loyalty and sense of belonging to the team, because everyone They all have the mentality of worshiping stars.

The afternoon training session is a continuation of the morning. It also focuses on passing and receiving and technical details, but it is more of a small field training and competition method, and the coaching staff will also inspect each player during the training process. Once a player discovers a problem, he immediately calls a stop, asks all players to remain still in their original positions, and then explains the error.

The first day of training was basically able to reflect some of the technical details of the young players, especially their handling of technology, as well as their ability to learn and improve their own shortcomings. Based on these situations, the coaching staff also initially grasped some specific details of the players. Information, especially with the assistance of on-site video and surveillance analysis, the general situation of the players has been basically understood.

The second day of training began to emphasize the ability to work together. After all, some players are awesome when singled out, but lack teamwork. Once they are put into the team, they will be completely confused and don't know how to play. .

The training on the second morning was still carried out in the form of teams, but including warm-up and group confrontation, all were completed with the ball. The test was the players' offensive performance in the group confrontation after yesterday's training and familiarity. And defense, performance with and without the ball.

The difference is that this time, the venue is relatively large, and the coaching staff will not call a timeout. They will just watch and inspect with a cold eye, testing the players' overall activities during the game, as well as their cooperation with teammates, such as maintaining distance and supporting each other. Timing and so on.

There is also a training game project called the wall game. Everyone is required to touch the ball with one foot, and the players take turns to be the wall to further observe and understand the players' technical conditions and actual combat abilities.

On the afternoon of the next day, which was the last training session, it was still a multi-person group confrontation in a larger venue, but there was an additional requirement, that is, from the moment the players of the two teams got the ball, all offenses It must be completed within fifteen seconds, otherwise the coach will blow the whistle and the ball will change hands.

This is an extension of the actual combat of hitting the wall game. The main consideration is the player's choice at the moment of transition between offense and defense.

As Ye Qiu said before, modern football tactics have actually developed to a certain height and have encountered bottlenecks, whether it is Barcelona's passing and controlling system, Manchester United's passing and cutting system, or Tottenham Hotspur's passing and controlling system. Composite systems have actually reached a critical point.

So, if you want to continue to make breakthroughs, maintaining speed is an essential link.

But as Ye Qiu said, this kind of speed is not the blind pursuit of personal speed, not the speed of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, but the overall speed, the speed of the team.

This speed is most obviously reflected in the transition between offense and defense. If it takes ten seconds for the opponent to switch from offense to defense, but it only takes eight seconds for you to switch from defense to offense, then congratulations, you have a two-second time difference to fight, which is almost It represents a goal.

Therefore, Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur's youth training camp also emphasize one point, that is, the transition between offense and defense. This requires players to have relevant qualities, because many players have excellent personal skills, but once the team switches between offense and defense, He became a complete idiot, completely lost, forgot what he should do, and became separated from the team as a whole.

Is such a player useful to a team, no matter how good or outstanding his skills are? Totally useless!

Of course, awareness can be cultivated. After accumulating a certain amount of rich experience, awareness will also improve. Therefore, when Ye Qiu planned to evaluate the weight of players, he considered all aspects, and the transition between offense and defense was only a part of it.

It can be said that after the previous two days of familiarization and training, the players' various technical and tactical abilities have been almost fully explored, and the players have basically understood Tottenham Hotspur's requirements. Eight, on the third day, the team began real actual combat competition.

Before Ye Qiu took over Tottenham Hotspur, the highest glory of this North London team was associated with Bill Nicholson.

Since the latter became a youth training player of Tottenham Hotspur in 1936, in the following sixty-eight years, he has grown from a child who helped shine the shoes of first-team players to bringing incomparable glory to this team. The head coach later became the club’s chairman. Even now, he is still the honorary chairman of Tottenham Hotspur.

In order to commemorate the honorary chairman who once brought brilliant honors to Tottenham Hotspur, Tottenham Hotspur named the home stadium of the youth team at Theobald Training Base the Bill Nicholson Stadium. .

At this moment, a fierce red-white battle is going on at Bill Nicholson Stadium.

The two teams participating in the game are composed of players from the Talent Day selection event. They wear red and white jerseys respectively. The jerseys also have jersey numbers. On the front of the jerseys are still the Tottenham Hotspur team logo, the Adidas logo, and The logo of Qatar Airways, the team's chief sponsor, is just like the official match jersey.

The only difference is that there is no player's name on the back of the jersey, only the number.

The stands were packed with people. Because this was just a competition for the Talent Day selection event, there were no tickets charged, but fans were allowed to come to the venue.

On the playing field, because of the young players, the game is very open. From time to time, there will be some scenes that make the fans on the sidelines excited. It may be a flash of inspiration from a certain young player, or it may be From an imaginative pass.

Just like the number 8 in the red jersey, he once used his body to suppress the opponent's ball carrier. After turning his back to the opponent's goal to intercept the ball, he quickly dribbled the ball back and forth with his left and right feet. After passing the player who was counterattacking, he made a through ball with his left foot. Penetrated the white team's defense.

The No. 9 forward of the red team failed to keep up, which directly resulted in a beautiful one-on-one through ball that was blocked by the opponent's last player, because according to the rules, the last player automatically becomes the goalkeeper.

Although it failed to score a goal, the pass from the No. 8 player was still very impressive.

If you carefully observe the entire game, it is not difficult to find that the No. 8 player is quite good in physical strength, holds the ball very steadily, and passes the ball very characteristically. In the report of the Tottenham Hotspur coaching staff, this The England midfielder named Nick Powell received high ratings in the previous two days of training sessions.

He comes from Crewe Club in England's fourth tier League Two. Even in League Two, this team's strength is not very obvious and may even be in danger of being relegated. Nick Powell received training at Crewe. After several years of training, he performed well and attracted the attention of Tottenham Hotspur scouts. He was recommended to the team and was able to participate in the talent day selection activities.

This player is taller than his peers, not small, but has excellent skills. The key is that he has excellent left and right foot abilities. It is self-evident how important this is to a player.

The most impressive thing about this player is his handling of the ball. In the past two days of training, the coaching staff also noticed that no matter what kind of ball he faces, he can handle it well. And through his own sorting, he can turn the ball into a threatening or purposeful pass, which is very rare.

Just when everyone was still immersed in Nick Powell's imaginative through ball, the white team also launched a counterattack. The defender passed the ball directly to the midfield and handed it to the white team's No. 7 player, but I saw player No. 7 stop the ball and turn around to get rid of it. In one go, he directly passed an opponent's midfield defensive player.

The whole process was smooth and the technical movements were well connected. Then he started quickly and dribbled the ball very quickly. Soon he passed the center line and entered the opponent's half, facing the defender directly.

The Red Team's defense was also fast, but the No. 7 player faced the No. 4 left back of the Red Team on the right, and made a skillful dunk and cut inside. Later, facing the No. 5 player who was helping the opponent, he made another sudden stop and change of direction. In the blink of an eye, he passed two defenders of the opponent in a row. This beautiful continuous dribbling won cheers from the audience.

But after he passed, he made a wrong judgment, which was to pass the ball.

Originally, he should have rushed forward with the ball, but he chose to pass it to the forward, but the latter passed it back, missing the best opportunity. However, the No. 7 player made a beautiful sudden stop at the front of the penalty area and shot with his left foot. Although because of his young age and lack of strength, the shot was soft, not only did he not hit the power, but the angle was also ridiculously crooked, but the whole action was still very eye-catching.

As if dissatisfied with the performance just now, the white team quickly came back. This time, the No. 7 switched to the left side. He took the ball and was double-teamed by four defensive players. He cut inside at a 45-degree angle and used his own skillful ball control to pass four players in a row. He then passed the last defensive player in the penalty area, but the final shot was not good and the ball was saved by the goalkeeper.

Two consecutive beautiful performances won the No. 7 player a full house of applause. Many people in the stands screamed, thinking that the player's performance was really great and outstanding.

His name is Patrick Roberts. He was born in London and is twelve years old this year. His advantages are excellent footwork and solid basic skills. He is quite outstanding in stopping and handling the ball among his peers. Because he is left-footed, many people in the stands shouted Messi II. If there is a disadvantage, it is that the last shot is obviously lacking and his body is relatively thin.

After a period of performance, both sides gradually played at the same level.

The best player of the white team is the No.7. His personal ability is obviously much higher than other players of the same age. He is also very fast and has a good sense of the ball. He is a very rare player with delicate skills in England, so he often plays a scene of dribbling past multiple opposing players in the game.

The most eye-catching moment of the whole game was that he dribbled past five players from the right and calmly shot the ball into the goal in the penalty area. He also had many wonderful performances of dribbling with his feet and forcing a bloody path after being double-teamed on the wing, which amazed all the fans in the audience, and many people shouted that he was a genius.

But it was the red team that won in the end, because the No.8 of the red team organized the midfield offense and defense very well in this game. Nick Powell showed his very good midfield organization, passing and technical skills in the game, and led the red team to defeat Patrick Roberts' white team.

After the game, the whole stadium burst into extremely warm applause and cheers. Although it was only a game for teenagers, there were many wonderful scenes, especially the young people had many outstanding performances, which made people full of expectations for their future.

After this game, another game was played, and it was still the red team and the white team. This time, Dan Crowley from Birmingham, although he also played in the midfield, was completely defeated by Nick Powell in terms of technology and body, but considering the difference of two years, Dan Crowley had many creative attempts in the game, and his excellent footwork was very impressive.

If you want to use a more vivid metaphor, Nick Powell is a bit like Pirlo, and Dan Crowley is like David Silva. Of course, this is just a metaphor. The two young players can't catch up with these two stars now, and they are still so young, just with a little potential.

Another noteworthy midfielder is Ryan Ledson. This 12-year-old player is very motivated, has solid skills, and is very comprehensive in offense and defense. He is a bit like an English midfielder like Gerrard or Lampard.

Two consecutive games made all the fans present very excited, especially the performance of this group of young players. Although they will make many mistakes that the first team or the adult team will not make, you can easily see their potential and talent from them, and you can easily feel the hope for the future of the team.

Who says that England lacks talented people with delicate skills? Who says that English players lack creativity?

Just like Ye Qiu often hears people say that China lacks football talents, these are all nonsense. How many people did Ajax have in the area around Amsterdam? It was able to cultivate so many historical superstars. Is it possible that China is so big and England is so big that no genius emerges?

The so-called genius is actually not how high his talent is, but whether there is soil and environment for cultivating genius around him, and whether he accepts professional guidance and cultivation.

Seeing the performance of this group of young players, all Tottenham fans present are full of hope for the future, and I believe that quite a few people have even made up their minds to watch not only the first-team games, but also the youth team games in the future.

Because watching a young player gradually step up to the first team, towards success, and even become a star player, the sense of achievement and satisfaction, as well as the feeling of participating in creating history, is irreplaceable.