The Godfather of Football

Ye Qiu once said that his ideal perfect football should be like this.

It has the passion of English football and the integrity of German football, but it also has the rigorous tactics of Italian football and the delicate footwork of Spanish football.

This is indeed a very demanding requirement. It may only exist in ideas or fantasies, and it is impossible to become a reality, but for Ye Qiu, this is his pursuit, and he has been walking on the road of pursuing this dream for many, many years, and he has been making various attempts for this.

Today's Tottenham Hotspur combines many advantages. For example, they play a kind of football with a strong integrity and a rigorous tactical system. At the same time, many players have very delicate footwork and the players' passion for the game is also quite good, but he still feels that these things have not been well integrated.

Of course, there is no perfection in this world, but we should do our best to pursue perfection.

This is Ye Qiu's mentality.

When he landed in the Premier League, English football was actually still far behind the European continent. It still advocated 442, still advocated fierce game rhythm, high-intensity physical strength confrontation, and even brutal fouls were everywhere. Premier League teams seriously lacked core competitiveness in the European arena.

At that time, Ye Qiu was thinking that this was simply a hell for technical players. It was impossible for players with delicate skills to appear. Even Arsenal, the most gorgeous team in the Premier League at that time, was full of famous players such as Vieira, Gilberto Silva, and Parlour. The Premier League at that time looked like a desert of technical football.

Ye Qiu clearly realized at that time that it was impossible to transform all this in a short period of time. Just like Wenger, it took several years to transform Arsenal before Arsenal ushered in an unbeaten season, but it was a pity that he failed to win the championship in the end.

Therefore, Ye Qiu made a compromise at that time. While introducing technical geniuses like Ronaldinho, he also introduced power players such as Essien, Drogba, and Rooney, plus local players such as Lampard and Terry who were already in the team, and then relied on players such as Davis, Deco, Makelele, and Cannavaro to blend them into a whole.

In the eyes of many people, the Chelsea at that time had both a sense of power and a sense of technical magnificence, as if it had found a balance between brutal violence and delicate tenderness, so the Chelsea at that time still lived in the dreams of countless Chelsea fans. Even now, they still longed for a head coach to lead such a Chelsea.

But Ye Qiu's views were obviously different from those of the fans. He felt that such a team would be difficult to maintain for a long time because they had high requirements for players, and this kind of integration was relatively simple, very rough, unsustainable, and unreplicable.

During that time at Chelsea, Ye Qiu had a new understanding of Premier League football.

In the past, he always felt that the so-called passion of the Premier League should be nurtured by the fast pace and emphasis on physical confrontation, but later when he came to Chelsea, he found that it was not, but the people here.

Ye Qiu had looked through many videos of Chelsea during the Ranieri period. He noticed a very interesting phenomenon. Behind the central defender combination of Leboeuf and Desailly, John Terry did not have many opportunities when he was young. But this young player was very interesting. He tried his best every time he played. As long as he appeared on the court, he would not stop for a second.

Even at that time, Terry, who was still young, dared to scold the main players in the team who were older than him. This was hard to imagine in any team at any time, because football has always been a field that pays attention to seniority, especially in England. In the past, England had the tradition of rookies helping veterans to clean their shoes.

Later, I saw Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, and even Beckham, who was regarded as a show-off by fans all over the world as the biggest star in England. In fact, this group of people all have a unique temperament of English players. You may occasionally see this temperament in players in other leagues, but it is rare.

England seems to be rich in this type of players. Ye Qiu even wondered if this has something to do with the climate in England? So you see, Spain and Portugal, the warmest countries in the south, are rich in technical players. The further north you go, the lower the overall technical level.

Ye Qiu has not done any special research in this area, but he clearly realizes that the passion of English football is not actually created by any tactics or the style of this national league, but by the people here.

Manchester United is a team that Ye Qiu highly respects. Ferguson's team is always full of passion. This is because Ferguson created this team and injected this passion in his heart into this team.

So, when Ye Qiu left Chelsea and thought about why he failed, he knew very well that he had to make a team an extension of his will from the beginning, and instill his own ideas, thoughts, and concepts into this team. Only in this way can he realize his wish.

If he continues to work for others and continue to coach other people's teams, he will find it difficult to last and continue his pursuit.

After acquiring Tottenham Hotspur, Ye Qiu has been observing and found a very interesting thing, that is, with the gradual continentalization of English football, especially with the commercialization of the Premier League, the unique temperament of the original English players has become increasingly rare.

Rooney is the player who best meets Ye Qiu's tactical requirements and has the most passion for English football, but unfortunately, his price is too high, so high that Tottenham Hotspur can't afford it at all. After Rooney, look at those players, such as Walcott, Ashley Young, Lennon, and even Wright Phillips, Carroll and others, they have become very fragile.

It's not that they don't have talent or strength, but they have the temperament of Rooney, Beckham and others.

Until Ye Qiu saw Phil Jones, the most impressive thing about this Blackburn youth team player was his passion. He was very young, but he had a temperament of a newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers. He was always full of fighting spirit on the court. You can beat him, you can defeat him, but he will stand up again soon.

This kind of psychological quality and spiritual temperament reminded Ye Qiu of Terry, Rooney, and Gerrard.

But Phil Jones has many disadvantages of English rookies, that is, his skills are not fine enough, so Ye Qiu decided to bring him to Tottenham Hotspur early, and arrange him to join the first team and let him train with the team, so that he can supervise and guide him anytime and anywhere.

Phil Jones' height can almost be regarded as a disabled person among the defenders in the Premier League. Compared with Drogba, Ibrahimovic and even Crouch, he is almost crushed because he is shorter than Thiago Silva. Even though he is very fast and flexible and has excellent jumping ability, the objective height difference is destined to make it difficult for him to gain a foothold in the central defender position. Moreover, he used to play in the midfield in the Blackburn youth team, so Ye Qiu arranged him in the defensive midfielder position.

Quick reaction, flexible turning, and clean footwork are Phil Jones' strengths, but he also has his own shortcomings, that is, he has not learned how to play. Once he gets on the court, he seems to be full of energy, rushing around, chasing the ball everywhere, rushing, breaking, and bumping, just like Terry and Lampard in their youth.

Ye Qiu often told him that he should learn how to slow down, because according to Phil Jones's style of a young man who is eager to learn, his playing time will only make the game faster and faster, and in the end, when he drags down his opponent, he will also drag down himself, and he can't stop at all.

But the kid understood it, but he completely forgot it when he got on the court.

This reminded Ye Qiu of Ramsey earlier. When he first came to Tottenham Hotspur, he also ran around like this, but now he has begun to learn how to slow down, how to adapt and assist his teammates, and how to help the team at the same time. This is a kind of progress, and this progress has greatly improved his performance.

When visiting Blackburn Ewood Park, Ye Qiu arranged for Phil Jones to start, partnering with Fabregas and David Silva in the midfield. As a result, this kid ran all over the field, from the backcourt to the frontcourt, from the left winger to the right back, from the right back to the left back, and then rushed to the right winger.

He worked very hard and was very diligent, and this kind of running all over the field did have a great effect on interception and steals, but the problem was that while he was disrupting the opponent, he was also disrupting Tottenham's own tactics. He was seen blocking his teammates' passing and running routes several times.

The most eye-catching time of the game was that he lost his position in the midfield. Blackburn midfielder David Dunn passed the ball to Diouf, the striker loaned to Blackburn by Manchester United. The latter was competing with Kompany in speed. As a result, Phil Jones used his own speed to overtake from the diagonal side, and took the ball away before the two of them, but he also fell out of the baseline and hit the billboard on the side of the field.

But soon, the boy jumped up from the sidelines like a cheetah, shrugged his shoulders, as if nothing had happened, leaving only his face flushed because of his best efforts, which was very impressive, and then slowly walked back to the court. The action just now seemed to be a very common thing for him.

Ye Qiu saw him like this on the sidelines and spread his hands helplessly. He loved and hated this English player.

Diouf's speed is also very fast among the forwards in the Premier League. After all, he is an African player. Manchester United was attracted by his speed back then, but Phil Jones was able to force overtake him and carry the Senegalese strongman down with his body. It was indeed surprising, but was it a bit too fierce?

"Just mentioned him, look, here he comes again, this kid always seems to have to do something before he stops!"

Mauro Tassotti also laughed. If compared with Yaya Toure, the gap between Phil Jones and him is too big, but if compared with his peers, he can be comparable to any of them. You know, he is only 18 years old, and Terry and Gerrard may not have performed as well as him when they were 18 years old.

At least, he was not at a disadvantage in the face of this group of strong and powerful adult players in Violent Ben, and he had no fear at all, which shows how excellent his physical fitness is and how strong his psychological quality is.

"He hasn't learned how to compete yet, and he hasn't realized where his talent lies or which direction he should explore his potential. He's still figuring it out!"

Of course Ye Qiu knows that this is a stage that all young players will go through. Maybe Phil Jones doesn't know what he can do now, so he works hard as soon as he comes on the field and rushes everywhere. He feels that he is doing this It is the greatest contribution to the team, but if he really matures in the future and finds his own way, then when he looks back at the present, he will realize how stupid his idea was.

But doesn’t everyone find their way out of stupidity?

Just like Ye Qiu, looking back at what he did when he was seventeen or eighteen years old, it was so stupid. But this is life, and everyone will definitely go through such a stage!

"Let him continue to rush!" Ye Qiu shook his head and said helplessly, "Let him compete in the next game, but, Mauro, the special training must continue. No matter how hard it is, he must hone his skills and tactical awareness now." Come here, otherwise it will be difficult to train in the future as the game experience accumulates.”

Phil Jones is now in a stage of exploration and formation. If he doesn't seize the time to fill in his shortcomings and deficiencies now, then when he finds his own playing habits and style in the future, he can improve them if he wants to. Difficult.

This period of time is expected to last about two years, so the next two years are very important for his growth.

"By the way, I thought of a way to go back and practice his header. Anyway, he is so energetic, so practice it to death for me!" After Ye Qiu finished speaking, he even felt funny.

The method he came up with to train heading is actually very simple, that is, hang a football from a high place like a pendulum, then use your head to top it, let the football swing back and forth like a pendulum, and then use your head to top the moving ball. Football, practice the feeling of heading the ball in the sport.

When Mauro Tassotti heard this, he was startled for a moment, and then burst out laughing. He couldn't help but give Ye Qiu a thumbs up, "This is a great trick. Those who like to be naughty and mischievous in the future will be punished if they break the rules." Let him practice like this in public!”

This is definitely the best way to punish players, but it must also be said that using this to practice headers is indeed not bad. It can even be extended to use this pendulum equipment to create a set of specialized technical intensive training equipment. for different technologies.

Ye Qiu also found it funny when he heard it. What if Phil Jones becomes a big name in the future and his header is very good, and people ask, hey, buddy, you are so good at heading the ball, how did you practice?

I wonder how he would answer?

…………

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Tottenham Hotspur played Blackburn Rovers on the field and played poorly. Although they finally defeated Blackburn Rovers 1:0 with Cavani's goal, Tottenham Hotspur did not perform throughout the game. Out of the hearty offensive of the past.

The outside media also gave both good and bad comments on Tottenham Hotspur's performance, believing that this team still has an overwhelming advantage in terms of strength, but the offense is a bit messy, and Yaya, who replaced Yaya who switched to Manchester City, Phil Jones, who started with Toure, did not show any potential to replace the Ivorian.

At the very least, Yaya Toure's skills and ability to hold the ball are very good. He relies on his explosiveness and physical fitness to dribble the ball forward, while Phil Jones is more engaged in the simplest defense. Dirty work and backbreaking work.

Ye Qiu denied the outside world's claims and said that Phil Jones performed well.

"I know there are many people who will definitely compare him to Yaya Toure. I don't deny that Yaya Toure is one of the best midfielders in football today, but what I want to say is that Yaya Toure ?Toure is almost 28 years old and Phil Jones is only 18. I don't think there is any comparison between the two."

"Also, no matter what others say, he will continue to start the next game!"

Many people interpreted Ye Qiu's words as out of anger, thinking that Ye Qiu was protecting his own shortcomings and deliberately going against all the media.

In fact, this really misunderstood Ye Qiu, because continuous appearances are very important for the growth of a young player, because they have no problem with their basic skills. The problem is that they have not yet learned how to play and find a kick that suits them. The road to the ball, so they need this kind of continuous appearances to achieve these goals.

Playing a game, interrupting for a month or two, then playing again, and then interrupting again is definitely the enemy of young players.

Sometimes Ye Qiu really appreciates the reserve team competition system of the Premier League, because it can give those substitutes and youth team players who have not been able to debut in the first team the opportunity to play consecutive games, and the competition level of the reserve team is not low, because There are many famous first-team stars who play in the reserve team due to injuries or poor condition, ensuring the reserve team's competition level.

Three days later, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Bolton Wanderers at home.

Ye Qiu really fulfilled his promise this time. Phil Jones continued to start. Tottenham Hotspur performed mediocre again. In the end, they relied on Cesc Fabregas and Eriksen who replaced David Silva. goal, defeating the visiting Bolton Wanderers 2:1. The biggest responsibility for conceding that goal was Phil Jones who lost his position.

Ye Qiu saw all this, but he emphasized again after the game that the next game would still be Phil Jones.

In the eyes of many media people and reporters, this is simply a fight. The more they criticize Phil Jones, the more Ye Qiu lets him start, and he starts consecutively, playing for the full 90 minutes.

A week later, Tottenham Hotspur played away against Sunderland. This time the score was still 2:1. Phil Jones was still a factor in the goal conceded. The main problem was the old problem. He ran all over the field and caused the opponent to counterattack. He failed to come back in time to protect the defense line, which led to the goal conceded.

But when the game was over, a reporter asked Ye Qiu about his opinion on Phil Jones' performance like a winner. Ye Qiu still smiled and said, "Next game, he will still start!"

Next game?

The reporters at the scene were stunned, because the next game was the first round of the Champions League knockout match, away to Roma!