The Godfather of Football

Sometimes Ye Qiu feels that as a head coach, he cannot be too cautious in deploying troops on the football field, but he cannot be too crazy and adventurous. In the final analysis, he feels that there is a kind of mentality that is worth learning from.

I still remember that in the past, in my hometown, a small village more than 60 kilometers away from Xiamen, during the urbanization process, many middle-aged people in the village, who were in their prime and careers, aged between 30 and 50, liked to gamble because they suddenly got a huge sum of money during the demolition process of urbanization.

From hundreds of thousands to millions, some even got tens of millions. For the farmers in the small village at that time, it was an unimaginable amount of money. Although they lost their land, they had money, so they began to enjoy their lives legitimately instead of going to work in nearby factories.

For a millionaire, lending money to familiar businessmen to collect interest is more cost-effective than going to work in a factory every month, so when they are not working, gambling has become a part of their daily life.

But when it comes to gambling, some people gamble very smartly, while others lose everything. Why?

There is a group of people like this in Ye Qiu's hometown. Among this group of people, there are very few who are very professional gamblers who make a living by gambling, while most of the remaining dozens of people are amateur gamblers.

Because people in the surrounding area know that there is such a group of gamblers nearby, almost every day there are gamblers from outside who come to gamble, and without exception, they are all professional gamblers who go up to compete face to face, while other amateur gamblers watch the situation and place bets.

Of course, there are also powerful gamblers from outside, so amateur gamblers have to look at the situation, who is in a good situation and who is in a bad situation, you have to know how to distinguish, and you also have to know a word, stop when you see the good!

Later, someone summed up a sentence, that is, in the village, all those who gambled and lost their fortunes were actually very stupid gamblers. They only knew how to act recklessly. When they won, they bet desperately, wanting to win more. In the end, they not only lost all the money they won, but also lost their own capital. When they lost, they were angry, which led to even more miserably.

The smart people who gambled really stopped at a glance every time, regardless of winning or losing. When I won money, I stopped when I saw the good, and when I lost money, I stopped and tried again next time. Usually, such people can win more and lose less in the end, because they bet more and more shrewdly.

The gambler's psychology is that you can't be angry, can't be impatient, and can't blindly follow the dealer. You have to have your own judgment and rhythm.

Why does Ye Qiu think that this gambler's psychology is worth learning from?

That's because he knows very well that no team can always stay in the best form. You can't play every game of the whole season with one rhythm. He even analyzed later that Bielsa's Chile could not go further in the World Cup because they kept the same style and rhythm for many consecutive games.

You know, professional football nowadays is very targeted. When you play well in the last game, the opponent in the next game will make targeted arrangements based on the style you show and the weaknesses you expose.

Playing against Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur played like crazy. The team's state reached a climax, but this climax state could not last for a long time, so Ye Qiu had to find a way to suppress this state, not only for long-term combat, but also to make some changes.

In the game against Manchester City at White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur's starting lineup was still the same as the starting lineup against Manchester United, but the style reflected in the team's start was completely different from the last away game at Old Trafford.

In that game, Tottenham Hotspur attacked fiercely and bombarded the opponent right from the start, but this game was not like that. Tottenham Hotspur started the game slowly and steadily, while Manchester City, contrary to the past steady style of play, attacked fiercely after the start.

In this game, Manchester City's starting lineup was a 4231 tactic, with Joe Hart as the goalkeeper, Clichy, Lescott, Hangeland and Maicon as the back line, Yaya Toure and De Rossi as the double defensive midfielders, Modric, Aguero and Nasri as the front line, and Balotelli as the lone striker, and this was Nasri's first game for Manchester City.

Less than 20 seconds after the start, Nasri got the ball on the right and broke through Marcelo to make a cross. Aguero took a low shot from the left edge of the penalty area, but it was slightly off the left post and failed to hit the goal, but it was undoubtedly a first-mover advantage.

Then Manchester City started another round of attack, and launched a round of fierce attacks on Tottenham Hotspur in the third, seventh and ninth minutes, and had five shooting opportunities in the first ten minutes. Tottenham Hotspur only used a counterattack to create a threat, but failed to score.

The Tottenham Hotspur players on the field were just like the fans in the stands of White Hart Lane. They all maintained patience, because everyone believed that no team could maintain long-term suppression and advantage at Tottenham Hotspur's home ground, or even in front of Tottenham Hotspur. Could Manchester City do it?

Ye Qiu always maintained patience on the sidelines, and adjusted the team's tactics with appropriate gestures and shouts. He seemed to have no idea or intention to change the status quo of the game, especially when he realized that Manchester City wanted to play Pirlo's single defensive midfielder, he couldn't help laughing.

"Am I that stupid?" Although Ye Qiu asked this question to Mauro Tassotti, he actually wanted to ask Mancini.

Everyone in the world knows that a single defensive midfielder is not suitable for the current tactical play, but Ye Qiu dares to play a single defensive midfielder. Isn't he afraid of breaking this taboo? Isn't he afraid that others will hit his weak spot of a single defensive midfielder?

In fact, the entire middle of Tottenham Hotspur can be regarded as a whole.

Cavani is in front, but he actively defends. Ramsey and Vidal are behind Cavani. They use running and covering to connect the area between Cavani and Pirlo. Pirlo stands behind the two of them, and Thiago Silva and Kompany are behind and around Pirlo.

At first glance, the four lines are very clear, but if you pay attention on the field, it is not difficult to find that the four lines of Tottenham Hotspur from the front to the back are definitely not more than 40 meters, and sometimes they will be compressed to less than 30 meters.

What does this mean? This means that it is difficult to tell whether it is a single defensive midfielder, a double defensive midfielder, or even a triple defensive midfielder!

Theoretically, it is a single defensive midfielder, with only Pirlo, but because the distance is short, any one of Vidal and Ramsey who appears around Pirlo can be regarded as a double defensive midfielder. Any one of Thiago Silva and Kompany who moves forward can be regarded as a hitter next to Pirlo, also a double defensive midfielder. Even if one central midfielder returns and one of the double central defenders goes up, it is a triple defensive midfielder, and the wave-type defense line can ensure that after one of the double central defenders goes up, the full-backs on his side will actively drag back.

What is integration? This is integration!

So, when Manchester City opened the game, it seemed to have taken advantage of it, frequently launching attacks, and threatening Tottenham's goal again and again, but in fact, they had almost no real threatening shooting opportunities, and most of them were completed by passing from the side or long shots from the middle.

Manchester City is under a lot of pressure now. They played in the Champions League qualifiers in the middle of the week. Although they successfully advanced, they also consumed a lot of physical energy. Now they are visiting White Hart Lane Stadium. They will attack immediately after the opening. Ye Qiu also took the attitude of testing the formation in this game. In addition, the strategy formulated before the game will let you attack immediately after the opening.

"There are always some people who think others are fools at certain times!" Mauro Tassotti said with a smile, "Mancini was a little bit not calm in this game. After the 5-1 home win over Udinese, he seemed a little arrogant and thought his team was enough to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona."

Mancini's original words were, "Although I don't think we have surpassed Real Madrid, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur at this moment, it can be said that we are on the same level as these top giants, or very close to these teams."

You can understand this sentence as his ambition, and you can also see that he wants to boost the morale of the team through such words, but what you should see more is that no matter from which angle you look at it, from the perspective of the Premier League and the Champions League, you are not qualified to stand with the top giants, or the gap is not ordinary.

Of course, it must be admitted that Manchester City's current lineup is indeed extremely strong, whether it is the depth of the bench or the main lineup, they are all very good. Even if they insist on fighting on two fronts, they can form an effective rotation. But if they want to challenge the giants, they can compete with Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and other giants with declining strength, but with Tottenham?

"They still have a long way to go!" Ye Qiu smiled at his assistant's words.

Tottenham's current style is very interesting, very resilient, and very clingy.

Manchester City attacked after the opening, and Tottenham chose to avoid its edge, but you Manchester City team can't attack for a long time, especially when my defense can effectively curb your attack, how long can your attack last?

You know, controlling the rhythm of the game and taking advantage of the situation are two different things. The latter is easy. If you have the courage to push all the players to attack, then your advantage will definitely be obvious, but it can only be for a short time. However, controlling the rhythm of the game is a very complex system engineering. Even many times, in a game, you can't tell who is controlling the rhythm, or who is affecting the change of the rhythm.

Strictly speaking, the rhythm cannot be completely controlled by either party, because you only have eleven people, and the other side also has eleven people. Even if you can control the rhythm of your eleven people, how can you control the other side's eleven people?

Not to mention that for most teams, controlling the rhythm of their own eleven people is a big problem!

So, the so-called control of rhythm is better to say that it is to guide the rhythm, to guide the rhythm of the game into the rhythm that is more suitable for your own performance, or to play in the rhythm that you have arranged in advance. This is like a tug-of-war game, you pull to your side, and I pull to my side.

But the problem is that football is not a tug-of-war game, so if you pull hard, I will just let go and all of you will fall down. At this time, if I go over and kill you, you will be finished.

So Tottenham Hotspur's tactics in this game were very interesting. After the opening, seeing that Manchester City wanted to attack, Ye Qiu arranged the players to let Manchester City attack, while he himself started to defend in an orderly manner and was not in a hurry to attack, which directly led to the passiveness after the opening, but did not give Manchester City too many good scoring opportunities.

Mancini is not an idiot either. He gradually realized that Tottenham Hotspur was difficult to deal with, and also realized that his targeted attack would not be effective. He also knew that the team could not maintain this fast-paced offensive for a long time, so he If you want to be stable, slow down the rhythm appropriately, or even retract the overall forward pressing formation.

But at this time Tottenham Hotspur took the initiative to get involved, not letting you slow down or shrinking.

The first fifteen minutes were fifteen minutes of Manchester City's crazy attack, but from fifteen to thirty minutes, it completely turned into a scuffle between the two sides. The game seemed very chaotic, but this chaos was very important to Tottenham. For Tottenham, this is a good thing, but for Manchester City, it may not be so.

Because Ye Qiu did this deliberately to prevent Manchester City from having any chance to breathe.

Mancini is in trouble now, and he even has the urge to yell. Just now I was playing against each other, but you didn't dare. Now that I'm not attacking, you shamelessly get involved. What on earth do you want to do? Can you still have some moral integrity? Do you look like a strong team? Do you have the demeanor of a strong team?

Thirty minutes later, Tottenham's advantage became obvious. Especially when he realized that Manchester City was gradually unable to keep up, Ye Qiu signaled the team to continue investing in the attack.

I didn't try my best just now, I was saving my energy to fight you, just to consume you. Now that I see that you are almost exhausted, of course I want to start to reverse the situation. Could I just let this opportunity pass me by? ?

In the 32nd minute, an interesting phenomenon clearly showed the reversal of the situation between the two sides. That is Alves rushed to the frontcourt to participate in the attack. Modric, who was returning to defense, pulled down his former teammate and was shown by the referee. A yellow card.

Even Andy Gray and Richard Keith, who commented on this game, began to realize that something was wrong with Manchester City.

"I jumped too hard after the start, and now I'm a little out of breath!" Richard Keith said with a chuckle.

If Alves' forward thrust just now was a test of the water temperature, then after testing the real situation of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur will soon follow you for real.

Marcelo made a forward move and got the ball from Pirlo. He dribbled the ball forward into the Manchester City half. He first did a one-two with Ramsey and then went to the frontcourt to find the ball. Messi, who switched to the left, pushed straight to the left side of the penalty area.

Messi and Maicon, if you look at it purely from a height perspective, Messi is at a disadvantage, but Messi's upper body strength is not bad. He can gain a foothold in the Premier League. This aspect of his ability cannot be too bad, otherwise , being knocked down by someone, it is impossible to gain a foothold in the mainstream professional leagues in Europe.

In fact, quite a few fans have ignored Messi's upper body strength in the past life, so much so that they have the illusion that he can only be based in La Liga and find it difficult to gain a foothold in other European leagues.

Although Ye Qiu's previous life as Messi in La Liga did have the bonus effect of Barcelona's tactical system, his super personal strength cannot be underestimated. Coupled with his humble learning attitude, he can eventually become the number one in world football. people.

Maicon undoubtedly made the same mistake as many fans in Ye Qiu's previous life. He mistakenly believed that a short player like Messi would be able to contain him by using his physical fitness and strength to squeeze him, but he failed. What surprised him was that Messi made a sharp turn due to his physical confrontation.

This made Maicon a little unexpected, and he even lost his balance for a while. He wanted to catch up, but he saw that Messi had turned around and rushed forward quickly, and Messi activated his ability at the moment he turned around. , almost no one in today's football can match it, because he is smaller, more flexible and faster to start.

After getting rid of Maicon, Messi caught up with Marcelo's through ball in the blink of an eye, but he did not rely on the ball. Instead, he directly kicked the ball low and passed it to the left side of the small penalty area.

While Messi got rid of Maicon, Cavani also rushed up from behind in the Manchester City penalty area, taking advantage of the advantage of the backcourt, using his body to block Hangeland behind him, and blocked Messi's incoming ball from the left. , sent into the lower left corner of the goal guarded by Joe Hart, almost grazing the bottom of the net against the left post, 1:0!

The entire White Hart Lane stadium was completely ignited with passion. All the fans, regardless of whether they were men, women, old or young, rushed out of their seats and greeted Cavani with open arms as he rushed out of the stadium with an overwhelming cheer.

"I just said, you pounced so fiercely at the beginning and you can't take it back now. Tottenham Hotspur is too good at playing rhythm games. On the surface, it seems that Manchester City has the advantage, but in fact, it is stepping in. Tottenham's trap." Richard Keith shook his head and sighed. Mancini's ability to adapt and observe the situation was too weak in this game.

Andy Gray also had a sigh on his face, "Tottenham Hotspur originally had the ability to compete with Manchester City, but Ye Qiu's game this time was completely different from the last game he played against Manchester United. The last game was a head-on confrontation. But this time he won’t confront you head-on. I will consume you first and then slowly deal with you. Look at the result..."

"Mancini must react as soon as possible, Tottenham Hotspur will definitely chase and fight!" Richard Keith predicted.

Andy Gray laughed, "This is Tottenham Hotspur's style, and it is also Ye Qiu's style!"

Sure enough, after scoring the first goal, Tottenham Hotspur immediately sounded the horn of a round of bombardment. In the following minutes, they kept attacking Manchester City's goal. In the 38th, 39th and 40th minutes, they entered Manchester City's penalty area three times in a row and got two chances to shoot and score. Manchester City's penalty area was suddenly in a state of panic.

But just when Yaya Toure and De Rossi returned to the front of the penalty area, in the 41st minute, the frontcourt changed positions again. Messi took the ball in the middle and turned to get rid of it and passed it diagonally to the left. Ribery used his speed to get rid of Maicon and passed it to the back point from the left. Cavani overpowered Clichy at the right point and headed the ball into Manchester City's goal again, 2:0!

So far, the game has no suspense!