The Godfather of Football

"The most suitable candidate to replace Pirlo is Matic!"

Ye Qiu spoke out his judgment loudly in the coaching staff meeting room. He believed that no one would object to his judgment because it was the truth.

"With Matic, whether we arrange Vidal, Ramsey, Phil Jones or Pogba, we can form a partnership with him. We can play three midfielders, but we can also play two defensive midfielders. These are all perfect not a problem!"

In fact, when Ye Qiu persuaded Southampton to introduce Matic, he had an idea. He wanted to see how Matic could perform. In fact, in Southampton last season, Nick ?The reason why Powell was able to press forward and attack was precisely because there was Matic behind him.

Let me ask, if Matic is not stable and solid enough behind him, Nick Powell will have to stay behind to help organize and defend. How can he have the time and energy to press forward? Can he become the second Mathieu Le Tissier?

"Matic has some advantages of a modern defensive midfielder. He is tall and strong, has fine skills, excellent overall vision and ability to read the game, broad passing vision, delicate short passes, accurate mid-to-long passes, and especially his amazing running ability. ”

You know, in the Premier League last season, Matic's running ability has always been quite good. Although he does not seem to be fast or explosive enough, he averages more than 12 kilometers per game. , even close to 13 kilometers, which is undoubtedly a very important part of his integration into Tottenham Hotspur's tactical system.

But what satisfied Ye Qiu and Mauro Tassotti most was his strong sense of responsibility and tactical literacy.

If you carefully observe Matic's performance on the court, you will find that he is observing and moving all the time. Even if your eyes are not chasing the ball, but staring at Matic, you will It was found that he only had one thought in his mind, which was how to play the game better, how to move to support his teammates when attacking, and how to seize the best position when defending.

This is a high sense of responsibility and tactical literacy. The concentration and concentration of the game are very strong, so he is stable and reassuring.

"I even think that in some dominant, offensive-oriented games, we can completely equip double midfielders, add an attacker in front, play 4231, put Matic in a deep left position, and then He has an offensive and defensive player next to him to support him, such as Vidal, Ramsey, or even Phil Jones.”

What Ye Qiu said about 4231 is actually to arrange Messi in the center to play as an attacking midfielder, so that a winger can be added, thus forming an offensive formation of four attackers in the frontcourt, with Messi being responsible for the connection. When the ball comes out of the midfield and in the frontcourt, Lewandowski holds the ball in the frontcourt, and Ribery and another winger support him on the left and right wings.

"If Messi is pulled into the attacking midfielder, will it cause a conflict between him and Lewandowski?" Roland is a little worried about this, because in the past, Messi played as an attacking midfielder without a center forward. Directly adopt the strikerless tactic, and in the first half of the Champions League final, when Messi played as an attacking midfielder, Cavani did not have much room to play in front.

"This is a misunderstanding!" Ye Qiu faced Roland's worries with a smile. In fact, he didn't mind if someone doubted his tactics, because he believed that such doubts could sometimes better improve the team.

"Let me give you an example. Dortmund's frontcourt is the combination of Gotze and Lewandowski. Is there a problem?"

In fact, when arranging players' responsibilities and tasks on the football field, a very important consideration is interaction.

Just like Messi and Lewandowski, many people think that once Messi moves to the center, there will be a conflict with Lewandowski. Ye Qiu has always found this idea very strange, because Messi The most threatening area for the West is to get the ball in the middle of the frontcourt. The most threatening area is at the front of the penalty area, but you can also retreat to get the ball. Lewandowski should appear more in the penalty area at this time. There should be no conflict between these two players.

In the past, when we had a traditional No. 10 attacking midfielder, there were often two centers in front of the attacking midfielder. Would they conflict?

One of the important reasons why positional conflicts occur on the court is actually insufficient interaction. If you cannot interact accordingly based on the actions of your teammates, then conflicts will definitely occur.

It's as if you have seen Messi getting the ball and about to break through, but you still rush into the penalty area. Even the winger will conflict with Messi.

Messi plays in the middle and is more like an organizational offensive player. He retreats to link up, pulls to the wing to provide support, and personally dribbles and breaks through to ensure that Tottenham Hotspur can play threatening offense in the frontcourt. And it provides the team with a stable ball release point to ensure faster and threatening frontcourt passes.

This is definitely a nightmare for defensive players!

Just like in the first half of the Champions League final, when the ball was on the left, Messi went to the left, forming a numerical advantage on the left in a short period of time to create a threat. When the ball reached the right, Messi went to the right, and the ball was Pressed in the backcourt and unable to get out, Messi retreated. Once the ball reached Lewandowski's feet, Messi pushed forward.

If Lewandowski is the arrow and the two wingers are the wings, forming three routes of left, center and right to attack the opponent's goal, then Messi is the booster behind this rocket.

In Ye Qiu's previous life, the reason why the Swedish center forward and Messi were incompatible after Barcelona introduced Ibrahimovic was actually because the two players had problems in frequency and interaction. One was fast and the other was slow. In addition, both of them needed to get the ball to play a tactical role. In the case of insufficient interaction, the effect was greatly reduced.

Fans who really understand Barcelona during that period will feel that Ibrahimovic's performance was not bad, but just incompatible. In the later period, it was much better, but Barcelona did not give him more time to run-in and adjust for various reasons.

But many people think that Messi and the center forward conflict, which is unrealistic!

Lewandowski is like a very complete puzzle of the frontcourt arrow center forward. Unlike Ibrahimovic, he can play a tactical value without too much ball, and he himself is not good at too much ball. He handles the ball very cleanly and calmly.

There is another very favorable factor. Lewandowski is in the front, Messi is in the middle, and Matic is behind. All three players can hold the ball, especially Matic. The reasonable and stable passing of the ball during the transition between offense and defense is his greatest tactical value.

Coupled with Thiago Silva and Kompany behind, as well as goalkeeper Cech, at first glance, Tottenham Hotspur does not have a ball organizer like Pirlo, but in fact, as long as the distribution is good, it is equivalent to dispersing the organization and the ball, because each of them can hold the ball and pass the ball well.

This will be a nightmare for teams that want to compress Tottenham Hotspur's ball possession and control and disrupt Tottenham Hotspur's organization.

As for controlling the rhythm, this is the business of the whole team. Matic is in the position of defensive midfielder, which is more of a calm and rational midfield barrier for the team.

Tottenham Hotspur currently has a very important advantage over other teams, that is, the stability of the off-ball running and passing system, that is, Tottenham Hotspur can maintain the effective distance of the three lines and provide the ball holder with enough points to pass the ball, which are all advantages of Tottenham Hotspur.

Mourinho's Chelsea encountered a problem last season, that is, they wanted to adopt a pressing style of play in the frontcourt, which is not a problem in itself. The problem is that after the frontcourt pressed up, the back line could not press up.

Terry and Gary Cahill are not the kind of players who can press up. Once they press up, their turning and chasing back will be a big problem. David Luiz's change to playing as a defensive midfielder also has problems. The biggest problem of this player is that the timing of the rush leads to an unsatisfactory rush effect. Once the rush fails to achieve the minimum delay effect, the result is a loss of position.

Therefore, Mourinho wants Matic because he can fill the huge vacuum in the midfield caused by the front court pressing forward and the back court falling in position to the maximum extent. At the same time, he can hold the ball, stand in position, and provide stable ball delivery. Therefore, Matic is undoubtedly a very suitable candidate for Chelsea.

In theory, Mourinho wants to use Matic and David Luiz to form a double defensive midfielder, the former standing in position, and the latter providing coverage and grabbing, using these two defensive midfielders to fill the midfield vacuum created by the front court pressing forward and the back line falling in position.

But unfortunately, this player was taken by Tottenham Hotspur, which is bound to cause further turmoil in Chelsea's midfield.

The situation of Tottenham Hotspur is different from that of Chelsea. The strategy adopted by Tottenham Hotspur is that after the midfield presses forward, the back line can also follow up. Tottenham Hotspur's central defenders do not lack the ability to grab, so after the midfield presses forward, the distance between the back line and the back line is actually not large.

This can ensure that as long as Matic appears stably in front of the team's defense, another player can continue to provide support for the attack from the front court, provided that the player's attack and defense rate is high.

For another player, Stroman, Ye Qiu and Mauro Tassotti expect him to be in the future.

If you watch him play in Eindhoven, you will feel that he is very similar to Scholes. His rhythm control, accurate long passes, distribution and scheduling, one-touch passing, broad vision and shooting and scoring ability are all quite good. Moreover, during this period in Eindhoven, partnering with veteran Van Bommel, Stroman's progress in defense is also quite obvious, but it is not enough.

His main problem now is actually a problem that many Dutch controlling midfielders have, that is, the lack of ability to get rid of the ball. As a dragging midfielder, once the opponent continues to exert strong pressure and loses the appropriate point of passing around, his performance will be greatly reduced.

In the final analysis, this is also the weakness of the Dutch all-around midfielder. For example, Van Bommel lacks the ability to get rid of the ball.

Matic also lacks the ability to get rid of the ball, but he protects the ball well, and passes the ball quickly and steadily. More importantly, he is excellent in defense, strong in body, and strong in strength confrontation. Even in the face of the opponent's pressing, he can pass the ball.

Stroman is very good at controlling rhythm and long and short passes, a bit like Carrick, but physical confrontation and defense are weak.

But Ye Qiu has always believed that this player has a very strong plasticity. If he is allowed to play as an offensive midfielder, after a few years of development, he is likely to become a Sneijder with better defensive ability and stronger impact, but the ability of midfield organization will gradually degenerate, because now no one will put organization in the frontcourt.

If you let him stay behind, you can further improve his strength confrontation and defensive awareness. With his physical fitness, this is not difficult. As long as he is well sculpted, and Tottenham Hotspur has Pirlo in the team, he has also been trained before. With a midfielder like Yaya Toure, Stroman is expected to become a more comprehensive but also better controlling midfielder than Van Bommel.

But this is definitely not something that can be achieved now, especially defense, which requires a period of accumulation and improvement. Therefore, from the current point of view, Stroman is not suitable for playing the midfielder position. If he is asked to play, he will be a central midfielder at best, especially He is a left-sided central midfielder, similar to Ramsey's position last season.

Of course, if you insist on playing Stroman in the midfield, it is not impossible. You have to equip him with a lineup in the midfield, such as providing him with suitable ball points around him so that he can find them anytime and anywhere. A stable route to the ball, coupled with a midfielder with excellent defensive ability.

Originally, Ye Qiu was not in a hurry to bring in Stroman, but considering that Manchester United and Chelsea were also paying attention to him, and Matic basically couldn't escape Tottenham Hotspur's five-finger mountain, Ye Qiu decided to bring in the Dutch midfielder. The introduction of the players into the field can further impact the midfield adjustment plans of Manchester United and Chelsea.

This can be regarded as a kind of arms race between league opponents!

In fact, the day before Tottenham Hotspur's training camp, Ferguson, who represented Manchester United, really came to visit.

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"I thought you were holding the baby at home!"

Ye Qiu spent two or three days in a row discussing the team's tactical issues with the coaching staff in the new season, especially the use of new players, such as using Matic, what to do when playing 4231, what to do when playing 433, Or how to play when Stroman is used, and how the team will play if Lewandowski or Messi is absent.

These are very complex and cumbersome things that require the coaching staff to slowly study and analyze, weigh the pros and cons, then practice and summarize them on the training ground, and finally present them on the court.

"If you think I still can't let go..." Ferguson curled his lips with an expression of "I'm sorry to disappoint you", "...Actually, it's mainly because they all think Moyes should be given a transition period."

Without this reason, he would probably let them all go.

"Oh, poor Moyes!" Ye Qiu shook his head and smiled bitterly, but quickly put on a smile and asked Ferguson to sit down.

"Sir, why do you have time to come to my place today?"

Ferguson smiled and said, "I'm going to have a meeting with the Football Association. I'll talk to you about two things by the way, one official and one private."

Ye Qiu didn't say anything because he knew that Ferguson was a talker and he would keep talking.

Sure enough, soon, seeing Ye Qiu being silent, Ferguson couldn't help it. Who asked him to take the initiative to send it to his door?

"On official business, I just want to ask whether Phil Jones and Pogba are for sale?"

Ye Qiu laughed after hearing this, "If it were you, old man, do you think this would be a problem?"

Ferguson was speechless. In fact, he also knew that it was almost impossible.

Although Phil Jones and Pogba are good, they are still very young and relatively immature. The progress in the past two years has been very obvious, but the problem is that it is basically impossible for Tottenham Hotspur to sell them easily. They are only in their early twenties, so they are very malleable. With a little refinement, they are the hope for the future. Who is willing to sell them?

From a player's perspective, although Matic and Stroman are here this season, Pirlo is old and Sandro is gone. Relatively speaking, the team's competitive pressure is great, but in fact they are making progress now. The momentum is so obvious, and he is from Tottenham Hotspur. He has been here for so many years, and it is considered as his own youth training. How can he be willing to leave?

Of course, if Manchester United is willing to offer the temptation of high salary and core main position, then there is hope, but this is impossible.

From the perspective of technical and tactical style, Pogba is not very suitable for Manchester United. On the contrary, Phil Jones is more suitable for Manchester United. However, even if Tottenham Hotspur is willing to sell this local player, it is estimated that it will severely rip off Manchester United. A handful.

Thinking of this, Ferguson sighed. In terms of future reserves, Tottenham Hotspur has indeed done a good job.

Ye Qiu's business management is really shrewd. He bought shares in Southampton at a low price back then. Although outsiders don't know it, as an insider, Ferguson knows very well that Ye Qiu basically has the final say in Southampton now, and this The team's current market value is more than ten times what it was back then, and it is the youth training base of Tottenham Hotspur.

Let’s talk about Matic, I’m so jealous of that guy Mourinho!

"Aren't you guys interested in Fellaini recently?" Ye Qiu asked Ferguson with a smile.

Fellaini was Moyes’ favorite player when he was at Everton. After Moyes took over at Manchester United, one of the two players he wanted to take away was Fellaini, and the other was Leighton Barnes, who could take over. Evra's class.

Left-back and midfielder are the weaknesses of several Premier League teams today. Manchester United and Chelsea are both having headaches. Liverpool has acquired Ali Sissoko, a 22-year-old who cost the black club Lyon a whole life. The left back introduced with 15 million euros will definitely not be any worse in terms of strength.

What Chelsea wants is Luke Shaw, but Tottenham Hotspur cannot let go of their left back. They would rather send Marcelo to Real Madrid than let go of Luke Shaw. The player himself It is unlikely that he will ask to leave the team.

At least, no matter from which angle, Tottenham Hotspur is more attractive than Chelsea.

Ferguson smiled bitterly when he heard about Fellaini. He was not optimistic about the player's prospects in Manchester United, because what he could get in Everton, he could not get in Manchester United, because Manchester United is Manchester United, and Everton is only Everton.

"There is no business to talk about, so let's talk about private matters!" Ferguson sighed. Ye Qiu was not easy to talk to, especially if you wanted to take advantage of him, it was almost impossible.

"Tell me, how much did you, a miser, sell Cavani for?"