The Godfather of Football

The venue was not big, after all, there were not many people. There were two hosts, one was Ferguson who had just retired, and the other was UEFA's chief technical director, Ivan Lupescu from Romania. He used to be the president of the Romanian Football Association and later joined UEFA. He was mainly responsible for the opening, but the professional discussion was still on Ferguson.

The topic Ferguson started discussing was the prevalence of this high-intensity oppressive style of play that has emerged in European football in the past year. He personally felt that this would become the standard tactic for top teams in the next few years.

In other words, it is difficult to get good results without oppression.

For Ferguson's remarks, the people attending the meeting basically agreed, because from the current situation, if oppression and pressing are not done well, it is basically difficult for the team to effectively control the game, especially in some strong dialogues, this situation will be more obvious.

Many famous coaches present spoke enthusiastically, especially those who have their own ideas and concepts. Their speeches are not a kind of show-off, but to show them off so that other colleagues can listen to their ideas. There may be many ideas that are not comprehensive, but the problem is that after so many colleagues discuss together, many of their speeches can often bring you stimulation.

Among the many famous coaches, two people's speeches often cause the most applause. One is Arsenal's head coach Wenger, and the other is Shakhtar Donetsk's old coach Lucescu. The former's tactical ideas and concepts have always been excellent and very advanced, but Wenger's characteristics are a bit stubborn and idealistic.

The old coach Lucescu's tactical attainments are indeed quite outstanding, and he is knowledgeable. He has coached for many years. He often makes a casual remark that can make many people feel bright and even cause some great debates. For example, he believes that the future trend of football should be to abandon the midfield.

This kind of words is indeed quite amazing and has caused huge debates at the venue, especially Wenger.

Wenger's philosophy has always been to pursue a ball-controlling midfielder, and Lucescu's idea of ​​giving up the midfield runs counter to his idea. In fact, Lucescu's idea has also been supported and recognized by many famous coaches, such as Simeone and Mourinho of Atletico Madrid, or Klopp of Dortmund.

But many people, including Guardiola, think this is unlikely, because giving up the midfield means handing over the ball possession to others. Losing the advantage of ball possession means losing the initiative of the game.

Ferguson and Heynckes are more thinking. They did not participate too much in this debate, but acted as a bystander. Ye Qiu, who had not spoken, was also listening silently.

In fact, although this kind of discussion can create conflicts of ideas and mutual stimulation to a certain extent, face-to-face debates have no way to draw a conclusion. Many times when you hear them arguing, in fact, their ideas and thoughts are not completely contrary to each other.

For example, the philosophy of Lucescu, Mourinho and others is not to completely give up ball control, but just to say that they do not pursue ball control and midfield advantage, while Guardiola and others tend to prefer ball control, but they do not want to blindly pursue ball control, because in their view, if they have ball control but cannot create threats, it means that they are not doing well enough in some aspects.

In addition, many head coaches believe that the game rhythm should be fast, the offense and defense conversion should be fast, and they should not waste too much time on ball control, but some people believe that once your rhythm is too fast, the passing and receiving errors will be high, and the possibility of being counterattacked by the opponent will be high, and they believe that ball control does not necessarily mean slowness.

These seemingly contradictory ideas, in fact, if they can wait until the end of the meeting, they can calm down and slowly recall and think, perhaps they will find that they are not arguing about the same point of view, and there are many common points between them, but the differences seem irreconcilable because of the argument.

Therefore, Ye Qiu is not prepared to participate in such arguments.

Because he felt that everyone had their own football philosophy and understanding of football, whether they controlled the ball or not, and whether the rhythm was fast or slow. Different people had different views and opinions, and the fun of football was its inclusiveness and plasticity. Everyone had the opportunity to verify their own views and ideas.

But Ye Qiu's silence was obviously not what the two hosts wanted to see. Lupescu winked at Ferguson, and the Scottish coach smiled and called out the name directly.

"Ye Qiu!" Ferguson shouted, and the scene immediately became quiet, because many people realized that Ye Qiu hadn't said a word, "I found Tottenham's style of play in the new season very interesting. Can you tell us about it?"

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Ye Qiu. Everyone, regardless of whether they had watched some of Tottenham's games in the new season, had heard media reports without exception.

Ye Qiu saw that everyone was looking at him and knew that he couldn't escape. He smiled bitterly, stood up, took the wireless microphone handed to him by the staff next to him, sorted out his thoughts, and then said: "Actually, I think Wenger and Guardiola's ideas are correct, but Lucescu's statement is also correct. I even think that the trend he mentioned is correct!"

Everyone was very interested in Ye Qiu's words. Many people didn't understand it yet, but a small number of people noticed some clues, such as Ancelotti. This ghost's tactics are very changeable, and soon It captured Ye Qiu's thoughts and intentions.

"As the football theory we are all familiar with says, football is always a contest between space and ball possession. Therefore, when the center is crowded, the attack will be launched from the side. When the side is crowded, the attack will be from the center. If Like the high-intensity pressing strategy pursued by many strong teams now, if both the wing and the center are strong, then cross-positioning and pulling are used, and the diagonal and rib areas are used.”

"We can clearly find that the defense of modern football tactics is increasingly focused on depth and width, which is reflected in the fact that our defense is becoming more and more layered, and our defense lines are becoming more and more compact, because compactness can maximize the effectiveness of defense. Consider the breadth of defense!”

After listening to it, many people could understand what Ye Qiu said.

"But there is a problem. If after your defense and pressure reach a certain level, I can't break you and I am helpless against your pressure and pressing. Then I have only two ways. The first is to wait until your physical energy is exhausted. It’s almost done. There is another one, which is, I will hide from you, and the latter one will be used by more and more people.”

"The midfield is now a battleground in tactics, but I think that with the popularization and promotion of high-pressure tactics, there will gradually be a trend, which is what Lucescu said, giving up the midfield, but this does not mean It means that I give up possession of the ball, because we know that possession of the ball does not necessarily need to be concentrated in the midfield, but can also be further retreated to the defense line. As long as I have such a central defender, as long as I don't need such a high ball possession rate, why not? "

Ye Qiu's words made many people present immediately understand. In fact, Bielsa asked Xavi Martinez to play as a central defender at Athletic Bilbao in order to improve the ball-taking and delivery in the backcourt. , this tactical lunatic is indeed very far-sighted.

"After moving to the backcourt, because you have to face high-intensity pressure in the midfield, I quickly passed through the midfield, the faster the better, and moved the ball to the frontcourt as much as possible. In the past, our tactics were thin at both ends and fat in the middle. , but I believe that once the tactic of quickly passing through the midfield is adopted, it will become a gourd shape, fat at both ends and thin in the middle.”

"How thin the midfielder should be depends on the control of your team. If you have enough control, you can have two players, or even a single player. Because you have reduced the number of midfielders, you can It can be arranged in the frontcourt or in the backcourt, and judging from future trends, increasing the ball-holding fulcrum in the front will become more and more important.”

When Ye Qiu said this, he looked at Liverpool's Benitez, "Double forwards or even three forwards with a fulcrum role will play an increasingly important role, just like Liverpool's Suarez." Sturridge."

In fact, what Ye Qiu didn't say is that the 4231 tactic he planned actually has two fulcrums in the frontcourt. Lewandowski and Messi are 4231 at first glance, but in fact they can be regarded as 424, just for the players. The difference is just the position and formation.

Ye Qiu's statement immediately received a burst of warm applause from those present, and almost everyone clapped vigorously.

If you study the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, it is actually easy to find that Tottenham Hotspur’s ball possession rate in this game is not high, just a little more than Arsenal. But the problem is that Tottenham Hotspur created more than ten times as many opportunities as Arsenal. The reason is that Tottenham Hotspur quickly passed through the midfield.

The double midfielder combination of Matic and Vidal, one is in position and the other is attacking. The two players basically focus on defensive coverage and passing the ball. They have no traditional organizer responsibilities and are more involved in reverse kicking. and sorting out, all centered around the three players Matic, Thiago Silva and Kompany who were behind.

Therefore, Mourinho said that Matic is the third central defender, which is actually true.

Ye Qiu's remarks also stimulated the thinking of many people present, such as Ferguson, who was the first to comment.

Ferguson believes that the increase in frontcourt fulcrum tactics caused by quick passing through the midfield as mentioned by Ye Qiu will not bring about a resurgence of double centers. Even if there is, it must be similar to Balotelli, Suarez, and Lewandowski. Dovsky and other such comprehensive centers have strong ability to take and play the ball, and can also pull out to the wing.

Because the frontcourt will bear certain responsibilities for receiving and making the ball, that is, it will assume some of the responsibilities of traditional organizers, it must form an orderly operating mechanism. It is impossible to have two Drogba-style centers, or black and white. A combination of wind and evil spirits.

As an extension of this, the requirements for central defenders will become higher and higher, especially passing and delivering the ball, as well as long passes.

Football is a very interesting sport because it has no so-called winning formula. It can win the game in a variety of ways. Everything in its past has been a spiraling development trend. It can accommodate countless possibilities. sex.

Although football head coaches all have their own ideas and concepts, those who can attend the UEFA Elite Head Coach Summit are basically the best in the field of head coaches. So when Ye Qiu proposed this new trend and idea, It immediately stimulated some of their thoughts and brought up a variety of ideas and possibilities. It felt like they were being taught a lesson.

For example, Ancelotti mentioned that he thought that the conditions for completely eliminating midfielders were not yet met, but he agreed with what Ye Qiu said, that is, to pass through the midfield quickly, and Real Madrid also had two very good central defenders who were very mobile in getting and passing the ball, namely Ramos and Pepe, and the personal abilities of Real Madrid's frontcourt players were also quite threatening.

In fact, in the short term, it is difficult for many teams to play double strikers or multi-striker tactics, because they must consider the problem from the existing player lineup and configuration. On the contrary, some newly reorganized teams have this possibility, because they have made great changes and are more able to keep up with the development trend and fashion of football.

Therefore, this has also caused the so-called Feng Shui to turn in the world of football.

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No one outside knew about Ye Qiu's speech at the European Elite Club Coaches Summit, and there was no press conference arranged after the meeting. Instead, the UEFA president and all the head coaches attending the meeting lined up in three rows at the venue and took a group photo as a souvenir.

A tea party was arranged at noon. Everyone went to the Lake Geneva at the UEFA headquarters to rest and enjoy the refreshments provided by UEFA. Many people were still not satisfied with the discussion just now, so they gathered in groups of three or two to discuss the topics just now.

Ye Qiu had the most people around him, including Ferguson, Lucescu, Guardiola, Wenger, Simeone, Mourinho, Benitez and others. Everyone discussed many tactical topics that may be popular in the next few years or even ten years on this beautiful Lake Geneva.

Those who can appear here are basically elites in the field of head coaches, but not all head coaches can fulfill their tactical concepts and ideas. After all, they often have to encounter many opportunities and even support from all aspects of the club to promote their own tactics. This is not easy.

Just like scoring a goal in a football match, it is really not easy, but once a goal is scored, the sense of satisfaction is incomparable to high-scoring competitive events such as basketball and volleyball.

The award ceremony in the afternoon was not open to reporters. UEFA President Platini personally presented the awards.

Ferguson had coached about 200 European games, while Wenger, Ancelotti and Ye Qiu had coached more than 100 games, so all four of them received plaques and photos from Platini.

In addition, Ye Qiu and Ferguson successively received appointment letters from Platini. Ye Qiu officially served as UEFA's chief technical advisor and head coach ambassador since 2014, while Ferguson would serve as UEFA's head coach ambassador, because the Scotsman was originally a member of the technical team.

The reason why Ye Qiu accepted these two invitations was mainly because it was comfortable and free. He could come to attend meetings occasionally, and travel to Switzerland or Monaco and other places at public expense. Every time he went to some important events, such as the Champions League final or the European Cup, he could get free tickets. How cool.

The second day of the meeting agenda was more about gatherings, but after all, they were all head coaches, and the topics discussed by many people were actually inseparable from football.

After the European Head Coach Summit, Ye Qiu returned to China and stayed there for a week before returning to London.

At present, he has handed almost all matters to Mauro Tassotti, so he himself is quite free. When he returned to London, Mauro Tassotti, who heard the news, discussed with him some views and gains of the European Head Coach Summit. Many views and opinions from other head coaches were greatly appreciated by Mauro Tassotti.

"Don't be so envious and jealous, it's you who will attend next year!" Ye Qiu encouraged Mauro Tassotti with a smile.

In fact, if it was not impossible, Ye Qiu would have considered letting Mauro Tassotti go instead of him.

After two weeks of national team match days, the Premier League rekindled the war. Tottenham Hotspur ushered in the fourth round and faced Norwich at home. As a result, Tottenham Hotspur was not affected by the large number of international players. On the contrary, because many international players returned to the team early, they were in good shape and won Norwich 7:0 at home.

Interestingly, seven goals were scored by seven players, including two assists by Messi and one assist by Ribery. Pirlo was arranged by Ye Qiu to start in this game and also scored a direct free kick.

Three days later, Ye Qiu rotated the team's lineup to face the first opponent in the Champions League group stage, Leverkusen led by Hyypiä. In the end, with Ribery's two shots and one pass, Messi's one pass and one shot, plus Lewandowski's goal, they defeated Leverkusen 4:0 and won the first victory in the group stage.

But the most eye-catching team in the first round of the Champions League group was not Ye Qiu's Tottenham Hotspur, but Ancelotti's Real Madrid. They beat Galatasaray 6:1 away and became the most popular team in the first round of the group.

At the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur rotated again and challenged Cardiff away. As a result, Tottenham Hotspur won Cardiff 6:1 away, once again bloodbathed the opponent and won a big victory.

At the beginning of the game, Cardiff scored first, but soon, Tottenham Hotspur completed a 4:1 reversal with Lewandowski and Thiago Silva scoring twice in succession. In the second half, Hazard and Vidal's goals locked the score at 6:1!

In the middle of the week, Tottenham Hotspur played the League Cup round of 32 with a full substitute lineup, and defeated Aston Villa 4:0 away from home, who also played with a substitute lineup. In this game, Drogba scored twice, Pogba and Mitrovic, who came on as a substitute, scored one goal each, and Stroman and Phil Jones played the whole game together, performing well.

After returning successfully from Birmingham, Tottenham Hotspur sat at Stratford Stadium and welcomed Mourinho's Chelsea!