The Godfather of Football

"Hi, Messi!"

In the player tunnel of the Allianz Arena, a hand suddenly stretched out from behind and rested on Messi's shoulder.

Looking back, it was Robben. Messi smiled and nodded, "Hello, Robben!"

The two just said hello and passed by each other, because they didn't have much friendship.

Not far away, several players in the team were talking to the players of Bayern Munich. They didn't seem to have much in mind, perhaps because they were optimistic and positive by nature.

After Ye Qiu played against Bayern Munich in the first round, he really hid many players in the team in the match against Sunderland. Many people may not notice anything, but Messi knew very well that this ban was real, or it could be said that this was Ye Qiu's most severe warning.

Having played football with Ye Qiu for so many years, Messi knows Ye Qiu's character very well. First, they lost to Southampton, and then they were tied by Bayern Munich at home. Ye Qiu must be furious, because so far this season, the team's momentum is unprecedentedly good, the FA Cup has great luck, there are no strong opponents, and the league has been won early.

In this case, Ye Qiu must have placed his hopes on the Champions League, but the team's performance made him very dissatisfied. He was furious in the locker room, and the hiding of the players when playing against Sunderland was a wake-up call for all the players. He was reminding everyone not to offend his reverse scale.

Although he was not named, Messi was also very clear that his performance this season was indeed poor. Ye Qiu also mentioned this several times in the past. In the games against Southampton and Bayern Munich, Messi's performance was not ideal, especially against Bayern Munich, he seemed to have disappeared, which made Ye Qiu very dissatisfied.

Sometimes when he thinks about it, Messi doesn't know what he is doing. He loves Tottenham Hotspur and respects everyone in the team, including Mauro Tassotti, but he always feels a little unmotivated and not excited enough to play football. In the past, he could be happy for a while when he scored a goal, and sometimes even felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

But now, for him, scoring a goal is as common as eating and sleeping.

Many times he repeatedly reminds himself to work hard, be diligent and persist, but for some reason, after a game, he may score a goal, assist, or perform well, but he just can't find the feeling he had when he played football in the early years, the feeling that every game is full of expectations and freshness.

"Is it really because I'm slacking off?" Messi sighed in his heart.

…………

…………

Bayern Munich, playing at home, sent out all the main players in this game. The goalkeeper is Neuer, the back line is Alaba, Dante, Boateng and Rafinha, the double defensive midfielders are Schweinsteiger and Lahm, the front court is Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Robben, and the single striker is Mandzukic.

This is also the strongest lineup of Bayern Munich this season. It is different from the 433 tactics advocated by Guardiola in Barcelona in the past. It plays the 4231 double defensive midfielder tactics.

Tottenham Hotspur still kept the main left back Marcelo and goalkeeper Cech in this game. The back line is Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Kompany and Kyle Walker, the midfield is Ramsey, Matic and Vidal, and the front court is a combination of Ribery, Lewandowski and Messi.

Because it was a home game, at the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich pressed forward from the beginning, adopting the midfield pressure and pressing tactics that Barcelona is good at, while Tottenham Hotspur started the game with a safe start, so they retreated more.

After the opening, Bayern Munich quickly created an opportunity. Thomas Muller on the left received a pass from Schweinsteiger behind him and wanted to cut inside, but Vidal had already blocked the position first, so he directly kicked the ball to the middle to find Mandzukic.

At the front of Tottenham Hotspur's penalty area, Mandzukic leaned on Thiago Silva with his body and stopped the ball with his foot. He felt that Thiago Silva behind him obviously restricted his left side, that is, he was not allowed to turn to Tottenham Hotspur's right side, because he was right-footed, and it was very convenient to turn around and shoot with his right foot.

As a last resort, Mandzukic could only choose to turn to the left, but his left foot was not good, and it was outside the penalty area, and Kompany was also interfering, so this shot was not strong at all and was directly confiscated by Cech.

After that, Bayern Munich still adopted a very active ball control style, but their style of play was very different from that of Heynckes or Guardiola's Barcelona period, but there were also many similarities.

For example, when the team got the ball from the defense, the first thing Bayern Munich thought of was not to invest in counterattacks at the first time, but to find a way to control the ball first, observe the situation clearly and then launch an attack, but in this way, counterattacks were out of the question, and some golden time for counterattacks was wasted in vain.

This is also very similar to the Barcelona period. For example, Xavi's circle escape was actually to protect the ball.

Ye Qiu knows Guardiola very well. The Spaniard is not unaware of the current situation and trends in football. He knows, but he is arrogant to find his own football. He wants to further seek changes in rhythm and incorporate more things, such as height and body, on the basis of adhering to the ball control tactics.

There is no so-called good or bad play. If Guardiola follows this set of ball control and effectively finds a mechanism that can suddenly play a high-speed attack in slow ball control, then their play will become very threatening, but from the current point of view, there are many things that restrict him.

For example, the technical skills, passing and running skills of Bayern Munich players make Bayern Munich's threatening passes much less than Barcelona, ​​so at first glance, they have an advantage on the field, but in fact they have no effective offensive means, and they lack offensive weapons with strong penetration.

In the past, Barcelona had Xavi and Iniesta, as well as Pedro, and with Van Persie in front, there was also a whole set of technical and tactical frameworks as the foundation, so Guardiola's Barcelona could play very smoothly and gorgeously, but Mandzukic is not Van Persie, and Schweinsteiger and Lahm are not Xavi and Iniesta.

A lot of details made Guardiola's tactics somewhat unsuitable.

When preparing for the game, Ye Qiu and Mauro Tassotti combined the experience of the first round of the game between the two sides and clearly formulated a set of targeted tactics. Because Mandzukic is a right-footed player, Thomas Muller on the left was restricted from cutting inside, cutting off his connection with Mandzukic and Toni Kroos, and not letting him go to the bottom, but allowing him to cross.

Because such a cross would hardly pose much threat to Tottenham's defense.

Azpilicueta on the right defended Robben differently. Robben's sharpest weapon was cutting inside, and his left foot would be on the right, so he was allowed to go down the bottom, but his crosses and his connection with Mandzukic were minimized.

From the opening, Tottenham's defensive formation was stretched very wide, and Bayern Munich took the initiative to press forward, adopting high-intensity midfield pressure, trying to directly press Tottenham in the half court, or even within the 30-meter area.

To use Guardiola's joke when he met Ye Qiu before the game, he wanted to let Ye Qiu see the progress he had made after a year of rest, at least to let Ye Qiu see the difference between him and Guardiola in the past.

In fact, there are differences, but progress is not necessarily. This kind of thing is different for different people.

At least, if we look at the dominance of the game, the current Bayern Munich is not as good as Barcelona at its peak.

Tottenham Hotspur played away and played in a safe way at the beginning, so they were not in a hurry. However, Bayern Munich was very committed from the beginning, especially the kind of frequent running of players, actively creating numerical advantages in local areas, and investing a lot of manpower. However, after ten minutes of the opening, Guardiola also realized the danger and dared not continue to play like this.

As soon as Bayern Munich retreated, Tottenham Hotspur's overall formation came out, and the two sides began to stalemate in the midfield. However, since the opening, Tottenham Hotspur had very little time to control the ball, while Bayern Munich almost completely controlled the ball possession advantage.

Seeing that his side had such an obvious ball possession advantage, but failed to form an effective offensive, Schweinsteiger also began to further increase the strength of his forward movement, after all, there was a Lahm next to him.

But just when Schweinsteiger was advancing once, Vidal, who had been prepared, chased back from the front, and formed a steal, and poked the ball to Kyle Walker.

At the moment of losing the ball, Bayern Munich's reaction mechanism was exactly the same as Barcelona's, except that they had no player who could stick to Kyle Walker in the first place, and many people had to run over, such as Thomas Muller.

Kyle Walker received the ball on the right, and seeing Thomas Muller and Schweinsteiger both approaching him, he immediately passed the ball back to the back of center back Kompany, while the Belgian center back ran back and passed the ball back to the penalty area before Mandzukic got close.

Cech couldn't take the ball with his hands, but he stopped the ball with his feet, kicked it out, and gave it to Thiago Silva. At this time, the Brazilian center back had already pulled to the left side of the top of the penalty area, and turned around calmly when he received the ball, because Cech passed the ball to him, which was actually a reminder that he was safe.

If it was unsafe, Cech would remind him out loud, or even not pass the ball to him at all.

Thiago Silva turned around, Mandzukic was a little far away from him, so he moved forward, pulled Robben over, and then passed it to Azpilicueta who was close to the left side. After the Spaniard stopped the ball, he didn't wait for Rafinha to get close, and passed it back to Matic who was pressing forward in the middle.

After Matic stopped the ball, in front of him was Lahm, who was close to the center line at this time, but Matic didn't stick to the ball too much, because he saw that after Rafinha rushed up, there was a large gap behind him, and Ribery was close to the left and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

I saw the Serbian rub his left foot and pass the ball to the left side, crossing the center line and coming to the left side of the front of the 30-meter area of ​​Bayern Munich. Close to the left line, Ribery chested the ball forward and quickly chased after him. There was no one defending him in front.

After Ribery rushed into the 30-meter area, Boateng realized the danger and left the penalty area. But as soon as he moved, Ribery made a diagonal pass behind him. Ramsey quickly passed Boateng. He rushed into the penalty area, received the ball on the left side of the penalty area, passed across the middle, and Lewandowski followed up and shot with his right foot.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!"

"Lewandowski scored! Tottenham Hotspur scored in the 17th minute!!!"

"This was a well-planned counterattack after stealing the ball. Bayern Munich's midfield pressing tactics did not work against Tottenham Hotspur, especially their excessive emphasis on regional pressing, which caused their players to press too high. ” There is a large gap behind you!”

Tottenham Hotspur players rushed off the pitch one by one, rushed to the sidelines, and hugged each other.

"The total score is 2:1. Tottenham Hotspur is temporarily in the lead. The current situation is a bit unfavorable to Bayern Munich because they need to score goals, which may make them more proactive!"

Ye Qiu burst out laughing after seeing Lewandowski score, "He said he wanted to give me a report card, and I'll teach him a lesson!"

Mauro Tassotti, who was standing next to Ye Qiu, was also in a good mood. In fact, this was the detail that he focused on before the game.

Vidal stared at Schweinsteiger. Don't push the little pig too hard, but give him some opportunities and space to press up. After he presses up, try to steal the ball and then counterattack.

Bayern Munich has a Achilles heel, or in other words, it is the same pressure in the midfield and frontcourt, but their pressure and pressing efficiency are much worse than Barcelona, ​​so they often have to invest more running and troops, but there are only so many people on the court. The more troops you invest, the more flaws will be exposed in other areas.

This is a detail issue that affects the whole body!

After the restart, Bayern Munich is obviously strengthening its attack and pressing against Tottenham Hotspur. This is their only bargaining chip to win the game, because in terms of the rich diversity of offensive methods, they are not as good as Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs, in terms of defensive solidity, they are not as good as Tottenham Hotspur, and even in terms of midfield strength, they are still not as good as Tottenham Hotspur.

In this situation, the only thing they can rely on is ball control and pressing tactics.

Guardiola has yet to find an effective way to enrich the team's offensive methods.

The offense is not flexible enough. This is an old problem that has existed since the Heynckes era, so don't look at Bayern Munich beating opponents everywhere in many games, but when they encounter a team with a relatively compact defensive formation, or It is said that Bayern Munich is a team with better defense, but there is nothing they can do about it.

Just like the beginning of this game, in the first ten minutes, Tottenham Hotspur retreated and adopted a stable defensive strategy. Let you attack, and I will see how you attack!

The results of it? Bayern Munich started to reverse and pass crosswise. From left to right, from right to left, they kept passing and passing, but they were all back passes and cross passes. There was no way to pass the deep and threatening ball.

It should be said that Bayern Munich's only more threatening offensive pattern is the right wing. Robben takes the ball and cuts inside, and the right back inserts the cover and the presence of an attacking midfielder makes Bayern Munich's right wing attack difficult to deal with. Teams whose defensive formations are not rigorous enough or whose frontline coverage of the penalty area is not strong often take advantage.

But Tottenham Hotspur shrunk their overall formation after the opening. Even if Tottenham Hotspur only adopted a defensive posture because of the away game, Bayern Munich had no way at all, because as soon as the right wing was restricted, they There is no way to resist.

Therefore, after losing the ball, Bayern Munich wanted to counterattack, but they did not dare to press easily on the right. Instead, they relied more on Robben to fight alone in front, and Rafinha was asked not to press so hard. Go up, so Bayern Munich's offense is greatly reduced.

Tottenham Hotspur were not in a hurry. Ye Qiu did not ask the team to retreat this time, but asked them to press forward and fight against each other.

So a very interesting phenomenon occurred on the scene. When the ball reached Bayern Munich's feet, the rhythm slowed down, but once the ball was intercepted by Tottenham Hotspur, the rhythm immediately sped up.

"We have to admire that Tottenham Hotspur players can always find quick routes and connecting points for the ball on the court, so their kicks are very skillful and very fast!"

The commentator's praise is not exaggerated, because on several occasions Tottenham Hotspur used simple and direct two or three kicks to pass the ball directly to Bayern Munich's half, even thirty meters away. within the area.

Just like this time, it was another three-legged pass. Ramsey passed the ball diagonally from the center line to the left. Ribery stopped the ball and moved forward from the left. He was accelerating to catch up. This time, both Rafinha and Ram were Running after Ribery.

In the penalty area, Lewandowski rushed to the right corner of the small penalty area alone, Vidal had already rushed to the top of the penalty area, and Ramsey was also rushing forward quickly, which made Bayern Munich's entire defense Attention falls on the front and middle points.

Ribery was facing two opponents on the left, but he was not afraid. Facing Rafinha, the French scarred face accelerated, stopped, and accelerated again. He changed his speed continuously and finally earned some gaps from the Brazilian full-back. After pulling out half a body, he crossed with his left foot.

It was not known whether this cross was intentional or the strength was not measured well. In short, it did not fall to the front point and the middle of the penalty area. Dante jumped up, but still could not get the ball.

Messi and Alaba were on the right side of the small penalty area. Messi got in the first place and stopped Ribery's cross with his chest. He stopped in front of him, on the right side of the small penalty area, and then he quickly chased him and made a very difficult arc shot with his left foot.

There was a bang, and the ball drew a strange arc and shot towards the goal. Even Messi didn't know if he could suppress the ball and hit it accurately!