The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 116
Ajax's first warm-up match is to cross the English Channel to England to challenge Ipswich Town.

Over the past few years, there have been dark horses in the Premier League almost every season. For example, Ipswich Town last season. Chelsea, Southampton, Newcastle and other Premier League teams are under pressure.

After last season's outstanding performance, Ipswich Town is ambitious this season and wants to continue to make a difference in the Premier League, but as a newcomer to the small team, they are not in the transfer market There are any big moves, and the team basically maintains the lineup of last season.

At the Portman Road Stadium in Ipswich, which is only across the English Channel from Amsterdam, Ajax ushered in the first warm-up match of the new season.

For this game, Ye Qiu formed a lineup that performed well in the two weeks of training. The goalkeeper is Van der Sar, and the defense line is Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon. It was a combination of Yaya Toure, Gilberto Silva and Sneijder, with Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart in the front trident.

Ye Qiu's focus in this game was on the results of the team's training camp, so he didn't give the team any instructions that they must win, or win beautifully. He just hoped that the players could show the results of the training camp.

But what I didn't expect was that the fierce competition of the team made everyone in Ajax hold their breath and wanted to show their strength in front of the head coach. After the opening, the Ajax players were like wolves Hu rushed up and beat Ipswich Town violently, which made the fans at Portman Road feel puzzled.

You know, the Portman Road Stadium last season was the most terrifying devil's home stadium in the Premier League. Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and other teams failed to take even the slightest advantage from this stadium. And Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Manchester City even fell here, and Tottenham lost a 0:3.

This surprised the fans at Portman Road, but also a little bit of schadenfreude.

"You Dutch boys who have never seen the world, go crazy, keep going crazy, and watch how we beat you!"

Unexpectedly, less than 5 minutes into the game, Ajax took the lead in breaking through Ipswich Town's goal. Robben on the road, the latter quickly dribbled the ball and then passed diagonally to the right of the goal. Van der Vaart plugged in and hit the goal, 1:0!

This goal came so suddenly that Ipswich Town fans were surprised, but also a little depressed, even angry, because they were fifth in the Premier League last season and lost to Ajax ?

Uncle can bear it, aunt can't bear it!

After scoring the first goal, Ajax obviously consciously adopted more tactics to control the scene.

One of the very interesting scenes made Ye Qiu very satisfied, that is, Van der Sar took the initiative to walk out of the small penalty area, reached out for the ball, pushed forward with the ball, and kept communicating with his teammates. Stabilize the situation first to ensure that the lead is maximized.

Then, although Ipswich Town forward Stewart pressed Van der Sar, the latter made a short pass to Kivu, and Kivu then passed to Lucio. , so that Ipswich Town's overall defensive posture had to retreat quickly, and was almost caught off guard by Ajax again.

Before the game, Ipswich City still had the spirit of fifth place in the Premier League, but after being honed by Ajax for a while, it gradually lost this spirit, and turned to Ajax, who is more aggressive. The controlling style of play feels difficult to deal with.

The game was almost always under the control of Ajax. It was not until the second half that Ajax broke through Ipswich Town's goal again. Huntelaar, who replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic, shot in front of the goal and broke through Ipswich's goal again, 2:0.

This goal also became the last goal of this warm-up match. After that, neither Ipswich Town nor Ajax failed to score again in the end.

After returning to Amsterdam, Ye Qiu immediately held a summary meeting for the team's first warm-up match. At the meeting, some questions were raised. For example, after the team slowed down, whether it was pressing or pressing, the strength was obviously weaker.

"There is a saying in our Chinese proverb that if you kill a snake, you will be killed with a stick, which means that if you don't kill the snake, it will bite you to death in turn. It is the same in football games. If there is any slack, you must firmly suppress your opponents at all times, and patiently look for opportunities, and once you find an opportunity, don't be soft-hearted, and kill them directly with lightning speed!"

"For us, the best opponent is always the one who dies the worst!"

Ye Qiu is taking advantage of the opportunity to instill in the players his own football philosophy, that is to attack, keep attacking!
After returning to Amsterdam, Ajax had another week of training, and then ushered in the two-day Amsterdam Cup, which was also a cup that Ye Qiu attached great importance to before the season.

Unlike last year's Amsterdam Cup, where Ajax received a cold reception from local fans, this season's Ajax has become the darling of Amsterdam fans thanks to last season's outstanding performance. There are two games in the Amsterdam Cup. Tickets for the matches played by Ajax were also sold out, and even after the cup, a warm-up match between Ajax and Valencia was also sold out.

Ajax's opponent in the first game was AC Milan led by Trim.

The Rossoneri did not perform well last season, but this season they have shown great ambitions. They first introduced Inzaghi from Juventus, and then introduced the Portuguese genius Rui Costa from Florence at a high price. Trim wants to transform the team's ambition.

At this moment, Pirlo has just switched from rival Inter Milan, while Albertini has lost his main force due to too many injuries. AC Milan's midfielder is Rui Costa and Serginho world.

Trim's tactical lineup for this game is 4312, the goalkeeper is Abbiati, the defense line from left to right is Koko, Maldini, Karadze and Contra, and the midfielders are Serginho, Donatti and Gattuso, Rui Costa played the front midfielder, and the double forwards were Shevchenko and Inzaghi.

Donatti was transferred from Atlanta this season, and Trim arranged for him to start, obviously to examine this player.

Ye Qiu's starting lineup for this game is still 433, the goalkeeper is Van der Sar, the defense is Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon, and the midfielders are Keita, Gilberto? Silva and Sneijder, of which Keita and Gilberto? Silva position at the back, Sneijder forward, the trident is Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart.

AC Milan's lineup and tactics are typical of strong offense and weak defense, especially Contra, the right back who just competed with Ye Qiu's Ajax in Alaves last season, did not have much defense Ability, his best offense.

Ye Qiu's strategy in this game was to suppress AC Milan's midfielders, especially Rui Costa.

Whether it is Shevchenko or Inzaghi, their scoring ability is very good, but they still need someone to feed them from behind, and Trim thinks Rui Costa will be the best The right candidate, even the whole world thinks that this iron triangle will be the strongest trident in Serie A this season.

And Ye Qiu's tactic is to use the characteristics of his double midfielder to suppress the traditional midfielder, so that Rui Costa can't control and take the ball at will in his most comfortable position, and then destroy AC Milan's offense and rhythm .

For Ajax themselves, the most comfortable thing is naturally a fast pace.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Ajax did not focus on competing with AC Milan for ball possession, giving up some ball possession time, but emphasized the fast pace and offensive impact, which made AC Milan seem to have a lot of ball possession, but It is difficult to take a step forward at the front of the penalty area, and it is still impossible to find an effective opportunity to convert possession into goals.

Moreover, AC Milan's players did not have long training time and lack of physical fitness. In addition, several core players were newly joined, and their cooperation seemed a bit rusty, which led to several mistakes in the team, especially Maldini and Caladze. The cooperation between them gave Ajax two chances to shoot in just 5 minutes.

But this group of little ghosts missed a good opportunity in front of more experienced and mature AC Milan players.

In the 26th minute, Shevchenko used his personal ability to get rid of Lucio after receiving a pass from Serginho, and hit the goal from a small angle, opening the scoring for AC Milan.

After scoring the goal, AC Milan's intention to slow down the rhythm became more obvious. Trim himself knew very well that Ajax's impact is very good. In a fast-paced state, AC Milan will only expose more Many problems and discomfort.

Ye Qiu kept calling on the players on the sidelines to remain calm and rational.

"It's only 26 minutes, there is still a long time, don't worry, take your time!"

"Remember the tactics we arranged before the game, don't mess up, and play firmly according to our rhythm and tactics!"

Ye Qiu's appeal injected confidence into the Ajax players. They began to compete with AC Milan for rhythm control according to the requirements of the head coach. They used high defense, high pressure and crazy pressing to force AC Milan to have to Speed ​​up the tempo.

In the 37th minute, Ajax had a chance from the left. Robben took advantage of Contra's attack and lost his position. After getting the ball, he quickly went straight to the AC Milan defense line. On the left side of the front of the penalty area, he calmly passed through the ribs department.

Maldini wanted to intercept in a hurry, but under the interference of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he accidentally missed the ball. After the Swede got the ball, under the attack of Maldini and Karadze, he dribbled the ball flexibly Breaking out of the siege, he hit the goal from a small angle in the penalty area and equalized the score for Ajax, 1:1!

This goal completely sounded the clarion call for Ajax's counterattack. In the rest of the time, Ajax completely suppressed AC Milan, especially during the halftime break. The tactical characteristics of the adjusted tactics gave Robben more opportunities to play, allowing him to make one-on-one breakthroughs.

Ye Qiu's adjustment brought huge troubles to AC Milan's defense in the second half.

In the 64th minute, after a forced breakthrough from the left, Robben made a cross from the left side of AC Milan's penalty area, and then Keita hit a header at the near post, reversing the score to 2:1!

But after reversing the opponent, Ajax has no intention of maintaining the status quo at all. Ye Qiu also kept calling on the players on the sidelines to continue to maintain the offensive pressure. At the same time, he also began to actively make substitutions and adjustments.

In the 85th minute, Yaya Toure, who came on as a substitute for Keita, crossed to the front of the penalty area after receiving a knock back from Hleb, and found Van der Vaart, who ran inward from the right to the center, and the latter penetrated into the penalty area , hit the goal with his left foot, 3:1!

In the end, with the goals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Keita and van der Vaart, Ajax reversed AC Milan 3:1 in the first Amsterdam Cup at the Arena Stadium and won the cup. Good start.

"I am very satisfied with the team's performance, but I think that winning this game does not explain any problems. We are more prepared than AC Milan, and our main lineup is not too much compared with last season. A big adjustment, which makes our players cooperate more tacitly on the court."

"AC Milan changed some players, which made their cooperation even more rusty. Shevchenko and Inzaghi missed at least 8 scoring opportunities in the game. This also reminded us, that is The reason why we won was because the opponent was not in good shape."

"We still have a lot of problems, especially when we are facing the top European teams, our shortcomings will be more obvious. My players and I are already mentally prepared, because we all know, Exposing the problem is the beginning of our team's progress."

And Ye Qiu also said that he is satisfied with the effect of the team's pre-season preparations.

"In the past three weeks, we have been in a closed training camp, which must have caused a lot of trouble for the players, but I am particularly happy that the players are very serious and focused, which makes me I feel that we are becoming a formidable team, and I always believe that Ajax will be stronger and more competitive in the new season than at any time in the past few years!"

Ye Qiu's remarks were affirmed by AC Milan coach Trim. He believed that Ajax had suppressed AC Milan tactically, and Ajax's players did not look like some young players at all. Players, "They have a group of outstanding talented players. Over time, they will let the whole of Europe see their strength!"

Of course, everyone's understanding of this is, polite words!

And Trim also emphasized again after the game that the reason why AC Milan and Ajax lost the game was that the defense line was very serious. He called on the team to further strengthen the team's defense line, and AC Milan is currently Danish defender Laursen is also being contacted.

After playing AC Milan, Ajax rested for two days and ushered in Arsenal.

Perhaps because it was a warm-up match, neither Wenger nor Ye Qiu played offensive football unreservedly in this game, and Arsenal and Ajax's mutual offense and defense on the wing also became a big problem. The most eye-catching highlight in the game, which made all the fans in Arenal Stadium see a feast of goals.

3:3, Ajax and Arsenal completed a wonderful game that made everyone full of praise.

From the perspective of the scene and the offense, both sides performed very well in this game, but from the tactical point of view, both Ye Qiu and Wenger obviously encountered difficulties, and it can even be said to be setbacks, because neither of them Very good to limit the opponent.

With a record of one win and one tie, Ajax scored 4 points, but because Ajax scored 6 goals in the two games, they got 6 extra points, and finally scored 10 points, becoming the Champion of the Amsterdam Cup.

Arsenal beat Valencia 1:0 in the first game. In the end, they scored 8 points and ranked second. Benitez's Valencia defeated AC Milan 2:1, which once again exposed AC Milan. The biggest problem, but the La Liga team only got No.3. The poor Rossoneri lost two games and ranked bottom.

Ajax won the Amsterdam Cup, which certainly made all Ajax fans happy, but it also exposed many problems in the team, especially after Ajax faced Varen In this warm-up match in West Asia, the battle between Ye Qiu and Benitez ended in a 1:1 draw, which proved that the team still had many problems.

On the offensive end, the team's problems more often appear when switching from slow to fast, especially when the team is switching from slow to fast, there are many problems, which requires Ye Qiu and the coaching staff to continue to deepen Dig out the tactical details of the team and make adjustments.

On the defensive end, it is more about the cooperation between the players, especially the cooperation between the goalkeeper Van der Sar and the defense.

In the past, Grimm hardly commanded the defense line, which made the defense line feel a bit independent. The players have also adapted to this style of play, but now Ye Qiu wants to integrate the defense line with the goalkeeper and let Van der Sar come Commanding the back line and keeping in touch with the defenders at all times makes the defenders a little at a loss.

However, judging from the several weeks of training and the performance in several warm-up matches, Van der Sar's joining has greatly improved Ajax's defense overall, especially in commanding the defense line and communicating with the defenders. With a good run-in, Ajax's defense will become a monolith and there will be a qualitative improvement.

But there are also many problems, the main reason is that the response and cooperation are very unfamiliar, and the players in the back line are too young, which also exposed some problems, especially in the face of Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Bo When top strikers like Gerkamp and Henry are attacking, the defenders are young and inexperienced, so they undoubtedly appear to be very passive.

But no matter what, Ye Qiu has enough confidence to solve these problems and lead the team to move forward!

And after a series of warm-up matches ended and Ajax got off to a good start to the season, Ye Qiu received another piece of good news.

(End of this chapter)