The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 179 Hats off to Ajax!
The great Ajax is back!

On the second day, the Amsterdam Evening Post in the Netherlands used such a conspicuous red and white arrow shirt font as the title on the cover of its front page to show the newspaper's tribute to Ajax.

"Before I comment, please allow me to appeal to all Ajax fans, please remember this number, 2002, because on this day, we saw a strong Ajax team at the Arenal Stadium Alex, that group of Ajax players who fought bravely, reminded me involuntarily of the 11 Champions League final at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna!"

"Van Gaal's Ajax won the St. Bradley Cup for Ajax again after 20 years of absence!"

"And just last night, at the Arenal Stadium, the opponent was still the star-studded AC Milan. Our head coach was replaced by a young coach from China, Ye Qiu. We still gathered a group of talented teenagers. We are still in Playing a traditional style of football that belongs to us at Ajax."

"3:0, we can almost say that we are slaughtering the top giants from Italy. In this game, we used our bloody victory and our excellent and perfect performance to once again send out our message to fans all over the world. We can proudly tell them that the great Ajax team is back again!"

"We have no way to ask for more from Ye Qiu and his team. Today's European football is no longer the European football in the 70s or 95. The environment Ajax is in now is much worse than that of the European football team. At any time in the past, it would have been worse and more dangerous."

"The impact of the Bosman Act has caused us to lose countless outstanding talents. The giants of the four major European leagues have sucked blood from us at extremely low prices and strengthened themselves, but they have made us very vulnerable. , This can be seen from the fact that after the Bosman Act, the Champions League has completely become a game for the rich."

"But Ajax has never lacked rebels, from the distant Michels, to Cruyff, to Van Gaal, and now to Ye Qiu, they never believe that the environment can beat a person and a team , They will always only believe in themselves, and believe that as long as they are strong enough, they can defeat any opponent!"

"Ye Qiu is right. No one is born into a rich family. No one is born to stand on top of other people's heads, point fingers and shit. This world is about strength, and it depends on fists."

"I believe that after this game, the whole of Europe will get to know Ajax and Ye Qiu again."

Compared with the direct and high-profile praise of the Amsterdam Corriere Post, Schulde Mosel of the Common Daily mentioned one thing in his column, and the title of his column seemed a bit fresh, "Let us begin to believe that ..."

"I was sitting on the podium at the Arena the moment the whistle blew and I noticed that there were a lot of diehard Ajax fans around who were excited, crazy, hugging each other. , even stood directly on the seat, raised his arms high, and shouted loudly over there.

"I heard the shouting from the nearest old fan, about 60 years old, like the young lads shouting, good Ajax, that's what it is, kill those big bastards, tell In the whole world, we are not afraid of them at all!!!”

"Yelling and shouting, this fan shed two lines of dirty tears. I was curious, so I asked him why he was so excited?"

"He told me that in the past few years, Ajax has lost too many things, lost the stars they have worked so hard to cultivate, and lost the European team that their predecessors have worked so hard for countless years. The status of the giants has lost a lot of traditional spirit that makes fans proud and proud."

"For many fans who have experienced the era of Michels and Van Gaal, Ye Qiu's team does not make them feel close, strictly speaking, because the real De Tokmoster in this team came out. There are not many players, Van der Sar, van der Vaart and Sneijder are the main players, but De Jong, Heitinga and other players are not yet the main players."

"But he also said that we can all understand the decision of the club and the head coach. Football clubs should also follow the trend and become more and more internationalized. So although emotionally, we feel that this Ajax team is not as good as it used to be. The local taste, even the head coach is from the strange east, but the fighting spirit of this team has moved them and made them feel that the traditional spirit of Ajax has returned again."

"He said to me, you know, lad, a lot of young people don't understand, they will tell you that football has become professionalized and industrialized, no one cares about the empty spirit, the tradition of shit, they will tell you, Players play football to live, and life is for money, this is an era of money.”

"But, do you know, young man, I have experienced many more things than you, and I know better than you that in everyone's life, there will be many, many precious things that money cannot buy, and Often when you give up these things for money today, you will regret it tomorrow."

"Money cannot support a person to live in this world. You see many people work hard, work hard, and fight for power and profit very snobbishly. Do you think he is doing it for money? For status? Wrong, he is not for money, nor It’s not for the status, it’s for making money, for the things he can do after he gets the status, such as making himself more noticeable, or changing his family, many, many.”

"Money is the most worthless thing in this world, because you never know when it will depreciate, even when the financial crisis comes, it can become worthless anytime, anywhere, it is just some numbers and a piece of paper That's all, only feelings are the foundation of a person's existence, and can make a person's life worthwhile and meaningful."

"I heard this old friend say a lot, and then he told me that in his opinion, Ye Qiu's transformation of Ajax was very successful. Success, but in his view, not only athletic success, but also a spiritual return."

"Ye Qiu has imprinted a deep Ye Qiu brand on Ajax, deeply engraving his own values ​​and his rebellious spirit of not admitting defeat into the soul of Ajax, just like Mi Shiels and Van Gaal did the same thing to Ajax, and he also believes that in the next ten years, no Ajax head coach can surpass Ye Qiu, even in terms of achievements."

"In the end, the old fan told me that I began to believe that Ye Qiu could lead Ajax back to the peak, not only in terms of performance, but also in spiritual peak, so he will wait, no matter how long Wait!"

"I have thought about this question for a long time, and I began to understand some of the truths in this old friend's words. It is very common and ordinary, but it is a truth that many people can't understand in their entire lives. Therefore, I also began to believe it. wait."

Schulder Mosso's report caused a lot of repercussions on the Internet, and some Ajax fan websites also reprinted it. Many fans expressed that they were greatly touched after reading it. Some people even think that if you want to evaluate Ye Qiu's contribution to Ajax over the past three years, you have to wait ten years later to look back to be fair.

After the first round of the Champions League group stage, the three Eredivisie teams participating in the Champions League, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord were all eliminated from the Champions League with the bottom of the group points. Only Ajax, in the Super Death Standing out from the group is considered a matter of pride by the entire Dutch football community.

This time even the Eindhoven daily had an image of Ajax celebrating after the game on the cover, with the headline, "Let's take our hats off for Ajax!"

The Feyenoord Evening News regards Ajax's qualifying as the pride of Dutch football, and believes that Ajax is worth learning from all Eredivisie teams, especially Ye Qiu who has criticized the team's tactical style every year in the past few years. Adapt and innovate.

"Cruyff is right. There is no set of tactics that can win the world. Tactics are developing and perfecting every moment. As users of tactics, coaches should also use them anytime, anywhere. Self-improvement, absorbing the strengths of others, making up for one's own shortcomings, and advancing with the times, can make oneself stronger, and sticking to the weak will only be eliminated!"

And after finishing all the games in the first round of the UEFA Champions League group stage, the 16 teams that have advanced to the second round of the group stage are also freshly released. According to UEFA's statement before the season, this season will be the last time that the top 16 will take the lead. In the group stage, next season they will respond to G14's request to reform the group stage into a knockout stage and cut down the schedule.

Ye Qiu had already prepared for this point, and Van Prager was also a member of G14, so Ajax had already received the news.

In Ye Qiu's view, the 03/04 UEFA Champions League was a bit turbulent. The reason why Mourinho's Porto and Deschamps' Monaco were able to go to the bottom, actually had a lot to do with the restructuring of the schedule, because the rich teams all played against each other. Some don't adapt to the new schedule, especially the knockout round of 16, and even UEFA itself is a little uncomfortable.

Don't underestimate the fact that the group stage has become a knockout match. The game has changed from 6 games to 2 games. It seems that there is not much difference. In fact, there is a big difference here, especially in the group stage. If you make a mistake, it will be over, especially after the winter break, the Champions League will directly enter the knockout round.

Relatively speaking, the group stage is more beneficial to stronger teams, while the knockout stage is better for tactical teams. The latter is more exciting and risky than the former, that's for sure.

But these have nothing to do with Ye Qiu for the time being, he is more concerned about the team's grouping.

Relying on the achievements of Ajax in the European arena in the past three years, coupled with the performance of this season, this time they finally rose to another level and qualified for the second level. Look at UEFA.

Pot [-] is divided into Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona and Valencia.

According to the rules, teams from the same group and the same country in the first round of the group stage will not be divided into the same group again. Ajax finally drew Manchester United, Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow. Strictly speaking, this lottery was also average. , not great, but not too bad either.

At the scene of the draw in Geneva, after the results were released, the head coaches, management and players of each team expressed their views on the results of the draw. This has also become a routine of the UEFA Champions League draw.

Manchester United coach Ferguson said in an interview that he was satisfied with the result of the draw.

"I think Ajax and Bayer Leverkusen will be the biggest threats for us to advance from the group, but I am not worried about the contest between these two teams, because we will definitely beat the opponent and get out of the group. out."

The chairman of Leverkusen, Karl Mond, said, "This is a very difficult group. Manchester United is one of the strongest teams in Europe. Ajax's ability to stand out from the death group has already shown this. As for the strength of the team, as for Lokomotiv Moscow, everyone knows how difficult Moscow’s away game is.”

But Calmond obviously didn't intend to say something depressing, so in the end, he couldn't help but say, "But we won't be afraid of any opponent, and we are confident that we can stand out from the group."

This time Ye Qiu also went to Geneva to participate in UEFA's draw ceremony in person. After getting the result, he faced the reporter's question and said with a smile that he had nothing to say about the draw result.

"We got a very competitive group, it's very exciting, I'm sure every game will be tough, but there's nothing to say about it, because on the whole, every group in the second round of the Champions League is very competitive. Strong, the game will be tough, but I am confident to lead the team out of the group."

"Manchester United is a very good team. They have a group of outstanding stars. I think the result of playing against such a team is often secondary. It is the most important thing to improve your own strength through the stimulation of the game. Yes; Leverkusen are terrible opponents, they were runners-up last season and it is very difficult to beat them."

"There is also Lokomotiv Moscow. I don't know much about this team, but I know that it is not easy to play in Moscow."

"In any case, what we encounter is a group of difficult opponents, which will stimulate us to work harder to prove our strength. We will not belittle ourselves, and strive to play our own football style, because we won the Champions League last season. Final Four."

Ye Qiu's words can be said to be neither humble nor arrogant, but the experts are not optimistic about Ajax. Even if this team stands out from the death group, it has a flaw that is criticized by everyone, and that is the defense. .

As Beckenbauer said in his column, "The Champions League is very important to any team. This kind of contest with strong players can often stimulate the team to play the best level, but it is not All teams can have the last laugh."

"Real Madrid is very good and star-studded. They have a group of world-class attackers, but they can't hide the problems of the team's defense. In the Champions League, defense is often very important. The team that can win the championship often The defense is the best, which is the Achilles' heel of Real Madrid."

"On the contrary, Juventus and Valencia are undoubtedly the most optimistic teams. Lippi's team only conceded 3 goals in the group stage, which is very, very rare. Benitez's goal The team only conceded 4 goals, their defense is very good, I think they are the two most promising teams to go to the end."

"Oh, some people may say that Capello's Roma also conceded 4 goals, but don't forget, they only scored 3 goals in the group stage, I think this team will be very difficult to compete in Europe. make a difference."

Valencia is indeed the most eye-catching team in the first round of the UEFA Champions League group stage this season, scoring 17 goals and conceding only 4 goals. Although not as good as Valencia, they also scored 12 goals and conceded 3 goals, showing a very stable performance.

There is also another team that must be mentioned, and that is Barcelona.

Van Gaal's team won six consecutive group matches this season and became the best team in the group stage. They also scored 13 goals and conceded 4 goals, but not everyone is optimistic about this team Team, as Beckenbauer said, watching Barcelona's game always gives people a feeling of fright.

As for Ajax, Beckenbauer believes that it is likely to stop in the second round of the group stage, because Manchester United and Leverkusen in the same group are both very strong and relatively balanced teams overall. The biggest problem is still defense.

"I was very impressed with this team, they drew us 3-3 at the Olimpico, that was the game that reminded me of this team, that got us out of the Champions League, but I think This team is so young, the average age is in the early 20s, it's far from mature, especially on defense."

"Looking at the performances of Gilberto Silva and Seydu Keita at Arsenal and Barcelona, ​​it is not difficult to understand how Ajax's defensive problems will be exposed this season."

Ye Qiu still admired Beckenbauer very much. At least the Emperor of Football had something to say. He was also very clear that the team's defense did have some problems. Although Mascherano gradually gained a firm foothold, He still needs exercise and time.

But Ye Qiu didn't lose his confidence at all because of this. On the contrary, he was still full of confidence, because who has no problems?
No problem for Juventus?Valencia no problem?
Every team will have various problems. The key is to see how a head coach can better adjust the team, arrange targeted tactics, avoid the loopholes of the team, and play the ball in the league and cup. The strengths of the team, this is the most critical.

Moreover, the current schedule is very intensive, and there is no extra time for Ye Qiu to adjust and polish the team's defensive system. After all, Mascherano lost his position due to injury at the beginning of the season and missed the crucial running-in period. For one game, Ye Qiu didn't have time to prepare at all.

He decided to make good use of the winter break to adjust and refine the team's defense, especially the cooperation between Mascherano and the defense. I believe that the team's defense problems can be better solved by then.

(End of this chapter)