The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 242 Bulldog Spirit

"For this game, I think the team's performance was very good. Although the opponent created more opportunities and threats than us, we got more possession time, and we were stalemate at the end. When there is a shortage, the players can grit their teeth and break the deadlock, and I think they are very good."

At the press conference at Highbury Stadium after the game, Wenger faced reporters and media interviews and expressed his regret that he failed to win Chelsea at home in this game. Although he was a little bit regretful, he was basically satisfied.

"In the first half, we were really unlucky. We made a few mistakes that shouldn't have been made and were seized by the opponent, but in the second half we performed significantly better. Although it was only a draw in the end, I can't ask for more from them!"

All reporters who were able to come to the scene knew exactly what Wenger meant, because in the past four league rounds, before the national team played, Arsenal had encountered Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool. After the national team game, Chelsea ushered in again. This schedule can be called the devil's schedule.

But in such a strong dialogue, Arsenal tied Manchester United and Chelsea, and defeated Newcastle and Liverpool 3:2 and 2:1 respectively. This allowed Arsenal to successfully get out of the devil's schedule. Wenger was obviously satisfied with this.

Speaking of Arsenal and Chelsea, although the Blues have taken the lead with 8 wins and 1 tie after this battle, in fact, many people think that the Blues' report card does not have much gold content, because They met two strong teams, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Although Arsenal are 4 points behind Chelsea, the problem is that the Gunners have already encountered Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Chelsea, the four most powerful competitors in the Premier League, in the first round of the round-robin match. From this point of view, Arsenal is not inferior How much, because they are hard and easy schedules.

However, compared to the good performance in the Premier League, Arsenal's performance in the Champions League is very bad. In the first round of the group stage, they lost 0:3 to Inter Milan at the Highbury Stadium, and then drew 0:0 with Lokomotiv Moscow in the away game. A record of one draw and one loss makes Arsenal's performance in the European arena unsatisfactory.

On the other hand, Chelsea is not only undefeated in the Premier League, but also has won two consecutive victories in the Champions League group, which can be said to be in the limelight.

After questioning Wenger, the reporters immediately changed the topic to Ye Qiu.

"We all noticed that during the game, one of your assistants seemed to frequently go behind the goalkeeper. Are you talking to Edwin van der Sar?" A reporter first asked about an interesting story. question.

In fact, this phenomenon did not only appear in this game. There were so many games in the past, almost every game, but those games did not attract as much attention as Chelsea vs. Arsenal, so they did not attract too much attention from the media before. Many guesses, but now they obviously noticed.

This is a characteristic of Frans Hawke. He often walked behind Van der Sar during the game. On the one hand, he corrected and pointed out some of his problems, and at the same time, he also appease Van der Sar's emotions during the game.

You know, a goalkeeper is doing useless work most of the time in the game, but once they are required to play their role, it must be a very critical situation, which can be described as a critical moment, which requires the goalkeeper to remain tense and calm for a long time. Focus, but the question is, who can guarantee that they can do this for a long time?
Therefore, how to adjust the psychological quality of a goalkeeper is undoubtedly a very important key factor.

Frans Hawke knows Van der Sar very well, and he also knows how to help Van der Sar adjust his mentality so that the Dutch goalkeeper can play better, so he often walks behind the goalkeeper to follow Van der Sar during the game. Desa communication.

Regarding this point, Ye Qiu would definitely not say it, it was a secret belonging to his own coaching staff.

"I told Edwin, don't worry, because his teammates can help him block the opponent's attack!" Ye Qiu answered this question with a smile, "Although we lost the ball in the end, I think whether it is the goalkeeper or the players, All performed well.”

"I have always said that players are human, and as human beings they will make mistakes, so I think conceding goals and being drawn by the opponent should not affect the team, because this time we are facing an opponent like Arsenal. With a strong team, everything can happen, and we have already been mentally prepared for it.”

The reporters didn't know whether what Ye Qiu said was true or not, but it sounded like there was some truth to it, so they didn't continue to delve into this issue, but turned to another aspect, asking about Chelsea being terminated by Arsenal. A matter of discipline.

"I believe everyone has seen today that we are not inferior to any opponent, but we are not a mature team like Manchester United and Arsenal, because when Pires, Bergkamp, ​​Ashley ?When Cole, Vieira and others have the ball, Henry and others know where to run and where to cooperate."

"But our players are obviously not enough at this point. We lack the tacit understanding that a mature team like them should have. I think this is what we need to continue to improve in the next period of time."

Many reporters couldn't help nodding their heads, "Mr. Ye Qiu, how long do you think this will take?"

"It's hard to say, maybe one or two months, maybe a year and a half, I think our players are a group of experienced professional players, they should be able to quickly find a tacit understanding with teammates, so this day should be Coming soon."

"Mr. Ye Qiu!" Another reporter stood up, "We have all noticed that almost all teams that encounter Chelsea have a feeling that their offense is difficult to be effective under Chelsea's interception and pressure, and Not long ago, Houllier said that Liverpool loses when they lose in the midfield. I remember you once said that whoever gets the midfield controls everything. Is this still your creed? "

Ye Qiu looked at the reporter, laughed, nodded and said, "Yes, that's right, I said so, and I'm doing the same."

"I have always attached great importance to the midfielder, because I have always believed that a midfielder that can attack forward and defend backward is the key to any team's combat effectiveness, and the development of modern football There are higher demands on the midfielder, one of which is that the tempo is significantly faster."

When talking about this, Ye Qiu smiled and shook his head, "But this kind of quickness is not the kind of blind quickness that many Premier League teams advocate, but purposeful, targeted, and controlled. I believe this will become the trend of football in the future!"

Ye Qiu is fully qualified to say this to anyone, because his tactics in Ajax have already been praised by many professionals, even famous coaches like Ferguson and Wenger.

If it is said that Ajax's speed was uncontrolled in the year when Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, then with Arteta's subsequent joining, Ajax's controlled fast pace His aggressive style of play made everyone's eyes shine.

Ye Qiu now feels more and more that the so-called total attack and total defense is the combination of offense and defense, and it is indistinguishable from each other.

Reporters have always liked Ye Qiu. On the one hand, it is because he is young, has a good image, and is loved by the fans. On the other hand, he seldom refuses to answer questions. Even if the question makes him feel embarrassed, he will at least answer it. It is difficult for the head coach to give an appropriate response.

At the end of this press conference at Highbury Stadium, a reporter from Spain asked Ye Qiu an embarrassing question, which was related to Barcelona.

"Mr. Ye Qiu, I am a reporter from El Pais. I would like to ask, what do you think of Rijkaard's Barcelona team? Although the schedule has just begun, many Barcelona fans have begun to believe in Crewe As for Yves, it is a fatal mistake that Barcelona failed to invite you to the Nou Camp, what do you personally think?"

Ye Qiu was a little embarrassed about this question, because it was related to his entanglement with Barcelona in the summer.

"I respect Barcelona and Rijkaard very much. We had very good contacts and exchanges at Ajax. I think he is a very good coach, but he has encountered some problems now. As a century-old club, Barcelona must have a solution to the crisis."

"I don't feel at all that Barcelona made a mistake about me, because for a big team like Barcelona, ​​the most important thing is the team itself, not anyone!"

Ye Qiu's answer gave Barcelona and Rijkaard enough respect. It was difficult for anyone to pick faults from his words, even those reporters who wanted to criticize.

But I have to admit that Rijkaard's record in Barcelona is indeed quite bad. He has lost 4 consecutive home games, failed to score 4 goal in 1 consecutive games, and scored 7 goals in 3 league games. Such a result can really be said It's bad, worse than anyone has ever coached in the past.

The Spanish media generally boils down to two problems with Barcelona. One is the lack of a big picture, and the game has no direction and strategy. Everything was out of order, and everything seemed chaotic.

It should be said that before Barcelona, ​​Rijkaard had never won respect in coaching, especially in terms of tactical quality.

In his previous life, Rijkaard had Ten Cate, but his performance was still extremely bad. Now without Ten Cate, his performance is even worse, but what is even worse is that in his previous life, he could introduce a team after the winter break. The whole operation of the team is more smooth Edgar? Davis, now?
Ye Qiu even made an embarrassing discovery that Harvey was not liked by Rijkaard at the beginning of the season and became a substitute for Herald and Motta, but Barcelona needs Harvey's overall view and strength An excellent midfielder.

Of course, Ye Qiu couldn't say anything about his own discoveries, he could only choose to remain silent and rot in his stomach.

After all, no one likes to be told what to do with their team, right?

…………

…………

The reason why Ye Qiu didn't play Ronaldinho in the match against Arsenal was because he ushered in Mancini's Lazio three days later. This match was crucial for Chelsea's Champions League group stage .

The difference between the first group and the second group is obvious, especially the knockout round of 16 is in February. For the Premier League without a winter break, it is really not a good thing if you encounter too strong opponents in February.

Therefore, Ye Qiu's goal in the UEFA Champions League group stage is to be the first in the group, so Lazio must be pressed.

Mancini insisted on the rotation system in Lazio. In this game, he changed 7 players in one go, but relatively speaking, Ye Qiu appeared more stable, even conservative.

Goalkeeper Van der Sar, defense Gallas, Cannavaro, Terry and Sun Jihai, midfielder Scott Parker, Makelele and Deco, Ronaldinho and Lampard in Germany Behind Luoba formed a trident.

Ye Qiu replaced three players, and the overall structure of the team remained unchanged.

It's hard to say whether to change or not, because at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had the advantage throughout the first half, but they couldn't break through Lazio's goal. The performance of the players was generally sluggish, even if Lazio played It was very embarrassing, but the attack lost its threat.

The most threatening one is Ronaldinho, but after several stunning individual performances in the opening game, the Brazilian was also heavily marked by the opponent. Favalli, Mikhailovich, Stam and Odo The strength of the formed defense line is still very good. Coupled with the combination of Fiore, Stankovic, Albertini and Conceicao in front, Lazio's strength is not bad.

One of the most important reasons for Ye Qiu's tinkering is that the team has just been reorganized. Now is the time for the players to cultivate a tacit understanding. Too many changes in the lineup will easily cause the players to be at a loss. There are some changes, but not much, to ensure the stability of the team's combat effectiveness.

But in this game at Stamford Bridge, the result of 0:0 in the first half made him feel that a big change must be made.

In the 65th minute of the second half, seeing that the situation still showed no sign of improvement, Ye Qiu finally made a move, replacing Scott Parker with Joe Cole. The midfielder made extensive adjustments, especially Joe Cole, Ye Qiu Qiu pressed his seat forward.

As soon as the latter came on the field, Chelsea's midfield creativity was immediately liberated.

Joe Cole has nothing to say about his skills. With Deco and Ronaldinho, he has formed Chelsea's midfield possession iron triangle. The support and cooperation between the Englishman and Deco in the midfield completely liberated Ronaldinho. Aldinho's offensive power in the frontcourt.

In the 67th minute, Joe Cole played a big ball in the midfield as soon as he came on the field. After shaking off Albertini, he passed it to Ronaldinho who was pulled between Odo and Stam. After getting the ball, the Brazilian quickly made a breakthrough and entered Lazio's penalty area. Under the double-teaming of the two, he still used his personal skills to pass the ball to Lampard's feet.

Lampard stepped in and volleyed directly. Peruzzi reacted very quickly and saved the ball, but Ronaldinho got the ball and shook Stam away, and hit a low shot, 1:0!

This goal completely sounded the clarion call of Chelsea's offense, especially after Joe Cole played, Chelsea's entire offense became more creative and more penetrating.

In the 81st minute, Joe Cole, Ronaldinho, Deco, Drogba and others continued to cooperate and infiltrate. In the end, Lampard volleyed with his right foot from the edge of the penalty area and scored for Chelsea. Expand, 2:0!

The two goals completely extinguished Lazio's confidence in the counterattack and made Mancini extremely disappointed, but the Italian team finally failed to make a difference at Stamford Bridge and left with a 0:2 defeat.

At the post-match press conference, Ye Qiu spoke highly of the players' performance, especially the team's fighting spirit until the end. The result of concerted efforts.

"I have always felt that the best team should be: the tactics of the Italians, the technology of the Spaniards, the overall execution of the Germans and the fighting will of the English. This is the perfect team in my mind, and I also I have always hoped that Chelsea can become such a team."

"There is no doubt that in this game, Joe Cole, Lampard, Terry and several other Englishmen performed very well. Their fighting spirit infected everyone. This is the key to our final win. Factors, I hope the players can continue to maintain this kind of play and performance, then we will become stronger and stronger!"

It wasn't just that Ye Qiu spoke highly of the team. In the special report of the British Times, he highlighted two key factors for Chelsea to win Lazio. One was that Ye Qiu replaced Joe Cole at a critical moment, completely liberating the ball. The creativity of the team, and the other is the bulldog spirit of the Chelsea players.

The Bulldog is the national dog of Great Britain, representing tenacity and bravery.

In this game, it was precisely the fighting spirit shown by the English that infected others, and the Times also focused on Ye Qiu's use of Lampard and Terry, thinking that after Lampard was moved forward, There are more and more goals, but his contribution is not only goals, but also return defense and active frontcourt pressure coverage, which makes him play better and better this season.

As the captain of the team, Terry took over Desailly's armband and partnered with Cannavaro, but his performance did not lose to Cannavaro at all. According to OPTA data, Terry's scrambling high ball this season The success rate and the success rate of one-on-one defense are both ranked first in the Premier League, and even ranked in the top three in Europe. It can be seen that the performance of this team captain is worthy of recognition.

With these two Englishmen as the front and back court skeletons, plus Drogba, Ronaldinho, Makelele and Van der Sar formed the central axis of the team, plus Davis, Parker, Goode Johnson and other players with tenacious fighting spirit and strong tactical execution, Chelsea were hailed by The Times as the team with the most bulldog spirit in the Premier League.

In the words of Martin Samuel, Chelsea are hideously ugly!
(End of this chapter)