Chapter 103 Barcelona's fatal flaw

At the end of the player tunnel, the visiting team's locker room is bright and the lights are very white. The entire locker room looks as if it is directly exposed to the sun, giving people a very comfortable feeling.

But at this moment, the Ajax players sitting in the locker room were all looking at the coach with solemn faces.

Ye Qiu got Barcelona's starting lineup. He believed that Barcelona's Ferrer also got Ajax's starting lineup. They must also be making targeted arrangements and mobilizing for the last time before the game.

Ye Qiu was not surprised by Barcelona's starting lineup. Except for right back Ferrer choosing Puyol instead of Gabri, the other positions did not surprise him, because this is Barcelona's main lineup this season.

All the Ajax players present have heard of Barcelona. Many of them even grew up watching that group of Barcelona players, such as Guardiola, Luis Enrique, etc. Others, such as Rivaldo, are among the top superstars in the world.

Ferrer replaced Van Gaal this season, and Rivaldo finally got rid of the wing during the Van Gaal period and returned to his favorite center. He cruised behind Kluivert, with the Dutch forward attacking in front. , he can more easily fish in troubled waters behind him, but Rivaldo's performance was not outstanding.

He still needed time to adjust and adapt, and when he returned to the middle, he found that it was not as good as he had imagined.

“The opponent is Barcelona, ​​a La Liga giant. Whether it’s in terms of status, star strength, or every aspect of the club, they are better than us. I don’t deny this, and I’m even a little excited about it! "

Ye Qiu laughed. In the eyes of all the players, he slowly walked down the coaching bench and left the scope of the tactical board. At this time, everyone knew that Ye Qiu had finished the tactical arrangement and was preparing for the pre-game. Final mobilization.

"I think the most exciting thing in life is to be able to do things that others can't do. I think that kind of life is called wonderful, meaningful and heroic. If you encounter a strong opponent, you will be able to do it." If you are timid if you admit defeat, you are a coward, and I always believe that there are only heroes in my team, not cowards!”

"Yes, everyone thinks Barcelona is stronger. We lost to them in the warm-up match before the season. I think it is normal for them to see it this way, but we ourselves cannot think that it is natural for us to lose just because others see it this way. Who stipulates that the stronger one will win? Who stipulates that if they beat us once, they can win the second one?”

"Who made the rules?" Ye Qiu asked the players seriously, but no one answered him.

"I've never been convinced by others. They say Barcelona is better than us. That's great. If you have the ability to beat me again, I think you are strong enough. But before you beat me, I will use all my strength." I will use all my strength to defeat you, because I also want to prove that you are strong, but I am stronger than you!”

Ye Qiu gritted his teeth and said word by word.

"Those are a group of paper tigers. If you think of them as unattainable strong men, then they are invincible. If you think of them as a group of softies who can be easily kneaded, then they are the mud under your feet. We lost before the season. Because we are not strong enough, but one year has passed, and we just want to use this game to prove our progress over the past year!”

Ye Qiu's words made all the players present feel their hearts skip a beat.

Yes, in the past year, their progress has been obvious to all, so they have defeated powerful opponents one after another, and eliminated the opponents who once humiliated and bullied Ajax one by one. Now , there is only one Barcelona left.

"I can even say something heart-to-heart to you. In my eyes, the real opponent of our team, the real stage, is not in the UEFA Cup, not Barcelona. Our stage is in the European Champions Cup. My The goal is to lead you to sweep the Eredivisie and the European Champions Cup. We are going to the European Champions Cup to challenge a group of opponents who are stronger and more powerful than Barcelona!"

"A year ago, who were you? Are you famous? What did people in the Netherlands think of our team at that time? They humiliated, belittled, and even laughed at us. Who had any hope for us at that time?"

Ye Qiu's question made many players present who had forgotten or were indifferent recall the experience a year ago. At that time, not only Ye Qiu, but also every one of their players. They have been questioned by fans and the media, because everyone who hears their name can't help but ask, who is this kid?

"But, everyone, today, one year later, everyone in our team is a well-known professional player in the Netherlands. We once almost kicked PSV off the championship throne. , we stand on the stage of the UEFA Cup final at the top of Europe, and we can shout proudly, we are Ajax!”

Everyone was ignited by Ye Qiu's words. It could be clearly seen that the players' breathing became rapid, and their eyes reflected passion and determination to kill the enemy.

"We will appear on the stage of the European Champions Cup next year. This final against Barcelona is just a preview. It is the first time for you and me, but I hope that we can join hands and use a wonderful game to win the championship. All fans around the world who follow the UEFA Cup clearly remember each of our names and the Ajax emblem on our chests!”

"At the same time, we also want to use this game to defeat the top European clubs to tell the group of European giants waiting for us in the European Champions Cup that the unstoppable Ajax team is back, and we will To return to the European Champions Cup, we not only want to regain our past glory, we also want to create higher glory!”

"Yes, create higher glory!"

"Beat Barcelona and return to the European Champions League!"

"Swear to kill Barcelona!"

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"Dear viewers, this is the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany, and it is also the venue for the UEFA Cup final!"

"We will live broadcast this heavyweight game for you here, second only to the European Champions League. The two teams against are from La Liga giants Barcelona and Dutch Eredivisie giants Ajax. Both teams have A European giant with a rich history and tradition, but recently due to the impact of the Bosman Act, Ajax's situation has declined in the past two years. "

"But this season, under the leadership of the 26-year-old Chinese head coach Ye Qiu, this Ajax team has set off a young storm in Europe, swept the UEFA Cup, and eliminated including Capet in one go. Ronaldo’s Roma, Houllier’s Liverpool and many other top teams have reached the finals.”

"Okay, amidst the cheers of more than 50,000 fans at the scene, we can see that the players of the two teams walked out of the stadium one after another. Today's referee is Pierluigi Colli, the referee from Italy. Na, this is a renowned international referee, I believe he should be able to control this game very well.”

As the two teams came on the field, lined up, played songs, drew lots, picked up sides, etc., a series of processes went down. Both sides spread out their formations in their respective halves, and you could clearly see the formations of the two teams.

"Both teams did not make many changes in this game. Barcelona still adopted the 4231 tactic they are accustomed to. Ferrer once used three defenders this season, but the effect was not ideal, and finally changed to the 4231 tactic. Barcelona’s results have also improved a lot.”

"Ajax adopted a 433 tactic under Ye Qiu's training this season, but what is different from the traditional Ajax 433 tactic is that Ye Qiu's tactic emphasizes high defense and strong pressure in the midfield and frontcourt. , many professionals believe that Ye Qiu’s tactics contain traces of Ajax’s traditional total attack and total defense, but also the philosophy of Sacchi, the famous Serie A coach. Therefore, many clubs are interested in this young coach. The coach was very interested."

As the referee Colina blew the whistle, Barcelona, ​​which took the lead in kicking off, saw forward Kluivert pass the ball to Rivaldo, who quickly knocked back and passed it to Melo who stayed behind. Deora.

There is news that Guardiola will leave Barcelona this summer because the new president Gaspart does not like him very much, but no matter what, he is still an indispensable and important part of the current Barcelona team.

On the contrary, Hérard, who performed very well in Valencia last season and was considered a rising star in the Spanish midfield and returned to Barcelona at a high price, is now completely disabled on the bench at the Camp Nou, especially when facing With the strong competition between hopeful stars de la Pena and Xavi, Herrard is no longer as prosperous as he was a year ago.

As soon as Ajax kicked off the ball in Barcelona, ​​the team immediately pressed hard, especially Ajax's midfield.

In the past, Ajax's midfielders were more in a triangle position, with Keita and Sneijder further forward and Gilberto Silva behind. But in this game, Sneijder rushed forward alone. At the front, he rushed directly towards Guardiola, while Keita's position was relatively deeper and closer to Gilberto Silva, who stood firmly in front of the two central defenders.

As soon as Sneijder approached Guardiola, the latter immediately passed the ball to Cocu. However, Sneijder did not respect the Dutch big brother at all and turned directly to approach Cocu. Cocu also noticed Ibrahimovic. Simovic was swimming between the two central defenders, so he didn't dare to take risks and just stepped forward.

Seeing Cocu's big feet, Sneijder slowed down, smiled, turned around and walked back, regaining his breath as he walked.

Taking advantage of the intervals during the game to rest and adjust was something that Ye Qiu emphasized the most on weekdays.

Cocu's long pass wanted to go to Kluivert, but Lucio headed the ball earlier to clear the ball. The ball still fell to Barcelona's feet, but Ajax was obviously strengthening the pressure and pressing in the midfield and frontcourt. , forcing Barcelona to pass the ball out quickly.

This time, Guardiola was looking for Overmars on the left.

A very important reason why Ye Qiu chose Maicon instead of Heitinga in this game is that Maicon is faster and more flexible, while Heitinga, although his defensive ability is excellent, is not good in terms of speed. Very disadvantaged.

Therefore, when Guardiola passed to Overmars, Maicon clung to Overmars, denying the Dutch winger a chance to get the ball comfortably, forcing the latter to pass the ball from the left in a hurry. The ball was also cleared out of the penalty area by Ajax center back Kifu.

After two passes, Cocu stopped the ball and dribbled forward. Seeing Rivaldo at the front of the penalty area raising his hand to request, Cocu immediately passed the ball to Rivaldo, because in Barcelona's tactics, Rivaldo at the front of the penalty area took the ball and used his strong personal ability to create threats, which is also an important means.

But it is obvious that Ajax was prepared. Keita came out from the side and poked the ball passed to Rivaldo. Gilberto Silva kicked forward.

The ball quickly flew over Barcelona's defense line. Whether it was Frank de Boer or Reiziger, they could not catch up with Robben in speed. Puyol even stepped forward to participate in the attack and lost his position.

But Gilberto Silva's long pass was finally confiscated by Reina because it was too close to the penalty area.

"Both sides played at a very fast tempo at the beginning of the game. Ajax was not as conservative as some people said. They still actively adopted the tactics of pressure and pressing in the middle and front court. However, since the beginning, Barcelona's offense has been more on the wing, but Ajax has also had targeted defense for this."

As Ye Qiu said before the game, there is a fatal flaw in Barcelona's 4231 tactics, that is, the personnel allocation problem in the front court center.

Whether it is 4231 or 433, the most important ability of a single striker is not scoring. Looking at all the single striker tactics, Real Madrid's 4231 this season, Bosque's trusted single striker is Raul, and Ajax's single striker is Ibrahimovic, not Huntelaar.

Because everyone knows that the real key to a single striker is whether he can form an efficient and precise overall cooperation with the offensive support of the second echelon behind him.

But in Barcelona's single striker, Kluivert is a center forward with strong scoring ability, but his tactical role in connecting with the surrounding is very inefficient, which will undoubtedly make Barcelona's 4231 look powerful, but the effect is slim.

There is another reason, also in the middle, that is Rivaldo.

In the case of Kluivert who has a strong scoring ability but is very dependent on his teammates' passes, Barcelona's front midfielder is Rivaldo. The Brazilian is best at not passing, nor organizing, nor retreating to connect the midfield, but looking for opportunities behind the striker.

Of course, he can also pass some good balls, but he is not the classic organizing front midfielder like Zidane, otherwise he would not have lost to Rui Costa in the competition after going to AC Milan, and he is not the modern front midfielder like Kaka, he is more like a pseudo striker, that is, nine and a half.

The two players in the middle, whether it is Kluivert or Rivaldo, are the kind of players who stand in front and wait for the pass and do not participate in defense. When encountering such a combination, Barcelona's offense can often only be completed from the wing, because whether it is Guardiola or Cocu, they lack the ability to carry the ball in the middle.

Therefore, Ye Qiu arranged a targeted defense specifically for this point in this game. The two wingers were responsible for strangling Luis Enrique and Overmars. In order to limit these two players, Ye Qiu even pulled Van der Meyde back and asked him to help Maicon appropriately to ensure the defense on the right.

At the same time, Sneijder moved forward and cruised around Guardiola who was lagging behind. He could not only play the role of entanglement, but also play the role of forward insertion and passing when switching from defense to offense. Keita was relatively backward, supporting Gilberto Silva and supervising Cocu.

In other words, Ye Qiu wanted to completely cut off the connection between Cocu and Guardiola and Rivaldo and Kluivert in front. In this way, Barcelona's central advancement encountered problems and the overall offense was difficult to fully launch.

Doing this is just the first step. Ye Qiu also asked the players to give Barcelona strong pressure and pressing after the start. The purpose of doing this is to gain the initiative of the game rhythm and control the rhythm. At the same time, it also forced Barcelona to not control the game by controlling the ball patiently as they usually do.

When Ajax players unswervingly implemented Ye Qiu's tactics from the beginning of the game, Barcelona found themselves in a big trouble.

The ball route was restricted, the middle road was blocked, Cocu and Guardiola were out of touch with the frontcourt, and Ajax's strong pressure and pressing forced them to pass the ball, and they could only pass it long.

But everyone knows that the success rate of long passes is too low, there are too many mistakes, and the ball is easily taken back by Ajax, so Ajax was seen to be advancing step by step, and the defense line was moving forward step by step, while Barcelona was retreating step by step after the opening, and had to shrink back in order to ensure ball control and passing.

Ferrer also realized the problem and immediately readjusted through Guardiola, letting Sergi and Puyol actively move forward to participate in the midfield support and increase the midfield connection points, but in this way, Barcelona's defense line exposed problems.

Puyol saw Cocu being entangled by Sneijder, rushed forward quickly, participated in the midfield support, and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

Cocu was being pressed by Sneijder and immediately passed the ball to Puyol. Robben followed and entangled Puyol, who kicked the ball diagonally to find Rivaldo.

Gilberto Silva poked the ball to Keita steadily in advance.

After receiving the ball in the midfield, Mari kicked it forward, chased it quickly, and passed it to Sneijder who was unmarked before Cocu. The latter passed the ball directly behind him, through the area between Puyol and Reiziger, which could not be called a loophole, but should be said to be completely disconnected, and went straight behind the Barcelona defense.

As the sharpest weapon of Ajax's counterattack, Robben showed his shocking explosive power in an instant!