Chapter 116 A good start

Ajax's first warm-up match was across the English Channel to England to challenge Ipswich Town.

In the past few years, dark horses have appeared in almost every season of the Premier League. For example, Ipswich Town last season. As a newly promoted team, this team reached fifth place in the Premier League standings in one go, directly knocking them down. Strong Premier League teams such as Chelsea, Southampton, and Newcastle were under pressure.

After their outstanding performance last season, Ipswich are ambitious this season and want to continue to make a difference in the Premier League. However, as a small team that has just arrived, they have not been in the transfer market. Regardless of any big moves, the team basically maintains the lineup from last season.

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

For this game, Ye Qiu put together a lineup that had performed well in the two weeks of training. The goalkeeper was Edwin van der Sar, and the defense was Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon. The midfielder was injured because Keita was injured. But the combination of Yaya Toure, Gilberto Silva and Sneijder, the front trident is Robben, Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart.

Ye Qiu's focus in this game was on the team's training results, so he did not give the team any instructions to win or to win well. He just hoped that the players could show the results of the training.

What I didn't expect was that the team's fierce competition made everyone in Ajax hold their breath and want to show their strength in front of the head coach. After the start, this group of Ajax players were like wolves. The Tigers rushed forward and beat Ipswich violently, which puzzled the fans at Portman Road.

You know, last season's Portman Road Stadium was the most terrifying home stadium in the Premier League. Teams such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea failed to take even a slight advantage from this stadium. Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Manchester City even failed here, and Tottenham Hotspur lost 0:3.

This surprised the fans at Portman Road and also brought them a bit of schadenfreude.

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

What was unexpected was that less than 5 minutes after the game started, Ajax took the lead in breaking through Ipswich's goal. This was a long pass from Kiev's backcourt, which accurately found the left Robben quickly broke through with the ball and passed the ball diagonally to the right side of the goal. Van der Vaart stepped in and hit the goal, 1:0!

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

It’s really unbearable for my uncle, but intolerable for my aunt!

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

There was a very interesting scene that made Ye Qiu very satisfied, that is, Van der Sar took the initiative to walk out of the small penalty area, reached for the ball, then moved forward with the ball, and kept communicating with his teammates. His words were nothing more than asking for the ball. Stabilize the situation first and ensure that the lead is maximized.

Then, although Ipswich forward Stewart pressed Van der Sar, the latter passed a short pass to Kivu, who then passed to Lucio. After the Brazilian found a loophole to get the ball, he dribbled the ball forward quickly. , causing Ipswich's overall defensive posture to retreat quickly, and was almost caught off guard by Ajax again.

Before the game, Ipswich still had the spirit of being ranked fifth in the Premier League. However, after being worn down by Ajax for a while, they gradually lost this spirit and turned to Ajax, which is more powerful. Control 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 once again broke through Ipswich's goal. Substitute winger Van der Meyde made a pass from the right into the penalty area. Huntelaar, who replaced Ibrahimovic, shot in front of the goal and once again broke Ipswich's goal, 2:0.

This goal also became the last goal in this warm-up match. After that, neither Ipswich nor Ajax scored again.

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

"There is a saying in our Chinese proverb: If you don't kill the snake, it will bite you to death. It means that if you don't kill the snake, it will bite you to death. The same is true in football matches. You can't If you feel any slack, you must suppress your opponents at all times and patiently look for opportunities. Once you find an opportunity, don't be merciful and kill them with lightning speed! "

"For us, the best opponent is always the opponent who dies the most miserably!"

Ye Qiu is taking advantage of the opportunity to constantly instill his own football philosophy into the players, which is to attack, keep attacking!

After returning to Amsterdam, Ajax conducted another week of training, and then ushered in the two-day Amsterdam Cup. This is also a cup that Ye Qiu attaches great importance to before the season.

Unlike last year's Amsterdam Cup, where Ajax was coldly received by local fans, this season's Ajax has become the darling of Amsterdam fans with its outstanding performance last season. Tickets for the two games in the Amsterdam Cup where Ajax played were sold out, and even the warm-up match between Ajax and Valencia after the cup was also sold out.

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

The Rossoneri did not perform well last season, but this season they showed strong ambitions. First, they introduced Inzaghi from Juventus, and then introduced the Portuguese genius Rui Costa from Florence at a high price, showing Terim's ambition to transform the team.

At this moment, Pirlo had just transferred from his arch-rival Inter Milan, and Albertini lost his main player due to too many injuries. AC Milan's midfield was dominated by Rui Costa and Serginho.

In this game, Terim's tactical lineup is 4312, with Abbiati as the goalkeeper, Coco, Maldini, Kaladze and Contra as the back line from left to right, Serginho, Donati and Gattuso as the midfielders, Rui Costa as the attacking midfielder, and Shevchenko and Inzaghi as the double strikers.

Donati transferred from Atalanta this season, and Terim arranged him to start, obviously to test this player.

Ye Qiu's starting lineup for this game is still 433, with Van der Sar as the goalkeeper, Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon as the back line, and Keita, Gilberto Silva and Sneijder as the three midfielders, among which Keita and Gilberto Silva are in the back, Sneijder is in the front, and the trident is Robben, 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. He has little defensive ability and is best at offense.

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

Whether it is Shevchenko or Inzaghi, they are very good at scoring goals, but they still need someone to feed them the ball behind them. Trim thinks that Rui Costa will be the most suitable candidate, and even the whole world thinks that this iron triangle will be the strongest trident in Serie A this season.

And Ye Qiu's tactics are to use his characteristics of double defensive midfielders to suppress traditional front midfielders, so that Rui Costa cannot control and take the ball at will in his most comfortable position, thereby destroying AC Milan's offense and rhythm.

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

Therefore, from the beginning, Ajax did not focus on competing with AC Milan for ball possession, gave up some ball possession time, but emphasized fast pace and offensive impact, which made AC Milan seem to have a lot of ball possession, but it was difficult to move forward in front of the penalty area, and it was always unable to find an effective opportunity to convert ball possession into a goal.

Moreover, AC Milan's players had not trained for a long time and lacked physical fitness. In addition, several core players were newly joined, and they seemed a little unfamiliar in cooperation, which led to several mistakes in the team, especially the cooperation between Maldini and Kaladze, which gave Ajax two shooting opportunities in just 5 minutes.

But this group of kids missed the opportunity in front of the more experienced and mature AC Milan players.

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

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

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

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

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

Ye Qiu's call gave Ajax players confidence. They began to compete with AC Milan for the control of the rhythm according to the requirements of the head coach. They used high defense, high pressure and crazy pressing to force AC Milan to speed up the pace.

In the 37th minute, Ajax had an opportunity on the left. Robben lost his position after Contra's scramble. After getting the ball, he quickly rushed to the AC Milan defense line, and calmly passed the ball to the ribs in the left side of the penalty area.

Maldini tried to intercept in a hurry, but accidentally missed the ball due to the interference of Ibrahimovic. After the Swede got the ball, he dribbled out of the siege flexibly under the double-team of Maldini and Kaladze, and shot from a small angle in the penalty area, equalizing the score for Ajax, 1:1!

This goal completely sounded the horn of Ajax's counterattack. In the remaining time, Ajax completely suppressed AC Milan, especially at halftime. Ye Qiu decisively adjusted the tactics according to AC Milan's tactical characteristics, giving Robben more opportunities to play and let him make one-on-one breakthroughs.

Ye Qiu's adjustment caused great trouble to AC Milan's defense in the second half.

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

After reversing their opponent, Ajax had no intention of maintaining the status quo. Ye Qiu also kept calling on the players on the sidelines to continue to maintain offensive pressure. At the same time, he also began to actively make substitution adjustments.

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

In the end, with the goals of 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. A good start.

"I am very satisfied with the team's performance, but I think winning this game does not mean anything. We are more prepared than AC Milan, and our main lineup is not much better than last season. Big adjustments, which make our players work better together on the court.”

"AC Milan changed some players, which made their coordination even more unfamiliar. Shevchenko and Inzaghi missed at least 8 scoring opportunities in the game. This also reminded us that We won because our opponents were in poor condition.”

"We still have many problems, especially when we face the top European teams, our shortcomings will be more obvious. My players and I have been mentally prepared, because we all know, Exposing problems is the beginning of progress for our team."

Ye Qiu also said that he was satisfied with the results of the team's pre-season preparations.

"We have been in a closed training camp for the past three weeks, which must have caused a lot of trouble to 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 in the new season will be stronger and more competitive than at any time in the past few years!”

Ye Qiu's words were affirmed by AC Milan head coach Terim. He believed that Ajax suppressed AC Milan well tactically, and Ajax's players did not look like some young players at all. Players, "They have a group of outstanding talented players. As time goes by, they will let the entire Europe see their strength!"

Of course, everyone’s understanding of this is to be polite!

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

After playing AC Milan, Ajax took a two-day break and welcomed Arsenal.

Perhaps because it was a warm-up match, both Wenger and Ye Qiu played offensive football without reservation, and Arsenal and Ajax's mutual offense and defense on the wings became a The most eye-catching highlight of the game, this gave all the fans at Arenal Stadium a joyful goal feast.

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

From the perspective of the scene and offense, both sides performed very well in this game, but from a tactical perspective, both Ye Qiu and Wenger obviously encountered difficulties, and could even be said to be frustrated, because neither of them had Very good at limiting opponents.

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

Arsenal defeated 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, exposing AC Milan again. The biggest problem is that the La Liga team only finished third. The poor Rossoneri lost two games and ranked at the bottom.

Ajax won the Amsterdam Cup. Although this made all Ajax fans happy, it also exposed many problems in the team, especially immediately afterwards, Ajax faced Valencia. In this warm-up match in West Asia, the fighting between Ye Qiu and Benitez ended in a 1:1 draw, proving that the team still has many problems.

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

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

In the past, Grimm hardly commanded the defense, which made the defense feel like it was operating independently. The players have also adapted to this style of play, but now Ye Qiu wants to integrate the defense and the goalkeeper and let Van der Sar come in. Directing the defense and maintaining contact with the defenders at all times leaves the defenders somewhat at a loss.

But from the training camp for a few weeks and the performance in several warm-up matches, Van der Sar's joining has greatly improved Ajax's overall defense, especially in commanding the defense and communicating with the defenders. As long as the running-in is good, Ajax's defense will become a solid block and will be qualitatively improved.

But there are also many problems, mainly in terms of response and cooperation, which seem very unfamiliar, and the players in the back line are too young, which also exposed some problems, especially when facing the impact of top forwards such as Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Bergkamp and Henry, the young and inexperienced defenders are undoubtedly very passive.

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

After a series of warm-up matches, Ajax got off to a good start in the season, and Ye Qiu received another good news.