Chapter 165: Competition between nations

"De Jong successfully intercepted the ball and handed it to Sneijder."

"Sneijder faced Cocu and passed back to Arteta."

"The Spaniard stopped the ball and suddenly made a long pass."

"Ibrahimovic, Ibrahimovic, lean against De Boer with your body..."

"Beautiful, the Swede has a very beautiful kick, and at the same time he is very imaginative in passing the ball."

"Goalkeeper Bonanno strikes..."

"Oops, I made a mistake and Ibrahimovic shot!"

"The ball went in!!!!!!"

"In the 31st minute, when Ajax was 15 minutes behind, Ibrahimovic was very imaginative and very creative with a long pass from the newly joined Arteta. A beautiful pass passed Barcelona’s center back De Boer, creating a one-on-one shot.”

"The Dutch goalkeeper Bonanno made a mistake in his judgment. He wanted to attack, but halfway through the attack, he found that he could not catch up with Ibrahimovic and suddenly retreated. The Swede did not miss such a gift. Good opportunity, he shot hard and the ball hit the net, 1:1!”

"A very beautiful goal. Arteta's long pass was very comfortable. In the one-on-one contest with De Boer, Ibrahimovic relied on his height and strength to win. He suppressed the Dutch defender, and his imaginative and delicate pass was truly impressive.”

The moment Ibrahimovic scored, the entire Arena Stadium burst into overwhelming cheers, which could not subside for a long time. All Ajax fans were cheering for Ibrahimovic. Congratulations on Qi's goal.

The Swede also seemed very excited. After two seasons of training and improvement, he felt that his strength had improved by leaps and bounds. Now he felt that he was able to deal with top players like De Boer with ease, and in his Behind him, there is a group of outstanding teammates who are constantly delivering cannonballs to him, which makes him more confident.

Just 3 minutes later, Robben sped up at high speed on the left wing and suddenly stopped and changed direction. The right center back Puyol couldn't control himself and slipped on the grass, while Robben watched helplessly. Passed to Ibrahimovic who came in the middle.

The Swede seemed confident. He suddenly took a thunderous long shot when he was still 30 meters away from the goal.

Bonanno flew up and made a save, but in the end there was no way to prevent the ball from entering the net, 2:1!

After scoring two very exciting shots in a row, Ibrahimovic showed his hot scoring status, and Ajax also began to make full use of its wing advantages to suppress Barcelona.

Van Gaal's attitude is actually to use offense to suppress the opponent, but Ye Qiu has made it clear now that I will let you attack, but when counterattacking, I will play on the wing. You don't have to defend, but my wing players can definitely destroy them with their personal strength. Your entire line of defense.

In the 42nd minute, Robben passed the ball from the left again. Ibrahimovic and De Boer competed for the top. The ball fell to the back point. Van der Vaart followed up and hit a curve ball with his right foot. Hanging on the left side of the goal, 3:1!

Offense and defense in football matches are like two ends of a scale. If you want to strengthen defense, you have to sacrifice some offense, and if you want to strengthen offense, you have to sacrifice some defense. And all head coaches hope to be able to improve offense. While striking a balance between defense and defense, it also maximizes the team's offensive and defensive strength.

All great teams strike a balance between offense and defense, and they all display the most powerful offense and the most unbreakable defense.

Van Gaal's tactics may seem unexpected, but in fact it is difficult to conceal the overflowing idealism behind them.

Because judging from the current strength of Barcelona's entire team, if the offense can be used to firmly suppress the opponent, Van Gaal's tactics can indeed produce a very beautiful offense and score many goals, but the question is, who Can you guarantee that you can suppress your opponent for 90 minutes in every game?

Once Barcelona is unable to use offense to suppress its opponents, the ensuing defensive problems will be very obvious.

The three defenders all lack height, and the three-back defensive system has a natural flaw in protecting the wing. Even if Van Gaal uses double midfielders to fill this flaw, the effect is never good. This is why more and more players People think that the main reason why the three defenders are gradually withdrawing from European football.

When Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2000, they actually played three defenders. However, it should be noted that Roberto Carlos and Salgado were actually in basically the same position as midfielder Redondo. Therefore, in all From a human perspective, it is more like a five-back than a three-back.

The same style of play is the three-back system used by Capello in Roma, which also relies on the characteristics of Cafu and Candela in the offensive full-back position, able to attack when advancing, and defensive when retreating.

But now Van Gaal directly puts Seydu Keita and Mendieta in the wide midfielder position, and has Riquelme and Saviola pull to the wing to support them. This in itself is more like fighting for their lives in the attack. , not paying attention to defense at all.

After the game, Saviola publicly stated in an interview with the media that he did not understand Van Gaal's tactics, "His requests to me were very strange. When the opponent had the ball, he asked me to back up. Withdrawing and participating in the ball, this keeps me away from the opponent's penalty area and looks more like a midfielder."

The team's main midfielder Cocu also said after the game that the main reason why Ajax was able to score 4 goals and win 4:1 was that the team did not do enough on the wing.

"They were faster in passing the ball. We worked hard, but we could not catch up with their rhythm and pace. Sneijder and Arteta were both very good at passing the ball, which allowed them to maximize their offensive capabilities on the two wing during a quick counterattack, leaving us no time to defend."

No matter how fast a person runs, he will never be faster than the ball. In addition, there are large gaps on the wing, so it is naturally even harder to catch up.

However, Van Gaal said after the game that the team's tactics are still being brewed and adjusted. The lesson of the disastrous defeat at the Arena Stadium has helped him, but it will not change his belief in continuing to adjust and innovate the team's entire tactical system.

In this game, Mikel Arteta, the midfielder introduced by Ajax from Barcelona, ​​performed very well. He was present and dispatched in almost every attack of Ajax. If it was normal, he might be underestimated, but this game was also the first time he faced Barcelona, ​​his old club, after joining Ajax, so it naturally attracted much attention.

When many media in Catalonia scored, Seydou Keita scored the highest in Barcelona, ​​but he was evaluated as hardworking and diligent. He planned the only goal, and his contribution on the defensive end was obvious. He returned to the penalty area many times to participate in the defense, and Van der Vaart was blocked by him and did not perform well.

Arteta's score was higher than Riquelme. Many media in Catalonia expressed their wonder, why this outstanding Spanish midfielder was easily given to Ajax as a bonus by Barcelona?

Ye Qiu was also very satisfied with Arteta's performance. He believed that the Spaniard was quickly integrating into the team. He firmly believed that Ajax's midfield operation would get better and better.

"Mikel is the kind of player whose role you can hardly understand, but once you lose him, you will understand his value. His arrival is an important part of balancing the team's midfield and improving the team's control, and his partnership with Sneijder will also make us play more pleasing football!"

Facing the praise from head coach Ye Qiu, Arteta modestly said that he has fallen in love with this city and this team.

"When I first came here, I was a little resistant because I wanted to play for Barcelona, ​​but now, I am very satisfied and I have begun to like Ajax, because here, I have a group of outstanding teammates, they are all very, very good, and I have no doubt that we will surprise the whole of Europe."

…………

…………

If Ajax's 4:1 victory over Van Gaal's Barcelona in the first game surprised the whole world, then in the second Amsterdam Cup match against Manchester United, Ajax once again defeated the Premier League powerhouse 3:1, which makes people have to admire Ajax's offensive power.

Despite the advantage of being the home team, despite Ferdinand having just joined Manchester United and not cooperating well with his teammates on the back line, and despite Manchester United being able to find many reasons to explain their defeat, Ferguson gave Ajax a very high evaluation after the game.

"I think Ferdinand's performance is normal. He and his teammates have cooperated with the national team before, so he doesn't need to adapt. Moreover, he did a good job in this game. Facing Ajax, a team that has always been known for its offense, I think he did a very good job and showed his strength."

"The main reason for the loss of this game is that our midfield operation is not flexible. Relatively speaking, Ajax's midfield is doing very well. Arteta and Sneijder have a very good understanding and are very skilled in passing the ball back and forth, while Veron and Keane are not good enough in this regard."

"Many people think that Ajax will be greatly weakened after losing two core midfielders this season, but from this game, I think this problem does not exist. Ye Qiu has made up for the shortcomings left by Gilberto Silva and Seydou Keita. This is a very strong team!"

Ferguson's words revealed some other meanings, that is, the compatibility problem between Keane and Veron.

It can be said that everyone knows that since Veron joined Manchester United, there has been a serious problem of ball possession between him and Keane in the midfield, but no one has enough courage to take down Keane or weaken Keane's authority in the team.

Even Ferguson, who hopes that the team's overall tactics will gradually move closer to the continental style, has no courage, because to some extent, Keane is the mainstay of Manchester United's midfield.

Therefore, Ferguson has always hoped to adjust the team's tactical style by changing Veron and letting the Argentine accommodate Keane. In this game, he took down Scholes and let Veron and Keane partner as central midfielders, but the effect was still very bad.

In the end, it's still two words, trade-offs!

Ajax defeated Barcelona 4:1 and Manchester United 3:1. They performed very well in the Amsterdam Cup, winning two consecutive victories and firmly occupying the championship throne, while Lippi's Juventus took second place, Ferguson's Manchester United ranked third, and Barcelona ranked last in points, with a sluggish performance.

After this game, Ajax played a warm-up match with Lippi's Juventus.

Because De Jong performed well in the Amsterdam Cup, he gradually secured the position of the team's main defensive midfielder, and the newly joined Mascherano became De Jong's substitute.

In the match against Juventus, Ye Qiu gave Mascherano full opportunities, hoping to better observe this Argentine defensive midfielder, but he did not expect that in the 71st minute, when the team was already leading 1:0, Mascherano was injured in the leg during a fight with Davis and left the field early.

Although Ajax and Juventus scored goals one after another, and Ajax defeated Juventus 2:1, Mascherano was diagnosed with a leg muscle strain by the team doctor after the game and would be absent for at least one month.

Ye Qiu was very concerned about Mascherano's injury. He knew very well that the young Argentine player was experiencing a transition from Argentina to the Netherlands, not only in the football environment, but also in the living environment, so the team needed to give more care.

However, the outside world did not pay any attention to Mascherano's absence. Almost the entire Netherlands paid attention to the upcoming Cruyff Cup. They were all looking forward to the direct dialogue between Eindhoven, led by the famous coach Hiddink, and Ye Qiu's Ajax, especially when Ajax has recently shown excellent competitive form.

In an interview, Hiddink said that he did not attach importance to the Cruyff Cup, thinking that it was just a warm-up match and would not affect the team's pre-season preparations, but on the other hand, he said that the team was very confident of defeating the opponent at the Arena Stadium.

Although Ajax performed well in the warm-up matches, especially in the Amsterdam Cup, where they beat top teams such as Barcelona, ​​Manchester United and Juventus to win the championship, showing an excellent state, Eindhoven's performance in the warm-up matches was not inferior at all, maintaining an unbeaten record in the warm-up matches.

Moreover, Hiddink is currently riding on the craze brought by the World Cup, and his status in PSV and Dutch football, which makes many media believe that this game will be the starting point for PSV to counterattack Ajax.

Interestingly, before this cup match, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung visited Europe and the Netherlands. In his entire schedule, he went to Amsterdam to meet with Hiddink and PSV players, and watched the game live at the Arena Stadium.

Kim Dae-jung expressed his confidence in Hiddink when he was interviewed by the media.

"He is our hero and the person I respect and love the most. I have learned a lot from him. He is the kind of person who can always create miracles for you. He is worth learning from everyone. I firmly believe that he can continue to succeed and keep succeeding."

In Amsterdam, some media asked about Ajax coached by Chinese people. Kim Dae-jung made a joke, thinking that this was a contest between Ye Qiu, who represented China, and Hiddink, who represented South Korea.

Although it was just a joke, it caused quite a stir. After all, Hiddink is now in the limelight in South Korea and is regarded as a pride by Korean fans. Ye Qiu is also regarded as a hero in his own country and is admired by countless fans.

Moreover, although South Korea was controversial in the Korea-Japan World Cup, it reached the semi-finals and created a new peak for Asian teams. The strength it showed was also impressive. On the other hand, the performance of the Chinese national football team was disappointing. In this case, Korean fans naturally looked down on Chinese fans and even despised them.

In China, with the surging public sentiment, there was indeed a need for an outlet. Therefore, this Cruyff Cup match in the Netherlands, Europe, seemed to be just a warm-up match, but no one expected that it would cause a huge fan response in East Asia, especially after Kim Dae-jung's joke, it was directly elevated to the level of a contest between countries.

Before the game, countless media and reporters from East Asia gathered in Amsterdam. Some of them were from China, some from South Korea, and even from Japan, just to be able to see this game.

After all, the Cruyff Cup is only a Dutch Super Cup game, with limited influence, and the live broadcast is limited to the Netherlands, so many reporters and media want to know the situation first, so they must come to the Netherlands, or even watch the game on site.

Perhaps it was because of the call from domestic fans that CCTV also specially arranged a group of people to come to Amsterdam, led by Ye Qiu's old friend Chen Jun, who will broadcast the Cruyff Cup game live to the country.

Regarding the emotions and reactions from domestic fans conveyed by Chen Jun, Ye Qiu smiled bitterly, because he was facing Hiddink this time, but before the game, when he was interviewed by Chen Jun, Ye Qiu still expressed his confidence in winning this game.

"This is the most important game before the season for the team. All of us will do our best to win the game, and I have no doubt that it will be our Ajax who will laugh last at the Arena Stadium!"

But Hiddink also expressed his confidence when he was interviewed by Korean media.

"I can't reveal what kind of lineup and tactics we will adopt for the time being, but I can be sure that although this game is difficult, it will be PSV Eindhoven who will win in the end. Not just this game, but the team that will win the championship in the end of the entire season will be us, PSV Eindhoven."

Obviously, at this critical moment, no one wants to say discouraging words, and everyone must show stronger confidence than the opponent in order to lead their players and defeat the opponent on the court.