Chapter 396: Key Substitution

John Obi Mikel, 19 years old, from Nigeria.

I still remember that when the media introduced this player, they once focused on the relationship between him and Ye Qiu, because when he was 17 and 18 years old, he played for Ajax Cape Town, a satellite club of Ajax in Cape Town, South Africa. It was during these two years that he completed the transformation and maturity of his football skills.

In the 2005 World Youth Championship, he was also the best player, second only to Messi, who currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur, and became the winner of the Bronze Ball Award of that World Youth Championship. At that time, he played as a front midfielder, and his style of play was a bit simple, tending to the classic front midfielder style. This was also the reason why Ajax was not very optimistic about him and let him leave.

After all, in the current football environment, the classical attacking midfielder has little room for survival. There is no attacking midfielder in the 433 tactics, and the attacking midfielder position in the 4231 tactics is also a modern scoring attacking midfielder who is inserted from behind. Even in La Liga, which advocates technology, there is no room for attacking midfielders now. Maybe there is still room in Brazil and some areas in South America.

Sometimes things are really hard to understand. Messi is the most valuable player in this World Youth Championship, but he is not liked by Mourinho. After shining in the World Youth Championship, he was put into the cold palace in the 05/06 season and did not get many performance opportunities. Ironically, not long after, Chelsea and Manchester United fought for Mikel.

After that, Mikel successfully joined Chelsea, but Messi wanted to leave the team, and was rejected by Barcelona. Finally, in the summer of 2006, he joined Tottenham Hotspur acquired by Ye Qiu and became famous in one fell swoop.

There are countless cases like Messi in big teams, just like Arbeloa, who is currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur. This Spanish star came from the youth training of Real Madrid and has been the captain of the second team since 2003. He performed very well, but he never got the opportunity and trust in the first team. Finally, he transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for 1.3 million euros this season and is now performing very well.

In fact, to a certain extent, there are many factors that affect the ultimate success of a professional player. On his development path, whether the head coach uses him properly, whether the club team's tactical style is suitable, the player's own personality and habits, and even injuries are important factors that affect the player's career.

In the history of football, outstanding rookies are not uncommon, but sometimes, they often disrupt their progress because of an injury in the rising stage, resulting in the failure to meet the expectations of the team and fans. It may also be that the head coach uses and trusts him, and the club's tactical style does not match him, etc.

For example, Raul Tamudo from Spain is a striker with real strength. He even has the ability to play for a top team and gain a foothold. However, he is not well-known. I believe that many fans may not even know him. However, his strength is not inferior to those first-class strikers who play for top teams. Of course, there is still a gap with top strikers such as Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo, but the gap is not very big.

The strength gap between professional players is not as big as fans imagine. Even the outstanding Ronaldinho is not sure that he can kill his opponent in a one-on-one situation, even if his opponent is from a low-level league.

The illusion that the players' performance on the field seems to be very different, as if they can beat the opponent anytime and anywhere, is actually a result of the overall strength of the team.

Football is a team sport. The strength of the team can sometimes be reflected in the overall situation. For example, you see some teams use their strength advantage to suppress another team and fight hard, creating a lot of opportunities, occupying an absolute advantage in the scene and situation. This is an overall advantage.

But sometimes he will also show a local advantage. For example, according to the tactical arrangement of the head coach, the focus is on a certain point, transferring all the advantages of the team to this point, and then using this point to attack the opponent.

Ye Qiu was deeply impressed by a Champions League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Inter Milan in the previous life. Gareth Bale completely defeated Maicon. In terms of strength alone, there is no need to compare Gareth Bale and Maicon. The latter has an advantage in both strength and experience. Gareth Bale is very fast, but his skills and ability to combine the ball are not strong. He is a typical British player, but why does he show such a strong strength advantage on the court?

It can even be said that Gareth Bale in that game completely established his status and influence that can be compared with top stars such as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. But in fact, it was not the players but the tactics that really played a decisive role in that game.

Assuming that the strength of two players is 100, the player with tactical advantage can get 50% tactical bonus, then his strength on the court is 150, while the player with tactical disadvantage is tactically restrained and can only play 50% of his strength, so his strength on the court is 50, so the difference is obvious.

But in fact, their strength is the same.

Perhaps someone will say, then why did those teams later introduce Gareth Bale and offer such a high price?

This is because the transfer price of a player is never determined by strength alone. Influence, commercial factors, the degree of demand of the team, and even the preference of the head coach and management are all important factors that affect the player's value.

Just like John Obi Mikel, his value is 16 million euros. He can never be so high, but it is so high because it involves many factors, such as the dispute between Chelsea and Manchester United.

After Mikel came to Chelsea, Mourinho did not arrange him to play as a front midfielder, but transferred him to the midfielder or even the back midfielder position. This also reflects the importance of the head coach to the player's career to some extent. If Mikel has made a name for himself in the back midfielder position, he will be fixed in the back midfielder position in the future.

As a player who was born as a front midfielder, Mikel was called the African Zidane during the World Youth Championship, which means that his style is very similar to Zidane, his body is stronger than his peers, his style of play is very elegant, and his speed and rhythm of playing are slow.

But sometimes you have to look at it this way. To say that his style of play is very elegant actually means that he likes to hold the ball, and he holds the ball slowly, and likes to drag his feet. But nowadays, football emphasizes one-touch passing, clean and neat, so where can you see elegance?

Of course, it must be said that even if the current mainstream is fast-paced and concise one-touch passing, it does not mean that there is no room for players with classic styles like Zidane and Mikel to play. Whether the technical and tactical characteristics of the players can be played depends not on the players themselves, but on the overall tactics of the team.

Riquelme spent his days in Barcelona like a year, but he was in his prime when he went to Villarreal. The reason is very simple. Villarreal gave him tactical space to play his characteristics.

In the second half of this game, I don't know whether Mourinho deliberately took Makelele off, or chose to let Mikel play because the French midfielder was not in good physical condition, but no matter what, when Chelsea started a fierce attack on Tottenham in the second half, their strong front-court muscular men launched a fierce attack on Tottenham's defensive system, Mikel's secret attack behind him was effective.

In the 49th minute, Chelsea continued the big pressure since the start of the second half. Mikel made a long pass from the middle to the left. Duff quickly shook off Alves and rushed forward along the left. After getting the ball, he made a cross from the bottom. Drogba headed the ball in the penalty area, but the ball was slightly high.

But this excellent counterattack played Chelsea's momentum. Immediately afterwards, Chelsea began to launch wave after wave of attacks on Tottenham's defense. Mikel was behind Ballack and Lampard to organize calmly, and his distribution of the ball was more to the two wings, using diagonal long passes and horizontal passes to the full-backs.

This should be a tactic deliberately arranged and adjusted by Mourinho during the halftime break. When Makelele was on the field, the French midfielder rarely played the diagonal long pass like Mikel to Duff.

In response to Chelsea's changes, Ye Qiu appropriately adjusted the team's defense and asked the two full-backs to start focusing on defense, but at the same time also asked the team to be cautious in the middle, because he knew very well that Duff and Alan Lennon might be able to create threats on the wing, but Drogba, Lampard and Ballack in the middle were the most threatening players.

When Chelsea's attack was wide, it was bound to pull Tottenham's defense apart. Once it was widened, the middle would naturally be thinned out, which was undoubtedly more suitable for Chelsea's midfield to insert, so Mascherano and Beckham almost blocked the front of the defense to protect.

Ye Qiu saw clearly that as long as they survived this wave of attack, Tottenham would be able to launch a powerful counterattack, and Chelsea's next wave of attack would definitely be reduced.

But when everyone in Tottenham focused on the wing and the two midfielders who inserted from behind, Mikel quietly ran to the front, received a pass from his teammate, and passed the ball through Tottenham's midfield, accurately landing at Drogba's feet.

Drogba leaned on Thiago Silva with his body, forcing the Brazilian central defender to be unable to interfere with his receiving the ball. Hangeland also realized the danger and approached immediately, but in this fleeting moment, Mikel's pass came to Drogba's feet, and the latter stopped the ball directly into Tottenham Hotspur's penalty area when he stopped the ball.

The next thing was very simple. Thiago Silva was suppressed by Drogba's body and could not move, and Hangeland's turning speed was slow and could not stop Drogba. In the end, the Ivorian stopped the ball and passed Thiago Silva. Suddenly, he accelerated and rushed forward between Thiago Silva and Hangeland.

Cech realized the danger and abandoned the goal immediately, but Drogba was obviously one step faster. He kicked before Cech, and the ball went straight into the bottom of the goal net from Cech's side, 1:1!

"Wow!!!!" Chelsea fans in the stands rushed out of their seats one by one.

"Didier Drogba scored!!!!"

"In the 53rd minute of the second half, Chelsea equalized the score. John Obi Mikel passed the ball straight to Drogba, who stopped the ball and forced a passage between the two central defenders of Tottenham Hotspur, creating a single shot and equalized the score for the team!"

But after scoring the goal, Drogba just turned around hastily and high-fived Lampard and other players who caught up with him. He didn't celebrate too much, but walked back with his head down. Only when he passed by Mikel, his African compatriot, did he give him a celebratory hug.

"From the slow-motion footage, we can see that Drogba is really very strong. Thiago Silva had almost no ability to resist under his suppression, and Hangeland didn't cooperate with Thiago Silva in the first time. The gap between the two was not obvious, but Drogba used his strong body to rush out a channel."

When the commentator saw the slow-motion replay, he was more amazed at Drogba's strength. Mikel's pass was not actually that good. He just wanted to pass the ball to Drogba's feet. The key was still on Drogba.

He suppressed Thiago Silva with his body, then stopped the ball and turned to break through. The whole process was done in one go. Without a strong body to support him and excellent explosive power, it would be almost impossible to do it.

This is Drogba, the beast Drogba!

Ye Qiu saw the team's defense being knocked open by Drogba on the sidelines. He couldn't give more expressions except a bitter smile, because he knew Drogba's strength very well. This player was a huge test for any central defender, and defending him was the most painful torture.

There was no way to blame anyone for this goal. It was a reflection of Drogba's personal ability. If Hangeland had been close to him at that time, Drogba would definitely pass the ball to Lampard, and the Blues' vice-captain would come in from behind and kick directly from the front of the penalty area, which was still a huge threat.

"Let Yaya warm up!" Ye Qiu turned around and said to Roland.

Chelsea is a fierce tiger. Tottenham is not yet ready to fight this tiger one-on-one, so they can only choose to avoid the edge temporarily. Ye Qiu also hopes that Chelsea can press forward, because if they press forward, Tottenham will have more space to counterattack.

"Don't worry, take your time, we still have time, stabilize our defense first, understand?" Ye Qiu walked to the sidelines and cheered for his players loudly.

Three minutes later, he replaced Fabregas with Yaya Toure. This time he directly adopted the three-back midfielder style. Mascherano, Hangeland and Thiago Silva were closer in position, with the purpose of blocking Drogba.

Ye Qiu's adjustment immediately stabilized the team's defense again, but also sacrificed the team's offense and ball control. Now the situation on the field has changed. Chelsea began to win the initiative and advantage on the field, and Tottenham turned into a defensive counterattack. The situation between the two sides has returned to the stalemate stage.

Ye Qiu stood on the sidelines, letting time pass by. He didn't seem to be panicked at all. Not only him, but all the coaching staff members of Tottenham Hotspur were also calm, because the initiative of the game was actually in the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, because Ye Qiu still had two substitutions.

Mourinho still had one quota, but he would not use it easily. He would definitely wait until the last stage of the game, but Tottenham Hotspur still had two, that is to say, Ye Qiu used one substitution to offset the effect of Chelsea's two substitutions.

It's not that Ye Qiu's substitutions were better than Mourinho's. Mourinho's substitutions were actually very targeted. The two substitutions plus the interruption of the halftime break completely reversed the situation, forcing Ye Qiu to replace Fabregas with Yaya Toure to stabilize the situation.

The main reason why Mourinho lost the initiative was that his starting tactics at the beginning were too conservative.

Of course, Ye Qiu has the initiative now, but it is also dangerous. If his substitutions cannot achieve the expected results, it is equivalent to losing his initiative in vain. This will not only fail to break the current deadlock, but may even affect the morale of the team.

The timing of substitutions is also very important, because once it enters the 80th minute, when there is not much time left in the game, Mourinho will definitely make substitutions after Tottenham Hotspur, striving to freeze the changes brought about by Tottenham Hotspur's substitutions.

So, when the time entered the 70th minute, Ye Qiu asked Van Persie to warm up on the sidelines. At the 73rd minute, he pulled him to his side and gave him a lecture. At the 75th minute, Van Persie replaced Van Nistelrooy, who was a little short of energy. This seemed to be a substitution without many tactical changes.

Even the on-site commentator felt that Van Nistelrooy's energy was a little insufficient, forcing Ye Qiu to make substitutions.

After Van Persie came on the court, he whispered a few words to Ribery as he passed by him, and then walked to the middle of the road and gestured to Messi and Beckham in front of him.

"It seems that when Van Persie came on the court, Ye Qiu asked him to convey some details of Tottenham's tactical adjustments. Now we have to see how much change Van Persie's appearance can bring to Tottenham."

Everyone knows that this is the most important substitution in this game. If it works, Tottenham may continue to lead or take the initiative again, but if it doesn't work, then the game is likely to remain tied, or even Chelsea may reverse the situation.

"We must all notice that the substitutions made by the two head coaches were very targeted. Whether it was Mourinho's desperate two substitutions during the halftime break, or Ye Qiu's subsequent substitution of Yaya Toure for Fabregas, they clearly achieved the desired effect."

"Replacing Van Nistelrooy with Van Persie will undoubtedly determine the future trend of Tottenham Hotspur in this game."

"Let's take a good look at whether Ye Qiu, the head coach who is praised by many fans and professionals as a tactical master, can achieve the desired effect this time. Will it be a brilliant move or a mediocre one!"