Chapter 405 The only suspense

In the 37th round of the Premier League, all fans around the world are focused on the Premier League and London.

Compared with the derby held in Manchester in the north, all fans and media are obviously more concerned about the three games held in London in the south, namely Charlton vs. Tottenham Hotspur at home, Arsenal vs. Chelsea at home, and at this moment, Liverpool away challenge Fulham at Craven Cottage where Benítez is.

Because of the fight with Chelsea in the middle of the week and the semi-final of the Champions League, Liverpool had no way to play at full strength in this game, and Benítez had to use his rotation card again, hoping to adjust some combat effectiveness for the team.

From the starting lineup of Liverpool in this game, it is not difficult to see Benítez's views on the current Liverpool lineup. For example, no matter whether it is at the beginning of the season or now, no matter how the team rotates, there are two people who are iron-clad main players, one is goalkeeper Reina, and the other is the team's main midfielder Xavi Alonso.

In this game, the two players still started the game. Not only that, Hyypia, Pennant, Sissoko and other players also started consecutively, and Benítez sent Robbie Fowler and Bellamy to the front line.

If Robbie Fowler played as a single striker, the effect would definitely not be ideal, so Benítez arranged Bellamy to partner with him.

Although many people say that Liverpool is now a team of Gerrard alone, only Benítez himself knows that the most important and indispensable player in Liverpool is not Gerrard, but Xabi Alonso.

The Spaniard is the team's organizing midfielder and the core of the team's midfield. It can almost be said that Liverpool's entire offensive and defensive system revolves around him. Once he fails to operate, Liverpool's offense and defense will also have problems. Fortunately, Xabi Alonso's performance is really good.

Even though this game was played away from home and Fulham had obviously strengthened their care for him, Xabi Alonso still showed enough strength. Liverpool also planned a lot of attacks and scoring opportunities, but Liverpool's forwards really missed too many opportunities.

In the first half, in the fifth minute, Pennant had a very good straight pass, Bellamy's shot was saved by the goalkeeper, and then Fowler passed it directly, and Bellamy's shot was too straight, and then Xabi Alonso passed the ball, and Fowler got a good chance, but missed it.

The best scoring opportunity of the whole game occurred near the end of the first half. Xabi Alonso made a long pass to find Pennant, who passed the ball into the penalty area. Robbie Fowler grabbed the point about 5 meters in front of the goal, but incredibly missed such a shot that was more difficult to score than to score.

Missing such a great opportunity that there was no chance in such a game, even Benítez, who is always known for his robot expression, was so angry that he stomped his feet on the sidelines. How bad is it to be like this?

After the second half, Liverpool still launched rounds of attacks against Fulham, but the team seemed a little discouraged and did not perform as well as in the first half, while Fulham began to improve, after all, they were playing at home.

Fulham took the lead in making adjustments. American midfielder Dempsey, who joined during the winter break this season, replaced veteran Montella, intending to make full use of the American's comprehensiveness and his technical characteristics of being able to hold the ball in the frontcourt to impact Liverpool's offense, especially the Argentine left-back Insua.

Benítez also immediately realized that Insua was a weak spot, and immediately asked Riise to warm up, wanting to replace Insua with him, but there is a saying that goes, many times when you realize the danger, the danger is only one step away from you.

When Riise just went out to warm up, and maybe his body was not warmed up yet, a surprising scene appeared on the court.

Fulham striker Dempsey, who had just come on the field, cooperated with the full-back Rosseño on the right, and chose to cut into the middle of the penalty area. Rosseño broke through Insua and passed the ball to the front point. Dempsey inserted in front of the goal and rushed to the goal before Hyypia, and penetrated Reina's goal.

This is the first Premier League goal scored by the American midfielder since joining Liverpool, and it is also likely to be the most crucial one!

"Liverpool is paying the price for their reckless squandering of opportunities!" The commentator on the scene said, and this was immediately responded by all Fulham fans in the stadium.

This is how weak teams play against strong teams. No matter how you attack, I will defend. I don't want the process, I don't want the quality, I can even not attack, but I only want one thing, that is the result, the result that will disgust you to death!

Now Fulham has such an attitude from top to bottom. Aren't you very powerful? Aren't you ranked high? It doesn't matter, come on, attack, you can't score anyway!

Benítez was so angry that he kept shaking his head on the sidelines. He really wanted to rush onto the court and knock on the heads of the two forwards he entrusted with important tasks, because he couldn't understand why there were so many scoring opportunities, but in the end, not even a single goal could be scored?

He had to admit that the commentator's words made sense. Liverpool was paying the price because they had wasted too many opportunities before, so much so that even their morale had been severely hit. So the players were a little discouraged. In addition, they were originally playing with a substitute lineup, so their coordination and offense could not be compared with the main players. Now they lost the ball and paid the price.

But Benítez was a man who did not believe in evil. Kewell and Kuyt were sent to the field by him one after another, but Fulham was now a typical person who was content with a small fortune. After getting a goal, they began to shrink their defense in an orderly manner, and as a result, Liverpool's offensive was unsuccessful again and again.

Benítez looked at Robbie Fowler. The former Liverpool hero no longer had the killer aura of the past. Now he looked like an old veteran, and he no longer had the spirit of the high spirits of the past.

This also reminded Benítez that the team's forward line must be reorganized.

Compared to Benítez's depression, Ye Qiu at the South Bank Valley Stadium, just across the Thames, seemed a little relaxed.

Sitting in the coach's seat, crossing his legs, holding his chin, watching the game, he looked so carefree that people who didn't know him would think he was a fan, except that he didn't have a bag of sunflower seeds and peanuts in his hand and a bottle of beer next to him.

Tottenham Hotspur's home and away results are generally ideal. Charlton has been relegated in advance, and the team's morale has been drained. It is difficult to pose a favorable threat to Tottenham Hotspur now. So at the beginning of the game, the Valley Stadium was captured by Tottenham Hotspur in less than ten minutes, and Van Nistelrooy scored the 31st goal of the Premier League this season.

This not only broke Henry's single-season goal record, but also allowed him to catch up with Premier League legends such as Alan Shearer, and Van Nistelrooy was basically certain that this season's European Golden Boot Award was a sure thing.

However, Tottenham did not play well in this game. After Van Nistelrooy scored, Tottenham could not organize an effective offensive for a long time. This was also related to the fact that Tottenham insisted on fighting on two fronts for some time.

But Tottenham has an advantage, that is, even when the team performs poorly, the initiative and ball control are in their hands. In addition, Charlton's strength is indeed not strong, and the team was relegated in advance, and the morale of the team was scattered, making it difficult to pose an effective threat to Tottenham.

In the second half, Ye Qiu simply made adjustments and replaced Van Nistelrooy with Dutch striker Van Persie. The team's tactical style changed, especially the frontcourt offensive trident, which brought different changes.

Van Persie's appearance made Tottenham's offense more arbitrary, because Van Persie was not like Van Nistelrooy, who had to get close to the penalty area and the goal to be threatening. Van Persie could play in the middle and on the wing, and on both sides, which was the same as Ribery and Messi.

So after Van Persie came on the field, Tottenham's frontcourt offense changed a lot, and they frequently switched positions with each other, which made Charlton, who played at home, a little overwhelmed, and also made the fans in the stands and in front of the TV dazzled.

The on-site commentator even joked, "After Tottenham came on Van Persie, the frontcourt offense was completely messed up. There was no method at all, and people didn't understand what they wanted to do."

"Now Charlton should seize an opportunity to launch a threatening counterattack. Tottenham's frontcourt now has a lot of passing errors. As long as they seize an opportunity, they can equalize the score. Tottenham will definitely go crazy at that time!"

But for this kind of scene, Ye Qiu took a completely different view. He felt that after Van Persie came on the field, the team's rules were indeed a bit messy, but that was in a process of adaptation. Many passing and receiving cooperation actually had good intentions and purposes, but either the pass was not good enough, or the teammates didn't catch up.

Just like this time, after Ribery received the pass from Vargas on the left, he cut inside with the ball, dribbled past a defensive player, and passed it directly to the left post. Van Persie suddenly cut diagonally to the left post in the middle of the penalty area. After receiving the ball, the Dutch striker suddenly stopped, tapped the ball with his left foot, and passed it directly to the middle with his right foot.

If Ribery could follow the trend and continue to rush forward without changing direction after passing the ball just now, then Van Persie's quick stop pass would just pass to Ribery's feet, and his sudden insertion would just pull away the defensive players for Ribery, so that Ribery would not be disturbed at all after stopping the ball, and could shoot directly, and it was almost certain to score.

But the terrible thing is that after Ribery passed the ball, he habitually waited for Van Nistelrooy to kick, because once Van Nistelrooy got such an opportunity in the penalty area, although it was a little reluctant, he would still kick directly. Everyone calls this the selfishness of the scorer.

It can even be said that a selfless scorer is not a good scorer.

Van Persie had his back to the direction of the pass. He was looking at the goal, waiting to score a goal, but after waiting for a full second or two, he found that the ball had not arrived. Turning back, he saw Ribery's stunned expression and a face full of regret. How stupid must it be to miss such a goal? He could have scored a goal by just taking two or three steps forward. What a waste of opportunity!

Van Persie helplessly spread his hands and pointed at Ribery with a wry smile, as if to say, go find a wall to hit yourself, I don't even want the free goal!

Ribery walked back shaking his head, he was a little confused, why didn't he just play the ball himself?

"So, this guy is not up to the standard!" Ye Qiu laughed and scolded his favorite player on the sidelines, "You always pass the ball to others on weekdays, and now others pass the ball to you, you are so addicted to passing the ball that you can't even take two steps to kick it!"

Mauro Tassotti also laughed at the sight, Van Persie's pass was indeed beautiful, stopping the ball, stopping suddenly, all in one go, facing the goal, but his feet didn't fall behind at all, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, and passed it directly to Ribery. The ball didn't go in, and the responsibility really lies with Ribery, who was just two or three steps away from moving forward.

"You're right, this kid is born to be someone's helper!" Roland is also familiar with Ribery, and he started to scold him directly.

"Van Persie's footwork is indeed fine, and his ball stopping is really impeccable. Moreover, his mobility, wing activity, and speed are all quite good. In addition, Ribery and Messi are both players who can play left and right, and can go up and down. If we really activate them, our offensive power will be even more terrifying than it is now!"

"The only suspense..." Mauro Tassotti looked at Beckham on the court, "How long do you think David can maintain his condition?"

Ye Qiu is not without this worry. Frankly speaking, Van Nistelrooy's performance in the second half of the season has declined. Although he scored a lot of goals and maintained a balanced performance, his score did not increase with the increasing number of opportunities created by the team, which means that his condition is going downhill.

He is 31 years old, while Beckham is 32 years old.

If Van Nistelrooy is the striker at the front and his running range is not very large, then Beckham is undoubtedly known for his active running in a large range. Without active running in a large range, his long pass and passing ability will inevitably be greatly reduced, because the opponent will definitely guard against you. If you don't run out of the opponent's defense area, you will definitely be affected and your passing success rate will definitely decline.

Many times, some head coaches often think about problems in the present, because they have performance pressure. They will worry that if they cannot beat the opponent in the next game, if the performance this season is not good, they will be fired and dismissed. So for them, long-term planning is a big pie, drawn out for you to see, but there is actually nothing in it.

Such a result can easily cause a problem, that is, the striker is adjusted, and there are problems in the midfield. The midfield is adjusted, and there are problems in the back line. When you have tossed the midfield and the back line, I'm sorry, your striker is old, the state has declined, and you start to toss again.

Ye Qiu naturally knew that with Beckham's current state and strength, plus his age, it should not be a problem to maintain it for about two years, but if there is any injury in the process, it is really hard to say.

After a season of exploration, Ye Qiu is optimistic about Brazilian midfielder Lucas. This player is a bit like Mascherano, and another midfielder Huddlestone who was left by Tottenham Hotspur was completely sentenced to death by Ye Qiu and is ready to make a move in the summer.

So far, among the players who stayed in Tottenham Hotspur in the past, there will only be one central defender substitute Mike Dawson, and this player cannot be regarded as a Tottenham Hotspur youth training player, but from Nottingham Forest.

Ye Qiu himself also felt helpless, because the previous batch of Tottenham Hotspur players, with the current youth training situation in England, are really too different from the football he wants to play. At least you have to stop the ball well, right? A casual stop can stop three or four meters away, how can the ball be kicked?

Therefore, Ye Qiu's plan is also very clear, that is, like Wenger's Arsenal, to fill the team's strength gap in the shortest time with an internationalized column, first play their own football style and system, and then supplement it with the team's youth training system.

Because in the final analysis, the purpose of youth training is to strengthen the strength of the first team, not to use it.

However, Ye Qiu also has a hunch, because the current registration standard for the Champions League is that there must be six players who are trained by themselves or locally, that is, between the ages of 15 and 21, who have played in England for three years or are registered with the English Football Association, and the Premier League will inevitably further introduce regulations to encourage youth training, and even the registration rules of the Champions League will further strengthen youth training.

Therefore, when selling Huddlestone, Tottenham Hotspur must also keep pace with the times and introduce young players to fill this weakness and loophole, so as to avoid Tottenham Hotspur competing with other clubs for some local or youth training players when the rules are introduced, which is a bit of a last-minute cram.

Of course, such a rule is not completely unavoidable, but in Ye Qiu's opinion, we should try to reduce the trouble in this regard and get entangled in this aspect, so that everyone in the team can concentrate more on the game.

While Ye Qiu was thinking, Tottenham Hotspur finally got another chance. Van Persie and Ribery cooperated. Ribery cut into the penalty area from the left and took advantage of the gap when the defensive players were pulled away by Van Persie to pass the ball to the right. Messi inserted from behind and easily faced the almost empty goal and pushed the ball into the goal, 2:0!

In this way, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Charlton Athletic 2-0 at the Valley Stadium. However, Charlton Athletic had nothing to lose because they had been relegated from the Premier League. Therefore, the fans at the Valley Stadium were somewhat numb to the loss of this game, and the scene seemed somewhat calm.

But Tottenham Hotspur was not calm at all, because all of them, including the fans who came to the away game to supervise the game, were concerned about the results of the other two games in London.