Chapter 522 Kind-hearted person Ye Qiu

Although he had long been accustomed to the huge momentum of 100,000 fans at the Camp Nou, Guardiola still felt uneasy standing at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, because this time he was facing Tottenham Hotspur.

The strongest team in Europe in the past year!

Wearing a neat suit, standing in the command area of ​​the home team coaching seat on the inner side of the Olympic Stadium track, Guardiola folded his hands in front of his chest, his eyes were always paying attention to every move on the court, and he was guessing in his heart, what kind of tactics Tottenham Hotspur will adopt in this game?

The starting lineup of Tottenham Hotspur in this game is goalkeeper Peter Cech, the back line is Arbeloa, Ziglinski, Thiago Silva and Alves, the midfield is David Silva, Yaya Toure and Fabregas, and the front court trident is Ribery, Van Persie and Messi.

It can be said that this is the main lineup of Tottenham Hotspur this season. The only doubtful one is the left back. Marcelo, who has stronger attacking ability, was put on the bench by Ye Qiu, and replaced by Arbeloa, who has better defensive ability but also has strong offensive ability. Does this represent a signal of Ye Qiu in this game, steady?

Compared with Tottenham Hotspur's stable starting lineup, Barcelona has made significant changes.

The goalkeeper is Valdés, the back line is Abidal, Mascherano, Pique and Puyol, the midfield is Keita, Busquets and Xavi, and the front trident is Henry, Eto'o and Iniesta.

Among them, Barcelona's use of Iniesta is more surprising. Guardiola arranged Iniesta on the right winger, but at the same time, in order to ensure the distance between Xavi and Iniesta, Xavi and Iniesta have a free range of activities.

Everyone knows that in terms of overall strength, Barcelona is not as good as Tottenham Hotspur. Although the former is a top giant and the latter can only be regarded as a newcomer in European football, strength is strength, which has nothing to do with fame and background.

The weakness in strength, coupled with the obvious defects in the overall offensive and defensive links, makes Barcelona unable to feel completely at ease whether it is offensive or defensive, so it is inevitable to have a mentality of gain and loss.

At the beginning of the game, Barcelona took the initiative and started a round of attack.

The first threatening attack of the whole game appeared at the feet of Barcelona. After Iniesta broke through on the right, he passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area. After receiving the ball, Eto'o dribbled past Ziglinski, but Thiago Silva appeared next to Ziglinski to assist. When Eto'o wanted to pass the ball to Henry, the Brazilian central defender suddenly cut in, intercepted the ball closely and cleared it with a big kick.

This was a very beautiful defense, which resolved a threatening attack of Barcelona, ​​but it was obvious that Barcelona did not stop there, but continued to adopt the offensive tactics.

"Tottenham Hotspur's start seems to be a bit of a safe move." Guardiola's assistant coach Tito Vilanova walked to Guardiola's side. For such an important game as the Champions League final, it is not a mediocre move to adopt a safe tactic at the beginning. On the contrary, if you have enough confidence in your own strength, then it is a good thing for you to adopt a safe tactic.

The reason is very simple. The so-called game matchup, to put it bluntly, is to counter the moves. You adopt a safe tactic and let your teammates make moves, and then you counter the moves. As long as you are confident enough and believe that your team will not be overwhelmed by the opponent, then you can completely adopt a safe tactic.

"They are at an advantage in terms of strength. This shows that no matter whether we adopt a rushing attack or a steady defense strategy, they will adopt a counterattack strategy!" Guardiola glanced at Ye Qiu, who was sitting in the coaching seat of the visiting team in the distance, with his legs crossed. This guy looked down on people.

Although Barcelona is at a disadvantage, is he really so sure that he can definitely take back the advantage from Barcelona?

You know, in many games, it is very difficult to regain the advantage after losing it at the beginning.

"Five minutes!" Vilanova reminded on the side.

In the first five minutes, the only threat created was Barcelona's attack, but it only entered Tottenham's penalty area, without even the most basic chance to kick, so strictly speaking, it was not a threat.

According to the plan made by the Barcelona coaching staff before the game, the first ten minutes will strive for the initiative, five minutes of attack, and five minutes of retreat. Then, they will focus on defense, use ball control to let Tottenham press forward, and create opportunities for Eto'o and Henry to insert from behind. After all, the speed and personal ability of these two players are enough to ensure the quality of the team's counterattack.

Moreover, when it comes to backcourt passers, Barcelona is not inferior to Tottenham at all.

Guardiola felt that the game time passed too quickly. Five minutes had passed before they had formed enough offensive advantages. But now Tottenham Hotspur seemed to have not entered the game state yet. It seemed that they were not very motivated to move forward. It was the time for Barcelona to make a concerted effort. It was a bit unwilling to close it like this!

"Wait a little longer and see what happens!" Guardiola stared at the situation and said.

Vilanova also felt that it was a pity to close it now. After all, the fishing net was cast down, and everyone hoped to catch a full net of fish and then pull it up. Now they had just encountered the school of fish and had not caught anything, but they had to close it. Who would be willing?

The head coach did not move, and the players on the field continued to play according to the rhythm and tactics of the opening game.

In fact, in a football game, the players on the field cannot grasp the overall situation. They often don't even know what the current situation is. That's why the head coach's role is so obvious. He is like a driver, holding the steering wheel in his hand, adjusting the direction anytime and anywhere.

In another attack, Zielinski passed the ball diagonally to Messi in the backcourt, but Abidal grabbed the landing point and headed the ball to Seydou Keita, who knocked it back. Abidal quickly dribbled forward and then passed it to Henry.

The Frenchman blocked Alves with his body, and after receiving the ball, he cut into the penalty area from the left corner of the penalty area. This is also Henry's best offensive routine. When he cut into the penalty area, Thiago Silva approached him immediately and blocked Henry's chance to continue cutting in and directly facing the goal with his body.

Henry reacted very quickly, and immediately dribbled the ball, changing from a diagonal cut to a bottom shot. Thiago Silva was also prepared for this. Although he did not dare to kick in the penalty area, he stuck to Henry.

The Frenchman made an emergency stop, seeing that there was no chance, dribbled the ball to the left, preparing to leave the penalty area, and suddenly passed the ball diagonally to the front of the penalty area. Seydou Keita inserted from behind and shot directly, making the first shot of the game.

But this hasty shot was steadily saved by Cech. His position was very good, and Keita's long shot did not have a good grasp of the strength and angle, so it looked like it was too straight, and was directly caught in Cech's arms.

Ye Qiu walked outside and gestured to Yaya Toure, obviously dissatisfied with Yaya Toure for not immediately entangled and blocked Keita, because his attention was on Xavi.

There was also Alves. Ye Qiu seemed to be indicating that his position should be a little further back, and he should not always press so high.

Ye Qiu's defensive organization and adjustment were not particularly good before, but since Mauro Tassotti joined Tottenham Hotspur's coaching staff, Ye Qiu has made great progress in both defensive organization and on-the-spot adjustment, and many times Mauro Tassotti made decisions after discussing with him.

Because of this, many people joked that if Huang Chu and Eliza Moon were the two women behind Ye Qiu, then Mauro Tassotti was the man behind Ye Qiu. In addition, people like Roland Schepas, Meulensteen, Moniz, Peter Brandt, etc. are all very important core coaching staff members under Ye Qiu.

With the defensive adjustment, Tottenham Hotspur's defense has improved to a certain extent. Barcelona attacked several times in a row, but failed to play an effect. Instead, they were counterattacked by Tottenham Hotspur. Messi took the ball on the right and dribbled past Abidal, and passed it to Van Persie, who stopped the ball, turned around and kicked, all in one go, but the shot was slightly off target.

"The game was going on very fast, but it was somewhat surprising that Barcelona had three shots in less than 20 minutes, while Tottenham had only one shot until now, and none of them had hit the target. This was really puzzling. Tottenham seemed to be a little out of shape!"

The commentators were also a little disappointed with Tottenham's performance in this game. This North London team has always won the fans' praise with its overwhelming offensive football, but now they seemed a little tired in this game.

"In the first 20 minutes, Tottenham's possession rate was only 43%, which was indeed a bit low. Barcelona's possession rate was relatively high, but neither side created too many scoring opportunities, especially Tottenham, which has always been known for its offense. Was it affected by the league match three days ago?"

Cruyff glanced at the big red scoreboard on the top of the stadium. After 20 minutes, he began to feel restless.

This game was very attractive. It attracted everyone's attention from the beginning. It didn't have any tricks or unrealistic tricks. It was very simple. It was a constant running, constant passing, and constant interweaving. The rhythm was not very slow, but both sides did a good job in defense.

How to say it?

It was like a country stream, gurgling, very calm, but flowing slowly.

But why is it attractive?

It is because it occasionally appears some scenes that make you feel dramatic, just like the attack of Tottenham Hotspur just now. Messi dribbled the ball from the right and cut in and passed the ball. It was a very ordinary cooperation, but Van Persie stopped the ball and turned around. The technical movements were very smooth, making people feel like seeing Van Nistelrooy or Bergkamp.

Although it was off, it whetted the appetite of the spectators.

That's it. The first twenty minutes were all carried out in this rhythm and atmosphere, making it difficult for you to relax your attention at all, but you won't feel that time has passed quickly. In short, everything seems to be very calm.

But Cruyff was a bystander, and he knew very well that Guardiola's plan was disrupted.

Originally, Barcelona's tactic was to attack for five minutes, retreat for five minutes, and then let Tottenham Hotspur press forward, but now Tottenham Hotspur did not press forward at all, nor did they retreat, and they continued to play the game steadily, while Barcelona unknowingly played an active attack for 20 minutes.

Taking advantage of the situation is a rule for all head coaches to adjust the game. This is not wrong in itself, but a head coach must also have a long-term vision. Cruyff was worried because he felt that Guardiola was a little anxious?

This was the first Champions League final in his coaching career. When he played against Hiddink in Chelsea, Guardiola had already exposed his immaturity in coaching ability. He is indeed the head coach that best meets Barcelona's needs, but he seems very immature in both experience and on-the-spot command.

From the course of the game, although Barcelona has an advantage in ball possession, the offense is not actually good.

First, Iniesta was pushed to the right winger, and the distance between him and Xavi was a bit far, and the two sides did not respond closely to each other. Xavi and Seydou Keita always had difficulty passing the same tacit pass as when they cooperated with Iniesta. Seydou Keita lost a lot to Iniesta in terms of technical skills and response awareness.

Secondly, Tottenham Hotspur obviously consciously defended against Xavi. Once Xavi got the ball, the players around him approached him immediately, but they did not press him. Instead, they blocked his forward route and passing route at a distance of about two meters, and the people around him would cut off his passing route immediately, forcing him to pass back.

Without a series of forward passes such as straight passes and diagonal passes, Xavi's role in offense was greatly weakened, because if you just pass back blindly, even if you get a 99% ball possession rate, what effect will it have?

Xavi was blocked, and Iniesta could not retreat too deep, so he either made a long pass or went in from behind. In the absence of tactical fulcrums like Ibrahimovic or Drogba in Barcelona's frontcourt, the success rate of long passes was almost like waiting for luck, so Puyol and Abidal were very active in moving forward, and the wing became an important means of advancing Barcelona's offense.

"Would Ye Qiu be so kind and willing to give up the initiative of the game directly?" Cruyff asked himself.

The Olympic Stadium was filled with roaring noises, and all the fans were making shrill noises, so no one could hear what he was saying, not even Laporta who was sitting next to him.

If Ye Qiu was physically weak and the players were physically and mentally exhausted, he should be more anxious now. However, it had been more than 20 minutes since the start of the game, but Tottenham Hotspur was still playing steadily, as if they were not in a hurry at all, and there was no sign of actively pressing and seizing the initiative.

At most, when they had the ball, they would patiently control the ball and look for opportunities, which was usually done by David Silva and Fabregas. Once they could not find opportunities forward, they would pass back or split the ball, and then reorganize and look for opportunities again.

Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, pressed more tightly.

When Henry saw that Fabregas couldn't get a chance in the middle and passed the ball to Alves on the right, he immediately followed him, but this time he was a little far away from Alves. The Brazilian right back saw Henry rushing over and immediately pushed the ball back to Fabregas.

Henry didn't slack off and turned in a direction to interfere with Fabregas, but Fabregas suddenly passed the ball behind him again, and saw that Alves rushed forward quickly after the cross pass and went straight behind Henry.

This surprised Henry. When he turned around again, he saw that Alves, who had completed a beautiful two-on-one with Fabregas, had already driven the ball straight into the 30-meter area of ​​Barcelona.

The entire Barcelona defense line retreated quickly, and Alves always dribbled the ball on the right side. Abidal immediately shook off Messi and leaned towards Alves, while the Brazilian right back had no intention of entering the penalty area and continued to dribble the ball to the right side of the penalty area.

Messi also made a late run, and after entering the penalty area, he pointed in front of him, obviously signaling Alves to pass the ball quickly to the goal. This move scared Mascherano and he immediately ran forward with him and went straight to the right post of the goal, while Van Persie, who was originally in the front, suddenly retreated to the penalty spot.

Alves' low cross from the right was very fast, close to the grass and came to the penalty spot. Van Persie took advantage of his natural advantage of facing the goal and the defensive player Pique to retreat and catch the ball.

The Dutchman's stop was not just to stop the ball at his feet, but to roll the ball to his right after it was handled by his left foot, and then he blocked Pique behind him with his body and wanted to turn to the right.

Pique followed Van Persie back from the small penalty area. He stood behind Van Persie and had already lost the initiative. Alves' pass was aimed at Van Persie, so he had no way to stop it and dared not commit a foul. Seeing that Van Persie was about to turn around and get rid of Pique, and got a chance to shoot with his left foot near the penalty spot, Puyol, who was mentally prepared, rushed over frantically at the first time to stop Van Persie's shot.

But Van Persie stopped again, stopped the ball again, and then pushed it to the left.

The whole process happened almost in the blink of an eye. Van Persie stopped the ball twice in a row, and the handling of the ball was just right. Just by stopping the ball, Pique and Puyol could not threaten his control of the ball. They could only watch themselves being almost fooled by him and losing their position.

On the left side of Van Persie and Puyol, Ribery, who was unmarked, had already been lying in ambush. When he saw Van Persie push the ball over, he rushed over quickly and shot the ball with his right foot.

It was a very simple, unskilled shot with the inside of the foot. The ball almost brushed the bottom of the left post and went into the goal. Valdés made a flying save, but it was still a step too late!