Chapter 735 Champion among Champions

Ancelotti certainly cannot put all the blame on this game, because this is his first time facing the Tottenham team reorganized by Ye Qiu, and it is also his first game after taking over Newcastle. Therefore, it is understandable that he continued to use the stable tactical framework of the Redknapp period.

And last season at St. James Park, the tactics centered on Ibrahimovic did a good job of curbing Tottenham, but judging from the performance of this game, it has obviously lost its effect.

As Cruyff said, the best thing about Tottenham now is not that they have the most outstanding tactical system, but that they are very good at learning and improving, and at the same time, their tactical adaptability is very strong, which can ensure that they can handle teams with different tactical styles with ease.

There are such teams, such as Juventus and Bayern Munich at the beginning of the century, or Manchester United during the treble period.

Is Tottenham like them?

The answer is that some places are very similar, but some places are not.

As Sacchi said, a strong team must be a team with balanced offense and defense. Looking at these teams and the current Tottenham Hotspur, there is no doubt that they are balanced in offense and defense, and even reach a very high level in offense and defense.

Whether it is Juventus, Bayern Munich or Manchester United, their ability to adapt to different tactics is very good, which is reflected in the comprehensiveness of their skills and tactics and the diversity of tactical means. The same is true for Tottenham Hotspur today, and they have even taken a step forward.

Guardiola once played in Italy, and he also had a deep understanding of the development of football tactics in the past, as well as the changes in football tactics in the past few years. He knows very well that in the past and now, all strong teams have never really put ball control at the core of tactics, even the current Tottenham Hotspur.

With the rise of Barcelona in the past few years, as Barcelona successfully relied on high ball possession and integrated offense and defense, many fans' understanding of football has completely changed to ball possession. But in fact, ball possession has never dominated football tactics. This is why Cruyff is not valued by other strong teams, because his concept is too extreme, and Cruyff has never realized this concept.

This is not to say that the team does not value ball possession, which is wrong. All teams value ball possession, but ball possession and a lot of factors such as running without the ball are just a way for the team to win the game, or for some people who have a little pursuit, it is just a way to play a wonderful game. It is just one of the means.

After Guardiola took over Barcelona, ​​he was influenced by Aragones' Spanish national team, which made him begin to realize that for a country like Spain that produces small, fast and agile players with weak physical confrontation but excellent technical ability, ball possession is undoubtedly a very suitable tactical style.

As Cruyff said, when you control the ball to the extreme and the opponent has no ball, your goal is safe.

This is actually very similar to the idea of ​​Klopp of Dortmund. Klopp thinks that as long as I adopt a high-intensity pressing and catching tactic, I can keep running like this throughout the game, keep pressing and catching, so that you can't pass the ball smoothly, then you can't think of organizing an effective attack, and I can use your mistakes to score goals.

Both concepts are based on the same foundation, Barcelona must be able to control the ball, and Dortmund must be able to run.

So gradually, everyone realized some problems, such as playing against Barcelona, ​​it is best to knock down their possession rate in the offensive half. La Liga giants like to control, and they control the ball in their own half. The more they control, the more the goal is exposed.

Playing against Dortmund is not to compete with them, use fast passes to play with them, and after 70 minutes, when their physical strength declines, we will deal with them and see how they can continue to run.

Of course, the tactical details must be very complicated, but the core is so simple.

Why is this so?

Because you are too extreme!

Extreme tactics can only be regarded as exceptions because they lack sufficient adaptability.

It's like many people say that Guardiola's on-the-spot command ability is not enough, but as a person, Guardiola knows very well that this is not a question of whether his on-the-spot command ability is enough, but whether he can respond.

Barcelona is mainly based on ball control, and everyone serves the ball control, one link after another. Once the team performs poorly, who can be defeated? Taking down any one will greatly reduce the ball control effect, which is a fatal blow to Barcelona.

When a team can only play with the ball, then as a head coach, all you can do is to keep piling up more ball possession to maximize your chances of winning.

Another point is that Barcelona's adaptability problem is also a headache.

In order to ensure the ball possession rate, you have to make short passes, because the more medium and long-distance passes, the less the team's ball possession rate, and theoretically, if you want to cover the same area, the result of short passes is that the players run more, and the more players run, the greater the physical consumption.

Therefore, in order to reduce the team's running, but at the same time maintain short passes and control the ball, the team must press forward and keep the three lines as compact as possible, even dense, so that the team is in a flat shape, even if a large number of players are exposed behind it. No matter the flaws, this is the price Barcelona has to pay for its ball control system.

On the other hand, Tottenham Hotspur don't care about short or medium or long passes, or whether the team is pressing. Their formation can be spread wide and remain compact from front to back, but not dense, even in the past. In a season, Ye Qiu does not pursue ball possession. They do not need to have the advantage of ball possession.

The answer is simple. Tottenham Hotspur has only one core purpose, to control the game and win more offensive opportunities.

Controlling the game does not mean controlling the ball. Possessing the ball is just one of the ways to control the game. Defense can also control the game, and running without the ball can also control the game. This is only part of it.

Winning more offensive opportunities is divided into two parts. One is to minimize the opponent's offensive opportunities. Then he should create a tactical system with no obvious weaknesses and shortcomings, and then use a rigorous defensive system to contain your offense, but At the same time, he strives to try various offensive methods and routines, and is willing to take risks and even pay the price for such attempts.

Just like Pirlo's overhead kick to Hazard just now, if it is not suppressed, Hazard will not be able to catch up. But if it is suppressed, the possibility of being cleared by Zyglinski is very high, but Pirlo Luo dared to try. He lowered the ball so low that the risk was too great. But if he succeeded, it was a very exquisite goal.

This risk is difficult to see in Barcelona and in Xavi's case, because he will consider passes with a higher success rate.

But Guardiola was sitting in the stands, and he knew better than anyone else that when he saw Pirlo pass the ball, he was so excited that he couldn't speak, the feeling that cannot be described in words. Marvel is something that a ball that is passed purely to ensure a success rate cannot give.

Moreover, such passes and such risks make the team feel a sense of surprise and passion all the time, because they know very well that unexpected surprises may appear anytime and anywhere.

But such surprises and the passion it brings cannot be seen in Barcelona, ​​because they are a backwater, so after staying in Barcelona for a long time, it is easy to lose the passion and fighting spirit of the game.

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"How do you feel?"

After the game, all the players took a shower and changed clothes in the locker room. Ye Qiu returned to the stands of St. James Park. Guardiola was still sitting here, and what Ye Qiu expected, the Spaniard held it like a student. The scene where he recorded his thoughts on the game in a notepad did not happen, which made him a little disappointed, jokingly disappointed.

"Too many mistakes!" Guardiola expressed his feelings with a wry smile.

Ye Qiu laughed loudly after hearing this, stood up, and grabbed the iron fence of the second-floor stand, "You are right, there are too many mistakes, but don't you think that mistakes are also part of a player's outstanding performance?"

Seeing Guardiola's stunned look, Ye Qiu smiled again, "If you are a player and you appear on the court, you are always telling yourself that you can't make mistakes, you can't make mistakes, you can't make mistakes, you can Imagine how much pressure the players have, and don't you think they become mechanical without making mistakes?"

“What the manufacturing factory’s assembly line strives for is zero errors, but what do you think the consequences will be?”

Ye Qiu embodies a different way of thinking. He is completely different from Guardiola. What the Spaniard pursues is to minimize mistakes and control the risks of the game as much as possible in his own hands, while Ye Qiu is the opposite. , he allows mistakes, even encourages them, and at the same time he will create an effective mechanism to make up for them.

"You don't understand human nature, Pepe!" Ye Qiu leaned against the iron fence, facing Guardiola who was sitting on the chair, and said with a smile: "Everyone has self-respect and dignity, they are not Machines, especially professional players, should not treat them like workers on an assembly line and use them mechanically.”

"You may think that mistakes are terrible, but can you also think about it from another angle? When a player makes a mistake and the teammates around him help him make up for it, what will he think? I I believe that as long as he is a little more responsible, he will put more energy and effort into the next game.”

"Then do you think this mistake is bad?"

"On the other hand, if the pursuit of zero mistakes is too mechanical, everyone is afraid of making mistakes and does not want to make mistakes. The final result is that they lose the courage they should have, the courage to take risks and try!"

"In this era, no one is smarter than anyone else, and no one knows how to calculate better than anyone else. Whatever you can think of, your opponent can also think of, so if you are too mechanical and too serious, your routine will soon be replaced by yours. If your opponent has figured it out, on the contrary, if you bravely take risks, try, and break your own routine, your opponent will also be caught off guard.”

"You can never figure out a person who is constantly changing randomly!"

Ye Qiu's words made Guardiola deep in thought and touched him a lot, because he has always been cautious and cautious, ever since he was promoted to the first team and under Cruyff's hands After getting outstanding performance, until he became the head coach of Barcelona, ​​everything he did was cautious, for fear of making any mistakes.

But now, Ye Qiu told him that he should not be cautious and always want to keep everything in his own hands. Instead, he should let go, trust his players, and let them create whatever they want. Football, which is very inconsistent with, or even completely different from, his past football philosophy.

"Pepe!" Ye Qiu suddenly thought of an interesting question, "Do you think it's appropriate for Bayern Munich to go to Bayern Munich with your style? Can they adapt to your ball-control style?"

Guardiola was stunned. He understood what Ye Qiu meant. If he didn't ask for change, going to Bayern Munich would just be asking for death.

"Unless you can make all the midfielders of Bayern Munich shorter by five centimeters, or even ten centimeters!" Ye Qiu chuckled, because when you need to use short passes to ensure your ball possession, flexibility becomes It shows the basic factors that players must possess, and players who are taller or more powerful often have poor flexibility.

Guardiola understood what Ye Qiu meant and laughed along with him, but it looked more like a bitter smile because he knew very well that his set of ideas only applied to Barcelona and could not be applied to other teams.

Therefore, when he goes to Bayern Munich, he has to seek changes, look for changes on the original basis, add more unique characteristics of Bayern Munich, and then evolve a tactical style of play that belongs to Bayern Munich.

If he succeeded, his title of famous coach would be considered solid, but if he failed, he would have to start over.

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There were two big upsets in the first round of the league.

In one game, Liverpool lost to West Bromwich Albion 0:3 in an away game. The Knickerbockers really embarrassed Liverpool at their home court, but Chelsea's new monster Lukaku, who was on loan at West Bromwich Albion, performed poorly. Very eye-catching.

In another game, Manchester United lost 0:1 away to Everton.

There is news that Ferguson hand-picked Moyes to succeed him at Manchester United, and Moyes killed Ferguson in this game, seemingly to prove one thing, that is, he is better than his master.

Relatively speaking, Tottenham Hotspur's 2:0 away win against Newcastle did not attract much attention. More people felt that the result of this game was normal. After all, Tottenham Hotspur's His strength has already been recognized by everyone.

Eighty-nine games unbeaten, Tottenham Hotspur's legendary record continues.

Because they had to participate in the European Super Cup, Tottenham Hotspur's third round of the league was temporarily adjusted to midweek. They defeated Norwich 2:0 at home. It was still very smooth, without too many surprises. It even feels like it lacks a little passion.

What’s interesting is that in the first and second rounds, Ye Qiu changed four starting positions. In addition to Messi, Cavani and other players, many positions were changed. It can be seen that Ye Qiu will be a good player in the new season. Further strengthen the team's rotation.

On August 25, in the second round of the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur continued to welcome West Bromwich Albion at their home court. Messi and Vidal scored goals, and it was still 2:0. Naham Hotspur defeated their opponents again and won three consecutive victories.

Eden Hazard, who temporarily replaced Franck Ribery in the starting lineup, has been eligible to start in the past three games and performed very well. Although he only scored one goal, he had three assists and became the team's frontline player. An important member and even many media have predicted that Hazard is likely to put Ribery on the bench in the new season.

However, regarding this point, Hazard politely expressed that he respects Ribery very much, "Frank gave me a lot of help on the training ground. We have a lot in common. For example, we are both very fast and have good left and right feet. Flexible, so a lot of his experience is very valuable to me.”

"No one can replace Frank's position in the team. He is injured and I get more game opportunities, but this does not mean anything, and the competitive pressure of our team is very high, and Neymar is also an outstanding talent. , I don’t think I can firmly occupy a position in the starting lineup.”

After the second round of the Premier League, the entire Tottenham Hotspur team rushed to Monaco to participate in the UEFA awards ceremony and the Champions League group stage draw ceremony.

Tottenham enjoyed a resounding victory at the awards ceremony.

Messi won the title of the best player in Europe, and in terms of ranking, Pirlo tied for second place with Cristiano Ronaldo. This is also an affirmation for the Italian midfielder. Everyone almost unanimously believes that Pirlo Lowe was one of the biggest contributors to Tottenham Hotspur's impressive performance last season.

In addition, Ribery ranked fourth, Cech ranked sixth, Drogba, the former Chelsea player who moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the new season, ranked seventh, and Cavani ranked ninth, making up the top ten. In the roster, Tottenham Hotspur occupies six seats, and Messi also won this major award. It can be said that the team has a bumper harvest.

However, adhering to the consistent tradition of UEFA in the past, giving Tottenham Hotspur a slap in the face has just brought fame and fortune to Tottenham Hotspur, but it has brought huge trouble to Tottenham Hotspur.

If you are familiar with the Champions League, you must know that the most terrifying death group in the history of the Champions League is Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Barcelona and Brondby in the 98/99 season. The three top European giants gathered in the group stage. This scene is rare.

But now, although Tottenham Hotspur did not draw such a terrifying combination of giants in the group stage draw, it was unfortunately drawn to the champion team.

Premier League champion Tottenham Hotspur, Serie A champion Juventus, Bundesliga champion Dortmund and Ligue 1 champion Montpellier, the champions of four of the five major European leagues gathered in the same group. Such a scene is really spectacular.

Even the serious former superstar Weah couldn't help but smile bitterly when he drew Montpellier, and at the same time comforted this group full of champions, "We are the European Champions League, you are the champions in the Champions League, I think the final champion is likely to emerge from this group, I am optimistic about Tottenham Hotspur!"