Chapter 87 Warcraft

After half a year of adjustment and running-in, and with Ye Qiu already familiar with the rhythm and atmosphere of the professional league, he made more thorough preparations for Ajax's winter training camp, which also made Ajax's second half start better than the beginning of the league.

In the Dutch Cup quarterfinals, Ajax faced Groningen. Robben's outstanding performance and Huntelaar's efficiency helped Ajax beat Groningen 4:0 away, making a good start in the second half.

In this game, Ibrahimovic, who had been affected by the beating incident before, did not appear in the game list, but Ye Qiu arranged the Swede to start again when he challenged Graafschap away in the 19th round of the Dutch League three days later.

This time, Ibrahimovic showed an excellent competitive state. In the match against Graafschap, he made one pass and one shot, helping Ajax beat Graafschap 3:1 away.

A week later, Ajax returned to the Arena Stadium.

Although he had to go to England in the middle of the week to challenge Liverpool at Anfield, Ye Qiu's focus of the season was still on the Eredivisie, so he still sent out all the main players in this game, and defeated William II led by Adrianse 2:0 at the Arena Stadium.

Ajax, which was getting better and better, showed a gratifying state and development momentum, especially this group of young players, which made all Ajax fans see hope, so much so that after this game, many media outlets have sounded the clarion call for Ajax to hit the league championship.

Head coach Ye Qiu also said very affirmatively in an interview with the media after the game, "The Eredivisie championship will be a championship we are determined to win this season. I am full of confidence in my team. We will do our best to fight for this championship throne that has been estranged from us for two years!"

"Yes, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord are both very strong competitors, but we will not doubt ourselves because we are also a strong team, no worse than our competitors!"

With three consecutive wins at the start, Ajax boarded the plane to Liverpool.

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I believe that true Liverpool fans will never forget the extremely sexy Red Army during Evans' period.

At that time, Liverpool played pleasing football, with continuous small-scale cooperation and penetration, and imaginative personal ability. These made Evans' Liverpool a team that Red Army fans will find hard to forget.

But unfortunately, Evans' team is destined to win fans but not opponents.

Evans' tragedy just told Ye Qiu one thing, that is, in the field of professional football, whether you like offense or defense, it doesn't matter. What's important is that you have to find a kind of football that can bring you victory. Otherwise, even if your team conquers all the fans, you will only be fired.

Therefore, at Anfield, Ye Qiu's starting lineup is obviously for a draw.

Goalkeeper Grim, the back line is Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon, Heitinga is injured, Ye Qiu uses De Jong in the league, and Maicon in the game against Liverpool, letting the Brazilian play right back.

The three midfielders are Keita, Gilberto Silva and Sneijder, and the front three are still Robben, Ibrahimovic and Van der Meyde. The latter has maintained a very good performance even after the winter break, and now he is firmly suppressing Van der Vaart.

Houllier's lineup in this game made many Ajax fans who came to the away game with the team full of sighs.

The goalkeeper is Westerveld, the back line is Zieg, Hyypiä, Hencozzi and Babel, the midfield is Litmanen, McAllister, Hamann and Gerrard, and the two forwards are Heskey and Owen. One tall and one fast combination.

Hyypiä was once the main central defender of Willem II. He performed well under Adrianse. After he switched to Liverpool, he was also regarded as an important factor in Adrianse's poor performance in the past two years, because after Adrianse, who loves attacking, lost the backbone of the back defense, Willem II's defense became very fragile.

Unlike Hyypia who became popular after joining Liverpool, Litmanen was once valued after joining Barcelona, ​​but soon lost his main position. He had to choose to join Liverpool from Barcelona during the winter break this year.

When Litmanen decided to leave Camp Nou, he was in contact with Ajax because he was a free transfer. Many media and fans were even looking forward to the return of the Finnish skater to the Arena Stadium. However, Ye Qiu only asked a question indifferently to the inquiries from the management.

"We have Robben, Van der Meyde, Van der Vaart, and Hleb, why do we still need Litmanen?"

Since we have completely embarked on the route of rejuvenation, does it make sense to introduce Litmanen and put pressure on Robben and others?

In the end, the Finn chose to go to Liverpool, and this game was his first game for Liverpool.

Wearing the blood-red jersey of the home Red Army and looking at the group of young guys on the opposite side wearing traditional Ajax jerseys, Litmanen, who just celebrated his 30th birthday, felt a little sad, because he knew that in this young team, there was no place for him anymore, and there would never be one again.

But he still walked onto the Anfield Stadium with a desire. For him, this was not only a game to prove his strength to the Red Army fans, but also a game for him to show his strength to the group of Ajax juniors standing opposite him and maintain his qualifications as a senior.

"Ajax boys, here I come!"

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On the familiar wing, Litmanen raised his hand, and a mid-range pass from Hamann came directly in front of him.

Before stopping the ball, he looked behind him and found that the Brazilian defender was close. Litmanen smiled, stopped the ball with his chest, and pretended to buckle to the right with his left foot, deceiving Maicon behind him to mistakenly think that he was going to rush to the boundary line, and his center of gravity moved immediately. Unexpectedly, Litmanen knocked the ball with his right foot and turned from the left.

Anfield has always been known for its fiery atmosphere, so when Litmanen passed Maicon with his flexible and skillful skills, like a slippery loach, all the Red Army fans cheered for him.

"Jari Olav Litmanen~~~~~~~"

Litmanen felt the special treatment from the Red Army fans, which was difficult for him to enjoy at the Camp Nou. His heart was full of excitement and expectations, but his footwork was not slow at all. He silently counted his own rhythm in his heart, which was the rhythm he was best at.

One, two, dribble!

Every professional player has his own rhythm of playing football, and Litmanen's rhythm has been with him for more than ten years. He has already integrated this rhythm into his blood. As long as he plays football, he will follow this rhythm, and no head coach can change his rhythm.

One, two...

Just when Litmanen habitually thought that he was going to pass the ball forward again, he didn't expect that Maicon, who was thrown away by him just now and obviously behind him, suddenly rushed up from behind, with a very fast speed, a bit like forcing overtaking.

The Brazilian gritted his teeth and chased him hard, and when he wanted to dribble the ball, he kicked the ball to force it down.

The man fell out, but the ball stayed!

Beep! ! !

The referee blew the whistle, indicating that Maicon had committed a foul, giving Liverpool a chance for a free kick in the frontcourt.

McAllister came to the penalty spot, and almost all the tall players of Liverpool were stuffed into the penalty area of ​​​​Ajax, including Hyypia, Hencke, Heskey, Gerrard, and tall players like Zieg, Babel and Hamann who stayed in the backcourt.

"Oh my god, there are so many tall guys!" Ye Qiu saw so many tall guys in Liverpool on the sidelines, and he really smiled bitterly in his heart.

But this is also in line with Houllier's transformation of Liverpool.

If Liverpool during Evans's time was a bit like Barcelona in the previous life, which played sexy ball control, then Houllier's arrival completely transformed the ball control style during Evans's time into Mourinho's macho style, and he also attached great importance to defense.

If Ye Qiu remembered correctly, this year's Liverpool should be the five-time champion, winning five championships, but all of them were cup competitions.

This is not surprising at all, because Houllier's team is an attack based on defense and counterattack, and this tactical play is not very effective in the league, because Liverpool is also a strong team in the Premier League. Only others can defend and counterattack, and it is difficult for them to play defense and counterattack, but in the cup competition, such a defensive counterattack tactic is safer.

Ye Qiu is very clear about the strength of this Liverpool team, so he came to this game with the mindset of defensive counterattack. After all, it is an away game, and he can afford it, but as long as Liverpool shows even the slightest mistake, Ye Qiu can swallow him.

McAllister's free kick went into the penalty area, and the place was immediately in chaos. Lucio used his body to hold Hyypiä, took the lead, and headed the ball, but the ball did not fly far and fell to Gerrard's feet outside the penalty area.

After getting the ball, the Liverpool midfielder, who has performed very well this season, directly shot hard, but under the interference of Gilberto Silva, this shot eventually became an anti-aircraft gun and failed to hit the target.

The Liverpool fans at Anfield all sighed with regret.

But soon, the singing at Anfield rang again, and Liverpool fans cheered for their team with their singing, which also made their players quickly regroup on the court and launched another wave of offensive.

Hencozzi and Hyypiä are both high center defenders. Turning, flexibility and speed are their weaknesses, so Houllier's defensive method has always been to retreat, and then put Hamann, McAllister and other midfielders in the midfield to protect the defense line and further compress their own 30-meter area.

In other words, minimize the chances of the opponent playing behind you!

The advantage of doing this is that the defense is solid, but the disadvantage is that the offense is greatly weakened. The most famous ball control flow during the Evans period has also disappeared, and more reliance has been placed on Owen's quick counterattacks. Relatively speaking, Fowler, another striker in the Liverpool team, is not valued by Houllier because he is good at guerrilla in the penalty area and has a keen sense of smell in front of the goal.

Fowler, who Evans relied on, gradually lost his starlight, and Owen, who was faster and had a weak sense of smell in front of the goal, replaced him and became a banner of Liverpool's offense. This is not a problem of the players' strength, but the result of the different tactical styles of head coach Houllier and Evans.

Houllier's tactic is that I stay in the back line, please, attack me!

But now Ye Qiu has also lost his face. Anyway, my life and death is to defend and counterattack. As long as anyone leaves his position easily and presses forward, he will shout loudly and tell him to quickly return to his position and make clear the order of the carriage and horse. Anti-counterfeit.

I want to prevent counterattack, Mr. Houllier, you better do it!

Playing at home, the morale of the fans is high. Facing an Eredivisie team like Ajax, Houllier really has no reason not to press out and play, because he also wants to win the opponent at home.

But the problem is that the Frenchman himself knows very well that his most powerful tactic is to prevent counterattacks from behind the opponent and use Irving's lightning speed. Once he is pressed out to fight, Irving falls into the quagmire of the opponent's key defense in front and loses What should I do about the most threatening offensive weapon?

It was the turn of Husky, who was 1.9 meters tall and as heavy as a tank, to exert his power.

"Pay attention to strengthening the defense on the wings!"

"Be careful with Litmanen and Gerrard, pay attention!"

"Cheer up, everyone!"

When Ye Qiu saw Liverpool pressing out, he walked to the sidelines and kept shouting.

Liverpool has a way to prevent counter-attacks, which is to play behind and take advantage of Owen's speed. However, once they find that their opponents are not on track and do not press out as they want, they will choose to press themselves. At that time, their way of advancing the ball relied on the two full midfielders to advance into the frontcourt and cross to find Heskey.

The Warcraft battle between Lucio and Hesky immediately became another bright spot in this game.

Maicon pinned Litmanen, Abidal suppressed Gerrard, and Lucio stared at Heskey one-on-one. Liverpool's offense fell into a quagmire again and could never open up the situation. Moreover, they are now actively pressing forward and can attack at any time. You have to guard against your opponent's counterattacks wherever you go.

"It must be interesting when a master of counterattack is beaten back, right?" Ye Qiu was in a good mood.

On the contrary, Houllier, who was in front of the home team's coaching bench, looked a little depressed. I wonder if his heart can withstand the pressure at this moment.

Ye Qiu also admired the French, but now that he was his opponent, he had to use all possible means to deal with Houllier.

"After all, Houllier's transformation of Liverpool is a bit extreme!" Bobby Haarms shook his head and sighed.

Although the style during the Evans period was soft, focusing on offense and light on defense, Liverpool's small-scale cooperation and penetration at that time, as well as the diversification of ball advancement, made their offense difficult to guard against, especially with Jamie Reid. Players of the technical school led by Knapp and John Barnes completely sounded the clarion call for the technicalization of the Premier League.

Many people say that Wenger at Arsenal completely changed the style of the Premier League. But in fact, before Wenger, there was Evans who was more technical than him. The difference is that Wenger won the championship. And Evans left get out of class in despair.

"Houllier's Liverpool defense relies too much on Owen, and on positional battles, it relies too much on Heskey. The entire team has a seemingly strict division of labor and cooperation, and everyone has their own responsibilities, but this seems too mechanical and too simple. , once they are exposed, they don’t change enough.”

Ye Qiu glanced at Liverpool's bench, "If it were me, I would decisively play Fowler at this time. In this kind of positional battle, Fowler can play a more crucial role. On the contrary, it is Irving who has lost his speed advantage." , also average!”

Irving truly transformed into a forward with a sense of smell in front of the goal, but that was later, and he has not reached that point yet.

This is what Ye Qiu has been avoiding all along. From the beginning of organizing the team's tactics, he has diversified the attack at home. Arranging Robben on the left, he wants to choose Van der Vaart on the right. He can choose short, medium or long in the middle. With Sneijder passing the ball, Lucio in the backcourt, and right back Maicon, Ajax has more ways to advance the ball.

The only thing that is worse is experience. Today's Ajax players are still young and need time to improve and refine.

Judging from the scene, it can be said that Liverpool has the upper hand but cannot score.

Heskey is a tall and strong player, but his skills are very average. He is not the kind of player who can attack with his back. That is to say, he can get the ball with his back, but he cannot turn around, so he is at best He can only be regarded as a qualified center, but at the same time, he lacks the ability to grab points in the penalty area, which can be seen from his number of goals.

Ye Qiu remembered that he had seen a few jokes in his previous life.

Heskey's scoring efficiency is not inferior to that of the two legendary superstars. How dare you cheat on such a powerful shooter?

Heskey (England): 7 goals in 59 games.

Higuita (Colombia): 8 goals in 68 games.

Chilavert (Paraguay): 8 goals in 74 games.

Another one is also very funny: What should you do if you see Husky rushing towards you and trying to hit you? Hurry up and pretend to be a goal!

Although the joke was clearly meant to be a fan spoof, and Heskey's tactical role is also very high, at least it proves that this English high center forward is indeed not good at grabbing points and scoring goals. What he is better at is using his body to attack the opponent's defense. .

Facing such a player, Lucio will definitely be easier to defend than Batistuta, so he can not only freeze Heskey, but also help the defense freeze Irving.

This immediately made it difficult for Liverpool's offense to threaten Ajax's goal.

From the first half to the second half, time passed quickly, but Houllier's team still couldn't find a way to break Ajax's goal, but the Liverpool players on the scene became more and more impatient under the overwhelming momentum of the fans.

Whether from a tactical level or from a strategic level of the two-round match, Liverpool had no reason to let Ajax escape from Anfield, so they needed to score!

As this emotion spread rapidly, Liverpool's two full-backs Babel and Zieg also began to actively participate in the attack, which immediately exposed the loopholes in the counterattack defense on both wings of the midfield and backcourt.