Chapter 96: Four-time Champion?

2:0 defeated PSV Eindhoven, and Ajax eliminated this team, which many people called the quasi-Eredivisie champion, from the Dutch Cup.

Many professionals have both good and bad comments on this.

The good thing is that Ajax defeated PSV Eindhoven twice in three days at the Arena Stadium, which will bring an immeasurable psychological blow to PSV Eindhoven. This may make this Eredivisie powerhouse start to worry about gains and losses in the next game, feel more pressure, and lose some unnecessary games, giving Ajax a chance to reverse.

But the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, after PSV Eindhoven was eliminated from the Dutch Cup, they only have one Eredivisie championship to fight for, which will inevitably make PSV Eindhoven gather all its strength and resources to fight for this championship trophy. With PSV Eindhoven's strength, as long as there is no psychological problem, Ajax has almost no chance.

Ye Qiu himself also understands this very well, but he can't turn back, because the military order is there, he can only move forward.

But Ye Qiu was not completely without ideas. The Dutch Cup final was against Twente, a team that was not ranked high in the Eredivisie this season. The lineup did not change much, but the overall strength declined greatly. Ye Qiu had sufficient confidence in defeating this opponent.

Therefore, he was determined to defend the Dutch Cup!

What also made him ambitious was the UEFA Cup. After losing at home in the first round, Ye Qiu reflected on his tactics and the team's problems. After learning from the pain, he would not hold back in the second round and could only fight with his back to the wall.

If he could advance, the opponent in the UEFA Cup final would most likely be Barcelona.

After playing two games against Eindhoven, Ajax's outstanding performance won unanimous praise from the Dutch media, but four days later, Ajax had to challenge Roda JC away.

Although there was a second round of the UEFA Cup semi-final in the middle of the week, this game was also not to be missed, so Ye Qiu played with all his strength and defeated Roda JC 2:0 away.

Interestingly, PSV Eindhoven challenged Ronald Koeman's Vitesse away, and the two sides ended up with a 0:0 draw.

As a result, the points gap between Ajax and PSV Eindhoven was quickly shortened to 6 points.

With 6 games left in the league, 6 points is no longer an unreachable gap, which immediately rekindled the hope of the whole Amsterdam. However, at this time, Kerner once again began to hype Ronald Koeman's remarks that he should take over Ajax, which was a bit disappointing.

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On April 19, Ajax visited Mendizorroza Stadium to challenge Alaves.

Among all the teams in the Basque region, Alaves is far inferior to the old powerhouse Athletic Bilbao or the La Liga team Real Sociedad in terms of status and influence. Their best result in history was the sixth place in La Liga last season, but this season's results have declined rapidly.

This has led many people to see the quality of this dark horse clearly.

But in the UEFA Cup, Alaves was terribly dark, eliminating many teams including Inter Milan along the way, reaching the semi-finals, and defeating Ajax 1:0 away.

Some people commented on Alaves and Ajax, believing that Mane and Ye Qiu's teams have many similarities, such as they both emphasize integrity, which is also an important feature of the Basque region team, but if Alaves last season relied on solid overall defense to qualify for the UEFA Cup, then this season, Alaves died on defense.

Last season, Alaves lost only 37 goals in 38 rounds of La Liga, making it the team with the strongest defensive ability in La Liga, 2 goals less than Valencia, which lost the second fewest goals, and 7 goals less than Super Laco, which won the championship, but their offense only scored 41 goals, ranking third from the bottom in La Liga, even less than Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, which were relegated.

But in this season, Alaves' offensive ability has been released, but at the same time, their defense has become very unstable. Although there are cases of big wins over opponents, there are also many typical cases of losing to opponents. It can be said that it has become a typical situation of attacking instead of defending.

Ye Qiu learned from the experience and lessons of the previous game. He did not continue to play against Alaves, but chose to stabilize the defense and let Alaves, who likes or even loves to attack, press out to play.

There is a very unique thing about Alaves this season, that is, their offense is more completed by the Romanian player Contra at right back, which also led to Contra winning the same treatment as Roberto Carlos after his outstanding performance and performance this season.

Roberto Carlos on the left and Contra on the right are the two hottest full-backs in La Liga this season.

At this time, Contra's role in Alaves' tactics is somewhat similar to Alves' role in the tactical system of Sevilla and Barcelona later. Rather than being a full-back, it is better to say that he is a winger. Just withdrawing his position allows him to play more sudden and secretive back-ins.

But the disadvantages of doing so are also very obvious. One of the important reasons for Alaves' high rate of goals conceded this season is the weak back line, because they lack the key to Barcelona's success, that is, strong control.

A very important reason why Barcelona dares to use Alves's outstanding ability to penetrate from behind is that they know very well that their strong midfield and frontcourt pressure and outstanding ball possession rate can ensure that even if Alves loses If the ball is lost, the opponent will not be able to counterattack in the shortest time.

But the problem is, Aravis doesn't have such ability at all!

Ye Qiu made it clear in this game that Alves would attack, but Mane was no fool. He already had 1:0 in hand and wanted to play more securely, so he did not press forward boldly.

But if he thinks so, don’t the players think so too?

When the game reached the 12th minute, Contra chose to dribble the ball as usual, but this time he encountered the difficult Keita. After the Mali midfielder entangled Contra, he successfully intercepted the ball and passed the ball directly to find Robben.

The Dutch winger quickly dribbled the ball forward and passed the ball from the left. Ibrahimovic leaned against the opponent's center back Carmona, stopped the ball, turned around to protect the ball, and then knocked it back to Van der Far. Special, the latter kicked off the penalty area and penetrated Alaves' goal, 1:0!

After equalizing the score, Ajax seemed to be full of morale, but Ye Qiu kept calling on the players on the sidelines to calm down, continue to adopt prudent tactics, and first strengthen their own defense.

Ye Qiu himself wanted to use full-backs to advance to participate in the attack, so he introduced Maicon. However, after the experiment, he found that the team's control was not up to a certain level, and the tactical risk of full-backs advancing to attack was too high. It was too big and the gains outweighed the losses, so I chose to put it on hold for the time being.

Because of this, he clearly knows the shortcomings of Alaves' tactics.

Seeing that the opponent equalized the score, Mane kept calling on the players to calm down.

In the following period, the pace of the game for both sides was relatively slow, and the speed of advancement was not fast, which was a bit boring. However, Ajax's backline defense was obviously stronger because they focused on attacking Contra's side.

Romania's right back's defensive ability is not strong. Facing Robben one-on-one, the Dutchman firmly occupied a certain advantage. This directly caused Alaves to appear very passive in defense against Ajax on the left, and Contra's defense on the left was very passive. The contribution on the offensive end is greatly reduced, especially when attacking, he does not dare to press on for fear of being beaten from behind again.

In the 31st minute, Gilberto Silva got the ball and cleverly passed it behind him. Ibrahimovic used his body to forcefully break away from Alaves' defense. After getting the ball, he quickly advanced and attracted the attention of the defense. After the force, he passed the ball diagonally to Robben who was soaring on the left. The Dutch winger hit with his left foot, 2:0!

After reversing the score, Ajax had already obtained half of the tickets for the finals, but Ye Qiu did not dare to be careless at all.

During the halftime break, Ye Qiu kept reminding all the players that Alaves would work hard in the second half.

"They like to press, so let them press, and we will continue to defend and counterattack in the second half!"

Ye Qiu has made it clear now, I don't want the process, I just want the results!

In the second half, they changed sides and fought again. Alaves, who was lagging behind, was not willing to lose. They began to use the offensive tactics they are good at this season and launched a crazy attack against Ajax. However, Alaves' offense lacked impact. Facing a solid defense, they lack the necessary means to attack, especially players with outstanding personal abilities.

Even Xavi Moreno, who ranks first in La Liga's scorer list this season, cannot be regarded as a powerful center in terms of height, weight, technical characteristics, or style, but can only be regarded as a smaller version. Morientes, such a player can make a difference under La Liga's sparse defensive system, but facing Ajax's tight defense, the effect is not great.

On the contrary, in the 72nd minute, Sneijder passed the ball behind him from the right, and Van der Vaart drove straight in. Facing the opponent's attacking goalkeeper Herrera, he passed the ball to the back of the goal. Ibrahimovic got ahead of everyone. He kicked the ball into the goal, 3:0!

This score was maintained until the end. After losing 0:1 at home, Ajax finally withstood the pressure, defended and counterattacked in the away game, and defeated Alaves 3:0, and then ended up with a total score of 3:1. , knocking Alaves out of the UEFA Cup.

This season's UEFA Cup final will be held in Dortmund, Germany.

Faced with this defeat, Alaves' head coach Mane had no choice but to say that the team was not as strong as Ajax.

"We tried our best to win the game and create history, but unfortunately we lost to a team that was better than us. Ajax played better in this game. More targeted and more efficient, this game also made us completely reflect on the team’s tactics.”

Obviously, what Mane is referring to is how to solve the defensive problem of the team under this offensive football style. This is not only an important reason for Alaves' poor performance this season, but also what Mane must do next season. Focus on solving the problem.

But Ye Qiu is not optimistic about Mane and his Alaves at all. This is the tragedy of a small team.

Because if he remembers correctly, Xavi Moreno and Contra will leave Alaves after the end of this season and switch to AC Milan. You know, Moreno’s goals this season accounted for Alaves’ total goals. There are more than half of the goals, and Contra is a vital offensive tool for the team. Without these two players, Alaves will have a hard time standing out from the La Liga teams.

Of course, Ye Qiu kept this worry in his heart. On the surface, he still expressed his best wishes to Mane and his Alaves, and said that Mane's team gave him a great reminder this season.

This is true. He had an informal private communication with Mane after the game and talked about Mane's use of Contra. After a season of full-back forward attacks, the latter accumulated Ye Qiu gained a lot from this exchange.

Because his attitude is also very clear. When Ajax's overall control reaches a certain level, he will definitely find ways to release the offensive power of the defenders, especially the right back. Otherwise, it would be too much for Maicon to play as the right back. Pity.

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Two weeks ago, Ye Qiu was still the target of verbal criticism from the media, but two weeks later, Ye Qiu has completely become the focus of praise from the Dutch media. All of this is because of his team's outstanding performance in the past two weeks. Performance.

With two wins over PSV and a reverse against Alaves, Ajax's performance in the past two weeks has been nothing short of perfect.

Returning to Amsterdam from Spain, Ajax soon welcomed Ronald Koeman's Vitesse.

Ajax, who had been fighting on multiple fronts for a long time, was exhausted, but Vitesse adjusted better, which resulted in Ajax not performing as well as their opponents in this game.

But at the critical moment, Hleb broke through from the left and assisted Huntelaar to open the scoring for Ajax.

Vitesse then equalized the score in the second half and almost reversed Ajax.

Finally, Yaya Toure, who came on as substitute for Keita, dribbled the ball into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot to put Ajax ahead of the score again.

Although Koeman's team performed better afterwards and suppressed Ajax throughout the game, they were never able to break through Ajax's goal again. Ajax finally defeated Ajax 2:1 at home. Waiters.

In the same round, PSV defeated Waalwijk 3:1 at home, successfully got out of the shadow of defeat, and continued to keep the point difference between itself and Ajax at 6 points, while Feyenoord It was a 3:0 victory over NEC Nijmegen.

But everyone can see that this season's Eredivisie championship battle has nothing to do with Van Marwijk.

Feyenoord themselves seemed to know this very clearly, so a week later, they lost to their opponent in an away game against Roda JC. On the contrary, it was Ajax. After a week of repairs, Although Sneijder was absent due to injury, the team still slaughtered Breda 4:0 at the Arena Stadium.

PSV play a day later than Ajax, this time they face Willem II of Adriansee.

The two sides eventually tied 1:1, and Adriance helped Ajax at his home court.

It was shortened to 4 points. With 4 games left in the league, this is no longer an unreachable score.

After Ye Qiu heard that Eindhoven suffered a draw with Willem II in an away game, he immediately expressed his gratitude to Adrianse, "If we can win the Eredivisie championship this season, I will buy you a drink." !”

Adrianse agreed with a smile, and when interviewed by the media, he highly praised Ye Qiu's Ajax.

"Many people think he is young, and his team also has the lowest average age in the Eredivisie, but I can see that this is a team full of talents, and Ye Qiu is also a very thoughtful and individual player. Coach, I believe he will be the most suitable head coach for Ajax, and no one can replace his status and influence in this Ajax team.”

When reporters mentioned that the Ajax board of directors listed him as a candidate for Ajax's head coach next season, Adrianse expressed his confusion.

"I don't deny that the head coach of Ajax is full of temptation for anyone. I come from Ajax, and I also hope to take over the position of head coach of Ajax one day, but I still want to remind all Ajax directors that Ye Qiu did a very good job this season, especially in the second half, which fully demonstrated his ability.”

"In the first season, he led the team to the UEFA Cup final and the Dutch Cup final. Now he has pushed PSV into a desperate situation. I don't think such results are failures. On the contrary, even if Aja this season Even if they don’t win the championship, I think it’s been a great and outstanding season.”

Finally, Adrianse also smiled and said, "Of course, what I said is just a hypothesis. I am very optimistic about Ye Qiu and his Ajax. I think Ajax should now adjust its goal to four crowns." king!"

Obviously, the quadruple crown also includes the Dutch Super Cup champion at the beginning of the season!

Soon, Ajax reversed Waalwijk 4:1 in the away game in the 31st round of the Eredivisie, but PSV defeated Heerenveen 3:0 at home. The two teams are still in the Eredivisie. Go hand in hand on the field.

However, Feyenoord lost 2:3 at home to Fortuna Sittard. Van Marwijk's team's performance in the second half of the season was no longer as good as the championship in the first half, which also led to their failure in the Netherlands. In the 32nd round of League One, they were unexpectedly defeated 4-0 by the highly motivated Ajax at the Arena Stadium.

The shame of last season has been completely wiped out this season. Ajax fans have been completely conquered by Ye Qiu's team's recent performance!

But PSV Eindhoven reversed Rosendal 2:1 away from home. They were ahead of Rosendal for a long time and finally reversed, which made many people feel regretful.

In the penultimate round of the Eredivisie, PSV Eindhoven was tied 2:2 by Grafschap at home, but Ajax defeated Twente 3:1 away from home, which immediately shortened the points gap between the two teams from the original 4 points to 2 points.

With the last round of the Eredivisie left, the 2-point gap is worrying!