The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 209 The Ambush of the African Leopard
"Friends of the audience, friends of the audience, welcome to Old Trafford, Manchester, England."

"What we are currently broadcasting for you is the 02/03 season, the final of the UEFA Champions League. The two sides are the giants from La Liga, Real Madrid, and the team from the Netherlands, Ajax."

"These two teams have a glorious history and a long tradition. Although in the past few years, Ajax once fell, but soon, under the leadership of the young Chinese coach Ye Qiu, this Dutch team Team A has stepped out of the quagmire and once again demonstrated the strong combat effectiveness of traditional teams."

"Last year, Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. Many people thought that this team was lucky, but this year, Ajax achieved better results than last year, reaching the final of the Champions League. Jax defeated top teams including Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Juventus, AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona, ​​etc., which can be said to be full of gold."

"Of course, as the top giants with the strongest and most stars in European football today, Real Madrid's strength should not be underestimated. They are the most dominant team in the Champions League this season, and Zidane has gathered in the team. , Ronaldo, Raul, Figo, Roberto Carlos and a group of outstanding superstars, the combat effectiveness of this team is extraordinary."

"It is also because the two teams have extraordinary strength, so the Old Trafford stadium is full tonight. I heard that tickets are hard to find outside, and the scalpers even raised the ticket price to the usual 63215." This shows the popularity of this game, and in the stands of this stadium, only [-] lucky fans were able to watch this game live."

While the on-site commentator was talking, the starting lineups of the two teams were displayed on the screen.

"Real Madrid's starting lineup has not changed much today. The goalkeeper is Casillas, the defense is Roberto Carlos, El Guerra, Hierro and Salgado, and the double midfielders are Guti and Makelele. , with Zidane, Raul and Figo in the frontcourt, with Ronaldo at the front."

"Ajax hasn't changed too much, the goalkeeper is Van der Sar, the defense is Abidal, Kivu, Lucio and Maicon, and the midfield is Yaya Toure, Mascherano Novo Sneijder, Arjen Robben on the left, Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the center and Van der Vaart on the right."

"Both teams have obviously adopted their strongest lineups. Among them, Ajax has changed. This season's main core player, Arteta, was placed on the bench by Ye Qiu, and he chose Yaya Tu. Lei, this Ivorian player is both offensive and defensive, and his defensive ability is better than Arteta, so many people speculate that Ye Qiu may adopt defensive counterattack tactics in this game!"

Following a series of introductions by the on-site commentator, the players of the two teams walked out of the player tunnel under the leadership of the German referee Merk. There was a burst of cheers at the scene, and the whole scene was very enthusiastic.

The players and the referee team walked to the stadium and lined up on the left and right. The ball boys stood neatly in front of them. The reporters and the live broadcast organization were quickly filming, while Ye Qiu and Bosque were They followed the team out of the player tunnel one after another, and the two met in front of the tunnel. After shaking hands politely, they each returned to their coaches' seats.

"Today Real Madrid wore their auspicious white jersey, while Ajax wore their away black jersey. Both teams have won the Champions League in this jersey, so many media speculated before the game. , this is a battle between the champions of the Champions League, and it will definitely be very exciting."

"Merck, the German referee, has rich experience in law enforcement, and is very strict, and the law enforcement is very fair. Through many games, his physical fitness is very good, and his running distance is even more than that of the players. This makes him He can reach every corner of the stadium very quickly and accurately, and because of this, UEFA will arrange him to officiate such an important game."

I saw that Merck called the captains of the two teams, Hierro and Van der Sar, to guess. In the end, Real Madrid got the right to kick-off, which also made the Real Madrid fans feel a burst of excitement. one slice.

It was in this warm and tense atmosphere that the referee blew the whistle to start the game on time at 19:45, and everyone on the scene burst into cheers and applause.

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Yaya Toure, who was born in Africa, likes leopards very much, but it is not a cheetah, but an African leopard.

To Africans, cheetahs are like dogs and leopards are like cats.

The African leopard is not as fast as the cheetah. It has a slender body and looks a bit fragile, but its teeth are very powerful; the cheetah is a little bit bully, and dares to prey on some weak animals. I dare not, but African leopards dare to use these as food.

Another thing that people don’t like about the cheetah is that he is easily discouraged. After a failed predation, he always has to rest for a long time, but the African leopard does not need to rest. The prey continued to attack.

But more importantly, cheetahs rely on savage pursuit to kill their prey, but African leopards appear to be more intelligent, relying on ambush.

When the whistle sounded for the start of the game, Yaya Toure entered into an ambush like an African leopard. He patiently scanned the situation on the field, watched the Real Madrid players back and forth, and watched the ball fall to the Philippines. Ge's feet, while the Portuguese star along the right, unsuspecting into Yaya? Toure's ambush circle.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the Portuguese superstar, he has outstanding personal skills and is not afraid of being entangled by his opponent. On the contrary, he likes someone to defend close to him, so that he can directly use his speed to pass the opponent and pose a threat.

But obviously, he has never touched an African leopard like Yaya Toure.

When Yaya Toure quickly pulled away from the ambush state and pounced on his prey, he was close to Figo in the shortest possible time, as if he was a strong fighter with the physique of a professional boxer , well-developed muscles, thick and powerful legs, firmly supported Figo with his body, forcefully forcing the Portuguese body to lose his balance.

At the moment when the loophole appeared, Yaya Toure stepped out without hesitation and shoveled.

The person fell to the ground and the ball flew out of the sideline, Real Madrid's throw-in!

Figo was hooked by Yaya Toure's thick leg and fell to the ground, covered in grass clippings. When he stood up, he waited fiercely for the Ivorian, but Yaya Toure seemed unmoved. Looking at Figo, he backed away slowly, as if he was about to enter an ambush again.

Salgado ran over, and the players of Real Madrid stepped forward quickly, preparing to use this opportunity of a throw-in in Ajax's half to launch an attack, but Salgado threw the ball directly to Figo, But this time Abidal firmly defended Figo, who quickly knocked back Salgado.

Just when Salgado was about to pass the ball to Raul, Yaya Toure, who was ambushed again, moved forward quickly. After successfully intercepting the ball midway, he quickly dribbled the ball forward, and Ajax took advantage of the situation and played made a counterattack.

Seeing Yaya Toure dribbling the ball very fast, he saw an opportunity, and passed the ball to the left with a big kick.

Salgado just stepped in to attack. At this moment, Robben was rushing forward along the left side. He looked back at the ball and judged the landing point, but the ball was not passed very well. Ben stopped the ball a beat too late.

With this slowness, Real Madrid's defense was quickly in place.

Robben is on the left side of the penalty area, Hierro is in the penalty area, and the two are one-on-one.

As a result, there was no suspense. Robben quickly broke through Hierro, pulled out a position and made a cross with his left foot. It was a low ball.

Ibrahimovic used his body to block Elguera behind him when he advanced quickly, but the latter competed with Ibrahimovic to life and death. When the Swedish center responded to the cross, he was hit. Overcoming the interference from behind, he missed the goal when he finally grabbed the spot. The shot near the penalty spot didn't have much strength, and Casillas hugged him in his arms.

"The first shot of the game came from Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Ajax, and it was a cross from Arjen Robben from the left."

"We can see that Ajax did not seem to adopt conservative tactics in the opening game. They counterattacked boldly and invested a lot of troops. After going forward, they did not seem to retreat in a hurry, but actively launched Their own frontcourt pressing, and the high defensive pressing tactics they are good at."

The ball was at the feet of Casillas, but Ajax obviously showed no sign of retreating. The defense line advanced to the center line, and the tight marking of Real Madrid made Casillas not know how to pass the ball.

Long pass?There is no commanding height in front at all, and the long pass is to hand over the ball to Ajax.

But short passes are not enough. Ajax is very strict with Real Madrid's defenders. After all, they have three people in front, three interfering with four, and it can be done easily. Casillas dare not take this risk. So in the end I chose the long pass.

Lucio stepped forward and headed Casillas' long pass to Mascherano, who quickly knocked back to Maicon on the right, and the Brazilian right-back took control of the ball.

Although Zidane is not far in front of Maicon, the French superstar obviously has no desire to press, just standing still symbolically, looking at Maicon, as if saying, as long as you don't step forward, I won't either. go up.

But Maicon obviously didn't have such a tacit understanding with him. After taking a few steps forward with the ball, he quickly slid it behind him.

Van der Vaart retreated along the right, quickly turned inside after getting the ball, and quickly went to the middle to cooperate with Zlatan Ibrahimovic who pulled out central defender Elguera and Hierro. Van der Vaart crosses behind him with his right foot.

Robben quickly rushed past Salgado, and when he was about to take the ball to form a single goal, the linesman raised the flag to indicate that Robben was offside.

Peter Pan originally thought he was going to fight alone, and he was so happy, but when he heard the whistle, he immediately shook his head helplessly, but he didn't forget to give Van der Vaart a thumbs up. This pass was indeed a good one. Beautiful, van der Vaart's right foot is also very skilled now, so he is getting better and better at the right winger position.

The continuous attack made the Ajax fans in the stands shout very vigorously. They did not expect that the team started so boldly, without considering the group of superstars in the frontcourt of Real Madrid, they took full advantage of the start Just launching a round of attack on Real Madrid, everyone was surprised and admired by Ye Qiu's courage.

To be honest, Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo and Figo, plus Guti behind him, no one can ignore Real Madrid's offensive combination. Can you hold on?

But Ye Qiu didn't seem to care about these superstars at the beginning. Instead, he picked up Ajax's best and most powerful weapon in the past, directly attacking, and using the attack to suppress Real Madrid's morale, to guide The rhythm of the game.

From the very beginning, the tempo was sped up by Ajax, especially Ajax's pressing and pressing in the midfield, which made Real Madrid's stars feel very uncomfortable. They are used to possession of the ball.

You know, according to the data obtained by Ajax from the authoritative organization OPTA, Real Madrid's possession rate is the highest among all teams in the Champions League. Their possession time is long, so Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo, etc. Talents have enough time to display their chic and elegant ball-handling skills, and then they have time to find loopholes in a slow manner and launch a penetrating attack of the quicksilver version.

But there is one thing that many people have not thought of, that is, Real Madrid has an average of 12 fouls per game. Yes, you read that right, only 12 times. One person at a time.

Ajax has 18 times, which is half more than Real Madrid.

Some people may be surprised, what can be seen from the foul?Real Madrid has good skills and doesn't foul, can you control it?
The rules of football have been precipitated and tempered for a hundred years, each of which is an iron rule that has been honed over time, such as offside, which is definitely a great pioneering work that has made football the world's largest sport, and fouls, which are also worth studying .

There are many types of fouls. Malicious fouls must of course be contained, but from a tactical perspective, some tactical fouls are indispensable for any team, and they are also part of any coach's defense.

Just imagine, when a team has just breathed a sigh of relief and just controlled the rhythm, the defensive team suddenly commits a foul. It doesn’t need to be serious, it just needs to stop the game. The referee will not give a card for such a small foul , may not even be able to warn, but can directly interrupt the opponent's rhythm, forcing the opponent to reorganize.

This is to get the most results at the least cost!

In the defense of football tactics, a very important concept is delay.

At the moment of transition between offense and defense, the most important task of the defender is not to grab the ball, but to delay the opponent's attack, while the offense is the opposite. They must do everything possible to avoid the opponent's delay tactics.

Tactical fouls are undoubtedly one of the delays and a very important means.

A very important reason for Real Madrid's lack of fouls is that they almost never stalk, and rarely press close and defend.

In the Real Madrid team, almost most of the fouls were concentrated on two people, Salgado and Elguera.

Maybe someone will say again, what about Makelele?

Ye Qiu felt that many fans like to elevate a person, or to underestimate a person. They like to imitate the media and label a player with a simple and easy-to-understand label, such as Makelele.

There is no doubt that Makelele is a very, very good midfielder, but he is just a midfielder. His specialty is positional sense and anticipation, which makes him not able to cover a large area like other players. He used to be Celta's midfield organization, so he has solid skills in holding and distributing the ball.

But don't think that Makelele is really like the media said, supporting Real Madrid's entire defense line by himself.

It is precisely because of the pressing of Salgado, Elguera, and even Raul, Guti and others in front that Makelele can play a stable role in his area and position. Without these people With the pressing and running, Makelele's shortcomings will be completely magnified to the extreme, and in the end he will still be sprayed to death by the fans.

This is a very simple truth. Football is a team sport, and Makelele is also a part of the team. He needs the cooperation and help of his teammates to be able to show his strength.

He is indeed a very good midfielder, but he also has his own advantages and disadvantages. For example, as a midfielder, he has very few fouls, even less than right back Salgado and center back Elguera. A testament to his character in itself.

And Ye Qiu's strategy for this game is also very obvious, that is to bypass Makelele and go sideways.

From the foul situation of Real Madrid, it is not difficult to see that the defense of this team is actually very weak, especially the group of superstars in the midfield, who hardly actively participate in the defense. If it is controlled by them If they play in the same game and rhythm, they can destroy any enemy with their own attack.

But once they can't control the ball as they wish, once they can't play at the rhythm they are familiar with and give full play to their offensive advantages, then everyone will find that Real Madrid's midfield is almost defenseless.

Ronaldo, Zidane, Figo, they are just symbolic in their positions, doing a symbolic defense, which allows Ajax to pass through Real Madrid's center smoothly every time they attack. In the frontcourt, and in the middle, Ajax was immediately assigned to the wing, and the attack was launched from the wing.

No matter how good Makelele is, he can't cover the entire defense line, and Ajax uses two sides, Makelele can't take care of it, and it is also the weakest link in Real Madrid's defense, especially Carlos On the left side, he directly launched a powerful impact and used the opening to completely suppress Real Madrid.

Ye Qiu's strategy is very risky, but it is also very simple. I will not focus on defending you after the start. I will attack first and use the attack to get the first goal. As long as I can score the first goal, I will have plenty of chips to play with you.

As for the risk, it is also very big. If there is a counterattack against Real Madrid, or the personal ability of the star, then Ajax will become more passive and the situation will be more dangerous.

But Ajax also has its own advantages, that is the overall.

Relying on the whole is always more secure than relying on individuals!

(End of this chapter)