The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 257

Since entering 2004, Chelsea's training program has been adjusted, and the lineup is constantly rotating.

Ye Qiu was very sure as early as the beginning of the season that in the first season in charge of Chelsea, he must get results worthy of his investment. At the very least, he must ensure that he wins a worthy championship, the Premier League or the Champions League, otherwise Chelsea will be regarded as a winner this season. fail.

Judging from the current Chelsea lineup, Fabregas, Messi, Robert Huth and other young rookies are still difficult to rely on in the Premier League and Champions League. Ye Qiu's idea is to arrange for them to play in the League Cup and FA Cup, so as to rotate The main force, secondly, to give them exercise, while the Premier League and the Champions League are played off the bench.

All rotation systems have an axis, the stronger the team, the bigger the lineup, the axis can be bigger, if Chelsea has two sets of superior lineups, Ye Qiu will definitely include the league and all cups It's all in the plan.

But at the beginning of the season, in order to ensure the team's running-in degree and to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, Ye Qiu did not form a huge lineup, but took the main lineup as the core, adding players such as Sun Jihai, Joe Cole, Parker and Van Persie to strengthen The thickness of the team's bench.

Therefore, what Ye Qiu can guarantee now is that the team will do its best in both the league and the Champions League. Both the League Cup and the FA Cup will have substitutes and rookies to play, so that the main lineup can get a better rest.

Moreover, after entering 2004, Ye Qiu began to adjust the physical fitness of the players, because whether it was from the information left by his predecessor Ranieri, or from Ye Qiu's understanding of the schedule, coupled with his training from the godfather system. In the store, I bought Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and other Premier League coaches' experience and experience on the Premier League schedule. These all told him that the team's physical reserves must be adjusted in January, otherwise the team will find it difficult to persist in the next intensive schedule. go down.

Therefore, after entering January, the performances of Manchester United and Arsenal have obviously fluctuated greatly, and the same is true for Chelsea.

Just a big victory over Leicester City, as soon as they turned around, they were forced to draw 0:0 at home by Birmingham. Manchester United also lost 0:1 away to Wolves, losing Ferdinand, and the result caused by the imbalance in the midfield , is constantly affecting the results of the Red Devils, but Arsenal, Wenger's team beat Aston Villa 2-0 away, and the points behind were once again shortened to 4 points.

This is also a very interesting gap, because throughout the whole season, so far, Chelsea's lead has always been between 4 points and 6 points. Got to 6 points.

The same is true for Arsenal. As the only two unbeaten teams in Europe so far, although Arsenal and Chelsea have experienced ups and downs, they both ensured that they scored points in every game. The teams took turns making mistakes, but the gap never narrowed or widened.

After Wenger introduced left-winger Reyes from Sevilla, the outside world associated Chelsea with Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and other superstars, but everyone knows that it is not feasible to introduce these stars from Real Madrid. It is possible, how could Florentino release him?

So, this is more of a hype and pressure, because Roberto Carlos is currently facing the issue of contract renewal.

After playing the 22nd round of the league, because of the League Cup in the middle of the week and the knockout round of the FA Cup on the weekend, Ye Qiu trained a lot for the team after being tied by Birmingham at home, to boost his physical reserves, At the same time, he also decided to continue to arrange youth training players to play in the FA Cup to ensure that first-team players have a physical reserve period of up to two weeks.

On January 1, Chelsea welcomed Bolton in the first round of the League Cup semi-final at home. Ye Qiu arranged for substitutes and youth team players to play. With Gudjohnsen's goal, Chelsea defeated Bolton 22-1 at home.

On January 1th, the team challenged Scarborough in an away game. Chelsea played with all the youth team players. Finally, with Van Persie's goal, they defeated the amateur team 24-1 away. Satisfied, but eventually made the cut.

The team's opponent in the knockout round of 16 is Fulham from the Premier League, which is a tough battle for Chelsea.

But in the second round of the League Cup semi-final in midweek, although Ye Qiu arranged for many substitute players including Joe Cole, Ribery, and Gallas to play, they still lost 1:3 away. It was given to the tenacious Bolton, who was knocked out of the League Cup by Bolton 3:2 in the final two rounds and stopped in the semi-finals.

Although Chelsea failed to make it to the final, the performance of this group of substitutes and youth players in the League Cup has won everyone's affirmation. They think that the thickness of the Blues' bench is worthy of recognition. Bolton in full swing.

This is also the practice of many teams in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League, because facing the leagues where strong teams compete, they simply cannot get the qualifications to participate in European competitions, so they use cups that strong teams do not pay attention to to strive for European qualifications. , They play more vigorously in the cup than in the league.

However, being eliminated from the League Cup obviously did not affect Chelsea's overall strength, because on January 1, in the team's away game against Blackburn in the Premier League, Chelsea slaughtered Blackburn with an almost surprising 31:5.

Before the game, Souness vowed to avenge the blood at the beginning of the season at home, but in this game, he had to collapse and found that Chelsea's strength was far beyond his imagination. His team There is simply no way to stop Chelsea's indiscriminate bombing.

Because Côte d'Ivoire failed to participate in the African Cup finals, Drogba, who did not need to return to the national team, performed very well in this game. Davis, who returned to the main lineup after returning from injury, also made Chelsea's midfield even more powerful , coupled with the Chelsea stars who have adjusted well after two weeks of rest, finally directed a completely perfect victory.

Ye Qiu was most pleased with his performance in this game, not Lampard, who scored twice, or Ronaldinho, who scored two goals with one shot, but Davis, the Dutch wild boar.

Chelsea's start was actually very passive. Souness's Blackburn has always been known for its aggressiveness. It was also a home game, and they encountered another referee who was soft on the whistle, so Blackburn was ready to give Chelsea A sap took the initiative.

When the team was passive, Davis kept appearing at the front of the defense line, protecting the defense line with Makelele, and gradually stabilized the situation. In the 25th minute, when the opponent's central midfielder took the ball , after he made a direct personal steal, he dribbled the ball out of the chaotic midfield to kill a bloody path.

Is there any counterattack that is faster and more threatening than driving the ball forward immediately after stealing the ball?

Davis dribbled the ball and completely disrupted Blackburn's defense, but the Dutchman was not obsessed with holding the ball. He showed his experienced and alert side, attracting the opponent's defensive players. After being out of space, he passed an excellent through ball behind Blackburn's defense line. Lampard then inserted and directly hit a low shot.

This goal not only broke the deadlock on the field, but also reversed Chelsea's situation, and sounded the clarion call for Chelsea's counterattack, laying the foundation for the continuous scoring in the future, and Davis' outstanding performance was also recognized. Ye Qiu's extremely high evaluation. In his post-match press conference, he made an exception and praised Davis. He believed that the performance of the Dutchman after his return from injury was impressive. He is a vital part of the team's midfield. member Tiger General.

Of course, Ye Qiu did not forget to praise the other players of the team. He firmly believed that as long as the team continued to perform according to the current situation, after the end of the season, they would definitely be rewarded.

A week later, back at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea relied on Ronaldinho's personal skills to create a penalty in Charlton's penalty area. The Brazilian personally took the penalty and beat Charlton 1-0. pause.

This also made many people feel strange, because Chelsea beat Blackburn a week ago, but they performed very badly when facing Charlton a week later, especially the team's offense seemed to lose their scoring ability all of a sudden. Very puzzling.

But Ye Qiu said that he was not worried about it at all, because it was the result of his ups and downs and adjustments.

In the middle of the week, Chelsea challenged Portsmouth away. The main midfielder Makelele was injured in the training before the game and missed this game. Ye Qiu arranged for Parker to replace Makelele in the starting lineup, and the midfielder did not disappoint. In the 17th minute, Ye Qiuzhi took advantage of an opportunity to attack from behind and scored the opening goal for Chelsea.

Parker and Makelele belong to two different types of defensive midfielders. Although the Englishman has a good defensive ability, a wide range of running, and is also very active in fighting, he has a strong vertical advancement ability and is also good at attacking from the back. The characteristics, it should be said that it is Davis with relatively weakened technology.

Because of this, Ye Qiu kept reminding his defensive midfielder to stay alone in this game. But the strange thing is that both Davis and Parker, who are defensive, often lose their positions. Deco frequently returned to the lower back to protect.

This also made Ye Qiu feel amused and helpless. Deco is really a low-key player, but he is a vital member of the Chelsea team. Without him in the midfield, I really don't know how this game will be. What does it look like.

Drogba made another victory in the second half, and the team beat Portsmouth 2-0 away.

Also in this round, Manchester United, which has been clinging to the back of Chelsea and Arsenal, finally began to fall behind.

Although Manchester United introduced Saha to a certain extent, the problem of advancing the midfield ball was alleviated, but the absence of Ferdinand still had an impact on the Red Devils, causing them to now obviously start to fall behind. This round is 2:3 at home. Lost to Middlesbrough and, interestingly, all three goals were high.

After finishing the 25th round of the Premier League, we ushered in the national team match, but Chelsea still have to play a FA Cup round of 16 knockout match with Fulham, but because the international players were unable to participate in the game, Chelsea once again arranged for rookies to play, In the end, they lost to Fulham 0:2 and stopped in the round of 16.

And after the end of the two-week national team match day, Chelsea ushered in the number one enemy in the championship competition at home, Arsenal!
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Standing in the office on the second floor of the Harrington training base, looking at the dark cloud-covered London sky, Ye Qiu's mood was as gloomy as the current weather in London.

Ye Qiu was definitely not willing to meet Arsenal at this time, because the timing was very unfavorable to him.

First of all, after the national team match day, the Chelsea players were running back and forth, and their condition must have been affected. Yes, Arsenal had also been affected, but the problem was that Ye Qiu didn't want a draw, but to get rid of Arsenal.

As long as Arsenal are defeated in this game, the lead can be extended to 7 points.

You know, Chelsea's lead this season has been hovering between 4 and 6 points, and more importantly, Chelsea and Arsenal are currently the only two unbeaten teams in Europe. Defeating Arsenal in one game is undoubtedly a painful blow to the morale of the Gunners.

The lead was extended to 7 points, and morale was severely weakened. It would be very difficult for Arsenal to regain this momentum.

Manchester United has now clearly fallen out of the championship competition, and the rest is the competition between Chelsea and Arsenal. If they can use this game to kill the Gunners with one stone, then Chelsea will be much easier in the next schedule. At least Ye Qiu won't be under so much pressure.

But the problem is, this is just Ye Qiu's own idea, and Arsenal obviously have the same idea.

Chelsea is 4 points behind. If they win the away game, it will be shortened to 1 point, and they have lost their unbeaten record. Chelsea's morale is very weak. It is a huge test, and it may even be possible to collapse directly.

Wenger's calculation is also very shrewd, he also wants to kill two birds with one stone, so from the perspective of the strategic purpose of competing for the championship, neither side is willing to lose, and neither can afford to lose.

Judging from the current cards of both sides, the strength of Chelsea and Arsenal can be said to be comparable.

Don't look at the fact that Chelsea has European stars like Ronaldinho, Deco, and Cannavaro, but Arsenal also has powerful stars like Pires, Vieira, and Campbell. The tacit understanding accumulated over the years can completely keep pace with Chelsea's strength.

Chelsea can crush Manchester United because Ye Qiu has identified Manchester United's weaknesses and weaknesses, but the current Arsenal has almost no obvious flaws. There are Ashley Cole, Pires and Henry on the left, and Ashley Cole, Pires and Henry on the right. With Lauren and Ljungberg on the road, plus Campbell, Toure, Gilberto Silva, Vieira and Bergkamp, ​​Arsenal's strength is very balanced.

The only weakness is the goalkeeper Lehmann. The German goalkeeper has not been stable this season and is a landmine in Arsenal's defense. But the problem is that the goalkeeper's flaws are purely luck. Who knows when he will be exposed?
Furthermore, Makelele missed the national team game and concentrated on recuperating from his injuries. Now he is back from injury, but it is still unknown whether he can adjust his state well. If Makelele is not in charge, who will limit the chances of retreating? Gercamp?

You know, the Ice Prince of the Netherlands plays a very obvious role in the current Arsenal's offense. His running is very smart, and his awareness is even better. If there is no safe midfielder to limit Bergkamp, ​​so what? Limit Arsenal's offense?

There is no need to worry about the right side. Lampard, Deco and Maicon can all suppress Arsenal's left attack on this side. Evra is not in good condition on the left side, but Gallas can play. Ye Qiu said that he didn't want to play left back, but he didn't resist. After all, Cannavaro and Terry are the team's main center backs.

Davis fought against Vieira, and Drogba suppressed the opponent's two central defenders. If Ye Qiu guessed correctly, Wenger would definitely let Vieira and Gilberto Silva restrict Ronaldinho and Lan Pade, the reason is very simple. Ye Qiu is worried about Arsenal's offense, so isn't Wenger worried about Chelsea's offense?
You know, Chelsea's offensive ability this season is no worse than Arsenal's. On the contrary, Chelsea scored 3 more goals than Arsenal and conceded fewer goals, so Ye Qiu is making defensive arrangements against Arsenal. Wenger It is also making defensive arrangements against Chelsea's offense.

"It's really a tragedy of a needle point against a wheat awn!" Ye Qiu shook his head and smiled helplessly.

If the game was postponed for a week, Ye Qiu would have more choices, because he could better adjust the physical fitness and state of the players, but it is obvious that he has no choice now, so he can only seek stability.

It is not Ye Qiu's style not to seek to win the opponent at home, and it also makes Ye Qiu feel a little depressed, but sometimes, you just have to make such a choice for the sake of performance, and Ye Qiu is not stubborn about it at all, because He doesn't want to be fired.

While Ye Qiu was thinking, Peter Kenyon called.

"The special plane arranged to pick up Ronaldinho and Maicon in Brazil has already gone, and we have also arranged manpower to pick up Drogba. I believe we will be able to arrive in London tomorrow!" Peter Kenyon is still very efficient. , not at all British.

This was also arranged by Ye Qiu, because if the players returned to London in a leisurely manner, there would be no way to train again before the game, but the club would specially pick them up, and there could be a total of two days of adjustments including the day of the game.

"Excuse me, Peter!" Ye Qiu said politely.

Peter Kenyon smiled on the phone, "It's nothing, it's just my duty, it's you, be careful about Arsenal, Wenger, an old fox, even gives Ferguson a headache, you have to be careful about him!"

Ferguson and Wenger have fought in the Premier League for many years. Although Ferguson has the upper hand, everyone knows that he has few ways to take Wenger. The latter can be said to be Ferguson's old enemy.

"He's an old fox, and I'm not an idiot. No matter what, we will definitely be the final winners!" Ye Qiu said confidently.

"Then prepare well, we are waiting to see your performance, and wish you a successful start!" Peter Kenyon hung up the phone with a smile, while Ye Qiu here somewhat let go of his worries.

In any case, the game hasn't started yet, and no one knows the result. Besides, playing safe doesn't mean you can't beat Arsenal, does it?

(End of this chapter)