The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 748 Poaching Wenger
I believe many of you have seen a movie, Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt.

The story told by this movie is very interesting. Using a lot of statistics to sign some unrecognized players and build the most competitive team with the smallest cost, this idea sounds great!

But is this really the case?
No, the reason is very simple. If data can really replace real people and deduce a game well, then all professional competitive sports will completely lose suspense. But facts have proved that since the birth of various data, professional sports The movement has not lost suspense because of this, but seems to be filled with more and more mysteries.

The OPTA data center under Moon Sports Services specializes in selling data. They are constantly innovating and refining various data, such as the so-called indirect assists, that is, the number of assists before a goal. Penultimate pass.

This data is learned from the NFL, and their data includes a so-called indirect assist.

There are also threatening balls, which are very complicated statistics. It includes those passes that help teammates complete a shot within the goal frame, or running with the ball to pull out the gap and then hit the goal by themselves. They are all counted as threatening balls. .

Later, the so-called indirect threat ball and key pass were born, especially the latter. In fact, the key pass and the threat ball appear to be the same on the surface, but in fact they are somewhat different. The former is also very complicated, and there is no way to do it. With a very complete and accurate definition, it can only be said that a key ball is a pass that creates a shot opportunity.

The difference between it and an assist is that an assist is a goal scored, and a key pass does not care whether a goal is scored or not.

So, here comes the question, so much data, so many types, how to distinguish them?
And who can accurately define a team's tactical style with a complete set of data?
The answer is, no!

I still remember that Ye Qiu once had an in-depth discussion with the two professors of Milan Lab, Mayel Seman and Mikkeli, and these two professors also admitted very frankly that the reason why AC Milan’s Milan Lab A very important reason for such a beautiful scene is the wishful thinking of the media and fans.

"You know, we live in a world that looks rational but is actually emotional."

"All men are afraid to admit their ignorance, and try to explain what they cannot explain."

"At that time, AC Milan had such an old lineup, but achieved such a high level of brilliance. All fans felt that this was impossible, because it was contrary to the common sense of football, so they had to try to understand, discuss, and study it. What happened in the end, so the mysterious Milan laboratory became their biggest reason."

But in fact, what the Milan laboratory provides is always just assistance. What really determines the team's championship is the professionalism and tenacious game spirit of the players. This is why AC Milan dared to weaken the Milan laboratory after winning the Champions League. Because they know very well that this laboratory is not as important as many people think.

Or it should be said that it is indeed very important, but it is not as important as sacred in the hearts of many fans.

And what about Tottenham Hotspur's Theobald Research Centre?
The answer is the same, they are very important, but no matter how important they are, they are only auxiliary, and it is impossible to replace the role played by a living person on the court!
Therefore, data cannot be said to be useless, but the key is how you look at it and how to use it.

Southampton's Matthew Le Tissier mentioned to Ye Qiu before that they want to find two midfielders who can provide protection for the defense, but at the same time they also need players with the ability to play the ball stably, because Adrian The best tactic is to quickly advance to the frontcourt and resolve as many battles in the frontcourt as possible.

They originally wanted to rent Tottenham Hotspur's Brazilian midfielder Sandro and Nick Powell, but Ye Qiu made a suggestion to Adrianse, that is, Nick Powell can be loaned, but Sandro No, but he recommended another player, Nemanja Matic of Benfica.

Nemanja Matic, this player is no stranger. He once played for Chelsea, and was later used as an addition to the introduction of David Luiz. He moved to Benfica, got a lot of opportunities, and his performance was not bad. It's okay.

According to the data obtained by Ye Qiu from the scouting system, Matic's steals, interceptions and running distance are all satisfactory, but what really convinced Adrianse was his positional heat map. He is almost perfect. Embedded in the coverage of the deep defender that Adrianse needs.

More importantly, he can provide a stable ball from a deep position and protect the defense.

Facts have proved that Southampton now ranks fifth in the Premier League. Adrianse's team has played a very surprising offensive football this season, with a double midfielder composed of Matic and Nick Powell, plus With Coutinho and Lucas Moura in front, and supplemented by Schneiderlin, Koke, Lallana, Lambert, Will Hughes and other powerful stars, Southampton's overall combat effectiveness is amazing .

It can be said that although the season has only progressed for a third of the season, Matthew Le Tissier and Adrianse almost admire Tottenham Hotspur's set of data analysis at the beginning. They have to admit that, That is, in the field of data analysis, Tottenham Hotspur is definitely the leader in professional football.

From this example, it is not difficult to find that Tottenham Hotspur are skillful and accurate in using data, but Ye Qiu knows better than anyone else that all data analysis done by the analysis team is based on the team's tactical style basis.

In other words, it must first determine the tactical style, determine the tactical concept and thinking, and then conduct targeted data analysis.

Just like Adrianse, what he needs is a defensive midfielder who can appear in the backcourt stably, provide protection for the defense, and at the same time provide a stable backcourt. If you provide a Phil Jones This kind, or a covering player like Vidal who keeps running, is impossible to succeed at all.

This is not a question of the strength of the players, but a question of suitability.

In the same way, before a football match, the data analysis of the opponents can only provide assistance and reference for the head coach, and cannot become the basis for the head coach's decision-making.

The reason is very simple, a football game is the same as being a human being. Apart from black and white, it also has a middle ground. In addition to winning and losing, besides goals and conceded goals, there are many middle elastic areas in the game, but the data provided What is given to you is just cold black and white, without any blur, but this is not the case in a football game.

Just like Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, as long as anyone is interested, they can easily get some data of the two teams from the comments and analysis of newspapers and media, and they will be surprised to find that whether it is the former Field offense, midfield organization and backcourt defense, Arsenal lost to Tottenham Hotspur.

Taking the most important midfielder in modern football tactics as an example, Arsenal's three midfielders Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere this season have an average of 4 threatening passes per game in this midfield combination. In other words, they created an average of 6 shots for the team in nine 10-minute games.

What about Tottenham Hotspur?Ramsey, Pirlo and Vidal, this midfield combination has an average of 6 threatening passes per game. Even if Pirlo is replaced by Pogba, it has reached 88, which still surpasses Arsenal. accept.

And you must know that what Tottenham Hotspur advocates and advocates is not the style of midfield ball possession, but to quickly and concisely pass through the midfield and go to the frontcourt to create threats, so in Tottenham Hotspur, threats Messi has the most passes, followed by Ribery and Hazard.

In the field of defense, Tottenham Hotspur's combination has an average of 12 steals per game. If Pirlo is replaced by Pogba, it can reach 13. The average steals are only 21, which is significantly behind Tottenham Hotspur.

Or if this is not enough, then add the average running distance per game, interception, number of passes and success rate, etc. In addition to the number of passes and success rate of Arsenal, which can be compared with Tottenham Hotspur, other All of them lag behind their opponents.

When everyone sees this, they will definitely have an impression, how could Arsenal win?

But in fact, in the first 10 minutes of this north London derby at the Emirates Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur were at a disadvantage, and Arsenal even had a one-shot chance, but Cech responded quickly Flying out.

This is what the data can't explain, because it has no way to tell you why Arsenal's players suddenly felt like they were playing chicken blood in this game, so they were able to run, pass and grab so much.

However, a very paradoxical scene appeared.

When the game progressed to No. 203 minutes, Tottenham Hotspur played a quick counterattack. Vidal passed a diagonal pass to Messi. It's Vermaelen, and Messi's left foot goes straight into the penalty area after cutting the ball inside.

Drogba slanted to the right from the top of the penalty area, and Mertesacker was firmly blocked by him. At the front of the small penalty area, Drogba turned around and stopped the ball, and pushed Mertesacker with his body. , turned to the left, and sent the ball forward with his left foot.

The ball rolled past Koscielny and landed on the left side of the goal. Franck Ribery put in an easy push and the ball went in!
All the Arsenal fans in the entire Emirates Stadium were dumbfounded. They clearly controlled the advantage. If analyzed by data, they should definitely lead and even score a goal, but they attacked for more than 20 minutes and did not score a goal. But as soon as Tottenham counterattacked, the goal went in!
But soon, they discovered that the situation seemed to have completely changed!
When Tottenham Hotspur scored the first goal, the game restarted. Arsenal rushed towards Tottenham Hotspur like crazy, but Thiago Silva made a diagonal pass and Ribe Li clinging to the left to take the ball, facing Sagna, made consecutive one-on-one breakthroughs, but he still failed to get rid of Sagna and was forced to knock back.

After Ramsey stopped the ball, he took it to the middle. There was no one guarding him at the front of the penalty area. The Welshman shot directly with his leg at a 45-degree angle. The long-range shot was about 30 meters away from the goal and went straight through. Arsenal's goal, 2:0!

No one knows exactly what happened, and no one knows what the situation is. The only thing everyone knows is that Arsenal is finished and fell at the feet of Tottenham Hotspur again!

The Arsenal fans in the stands also completely lost the mood to shout. They let a very small number of Tottenham Hotspur fans use paper cards to piece together Arabic numerals in the stands. After the ball, the number on the paper card changed from 1 to 2, while many Tottenham Hotspur fans were chanting 3.

This is to remind the players on the court that there are still three goals away from the goal set by the head coach!
Perhaps, in the eyes of many Tottenham fans, this is no longer a football game, but a goal game.

As it turned out, in the end Tottenham did score five goals and Arsenal scored one.

5:1, Tottenham Hotspur once again defeated Arsenal in an away game, but the interesting thing is that if you look at the data of the whole game, you will find that Arsenal should not lose so badly, even they It is at least on par with Tottenham Hotspur. Why did it become like this?
The answer is simple, data, in many cases, is strongly deceptive and an afterthought.

Seriously, you lose!

…………

…………

Some people say that the older you get, the more stubborn you become.

Ferguson is like this, Wenger is still like this.

When everyone in the world is questioning me, I just want to use my method to prove it to you!

This should be the real thought in Wenger's heart now, even if it seems a bit out of line with the current trend and situation, but you can't say that this is a kind of stupidity, you can only say that what everyone values ​​is not Same.

After attending the press conference, Ye Qiu and Wenger left separately, but not long after, Ye Qiu found Wenger again at the home team coach's bench at the Emirates Stadium, and he sat there alone, silently Looking at the busy staff on the court, silently looking at the deserted stands not far away.

Or, for just this moment, he looks like a lonely 63-year-old.

"Let's make a deal!" Ye Qiu walked over and proposed with a smile.

Wenger had seen him walk out of the player tunnel a long time ago, he grinned and kept silent. He and Ye Qiu had been neighbors for almost ten years, and they knew each other very well, so he knew very well that Ye Qiu was making a special trip to see him. his.

They are endless opponents in the game, but after the game is over, they are friends.

"Do you now feel that you are too cruel to such an old man?" Wenger raised his head and asked.

"Fart!" Ye Qiu scolded with a smile, "I just want to say, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to keep Wilshere, so sell him to me!"

"Get out!" Wenger stood up directly from his seat. This was his instinctive reaction, because he only has such a baby bump left now. If he is poached away again, he will really die. .

But soon, Wenger realized that there was a non-poaching agreement between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Ye Qiu would definitely not act like this and risk losing face to forcefully poach Wilshere. , otherwise, who will believe him in the future?
"Don't be so excited, I can show enough sincerity!" Ye Qiu said with a smile, "3000 million euros!"

For a young player who has been injured for more than a year and is only 20 years old, Ye Qiu's offer of 3000 million euros is indeed quite astonishing, and it can even be said to be an outrageous price. You know, the reason why Rooney The high price is because he is a striker and Wilshere is a midfielder.

Furthermore, the current Wilshere has not reached the height of Rooney at all, so it is impossible for his worth to be so high.

"Are you kidding me?" Wenger sat back again, already in a bad mood, and was a little annoyed when Ye Qiu said that.

But Ye Qiu had a very serious expression on his face, "You nod, and I'll pay!"

Now that Wenger couldn't say anything, Ye Qiu must be serious when it's all over.

Seeing Wenger's hesitation, Ye Qiu chuckled. In fact, he also felt that it was an exaggeration to buy Wilshere at such a high price, and the reason why he was willing to say such a thing was to judge that Wenger would not be willing to sell.

Of course, if Wenger is willing to sell, he is also willing to buy!

"Do you know? If you continue to stick to the way you are now, your concepts and ideas are basically impossible to realize. Wilshere's continued stay at Arsenal will be nothing but a waste in the end. Even he may become an ordinary person in the end, far from reaching the height you envisioned."

"But it's different in our Tottenham Hotspur. Pirlo is about to grow old. Although we currently have Pogba and Eriksson, Sandro and Phil Jones are also very good. There is also a library. Tinho, but I believe Wilshere will develop well."

One of the very important reasons why Wenger placed high hopes on Wilshere was that he saw a trend from Wilshere, a new trend bred by the integration of English players into the European continental system.

"Based on his current situation, going to your side is still a bench!" Wenger understood Ye Qiu's thoughts as soon as he heard it.

In fact, many of Ye Qiu's thoughts are the same as his. For example, Ye Qiu's transformation of Ramsey, the Welshman has completely established his status as a first-tier star this season. An all-round technical refined traditional British B2B player.

Another one is Pogba. This player is highly valued by Ye Qiu. He has become a rising star in the Premier League this season. He has performed very well in many games. He has gradually entered the midfield rotation and even replaced Pirlo. , the possibility of becoming the main midfielder of Tottenham Hotspur.

The other is Nick Powell who is on loan at Southampton. This player is known as Pirlo II. His performance in the Saints is not inferior to Pogba at all. After Pirlo gets old, it is not ruled out that he will return to the team in the future , directly filling Pirlo's position and becoming the team's main midfielder.

"I'm rich. I like to spend 3000 million euros to buy a substitute and put it on the bench. I'm not like you. The money is all put in the bank to rot!" Ye Qiu smiled and sat down beside Wenger, crossing his legs , looking leisurely.

Sometimes he feels that Wenger is not suitable to be a head coach, because he is too kind and not suitable for the kind of wrestling field of life and death, which leads to his team never seeing that kind, Even if I die, I will bite off a piece of blood from you.

"I heard that the Arsenal fans are now calling for you to leave get out of class!" Ye Qiu actually thought of a good job, which is very suitable for Wenger, "I said, if you really get out of get out of get out of class, don't be the head coach at all. Now, come to Theobald, enter the practice center, and help us develop young players, how about it?"

After Wenger heard this, he laughed. This guy is too stupid. He poached corners from his arch-enemy. How can he say that he is also the head coach of Arsenal, and he went to Tottenham Hotspur as a clerk?

"Okay, I'll think about it!" Wenger replied.

Ye Qiu laughed when he heard it, Wenger said he was thinking about it, but that was a polite word, if you take it seriously, you lose!

This guy seems to be friendly, but in fact he is extremely arrogant in his bones, how can he accept it?
(End of this chapter)