The Godfather of Football

This year's awards ceremony was a mixed bag for Tottenham Hotspur.

The FIFA Ballon d'Or has fallen into the hands of Messi for the fourth time. This has also achieved the amazing influence of the Argentine superstar and will also push Messi's status in football to a whole new level.

But Ye Qiu lost the Coach of the Year award in the competition with Del Bosque. Although Ye Qiu had won it many times, with the Premier League championship and the Champions League championship, the two most important club competition honors, , In the end, it was still unable to match Bosque's European Cup championship, which has to be said to be a regret.

Of course, Ye Qiu believes that this is not a shady secret, but more of a trade-off.

In the selection of the best team of the year, Tottenham Hotspur was also completely defeated. After changing their past glory, the front line became a bit bleak. Only three players were selected for the best team, namely left back Marcelo and right winger. Messi and center Cavani, other positions are basically covered by La Liga players.

The goalkeeper is Casillas, the defense is Marcelo, Ramos, Pique and Alves, the midfield is Iniesta, Xabi Alonso and Xavi, and the frontcourt is Cristiano? Ronaldo, Cavani and Messi.

Among them, the outstanding performance of Spanish players relies more on their outstanding performance in the European Cup, and Alves' selection relies more on his performance at Tottenham Hotspur. Therefore, some people believe that, That doesn't mean Tottenham are a disappointment.

After the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony, the British media wrote articles one after another, believing that Tottenham Hotspur will continue to dominate European professional football and Messi will continue to maintain his status as a world football superstar.

It is very rare for Craig Brown, the most famous British reporter of the Daily Mail, to comment on this incident in his column again. What is interesting is that the only two football-related columns he wrote were both about Tottenham Hotspur, which makes many people wonder whether he has become a die-hard Tottenham Hotspur fan.

In his column, Craig Brown once again provides everyone with a different perspective. Different from the perspectives and opinions of all football professionals, he believes that Messi and Tottenham Hotspur will be difficult to be replaced. Prevent.

"I once raised a question with my good friend Martin Samuel. I asked, why can Tottenham Hotspur maintain such glory? On what basis is their peak empire built? ?”

"I think this is very unreasonable, because football has always been about long-term systematic management and construction, but in terms of history, the rise of Tottenham Hotspur only lasted less than six or seven years. Even if the Levy period is included, it is only about ten years. How can a team in the middle and lower reaches of England be built into the top wealthy team? "

"When it comes to financial resources, as far as I know, Ye Qiu has always pursued healthy finances. Although Tottenham Hotspur currently has debts, firstly, the interest rates are extremely low, and secondly, the risks are completely controllable, and they have huge cash flow. But at the same time, they have always insisted on building a salary structure for the team. Therefore, in terms of financial resources, not to mention the two teams in the Western Premier League, even compared to Manchester City and other teams, they have no advantage at all, but why can they retain players? But not Arsenal?”

"Many people like to talk about tactics, concepts, and offensive football. Let's look at it again. Barcelona has a super strong football concept and has adhered to this concept for more than ten years. They have a tacit understanding that other teams cannot reach. , and Real Madrid’s football philosophy is gorgeous offensive football, and the top superstars, their football is also full of charm.”

"When it comes to high-position defense, it's all over the place now. Pressure and pressing in the midfield and frontcourt are nothing new. Even a shot of the ball is nothing to show off. But why is Tottenham Hotspur so special? ? So different?"

"Haha, I'm so proud, because Martin Samuel, that damn fat man was knocked down by me and he was speechless!"

"Yesterday, the editor-in-chief of our newspaper told me, write about Messi, write a column for your idol, but I feel that in fact, there is nothing worthy of writing about Messi's phenomenon, which has caused his continuous The reason for winning the Ballon d'Or is simple. Since FIFA and French Football merged the two major awards, the Ballon d'Or focuses most on the player's fame and influence, rather than his professional performance in that year."

"From a rational point of view, Iniesta has reason to think there is something shady, but these are the rules of the selection, and everyone operates within the rules. As long as the Ballon d'Or continues to focus on influence and ignore professional performance , then it will not be a surprise that offensive scorers continue to monopolize this title.”

"If I want to say something special, I think it is the positive operation of Tottenham Hotspur!"

"We must clearly understand that in the current professional football world, star resources are over-concentrated, and the attention of all fans, reporters and media is focused on the top teams and stars, so we see, Tottenham Hotspur can If a player is singled out, his fame and influence will be greater than that of the star of a mid- to lower-tier team.”

"In this case, the World Footballer of the Year merged with the European Footballer of the Year, so that the original two heavyweight individual awards were combined into one, which caused another concentration of resources, thus contributing to the current situation. That is, the strong become stronger and the weak become weaker.”

"The reason why I mentioned Tottenham Hotspur is because I found a very interesting phenomenon, that is, their commercial department is very good at business operations. Many people mistakenly believe that they pour all their resources into Tottenham Hotspur. For West and Ribery, this makes sense, but the problem is that they forgot one thing, the radiation effect!”

"Messi and Franck Ribery are undoubtedly the top stars today. They are like the locomotive of Tottenham Hotspur. But the problem is that if they want to succeed, they need teammates. If they want to score goals, they need someone. Pass the ball to them, and whoever passes it to them will be able to become famous through the influence and popularity of Messi and Ribery.”

"So, Messi and Ribery led a group of second-tier stars such as Cavani, Neymar, Vidal, Ramsey, Hazard, Thiago Silva, Pirlo, etc., and then they Using the first and second tier stars to drive the third tier stars makes the entire Tottenham Hotspur star system form a high-end, mid-range and low-end brand array.”

"This is a very, very remarkable innovation, because when we look at Real Madrid and Manchester United, their operations in this area are actually still focused on their stars. So in the past few years, Manchester United has sold Cristiano? After Ronaldo, brand management fell into a bottleneck because Rooney couldn't take over. The team had that kind of power, but there was no place to use it!"

"But Tottenham Hotspur will not have such a problem. It is foreseeable that if either Messi or Ribery leaves the team, immediately, among the second-tier stars, someone will rise quickly and replace him, because he himself He has a solid foundation. As long as the team thinks he is suitable and devotes a lot of resources to him, he can succeed!”

"After seeing the success of ugly men such as Ronaldinho, Franck Ribery and Drogba, does anyone still think that you have to be handsome to be popular?"

"In Tottenham Hotspur, even the lowest level player, such as the newly joined Azpilicueta, there is news that Tottenham Hotspur has signed three contracts for him in the past six months. Sponsorship contracts, two from Spain and one from Portugal, can bring Azpilicueta more than one million euros in revenue a year.”

“For sponsors, Azpilicueta is not as well-known as the first-tier stars, but his sponsorship fee is cheap, his image fits, and more importantly, they can use Tottenham Hotspur’s brand, and the sponsor behind the brand is The unique club culture of Tenham Hotspur speaks volumes. The value of this brand is driven by superstars such as Messi and Ribery. This is a kind of radiation!”

"The above are only on the business level, what about the football level?"

"Martin Samuel once said that Tottenham Hotspur's football is the most resilient football in the world."

“What is elasticity?”

"First of all, he must have a very rigorous and super strong overall concept. If it is a loose structure, it is impossible to be flexible. But at the same time, he cannot be rigid. He must know how to be flexible and have a loose degree of freedom. , able to change its structure and shape according to external forces.”

"Barcelona and Real Madrid represent two extremes of football. Barcelona emphasizes super strong football concepts and integration, which is a kind of closed football. Real Madrid is different. They emphasize super strong football. The ability to recruit depends on constantly introducing superstars with outstanding personal abilities, and then giving these superstars an environment to perform freely on the court. What the head coach has to do is to properly blend the team while ensuring that the superstars can perform freely. into a whole.”

"It's hard to say whether Barcelona's philosophy is better or Real Madrid's, but we can clearly see that they both have strengths and weaknesses. For example, Barcelona somewhat suppresses the players' individuality and free play. desire, and Real Madrid’s overall quality is much inferior to Barcelona.”

"But Tottenham Hotspur has been following a middle path since Ye Qiu took over the team, adhering to integrity while emphasizing free play. Many people feel that this is impossible because they are a contradiction in themselves. It's like you can't ask Messi to run as crazy as Vidal to cover interceptions, and at the same time continue to maintain his outstanding performance on the offensive end, sprinting forward and dribbling the ball again and again. He can't do it. ”

"But Ye Qiu put forward another idea. He told you that it is possible, provided that it is moderate."

"Ye Qiu has explored a very distinctive middle-of-the-road route for Tottenham Hotspur, emphasizing the whole while taking into account free play. If the left side is integrity and the right side is free play, then he draws a line on the left Line, and a line is drawn on the right, and the team’s tactics swing back and forth between these two baselines.”

"Sometimes, we have to admit that this is a creative and inclusive thinking. Even Mourinho said that Ye Qiu's team further completed the previous series of tactical concepts on the basis of inheriting them. In order to achieve integration and progress, major breakthroughs have been made in both aspects of integrity and freedom.”

Craig Brown also pointed out at the end of the column, “It is no longer possible for external forces to defeat Tottenham Hotspur, because from the current point of view, the two teams closest to Tottenham Hotspur are Barcelona and Real Madrid are still wandering between the two extremes, and teams such as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City may be able to defeat Tottenham Hotspur in the short term, but there is still a long way to go to dismantle this empire. "

"So, the only ones who can beat Tottenham Hotspur are themselves. Players leave the team or get old. The management stupidly subverts the system created by Ye Qiu. Otherwise, Tottenham Hotspur will be defeated for many years to come. Spurs will still be the strongest team in European football and the most powerful contender for all championships!”

Craig Brown's column immediately triggered a huge response among fans in the UK and around the world. Even many non-Tottenham Hotspur fans spoke highly of this column. Many people believed that only Ye Qiu was the best. Talents with such background and culture can integrate such a team because he comes from China, which pursues moderation.

Many fans also believe that this column will make Tottenham Hotspur's competitors clearly aware that only poaching can destroy the Tottenham Hotspur empire, "So, rich people, wave your hands. Euros, dig as much as you like!”

But soon, Tottenham Hotspur fans counterattacked. They believed that with the team's talent reserve and foundation, those local tycoon teams would not be able to dig down Tottenham Hotspur's walls.

Of course, some fans will be worried. After all, Ye Qiu's intention to retire has been very clear. Once Ye Qiu retires, will Tottenham Hotspur usher in a big change? Can the successor suppress this group of stars in the team? This is also a hidden danger for Tottenham Hotspur's future.

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When the FIFA awards ceremony ended, media around the world quickly shifted their focus and focused the hype on Tottenham Hotspur's unbeaten record, because Tottenham Hotspur had tied Abidjan Mimosa's unbeaten record of 108 games.

As of the end of last season, Tottenham Hotspur's unbeaten record was 88 games, and so far this season has been 21 games. However, due to Tottenham Hotspur's participation in the Club World Cup , so there was one less game in the middle, so it tied the unbeaten record of Mimosa Abidjan.

On the evening of January 12, the away game against Queens Park Rangers became a key battle for Tottenham Hotspur to break this legendary record that had been dusty for many years and was said to be impossible to break at the time.

From January 1st to 12th, Tottenham Hotspur's main lineup got eleven days of rest. Although they experienced an FA Cup game in the middle, Ye Qiu arranged all the young lineups to play. , Tottenham Hotspur defeated Coventry 3:0 at home and successfully advanced to the next round.

The eleven days of rest is actually equivalent to a winter break. Ye Qiu also followed his past experience and first gave the players a break, and then carried out physical adjustment and reserve training. This kind of training is relatively intensive and aims to target the second half. The physical reserves are carried out during the season, and then the players are given a holiday, and adjustments and restorative training are carried out after returning to the team.

As for the so-called unbeaten record, Ye Qiu made it clear when he challenged Queen's Park Rangers away from home that he didn't pay attention at all. Relatively speaking, he paid more attention to the team's performance in the second half of the season.

"The winter break of every season is often the most difficult adjustment period. I have clearly told my players that we do not need to be obsessed with the so-called unbeaten record, because that means nothing to us. We pay more attention to the season. What we can gain in the end is the key!”

In fact, Tottenham Hotspur did not give any stimulating rewards for the unbeaten record at all. On the contrary, the rewards given by the team for the league championship and Champions League championship were astonishing, and the whole world was shocked. Tottenham Hotspur's huge bonus, and all the players are determined to win the bonus.

But sometimes, fighting spirit and mental strength have to succumb to the objective fact, that is, after a period of high-intensity physical reserves and adjustment training, the players' bodies became obviously very tired. In the 22nd round of the Premier League, , the away game ended in a 0:0 draw with Queens Park Rangers.

This is obviously not a score worth celebrating. Even though Tottenham Hotspur had a ball possession rate of 61%, and even though Tottenham Hotspur almost overwhelmed Queens Park Rangers throughout the game, in the end it was still Couldn't score the opponent's goal.

After scoring a point at home, Redknapp, who saved the Queen's Park Rangers in October last year, smiled from ear to ear and said that this game will inspire the team and also congratulated Tottenham Hotspur. It has created an astonishing historical record and believes that this is a legendary team that has never been seen before and will be difficult to come back in the future.

The high hat could not cover up Tottenham Hotspur's sluggish state. Four days later, all Premier League teams were suspended for a break, but Tottenham Hotspur ushered in a 17-round make-up match. As a result, in the 85th minute, thanks to Kompany's header, they defeated Laudrup's Swansea 1:0.

Tottenham Hotspur has performed poorly in two consecutive games, especially in the game against the second-to-last team, Queens Park Rangers. There were many mistakes throughout the game, proving that many players were seriously out of shape. When playing against Swansea, if Kompany had not used Pirlo's free kick to score at a critical moment, I am afraid it would still be 0:0!

Regarding the team's performance in recent times, Ye Qiu said that everything is under control. At least the team has not lost its leading position. He also said that after the amazing state of the winter break schedule, the team needs to take a good rest and take a breath.

But the schedule will not be suspended because of Tottenham Hotspur. Three days after playing Swansea, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Manchester United at home, but Ferguson's team was a surprise at the start. Van Persie knocked on Tottenham Hotspur's goal with the help of Benzema's assist just five minutes after the start!

1:0, Ferguson excitedly rushed out of the visiting team's coaching booth, raised his arms high, and kept shouting, looking like he was sure of winning!