The Godfather of Football

Ye Qiu stood in the home team coach's command area, watching the game on the court. Although it had just started for less than 20 seconds, he could clearly see that this game was not simple.

He always believed that those who could get the position of head coach in Italy had good tactical ability, and the head coach who could stand out among so many tactical talents and successfully coach a top giant team like AC Milan had outstanding tactical ability. He never doubted this.

Allegri's tactical ability was excellent, which could be clearly seen from the opening layout.

In fact, he basically followed the playing style of the first round of the game between the two sides, but more importantly, he learned from the experience and lessons of the first game and made adjustments in some details, such as he put Boateng's position on the same level as El Shaarawy and Niang.

Perhaps some people would think that Boateng went to play as a striker when they saw this, but the problem was exactly here. He didn't seem to be a striker. Once he lost the ball, his position appeared in front of Pirlo. At the same time, El Shaarawy and Niang were on the same level as him, so the front, middle and back of Milan remained relatively compact and very flexible.

Because once they succeed in stealing the ball, with the speed of El Shaarawy and Niang, especially El Shaarawy's dribbling, they can penetrate Tottenham's defense in the shortest time to form a threat, and Boateng will also be able to become the most threatening attacking point in AC Milan's frontcourt at the moment of attack and defense conversion.

From this point of view, Allegri did perform very well. Even among the head coaches in Italy, he is outstanding. Moreover, he is not only good at defense, but also very good at offense. His coaching level is not low.

Of course, there are problems. Even if Allegri is very capable, the problem is also quite obvious, that is, the midfield.

It should be said that in its peak period, AC Milan's midfield was invincible throughout Europe, especially the four No. 10s during Ancelotti's period. That set of midfield can be called the world's top in a gorgeous way, and even caused some tragedies because of it.

For example, Ambrosini, the current captain of AC Milan, is an Italian midfielder who was very Albertini-like when he debuted. After a period of eye-catching, he gradually fell into a trough due to injuries. After he finally recovered, AC Milan ushered in a spurt of midfield talent, forcing him to change his style.

Just like Ye Qiu often said, if you want a Pirlo in the midfield, you must have a Gattuso. This is a fixed combination. Because Pirlo sits in the midfield and lacks defense, you must have a player like Gattuso to fill this gap. Therefore, these two players with very obvious roles and functions have become the absolute main force of AC Milan.

And Ambrosini, who is more comprehensive but looks more mediocre, has become a soy sauce role. In order to play, he has to strengthen his defense. In addition, with the changes in training and game tasks and responsibilities, his passing and ball handling have also degenerated a little, but basically they are still at the same level.

With the departure of Pirlo, Gattuso, Van Bommel and others, AC Milan's midfield gradually lost its threat. Ambrosini took over and took charge of the midfield. This player cannot be said to have no advantages, but his disadvantages are obviously more than his advantages. One very fatal thing is that he is old.

Ambrosini and Pirlo are not the same type of midfielders. Pirlo is old, but his tactical threat is still so obvious, even stronger. Of course, his shortcomings are more exposed and prominent, so the whole world knows that the most reliable way to play Tottenham Hotspur is to pinch Pirlo.

But players like Ambrosini, when they get older, their performance is greatly reduced, so Allegri wants to continue to strengthen the midfield very strongly, because he himself knows that if Ambrosini is ten years younger, this lineup will play at least a higher combat effectiveness than now.

But there is no if in this world, so he still has to make a fuss in the midfield.

Just like Ye Qiu, Tottenham Hotspur's midfield now relies heavily on Pirlo, but the basis for Pirlo to play a threat is that Ye Qiu divides the responsibilities of Gattuso and Seedorf to the two central midfielders, so these two players must be players with strong coverage ability. Coutinho is not as good as Eriksson in this respect, so the Brazilian was loaned to Southampton, while Pogba, Phil Jones, Sandro and other players are favored.

And Ye Qiu has been cultivating several young players in the team. He hopes to cultivate these players. As long as there is a player who has the ability and signs to replace Pirlo, Ye Qiu will take Pirlo, and the strength of the entire Tottenham Hotspur midfield will be greatly improved, because Pirlo now lacks the mobility required by Tottenham Hotspur.

Imagine that all the points in the field are cruising and moving, but Pirlo is in a relatively fixed area. It's like when Ye Qiu wanted to sell Van Nistelrooy. If he sold him, as long as he found a suitable replacement, the team's strength would be greatly improved.

But so far, Ye Qiu has not seen anyone who has the ability to replace Pirlo. He has tried Pogba, Sandro, Phil Jones and others many times, and also investigated Nick Powell and Will Hughes, but the problem still exists. Either they are too strong or too young.

The combination of a lineup must take the overall situation into consideration, just like Tottenham Hotspur, Ramsey and Vidal are both fierce players, brave enough, but not calm and rational enough, so they need Pirlo.

The same reason, the future of Pogba, Phil Jones and Sandro cannot be determined for the time being, but at present, they are all fierce players, so once Pirlo is taken and used as the starting lineup, the problem will be exposed very clearly, and the entire midfield will lose its calmness and rationality and become disordered.

Tottenham Hotspur’s current problem is very clear and straightforward, that is Pirlo!

How long can the Italian midfield maintain this state and strength? This is not only the concern of countless professionals, but also the concern of Ye Qiu, because once Pirlo’s state declines significantly, or suffers an injury, Tottenham Hotspur’s situation will become very passive.

This season, the research center has focused on Pirlo's injury. Although Tottenham Hotspur can play without Pirlo, there is still a big gap in combat effectiveness between Tottenham Hotspur with Pirlo and without Pirlo.

Sometimes Ye Qiu also knows that he has missed a lot of players, such as Yaya Toure and Modric. Although Modric is not suitable for Tottenham Hotspur at that time, he is very suitable for Tottenham Hotspur now, and Yaya Toure is not to be mentioned. Another one is Lucas Leiva. If we talk about transformation, he is more suitable for transformation than Sandro.

In addition, if we talk about signings, Javi Martinez, who transferred to Liverpool, is also a very good player. Unfortunately, Liverpool will never sell this midfielder.

Ye Qiu is not regretting it, because he knows very well that there was an environment and situation at that time. He can't regret it just because he encounters problems now, because the choice you made in that environment was not wrong.

Also, it is not wrong to sell Yaya Toure, Fabregas and David Silva and introduce Vidal and Pirlo, because after the transformation of the team's midfield, the overall strength and toughness have been greatly improved. If it was the previous midfield combination, it would have collapsed long ago when faced with the devilish schedule in the last two seasons.

Can Fabregas and David Silva provide the team with 12 kilometers of running coverage in every game?

So, change is progress. After the change, if you encounter problems again, the best way is to think about how to solve the problem, rather than wanting to go backwards. This is what Ye Qiu is now asking Peter de Visser to do. He wants to introduce a midfielder who can at least provide the team with excellent mobility, a wide range of running coverage, and a stable passing success rate.

At present, Peter de Visser is arranging scouts to investigate Fernandinho, the Brazilian midfielder of Shakhtar Donetsk.

This player is not the same type of midfielder as Pirlo, but he has the ability to play in Tottenham Hotspur in many aspects, and Ye Qiu values ​​his mobility and defensive ability. The biggest disadvantages are his high cost and age.

Ye Qiu has always felt that it is not a problem for players to have shortcomings. The key is whether there is room and time for improvement.

Just like Ambrosini, if he could get a stable appearance and environment in the early years of the century, he would definitely not have the current technical characteristics, but because he appeared in AC Milan, Pirlo was in charge of organization and Gattuso was in charge of defense, so you have nothing to do, so you can just play soy sauce, specialize in connection, and be your all-around midfielder.

The same is true for Chelsea's previous midfielder Essien. When Ballack and Makelele were there, he didn't need to stand or pass the ball, so he covered it, and became a running Ghanaian buffalo. But once the team had this need, he also had this awareness, so he transformed appropriately, and later his passing ability was greatly improved, and his running became much smarter.

Fernandinho is relatively old, he will be 28 after the end of this season, and he is a Brazilian player, so Ye Qiu is a little worried.

But no matter what, it is imperative to introduce a strong midfielder!

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Allegri's starting tactics are indeed very unique, but Tottenham Hotspur is not in a hurry to start. Ye Qiu's strategy is to seek progress in a steady manner, because he thinks Allegri will want to attack first.

This is to mention that after the first round of the game, Ye Qiu deliberately confronted Allegri at the press conference, and then also started a war of words in the media, just to attack Allegri and make him feel resentful. In addition to the advantage in the first round, he thought Allegri would rush to attack.

Judging from the starting lineup and tactics at the beginning, Allegri did want to rush to attack, but Tottenham Hotspur took the ball back from AC Milan's feet just eight seconds after the kick-off. Ambrosini's diagonal pass went out of the sideline and the ball changed hands.

There is a saying that goes, if you lose it, it is not so easy to get it back!

Tottenham Hotspur played it safe at the start of the game, but Ye Qiu realized that he had guessed right after seeing Allegri's lineup at the start, so he asked the players to keep the ball and play at a slow pace.

Don't you want to be fast? Then I'll slow down a bit and play with you!

When Tottenham Hotspur wanted to increase their possession rate, they could also increase their possession rate quite a bit, especially when they regained the ball eight seconds after the start. By the sixth minute of the game, AC Milan had hardly touched the ball a few times, and the only pass was sent out of the sideline by Montolivo.

This created a very interesting phenomenon and also provided a difficult problem for the AC Milan players on the field: should they attack forward or retreat?

Allegri was also in a dilemma because he knew he had to attack and strive for an away goal, but now he could neither get the ball nor launch a threatening attack. He was unwilling to retreat like this, and neither were the players. But if he did not retreat, if there was an oversight, it would be easy for Tottenham Hotspur to penetrate the defense.

There are gains and losses. When you dare not push the defense forward and want to keep pressing in the front court, then I will not push forward. I will pass the ball back in my own half to look for opportunities. If you want to grab it, come up, but be careful. If you come up, the defense dare not come up, and the midfield coverage area will be large.

Why didn't AC Milan dare to come up?

Because they had to be careful not to let Tottenham Hotspur have the opportunity to penetrate and hit behind their defense!

At the beginning of the game, AC Milan did not dare to press forward to grab the ball. Allegri obviously intended to suppress the desire of the players in the front and midfield to grab the ball. However, as the game progressed and the dullness gradually progressed, AC Milan's players gradually lost patience.

Boateng played as a central forward, and his purpose was to strengthen the frontcourt pressing and oppression, but now he was asked to shrink back and let Tottenham's midfield and backcourt control the ball smoothly. This made him unacceptable, so he gradually expanded his range of activities.

When the Ghanaian moved, Niang and Shalawi followed suit, because the three players were interactive and had to maintain consistency in their actions, so that they could put pressure on Tottenham's midfield and backcourt.

Allegri also saw this situation on the sidelines, but his attitude was to let it go.

It was like a couple in a cold war, lying on a bed, but back to back, no one paying attention to each other, what to do?

There must be someone who tries it first, or speaks first, or pretends to accidentally touch the other person, to try it out, right? If the other side also softens its attitude, then let's just go with the flow and reconcile directly!

What Allegri is doing now is to test Tottenham's attitude. Who made him so unlucky that he gave Tottenham an away goal at home?

AC Milan took the initiative to take this step, and the scene immediately came alive. Both sides began to have real offensive ideas, and the rhythm began to speed up, especially the Rossoneri's pressing strength in the frontcourt was also increasing.

Ye Qiu turned his head and looked at the time on the scoreboard of White Hart Lane Stadium, shaking his head, "Only 23 minutes!"

Mauro Tassotti on the side also had a bitter smile on his face. He came from AC Milan and had feelings for the team, but he is now Tottenham's assistant coach and understands Ye Qiu's overall plan, so he knows very well that Allegri's test has little effect and will only expose his trump card and weakness in front of Ye Qiu.

"If it were me, I would have to wait at least another fifteen minutes!" Mauro Tassotti wanted a strong attack in the last period of the first half, and then maintain the offensive until the end of the first half.

Ye Qiu thought so too. If the situation continued to be deadlocked, he would issue a strong attack order after thirty-five minutes.

"Maybe he can't control the players' impatience!" Ye Qiu sighed.

Mauro Tassotti nodded. Sometimes the head coach may be more wise and more able to understand everything that happened on the court, but the problem is that you are standing on the sidelines and watching, but the game is played by the players on the court. If you find that the players on the court have become impatient and you can't control them, you can only go with the flow.

Sometimes the head coach can't do much, just take advantage of the situation.

AC Milan pressed forward, but Ye Qiu was not in a hurry to move. It was like one or two attempts. If you react now, Allegri will immediately shrink back. So Tottenham Hotspur cannot move now. They have to continue to stick to the stable tactics, let AC Milan taste some sweetness, and then come up a little more, so that the problem is more obvious.

Soon, Montolivo's straight pass found El Shaarawy, but because the offensive echelon was not strong enough, especially the full-backs did not dare to press forward, El Shaarawy was intercepted by Thiago Silva after dribbling in front, and missed a chance to get the ball in the 30-meter area of ​​Tottenham Hotspur.

But Tottenham Hotspur soon came alive. Ye Qiu noticed that when AC Milan's frontcourt pressed forward, the back line was dragged behind, and the area covered by the midfield became very large. At this time, Flamini needed to cover the entire right side and the middle to assist Ambrosini in defense.

In other words, he had to do the work of two people and cover the entire right half area.

Ye Qiu quickly adjusted the team's offensive route. Tottenham Hotspur quickly launched an attack from the left. Marcelo dribbled the ball across the half court and passed it to Ramsey, who then passed it to Cavani who was retreating from the front. The Uruguayan passed the ball to the left without stopping, to Marcelo who quickly inserted from behind.

Because Flamini saw Cavani retreating, he wanted to assist Ambrosini, so the left side was vacant. After receiving the ball, Marcelo rushed to the area where Abate was, pulled out the Italian right back, and then passed the ball to Ribery who cut into the penalty area from the left rib, but the kick was not very good, and Zapata cleared the ball in advance.

Ribery made a sprint in vain, but turned around and gave Marcelo a thumbs up. Tottenham's cooperation this time was very good, but the timing of the last pass was a little bit off.

But soon, after the first time, Tottenham soon came for the second time. After all, the ball was in the hands of Tottenham, and they could attack however they wanted, and this time, Tottenham was more thorough and resolute!