Chapter 367 You Are Out of Date!
As the new season of the Premier League approaches, more and more predictions about this season's Premier League are gradually appearing in newspapers. There is no doubt that almost everyone is still optimistic about Mourinho's Chelsea.
Perhaps, many people, even almost 80% of the British media and reporters do not agree with Mourinho, thinking that he is too arrogant and causing trouble everywhere, but one thing that cannot be denied is that his Chelsea is indeed superior in strength, and it can almost be said to be the only one in the current Premier League.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool are considered qualified to challenge Chelsea's defense, but whether they can challenge Chelsea depends not only on their performance and performance this season, but also on Chelsea's performance.
Manchester United got Carrick and introduced Berbatov. In addition to Evra introduced last season and Vidic introduced in the winter break, Manchester United's overall renewal has basically ended. This season, Van Nistelrooy was sent away and Berbatov was introduced, which has announced that the reform has entered the end. The only big suspense is the position of defensive midfielder.
There was originally a weakness in the goalkeeper position, but after Chelsea introduced Van der Sar, Ferguson's team performed very well in the pre-season warm-up matches. Van der Sar also changed his frequent mistakes in Chelsea before, and he felt a bit strong.
Moreover, Ferguson has always been an expert in solving problems. Everyone thinks that Manchester United is the team with the most hope to challenge Chelsea this season. Moreover, many Premier League fans hope that Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool can snipe Chelsea this season.
You know, in the history of the English Football Top League, no team has ever won four consecutive championships. Even the glorious dynasties such as Aston Villa, Manchester United and Liverpool have won three consecutive championships at most, especially Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s, which were almost always sniped at critical moments.
Now, Chelsea has won the Premier League championship for three consecutive years. As long as it wins another year, it will be an unprecedented four-time champion. Therefore, many media and reporters have called for all Premier League teams to do their best to snipe Chelsea this season. Of course, there are also some reporters and media who support Chelsea's four consecutive championships, because everything has a first time.
After Arsenal introduced Arteta from Ajax, the overall strength of the team did not decline much. After selling Pires and buying Rosicky, Wenger unswervingly took the technical route. However, the departure of Ashley Cole this season has a significant impact on the team. After all, Arsenal was best at attacking on the left before, but now it has lost a leg.
Relatively speaking, Liverpool can be said to have greatly increased its strength. After buying Robbie Keane, Liverpool's offensive problems are likely to be solved. Coupled with Benitez's unswerving overall tactics of high-position defense, Liverpool should not be underestimated at any time.
If the previous four teams are regarded as the traditional top four in the Premier League, then Tottenham Hotspur has become the team with the most hope to challenge the top four in everyone's eyes. This is not only because of the strength of the team, but also because of their head coach Ye Qiu.
As many media and reporters said, Ye Qiu's debut was accompanied by the championship trophy. After he took over Chelsea, he won the double championship in the first year and the triple championship in the second year. This heavy report card is enough to shock everyone.
Now he has gone to Tottenham Hotspur, and the team has undergone earth-shaking changes in his hands. Not only has he played the young card, but he has also remained unbeaten in the warm-up matches and played offensive football. In particular, the two-wing flying tactics shown in the warm-up matches surprised everyone, especially the home game against Inter Milan, which was very exciting.
But the shortcomings of this team are also obvious. Youth inevitably brings problems of lack of experience and strength.
Ribery, Fabregas, Messi and other players used to be substitutes for Chelsea, but they have become the main players in Ye Qiu's hands. However, playing as a main player and playing as a substitute are two completely different concepts, and players need to adapt well to this role change.
Playing as a substitute is about targeting. The head coach will tell you in person before you go on the court how to play after you go on the court. You just need to play targetedly when you go on the court. You just need to perform the task well. But playing as a main player is different. The main players must be able to adapt to any changes on the court. No matter how the opponent changes, you can adapt and play your strength.
Therefore, there are many players who are excellent substitutes, but once they play as the main players, they cannot adapt.
In addition, players like Mascherano and Thiago Silva have strength and have proved themselves in Ajax, but whether they can adapt to the Premier League, how long it will take to adapt, and how well the tactics will run-in after the reorganization of Tottenham Hotspur are all things that need to be considered.
The most worrying thing is the combination of central defenders. The combination of Hangeland and Thiago Silva seems to be very complementary, but there are still serious problems in tacit understanding and cooperation. Tottenham Hotspur lost six goals in six warm-up matches, and only one of them was a zero-blocking opponent, which shows that the problem in defense is not small.
Compared with defense, Tottenham Hotspur's offense seems to have no big problems, but it is very reliable, because Van Nistelrooy scored in every game and was Tottenham Hotspur's top scorer in the pre-season. He was hailed as the guarantee of Tottenham Hotspur's goals. Some people even think that the most reassuring thing about Tottenham Hotspur is the striker.
Regarding concerns from the outside world, Ye Qiu also mentioned in an exclusive interview with Martin Samuel that the team relies on the whole team. As the team's scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy's responsibility is to score goals. Therefore, it is not a problem at all if he scores many goals, but whether the team can win depends on the overall situation.
"Yes, young players are relatively inexperienced and need more training, but I always believe that as long as young players are given a chance, they will reward you with rapid progress. Maybe as long as they perform in a few consecutive games, they will be able to They can quickly build up their self-confidence, and their performance will naturally improve! ”
No one in the world knows the potential and strength of this team better than Ye Qiu, so he is very confident that the team can perform. He even confidently stated that Tottenham Hotspur’s goal in the new season is the league Top four.
Martin Samuel also mentioned in the column that young players are very unpredictable, but Ye Qiu has always been very keen on observing players, so Tottenham Hotspur is likely to become the top player in the Premier League this season. The league is a dark horse that breaks the traditional top four monopoly on qualifying for the Champions League.
"For the team coached by Ye Qiu, no expectation is too high, at least for me personally!"
But there are also many people who agree with Ye Qiu's statement, but are still worried about Tottenham Hotspur's league prospects. The reason is very simple. The opponents they encountered at the beginning were very tough.
The first round of the league is an away game against Bolton. This team played at home and away in the Premier League last season. If the points are calculated purely based on home games, they can even be ranked sixth in the Premier League, even Tottenham Hotspur. They want to be stepped down by them, but the away game is too bad, directly ranked fifteenth, it can be said to be a typical home dragon and away bug.
The second round is against Sheffield United, the newly promoted team this season, and everyone knows that the newly promoted team is often the hardest to grasp and the hardest to play because you are not familiar with them or understand them at all.
In the third round, they faced Everton at home. Even though Everton only ranked 11th in the Premier League last season, no one dared to underestimate Moyes' team because their Premier League performance in the past few seasons has been consistent. Each year is good and the other is bad. If last season's performance was poor, then I'm sorry, Everton will rise this year.
After three rounds of league games, they took a two-week break, and then the fourth round opponent awaited, facing Chelsea at home.
The first three rounds can be regarded as a warm-up match, and the fourth round is the highlight after Ye Qiu returns to the Premier League. It is also another direct dialogue between Mourinho and Ye Qiu. Many people even say that this is a blow to Todt. A test of the quality of Naham Hotspur.
Such a start and schedule are undoubtedly a big test for Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, even quite a few people feel that none of the predictions in the media are reliable. But sometimes, Their predictions are still very well founded.
In the opening match of the first round of the Premier League, Sheffield United, the newly promoted team from the British Championship, was held to a 1:1 draw by Liverpool at home!
Yes, you read that right, it was Sheffield United that was held to a draw by Liverpool. If it hadn't been for a penalty kick at the critical moment, and Fowler finally made the penalty kick, the final result would have been that Liverpool defeated Macheng.
Arsenal's first show at the new stadium was indeed a wasteful one. Everyone was expecting a good start in the first Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium, but who knew that Arsenal drew with Aston Villa in the first game? La, Wenger's team would have lost at home if not for Gilberto Silva's late intervention in the 84th minute to help the Gunners equalize the score.
Both major teams suffered upsets, which not only fully confirmed the fierce competition in the Premier League, but also reminded all latecomers that the first round of a league game is often difficult to play.
Tottenham Hotspur also played poorly in the first round of the league. At the Reebok Stadium, although Tottenham Hotspur announced that the goal was lost shortly after the opening, Kevin Davis' goal in the 9th minute helped Bolton took the lead.
Afterwards, Tottenham Hotspur played a crazy offensive in the first half. Ruud Ruud finally equalized the score in the 33rd minute. But in the second half, even though Ye Qiu kept reminding the players to pay attention to the back of Bolton's midfield. Insert the long-range shot, because there have been several such opportunities in the first half.
But in the 63rd minute, veteran Campo's goal broke through Tottenham Hotspur's goal again, 2:1!
In the end, Tottenham Hotspur left the Reebok Stadium with a score of 1:2 and ushered in a bad start.
Ye Qiu said at the post-match press conference that he could accept the result of the game, but also repeatedly said that it was not the players' problem, "I believe that every Tottenham Hotspur player tried their best to To win the game, the responsibility for losing is more due to pressure and our lack of experience.”
"I don't think there is a problem with our strength. In terms of strength, we completely overwhelmed Bolton, but they are the ones who won. This is a question worth thinking about. We will seriously summarize it when we go back!"
On the contrary, Manchester United defeated Fulham 5:1 and Chelsea defeated Manchester City 3:0. The Red Devils have been leading the standings since the first round. After the game, Ferguson even smiled from ear to ear and said that Manchester United has been in the game for a long time. I have never tasted the feeling of leading, and I hope to continue running.
After the first round, Tottenham Hotspur was ranked 14th in the Premier League. Many media reported that this was the worst league start in Ye Qiu's coaching career and the lowest ranking. In the past, even if Ye Qiu played very poorly and conservatively in the first round of the league, he would strive to maintain a draw or even win, but now he lost.
For a time, many tabloids even provoked Ye Qiu.
"The first round of the league told Ye Qiu with facts that the Premier League is no longer your Premier League!"
"After leaving for a year, you are completely out of date!"
"Perhaps Tottenham Hotspur this season has the hope of creating a miracle, the miracle of Ye Qiu leading the team to relegation!"
Ye Qiu is accustomed to the ridicule and sarcasm from the outside world, because these tabloids often like to use explosive news content to stimulate you. If you care, are provoked, or even fight back, then you lose.
Put aside the interference of the outside world and devote yourself to the preparations for the second round of the league.
In fact, after the league schedule came out, Ye Qiu specially arranged people to track and observe every game of Sheffield United, including the first round of the league against Liverpool. The performance of this team is a typical dark horse team, fighting hard.
This can be seen from the fact that they arranged six defenders in the 11-man roster. Of course, not all of them play as defenders, but two defenders are arranged to play in the midfield, the purpose is also to strengthen the team's defense.
So a week later, Tottenham Hotspur sat at the White Hart Lane Stadium and launched a round of attacks directly after the start. Van Nistelrooy used two passes from Alves and Messi on the right in the 3rd and 11th minutes respectively, and scored in the penalty area to penetrate the goal of Sheffield United, 2:0!
The subsequent games completely became a personal show of Tottenham Hotspur. After Sheffield United was scored two goals in a row, they were completely stunned.
First, he wanted to hold on tightly, but then he was ready to attack. All this did not escape Ye Qiu's expectations. Before the end of the first half, Fabregas made a long pass over the top, Ribery quickly inserted, and successfully countered the offside to form a single-handed goal, 3:0!
Entering the second half with this leading score, Tottenham Hotspur still adopted a steady strategy, pulling Sheffield United out to play. When Jagielka was sent off with two red cards for colliding with Fabregas, the game was over, and Sheffield United could no longer have hope of a reversal.
In the end, Van Nistelrooy scored the third goal in the 72nd minute, performing a hat trick, and Arshavin, who came on as a substitute, assisted Davis with a long shot from the front of the penalty area, and scored another goal. Tottenham Hotspur defeated Sheffield United 5:0 at White Hart Lane.
All of a sudden, the situation was completely different.
In this round, Chelsea lost 1:2 to Middlesbrough away, and Manchester United defeated Charlton 3:0. Arsenal beat Wigan 1:0, Liverpool beat Newcastle 2:0, the Red Devils Manchester United once again led the Premier League, and Tottenham Hotspur quickly moved up to sixth place in the league, just one step away from the top four.
The outside world hyped it up for a while, especially the ball control and technical play shown by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane in this game, plus the sharp breakthroughs on both sides, which brought a very strong visual impact to the fans, but more importantly, this game was a big win, a thorough victory.
One round of heaven, one round of hell, Tottenham Hotspur was lifted to heaven after this round of games.
But in just three days, in the third round of the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Moyes' Everton. The team had another accident in the game. After Van Nistelrooy helped the team score a goal in the first half, an accident occurred in the second half. Thiago Silva and Hangeland made mistakes. The two did not cooperate well enough. Thiago Silva blocked the opponent's pass into his own goal, unexpectedly helping the opponent to equalize the score.
What's more, after Andrew Johnson got the ball in the frontcourt, he used his flexible physical fitness to break through Hangeland and hit the goal in the penalty area, unexpectedly reversing Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
A big win over the newly promoted team in the previous round, and a reversal by the main competitor in the next round, this is indeed not a good thing for Tottenham Hotspur, especially Everton is still an important opponent for Tottenham Hotspur to maintain the top five in the league this season.
In the first three rounds, the team won one and lost two, accumulating three points, scoring seven goals and conceding four goals. The only thing worth celebrating is that Van Nistelrooy leads the league scorer list with five goals. He almost scored most of Tottenham's goals alone. This surprised everyone and made them confused. What went wrong with Ye Qiu's Tottenham?
But it is obvious that time will not wait for Tottenham, nor will it give them enough time to slowly adjust.
In the words of the media, Ye Qiu is no different from other head coaches except that he is the boss of the team and will not be fired for poor performance.
In the UEFA draw ceremony that followed, Tottenham drew Slavia Prague from the Czech Republic, but because Ye Qiu was banned by UEFA when he was at Chelsea, two additional games were added, so he could not directly participate in the command of the two rounds.
Interestingly, one of the shareholders of Slavia Prague is ENIC, the former owner of Tottenham Hotspur. Levy is now also working for the club, and he even joked that he didn't mind kicking Ye Qiu's Tottenham Hotspur when they were down, because this was definitely a good opportunity for Slavia Prague to become famous.
If Ye Qiu's Tottenham Hotspur could be eliminated from the first round of the League Cup, everyone would know this team.
It was in this kind of worry from the outside world that Ye Qiu closed the door and intensively studied with the coaching staff how to adjust the team, especially in the team's defense and overall offense and defense.
Ye Qiu also found that one of the factors for the team's poor performance was the control of rhythm.
It can be said that everything in this world has rhythm factors, such as crosstalk. Crosstalkers do not just write dialogues. The rhythm of each dialogue is particular. One second faster, one second slower, one second silent, all affect the atmosphere, whether the audience laughs or not, and whether your crosstalk is successful or not.
But these must be done well before you can appreciate the mystery.
Ye Qiu himself understands and grasps it, but the players can't. They can only be given enough time to slowly explore.
Of course, Ye Qiu also plans to increase this aspect of training appropriately in the next training, because the rhythm of the team is controlled by everyone, not just by one player.
Only when they find their own rhythm can Tottenham Hotspur be truly integrated into a whole!
But after the team retrained, Tottenham Hotspur soon ushered in Chelsea!