Chapter 688 The Last Minute

Tottenham Hotspur returned with a lot of success from the FIFA Annual Awards Ceremony, which immediately caused a huge response among fans around the world, especially Ye Qiu and Messi's acceptance speeches, which were praised by countless people.

Many media and reporters said that the reason why Tottenham Hotspur can achieve such stable results has a lot to do with Ye Qiu's control over the locker room and relying on this group of stars cultivated by himself.

In the past so many years, although Tottenham Hotspur has sold superstars every year, many players have never changed, such as Messi, Ribery, Cavani, Ramsey, Thiago Silva, Kompany, Alves and Cech, etc. They have all been in the team since Ye Qiu took over Tottenham Hotspur in 2006, and they are considered to be the team's veterans for many years.

The presence of a group of core players makes the entire locker room of Tottenham Hotspur more harmonious, because no one can challenge the status of these old servants, and they are all very loyal to Ye Qiu, especially after the sale of Fabregas and David Silva, this loyalty has been further consolidated.

With the attention of the media, more and more inside information has been gradually disclosed. Many people are surprised by some measures within Tottenham Hotspur, such as Ye Qiu specially opened up a player space that only allows players to exist. No one, including Ye Qiu himself, can enter this area, nor can they eavesdrop on what the players are discussing.

Others are surprised that almost all the former Tottenham Hotspur stars who have transferred away, including Fabregas, Van Persie, Gareth Bale and others, have maintained contact with the team so far. The only one who has fallen out with Tottenham Hotspur is the English center Andy Carroll, who once bombarded Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur after leaving the team.

But this incident was used by many people as a basis for blaming Andy Carroll, because so many people left the team, but they still maintained a good relationship with Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur, and even talked on the phone frequently. Only you bombarded, so the problem must be with you.

As more and more details were revealed, more and more people were surprised to find that Tottenham Hotspur's success seemed accidental, but in fact it was inevitable.

After returning to London from Zurich, Tottenham Hotspur also ushered in a new round of devilish schedule in the second half.

In the 21st round of the league, Tottenham Hotspur played against West Ham United at home. Ranieri's team was strong. Eto'o, Falcao, Di Maria and Jovetic's attacking combination was also feared in the Premier League, and the strength of the central defenders composed of Lucio and Carvalho was also very outstanding.

After the game started, West Ham United defended well and then attacked Tottenham Hotspur through counterattacks, and scored a goal in the 22nd minute, but Tottenham Hotspur still tied the score with Vidal's goal in the second half.

But in the end, Tottenham Hotspur still tied West Ham United 1:1 at home and got the fourth draw of the season.

In this round, the main competitors Manchester City and Liverpool have won successively, so Tottenham Hotspur is only five points ahead of the second-placed Manchester City in the current Premier League standings. The latter has lost two games this season, but only three draws.

In third place is Liverpool, which is three points behind Manchester City. In fourth place is Manchester United, and Ferguson's team is two points behind Liverpool. So from the current situation, if there is no big surprise, the most likely to launch an impact on the league championship is Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Liverpool and Manchester United also have hope, but not very much.

In the 22nd round of the league, Tottenham Hotspur will challenge Manchester City away!

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When Manchester City's City Stadium was built, it was intended to be used as an athletics stadium. After being rented by Manchester City, although it has been renovated, Manchester City did not have much money to invest in the renovation at that time, so many places still retain the original characteristics, such as the athletics track. Manchester City just covered it with a layer of grass.

The command area of ​​the head coaches of both teams was arranged on the athletics track.

The coaching seats and substitutes' seats were arranged at the bottom of the lower stands, and the stands behind them were only separated by a fence less than one meter high, and the entire one was exactly the same as the stands. The coaching seats only had five seats, and there was an inclined ladder next to it, which could go up to the seven seats for the substitutes, and a row of five seats.

It is obvious that Manchester City must have been very particular about the space when renovating the coaching seats.

The roof of the stadium cannot cover the entire stadium, it can only cover the stands where the fans are, but the coaching seats at the lowest level of the stands are in trouble, because they are right at the edge of the roof, so the coaching seats are in trouble when it rains, becoming the hardest hit area when it rains, and the situation is even worse than the stadium without a roof.

Ye Qiu sat in the visiting team coaching seat, which is the left side of the player tunnel of the City Stadium. In front of him was the rain flowing down from the roof, like a thread, dripping from such a high roof, splashing on the track, which made people feel bad.

"The most important thing Mansour should do is not to buy any superstars, but to completely renovate this damn stadium!"

Ye Qiu was obviously in a bad mood, because the score on the court was not ideal.

2:2, this is the number on the scoreboard display screens at the four corners of the stadium on the second tier of the City Stadium, and the time has entered the 80th minute. Obviously, this is not a draw that Tottenham Hotspur can accept, because there are too many cowards in this game.

The biggest controversy of the game occurred in the first half. After Balotelli was blocked by Vidal and successfully intercepted the ball, he angrily counter-robbed, tripped Vidal, and stepped on Vidal's neck with his studs. This was a very malicious intentional foul, but the referee Howard Webb did not see this foul.

Tottenham Hotspur protested to no avail and was angry. In addition, it rained heavily just after the game started, which made Tottenham Hotspur make many mistakes in passing and receiving the ball. In the first half, Manchester City seized two opportunities and scored two goals in a row. Not long after the first goal, Thiago Silva was injured in a steal and left the field. Ye Qiu was forced to replace Varane.

After the halftime break, Ye Qiu reversed the situation and adjusted the team well. In less than fifteen minutes after the start of the second half, he used Messi and Pirlo's direct free kicks to score two goals in a row and tied Manchester City, while Mancini was determined to hold on to the tie until the end.

"Joe Hart and Yaya Toure are in great shape when they meet us now!" Mauro Tassotti said with a bitter smile. Although the two goals had little to do with Yaya Toure, the Ivorian did a pretty good job in defense, and Joe Hart kept the goal intact many times in the second half.

In the 67th minute of the second half, Ye Qiu replaced Vidal with Eriksson. When the latter left the field, there were obvious stud scars on his neck. This was also a piece of iron evidence that Tottenham Hotspur was going to use to accuse Balotelli after the game. The fourth official also gave evidence. Tottenham Hotspur will appeal after the game.

But whether this game can be won has nothing to do with the appeal after the game!

Ye Qiu put his hands together in front of his eyes, but his eyes looked through his hands at everything that happened on the court. He didn't have much time left, and he only had one last substitution.

Beside him, Mauro Tassotti, Roland Schepers, Meulensteen, Moniz and others, as well as Frans Hoke who often walked behind the goalkeeper to remind the goalkeeper, were all waiting for Ye Qiu's next decision. Behind him, the first row was five technicians analyzing data and tactics, and the last row was the substitutes and the players who were replaced.

Everyone was waiting for Ye Qiu, the last substitution must be able to break the deadlock!

This is a kind of pressure, because no one knows whether this substitution will work, because as long as it is a substitution, there must be risks, and it will definitely break the existing pattern, especially this game, Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City's championship battle!

In the 81st minute, Ye Qiu hadn't made a decision yet, he was still thinking and hesitating.

In the 82nd minute, Ye Qiu was still thinking and hesitating, because he found that he had more and more things to consider.

The more I think about it, the more complicated it seems, and the harder it is to sort out a clue.

In the 83rd minute, Ye Qiu slapped his head hard, looking a little helpless.

After slapping his head a few times, Ye Qiu stood up from the coaching seat, turned around, glanced at the bench, pointed at Ribery, "Frank, come down!" Then he turned around and looked at the game.

Soon, Ribery ran to Ye Qiu's side. He started to come back after Christmas, but he was basically a substitute and his condition had not yet adjusted. So in this game, Ye Qiu still used Neymar and Messi's South American double wing combination, and put Ribery on the bench.

"Do you know what's wrong now?" Ye Qiu asked.

Ribery nodded, "Can't open the situation!" After a pause, he added, "We need width!"

Neymar's performance in this game was very unsatisfactory, even very bad, but the midfield was equally bad. Manchester City's entire midfield put great pressure on Tottenham Hotspur. In this case, the team's offense was difficult to flow smoothly, and Tottenham Hotspur could not play its own characteristic offense.

Of course, Manchester City also paid a painful price for this, that is, their offense was not threatening, more like a counterattack, but this counterattack did not involve much manpower, and it was difficult to threaten Tottenham Hotspur's goal.

Although Varane lost the second goal of the team due to nervousness after coming on as a substitute in the first half, his performance was still very good afterwards, and his cooperation with Kompany was also tacit, and he did not give Manchester City too many good opportunities, which was considered to make up for his mistakes.

"After going up, tell Messi to come back to play in the middle and connect the midfield, let Cavani go to the front, Neymar go to the right, Alves go forward, we need to play with width, do you understand what I mean?" Ye Qiu asked solemnly.

In just less than ten seconds, Ye Qiu and Ribery, the master and apprentice, were completely soaked, which shows how heavy the rain was, and this was still on the sidelines, the court was almost turned into a swamp.

"I understand!" Ribery nodded solemnly.

"Be careful!" Ye Qiu patted Ribery on the shoulder, "Go, replace Marcelo!"

Ribery never doubted Ye Qiu's decision. After hearing this, he solemnly nodded in agreement, turned around and ran to the fourth official to handle the handover. Soon, at the 85th minute, Ribery Lee finally got a chance to play when the ball was dead.

"Oh my god, Ye Qiu decided to fight this time. He replaced Marcelo with Ribery. This is to further strengthen the offense!" Andy Gray was a little surprised by Ye Qiu's substitution. It was too risky. , such a substitution was made at the last moment.

At least a draw would be a good result for Tottenham Hotspur.

Martin Taylor sighed, "This is Ye Qiu, very adventurous, but very courageous. He just doesn't want a draw!"

"Yes, I was wronged before, with the spike mark on Vidal's neck, and Thiago Silva was injured and came off the field. Manchester City took advantage of the chaos to make Varane's mistake and get the second goal. This Ye Qiu is unhappy in his heart. Everyone in Tottenham Hotspur is filled with anger, and he wants to vent it now!"

When Andy Gray said this, he had to smile bitterly: "Many people say that the head coach should be calm and rational, but sometimes they still have to be a little emotional, just like Ferguson said, if I If you are too calm, you will not be Ferguson, and you will not be able to achieve today's results! "

"Yes!" Martin Taylor nodded in agreement, "Sometimes you have to be a little unreasonable on the football field!"

Ribery came on the field after hugging Marcelo. He quickly made gestures to his teammates, and he kept waving his hands as if to encourage his teammates. Every time he passed a teammate, he would talk to his teammates. High fives, Kompany also shouted loudly to his teammates at this time, and you could even hear what he was shouting clearly at the scene.

"The boss said we don't want a draw!"

"Okay!!!" Many Tottenham Hotspur players were shouting at the scene.

When Andy Gray heard this, he said with emotion, "It's very impressive. Tottenham Hotspur may really have a chance to reverse the situation. The key is to see how much role Ribery can play after coming off the bench!"

But it was obvious that Ye Qiu had made adjustments. Although Mancini had used up three substitutions, he was also making adjustments. Especially when Messi moved to the center, he once took the ball, turned around, broke through and passed diagonally. It was given to Neymar on the right, who inserted it and passed the ball back to Cavani in the penalty area. If Hangeland hadn't blocked it with his body in time, Cavani's volley would have scored.

Mancini also realized the changes in Tottenham Hotspur. After Messi retreated to the center, he formed a midfield with Ramsey, Eriksson and Pirlo, who was too tired to run. It connects the forward line and the defense line, and can constantly create opportunities for the front and deliver artillery shells.

Manchester City quickly made adjustments, and they were targeted adjustments, with the purpose of once again suppressing Tottenham Hotspur's midfield.

As time passed by, the numbers on the scoreboard kept changing and rising, eighty-six...eighty-seven...eighty-eight...eighty-nine...ninety...

Entering stoppage time, the situation did not seem to have improved much. Tottenham Hotspur still did not have many offensive opportunities, and Ribery, who came on as a substitute for Ye Qiu at the last moment, did not do much.

In the few minutes after coming on the field, he had four chances to touch the ball. Every time he faced the right back of the game, Mika Richards, Ribery chose to knock back and seemed a little afraid of a frontal attack. .

"We can see that after Ribery returned from injury, his condition seems to be far worse than before. He is only 28 years old now, in the golden age of a player, but injuries have become the biggest obstacle to his career, and also It's preventing him from going further!" Andy Gray was a little sad about Ribery's situation.

If there were no injuries, Ribery might already be the World Footballer of the Year, and if he won the World Footballer of the Year, Messi might still be helping him, instead of him in turn helping Messi.

Sometimes, this is the situation of professional players.

"Ye Qiu once again walked to the sidelines and shouted at the players. He seemed to see that the left side could not open up the situation. Ribery did not dare to take the ball and attack head-on, so he asked the team to go to the right side more. But did he trust him too much? Neymar?”

Just after Ye Qiu adjusted, Neymar dribbled the ball past Clichy on the right. This time he completed the breakthrough very cleverly and passed to the center. Cavani wanted to hit the goal immediately, but the shot failed. The shot bounced off Hangerland's leg, and Messi followed up with a powerful volley, which went high.

"What a pity, and too anxious!" Andy Gray shouted.

Martin Taylor shook his head and sighed: "Now even Messi is starting to get anxious. If this kick is not a volley, but a slightly smaller force, a more confident push or a lob, it will be almost guaranteed." ”

The situation does not seem to have changed because of Ribery's appearance. Neymar's performance on the right has improved. Messi and Cavani are more inclined to launch attacks on the right after Ye Qiu reminded them. The three minutes of stoppage time given by Howard Webber are getting closer and closer to the end.

Manchester City also gradually realized Tottenham's intention. Clichy had a hard time facing Neymar on the left. If Cavani and Messi were added, as well as Alves and Eriksen who came in from behind, Manchester City's left side would be under too much pressure, so Mancini had to make adjustments and let the team's defensive center lean to the left.

Tottenham's fierce attack left him with no extra time to think about other problems. He and all the Manchester City players on the field now had only one thought, which was to hold on to the last minute.