Chapter 756: Plans Cannot Keep up with Changes

Sometimes a team is just like a person. Even in the most difficult times, as long as you hold on with a breath and grit your teeth, you will find that there is a vast sea and sky ahead. Looking back, the so-called difficulties are actually nothing.

After enduring most of the January schedule, Tottenham Hotspur ushered in two consecutive away games. The performances in these two away games were not ideal, both 1:0, and the opponents were Norwich and West Bromwich, but the commendable thing is that they were both very stable.

"This must make all those who want to see us lose want to beat their chests!"

Ye Qiu felt that he could not understand the thoughts of many people outside, because no matter how you perform, there will always be a group of people scolding you, whether you are good or not, there is really no way. Do you want them to enter the management of Tottenham Hotspur and let everything revolve around them?

"It's better not to be a woman!" Roland Shepas laughed with a bad taste.

The image of a woman pounding her chest popped up in everyone's mind immediately with the voice of the Dutch fat man Luo, and they all laughed tacitly. At this time, someone added, "What if it was an airport?"

"Broken ribs, the insurance won't pay!" Luo looked like a gangster who was afraid of no one, anyway, all the people present were men.

After a while of joking, everyone started to get down to business. This meeting was mainly focused on the schedule in February. There was no national team game task in February this year, so Tottenham Hotspur's situation would be relatively relaxed.

"We will face Newcastle, West Ham United, Arsenal and Liverpool in the Champions League in February and March. West Ham United and Liverpool are both away games, and there will be two knockout games against AC Milan in between, first away and then home."

The schedule of the Champions League round of 16 is divided according to the results of the group stage. Tottenham Hotspur qualified as the first in the group, so it has a certain advantage in the schedule, playing away first and then at home, while AC Milan qualified as the second in the group, playing home first and then away is not good for them.

Of course, this is also difficult to say. If AC Milan can swallow Tottenham Hotspur at home, the situation will be completely different, but everyone knows that this possibility is very small.

Continuously encountering strong enemies and welcoming the Champions League at the same time is exactly what Ye Qiu is most reluctant to see, but there is no way. After all, if you want to persist in fighting, judging from the current level of competition in the Premier League, you will inevitably encounter this kind of devil schedule.

This is also the reason why Ye Qiu must seize the time as soon as possible in January to adjust the team's physical reserves and the players' status. It will be too late to wait until February, especially in late February.

"How is the current situation of the team?" Ye Qiu looked at Peter Brandt.

The director of the research center immediately took over Ye Qiu's words, "The plan is going well. We played West Bromwich yesterday and there is a week's schedule between us and Newcastle. In addition, there is an FA Cup match between Newcastle and West Ham United, so we will make full use of this period to adjust and recover. Training."

This is also a wrong impression of the outside world about the dense schedule of the Premier League. The reason why you think the schedule is dense is mainly because you have to compete in every game, the league, the Champions League and the cup, and you will not let go of every front, so you will definitely feel that it is dense.

On the other hand, Tottenham Hotspur insists on playing cup games with substitutes and young players. FA Cup games are often arranged on weekends, just like in the fifth round of the FA Cup this season, Tottenham Hotspur will challenge Manchester City away. Ye Qiu also plans to arrange substitutes and youth teams to participate in this game, because three days before this game, the team will visit San Siro Stadium.

In the Premier League schedule, January and early February are often focused on domestic cup games, such as the League Cup and the FA Cup. If you can make good use of this period of schedule to adjust the team's status and physical reserves, it is actually equivalent to a winter break.

However, for players, the lack of a winter break is more important for psychological factors. After all, other leagues have winter breaks, especially players transferred from the Bundesliga, such as Vidal, who were not used to the winter break at the beginning and had a psychological resistance, but gradually adapted.

"Allegri's team didn't perform very well in Serie A this season. I think he will probably consider the Champions League more when arranging his troops. And you know, he doesn't like us at all!" Mauro Tassotti said with a chuckle after Peter Brandt finished speaking.

Ye Qiu understood what Mauro Tassotti meant. When Pirlo left AC Milan, he was sent away by Allegri himself. At that time, Allegri thought that it would be difficult for Pirlo to return to his peak after being seriously injured, and it was not suitable for his technical positioning of AC Milan, so he wanted to send Pirlo away.

At that time, AC Milan had just ended Inter Milan's league championship. Allegri suppressed Mourinho and was at the peak of his career, so Galliani also decided to send Pirlo away. But who could have thought that after Pirlo switched to Tottenham Hotspur, he actually played the second spring of his career.

Strictly speaking, Pirlo's performance in Tottenham Hotspur is more eye-catching than his peak period in AC Milan. The reason is very simple, that is, in Tottenham Hotspur, he is surrounded by a group of outstanding talented teammates, and Tottenham Hotspur has also achieved the results and heights that he could not achieve in AC Milan.

Another point is Nesta. This veteran also came to Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer last summer. He is not a main player this season, but he has played a lot of games. His performance after many appearances is still stable and he seems to be in good shape.

So in Allegri's impression, Tottenham Hotspur seems to want to compete with him. Tottenham Hotspur has received all the players he sent away, and they all performed very well. They are not the outdated stars that Allegri said are too old to run. This makes Allegri, who is currently in a bad situation in Serie A, very angry.

When Tottenham Hotspur was drawn, Allegri shouted that it was a good draw and said that he would fight with Tottenham Hotspur.

"Our current situation in the Premier League is not optimistic. Liverpool and Manchester United are chasing us very closely, especially Liverpool. This team's offensive ability this season is second only to us, and its defense has also been greatly improved. Although the European war is not ideal, they can concentrate all their energy on playing well in the league."

Mauro Tassotti also feels that the pressure on the team is indeed very high now, because the competition is too heavy.

So far, the Premier League has more than 100 unbeaten games on the surface, but in fact, behind the unbeaten record, the team is treading on thin ice in every game. Ye Qiu said that he did not attach importance to the record, but the players attach great importance to it in their hearts, because for them, it will rewrite their lives.

Sometimes I think it would be better to just lose a game, but there is also a problem, that is, once you lose, will it trigger a series of chain reactions? Will the blood of Tottenham Hotspur's fighting to the end be dispersed?

"I really feel like I'm being kidnapped now!" Ye Qiu laughed bitterly.

The unbeaten record looks very glorious on the surface, but it actually brings pressure, and the team is kidnapped by this unbeaten record. With it, you can't easily lose, and you have to fight for every game.

From a psychological point of view, losing a game can relieve such pressure, but who can guarantee that there will be no sequelae?

"So, we can only take one step at a time!" Ye Qiu has no way to deal with this.

"But the away game against AC Milan is very critical, so we should rotate the home game against Newcastle!"

Ye Qiu's proposal made everyone in the coaching room fall into deep thought, but soon, most people nodded. After all, they all knew that the Premier League is a protracted war. Although there is only a two-point gap between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, it may be difficult to tell the winner in a short time, so it is more important to play the Champions League first.

After getting the consent of everyone present, Ye Qiu asked Mauro Tassotti to start preparing a plan. He planned to rotate seven players in this game. Although the intensity was a bit strong, as long as AC Milan was defeated away, the schedule would be much easier.

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On this side, Tottenham Hotspur had just drawn up a plan, and they were still executing it in the next few days. However, as the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. Ye Qiu could never have imagined that a week later, in the 26th round of the Premier League, Liverpool unexpectedly lost to Southampton away from home.

The game was held at St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton. Adrianse was at a disadvantage in strength, but he took advantage of his home court to launch a wave of attacks. What was surprising was that less than three minutes after the game started, Southampton took advantage of Lucas Moura's cross after passing two opposing players on the wing.

In the penalty area, England center forward Rodriguez headed the ball, and Coutinho, who came in from behind, shot from the front of the small penalty area and scored, 1:0!

This goal completely rewrote the course of the game. What shocked everyone was that Southampton quickly took advantage of this lead and controlled the game, catching Liverpool off guard.

In the 33rd minute of the first half, Lambert's free kick from 30 meters away created chaos in the penalty area. Lucas Moura got the ball and dribbled past the defender and shot into the goal, 2:0!

The outstanding performance allowed Southampton to end the first half with a two-goal lead, but Liverpool used Gerrard's pass at a critical moment, and Sturridge scored a goal in the first half stoppage time, 1:2!

After the second half, both sides began to adjust. Southampton, who took the lead, began to slow down the pace. Schneiderlin, Nick Powell and Matic formed a three-midfielder to effectively suppress Liverpool's midfield. Although Liverpool had the upper hand on the surface, they still failed to score a threatening goal.

In the 77th minute, Nick Powell quickly inserted a sharp through ball and accurately tore through Liverpool's defense. Lucas Moura got the ball in the penalty area and shot again, 3:1!

This score remained the same until the end of the game. Lucas Moura scored twice and Coutinho scored a goal, helping Southampton to complete the sniper of Liverpool 3:1.

This score shocked everyone, because no one expected that Benítez's Liverpool would be upset by Southampton, but this was a true news, so when Ye Qiu heard the news far away in London, his first reaction was to change the plan.

The next day, after he arrived at Theobald early, he immediately held a coaching meeting and temporarily changed the plan, because he knew very well, "We must widen the points gap with Liverpool and lay the foundation for the championship advantage!"

Currently, Tottenham Hotspur is two points ahead of Liverpool, but if they beat Newcastle, the lead will become five points, which is already a relatively safe lead, at least allowing Tottenham Hotspur to make a mistake.

Two points is indeed very dangerous, because if you accidentally lose a game, the opponent will come from behind, but if it is expanded to five points, it will be much safer, at least there is a buffer opportunity and time to adjust.

"You mean, try your best?" Mauro Tassotti was not surprised by Ye Qiu's sudden change.

The result of every game in the football league leads to the ever-changing situation of the entire standings. If you stick to your plan and don't change it, you may miss the opportunity in the end.

"But playing AC Milan away..." Roland Shepas reminded.

Ye Qiu nodded, "Give it a try, anyway we still have a home field!"

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With the change of Tottenham Hotspur's plan, the players are not sure how Ye Qiu arranged it, because Tottenham Hotspur's starting lineup has always been announced before the game, so no one knows that Ye Qiu changed the plan temporarily.

After all, Newcastle is also a well-known strong team in the Premier League, and Ancelotti's team has also shown good strength.

Tottenham Hotspur, who played with all their strength, dominated the situation on the field from the beginning of the game. Messi took the lead in knocking the ball into Newcastle's goal for Tottenham Hotspur in the 15th minute, but Ancelotti's team was not to be outdone. Moussa Sissoko knocked the ball back from the bottom, and Ibrahimovic fought against Nesta in the penalty area and shot the ball into the goal, 1:1!

This goal fully reflects Ibrahimovic's personal ability, and Ancelotti's most talked about thing, that is, his arrangement of tactical details. Moussa Sissoko's knock back from the bottom and Ibrahimovic's follow-up must have been carefully prepared and a premeditated masterpiece.

Although the score was tied, Tottenham Hotspur still maintained the initiative and advantage over Newcastle. At the halftime break, Ye Qiu issued a rare order to the team, requiring them to defeat Newcastle.

Just kidding, changing the plan temporarily and giving up the carefully prepared week-long arrangement, if the points are still not widened, it will be a very dangerous thing for Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur.

In the second half, Tottenham Hotspur did not make any substitutions, but Newcastle defended tightly and fought until the 78th minute, when Messi knocked on Newcastle's goal again, and finally defeated Newcastle 2:1 and won three points.

This battle can be described as a hard battle. Ancelotti's team is not bad, especially Ancelotti's own football philosophy attaches great importance to offense and defense. Don't look at him as if he plays offense, in fact, this guy started out playing defense, including the period of Juventus, he was strictly defending, so his defensive attainments are quite good.

"I thought you would want to give up this game!" After the game, Ancelotti greeted Ye Qiu with a smile. He could see that Ye Qiu was not in a good mood.

The pressure from Newcastle made Ye Qiu dare not replace Messi and Ribery throughout the game, nor did he dare to take Vidal and Ramsey, which led to all the Tottenham players being dragged and wasted for 90 minutes.

So Ancelotti believed that Allegri, who was still sitting in the stands at this moment, would definitely want to thank him because he helped AC Milan to hold Tottenham back. However, when they visited San Siro Stadium three days later, he felt that it would be difficult for Tottenham to escape unscathed in this game.

The main reason was that they fought too hard in this game!

"I was going to rotate, but I heard that you said you were going to beat us, so I changed my mind!" Ye Qiu responded with a smile.

Ancelotti shook his gray head, "I think it's because Liverpool was upset by Southampton?"

Seeing that Ye Qiu didn't speak, Ancelotti knew in his heart that he had guessed right.

Although playing AC Milan away is important, it is more important to beat Newcastle at home and expand the league lead to five points. As long as Tottenham Hotspur does not lose too badly away from home, the advantage will be very obvious when they return to their home court. Who dares to say that Tottenham Hotspur cannot beat AC Milan at home?

Ancelotti was also helpless about this. He felt that Southampton not only slaughtered Liverpool, but also made Newcastle lose a chance to enter the top four because Manchester City also lost this game.

Sometimes when I think about it, this game is really interesting!

"You'd better be careful, Allegri is not simple!" Ancelotti reminded with a smile.

Ye Qiu smiled but said nothing. In fact, he also knew that sometimes, as a head coach, when he made some choices, it was not to ensure that the team won all the games, but to ensure that the team made the right choice at the right time. After all, no one dared to guarantee whether their choice could help the team win.

After sending Ancelotti away, Ye Qiu's smiling face became stiff, and he lost the ease just now, because he knew very well that Ancelotti was right. Even if Tottenham Hotspur had a strong bench, they were facing AC Milan, which was fighting at full strength, and they should not be underestimated.

Therefore, he could foresee that the trip to San Siro three days later would be very, very difficult!