The Godfather of Greenery

Chapter 33 Entering the Final Four

January 2000, 1, afternoon.

The winter break of the Eredivisie has not yet ended, and the Dutch Cup took the lead in igniting the fifth round of the knockout round.

As the second team, the Ajax second team has the home court advantage in the cup, so this time they face Utrecht, the venue is still the same venue where they challenged Eindhoven.

However, what was different from the last time was that this time the game hadn't started yet, and the stadium was surrounded by people.

Also today, Ajax will face the challenge of Feyenoord at the Arena Stadium. I heard that there are still a lot of fans who have booked the game tickets. The attendance rate of the Arena Stadium is estimated to be comparable to that of the second team in the afternoon. of this game.

Ye Qiu's starting lineup today is different from last time. The goalkeeper is Stekellenborg, the defense line is Abidal, Kivu, Van Duyn and Heitinga, and the midfielders are De Jong, Sneijder and Maduro, the front trident is still van der Vaart, Huntelaar and Krul.

Ye Qiu has been very dissatisfied with Van der Rohe's performance since the last game against Eindhoven. Moreover, Utrecht's offense in this game is mostly on the side. Van der Rohe's defense is always a big hidden danger, so Ye Qiu Qiu used Heitinga, who performed well on the right in the previous game and had outstanding defensive ability, to play right back.

When Ye Qiu led the team out of the locker room, two or three thousand Ajax fans cheered in unison.

Since defeating Eindhoven in the last game, this team has begun to pin the expectations of Ajax fans. Many of them even began to believe that the young players of this youth team will be in the near future. In the future, lead Ajax to usher in a new round of revival.

This is also the main reason why so many fans came to watch the game today.

When Ye Qiu walked out of the stands, he saw Eliza Munn who had come to watch his game. In the cold Amsterdam winter, a scarf made her look extraordinarily charming, and her encouraging smile also Let Ye Qiu smile back.

But when he walked into the court and sat on the coach's bench, his heart was as calm as the snow on the ground!
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In the eyes of many friends who know Mark Walter, the current Mark Walter is no longer the former Mark Walter. The man standing in front of the coaching bench in Utrecht is full of pride and enthusiasm conceited.

In the past, Mark Walter gave people the feeling of diligence, hard work, and hard work. He would watch the video for a night, study the data for a whole day, and even go to the away game to watch the opponent's game. But now, He doesn't do these things very much, because he thinks his assistants can handle them.

From Lisse to The Hague, he became the most outstanding new-generation head coach in the Netherlands. From The Hague to Utrecht, he had the opportunity to be promoted to the first-line head coach of the Netherlands, but it is a pity that Utrecht's downturn and The poor record, all of these have completely ruined the reputation that Mark Water has worked so hard to build in The Hague!
But that's not the worst part. What's really scary is that Mark Water put it all down to bad luck and bad luck!

Because of pride and conceit, he always believed that the Ajax second team in front of him who killed Eindhoven was just very lucky, so he had the opportunity to complete this task. He is eager to accomplish a feat, and he has always believed that his team will be able to regain the glory of the Eredivisie team in this Ajax second team.

Therefore, Mark Water's tactics in this game are actually very simple, attack, attack from the beginning!

But he didn't expect that Ye Qiu's opening tactic was also very simple and clear, and it was also an attack, a desperate attack!
In terms of what Ye Qiu said in the locker room before the game, "Utrecht likes to attack the most, so if we defend, it is tantamount to fulfilling their wish, but I don't like to let The enemy is comfortable, they want to attack, we have to force them to defend!"

So, when the referee blew the game whistle, Mark Water saw an unbelievable scene. Ajax, who had shrunk like a tortoise against Eindhoven in the last game The second team, from the beginning of this game, actively created threats from the side, and played a series of offensives.

Especially in the 7th minute, after van der Vaart completed a one-two with Sneijder on the left, he went down to the bottom line and made a pass. Huntelaar made a poke shot in the penalty area and almost pierced Utler. Utrecht's goalkeeper, Frank Coyman, made a lunge, but the ball went just wide of the goal.

After the first shot, the second team of Ajax did not retreat to defend at all, and continued to further strengthen the offensive, and soon in the 11th minute, Sneijder passed into the penalty area again and handed it to Kurou Er, the latter volleyed, but the angle was blocked by goalkeeper Coyman, and it shot into Coyman's arms.

The two consecutive shots won the cheers of the fans in the stands for the second team of Ajax, and completely disrupted the rhythm of Utrecht from the beginning.

However, after tasting the sweetness, Ye Qiu immediately issued adjustment requirements to the players, and immediately retreated steadily, returning to the tactics of defensive counterattack, but he did not stick to the half court, but set up camp in the midfield, slowly Slowly look for opportunities to fight back.

After the game in Eindhoven, the players of Ajax's second team had a deeper understanding and familiarity with Ye Qiu's overall defensive tactics. There are two weeks to prepare for the battle, so they cooperate more tacitly and calmly.

Utrecht are not very good at playing against the trend. What they like most is to control the rhythm steadily from the beginning. It is best to lead the goal in the first 10 to 20 minutes, and then use their own rhythm to drag the opponent to death.

But if the opponent disrupts their rhythm from the beginning, then they themselves will be confused and don't know how to fight.

Ye Qiu started the attack, on the one hand, to show the spirit of Ajax's second team, and on the other hand, to disrupt the opponent's rhythm, disturb their minds, make them restless, and then adopt the method of defending and counterattacking to defeat each other.

The only one in the Utrecht team that impressed Ye Qiu was Dirk Dirk, but this 20-year-old winger has not shown too much ability in the Eredivisie for the time being, his speed is not fast, and his skills are relatively average , Even his off-ball running and back penetration, which were praised by many people later, are still very immature now.

Utrecht's striker strength this season is not outstanding, and center Dick Itzen is more of a pulling and suppressing role, creating gaps and opportunities for the midfielder to insert. This is why Utrecht's performance this season The reason why the midfielder scored far more goals than the striker, but once such a tactic is suppressed in the midfield, the offense will not be able to be used.

Or you can put it this way, Utrecht's offensive tactics need space, and the midfielder needs to be able to insert into the opponent's 30-meter area, but now Ye Qiu is starting to arrange a tight defensive formation from 30 meters away, trying to prevent the opponent from posing a threat.

After pinching Utrecht's seven inches, Mark Water couldn't fly, and the rest was to supervise the players to execute tactics, and then wait for the opportunity to score.

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After all, there is a big gap in strength. Although it is contained at the tactical level and it is uncomfortable to play, Utrecht is a Dutch team after all. Sometimes, it can also guarantee that the Ajax second team will not easily threaten their goal.

This led to a stalemate and stalemate between the two teams.

Ye Qiu knew that the young players of the second team were not patient enough, so he kept yelling from the sidelines to ask them to be patient, and he kept saying during the intermission that this would be a war of attrition , Whoever can survive to the end will win.

The game can be said to be dull and ugly, because neither side could create any good chances.

Utrecht was contained by the defense of the Ajax second team, and the Ajax second team was not so strong.

But it was such a drowsy game that caused the Ajax fans in the stands and around the stadium to shout very loudly, because in their opinion, the two teams can maintain the current situation. This situation is already very difficult, and it is already a victory.

With 70 minutes skipped, Utrecht made a substitution, bringing in a wide player and pushing their midfielders Martell and Berger forward in an apparent attempt to apply further pressure. , but the effect was not very obvious. After making several threats, Ye Qiu's adjustments helped the Ajax second team withstand the pressure.

But Ye Qiu still didn't make a substitution, because he was waiting!

He has a very in-depth understanding of Utrecht, and he also knows his team very well. He concentrates on watching the game from the beginning to the present. He has a faint feeling that the players of Utrecht Mindsets are already changing.

He can use a lot of details to support his judgment. For example, when Martel was more than 35 meters away from the goal, he turned around and volleyed vigorously in a hurry, but after the shot, he realized stupidly. It was so far from the goal that he was so far away from the goal, and there was an erratic cross from the right by Dirk, but there was no one to respond at that time.

From this series of details, Ye Qiu could tell that the Utrecht players became impatient.

But why not the players of Ajax's second team?

If Ye Qiu didn't pour cold water on the sidelines from time to time and yell a few words, they would probably be even more miserable than their opponents.

Just in the 73rd minute of the game, Utrecht's midfielder John de Jong fouled Sneijder, and the referee gave the Ajax second team a free kick.

Sneijder got up from the ground. After he straightened the ball, he looked at Huntelaar in front of him, and the latter nodded slightly.

Seeing the referee's whistle, Sneijder quickly kicked the free kick forward, and he also ran forward quickly.

Huntelaar was originally on top of the opponent's defense line. When the whistle sounded, he ran back in the direction of Sneijder immediately. After receiving a pass from Sneijder halfway, he didn't stop the ball and went straight back diagonally. Knock to the left.

Sneijder ran forward quickly, avoiding the defensive players in Utrecht's midfield. After seeing Huntelaar's knockback, he directly rubbed a half-high arc ball without stopping the ball, oriented Behind the opponent's line of defense.

Van der Vaart had already been cruising around the opponent's defense line in ambush. As soon as he saw Sneijder passing the ball, he mustered his fastest speed. Hooked, stopped in front of him, and entered the restricted area in one trip, forming a single sword.

The whole process happened in an instant. The three players of Ajax's second team cooperated very quickly and cleverly. They almost ran back and forth without the ball. The defensive players in Utrecht didn't even have a reaction. Did not have time.

And isn't this kind of cooperative routine of passing the ball back and knocking on the diagonal pass the same elements in the new training method?

Van der Vaart entered the penalty area and formed a single-handed attack. Facing the experienced Coyman, he did not act hastily. Instead, he paused deliberately, tricking Coyman into thinking that he was about to make a move, and shifted his center of gravity. After that, he turned in the opposite direction and hit the ball into the lower left corner, almost hitting the post and hitting the net!

1: 0!

All the Ajax fans around suddenly cheered, everyone cheered for Van der Vaart's goal, and even many fans were shouting Van der Vaart's name to show his respect Appreciation and affirmation for this goal.

After the goal, Van der Vaart also celebrated around the stadium, venting his excitement and excitement after scoring.

This season, many Ajax insiders have expressed the hope that Van der Vaart can enter the first team. After all, this gem who performed very well in the second team needs the experience of the first team, but Westhof has always refused to recruit Van der Vaart. Especially, it is not known whether there is any reason for his grudge with Ye Qiu.

But it cannot be ignored that Van der Vaart's outstanding performance in the second team, especially in the Dutch Cup, has won the appreciation and affirmation of countless Dutch football professionals, and is known as the leader of the new generation of Dutch players.

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After being scored a goal by the second team of Ajax, Utrecht did not show the momentum to counterattack at all. Live the feeling of the situation.

The second team of Ajax failed to score again in the end, and finally defeated Utrecht 1:0, and successfully advanced to the top 4!
When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, all the players of Ajax's second team hugged together on the field.

This group of young teenagers have just embarked on the road of professional career, without the thoughts and contradictions of many famous stars. Now they are relatively simple, with only one thought in their hearts, that is to defeat one opponent after another, so that even more Many more people, remember their names from now on!

After winning this match, Ye Qiu gave his assistants a high-five to celebrate, not feeling too excited.

Perhaps it was because he knew this opponent too well, so Utrecht gave him the feeling that he was not that strong, nor was he the kind of invincible opponent, so the excitement of defeating a strong enemy was less.

After this match, the second team of Ajax will reach the semi-finals. Who will be the opponent at that time depends on the matchups of the other three matches. For Ye Qiu, this is no longer what he should consider something happened.

After the fifth round, the semi-finals will have to wait until April, so now he must start to adjust his strategic direction and devote himself to the battle for the league championship. It is best to take this opportunity to reverse Feyenoord Team, become the leader of the league, so that the pressure on him and the players will be much less.

"Congratulations, Ye Qiu!" Van Prager sat in the stands this time and watched the whole game, so as soon as the game was over, he walked down from the stands to congratulate Ye Qiu, accompanied by Bobby Harms. .

"Thank you!"

"In today's game, the second team performed very well and reached the semi-finals. If the first team can also beat Feyenoord tonight, and finally our first and second teams can meet in the final, that scene It will be spectacular and interesting!" Van Prager laughed and looked forward to the future.

After Westerhoff replaced Waters, the team won a victory immediately before the winter break. Husband must be able to lead the team better.

By the way, Harris Huizinger also officially transferred from Heerenveen to Ajax on January 1. The transfer fee was 1 million US dollars, but after getting Huizinger, Westhof There have been some disputes with the club on the issue of signings for the defense. He wants the club to increase the transfer fee, but the club really can't afford the money at the moment.

In the end, the signings on the defense line have also come to an end for the time being.

Ye Qiu noticed that after hearing what Van Prager said, Bobby Harms' eyes showed worry, but it flashed by, and then he patted Ye Qiu's shoulder, He affirmed his tactical arrangement and leading the team in this game.

It was a bit flawed, and he missed a few opportunities. If he had more experience and experience, he would have seized those opportunities and counterpressed them aggressively. Utrecht would have lost this game miserably, but Ye Qiu missed it.

But it's no wonder, Ye Qiu is just a fledgling kid after all, it's very rare to be able to reach the point where he is today, how can he be asked to do more and better?
"Tonight, let's go to the Arena to watch the game, and I'll leave you a ticket for the rostrum!" Before leaving, Van Prager sent an invitation to Ye Qiu, which can be regarded as a sign of his victory over Utrecht a reward.

Ye Qiu smiled and nodded in agreement. He also really wanted to go to the scene to watch this duel. After all, he reached the semi-finals, and the next opponent was likely to be one of these two teams.

For the current Ye Qiu, the first team is the first team, and the second team is the second team. Even if he does meet Westhof's first team, he will not be polite.

He will use all his abilities to overthrow any obstacle that stands between him and his target!

(End of this chapter)