Fourth update
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After the winter break, Ajax needed a period of time to regroup when they started the second half of the season. The players had to find their form.
The most important thing was the change in the weather.
When it was coldest, Ajax's players were on holiday.
When they returned to football at the end of January, the players might still be slightly uncomfortable with the cold weather.
In the 17th round of the Eredivisie, Ajax played against Nijmegen at home.
Nijmegen was a member of the relegation team. When they came to the Amsterdam Athletic Stadium, they naturally set up fences.
Ajax played the entire first half in a mess.
The error rate was extremely high!
As the midfield commander, Qin Xiong could not absolve himself from the blame.
But no teammates or coach would blame him.
Because the root of the problem did not lie with Qin Xiong.
It was the whole team, scattered.
Qin Xiong still treated his teammates with the standards and vision before the winter break.
At that time, they had a tacit understanding and the team operated smoothly.
But after the winter break, the players needed a period of time to reactivate and recover from the cooldown.
So a month ago, when Qin Xiong passed a more difficult pass, his teammates could receive it when they were in their best condition and turn it into a threatening attack.
But now, they could not stop the ball and run in place, so it became Qin Xiong's mistake in passing.
Just like Snede was still "losing weight," the other players also had some small problems. It was not very serious, but it took time and games to overcome these problems.
Comain patiently communicated with the players during the halftime break, telling everyone to keep a calm mind and a stable mentality to play better.
Qin Xiong was not discouraged.
It was nothing more than starting from the beginning.
So in the second half, he slowed down the pace of the game and made formulaic passes in the midfield.
Unlike the exploration and creation in the past, now it was just reactivating the team and combining the scattered into a whole. They were familiar with this and would be much faster than before.
Playing football was sometimes an instinctive feeling.
That feeling came, whether it was awareness or technical play, it was smooth sailing.
The players could feel this feeling.
Now, Ajax was finding the familiar feeling they used to have.
Under Qin Xiong's command, the performance of Jax in the second half was much better than the first half. However, it seemed like their tempo was a lot slower, and they didn't have the momentum that they had before the winter break.
The fans probably did not expect Ajax to play so hard in the first league game after the winter break.
Although the defense did not go through much of a test, the offense was not ideal.
The players made more mistakes in their individual play.
In fact, even Qin Xiong's individual performance was not as good as before the winter break.
Because of the cold weather, the players' physical condition to play in the winter.
They did not know if it was a reflex of self-protection or if they were not used to the slow pace.
In the 83rd minute of the match, Qin Xiong came up from the back of the midfield. After forming an inverted triangle pass with Ibrahimovic and Pienaar in the middle, Qin Xiong charged into the penalty area and received Pienaar's straight ball. He had wanted to shoot straight at the goal, but when he dodged the interception of the opposing defender, he could not avoid it. The ball passed over, but he tripped and fell to the ground.
The referee whistled to signal that the Nijmegen defender had committed a foul and awarded a penalty to Ajax.
Qin Xiong was not a player who fell with a touch. Moreover, even in the penalty area, he always believed that a penalty kick did not necessarily mean a goal. But if he could break through the opponent and form a one-on-one, then the chances of him scoring should be higher. Because in movement, there would be less time for the goalkeeper to react.
The protests of the Nijmegen team could not change the reality.
Qin Xiong stood outside the penalty area and watched Van Der Vaart take the penalty kick.
The new European golden boy was not very smooth today.
The penalty kick was actually hit on the opponent's goalkeeper!
Fortunately, the opponent's goalkeeper did not hold the ball and let it go!
Ajax rushed into the penalty area and followed up with a follow-up shot. It was actually De Jong who kicked the ball into the goal from the line of the penalty area.
Ajax finally won Nijmegen with a goal thanks to De Jong's kungfu.
Although they won the game.
When Ajax's players returned to the locker room after the game, they were not in high spirits. They were even a little annoyed and anxious.
"What the hell was that kick."
Ibrahimovic muttered in the corner as he threw his sneakers on the ground.
Van der Vaart and Sneijder let out a muffled exhale from their nostrils in unison.
The veteran Galasek encouraged everyone to listen to Comain's advice: calm down.
Is it enough to win the game?
No!
What was Nijmegen?
It was so difficult to win the game!
The prideful Jax wasn't going to be complacent after defeating Nijmegen.
Right now, their biggest problem was not in the Netherlands, but on the other side of the sea. Great Britain, England, North London!
Arsenal!
In a month's time, Arsenal would be parachuted into Amsterdam!
If Ajax faced Arsenal in today's state, there was no doubt that they would be beaten into a sieve by Arsenal!
Nijmegen and Arsenal could not be compared at all.
Henry, the killer who made all the defenders in the world tremble in fear, was enough to pose a threat to Ajax!
Moreover, there was also Bergkamp, who came from Ajax, the world-class defensive midfielder Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, and other famous players.
How would Arsenal's state be?
They did not know.
They only knew that the Premier League did not have a winter break. There might be fatigue accumulation, but at the very least, Arsenal's state of the team continued.
On paper, their strength was not as good as Arsenal. If their state was not as good as the opponent, then the probability of Ajax being blocked out of the Champions League's top eight was very, very high!
It was precisely because of this sense of crisis that Ajax's players were not satisfied with their own performance in this game!
The next day, International Football also wrote an article ridiculing Ajax's players for being "frozen" during the winter break.
Qin Xiong did not receive the same harsh evaluation as Van Der Vaart.
After all, Van Der Vaart had the halo of the first European golden boy, and because his girlfriend was a celebrity in the entertainment industry, the golden boy and jade girl combination were the center of attention. When he did not perform well, the pressure of public opinion was naturally great.
For Qin Xiong, the outside world's evaluation was more pertinent.
Qin Xiong's performance was considered average. It was not as hot as before the winter break, but it did not plummet either. The contrast was great.
Qin Xiong mistakenly thought that he could stabilize his state if he kept exercising during the winter break, which was certainly not enough.
In particular, training was training and games were games. Without a game for a month, his state would naturally fall.
From the start of the second day of training, Ajax's players were simply going all out.
Extra practice was a common occurrence.
To improve the team's state, the first was the individual, and the most basic was the physical state.
Healthy, strong, full of vitality!
At the end of the day's training, Qin Xiong was called away by Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic said that he wanted Qin Xiong to accompany him in extra practice, but he left the club.
He drove Qin Xiong to a fighting gym near the center of Amsterdam.
After changing into protective gear, the two men walked into the ring.
Qin Xiong did not ask much. In fact, he understood that when Ibrahimovic said it was extra practice, it was indeed extra practice.
It was not to "train" him.
Players, players, football players.
Athletes first, and then football players.
In Ajax's youth training system, the proportion of football training was perhaps only 60%. The lower the age, the lower the proportion.
They would use other sports to train the players' body flexibility, balance, agility, and so on.
Ibrahimovic was not a player who had received formal football training from a young age. His agility and flexibility, which did not match his height and weight, could not be less due to his practice of karate.
When Qin Xiong was young, he also received a variety of sports training: track and field, swimming, various ball games. He even practiced gymnastics for a period of time.
Standing in the ring, Ibrahimovic asked, "Are you sure you're okay? Have you thrown any punches? "
Qin Xiong thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I haven't, but I should be able to spar with you. I've heard you talk about it many times. Come on, we can give it a try."
Qin Xiong deliberately pointed to the boxer and coach in the next ring. The coach was a punching bag, only blocking the boxer's attacks.
Of course, Qin Xiong would definitely fight back.
He believed that the core of this plaything was dodging and seizing the opportunity to attack.
As for strength, they were all teammates, so they should be lenient.
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