Second watch.
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After winning the league title, Ajax's First Team's strong training declined.
Koeman knew that at this stage, it was impossible for the team to improve through training and games. Over the past half of the season, the progress of the First Team was obvious to all. Moreover, after more than half of the season, the accumulation of fatigue caused the players to subconsciously resist training. That was to say, the more intense the training, the less effective it might be.
The good news was that Ajax did not have to be distracted by the league and could focus on the Champions League. In the Champions League semi-finals, the most crucial point was not strength, but mentality!
Therefore, he took the initiative to reduce the intensity of the First Team's training to ensure that the players maintained their condition.
This gave the First Team players more time to rest.
Qin Xiong, Ibrahimovic, Snede, and Van Der Vaart were often seen sitting next to the reserve team or youth team training ground. The four of them wore jerseys and watched the reserve team and youth team training.
The club would occasionally record the training through video to analyze the quality of the players' training through science and technology. In the video, Qin Xiong and the other three sat side by side. After being called, the four of them turned their heads in unison. The staff smiled knowingly and directly included this clip in the highlights of Ajax's season review video.
Qin Xiong and the others were not only resting, but also discussing their Champions League semi-final opponent, Monaco.
Qin Xiong and Ibrahimovic discussed the small coordination on the front line.
He told Ibrahimovic that when he was studying Monaco's defense, he noticed that the opponent's center back was not flexible and fast. The center back was young and likely to suffer from a lack of experience. To coordinate in the penalty area, they had to be more flexible and confuse the opponent as much as possible.
He used hand gestures to outline a trajectory for example. Ibrahimovic understood after listening and did his best to coordinate with his teammates during training to practice this small coordination.
Qin Xiong also communicated with Van Der Vaart and Snede. He believed that in the current defensive offensive system, in addition to providing ammunition for Ibrahimovic, they also needed to explode with more creativity in their coordination.
If the victory over Chelsea was a victory of technical and tactical style, then the victory over Arsenal actually had a certain element of luck.
The goal that turned the situation around came from Qin Xiong's free kick.
However, it did not mean that they could break the deadlock with free kicks every time.
If they were faced with another situation where they could not break through the frontline and were always outnumbered, their small coordination would need to be even more unexpected!
Compared to the past few months, Ajax's geniuses were sweating less during training. They seemed to have transformed into scholars, preferring to delve into the variations of offensive routines. Everyone expressed their own opinions and brainstormed. Whenever a brilliant idea sprouted, they would immediately practice it on the field.
Comain was like a quiet and kind elder, always pacing on the sidelines of the training ground with his hands behind his back. He paid attention to the discussions of the players and excitedly practiced the offensive routines. It had to be said that even though Ajax's training system had a specific plan, when the geniuses gathered together, it was necessary to give them more freedom to play freely.
Comain was greatly relieved, but he could not help but worry.
He knew that this summer, the team would definitely have a genius leave the team. He was not sure who it was, but according to the usual practice of Ajax's board of directors, especially after learning from the late 1990s, they could not bear the economic losses caused by the players leaving the team. When there were signs of danger, the board of directors would decisively sell the players for cash.
This was what Comain was worried about: this might be the strongest and most talented group of players in Ajax that he was in charge of.
Even the players in the reserve team, such as Drieder and Lindgren, were talented and had considerable growth potential. However, compared to the First Team players, there was a clear gap.
The weekend league tournament served as a warm-up for the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Comain let the defensive players play in the starting lineup to maintain their condition, while the main offensive players only came on as substitutes in the second half as a warm-up.
After Ajax won the league tournament ahead of time, they easily defeated Rosinda in the 30th round of the Eredivisie at home with a 2: 1 victory. Although they did not trample on their opponents as brutally as before, they continued their good momentum.
After the league tournament, Ajax's First Team was ready to go. They took a flight to Monaco two days in advance.
April 21st.
During the day, Qin Xiong and the team rested in the hotel while waiting for the night's game. He also watched the friendly game in Barcelona on television.
The China team was defeated 0: 4 at the feet of the Barcelona club.
Qin Xiong was deeply moved by this game.
In fact, Barcelona certainly did not go all out. This was a bit like a commercial game, where they stopped while they were ahead.
After all, the season was not over yet. What was the point of putting together a puzzle in a friendly game?
Qin Xiong thought of the national team's construction in his chat with Ali Khan, including Ali Khan's personal football philosophy in the China national team and what kind of style he hoped the national team would play.
Qin Xiong had doubts in his mind.
With the strength of the China team in the world of football, did they have the confidence to pursue the advanced football philosophy and style?
Even if the most advanced football philosophy represented its success, the realization of the football style depended on the players, at least the 11 players on the field!
In other words, all the coaches knew that today's football world, there was a kind of football philosophy that was the craziest, and if it could be realized, it would be unrivaled and powerful.
That was the Dutch football world that had once triggered a tactical revolution in the football world!
As Michels said when he explained his football philosophy: I have a goalkeeper, 10 defenders, 10 midfielders, and 10 forwards! How can we not be strong?
But the core of the problem was how many players in the world could switch between the three roles of defenders, midfielders, and forwards, and their ability to reach the world-class level? And at least 10 players had to be able to do it and be able to cooperate with each other tacitly.
In theory, once such players were gathered to form a team, they would undoubtedly be the strongest in the world!
But in reality, it was impossible!
Therefore, the Dutch themselves would not pursue the ultimate attack and defense. The insurmountable gap between reality and ideal could not be changed by human will.
Was it appropriate to transplant a formation that existed most commonly in European football and even the fans took for granted to the China national team?
To put it bluntly, football was nothing more than defense and offense.
With the strength and position of the China national team in the world rankings, could they put on the same technical and tactical system as the top 50 teams in the world? Although football was not about logical reasoning, it also had the most basic comparison of strength. The strong did not necessarily win, but the unshakable truth was that the chances of winning were greater.
Qin Xiong at least figured out one thing.
In his club career, he could pursue his ideals, play with the football style he yearned for, and choose a club. But in the national team, under the double pressure of honor and responsibility, his personal pursuits had to be thrown to the back of his mind. It seemed that the most advanced and popular in the world was not necessarily what the national team needed.
.....
The national team only lost a warm-up game, which was an unsurprising loss. It would not have too much psychological impact on Qin Xiong. When he was on the bus to Stade Louis II with his teammates, he stopped thinking about the national team.
Stade Louis II had a very high standard, but its capacity was not large. It could only accommodate nearly 20,000 fans.
After Ajax arrived at the stadium, the players calmly changed their clothes in the locker room and warmed up in the stadium step by step. There were almost no Ajax fans in the stadium stands. In a small stadium, the tickets for the away team were pitifully few.
After the warm-ups, the players returned to the locker room. This was the first time this season that Ajax played first in a knockout game. The strategy would be different from before.
Comain emphasized two things in his pre-match speech.
The first was mentality. It did not matter if they lost a goal in the away game. They must not panic.
The second was the goal of the game. Ajax had to go all out to win in the away game! Even if they could not win, they had to get a draw with a score.
This would give them a greater advantage when they played at home.
The First Team players nodded calmly. Before leaving the locker room, they encouraged each other. Then they opened the locker room door with firm beliefs, walked into the players' tunnel with their heads held high, and waited for the start of the Champions League semi-final!
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