In the first twenty minutes of the game, Ajax had the upper hand on the field.
They were playing at home and got into the game faster. In addition, Arsenal's strategy in the away game was to defend first and then attack. Qin Xiong also had to contribute his strength to the defense of the backline, which made Ajax's offense more effective.
However, as the players gradually got into the groove and their condition was adjusted, Ajax's offense encountered a very obvious problem: one side was paralyzed.
Babel played on the right side of the winger. He was still young and inexperienced. He had his individual ability, but in an offensive and defensive confrontation with Arsenal's defenders, he could not gain any advantage. Coupled with Flamini's ferocity and Silva's experience, Ajax's offense on the right side was ineffective.
This narrowed down Ajax's options to attack, and he could only make a fuss in the middle and the left flank.
In the 21st minute of the game, Snede cut across the middle from the flank to attract the attention of Fàbregas and then passed the ball back to Lindbergh, who plugged in from the back. Lindbergh did not dare to be rash in the face of Qin Xiong's pressing and directly passed the ball. Pinar followed up in the middle and sent a straight ball. Huntelaar almost got into position in the penalty area. Touré's prompt interception was very effective.
Arsenal immediately launched an attack. Qin Xiong ran forward in the middle and Touré passed the ball to Eboue on the flank. The latter passed the ball directly to Reyes in front. Reyes found the opportunity to pass the ball to Qin Xiong.
Pinar did not close up to Qin Xiong, but went straight back to the front of the penalty area to defend. The veteran Galasek was very stable. Based on his understanding of Qin Xiong, he would not make the low-level mistake of losing his center of gravity. He would also not let himself fall into a defensive state and be blown away by Qin Xiong's acceleration. Therefore, he kept retreating. When he and the defensive line formed a tight defensive system, he looked dignified and waited for Qin Xiong to charge.
After Qin Xiong dribbled the ball to the front waistline, he did not have any space to break through. At a glance, the distance between Ajax's defensive midfielder and the fullback was relatively short. The risk of a breakthrough was very high. Ajax's technical and tactical strength was absolutely unquestionable.
Qin Xiong's mind spun rapidly. In a situation where there were no flaws in their tactics, if Qin Xiong wanted to tear apart the opponent's defensive line, he could only rely on a single soldier to explode one of the opponent's points.
So, who should he choose?
Galasek? It was very difficult. Qin Xiong knew that the veteran general had a lot of experience.
There was not much point in attacking Pinar horizontally, as Galasek would be defending him from the side.
Fàbregas could not participate too much in the offense in this game. Firstly, it was an away game. Secondly, it was because Ajax's offense had a threat in the middle. Unlike some teams in the Premier League, whose offense relied on passing from the flanks, the offense in the middle posed little threat. This freed Fàbregas to invest more in the offense.
Grygra? Pires had already tried, and the difficulty was similarly high.
Qin Xiong set his sights on another player who was not a full-back, Emmanuel Elsen.
Ajax was facing a shortage of full-backs, and Maxwell was seriously injured and out of action for eight months. Only then did the manager, Brinder, pull Emmanuel Elsen back to play as a full-back.
Qin Xiong did not know much about him. In fact, he only had brief contact with Emmanuel Elsen when he was in Ajax's youth team and reserve team. The information he learned was that the other party was an offensive player, and his defensive strength was not outstanding.
Reyes had not challenged him before, because Reyes's position in Arsenal was very awkward. He had to be a supporting character who served as the core of the team in order to seize the opportunity to play in the game.
Therefore, he always wanted to create opportunities for Henry or Qin Xiong, and did not dare to play casually in the game, especially when Arsenal was suffering from large-scale injuries. The nerves of the team were tense, and a small problem could cause a big mess. He had to carefully gain the power to survive in the team, and not anger the coach or teammates.
Reyes actively served Qin Xiong and Henry, which Qin Xiong understood in his heart.
He should have done so, but it seemed a little stiff, because if it were Pires and Ljungberg, they would know when to play what role and effectively integrate the team and the individual.
In any case, at least Qin Xiong felt that he had a good helper who could let him play.
He slowed down the pace, and then dribbled the ball horizontally towards the right flank. He leisurely passed the ball to Reyes, and then continued to run to the right front.
When Reyes saw Qin Xiong's running position, he knew that Qin Xiong had his own ideas and plans. He passed the ball to Qin Xiong before Lindberg came to close in.
At this time, Qin Xiong had already reached the right flank.
Qin Xiong did not have a deep impression of Emmanuel Elsen, but the other side saw Qin Xiong come to his front defensive area as if he was facing a great enemy.
How could he forget Qin Xiong?
On the first day Qin Xiong went to Ajax for trial, he was Qin Xiong's opponent in the training match!
Then Qin Xiong rose like a comet, and he and many of the young Ajax players could only look up from the bottom!
Facing Qin Xiong, he could not help but feel a little nervous.
He was not a defensive player, and at this time, he instinctively went forward to intercept Qin Xiong. Qin Xiong casually flicked the ball to the sideline, and he rushed forward. Qin Xiong dribbled the ball to the sideline, and suddenly, he flicked the ball behind him at the sideline, and then suddenly accelerated and brushed past Emmanuel Elsen!
Emmanuel Elsen turned around and used his hand to block Qin Xiong's advance, but Qin Xiong completely shook him off after two steps. Emmanuel Elsen almost wanted to give up!
Qin Xiong was a psychological shadow that could not be removed for some of the young Ajax players!
He struck a blow to their confidence and put them in a psychological disadvantage in front of Qin Xiong.
Vermaelen did not help to defend the flanks. He guarded the key area in the penalty area. When Qin Xiong overtook from the outside, regained control of the ball, and cut into the inside line, he changed direction in front of Vermaelen and dribbled the ball to the end line. After swinging out an angle, he swept the ball to the front of the goal.
Henry stubbornly went to outflank the goal under De Jong's interference. His speed was slowed by De Jong's entanglement, but he still had a chance to shoot.
But just as he was about to swing his leg to shoot, a figure rushed in front of him and used a sliding tackle to clear the ball out of the end line.
Galasek!
There was applause in the stadium for Galasek's praise.
Galasek stood up and instructed his teammates to start defending the corner kick.
Qin Xiong shook his head slightly. As Fàbregas could not greatly assist in the attack, Ajax did not have to worry about the defense in the middle of the back line. So, when the attack developed to the forefront, Galasek could decisively retreat to the penalty area to assist in the defense.
Ajax did a good job defending this ball, even if the full back, Emmanuel Elsen, was beaten.
Qin Xiong found an opportunity to come to Reyes's side during the attack for the corner kick. He gestured to Reyes and communicated with him. Reyes understood Qin Xiong's meaning and nodded in agreement.
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