Qin Xiong's luck was not bad.
Pinard went straight to the ward after returning from the national team.
Recuperating!
The main midfield position was vacant!
However, Comain did not plan to immediately promote Qin Xiong to the position.
He was still observing and could not place his bets on Qin Xiong.
After all, Qin Xiong had not experienced a big test, and in view of his extremely poor performance in the last league game, although the rain game was a factor, his lack of experience was obvious to all. On the other hand, Comain believed that it was also related to Qin Xiong's instability as a newcomer.
It was too common for young rookies to play well one game and play poorly the next.
Moreover, the three imminent big games were the key reason why Comain could not gamble at all.
For Qin Xiong, his position was a character that needed to be honed to improve and grow.
And the key battle could not be used to train the players!
This was the most basic common sense.
Playing PSV Eindhoven was sandwiched in the middle of the European game. The importance of this league game could not be compared to the Champions League.
Because the Champions League could be eliminated in the group stage, and in the league, Ajax was now leading in points. Even if they lost to PSV Eindhoven, they could still catch up.
Coupled with the terrifying strength of AC Milan's defending champion, Comain inevitably had to strengthen the team's defensive ability in preparation for these two games.
Pinard was injured.
Who replaced him?
De Rong!
De Rong and Galasek formed a double defensive midfielder. De Rong was purely defensive, and Galasek was both offensive and defensive. They were responsible for stabilizing the midfield and the backfield and providing strong support to the front field. The veteran Galasek had this ability, but he was not a pure organizational player.
In the eighth round of the Eredivisie, Ajax welcomed the league's mediocre team, Fulendam, at home.
Qin Xiong was still sitting on the substitutes' bench, and Comain began to experiment with the brand-new 4231 formation.
The change was in the midfield.
The combination of Snede, Snede, Galasek- Van Der Vaart was more focused on defense than before. At the same time, the new addition Sottars seemed to have failed to secure his position as the main force in the team and was replaced by Snede. Snede's advantage in possession of the ball was too obvious, and Sottars' speed advantage paled in comparison to the other side, Sikora. Considering the rich technical and tactical characteristics of the team, Comain did not need to rely on speed to crush the opponents on both sides, because the speed advantage had a big premise: space.
Not every opponent would give you the space to use your speed advantage to break through the defensive line.
Fulundan's strength was not good, and Ajax killed the suspense of the game in the first half with a score of 3: 0.
With Ajax's comprehensive strength, playing a team in the relegation zone like Fulundan, and also at home, would not appear to be stumbling. If there were problems in every game and it was difficult to break through, then Ajax's problems were not as simple as they seemed on the surface. It could be said that they were absolutely beyond cure.
Five minutes into the second half, although Fulundan recovered a goal, ten minutes later, Ajax scored another goal and continued to widen the score gap to three goals.
In the 63rd minute of the game, Comain made a substitution.
Ibrahimovic and Van Der Vaart were both substituted off to conserve strength for the upcoming Champions League.
Qin Xiong and Sonke were brought on.
Although there was still nearly half an hour left in the game.
However, when Qin Xiong came on, the game had already entered garbage time.
It was difficult for him to do anything alone.
His teammates knew that they were going to play the Champions League and could not expend too much energy, so the overall formation would not aggressively press forward, and the enthusiasm for plugging forward decreased.
What about the opponent?
Fulundan had been stuffed with four goals and had no hope of making a comeback. He did not want to be slaughtered again, so he simply defended.
The only teammate on the field who was still active was Sonke.
Unfortunately, he did not have the ability to stand tall in the middle of Ibrahimovic's army. He was trapped in Fulundan's encirclement and could not move an inch.
Qin Xiong tried to give him a few straight passes, but he could not grasp them. Indeed, under heavy encirclement, even if he had all kinds of skills, it was difficult to display them.
At this stage, Qin Xiong could see that both sides had no ambition for the game, so he did not think too much and simply did it himself!
Instead of "eating and waiting to die" on the field, it was better to play to his heart's content.
In any case, the position he took over as the attacking midfielder had a certain "privilege" and was not like the midfield, where everything was more important for the overall situation.
Snede and Sikora did not intend to continue to charge and break through the enemy lines, so they acted as the go-between for Qin Xiong in the middle and front of the field.
From the 70th minute onwards, Qin Xiong constantly used his escape technique in the front field to step into the shooting range of the long shot in front of the penalty area and then shoot long shots.
His action of escaping and breaking through the opponent's shot was cheered by many fans in the stands.
He could control the ball and accelerate to escape at the right time.
It was just that he looked a little lonely.
Sonke complained a little.
Qin Xiong turned a blind eye to it.
It was not that he did not send shells to Sonke, but after trying, he found that it was completely inefficient. It was not as good as his own long shots.
In the 83rd minute, his fourth long shot finally knocked open Fulundan's goal.
The football that was kicked out was powerful and heavy, and its flight path was erratic. The opponent's goalkeeper pounced, but the football still blasted into the goal under the opponent's palm.
This icing on the cake goal made Qin Xiong feel like it was a training match, and there was not much excitement.
But to be able to score, in a sense, was good. It meant that he was still improving and was doing it for others to see.
Manager Comain applauded Qin Xiong on the sidelines.
Even though it was garbage time.
But Comain really did not relax. He observed Qin Xiong's performance after he came on the field, and it surprised him again.
Qin Xiong's long shooting ability in the mobile game was the highlight.
Four long shots, one goal was scored. Of the other three long shots, one was too right, and the other two were not too far off the goal. It was a feeling of bad luck.
And every time he lifted his leg, he was not messing around. He was ensuring that there was an angle and space to shoot. He did not know that there was a group of people blocking in front of him, so he closed his eyes and hoped for a miracle.
Comain constantly perfected his understanding of Qin Xiong in his mind. A player had many characteristics that could not be seen in training. They could only be discovered in a real game.
And it was also related to the intensity of the game.
Like today's game, Comain would not think that the new 4231 was very successful. It was just a run-in and warm-up. The real test of whether it was successful would be in Milan four days later!
5:1
Ajax slaughtered Fulundan at home.
A score that was not surprising to the Dutch football world.
In the Dutch football world, offensive football was popular, and there would be at least one game with a big score in every round.
Take this round of the league as an example.
Ajax 5: 1 Fulundan.
FC Twente played a goal war with FC Groningen at home 5: 3, and FC Groningen was eventually beaten into a sieve.
And Tevitt played another game with the same score after beating Vidis 5: 3 in the away game in the last round of the league tournament.
In addition, AZ Alkmaar and Breda also beat their opponents 3: 0 in the away game in the same round.
In the Netherlands, even a mid-tier team could create a massacre score. It all came from the offensive style of football.
Qin Xiong's goal in the game was not focused on by the outside world. After the eighth round of the league tournament, the Dutch football world quickly turned its attention to the Champions League.
The performance of the two teams representing the Netherlands this season was worrying.
Ajax's prospects were not optimistic.
Eindhoven was directly in the abyss of suffering.
In Group C, Eindhoven had actually lost the first two games!
Qin Xiong knew that he would still be a substitute, but there was still a trace of excitement in his heart.
Because it was the first time he would experience a "long" campaign with the team to another country.
In the league tournament, away games were played on the same day and returned the same day. For away games in the Champions League, the team would go to the visiting team's city in advance and stay at least one night in the other country's city depending on the situation. If it was a place to adjust to the time difference, such as going from the United Kingdom to Russia to play a game, there would definitely be a time difference. The changes in the weather could not be ignored.
Fortunately, this time they were going to Italy. There was no time difference and the climate in Italy was better.
Freddy was like an elder watching a child go away. The day before Qin Xiong left with the team, he repeatedly told him to buy a new suitcase and pack it with daily necessities. Before Qin Xiong left, Freddy suddenly said, "Why don't I go with you? You tell me the hotel in Milan and I'll find a place to stay nearby. If you have any questions, feel free to find me."
Qin Xiong replied with a smile, "Do I make you so worried?"
Freddy was speechless and turned it into a sigh. For the last time, he reminded Qin Xiong to pay attention to his safety when he was outside.
Qin Xiong said softly as he left, "Thank you, don't worry."
As he pulled his suitcase and left Wardle Street, the three old men, Dekotze, Ruttmansen, and Peter, shouted at his back, "Qin Xiong, come on, we'll see you at San Siro!"
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