Thank you to "Taotie 1988", "Eilia" and "Soldier of the World" for your tips!
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The fans of PSV Eindhoven and Ajax were cheering in full swing in the stands. The crowd was surging with emotion, rendering the Philips Stadion into a smoke-filled battlefield.
Along with the referee's whistle, the Dutch derby match began!
From the first minute of the game, PSV Eindhoven played very fiercely. This fierceness was reflected in the speed of their offensive advances and the aggressiveness of their defensive scrambles.
In the contemporary Dutch football world, the most eye-catching talent of Ajax was Van Der Vaart. Another equally talented and attention-grabbing talent was PSV Eindhoven's Peter Pan, Robben!
Robben did not come from the "orthodox" youth training system in the Netherlands. When he was being fought over by the local powerhouses, he chose PSV Eindhoven and rejected Ajax. This incident did not arouse the vigilance of Ajax's senior management, who realized that Ajax's attractiveness to the talent had significantly decreased. They still regarded themselves as the local king without any worries.
This game was hailed by the Dutch media as the "battle of rising stars"!
Between Robben and Van Der Vaart, who would dominate the game?
The strength of both teams was not bad. Ajax actually had more talents, but they were too young. PSV Eindhoven appeared to be more mature. For example, the average age of their defensive line was between 24 and 26 years old, and the same was true for their midfield. If Robben did not pull down the average age of the forward line, then this team could be said to be about to enter the "peak of sports age" of a team.
Hiddink's tactics today were clear at a glance.
The midfield was frantically encircled and suppressed, and the offense was to fly on both wings!
Robben and the Danish wing Rommedaar were as fast as lightning, and dribbling breakthroughs were their forte. The center forward Kežman's goalscoring efficiency was impressive, and he had also made a name for himself in the Dutch football world. If he were younger, he would definitely be an amazing talent. Unfortunately, once a player passed a certain age, it was equivalent to automatically withdrawing from the category of "talent".
In the midfield combination, Vogel was Switzerland's Makelele. Just from this description, one could tell what he was good at. A strong defensive player!
In addition, the captain, van Bommel, was known for his toughness. The toughness and crazy interception ability of this combination were beyond doubt.
If the South Korean national footballer Park Ji-sung was included, these three players' coverage of the midfield and defensive strength were the strongest in the Dutch league! Even Ajax couldn't compete with them, because Ajax wouldn't use a player like Park Ji-sung, who was good at both offense and defense, as an attacking midfielder.
The four players on the defensive line had been on the battlefield for a long time and had sufficient defensive experience. Even an Asian player like Lee Rongpyo was able to gain a foothold here and firmly occupy a main position. His compatriot, Park Ji-sung, also began to take the position after adapting for half a year.
Qin Xiong paid special attention to the two South Korean national footballers in the opponent's formation. This was actually very rare. Even if PSV Eindhoven's position in the European football world was not at the top, and was not even comparable to Ajax, it was not strange for PSV Eindhoven to have Asian players in a team of this level. However, it was not common to have two Asian players, let alone players from the same country who could play as the main force!
Was it because of how strong they were?
Not necessarily. PSV Eindhoven's contribution to the Philips Group's development of the Asian market was evident.
This was also the main purpose of Agnesen's invitation to Qin Xiong.
Qin Xiong cleared his mind and focused on reading the game.
PSV Eindhoven was ferocious. They intercepted crazily in the midfield. It was a massacre!
Van Der Vaart was in trouble again.
This might be more difficult than the game against AC Milan.
After all, the Italian team was more conservative. Their frontal attack was met with a continuous defense. If they wanted to step into the penalty area, they had to break through layer by layer.
The Dutch team's defensive line would not be too far behind because of their offensive football. It was the usual situation for the whole team to press forward. The whole offense pressed forward, which required the defense to also press the front field.
When Ajax switched from defense to offense, Van Der Vaart mostly got the ball near the midfield, and then he would face van Bommel. This was a very common situation. But behind him, there was the unstoppable Park Ji-sung following him like a shadow!
It was a pincer attack from the front and back!
Van Der Vaart could not rush over head-on against AC Milan. Against PSV Eindhoven, he fell into a head-on attack. The risk was great, and he also had to be wary of the sneak attack from behind!
PSV Eindhoven had the home advantage and the morale boost from the Champions League victory. Under the crazy pressing, Van Der Vaart repeatedly lost the ball and it was difficult to organize the attack effectively.
Comain's experiment with the 4-3-1 required a higher level of midfield playmaker because Van Der Vaart was no longer Pienaar, who had excellent offensive ability, but Galasek, who had to take care of the defense behind him and did not dare to rush forward.
It was normal to not see the effect of playing against Fulendam. Van Der Vaart could get rid of it in a small range, break through, and resolve difficulties from complicated situations.
But in the face of players like Gattuso and van Bommel, his success rate of breaking through and getting rid of them would be much lower.
PSV Eindhoven's routine was clear at a glance. After the successful interception in the midfield, they immediately diverted the ball to the flanks and played on both flanks. They used the jaw-dropping speed advantage of Romedar and Robben to tear apart Ajax's defensive line on the flanks.
It was really efficient to play in this way!
Ten minutes after the start of the game, Qin Xiong's observation focus was on Robben!
Robben did not give him the feeling that he was very fast or how good his dribbling ability was. These were not surprising. Moreover, he had been to Milan and seen the skills of Pirlo, Seedorf, Kaka, Andriy Shevchenko, and other star players. It was a real eye-opener. There was no need to be surprised by the players' technical ability.
The question that made him frown and ponder was: What position did Robben play?
Robben was in the front field, left wing, middle, right wing, wing, and penalty area. As long as he wanted, he could go anywhere!
This was a rare sight for Ajax or any other team.
The reason was very simple. The control of the area and the position conflict!
If Sikora rushed to the penalty area, what about the right wing? When defending, could his starting position make him contribute to the team's defense?
It took more than 20 minutes for Qin Xiong to observe how PSV Eindhoven's offensive system worked.
Robben could be said to be a free man!
The offense could be done as he pleased, but the defense was rigid. Who could make up for his lack of defense?
Park Ji-sung!
It was because of Park Ji-sung, who was full of stamina and had a wide range of activities as the attacking midfielder that Robben could rush to any area in the front field regardless of defense!
This was the subtlety of Hiddink's deployment!
The attacking midfielders of other teams organized the offense and were more inclined to attack than to defend.
But PSV Eindhoven was not. In order to free up Robben, Hiddink had Park Ji-sung as the attacking midfielder. Even if there was a counterattack, if there was a gap in one area, Robben would certainly not be able to defend. Then, Park Ji-sung's defensive role would immediately be highlighted.
The home fans at the Philips Stadium were in high spirits and constantly cheered for Robben.
Because Peter Pan was invincible on the field!
His freestyle style of play even seemed selfish most of the time, but the effect he brought was that Ajax's defense was also turned upside down by him!
Qin Xiong's second problem appeared in his observation.
Robben's way of playing was unfamiliar and surprising to him!
This Peter Pan, who obviously used his left foot to play, mainly cut inside when he was active on the flank. This was not surprising. Ajax also had wingers who cut inside. When Snede and Van Der Vaart played as wingers, most of them also cut inside to pose a threat.
But most of them focused on running positions.
What about Robben?
He focused on dribbling!
In particular, his horizontal dribbling in front of the penalty area made the defensive players' scalps tingle!
Qin Xiong was sitting on the substitutes' bench, but he seemed to be able to feel the discomfort of the defenders!
When Robben appeared on the right and began to dribble horizontally, Maxwell did not dare to go forward. He was afraid that if he went forward, the space behind him would give the opponent the space to cut diagonally.
In the same way, Robben continued to dribble horizontally and came to the front of the center back. The center back did not dare to rush forward. Once he went forward, the most dangerous area in front of the penalty area would be empty!
PSV Eindhoven used Kežman as their first scoring point, but the core of the offense, the person who messed up the opponent's defensive line and created flaws in the defensive line was definitely Robben!
Robben's dribbling skills were excellent and his pace was fast, so he could change directions more flexibly when dribbling. On the one hand, De Jong and Galasek had to guard against Park Ji-sung's forward plug in the middle. On the other hand, it was true that in a one-on-one, the side defense Robben's impact could not keep up with the rhythm at all!
As a result, Robben could dribble horizontally in front of the penalty area, and then with a little space and angle, he could lift his leg for a long shot!
Once, twice, thrice …
If it were not for Lobonte's brave play, Ajax would have lost the ball long ago.
Even so, every time Robben shot, it would cause enthusiastic cheers in the stands of the Philips Stadium.
PSV Eindhoven seemed to be enjoying Robben's repeated intimidation, humiliation, and devastation of Ajax's defensive line!
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