super storm

Chapter 145 The Biggest Weakness

In the seventh round of No.20 in the Eredivisie, Ajax challenged Alkmaar away.

In the 604th minute of the second half, the Eredivisie giants with many main players rested. Wesley Sonk scored a goal first, but was equalized by the opponent in the final stage of the game. In the end, the two sides shook hands one-on-one.

Vermaelen started and played the whole game. His performance was mixed. The conceded goal was related to him, but his performance was solid.

But PSV's situation is obviously worse than Ajax's.

Guus Hiddink's team challenged Willem II in an away game. The two sides also scored [-]-[-] in the first half, but soon after the start of the second half, Willem II took the lead. Then Hovland was sent off by the referee for a malicious foul.

After this round of the game, Ajax's lead has been further expanded, and PSV has somewhat given up on catching up, but the head coach Guus Hiddink is still clenching his teeth, refusing to let go, repeatedly saying that the team still has a chance to reverse.

Time has entered April, and the Eredivisie has ushered in No.20 eight rounds.

Eindhoven started a day earlier than Ajax, challenged Wahlwijk away, and took away a [-]-[-] victory from the away game cleanly. Kežman scored twice and Park Ji-sung scored a goal.

Ajax ushered in Groningen at home this round. The two sides played inextricably, and the first half was still a [-]-[-] draw.

After changing sides to fight again in the second half, van der Vaart, who came off the bench, scored the first goal, but was soon equalized by Groningen.

Yang Yang came on as a substitute in the 80th minute and created a corner kick when he made a forced breakthrough on the right. Sneijder took the corner kick and assisted Heitinga to score, and finally sealed the [-]-[-] victory.

This victory brought Ajax one step closer to the Eredivisie championship, and at the same time greatly boosted the morale of the team.

After playing Groningen, Ajax began to prepare for the Champions League knockout round in the middle of the week.

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"Right now, everyone outside thinks we're doomed."

In the quiet tactical conference room, Ronald Koeman looked at the players in front of him solemnly.

Yang Yang was sitting opposite him, and from the head coach's face, he read one thing, determination.

In fact, Ajax really has no way out. The two-to-four away game forced the team to break the boat and give it a go. Only in this way can they have a chance to reverse, otherwise they will only be eliminated.

Technical director Van Gaal also attended this tactical preparation meeting. It is said that he just had a meeting with the coaching staff for more than an hour. It seems that a consensus should be reached. Since he walked into this conference room, he has always stood by Ronald Koeman's side. He did not say a word, but he expressed his support for the head coach.

"As I said before, I am responsible for the loss two weeks ago. You all performed very well. The responsibility lies with me. Now, I hope everyone can continue to believe that I can lead everyone at home and win a victory."

Ronald Koeman has a high prestige in the team, and everyone nodded in unison.

"The away loss looked miserable, but the two goals gave us hope, and from these two goals, we can see many things, including the weakness of Real Madrid's defense, including their protection against the defense, and there are many advantages in this game that are beneficial to us."

Having said that, Ronald Koeman switched the PPT on the screen behind him, which listed several advantages of Ajax. The first is the absence of Real Madrid players in this game.

Raul Bravo was injured by Yang Yang's pendulum. This incident has been widely spread and known all over the world. However, the injury of Real Madrid's left back is not optimistic. It is said that he injured his ankle. At least it seems that it will be difficult to play again this season.

However, a substitute was injured, but Robert Carlos, who was suspended for accumulating yellow cards in the last round, will come back, but no one knows how much state the Brazilian left back can play. After all, his recent defense and state have not been reassuring.

"What I really want to say is Beckham."

The screen behind Ronald Koeman switched to some of Beckham's stats.

"Many people have always focused on Real Madrid's offense, but I think everyone must keep in mind that the midfield is the most important part of professional football today. As the saying goes, whoever controls the midfield wins."

"After Makelele left, Real Madrid's deep midfield position has always been a weakness. They lacked a player to give enough protection to the front of the penalty area. Beckham runs a lot, and his passing advantages, especially long passes, are very obvious. His transformation into a deep midfielder has played a very important role."

"However, he received a yellow card in the last game. This game will accumulate yellow cards and be suspended. This will be a very big blow to Real Madrid's midfield defense. We speculate that Queiroz has only two coping strategies."

"First, Erguera pushes forward and joins Guti in the midfield, but in this way, the defense becomes empty. Without Erguera, Real Madrid's defense will exclude the combination of Pavon and Mejia. This will be our opportunity."

"There is another way, that is to arrange a partner for Guti in the midfield. The most likely ones are Solari and Borja, but Solari is not the best candidate for the midfielder to delay the defensive player, so the most likely is Borja, and then the front of the penalty area will be our chance."

Everyone in the conference room heard Ronald Koeman's analysis, and Ajax is indeed not without a chance.

Judging from the first round of the game, Ibrahimovic is very dominant in the penalty area. Whether it is Elguera or Mejia, it is difficult to take advantage of him. As long as Ajax plays around this point, there is a chance.

Now, with Beckham absent, there is a vacuum at the front of the penalty area. Whether it is Wesley Songk, Van der Vaart or Sneijder, they can all create threats in this area, and their long shots are quite good.

"Also, on our two wings, Real Madrid's two full-backs love to attack, and there will inevitably be space behind them. As long as we seize the space and fight back well, I believe we will be able to get opportunities."

"Finally, as I emphasized two weeks ago, Real Madrid does not have an effective rotation mechanism. It is now April, and their superstars have long been exhausted. Everyone has seen that they were able to cope with the Bernabeu in the first half and played well in the second half. But then?"

In the final stage of that game, Real Madrid really had no physical fitness.

Of course, on the one hand, Ajax has strengthened their pressing and oppression, causing them to make frequent mistakes in passing and receiving the ball, but if they are physically fit enough to cope, they will not have this problem.

"In the past two weeks, Real Madrid played two games. The stars all started. The first game was a 10-10 home win over Sevilla. Roberto Carlos played 67 minutes, Zidane played 10 minutes, and others played the whole game. Two days ago, they narrowly beat Albacete 87-[-] away. Guti played [-] minutes, Zidane played [-] minutes, Ronaldo played [-] minutes, and others played the whole game."

"Why?" Yang Yang asked inexplicably.

And this question made everyone in the meeting room turn their heads to look at him, followed by a burst of laughter.

"Very good, very classroom atmosphere, isn't it?" Ronald Koeman asked with a laugh.

Yang Yang was a little embarrassed, he almost thought he was back in the school classroom.

"The reason is simple. Real Madrid is only one point ahead of Valencia. They are 67, Valencia is 66, and Valencia's goal difference is [-] more than Real Madrid. With Real Madrid's offensive ability, you can imagine how poor their defense is."

When everyone heard this, they immediately understood.

It turned out to be a two-line battle, and the stalemate in the league was exhausting.

Relatively speaking, Ajax's situation is much easier, with a clear lead in the league. Ronald Koeman is almost in turn, giving the main players enough rest time to wait for the arrival of Real Madrid.

"Guys, I want everyone to understand that this game is not without chance, we have a chance, as long as we all work together, as long as we put pressure on Real Madrid from the first minute of the game and don't let them easily control the game, then I believe that the final victory will be ours."

If the morale of the Ajax players was low before, after the head coach's in-depth analysis, everyone has regained their confidence. They all began to believe that they are fully capable of killing their opponents at home.

Even if it is facing Real Madrid.

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"Yang, I will still let you substitute for this game."

After the tactical preparation meeting, head coach Koeman and assistant coach Luther Carroll found Yang Yang for a private conversation.

Yang Yang couldn't help feeling a little disappointed after hearing this. He was eager to start, just like the game against Arsenal, but he could also accept the arrangement of coming off the bench.

"Letting you on the bench is a unanimous decision made by all of us, including Luiz, because we all believe that the final outcome of this game will happen in the second half, and we need to save our sharpest weapons until that time to create the most threatening offense."

Yang Yang is only 17 years old. With his current physical condition, it may be difficult for him to cope with the pressure of the audience. Therefore, the coaching staff either chooses to let him start and grab the start, just like when they played against Arsenal, or let him be a substitute in the second half.

But obviously, Real Madrid is not Arsenal, and the second half is the biggest weakness of the Galacticos.

"In the first half we will try our best to defend the goal and score goals when we have the opportunity, but the first priority is not to concede the ball, but the second half is the best time for us to counterattack. Then I will arrange you to play, so I need you to pay attention to the game, especially Roberto Carlos' side."

Yang Yang felt that the coaching staff valued him, and nodded solemnly in agreement, "I know how to do it."

(End of this chapter)