Chapter 1564 Half-Time Champion

"Welcome to the Gargenwald Stadium!"

On the weekend, when Yang Yang led his team to the away game to challenge Utrecht, he just walked out of the player tunnel and found that Utrecht's head coach Erik ten Hag had already been waiting at the entrance of the tunnel. Warmly greeted him.

"Thank you, nice to meet you, Eric." Yang Yang shook hands with Ten Hag politely.

He didn't plan to play tonight's game, so he didn't follow the team to warm up, which made Ten Hag secretly happy.

Because he knew very well that if Yang Yang played, Utrecht's defense would not be able to stop him at all.

This is not a contest on the same level at all, it is almost like a confrontation between an adult and a child.

While Ten Hag secretly rejoiced, Yang Yang secretly looked at the Dutch middle-aged man.

I don’t know if it’s because of Zidane’s bald coaching team, but Yang Yang has a special feeling for the bald coaches. In addition, many Dutch people are middle-aged and bald, and Eric Ten Hag is no exception.

He is about to be forty-eight years old. Although he is a professional player, he doesn't have a very good resume.

He debuted in the Twente youth training camp. After playing in the Eredivisie teams such as Twente, Graf Sharp, Wahlwijk and Utrecht, he basically announced his retirement in 2002, and then directly entered the coaching position. Coached the youth team at the Twente youth academy.

This is also the standard process of many Dutch coaches. They all start from the youth training camp and gradually follow the age group, from U17 to U19. Ruteng took a fancy to and was promoted to the first team as an assistant coach, but the good times didn't last long, and Ruteng dismissed get out of class after more than a year of coaching.

Rutten was replaced by Ferguson's assistant coach, former England national team coach McClaren, who continued to use ten Hag, but interestingly, McClaren was also not long-term, and Ricardo Moniz succeeded him. position, coached two games.

Perhaps it was a pleasant cooperation. When Rutten returned to the Eredivisie to coach Eindhoven in 2009, he once again recruited Ten Hag into his coaching staff, and this time he did it directly in Eindhoven. three seasons.

In 2012, the 42-year-old Ten Hag began to take charge of his own work. He coached the Going Eagles of the Netherlands. Entered the Eredivisie and has since become famous.

Relying on the achievements of coaching the Going Eagles and the technical and tactical concepts shown by the team, Ten Hag was favored by Bayern Munich. In the summer of 2013, he successfully moved to Bayern Munich to coach the second team of Bayern Munich and achieved good results. After the contract expired, he returned to the Netherlands and coached Utrecht so far.

In the Eredivisie, Utrecht is not a strong team. Compared with Ajax and Eindhoven, Utrecht is not very impressive, but under Ten Hag's training, this team It has always been stable in the upper reaches of the league, and the overall performance of the team is also remarkable.

The most important thing is that when Bayern Munich coached the second team, it happened that Guardiola coached Bayern Munich. Ten Hag benefited a lot from it. He was a follower of Van Gaal and Cruyff. After the impact of the influence, the technical and tactical concepts have become more mature and advanced.

Anyone who has watched the Utrecht game will feel that Ten Hag's high-position pressing and oppressive tactics are in line with the current trend of European football, but he is a bit aggressive. When the overall strength of the team is not as good as that of the opponent, he insists on his football philosophy. , This led to the tragedy of last season's 1-7 home defeat to Eindhoven.

By this season, Ten Hag's skills and tactics are obviously more mature and stable.

For Ten Hag, Yang Yang has a good impression, because this is one of the few head coaches in the Eredivisie League who has similar technical and tactical concepts to him. Although Utrecht's strength is poor, Ten Hag's tactics are still worthy of recognition of.

Besides, Ten Hag, who had a mediocre career, was able to make a living step by step and get to where he is today, which is commendable and worthy of respect.

So, even though he was going to be an opponent soon, Yang Yang still talked to him very politely.

It's just that he didn't expect that Ten Hag would take this opportunity to make a request that surprised him.

...

"You want to visit our training in De Tokmost?" Yang Yang was full of surprise.

Ten Hag nodded solemnly, "Yes, although it is a bit presumptuous, please agree, I am very interested in your training arrangements and tactics, and hope to learn something from it."

While Yang Yang was flattered, he was somewhat helpless, because recently, with the rise of Ajax's reputation, there are too many people who want to visit and train in De Tokmoster, even the famous Real Madrid star Raul They all took the time to stay in Detokmost for two days just to observe Yang Yang's training.

In European football, this kind of thing is actually very normal, but the media doesn't pay much attention to it, so fans generally don't know about it.

Of course, if it is a closed team training camp or some sensitive games, it is usually not open.

"Of course, you are very welcome. I will let the team arrange it." Yang Yang said with a smile.

For him, this is also a kind of recognition, especially from professionals.

When Van Gaal coached Alkmaar, many Dutch coaches went to observe and study, and Yang Yang himself did not expect that he had just debuted, so many people asked to observe, which made him a little flattered.

He also knew in his heart that this was more or less because of Ajax's results.

In the world of professional football, results are king!

…………

…………

Although before the game, you and I seemed to have a deep friendship with each other, but in the real game, neither side held back at all.

Only 14 minutes into the game, Ajax sent a long pass from Militao and assisted Jovic to score.

This was a quick counterattack instigated after stealing the ball in midfield. Utrecht pressed high and pressed, and the defense moved forward, exposing the space behind them, which gave Ajax a chance to counterattack.

Before the end of the first half, Jovic sent an assist and Neres scored a goal to expand the score to 2-0.

After changing sides to fight again in the second half, it was Jovic's goal again in just four minutes, sealing the victory for Ajax, 3-0.

In the 68th minute, Frankie de Jong's assist helped Van der Beek score a goal.

In the end, Ajax beat Utrecht 4-0 away.

Throughout the entire game, Ajax's ball possession rate was as high as 65%, which can be said to completely dominate the scene.

Utrecht coach Ten Hag also publicly expressed his admiration for Yang Yang's team at the post-match press conference.

"We had eight shots but only two were on target, the other six were all blocked or missed under defensive pressure, and we didn't even have half as many passes as Ajax... ..."

Ten Hag believes that Yang Yang's team plays a football concept that far surpasses other teams in the Eredivisie.

"This is a very interesting team that is worth learning from. Their offense, their defense, and their midfield control are all things we can learn from."

...

Ajax beat Utrecht 4-0 away, Eindhoven defeated Alkmaar 3-1 at home, Feyenoord drew 2-2 away at The Hague, and the first half of the Eredivisie League ended.

After the 17th round of the match, Ajax ranked first in the Eredivisie with 17 consecutive victories in 17 games, showing a strong offensive power and unbreakable defensive ability.

Eindhoven has a record of 15 wins and 2 losses, and is six points behind Ajax, ranking second. This is the closest team to Ajax, because Feyer, who is ranked third Nord has 11 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses, and only scored 36 points, which is 15 points behind Ajax.

Utrecht, ranked fourth, only scored 28 points, 23 points behind Ajax.

Among them, Hercules, who is ranked sixth, has 26 points, which is almost exactly half of Ajax's points.

Everyone was shocked by Ajax's performance in the first half, especially the stability of this team and the strong dominance shown in the game.

Throughout the first half of the game, the Ajax team was full of surprises.

Goalkeeper Onana has matured further. On the defense line, De Ligt has become a pillar central defender, forming the most solid central defender combination in the Eredivisie with Militao. Ashraf has become Ajax's defense line this season. The biggest discovery was to form the defensive wings with Tagliafico.

Midfielders Frankie de Jong and Ndombele have gained a firm foothold and have shown quite outstanding strength, while the combination of Schone and Rosario also performed well in the Eredivisie. Jax was reborn and once again showed the demeanor of the genius boy in the past, and Van der Beek's performance has improved rapidly compared to before.

Jovic has become Ajax's top scorer and the new top scorer in the Eredivisie. This Serbian center forward, who was not popular in the Portuguese Super League before, has made great progress under the guidance of Yang Yang, and he is faintly becoming the Eredivisie. A and even the potential of the top scorer in Europe.

Neres and Sancho have become the most eye-catching players on the two sides of Ajax. They can lead, control and attack. These two players have left a very deep impression on people, especially the younger ones. Sancho has received great attention from the outside world.

Mullen, Stens and Boadu are also outstanding rookies in the Ajax team, especially Mullen and Stens, who play a pivotal role in the team's rotation, and their performance is quite brilliant.

With the substantial improvement of the team's performance, Ajax's players have also emerged one after another. There are players in every position who have emerged, showing impressive strength and potential.

In the minds of this group of Ajax players, coach Yang Yang has also become more prestigious.

Because from the beginning of the season, Yang Yang told them very confidently that they could become the best players in Europe.

If they didn't believe it at all at the beginning, then now, they begin to believe it a little bit.

At least, they have not lost the slightest bit in the competition with teams such as Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur.

Next, they are most concerned about their opponents in the knockout round of the top 16.