Chapter 259 Half-way end
After playing the Champions League against Marseille, Alkmaar's task is still difficult. They have four games during the winter break, three league games and one Dutch Cup, and these four games need to be completed within two weeks. This is quite a tense game for any team, but Alkmaar is a little lucky. They In the knockout match of the top 16 of the Dutch Cup, the Dutch team Telstar was drawn.
Although it is rare to be cold in the Cup, any game should still be based on strength. The strength of the Eerste Divisie must be different from that of the Eerste Divisie. Jiang Mu can play this game with substitutes and even the second team to give his main force a rest.
Alkmaar's second team has achieved very good results. Although it is not as awesome as the first team, in the youth team league, Alkmaar's second team has not lost face to the first team. They are also at the top of the list and are the favorites to win the championship.
In the 16th round of the league, the match with Fortunaxi is very difficult. This is not how strong Fortunas is. The main reason is that Alkmaar has experienced a week of consecutive double matches and a fierce battle with Marseille. He is in a period of physical and psychological fatigue. At this time, it is like the end of a strong crossbow. The physical strength is not much better than Fortunaxi.
However, this game is played at the home of Alkmaar. There are enthusiastic fans at home, and the referee's whistle will naturally be affected, which is beneficial to Alkmaar. Fortunaxi's reputation in Alkmaar and dares not make a second place in the away game. They still set up an iron barrel array and are ready to get a point.
If it is the original Alkmaar, facing a weak team like Fortunaxi and fighting at home, it must be like a storm. After a big lead, he slows down the pace and copes with the garbage time. But now Alkmaar is powerless and can only patiently control the ball in the midfield. Go back and down near the restricted area to look for opportunities.
It is definitely not easy to break the iron barrel array in such a way, but it is very stable and will not be counterattacked by Fortunaxi. Now Alkmaar wants to win this game on a stable basis.
Fautunaxi didn't know Alkmaar's state. He thought that Alkmaar was going to play a cat-and-mouse game with them. They were determined not to be fooled and went around with Alkmaar in their own half.
Neither side scored in the first half. In the second half, Alkmaar suddenly accelerated the pace and continuously broke through the cross on the sidelines of Fortunaxi. He scored the first goal of the game in the 56th minute. The goal was scored by Drogba.
Alkmaar's goal pushed Fortunaxi into a desperate situation. They had to attack. When this attack came out, Fortunaxi was surprised to find that this Alkmaar was a paper tiger, and it turned out that they had already been false.
Then Fortunaxi turned against the guest and attacked Alkmaar at the Dehout Stadium. The whole court was forced to rob, so that Alkmaar had to defend and counterattack.
In the end, Alkmaar used a counterattack to hit the second goal, and Fortunaxi also used a corner to win back a goal, but because the time was too short, their physical strength did not play to the extreme, and finally they lost by one goal.
After this game, Jiang Mu finally found that although the players have not reached the limit in physical fitness, they are psychologically exhausted. If they continue to play, I'm afraid it's not far from collapse. He made up his mind to use the players of the second team and a few substitutes in the knockout round of the top 16 of the Dutch Cup.
Telstar is naturally looking for it. If Alkmaar is really in the first team, they can only regard this knockout match as a friendly match. Alkmaar sends their own second team. Of course, they have a chance to reach the quarterfinals. For an unknown team like them, The blue cup is a good opportunity to show your face.
Although many of Alkmaar's second team players are good recruits from all over the world, they are young after all. Although substitutes such as Mattens and Suleiman play a role in stabilizing the army, they can't replace these players. This knockout match with Telstar is very fierce, and the goal is like a plum blossom. At the end of the 90 minutes, the two sides actually scored 4:4.
Because the Dutch Cup is a decisive game, Alkmaar and Telstar must play overtime. In overtime, Robben and Hunteral, the two two-team stars, finally showed the strength of Superman. They scored a goal in the first and second half to help Alkmaar advance to the quarterfinals 6-8.
Alkmaar's second team performed well in the Dutch Cup. It is not easy to defeat a first-class team in the Eerste Divisie. Telstar eliminated the Eerste Divisie leader Forward Eagle to advance to the top 16.
However, there is a more amazing performance in the Dutch Cup than the second team of Alkmaar, that is, the second team of Ajax. They actually reached the quarterfinals with the first team of Ajax. The opponent of Alkmaar's quarterfinals is this Ajax youth team.
The other six top eight of the Dutch Cup are Ajax, Eindhoven, Feyenoord, Groningen, Heerenveen and Dordrecht.
Among them, Ajax vs. Groningen, Eindhoven and Feyenoord strong dialogue, Utrecht VS Heerenveen, Ajax youth team VS Alkmaar, the game will be played after the winter break.
After the end of the draw, when he saw Alkmaar playing against the Ajax youth team, the reporter asked Jiang Mu if he would still play in the second team. Jiang Mu replied simply, "There is a possibility, but not much. I have to decide according to the team's situation. The Dutch Cup champion is also the national champion. We will not do it for the sake of face. And losing the championship, we have to defend the Dutch Cup. Although it is not very honorable to play big and small, it is very safe. I prefer it.
Jiang Mu's remarks caused controversy after the game. Many reporters said that Jiang Mu was too utilitarian and lacked the idealism of Dutch football, which was more suitable for coaching in Italy. There are also many reporters defending Jiang Mu, believing that the utilitarian Jiang Mu led Alkmaar to play the most beautiful offensive football since Van Gaal's Ajax, while other idealistic Dutch teams played badly and did not score many goals. In the European game, they were eliminated early, and Alkmaar could not do it at all. Than.
Jiang Mu doesn't care much about how the outside world evaluates it. He has only one purpose, that is, to win and win the championship. As long as he keeps winning, history will not make a low evaluation of him.
In the 17th and 18th rounds, Alkmaar played against Dordlech and Nimmegen, which was also the last two games before the winter break. If Alkmaar did not lose one of them, they would expand their unbeaten record to 51 games. This is a terrible result. You know, when the Milan dynasty, they The unbeaten record is only 58 games, and Alkmaar can break this dusty unbeaten record as long as he wins 8 more games.
After the rotation of the second team's players in the middle of the week, Alkmaar's players have recovered about 70% of their skills, but this is enough to deal with these middle and lower teams in the Dutch League.
In the game with Doddrecht, Doddrecht learned the lesson of the last game of Fortunassy. At the beginning, he used his physical energy to run all over the field, hoping to drag down Alkmaar. However, after a few days of Alkmar's rest, his spirit and physical fitness have recovered a lot. In the face of Dordrecht's pretending to be smart, Alk Mal waited patiently for the opportunity to come. Finally, in the final stage of the first half, Tomasson succeeded in offside and helped Alcar open the record.
In the second half, Alkmaar took advantage of Dordrecht's lack of concentration. After receiving Ronaldinho's pass, Alkma scored from about 7 meters in front of the penalty area, expanding the score by 2:0.
Dordrecht's attack was hit. The players did not have enough confidence in the second half. Dordrecht's strength is not good, and he is unwilling to pay physical strength, which is very dangerous for them.
Sure enough, in the last 30 minutes of the second half, Alkmaar suddenly accelerated the pace of grabbing and passing in the front court, making Doddrecht a little confused. In the end, Ronaldinho and Kuit each scored a goal, and finally washed Dordrecht 4-0.
The 18th round of the game was held on December 18. After this game, the winter break began, and Christmas is coming soon. At this time, all the teams hope to end the first half with victory and have a happy holiday.
After receiving the lessons of Dordrecht and Fortunassy, Niimmen cleverly chose to defend the counterattack, not the Fortunassie-style barrel array, nor the Dortrecht-style wild attack, but the real defensive counterattack, boldly investing in offensive forces to drag down Alkmar's physical strength.
Alkmaar had a headache about this kind of play. They failed to attack in the front court, followed by an opponent's counterattack. His whole defense and midfield had to follow back. He was hit several counterattacks by the opponent in a row, and the defenders couldn't stand it. You can only drag it behind to prevent the opponent from fighting back.
The distance between the three lines of a team must be closely connected. If it is disconnected and the opponent is inserted between the defender and the midfielder, the defender will be difficult to do, so if the defender does not go up, Alkmaar's midfielder and striker have to retreat, so it is impossible to maintain high pressure in the front court. You can only fight on the ground when you have the ball.
The game was not fierce, but there was a hidden murder. Every time Alkmaar attacked, he encountered the same fierce counterattack. There was a strange balance between the two sides throughout the game. The attack was for a while, and the pace of the game was slow. In the end, no one could do anything about it. , shake hands at 0:0.
This is Alkmaar's first game of the season without a goal, but Jiang Mu was not disappointed. He was happy that after the half-way, Alkmaar lost 8 points in the second place Eindhoven. The young Alkmaar scored such a goal in his first three-line battle. Proudly, he wishes the players a Merry Christmas in advance, and hopes that the players will have a good rest during the holiday and wait for a more intense game in the coming year.