Chapter 402: Early Promotion
Despite the loss of another big player in the match against Udinese, the final result was only a draw with the home team, but when the referee announced the end of the game, the Tottenham players were extremely excited - they had already received the news that Real Madrid had drawn 1-1 with Lyon in the space of 90 minutes at the Bernabeu!
This means that after drawing away at Udinese, Tottenham Hotspur, who are five points ahead of Real Madrid in the group standings, have successfully secured the top spot in Group F!
You know, generally speaking, most of the teams that qualify as second in the group are quasi-first-class or second-rate teams in European football. While they are also not to be underestimated, they are clearly easier to deal with than the top giants such as Juventus and Barcelona.
Not to mention, Tottenham, who have qualified as top of Group F, will also have the advantage of a home and away schedule in the quarter-finals. Therefore, it is natural that Tottenham players will perform like this after the game.
"It seems that it is not yet time to think about changing the team. Noticing the excited expressions of the players, George, who had been secretly watching, temporarily put aside his worries. Because at this time, he has already learned from the actions of the players that they have not lost their motivation to improve and hunger for trophies because of their Champions League triumph last season!
Want a team that has reached the top to continue to be competitive on all fronts. Not only to ensure that the strength of the team is still at the top level, but also to ensure that the whole team always maintains a hunger for glory. In this regard, the Barcelona team in the previous life, which was hailed by the media as the "Dream Second Team", is the best negative teaching material - after successfully defending the La Liga championship and reaching the Champions League, the successful Ronaldinho indulged in a life of drunken money, no longer trained as hard as before, and his competitive state and personal ability began to show a downward trend. In addition, Deco, Belletti, Giuli and other main cadres of the Dream II team also lost their enterprising spirit at this time and began to lie on the credit book to eat the old book, did the Barcelona management take corresponding measures in time, so that the Dream II team quickly fell apart as soon as it stepped on the peak, and failed to create more brilliance in football.
Therefore, in George's plan, once a player is undermotivated or has a decline in motivation, then no matter who it is, he will mercilessly clear it out - in his eyes, whether it is the main force or the substitute, should maintain enough aggressiveness. Only in this way can Tottenham remain in the leading group, instead of being overtaken by the opponent and becoming a stepping stone for other teams to rise to the top!
Thankfully, until now, George has seen no similar signs from the players!
Meanwhile, the Udinese players, who picked up a point, weren't too frustrated by failing to pick up a win at home. With only one round left in the group stage, they are four points ahead of Lyon and have already secured a ticket to the UEFA Cup!
As for whether they can push the extra mile and move Udinese up the final position in the group to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League as second in Group F, it can only be said that they are wishful thinking. Because according to the relevant rules set by UEFA, when there is a situation where two teams have the same number of points, it is the priority to compare the records of the two teams against each other!
And now at this time, the two-legged meeting between Udinese and Real Madrid has come to an end, with the former having won one draw and one defeat in both games, and is three points behind Real Madrid in the Group F standings. This means that even if Udinese beat Lyon in the final round and Tottenham beat Real Madrid in the spirit of fair play, Kosmi's side will not be able to overtake Real Madrid and climb to second place in the group!
In this way, with one round left in the group stage, the qualification situation of Group F where Tottenham Hotspur is located has become extremely clear. Tottenham and Real Madrid joined hands to advance to the round of 16, Udinese went to play in the League Cup, and Lyon, who only scored one point in five games, could only accept the fate of going home!
With that out of the way to Group F, let's turn our attention back to Tottenham. After the draw with Udinese, the Tottenham players who returned to England soon ushered in the 14th round of the Premier League. And this is also the toughest game that Tottenham has faced since the start of this season!
The reason why this game is described like this is not because of how strong Tottenham's opponents are, but because injuries and the negative impact of two games a week finally had an effect on Tottenham for the first time - before the start of the fourteenth round of the league with Wigan Athletic, in addition to Robben and other five players who were absent due to injury, Drogba and Mascherano were also suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, and Vidic had to be excluded from the squad for this game because of the red light turned on by the Tottenham laboratory!
Stretched thin, George had no choice but to field a mix of starters and substitutes, play some of the players who played in the midweek Champions Cup against Wigan Athletic, and move two youngsters from the youth team – if he didn't, Tottenham wouldn't even be able to guarantee a full 18-man squad!
Goalkeeper Cech, right-back McConn, central defenders Dawson and Speed, left-back Baines, midfielder Xavi Alonso, Dempsey and Mendieta, Cristiano Ronaldo, Arshavin and Klose as the attacking trident!
Even Speed, who was born in the back, had to play a cameo role as a central defender in this game, and none of the three midfielders defended full-time, which is enough to show how serious the impact of this injury wave is on Tottenham!
The reason why Klose and Larsson were not allowed to start together was mainly because George considered that if the two played at the same time, it would only cause crowding in the penalty area in vain, compress the space for Ronaldo and Arshavin, and make Tottenham unable to play the best cross-switching and cross-cutting coordination in the game, so as to have the effect of one plus one less than two!
Klose and Larsson are indeed excellent strikers, but the Swede's age and fitness constraints have left him in ambush in the box most of the time. Therefore, if both players are playing at the same time, then Klose will have to expand his range of movement and pull outside the box. And in this way, the power of K-God will be greatly reduced!
The reason why Klose's performance in the previous life at Bayern was far less eye-catching than in the German national team was because of this - in the German national team, K-God was the well-deserved top scorer and the first choice on the offensive end, while at Bayern, Klose needed to pull out of the penalty area for Toney, Gomez and other teammates to play the ball, and the goal efficiency was naturally not much higher.
Therefore, after some careful consideration, George finally did not choose to change the formation, but only made a certain degree of tactical adjustment to deal with this clash with Wigan Athletic!
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