A black straight suit with a white shirt, a sky blue tie, a short half-inch head, and both temples have turned white, but he still maintains a standard figure similar to when he was a player.

Mauro Tassoti's first impression on Ye Qiu was quite good, at least he maintained a good image

In fact, it is definitely not easy to maintain the figure of Mauro Tassoti after the player retires, I didn't see Ancelotti fat like that now, and quite a few players will gain weight after retirement, one is because of drugs, and the other is one of the sequelae of the player's retirement.

Mauro Tassoti should be a strict self-disciplined person who is also very demanding of himself

This was Ye Qiu's impression of Mauro Tasotti after his first observation, and it also made him quite satisfied.

The two met for the first time, but they didn't have much politeness with each other, because Ye Qiu didn't like politeness, and Mauro Tasotti looked suave and didn't have too much red tape, so the two sides sat down face to face.

"I just came from Turin City, and by the way, I wanted to come and see you" Ye Qiu smiled and explained the reason for his trip, "You know, I read your paper in the coach training class, I was really surprised at the time, I was thinking at the time, I must have a good talk with this person when I have the opportunity." ”

Mauro Tasotti was stunned, he did write a thesis, but in fact he had forgotten about it, let alone that no one had ever mentioned it to him, because it was just a paper written to get a coaching certificate, insignificant, inconspicuous, and no one would even pay attention to it in the field of football.

But Ye Qiu found a lot of relationships because of that paper, just to meet and talk to himself.

"First of all, I feel like I have to reassure you, I do appreciate you, but the purpose of my trip is mainly for academic discussions, because I've always wanted to break through myself." Ye Qiu's attitude was very sincere.

Mauro Tasotti was not surprised by this, because Ye Qiu had always given people the impression of breaking through himself, but he still smiled and maintained a politeness, "I think you are now one of the best marshals in the world, but you still have such an idea, it is really not easy, very modest." ”

Ye Qiu also smiled after hearing this, shook his head and said: "Don't talk about those false names, I don't care about those false names, but I'm really interested in knowing that the movement and assistance of the back line players you proposed, how do you ensure the smooth switching of the team's defense in multi-level, single-level and slash defense?" ”

As soon as Ye Qiu's question came out, Mauro Tasotti immediately knew that Ye Qiu had indeed read his paper, and he had read it very carefully and seriously, because the question he asked was a doubt after reading the whole article.

By now, he had really discovered that the purpose of Ye Qiu's trip was indeed only an academic discussion, at least, poaching was only secondary.

"It's a very complicated thing, it's a system engineering of the whole defensive system, and it's very troublesome to say" Mauro Tasotti was really moved by him, because this is a paper he wrote when he finished coaching in the late nineties, and in fact, the ideas expounded and conveyed in the paper have become the defensive trends and trends of modern football.

He is still a little complacent about this, but others don't know this.

"It's okay, if you ask me to drink, I don't have time, but you can discuss this, I have a lot of time" Ye Qiu smiled and signaled that he could speak freely, and listened to himself.

Mauro Tasottti's philosophy is actually to use training and various training methods to ensure that the team can skillfully use and switch between this set of defensive tactics, and he gave a very interesting example, that is, when Sacchi was in charge of AC Milan, he used a set of shadow training methods.

The opponent was Real Madrid, and Real Madrid sent scouts to spy on AC Milan's training, but the scouts were the best to return, and Sacchi had his players play a game of 90 minutes on a standard-sized training pitch, but only for himself and without an enemy.

"As we all know, in order to make training closer to the actual game, all training must have opponents, this is the consensus, but in fact, the strongest opponent is never our enemy, but ourselves, because no one knows our strengths and weaknesses better than us, so we ourselves are our strongest enemies."

The core of shadow training is to train yourself with your most powerful enemies

Of course, not all teams can do this, and there are many ways to do this, such as studying the game footage, or semi-hypnotizing the players to relive their mistakes, recognize their own shortcomings and weaknesses, and improve the ways and methods.

One of the most important aspects of shadow training is that the team has skillful off-ball running, excellent coordination, and an amazing overall tactical system, and only by doing these things can you be eligible to use shadow training

While explaining his defensive philosophy, Mauro Tasotti also said a lot about Serie A, and even some of the training methods that he and the Milan coaching staff have come up with, of course, only a rough framework, and it is not a secret, and it will not cause leaks.

He explained his defensive thinking through this combination of training.

"Do you know the truth?" Ye Qiu waited until he finished talking about his thoughts, and then he also expressed his doubts and experiences.

"I've been at Ajax for four years, and I know the tactics of this team very well, and I've been very familiar with Michels's all-out attack and defense, and we all know that there are two ways to push the ball, penetration and air cutting, the former is to receive the ball and the latter is to cut in the air."

To put it simply, the former is a pass or breakthrough after receiving the ball, while the latter is running to the open position to receive the ball.

The former is for man-to-man, the latter is for area marking, and because modern defensive tactics are a mixture of man-to-man and area man-marking, so the general offensive tactics are also a mixture of penetration and air cutting, depending on the change of the opponent, you take man-to-man, I will use penetration to attack, you take area defense, I will use air cut to advance, you change and I follow, this is targeted

Mauro Tasotti has played football for so many years, and he is still very familiar with these basic things, so he can't stop nodding his head and listening patiently, because he is now very convinced that Ye Qiu's trip is a solution.

"I also came to the conclusion that limiting defense is mainly reflected in four aspects, first, the game of each other's speed, second, individual defense, third, formation coverage, and fourth, prevention of unpredictability."

Needless to say, playing fast and slow has always been the biggest advantage of offense, so how to limit the opponent's speed is an important key to all defenses; The second point is the player's individual defensive ability; The third point is the team's formation coverage, but here it is not only the team's coverage, but also the distance that the players will run after the implementation of this set of tactics.

Everyone knows that if you have the ability to cover all the space on the pitch, your defense is not going to be able to break down, but the question is, can your players do that? Can you guarantee that your players are running and sprinting like Ferrari every minute?

impossible

Players should maintain a fast and slow rhythm during the game, fast is to achieve the goal, and slow is to rest and adjust.

Therefore, in many cases, the third point is precisely the foundation and core of a set of defensive tactics.

Fourth, it is to consider how the team can quickly stabilize the situation, reorganize their defensive system, and maintain compactness and integrity in the shortest possible time after some sudden changes on the pitch, or in other words, before the offensive team takes advantage of this change to break your defense.

Theoretically, the fourth is the key to how effective a defensive system can be, because every game is full of unpredictability and accidents happen at any time.

Michels' all-out offense and all-out defense can actually solve the first and fourth points very well, because they can use tight integrity to limit the opponent's speed, and they can also reorganize the defensive system in the shortest amount of time from tight integration.

The second point is actually out of the tactical scope, because it is a reflection of the individual strength of the players and the tacit cooperation of the team.

And the third point is that Ye Qiu has been groping all along, and it is also one of his weaknesses.

"I found that football is a combination of contradictions, we all know that we need to keep the formation compact, but after the formation is compact, our coverage area will inevitably become smaller, for example, the ball appears on the left side, we must shift the defensive focus to the left, to ensure that we can put enough troops on the left side to maximize the possibility of regaining the ball."

"But in this way, there will inevitably be a large gap on our right side, which will become our new weakness and the opponent's key attack part, I have tried to study chain defense, but the effect is relatively average" Ye Qiu is not afraid to admit his shortcomings and weaknesses, because with his current status, no one will laugh at him.

After Mauro Tassotti thought about it, he directly asked the waiter for a few pieces of paper and a pen, and explained to Ye Qiu directly on the pen and paper, and drew some offensive and defensive matchups, such as how he emphasized the player's diagonal defense, but the slash here is not a straight diagonal line, but according to his own speed, defense awareness and many other aspects of comprehensive consideration, decide his position.

This is also the same as the tactics emphasized, 43 does not mean that the three midfielders are parallel positions, one can be very forward, one stands on the right, one drags very far back to the left, the two wingers can also be one to the left, one to the center, according to their own characteristics, as long as they can play the characteristics and advantages of the players, it is a good tactic.

Tactical formations, dead things, see who is using them

It is also player H who gives player AT advice, what distance should H keep from Af?

Strong explosiveness, the distance can be appropriately lengthened, weak explosiveness, it should be closer, and the reaction is fast and slow, the person who reacts quickly can be closer, and the person who reacts slowly should be appropriately farther away, these are all choices to be made with the player's own ability and characteristics, rather than the immutable requirement to say how far is how far, that is meaningless.

Mauro Tasotti's understanding of defense is obviously deeper and more thorough, and he clearly explained to Ye Qiu how to spread out the defense, while ensuring that the area is compact, and at the same time avoiding his own loopholes from being exploited by opponents to the greatest extent.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that no defense can be unflawed by the opposition's attack, the question is how to prevent the opponent from scoring before or while the opponent is taking advantage of it.

Isn't the ultimate goal of defense to prevent the opponent from scoring?

Ye Qiu didn't understand a lot of truths, he knew and was familiar with them, but now he found that the same things, in his hands, and in Mauro Tassoti's hands, were two completely different uses, and Ye Qiu deeply agreed with Mauro Tasotti's idea, that is, when instilling in players, it should not only instill in them tactical theories and how to choose positions and how to adapt, but should help them understand these rules, and figure out why they want to do this and for what purpose.

Purpose, this is also a point that Ye Qiu has always emphasized very much

"Well said, well said" Ye Qiu listened very much admiration, and even applauded, because he found that he may be very good at attacking, but in defense, for Mauro Tassotti, who has played as a defender all his life, has played under famous coaches such as Sacchi and Capello, and has been influenced by the rigorous tactical system of Serie A for a long time, his understanding of defense is actually very shallow.

Of course, Ye Qiu's defensive deficiencies are not in the framework and theory, but in the details.

And as it turns out, it's often the details that matter most

For the praise from Ye Qiu, Mauro Tasotti was modest and polite, he is now convinced of Ye Qiu, because it is impossible to discuss and study this boring defensive details with him for a long time, and he even believes that most of the head coaches, including Ancelotti, have no such interest.

"Let me ask one more question," Ye Qiu asked later, and this question was also the question he wanted to get the answer to the most during this trip.

"You say," Mauro Tasotti smiled and nodded.

Ye Qiu thought for a while, "I found that you and Italy's defense still focus more on the organization of the defensive line, at best, it is the use of midfielders, of course, I don't mean that you don't pay attention to the defense of the front, I mean, have you ever thought about extending this defensive system from the back line." ”

"What do you mean?" Mauro Tasotti doesn't understand Ye Qiu's words very well, the defense line is the defense line, extending forward?

Ye Qiu thought for a while, "This defensive system of yours is composed of 4 to U players, and it may not be able to become composed of ll players, from front to back, one ring after another, organizing a tight and compact defensive system at the same time?" ”

Mauro Tasotti's defense is not actually a simple Italian chain defense, it contains a lot of offensive elements, and to some extent, it is also applicable to the construction of offensive systems, because attack and defense are often like two sides of the same coin, or two different expressions of the same core.

This is for what Saki and other famous coaches in the world say that a team that is really good at defense must also be good at attacking

"You mean, to incorporate it into Michels' all-out defense?" Mauro Tasotti suddenly understood, and there was a feeling of brightness in his eyes.

"Actually, if you extend it to the whole team, it's all attack and defense" Ye Qiu felt that he must not be mistaken.

Of course, it's not the defense, it's the principles and core elements that Mauro Tassotti said.

Ye Qiu even thought that Ajax during the Michels period, Ajax during the Van Gaal period, AC Milan during the Sacchi period, and Barcelona during the Pep Guardiola period in the previous life, these teams all have an obvious characteristic, that is, it is difficult to clearly distinguish between their attack and defense.

Even by extension, with all the top teams that excel, it's hard to separate offense and defense, because they tend to blend offense and defense best and find their own set of tactics

Just like Chelsea under Ye Qiu's coaching, the three backs seem to focus on defense, but when the team's defense line presses forward, and the three backs form strong pressure and pressing near the opponent's 30-meter area, as long as one break can create a killing opportunity, at this time do you say it is offensive or defensive?

Football tactics have developed to the present, integration is inevitable, the integration of attack and defense, the integration of technical ball control and physical strength, and even the style of the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and other teams, the integration of European and African and South American technical styles, everything that can be integrated, will eventually be integrated.

"I must not be mistaken, and I believe that I am not wrong, because we have found this key" Ye Qiu walked to Mauro Tassotti with a smile and patted him on the shoulder, looking a little excited, because he finally saw clearly what he should do next, and he would not be mistaken

"A key that can ⊥ us and our team, go down in history and immortalize"

It's as if Michels's all-out attack and defense, like Sacchi's Milanese dynasty, are immortal

Mauro Tasotti also discovered this, and he also knew very well that what he knew, combined with Ye Qiu's understanding and comprehension of football, would be like this when it came to the end, which was definitely a big surprise to him.

Not only did Ye Qiu figure out his goal, but he also figured it out, because he knew that only defending was not enough ⊥for him to become a top coach, he had to learn more, and according to the current football trend, he had to integrate more styles and elements, and he had to get in touch with more things that he was not familiar with.

Staying at AC Milan can do this, but it is very limited, because he already knows everything here, even if Ancelotti plays the so-called 4 10 football, but in fact there are still many problems and shortcomings, if it is in normal times, he will choose to stay at AC Milan, but now, he is a little uneasy about his duty.

"Come with me to the Premier League, come to my team to help me, I will give you a higher salary than in AC Milan, more room to play and, more importantly, together we will learn and seize this key to create what we see"

After finishing speaking, Ye Qiu stretched out his right hand and sent an invitation to Mauro Tasotti.

Mauro Tasotti hesitated, even now, he still maintains a certain amount of sanity, and a lot of ideas and considerations have passed through his mind, including even whether he can persuade AC Milan management to let him leave, and in the end, he thinks it is feasible, so he stretched out his hand and shook it with Ye Qiu.

This grip made Ye Qiu feel relieved, because he finally found an assistant who could complement him

In the words of PN Football Manager, Mauro Tassoti, the world's chief assistant coach