Afran Grant stood in the command area of the home team's dugout at Stamford Bridge and looked up to see the big screen at Stamford Bridge showing the two sides arriving at Stamford Bridge.

It was half an hour before he led the Chelsea players into the team bus and into Stamford Bridge.

He was the manager of Chelsea and in that moment he was in the limelight

Being a technical director and being a manager are two completely different options, and the pressures you face are far greater than the former, especially when you're driving you crazy before some crucial games.

Tonight's game against Chelsea's local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Ye Qiu's team

Since Tottenham Hotspur last season in the final round, at Stamford Bridge, under the noses of tens of thousands of Chelsea fans, after a draw to reach the Champions League, his team reversed Chelsea and gave the Blues the title to Manchester United, which is absolutely a great shame for all Chelsea fans.

Maybe some people don't notice it, but Afran Grant sees it very clearly, one of the important reasons for Mourinho's dismissal is that he failed to win four consecutive championships, especially in the most critical game, he lost at home to Tottenham Hotspur, especially Ye Qiu's team.

It can be said that from that moment on, Abramovich no longer trusted Mourinho's coaching ability, and at the beginning of this season, Mourinho led the team to a poor performance, and it became natural for the Russians to directly announce Mourinho's dismissal.

For today's Abramovich, Ye Qiu is taboo, and even he will involuntarily compare all Chelsea managers with Ye Qiu, and since then, every season against Tottenham Hotspur will be the most important game for all Chelsea managers, and it is also a game that must not be lost.

Afran Grant sees very clearly that playing Tottenham Hotspur may affect whether he can change from a firefighting manager to a regular manager, and if he can beat Tottenham Hotspur in this game, he should be waiting for a thick official contract at the end of the season.

But it is not easy to beat Ye Qiu's Tottenham Hotspur, this team's offensive ability is a big test for all opponents, sometimes Avran Grant even has to admire Ye Qiu, after selling Van Nistelrooy this season, Tottenham Hotspur's attack has not declined, but has been greatly improved.

One of the most important reasons why Tottenham Hotspur fans are most proud of Tottenham Hotspur these days, and even many journalists and media like Tottenham Hotspur, is that even though the north London team has not won the league title for nearly half a century now, they just like the change in the style of play of this team in the last year or so.

In the eyes of many traditional Tottenham Hotspur fans, this is a revival of the club's traditional style of play, because before Arsenal and the Liverpool side in the late nineties, Tottenham Hotspur was the best looking style in the Premier League.

Heading into the UR year, Tottenham Hotspur had a good run, beating Aston Villa in the 21st round before coming on as a substitute and youth squad in the third knockout round of the FA Cup, beating Reading at home, but they were held to a draw at home by Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on the 8th.

Chelsea were also in good form, beating local rivals Fulham in the 21st round and Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup, before beating David Moyes' Everton at home in the Carabao Cup semi-finals to make it to the final.

But Avlan Grant still doesn't dare to be careless, a very important reason is that Ye Qiu has stayed in the FA Cup and League Cup, and the main squad is in rotation, obviously adjusting his physical fitness, because they will usher in the fifth round of the make-up match with Fulham in midweek, and the 23rd round will face Sunderland led by Roy Keane.

All three games were tough battles, so Ye Qiu made a large rotation in the FA Cup and League Cup, and even arranged for the youth team to play, and Tottenham Hotspur went to the Africa Cup of Nations with only one player Yaya Toure, but Chelsea has four players missing, that is, Drogba, Essien, Kalou and Mikel.

Whether it is in terms of the quality of the players participating in the Africa Cup of Nations or the importance to the team, Chelsea's loss is obviously greater, because in Yaya Toure's midfield, Tottenham Hotspur also have Mascherano, Lucas, Modric, and even teenager Aaron Ramsey can play, and the impact is not very big.

Because of this, Afran Grant decided to adopt a counter-attacking strategy when formulating his tactics for this game, even if it was Stamford Bridge, because he had enough confidence in the Chelsea defence.

But even if he is confident, he still seems very nervous and uneasy, because this game is too important for him, so important that he has made full preparations from the selection of players in every position in the starting lineup, to the targeted tactics in the course of the game, and strives to completely defeat Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, increase his influence in Abramovich's mind, and at least let him have confidence in his coaching ability.

Power, fame and women, these are the three hurdles that no man can escape, and the most fatal part of them is not that they keep tempting you, but that when you taste their sweetness, you will find that you are no longer willing to give up.

Now Afran Grant has only one thought, and that is to stay at Stamford Bridge

Even if it is an away game, Tottenham Hotspur's main squad is still attack-oriented.

The goalkeeper is Petr Cech, the backline is Marcelo, Hangrande, Thiago Silva and Alves, the midfield is Mascherano behind, Modric and Cesc Fabregas are forward, the front trident has not changed, it is still Ribery, Van Persie and Messi, except for Beckham and Vargas, who are absent due to injury, the other main players are all on.

Chelsea's side has been affected by the Africa Cup of Nations, with goalkeeper Jonathan Cudicini and Hilario being beaten up the cold since Jose Mourinho's departure, Ashley Cole, Carvalho, John Terry and Belletti at the back, Ballack and Makelele in midfield, Malouda, Joe Cole and Anelka up front, and Peruvian striker Pizarro up front.

Anelka was a striker brought in by Chelsea from Bolton Wanderers during this year's winter break in the hope of strengthening the team's attacking midfield, while Afran Grant tried to pull him aside.

Ye Qiu is obviously very clear about the advantages and disadvantages between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur is good at attacking and not good at defending, Chelsea is very solid defensively, but the attack has encountered some trouble, but the problem is that with the absence of Drogba and Kalou, Chelsea's offensive threat has dropped a lot, and the defensive side has also been affected by the absence of Essien and Mikel.

No one knows the role of Essien better than Ye Qiu, without Essien, relying on the two veterans Ballack and Makelele, they can't fill the hole in the midfield at all, and Joe Cole and Anelka have contributed very little in defense, which makes Tottenham Hotspur draw up the tactics of attacking away from the beginning.

So after the start of the game, Tottenham Hotspur actively attacked against the hosts, and in the boos of the fans at Stamford Bridge, the home team kept playing, and even Sky TV commentator Andy Gray, who was in charge of the game commentary, ridiculed that it had been thirteen minutes since the opening time, and he had not seen Cech.

It wasn't until the 17th minute that Cech appeared on live TV, but as soon as Chelsea's attack entered the Tottenham Hotspur penalty area, it was firmly held by the early attack of Cech, and then launched a quick attack, Ribery won the ball on the left and cut inside with the ball, handed it to Van Persie, and Van Persie crossed diagonally to the right side of the box.

Messi cut in quickly, drew Ashley Cole near the baseline, knocked back Alves, and the Brazilian cut inside with the ball and hit the goal with his right foot, directly through Cudicini's goal, 0

After the goal, Tottenham Hotspur played noticeably smarter, pulling back and ceding more control, a bit of a gesture towards Chelsea that they should come out more and please the Chelsea fans at home.

Chelsea did think that way at first, but Tottenham Hotspur's two attacks easily tore through their defence.

One was a precise through ball from Cesc Fabregas in midfield, Van Persie stopped the ball and turned and sprinted, but the ball stopped a little wide, and Terry's interference made him chase the ball slowly for nearly half a second or so, closing in front of the attacking Cudicini, and finally missed an attacking opportunity.

Then Messi cut inside with the ball on the right side, saw Cudicini standing in front, and directly volleyed a left-footed curling ball, which directly hit the left post and almost broke the goal again.

The two attacks made Chelsea tremble, Grant quickly asked the players to stabilize the situation, strive to ensure the quality of the defense first, and then try to counterattack and attack, but Tottenham Hotspur's midfield is missing the-stirring stick of Essien, Fabregas and Modric have been given a lot of room to play, the two partners together, Tottenham Hotspur's midfield is running smoothly, launching wave after wave of attacks, Chelsea is losing steadily.

Even when the midfield substitution, Grant failed to come up with an effective way to turn the situation, but in the 71st minute, Chelsea's players' physical fitness dropped a lot, Messi formed a cooperation with Alves on the right side, the Argentine penalty area on the right side of the diagonal pass to the left side of the goal, Ribery quickly inserted, and pushed the goal in the penalty area, 0

It was also after this that Grant's substitutions came belatedly, replacing Wright Phillips with Sidwell and Malouda with Bridge, both of which strengthened the defence, which also caused the Israelis to be booed by the disgruntled Chelsea fans throughout the stadium because such substitutions were too unambitious.

But the problem is that Tottenham Hotspur's offensive has not weakened at all in the final stages, and if they do not continue to make substitutions to strengthen the defense, as the player's fitness declines, sooner or later they will be broken again.

In the end, Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 0 away thanks to goals from Alves and Ribery.

Ye Qiu said in an interview with reporters after the game that he was not surprised at all to beat Chelsea away, but he also politely said that the reason why Chelsea lost was mainly affected by the Africa Cup of Nations, especially Drogba and Essien.

Don't underestimate the role of these two players in the team's tactics, without Drogba, Chelsea's attack is a bit undirectional, and it has also lost a very important means of advancing the ball, and without Essien, the coverage and pressing intensity of the midfield has dropped a lot, and it is difficult for the two veterans of Makelele and Ballack to put enough pressure on Tottenham Hotspur's midfield.

Of course Ye Qiu won't say, this is Avlan Grant's problem, for example, why not Deco? Also, he doesn't seem to have considered whether playing on Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka at the same time will have an impact on Chelsea's midfield pressing and pressing.

It can be said that his lineup is also a very important reason for losing this game.

But Ye Qiu doesn't say it, it doesn't mean that those reporters, media and fans don't understand, the current reporters and media seem to know more about the ball than many head coaches, they are the real emperor who understands the ball, and there are many fans who directly spray their anger at the head coach after losing, after all, it has become the norm to find trouble with the head coach after losing.

Tottenham Hotspur officially reversed Chelsea to move into third place in the Premier League after retiring from Stamford Bridge, and the west London side suffered a third consecutive defeat in the Premier League with a 0-0 win away to Fulham in the fifth round of play-off in midweek.

As a result, Tottenham Hotspur with 22 rounds of 15 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses, 49 points, more than Chelsea's 44 points, firmly sitting in the third place in the league, and the top two points of the league Manchester United and Arsenal, there is only a two-point difference, they are 51 points, of which Manchester United relied on goal difference to suppress Arsenal, successfully climbed to the league leader.

Tottenham Hotspur managed to catch up with the league leaders again thanks to two rounds of make-up fixtures, as well as performances in the Christmas schedule and the subsequent winter break, despite their poor performance before the Christmas fixture

As many media have analyzed, the two-point gap is not impossible for Tottenham Hotspur, on the contrary, with the excellent performance after the winter break, Tottenham Hotspur is completely likely to reverse.

But there are also a lot of worries, for example, Tottenham Hotspur is currently in the knockout round of the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup are not out, and the four-line battle does make many people worry about their multi-line combat ability.

At the end of the week, Tottenham Hotspur still played with the main line-up, beating Sunderland 0 at home, avenging the upset in the first round of the season, and let Keane praise him fiercely after the game.

Speaking to the media, the former Manchester United captain said: "The favourites to win the title this season are Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, and as for Arsenal, I am not optimistic about this team because they have always performed poorly in the second half, for example, they have been robbed of the lead by Manchester United now, and they will not be able to retain second place in the league in the near future." ”

"Ye Qiu's revamp to Tottenham Hotspur has been a success, from the second half of last season they were the most competitive team in the Premier League, and this season they are arguably one of the strongest teams in the Premier League, and I wouldn't be surprised if they end the season and win the first Premier League title in their history."

But it was Keane's praise that made Tottenham Hotspur miserable at the Emirates Stadium to be eliminated by Arsenal.

In this game, Ye Qiu still played with a lineup dominated by substitutes and youth team players, but Arsenal was obviously determined to win the championship and changed the embarrassing situation of being empty-handed last season, so Wenger issued a must-kill order in this game.

Tottenham Hotspur had a good away game, but were beaten by Arsenal and missed out on reaching the final

Despite this, this group of young players in the Tottenham Hotspur team still won praise and recognition, especially Aaron Ramsey, Eden Hazard and Kyle Walker, who have been highly valued by Ye Qiu this season, these three young players have already played the main role in the League Cup and FA Cup, and they have performed well.

The defeat to Arsenal and the elimination of the League Cup obviously did not affect Tottenham's excellent performance in the Premier League for some time, and in the FA Cup at the weekend, Tottenham Hotspur continued to train substitutes and youth team players, arranging the main squad to rest, but still beat Coventry City 4l away to enter the next round.

Back in the Premier League, in the 24th round, Tottenham Hotspur played away to Everton and continued to retain their third place in the league.

Arsenal and Manchester United have also been in good form lately, basically maintaining a two-point advantage over Tottenham Hotspur, while Chelsea, although coming out of the shadow of defeat, are still five points behind Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place, while Liverpool, who have dropped several points recently, are currently two points behind Chelsea.

With a winning streak in January, Ye Qiu won the second manager of the month of the season, and Franck Franck Ribery also won the honor of Player of the Month, but it seems that the curse of the best manager of the month has come again, and Tottenham Hotspur lost 0l at home to Manchester United again in the first game of February.

This made Tottenham Hotspur feel humiliated, the team showed hard work, and also took advantage, and even Manchester United played very passive throughout the game, whether it was from the field or from the stats, Tottenham Hotspur had enough advantages, but with Tevez's goal in the 94th minute of stoppage time at the crucial moment, it created a stunner.

Even Ferguson himself was lucky after the game, the old guy was able to take away the three points from the away side, and he smiled from ear to ear, as if he had gone out to pick up a treasure.

But it was after that game that Tottenham Hotspur announced a move that left both Chelsea and Manchester United frustrated.