In the corner of the comprehensive training area of the Siegwell training base, a tall and strong black player was seen standing about forty meters away from the goal, with a ball placed in front of the arc of the goal penalty area, and between the ball and the black player were placed a series of training obstacles.

There were also a lot of balls around the inside and outside of the goal, and there were also half-baskets of soccer balls around the big penalty area, and it was obvious that his training had been going on for a long time, so the big black man was covered in sweat and his jersey was sticking to his back.

I saw that after he took a deep breath, he quickly swung his slender legs, and changed speed and direction flexibly and forcefully to bypass these obstacles and came to the front of the big penalty area, but he didn't look like he was going to hit the goal, but to hit a curling ball, but it was not a free kick, it was more like a pass.

Hearing a bang, the violently spinning ball hit the post and bounced out, the big black man shook his head and sighed, took a leather ball from the basket, and after placing it, he walked back, and at this time he saw Ye Qiu standing on the sidelines.

"Aren't you supposed to go back to the national team?" Ye Qiu walked into the training ground with a smile, he usually wears sneakers, because he has always disliked the dress of suits and leather shoes, and prefers casual and sporty dresses.

Yaya Toure lowered his head and wiped the sweat from his face, it looked like it was raining heavily, "The plane at night, while I have time, I came to train and find a feeling"

Ye Qiu looked at the goal and pointed over, "What Beckham taught you?" ”

Although David Beckham has only been in Tottenham Hotspur for a short time, he chooses to stay and practice after every training session, but his training is all long passes and free kicks, so it is more about training on the goal

Sometimes Ye Qiu feels that practicing this thing will be contagious, at least at the moment, there are many people in the Tottenham Hotspur team who are practicing together, such as Peter Cech specializes in practicing how to save direct free kicks and penalties, as well as handling some high balls, and many people want to get Beckham's true pass.

Ye Qiu made it clear before that no one is allowed to conduct high-intensity training without permission, because all the training programs of Tottenham Hotspur are drawn up according to the coaching staff and Peter Brandt, which is most in line with the current physical condition of the players.

But Ye Qiu has not many opinions on the player's choice to practice long passes and free kicks, after all, there are indeed very few people in the team who can take free kicks, Beckham came, and he monopolized all free kicks and corners, and the other penalty taker with the most eye-catching performance turned out to be Gareth Bale.

There's nothing to say about the Welsh kid's left-footed free-kick skills, and he's willing to work hard

"Hmm" Yaya Toure didn't deny it, but he didn't say anything more, and he didn't seem to be in high spirits.

Ye Qiu could see it and smiled, "Take a break, let's talk?" ”

He never pushes his players, especially for time outside of training and games, he gives them enough respect, so a lot of times he doesn't adopt a forced tone, but more of a consultative tone.

Yaya Toure didn't say much, but he took his towel from the basket where the ball was released, wiped the sweat on his face, and even took off the jersey on his body directly, revealing a strong body, which made Ye Qiu look envious.

Look at his muscles, then look at his own, and he feels that this is not a muscle, it is chicken.

However, the Africans do have a lot of advantages, and while they have a lot of trouble going to the Africa Cup of Nations, they are noticeably more agile and agile than the Europeans, and their speed and explosiveness are significantly better while maintaining the same physical intensity and strength.

It's like Didier Drogba, who among the players who can play against him has the explosiveness and agility of him?

Of course, European players also have some good agility, such as Ibrahimovic, such as Crouch, their foot work is very good, and the physical confrontation is also excellent, but they are obviously inferior to Drogba in terms of explosiveness, and even Yaya Toure, so Ye Qiu has always felt that African players are a treasure

"Actually, you don't need to be depressed about the last few games, I mean really

They didn't change the place of conversation, they just started chatting in the training ground, and Ye Qiu likes to get straight to the point when he talks.

"I'm not afraid to tell you honestly, I've overturned my previous impression of you in the past period, so until now, I don't know how to use you, and sometimes you play in the midfield, sometimes you play in the back, so the poor performance is not entirely your problem, I also have some problems."

Yaya Toure has also communicated with Ye Qiu many times before, knowing that Ye Qiu doesn't like hypocrisy and artificiality when he talks and does things, he says this, which proves that he really thinks so, which is also a way of communication within the Tottenham Hotspur team.

Even sometimes when there is an internal meeting, Ye Qiu will ask everyone to have any complaints, whether it is to the coaching staff or teammates, they can say it straight to the point, and the coaching staff and teammates will also give their own justifications appropriately after listening, if it is wrong, then change, if it is right, then it can also resolve the misunderstanding.

To know that it is very, very difficult to establish such an internal communication habit, if it were not for Ye Qiu's own example, it would be really difficult to implement it.

'I think I'm more suited to a central midfielder, or even a more advanced position, because that's how I played at Ajax. Yaya Toure speaks her true thoughts.

"Yes" Ye Qiu nodded, "At first, my impression of you, and what I told you later, was that I hoped that you would play in the center of the guard and be able to go up and down according to the situation of the game, but then I found a problem."

When he said this, Ye Qiu noticed that Yaya Toure's eyes were a little worried, smiled, and patted his wet shoulder, which was all sweating, "Don't be nervous, I never doubt your dedication and diligence in the game, your technical ability is also good, and I believe that you have always been paying attention to the old problem of sticky balls." ”

When Ye Qiu said this, Yaya Toure couldn't help nodding, since he came to Tottenham Hotspur, Ye Qiu has been paying attention to the reminder and guidance in this regard, because when he was at Ajax before, Yaya Toure was the core of the team after Sneijder, Van der Vaart and Robben and others left, and it was a matter of course to get the ball.

This has also directly caused his sticky ball habit to not be broken, but this problem Ye Qiu has also said many times, Tottenham Hotspur pays attention to a pass and catch the ball, sticky ball is not a good habit, it will slow down the overall advancement speed of Tottenham Hotspur and delay the team's offensive efficiency.

"I said that your problem is mainly in running without the ball, and I believe you must have noticed that the closer you get to the hinterland of the opponent's defensive zone, the tighter the defense will be, and the smarter and more penetrating the run at this time, the more you can help the players play a greater role, but this awareness of running without the ball is not something you want to have."

Yaya Toure listened silently, Ye Qiu always hoped that he could learn something from Davis, and in fact, he and Fabregas and others also learned a lot from Davies, but in terms of running without the ball, he obviously didn't learn it properly, and Fabregas was very smart.

Sometimes the players themselves are not blind, Yaya Toure is indeed very envious of Beckham, but he can also see that after Beckham came on the field, his movement, receiving, and passing were obviously much better than his own, which is obvious to anyone at a glance, because Tottenham Hotspur's entire midfield has become very fluid.

"I don't deny that running without the ball will improve with the experience of the game and as you get older, but the problem is that I have found another problem with you, which is that you are too greedy"

After hearing this, Yaya Toure frowned, raised his head to look at Ye Qiu, shook his head and said, "I don't really understand"

At the beginning, Ye Qiu brought the two brothers from Africa to Amsterdam, and in the past few years, he has always been very grateful to Ye Qiu, and Ye Qiu is also very optimistic about him and trusts him, so after Ye Qiu came to Tottenham Hotspur, he immediately brought him to the White Hart Lane Stadium, so he would not suspect that Ye Qiu had any prejudice against him, and he did not dare to have any resentment towards Ye Qiu.

"You always want to contribute on the offensive end, but at the same time you want to perform on the defensive end, don't say I misjudged you, even if it's you, I'm afraid it's hard to find your own position, right?"

Ye Qiu's rhetorical question made Yaya Toure difficult to answer, maybe he did have such thoughts in his own heart.

He prefers to take the ball and has a good ability to advance, but mainly because his physical fitness is strong enough, Ye Qiu's previous plan for him was to use the ball to advance and press the opponent's defense, but he was a little sticky, always unconsciously competing with Fabregas for the ball, and even some balls that should have been passed were not passed, resulting in being broken.

Yes, he can be the first to counter-attack after the ball is broken, but the problem is that when you take it back after the ball is broken, the opportunity has been missed, and he often seems to be unable to integrate into the team as a whole.

This is also the reason why Ye Qiu said that he is not strong enough to run without the ball, Davis is excellent because he has a strong ability to integrate into the team, and the way he integrates into the team is to always maintain the distance between himself and his teammates by running without the ball, ensuring that he can always pull to the gap to meet his teammates, which is a kind of integration.

Yaya Toure's off-ball running is a bit weak, and usually as a midfielder, if he is weak without the ball, there are generally only two options, one is like Essien and Gattuso, and the other is to drag back, because the further forward, the tighter the defense, the higher the requirements for running without the ball.

Of course, there is also the option of having the whole squad play around him, as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Riquelme did, so that he can get the most out of him.

Ye Qiu remembered that in his previous life, Yaya Toure was pressed to play defensive back in the backfield when he was at Barcelona, but later went to Manchester City, and Mancini's use of him caused a later attack on Mancini's words that Mancini had only two ways to break the deadlock, one was to add strikers, and the other was to liberate Yaya Toure

Many people may think that this is a compliment to Yaya Toure, but in fact, it is also a disparagement of Yaya Toure.

Manic and Barcelona have to suppress his attacking desire because what you can bring to the team when you get up front is probably a double-edged sword, but the team needs other things from you, such as your coverage and your ability to take and play the ball in a midfield position.

It's dangerous to turn a team into a one-man team, and after the rapid development of football tactics over the years, very few people will choose to do so again, which is why Manuel Pellegrini's Villarreal look so different.

As for Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, the team has another option, which is to exclude them from the team's attacking and defensive system, let them play freely, and then strengthen the team's tactics through slow run-in, which is also known as the 10FL strategy.

But it is precisely because of this that neither of them is compatible in the England national team.

Whether it's Riquelme's core type, or the exception of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, Yaya Toure clearly doesn't have the conditions and ability to have Tottenham Hotspur revolve around him for this kind of tactic.

"As a professional, it's very, very important to find the right tactical role and positioning." After Ye Qiu analyzed his situation for Yaya Toure, he gave him another example

"Do you know about Makelele?" After Yaya Toure nodded his head to show his understanding, Ye Qiu continued, "He didn't actually play as a midfielder from the beginning, when he was in Ligue 1 and Celta, he was both offensive and defensive, and at that time he and Celades formed a very good double back, and some people even said that they could compete with Valencia's Baraja and Albelda." ”

Of course, this is an exaggeration, as Baraja and Albelda are one of the most famous midfield combinations in La Liga history and the best two-man duo in La Liga in the last decade.

"But after coming to Real Madrid, Makelele had a very serious problem, he found that he couldn't find a place in the team," Ye Qiu said with a smile that surprised Yaya Toure.

"It stands to reason that Makelle can't be without a place, he is very good, how can he not have a place? But what position can he play? Offensive? With Zidane, Figo, Raul, Guti in front, does the attack need him? In Celta, he and Sellades are attacking, but at Real Madrid, Zidane is the source of attack, and only Zidane can control the ball. ”

Yaya Toure was a little silent, he knew what Ye Qiu meant, that is, when Makelele found that he could not find his role, he began to make changes, changing his role according to the needs of the team, that is, to give up his offense and start to transform into a full-fledged defensive player.

"Do you think it's a pity that Makelle has switched to defense?"

Ye Qiu didn't wait for Yaya Toure to answer, shook his head and said: "Then you are wrong, Makelele's previous offensive and defensive skills, so that he has a strong ability to take the ball, which can ensure that after he grabs the ball, it is difficult for the opponent to snatch it back from his hands, which is the basic skill that a top midfield defender must have." ”

"And another aspect of him that a lot of people overlook is distributing the ball"

"Zidane has Zidane in possession, but the team has to have someone who is responsible for distributing the ball, and over the years, all the players who have distributed the ball have been in the back, such as Pep Guardiola, Redondo, and more recently, Roy Keane of Manchester United, Vieira of Arsenal, all in the back."

Distributing possession and post-possession, while often done by the same player, are two distinctly different midfield functions.

Even at Real Madrid, Claude Makelele took on the responsibility of distributing the ball, first with Ergra in a back two, and then he was in charge alone, while at Chelsea he was also responsible for distributing the ball and Deco was responsible for organising and possessing the ball.

The role of distributing the ball is to get the ball to the feet of the most suitable player, for example, when you see that the middle is difficult to break, then you should take the initiative to distribute the ball to the wing, and the team-mates on the wing will open up the tactical width and create a threat.

This task is very simple to say, because many people see that Makelele is nothing more than a short pass in the middle and divided into two wings, so the success rate is very high, and even later some people called this position the Emperor of Horizontal Transmission, but they don't know that this position is very important, without such a person who distributes the ball, the team's offense will be messed up.

For example, in Barcelona, it was Busquets who did it later, and AC Milan was Pirlo in charge, Manchester United was Roy Keane before, and then Carrick, Chelsea is even now Makelele is doing it, and Mourinho wants to focus on cultivating Mikel to take over.

Ye Qiu also told Yaya Toure that choosing to play in the back does not mean that he can't plug in the attack, Roy Keane is also good at back insertion, Vieira is also good at back insertion, Guardiola, Redondo and others are also the same, the key is that you have to do your job and ensure the safety of the team's back line.

And for Yaya Toure, the position can be delayed to avoid his weakness on the lack of running without the ball to the greatest extent, because the back is not the focus and dense area of the opponent's defense, and the back midfield players have more comfortable running space and a wider vision.

For Yaya Toure, dragging is to play up his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, just like Xavi Alonso, this player is afraid of close pressing, lacks the ability to get rid of it, and is not good at running without the ball, so he has to drag it back, because he can play to his strengths and avoid weaknesses, and Xavi and Scholes don't need them, because they have excellent sense of running without the ball and the ability to get rid of the ball, and they are not afraid of pressing.

'As a manager, you have to make trade-offs when you plan your tactics, if you want to attack, you have to weaken your defence, if you want to defend, you have to sacrifice your attack, you can't do both offensive and defensive at the same time, you don't have that tactic, and it's the same as a player.

"It's impossible for anyone to have both in attack and defense, usually what you want in both is often not the best in both aspects, so you can always choose one side over the other, play to your strengths and avoid weaknesses, and I always believe that you have the ability to play a piece of your own world in the midfield position"

After saying this, Ye Qiu also chose to stop it, many times, no matter how much the head coach says, the players themselves must be able to understand, otherwise, if the players do not have the will in this regard, no matter how much you say, it will be in vain.

"Think about it again, if you have any ideas and questions, you can find me"

Ye Qiu patted Yaya Toure on the shoulder again, turned around and walked out of the training area, and walked towards the training building.

Yaya Toure was left alone on the training ground, and seemed to be still thinking about Ye Qiu's words.