In the past two years, as the situation in Ajax improves and returns to the ranks of European strong teams, the Amsterdam Cup Invitational has naturally become a major warm-up event before the season, but its influence has always been limited.

But it is obvious that this Amsterdam Cup Invitational has attracted much attention, and it can even be said that the whole world is following it.

Naturally, Ajax cannot have such an influence. The other three teams that attracted the attention of fans and media around the world were the other three teams, or only two. Lippi's Juventus has not changed much this season, but Barcelona has just experienced a change of coaches, Van Gaal has entered the palace for the second time, and Manchester United has made heavy signings, all of which are the protagonists in the transfer market.

Manchester United just announced that it has introduced England defender Leo Ferdinand at an astonishing price of US$47.27 million from Leeds United. This is the first sky-high price in the transfer market and has also created the first sky-high price for defenders, which has attracted the attention of the entire European football world.

Compared with Manchester United, Barcelona's moves are not light at all. First, they introduced Sedo Keita from Ajax at a high price, and then introduced the highly-watched Argentine genius star Riquelme from Boca youth at a high price of 10.5 million euros.

Although Riquelme's transfer fee is close to Sedo Keita, and is even worse than Sedo Keita, the sensation it causes is far from comparable to Sedo Keita. The value of the Malis lies in its practicality, but Riquelme has become the hope of the future of Argentine football.

All professional media are thinking in their minds that Manchester United and Barcelona are spared no expense to introduce big-name stars. Whether it is Ferdinand or Riquelme, they will not miss the opportunity to directly fight with strong teams in the Amsterdam Cup. Van Gaal and Ferguson must also hope that the newly joined players can pass the test of strong teams.

In other words, the Amsterdam Cup will be the first time these stars make their debut for their new clubs.

So, in Amsterdam, as the invitational match approached, as three teams that received the invitation arrived in Amsterdam one after another, countless reporters gathered here, and all the media immediately hyped up this event and various news between the teams, just like the festival.

Not only journalists and fans, but even the players themselves are full of expectations for such strong dialogues. Putting aside the winner and loser, everyone hopes to better experience the position of their strength among European stars through the competition with the strong, and have a better estimate of their strength and potential.

But in this festive atmosphere, some people don’t think so.

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From three practices a day to two practices a day, the second training class ends at 19 pm.

The sky was slightly dark, but the heat in the air did not decrease at all.

On the training ground, the staff have begun to be busy taking care of the turf, watering, sorting, etc. must be as soon as possible. In such hot weather, if the turf is not taken care of properly, it will easily die.

Because of this, players who want to practice more often now usually arrange the time for practice more in the morning or noon, and after the afternoon training class, they go home directly, and the entire first-team training base becomes very empty and quiet.

Ye Qiu was blowing the air conditioner in the office, and his feet were comfortable on the desk, looking at the ceiling, thinking about the warm-up match with Barcelona tomorrow. He did not pay attention to winning or losing, but he attached great importance to the process.

Strictly speaking, this will be the first appearance at Arena Stadium after Ajax's reorganization. Whether the midfield combination of Arteta and Sneider can play their due strength is not assured that Ye Qiu is not confident. The key is that the three warm-up matches in China were too easy to play and did not achieve the due warm-up match effect.

Barcelona let Rivaldo go and rent Mendeta this season, but no one knows whether the Spanish star who performed poorly in Lazio can regain his form in Barcelona.

Sometimes, it is hard to say about the state, just like Mendeta, who was originally in Valencia, had a rapid upward trend throughout his career. If he could transfer to a team that was suitable for him and could help him further improve during the transfer in 2001, he would be able to become the top superstar.

But suddenly I went to Lazio, not adapted to Serie A, not adapted to Lazio, suddenly, the entire upward momentum was completely cut off and it was falling at an extremely fast speed. This was like a nightmare for Mendeta.

It is not easy to break free from the nightmare.

There is also Riquelme. Sometimes Ye Qiu really feels that Riquelme and Van Gaal are incompatible with each other. Their styles are really inconsistent, so he does not expect much from Riquelme. Instead, it is Sedo Keita.

This player is definitely the kind of player who can make Barcelona stand up hard if he uses it well. He also knows Ye Qiu's Ajax very well, and he also knows very clearly how to play against Ajax. I don't know if Van Gaal will ask him for some advice.

Thinking of this, Ye Qiu let out a light breath, stood up from the office chair, turned off the computer and air conditioner, packed up his own things, turned off the lights and walked out of his office, ready to go home.

Sometimes there is no need to think too much before the game, because it is not very useful. The most important thing is to identify one's own direction, then move in this direction, and do your best to win the game. Even if you lose, you will feel at ease.

Playing with the car keys in his hand, when he walked downstairs, Ye Qiu saw a person sitting under the light in the distance of the corridor on the first floor.

It was very casual, and I sat directly on the ground by the corridor, watching the brightly lit training ground in the distance, the staff were busy back and forth, as if they were in a daze.

"Hey, Mikel, why haven't you gone back to rest?" Ye Qiu walked over from afar.

"Oh, I'll go back soon." That's it, but he didn't mean to move his butt at all.

Ye Qiu walked to his side, looked at him along his gaze, and smiled, "Is there anything good to look at?"

Arteta turned his head, looked at the curious head coach, and shook his head, "I don't know, do they have to be so busy every day?"

"Yes!" Ye Qiu nodded, "Is it strange?"

"No, just..." Arteta shook his head, "I didn't know before."

Ye Qiu was a little surprised by the Spanish thinking. He didn't know, so he stared blankly. Seeing that he didn't go back yet, what kind of logic should this be considered? Is it very good?

"Playing football is our job, bringing us high salaries. The media and fans highly praised the reputation and status. It is their job to manage the training ground, but their salary is lower. The media and fans never pay attention to them. Not only that, they have to come to the training ground earlier than us and leave later than us. Sometimes we may even feel that the turf is not good enough and we have to complain. What do you think will they think in their hearts?"

Ye Qiu was confused when he heard this and didn't understand what the Spaniard wanted to say.

"I don't know, why don't you ask yourself." After saying that, Ye Qiu shouted into the distance, "Daimi!"

A team leader in the distance should be considered as the team leader. After hearing Ye Qiu's shouting, he quickly ran over, "Is there anything to ask me for?"

"Demie, our new player thinks you are working hard. It's strange, what do you think of this job?"

Demi is a Dutch middle-aged man. He is not very tall, but he is not small. After hearing this, he laughed, "Thank you? It must be a bit hard, but the guys are used to it. It's nothing to come early and leave late. As long as we think of our Ajax players training and preparing for the training ground we have managed, everyone is happy."

"Don't you think it's unfair?" Ye Qiu asked with a smile.

Demi laughed, "Boss, are you planning to help us apply for a salary increase?"

This summer, before the end of the season, Ye Qiu once made an opinion, which was to give appropriate salary increases to the club's employees from top to bottom to reward them with outstanding work performance over the past year.

"There is nothing fair or unfair. Everyone has different divisions of labor. Many of us were from DeTok Most before. We couldn't play football, and in the end we had to choose to work. Working in DeTok Most is at least more meaningful than working outside. At least here, we can be with Ajax players every day and watch them play football training."

"Working here makes us feel that all the achievements Ajax has achieved have been part of our contribution."

From Demi's arrival to leaving, the whole process was very short. It was basically Ye Qiu who was talking to him that Arteta had never said even a word from beginning to end, but he listened very seriously.

"Actually, they are very ordinary, but without them, they would definitely not have Ajax's grades!" Ye Qiu waited until Demi left before he expressed his views on these training ground workers, which is why he proposed to raise salaries for staff.

"Think about it, without them coming to take care of the training ground early, the grass was dead in summer, and in winter, the entire training ground was frozen, and the grass was bumpy everywhere. Can you still play well?"

"The success of any team, from the Ajax dynasty of Michels before to the Milan dynasty of Saki, seems to be the success of stars, but in fact, behind the stars, there is a large group of unknown and unrespected ordinary people. Their contribution is also an important part of the success of a team."

But Ye Qiu shook his head again, "But there is no need to exaggerate their contributions too much, and say that they seem to have created a great feat, but unknown heroes. They are not, because they are just a very ordinary group of people, just doing a very ordinary job that they may like or may not like, that's all."

"Sometimes there is no need to deliberately explore meaning, because extraordinary people are always accumulated and transformed from the ordinary!"

After hearing this, Arteta seemed to understand a little, but Ye Qiu didn't know what he understood.

In fact, one thing that has been bothering the Spanish recently is the difference between themselves and Riquelme.

They are all midfielders, why are they always unpopular in Barcelona? They are either loaned to Ligue 1 or abandoned to Eredivisie. Riquelme has never proved himself in the European arena. Why did he expect Barcelona fans as if they were saviors?

But after listening to Ye Qiu's words, Arteta understood a little.

Everyone lives in this world. No one is more noble than anyone, nor is no one more important than anyone. When anyone dies, the earth will still turn. Even the ordinary and ordinary people play an irreplaceable role in this social chain. Can those who think they are stepping on others' heads survive?

The same is true on the football field. If superstars want to play, they have to rely on the foiling and assistance of ordinary players. If players want to play, they have to rely on the ordinary staff of the club. There is no saying that anyone is more important or irreplaceable than anyone else.

Until now, Arteta understood a little why Ye Qiu had one of the rules for locker room: anyone must respect the club staff, otherwise they would be severely punished.

By the same token, he did not need to demand that Barcelona treat himself and the two completely different attitudes he took to treat Riquelme, because this is meaningless and excessive demands on this will only make himself more isolated in the team.

Ye Qiu was right. Extraordinary is never created by individuals. Only groups can create greatness, and only individuals can become part of creating greatness by integrating into groups.

At this moment, Arteta had an enlightenment in his heart, that is, he should integrate into and become a part of Ajax, helping Ajax defeat Barcelona and show his value. This is what he should do.

"Thank you, head!" Arteta said with a smile.

Even though Ye Qiu still couldn't figure out what this sensitive Spanish mind was, he could only stand up with a wry smile, "By the way, have you found a house to live in?"

Arteta nodded, "I just moved in yesterday, Miss Moon helped find it."

Ye Qiu shook the car key in his hand, "Can you take a ride?"

Arteta immediately smiled from ear to ear. He had already salivated at Ye Qiu's Ferrari, jumped up from the ground, and walked faster than Ye Qiu, as if he wanted to hold the steering wheel in his own hands and control the Ferrari.

Of course, Ye Qiu could not give him such a chance. Ferrari was his treasure, so how could he let him try it?

Not only that, Ye Qiu had previously ordered a Ferrari Enzo through the Dutch agent of Ferrari, which is the latest flagship supercar launched by Ferrari. Ye Qiu led the team with excellent results last season, and the club's bonus was quite good. In addition, Eliza brought him generous business income outside, so he didn't feel sorry for spending money.

If Arteta knew, he would have been even more unbalanced, because he didn't have a car, but someone had two Ferraris, one was driving and the other was placed at home, which was a waste of resources!

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Van Gaal's first game in the Amsterdam Cup, lined up a very puzzling formation of 3421.

The goalkeepers are Bonano, the defenses are Rezig, Frank Debor and Puyor, the midfields are Sedo Keita, Koku, Roshenbak and Mendeta, the two front midfielders are Saviola and Riquelme, and the single forward is Cruivet.

At first glance, Barcelona's starting lineup seems to have no authentic wing players, and the tactical system of the three defenders has also been proved to be a weakening of the wing, but in terms of offense, Barcelona always attacks from the wing, which is a very puzzling doubt.

The first is Sedo Keita and Mendeita. These two players are midfielders with both offense and defense and are arranged on both left and right sides. Not only that, Riquelme and Saviola are also asked to go to the side more, and then catch the ball from the side and then cut to the middle.

Therefore, Barcelona's entire tactics seem to have no wings, but in fact, because Sedo Keita and Mendeta play the wing forwards, while Saviola and Riquelme play the front midfielder, this wing combination is not far from each other and maintains close contact, so it is easy to form strong suppression on the wings.

At the beginning of the game, they put strong pressure on Ajax's wing at Arena Stadium. Four wing players repeatedly broke through on the left and right sides. They met and contacted each other, making it difficult for Ajax's full-backs to adapt, and they were always easily in an embarrassing situation of one-on-two.

Everyone knows that in a one-on-two situation, full-backs basically cannot form an effective defense.

So for a moment, Barcelona's offensive seemed very imposing, and it launched a violent attack on Ajax's defense line, especially on the two sides, frequently forming breakthroughs and creating threats.

In the 16th minute, Sedo Keita and Rikelme formed a cooperation on the left, Sedo Keita made a cross from the bottom, and Cruivet scored the ball in front of the goal, 1:0.

No one expected that the Mali midfielder who had just transferred from Ajax to Barcelona this season would contribute a goal to his new club and assassinate his old club when he returned to Arena for the first time.

There were also some boos at Arena Stadium, but it was not very obvious. It was obvious that some fans were dissatisfied with Sedo Keita's counterattack, and even angry, but most fans still maintained a tolerant attitude. After all, the Mariens had already put on Barcelona's jerseys, so they should do their best for Barcelona.

Ye Qiu frequently signaled the team to push forward, especially the team's midfield, to form a strong pressure on Barcelona's midfield, allowing Robben and Van der Fate on both sides of the left and right to frequently sprint for Barcelona's wing.

The disadvantage of the three defenders is that they are on the defense of the wing, and using Robben and Van der Fate's impact on the wing forced Keita and Mendeta to retreat and assist in the defense, and even Riquelme and Saviola had to retreat.

The sharp counterattack from Ajax quickly completely suppressed Barcelona, ​​who had a smooth start after the opening, and forced Barcelona to put more troops into defense with a tough attitude, and told the Spaniards with their tough strength.
Chapter completed!