Although another general was lost in the match with Udinese, and the final result was just a shake of hands with the home team, when the referee announced the end of the game, the Tottenham players were still extremely excited - they had already won Got the news and learned that at the Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid and Lyon tied one to one within ninety minutes!
This also means that after drawing with Udinese away from home, Tottenham Hotspur, who are five points ahead of Real Madrid in the group standings, have successfully locked in the first place in Group F! And this will give them considerable initiative in the next knockout stage!
You know, generally speaking, most of the teams that qualify as second in the group are quasi-first-rate or second-rate teams in European football. Although their strength cannot be underestimated, compared with top giants such as Juventus and Barcelona, these teams are obviously easier to deal with.
Not to mention, Tottenham, who advance as the top player in Group F, will also have the schedule advantage of visiting first and then home in the quarter-finals. Therefore, it is natural that Tottenham players would behave like this after the game.
"It seems that it's not time to consider changing the team's blood yet." Noting the excited expressions of the players, George, who had been observing secretly, temporarily put aside his worries. Because at this time, he has learned from the actions of the players that they have not lost their motivation for progress and hunger for the championship trophy just because they won the Champions League last season!
We want a team that has reached the top to continue to maintain strong competitiveness on all fronts. Not only must we ensure that the team's strength remains at the top level, but we must also pay attention to keeping the entire team hungry for honors at all times. Regarding this point, the Barcelona team in the previous life, which was hailed as the "Dream Team" by the media, is the best negative example - after successfully defending the La Liga championship and winning the Champions League, the successful Ronaldinho indulged in a life of wealth and wealth. In life, I no longer train as hard as before, and my competitive status and personal abilities begin to show a downward trend. In addition, the main players of Dream Team 2 such as Deco, Belletti, and Giuly also lost their aggressiveness at this time and began to rest on their laurels. Did the Barcelona management take corresponding measures in time? The team quickly fell apart as soon as it reached its peak, failing to create more brilliance in football.
Therefore, in George's plan, once a player shows a lack of motivation or a decline in aggressiveness, no matter who it is, he will clean it out ruthlessly - in his eyes, whether he is the main player or the substitute, he will You should stay motivated enough. Only in this way can Tottenham remain in the leading group, instead of being caught up by their opponents and becoming a stepping stone for other teams to take the lead!
Fortunately, George has not found any similar signs from the players so far!
At the same time, the Udinese players who scored one point were not too frustrated because they failed to gain a victory at home. Because with only one round left in the group stage, they are four points ahead of Lyon and have already locked in a ticket to the UEFA Cup in advance!
As for whether they can work harder and improve Udinese's final ranking in the group by one place, so as to advance to the top 16 of the Champions League as the second place in Group F, it can only be said that they are wishful thinking. . Because according to the relevant rules set by UEFA, when two teams have the same points, priority will be given to comparing the two teams' record against each other!
At this time, the two-round clash between Udinese and Real Madrid has ended. The former has achieved one draw and one loss in these two games, and is three points behind Real Madrid in the Group F standings. This means that even if Udinese defeats Lyon in the last round and Tottenham defeats Real Madrid in the spirit of fair play, Cosmi's team will not be able to surpass Real Madrid and climb to the second place in the group!
As a result, with one round left in the group stage, Tottenham's qualifying situation in Group F has become extremely clear. Tottenham and Real Madrid advance to the top 16 together, Udinese goes to play in the UEFA Cup, and Lyon, who have only scored one point in five games, can only accept the fate of returning home!
After talking about the qualifying situation of Group F, let us now turn our attention back to Tottenham. After the draw with Udinese, the Tottenham players who returned to the UK soon ushered in the fourteenth round of the Premier League. And this is also the most difficult game Tottenham has faced since the start of this season!
The reason why this game is described in this way is not because of how strong Tottenham’s opponents are, but because the negative impact of injuries and a double match in a week finally had an effect on Tottenham for the first time - in this same dimension. Before the start of the 14th round of Atlético Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's league, except for Robben and five other players who were absent due to injury, Drogba and Mascherano were also suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards, and Vidic was suspended from the Tottenham Hotspur laboratory. Because of the red light, George had to be excluded from the squad for this game!
Faced with a shortage of personnel, George had no choice but to send out a starting lineup with a mix of main players and substitutes, allowing some players who participated in the midweek Champions League match to play against Wigan Athletic on the weekend. He raised two young players as a contingency - if he doesn't do this, Tottenham may not even be able to guarantee that the 18-man roster will be full!
Goalkeeper Cech, right back Maicon, center backs Dawson and Speed, left back Baines, midfielder Xavi Alonso, Dempsey and Mendieta, Cristiano Ronaldo, Arshavin Klose and the three of them serve as the offensive trident! This is Tottenham's starting eleven for this game!
Even Speed, who was born as a defensive midfielder, had to play as a central defender in this game, and none of the three midfielders was dedicated to defense, which shows how serious the impact of this wave of injuries is on Tottenham!
The main reason why Klose and Larsson were not allowed to start together was because George considered that letting these two players play at the same time would only cause congestion in the penalty area, compressing the space for Ronaldo and Arshavin to move, leaving Tottenham In the game, he was unable to perform his good cross-positioning and passing and cutting cooperation, thus achieving the effect of one plus one less than two!
Both Klose and Larsson are indeed excellent forwards, but the Swede is old and his physical limitations mean that he can only ambush in the penalty area to grab points most of the time. Therefore, if two people play at the same time, Klose must expand his range of activities and move outside the penalty area. And in this way, the power of God K will be greatly reduced!
The reason why Klose's performance in Bayern in his previous life was far less eye-catching than that of the German national team is for this reason - in the German national team, Klose is the well-deserved top scorer and first choice on the offensive end; while in Bayern, Klose Ze needs to stretch out of the penalty area to support Tony, Gomez and other teammates, so the scoring efficiency is 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 adjustments to cope with the confrontation with Wigan Athletic!
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