After defeating Chelsea, the biggest competitor in the Premier League, although Tottenham's next schedule cannot be called a smooth road, there are not many strong opponents.
A week later, Tottenham, who used rotation tactics, defeated Birmingham with a goal at St. Andrews Stadium. They still maintain a six-point advantage in the standings with Chelsea, who also won this round!
However, Tottenham's victory was not without cost. Because in order to gain precious points, Birmingham players who were struggling to avoid relegation not only performed extremely tenaciously on the court, but even used killing tactics to resist Tottenham's attack, and paid one red card and eight yellow cards for this. A heavy price to pay. On Tottenham's side, due to the brutal killing tactics of the Birmingham players, three players including Mendieta, Speed and Larsson all left the field early due to injuries. Fortunately, these three veterans have enough experience. He successfully avoided the fate of serious injury due to the killing, and only needed one to two weeks of rest before he could return to the court.
I know that Birmingham has a very difficult schedule ahead. In the last eight rounds, only Aston Villa and Everton are in the middle and lower reaches of the standings. But Steve Bruce, what do you think of me, a fellow coach? With such a gangster in the team, do you think you don't take me seriously? Putting the Premier League schedule in his hand on his desk, George made a mental note to Birmingham. (Note: Birmingham head coach Steve Bruce is also a Ferguson student)
A gentleman's revenge is never too late. But I am not a gentleman, so this grudge... Birmingham is dead to you!
If others do not offend me, I will not offend others. Since Birmingham dares to play dirty tricks on Tottenham players during the game, they must be prepared to bear George's anger and counterattack afterwards!
Why did Cech, Ramsey, Eduardo, Diaby, Wilshere and other players in their previous lives suffer horrific injuries such as skull fractures or broken legs? It’s not the inherent concept of “treating brutal fouls as tough and bloody” in English football that is at work! The Premier League referees and the Referee Committee also played a role in fueling this process. Not only did they not immediately impose heavy penalties on the offending players, they also did not impose additional penalties after the game. In addition, clubs such as Chelsea and Arsenal were in contact with each other. The lack of this aspect makes this kind of scene happen almost every year in the Premier League.
If the inherent arrogance of the English and their extra care for "connected households" are the main reasons for the frequent occurrence of such tragedies, and what is irritating Birmingham now is George, who has a strong background and strong own strength, then what will happen to it? Naturally, they will not be brushed off like when Cech and others were seriously injured.
Soon, additional penalties came out from the Premier League Referees Committee. In view of the multiple extremely egregious fouls committed by Birmingham players in the match against Tottenham Hotspur on March 18, the committee decided to impose penalties on Jarosik and Nikki. ·Butt, Martin Taylor and other players will be suspended for one to two league games!
Three players have been suspended for a total of 4 games. This is an additional penalty imposed by the referee committee in the absence of serious injuries to Tottenham players!
This heavy penalty issued by the referee's committee caused a large-scale earthquake throughout English football. Clubs such as Newcastle and Arsenal, which also follow the route of technical flow, and have been troubled by rough fouls by their opponents in recent years, naturally applaud this; while clubs such as Reading and Birmingham, which take the route of violent football... If nothing else, clubs such as Newcastle and Arsenal will naturally applaud this in recent years. There should be no more English teams using killing tactics against Tottenham this year. Because if they do that, the cost and price they pay will be far higher than the benefits they can obtain!
Although they were angry, the accidental injuries to Speed and others still disrupted Tottenham's originally scheduled personnel arrangements. Therefore, although Tottenham easily defeated the "Hammer Gang" West Ham United 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals on March 23, they faced points in the subsequent 31st round of the Premier League. West Bromwich Albion, ranked second from the bottom on the table, struggled to win a victory at White Hart Lane with Tottenham!
The reason is simple. Three days later there will be a first-leg knockout match against Villarreal in the Champions League. In order to allow the players to be in the best condition to face the Yellow Submarine at its peak at home, George sent a full substitute lineup to play in this round of the league, and even temporarily transferred several players from the youth team to make up the number. With such a lineup against West Bromwich Albion, which is going all out, it is not surprising that Tottenham has such a difficult time winning this game.
After acquiring Riquelme, Villarreal transformed from a relegation specialist to a European powerhouse. Under the command of Chilean coach Pellegrini, the Yellow Submarine, which built a lineup with Riquelme as the core, achieved the best La Liga record in the club's history with third place in the league last season, and has been making rapid progress in the Champions League this season. , eliminated Glasgow Rangers in the round of 16 and reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League historically!
Not to mention, in the previous life, Villarreal even reached the Champions League semi-finals this season and lost to Henry with a total score of 0-1 only because Riquelme missed a key penalty kick in the two rounds. Arsenal lead the way. Therefore, George actually takes this opponent very seriously. This can be seen from his formation in this game.
Goalkeeper Cech, the backline of Evra, Vidic, Ledley King and Maicon are lined up, and the midfielder is still Mascherano, Xavi Alonso and Gerrard. The iron triangle, Robben, Ronaldo and Drogba formed Tottenham's offensive trident today!
Not to mention Villarreal, Pellegrini also played the strongest cards in his hand: Vieira, Venta, Pena, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Solin, Arzo, Senna, Calleja, Riquelme, Diego Forlan and Jose Mari. Although many players in this starting lineup are not well-known, they have invariably performed at their best this season, which is a key factor for the Yellow Submarine to achieve repeated success in the Champions League!
This is like Alves in the 2000-01 season, Monaco and Porto in the 2003-04 season, and Greece in the 2004 European Cup. In terms of lineup strength, they are actually not the strongest among all teams, and there are almost no top stars to lead the team, but their players all played their best in a certain year, and then became the super dark horse of the tournament!
When everyone knows that Riquelme is the absolute core, no team has been able to completely strangle Villarreal's lifeline. This is enough to reflect Pellegrini's coaching skills and Rique The level of Ermei et al.
The course of the game also proved the level of Villarreal. Gonzalo Rodriguez, who was not in outstanding physical condition, and Pena repeatedly withstood Drogba's impact on the defensive end. Robben on the wings and Cristiano Ronaldo wasted a lot of energy in the fight with Venta and Solin; Senna in the midfield, together with Arzo and Calleja and other teammates, successfully restricted Tottenham's midfield triangle, making Tottenham another An important weapon - the midfielder's back-breaking attack cannot pose much of a threat to the goal guarded by Biela.
On the offensive end, as long as Riquelme has the ball, the classical attacking midfielder will always be surrounded by more than two teammates to protect him, plus Solin, Venta, Diego Forlan, He The active running of Ce Mari and others on the wing and frontcourt stretched space, allowing the Argentinian to devote himself to organizing and sorting out the offense. Especially Senna, the Brazilian who has just become a Spanish national has used his top three passes and pass success rate in La Liga, as well as his ultra-low ball loss rate and turnover rate, as well as his extremely high one-on-one interception success rate. Become Riquelme's most reliable helper!
Perhaps Riquelme has various shortcomings such as a slow pace of play and almost never participating in defense, but in this team tailored for him by Pellegrini, the Argentine has excellent skills, accurate passing and wide vision. The advantages have been maximized, and there is a forward who has regained his confidence, cooperates with him tacitly and has comprehensive shooting skills. Diego Forlan has made Villarreal's offense even better. It must be extremely threatening!
Noticing the stalemate between the two sides on the court, George waved his hand, signaling the players to speed up the pace of the game and press Villarreal's midfield and frontcourt, and at the same time asked Evra and Maicon to further increase the frequency of forward attacks!
Don't think that Villarreal with Riquelme is an offensive team. In fact, Pellegrini's team has always relied on a strict defensive system on the defensive end. At the same time, it consumes time through the pass-and-control play with Riquelme as the core to relieve its own defensive pressure. On the offensive end, most of the Relying on Riquelme's personal performance and the cooperation between several stars. Therefore, if the opponent slows down the pace of the game and plays a positional battle, it will actually take advantage of Pellegrini's wishes. The reason why Inter Milan was eliminated in the previous life was mainly because Mancini always focused his defense on encircling and suppressing Riquelme, and polished the game with Villarreal meticulously. As a result, Inter Milan was accidentally stolen by Forlan at home, and then lost 0-1 at the Love Song Stadium in the second round. In the end, they were eliminated due to fewer away goals.
With the lessons learned from Inter Milan, George will naturally not make the same mistake. Although accelerating the pace of the game will also increase the probability of mistakes and counterattacks by opponents, Forlan is not a forward who scores goals very efficiently. In contrast, the faster pace of the game and more intense fighting can also consume the physical fitness of Villarreal players faster, especially Riquelme!
As long as Riquelme leaves the field, Villarreal, which is missing its tactical core, will be no match for Tottenham!
Sure enough, in the 83rd minute of the game, Pellegrini had to replace Riquelme, who had been exhausted by the turns of Mascherano, Gerrard and others, while George took the opportunity to replace Klose and Arshavin changed to 4-2-4 at the same time, further strengthening the impact on the visiting team's defense!
Therefore, although Villarreal players resisted desperately in the final stage of the game, they were unable to control the game without Riquelme, the defensive pressure buffer and offensive initiator, and were defeated by Tottenham who had finally waited for the opportunity. The players were beaten violently when they were pressed into the half court. Klose, who came on as a substitute, seized the opportunity very well and scored twice for the team in the 88th minute and injury time!
Two to zero! With Klose's two goals in the final stage of the game, Tottenham successfully defeated Villarreal at White Hart Lane and took the initiative to advance to the Champions League semi-finals in their own hands!
