Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 Koman's Troubles ()

Now domestic fans pay attention to Ajax's game, which is unprecedentedly enthusiastic, but the first thing Chinese fans see is Ajax's defeat. On November 5, the fourth round of the group stage of the European Champions League H group stage, Ajax faces Spain's Celta away, and Celta, ranked 16th in La Liga, faces Ajax, who ranks first in the Dutch Eredivisie at home. Since Ajax defeated Celta 1-0 at home, it is generally believed that although Ajax played away, he should be able to at least be able to save a draw.

However, after the opening, Celta's Russian twin star Mostovoi and Kalpin's midfielder caused great trouble for Ajax and scored two goals in the first half. Although Koeman deployed troops at the beginning of the second half, he still failed to save the team's defeat. Ajax finally lost 1-3 in this game and gave up the second place in the group.

After the game, the Dutch media criticized Ajax's midfielder. De Jong in these three midfield systems did not complete his defensive tasks, which made the Russians play tricks. On the other hand, Mark, who could not represent Ajax in the Champions League, marked Alkmaar's soul character Perez in the last game. De Jong has been learning for a long time.

Koeman also said at a post-match press conference that Mark cannot represent the team in the Champions League, which is a loss for the team, and he said that he will definitely play numbers in the next group stage to allow Mark to represent the team in the knockout stage, but whether the initiative can appear now can no longer be controlled by Ajax.

In the previous Champions League, as local stations in China have live broadcasts, fans are more likely to see on TV or the Internet. Moreover, the developed Internet fans quickly found a website to broadcast the Eredivisie through the Internet. Next, Ajax will challenge The Hague away. Since Liaoning Station is debugging signals, it did not broadcast the game. However, the publicity offensive has been played, and there will always be broadcast in the next game. The starting list of Ajax's Hague game, Koeman has been announced in advance.

Ajax's starting roster mostly continues most of the main lineups against Alkmaar, but the midfield changes greatly. Mark and Sneijder replaced De Jong and Galasek appeared in the starting roster. This part is because of the doubles in the week. Another reason is that Koeman is not very satisfied with the previous midfield combination.

As the third largest city in the Netherlands, The Hague has always been the political center of the Netherlands. Since The Hague is located in the South Holland province of West Holland, it is also the capital of the province. Although The Hague is not the capital of the Netherlands, because the Dutch Constitution stipulates that the capital is Amsterdam, it is the seat of the Dutch central government, and Queen Beatries lives in the Hague and works here. All government agencies and foreign embassies are located here, and the Supreme Court and many organizations also work here. The Hague is named the government center without the capital.

However, The Hague did not have any proud record. The last time he won the league championship is to be traced back to 1943. At that time, China had not been liberated. Last season, The Hague successfully upgraded as a second-tier champion. This season, as a newly promoted team, the only thing they need to consider. There is no reason not to win against such an opponent, Ajax, and not only have to win but also have to win beautifully.

However, when it comes to the relationship between The Hague and China and Ajax, it is probably because they have produced a tsheulalin, a 1-quarter Chinese ancestry. In Dutch football, there was once a football player with a 1-quarter Chinese ancestry. His Chinese name was Lin Qiuli. Lin Qiuli's grandfather came to the Netherlands to make a living several times at the beginning of this century. Due to the overall economic depression in Europe at that time, it was difficult to find a job, so he began his own way of making a living, selling peanut candy.

Later, I met a Dutch girl who eventually became Lin Qiuli's grandmother. Lin Qiuli was born in The Hague, Netherlands. At the age of 16, he went to the Dutch sea pressure Ado team to participate in the first league. At the age of 19, he transferred to Ajax. At the time, it was Ajax's era when he was in Europe, but Lin Qiuli established his position in this team and wore the No. 9 jersey. He was a teammate of the same era as John Cruyff and Neskens. He played for Ajax for 7 years and won the domestic league and cup championships 5 times.

Of course, I have heard of Lin Qiuli, but I haven't seen it before. In fact, what can I do if I have seen it? His grandfather is Chinese and a Dutch nationality. His grandson is completely a Dutch, except for his Chinese origins in blood. However, Mark heard that Lin Qiuli did a good business after retirement and always wanted to run for the chairman of the Hague Football Club.

"Mark, your task in this game is to defend the opponent's main striker Morse." After the whole team came to the Hague Stadium, Koman gave Mark's task in the locker room: "Mark, don't look at Morse, you're thirty-three years old, but he is still very capable. Don't underestimate him. As long as he runs out of the penalty area, he will be your prey."

Mark nodded and said that he had understood.

"Don't show mercy because he is special." At this time, Koeman also joked: "I heard that he also has some Chinese descent, and you are also of the same nation."

"He seems to be from Indonesia," Mark also smiled and said, "But don't worry, coach, I won't consider anything else on the court except to defeat the opponent."

Hearing Mark's words, Koeman nodded with satisfaction. What he hoped was this spirit, this courage to not be afraid of any challenges. The reason why Koeman admired De Jong before was because De Jong had such spirit, but now it seems that Mark is better. Now Koeman is also worried about why he didn't discover Mark earlier. If he found Mark earlier, he would be able to make more changes to the strategy of the Champions League group stage.

However, now I find that it is better than nothing. After the players appeared, the referee whistle sounded and the two sides quickly played a game. The Hague team had two forwards Morse at the front in this game, and Roystroeve supported him. The other nine players retreated to the backcourt to defend. However, as a team that has just been promoted this season, the Hague team has no doubt about such tactics. After all, Ajax is now ranked first in the standings, and the team has many geniuses attacking players.

Mark has no offensive tasks now, and he also obediently stayed in the backcourt to defend. After more than ten minutes of trying attack at the beginning of the game, Ajax found that The Hague is now in a deadly defensive formation, so he let go of the attack.

Now there are only three defensive players left in Ajax's backcourt. Mark is in the front, two central defenders, Heatinga and Escud are in the back, and the three form a triangle to clamp Morris and Stoueve.

Fullbacks Maxville and Tara Bellsi have already reached the midfield and used as wing forwards. A formation like Ajax is of course always invincible for the attack, but once the ball is intercepted and hit and counterattacks are not a joke.

Koeman's pre-match arrangement also made some mistakes in this game. He originally thought that Stoeve would not play because he was Morris' substitute player before, but the Hague coach seemed to have made careful arrangements. He just wanted Stoeve to be a surprise to disrupt Koeman's previous pre-match deployment.

After the opening, Stoeve's performance was extremely active. He was seven or eight tall and fast. Moreover, since Mark is now in the area defense and is not a man-mark, he cannot completely limit his performance. He had already shot two shots in the first ten minutes of the game, but because his shooting skills were not very high, he was saved by goalkeeper Stellenburg and hit the plane.

"Mark, Mark..." Looking at the performance of the players on the court, Koeman quickly shouted loudly to attract Mark's attention. When Mark saw Koeman, Koeman kept: "Look at that number ten, stare at him, don't let him shoot."

"Sorry, my boss asked me to stare at you." Mark nodded and ran to Stouevey and said, "You won't have any shots next."

"Let's go and see," said Stouevey, looking at the young Mark with a disdainful expression.

He knew that Mark had stared at Perez of Alkmaar before, but because he was a forward, he didn't know how good Perez was. Moreover, because he was very confident in his skills, he felt that he could successfully get rid of Mark's defense against him.

But then he felt how naive his thoughts were. The task given to him by the head coach in this game was to shoot more goals before. When the Ajax player's attention was focused on him, he passed the ball to Morris in front and let him finally resolve the battle. He is the firm executor of the head coach's tactics, which is also the benefit of the small club. No one is famous, so the players will resolutely execute the tasks assigned by the head coach before the game. It is obvious that the Hague team's first step has been done. Mark is now pressing against Stoueve on the whole game, and the rest is to find opportunities to pass the ball to Morris.

However, Mark's aggressive defense made Stoueve very uncomfortable. Often, Mark's foot stretched out as soon as he received the football, without any other movements, or delaying his offensive rhythm or severing the ball. Stoueve now feels that he really underestimated this player from the football desert. He didn't expect that his speed was so fast, and he just relied on speed to make a living. If he had no speed, he would be nothing, and he could not get rid of Mark's chance to pass the ball.

"Good job, Mark, you De Jong is much stronger." Koeman thought to himself after looking at De Jong on the bench.

De Jong seemed to feel that the head coach was looking at him. He also raised his head and looked at the head coach and then looked at Koeman and quickly turned his eyes to the court. He was also observing Mark's movements now. He found that Mark's speed and frequency was still as fast as ever, which was simply outrageous.

Although De Jong is unwilling to admit it, Mark is indeed much more elegant than him on the court. De Jong's defense relies on his body and rough movements. De Jong feels that Mark should have made two shots when he hits. Such a frequency is simply a weapon for robbery. He even doubts whether Mark is an earthling. His interception frequency should definitely not appear on a young player who is only eighteen years old. This is definitely the level that a world-class defensive master should have. So part of Mark now has master level. Mark's current defense is a bit like completing an art work.

At this time, Mark once again cut off the football under Stoeve's feet and passed it directly to Sneider outside the penalty area. At present, there are at least six players in the Hague's penalty area to defend. Sneider directly shot a long shot, and the football flew into the net in the dead corner of the goal. The goalkeeper had no time to save the ball because his vision was blocked, and Ajax led 1-0.

After scoring the goal, Sneider ran towards Mark and jumped directly onto him, yelling with his fists, and his teammates around him also came to celebrate with him.

Sneijder, who had celebrated the "beautiful Mark", said thankfully.

"You're also awesome, you're just a world wave," Mark also praised.

At this time, the fans who were watching the game in China were also excited. They cheered for Sneijder's shot and also cheered for Mark's steal and pass. As Chinese fans, they naturally cheered for their compatriots. Moreover, Chinese fans know football best. They could see the importance of Mark in the current Ajax midfield. Stoeve was extremely active in the frontcourt before, but after being blocked by Mark, they immediately became silent and were also intercepted by Mark. Now Mark's performance can be said to have caused a big sensation in China.

Now many bars have connected their computers to the TV, in order to allow fans to watch Ajax games in the bar and try to get more people to drink. You should know that fans have good alcohol tolerance. This is how the teams that support the teams that lose, they drink to eliminate depression, win and celebrate the carnival, so the gimmicks launched by Galgo Bar are still good at watching the game. And I heard that Liaoning TV has bought out the domestic Ajax games. These advertisements have undoubtedly brought some invisible business to these bars, and fans like to be lively.

Although the game has only been around for about twenty minutes, Ajax continues to strengthen his offense as the game continues. Since Ajax is now leading by one goal, the pressure on the formation in the game is no longer as big as the beginning. The most painful thing now should be the Hague.

Because they are good at defense, they only have one way to attack, and they can only give up defense and attack hard. However, Ajax's players are so outstanding now. Even if they fight hard, they will lose the game in the end. Instead of being able to push up, they can only play, but it is an indisputable fact that the attack is weak. However, the Hague did not push up the attack at all, because the game only lasted for more than twenty minutes and it was not time to fight hard. However, the Hague's defense is definitely not as firm as the opening game. Their players are gradually pressing forward, and Ajax is also happy to play against them.

Ajax soon expanded the score. In the 30th minute, Ajax won a corner kick in the frontcourt, and Ajax's two central defenders and Mark all pushed on the attack. Van der Fate's corner kick was very curved, and the football directly found Ibrahimovic at the front point like precise guidance. Ibrahimovic headed to attack, but was destroyed by the Hague defender.

However, the Hague defender did not drive far away from the kickoff, and the football went directly to Sneider's feet. Now it was just the time to change offense and defense. The Hague players saw that the football was driven out and wanted to counterattack and then ran out. The originally compressed formation suddenly had a loophole. At this time, Sneider passed it to the penalty area with one kick.

Mark took advantage of this opportunity to change the offense and defense, and quickly inserted it and headed the ball without waiting for the football to land. The football flew directly into the Hague net like a falling meteor.

"gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!" The commentator shouted wildly after seeing Mark's goal: "Mark's excellent running got this opportunity. In the 30th minute of the first half, Ajax led 2-0. Ajax, who scored this goal, has basically locked in the victory of this game. Look at Mark's performance on the court. This is his goal in two consecutive games. This state makes anyone who suspects him go to hell."

After Mark scored the goal, he rushed to Sneijder, who assisted him. Because Mark was too fast and too vigorous, Sneijder was suddenly thrown to the ground by Mark. When the Ajax players came up from behind saw that they were going to play the role of a rogue. Van der Fate took the lead and pounced directly on Mark. The players behind also flew to the opponent. Sneijder could only make a wailing sound at the bottom.

After many players left, Mark helped Sneider up and looked at the little man who was breathing with big mouths. Sneider also saw Mark showing a malicious smile and said depressedly: "Mark, if you do this next time, I won't pass the ball to you."

"You won't know," Mark said confidently: "You pass it to me and I pass it to you, aren't we friends?"

After saying that, Mark patted Sneider and returned to the backcourt to participate in the defense. Only one Sneider shook his head helplessly and said to himself: "You kid really makes people angry."

Koman couldn't help but shake his head when he saw Mark's performance on the court. He didn't think Mark's performance was bad, but the better Mark performed, the more depressed he was. Because Mark could not play in the current Champions League, this made Koman very upset### Chapter 16: Go slowly

In fact, Sneider's shot was Mark's pass before. Although everyone saw Sneider shoot a world wave, it seems that many people forget that the initiator of that attack was Mark. Now Sneider's assist is just a reward. In this era, offensive players often receive more applause, while defensive players silently support behind their backs, but few people find it. However, many people like Mark who can attack and defend well.

There were sparse applause on the court, which was obviously from Ajax fans who came to cheer on the away game.

Mark is now running back to the half and continues to participate in the team's defense. Mark's position in Ajax's midfield is now gradually becoming more and more stable. Fans are increasingly liking Ajax's biggest discovery this season, and the cooperation between his teammates and Mark is getting closer and closer. The previous main player De Jong has been completely forgotten.

In the following game, The Hague pushed forward a large counterattack, and Mark also got several opportunities, but Mark's current shooting skills are indeed not good, and his few shots outside the penalty area were fired with anti-aircraft guns.

"It seems that Mark's shooting ability is still not good." The live commentator commented on Mark's performance there: "It seems that there is no other shooting method except heading, the most important scoring method for a midfielder should be long-range shots."

"Di Di Di" halftime ended after the referee's three whistles rang. Ajax walked towards the player channel with two goals away from home, and each Ajax player had a satisfied smile on his face. This also contrasted with the expressions on the faces of the Hague players.

When all the players and Koeman walked into the locker room, Koeman said first: "Young guys, your performance is very good today. The Hague will definitely launch a large counterattack in the second half. We should try to control the rhythm of the game and pay attention to the cooperation of the team's defense line in the second half." After Koeman finished speaking, he took a pen and cut the team's tactics on the tactical board.

"Mark, your header in the first half was beautiful," Koeman arranged: "But in the second half, you should pay more attention to protecting the front of the penalty area. The task of marking people will be handed over to the rest. Remember to make more positions."

Koeman saw that Mark was fast and physically healthy. He wanted Mark to help the team make up for defense. As for defense, let others leave it to the defense.

Koeman made a substitution adjustment, left winger Tom Sotals came off the court, and defensive midfielder De Jong came on the court. Van der Fate reached the position of the left winger. Although the team's formation was still 433, Ibrahimovic was actually ahead. Van der Fate was too much of a connection between the left and the midfield. The core of the midfield became Sneijder. The two strong defensive midfielders Mark and De Jong came on to protect each other. This is also the best combination of double-defensive midfielders Ajax can line up.

The fifteen-minute halftime break ended soon, and players from both sides also appeared on the sidelines. The Hague also made a substitution adjustment. They replaced a defender and replaced a striker. Pratfort made the field. Now The Hague has played three forwards. Last season, Pratfort scored 26 goals in the Dutch second division. However, since the start of the league this season, the main position has not been very stable, and most of the time they are played by substitutes.

However, the most unstable reason for Ajax this season is precisely the problem on the defense line. Now that Mark and De Jong appear at the same time in the midfield, Ajax's midfielder's penalty area was squeezed by the two, and there was no possibility of playing. Koeman's move was indeed beautiful, but this season's biggest problem is that the players in the rear are not very stable. Especially the central defender Heatinga is simply a time bomb.

Now the bomb is about to explode again. The Hague crossed the cross from the wing. Now the power of the three forwards has been initially revealed. After the three Hague forwards in the penalty area jumped high, the 33-year-old old forward Morse Morse has basically lost its bounce power due to his age. The Ajax defender Hetinga, who is defending him, used his strong body to jump up before Morse. However, Hetinga, the young defender, seemed to suddenly judged the wrong line of the ball and suddenly topped the ball.

Morse showed the excellent experience of the old player. He didn't jump at all when he was fighting for the header before, because he knew that even if he jumped by himself, he wouldn't be able to compete with Hetinga, a young and strong player. However, Morse didn't jump at all now. He was waiting for the second place to land. In fact, this matter was just like gambling. However, it was obvious that Morse won the bet. He immediately started after seeing Hetinga's top shot. Before Hetinga reacted, he got the football and then shot with a kick.

Although goalkeeper Stellenburg responded, he did not block the football because the distance was too close, so the football flew into the goal under his armpit.

At this time, Mark was defending outside the penalty area line, so he had no chance to make up for Heatinga. After scoring the goal, Morse was arrogant and saw Morse running to the sidelines to celebrate with the current fans.

Now the game is suspense again. The Hague tied the score one-to-two and rekindled hope. If one more goal is scored, he can tie the powerful Ajax team.

Mark looked back at Heatingga, who looked regretful, and couldn't help but sigh. He listened to the shouts of more than 10,000 fans at The Hague's home court. He didn't like this atmosphere because it was a kind of ridicule for him. Although this mistake was not caused by himself, as a member of the team's defensive system, he still felt that this was a kind of ridicule for himself. Mocking his team was a kind of ridicule for himself.

"Get up on your spirits," Mark shouted loudly: "We will score another goal to wipe out their counterattack flames."

The Ajax players nodded when they heard Mark's shouting. They expressed their affirmation of Mark's words. Yes, they could completely defeat them with just one more goal.

"John, cheer up a little bit," Mark shouted loudly at Heitinga: "How could that old guy be your opponent? You are the best defender in the Netherlands."

"Mark, this is my line." At this time, the captain Van der Fate ran to Mark's side and whispered to him: "Don't you want to be a captain, do you?"

Mark knew that Van der Fate was joking with him, and then he smiled and said, "Raphael, you are the most suitable captain. I am just a little dissatisfied with the noise made by the fans of The Hague. How can we Ajax give them such a chance to laugh at us? We are the strongest team in the Netherlands. Next, it's our performance time."

Koeman nodded meaningfully when he looked at Mark's performance on the sidelines. He was very satisfied with Mark's performance after conceding the ball just now. Although Mark was young, it seemed that he had established a core role in the midfield through his performances in these two games. Koeman was a hot-tempered player before, of course he hoped that his team would be full of passion, so the more he looked at Mark, the more he liked it.

After the referee's whistle sounded, Ajax kicked off in the midfield. The football was quickly passed to the frontcourt after a series of back-legged cooperation. However, it seemed that the goal just now suddenly aroused the fighting spirit of the Hague team. After seeing Ibrahimovic get the ball, the Hague players immediately intercepted him. The sudden defensive pressure made Ibrahimovic very uncomfortable, so the football under his feet was directly intercepted.

After getting the ball, the Hague players immediately launched a quick counterattack. First, the defender passed the football directly to the striker Morris. As a 33-year-old veteran, Morris can still play the main player in the Netherlands' top league, naturally has some of his skills.

"Aren't you afraid of making mistakes again?" Morse shouted loudly beside Heatinga. He wanted to interfere with Heatinga's performance. In fact, this was also a try. Even if it didn't work, he would not lose much. If it worked, he would be lucky.

Heatinga was still a little guilty about the goal just now. Although Mark's loud shouting had already played a role, Heatinga's judgment was obviously wrong again. He did not dare to jump in the face of football, but directly wanted to yell and drive the football out. However, Morse, the old man beside him, broke the football under his feet with a slipper before him and then ran forward.

"Damn, I just said it in vain." Mark couldn't help but curse in his heart and then strode towards Morse for pursuit.

Morse has only one central defender in front of him, and the remaining two full-backs are guarding the other two forwards of the opponent. Hetinga behind him is chasing back after losing the ball, and the remaining players are also relatively far apart.

Morse decided to score a long shot when facing another Ajax defender, Escud, if he had the chance, so he ran while observing the position of his teammates. Unfortunately, Morse is now at the front, and it will take time for the other two forwards to run up to meet. Now it depends on whether Morse's personal ability can successfully get rid of Escud and then shoot.

After seeing Escud coming up, Morse directly used his body to squeeze out Escud's defense, but Escud is now the last player on the team's defense line. He knows that he wants to entangle him now and he will never give Morse a chance to get rid of himself. Even if he gives him a free kick, he will do nothing, so Escud directly wants to foul Morse. But Morse is also very clear about what Escud is thinking. After playing for many years, he has already understood the thoughts of half of the defenders. The advantage of older players is their experience.

Morse dribbled the ball and made a move to force overtake, and Escud was indeed deceived and rushed directly to Morse's left. However, Morse quickly turned around and pulled the football back and ran towards Ajax's goalkeeper. Things developed almost beyond his previous imagination. Morse originally thought it would be great if he could get a long shot, but the young Ajax central defender group was teased by him continuously. He has now got the opportunity to score a single shot. As long as he can calmly score the football, he will be the hero of this game.

However, after he had just gotten rid of Escud, he ran two steps and was about to shoot, and he felt a strong wind behind him. Out of experience, he knew that someone had caught up behind him. Due to his vision, he could not look back and see who was coming. According to his guess, central defender Haiting was added, but in just a moment, he felt that he lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground.

When he fell down, he saw an Ajax player carrying a No. 44 jersey on his back was controlling the football. He knew clearly that this No. 44 player was naturally Mark who defended himself before this game, but what he didn't understand was that Mark was far away from him before. What he could run to him so quickly to cut off his football.

Afterwards, Morse reached out to the referee to signal that Mark had a foul. The referee should give him a free kick, but the referee ignored Morse. Due to the position of the referee, he could see clearly that Mark broke the football directly with a sweeping leg in front of Morse. Moreover, because he encountered the football first, and it was not a dangerous move, he did not commit a foul at all.

After Mark got the ball, he immediately handed it to Sneider in front and asked him to organize the attack. At this time, Hetinga also ran to his position. He said to Mark thankfully: "Mark really thanked you just now, otherwise I would become the team's sinner again."

"John, what are you doing? What kind of mercy you have to do to this old guy. Just kill him directly," Mark said loudly to Hetingga.

Morse could hear Mark clearly because of distance. He was so angry that Mark's interception just now that Mark's ball was still saying such words. Morse jumped up and then reached out and pushed him directly towards Mark.
To be continued...