Chapter 140 It's Getting Closer to the Championship!

Arsenal's energy is concentrated on the Champions League. They are well prepared to eliminate Villarreal. In the end, they also won and successfully entered the Champions League final, marking a new record for the team's history.

But at the same time, they also pay attention to the league.

The league is the foundation. The league ranking will determine whether they can appear in the Champions League next season, and their temporary fourth place in the league is not stable, so even though they can't start preparing for the league, coach Wenger still has to face it. opponents to understand.

Manchester City don't have to analyze anything at all. They are the first in the league, and there are many media and professionals who will 'help' the analysis.

What Wenger noticed was Manchester City's recent games, especially the way they played against Manchester United and Chelsea.

Manchester City and Manchester United and Chelsea all used a conservative style of control-based play, and the results of the game were also very good, which made Manchester City and Chelsea very helpless, so Wenger believes that in the home game against Arsenal, Manchester City will also use it. this coping strategy.

Everyone knows that "defense wins". Arsenal's play style in the Champions League is also very conservative, even sacrificing their offensive ability in the frontcourt.

Wenger believes that Arsenal have an advantage because Arsenal can accept a draw in this game, but Manchester City can't because they want to beat Arsenal and win the league title at home.

Then, Manchester City wants to play conservatively, and Arsenal don't need to make adjustments. They can directly adopt the Champions League style of play and delay time with Manchester City.

......

Wenger led the game with this idea in mind, so when the game really started, he was a little bit dumbfounded when he saw Manchester City siege Arsenal at half-time.

The French did not expect that Manchester City did not adopt a conservative style of play, but instead let go of their hands and feet to attack!

This is unexpected.

But the game has already started, and it is too late to make any adjustments, let alone. In the face of the indiscriminate bombardment of Manchester City, the conservative style of play cannot be said to be wrong, but there may be good opportunities.

After all, defense wins...

Wenger thought so, he sat on the coach's bench, his face was calm. It was as if the scene had already been anticipated.

But the anxiety in his heart was unknown.

......

Wan Sheng did not know what Wenger was thinking. He is not interested in paying attention to this either, and now he is standing on the sidelines, directing the game seriously.

He kept yelling, reminding the players to play in that direction, reminding them how to attack.

This does not have much effect, after all, the game changes rapidly, and it is not a temporary command that can work. But Wansheng's voice can bring fighting spirit to the team. They know the coach is watching the game seriously and expect the offense to be effective, so everyone is more serious.

Manchester City completely overwhelmed Arsenal.

They have an absolute advantage on the scene. Arsenal were beaten and could not fight back at all. They could only hide in the half court and could not even attack the midline.

Such a situation is surprising, but it is not surprising to anyone who has watched Arsenal and Villarreal play. In that game, Arsenal, which was also suppressed by Villarreal, couldn't make it past halftime, and Henry completely became a display in the frontcourt. No performance at all, but in the end, didn't Arsenal drag out the last minute and knock out Villarreal?

Now the opponent is Manchester City...

Arsenal, relying on a different style of defense than the team, came very close to the Champions League and became the only English team to remain in the final, so this conservative style of play must have merit.

Arsenal have been suppressed and Arsenal fans are worried about it, but they are still a little bit confident.

It was the results of the Champions League that gave them the confidence.

Some commentators are also talking about this topic, "Arsenal play very passive, but their defense is very tight, it is not easy for Manchester City to find opportunities. It is Arsenal's defense to enter the Champions League final, although this style of play is not Arsenal. old job, but defense wins..."

There were also TV guests who were dissatisfied with Arsenal's playing style and criticized the defensive Arsenal on the field. "They have abandoned Arsenal's century-old style of play and are desperate for victory. Even if they win by means, it is equal to failure!"

"If I didn't know it was Arsenal, I would have guessed it was Chelsea, they were playing Barcelona!"

This analogy is somewhat appropriate.

Chelsea and Barcelona match is like this, Chelsea has been defending, defending, defending, Barcelona has been attacking, attacking, attacking, what we see in Chelsea is conservative or conservative, what we see in Barcelona is gorgeous offense and smooth cooperation .

But to say the result of the game, no one can be sure, because Chelsea's defense also has merit. Although they lost to Barcelona this season, they won last season.

Perhaps it is an honor for Manchester City to be compared to Barcelona, ​​but they have no time to consider whether it is an honor, every player on the field is doing their best to attack.

They've been chasing goals!

It's a game that has to be won, so goals are also a must.

......

Manchester City's attack is not all three-line attack, or very targeted.

In three months, Ivan Crewe has established a firm position in the team. His performance on the right is better than Musampa, and his tacit cooperation with Morris has made his main force more stable, so when With Ivan Crewe on the right, Manchester City will mainly attack the middle and the right.

The general direction of the offense is like this, but when it comes to the game, it still depends on the individual performance of the players.

The most eye-catching players are Morris and Anelka in front. When it comes to Manchester City's stars, these two are really famous. Their performance on the field is also really good.

Morris sits in midfield and is responsible for organizing the attack, but Anelka is very active in the frontcourt.

Anelka is the focus of Arsenal's defense, but in the case of Manchester City launching a tough offensive, it is almost impossible for Arsenal to completely restrict Anelka.

After 15 minutes of the game, Anelka also has his own understanding of Arsenal's defense. In his opinion, his breakthrough should be on the young defender who is partnered with Toure.

That's Philip Senderos.

Felipe Senderos signed for Arsenal in December 2002. He was only 17½ years old at the time, but he stayed at Servette until the following summer before Arsenal completed the £2.5m acquisition.

Senderos's luck was not good. When he joined Arsenal, he injured his back before the season. As a result, he failed to play for Arsenal in the first season. It was not until October 27, 2004 that he played on behalf of Arsenal in the League Cup. Arsenal's opponent in that battle was also Manchester City.

After that, Senderos became Campbell's substitute. Now that Campbell is injured and sidelined, he has the opportunity to start.

The outside world's performance evaluation of Senderos is not bad, because his partner with Toure helped Arsenal enter the Champions League final, and the defensive performance was very calm. But Anelka felt it. Senderos is the best break point because his defense is frizzy and rough, making him much easier to deal with than the more experienced Toure.

So during a fallback defense, Anelka said to Morris, "Pay attention to that kid, I'm going to look for opportunities from him." He said with a malicious smile on his face.

Morris nodded. "No problem. I'll tell the others."

Morris wasn't the team captain, but he was on the field. Because of his performance and prominence, he has more authority than Distin and is the core of the team. When he told others to target Senderos, everyone understood.

In the next game, Manchester City consciously attacked Senderos' point.

They used constant interspersed movements and frequent transposition movements to open up the defenses of Toure, Cesc Fabregas and others again and again. Even if there was a chance, they would pass the ball over.

The football will be passed to Anelka or Andy Cole. Both are good at breaking through. It is up to them to hit Senderos directly.

The pressure doubled when Senderoston.

Before, he was defending with Toure, and all he needed to do was move, or keep up with a certain frontcourt player, and the focus was on defending the position, but now it has become a one-on-one defense with the Manchester City striker.

The key is that the other side is still the skilled Anelka, or the experienced veteran Andy Cole.

He was unprepared for it.

In the breakthroughs and breakthroughs again and again, Senderos seemed so flustered that it completely affected his performance.

After all, he is only 21 years old, still very young, has not been in the starting position for much time, and has experienced very few competitions. Now facing this kind of attack against himself, he seems to be more busy.

On weekdays, even in the face of Henry's breakthrough, he dared to defend 1-on-1, but now, he can't even play half of his ability.

Against Anelka, who is both skilled and physical, his defense is clumsy, and when faced with experienced Andy Cole, he is fooled by a small gesture every time.

As a result, his pressure became more and more intense, and his performance became more and more frizzy.

Anyone can see that Senderos is a little embarrassed, and the coach Wenger on the bench can also see it. The Frenchman frowned slightly. He did not expect Senderos to be targeted by the opponent.

Senderos was brought to Arsenal by him. For now, Campbell is injured and he can still bear a certain burden, but he is not the kind of central defender who can be alone, and he needs to rely on Toure to respond.

But now Wenger can only hope that Senderos can withstand it, because this is what a young defender must experience.

If Senderos can withstand this level, he will definitely grow greatly. It is possible to really replace Campbell's main position in a short time. If he can't stand it, it will definitely have a great impact on his mentality in dealing with the game in the future. He wants to recover. It's not easy to adjust.

Mentality, that is, willpower, is very important for a professional player. Only with a strong will can he perform better in the game. If the willpower is not enough, it will definitely affect his normal performance.

Now is the time to put Senderos to the test!

......

Senderos didn't know Wenger's expectations for him, he just felt that he was about to take it.

Facing each other's targeted breakthroughs again and again, he became more and more anxious and his performance became worse and worse.

He couldn't take it any longer.

Whenever the opponent rushes over with the ball, Senderos can’t help but look at Toure, looking for Toure’s position, expecting Toure to give him some support, but most of the time, there is no result, because Toure has long been defeated. Tune up.

Toure also saw Senderos' situation, and he hesitated to go up and help.

But seeing Andy Cole next to him, he still didn't go up. Anelka also has Senderos defending. If he runs over to help Senderos, then Andy Cole will be unguarded. It must be his responsibility to concede the ball at times, because he did not defend his position.

The relationship between Senderos and him was not good enough for him to make mistakes, but Toure immediately regretted it because Senderos was broken through!

This time Senderos couldn't stand it. He was deceived by Anelka's small moves, and even almost stabbed his head on the grass. Then Anelka easily ran the ball from his side and broke into the penalty area.

Danger!

The hearts of all Arsenal people are in their throats.

But Anelka didn't think about Arsenal, he dribbled the ball into the box and faced goalkeeper Lehmann.

There is no better opportunity than this!

Anelka tried his best to stabilize his excited heart, and then he faced the attacking Lehmann and kicked the ball hard to the far corner.

"Shoot!! Anelka—"

Lehmann tried to block the ball with his arm, but the ball rushed past. All he could do at that moment was turn his head and watch the ball fly into the goal.

“Goooooooooooooooooooooooal!!!!!!”

"Goal scored!!!"

The Manchester Stadium broadcast sounded Berbat's frantic cry, "Anelka! Anelka! He broke through Senderos and scored the ball in the face of goalkeeper Lehmann!"

"1:0! 1:0! Manchester City are ahead!"

At the moment when the football flew into the goal, Anelka jumped in place and waved his arms fiercely. The muscles on his face made him look very ferocious, but all Manchester City fans took it as The most beautiful picture.

They screamed wildly for Anelka!

Other Manchester City players also ran over happily and celebrated the goal together. They surrounded Anelka, some hugged Anelka, and some touched Anelka's head and rubbed his hair. , by the way with some luck.

Everyone's face is full of joy!

Wan Sheng stood on the sidelines, also excitedly celebrating the goal with others on the bench.

1:0!

The team is one step closer to the championship! (To be continued ~^~)