Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three Skilled Hands

Stapletwood training facility.

The new training base has only just completed its structure and outer walls, and is surrounded by iron shelves.

At night, looking out from the youth team training building, it was dark and a little scary.

Although Southampton attaches great importance to youth training, there is no way to provide the youth team with the same high-standard treatment as the first team. However, in terms of entertainment and training facilities, the youth team and the first team are still treated equally.

In other words, the first team will have it, and the youth team will have it.

It's like a recreation room.

The recreation room in the youth team training building is even bigger than the first team, and their TVs are bigger than the first team.

Before each game, this big TV is always full of young players from the youth team.

Tonight, Southampton away to Arsenal, is no exception.

When they watched through the TV screen one by one, Yang Huan, the owner of the team, was playing drums for the Southampton players in the stands, the whole entertainment room was fried, and everyone watched in disbelief. This scene.

At the same time, they can hear the movement from London's Emirates Stadium through live TV.

The Southampton fans completely overwhelmed Arsenal in momentum.

Even if they only have more than 3,000 people.

And Arsenal has tens of thousands!

But at this time, the number of people is not the key, the most important thing is to unite, to unite people's hearts!

"Young Master Huan is great!"

"That's right, at least we've overwhelmed Arsenal with momentum."

"If the momentum wins, the game will be much easier to play."

"Yeah, the most fearful thing about this kind of game is that people will be shocked at the beginning."

"Arsenal is a ball-handling genre, don't let them get too comfortable with the ball, so the momentum is very important."

The players in the recreation room were talking, and everyone's face was written with concern for this important game in London.

This is the first time that Southampton has directly challenged the top football team in England. Each of them wants to know whether the team they play for has the strength to challenge the top team?

Or, how big is the gap?

Jorge Bernardo Griffa also sat in the recreation room, next to him was Ramon Madoni, the team's chief scout, and a number of other coaches and employees of the academy. .

Everyone is also very concerned about the situation of Southampton, who is on the north expedition.

With the whistle of referee Philip Dodd, the game officially kicked off.

I saw that Southampton took up the battle almost immediately and pressed towards Arsenal's half.

Philip Dodd blew the first whistle, which was the kick-off whistle, and blew the second whistle less than 20 seconds later, awarding a penalty for Southampton midfielder Vidal against Cesc Fabregas, A foul in the vicinity of the center circle.

But Arsenal's free kick failed to stay in Southampton's half-time. Benatia headed back to the penalty area and Neuer kicked to the wing. The Brazilian genius Neymar took it before Arsenal's half-time. Hold the ball and use his personal ability to attack Sagna's right flank.

"Belsa is going to attack with attack!" Ramon Madoni saw Bielsa's starting tactics.

But it also sparked a lot of discussion in the rec room, especially with the coaches.

"Although Arsenal's offense is not particularly prominent, it is a Premier League team in the end, and its style of play has always been very gorgeous. They are very particular about ball control and skills, and they are playing at home. As an away team, we rashly press up to fight against each other, right? Too risky?"

"Yeah, anyway, that's the third-ranked team in the Premier League, that's Arsenal!"

"Playing against Arsenal on the road is a life-threatening game!"

"I don't think so. We are a weak team. If we play a strong team, we must be the first to win. Otherwise, how will we play this game?"

"That's it, if you don't play like this, let Arsenal have the ball and it will be over."

There was a lot of discussion in the recreation room, and the players watched the ball while listening to the analysis of the coaches.

After all, many of this group of coaches are more than a dozen or even decades of playing experience, and they are very experienced. The things that can be analyzed by watching the game are much more than they are.

"Jorge, what do you think?" Someone asked Griffa.

Jorge Bernardo Griffa's football literacy is recognized in this group of people.

"Very normal start!" Griffa replied indifferently.

"We have been playing in the League One for a long time. Although the players are very strong, League One is always League One. There are many things that are impossible to compare with the Premier League, such as high-intensity games. If the rhythm is left to Arsenal's control, then We have no chance of winning at all.”

Griffa analyzed this, and everyone immediately understood.

This insight is indeed very thorough. The strength of players and teams is indeed very important, but in a football game, the most important thing is to see how much strength your players and teams can play.

Suppose you have 100% strength, but you can only play 20%. If you meet a team with only 30% strength, but 100% performance, you still have to lose.

Can you say strength is not enough?

It can only be said that the performance on the spot is not good, or the state is not good.

The coach's formation and on-the-spot command are also one of the important factors that determine the team's performance.

"Belsa is actually not stupid. He is very smart. He decided to take a risk and gamble. Only by gambling can you win, but instead of starting Isco, he played Schneiderlin.

As soon as Griffa finished speaking, Ramon Madoni smiled and nodded and took over.

"Yeah, many people say that Bielsa is a die-hard, and even directly label him a die-hard, making him seem like he will never know how to be flexible. As everyone knows, every team in Bielsa is a die-hard. , every season, every game, I'm constantly looking for change."

As fellow Argentines, both Ramon Madoni and Griffa know Bielsa better than outsiders.

"The most important thing in this game is the midfield. If you suppress the Arsenal midfielder led by Cesc Fabregas, Wilshere and Alexander Song, then the chances of winning this game are great. That's it!" Griffa's very incisive analysis and prediction.

Ramon Madoni kept nodding, "So, Schneiderlin is more suitable for starting than Isco."

Even though he said that, everyone still had a doubt in their hearts.

That's Arsenal, can Southampton's midfield hold back?

…………

…………

"At the beginning of the game, the two sides played very intensely, the rhythm was fast, and the ball was exchanged frequently."

"It can be seen that neither side has the slightest reservation, and both adopt an attack-to-attack tactic."

"Southampton has the courage to play directly face-to-face with a team like Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium."

"This is the Southampton manager, Marcelo Bielsa."

On the big screen of the Emirates Stadium, a close-up of Bielsa's head appeared. The Argentine habitually squatted in front of the visiting team's coach, with a chubby brain, watching the game ahead.

At the beginning, the two sides were still testing more, after all, they were not familiar with each other.

Southampton's high-intensity midfield and frontcourt pressure caused a lot of trouble for Arsenal. They had a lot of chances to get the ball, but they were never able to launch the offensive effectively. Instead, Southampton, who played away, scored several times. To Arsenal's 30-meter area, but unable to effectively threaten the penalty area.

"It looks like neither side is able to create a good scoring opportunity."

Southampton wanted to open an attacking channel from the left where Neymar was located several times, but Arsenal obviously strengthened their defense on the right, and even the midfielder Alexander Song was frequently pulled to this side to help the defense. Southampton's offensive also failed to create a threat.

On the contrary, Arsenal, who have more experience in the end, are playing at home again. They quickly stabilized their position after the opening and showed their own threat.

Among Arsenal's three midfielders, Alexander Song trailed behind, Cesc Fabregas stepped forward, and Wilshere was cruising between the two, but Schneiderlin trailed behind to protect the defense and the front of the penalty area. , Cesc Fabregas doesn't have many chances in front.

On the contrary, Vidal and Strowman suppressed Wilshere very well, making it difficult for Arsenal's midfield to function effectively.

Cesc Fabregas is a very smart player and as soon as he realised this he immediately dropped himself from the front.

In the eighth minute, Cesc Fabregas pulled back to get the ball, Schneiderlin hesitated and did not keep up with the first time.

After the Spanish midfielder got the ball, he cooperated with Wilshere and went straight to the front of the penalty area without any defense, looking for Van Persie who pulled out of the penalty area.

The Dutch striker stopped the ball and turned to go straight. Walcott passed through the middle of David Alaba and Benatia with lightning speed and went straight for the goal.

The whole Emirates Stadium, everyone's heart was hung up.

Yang Huan even stopped beating the drum.

Even many Southampton fans covered their faces and dared not watch what was going to happen next.

Countless Arsenal fans rushed out of their seats!

Single knife!

As long as Walcott gets the ball, it's a one-shot!

That's the goal!

Neuer has always been very focused, but when he saw Cesc Fabregas pass the ball to Robin van Persie at the front of the box, he was ready, both to prevent the Dutchman from suddenly kicking the arrow and to prevent He passed to other teammates.

Especially Walcott and Nasri on both wings.

When he saw that Van Persie really passed the ball, and then saw Walcott tearing apart his teammates' defense with lightning speed, he reacted immediately and dropped the goal!

I saw Neuer rush out of the small penalty area quickly, his strong and even slightly fat body, but with an unbelievable flexibility, those eyes staring at Walcott.

Walcott was also looking at Neuer. He had absolute confidence in his speed, but he did not expect that Neuer's attack would be so decisive, without even the slightest hesitation.

If you continue to charge like this, will you bump into it? Will it hit the goalkeeper?

The thought flashed in his mind, and Walcott couldn't help but hesitate, especially when he saw that Neuer had not rushed to the best position, but had already jumped to the ground and made a stretch to save, he immediately put it away. speed.

The ball hit Neuer's arms, and the German's big hands tightly hugged the fiercely spinning ball, not allowing it to resist in the slightest.

In the stands, Arsenal fans saw this scene, and they all sighed involuntarily.

If it is a second later, or even less than a second, Walcott's single-handedly will have it!

Damn Noelle!

The fans of Southampton burst into applause, and a kind of joy after the disaster filled everyone's heart.

"Noel!"

"Noel!!"

"Noelle!!!"

All the Southampton fans were screaming.

Not only in the stands at the Emirates Stadium, but also the Saints fans waiting in front of the TV, they are also shouting.

Neuer slowly got up from the ground, the ball was still firmly in his hand.

"What the hell is going on with you? With such a big gap exposed, are you blind? Didn't you see it?"

Neuer yelled at his teammates in front.

Including Benatia, Schneiderlin, Varane and others, they all bowed their heads due to him drinking.

If this ball is lost, they are all responsible.

But in the end it is difficult to say who should take full responsibility. After all, it is the gap exposed by the running and pulling of the Arsenal players.

"Okay, let's go up, let's counterattack!"

Neuer came to the front of the penalty area with the ball in his hand, pointed in the direction of Arsenal's goal, and shouted loudly for encouragement.

At this moment, the German goalkeeper showed the aura and shocking power that a top goalkeeper should have.

Southampton's players immediately rushed to the front court. ()