Chapter 560 Idealists Must Die!
"Bang bang, come on, saint!"
"Take the three points, Southampton Warriors!"
"Let them see how powerful we are!"
In the packed Norwich Carrow Road Stadium, the crowd was full of voices and the momentum was overwhelming.
The Canary's home atmosphere has always been quite good, 27,000 seats are always fully booked, and it can be regarded as one of the teams with the highest home attendance rate in the Premier League.
In the Premier League, there are not many teams that can fill the stadium. Apart from the four traditional giants of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, only Fulham, Norwich and Southampton, which has been upgraded this season, are full.
After Manchester City won the league championship last season, the average attendance rate this season has increased a lot, but it is only about 95%, and it will be less in European games and cup games.
Southampton is basically full every game, except for some maneuvering positions that must be left, all are sold out.
This is also related to the low ticket prices that the team has insisted on for the past three years.
If you include a series of ticket purchase costs and service costs such as insurance subsidized by the club, the ticket price of the Saints is the lowest in the Premier League.
Many people have disputed that Peter Kenyon did nothing during his time at Chelsea. As everyone knows, the biggest achievement of Mr. Baldhead and Ron Gourley during their time at Chelsea was to turn Stamford Bridge into one of the most popular home stadiums in the Premier League.
It is difficult to guarantee the attendance rate of some European competitions, but in the Premier League, Stamford Bridge is full.
More importantly, Chelsea's ticket price is relatively high among the twenty teams in the Premier League.
Compared to before Peter Kenyon came to Stamford Bridge, the attendance rate of the Blues in the Premier League is quite poor.
Manchester City has also begun to learn from Southampton in the past two years. On the one hand, they have kept ticket prices low in terms of ordinary tickets. Their ordinary tickets rank second to last in the Premier League, only higher than Southampton.
But on the other hand, the ticket price of the box has been greatly increased. After all, the people who enter the box are rich people.
Relatively speaking, Norwich's Carrow Road Stadium does not have many boxes and commercial seats, and they are basically ordinary seats. Ticket prices are considered to be in the upper middle of the Premier League, which is similar to the current team's results.
Yang Huan walked out of the lift room of the grandstand at Carrow Road Stadium,
Immediately, I was taken aback by the frenzied atmosphere here.
How similar Carrow Road is to Southampton's St Mary's!
"The fans who came to the away game with the team today are still working hard!"
Yang Huan smiled and looked towards the most remote corner of the opposite stadium, where hundreds of Southampton fans who traveled with the team to the away game were arranged.
No way, who made you the visiting team?
But even if they are at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and positions, the Canary fans are not only numerous and powerful, but also very fanatical, but the Saints fans still make their voices heard in this vast ocean.
At the very least, Yang Huan in the chairman's stand heard their shouts.
"Welcome to Carlo Road, Mr. Yang Huan!"
The owner of Norwich City in her seventies, Mrs. Delia Smith greeted Yang from a distance with a smile.
"Hello, Mrs. Smith!" Yang Huan greeted her with a smile and shook hands with her.
It's no secret that Delia Smith is more than just an avid Norwich fan, she's also the First Lady of British cuisine.
In the words of the newspaper, she has been doing one thing for the past thirty years, and that is to teach the British to cook!
But what is interesting is that this idol old lady who has influenced generations in the UK turned out to be a barber.
This also shows one thing again, from ancient times to the present, cross-border is the kingly way!
Delia Smith led Norwich's management team to welcome the Southampton management led by Yang Huan, and came to the center of the chairman's stand at Carrow Road Stadium. After sitting down as host and guest, they chatted.
"Mrs. Smith, you have to take your time in this game!"
Norwich is currently ranked thirteenth in the Premier League, which can be described as a ranking without desires.
Going up, there is no chance of reaching the qualification zone for European competitions; going down, there is no worry of relegation.
After hearing this, Delia Smith laughed like the Queen of England.
"Mr. Yang Huan, you should be more merciful at Southampton. Who doesn't know that your Southampton is in a frightening state recently? Don't be at our home court. It's better to embarrass us too much!"
Yang Huan just smiled and said nothing more.
It is impossible for Norwich not to try their best at their home court.
The reason why away games in the Premier League are so difficult is that every team has to try their best to please their home audience at home, so they have to show their highest level at home.
At the very least, you are not required to beat all your opponents, but even if you lose, you have to let your fans see that you have tried your best.
No fan will criticize a team that tried its best but still lost the game!
Furthermore, with the current sharing system of the Premier League, a league ranking is very valuable, how could Norwich give up lightly?
While the two were chatting without saying a word, the opponents walked out of the player channel under the leadership of the referee.
"Chris Hughton really did his best in this battle!"
Peter Kenyon, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, said quite worriedly.
Yang Huan nodded, it's no wonder he didn't try his best!
"This time, Chris Hughton changed his formation and changed to a 4-5-1 tactic. Arsenal, Manchester United and other teams died under this tactic before. Now, it's our turn!"
After hearing Peter Kenyon's words, Yang Huan shook his head and smiled, "That's not necessarily the case, Bielsa must be prepared!"
"Norwich have a very good squad as well, with Rudy in goal."
Peter Kenyon pointed to the players who came out below and introduced Yang Huan.
"The left back of the defense is the Spanish player Garrido, the center back is Bassoon and Michael Turner, and the right back is the Scottish player Whitaker. They are all Premier League players."
Garrido played for Real Sociedad before, and was introduced by Manchester City. He performed well for a time. After losing his main position, he went to Lazio, and came to Norwich in the summer of 2012 as a substitute.
Bassoon is also a well-known titan in the Premier League, with the excellent physical fitness of an African player. He has played for Ligue 1 Metz, Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves successively. He also came to Norwich last summer.
As for Michael Turner and Whitaker, they are also capable stars, and their level is not low.
"The midfielder's double midfielder combination is Bradley Johnson, who is famous in Leeds United, and the Norwegian black player Tetai. Pilkington is on the left and Snodgrass is on the right, occupying the core position in the center. It's Irish midfielder Jollahan."
These players are also powerful players in the Premier League, either Tetai, the main player in Ligue 1, or international players such as Snodgrass and Horahan.
"Standing at the front is England's native veteran, center Holt!"
Holt has been in the low-level leagues all year round, and has played for Nottingham Forest, Blackpool and other teams. After switching to Norwich, his scoring efficiency is amazing, helping Norwich complete a triple jump in three years.
Especially in the two seasons of playing in the League One and the Championship, he scored more than 20 goals.
Last season was his first season in the Premier League. In 36 games, he scored 15 goals.
But this season's efficiency has declined somewhat, but the threat is still not small.
Judging from this set of formations, Norwich's strength should not be underestimated. At least among the mid-range teams in the Premier League, they are still quite good, and the gap between players is not very great.
This type of team, plus a Chris Hughton, has seen Norwich improve a lot in overall control and defense this season, especially in their own home turf.
This is also the most difficult place for Canary!
Southampton also sent their main players to play in this game.
Goalkeeper Neuer, the defense is David Alaba, Harvey Martinez, Varane and Azpilicueta, and the three midfielders are Modric, Toni Kroos and Vidal.
The front trident is a combination of Neymar, Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale.
Judging from this starting lineup, Bielsa also paid enough attention to this game, and wanted to try his best to score three points at the Carrow Road Stadium!
With the whistle of the referee, the game officially kicked off.
Southampton took the lead in the away game.
As soon as the Saints kicked off the ball, they did not rush forward with big strides like in the past, but passed the ball back, slowly controlling the ball under their feet, and the entire defense line slowly moved forward.
Norwich is also afraid of Southampton's strong attacking lineup. The defense line does not dare to press up and adopts a retraction strategy. Bradley Johnson and Tetai's two defensive midfielders always occupy the front center of the defense line.
The Canary's best full-backs were able to jump in and participate in the offense, and they dared not use them anymore.
Just kidding, whether it's Garrido or Whitaker, facing Neymar and Gareth Bale, if they dare to think about attacking, then they would have died long ago!
"Norwich's players are not very different in strength, they are very average, but there is a common problem, that is, lack of speed!"
Peter Kenyon introduced with a smile.
Yang Huan nodded. Whether it is the veteran center Holt, or the two wingers Pilkington and Snodgrass, they generally lack speed. The biggest source of creativity in the Norwich midfielder is Hollahan. The Irish little quick spirit midfielder, but he is already thirty years old and can't get up.
In this way, the speed of Norwich's entire midfield can't get up.
Facing such a team, it stands to reason that Southampton should be the favorite.
Because the whole world knows that under the training of Bielsa, the Saints play high-defense defense and high-intensity midfield oppression and pressing. Isn't this the natural nemesis of Norwich?
But what is somewhat surprising is that Southampton played very evenly after the start.
Lost the ball, the first time high press and oppression, and strive to regain the ball in the shortest possible time.
After getting the ball, immediately slow down the rhythm and control the ball slowly.
"We even played Barcelona's style of play!" Yang Huan looked a little amused.
From a technical perspective, facing an opponent like Norwich, Southampton is definitely qualified to play possession.
Moreover, I still play with Norwich!
No, ten minutes after the opening, Southampton's ball possession rate was as high as 72%!
In other words, out of ten minutes, Southampton was in possession of the ball for more than seven minutes.
"It's rare to see Bielsa take it easy!" Yang Huan himself felt a little embarrassed.
After all, it’s stress!
If they want to reverse Manchester United, Southampton can no longer make mistakes, not even a single mistake!
In the remaining ten games, you must get 30 points!
This makes even Bielsa, who is crazy by nature and loves adventure, have to choose a safer tactic.
To put it bluntly, Southampton's tactics are very simple. I have an advantage in possession, and your overall defense has an advantage.
It doesn't matter, I will control it first and consume your physical energy. When your physical energy is exhausted to a certain level, you are done playing!
This is definitely not Bielsa's usual style of attacking after the opening!
It can only be said that the Argentine lunatic has also become more pragmatic!
Perhaps, he is indeed very, very eager to win a Premier League championship trophy!
At the very least, this can help him win more recognition and affirmation!
But when Yang Huan saw it, he felt very uncomfortable.
As the saying goes, the ideal is plump, but the reality is so damn skinny!
This is an age when idealists must die!
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