Chapter 977 Something Really Happened!
At the beginning of August every year, the Premier League begins to gear up.
As a skirmish, the Community Shield has also become a big stage for everyone to observe the preparations of the defending Premier League champions and the defending FA Cup champions. Therefore, every season, this charity event held at Wembley Stadium is very important. is compelling.
This season is clearly more so.
The reason is simple, there is one more world number one superstar in the Saints, Leo Messi!
After switching from Barcelona to Southampton at a sky-high price of 150 million, Messi has never played for the Saints except in the game against Tottenham Hotspur in China, after playing for 45 minutes .
This has also kept the outside world full of speculation, what happened to Messi?
Although Southampton officials and Messi's agent's father have clarified many times that Messi has no problem and just needs to rest and recover, the media doesn't believe it at all, and the fans are full of worry.
In the end, when will Messi play for Southampton?
This has also become the focus of attention of fans all over the world, and even the bookmaker William Hill has offered odds.
Interestingly, the one with the highest odds is the Community Shield!
But when the rosters of the two teams were announced, those fans who bet on Messi's appearance in the Community Shield were blinded.
In Ancelotti's big list, he didn't see Messi at all!
Ever since, the media once again hyped, and there were even rumors that Ancelotti was unhappy with Messi and that the two were at odds.
After all, Ancelotti landed in the Premier League again and coached Southampton's first official game. The outside world also paid considerable attention. They all wanted to see if Ancelotti could continue the glory of Bielsa's period .
Southampton officials have also paid enough attention to it. Not to mention Yang Huan's presence in person, Ron Gurley, Nicola Cortez and other core executives have also gathered at Wembley Stadium. Even the former coach, Bielsa, who is now the Saints' football consultant, also appeared in the stands, giving Ancelotti enough support.
Both the Saints and Arsenal formed a formation similar to four-two-three-one in this game.
Southampton's starting lineup is goalkeeper Neuer, and the defense is Luke Shaw, Laporte, Varane and Danilo.
David Alaba suffered a slight injury during the summer training camp,
Although he has recovered, Luke Shaw performed eye-catchingly during his recovery period, so Ancelotti continued to arrange him to start this game.
Two late midfielders, Toni Kroos occupies one of the positions, and Fabregas is his partner, but it is not clear how the two will divide the work.
For the four attackers in the frontcourt, Suarez is in the front, Hazard and Sanchez are on the two wings, and Pogba is in the middle of the four-two-three-one-mile three.
Di Maria extended his vacation because of participating in the America's Cup, returned to the team late, and has not started yet.
Arsenal's starting lineup is also a four-two-three formation, the goalkeeper is Cech, the defense is Monreal, Koscielny, Mertesacker and Bellerin, and the two midfielders are Flamini and Ramsey.
The three players in the frontcourt are Walcott, Ozil and Chamberlain, and the forward striker is Higuain.
When Yang Huan was in the stands, he got the starting rosters of both teams, glanced at them, and handed them over to Bielsa who was sitting next to him. The Argentine lunatic saw it and immediately shook his head.
"Arsenal is out of the game!"
Yang Huan also nodded, "If the gunman can't stand up, there's nothing to talk about!"
Ramsey can run, but he's not the type to play as a defensive midfielder, and Flamini is also unsatisfactory.
"Arsenal's midfield configuration is mainly to play control. Once they encounter strong pressing and oppression, they will not be able to turn immediately, and the entire midfield will stop. This is a flaw, and there is no cure! "
Bielsa sighed regretfully, "I don't understand. The waist has been paralyzed for so many years. Why didn't Wenger think about changing it? If the midfielder is not strengthened this season, the top four are still hopeless." !"
One of the important reasons why Arsenal missed the top four last season and lost to Manchester United in the league ranking was the shortcomings of the midfielder position, which caused the team to lose points at critical moments.
This is no longer a problem of one or two seasons, but a chronic disease of Arsenal.
But Wenger doesn't seem to have thought about adding reinforcements.
After the opening, the development of the situation of the game was not unexpected.
They are all four-two-three-one, and the tactics are basically the same. After the opening, they all adopt the frontcourt oppressive tactics.
The difference is that the Saints' overall defensive organization is more rigorous, starting from the frontcourt to exert pressure, restricting the Gunners' offensive organization, and then adopting an overall retreat, always maintaining a compact and meticulous tactical formation.
Toni Kroos sits in the midfielder and is becoming more and more general.
Although he is not the kind of ferocious beast-type defensive player, but he is commanding like a midfielder.
In recent years, with the growth and progress in Southampton, he has made rapid progress in terms of position sense, defensive awareness and skills, and he has cooperated with the two central defenders Laporte and Varane behind him.
When pressing forward and when returning to defense, he has done it quite well.
Cesc Fabregas assisted Toni Kroos, and the two were always inseparable, inseparable, like a shadow.
In the face of Southampton's tight defense, Arsenal's offense seems to lack effective threats.
In addition to Walcott's still vigorous performance on the left, the Gunners' entire positional warfare attack was almost completely paralyzed.
Higuain was alone in the front, almost in a helpless situation.
Not to mention that he couldn't get the ball, even if he got the ball, he found that he had no chance to shoot at all.
On the other hand, Southampton looked very vigorous after the opening, and their state was well adjusted.
From the beginning of the game, the Saints frequently created threats, especially the attacking lineup composed of four players in the frontcourt, which put great pressure on Arsenal.
When the game progressed to the thirteenth minute, Arsenal finally paid the price for their frequent mistakes.
The two defensive midfielders Flamini and Ramsey were attracted by Suarez, Hazard and Sanchez, and returned to the defense in the penalty area.
After Saints left-back Luke Shaw advanced, he made a cross from the left and wanted to pass the ball into the penalty area, but Gunners defender Mertesacker grabbed the first spot and pushed the ball out.
But when the ball fell to the front of the penalty area, Pogba volleyed vigorously without defense, piercing Arsenal's goal and opening the scoring for Southampton!
The French midfielder scored his first goal of the new season for Southampton!
Afterwards, the morale of the saints was like a rainbow, and they appeared to be invincible.
On the other hand, Arsenal began to be a little confused after conceding the ball.
When Walcott on the left was facing Danilo's pressure, he passed the ball to Ozil and was intercepted by Varane who suddenly rushed up.
The French central defender did not pass the ball to his teammates after stealing the ball. Instead, he took the ball two steps forward, and then made a long pass with his foot on the ground, passing the ball to the frontcourt.
After Suarez blocked Koscielny with his body, he passed the ball behind the defense line, then turned around and went straight to the goal.
Sanchez got rid of Monrell, and after receiving the ball, he quickly counterattacked to Arsenal's big penalty area. Facing Koscielny, he made a deft one-on-one breakthrough.
Suarez rushed to the front of the small penalty area, faced the incoming ball, and shot the ball into the goal guarded by Petr Cech with ease, rewriting the score to 2-0!
At this point in the game, it can almost be said that the outcome has been decided.
Especially when the game was nearing the end of the first half, it was Pogba who was at the front of the penalty area. After receiving a cross from Hazard, he took a long shot and was pushed out of the crossbar by Petr Cech, earning a goal for the Saints. corner kick.
Toni Kroos took a corner kick. In the penalty area, Varane cooperated with his teammates in a flexible movement, ran out of the gap, and easily scored with a header without marking, 3-0!
This time, Arsenal's death sentence was completely pronounced!
In the first half, the Saints led by three goals. This advantage is indeed too great!
In the stands, the Saints fans were all excited and cheering.
However, in the eyes of Yang Huan and others, it was a different feeling.
"If Arsenal are in the current state, they don't even want to enter the top four in the league!"
Frankly speaking, Yang Huan was really disappointed with Arsenal's combat effectiveness.
"Yes, the midfielder lacks a stable midfielder and the frontcourt lacks a strong attacking point. It is difficult for such a gunner to make a difference in the Premier League." Bielsa also agreed with Yang Huan's judgment.
But soon, he said: "I heard that Arsenal recently wanted to introduce Leverkusen's Lars Bender. If this player joins, he should be able to improve the thickness of the Gunners' midfield."
"As for the offense in the frontcourt, the Marseille winger Andre Ayew Wenger is looking at is also quite good."
Yang Huan smiled slightly. Wenger has always been cautious, spends little money on big things, and is very stingy.
However, under his management, Arsenal's overall strength has maintained good.
After a 15-minute break at halftime, the second half resumed.
After Southampton took a three-goal lead, Ancelotti made successive substitutions in the second half, bringing in Kovacic, Oscar, Di Maria, Martial, Harry Kane and Chambers, among others. players.
Arsenal made adjustments to the situation in the first half, hoping that the team's performance can improve.
But in fact, after the substitution, although the Gunners' performance rarely improved, they were unable to reverse the situation.
In the final analysis, it still depends on the overall strength on the court. Wenger can't solve the team's weakness in the midfielder, and naturally there is no way to reverse the situation.
In the 75th minute of the second half, after receiving a pass from Kovacic, Oscar passed the ball behind Arsenal's defense line. With a push after the ball, he pierced Cech's goal again and locked the score at four to zero.
This is also the last goal of the game!
Not long after the goal was scored, the referee officially blew the whistle for the end of the game.
Although the Community Shield is not an official Premier League, when the league is about to start, the Gunners lost this game with such a humiliating score, which undoubtedly cast a shadow on the league.
And Southampton's strength was undoubtedly revealed in this game.
When Yang Huan stood up and applauded for the team after the game, along with all Saints fans, he saw Prince William coming from the royal box and heading straight for Yang Huan.
The two people following him were the mayor of Southampton, Terry Matthews, and the other was often teased by Yang Huan, the strange mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
The three came at the same time, and Yang Huan immediately realized that there might be something wrong.
If it's an ordinary trivial matter, I can't bother these three.
"Haha, Master Huan, congratulations, the Saints have won a great victory!" Boris Johnson laughed and said with his unique voice from a distance.
In fact, it is better to shout than to talk.
This guy is also a loud voice.
"Thank you!" Yang Huan shook hands with Boris Johnson politely.
He hadn't forgotten that Boris Johnson had sent him a message.
However, in the past few years, Yang Huan has given Boris Johnson a lot of benefits, such as the Northumberland plan in northern London. For the mayor of London, this is definitely a glorious achievement that can only be met but not sought after.
"Master Huan, let's sit in the VIP lounge?" Prince William invited with a smile.
Yang Huan raised his eyebrows, nodded and hummed.
It seems that something really happened!
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