Chapter 938: One Weakness, Losing Everything

Around October 15th, the players returned to the club one after another. Sun Wu immediately asked Dr. Swale to conduct a comprehensive physical examination, and the conclusion was not optimistic.

Not only is the physical strength greatly depleted, but in addition to injured Luke Shaw and Shaqiri, and Griezmann who has a cold, Alderweireld and Lingard all need to rest for a week.

On October 17, at the pre-match press conference before Manchester United faced Arsenal at home, Sun Wu strongly criticized England coach Hodgson.

"Both Luke Shaw and Harry Kane are willing to play for the country, but the national team must also consider their physical condition." Sun Wu said aggressively: "It is unimaginable that Hodgson was forced to call up against Estonia and Lithuania. Enter Luke Shaw, who has been injured for more than a month and has yet to play a minute this season.”|

"And he was injured again before he even started playing. This is bad news for Manchester United. Is it good news for the England national team?"

"Maybe it's because Hodgson has little confidence in next year's European Cup... Anyway, he won't stay in this position for too long, so he doesn't need to care whether Luke Shaw's injury is serious or not!"

What is rare is that Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger strongly agrees with Sun Wu's statement, because Chamberlain, who performed very well in the first two months of this season, was seriously injured and left the field during the national team competition.

Seeing the two men on the stage accusing Hodgson in unison, the reporters below all wanted to laugh. Since Sun Wu landed in the Premier League, he has had countless friends and enemies, but the real enemies he has made in the head coaching industry are There is only one person, and that is Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger.

The two of them sang together so well, which was almost as weird as Wenger and Mourinho chatting and laughing.

But compared with Arsenal, which only lost Chamberlain and Giroud, Manchester United is a bit miserable. The absence of Shaqiri and Griezmann has greatly affected Sun Wu's formation.

Harry Kane is at the front, with Bernardo Silva behind him. In another position, Sun Wu chose Milner as a guest player... Although Milner is a winger, he is really a guest player.

…

Sun Wu returned to the locker room, and Mike Phelan once again emphasized the tactical deployment and details of the game. This game may not be so easy to play.

In the seventh round of the Premier League at the end of last month, Arsenal swept Chelsea with a 3-0 disparity at home. Sanchez scored twice and Chamberlain scored two goals.

After the game, Conte was criticized by countless people in the industry. Many people believed that the Italian coach would become the earliest head coach to be dismissed this season.

He will also be the shortest-lived head coach in the Abramovich era of Chelsea.

However, Sun Wu keenly discovered that in the 8th round of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Aston Villa, Conte made changes. When he failed to create a threat in the first half, he abandoned his favorite 4231. Choosing to use a 343 formation, Diego Costa scored twice to defeat Aston Villa.

Although there are many differences from the 343 in Sun Wu's impression, such as Cesc Fabregas starting the game, and Azpilicueta not playing as a central defender but playing on the right wing, Sun Wu knows that Conte has found the right wing. The right way.

But the Chelsea game is still early. Manchester United will not face Chelsea's 343 until the penultimate round of the first half of the season. Sun Wu's attention returns to this game.

Arsenal's style of play this season is relatively simple, but it is also full of strong teaching style. The difference is that with Xhaka's scheduling behind him, Giroud almost gave up shooting in front and made a ladder to let Sanchez and Sanchez behind him. Ozil climbs up.

Sun Wu knows Xhaka's strengths and weaknesses, but he wants to see it more clearly in a direct conversation.

Just 13 minutes into the game, Sun Wu saw it clearly... Yes, this is a defensive midfielder with a very strong kick.

In the 13th minute, Sun Wu picked up the ball in the middle of the midfield. After making a move to distribute the ball, he deceived Ramsey with a bold pass and drove straight in from the middle. Xhaka came up and put a tackle on the side, but did not touch the ball. But Sun Wu was shoveled over.

Wenger on the sidelines was a little anxious. This was the fourth yellow card Xhaka had received this season. The Swiss midfielder made too many defensive moves and the card rate was too high.

In the 25th minute, Sun Wu sent a cross pass to Lucas under Ramsey's close pressure. The latter could not break through Bellerin in front of him and could only pass the cross back to Sun Wu.

Sun Wu sent a rub pass with his left foot. Harry Kane, who ran out of the penalty area in a roundabout way, inserted into the left side of the penalty area and resisted Koscielny's inverted triangle pass behind him. Lingard, who advanced forward, kept the ball outside the penalty area. A direct volley, but unfortunately the ball flew high over the crossbar.

Glancing at Xhaka who was standing there watching the show, Sun Wu made another judgment. This was a midfielder with a big defensive hole.

Generally speaking, aggressiveness is directly related to the quality of defense.

There are two possibilities for a defensive midfielder to hit hard. One is that Kanter and Schneiderlin have strong confidence in their own judgment, and this is also one of their technical characteristics.

The other kind is like Xhaka, who is a desperate choice. The Swiss midfielder has no confidence. He is actually lackluster in defense, and his position selection and sense of responsibility are very poor.

so.

Although in the 36th minute of the first half, Lingard made a counter-attack and scored a goal. In the 42nd minute, Sanchez cut in from the left and curled the ball into the far corner to equalize the score.

But Sun Wu has full confidence in winning this game.

This is often the case. In a duel between experts, if one weakness is caught by the opponent, it is likely to lead to a total loss.

During the halftime break, Sun Wu made detailed tactical arrangements and asked Lingard and Milner to switch positions. This temporary adjustment surprised the coaching staff. This was not the plan discussed before the game.

But soon, Rolf and Mike Phelan were convinced, Best is Best!

Only 5 minutes into the second half, Manchester United exceeded the score again.

"Best went to the side... lost the ball... Best counterattacked... passed the ball straight!"

"Oh, Bellerin is so fast...Lucas protects the ball...Lingard!"

"Inverted triangle return...Milner!"

"Shoot!"

"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!"

"It's so easy, so easy!" Mortensen shouted: "It's unbelievable that no one blocked Milner's shot outside the penalty area!"

In the technical aspect of filling in, even Ramsey, who was born as an attacking midfielder, was better than Xhaka, but Ramsey was taken away by Sun Wu who was pulling wide... Xhaka was standing less than three meters away from Milner. , watching helplessly as Milner glanced at Cech's position, then aimed at the back post and shot.

Cech failed to make a save. He was transferred from Chelsea on August 31 and his performance was as stable as ever, but he could do nothing for this goal.

Wenger on the sidelines shook his hand, with a bad feeling in his heart. So far, he has never won or even drawn against Sun Wu. Arsenal were eliminated from the FA Cup in the previous two seasons. Manchester United, but Sun Wu didn't even make the squad, let alone playing.

Seeing that the deployment during the halftime break had a very good effect, the Manchester United players were all happy. Sun Wu directed the team to press hard and started a crazy high-level press.

In the 55th minute, Bernardo Silva received Sun Wu's diagonal pass into the small penalty area and then passed back in an inverted triangle. Harry Kane, who deliberately pulled out, pushed the far corner with his arch at the first time to expand the score to 3 Than 1.

In the 58th minute, Bernardo Silva sent an inverted triangle backpass from the same position. This time Xhaka did not lose his position, and Ramsey obviously noticed it, but their clearance ball fell at the feet of Sun Wu.

"Ramsey makes a clearance...Best gets the ball."

"Oooh...it's a shot!"

"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!"

"Amazing observation, Cech didn't expect it at all!"

Faced with Ramsey's reluctant clearance, Sun Wu waved his right foot directly in the right corner of the penalty area. It seemed to be a cross, but the ball flew in a wide arc and went into the far corner. Cech still couldn't do it this time. Make a save.

Wenger walked around anxiously and helplessly on the sidelines. He knew that Xhaka's defensive quality was not high, but he did not expect that in just ten minutes, Manchester United would seize this weakness and win three games in a row.

Substitute?

But if Xhaka is replaced, Arsenal's organization will have problems.

But Wenger soon became quiet.

In the 63rd minute, Bernardo Silva and Sun Wu changed positions. The Portuguese sent a penetrating diagonal ball in the middle. Coleman advanced at high speed and entered the penalty area to pass back.

Before Sun Wu could catch the ball and make his next move, Xhaka made a reckless flying tackle and knocked Sun Wu down with the ball and others.

This was an undisputed penalty, and the referee also took out a yellow card and sent Xhaka off the field.

Milner successfully scored a penalty kick, 5-1, and Arsenal could never recover.

Sun Wu also directed the team's formation to retreat, and then replaced himself with Fletcher.

Sun Wu felt that he did not kill everyone...but Wenger may not think so. After the game, he did not even accept Sun Wu's invitation to have a glass of red wine.