Chapter 164 Wenger: Who Wouldn't Want to Sign Li Ang? [Subscribe! ]

"How did Manchester City win the championship last year? Arsenal and Manchester United were able to advance from the group stage steadily. Chelsea was squeezed to third place in the group because they scored one less goal at Shakhtar Donetsk's home ground. At least they still have the Europa League to play."

"You can just mock Manchester City for being eliminated at the bottom of the group. Why are you mocking them in a roundabout way? Are you unlucky? Manchester City's performance in the Champions League last season was not bad. They were eliminated by only one point behind Naples, so they were eliminated regretfully?"

"I see, so this should be the level of the first place in the Premier League?"

"You look very unconvinced, right? Unfortunately, no matter how unconvinced you are, no matter how badly Manchester City plays in the Champions League this season, it is still the new Premier League champion!"

"The case has been solved, brothers. This is a Manchester United fan."

"What's wrong with me being a Manchester United fan? Which Premier League fan doesn't laugh at Manchester City now?"

Before the Champions League knockout round was about to start, fans from various countries began to discuss the possible outcome of the first round of confrontation online.

In England, Manchester City, which was eliminated at the bottom two months ago, naturally became the target of ridicule again.

In the past, when this situation occurred, Arsenal fans would naturally join in to help.

But this time, they can no longer watch Manchester City's jokes.

On the evening of February 13, they will face Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium.

When they think of the opponent being the six-time champion Real Madrid, Arsenal fans only feel that this year's Champions League journey has come to an end.

Fans from all over Europe are more or less unable to watch it, and they have complained about UEFA's draw arrangement.

Ajax and Real Madrid were in the same group for three consecutive years, and Arsenal faced strong teams in the first round of the knockout round for three consecutive years.

If you have to talk about luck, it can't be such bad luck for three consecutive years, right?

What is behind the scenes, the fans are too lazy to complain anymore.

From a neutral perspective, they are basically more willing to cheer for Arsenal.

Barcelona, ​​Milan and Real Madrid have been facing each other in turn for three years. If Arsenal draws Bayern next year, everyone will have to curse UEFA for Arsenal.

Don't bully honest people like this!

On the afternoon of February 9, the 26th round of the Premier League started, and Arsenal's players looked more serious than usual.

After 90 minutes of fierce battle, they narrowly defeated the Black Cat Sunderland 2-1 at the Luz Stadium.

And a few hours later, at the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Real Madrid also ushered in the 23rd round of the La Liga with Sevilla.

Many Arsenal fans chose to watch Real Madrid's game on time at this time.

After a full week of rest, Mourinho waved his hand and directly arranged a full lineup.

Without the invasion of injuries, Coentrao and Arbeloa finally appeared in the Bernabeu together for a long time.

Seeing the star-studded Real Madrid players stepping onto the turf, Arsenal fans quickly entered the scene.

It was as if the team standing beside the Real Madrid players was not Sevilla, but their beloved Arsenal.

At this moment, Li Ang, with his hands behind his back, was very relaxed. Facing the sweep of the live camera, he smiled and nodded as usual.

This scene is already commonplace for La Liga fans.

Li Ang is like this. No matter whether he plays against a strong or weak team, he will smile at the camera before the game, and his mentality is quite good.

But Arsenal fans don't know.

When they saw Li Ang smiling and nodding at the camera, they subconsciously felt their hearts tighten.

After the game officially started, watching Li Ang take the ball at the beginning and constantly cooperate with his teammates to attack Sevilla's midfield and backcourt defense.

Arsenal fans felt even more dry mouth.

What is Arsenal most afraid of now? The most fearful thing is to meet a team that is strong in the middle and has a strong ability to disrupt the game!

If you put it at the beginning of the century, Arsenal had Vieira, then they were not afraid of opponents and them forcing the middle.

Put it four or five years ago, Arsenal had Alexander Song and Fabregas, and they were not afraid of fighting with opponents in the middle.

But now.

With Diaby injured again and unable to be relied on, the toughest defender in Arsenal's midfield is Arteta

Sevilla's current double defensive midfielder combination, Kondogbia and Medel, is it tougher than Arteta alone?

But these two plus a Maduro who was defending behind could not withstand the repeated attacks of Li Ang and Essien!

That guy, two physical monsters broke up Sevilla's central defense in the first half!

Real Madrid did not use the offensive tactics of inserting from the wing, relying on Li Ang and Essien's advancement and distribution to launch a steady stream of offensives.

Ronaldo and Benzema showed a nearly perfect finishing efficiency after having enough rest.

The two of them only took seven shots in the first half, six of which hit the goal frame, and scored three goals!

When the first half of the game ended, many Arsenal fans chose to turn off the TV uncomfortably.

I dare not watch it anymore. Real Madrid's state is too terrible!

There are still a few Arsenal fans who watched the entire match between Real Madrid and Sevilla.

After Real Madrid beat Sevilla by five goals, these Arsenal fans immediately summarized and spoke online.

It would have been better if they hadn't summarized it. Once they summarized it, they found that Real Madrid now has too many players that need to be restricted!

After roughly understanding Real Madrid's defensive system and looking at their own attacking line, Arsenal fans can only say.

It feels very frustrated.

Even though the game hasn't been played yet, they have already anticipated the passivity on the scene.

This slightly pessimistic view and emotion began to spread rapidly on the Internet, but more Arsenal fans stopped similar speeches from continuing to appear.

After all, football is round, and no matter how difficult it is, they have reason to believe that their team has the possibility of creating miracles.

As the first Premier League team to appear in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Arsenal attracted the attention of all English sports media.

On the afternoon of February 12, all Real Madrid players arrived in London one day in advance to visit the stadium.

Almost at the same time, Wenger and Arteta attended the pre-match press conference.

The British and Spanish media reporters at the scene asked many questions, and Wenger selectively answered some of them.

However, when evaluating the young players of both sides, Wenger generously praised Mourinho's move to promote young players in Real Madrid in the past few seasons.

"In fact, these young players have their own characteristics. We can't force them together to compare who is better and who is worse. This is a wrong way of comparison.

In contrast, I prefer to use the terms 'suitable' and 'not suitable' to evaluate the help these young players can provide to a team.

Jose has done a good job in this regard. He has promoted many suitable young guys to the Real Madrid first team in the past two years. I have to congratulate him on his work.

But you are still comparing Li Ang with these young guys. I think it is a bit unfair.

Gentlemen, Li Ang has been selected for the 23 candidates for the Ballon d'Or. Can he still be regarded as a young player without much experience?"

Wenger's praise and optimism for Li Ang in his words were not concealed at all.

Immediately, a British media reporter made a joke about "Wenger's difference in signing" and asked Wenger whether Arsenal had made an offer for Li Ang in the past few years.

Wenger left an intriguing answer and left the press conference with Arteta.

"Who wouldn't want to sign Li Ang in the summer of 2011?"

Such an answer is very interesting, and the reporters on the scene quickly wrote a hot press release because of this sentence.

In the evening of the same day, after the Real Madrid players finished their visit, they saw the relevant hot news on the bus back to the hotel.

Faced with the jokes and inquiries from his teammates, Li Ang could only helplessly say that he had not received any contact calls from Arsenal.

"Mr. Wenger may have just said that, don't think too much"

But at this time, Mourinho, who was resting with his eyes closed in the front row of the bus, raised his mouth slightly.

In the summer of 2011, when Li Ang returned to Real Madrid from Milan after his loan, he did receive several offers for Li Ang from the other three major league teams.

Among them, Manchester United was the most sincere. Sir Alex Ferguson even called him personally and asked for Li Ang by name. For this reason, Manchester United could offer 18 million euros.

At that time, this was already a fair and sincere offer.

Li Ang performed well in both La Liga and Serie A, and won the double championship in Serie A that season. He is truly a leader among the young generation of players.

But if Real Madrid wanted to sell Li Ang at that time, most of the clubs that were interested would definitely not offer 18 million.

Ferguson is really bold.

Unfortunately, Mourinho said that he would not sell him at all, even with a buyback clause, and Sir Alex had no choice but to give up.

Among the clubs that offered less than Manchester United at that time, there was actually Arsenal.

Wenger also called Mourinho personally.

Arsenal's transfer budget was not enough, and Wenger could only offer 15 million euros at most.

But he proposed to complete the deal by paying the transfer fee in one lump sum and adding players.

Mourinho naturally refused again firmly in the end, but he was also surprised.

It was rare that Wenger, who had always been stingy, could offer this price for Li Ang, who had just played.

At that time, Ferguson and Wenger did not let the club make a formal offer after being rejected by Mourinho, so there was no related transfer rumors later.

Li Ang naturally did not know that he had already attracted the attention of many famous coaches in the summer of 2011, but Mourinho knew it clearly.

At that time, it was because so many colleagues were optimistic about Li Ang that he was extremely determined to sell a certain attacking midfielder who had a grudge against Li Ang.

Now it seems that not only his vision is accurate, but the vision of other famous coaches is also top-notch.

If Li Ang had really been sold to Manchester United, even with a buyback clause, Mourinho would have regretted it now.

The biggest impact and touch this incident brought to Mourinho was that he had more patience with young players.

Not only in terms of talent, but also in terms of growth.

Even when dealing with young players who were not optimistic at the beginning, such as Vasquez who was just promoted to the first team, Mourinho learned to listen to more people's opinions.

For example, Mourinho listened to the analysis and suggestions of Castilla coach and Karanka.

So he tried to give Vasquez more playing opportunities, and finally successfully discovered Vasquez's adaptability advantage in multiple positions.

The smooth growth and integration of other Castilla youth players into the team have benefited Mourinho a lot in training young players.

His will is still firm, and his persistence in his own ideas is still strong, but his training and approach to people are no longer so "sharp".

He has more patience and tolerance for the growth of young players.

This has also created the "new" Mourinho, who is now gaining more and more popularity among the younger generation of players.

Of course, Mourinho's sincere gratitude to Li Ang for this is definitely not something he can easily express, because it is too...

But it is not a big problem to help Li Ang out.

After talking about Arsenal's offer in the summer of 2011, the attention of the Real Madrid players in the car was quickly attracted by Mourinho.

Li Ang himself was also confused.

"It turns out that I am really a member of the 'temperature difference sign'!"

After the surprised thought flashed through his mind, Li Ang also inexplicably felt a little happy in his heart.

After all, isn't there such a saying widely circulated in the football world?

Players who have not been selected for the "temperature difference sign" list, are they also embarrassed to say that they are the top stars of the world?

Because Li Ang, who was happy all night because of this, did not complain at all when facing the rain and fog in London the next morning.

If it only rains, Li Ang is actually quite adaptable to this climate.

After all, his hometown of Sichuan Province is also like this. There is no heating in winter, and people often do outdoor activities, so damp and cold are inevitable.

Alonso and Ronaldo, who played in the Premier League before, are also fine.

However, most of the other Real Madrid players are somewhat uncomfortable in this weather.

Fortunately, Mourinho, who had experience before, specifically asked the club staff to rent an indoor training ground, so the last training on the morning of the game was completed normally.

After the final preparations, the Real Madrid players left a series of relaxed training and hotel life photos taken by the club's accompanying staff.

When these photos were circulated on the Internet with the release of Real Madrid's official Twitter, Premier League fans had to admit it.

The atmosphere in Real Madrid's team before the game was quite good, and the players were also very relaxed.

These photos that look quite confident and relaxed can bring more pressure to the entire Premier League than some serious preparations!

This is the self-confidence of the top teams in today's football world.

At six o'clock in the evening, all Real Madrid players took a bus to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal's players also started to set off at about this time, and as if it was a signal, sports media reporters in London set out one after another.

When the buses on both sides arrived one after another, many media reporters from different countries had gathered outside the Emirates Stadium.

Of course, no players would be interviewed outside the stadium at this time, and these reporters just wanted to take some materials for subsequent news reports.

Real Madrid's bus continued to drive into the stadium, and Li Ang lifted a corner of the curtain inside the window.

After seeing the reporters outside, he smiled and made a "V" gesture.

This attracted the enthusiastic shooting of reporters on the scene.

Perhaps Li Ang just wanted to say hello, but this did not prevent reporters from opening up their rich imagination.

In just less than ten minutes, a fresh report with pictures was published on the Internet by Sky Sports:

"Li Ang's "V" Declaration: We are here to win!"