Chapter 274 Faith

May 15, morning, sunny.

The moment he walked out of the house, he saw the rare blue sky in the UK, and even his mood improved a lot.

Wenger looked east, raised his head, squinted his eyes, and looked at the rising sun in the east. His smiling face was full of wrinkles of time.

In the past season, he felt the pressure he hadn't felt for a long time. The pressure brought to him and Arsenal by Ye Qiu and Chelsea even exceeded the pressure created by Manchester United's Jedi counterattack.

Before eating breakfast every morning, in addition to watching TV news, he would read the newspaper of the day and pay attention to Chelsea's movements. When he returned to the Colney training base, the first thing he did was to ask his assistant Pat Rice what the bastard did yesterday?

Sometimes when he thought about it, he felt that he didn't look like the head coach of Arsenal at all, but like a loyal fan who was crazy about Chelsea and Ye Qiu. As long as Ye Qiu and Chelsea's every move, he would pay attention to it and become nervous. His whole life and team preparations revolved around each other.

Such a life is too tiring, so tiring that it can almost crush a person.

"Dad!" Daughter Lily ran out of the house and hugged Wenger's legs directly. She could only reach Wenger's waist now. She was a very lively and cute little girl. Her sister was still eating breakfast under the strict supervision of his wife, but she looked out the window eagerly, like a free-flying bird, full of envy.

"My mother and I want to watch your game!" Lily said with expectation.

Wenger squatted down kindly, "What's so good about the game?" He felt that his chances of winning today were not very high.

"But, Sister Huang Chu is going to watch it!" Lily pouted innocently.

Wenger had seen Huang Chu several times. A very beautiful oriental woman, Ye Qiu's wife, lived next door and had a good relationship with his wife. It was said that she was a doctor who graduated from Cambridge University. Today was the last round of the Premier League. There was no doubt that she would go to watch her husband's game.

"Lily, good boy, aren't we going to the park in the afternoon?" The wife walked out of the house to the door and helped Wenger out when he was embarrassed, which also earned Wenger a grateful smile.

To be honest, he didn't want his daughter to see him lose the entire season. It was not only cruel to the child, but also to him as a father, even more cruel, even though he had already been mentally prepared for all this.

"Humph!" Lily wrinkled her nose, snorted at her father, and ran back home quickly.

Wenger walked to the garage and got into the car. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and be rational.

For him, winning this afternoon's game was a sure thing, but after defeating the opponent, the possibility of Arsenal reversing Chelsea to win the championship was very slim, because Ye Qiu could not let his team make a mistake in the last game.

But no matter what, Wenger must do his best to play this game well, not just for himself.

Sometimes, you must believe that when you feel irritable and unhappy, all the unsatisfactory things will rush towards you, just like Wenger now. He would never have thought that the car that was still driving home well last night would break down early this morning and could not start no matter how hard he tried.

Wenger slapped the steering wheel hard in the car, got out of the car angrily, slammed the door, and walked directly to the gate, because his wife had to take care of the children and couldn't send him to work. If nothing unexpected happened, David Dunn should have gone to Colney, so he had only one way now, to take a taxi.

Just as Wenger walked out of the house and picked up his phone angrily to make a call, a car drove out from the opposite side. The red Ferrari looked very dazzling in the golden sunlight, but in Wenger's eyes, it was dazzling.

"What's wrong?" Ye Qiu lowered his head and looked out of the car window. Looking through the gate, the car in the garage was still there, which made Ye Qiu smile, "Broken?"

I don't know how annoying that expression is. This damn guy, why didn't his car break down?

"Oh, it's almost time!" Ye Qiu looked at Hamilton on his left wrist and curled his lips. Although there was no training this morning, the team still had to gather. Usually the day before the game, the players either stayed in the hotel or in the training base, but the head coach must gather them on time the next morning.

Wenger certainly knew what Ye Qiu meant. In London, taxis, especially for people like them who live in remote towns, usually require calling the taxi company in advance. They will arrange nearby cars to pick them up, but it often takes a lot of time to go back and forth.

"Is it on my way?" Ye Qiu invited with a smile.

Wenger hesitated for a while, and finally got into Ye Qiu's Ferrari. He was still worried that with his 1.93-meter height, it would be awkward to sit in this small Ferrari, but he didn't expect that he felt completely different after sitting in it, very comfortable, especially the set of seats specially made for Ye Qiu.

"You should change that car too. It breaks down at the critical moment and is unreliable!" Ye Qiu stepped lightly on the accelerator, and the car rushed out directly, accelerating very quickly, giving people a very strong feeling of being pushed on the back.

Wenger didn't respond to Ye Qiu's pun-laden words. He just tilted his head and looked out the window blankly, as if the scenery that was constantly flying back attracted him more, giving him a sense of time. The illusion of going back also made him involuntarily recall a very distant thing.

For a long time, they didn't speak, and the carriage was filled with an embarrassment called silence.

"Do you know why I have refused to leave Arsenal?" Finally, Wenger asked softly.

Ye Qiu did not expect that Wenger would take the initiative to talk to him and shook his head.

"I still remember it very clearly. I came to Arsenal at the end of September 1996. Arsenal was very strong at that time and had a good start. After I came, starting from October, the team played 4 games. In the Premier League, we had 2 wins and 2 draws. Before that, Arsenal’s record was 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Then we met Manchester United in the second game in November.”

Wenger speaks very slowly and softly, which makes people feel comfortable, as if he is listening to the radio.

"That game was raining, very wet and slippery. We did a good job throughout the game, but we showed a flaw. In the 63rd minute, our left back Winterbourne returned to the penalty area. When participating in defense, he blocked Andy Cole's shot into his own goal. "

Ye Qiu drove the car and looked ahead, but he listened very carefully to Wenger's words. He noticed one thing. Wenger described all the time and data very clearly and in detail. There was only one explanation, and that was this matter. The impression on him was very deep.

It was so profound that he still remembered it so clearly from what happened in 1996 to this day in 2004.

"My feeling at the time was, I lost!" When he said this, Wenger sneered, but it was not directed at anyone, but at his own extremely naive thoughts at the time, "Losing, for me It’s not unfamiliar. On the contrary, it’s not like I’ve never lost before. Who’s a professional coach who hasn’t lost before?”

"At that time, I felt unwilling to accept this game. I felt that I had lost unjustly, but it didn't matter if I lost. Anyway, it was over and there was no way to recover it. But the next day, a fan ran up to my door. In front of me, he cried and shouted to me that his cousin secretly hid and committed suicide after the team lost to Manchester United!"

When Ye Qiu heard this, he couldn't help being a little surprised. His hands shook and he turned his head to look at Wenger. His eyes were filled with disbelief. Wenger also looked at him and smiled, "I was The expression was exactly the same as yours now. I didn’t believe it at all, so I replied, stop joking, and then I left.”

"But that afternoon, David Dunn said to me, hey, leave some time for me tomorrow afternoon, let's go to the funeral of a fan. I asked, what fan? He told me that we lost to a fan last night. After Manchester United, a young fan committed suicide, and he was still a student and had been an Arsenal fan since he was a child. "

Taking a deep breath, Wenger forced out a slightly forced smile, "I didn't know until I got there that it was true. Someone really would commit suicide just because we lost a game. Someone really would." Because we lost a game and were willing to give up our lives, I didn’t understand, why?”

"David Dunn said to me, remember, mate, anywhere else in the world, football might just be a game, an entertainment, even a show, but in England, in England, football is a Belief!"

"Take a good look at the team emblem on your chest. It is a belief that countless people have put their efforts into over the past 100 years. Don't let it down or waste it, because you will never know that in one thought of yours, It may be just losing a game to you, but to a person or a family, it is losing a life, destroying a family, and creating a tragedy.”

Ye Qiu listened silently. He didn't know what kind of views he should express on this kind of thing. He couldn't understand it more.

Of course, many people may think that the person who committed suicide is a fool who committed suicide for a ball for no reason. But do people with this idea put themselves in the shoes of the person who committed suicide? Perhaps, he will feel that his dreams and beliefs have completely collapsed because of this game, which makes him feel desperate!

Ye Qiu is not encouraging this kind of suicidal behavior. He even doesn't want the same tragedy to happen again. He just feels that maybe in this world, there are not many fans who would commit suicide because of a game.

Faith, after coming to England, Ye Qiu heard a lot about this word. Many people said that football is the faith of English people. If this is true, that fan is the best portrayal.

"Many people think that I am eager to succeed, and I have never denied this, but I will not leave Arsenal because I hope to use my power to make this team and this belief continue to be at Arsenal. Passing it on among the fans is more valuable than me winning the championship.”

"And in order to do this, I will go all out in every game and not leave myself any regrets or excuses!"

The last sentence is what Wenger wants to say, right?

"Then I'm better than you!" Ye Qiu said with a slight smile, "I never like to lose, and I always try my best to do things. I never do anything that makes me regret, including Today’s game!”

Wenger didn't say anything more and continued to look out his window. He was never a good talker, especially to Ye Qiu. He felt angry if he said a few more words. But for some reason, he said a lot to Ye Qiu today, even many things he wouldn't say to others before.

Perhaps, in his heart, even he himself admitted that, apart from the complicated emotions of his opponent, Ye Qiu was really a good person, a good neighbor, and a good friend. Of course, he was a very bad opponent. It was bad luck to meet him!

Ye Qiu also had some thoughts in his heart. He used to think that Wenger was very stubborn and rigid, but now it seemed that it was not the case. At least he could hear that Wenger planned to be loyal to Arsenal for life, and this was more or less influenced by the fan who committed suicide that year, which made Wenger feel that he owed this team and this group of fans something.

But this is a crazy world. Who could have imagined that in a few years, Arsenal would cut back on spending to build a new stadium, and Wenger's coaching performance would deteriorate. On the contrary, with the strong rise of teams such as Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal's status as the Premier League duo was challenged, and Wenger was criticized by Arsenal fans.

Whether Wenger was wrong or not, Ye Qiu couldn't say, because nothing in this world is necessarily wrong.

He just felt that a head coach who could not bring results to the team and satisfy the fans, no matter how well he did, the fans might not appreciate it or understand it, because with the changes of the times and the development of the future, many things are rapidly depreciating, including a person's faith!

But after sending Wenger to the hotel, Ye Qiu kept thinking about this problem on the way back to the hotel where Chelsea was stationed.

In the past, he was always busy. After coming to London, he spent almost every day in a busy state. He never really experienced the feelings of the fans, nor did he really experience the faith of the English fans as Wenger said.

In the past, for him, Chelsea was a job he liked and loved, a broad platform for him to prove his coaching ability, but after Wenger said this, Ye Qiu suddenly became very interested in getting to know the fans here and their feelings towards a team.

…………

…………

Wenger's day was destined to be unlucky and bumpy.

Before he left the house in the morning, the car broke down. If it weren't for Ye Qiu, he wouldn't have been able to arrive at the hotel on time.

In the afternoon game, his start was also quite unsuccessful. Although Arsenal's state and physical fitness had recovered after adjustments, they were still relatively bad overall, but they were still able to suppress their opponents with the team's strong strength and put pressure on Leicester City.

But no one expected that Arsenal could not score for a long time, and the visiting team Leicester City took the lead in the 26th minute. Sinclair got rid of Vieira on the right and crossed the ball. The opponent's goalkeeper headed the ball into the goal in the small penalty area and scored the first goal for Leicester City.

All the Gunners fans at Highbury Stadium were panicked, and so were the Arsenal players. Even the coaching staff and the substitutes sitting on the sidelines were panicked. Wenger rushed to the sidelines and roared at the players. He couldn't accept that the team would lose the ball and lose in such a situation!

The effect of the first half was not good. During the halftime break, Wenger was very rare in the locker room. He scolded all the players in the team for their poor performance, and even used threatening words to make everyone feel his anger.

Don't be angry when you are suppressed on weekdays, don't be a professor without temper!

Wenger's anger was immediate, and the team's situation changed completely in the second half. Less than a minute into the second half, Bergkamp made a lob pass to the penalty area, and Ashley Cole made a shot from the left, but the ball was saved. Henry calmly made a supplementary shot and successfully equalized the score. This was Henry's 30th Premier League goal this season, ranking first in the Premier League scorer list.

After scoring, Henry seemed very excited, because in the Premier League, scoring 30 goals is a threshold. With this achievement, it is enough to be among the club's legendary shooters. If you don't have it, sorry, you are not qualified.

Now, Henry has exactly 30 goals, 4 more than the second-ranked Chelsea top scorer Lampard.

After equalizing the score, Arsenal still launched a fierce attack on Leicester City. Wenger also kept calling on the players to continue to strengthen the offensive on the sidelines, and he also kept making substitutions, successively replacing Reyes, Pires and other players to further strengthen the team's offensive.

Finally, in the 78th minute, Arsenal scored again. It was veteran Bergkamp who got the ball after retreating and turned around to pass the ball accurately, tearing through the defense of Leicester City. Vieira inserted himself from behind. Under the interference of Henry and others, he went straight into the penalty area, calmly dribbled past the goalkeeper, and sent the ball into the empty goal, 2:1!

Highbury Stadium was completely boiling, and all the Gunners fans were shouting. Obviously, if they defeated the opponent, Arsenal would still have the hope of winning the championship, and they still had the right to continue dreaming.

But as the whistle of the end of the game sounded, as the result of the game at Stamford Bridge, which was not far from Highbury Stadium, came, all the Gunners fans in the entire Highbury Stadium were silent.

In that blue home stadium, Chelsea did not hold back at all, and slaughtered Leeds United, which was destined to be relegated, 5:0. Ye Qiu's team showed their bloodthirsty fangs from the beginning, and did not give Leeds United any chance to resist. They directly pressed Leeds United to the ground and beat them up.

5 goals slaughtered, which meant that the wishes of all Gunners fans were shattered!

At this moment, the entire Highbury Stadium suddenly became silent, and then, a faint cry began to be heard.

They lost!