Rebirth 1994: Football Situation

Chapter 717 The Age of Young People
After Christmas, Newcastle is still incomparably coquettish in the Premier League, advancing all the way. Originally, other opponents in the league thought that the state of the Newcastle team reached a peak period a while ago, and it will definitely decline slowly after Christmas. Yes, who knew that after Christmas, these guys seemed to be in better shape.

On the second day after Christmas, Newcastle beat Blackburn 3-[-] cleanly in the away game and continued to dominate the standings. Shearer's goal defeated No.[-] Arsenal [-]-[-], leading Arsenal by as much as [-] points in one breath!
You must know that in the first nine rounds of the league, Arsenal was incomparable, leading the standings with the best start in the history of the Premier League with eight wins and one draw. However, after twenty rounds, they were actually [-] points behind Newcastle. Chelsea are still strong in these two rounds. If they also win two consecutive victories, Newcastle may expand their advantage to an outrageous level.

Newcastle started this season with a good schedule. They failed to meet any strong teams in the first twelve rounds, but their results at that time could only be regarded as excellent, not as scary as they are now. When they start to connect with strong teams, everyone Everyone thought that Newcastle's forward momentum would be blocked, but against the four strong teams of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, Newcastle handed in an amazing answer sheet of three wins and one draw!

Coupled with the astonishing winning percentage against the middle and lower teams, it directly resulted in Newcastle's score of 52 points in the twenty rounds!

Chelsea's score of 48 points in [-] games is quite impressive. It would be no problem to win the winter championship in previous years. It is a pity that they encountered such a perverted Newcastle.

After the Chinese New Year, in the next three rounds of the league, Newcastle's opponents are mid-range teams. It will not be until the No. 20 fourth round that there will be an away game against Arsenal The first cycle and the second cycle are completely different), Newcastle can try to grab points in the league before the start of the Champions League knockout, and then attack the Champions League with all their strength after the start of the Champions League knockout, in an extremely favorable position in the league the point.

And Mourinho did the same, dispatching all the main players in the league to grab points as much as possible, while for the League Cup and the already started FA Cup matches, Mourinho let the substitutes go up to show their skills, In this way, the main players will not be too tired, and the substitute players will have the opportunity to exercise, so that they will not become unfamiliar with the court because they have not played for a long time.

The League Cup, the FA Cup, the League, and the upcoming Champions League, now is the time to make a choice, because no team can be sure to win all the championships, how to choose important games to go all out? Going all the way and how to allocate players' playing time is a profound knowledge, and this is the difference between an excellent coach and an ordinary coach.

Especially for giants who are eager for honor, how to make the main players play a better role in key games without affecting the results in the league is quite difficult to master.

Fortunately for the middle and lower teams, the coach only needs to let the players fight game by game. Sometimes some middle and lower teams are not able to continue because of this reason. In this regard, Leverkusen had a very miserable experience.

However, Mourinho has a good grasp of the "speed". In the two league games on January [-] and January [-], he used all his main force to fight the two league games. Birmingham beat Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion at home and away, and then he let the main players rest in turn in the following cup week. Newcastle lost to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. In the third round of the FA Cup, they easily defeated Watford at home to enter the next round.

Abandoning the League Cup is a decision the team has already made, because the final of the League Cup is just in the middle of the two Champions League quarter-finals. Neither Pei Wei nor Mourinho hope that the already won championship will affect When the team participated in the Champions League match, Chelsea happened to meet an opponent who might not be able to solve it even if they made great efforts, so Mourinho sent most of the substitutes along the way and lost the game.

Newcastle, which has been recharging for more than a week, did not send all the main players in the No.20 three rounds of the league, but they still defeated Southampton [-]-[-] at home relying on Shearer's penalty kick and Dawson's header. Dayton, won the second seven-game winning streak in the league this season, but Chelsea's performance is still very strong. They relied on Lampard's brace to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the away game, and they are still only behind Newcastle with four points.

However, Arsenal's performance was disappointing. They lost 20-[-] to Bolton in the away game, and they were already [-] points behind Newcastle. On the contrary, Manchester United performed extremely well after losing to Newcastle. In these ten rounds of the league, they achieved an amazing record of nine wins and one tie. Now they have climbed to the fourth position, only one point behind Arsenal.

The pursuit of you in the Premier League is dizzying. No matter who you are, as long as you slack off, you may be caught up by other teams. When Arsenal got the best start in the history of the Premier League, who would have thought of them? In the middle of the league, Newcastle left behind a gap of [-] points. Even Newcastle, who is now in the standings, dare not slack off. As long as they do not play well in two games, they might be caught up by Chelsea.

Chelsea's hot pursuit also made Mourinho very distressed. Fortunately, there is still a month before the start of the Champions League knockout round. If he can hold on at this time, when Chelsea also needs to be distracted by the Champions Cup Even if Newcastle makes occasional mistakes in the league, it doesn't matter. After all, Arsenal and Manchester United are now more than ten points behind Newcastle. The only threat is Chelsea.

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January 22, London, Highbury Stadium.

Although before this round of the game, Arsenal was already [-] points behind Newcastle, but the fans of Arsenal are still infused with great enthusiasm for this game. Arsenal will not be afraid of any team, even this team Just beat them a month ago.

Because this is Highbury, this is the home of the Gunners.

A few months ago, they were at the pinnacle of honor, broke historical records, scored consecutive victories, scored at least three goals in almost every game, all the halos and honors were on them, and all the media worshiped them , thinking that Arsenal, with its exquisite style of play and excellent offense, has led the trend of world football...

A few months later, everything changed. The media began to praise Newcastle's calm demeanor, Chelsea's solid defense and sharp counterattack. Some people even cited the example of Greece winning the European Championship in 04 to prove that only solid defense Good results can only be achieved under the premise of utilitarianism, Arsenal is called flashy, Wenger is called Don Quixote, and he stubbornly uses offensive tactics. In this utilitarian today, he can only brandish spears against windmills. Can be crushed by the wheel of history.

All Arsenal fans hate these volatile media, but they can't refute it - in the last two days of 2004, Newcastle let Arsenal know what it means to be solid defense and fierce in the last two days of 60.00. Counterattack, they are proud of their mercury-like attack as if they have hit a hard rock. They have nearly [-]% of the ball possession rate but can't score a goal. Newcastle solved the battle by relying on a set kick—— This classic battle of defensive counterattack, which is as standard as a textbook, left Arsenal speechless, which also made Arsenal fans place even greater hopes on this game.

After that game, Wenger reluctantly admitted his defeat, but he said one last sentence: "We will see you after three rounds." It seems that not only Arsenal fans are looking forward to this game, Wenger I also hope that I can use my home victory to justify myself!

Compared with the loss on the court, Wenger cares more about whether his football philosophy is outdated-the temporary loss on the court is only a temporary one. If he loses twice in a season under Mourinho's defensive counterattack, Then I am afraid that Wenger's fast attack tactics are outdated. Although everyone in the circle knows that there are no outdated tactics in the world, there are only players who are not as good as their opponents, but Wenger must make sure that his tactical style is not outdated. !
However, Wenger still admires Mourinho's solid midfielder, full-court interception and quick and flexible counterattack tactics. He can see that this set of tactics will indeed create a big impact on the offensive tactics he is good at. The trouble, the loss of that game was not accidental.

Thinking of the happy talk between himself and the two young coaches Mourinho and Benitez in the 02 World Cup, Wenger felt that "time is not forgiving". The young coach has now become his two strongest opponents after Ferguson in the Premier League. In this season's game, these two "young people" actually suppressed themselves and Ferguson, their old rivals. Down!
"Is the age of youth coming?" Wenger smiled wryly, but he quickly clenched his fists: "But now, it's not the time for us to leave the stage!"

(End of this chapter)