Football giants

Chapter 834 Another great team is rising

"The game is over!"

"At Wembley Stadium, Southampton finally defeated Arsenal [-]-[-] with Pogba's brace and the goals of Suarez and Hazard, and won a good start to the new season."

"Gary, what do you think of this game?"

The questioner was Neil Quinn, a well-known Premier League game commentator on British Sky TV.

At this time, the live TV camera was aimed at the carnival Southampton players on the court and the fans celebrating wildly in the stands, and they were also waiting for the award ceremony after the game.

Sitting next to Neil Quinn is the former Manchester United star and England legend right back, Gary Neville.

"I think Wenger should be in the locker room now, telling his players that this is just a friendly match, don't overestimate its importance, and Bielsa should be affirming the team's performance while reminding the players, don't be too obsessed with the result of the game, because it's just a slightly more important warm-up match!"

Hearing what Gary Neville said, Neil Quinn burst out laughing.

"It's really interesting, isn't it?"

"Yes, but such a game doesn't explain anything!" Gary Neville confessed.

Neil Quinn asked strangely: "Could it be, do you think that neither side did their best in this match?"

"Of course not, they have already used all their strengths, but many times, the first game of the new season can't explain the problem at all, especially the Community Shield Cup."

Neil Quinn nodded, "Then how do you evaluate Arsenal's performance in this game?"

"How should I put it?" Gary Neville thought for a moment, "The problem for the Gunners is not the lack of strength of the team. Arsenal's lineup, with Wenger's ability, is still very likely to compete for the top four in the league. However, their poor performance in the strong dialogue has not been well improved."

Neil Quinn added: "Arsenal played poorly against Liverpool, Southampton and Manchester City last season and it cost them a lot of points.

"Yes, that's right, the Gunners' midfield loss has been a problem for a long time, but Wenger always believes that a good offense can effectively relieve the pressure of defense, so his approach is not simply to strengthen the team's midfield defense."

Neil Quinn said again: "We have noticed that Southampton also uses a midfield configuration of technical players."

"Yes, but last season, the double midfielder composed of Toni Kroos and Modric was able to provide Southampton with strong organization and creativity while also giving eye-catching defensive statistics. But Arsenal's midfielder, except for Arteta, no one can give such a performance."

"In this game, among Southampton's three midfielders, Toni Kroos played the whole game, and in this game, his number of passes in a single game exceeded 150 again. Why would I say, again?"

Gary Neville smiled and nodded in admiration. "Last season, the two best passers in the Premier League were Toni Kroos and Modric. Both of them passed far ahead of other passers in the Premier League. Even in Europe, they are the best passers."

"As early as last season, I have been saying that Southampton's most important midfielder is Toni Kroos, because in the entire season, he has five games, with more than 120 passes in a single game, and three games with more than 150 passes in a single game. What about Modric? No!"

"Since 120, Harvey has 24 games with more than [-] times in a single game, followed by Toni Kroos with seven times, followed by Thiago with five games, and the third place is Harvey Alonso and Pirlo, both with four games."

"As for those with more than 150 passes in a single game, Harvey has [-] times, Toni Kroos and Thiago both have five times, and Xavi Alonso and Pirlo have both had four times."

"In the first game of this season, Toni Kroos played the whole game and made nearly 170 passes with a success rate of 90.00%. This is quite a scary thing because he just played the whole game in the World Cup in Brazil."

"Is this difficult to understand?" Neil Quinn was a little strange. "The World Cup in Brazil has been over for a month, and in the past month, he didn't play many games, not even the International Champions Cup."

"No, no, no, Neil, you didn't understand me, which is exactly what I was trying to say."

"Oh?" Neil Quinn really didn't understand.

"My favorite player, Pirlo once said that what he hates the most is the warm-up before the game, because the warm-up makes him feel sick, and my team-mate, Scholes, is the same. Even I believe that players such as Xavi and Thiago are like this."

"But Toni Kroos is obviously different. After he participated in the World Cup, Southampton gave him a two-week vacation, but I heard that he returned to the team after a week off, and then began to strictly follow the training plan formulated by the Saints coaching staff. Special training, his professionalism is admirable."

"So, we see that Di Maria is still resting, but Toni Kroos has already played the whole game."

"Remember? I said that Southampton are taking things a step further in terms of physical fitness and they've invested quite a bit of money in getting their players out of the current state of sports science."

"You mean, Toni Kroos is on that path?" Neil Quinn asked.

"Yes!" Gary Neville nodded firmly, "Not only him, but also other players, such as Cesc Fabregas."

Neil Quinn smiled. "He's only played half the game."

"Yes, but have you noticed? In this half of the game, Cesc Fabregas almost dominated the front offense. In the first 45 minutes of the game, he made nearly 41 passes, 31 of which were passed to the penalty area, and [-] were successfully found by his teammates. What is the concept?"

Neil Quinn has commented on Premier League games for many years, and naturally realized that this statistic is indeed quite eye-catching.

"Southampton let Modric go because they felt that they should reduce the team's control and improve the team's effective offense. Therefore, they sold Modric and brought in Cesc Fabregas."

"Through this game, we also saw that Pogba is fully capable of occupying a place in the midfield. After Oscar came off the bench in the second half, he performed quite well. Kovacic seems to have great potential to succeed Modric."

"I even seriously suspect that in order to test his midfielder, Bielsa even Matic, who was originally going to replace Toni Kroos, was temporarily changed to play left center back by him and partnered with Varane. And who dares to say that Matic playing left center back will not be another Harvey Martinez?"

"Hehe, Gary, what you said made me feel a bit..." Neil Quinn laughed, "I don't understand at all, what kind of team formation idea does Southampton have now?"

"Don't say you don't understand, I don't understand either, I guess only the madman Bielsa can understand!" Gary Neville laughed, "However, I can be very sure that Southampton's strength has not weakened, but has strengthened!"

"what do you mean……"

"Southampton's attacking ability is stronger than last season!"

"Then this team is invincible?"

"No, of course they have flaws, that is the defense, especially the left center back, leaving Harvey Martinez, whether it is Laporte or Nastasic, or Matic who is a cameo, whoever comes to partner with Varane may leave hidden dangers."

"More importantly, in the past, Modric's ability to fight in defense with double defensive midfielders was of great help to the midfield defense. Now, it is doubtful whether Cesc Fabregas can provide more support to the defense while ensuring the level of offense."

"Players like Cesc Fabregas, Toni Kroos, and even Pogba, their most distinctive abilities are not reflected in the statistics at all. Their understanding of football far exceeds the vast majority of other players. They can see through the game, read the game, and control the rhythm of the game. They know everything around them like the back of their hands."

"Oh, yes, Di Maria is also a player like this sometimes, but he is not stable enough, so I believe, what Bielsa said before the game, Di Maria's mentality is not yet adapted to the Premier League. He still needs some time, but Fabregas does not."

"In the new season, Southampton's frontcourt trident is already strong enough. If Bielsa integrates this set of midfielders, then any team will have only one choice to face Southampton, and that is to defend!"

Speaking of this, Gary Neville laughed in amazement, "Hey, Neil, don't look at me with that look, you have to believe, we are lucky."

"why?"

"Because we have just witnessed a great team of Barcelona, ​​but now we are witnessing the rise of a great team of Saints. You say, this is not luck, what is it?"

Neil Quinn really didn't expect that Gary Neville's evaluation of Southampton was so high.

Could it be that he deliberately flattered Yang Huan because he recently started writing a column on a mobile football software in China?

But soon, he dismissed the idea.

Because he knows that Gary Neville has always been a straightforward and sincere person since his player days.

Just ask, how can a critic who would criticize without hesitation even his favorite Manchester United, once he performed poorly, flatter a team he has little affection for?
It was at this time that there was a deafening cheer from the stadium stands.

It turned out that the awards ceremony had already begun.

Southampton players, led by captain Neuer, stepped into the royal box one after another.

It can be seen from the live TV footage that Yang Huan walked to the exit of the box and hugged the players who came up one by one.

Their relationship seems very warm, talking and laughing with each other.

After hugging Yang Huan, the players walked towards Prince William one after another, and took over the Community Shield trophy from the Saints fan.

When Neuer, surrounded by his teammates, raised the Community Shield trophy high, the audience burst into applause.

Pogba, who was elected as the best player in the game, opened the champagne directly, held down the bottle, and kept spraying his teammates around him.

Everyone watching this scene couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"Let's congratulate Southampton!"

"They deserved to win the game!"

"At the same time, let us also look forward to the fact that in the new season of the Premier League, the Saints can continue to bring us more pleasing offensive football, and also bring us more exciting games and create more surprises."

"Finally, here we would like to thank Gary Neville for his fantastic commentary and commentary."

"This is Sky TV, I'm Neil Quinn, we'll see you in the new season!"

(End of this chapter)