Mister Legend

Chapter 535 you chase me chase
战胜了切尔西之后，阿森纳在本赛季前二十轮联赛的战绩变成了22胜2平2负，68个积分也让他们超越了2005-06赛季的蓝军，排在了英超历史同时期最佳成绩的第二位，仅次于2017-18赛季获得22胜3平1负的曼城。

But they still couldn't relax, because the defending champions were also reaping victories one after another. The point difference between the two sides is still maintained at 4 points. This is very different from the situation of Blue Moon in the same period three years ago. At that time, they had already moved away from Manchester United, who was second in the standings, by a full 13 points.

However, the gap between the third-ranked Tottenham and the top two is gradually widening. Tottenham, which was only two points behind Manchester City at the end of the half, is now eight points away from Guardiola's team. It can basically be considered that he has withdrawn from the Premier League championship ahead of schedule.

The next week is the match day of the European War. Manchester City is now playing on Wednesday, away from Dortmund 3-1, and has already entered the quarter-finals of the Champions League with one foot.And Arsenal, who played one day later, was not far behind. It was also an away game, also 3-1, and successfully won Zurich FC in Switzerland, making the second round confrontation a week later a routine.

Saturday, February 2th is the start of the FA Cup. The teams that have already been eliminated will start the No.20 seven rounds of the league this weekend. The Gunners will naturally follow this rule.However, since their opponent Liverpool in this round of the league will participate in the FA Cup quarter-finals, this strong duel can only be postponed for two days, until the kick-off next Tuesday.And in two days, they will usher in the European game against Zurich FC at home, and then there will be a league task next weekend, which is definitely a huge challenge for Li Mudi and his team in terms of physical fitness. test.

Fortunately, their opponents, Liverpool, will not feel good either. First, they will encounter Manchester United in the domestic cup match, and then they will challenge Arsenal in an away game three days later, and then they will soon prepare for the League Cup final with Manchester City on the weekend. The postponement of the No.20 eight rounds of the league will have a great negative impact on the subsequent schedule.

The reason why all these complaints from England's giants is that the FA Cup kick-off was put on the weekend.In this regard, these teams, which compete with each other in the league and are about to play dog-headed teams, have joined together many times. It is hoped that the FA can change the tradition that has lasted for many years and arrange the cup matches to be played in the middle of the week.However, due to various considerations, they have not been able to get what they want, and this time, the "petition" represented by the six strong teams in the Premier League (Manchester City duo, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham) once again It was referred to FA chairman Greg Clarke.

The reason why the former Premier League chairman who was re-elected last summer was able to get the support of the vast majority of clubs is naturally that he promised to solve some difficult problems for each club, and this time he is needed It's time for the boss to show his courage.In late March, there will be a meeting between the FA and the Premier League to discuss the various schedules and rules for next season. According to reports from many authoritative media such as The Times, some new rules that are more in line with the trend of modern football will be introduced at that time. Policies, which are likely to include changes to the FA Cup schedule, have aroused the attention of people from all walks of life in the country's football.

However, Li Moody's focus is obviously not distracted from these matters for the time being. Having the CEO Gazidis with rich experience and extensive network resources in charge can reassure others, and the main task of the team is naturally It's still winning, and in the end it can keep winning.

Fortunately, Arsenal are lucky, because of the impact of the FA Cup, they have an extra two days of preparation time, and they also have an advantage over their opponents in terms of physical fitness.In addition, it is a home game, so the overall chances of winning are still very high, but in fact, the actual content of the game is not as optimistic as expected before the game.

After a difficult victory over Manchester United on Saturday to advance to the quarter-finals of the domestic cup, Klopp is naturally very aware of the difficulties he will encounter in the next away league game at the Emirates Stadium, so he changed his team's usual offensive tactics very cleverly. At the beginning, he resorted to a defensive counterattack strategy, hoping to use the psychological focus of the home team's urgent need to win to impact the space behind the Gunners' defense.

萨拉赫和马内这两位速度极快的边锋自然就成为红军能够在比赛中打开局面的关键因素，而首发的中锋菲尔米诺则是经常回撤到前腰甚至中前卫的位置上参与围抢，令利物浦的4-3-3阵型在更多的时间里看上去更像是4-4-2。

Facing the opponent's style of play, Li Mudi will naturally not be unfamiliar with it, because Arsenal often encounters such a style when facing other weaker opponents, or even some strong teams with comparable strength. The situation has long been familiar.

But today's opponents are completely different, because the speed of the two wingers of the Red Army is too fast, and their personal skills are very good, especially the Egyptian Salah, who is simply the nightmare of all defenders. The threat he created was no lower than that of Melo and Melo a few years ago.

In order to prevent the two strikers on the left and right who should go to the track and field competition from getting the chance to sprint wantonly, the Gunners coach can only keep the two wing backs Bellerin and Kolasinac more behind. field, but this will lead to the problem that the attacking area of ​​the front field is too concentrated in the middle, making it easier for the opponent to defend.

Even if Aubameyang and Lacazette have received instructions from the head coach to frequently rotate and pull to the wing, they cannot solve the shortcomings of the home team's too few passing options and it is not easy to open the Red Army's defensive formation. In the first 10 minutes, this game, which was supposed to be a wonderful confrontation, seemed extremely dull, with few bright spots.

Seeing this situation, Li Mudi, who is relatively more eager to win a victory, took the lead in changing his tactics. He pushed Diego Llorente, who could play a guest midfielder, into the midfield, and at the same time made Endy, who was originally standing in the central midfielder position, Di and Torreira moved forward, while Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan were more fixed on the two sides of the frontcourt.In this way, Arsenal's formation changed from 3-4-1-2 at the beginning of the game to 4-3-3, and the efficiency of using the width of the court was immediately improved.

Although the home team's players will inevitably become uncomfortable in a short period of time after the change, Liverpool has always adhered to the conservative mentality of the defense strategy, which won valuable adjustment time for the Gunners, and finally laid a good foundation for the second half.

After the rematch, Uncle Zha, who thought that it would not be of great significance to shrink the backcourt, also adjusted the formation of the visiting team. The three lines collectively pressed forward, forming a stalemate with Arsenal.This move is also a choice made by Klopp in desperation, because blindly passive defense will make their already disadvantaged physical condition develop in a more unfavorable direction.Since the counterattack plan formulated before the game cannot be achieved now, it is better to return to the style of play that he is best at. After all, the Red Army is still a team that relies on offense to win the world.

And Li Moody's response was also very timely. He replaced Mustafi with Ramsey shortly after the start of the second half, allowing Llorente to return to the position of central defender, and Ndidi immediately returned to the midfielder. In the role, the adaptability of the Gunners in various positions on the field has returned to a normal level.

It is also a 4-3-3 position. Both teams pay more attention to offense, and their advantages lie in the multiplayer cooperation in the midfield and the speed ability of the forward players. When such opponents meet together, it is really a bit like they are chasing each other. As in the game itself, there will always be a mirror image contrast.

It's just that in comparison, Liverpool's front trident is more dynamic, and Arsenal's integrity can also occupy a slight advantage, each with its own advantages.As for the defense competition, the Gunners were originally inferior to the Red Army with Van Dijk and England international Joe Gomez, but after Diego Llorente joined and gradually adapted to the new environment, Gunners fans can also be proud Claiming that their own team also has a defense line of European giants. In this regard, the two teams are considered a tie.

This evenness is even more obvious in statistics. Just looking at the performance in the second half, the two sides have basically maintained a similar level in terms of ball possession rate, number of shots and even number of passes.Only because of the presence of the home whistle, the home team fouled less than the opponent, but this will hardly have much impact on the final result, because Arsenal are not very good at set-piece tactics and are famous throughout Europe.

However, this situation has changed dramatically since today's game.

No. In the 701st minute, seeing that his disciples had been unable to create any decent opportunities in the positional attack, Li Moody used the remaining two substitutions in one go, and sent Beracino and Balko The new aid replaced the two guest wingers, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan.

The instructions he gave to the two freshmen were very simple, that is, to hit the opponent's two ribs with all their strength, especially the joint between the central defender and the full back, forcing the midfielders of the Red Army to return to defense, thus cutting off the attacking players of the visiting team. support line.In addition, it can also cause some damage. Liverpool currently has yellow cards on the field, including Henderson, Alexander-Arnold and many other players. If the opponent can be reduced, then the next game will be much easier.

As a result, the scene after that was as expected by the Gunners coach. Beracino, who can freely switch between the three positions of forward, winger and attacking midfielder, was very active. Formation poses no small threat.As for the little Argentine, it made the Red Army soldiers feel even more helpless. This is a sick guy who will fall down at the first touch, but as long as the referee doesn't whistle a foul, he will immediately get up and fight fiercely. Several world-class stars are dumbfounded.

Seeing that Balko was knocked to the ground again and again because of his poor physical condition, he immediately got up and participated in the pressing action again and again. Before he came off the bench, he booed because he was dissatisfied with his performance in the previous few games The part of the gun fans who made the noise quickly changed their positions and began to follow the big troops to cheer for the players who were fighting hard on the field with cheering shouts and the club's team song "Hot Stuff". Naturally, the targets included The Messi II who was previously known as the number one parallel importer in team history.

This scene was seen by Li Mudi, who had always supported Barko, and finally a little smile appeared on his face that had been expressionless since the beginning, and something that made him even more happy soon came.

In the 709th minute, Beracino made a breakthrough when facing the Red Army left-back Robertson one-on-one on the right, and was pulled to the ground by the latter, winning a free kick for his side.Barco's ball went straight to the rear point of the penalty area. Van Dijk failed to complete the clearance under the interference of Koscielny. Instead, he rubbed the ball behind Lacazette's feet. Godsend, before the other defenders could intercept, he used his right foot to kick a direct instep shot from the corner of the penalty area, breaking Alisson's ten fingers and helping Arsenal take the score with some luck. on the lead.

Although he failed to be recorded as an assist, the home team's Argentine new aid is considered one of the contributors to the goal. This has changed the attitude of the fans towards him, at least to a certain extent. The effort of that free kick.

And 3 minutes later, Balko asked all the gun fans at the scene to stand up from their seats and willingly sang praises for him.

The shortest player in the game fought back from Llorente's long ball from the back after Liverpool's attack was blocked, after waving past Henderson who was too late to step forward for fear of receiving a second yellow card , Barco sent an exquisite diagonal pass to help Lacazette get a one-on-one chance to face Joe Gomez.As a result, the French striker was tripped by the opponent while trying to use his speed to force a breakthrough. While the England international was also shown a yellow card by the referee, he also won a free kick in a good position for the team.

Balko seized this opportunity and kicked a theoretically perfect arc with his golden right foot. After bypassing the wall, the ball rushed into the upper left corner of the visiting team's goal at a very fast speed. Inside, the Brazilian national goalkeeper, who flew to catch the ball, showed desperate eyes when he was in the air.

2 to 0, the Gunners have completely sealed the victory, and the huge cheers from the audience are the greatest praise from the fans to the entire team, especially the Argentine teenager.

Li Mudi led the team to a wave of four consecutive victories, including three hard bones of West Ham United, Chelsea and Liverpool in a row, and performed very well.

But Manchester City is not to be outdone, chasing after Arsenal with the same winning streak, and the competition for the league title has once again become fierce due to the strength of these two teams.

(End of this chapter)