Mister Legend

Chapter 560 Record Terminator

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is destined to become a key case that cannot be bypassed when future generations refer to the development of modern football. Of course, the tone depends on the position and needs of the parties involved.

As the first super-large football event held at the end of the year in history, this is a huge breakthrough in itself, because even when the Olympic Games or the World Cup were held in the southern hemisphere (such as Australia, Brazil and South Africa), they were arranged according to the habits of the northern hemisphere In June and July.As soon as this precedent was set, many imitators appeared afterwards, which can be regarded as completely changing this originally unwritten but established rule, which is of great significance.

Secondly, this is also the first time that a Middle Eastern country has held such a large-scale event. They used this opportunity to show the world how wealthy local tyrants are.As one of the countries with the highest per capita GDP in the world, this "small country" with a land area of ​​only a little over [-] square kilometers has actually successfully hosted such a grand event as the World Cup, which makes people have to sigh their courage and financial resources.

Another reason why this World Cup will be recorded in history is that FIFA has confirmed that the number of participating teams in the 2026 World Cup will increase from the current 32 to 48, which means that Qatar will be the last There are 32 teams participating in the World Cup finals.

This matter will have a greater impact in the future, because the consequence of the expansion of the army will definitely be a decline in the overall level of the competition, and suddenly the number of participating teams will increase by one-half on the basis of the original number of participating teams. Countries that are almost impossible to participate have all made their debut on this stage that should have been the top, and the quality of the competition will not drop sharply.

The frequent emergence of big scores, the fact that the strong teams cannot suffer a little pressure in the group stage, and the additional round of knockout rounds will increase the consumption of the players and make the competitive state more and more unstable... These negative conditions have seriously affected With the World Cup brand's status in the minds of the public, it can be said that the expansion of the military will far outweigh the benefits in addition to giving some weak football countries a chance to realize their dreams.

For this reason, there is even a joke circulating in the outside world, thinking that only after entering the top [-] or even the top [-] is the real World Cup finals, and the previous ones are the second stage of qualifiers, making this event comparable to the Olympic Games The word-of-mouth of the sports event plummeted.

Of course, the extra games allowed FIFA to earn a lot of money. They are the only winners, but it is a pity that fans all over the world and football itself pay for it.

Bringing the topic back to the Qatar World Cup, in addition to the above-mentioned several important labels, the extreme lack of exciting scenes in this tournament has also become the focus of attention.Since the game date is very inconsistent with everyone's previous habits, even in terms of physical fitness and competitive status, the situation of the players is basically the same whether it is at the end of November or at the end of June, but out of prudent considerations, Each team still adopted a relatively conservative strategy, which made most of the games appear very silent and lacked attractive elements.

Even France, Brazil, and the Netherlands, traditionally strong countries with outstanding offensive capabilities, have adopted tactics that balance offense and defense. Can the scene still look good?
So while the fans were complaining and watching the game drowsily, the time soon came to the final day on December 12, and this was also a disgusting defensive battle.

Relying on rediscovering the chain defense and resolute counterattack strategy that was the world's best in the past, Ancelotti led the Italian team to eliminate the three strong players of Nigeria, Uruguay and Belgium, and finally entered the final stage of the decisive battle.And his opponent is the defending champion France team. Didier Deschamps' team also went through various hardships before successfully obtaining tickets to the Lusail Iconic Stadium. They also defeated rivals such as Switzerland and Brazil, especially in the duel with the Samba Army, they tried their best to win by luck.

In that semi-final, although the Brazilian team did not fall behind in the battle between the midfield and the backcourt, after Neymar's performance was restricted in a targeted manner, he failed to have a second offensive strength to stand up to help. The team opened the situation, but was seized by the Gallic Roosters in overtime. In the end, they lost the key game of entering the final 0-1, and could only play a meaningless third or fourth place game.

After the game, almost everyone thought that if the Brazilian team could bring Rodrigo, perhaps their fate might change. After all, Jesus and Firmino performed poorly throughout the event. The individual only scored two goals in eight games, seriously dragging down the team.If it is replaced by the extremely hot Arsenal No. 14, maybe the dream of the Samba Army to stand on the top of the world after 20 years can be realized, but these assumptions also have no practical significance.

As for the finals, the process was quite boring.Although Italy's overall strength is behind their opponents, their defense is indeed very good. Donnarumma, Rugani, Caldara, Romagnoli, with the pair of wingers Conte and Barreca The defensive line formed by the defenders has caused headaches for countless top attackers in this cup. In the first six games, they achieved four clean sheets and only conceded a total of three goals.

However, facing the continuous blows of French stars such as Mbappé, Griezmann and Moussa Dembele, who accidentally won the starting position with their outstanding performance, in the final, they failed to achieve perfection. ball.Fortunately, the Azzurri's striker was also very strong at the critical moment. Before the end of the game, the young player Melegoni who came off the bench assisted Pellegri and scored a wonderful rebound volley, pulling the team from the edge of the cliff came back and pushed the two sides into overtime and a penalty shootout.

In the end, in a death match in which at least one-third of the factor was luck, the Italian had the last laugh, as Mbappe, who was last in the regular round, kicked the ball down the right post, and Bei Lottie's penalty hit, and the Azzurri, which had failed in the qualifiers four years ago, fell to the ground when they were not favored by the outside world. After 16 years, they regained the throne and became the second team after Brazil. A country that can embroider five gold stars on the ball has the same limelight for a while.

But more popular than them is the Gunners coach who basically did not appear in public during the World Cup, because half of the players who performed well during the conference are inseparably related to him.For the runner-up French team, Mbappe was discovered by Li Moody when he was coaching Castilla, and Moussa Dembele was introduced after he joined Arsenal; Go Llorente, Bellerin, Harry Maguire and the impressive Jadon Sancho played under him.

As for the champion Italy, I have to mention it. The 23-man roster includes Goldaniga, Bareca, Dimarco, Baselli, Belotti and Pellegri. Six Turin or former Turin players players, and they basically grew up in the hands of Li Moody.

Putting so many names together and being labeled as a head coach, do you think the movement can be small?Coupled with the fact that Rodrigo, who failed to participate but was not considered the biggest legacy, the Gunners coach had no choice but to be popular.

For Li Moody, who is more and more eager for peace, this is obviously not good news. Although he has been ridiculed by the British media many times as the most nerdy head coach in the football circle, if the paparazzi really make up their minds and want to be alone In most cases, it is still difficult to prevent news from being dug out of the body.

Even though the Gunners coach has hired additional private security personnel to provide close protection for himself and his wife, the nanny who often needs to go out to buy daily necessities at home has repeatedly told the hostess and hostess that her travels have also been interfered by reporters. Someone took out [-] pounds and tried to find out about Li Moody's private life from him, and the garbage bags taken out of the house and placed in the designated place also showed signs of being checked many times in a row.

At the same time, Xiao Xiyin, who is already one and a half years old, has also begun to become the focus of attention from the outside world. A series of continuous photos of her shooting with a football suitable for her age when participating in community infant and child activities were published on " The important pages of gossip newspapers such as the Sunday Sun, which annoyed the Gunners coach who did not want his daughter to be exposed to the public too much.

Afterwards, Li's mother called again, and the farm in Mallorca began to be harassed by paparazzi who were suspected to be from the UK. Although those people did not dare to enter the private land, the two old people also encountered it when they went out. It must be inconvenient.

When he first heard the news, Li Moody was very angry. He even contacted Guinness in a fit of anger, hoping that this big crocodile with connections in Spain and even the entire European football world would find someone immediately. The paparazzi in their London apartment and outside the Mallorca farm were all arrested and turned over to the police station, and they were forced to pay a heavy price through lawsuits.

It's a pity that after venting on the phone, he calmed down and understood that the effect he could get by doing so was probably extremely limited, and it was very likely that he would be further pushed to the forefront, which was not worth the candle.

In the end, he followed Guinness’s advice and asked his wife and daughter to go to Asia after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays to avoid the limelight. On the premise of increasing the number of security personnel around him, he only completed the apartment, training base and stadium every day. The back-and-forth between three points and one line basically gave up all the personal communication behaviors that were originally relatively small.

Although this kind of behavior failed to dispel the outside world's interest in him, it also reduced most of the interruptions, allowing him to devote all his energy to the team.The only regret is that he cannot be reunited with his family in a short period of time, which makes Li Moody's mood become a little irritable, and he is getting closer to the feeling of a traditional British coach.

Fortunately, Arsenal's daily life was not disturbed by the unfortunate encounter with the team's boss. After regrouping on January 1, even the players who participated in the World Cup quickly recovered the rhythm of the club that had been interrupted for two full months. Naturally, there is also the extra help brought by the FM system.

So at the beginning of the second stage of the season, the state of the Gunners left the competitors far behind. With Manchester City, Liverpool and other strong teams inevitably encountering the World Cup syndrome, only Li Moody's team is As if he hadn't experienced a two-month blank, he was full of firepower as soon as he came up.

On January 1, in the first game of 8, Arsenal, who were a guest at Elland Road Stadium, beat Leeds United, which had previously performed beyond expectations, with a score of 2023-4, continuing the suspended winning streak. up.

Three days later, in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, Arsenal, which sits at home, defeated the visiting Leicester City with four goals in the case of a substantial rotation of the starting lineup, which strongly disappointed the opponent.

On the 15th, temporarily ranked second in the league, the first 15 rounds achieved the club's historical opening record - 1 wins, 1 draw and [-] loss. The Red Army went to London to challenge the top team Arsenal. Uncle Zha and his disciples are considered to be the future The biggest stumbling block for players who want to continue their unbeaten record since the beginning of the season.

However, in such a world-renowned focus battle, the home team has mastered the normal rhythm of the game from beginning to end. First, after the opening, the high center forward George Hurst's ability to fight for the top and contain the ability to create opportunities for the players behind him. In the No. 16 minute of the first half, Dutch midfielder Rikidley Bazzol scored a long shot.

After that, Li Mudi directed the team to switch back and forth between the two tactics of pass control and counterattack with ease, which made Liverpool's powerful attack line feel powerful and ineffective.

Rodrigo's one-shot and Barco's direct free kick helped the team fix the score at 3-0. Compared with the general predictions before the game and the comparison of the strengths of the two teams, this can undoubtedly be regarded as a big victory The 18-game winning streak at the start also tied Manchester City's record for the longest winning streak in the Premier League created in the 2017-18 season.

But this is obviously not over yet. After easily qualifying for the third round of the FA Cup in the following week, Arsenal went to Birmingham in central England on the weekend to challenge Arsenal, who are at the bottom of the standings. Stone Villa.

The result was naturally no suspense. Although the Gunners' performance seemed to be deliberately adjusted, the strength gap between the two sides still turned the game into a one-sided situation.Even though the visiting team's shooting efficiency was not high, with the support of the total number of 23 shots in the game, they still scored three goals, which made the defensive players who failed to complete a clean sheet because of an unexpected own goal feel a little bit comfort.

More importantly, the new record has finally returned to Arsenal's name. This is the most exciting thing for the entire club and its supporters.

A week later, the Gunners reversed Chelsea 2-1 at home and ended the journey in January with a perfect performance of 20 consecutive victories in the league. At the same time, they also surpassed Bayern two years ago and grabbed the longest league record in the five major leagues. into their own hands.

Li Moody and his team became a harvesting machine for all kinds of records. It was so powerful that it was suffocating. For a while, the entire European football world was wailing: Who can stop this team from going to the supremacy?
People couldn't help turning their attention to the schedule for February. The names of the three powerful players, Manchester City, Tottenham and AC Milan, appeared in front of everyone's eyes, but no one dared to say that they would be able to complete this extremely difficult task. mission.

　Thanks to the parents of Shuyou Qiuqiu for voting for the monthly ticket, thank you!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)