Super Marshal

"Boss, this is the 18-man squad announced by Chelsea."

Assistant coach Pat Rice sent a document to head coach Arsene Wenger.

"Ibrahimovic and Eto'o are back in the squad."

Wenger took the material, opened it for a cursory glance, and then closed it again.

He already knows the lineup that Chelsea may line up, and even the characteristics and abilities of each Chelsea player.

"They missed two games, and now they suddenly returned to the 18-man roster, will they start?" Pat Rice asked speculatively.

In addition to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eto'o, Good Johnson and Robben have also entered the 18-man squad. Logically speaking, they may also start, because they have played quite well in the past two games .

Especially Good Johnson, second only to Ronaldinho's No. 2 scorer this season.

"I said that Gao Han valued Ibrahimovic and Eto'o the most from the beginning to the end." Wenger said very firmly.

"As a head coach, I can understand Gao Han's approach. He wants to teach these two players a lesson, because since the beginning of this season, their performance is indeed too shameful. It would be the same if it were me. "

In the Premier League, Wenger is also a head coach who attaches great importance to data, so he naturally has a series of Chelsea data on hand, including the pass data between Ibrahimovic and Eto'o.

It's not that they pay special attention to it, but that there are too few passing exchanges between the two, which is a bit unusual.

"Gud Johnson is really good, but compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it is still worse. As for Robben, he used to play on the left in the Netherlands, but now Chelsea's left is Ronaldinho. He can only play on the right, although it is not bad, but he needs to adapt, if he can play on the right, his achievements will be even higher."

At this time, there was a hint of admiration in Wenger's eyes.

At least from Gao Han's transformation of Robben, he can see Gao Han's intentions, and he admires Gao Han's vision very much.

Playing on the left, Robben is at most a sharp winger, but he can switch to playing on the right. Once played, Robben will be an invincible sword, and may even become the team's nuclear weapon.

"Judging from the current formation, Gao Han's tactical intentions are very clear. On the left is Ronaldinho, who focuses on control and grabs the ball to attract defensive attention. In the middle, he is a powerful center. On the right, he makes an assault. The penalty area, it's a bit like Deportivo in Irueta, and it's a very sensible choice."

The most mainstream style of play in the Premier League is to fly on both wings, with Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alan Shearer and other powerful centers in the center.

If Gao Han continues to adopt the central push style of the Atletico Madrid period and directly expose the side to the opponent, this is definitely not a wise choice, so he adjusts his style of play and changes to Deportivo's winger plus center configuration.

But in the midfield, Gao Han went a step further than Irueta. The purpose of Deco and Veron is to strengthen the team's ball possession organization and rhythm control. Makelele lags behind and focuses on defense and ball delivery. .

Facts have proved that Veron played better and better under Chelsea's tactical system than under Manchester United's tactical framework. He has not only become the core of the team's midfield, but may even return to his own. peak period.

Judging from the many games this season, Terry and Gallas are not weak in holding and playing the ball. Under Gao Han's style of play, they can also adapt well, which undoubtedly makes Chelsea The transition was successful.

But Chelsea's problems are also very obvious.

"Chelsea's defense on the right is very problematic. Although Ferreira has both offense and defense, he is not good. Glenn Johnson focuses on offense and light defense. He is young and needs to be further refined. No matter who we play, it will be our opportunity. Wenger said lightly.

Arsenal is best at attacking from the left. The left attack chain formed by Ashley Cole, Pires and Henry is almost a nightmare for all teams in the Premier League.

"As for our defense, the focus is on Ronaldinho. As long as the Brazilian is strangled, their offense will be greatly reduced."

Pat Rice nodded, Arsenal's double midfielders are not vegetarian.

"If Gao Han really arranged for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eto'o to start, then we..."

Wenger smiled slightly, "These two players are not that simple."

"Huh?" Pat Rice was a little strange.

"Actually, several Chelsea players are very close to me, needless to say Robben, Robin van Persie has been following up for the past year, Eto'o almost joined us in 2000 , At that time, he was very frustrated at Real Madrid, I was very optimistic about him, we had almost talked, and we were ready to sign, but Aragones suddenly stepped in and took him to Mallorca.”

"As for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it was earlier. When he was still playing in Malmö, I invited him to the Highbury Stadium and gave him a No. 9 jersey, but at that time he Still young, I mean, stay in the team for trial training, but in the end, this arrogant kid went straight away and joined Ajax."

Pat Rice was a little surprised when he heard it. He didn't expect that there was such a relationship between Arsenal, Ibrahimovic and Eto'o, and they even almost got together.

"I know the abilities and potential of these two players, but I also know their tempers. I appreciate Gao Han's intentions and I am very sure of his vision, but I am not optimistic that he can handle these two thorns."

When Wenger said this, he changed the topic, "Of course, their personal abilities are still very strong, we still have to be careful, but the focus is still on Ronaldinho, and even Deco and Veron. superior."

"Understood." Pat Rice nodded.

What the boss means is that the two players have strong personal abilities, but they hardly cooperate with each other.

"Pat."

Just as Pat Rice understood his mission and was about to leave, Wenger suddenly stopped him again.

"boss."

"The Premier League this season is very challenging. Although Ferguson's Manchester United sold Beckham and introduced Ronaldinho and Arjen Robben, Chelsea took the lead. The overall strength has been weakened. Less, but on the whole, Manchester United is still our strongest competitor."

"However, Gao Han's Chelsea should not be underestimated. Judging from the previous eight rounds of the league, Gao Han has a very clear tactical idea from the beginning, and according to this set of tactical concepts to introduce high-level players, there may be no superstars, but The level of players in each position is very high, and the integrated team is extremely competitive."

Wenger's eyes flashed a look of admiration, "On this point, Gao Han is enough to shut up all doubters, and it is also enough to prove that his achievements in Atletico Madrid in the past three years are not luck, and he may even become The biggest suspense in the Premier League this season."

As a right-hand man, Pat Rice clearly felt the worry and even hesitation in Wenger's heart.

Since he landed in the Premier League, the Premier League has always been a duo between him and Ferguson.

Even if Houllier led Liverpool to win a lot of championships, even if Robson led Newcastle to revive, even if it was the mighty Leeds United, they could not shake their dominance of the Premier League.

But in contrast, Wenger is more short of breath than Ferguson.

The season from 2001 to 2002 can be said to be the pinnacle of Arsene Wenger's coaching of Arsenal. The Gunners in that season not only perfectly implemented Wenger's tactical philosophy, but also achieved amazing results on the court, especially in the second half. Twenty-one unbeaten matches and the last thirteen rounds of winning streak have made Arsenal invincible.

But just when Wenger was ambitious and wanted to lead Arsenal to win the Premier League title again and complete the Ferguson-style three-peat dynastic hegemony, in the 2002-2003 season, the Gunners encountered a blow.

The start of that season was perfect. The Gunners continued the state of last season perfectly. The unbeaten record was extended to 30 rounds. It was not until the tenth round that they lost to Everton. It's Wayne Rooney.

But the real turning point came during the winter break.

On December 26th, in the twentieth round of the Premier League, Manchester United lost 1-3 away to Middlesbrough, while Arsenal defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away. Expanded to seven points.

But since then, Manchester United has been chasing after it, and has an unbeaten record of 15 wins and 3 draws in the remaining 18 rounds of the league.

Under the pressure of their opponents' pursuit, Arsenal kept making mistakes and dropped points. Although they only lost two games, they drew six games. In the end, in the key battle, they lost 2-3 to Leeds United lost and the league title was handed over.

Pat Rice has experienced this battle firsthand, and he knows better than anyone how hard it was for Wenger, who was ambitious to build an Arsenal dynasty last season.

After learning from the pain, all analyzes pointed directly at the defense.

The goalkeeper Seaman is old, and the central defender Campbell needs a qualified partner...

So, the German goalkeeper Lehmann came, and Kolo Touré started to take the position and became Campbell's partner. At the same time, Wenger and the coaching staff also agreed that the team's defense was the reason for losing the championship.

So this summer, Wenger proposed to further optimize the defensive configuration on the basis of maintaining the team's defensive counterattack last season, and even made the requirements for the midfielder more clear, that is, everything should be defensive.

The purpose of doing this is very simple, to ensure the efficiency of scoring points against the mid-lower teams.

Because last season, Arsenal lost two games in the final stage, one was Blackburn and the other was Leeds United. It is also a pity that Villa waited for a few games.

After learning from the pain, it is understandable that Wenger will make such a compromise.

Because everyone knows that in the Premier League, except for Manchester United, almost no team can become Arsenal's opponent. As long as they can guarantee the efficiency of scoring points against other teams and maintain stability in the strong dialogue, Arsenal Basically be able to win the championship.

Unexpectedly, a Chelsea team suddenly appeared.

Gao Han’s team has invested a lot of money, but the harvest is also very huge. Judging from the winning streak in the first eight rounds, the overall strength of this team is higher than that of Liverpool and Newcastle. It is well adjusted and even not lost to Manchester United and Arsenal. accept.

This made Wenger feel threatened.

Because the Premier League structure he is familiar with has been completely changed!