Super Marshal

Back then, Wenger sold Anelka, the team's top talent, to Real Madrid, and used the transfer fee to build a Kearney training base, which has always been cited as a good talk by Arsenal fans.

Today, in the media center next to the gate of this training base, the last press conference before the League Cup final is being held, and representatives from almost all media organizations in the UK are present.

Wenger routinely announced the team's 18-man roster at this press conference.

But reporters with a keen sense of smell have captured a slight change, and that is the return of Ashley Cole.

Therefore, reporters soon asked whether Ashley Cole will return to the starting lineup.

"Yes, I am very happy. Ashley is recovering well from his injury. He is a vital member of our team. But at the moment, I am not sure whether he will be able to play. This needs further consultation with the team doctor. We coordinate and communicate."

Even for the main defender Campbell, who has long been injured, Wenger also expressed concern.

Long before the press conference, in the training session open to media reporters, neither Ashley Cole nor Campbell participated in the team's joint training. The two were doing some simple recovery training alone on the sidelines. Still not healed.

No one knows whether Wenger's words are true or not, whether they are smoke bombs or the truth.

But the focus of media reporters is not here.

"Mr. Wenger, this final is still scheduled to be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and we all know that there is a spell in the dressing room of this stadium..."

When the reporter asked a question here, the audience chuckled.

The curse of the south dressing room at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has been around for a long time.

Since Wembley Stadium was knocked down and rebuilt, some major finals in English football have been arranged at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but what is interesting is that after that, the teams that moved into the south dressing room often lost to the north. The team in the locker room.

This record has been maintained until last season's pre-season Community Shield, when Arsenal met Liverpool in the north.

According to tradition, the southern team used the south locker room, and the northern team used the north locker room. The Gunners stayed in the south locker room, but defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the final and won the championship smoothly.

The same situation also happened in the FA Cup final last season. When Arsenal faced Southampton, originally according to tradition, Southampton should use the South dressing room, but the latter initiated a draw, and finally Arsenal drew the unlucky Southampton. locker room.

Surprisingly, the Gunners defeated Southampton in the final with a score of one to zero.

But in this season's Premier League, Arsenal led Manchester United by a large margin, but was stubbornly reversed by Ferguson's team at the last moment, losing the league title they had won.

Not only that, but in the Community Shield before this season, the Gunners encountered Manchester United and entered the South locker room again, but they still lost the champion on penalties.

After repeated experiences, everyone was convinced that there was indeed a magic spell in the south locker room of the Millennium Stadium.

For the reporter's question, Wenger responded with a smile.

"Yes, I've heard of it too, but we won't care about it. We'll just put all our energy into the game and defeat our opponents by strength instead of the so-called magic spell."

When it came to this, Wenger changed the subject.

"Of course, if our opponents feel that using the south locker room is not good for them, then they can apply again and use lottery to solve it. We all know that it is their first initiative to use lottery to determine the north and south locker rooms."

At the end, Wenger laughed, looking relaxed and calm.

Many reporters at the scene responded with applause, because Wenger's words were not without allusions.

In the FA Cup final of the 2001-2002 season, Arsenal encountered Chelsea.

According to tradition, both teams are London teams, but Chelsea is in the south and should use the south dressing room, but Chelsea is very dissatisfied with this and raised objections, hoping to use a lottery to determine the right to use the dressing room.

At the beginning, the FA did not agree and rejected Chelsea's application, but the Blues couldn't hold back the application again and again, and finally accepted the Blues' request and held a draw.

The result seemed to be God's will in the dark, Chelsea once again drew the South dressing room, and lost to Arsenal 0-2 in the final, giving up the FA Cup champion.

After two years away, the two London teams reunited at the Millennium Stadium. Wenger's words undoubtedly hit Chelsea's psychology, hoping to gain an advantage in the psychological warfare before the game.

As for the media, how can they not add fuel to the fire with their temper that they fear the world will not be chaotic?

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Due to the staggered time of the two pre-match press conferences, media reporters immediately went south from north London to Harrington near Heathrow Airport after finishing the press conference at the Kearney training base.

Compared with the high-end Kearney, Chelsea's Harrington looks very sloppy, too simple and unsuitable for this luxurious blue team, but the media reporters are used to it.

What's more, this is not the focus of their attention.

When Gao Han routinely announced the starting 18-man squad, media reporters only noticed that Makelele was still absent from the League Cup final. It seemed that the French midfielder had not fully recovered.

Then a reporter threw Wenger's words to Gao Han, and everyone in the audience quietly waited for Gao Han's rebuttal.

The curse of the South locker room has indeed been around for a long time, and it has convinced many people.

Professional football is dominated by people. As long as there are people, there will definitely be various, weird, and even unexplainable phenomena. For example, there was a so-called Premier League coach of the month curse.

But Gao Han scoffed at this.

After he came to the Premier League, he won the best coach of the month many times, but he didn't necessarily lose.

So, the crux of the matter is not the spell.

"I will never believe in the so-called curse, just like I said before, I never believe in the curse of the best coach of the month, and I will also not be affected by the curse of the south locker room of the Millennium Stadium. "

Gao Han smiled faintly, facing all the media reporters.

"As for the so-called draw, it is even more unnecessary, because we don't want to give the opponent any excuse to lose."

"If there is really a so-called curse in the South dressing room, then we are happy to accept this challenge and defeat Arsenal and the so-called curse in one fell swoop!"

Gao Han has always sneered at the so-called curse, so he also feels that it was a very stupid decision when Chelsea offered to draw lots, especially in the end, it was even more unlucky to be drawn to the south locker room.

Needless to say, in that game, Chelsea had already lost half of it before the game started.

For the same reason, Wenger still wants to seize the psychological advantage when he kicks the ball to Chelsea.

If Chelsea were serious, they would lose psychologically. If they were not serious, Arsenal would enter the North dressing room as a matter of course.

Therefore, if anyone says that Wenger is a good guy in the future, Gao Han will fight him desperately.

This is simply not too thief!

Gao Han thought about it a few times, but the media reporters were still asking questions.

For example, a reporter from the Independent newspaper suggested that Arsenal forward Henry confidently stated that he would definitely score in the final to help Arsenal break Chelsea's goal and win a championship first.

Gao Han sneered twice without hesitation, and only replied, "He said the same thing last time."

The audience roared with laughter.

"Go back and tell Henry that you still have to save some energy and keep his top scorer in the league!" Gao Han continued to provoke.

In the current Premier League scorer list, Eto'o has already caught up with Henry, which also makes the competition for the Premier League scorer throne this season more and more fierce, especially for Henry, who was ambitious before the season, the pressure is even greater. multiply.

"Mr. Gao Han, are you going to refrigerate Eto'o in the final?" A reporter asked tentatively.

Gao Han laughed straight, and refused to answer directly, "Guess."

The reporters almost fell over, who would have guessed that?

Chelsea's lineup is very thick, and Gao Han's rotation is also used well. Cup games and league games are played differently. Even if Eto'o is really rotated, it is normal.

Regarding the outstanding performance of the Blues this season and the stable performance in the past few months, many people not only attribute the greatest credit to the training of the head coach Gao Han, but also feel that they rely on Chelsea's strong lineup.

Basically, there are two strong competitors for every position, which makes Chelsea form a strong competitiveness. Coupled with the proper rotation of Alpine, the team's overall combat effectiveness is amazing.

It can be said that the investment of 200 million euros has been spent wisely.

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Arsenal did not respond positively to Gao Han's provocation at the pre-match press conference.

Even Henry, who bears the brunt, just said that he will use the game to prove it.

But this does not prevent media reporters from hyping this hot topic at all.

The League Cup has always been a tasteless event in the Premier League, and the attention is not good. In addition, the game is scheduled for the end of February, which coincides with the critical period of multi-line battles for strong teams, so there have been calls to cancel the League Cup.

But now, Arsenal and Chelsea have reached the League Cup final at the same time, which has greatly stimulated the attention of this cup.

There is a good saying, whether there is a champion or not, you can't see it on weekdays, and it can only be reflected in a major and key battle.

The League Cup final is the first game that Chelsea has faced since its reorganization. It is a major event that determines the ownership of a championship trophy. Whether to continue Gao Han's past glory, or to continue Chelsea's previous strong outsiders and middlings, depends on the game.

Not only the media reporters paid great attention to this event, but even the fans of the two teams were very enthusiastic.

Before the game, the fans of both teams drove from London to Cardiff together. The trains and flights from London to Cardiff were overcrowded for a while, and the fans who chose to go by car even had a long queue along the way.

Even on the day of the game, when entering a major traffic artery in Cardiff, two cars representing Arsenal and Chelsea collided and rubbed against each other. The two gangs almost fought and blocked the entire road. Police diversion was avoided.

If the fans of the two teams were allowed to fight openly on the main road, it would be a great spectacle in English football.

Before the game, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was packed early.

In the stands, the blue that represents Chelsea and the red that represent Arsenal are completely different, tit for tat.

But unlike the excitement and excitement of the Blues, Arsenal fans are more gentlemanly, or dull.

This is also in line with the consistent characteristics of Arsenal's Highbury Stadium.

It is a famous gentleman's course in the Premier League.

But this is a decisive battle between you and me!