Chapter 352 Footballer’s sense of oppression, double defeat of Blue Moon at home and away
Chapter 352 Footballer’s sense of oppression, double defeat of Blue Moon at home and away
The first international match day in 2017 was held in March, and the 2018 Fighting Nations World Cup qualifiers on all continents entered a fierce stage.
Martin, who was not called up by the Dragon Country men's football team, has always focused on the league, Champions League and FA Cup after the international match day.
Ten days passed quickly, and players who had participated in the national team competition returned to the Kearney training base one after another, preparing to resume the league war.
Arsenal's opponent is very strong and it is also a preview of the FA Cup semi-finals.
They face the challenge of Manchester City at home.
After the 29th round of the league, Guardiola's first season in charge of Manchester City was not good. They are currently ranked fourth in the league and were eliminated from the Champions League by Monaco.
The only redemption opportunities left for Manchester City are to compete for fourth place in the league and the FA Cup.
Therefore, every next game cannot be missed for Manchester City.
In the past, De Bruyne would always make some moves on social platforms before playing against Martin. As the season came to an end, in order to remain highly focused, he ignored Martin's determination and continued to prepare for the league game at the Emirates Stadium. .
The first round of the match between the two teams was a make-up match in early February. Martin scored a goal and led Arsenal to a 2-3 win over Manchester City as a guest.
Arsenal is playing at home in this campaign, and most media are optimistic about the home team and believe that winning against Manchester City is a piece of cake.
The whole Arsenal team thinks so too, but their attitude is still very correct.
However, both teams are now big players in the national football team. They have just finished two national team games on the international match day, and they are tired of traveling and traveling. The physical fitness of the main players is worrying.
For this reason, players who return to their respective training bases focus on recovery.
Manchester City coach Guardiola also has a headache during this period. He doesn't know whether to go all out in this league or reserve for the FA Cup semi-finals.
The key is that going all out may not necessarily lead to a win. Currently, the league is four points behind third-placed Tottenham, two points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool, and four points ahead of sixth-placed Manchester United.
Liverpool faces Everton at home and has a high probability of winning.
The goal difference is one less than Liverpool. Once they fail to win the game, the winning Liverpool will become fourth in the league.
"what can we do about it?"
After a period of thinking, Guardiola still believed that he should go all out.
Live in the moment and focus all your attention on the next league first.
As for the FA Cup semi-finals, it is more beneficial to Manchester City.
According to the schedule, the FA Cup semi-finals will be held on the fourth day of the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
It is equivalent to saying that Arsenal is likely to be troubled by physical fitness.
There will be a certain advantage in the FA Cup semi-finals at the new Wembley Stadium.
2016-2017赛季英超第30轮联赛率先在安菲尔德球场拉开战幕，经过九十分钟鏖战，利物浦最终3：1赢下这场对阵埃弗顿的默西赛德郡德比。
As a result, Liverpool, who played one game first, overturned Manchester City with a 1-point advantage and climbed to fourth place in the league.
For Manchester City, who are visiting the leader Arsenal as a guest, this is a game that cannot be missed!
There was an upset in the league game later, with Chelsea losing to Crystal Palace in an upset 1:2 at home.
This result makes Arsenal fans particularly excited.
Once the home game against Manchester City takes all three points, the point difference with Chelsea will once again be stretched to 15 points. If the make-up game is won, the point difference will be 18 points...
Beautiful~
There is still nearly half a month until the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals begins, and Arsenal have enough time to prepare.
It is natural to focus on the league first.
Chelsea suffered an upset loss, and it would be considered a success if they scored all three points, otherwise it would be meaningless.
If you want to shift all your energy to the FA Cup and Champions League, the prerequisite is to win the league championship!
Wenger and the players are united in thinking and want to defeat Manchester City at home.
It's one thing to seize Chelsea's upset loss, but more importantly to set a tone for the FA Cup semi-finals.
No matter in any competition, Arsenal must win against Manchester City!
At the Emirates Stadium, more than an hour before the game, the starting lineups of both sides of the game were leaked.
The starting lineup given by Arsenal is still the usual 4231.
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Defenders: Gibbs, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Bellerin
Midfielder: Coquelin, Xhaka
Midfielder: Sanchez, Martin, Walcott
Forward: Giroud
……
Manchester City also has a 4231 formation.
Goalkeeper: Caballero
Defenders: Clichy, Otamendi, Kompany, Navas
Midfielder: Fernandinho, Stones
Forward: Sane, David Silva, De Bruyne
Forward: Aguero
……
Guardiola, who got Arsenal's starting lineup, frowned and was slightly dissatisfied.
He fielded the strongest lineup, but Wenger was actually a semi-main lineup?
Monreal, Van Dijk, Kante, Gnabry and Cavani did not appear.
But Guardiola quickly thought this was a good sign.
Does the non-full lineup mean there is a greater probability of defeating Arsenal as a guest?
Thinking of this, he decided to play more aggressively in away games.
As long as you score first, all problems will be solved.
※※※※※
"beep~"
The referee Atkinson blew his whistle, signaling the official start of the 2016th round of the 2017-30 Premier League season.
Manchester City, who had a kick-off advantage, quickly launched an offensive and tried to threaten Cech to guard the goal.
Less than half a minute into the game, De Bruyne received the football and sent an exquisite cross from the left. The football flying towards the penalty area just passed Mertesacker at the front point and was accurately passed between the two central defenders.
Aguero's forward position was just right, but... his foot was broken.
"Wowowoooooo—"
"It's true that your legs are short when you use them!"
As the exclamations rang out in the sky above the Emirates Stadium, Leshi sports commentator Zhan Jun said loudly: "What a pity! If Aguero's legs were just a few centimeters longer, Manchester City could have had a dream start at the Emirates Stadium!"
Aguero, who almost changed the situation, hammered the ground twice in frustration. The football flying to the other side was caught by Sanchez, who actively participated in the attack. Arsenal slowly launched an attack from the backcourt.
At the beginning, it was mainly a test to see whether Manchester City was real or not.
After a few minutes of offensive and defensive transitions, Manchester City's tactics were no different from what Martin thought.
Manchester City, which has dropped to fifth place in the league, is very creative and has more people on offense, which results in fewer people on the defensive end.
De Bruyne works extremely hard and can be seen in both offense and defense.
It is not difficult to see that he really wants to win a victory on the road.
After receiving the football, De Bruyne shot a sudden arrow over the crossbar from the outside of the penalty area. He screamed to the sky in annoyance, obviously dissatisfied with his performance.
Martin walked over and patted De Bruyne on the shoulder: "You are not me. How can you have such a high hitting rate? Keep up the good work."
De Bruyne gave Martin a look, as if to say: Climb for me~
"aoaoaooooooooo——"
The atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium was frenetic, with huge chants from the Arsenal fans.
Manchester City players did not file back to half-court, but stayed in the frontcourt and defended high.
Cech saw that every passing route was blocked by Manchester City players. He had no choice but to drive the ball forward with his big foot.
The confrontation between Giroud and Kompany was even, but neither of them got the ball, and the ball was taken by Otamendi who was behind.
Manchester City organized the attack in the backcourt, moved the ball to Arsenal's defensive half through tedious multi-foot passes, and continued to make continuous passes to find Arsenal's defensive gaps.
Martin, who realized that Manchester City was going to increase their offensive intensity in the away game, actively participated in the defense and moved deeper.
As time went by, Manchester City's proportion of possession and the number of shots began to increase, and Arsenal's formation was compressed relatively flat.
But Wenger was still sitting in the coaching bench and had no intention of getting up to direct the game, giving people a sense of being in control.
Guardiola looked up at the time displayed on the scoreboard, and his frown deepened.
The high-investment offense did create a great threat, with more shots, but it did not actually threaten Cech's goalkeeping.
This...is not a good sign.
Arsenal's 4231 formation was indeed very flat, but Guardiola felt like a spring that had been squeezed out of shape and could rebound with huge energy at any time. Thinking of Arsenal's strong counterattack efficiency, he returned to the coaching bench and asked his new assistant Arteta: "Mikel, if you were the head coach, how would you deal with this situation?"
"Give the initiative back to Arsenal and fight their counterattack."
Arteta did it without a second thought.
"But our defense wasn't good enough."
Guardiola couldn't help but ask.
"Arsenal's defensive system is solid and the counterattack efficiency is extremely high. Once the ball is handed to Martin during the transition from defense to offense, it will be an absolute disaster. Don't forget, we have a lot of people in the attack, and the full-backs are changing quickly. Use it as a winger."
"Too……"
Guardiola, who pondered for a moment, wanted to take advantage of the dead ball opportunity to explain new tactical adjustments.
Unexpectedly, the plan could not keep up with the changes.
Manchester City continued to attack with no results. De Bruyne, who ran to attack the left rib, signaled Clichy, who was standing close to the left sideline, to send the ball over, and then passed the ball directly to the penalty area without waiting for Coquelin to step forward.
A powerful low ball was passed to the left rib of the penalty area.
Mertesacker concentrated and made a big-footed clearance.
The football flew in the direction of its own half-circle arc, and Giroud and Kompany ran towards the landing point at the same time.
Giroud, who had his back to the direction of attack, was in a better position. He first stood up, lowered his center of gravity, shouldered Kompany who was pushing forward, and then used his head to point the ball to Sanchez in front of him on the right.
Navas and Stones pounced on each other horizontally and vertically. Sanchez, who was moving forward to meet the football, pretended to take the ball, but actually used the arch of his left foot to pass the ball horizontally to Martin, who was following up in the middle.
Fernandinho reached out and grabbed Martin's jersey, preventing Martin from getting the ball quickly.
He knows that once Martin is given the opportunity to increase his speed, it will mean that the defensive success rate will drop significantly.
Martin had a broad vision and had already seen the entire field. He had no intention of dribbling, and directly raised his left foot and sent the ball sent by Sanchez away.
The football shot up from the ground and flew diagonally from the center of Arsenal's defensive half to the right front of the attack.
The on-site director switched the camera to give a further picture.
The fans in the auditorium could see it particularly clearly. Walcott passed the center line at a speed visible to the naked eye and met the football sent by Martin with a certain advance.
"aoaoaooooooooo——"
In an instant, the home fans were chanting hysterically.
They saw Walcott unmarked and dragging Otamendi behind.
Guardiola, who was standing in the technical area commanded by the visiting team coach, had countless question marks in his mind.
???
what's the situation?
Fernandinho rigorously carried out the defensive tasks assigned before the game, and was not too far away from Martin when he participated in the attack. He also reached out and pulled Martin's jersey as soon as he switched from offense to defense.
The results of it?
Martin, who was facing Sanchez's pass, seemed to have a God's perspective. He directly raised his left foot and sent the ball to the right side out of public view.
The number of defenders who switched from offense to defense was insufficient, so Martin immediately sent the ball to the other side.
The whole person went numb.
Otamendi, who was trailing behind, returned to defense at high speed and raised his right hand high to signal that Walcott was offside.
But the assistant referee saw very clearly that Walcott had not passed the center line at the moment Martin passed the ball.
Walcott is extremely fast and is at the same pace as Martin's long diagonal pass.
While running at high speed, he used the instep of his right foot to lead the ball in front of him, and then strode forward for the ball. He did not slow down until he reached the edge of the penalty area.
Veteran Caballero abandoned the goal and Walcott did not choose to hit the goal. Instead, he used the ball more safely to accelerate past the opponent and finally succeeded in pushing the ball into the empty goal.
"The ball is in!"
Xinying Sports commentator Jin Xiangkailang said: "Martin made a long pass to assist Walcott to score, and Arsenal led 1:0 at home!"
The atmosphere in the entire Emirates Stadium became fanatical, and the Manchester City fans who traveled with the team sighed, obviously guessing that the future results would definitely be worse.
De Bruyne looked up at Martin, who was wearing the No. 10 jersey, his eyes full of envy.
The long diagonal pass to the right with his left foot without stopping the ball is incredible.
The layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.
The level of this diagonal pass is too high.
The first thing is to have a broad vision, the second thing is to have good enough inverse feet, and the last thing is to have a grasp of reality.
Indispensable.
"Is this guy so strong?"
In De Bruyne's impression, Martin's inverted foot is used to support the body. Occasionally scoring is considered to be an improvement in the ability of the inverted foot, which is not yet at the level of his dominant foot.
Judging from the long pass just now, the ability of his left foot is not as good as his dominant foot, but... he is infinitely close.
Guardiola also realized the seriousness of the matter.
Even though the score was only one goal behind, he could almost guess the final outcome of the game.
Most likely to lose.
The on-site director took advantage of the Arsenal players' opportunity to celebrate the goal and restore the entire process of the goal.
Starting from Mertesacker's big-footed clearance, Sanchez handed Giroud's header horizontally to the right to Martin. The latter's non-stop left foot diagonal pass to the right was of extremely high quality. The extremely fast Wall Kurt's running position is in perfect harmony with Martin's, which has the effect of moving the ball from man to man.
"Martin's vision is truly outstanding."
Xinying Sports commentator Jin Xiangkailang said: "Under normal circumstances, we can only see the front of the road, but the direction of Martin's passing is a blind spot in the field of vision. The most important thing is that the left foot is not the dominant foot..."
Zhang laughed and said: "Martin's ability with his left and right feet is becoming more and more balanced, and it will become more and more uncomfortable for the players defending him!"
……
The game restarted, and Manchester City, who was lagging behind, had to continue to attack to see if they could equalize the score.
Arsenal, who took the lead, very cooperatively handed the initiative to Manchester City and continued to counterattack.
Guardiola was speechless looking at Arsenal's tactics.
What the hell, are you the leader?
However, I have to say that Wenger's tactics are really good.
At the 18th minute of the game, Arsenal scored another victory.
Still a quick counterattack.
David Silva's through ball to Aguero was intercepted by Xhaka, who passed it directly to Martin.
Fernandinho thought that Martin would hit the ball again this time, but it turned out that he stopped repeatedly and it was too late to reach out to pull the ball.
Manchester City's defensive numbers when switching from offense to defense were already insufficient, but Martin increased the speed.
Next, naturally, things got out of control.
Using changes in speed and rhythm, he easily passed Kompany and Otamendi, and faced Caballero alone without any surprises. He pushed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal and scored, extending the score to two goals.
The scoreboard showed a score of 2:0.
Although Guardiola is reluctant to accept this reality,... the facts are before his eyes.
It's impossible to kick!
Therefore, in the next game, I chose to resume my usual routine and focus on stability.
However, such changes lose their suddenness and their threat is greatly reduced.
Arsenal defended with ease.
However, because the forward pressure of Manchester City's offensive players has decreased, Arsenal has much less space for a quick counterattack, and the fast break cannot be completed.
In addition to leading the score, they also consciously slowed down the pace.
Many players in the team participated in national team events during the international match days, and many of them played the entire game.
Reasonable consumption of game time has also become Arsenal's main tactical idea.
Not only did the score remain unchanged at the end of the first half, it also remained unchanged at the end of the game.
In the end, Arsenal defeated visiting Manchester City 2-0 at home with Martin's pass and shot.
(End of this chapter)
