Chapter 313: Failure at the Last Moment

UEFA's technical department once released a technical and tactical report on European football last season. Technical director Rox Berger wrote the report himself, and summarized the technical and tactical situation of European football in the past two or three years, and predicted future development trends.

Although Ye Qiu had a bad impression of bureaucratic organizations such as UEFA and FIFA, he had to admit that as a technical department, UEFA brought together the best scientific research talents in Europe and did have a full grasp of technical and tactical skills.

Rox Berger pointed out in this report that the trend of future football will inevitably tend to integration, not only the integration of the four major European leagues, but also the integration and re-creation of the technical and tactical styles of football around the world.

In this report, Rox Berger also explained another point of view, which is ball control.

You know, for a long time in the past, the mainstream tactics on the European continent were front midfielder tactics, that is, Zidane, Rui Costa, Riquelme and other players as the core of the offense and organization. One of the important features of this type of tactics is ball control, and it is also skillful ball control at a slow pace.

But in fact, this situation is constantly being broken. Rox Borg expounded a point of view in his report, that is, winning does not depend on how much ball possession you have, but how to control the ball efficiently. He even thinks that if a team with a high ball possession ratio does not have enough ways to convert ball possession into goals, then too much ball possession will not only be of no benefit, but will make the defense of the team with too much ball possession very vulnerable.

"The year Ajax won the Champions League, the Dutch team's ball possession rate ranked 9th in the ranking of all Champions League teams. Last season, Chelsea won the championship, but they ranked only 8th in the ball possession list. Porto reached the final, and they ranked 12th in the ball possession list. Greece's ball possession in the European Cup was only slightly more than Latvia."

"What does this show? This shows that the amount of ball possession does not determine the outcome of the game. The key is how to control the ball effectively. This is what all teams that like and pursue the ball possession style should advocate and strive for."

If you turn Rox Borg's words around, that is, when you face a team with a ball possession style, what you want to do is not to stop them from controlling the ball. On the contrary, you should let them control the ball, but do your best to destroy the effectiveness of their ball control, that is, make their ball control lose its purpose and goal!

There is a difference, because it is difficult to prevent the opponent from controlling the ball, especially for a team that has long been known for its ball control. If you compete with such a team for ball control, it is more like seeking death; but to destroy the effectiveness of the opponent's ball control, you only need to do your own tactics, which is much easier than the former.

What Chelsea did in the first half was actually destroying Arsenal's effective ball control. Knowing that you like to control the ball, I will let you control the ball, I will not compete with you, but I will not let you effectively control the ball in my control area. Therefore, the ball is at your feet, but Arsenal's players can't figure out the direction and purpose of the attack.

Why do you need a tactical center forward?

Suppose that Arsenal now has a Drogba-style tactical center forward. Even if they encounter the opponent's tenacious and solid defense, even if they encounter obstacles everywhere, they still have a choice, that is, to find a tactical center forward.

To put it bluntly, in the offensive routine, the biggest advantage of the tactical center forward is not scoring goals, not other things, but when the team cannot open up the situation, they can fight for a stable ball point for the team in the front. As long as they get the ball in the front court and arrange for this point, the opponent's defense, no matter how solid it is, will be in vain.

But Arsenal does not have a tactical center forward, because Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, ​​Ljungberg and others are either good at retreating or good at cutting inside after pulling the side, so Ye Qiu specifically defended the middle in this game, forcing Arsenal to go to the side too much, but the cross from the side lacks a connection point in the middle, and there is no threat at all.

Even in the second half, Wenger still failed to find an effective solution to this. After Kanu left the team, it can even be said that even when Kanu was there, Arsenal's forward line had the disadvantage of lacking high points, and they were better at going on the ground to cooperate and penetrate.

On the contrary, in the second half, Ye Qiu made adjustments to the team's offensive routines and began to encourage the team to play long passes and look for Drogba. So in the second half, it can be clearly seen that whenever Chelsea wanted to counterattack, they would play long passes to Drogba.

"Campbell's condition in this game was very bad!" Andy Gray had to shake his head and sigh when he saw Drogba almost win every direct contest. The 30-year-old tall central defender seemed very depressed when he met Drogba.

Sol Campbell's situation in Arsenal recently is not ideal. He is only 30 years old, but he has suffered a lot of injuries. This is obviously related to his playing style that emphasizes physical confrontation too much. As the number of injuries increases, Sol Campbell's condition has been seriously affected. Arsenal's defensive problems this season are related to him.

As Wenger himself said, the former Sol Campbell stood on the back line and could provide the team with a steady stream of confidence for his teammates. He could sit in front of the goal and make everyone believe in him. , but now, he has problems with his movement, jumping, tackling, etc., resulting in his poor condition.

However, some media pointed out that the reason why Campbell was in poor condition was also due to two other things. One was the contract extension with the club.

Both Juventus and Inter Milan want Sol Campbell, and Newcastle's Souness is even willing to provide Campbell with his current weekly salary. However, Arsenal is restricted by the French gang, and coupled with Campbell's age, they require a In addition to the annual signing, the salary will also be reduced, from the original maximum salary in the Premier League to the same level as Henry, Pires and others, and lower than Vieira.

30 years old is actually not too old for a defender. Even though Campbell is currently in poor condition, he is still the top central defender in the Premier League and even Europe. A salary cut is indeed difficult for a big name like him to accept. .

Another point is about relationships. I heard that he is currently busy dating a female star who is older than him. Many media even ridiculed that Campbell exhausted his energy while dating this star, resulting in If his performance on the pitch is sluggish, Arsenal's defense will be full of holes, who knows?

But it is undeniable that when Campbell, who was in poor condition, met Drogba, the wolf-like giant of Côte d'Ivoire, and Chelsea frequently used counterattacks and quick long passes to find Drogba, they launched an offensive attack. During the routine, Campbell's poor state was even more embarrassed by Drogba.

Just like this time, Chelsea found Drogba with a long pass as usual. The Ivorian accurately judged the ball's landing point and used his body to block Campbell. The latter was even blocked by Drogba and was unable to resist.

Of course, Campbell's lack of resistance did not mean that he would let Drogba turn around, so the Ivorian had no way to turn around and could only give the header to Lampard. As soon as Lampard got the ball, he was immediately hit by Gilberto ?Silva and the retreating Vieira were flanked, but the England midfielder did not stick to the ball, but shook his head towards the incoming ball.

The ball took a reverse L shape, from Drogba to Lampard in a straight line, to Lampard throwing his head to the left. The whole process happened in the blink of an eye, Ronaldinho came from the left Quickly cut to the middle and stop the ball with his chest in front of the top of the penalty area.

At this moment, Vieira, who was supposed to be blocking Ronaldinho, lost his position. He could only watch helplessly as the Brazilian stopped the ball with his chest and hit a shot with a strong spin with his right foot. Volleying in the air, the ball drew an arc, passed over the heads of Campbell, Drogba, and Kolo Toure, and hit the upper right corner of the goal.

Lehmann, who was squatting down slightly and getting ready to go, realized that the ball had already been scored, but he failed to react immediately. The German goalkeeper was indescribably disappointed and helpless and fished the ball out of the goal. Finally, he angrily kicked the ball towards the midfield.

The Arsenal fans at Highbury Stadium became silent because they didn't know what kind of expression or reaction they should give at this moment. They felt that in such a game, they didn't know why the team played so poorly. .

"Some people say that art is always so fragile and needs to be carefully cared for. Perhaps the same is true for Arsenal's football. At the beginning of the season, the performance of the gun gestures made everyone seem to see a team full of artistic atmosphere. The team had a chance to change their destiny, but in the end, Arsenal were as fragile as ever."

"But we should also see that Arsenal in this game are not only fragile, they can even be said to be clumsy, because they have not even had a shot so far. If they are in the remaining half an hour Here, they still haven’t been able to get a chance to kick off, then this will definitely be a shame!”

Being second in the Premier League, but being forced by the first team in the Premier League without even a chance to kick a ball, this can no longer be said to be bad. It can even be said to be a great shame and will become a stain on Wenger and the players' lives. and shadows.

"We should see that Chelsea changed their past playing style in this game and adopted a more targeted and defensive tactic. Ye Qiu firmly grasped Arsenal's weakness. , It's like a snake that is pinched seven inches, unable to move or resist, and can only be slaughtered by the opponent. "

"Not only that, I believe Chelsea's defensive layout will be imitated by many Premier League teams, but at the same time, their counterattack method is also full of British flavor, that is, the long pass, and the role of Drogba as the tactical fulcrum. It was clearly reflected in this game. Looking at Arsenal, in fact, the Gunners are only one Drogba short.”

"Wenger seems to have discovered this problem, so not long ago, Arsenal introduced Nicolas Bendtner from Denmark, who is known as Danish Ibrahimovic. This man is 1.93 meters tall and has good foot skills. A very good high center forward is actually what Arsenal lack at the moment, but he is only 17 years old and does not yet have the conditions to play such a major game for the team. "

After the team scored the second goal, Ye Qiu replaced Ronaldinho with Davis.

After Davis came on the field, the team's tactics did not change much. They still played 4231. Davis was assigned by Ye Qiu to play as the left winger. He gave the Dutchman the greatest freedom on the left wing. He was like a rampaging wild boar, wreaking havoc on Arsenal's right flank.

As soon as Davis, who was full of physical strength, came up, he immediately caused huge trouble for Arsenal's defense on the right. Whether the Dutchman was a starter or a substitute, as soon as he came on the field, he immediately showed surprising tenacity. And Ye Qiu admired his competitive spirit very much.

Wenger made a substitution and replaced Pires with Reyes, obviously to strengthen defense and impact on the left.

Pires' performance in this game was not ideal under Chelsea's restrictions, especially when his inward cuts and penetrating passes were imprisoned by Chelsea's defense, and his role was inevitably greatly reduced. In this case Next, replacing Pires and replacing him with Reyes, who has stronger wing attack ability, is also an option.

Here I have to mention a very insidious thing about Ye Qiu. As soon as Reyes came on the field, Makelele was in a one-on-one defense and tackled Reyes so hard that he fell to the ground unable to crawl. stand up.

It's not that Makelele was very heavy-footed. The French midfielder's movements were very precise. He didn't tackle Reyes. Ye Qiu didn't bother to do this kind of foul action that hurt the opponent's body because he always believed in it. Feng shui takes turns.

In the past life, Arsenal was always hurt and brutally fouled by other teams in the following years. It is said that it has something to do with their playing style, but could it not be because their defensive actions were too brutal in the early years of the century? ?

Why is Arsenal called the Red Card Team in recent years? Because they have the most red cards among all teams in the Premier League!

If you act aggressively towards others now, they can't do anything to you, but in the future, when you are in trouble, everyone will want to take a breath, even if this person has transferred, even if the head coach of this team has been replaced. , but they will still want to retaliate against your actions back then.

Makelele's tackle only tripped Reyes, which was not serious. The referee did not give a penalty or warning, but it clearly shocked the Spanish kid. At least Reyes has been in recent times. His performance is no longer as eye-catching and amazing as it used to be, because many people have seen his weakness and his body is too thin.

Even Reyes was trapped. After Arsenal's wings were completely blocked, they could only choose long passes and crosses. However, under the double insurance of Terry and Cannavaro, Henry was There was no advantage at all in the previous battle for the top, but if he wanted to step in after walking away, Vieira's long shot was, to be honest, average, and Ljungberg was obviously better at entering the penalty area.

Therefore, in the end, Arsenal was unable to launch any more threatening offensive opportunities.

However, the Gunners seized three kicking opportunities in the last half hour, even though two of them hit anti-aircraft guns, another one came from the cooperation between Henry and Bergkamp, ​​and finally Ljungberg was in the penalty area. He was trying to grab the point, but he hit Van der Sar directly in the arms without any force.

"Tonight's game may be a good lesson for all opponents who encounter Arsenal. At least we have seen that Chelsea's routines, whether defensive or counterattack, can easily be learned and used by other teams. Coupled with the defensive problems that Arsenal have always exposed, this defeat will completely cause Arsenal to lose the frightening psychological advantage brought by their undefeated record, making everyone realize that Arsenal Na can fight like this!"

"Chelsea's performance in this game was actually not good. Ye Qiu was a bit too conservative, which led to Chelsea not playing an impressive offense. Maybe this has something to do with Chelsea's visit to Highbury, but Ye Qiu's conservatism, and His targeted tactics made this Premier League Premier League very dull."

"Of course, we should also see that the two sides played very fiercely and the rhythm changed quickly, especially in the first 45 minutes. The rhythm of the two teams was rare in the Premier League in recent years, and it also made us feel that time passed very quickly. It’s fast, but it doesn’t leave anything very impressive, which is a pity.”

"This is a game that determines the Premier League championship, and after this game, we can see that Chelsea has led Arsenal to 9 points. The Blues have gone from being 5 points behind in October to just over a month ago. In this time, from chasing to overtaking by 9 points, Chelsea's state is indeed amazing, and they have won 8 consecutive victories."

As the referee blew his whistle, there was a deafening boo from the entire Highbury Stadium, but it was obviously not directed at Chelsea, but at Arsenal and Wenger. The Gunners fans were obviously very disappointed with the team's performance. dissatisfied.

The current Gunners are not the same Gunners as Ye Qiu's previous life in the next few years. They are playing more balanced games now, but the home attendance rate is not high. So far this season, today's game has been full, but it has become Arsenal's worst performance, which has to be said to be a reason for the fans to boo.

Chelsea players seem to be in good spirits. After defeating Arsenal, the team leads by 9 points. The advantage is very obvious. What the team needs to do next is to minimize their loss of points.

In this regard, Ye Qiu also stated ambitiously at the post-match press conference that he hoped the team's winning streak could continue.

"I heard that the longest winning streak in the Premier League so far is 14 games. I hope to have a chance to challenge or even break it!"

This was understood by many people as another challenge by Ye Qiu to Arsenal, because the two 14-game winning streak in the Premier League were in the 01/02 season and the 02/03 season, both created by Arsenal. So when Ye Qiu said he wanted to challenge the 14-game winning streak, he was actually challenging Arsenal.

After being ended by Chelsea, Arsenal's unbeaten streak stopped at 57 games, which was only one game away from the 58-game unbeaten record created by Capello that year, but in the end the Gunners failed.