Chapter 342: All is fair in war

Wenger was skeptical about what Ye Qiu said at the pre-match press conference, because he himself also took the smoke bomb.

Henry finally appeared in the starting lineup, forming a double striker tactic with Reyes, while Gilberto Silva was indeed absent due to injury. He was replaced by Flamini in this game, and the young French midfielder and Vieira formed a double midfielder.

The French midfielder who transferred from Marseille last summer has performed well in Arsenal this season. Although he basically played as a substitute, he also showed his potential. Although he is young, he is very hardworking, very dedicated on the court, actively running, and his skills and awareness are also pretty good. After all, he is a French youth training.

Chelsea also made appropriate adjustments to the lineup in this game. The goalkeeper is Cudicini, the back line is Evra, Gallas, Terry and Maicon, the midfield is a combination of Essien, Fabregas and Lampard, and the front court is a trident composed of Joe Cole, Van Persie and Rooney.

Judging from this starting lineup, Chelsea obviously still has the feeling of saving strength for the Champions League final. At least Ye Qiu did not arrange the center forward Gudjohnsen, who has performed well recently, to start, nor did he let Deco play. Instead, he let Van Persie and Fabregas replace them in the starting lineup, which is obviously preparing for the Champions League final.

Wenger stood in front of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, looking at Chelsea's starting lineup, watching the players of the two teams lined up in front of the player tunnel, ready to play the British national anthem, but he was thinking about one thing in his mind, what tactics will Ye Qiu adopt in this game? Is it really like he said to press out and play?

"Chelsea's starting lineup doesn't look like it's going to defend!" Pat Rice shook his head after watching from the side.

Essien and Lampard are both players who can run and grab, and have abundant physical strength. Among them, Essien is also mainly a substitute in Chelsea this season. He has many opportunities to play. His performance is average, with good and bad, but he gives people the feeling that he is not a stable midfielder. He is a midfield defensive player who runs and covers a large area.

Then the problem comes. If Chelsea wants to defend, Ye Qiu's midfield combination lacks a defensive midfielder with a good sense of position and can make people feel at ease. Fabregas prefers to organize and attack, while Lampard and Essien have a general sense of position. If you let them run, that is their strength, but if you let them stand, that is their weakness.

Before Chelsea played Porto, Ye Qiu also adopted the tactic of bombarding directly at the beginning, and that game was also because Makelele was absent, Ye Qiu had to take risks, and it is hard to guarantee that he will not do the same this time.

"Let them keep an eye on Lampard!" Wenger reminded Pat Rice cautiously.

The latter nodded. Lampard's back-up attack has become a label of Chelsea's attack, and the magic lamp is also the top scorer in Chelsea this season. His performance is very eye-catching. As a midfielder, he is competing with forwards such as Henry for the league's top scorer. It can be seen how strong the scoring ability of this Chelsea vice-captain is.

Relatively speaking, Chelsea's other players are average. Van Persie and Joe Cole are both substitutes. Rooney performed well, but his goal data is not very impressive. He is more reflected in the impactful breakthroughs in the frontcourt.

Of course, Rooney has performed well in recent times, but Lampard is relatively the most threatening player.

For Arsenal, whose current tactical system has been formed for many years, all Wenger needs to do is to adjust the targeted tactics of each game, and to remind the players to pay attention to the details in the game, such as paying attention to a certain player of the opponent. As for the specific tactical framework, all the players are already familiar with it.

When Pat Rice conveyed Wenger's requirements to the court, the referee Styles blew the whistle to start the game.

Fast, responsible, and full of offensive desire, this is the label Ye Qiu gave to the Frenchman Evra.

"We will attack immediately after the opening, without hesitation, and I require the defense to press forward as a whole!"

"I believe that Wenger must have studied our semi-final away game against Porto. He would like us to play Arsenal like Porto, because our midfield lacks a defender with excellent positional sense, and he is sure that we will not be willing to defend and counterattack."

"Yes, I am not willing to defend and counterattack, so we will attack immediately after the opening, actively attack the wing, especially the left wing. Joe Cole and Evra should cooperate more, while trying to create threats through wing attacks and strive for goals, while suppressing Arsenal's wing attacks, and I also want to give Wenger an illusion that he can and should take defensive counterattacks."

This is the opening strategy that Ye Qiu focused on before the game. Chelsea seems to be attacking, but in fact, they are also very cautious about defensive counterattacks, and will not invest too many troops in counterattacks.

Just like this time, Evra got a chance soon after the start, and quickly inserted from the left. After Joe Cole got the ball, he cooperated with Evra. The French left back quickly inserted into the left side of the Arsenal penalty area and crossed with his left foot.

This cross ball landed in an excellent position, but the problem was that there was no player in the frontcourt to follow up, and Lehmann easily picked it up from mid-air, defusing Chelsea's first attack of the game, which immediately made the Chelsea fans in the stands of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff sigh with disappointment.

But after the failure of the first wave of attack, Chelsea did not choose to retreat, but adopted a relatively forward pressure tactic.

Lehmann's goal kick went directly past the midfield, but neither Henry nor Reyes clearly had the ability to fight for the top spot in the frontcourt. Especially in front of Terry and Gallas, they simply couldn't fight for the first place. point.

The ball was headed back to the midfield by Terry. Lampard headed the ball to the nearby Cesc Fabregas, and then rushed forward quickly, running relatively to the right. Rooney was also quick to get in, and Van Persie It was pulled directly outside the penalty area, seemingly to respond.

Fabregas immediately stabilized after getting the ball, but Vieira quickly rushed towards the Spanish kid. The tall and powerful Vieira was like a heavy tank, running rampant on the court, giving people It brought huge psychological pressure, and as soon as Fabregas saw Vieira approaching, he immediately passed the ball to the left.

Evra rushed forward quickly again. After getting the ball, he moved forward vigorously and directly speeded up with Arsenal's right midfielder Ljungberg on the wing. After entering the Arsenal defensive zone, Joe Cole came over and raised his hand. Wanting the ball, the French left back also quickly passed the ball to Joe Cole, who avoided Lauren and knocked back to the baseline.

"A beautiful one-two, Chelsea once again broke through Arsenal's defense from the left. Let's see if Evra can catch up with the ball. After catching up, Evra stopped the ball on the left side of the penalty area. Kolo? Toure blocked the ball on the edge of the penalty area."

"Beautiful, a sudden stop to accelerate the breakthrough, Evra shook off Kolo Toure and passed in!"

Evra's cross is still in the penalty area, but it is obviously farther outside than the first cross just now, probably around the small penalty area line, and the smart thing is that this is a kick. A low cross was delivered, but it bounced deliberately in front of the goal.

Because Kolo Toure blocked the left side of the penalty area, Campbell moved to the center to take position, so Evra's cross just fell between Campbell and goalkeeper Lehmann, and if it had not touched down and rebounded If so, Campbell could easily clear the ball, but with this touchdown rebound, Campbell made a mistake in judgment.

However, Campbell reacted very quickly. He turned around immediately and saw that Evra's cross just now was not for Rooney or Lampard. Both of them deliberately targeted Ashley Cole and Foley. Laminilla was on the right side of the penalty area and exposed a flaw in the middle. Van Persie, who had just withdrawn from the penalty area, suddenly rushed back to the penalty area.

Evra passed the ball quickly and urgently. After Campbell reacted, experience told him that the only thing he could do was to wait for Van Persie to stop the ball. If the Dutchman stopped the ball, he would have a chance to get close.

What he didn't expect was that Van Persie was obviously ready with his left foot. Before the ball bounced off the ground and hit the ground again, his left foot directly faced the incoming ball and gently rubbed it. After he rubbed the ball high, he shook it with fierce It rotated, and after crossing an arc, it almost hit the goal by hitting the upper right corner of the goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

The on-site commentator at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium made a long sound, and along with this long sound, the Chelsea players quickly rushed out of the stadium and celebrated there with great excitement.

"Less than 6 minutes into the game, Chelsea scored the first goal. French left-back Evra made a wonderful pass in the middle of the penalty area. Dutch forward Robin van Persie shot in front of Chelsea's goal, opening the scoring, 1:0!!!"

"This is a very beautiful goal. Evra made two consecutive breakthroughs from the left and then passed the ball. He successfully lifted the ball into the Arsenal penalty area, but the placement of the two passes was obviously different. The first time he chose a high ball, it landed close to the goal and was directly confiscated by Lehmann. The second time he chose a small penalty area line. "

"Van Persie's rub shot is also very beautiful and very spiritual. Ye Qiu once praised the Dutch striker, saying that he has the ability and potential to become a player like Henry, and we have indeed seen that Van Persie's performance at Chelsea has always been very good. It’s good, especially this season, the performance is rising steadily.”

After the goal, the Chelsea players rushed to the sidelines and hugged Robin van Persie to celebrate. This goal came very suddenly, but it opened the door to victory for Chelsea and opened up a situation. .

"It's really surprising. We all thought that after Chelsea lost Ronaldinho, Drogba and Gudjohnsen, Ye Qiu would rely more on the scoring ability of Lampard and Rooney, but In fact, Ye Qiu's attack after the start was obviously centered around Van Persie."

Through slow-motion replay, it can be clearly seen that Lampard and Rooney both consciously drew Arsenal's defensive attention to the right side, while Van Persie has been paying attention to Evra after retreating out of the penalty area. As soon as he saw Evra shake off Kolo Toure, he immediately returned to the penalty area and rushed over to grab the point.

Ye Qiu stood on the sidelines. After Van Persie scored, he smiled and clapped, applauding Van Persie's goal.

"If Wenger thinks that I still have to play forward in defense and compete with him in midfield, then he has really misunderstood me. I have no idea of ​​​​playing in midfield because it is too risky for me. !" Ye Qiu said to his assistant with a smile.

Ten Cate on the side sympathized with Wenger. Ye Qiu's arrangement was indeed bold and unexpected, but more importantly, Wenger's Arsenal style of play was too monotonous, with almost no major changes. It was all 442, the same team, and the same tactics.

It didn't matter that Ye Qiu didn't fight in the midfield. He went to the wing, passing the ball quickly and concisely, letting the ball bypass the middle of the midfield and go to the wing more often. The focus of Chelsea's game in this game was on the offense and defense of the wing, defending on the right and attacking on the left, which was very determined.

Moreover, Ye Qiu did not adopt the tactic of pressing the defense line forward, because the midfielders Essien and Lampard had excellent running ability, so Ye Qiu deliberately created an illusion of pressing the defense line forward, so that Wenger thought about how to counterattack, but in fact, Chelsea did not really invest much manpower in the offense, and coupled with the emphasis on defense on the right, Arsenal's counterattack was difficult to work.

In the words of Sun Tzu's Art of War, this is the way of war!

Of course, Arsenal is not without the power to fight back.

Less than 3 minutes after Chelsea scored, Arsenal seized an opportunity to counterattack.

In this game, Reyes, who was pulled to the left by Wenger, used his speed and skills to forcefully pass Maicon on the wing, quickly cut into the penalty area from the left, and passed the ball directly to Henry, but this time Terry blocked Henry steadily and cleared the ball with one foot.

As if they had tasted the sweetness and saw hope, Arsenal began to consciously strengthen their attack on the left, especially using Pires and Reyes to attack Maicon. Soon he got another chance, quickly got rid of Maicon from the left and cut inside, but this time Lampard fouled after chasing back and was shown a yellow card by the referee.

Ye Qiu saw this scene on the sidelines and immediately signaled Rooney to retreat appropriately to support the midfield defense, and at the same time let Lampard's position on the right to support Maicon and freeze Arsenal's left attack.

At this point in the game, it is already unclear who is attacking and who is defending. All we know is that the game is fast-paced and the ball possession is frequently transferred between the two sides. However, if you look closely, it is not difficult to find that Arsenal's attack is very chaotic.

After tasting the sweetness of the first attack, Reyes pulled to the left to attack Chelsea's right, which is indeed a very good choice. Pires naturally pulled to the middle, but in the middle, the distance between Essien and Fabregas and the defense line was kept very tight, so that Pires and Ljungberg did not get too many opportunities and did not have the expected effect.

Arsenal's attack is mainly aimed at the insertion and impact of the ribs. Henry and Reyes are both good players of this type, but the problem now is that Reyes is forced to the wing by Chelsea, and Henry is isolated in front and cannot form an effective offensive impact. Even the connection between the midfield and the front line has been cut off by Chelsea.

On the other hand, Chelsea's signs of defensive counterattacks are becoming more and more obvious, especially after the opening goal. They seem to be attacking, but they gradually retreat with Arsenal's counterattack, maintaining a compact formation. After that, once they get the ball, they immediately take the initiative to attack the left, with Evra, Joe Cole and Van Persie forming a counterattack formation.

Joe Cole and Van Persie are both excellent in ball possession and passing abilities, and Evra's speed and wing impact are also very strong. The counterattack combination of the three people has few opportunities, but they are all very threatening.

Arsenal is different, because Ye Qiu deliberately gave up the right side to Arsenal, and even intentionally or unintentionally took the initiative to lure Arsenal out to attack, specifically letting you attack from the left. In this way, Arsenal, who are eager to equalize the score, seem to have created many opportunities on the left, but in fact, there are very few opportunities that are really threatening.

Just like this time, Henry couldn't wait for the opportunity in front, and quickly retreated to help. Pires passed the ball to Henry's feet. The French striker turned around and shook off Fabregas and passed the ball directly to the penalty area. Reyes quickly entered the penalty area from the left rib. Under the double-teaming of Maicon and Terry, who was in place, Reyes barely kicked the ball.

Such an opportunity was actually very reluctant. Reyes' shot also hit the side net directly. The fans were terrified, but after Ye Qiu saw Terry and Maicon complete the double-teaming, he knew that Reyes had no way.

In the case of two defensive players double-teaming, and in such a small and dense space in the penalty area, even Ronaldinho might not dare to say that he could succeed, let alone Reyes?

There are many similar opportunities, so Chelsea looks a little passive, even embarrassed, but in fact it is very stable, patiently waiting for opportunities, waiting for Arsenal to reveal flaws again.

All teams are the same. If they can't attack for a long time, they are likely to reveal flaws. For a team with excellent offensive ability like Chelsea, you don't need to reveal fatal flaws. Often, as long as you reveal a flaw and let me counterattack, I may be able to convert the counterattack into a goal.

As for when to score, Ye Qiu couldn't say, he could only wait.

Therefore, after the game entered the situation he wanted, all the adjustments Ye Qiu made were to stabilize the current situation. Arsenal was eager to score, and secondly, this team has always been known for its offense, so they were very good at attacking.

As the game time passed little by little, Chelsea was still stable, but Arsenal began to get impatient, and finally in the 36th minute, problems occurred again.

Henry wanted to pass the ball horizontally to Ljungberg, but Essien intercepted the ball and passed it to Gallas, who cleared it with a long kick. Flamini made a mistake in his header. Joe Cole got the ball and knocked it back to Evra on the left, and then he turned and quickly joined in.

At this time, Joe Cole and Van Persie rushed forward at the first time, and Lampard and Rooney also joined in quickly. Both of them were patiently waiting for the opportunity. As long as they were given the opportunity, they would still enter the penalty area.

Evra quickly dribbled the ball along the left, and Chelsea launched another counterattack.