When preparing for the sixth round of the Premier League, Wenger informed the players in advance that there would be a big rotation, but he only said half of it.
Yes, there would be a rotation.
But who would play in the starting lineup would not be announced in advance.
This made the young players work harder in training, hoping to get the attention of the coach and then be able to play as a starting player on the weekend.
Qin Xiong did not care about this. His training attitude was the same as always. He measured his weight before the game on Saturday and found that he was three pounds heavier than he was in August. He was very satisfied with this!
This increase must be real muscle and could not be fat.
Wenger quarreled with the Football Association again at the press conference.
The reason was that they both played a Champions League game in the middle of the week.
Why did Arsenal's game start first in the sixth round of the Premier League?
And Chelsea's game was tomorrow. Manchester United and Liverpool were scheduled to play the English National Derby in the closing game of the current round.
Arsène Wenger questioned the other competitors for the convenience of the competition schedule.
Fleet Street retorted Wenger after getting Arsenal's starting lineup before the game: You're actually covering up Arsenal's rotation, aren't you?
Just like the English manager, he was often at the cusp of the storm. The pressure from the media, opponents, fans, and internal made the manager have to deal with all aspects.
To let most of the main players rest at home, he had to give the fans an explanation.
Fleet Street thought that Wenger was looking for a way out to avoid being criticized by the fans. The fans who came to watch the game certainly wanted to see the star players. It was good to train the players, but everyone paid for it, didn't they? Premier League tickets were not cheap.
Why did Arsenal want to build a new stadium?
Because Highbury could not meet the fans' needs to enter the stadium to watch the game. The market for tickets was already in short supply.
From the library during Graham's era ten years ago to the need to build a new stadium when every game was full, the gap between Wenger's era and the previous glorious era was still relatively obvious.
Because of this, even though Arsenal had rotated and their home opponent was the traditionally weak Bolton Wanderers, Highbury was still packed to the brim. Outside the stadium, the scalpers made a windfall. The fans were already used to the fact that tickets for Arsenal's matches were hard to come by.
Bolton Wanderers was a weak team, and their current manager was the Englishman, Sam Allardyce. He was a typical English manager who advocated playing high and hard. Since he led Bolton Wanderers to avoid relegation again last season, he had set a new record in the club's 40 years of history: he had led the team to stay in the top flight for three consecutive seasons!
Bolton Wanderers had a harder time surviving in England. It could be said that they had only themselves to blame!
This proved the saying: A just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust cause finds little support.
The reason was that after the famous Munich air disaster, during the match between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United, the Bolton Wanderers fans collectively made a gliding motion in the stands to provoke Manchester United and hint at the tragedy of the Munich air disaster.
This practice had already exceeded the scope of insults, racial discrimination, and hooligans causing trouble in the stands. It was a vile behavior that exceeded the limits of social tolerance!
Therefore, to this day, Bolton Wanderers had a higher failure rate when competing for talent with clubs of similar financial strength and status in England! There would always be people who seemed to be quite strong but were repeatedly pushed into the abyss of demotion!
Many clubs were unwilling to make deals with Bolton Wanderers, and most players were unwilling to go to a team that was not particularly attractive and had a bad reputation.
As a result, Bolton Wanderers could only sign some veterans or even players from abroad. There were not many good local players that they could bring out.
The game was played on a Saturday afternoon.
It was the first game to start.
Sam Allardyce chewed gum on the sidelines, looking a little depressed.
He did not expect Arsenal to rotate, but he comforted himself. Even if he knew that there would be a rotation, would it change the deployment of the game?
Reason told him that it would not!
Arsenal was the king's coach who had not lost in 45 games across the season!
With seven consecutive wins in all competitions in the new season, plus it was an away game, Bolton Wanderers should not think too much. They should just obediently set up their fences. If they could take away one point, it would be a victory.
"Welcome to the sixth round of the new Premier League season. The first game to start is the game between the league leaders, Arsenal, and Bolton Wanderers. With five consecutive wins in the league, Arsenal looks a little careless today. Manager Wenger has made a large-scale rotation. Players like Henry, Vieira, and Ashley Cole are not in the starting lineup. Bolton Wanderers have brought out their strongest lineup to challenge Arsenal. But from another perspective, this shows that Arsenal is really full of talent. The young talent pool is the strongest in the Premier League!
Let's take a look at the players who will be representing Arsenal today.
Goalkeeper: Lehmann.
Defenders: Lauren, Campbell, Senderos, Clichy.
Midfielders: Flamini, Fàbregas, Qin Xiong.
Forwards: Reyes, Bergkamp, Robin van Persie.
Bolton Wanderers' starting lineup: 442.
Goalkeeper: Jaaskelainen.
Defenders: Campo, Hierro, Ngotti, Baines.
Midfielders: Speed, Nolan, Okocha, Yiannakopoulos.
Forwards: Kevin Davies, Diouf. "
Although the Premier League had long entered the era of mercenaries, it was still rare for a team of Bolton Wanderers' status to send out more than half of the team's foreign aid in the starting lineup.
Qin Xiong had never paid attention to Bolton Wanderers before.
But when he appeared today, he was almost shocked and thought he was dreaming!
Take a look.
Diouf, who shone in the 2002 World Cup.
Hierro, who was once the defensive leader of Real Madrid.
Ivan Campo, who also played for Real Madrid.
Ngotti, who played for a French powerhouse and also had a short stay at AC Milan.
Okocha, who was squeezed out by Ronaldinho at Paris Saint-Germain two years ago!
F-U-C-K！
If these players were not ten years younger, even if they were three or four years younger, would Bolton Wanderers celebrate setting a record for three consecutive years of relegation? That would be a f * * king disgrace! They should at least be in the top four to be worthy of the strength of this group of players!
This also further confirmed Bolton Wanderers' survival situation. It was really impossible to buy good players in England. They could only pick up the ones that others did not want or invite the veterans to retire with great hospitality.
Qin Xiong respected his opponents and was full of respect for these veterans. But to say that his fighting spirit could not be stimulated by his opponents, that was not the case. His fighting spirit still came from himself.
He wanted to lead the team to conquer the Premier League!
Since today's lineup was pieced together, Qin Xiong used more time to pass the ball with his teammates after the start of the game so that everyone could get into the same rhythm. At the same time, it also relieved the pressure on the young players.
As for whether he was stressed or nervous, it did not matter. This job had to be done.
He admired Fàbregas very much. At least in Arsenal's lineup, other than him, Fàbregas was probably the only player who was more like a playmaker.
Fàbregas' technique was very practical and his awareness in coordination was also very strong.
Qin Xiong's passing with him always got a positive response.
After five minutes of the game, Qin Xiong began to focus on driving the offense.
Bolton Wanderers' rear defense was made up of veterans, which meant that their speed, stamina, and explosive power had decreased, so they could not charge bravely in the dangerous areas!
They would firmly hold the key positions in the dangerous areas based on their experience. As for whether they could defend or not, they could only do their best and leave it to fate.
Bolton Wanderers' midfield was clearly unable to contain Qin Xiong and Fàbregas' joint offensive push.
Okocha's offensive strength was not to be questioned, but he did not seem to be of much use in defense.
The remaining Kevin Nolan could be easily defeated by Qin Xiong and Fàbregas' passing coordination.
The midfield was Arsenal's world!
In the eighth minute of the game, Qin Xiong and Fàbregas did a one-two wall pass in the midfield and once again rushed past Nolan's defensive area. Then Qin Xiong did another coordination with Bergkamp in front of the penalty area. He was keenly aware that Ngotti and Hierro were ready to join forces to block him. If he dared to break through Ngotti, Hierro would certainly ambush behind to intercept him a second time. That way, the success rate would be very high.
The older the ginger, the spicier it was. Perhaps his physical condition was indeed far from his peak, but his awareness and defensive choice were absolutely still top-notch.
Qin Xiong did not rush to break through. He passed the ball in front of the penalty area to van Persie, who was moving from the flank to the middle.
Van Persie ran in front of Campo, received Qin Xiong's pass, and directly shot at the goal!
The football flew up to the stands.
Qin Xiong was a little stunned.
You shot?
Just like that?
You did not use your best left foot, and the angle of the shot was not very good.
Moreover, Bergkamp's diagonal running position only required you to pass to create a better opportunity.
You shot just like that?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
