Van Persie's eagerness to show off turned into a squandering of offensive opportunities. This was almost the epitome of Arsenal's offense in the first 30 minutes of the first half.
Bergkamp seemed to be at the front, but in fact, he was playing the second striker position, creating opportunities for his teammates at the front of the penalty area.
Both Robin van Persie and Reyes' performances looked very eye-catching. They frequently broke through on the flanks, but the sloppy shots or low-quality passes made Arsenal's offensive sound more like thunder than rain. There was a sense of bluff.
Qin Xiong understood Van Persie and Reyes very well. This was different from the national team.
Especially in the China national team, the gap between the players' strengths was more obvious. No matter how bad Qin Xiong's performance was, he would still be the core and irreplaceable.
In the national team, one could also ignore the direct financial income.
But in the club, appearances meant money. In order to get a stable appearance, one had to perform more, which was directly linked to one's personal interests.
Therefore, it was not difficult to understand that there were more "selfish people" in the club.
Of course, for the young players, it was not absolute selfishness. It was just a very common phenomenon to have a strong desire to perform.
Van Persie's last kick was too impatient and his accuracy was very low. Reyes was very impressive when he broke through people on the flank, but the quality of his passes was terrible, especially when Van Persie was the only one who would rush into the penalty area to keep up with his passes. Most of the time, the ball was directly returned to the opponent.
Bolton Wanderers did not get many offensive opportunities because it was difficult for them to carry out stable ground passes in the backfield. Qin Xiong would switch from offense to defense after he attacked. He would closely mark Kevin Nolan so that Nolan could not be the transit point for the opponent's front and back. Then, Bolton Wanderers would mostly pass the ball forward or rush through the Greek winger, Giannakopolos, on the flank. Giannakopolos would complete the pass from the flank.
It was a very standard long pass.
The football would occasionally reach the feet of the midfielder, Okocha, and that was when Bolton Wanderers' offense seemed to be the most threatening.
Okocha's footwork was very strong. He was able to easily get rid of Fàbregas's pressing, allowing him to charge into the dangerous area in front of the penalty area. However, his coordination with the offensive side of the ball was mediocre. As a result, when the Bolton Wanderers passed the ball up last time, Diouf was unable to grasp the timing of the pass due to their lack of coordination. Davis, on the other hand, could not keep up with his awareness and ruined Okocha's efforts.
Qin Xiong was a little depressed in this match!
It was even more difficult than when he first played for Ajax!
In Ajax, at the very least, there would be Snede to interact with him in the frontcourt.
Today's starting formation.
If Qin Xiong passed the ball to the flank, the ball would almost never return to his feet.
Van Persie and Reyes placed too much emphasis on individual performance. Perhaps they felt that breaking through Bolton Wanderers' veterans, Campo and Baines, made them look impressive. But in reality, the quality of their shots was not high, and their passes were meaningless. Their overall efficiency was so low that it made one's hair stand on end.
Even so, Qin Xiong still had to play like this. He still had to pass the ball to the flank.
This was what the technical and tactical system required him to do. After all, he had to be tolerant of Van Persie and Reyes. They were young and rising stars. They needed to perform more.
Mistakes were a part of growth.
Today's match was clearly not a crucial match, so Qin Xiong did not have to get angry.
It was just that he began to send more ammunition to the veteran, Bergkamp. Bergkamp also saw that the team's offensive flanks were inefficient. He hit it off with Qin Xiong. He began to charge at the frontline, but he was limited by Hierro and Ngoti's experienced blockade, so it was difficult for him to play a huge threat.
In the 33rd minute of the match, Qin Xiong got rid of Nolan horizontally in front of the penalty area and passed the ball straight to Bergkamp, who was plugging into the penalty area. Bergkamp stopped the ball perfectly and his next move was to shoot!
The veteran, Hierro, rushed to the ground and shoveled horizontally to block Bergkamp's shot with his body.
Bergkamp wanted to shoot a low ball, but he did not expect to be blocked by Hierro's body. Bergkamp raised his hand to signal that Hierro's arm had touched the football, but the referee did not say anything.
The football, which was slowly rolling out of the penalty area, was first controlled by Nolan. Qin Xiong was just about to go up to intercept when Nolan directly kicked the ball to the front field with a long kick!
Qin Xiong's experience with the English Premier League was that the pace was too fast. The football was flying in the sky, and there was no way to go back to defend.
He looked at the situation in the backfield and was slightly relieved.
Fàbregas and Flamini were at the ball's landing point. Although Okocha was running forward, the ball's landing point was not something he could control.
Fàbregas was retreating and observing his opponent's running position as he retreated. He was considering whether to use a header to clear the siege or stop the ball.
But as he retreated further and further, he suddenly found that Flamini had first occupied the football's exact landing point from behind.
Flamini looked at Fàbregas, who was retreating in front of him, and the two suddenly made a move to avoid each other.
Fàbregas was going to give up his position, but Flamini was worried that Fàbregas would not give way and hit him.
The two men's avoidance at the same time caused the football to bounce and fly back to Arsenal's penalty area!
By the time the two men came back to their senses and realized that there was a problem with their cooperation, it was already too late. The two men could only turn their heads to look at the penalty area together.
Arsenal's defenders did not expect that two of their teammates could control the falling football, but let the football bounce and continue to fly into the penalty area.
Senderos suddenly jumped in a hurry. He wanted to head the ball to clear the siege, but when he jumped to the maximum height, the football flew over his head and grazed his scalp behind him!
A header!
Wenger slowly stood up in the technical area with a stunned expression and muttered, "What kind of joke is this?"
Kevin Davies, who had rushed past Senderos, was already unmarked. He faced the falling football from the right side of the penalty spot and shot with his foot, trying to play a safe angle.
Lehmann did not expect Senderos to head. His hasty abandonment of the goal was useless. The football flew from his right side into the goal behind him!
Kevin Davies was overjoyed and ran to the visiting fans' stands to celebrate.
Lehmann simply exploded. He angrily criticized his teammates who made a series of mistakes in the defensive line!
Fàbregas, Flamini, and Senderos did not dare to refute a word.
"Wow, wow, wow! Arsenal, Arsenal actually lost such a ridiculous ball. Kevin Nolan performed a long-distance assist! He kicked the ball from his own side's penalty area to the front field. Fàbregas and Flamini modestly gave way to each other and watched the football bounce before their eyes and fly into the penalty area. Senderos was simply the best comedy actor. The moment he took off, we all thought that he would clear the ball. In the end, the football streaked over his head, and Davies was lucky to get a one-on-one ball. He easily sent the ball into Arsenal's goal! At Highbury, Arsenal fell behind. Does Wenger regret it? Sending so many young players at once, is it to train them or to give a big gift to Bolton Wanderers today? "
Wenger angrily picked up the mineral water bottle in front of him and smashed it on the ground after seeing the loss of the city gate!
He walked to the sidelines with a straight face, crossed his arms, and began to supervise the game in this posture.
So far in the game, Arsenal's performance was terrible.
Without this goal concede, it could only be said that the offensive side could not play the power of team cooperation.
But with this goal concede, Arsenal's performance at home became a mess of offense and terrible!
Qin Xiong's mentality was not affected. He was just thinking about how to improve the offense.
Before the restart, the veteran Bergkamp walked in front of Qin Xiong and whispered to him, "You can go forward. I'll cover you."
Qin Xiong nodded to show that he understood.
He needed a positive response.
If Bergkamp was to play as the center forward, then Qin Xiong would send the ball to Bergkamp.
He had to do the same!
But since Bergkamp took the initiative to pave the way for Qin Xiong and create an opportunity for him to go forward, then Qin Xiong had no reason to refuse.
But after the restart, Qin Xiong's offensive organization for the next five minutes continued with the previous routine. He constantly charged into the front midfield line and then created opportunities for Van Persie and Reyes on the flank.
After the goal concede, Van Persie and Reyes were even more impatient.
They were eager to make a contribution. It was conceivable that they did not want to lose as the main force. Not only was it at home, but it would also end Arsenal's unbeaten record!
But they really did not show a better performance.
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.
