Sixth update!
-----
"Welcome to Highbury Stadium, the focal point of the 17th round of the English Premier League is about to take place here. At the same time, this is also a battle for the top of the table. The defending champions, Arsenal, are the current leaders. They have created a 56-game unbeaten record across the season. Now, in front of them is a glorious record waiting to be broken. All of Europe's attention is focused on them. Can this magnificent team of the English Premier League overturn the 58-game unbeaten record that was created by the Milan dynasty? Although Arsenal's excellence needs no elaboration, Chelsea, who are currently in second place in the standings, should not be underestimated. Today, they came north from Stamford Bridge to Highbury to challenge the defending champions. They are only one point behind Arsenal. If they can win here, they will occupy the top of the standings and at the same time, end Arsenal's unbeaten record!
Chelsea, built by the Portuguese manager, Mourinho, left a deep impression. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the manager. Mourinho was in the limelight. At the same time, Chelsea also had an eye-catching performance in the Champions League. In the first five rounds, they obtained four wins and one draw to secure first place in the group. In the last round, Mourinho delivered a victory to his old club, FC Porto, and helped them advance to the Champions League's top 16. Of course, Mourinho claimed that the loss was to preserve his strength for today's battle for the top of the table. This is understandable. We don't have to be too harsh on Chelsea.
Arsenal is the team that has scored the most goals so far this season. Their attacking power is at the top of Europe. Although Chelsea's goals are not bad, their defense is obviously stronger. Especially at Stamford Bridge, they have only conceded three goals in two games. Their defensive strength is amazing. Although they have conceded slightly more goals in the away game, Chelsea is still the best defensive team in the English Premier League. Will this be a battle between spears and shields? Enough for us to look forward to.
Arsenal's starting lineup today is 4-3-1. This is the main formation that Wenger has decided on for the new season.
Goalkeeper: Lehmann.
Defenders: Lauren, Touré, Campbell, Ashley Cole.
Midfielders: Ljungberg, Vieira, Qin Xiong, Silva, Pires.
Forward: Henry.
Chelsea started 4-3-3. Mourinho had brought a brand new football philosophy to the Premier League. Fans and football critics who did not like him would naturally criticize him for being conservative and utilitarian. But objectively speaking, he was very good. He was a master tactician. Chelsea's results and stability in the Champions League and the Premier League had already shown the world his coaching style and proved that it was effective. Let's see if his team would stir up trouble in Highbury today.
Goalkeeper: Čech.
Defenders: Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, Gallas.
Midfield: Tiago, Makelele, Lampard.
Forwards: Robben, Drogba, Duff. "
Amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the Arsenal and Chelsea fans, the battle for the top of the table began.
This was a game where both teams were very focused on defense from the start, which set the tone for the overall situation.
As Arsenal's attacking midfielder, Qin Xiong retreated to the midfield to organize the attack. He was not in a hurry to move forward to attack. But even if he retreated, he still suffered a lot of defensive pressure.
Lampard was in front and Drogba was behind him. Both of these guys were very strong in physical confrontation.
This surprised Qin Xiong.
It was his second time playing against Mourinho's team. From the game against FC Porto, he knew that Mourinho was an excellent manager and his coaching style was deeply imprinted in his mind.
He was very good, but his football philosophy was a little different from Qin Xiong's. People of different paths could not work together. At this time, looking at the summer transfer decision half a year ago, he did not hastily join Chelsea, which was a wise decision for him.
Even if the players and managers had different philosophies and styles, the most basic reality would not change. Just because Qin Xiong did not like the overly utilitarian and conservative style of football, it would not appear that Mourinho did not have the ability to coach. In fact, Qin Xiong admired Mourinho's ability to train the team.
At least the team's tactical execution ability was the best that Qin Xiong had ever seen!
Otherwise, the ability of the forwards to actively return to defend and the wingers to take the initiative to retreat to participate in the defense was not something that many managers in European football could do. It was not that other managers could not think of it, but whether the players were willing to follow the manager's arrangements was another matter.
Players who liked to attack and their job's first standard was to attack. They often did not like to do dirty work. It was a tradition since ancient times.
Because Chelsea mainly focused on defensive counterattack tactics, Wenger did not want the battle at Highbury to be broken by Arsenal's rhythm. Otherwise, the game would be very easy to lose control in a fast pace and give Chelsea more opportunities.
Simply put, if Arsenal were to actively attack, then the distance between Arsenal's three lines would be pulled apart, and the distance between the front and back of the formation as a whole would be longer. On the contrary, Chelsea as a whole would be tightly integrated and focus on grasping the opportunity to defend and counterattack. Then, Chelsea would have more space to attack during the explosion.
Using a spring as an analogy for the flexibility of the team as a whole, Arsenal's front line was stretched out, and the probability of the three lines collapsing in a fast pace was obviously higher than Chelsea's.
Even if Wenger sneered at Chelsea's utilitarian tactics in front of the media, when it came to a confrontation with Chelsea, Wenger really did not dare to let the team take out the spirit of the defending champions to try to suppress Chelsea.
That was absolutely unrealistic!
Between the BIG4 teams in the Premier League, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal.
The overall gap in strength between them was very small, and no one could crush the other.
Don't look at how Arsenal was leading Manchester United and Liverpool by a lot of points in the league table. Chelsea was also leading the two. But when it came to a crucial game, when the BIG4 went head-to-head, who would dare to win? Who would dare to say what kind of result would be an upset?
There were no upsets in a game between the BIG4.
It would not be surprising who would win or lose. If Liverpool, ranked at the bottom of the BIG4 in the league table, defeated Arsenal, would it be an upset? No!
Because the actual difference in strength between everyone was not obvious, in terms of posture, the role of the tactical restraint on the field would play a huge role.
Wenger knew that whatever Mourinho wanted, he must not give it to him!
The same principle was also understood by the players in the stadium.
Qin Xiong was in an awkward situation of "unable to pass the ball forward" from the start of the game!
Mourinho was not the only one who would put out a formation of three midfielders.
But perhaps he was one of the few top managers who could build a watertight defense and make the offensive organizers helpless in a static defense.
Tiago and Makelele were the double defensive midfielders. When there was no chance to counterattack, Lampard would certainly participate in the defense.
Qin Xiong had three passing points in front of him.
Pires on the left, Henry in the middle, and Ljungberg on the right.
Under the premise that he did not rush to try to break through, no matter how his three teammates in front of him moved, they would be cut off by Chelsea's defenders and the passing route between them and Qin Xiong.
The key point was never how many players were in the defensive area, but what kind of role the defensive players were playing.
Just like PSV Eindhoven, they even put out three midfielders who participated in the defense, but their positioning would have flaws, which would allow Qin Xiong to find the passing route. Even if the passing was extremely difficult, Qin Xiong could still seize the opportunity.
Today was so difficult that Qin Xiong felt a sense of despair spread from the bottom of his heart.
When Mourinho stood on the sidelines from the start of the game and shouted at Robben and Duff, directing them to participate in the defense in the middle and backfield with a stern expression, perhaps some fans would think that Mourinho was making a mountain out of a molehill and was deliberately putting on a show.
But thinking deeper, how could Chelsea's defense not be strong?!
Pires and Ljungberg were attacked from the front and back. Robben and Duff did not need to close in on them. As long as they stood around them and cut off the passing route between Qin Xiong and them, they could make enough defensive contributions.
And if the two wingers moved closer to the middle, they would fall into the defensive circle of Chelsea's defensive midfielders.
Qin Xiong could not find the passing point, so he directly passed the ball to Henry? That was almost impossible, unless the other side made a major marking mistake.
Chelsea was more confident and calm than when they played against each other last season. Qin Xiong could see that he was making formulaic passes in the midfield, constantly telling himself to be patient to see if the situation would change as time went on.
At the same time, he also sighed in his heart: Mourinho really insisted on going down the same path!
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.
