After a night of careful consideration, Wenger decided to fine-tune the team's technical and tactical system to a certain extent.
Due to the pressure from both the competition and the lineup, Arsenal could not carry out drastic changes under Wenger's command. After all, the risk was too great.
He could only carefully and cautiously make adjustments and observe the results. Once there was a deviation, he would immediately withdraw or amend the previous changes.
As the "warm-up" phase of the season passed, more and more teams studied Arsenal's technical and tactical system. Henry and Qin Xiong were heavily marked by their opponents. Wenger wanted to further create a favorable environment for the two to stimulate their play. In addition to the team's overall strategy of "main attack and counter-attack", now he had to add a new point of cover and restraint in the offense.
The system in the middle and backfield could not be changed. The only changes that could be made in the offense in the front field were the two flanks.
It was undeniable that Pires and Ljungberg were not as good this season as last season. Pires was a year older and his physical condition was not as good as before. Ljungberg was in a bad state after recovering from his injury and the speed of his recovery was not satisfactory.
In this case, Wenger needed to make one of the two flanks a point of cover for Qin Xiong and Henry. He did not imagine this idea out of thin air. In the game against West Bromwich Albion, Van Persie's role was highlighted during the midfield adjustment. He also implemented this tactical role to provide better space for Qin Xiong and Henry to play.
When preparing for the Champions League group stage, Wenger informed the team of this tactical change during training and then carried out group running-in drills.
Van Persie, Reyes, Pires, Ljungberg, Hleb. Arsenal had a lot of people to use on the flanks.
The ideal tactical effect was for the two flanks to be the coordination point during the attack. One of the flanks would be the support point to push forward the attack, while the other flank would form an inward-cutting winger to rush into the penalty area before Henry and Qin Xiong to attract the opponent's defensive attention. This would make it easier for Henry and Qin Xiong to plug in from the back. After all, a part of the opponent's defensive power was already restrained.
Arsène Wenger would not be fixed on whether he should assist from the left and cut from the right or turn around. To achieve the ideal situation, the two flanks should be able to flexibly switch their tasks and then play tacit cooperation according to the situation on the field. This would make the offense impossible to guard against and attack when the opponent was unprepared.
Qin Xiong was confirmed to be suspended for two games in the Premier League, but it would not affect his participation in the Champions League. Wenger comforted himself that Qin Xiong could get some rest.
October 19th.
Arsenal was the guest of Czech Republic's champion, Sparta Prague.
Sparta Prague's first two games were a draw and a loss. Their qualifying situation was precarious. Facing the Premier League champion, Arsenal, at home was their last game.
If they couldn't win this match, they would practically be eliminated from the competition. This was because they had to visit Highbury in the next match, and one of the last two matches would be against Ajax. It was almost impossible for them to win these two away matches.
Therefore, Sparta Prague played very aggressively at home, which gave Arsenal more opportunities to counterattack.
Qin Xiong seemed to have vented all his pent-up resentment at the Hawthorns Stadium on Sparta Prague.
In the first half, he scored a brace with the help of Henry and Hleb during the counterattack. In the second half, he won a penalty kick after Henry was replaced by Arsène Wenger.
Sparta Prague's valiant fight didn't result in a difficult victory. Instead, it resulted in a miserable defeat.
Qin Xiong scored a hat-trick and became the best player of the game. He also took the game's ball.
Van Persie and Henry also scored a goal each. Arsenal won the away game with a score of 5: 0.
After returning to England, Qin Xiong trained step by step to maintain his condition. On the weekend, he and Sylvia watched Arsenal's Premier League game in the stands at Highbury.
In the tenth round of the Premier League, Arsenal struggled to beat Manchester City with a score of 1: 0 at Highbury. This was not a game that Arsenal fans enjoyed. Other than the result of the game, it seemed that there was nothing that satisfied the fans. If it was not for Silva's long shot that deflected the ball into the goal during the chaos, this lucky score that allowed Arsenal to take away three points would have been a game where they lost points at home.
Without Qin Xiong, Arsenal still won, but it did not look easy. Arsenal was not like Arsenal. Their attacking efficiency was greatly reduced, and their attacking speed dropped by two levels. When the opponent dealt with Arsenal with concentrated defense, it was rare to see an individual break through the opponent's defensive line.
In the same round of the game, Chelsea was forced to a draw by Everton in the away game, which also ended their seven-game winning streak after their regrettable loss to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
After the first ten rounds of the Premier League, Arsenal and Chelsea were neck and neck on the scoreboard.
Arsenal led the scoreboard with nine wins and a draw.
Chelsea followed closely behind with eight wins, a draw, and a loss, with a difference of three points.
After the game, Fleet Street made a sharp analysis based on Arsenal's situation in the game. Without Qin Xiong, Arsenal's strength was greatly reduced!
Even if the technical statistics were to speak, Arsenal's threatening attacks were reduced by 30%, the threat delivery was directly reduced by half, and the individual breakthroughs were also reduced by about 40%. It was these statistics that affected the number of shots, the number of shots on target, and other key statistics.
During the training, his teammates also observed Qin Xiong intentionally or unintentionally. There was a touch of expectation in their eyes, looking forward to Qin Xiong's early return to the starting lineup. Unknowingly, Qin Xiong's importance to the team subtly affected everyone, including Henry.
Henry had seen much more of the world than Qin Xiong. He knew that he could not carry Arsenal alone. It was not that he could not maintain the status quo for Arsenal, but that he could not take Arsenal to glory. He also looked forward to Qin Xiong's early return. In order to prevent Qin Xiong from being unnecessarily sent off with a red card again, he specifically looked for Qin Xiong after a day of training to have a heart-to-heart talk and pass on some of his experience.
He told Qin Xiong about the various difficulties he encountered in the game and bluntly told Qin Xiong to adapt and get used to it. Whether it was the opponent's provocation or the fans' humiliation, he had to stay calm and not be overly excited and act irrationally.
Perhaps because Qin Xiong had a fiery conflict with Keane last season and was sent off with a red card at The Hawthorns this season, Henry and some of his teammates thought that Qin Xiong would occasionally lose his mind.
His teammates were doing it for the good of Qin Xiong. Qin Xiong could understand that he could control his emotions most of the time, but sometimes when he was too involved in the game, he would lose control of his emotions. This kind of behavior was normal for football players, just like some players would make strange movements or expressions during the game, but it was not deliberate.
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