The news of Wenger leaving in a huff after the game was widely spread in Fleet Street. The media also obtained confidential news about Arsenal's senior management through special channels.
"Wenger is dissatisfied with the board of directors!"
Wenger had a lot of power over the internal management of the team, but he was also constrained by the board of directors when it came to money matters.
Wenger's dissatisfaction was not simply because the senior management had not negotiated a contract extension with Qin Xiong, but also because of Ashley Cole's contract extension.
What annoyed him the most was that the club's senior management and Ashley Cole were in a deadlock, to the point that they were like strangers, just because of a disagreement of £5,000 in the weekly contract!
It could be said that Ashley Cole was more important than Qin Xiong!
Because Ashley Cole was: a youth player, a future captain candidate, and a world-class full back!
From a comprehensive perspective, Qin Xiong was not as important as Ashley Cole. In the English football world, a local household registration almost carried a bonus of £5 million, and it would only be higher in the future!
To deal with such an important player, the higher-ups had actually caused a series of follow-up issues because of a disagreement over a weekly salary of 5,000 pounds. If Ashley Cole's conditions had been met early on, perhaps there would not have been "Coleman" later on. Now, there was a clause in Ashley Cole's contract that allowed him to transfer at the end of the 0506 season. Arsenal's higher-ups needed Ashley Cole's loyalty for at least another season. Unfortunately, Ashley Cole was powerless to reverse the situation this season. He was lying in bed every day. It was hard to predict whether he could contribute more to the team.
As one could imagine, the disagreement in Qin Xiong's contract extension negotiation was over the £5,000 weekly salary, so it was understandable that the negotiations were in a deadlock.
Wenger's dissatisfaction could only be left unresolved.
.....
The Premier League's competition schedule was not a rigid model.
There were 20 teams and 380 games in the season. Each team would play the other 19 teams once at home and once away, but it was not certain that they would play the 19 teams separately in the 19 games in the first half of the season.
For example, in this year's Christmas schedule, Arsenal's opponent in the 18th round of the Premier League was Chelsea.
In August, Arsenal and Chelsea played against each other, and they would play each other for the second time in the 18th round. Why did the Football Association arrange the competition schedule like this?
Perhaps it was because the Great Christmas War had attracted a lot of attention. Arranging a match between Chelsea and Arsenal could maximize the attention of the game. Naturally, it would also maximize the promotion and benefits of the Premier League brand.
As for Arsenal, the only opponent he had not played in the first half of the competition was Manchester United.
In other words, Arsenal would play two rounds of the League Civil War against Chelsea in the first 19 rounds of the season, and then play two rounds of the League Civil War against Manchester United in the second 19 rounds of the season.
Chelsea's form was still good. If they excluded the loss to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, they would only be one point behind Arsenal.
However, just as Arsenal's strength was thought to have declined, Chelsea also seemed to have some problems compared to last season.
The problem was in the rear defensive line. The intuitive data was that their defense conceded more goals than last season. Although they were still the best defensive team in the Premier League, the number of goals conceded represented a decline in defensive strength.
The core factor in this was that there were players who "rebelled against their superiors."
William Gallas.
The Frenchman, who had been playing as a full back last season, was very dissatisfied with Mourinho.
Because he wanted to play as a center back, it was as simple as that.
After persevering for a season, he finally broke out.
After not getting Mourinho's support, he actually threatened to take revenge on society by saying, "If you don't let me play as a center back, I'll score an own goal!"
This hidden danger had always existed since Mourinho took charge of Stamford Bridge. That was why the "Coleman" incident, in which Mourinho met privately with Ashley Cole and was investigated by the Football Association, happened.
Mourinho's summer import, Del Horno, did not satisfy him. Bridge, who was originally in the full back position, had to rest for half a year due to a serious injury, so Chelsea encountered a lack of full backs.
Mourinho was eager to get Ashley Cole to make the lineup closer to perfection. He also overturned the reason why he had not thought of signing Ashley Cole: height.
There was another factor that caused Chelsea to not be as strong this season as last season: the Champions League group stage.
After Liverpool won the Champions League last season, UEFA opened the door wide and let Liverpool, who was ranked fifth in the Premier League but was the defending Champions League champion, start from the qualifiers. Then Liverpool went all the way to the Champions League proper.
But Liverpool was not given any convenience during the draw, which meant that Liverpool did not have the principle of circumvention.
This led to a rare scene in the Champions League group stage: Chelsea and Liverpool were in the same group.
In addition, there were also Real Betis from La Liga and Anderlecht, the Belgian champion, in the same group.
The competition in this group was extremely cruel.
The two fronts of the Champions League and the Premier League could not be looked at separately. For example, Chelsea played a Champions League group stage match with Liverpool in the middle of the week. The weekend's Premier League and the previous Premier League were inevitably affected.
Arsenal's opponents in the group stage were generally not strong. Only the declining Ajax was a small threat, so their investment in the Champions League was much lower than before. While reducing consumption, they could also focus on the Premier League.
Chelsea fought their way through the group stage with great difficulty, but because Liverpool snatched the first place in the group, Chelsea faced the La Liga powerhouse, Barcelona, in the knockout stage for the second year in a row.
For Chelsea, the second half of 2005 was full of difficulties.
With internal and external troubles, they went to North London fully armed on the second day of Christmas!
Qin Xiong had a good time on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He even built a snowman with George in the garden in front of the apartment.
Then he returned to the battlefield with a high fighting spirit.
December 26th, Highbury.
It was just after noon, and there was a sea of people inside and outside Highbury. Many fans dressed as Santa Claus came to the stadium. The festive atmosphere was very strong.
After the pre-match warm-up, the players from both sides were ready to go on the field for the game.
Standing in the players' tunnel, Chelsea's players were serious. The captain, Terry, already had a majestic temperament.
He turned his head and looked at the superstar killer, Henry, who was in hot form and was expected to defend the European Golden Boot title.
Terry's gaze moved behind Henry, and his gaze became more dignified.
It had been a long time.
Qin Xiong!
Terry withdrew his gaze and did not look at the other Arsenal players.
Any team with two star players, Qin Xiong and Henry, could not be underestimated.
Moreover, Arsenal itself had outstanding star players in other positions.
But they were overshadowed by Qin Xiong and Henry's brilliance.
With the referee's team led by the referee on the field, Arsenal and Chelsea walked into the stadium together!
The Great Christmas War was the top battle, and the flames of war were ignited!
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.
