There was a gap in the overall strength gap between the Premier League's BIG4. This gap was mainly reflected in the endurance of the league's long-distance running. Chelsea was definitely the strongest in terms of overall strength, but in terms of the strength gap in a single game, perhaps there was no absolute advantage between the BIG4 and there was a clear gap between them and their opponents.
This made the Arsenal players understand that it was a pity that they could not beat Chelsea at home, but there was no need to take it to heart. A draw was absolutely acceptable.
The day after the Great Christmas War, Qin Xiong held a small party at home and invited Henry's family, Fàbregas and his girlfriend, Robin van Persie, who was a good teammate of his at Arsenal.
Sylvia prepared a sumptuous dinner to entertain the guests. Qin Xiong, Fàbregas, Henry, and Robin van Persie drank two bottles of good wine and sat together to chat after dinner.
Fàbregas discussed his future development with everyone. He had recently been studying the style of Italy's midfield core, Pirlo, which could be considered as learning from his strong points to offset his weak points and combining his own situation to improve his skills.
Henry, who was already 28 years old, certainly did not have any worries about competitive factors. He and Qin Xiong discussed Arsenal's future development.
Even a world-class star player needed good helpers. Now Arsenal's tactics designed around Qin Xiong and Henry were working well, but the lineup was too thin, and some long-term problems had to be considered.
For example, could the 32-year-old Pires still make the same contribution in the future as before? Ljungberg's form could not be maintained stable this season, Reyes was still unable to gain the trust of his teammates at critical moments, Hleb took too long to adapt to the Premier League, and so on.
There were also the weak links in the team's defense, which were problems that could not be ignored.
Qin Xiong and Henry talked for a long time, and he expressed his opinion. First of all, in the current team's current configuration, Robin van Persie should get more opportunities.
It was not because they were friends that he spoke up for Van Persie, but in terms of efficiency, Van Persie's ability to restrain and provide cover in the frontline was the most efficient.
As for the replacement for the wingers, Hleb was a question mark. Reyes was also unconvincing. The team needed at least two more capable wingers in the future to allow Arsenal's overall strength to keep up with the top ranks. Otherwise, Arsenal would really be in danger next season.
It was impossible to always rely on Henry and Qin Xiong to solve problems.
Van Persie's participation in the team was not very high. He was not a stable main player and could only be said to be the main substitute.
In the end, Henry suggested that Qin Xiong and him put pressure on the club at the right time, hoping that the club would make some changes in their recruitment.
After all, the Emirates Stadium would be opened in the next two years. By then, the change in the financial situation would be huge.
Qin Xiong promised Henry verbally, but after sending off his teammates, he sighed deeply.
Henry probably forgot one thing: Qin Xiong's contract renewal was still pending.
After another day of rest, the second league game of the Christmas devil schedule arrived as scheduled.
Under the leadership of Qin Xiong and Henry, Arsenal continued to hold the fort at Highbury. They wiped out the relegation team, Portsmouth, with a score of 5: 0. At the same time, the first half of the English Premier League season ended with Arsenal winning the first half of the league.
After the 19th round of the league, there was only one day of rest. On December 31st, the 20th round of the league continued. Arsenal was the guest at Villa Park.
This game was extremely difficult.
Aston Villa were the guest at Fulham in the 19th round. They played an earth-shattering 3: 3 with their opponent. When they returned to their home ground, they were already exhausted. Coupled with the fact that they were close to the relegation zone in the league, they simply set up an iron bucket formation at home.
Arsenal's overall physical condition was also very bad. This was the third game of the devil schedule. After the first two games, there was only a total of three days of rest. Coupled with the fact that this game was an away game, the team's condition was bound to be negatively affected.
Qin Xiong and Henry almost fought with their lives to win at Villa Park with a score of 1: 0.
Sitting on the bus back to London, Arsenal's entire team was exhausted. Many of the players were already in a daze when they returned to London, including Qin Xiong.
Wenger was worried about the team's condition. He originally planned to invest a little more in the FA Cup in early January. If they could play a few more games in the FA Cup, they could train more young players. This naturally required some of the main players to play in the game, with the old leading the new.
But looking at the current situation, it was really too difficult.
The bigger challenge in front of Arsenal was the upcoming fourth game of the devil schedule, which was also the final game of the Christmas schedule. Arsenal would face the Red Devils, Manchester United, at home!
If the meeting with Chelsea at the beginning of the season, including the Christmas game, was considered a good time. At least the two teams' conditions were not too much of a problem.
But the schedule arranged by the Football Association was not very good at the time when Arsenal and Manchester United met.
Both teams had experienced a huge depletion in the three games of the devil schedule.
Ferguson led the exhausted Manchester United to Highbury to face the equally exhausted Arsenal.
This game had faded from the intensity of the past Les Royals Club.
Manchester United's improvement this season was obvious compared to last season. The points, wins, goals scored, goals conceded, and so on were all reflected.
Manchester United had been rebuilt from a low point and was now on the rise. Ferguson patiently cultivated and molded the new generation of Red Devils. It was not the harvest season yet, but that day was not far away.
But now that they were facing Arsenal, and it was an away game, Ferguson still understood the reality.
The Red Devils played a little conservatively in the away game, and Arsenal really could not rush forward.
The Red Devils were not to be trifled with just Qin Xiong and Henry's one-on-one surprise attack. How could it be so easy to rely on one person to overturn the opponent?
In the end, the two teams shook hands and drew with a score of 0: 0 at Highbury.
A large number of star players on the field played poorly. The quality of the game was not high, and the content was not rich enough. The war between Ferguson and Wenger also tended to be dull.
The four league games of the Christmas devil schedule ended.
Arsenal had won three and drawn one, which was not bad.
Manchester United had won two and drawn two, which was not bad to remain unbeaten.
Liverpool and Chelsea had won an astonishing four games in a row.
The BIG4 group shook off the other 16 teams in the Premier League. In the BIG4 group's civil war, Liverpool and Manchester United, these two arch-rivals, seemed to be on the same level. They were far behind Arsenal and Chelsea. The competition for points between the arch-rivals was in a stalemate. Often, Manchester United and Liverpool alternated in third and fourth place.
Arsenal and Chelsea were competing for the top spot.
Through the four consecutive wins in the devil schedule, Chelsea narrowed the points gap with Arsenal to two points, which was just a one-goal difference.
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