knife guard

Chapter 856 The Gunner Myth The Enraged Gunner
(first update)
Before Bingfa was away at the Dragon Stadium twice before and had never won, Arsenal suffered a series of blows. It is well known that goalkeeper Samunia cannot participate, but the main central defender Gallas and the main midfielder Alexander Song finally made it at the last moment. He was unable to play due to injury, but it cast a shadow over Arsenal's prospects. Song's interception ability is unmatched by Arsenal, but he still has substitutes, Diaby and Denilson can all go up Resisting for a while, and the injury of veteran Gallas made Arsenal a shortage of people at the central defender position.

The situation is so embarrassing, Wenger can only rush to the shelves, and push Campbell, who has not played in the Champions League since the 2006 Champions League final, to the front stage. Except for Gallas, who can no longer fight, Vermaelen is also persistent with injuries, and the core position in the midfield The three major generals in the Arsenal are either retiring or have injured legs. Even if Li Huan returns, the frontcourt attackers are basically complete except for Van Persie. The British media still sweats for Arsenal. If the defender is absent, it is very likely to lose. This is a very simple reason.

The afternoon before the game, Arsenal chartered a flight to Porto. At the entrance of the Irapura Park Hotel where the team was staying, fans and reporters gathered there for a long time. The players signed autographs for the fans. Professor Arsene Wenger I was interviewed by a reporter from Portugal's largest portal "sapo". The online reporter was much sharper than the print media and TV media reporters. He opened his mouth and asked Wenger if he thought about losing.

Wenger admitted frankly, "I have considered the possibility of losing. We lack too many people in the midfield. This is a situation that has never happened this season, but I think I have prepared for it. .”

When the reporter asked Li Huan if he would start the game, Professor Wenger said, "Li Huan will definitely start. His body has fully recovered, but he may not be able to play the full 10 minutes of the game."

In the end, Professor Wenger also answered a reporter from the "sapo" website about Arsenal's away tactics, "We have no secrets in this regard. Arsenal's style of play has never changed. It focuses on me and offense. That's what Arsenal are and I think Arsenal's style of play will continue even if I'm not there because it's beautiful and it pleases the fans."

Irapura Park Hotel is a five-star hotel with indoor and outdoor swimming pools.There is also a health club and a rooftop bar with free Wi-Fi in public areas and a panoramic view of Porto and the River Douro from the rooftop bar, which is not the main reason Arsenal Club chose this hotel Facility conditions, but this hotel is not far from the Dragon Stadium.

Li Huan and Wilshere live in the same room. Li Huan likes to listen to songs to relax his nerves before the game, and occasionally sings for his own entertainment, while Wilshere likes to play football games. Wilshere arranged in the same room because he hoped that Li Huan would take good care of this talented talent with great potential. Although Wilshere was always arrogant in front of his teammates, he respected Li Huan as a real big brother and learned a lot from Li Huan. experience.

After drinking afternoon tea, Wenger held the first team meeting after coming to Porto. The theme of the meeting was about defense. This season, he scored 39 goals in 105 games, with an average of nearly 3 goals in a single game. Li Huan returned to Arsenal Never have to worry about scoring goals, and the defense lacked Gallas, injured Vermaelen and Alexander.Song, this has never happened this season. Although the outside world is raving about Arsenal's offensive power, in fact, without a dedicated defense, Arsenal cannot achieve the current results.

The fossil-level veteran Campbell and the young genius Fabianski are naturally the focus of the meeting.

After Campbell left Arsenal, he played steadily in Portsmouth for a long time, but that was in England. The level of domestic competitions is obviously not on the same level as the knockout round of the Champions League. Unpreparedness is also a question, because Campbell has not played a serious game after returning to Arsenal, and he has always played a few minutes off the bench.

Polish goalkeeper Fabianski is a talented goalkeeper Wenger is optimistic about replacing Almunia, but there are too many reasons for Polish goalkeepers to be disturbed.In the FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea last season, Fabianski made a mistake and Drogba scored the winning goal, and Arsenal were eliminated 1-2.In this year's FA Cup, Arsenal were eliminated by Stoke in the fourth round, and Fabianski was the goalkeeper.Fabianski was also the goalkeeper of Arsenal's last Champions League game, which was defeated by Olympiacos 4-0.Although these games were given up strategically by Arsenal, Fabianski, as a goalkeeper, cannot escape the blame.

However, Wenger still likes his No. [-] goalkeeper very much.He not only defended Fabianski's attacking mistakes as "good reading ability of the game" and "brave attacking" inadvertent mistakes, but also described the Pole as "a very smart goalkeeper, he must be able to recover from mistakes." learn from it.”

The game will start tomorrow. Wenger put forward his own requirements for Campbell and Fabianski. Wenger did not expect them to perform supernormally. As long as they can show their normal level, it is enough, especially when they are young. For Fabianski, the substitute goalkeeper is the worst thing to do, because it is very likely that you will not have the opportunity to play for 1 minute in a season.

After Wenger finished speaking, the assistant coach Rice announced the training plan for today and tomorrow to the team. Finally, everyone sent a prepared USB flash drive, which contained information about the opponent. There were computers in the players’ rooms. , can be used to study the opponents they will deal with.

In the afternoon, Arsenal went to the Dragon Stadium for their first pre-match training session. Unexpectedly, there were many local fans on the pitch to support them, including hundreds of Chinese fans. They were all fans of Li Huan Because of the special relationship between Portugal and China due to Macau, the arrival of Li Huan also aroused the popularity of local Chinese fans. However, some Portuguese fans were more hostile to Li Huan because of Ronaldo, so Li Huan's bodyguards were in Portugal almost 24 hours a day. He stalks for protection.

After the training, Wenger participated in the pre-match press conference. In the press conference, Wenger complimented Porto, thinking that Porto is a difficult team to deal with at the Dragon Stadium. They won the European competition. A lot of honors, Arsenal still has a big gap compared to Porto, but Wenger believes that the first round cannot decide who will advance, and the game at the Emirates Stadium is decisive.

Porto's 63-year-old head coach Ferreira seemed more confident and passionate than Professor Wenger. When it came to excitement, he even loosened his tie, which seemed to restrict his performance, "... Dragon Stadium, we are full of confidence, we have a psychological advantage, here has only lost once in 42 years, it was Ronaldo's magical long shot last season, Porto can only lose to the Portuguese at the Dragon Stadium, Arsenal is stronger? Not bad In terms of squad, it is true, but we are two Champions League winners, in the Champions League, we are better than Arsenal..."

When Ferreira said this, Wenger's face was very ugly. He scolded people without revealing his faults, hit people without slapping them in the face, and was pointed at the pain point. No matter how well-mannered the professor is, he couldn't remain indifferent. At that time, Professor Wenger meaningfully refuted Ferreira's words. The professor said: "The Champions League represents the highest level of the club. There is no doubt about it, but championships are often the product of luck. Arsenal and Porto have many We reached the last 16 of the Champions League in [-], which shows that we are on the same level, and I believe this game will be very intense, very intense."

The Arsenal players watched the press conference in the conference hall of the Irapura Park Hotel. Seeing the opponent's head coach speak so arrogantly and impolitely, the Arsenal players were all pissed off. Walcott shook his hand Clenching his fists, he said angrily, "We must show them how powerful they are."

Diaby slapped the table and said: "If I were a professor, I would tell that old man Ferreira directly, stop talking nonsense, why only the Portuguese can beat the Portuguese team, and we will kill you tomorrow."

Li Huan smiled slightly and said, "I'm going to be eliminated soon, isn't it enjoyable to talk about it?"

Assistant coach Rice pressed his hands down to signal everyone to calm down, and said: "Everyone can't be careless. Portugal has won two Champions League championships. This is a kind of solid background. It is definitely not easy to play at home. We must serious."

Cesc Fabregas said, "Maybe they want to provoke us. Let's play calmly. I don't believe we can't win against a second-tier European team."

"They are the first-class in Europe, and we have to make them second-rate, just like playing Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool." Fabianski looked excited. He couldn't sleep well because of the excitement. According to his roommate Vermaelen, he had to take sleeping pills.

The irritated Gunners were eagerly waiting for the game to come sooner, but the Portuguese media were still fanning the flames. In the second day's report, Ferreira's speech at the pre-match press conference occupied the headlines. Before the game, the statement that "only the Portuguese can beat the Portuguese team" became a slogan for Porto fans to motivate themselves and the players.

(End of this chapter)