Green Dragon

Chapter 604 Top of London
Long Shute didn't say "but".

Because he wants to keep this respect in his heart.

From a business point of view, Wenger's coaching career at Arsenal is undoubtedly an extremely successful example:

Almost never invested, but has been making huge profits, and has built a magnificent, modern stadium 100% owned by the club, the loan is fully paid off...

At the same time, their performance at the competitive level is also very good. They have maintained the top four positions in the league for 20 consecutive years, entered the Champions League for 20 consecutive seasons, and entered the knockout rounds consecutively. This result is better than Manchester United, Barcelona, ​​and Bayern. , Liverpool, who may not be able to participate in the Champions League once in three years, is even more unable to keep up...

In addition, their adherence to pass-and-control play also makes their games full of artistic flavor, attracting a large number of fans who love gorgeous football. Although Arsenal's game tickets have risen, those fans still hold Protest banners chanted Wenger to dismiss get out of class, while happily spending money to watch the game...

but……

From the perspective of building a real wealthy family, what Wenger has done in the past 10 years is simply a country bumpkin who does not think about making progress!
Over-conservative, short-sighted, open to money, short-sighted, sitting in a well and looking at the sky, self-styled, building a car behind closed doors, fishing out of the pond, killing chickens to get eggs, self-destructing the Great Wall, tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, muddling along, following the old ways, surviving in an ignoble manner, lingering, lingering, waiting to die, in a corner, the spirit of Ah Q... …that can describe him and the club!
Maybe Wenger also thought about fighting hard again after 2004, but his frog has been lying in warm water for too long, and he has already forgotten the feeling of fighting for his life!
-
8 month 22 day.

The summer in London is still very hot. Even with the vast Chinese market, the Premier League officials did not dare to arrange this focus match in the afternoon.

When the wind slowly blows into the Emirates Stadium at night, the huge lighting lights "boom, boom, boom" turn on in sequence.

"We have already seen from the front screen that the players from both sides have just walked out of the locker room and are lining up in the tunnel waiting to enter the field, huh?"

Zhan Tianjun hesitated for a moment, and then quickly confirmed:

"Walking at the forefront of Liverpool is the No. 8 player Long Shute. Due to the absence of captain Henderson due to injury, the captain's armband is now being worn on Long Shute's left arm!"

Compared with the captain's armband, guest Zhang Lu is more concerned about Liverpool's tactics.

He studied the starting lineups of both sides for 2 minutes before asking in surprise:
"Liverpool's formation today...is it 352?!"
-
Arsene Wenger probably wanted to ask that question too.

Because among Liverpool's starting 11 players, only Sakho, Skrtel, and Lovren are Indian central defenders, and Bard and Klein, who are capable of full-backs, are all sitting on the bench.

Rodgers did play three defenders in many league games last season, but the effect was definitely not ideal. Why did he return to his old job in this crucial game?

Could it be... isn't he afraid of me, Wenger?
Did he think that this match...was a simple man-machine battle for him to gain experience casually?
-
"Dragon! Go pick the side!"

When Emre Can pointed to the arc in the middle circle, Long Shute, who was standing behind, reacted.

He hasn't done this kind of thing for a long time.

He served as the vice-captain for a year at Ajax, but Suarez was almost full-time that season.

During Bayern, one of Lahm and Schweinsteiger will always stay on the field.

As for the short years in Milan, Kaka, who is healthy, often starts the game...

Long Shute shook his head mockingly, and trotted to the referee's side.

Standing opposite him was Arsenal's captain Santi Cazorla, the diminutive midfielder who was also the Gunners' midfield commander for the game.

Shaking hands, guessing coins, tossing sides, exchanging team flags...

Long Shute completed this set of procedures with some unfamiliarity, and then returned to his place.

Clattenburg checked his watch one last time, then blew his whistle hard.

"drop!"
-
"The game has begun! Arsenal took the lead in attacking. Giroud, Sanchez, Ozil, Ramsey, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla... Arsenal's pass coordination is still so smooth and pleasing to the eye. People are overwhelmed...Huh?"

Zhan Tianjun found that he had said it directly.

Because Arsenal's pass was cut off by Cazorla!

The match lasted less than half a minute, and two drops of hot sweat appeared on the forehead of the Arsenal captain!

Cazorla knew before the match that he would meet an extremely powerful opponent, but after the start of the match, he realized firsthand that the strength of this opponent...had exceeded his imagination!
There is no doubt that Cazorla, who is a regular member of the Spanish national team, has extremely delicate skills at his feet. Although his passing, control, and dribbling are not at the level of Xavi and Iniesta, they can still be called At the top of the world, most opponents need at least 80% of their strength to steal the ball from him, but in Long Shute's eyes, this steal is almost as easy as breathing!
Liverpool's No. 8 just got stuck in the sideways position, and then squeezed away the opponent slightly, and put an end to Arsenal's pass before Cazorla!
In front of the two midfielders Ramsey and Coquelin, Long Shute did not force a breakthrough, but feinted a shot, and then made a diagonal long pass to find Coutinho on the left, allowing the Brazilian to complete An inside cut shot!
It's a pity that the magician nicknamed "Piercing the Cloud Arrow" was too impatient, and he missed the aiming angle with his long shot, causing Cech to slap him out.

Wenger, who broke out in a cold sweat, hastily issued orders to his disciples:
"Calm down! Protect the ball! Santee retreats! You organize!"
-
When Arsenal regained control of the ball, Cazorla's position did drop a lot.

He was almost standing in the position of the defensive midfielder, and there was a half field away from Long Shute, who was also the defensive midfielder.

Front midfielder and rear, this is an increasingly common tactical setup, perhaps originated from Ancelotti's transformation of Pirlo, Scholes, Harvey, Gerrard, Khedira, Fabregas , Schweinsteiger, Modric, Kroos, Verratti, and even Zheng Zhi have had similar experiences, and Cazorla is no exception.

Now that dense defense has become the norm, organizers can retreat without facing fierce pressing, so they can control the rhythm relatively easily.

As soon as Cazorla retreats, Long Shute, who is a defensive midfielder, is unlikely to mark him, otherwise there will be a loophole at the front of Liverpool's penalty area.

But what does it matter?
Longshot can freeze another, more important playmaker at Arsenal... Mesut Ozil! -
"thump……"

Ozil sat down on the turf.

He didn't complain to the referee immediately, because he had played in the Premier League for two seasons, this kind of physical contact... the referee would not even take a second look.

What's more, in this physical confrontation just now, Ozil didn't get stuck in the position from the very beginning!

None of this is the problem, the problem is... the one who knocked him away and snatched the football from his feet was not the dreaded number 8, it was just the number 17, a defender - Sakho!
"Come on! Attack!"

Sakho let out a roar and swept the ball forward with his left foot!
Milner received the ball, he didn't try to dribble too much, but passed it diagonally to Coutinho, who was farther up!

Coutinho made a Marseille roundabout, threw away Bellerin next to him, and then accelerated forward. Benteke and Firmino quickly started at the same time, trying their best to help their teammates pull the defense.

Emre Can, who was a few steps behind them, was not far behind. His two long legs swung quickly, almost stirring up a gust of wind!
"Coutinho runs with the ball! Does he want to stage a solo ride?!"

Zhan Tianjun's emotions rose.

But Zhang Lu frowned slightly:
"He should cooperate with his teammates, after all, his speed is not particularly fast..."

If Mertesacker was Arsenal's defender today, perhaps Coutinho could really dribble the ball at will, but today the German "grandpa" did not play, and his position was replaced by the young teenager Chambers who was born as a full-back.

Before Zhang Lu finished speaking, Chambers gave up marking Benteke and rushed towards Coutinho who was advancing with the ball!
Benteke, who was emptied, quickly raised his hand to signal to pass the ball, but Coutinho's eyes... he has long been invisible!

Coutinho smashes the ball and crosses it!

Chambers missed it!
The Red Army No. 10 took another step, and then made a decisive move!

"Whoosh!"

Chambers' scalp tingled for a while!
A cloud piercing arrow!

Thousands of troops come to meet each other!
"Oh!"

The confident expression on Coutinho's face lasted only half a second before it turned into annoyance!
His inevitable shot...was blocked by the last defender Gabriel with his foot!

Gabumon, transform!

Gabriel stuck out his tongue, and his right foot couldn't help shaking.

Even though Coutinho is short, thin, and weak, and his body seems to be so weak that he would fall down when touched, but this explosive shot...is really hard to resist!
"Coutinho should really seek cooperation with his teammates!"

"This attack, he is too eager to make contributions!"

Zhan Tianjun and Zhang Lu shook their heads again and again, regretting that Liverpool missed this opportunity.

But they all opened their mouths after only one sentence.

The ball bounced high off Gabriel's feet, past Benteke, past Firmino and past Emre Can.

The football flew straight out to a distance of nearly 20 meters, and then fell down.

A black shadow stopped in its tracks, and then turned slightly sideways!

The right leg is pulled out like a whip!
"Crack!"

It was as if thunder was roaring over the Emirates Stadium!

Gabriel was still shaking his numb right foot.

Cech stretched out his hands subconsciously!

But he only caught a flying afterimage!

He can only touch the tail of the wind!

Rodgers and Wenger jumped up from the coach's bench almost at the same time!
What they saw was not Long Shute!

It was the French champion of the year... Zinedine Zidane!
The night of the full moon, the top of London.

A dragon comes from the east, flying immortals from beyond the sky!

(End of this chapter)