Jagged Wings

Chapter 73
After the Christmas dinner, the team couldn't get a rest. On Christmas Day, the team ended training early and let everyone go back to spend the holiday with their families.Although tomorrow is the away game against Charlton, Martin O'Neill did not ask everyone to stay in a hotel one day in advance as usual, but arranged for the players to go home, considering that today is Christmas.The significance of this day in the Western world is no less than that of the Spring Festival in China. If you arrange for everyone to stay in a hotel at this time, it will only make the players feel dissatisfied and have no intention of preparing for the game. On the contrary, it will affect the state of the players.

The next morning, the players returning home for the holidays came to the Arsenal base one after another and then took the bus to Charlton.Because although it is an away game, Charlton is also located in the Greater London area. Their home stadium is located at Charlton's Valley Stadium in Greenwich, South London. It is only a two-hour drive from North London, so it is also possible to go on the day of the game.

When they arrived at the reserved hotel, the players got together to watch the video of Charlton's recent games edited by the coaching staff.Know their characteristics and status.Supplemented by the assistant coach's explanation, let them have a deep understanding of what the opponent looks like this time.

After lunch at the hotel at noon, lunch break and simple strength training in the afternoon, I set off to the stadium.

Charlton is a muddle-headed mid-range team, and their own strength is not strong. In addition, they just defeated Chelsea in the last round of the league, and their morale is high. The Christmas dinner also played the same role. The result of this game can be imagined Got it.

In the end, Arsenal defeated Charlton 1-0 in the away game. Reyes scored a goal in this game and was selected as the best player.

It has been almost a year since Reyes joined the Premier League, and most of the wine racks have been filled with "best in the game" champagne at home.And as Reyes' performance is getting better and better, it is believed that there will be more and more champagne like this. Reyes has already begun to consider opening up a room at home for wine storage.

The next three days later, when they played Portsmouth at home, Wenger continued to rotate, but they used a mixed lineup of main players and substitutes for this game.Players with poor physical strength in the main lineup get a chance to rest, and those with better physical strength continue to start.

In the end, Arsenal defeated the game 4:1 at home, Henry scored twice, Reyes and Bergkamp each scored a goal.In such a difficult schedule, Arsenal was inspired to fight, and the whole team was united.

However, in an away game two days later, it was Arsenal who played entirely from the bench and was tied by Aston Villa in the away game, and the consecutive victories were terminated.

But all of this is worth it, because the rest of the main force is to prepare for the game against Manchester United four days later.

The league has played 42 rounds, and the schedule is halfway through. Arsenal are currently ranked second in the league, scoring 52 goals and conceding 55 goals. They are ranked second with 45 points, and Chelsea are the first with [-] points.Then Manchester United ranked third with [-] points.

Although the next round of the game will not affect the positions of both sides, it will affect Manchester United's ranking. Manchester United's No.3 is not stable. If Manchester City loses this game, they will be defeated by Tottenham and Liverpool behind them. Wait for the team to overtake.

And Arsenal can't lose either, although Chelsea once again opened up the points gap with a good performance.But the UEFA Champions League draw is about to take place. Mourinho, who has always had a bad relationship with UEFA, must face a bad draw, and what makes it worse is Mourinho's remarks after the game because of insulting the referee. He was suspended for two matches by UEFA.

What Mourinho missed was precisely the first round of the two-round knockout round. Without him, I believe Chelsea will have a painful experience.

This game is the first time Arsenal have met Manchester United in the new season.It stands to reason that in the league, the same opponents played against each other once last season and again in the second half of the season, but this season is so strange. The first confrontation between Arsenal and Manchester United was in the second half of the season.On the contrary, the two matches against Chelsea this season have been completed.

In the third round of No.30 in the league, Liverpool will welcome Manchester United away.If by that time, it is still the current situation, that game will definitely be dubbed "a game that decides the championship."

But right now, it's all too early.

Another very noticeable point is that this game is Arsenal's home stadium, that is to say, the venue of the game is at Highbury Stadium.

The encounter between the two sides this season is exactly the same as last season. Chelsea is still the first, and they can only compete for second and third.But in this year's game, the two sides cannot lack some swords and swords and comparisons.

In many ways, the two teams are really similar.

On the league scorer list, Van Nistelrooy finally got rid of his injuries this season and played a relatively complete season.He scored 20 goals in 18 games, leading the scorer list.Henry, the top scorer last season, scored 17 goals and ranked second.The outside world generally believes that the battle between the two top shooters must run through the normal game.The person who wins may be the one who wins in the end.

On the other hand, the winger duel between Ronaldo and Reyes is also a big attraction. Ronaldo is on the right and Reyes is on the left. The two are playing on the same wing, so the most important thing in this game One point is to seize Arsenal's left wing.Both are among the hottest wingers in the Premier League, and this encounter is sure to be a fight.Whoever suppresses the opponent's attack on this wing, then whoever is likely to decide the victory.

And the soap opera between Real Madrid and Ronaldo played for a summer last summer, and it ended with Ronaldo staying at Manchester United.And this season's winter break is approaching, Real Madrid turned their attention to Reyes again, after all, Reyes is also a Spaniard.This game is also a benchmark for Real Madrid to decide to "chasing goals" during the winter break. Whoever wins may become Real Madrid's "prey".

Also in the midfield, the two teams who served as the offensive and defensive hub, mainstay and captain have all left this season.Arsenal captain Vieira moved to Juventus, while Manchester United's Keane was kicked out by Ferguson in the middle of the season because of conflicts with young players.After the No.13 round of the Premier League this season, Manchester United announced the termination of the contract with Keane.

In the next month, Manchester United, who had left the absolute core, made things worse again.At the end of 2005, Scholes suddenly suffered from an eye disease, which caused him to have blurred vision and could not play football at all. For this reason, Ginger Head had to miss half a season for treatment. Many people predicted that the 31-year-old Scholes From then on, his career will go downhill, and he will not even be able to continue playing.

The loss of two absolute main Manchester United midfielders in a row will be stretched. Only the young Fletcher and Jackie O'Shea are struggling to support them. Sometimes even Giggs has to play in midfield.

For two consecutive seasons, both sides have failed to achieve anything. Arsenal still has an FA Cup champion to support their appearance, but Manchester United has encountered a "championship shortage".

Therefore, the two teams this season, on the contrary, have more "sympathy" from the wealthy sunset.

Of course, this is not a reason for them to let go of their opponents.

Ferguson took the initiative to launch a war of words and psychological warfare against Arsenal. The target he chose was Reyes, Ronaldo's opponent in this game.

Very different from the previous style of mainly attacking opponents, Ferguson did not beat Reyes this time, but chose to kill Reyes.

"Reyes is a player of quite a high level! I think he is already on an equal footing with Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo... I am not exaggerating."

(End of this chapter)