My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 12 Nightmare Start
August 2011, 8, Newcastle, St James' Park.

The 2011-12 English Premier League season kicked off.

In the first round, Arsenal played away against Newcastle.

About [-] fans came to St. James' Park, and the English people's love for football is evident.Even though Newcastle is just a weak team hovering in the middle and lower reaches at this time, their fans can still fill the stadium to capacity.

The attention Arsenal has received this season is obviously much lower, and the eyes of the entire English football world are focused on Manchester.

Manchester United and Manchester City seem to be the biggest contenders for the Premier League championship this year, and Chelsea are also eyeing it, trying to seize the next championship.

In contrast, Arsenal, who are carrying a heavy mortgage, have no championship for six years, and sold their captain and core this summer, have been excluded from the ranks of championship contenders by various experts early on.

The focus on Arsenal is largely due to a mentality that is half sympathy and half a joke.

Can a team whose central axis has been demolished still barely maintain the so-called "rich" face?
Or just let it slump and show everyone another scene of the fall of a wealthy family?

But these are not important to Chen Yao, what is important is that this is the first time he has appeared in the coaching staff of the first team.

"Don't put any pressure on it, lads, just play normally."

Wenger's pre-match speech was nothing special. After a few words of encouragement, the Arsenal players filed out and stepped onto the turf.

As for Chen Yao, he also sat on the sidelines on the coaching bench, and together with the coaching staff, occupied an excellent VIP viewing seat.

"It's a novel experience, isn't it?" Assistant coach Pat Rice said with a smile, "Don't be nervous, you just need to pay attention to observe the game and do a good job of analysis."

"Ah."

Chen Yao knew that his role in the coaching staff focused on tactical analysis, and it was his duty to observe, record, and give advice in a timely manner.

With the whistle of the referee, the game began.

The players lined up and flowed quickly, like a machine started to work.

Chen Yao concentrated on observing the game, and the "logical thinking" ability given to him by the Shuguang system began to operate, which made his observation and perception of the game more in-depth and delicate.

He unconsciously began to analyze the offensive and defensive situation on the field, analyze the players' running positions, the use of space, and the opponent's response and changes, and these analyzes also strengthened his reaction ability and thinking ability at the same time.

Sure enough, actual combat is what can most promote progress...

After observing for 25 minutes, Chen Yao frowned.

He looked up at Wenger who was standing on the sidelines, and then turned his head to look at the other members of the coaching staff - he probably wasn't the only one who saw the problem.

Yes, 25 minutes have passed, and the scene can only be described as lifeless.

Out of the temptation and caution of the opponent, Newcastle adopted a very conservative attitude at the beginning.

At this time in the Premier League, the play style of the mid-lower teams is still very traditional.Their strategy has been pragmatic when facing big teams that they don't think they should be able to compete with.

Put up fences in your own half, maintain a deep defense, keep the formation stable, compress the space in the defensive third area, and deny the opponent the opportunity to penetrate into the dangerous area.

And judging from the situation in these 25 minutes, the effect was surprisingly good.

Arsenal's players don't seem to know how to attack, and the football is running extremely sluggish.

In Newcastle's half, Arsenal's push looked rather ugly and disreputable.

The disciplined defense of the Newcastle players left Arsenal at a loss.

They tried to instigate group coordination in the frontcourt, but after losing Fabregas, Arsenal's offensive organization was in chaos, and it was difficult to transport football to Newcastle's weak areas.

Although Samir Nasri started the game, as Arsenal's only creative player on the field at present, he was almost sure to transfer to Manchester City, and he played cautiously for fear of scratching the skin.

Frankly speaking, Nasri's willingness to play is quite professional, but he does not dare to make movements or make physical contact, which makes him invisible on the court and poses no threat.

Without the support of the midfield, starting center Robin van Persie is also sleepwalking, struggling with Newcastle's defenders at a loss.

Gradually, as Arsenal's physical fitness declined, the game situation became dull.

Newcastle's defense needed little change, and Arsenal lost their penetrating spirit and began to play around Newcastle's formation.

Although Arsenal's ball possession data is very good, there are very few threatening offenses, and the dullness of the scene makes the audience feel sleepy.

Chen Yao closed the notebook.

There is nothing to record. Compared with on-the-spot tactical adjustments, the problem Arsenal should solve is how to rebuild the offensive system when the second phase of Wenzhou is on the verge of collapse.

The first half of the game ended in a boring way. As the team's tactical analyst, Chen Yao couldn't think of any good solution for a while.

If Newcastle stick to the defensive strategy in the first half, obviously, you can't teach players a new attacking strategy in 10 minutes of midfield.

For this situation, the only thing that can be done is to wait for Newcastle's counterattack, and then seize the opportunity to switch, create a dislocation of rhythm and space through counterattack, and threaten the opponent's goal.

In fact, in Chen Yao's view, this should be a more suitable strategy for the current Arsenal. After all, the efficiency of strikers in utilizing opportunities and the impact of the wings are almost the only remaining advantages of this team.

Following this idea, Chen Yao made this suggestion to the team, and Wenger also nodded in agreement.

However, whether you can seize the opportunity on the court is not something that can be done on the spot.

However, the progress of the game made Wenger and Chen Yao's faces darken.

Newcastle remained defensive in the second half, while Arsenal continued to dawdle possession in the opposition half.

This rhythm made Arsenal very uncomfortable, but when the opponent completely gave up the ball, Arsenal took the ball reluctantly, but could not penetrate the opponent's defense.

To make matters worse, long possessions inevitably lead to mistakes, and after Arshavin failed a somewhat risky breakthrough, Newcastle gained possession and played a well-coached counter attack...

Newcastle has practiced this counterattack many times.

The counterattack that Chen Yao hoped the team would play was neatly countered by Newcastle.

The two forwards rushed forward quickly, and the wingers behind them also jumped in at high speed to widen the width. The midfielder sent to the frontcourt. Arsenal's defense was in a mess and caught off guard.

Newcastle easily penetrated the back line, facing the jaw-dropping goalkeeper Almunia, Newcastle striker Gutierrez pushed the ball calmly and sent the ball into the goal.

Zero to one, seven 10 minutes, Arsenal trailed away.

(End of this chapter)