My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 136 Frontcourt Trio

"Wonderful goal!" Martin Taylor exclaimed during Sky's live broadcast. "A lightning-fast counterattack. It was as if the Manchester City players had no reaction."

"Their pressing worked." Alan Smith said. "Manchester City is not used to such intensity, and the heavy rain on the scene made it worse."

"Coach Mancini should make adjustments. Who would have thought that Manchester City would be the first to concede the ball?"

"Martin, Mancini is a well-trained coach and he will not let the situation continue to get worse. But the interesting thing is..."

"Yes……?"

"Arsenal is not a disorganized team at all." Alan Smith explained, "They still have high fighting spirit and are willing to fight for the head coach."

"Are you saying that rumors of a coaching change haven't affected them?"

"Not only did it have no impact, I think it might have stimulated them."

……

Mancini kept replaying the missed goal in his mind.

It wasn't a coincidence, he knew, every moment of the past 10 minutes he felt that the team might concede.

Arsenal's intensity is unexpected. Their high pressing system is carefully designed, and every player has a target.

However, his own players lacked preparation and did not even further test the opponent's ability to press and rotate.

Mancini saw the unsuitability of the defense, so he asked for a kickoff to the frontcourt. Even if it meant sacrificing possession of the ball, it was safer to fight for five or five goals in the frontcourt than to play with fire outside the penalty area.

But Arsenal's recovery speed was also far beyond his expectation. These players ran without any effort. They were all participating in the attack just now, and in the blink of an eye, they all stood in defensive positions.

One word came to Mancini's mind: total offense and total defense.

Maybe not the most accurate description, but he felt the shadow of this style.

And when Manchester City began to organize the attack in the frontcourt, Arsenal's formation changed again.

The goal came from Yaya Toure's pass error.

You can't blame him. Toure's receiving position was also not good at the time. Gareth Barry hurriedly threw the ball to Toure after losing the angle of the ball.

There is no problem with Yaya Toure's observation. In theory, David Silva is his best passing target, but Arsenal has one more midfielder.

Mancini remembers Arsenal doing something similar last season, pushing a full-back into the center to assume some of the responsibilities of the defensive midfielder.

At that time, Arsenal chose the left wing, but this time it was the right wing.

So how did their formation change?
Mancini outlined the position in his mind. Arsenal's defense had only three defenders, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Koscielny.

There are two and a half midfielders, Jorginho, Arteta and Sagna.

Arteta assumed the role of balancing the defense, and it was Jorginho who launched the counterattack. Cazorla retreated appropriately and used his technical advantages to complete the frontcourt advancement, and then the cooperation of Arsenal's two wings.

Their forward did not participate in this counterattack, but Vardy had a share of the credit for the formation of this counterattack.

Manchester City's breakdown in rhythm was largely due to the striker's tireless pressing.

Mancini frowned. Chen Yao's use of Vardy made him a little uncomfortable. It was completely squeezing the striker as a tool to disrupt his defense.

Vardy is doing all the dirty work. He is consuming himself in exchange for suppressing Manchester City's backcourt.

Mancini knew that if he asked Aguero or Tevez to do such a thing, no one in the team would agree with him.

But how long can you sustain this intensity?
Mancini calmed down, Arsenal's intensity in the first 15 minutes was unsustainable.When their physical fitness declines, their vulnerabilities will naturally be exposed. …

Chen Yao gestured to the players on the field, the number two.

He pointed to Manchester City's goal again, with a clear intention to score the second goal as soon as possible.

Arsenal's attacking power is strong enough, now, they need to score goals to find the feeling.

Antoine Griezmann hugged his teammates, wiped the rain from his face, and smiled.

It was a perfect debut to score in his first start.

And he likes the offensive rhythm like just now. His teammates will send the ball just right.

Arsenal's players are happy to share the ball, and passing awareness seems to be engraved in their DNA, which makes Griezmann, who is good at running without the ball, very comfortable.

Santi Cazorla also played comfortably.

In the first training session after coming to Arsenal, Chen Yao pointed to the whiteboard and said to him: "Santi, you are not an attacking midfielder. You can appear in any area I circled."

The traditional range of activities of the attacking midfielder is generally limited to the fourteenth area at the front of the penalty area, while the circled space on the whiteboard covers the space on both sides and the middle from the midline to the penalty area line.

"I will not clearly define your position, and your responsibility is not just the final pass...Santi, I want you to be the glue in the frontcourt of the team, from the midfield to the deep areas of the penalty area, from the left wing to The lateral area on the right wing, that’s all your space.”

Cazorla gradually adapted to his new role. He would drop back to the center circle to receive the ball from the midfielder, and then bring it to the frontcourt.

He will also receive passes from teammates in any area of ​​the frontcourt - but often in the left or right ribs.

This is also the arrangement of the coaching staff, because the space in the center is often severely squeezed by the opponent, and in the two ribs, the player's perspective and space for handling the ball will be much less affected.

The valuable thing about Cazorla is that his two-foot skills allow him to exert his full strength on either side of the ribs and form linkages with other players on that side.

Although it is difficult for Cazorla to send out precise transfers across long distances, in regional group cooperation, his ball holding, short passing, and running without players are enough to pose a threat.

And this is why Manchester City continued to be suppressed after Arsenal scored the first goal.

Arsenal's three attacking midfielders constantly tormented Manchester City's defense in two ribs.

In the 204th minute, Cazorla received a direct pass from Jorginho on the right rib. His legs were like sticking to the football, and he lowered his center of gravity and wiped out Yaya Toure's personal follow-up.

After grabbing a position, Walcott got rid of Gael Clichy who was marking him early. Clichy wanted to catch up, but his peripheral vision caught Sagna behind him.

Bakari Sagna moved from the initial right back position to the right midfielder position, and now accelerated to the outside of the Manchester City penalty area.

Clichy was in a dilemma. He knew that he must miss someone. Within a second, he decided to follow up Walcott and let Sagna go.

This was a wrong decision - because Walcott entered the penalty area with the ball, and after being flanked by Nastasic and Clichy, he flicked his ankle and gave the ball to Sagna.

Sagna made a pass without being marked...

But this cross was high and far and did not pose an effective threat.

Sagna lowered his head and ran back ashamedly. The coach told him that he would have a chance to cross freely, but his crossing skills were still not good enough.

Chen Yao also sighed regretfully. Sagna was good at everything, but his passing was lacking.

Not far away, Mancini clenched his fists. In addition to high-intensity pressure, Arsenal also had erratic offensive movements... If they were allowed to continue to take the initiative on the field, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to run out of energy before they could. The winner will be decided in one game.

(End of this chapter)