My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 162 The First Three Points

The Amsterdam Arena is a place Dennis Bergkamp knows all too well.

As a player, although Bergkamp was an elite player from Ajax, he did not have the opportunity to play in this magnificent arena.

He came to Inter Milan in the summer of 1993, and the Amsterdam Arena was not completed and put into use until 1996, and it was also in this year that Wenger became the head coach of Arsenal.

"Some people call me a legend of the Ajax club, but I don't even really belong to this arena." Bergkamp said half-jokingly to Chen Yao.

After retiring, Bergkamp, ​​who returned to Ajax, also focused more on the training of young players. He was not too involved in the first team affairs. Naturally, his main workplace was not in this arena.

"And your current identity is..." Chen Yao pointed to the roaring Ajax fans in the stands in the distance.

"An enemy of Ajax."

"Yes, thanks to you." Bergkamp smiled bitterly, "I am taking care of my children in the youth training center. How come I stand on the coaching bench?"

"Oh, and." He wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Refuse to fly makes me really tired... Speaking of which, can I take a leave next time for an away game?"

"That's impossible." Lillo leaned over, expressionless, "Dennis, you are part of us, an inseparable part."

"Okay..." Bergkamp shrugged, "Maybe I agreed to come to London on impulse."

"You want to achieve something, Dennis, and these kids have a lot to teach you."

Chen Yao's eyes turned to the stadium. The game started 10 minutes ago. Arsenal started its second meeting with the Eredivisie league's hegemon on the road in two weeks.

Arsenal's players are a bit tired.

This kind of fatigue is visible to the naked eye. They do not appear in the form of particularly exaggerated mistakes, but in slow passes, incorrectly chosen passing routes, a stagger when dribbling the ball, or several bizarre misses. cooperation.

And these gatherings of sand into towers have become an anxious and stagnant scene.

This fatigue comes from the high-intensity schedule and Chen Yao’s reduced rotation range. Many players just played against Manchester United for 10 and [-] minutes at Old Trafford a few days ago, and now they are playing against Atlético Amsterdam. Field turf.

For example, Mikel Arteta, under the nose of Chen Yao, the Spanish midfielder who has always been known for his stability almost lost the ball in his own backcourt when he grabbed the ball from Eriksen's fierceness.

And just 2 minutes later, one of his short passes was half a minute too weak, causing the ball to be intercepted by the Danish midfielder midway, almost causing Arsenal to fall behind early.

Arteta's two mistakes also made Chen Yao realize that he has always regarded Arteta as an experienced and balanced lineup stabilizer, but the price of this experience and stability is age.

Arteta is almost 31 years old and he is no longer young.

But in this game, Chen Yao still sent him on the court because his experience is extremely important to the young team.

At the pre-match press conference, a reporter asked Chen Yao, will Arsenal go all out in the last three rounds of the Champions League group stage?
"We can't give up the Champions League." Chen Yao answered him categorically, "We represent the status of British football in Europe, and our opponents are strong contenders for the Champions League. I will be very interested in what is the gap between us and them. .”

In terms of the Champions League winning odds issued by William Hill, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund ranked second and fourth respectively.

……

"Coach Chen Yao really wants to win, and we can see it from Arsenal's lineup. He did not rest Arteta, Griezmann, Cazorla and Giroud. Arsenal wants to seize the few opportunities left. , get three points to extend their hopes at the Amsterdam Arena." Commentator Bill Leslie said in Sky Sports' Champions League broadcast room.

"And I also hope that coach Chen Yao can do this." Bill Leslie quickly interjected a joke, "The price of the Champions League broadcast rights in the next five years will inevitably hit a record high. Every time we broadcast a game, we think With nearly tens of millions of pounds in broadcasting fees - no one wants to spend millions of pounds to watch one loss, oh, to be precise, more than one loss."

Olivier Giroud continues his struggles in front of goal.

When Arsenal have sufficient possession advantage, it doesn't hurt that Giroud wastes a few opportunities, and his fulcrum role in the penalty area will be more obvious.

But when Arsenal's midfielders show their fatigue, they are unable to keep the ball at their feet, and they are unable to play a lot of deft and exquisite coordination. At this time, they need an impactful striker to penetrate the opponent's ball. The defense then seizes opportunities in tight spaces and turns shots into scores.

In the 31st minute, Arsenal got a rare opportunity.

Cazorla maximized his technical advantages in the midfield. He stuck the ball firmly to his feet and advanced from the center circle. After getting rid of the blockage of Ajax players, he dribbled the ball laterally and forced the ball. The ball was picked up from a group of defensive players to the relatively open left wing.

This was a fleeting opportunity. Griezmann keenly sensed the opportunity and immediately took action. He took a long stride to get rid of the opponent's right back Gregory van der Wiel and crossed into the penalty area.

Cazorla's through ball found Griezmann, who deftly opened up space for himself with his first touch before firing towards the very close goal.

Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Wormell was out of position and the shot went straight into his open palm.

Womel didn't expect that he would be able to pounce. His reaction was half a beat too slow and the distance was too close, but he still pounced.

He realized that the quality of his opponent's shots had declined. Griezmann's favorite was to shoot hard at the near post. Today, his movements were a little slow in connecting, and his shooting skills were not enough to hit more tricky angles. The slightest anomaly was resolved in this shot.

Womel pounced, but did not fully hold the ball. There was something wrong with his hand shape, and the ball bounced out and reached Giroud.

The Frenchman's huge body struggled to find an angle at this moment, and the hearts of the Ajax fans at the scene were in their throats, but Giroud hit the ball directly on Womel's body.

The Ajax goalkeeper immediately fell to the ground and kept the ball firmly under him.

The fans at the Amsterdam Arena let out cheers of relief and gave Womel a round of applause.

Giroud hugged his head in frustration. Griezmann walked over and shouted something into Giroud's ear. His expression was a little helpless, and it was obvious that he was not praising Giroud.

"Coach Chen Yao insisted on using Olivier Giroud as a forward in this game. He is not the kind of striker that Arsenal fans expect. He cannot steadily convert every opportunity into a goal." Bill Leslie said.

"In the past Premier League, Giroud played a good supporting role as the fulcrum of Arsenal's penalty area, but now, what Arsenal need is to score goals, and they can't afford to waste the opportunity..."

At the 45th minute, when the referee blew the half-time whistle, the score was still zero to zero.

Neither side had great chances, and Arsenal's situation looked a little more ugly as their possession rate was below 50.00%.

Their surprisingly low passing success rate and depleted energy contributed to this result.

During the halftime break, the Arsenal players sat together in the simple visiting team's locker room, and the atmosphere was not very warm.

Chen Yao knows that this is a kind of fatigue. It is the exhaustion of two and a half months of the season and the gradual depletion of physical reserves. It is the exhaustion of double matches in a week.

More importantly, Arsenal's physical and energy consumption is too fast.The six-game winning streak in the league was a wonderful period. During that period, Chen Yao fully activated the combat effectiveness of the young team he rebuilt in the summer, with their efficient frontcourt pressure, precise passing and cutting coordination, and high enthusiasm. Created all this.

Behind this is the ultra-high running volume that remains high in every game. It is the constant adjustments of Premier League opponents to make Arsenal play in a more comfortable way.

In order to maintain the original system and because of the inertia of victory, the Gunners players could only squeeze their physical strength harder and use more running and fighting to maintain victory.

Until this victory is over.

Chen Yao was annoyed, why was it always Manchester United that ended Arsenal's good form.

The 49-game unbeaten streak that year ended at the hands of Manchester United. The team's [-]-[-] bloodbath at the beginning of last season when the team had a difficult start happened at the hands of Manchester United. And the players who finally got on the right track also ended their six-game winning streak at the hands of Manchester United. .

The last generation of Manchester United in the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson was an enemy he could not avoid.

"I don't blame you, boys. Your performance in the past month and a half makes me proud." Chen Yao did not criticize the players harshly during the halftime break. "Three days ago, at Old Trafford, I asked you to do your best to Go. You did it, but unfortunately we didn’t win.”

"Now, we are back in the European arena. I will not count points with everyone. Our current points are zero points. I still hope you will do your best. Treat the remaining games as knockout rounds. Win one and we will continue. One loss and we’re out.”

……

In the 51st minute, Arsenal made a substitution.

Chen Yao called Ramsey to warm up, and he replaced Arteta. Today's Spanish midfielder was obviously out of shape.

Panting, Arteta walked off the field, hugged Chen Yao, and handed the captain's armband to Ramsey.

"Put it on." Chen Yao ordered Ramsey.

"Coach, thank you."

Ramsey put the captain's armband on his arm and ran onto the pitch.

At the same time, he also brought new instructions from the coaching staff.

Arsenal's formation was wider in the second half than in the first half. They were deliberately stretching Ajax's defensive formation, but De Boer instructed his team to strictly abide by tactical discipline and concentrate the defensive density in the center.

As a result, Arsenal's wings gained ample space.

The long-dormant right back Dani Carvajal started flying up and down the wing again. The right winger Chen Yao arranged in front of him was Chamberlain. Two players with strong offensive desire were on the left wing of Ajax. Launched an impact.

However, there was a problem with the combination of Arsenal's wing and center. Although Aaron Ramsey wore the captain's armband, his performance was still hazy.

He stood too far forward, squeezing Cazorla's space.

The two players were crowded at the front of the narrow penalty area, and neither Ramsey's forward ability nor Cazorla's dribbling ability were fully utilized.

In the 62nd minute, Carvajal went down to the bottom side, and Oxlade Chamberlain dribbled the ball past the 19-year-old Dutch left back Coopers and passed it to Carvajal.

Carvajal had no space to cross, so he passed the ball to Cazorla who came to meet him. Ramsey did not open up space for his teammates, but followed him.

Finally, the Ajax players gathered around the Arsenal players holding the ball in their defensive area and destroyed the ball out of the sideline.

And this time the destruction was not so friendly - Cazorla was squeezed into a small space near the sideline, still trying to protect the ball with his back. The confrontation between the two sides lasted for several seconds. In the end, the shorter Cazorla was Knocked to the ground during physical confrontation.

Chen Yao made the second substitution, Zaha replaced Cazorla.

The Spanish midfielder who came off the field was obviously a little disappointed. He panted and said: "I'm sorry, boss, I failed to score a goal for the team."

"It's not your problem, Santi, go and rest." Chen Yao also gave Cazorla a hug.

Compared with his performance on the court, Chen Yao is more worried about Cazorla's physical condition.

He knows that in the current Arsenal lineup, the one with the strongest ball-holding ability and the most balanced skills is this short Spanish midfielder.

Originally, his plan was to replace Cazorla and take a rest after the team took the lead at about 10 minutes.

Although there is no planned lead now, he is still afraid that Cazorla will have some shortcomings.

In the 71st minute, Eriksen made a pass error during the attack.

The Danish midfielder wants to help the team win too much. He is the core of Ajax's midfield and a hot European star, but Verratti doesn't think so.

Eriksen, who is over 1.8 meters tall, tried to use his physical advantage to get past Verratti, but Verratti tightened his muscles and got stuck in his position. He lost the ball with his feet.

Verratti intercepted the ball, with quick feet, and took the ball forward to counterattack.

Ramsey, Griezmann, Zaha and Chamberlain are all running forward quickly.

Their running position even looked a bit chaotic. Zaha was running along the middle. Griezmann diagonally opened up the angle with Zaha. Ramsey ran the fastest and his position was almost the same as the center. Done.

Arsenal put six players into a counterattack, with an empty backcourt and multiple arrows firing from the front.

Verratti's ground-hugging pass was stuffed at the feet of Griezmann. He made an inverted triangle pass and passed the blocks of Blind and Alderweireld. In front of the goal, Ramsey grabbed the point...

He missed the opportunity to grab the point. The ball passed through his legs and came to Giroud, but the Frenchman was also a step slower.

Wilfred Zaha touched the ball inexplicably like this. He was originally a left winger, but in order not to overlap with his teammates, he ran all the way to the right side of the goal.

He pushed towards the ball, while Wormell was still watching on the other side of the goal.

One to zero.

Perhaps by luck, Arsenal secured their first three points of this Champions League at the Amsterdam Arena.

The "knockout" of the group stage continues.

(End of this chapter)