My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 174 Haze
Boxing Day battle, Premier League No. 19 round, Arsenal vs. West Ham.

The game was lackluster.

West Ham are struggling in the relegation zone. They appear to be lack of confidence and timid in front of Arsenal.

Yesterday's dinner did not affect Arsenal's state. The coaching staff strictly supervised the players' diet, and the arrival of Josh Kroenke made the players quite excited.

Today, Josh Kroenke also went to the Emirates Stadium to watch the game in person, watching the team's game with Arsenal fans on Boxing Day.

There was a joyous atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium.

In the first half alone, Arsenal took a [-]-[-] lead.

West Ham United's slow and rough defense was helpless against Arsenal's flexible and skilled frontcourt players. Olivier Giroud showed his prowess in this game, scoring two goals with his head and kick.

In addition, he also sent an expressive no-look pass to Antoine Griezmann, and the French winger cut from his side and cut into the middle to score.

Sky Sports' broadcast cameras focused on Giroud's handsome face many times today. The commentator joked: "There are always people who say that Giroud cannot score goals in key games, but Giroud hit them back in this game. Played on Boxing Day A game like this will affect the mood of thousands of fans during this holiday season. Isn’t a game like this critical?”

Chen Yao is also in a good mood. It seems that he has great hope to end the [-] event with a good result.

He was worried about the team's status after the first two rounds. Fortunately, the schedule was friendly to Arsenal, allowing them to encounter vulnerable opponents.

The second half of the game was relaxed and enjoyable, Arsenal scored another goal, West Ham had no intention of counterattack, and the two teams ended with a score of [-]-[-].

There is one last game left this year.

December [-], [-].

On the penultimate day of the year, Arsenal faced their last opponent of the year: Newcastle.

Standing on the turf of St. James Park, listening to the cheers given by the "Magpies" fans for their home team, Chen Yao's brows frowned more and more.

He should have been in a better mood.

At Christmas, Josh Kroenke gave him a guarantee that he would be able to purchase the players he wanted this winter.

Kroenke Jr. showed more trust in himself than other Arsenal managers. Chen Yao couldn't figure out Kroenke's intentions for a while.

Maybe the American boss needs to cultivate a team coach who stands with him, or maybe the relationship between Kroenke Jr. and Kroenke Sr.’s old staff, such as Gazidis, is not close. Kroenke is just a simple, superstitious competitive caller who uses young coaches to create miracles in American sports.

But the specific reason was that nothing mattered anymore. After receiving the budget guaranteed by Kroenke Jr., Chen Yao found Dick Law, whom he had not seen for a long time, and asked him to help him negotiate these two transfers.

Chen Yao's original intention to introduce Monreal and De Bruyne was not only to accumulate talent for the team, but also to cope with the wave of injuries every winter.

This season, Arsenal did not encounter any major player injuries until the end of December. This is good luck for the team's tactical system this season.

There were gasps at St James' Park and a round of applause from the fans.

On the field, Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul firmly saved Olivier Giroud's header.

Carvajal's pass from the side, Giroud jumped ahead of Newcastle center back Yanga Mbiwa and won the header.

But he didn't exert any force, and what was worse was that after Giroud landed, he lay down and did not get up.

Chen Yao looked at the electronic screen and saw that the game time had only passed for more than ten minutes.

Arsenal's team doctor hurried onto the pitch and examined Giroud.

The live footage of Sky Sports also kept replaying the header just now. The physical confrontation between Giroud and Yanga Mbiwa was not very intense, but when Giroud landed, his posture seemed wrong.

"Olivier Giroud is not a forward who can score 25 goals for Arsenal in a season, but in the half season he joined, he proved that he is an important part of coach Chen Yao's tactics." The commentator said, "If Giroud is injured, it will be a big blow to Arsenal's offensive system."

After checking Giroud's injury, the team doctor made a gesture to the coaching bench.

Chen Yao immediately turned around and pointed at Aubameyang, "Auba, go warm up."

Aubameyang stood up and ran to the sideline to stretch his body.

Chen Yao turned his attention back to the court. A few minutes later, the team doctor accompanied Giroud limping back to the sidelines.

Giroud and Aubameyang high-fived, then lowered their heads and sighed, and walked up to Chen Yao.

"Mr. Coach, I'm fine, you don't have to worry." His expression was a little depressed, "My body may be used to resting at this time of the year, and I am indeed a bit tired from recent games."

"Don't worry, Olivier, go get some rest."

Lillo accompanied Giroud to sit back on the bench. The team doctor beside him was still asking questions, and a look of worry flashed across Chen Yao's brow.

Hopefully this is just a fluke and not the start of a series of injuries.

……

The match between Arsenal and Newcastle was intense.

The last game before the winter window is also the last game of [-]. Maybe both teams want to have a successful ending to the year.

Newcastle, in particular, were working hard to win a victory under the watchful eyes of the fans at St. James' Park.

At a little more than 10 minutes, Newcastle's core midfielder, French international Yohan Cabaye, curved the ball to the side. Ben Arfa on the right passed through Kieran Gibbs' defense and passed the ball to the center. .

Koscielny also encountered an injury not long ago. Vermaelen and Mertesacker started this game.

There was a problem with the chemistry between the two defenders.

This was a low pass. Mertesacker was standing a little forward, and the ball went behind him. Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse hid behind Vermaelen and suddenly accelerated away from the Belgian. Diagonally inserted into Mertesacker's back.

He met the ball and shot it into the goal guarded by Szczesny.

The net billowed with whitecaps and the cheers at St James' Park were deafening.

Chen Yao's face became even more ugly because of this missed goal.

Arsenal failed to equalize for the remainder of the first half.

After halftime, the Gunners seemed to regain a little bit of form on the road, but Newcastle's counterattack was also tough.

The situation of the game was not even in favor of Arsenal. They were repeatedly counterattacked by Newcastle in their own half. The midfield combination of Papiss Cisse, Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye performed sharply.

"There is a problem with our offense." Chen Yao said to Lillo beside him.

Antoine Griezmann's game experience became awkward after Aubameyang came on.The Gabonese forward does not have Olivier Giroud's pivoting ability and short passing vision. He likes to hide in the holes in the opponent's defense to look for opportunities.

Griezmann therefore lost key players who could provide him with support.

As a player who is also accustomed to being without the ball, Griezmann and Aubameyang's movements did not form a linkage.

Two players who are both good at finding spaces and loopholes will often run together, instead squeezing each other's space and making it easier for Newcastle's defense.

Without the frontcourt fulcrum, Santi Cazorla also had many fewer passing options. It was difficult for Arsenal to play continuous passing and cutting cooperation in Newcastle's penalty area. Instead, they suffered counterattacks because they repeatedly handed over players.

At the 10th minute, Chen Yao replaced Griezmann and replaced Zaha.

At this moment, he needs a player who has the ability to actively hold the ball to change the situation.

Chen Yao's substitution paid off. Arsenal launched a simple and crude attack on Newcastle's right wing. The left wing combination of Kieran Gibbs and Wilfred Zaha overwhelmed Newcastle's right wing defense. .

Before the end of the game, Arsenal blasted the ball into the penalty area through the right wing, and Aubameyang took advantage of the chaos and sent the ball into the goal.

Arsenal earned a tough draw.

After shaking hands with the opponent's head coach, Chen Yao returned to the locker room worriedly, and here he saw a room full of tired players.

In any case, in the last game of [-], they did not lose.

……

The new year has arrived.

On January 20st, in the No. [-] round of the Premier League, Arsenal faced Southampton.

When leading the team to St. Mary's Stadium, Chen Yao was most worried about adding more names to the team's injured list.

He knows that January is not a month for Arsenal to rush for installments, but a month in urgent need of a smooth transition.

The usual pattern for Arsenal in previous years is that they made great progress before Christmas and suffered a wave of injuries after the holidays. It was not until the injured returned in March and April that their form improved and finally returned to the top four.

At least, Chen Yao hopes that the trough period this season can be shorter.

The weather in Southampton was very cold. He stepped on the turf of St. Mary's Stadium and felt the biting wind.

In the first half, the score between the two teams was zero to one.

Arsenal are behind.

Giroud and Koscielny are still injured, and Chen Yao's frontcourt combination is the same as in the previous game.

The cooperation between Griezmann and Aubameyang is still very raw.

Chen Yao tried to make some changes. He allowed Griezmann to have a wider range of activities and get the ball closer to the center, trying to let Griezmann take on more frontcourt organizational responsibilities.

He knows that Griezmann has this potential. The Frenchman is not a pure winger. He has the potential to develop more range of activities and more organizational talents.

And Aubameyang can have a wider space to look for opportunities and find the role that best suits his characteristics.

The first half of the experiment was unsuccessful.

Just a few days did not allow Griezmann to break through to his peak state. On the contrary, Griezmann appeared to worry about gains and losses when he had more time to handle the ball.

He is more accustomed to finding the right position and taking the next step after receiving the pass from his teammate, rather than letting the ball stick to his feet.

This gave Southampton a comfortable defensive counterattack.

The core of Southampton's midfield is 23-year-old French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin. Schneiderlin's task on the field is very simple. When Southampton counterattacks, he serves as the hub for switching from defense to offense. Quickly handed to the feet of the frontcourt players.

Southampton's two forwards are Billy Sharp and Jay Rodriguez, both of whom are characterized by lightning speed.

Seizing the characteristics of Arsenal's heavy pressure and empty backcourt, the two forwards' quick counterattack tactics gave Southampton the lead.

They took advantage of Griezmann's passing error in the first half and successfully hit Mertesacker behind. Vermaelen's replacement and pursuit were too late to keep up with Southampton's players, leaving Arsenal behind in the away game.

At halftime, Griezmann looked frustrated.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Coach, I really can't."

He held his head and buried it deeply in the towel. "I received the ball in front of the penalty area... If I was the receiving player, I could quickly find where I should go underneath. But when I hold the ball, I see It was just the opponent's players... I couldn't get the ball to where it was supposed to go."

He raised his head and looked at Aubameyang apologetically, "I'm sorry Auba, I also want to pass the ball to you, but I can't do it right now."

Aubameyang spread his hands indifferently: "It doesn't matter, Anthony. It's my job to run out of opportunities. I won't blame you if you don't pass the ball. I will continue to run, that's it."

……

In the second half of the game, Chen Yao moved Griezmann back to the left, but his position was closer to the center, while Aubameyang was closer to the right.

Arsenal's formation is closer to 4-4-2.

The task of organizing the midfield has returned to Santi Cazorla. He needs to use his personal dribbling ability to counter Southampton's multi-player defense, and then find opportunities for the two forwards who move without the ball to get shooting opportunities. .

It's difficult.

In the 56th minute, Santi Cazorla showed how important his technical characteristics are to Arsenal.

Cazorla started from the center circle. He first feinted to the left, deceiving Schneiderlin's center of gravity. The young French midfielder was easily shaken away by Cazorla.

He then dunked the ball back with his right foot and dribbled forward.

Cazorla's bipedal skills allow him to perform these maneuvers while on the move.

After passing through Southampton's midfield defense, Cazorla continued to advance at the front of the penalty area, and he made many small technical moves.

The Spanish midfielder did not have many fancy technical moves, and the gestures he used were simple but effective techniques, but he approached Southampton's penalty area with constant changes in rhythm and direction.

The continuous dribbling and changes of direction brought Cazorla's physical fitness to the limit.

At the last second before losing control of his body, Cazorla sent a through ball. The ball passed the feet of the Southampton defender and was finally obtained by Aubameyang.

Aubameyang and Griezmann scored a goal after a simple one-two.

(End of this chapter)