My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 197 Stamford Bridge Library

When the referee blew the midfield whistle, there were sporadic boos and curses at Chelsea coach Benitez at Stamford Bridge.

The score of [-]-[-] was particularly eye-catching. The advantage Chelsea accumulated in the previous round disappeared like ice and snow.

Rafa Benitez touched his half-bald head with a dark face. He took his hand back, and his palms were covered with sweat.

The Spanish coach's sweat soaked his shirt. He took off his jacket and threw it on the stool. He turned around and was the first to go to the locker room.

There was silence in the home team's dressing room. Chelsea players took their seats, but no one spoke.

Lampard cleared his throat and broke the silence: "Guys, we are two goals behind. The total score is equalized, we must score in the second half, we must win this game."

Lampard's reputation in the locker room was somewhat useful. The players raised their heavy-looking heads. Lampard turned his eyes to Benitez, and the players also looked to Benitez.

"I have requirements for you." Rafa Benitez said in a firm tone, "I am very dissatisfied with the performance of some players. I have emphasized my tactics. When you meet your opponent, 伱You can't let him get away from you, and you can't give up on 50.00%-50.00% of the ball. You didn't do what I asked."

There were whispers among the Chelsea players. Some players glanced disdainfully at the sweaty Spaniard and muttered something to their teammates around them.

Lampard sighed helplessly, and shouted twice as if he was masturbating: "Attention! Listen to Rafa."

But not many players are seriously turning their attention to Rafa Benitez.

Lampard feels that the spirit of this team is draining, and in this state, they will only make the game situation worse.

"Damn it." Lampard cursed secretly and shook his head.

……

Chen Yao gave a simple speech at halftime. He was very satisfied with the team's performance, especially after making certain tactical adjustments. Arsenal's ball-attack mode was running smoothly. .

This can at least show that Arsenal's players have quite good tactical understanding and technical talent.

It's no wonder that Wenger's selection criteria at the time were to emphasize talent over physical fitness. The temptation of having a group of players who can play a kaleidoscope of offense will indeed make people ignore physical flaws.

Arsenal's youth players appreciate the coach's praise. This is the characteristic of young teams - they will encounter adversity and setbacks, and they do not have enough experience to deal with them.But as long as their Qi goes smoothly, their condition will get better and better.

After the second half began, Chelsea players symbolically expressed their response to Arsenal's goal.

In the 10 minutes just after the whistle blew, the offensive and defensive rhythm on the field was quite fast. Chelsea created some chaos in Arsenal's half. Arsenal's conduction rhythm was disrupted by the opponent's fierce pressure.

Chen Yao kept calling the players on the sidelines, telling them to stabilize their position.

This is just a short-term improvement in Chelsea's intensity. There is a problem with this team's pressing structure. As long as they insist on maintaining a stable rhythm under the high pressure brought by their temporary enthusiasm, they will soon be able to penetrate the opponent's pressure.

The trend of the game proved Chen Yao's prediction. Chelsea's rigid pressing structure could not last long under the high intensity in the early part of the second half and collapsed under Arsenal's continuous passing.

Arsenal continued to exploit the space between Chelsea's lines, with Benitez wiping beads of sweat from his brow as he loudly reminded his players to drop back and fill the gaps.

Chelsea's transition was much slower than Benitez had planned.Chen Yao saw the blue figure trying to pounce towards his own goal, but Santi Cazorla was in better shape than at the beginning. Not only was he able to get rid of Ramirez's defense, he could also take advantage of the situation and advance with the ball. , attracting the attention of other Chelsea players.

This means Chelsea have more space at the back.

In the 53rd minute, after hitting this area many times in a row, the double barrier of David Luiz and Ramirez was broken through.

Luis and Ramirez together wanted to double-team to steal the ball from Santi Cazorla, but the Spanish attacking midfielder used a fantastic dribbling to get through their defense.

Cazorla's movements don't have many bells and whistles, they are just simple emergency stops, accelerations, rhythm changes, changes of direction with his left and right feet, and pulling the ball to turn. However, these movements are connected by him like a master, and he passes the ball between several touches. Chelsea's midfielder.

The Spanish midfielder passed the ball into the penalty area. Giroud accelerated forward and hit the goal with his header. The ball was blocked by Gary Cahill and quickly cut in from the right. Walcott suddenly appeared in the penalty area and made up the ball. goal.

Three to zero.The total score was three to two.

Benitez's shirt was completely soaked, and Stamford Bridge was as silent as a library.

Lillo said to Chen Yao, "Coach, maybe we can really go very far."

……

Benitez made continuous adjustments in the last three 10 minutes.

He replaced Fernando Torres to improve the team's impact.

Spain's golden boy has not been able to live up to the expectations he had in recent seasons, and despite his struggles, people still can't forget Torres' magical performances when healthy.

That is indeed a performance that can only be achieved by a top forward.

Benitez also asked the team to use more long passes. Now Chelsea urgently needs to hit the ball into Arsenal's penalty area. They need to score goals, and one is not enough.

Chelsea tried Benitez's strategy with little success.

Arsenal suffered such a hardship in the first round, and they made targeted arrangements for the battle for placement.

Chen Yao replaced Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian with excellent jumping can gain more aerial advantage in such a confrontation.

Chelsea's long pass attempt was not successful. Aaron Ramsey often ran up to harass David Luiz's ball. After several harassments, the quality of Luiz's long passes has not been improved. Chelsea was in the frontcourt. There is also a lack of fulcrum to win the ball.

Benitez used up three substitution opportunities, and the last one he replaced was Lampard. He hoped that the spirit of the Blues could create miracles at such a moment.

It’s just that Stamford Bridge is not Istanbul, and miracles cannot be created all the time.

When the referee blew the final whistle, Arsenal's players rushed to the away team's fan area to celebrate, while Chelsea's players walked off the field listlessly and left quietly in the Stamford Bridge library.

Arsenal successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

(End of this chapter)