My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 243 Getting stronger with age

Alex Ferguson was about to jump to his feet in celebration, it was only five minutes into the game, but he was already sure of one thing.

That is, if the three players Rooney, Van Persie and Fabregas are thrown in front of the opponent's penalty area, their threat is far beyond their imagination.

A talented midfielder can activate an attacking line and let their strength go far beyond a simple 1+1, and Cesc Fabregas is such a genius.

Ferguson is very sure that his push to introduce Cesc Fabregas this summer will be a glorious move in Manchester United's transfer history.

Of course, the cold smile on his lips was also an update in Arsenal's history of shame.

Manchester United's attack ended in failure, but Ferguson was satisfied with it.

The ball came to Arsenal's feet. The Arsenal players were shocked by the attack and defense just now and were in a cold sweat. They were more cautious in launching the attack.

Manchester United maintained the pressure network in the frontcourt. Ashley Young and Valencia suppressed Sagna and Monreal respectively. Van Persie and Rooney cut off Arteta's line of receiving the ball. Fabregas judged the situation at any time. Support the pressure and direct the pressing of teammates.

Arsenal's numerical advantage in the midfield and backfield is negligible, and Manchester United invests a lot of people on the pressing end. This is also one of the reasons why Manchester United started strongly this season. Ferguson's team has been more determined on both ends of the offense and defense.

Fabregas, who is only 26 years old, has extremely high tactical talent and understanding, and he also has sufficient physical fitness to support a wide range of running.

Guardiola instilled his tactical concepts in Fabregas at Barcelona, ​​which also improved Fabregas's concept of space.

He can adjust his position anytime and anywhere according to changes in the situation. He can also look for loopholes in the opponent's delivery network and direct his teammates to quickly seize the loopholes and attack.

He brings vitality, creativity and intelligence to Ferguson's aging Manchester United. This is a player who can make a qualitative difference in the team.

If, Ferguson couldn't help but think, if Arsene Wenger had enough resources, even if it was just to let players like Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas stay at Arsenal at their peak, Arsenal would be a better team. Strong team.

What a pity, old friend, he thought, there is no if.

……

Arteta had to drop deeper to receive the ball, and his position with the two centre-backs formed a flat isosceles triangle.

Koscielny's pass to him was almost intercepted by Rooney. Fortunately, Arteta seized the position and won the ball.

Rooney and Robin van Persie double-teamed him.

Many thoughts flashed through Arteta's mind. He could return the ball to the defender, which is a safer option.

He could also simply kick the ball out of the baseline, which would give Manchester United a corner kick, and it seemed a little too panicked, but he dealt with the crisis of being intercepted in the frontcourt.

He also has another option, which is to turn around and advance when the Manchester United players are pinched. Needless to say, even if Rooney and Robin van Persie did not stop him, Fabregas must have intercepted behind him.

This is part of Manchester United's pressing plan, to eliminate the connection point between the midfield and the backfield.

How to choose?

……

"Bakari, Bakari!" Chen Yao shouted to Sania while gesturing.

Sagna quickly turned his head and looked at the coach. The coach's gesture was towards the inside of the court. The French defender turned his head and looked towards the middle of the court. Three groups of Manchester United players were closing in on Arteta in the thin curtain of rain.

Sania understands. He shook off Ashley Young, who was staring at him, and recovered to the center.

Arteta made a decision. He leaned against Rooney with his back, took the ball with his right foot in a semi-arc, and completed the turn as if the ball was stuck to his foot.

Sure enough, Van Persie stretched out his legs to steal the ball. Arteta was already prepared and knocked the ball a certain distance in the direction facing his body.

He pushed a little harder. It was raining today, and the small accumulation of water on the turf slowed down the speed of the ball, preventing the ball from leaving Arteta's control.

However, Van Persie's judgment was not so accurate. His leg just crossed the trajectory of the ball. Arteta dodged and rushed past the two Manchester United players. The grass was slippery, but Van Persie did not stop it. Under the influence of acceleration, he actually Bumping into Rooney.

There were boos and applause at the Emirates Stadium, and Arteta took two quick steps to regain control of the ball.

Fabregas found the forward line's press broken and had moved closer to Arteta.

"Arteta did a brilliant turn - he left two Manchester United strikers behind. Cesc Fabregas... he tried to steal the ball."

Fabregas did not act recklessly. He forced Arteta to slow down and prevent him from launching a counterattack. When Rooney and Van Persie came around, the situation was still under control.

Arteta slowed down, and instead of standing still, he distributed the ball to the right. Bakari Sagna took the ball and cut horizontally into the middle, passing Cesc Fabregas.

Ashley Young followed Sagna hesitantly. Fabregas glared at Ashley Young who was pulling back to the center. Looking back, Manchester United's left wing was weak.

Sagna handled the ball cleanly and passed it diagonally to Santi Cazorla. Cazorla took the ball and turned around to advance in one go. Arsenal's counterattack began.

"Sagna - wonderful change of position and handling of the ball!" Martin Taylor praised, "Sagna boldly received the central midfielder, he completed the work of a defensive midfielder. Four players from Manchester United were left behind in Arsenal In Na's half, will they have time to convert?"

Cazorla ran wildly with the ball. He rushed left and right, and made small changes backwards. Finally, Michael Carrick's legs became weak and he could not keep up with the pace of the Spanish midfielder.

"Santi Cazorla, he is the engine of Arsenal's midfield!"

Cazorla took a moment to observe, flicked the ball with his right foot, and the slippery ball flew to the feet of Kevin De Bruyne.

De Bruyne stopped, cursed secretly, rushed forward even faster, and kicked the ball to the wing before the intercepting Manchester United player.

Theo Walcott broke through Evra's defense with consecutive stops, and Arsenal's frontcourt blade penetrated into the Manchester United penalty area.

too fast.

Alex Ferguson pursed his lips tightly, clenched his fists, his face gradually turned red, and he walked to the sideline and stared at the situation on the court.

Arsenal's conversion speed is the fastest of any team Ferguson has faced. It was so fast that it frightened him.

From the time Sagna supported Arteta in the middle and completed the ball distribution, the entire Arsenal team did not forget that Manchester United's left-wing defense line was involved in the gap.

The connection between Cazorla, De Bruyne and Walcott across the field smoothly transferred the ball to Arsenal's right wing.

As for Manchester United, the consequence of investing troops in the frontcourt is that Michael Carrick is simply unable to support the defense in the backcourt.

This season, there are teams that want to achieve this effect to attack Manchester United. For example, Southampton, their tactics are to let James Ward-Prowse constantly look for opportunities to pass the ball behind Michael Carrick.

However, Southampton's conversion speed was two beats slower than Arsenal's, and their ability to handle the ball in the midfield and frontcourt was also far inferior to Arsenal's, so Manchester United was not penetrated through the defense.

But Arsenal can.

However, no matter how fast Arsenal's transition progresses, they still need to be able to keep up with their control of the ball.

The starting point of this counterattack was the cooperation of Sagna and Arteta in the backcourt.

These two ordinary old guys still have such ability?

Of course there is. Chen Yao watched Arsenal's thrilling counterattack with excitement. Arteta and Sagna did not stay in the backcourt. They also followed the movement of the formation and ran forward.

Old and strong.

Walcott, who was holding the ball on the right, drove directly and forcefully into the penalty area. In addition to Vidic and Evra, in front of Manchester United's goal were Aubameyang and Zaha, as well as those who followed behind. Enter De Bruyne.

When attacking, Chen Yao never hesitated to invest troops.

If he wants to attack the opponent's penalty area, he will not hesitate to let the strikers break into the penalty area, and the midfielders will lurk at the top of the arc to instigate the second wave of offensive.

Don't hold back and continue to create threats with overwhelming determination. Only by keeping the threat in the opponent's penalty area will your own goal be safe.

Walcott hit the ball horizontally, and Aubameyang rushed over, but did not touch the ball. Zaha followed up with a push shot, but the trajectory of the ball became unpredictable in the rain. The quality of Zaha's play was not high. Blocked by De Gea.

De Bruyne stepped in and continued to follow up with a strong follow-up shot. David De Gea flew to block the ball on the goal line and blocked the ball again.

But he didn't hold the ball - the slippery ball not only made it difficult for Arsenal's attackers to control it, but also caused the 23-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper to make a small mistake.

Bakari Sagna rushed to the front of the penalty area panting. He did not stay outside the penalty area, but penetrated into the penalty area with a diagonal stab and added another shot.

This time, De Gea was far behind.

One to zero.

(End of this chapter)