My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 249 The genius who never grows up ()

After being held to a draw by Southampton, Arsenal rushed to Italy non-stop to play Naples in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage.

In the past two rounds of the Champions League group stage, Arsenal defeated Marseille twice and defeated Napoli at the Emirates Stadium.

For the rest of the group stage schedule, the team still needs to play an away game against Naples, and finally return to the Emirates Stadium to play another game against Dortmund.

Qualifying in the group is not a problem, and Chen Yao has set his sights on the knockout rounds.

He has not forgotten his goal this season: reaching the top of Europe.

After just winning the Europa League, the next season they will compete for the Champions League.

Moreover, for Chen Yao, this is not a goal that he can just try his best, but a goal that requires him to go all out to achieve.

If he cannot win the Champions League, he will not be able to complete the [Miracle Challenge].

As for the consequences of failing the challenge, Chen Yao didn't know and didn't want to know.

All he can do now is climb to the top of Europe step by step.

The last [Echoes of History] journey greatly improved his abilities. Also strengthened were the team's three veterans, who made a huge contribution to the team's outstanding performance in the first few rounds.

Now that Arsenal is at the top of the Premier League, Chen Yao is gradually accumulating points again, and the next [echo of history] is not far away.

Of course, a copy like [The Origin of All Things], which is more than 120 years away from modern times and spans several years, is still too lengthy for Chen Yao.

What he really needs is the reinforcement given by the system to himself and the team. These strengthening abilities are the most precious.

……

Italy, Naples, Stadio San Paolo.

Since it was a midweek game, Chen Yao made the rotation according to his habit.

Kieran Gibbs got the chance to start. After Nacho Monreal joined the team, Gibbs was gradually pushed to the bench.

Monreal has rich experience and a stable playing style, but there was nothing particularly eye-catching when he first arrived at Arsenal.

His speed and physical fitness are relatively mediocre, but Monreal's understanding of tactics and awareness of position selection between offense and defense are a level higher than other players without showing off.

As Arsenal is gradually recognized as a strong team by the Premier League teams, there is less and less room for Arsenal to gallop at high speed. They must maintain possession of the ball in a high-pressure situation and quickly get on the spot after the attack fails. Surround and defend, or after a successful defense, use lightning transition to seize the hard-won offensive opportunity.

In this kind of game rhythm, a small mistake will have a negative impact on the team.

And Monreal made very few mistakes.

He quickly understood his role in Arsenal's lineup, and Chen Yao also put more demands on the Spanish defenders - as a full-back, he can't just run back and forth on the wing, he needs to be pulled to the center from time to time. The ball needs to appear in the middle during the rotation to assume part of the responsibilities of the defensive midfielder and central defender, and when necessary, enter the penalty area as the team's unexpected attack point.

For Monreal, who has outstanding football intelligence and possesses the unique delicacy and spirituality of Spanish players technically, he has steadily absorbed Arsenal's tactical philosophy and gained a firm foothold.

This troubled Kieran Gibbs. Gibbs even felt that Monreal was learning faster than himself. Coupled with Gibbs's poor physique and minor injuries from time to time, Monreal has firmly established himself as the main left back.

Therefore, when Chen Yao put Gibbs back into the starting lineup in this round of the Champions League, the English left back was very ambitious.

In addition to Gibbs, Chen Yao also considered putting substitute goalkeeper Fabianski in the starting lineup to beat Szczesny, but in the end he decided to give Szczesny a chance.

Including Wilshere - Chen Yao also gave Wilshere the opportunity to start. He partnered with Jorginho and Ramsey in the three midfielders. The three young players formed the midfield combination. Chen Yao hoped that See their spark.

On the back line, Vermaelen and Van Dijk started together. After joining Arsenal, Virgil Van Dijk's role was Arsenal's fourth defender. Koscielny, Mertesacker and Vermaelen were all selected. Taller than him.

Van Dijk has no complaints about this arrangement. The combination of Koscielny and Mertesacker is already a solid defensive barrier in the Premier League. Although Vermaelen suffers from frequent injuries, his technical ability is still trustworthy.

Van Dijk has been practicing his skills and physical fitness in the team honestly, seizing the opportunity of cup rotation to show himself.

Arsenal has scored nine points and is in good shape to qualify from the group. In the Premier League, maintaining the top spot takes a huge toll on the team's mental and physical energy.

Therefore, Chen Yao hopes to give the team's young players more opportunities to grow faster and support the team's rotation.

……

After the game started, Chen Yao regretted his rotation.

The game turned into an open offensive battle. After the young Arsenal briefly controlled the rhythm at the beginning, they entered a high-intensity confrontation with Naples.

Naples ranks third in the group, but they have scored eight goals, averaging two goals per game. If their defense had not made repeated mistakes, Naples might have brought greater trouble to Arsenal and Dortmund. outlet pressure.

In the 11th minute, Jorginho found Zaha in the side. Zaha broke through the aging 32-year-old full-back Christian Maggio and rushed into the penalty area like a gust of wind.

Naples was surprised that Arsenal players broke into the penalty area so quickly, but such scenes are not uncommon in Naples games this season.

Zaha's shot towards the far corner was blocked by Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina with his legs. Riyad Mahrez, who outflanked the back post, followed up and hit the goal.

Mahrez scored his first goal at Arsenal, although it was by mistake - in the games where he had the opportunity to play, Mahrez persisted in using his own trick to shoot inside. , but in the end it was a missed goal that helped him open his goal account.

Five minutes later, Napoli's counterattack pushed the ball in front of Arsenal's goal.

Insigne, Higuain and Hamsik charged at full speed. Hamsik relied on his speed to prevent Jorginho from catching up and drove straight into the penalty area.

Arsenal's threat area was also touched by Naples in the blink of an eye. Insigne knocked the ball to Higuain, and the "little smoker" calmly dunked the newborn Virgil Van Dijk and blasted the goal.

Szczesny lost another clean sheet bonus.

One to one.

In the subsequent games, both teams were driven by the pace of the game to continuously increase the intensity.

Jack Wilshere got a lot of the ball, and Jorginho always delivered the ball to Wilshere's feet accurately.

But Wilshere's choices after receiving the ball were very reckless. He frequently pushed forward, but always plunged into an area densely populated by Naples players, and then rushed left and right surrounded by three to four people, and finally fell down. It's just mixing garlic at your feet and handing over the ball.

What followed was Naples' counterattack.

After Naples midfielders Gargano and Inler won the ball, they tried their best to hand it to Hamsik. Hamsik was like a counterattack propeller for Naples, and Higuain and Insigne hit the goal. Enter the Arsenal penalty area and wait for the chance to shoot.

At the end of the game, the score was two to two.

The number of shots taken by the two teams was sixteen to fourteen, and the possession rate of both teams was close to fifty to fifty.

Higuain scored twice and twice penetrated the goal guarded by Szczesny. Insigne also scored a goal.

If the first goal was due to Arsenal's defensive leakage, the second goal was due to Szczesny's judgment.

He seemed to be distracted again. Faced with the cooperation between Higuain and Insigne in the Arsenal penalty area, Szczesny's reaction was a beat slower.

Arsenal trailed for eighty minutes. It was not until Olivier Giroud came on that Gibbs' cross assisted Giroud to score.

Wilshere is the most error-prone link in Arsenal's offense. He was given the responsibility of being the core of the frontcourt offense in this game. However, Wilshere always dribbled the ball into the crowd, leaving those who are good at running. Ramsey and Aubameyang were extremely embarrassed, running back and forth again and again at the Sao Paulo Stadium.

After leaving Naples with one point, Chen Yao still felt heavy.

He knows that he cannot ask young players to be as worry-free as veterans, but the abnormal state of Szczesny and Wilshere makes him very uneasy.

……

On November 11, in the thirteenth round of the Premier League, Arsenal played Cardiff away.

At Cardiff City Stadium, Arsenal finally ended their inexplicable two consecutive draws.

Ramsey, Griezmann and Theo Walcott each scored a goal to help Arsenal beat Cardiff 3-1.

Inexplicably, Szczesny conceded another goal: it was a low-threatening corner kick, but Szczesny recklessly collided with Koscielny, allowing Cardiff to pull a goal back.

Although the goal conceded was innocuous, it still brought back some bad memories: such as the collision between Szczesny and Koscielny. The last time they collided, Arsenal missed out on a championship.

Jack Wilshere came on as a substitute in the second half. Chen Yao tried hard to get Wilshere back to form, but after a brief flash of inspiration after his comeback, Wilshere entered a state of not advancing but retreating.

He was still the bravest man on the field, but Wilshere's spirituality became elusive and was replaced by a large number of ineffective positioning, redundant dribbling and hasty offensive options.

……

Time has entered December 2013, and the first third of the Premier League schedule has officially ended. Arsenal has nine wins, three draws and one loss, ranking first in the Premier League with 12 points.

Manchester United has eight wins, four draws and one loss, ranking second in the Premier League with 28 points.

Behind them are Liverpool, who have six wins, five draws and two losses, with 23 points, and Chelsea, who have six wins, three draws and four losses, with 21 points.

There will be six rounds of Premier League games in December, and the most intensive schedule for Premier League teams is coming.

For Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea who are aiming to compete for the championship, the Premier League winter schedule is a period where they must ensure that they do not make mistakes while waiting for their opponents to make mistakes and overtake in corners.

Before the 14th round of the Premier League on December 4, "The Sun" published two anecdotes.

The title is "Two Smoking Barrels" and the picture shows two Arsenal players, Szczesny and Wilshere.

Szczesny was smoking in the street, while Wilshere was squatting in front of a gaudy bar smoking.

Now, this newspaper was placed in front of Chen Yao, and the Arsenal coach's expression was clouded.

(End of this chapter)