My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 252 Dawn of the Arsenal ()

It's an ordinary day in London.

The game was played on a sunny afternoon. The players moved quickly on the court, and the spectators on the sidelines applauded and cheered.

It seemed like an ordinary game, with tabloid reporters scribbling away at the news.

Arsenal are going to win again.

Herbert Chapman stood with a relaxed expression on the edge of the pitch as Arsenal faced Huddersfield Town.

Huddersfield Town was the last club coached by Herbert Chapman, who led him to win the league title.

It was his experience at Huddersfield Town that established Chapman's reputation and gave him the confidence to bargain with Sir Norris and become Arsenal's "manager".

Huddersfield Town's players continued the Scottish style, gathering their forces in the middle to break through Arsenal's defense.

Jack Wilshere was roaming in the middle of the back line. He bravely faced the Huddersfield Town player, used his body to push the opponent away, and stretched his legs to win the ball.

Huddersfield Town's players began to retreat towards their own goal, but they soon discovered that they were retreating too slowly.

They pressed too high and in order to break down Arsenal's defence, the defending champions piled a large number of men up front, leaving Huddersfield Town empty at the back.

"Jack, pass the ball! Jack!" Herbert Chapman shouted at Wilshere on the scene.

Jack Wilshere didn't carry the ball too much. He faithfully followed Chapman's instructions and sent a long pass down the wing.

Theo Walcott unloads the ball out wide and is the striker near the right side of Arsenal's W-M formation.

There was only one Huddersfield Town player in front of Walcott defending him, and there was an Arsenal right winger on Walcott's left side, and an Arsenal center forward in the middle.

Walcott accelerated his dribbling and passed his opponent easily.

Huddersfield Town's man-to-man defense collapsed.

He passed the ball towards the centre, and it took Arsenal only one pass to complete the cross.

Huddersfield Town and Arsenal forward Aubameyang competed for the top of the goal line, and the ball flew out.

The following left inside forward Charlie Buchan had been hiding behind the forward line. At this time, he appeared in the penalty area without anyone noticing and kicked the ball into the net with a kick.

The score on the scoreboard became two to zero.

Huddersfield Town's players ran dejectedly back to the halfway line.

"What a strange formation they are."

Chen Yao heard the Huddersfield Town players grunting and complaining.

"I don't know... they always seem to have one more person."

"Yeah, our passes couldn't penetrate them at all."

"Are they really eleven?"

"..."

"Mr. Chapman, it seems that our tactical experiment was successful." Chen Yao closed his notebook in a relaxed mood and chatted with Herbert Chapman.

"Yes, maybe we can talk about the weather in London now. Whether it will be sunny or rainy tomorrow is more suspenseful than the result of this game."

Herbert Chapman was also in a good mood and joked with Chen Yao with a smile.

"Oh--"

There was a commotion on the field, and the two took a closer look. It turned out that Huddersfield Town's attack had finally reached Arsenal's goal.

With Jack Wilshere as the retreating central midfielder, Arsenal's defense has become much thicker. The brave Wilshere is not afraid of confrontation and has certain dribbling ability and passing vision after grabbing the ball. , which left Huddersfield Town struggling in the transition phase.

But Wilshere was still a bit reckless. After grabbing the ball just now, Herbert Chapman did not pay attention to remind him. Wilshere himself dribbled forward a certain distance and penetrated into Huddersfield Town. of surrounding net. After the ball was snatched by the Huddersfield Town players, a counterattack was formed. The five forwards rushed towards the Arsenal goal. Fortunately, their shots were firmly saved by Szczesny.

"We won." Chen Yao stretched himself. The game came to an end shortly after the attack. The players of Huddersfield Town were demoralized by this inexplicably suppressed defeat.

Arsenal won the match against the defending champions.

"We still have some areas to adjust, Jack...Jack has problems with his decision-making on the court. He likes to dribble and play tricks, but in the midfielder position of the retreat, what we need is a player who is good at defense and simple to handle the ball. Guy." After greeting the players, Herbert Chapman turned back to Chen Yao and said.

"Mr. Chapman, you are right. Maybe Jack should be pushed further forward and let him try to play as an inside forward. He has passing and dribbling skills, and also has vision, which can use his offensive talents .”

"That's right." Herbert Chapman smiled contentedly. "We can think about it slowly. Now, let us celebrate our victory--a roast and stew tonight? Or a Eat seafood shipped from the port?”

"Oh, Mr. Herbert, you are over fifty years old." Chen Yao said with a smile, "You should control your diet."

"That's right." Chapman shrugged, "But I'm not listening to your health doctor's nagging. It's just because our start is so bad, we will definitely not win the championship this season... Wait for us If we win the championship, let’s go have a big meal to celebrate.”

"It's a word."

……

1926 years.

Arsenal finished the year in second place in the league last season.

The W-M formation gradually showed its power, but at the beginning of the 1926-27 season, Arsenal's performance was still not good enough.

"We can't have Jack at the five anymore."

Still in that smoky office, Herbert Chapman stared at the tactical board, "I didn't find the right person, but Jack needs to be moved forward. Staying in the backfield is not only a problem for our formation The harm is also a harm to Jack himself.”

Chen Yao nodded silently. Wilshere couldn't restrain his instinct. No matter what tactical requirements the coaching staff put on him, he just couldn't be restrained in the backcourt.

"Thirty years ago, people had the freedom to show their skills and talents on the football field, but now they have to contribute to the system." Herbert Chapman sighed and asked Chen Yao, "Do you think we are now Does the football you play look good?”

Chen Yao curled his lips, "The answer to this question is self-evident, Mr. Chapman."

"Yeah... we don't have to play beautiful football anymore. We just drop back, steal, send the ball upfield, let the wingers break near their goal, do one or two small-scale cooperation with the inside forward, and then put The ball is pushed towards the goal and given to the striker to shoot."

Herbert Chapman shook his head slightly, "We also need to make sacrifices. For our position in the standings. Even if this system is not as beautiful as we originally imagined."

Chen Yao was slightly sad. In the eyes of later generations, the football style shown by Herbert Chapman, the great Arsenal godfather, when he led Arsenal to sweep across England was not pleasing.

He was labeled as a pragmatic footballer. Unlike the idealism and romanticism that the Arsenal team eighty years later brought to fans after the arrival of Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal team eighty years ago was like a precision-operated machine, cold and concise. , shining with a boring but sharp edge.

However, Herbert Chapman was not such a boring person. He once loved the Scottish style of gorgeous short passing, loved to stack more passes again and again, and loved to use precise cooperation in the middle to tear apart the defense.

Yet, as Herbert Chapman often said, "Why break up a winning system?"

Chen Yao knew that Herbert Chapman was by no means a victory supremacist. He also had forward-looking thinking, pursuit and ideals about football.

However, Chapman's ideals can only give way to reality before football usher in another rule innovation.

This cannot but be said to be the tragedy of a great coach. In another era, perhaps Herbert Chapman could have brought innovation to football in another direction.

"N'Golo Kante." Chen Yao suddenly said.

"Kante? That kid?" Herbert Chapman frowned, "He is very thin and has no talent for handling the ball. Do you want to recommend him?"

"Put Jack at the inside forward position and let N'Golo Kante stay at the fifth position." Chen Yao said, "Mr. Chapman, what we need is N'Golo's characteristics and its compatibility with the system. Matching. In this case, let’s see if his advantages can outweigh the disadvantages.”

"Hmm." Herbert Chapman exhaled a puff of smoke. "It's worth a try."

On the tactical board, where the midfielder's position represents the retracement, Chen Yao wrote "N'Golo Kante".

(End of this chapter)