October 18th, afternoon.

As the golden game on Saturday afternoon, the Gunners Arsenal sat at the Highbury Stadium to face the city's arch-rival Blues Chelsea, which became the focus of the world's attention.

This is not just a London derby, but also a strong dialogue between the Premier League leader and the second place.

Highbury Stadium was fully occupied early on, with the Gunners fans occupying the vast majority, while the away team Chelsea fans were squeezed in remote corners. They were unable to become the protagonist of this stadium, but they were stubbornly resisting.

The game has not yet started, and the fans of the two teams have already been fighting in the stands, as if they were using their own methods to win an outpost for the team they supported.

And this scene was also included in the pre-match scene by Sky TV, the broadcaster of the match.

"As the only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League so far this season, the peak match between Arsenal and Chelsea is undoubtedly quite eye-catching, but in the past thirteen years, Chelsea has never beaten at Highbury Stadium. opponent."

"After Abramovich entered the host team this season, Chelsea paid a lot of money to hire a champion coach. After that, the Blues invested 200 million euros and introduced a group of high-level players. The team's strength has skyrocketed and it is ambitious. Want to play in the Premier League."

"Before the game, our reporter was fortunate enough to meet Gao Han in the player channel and interviewed him a few questions. What impressed me the most was that when Gao Han answered the reporter’s question, he said that he regarded this game as Chelsea. The battle for the rectification of names."

"He said that many people think Chelsea are mercenaries, but his team will break this misconception."

"As for opponents in the same city, Gao Han also said that Arsenal is not as rumored by the outside world. He has never considered Wenger to be the representative of technology and control football. He believes that Wenger's promotion at Arsenal is very Practical defensive counterattack tactics, and he hopes to prove his and Chelsea's strength in the game with his best pass and control play."

Andy Gray had just finished speaking, and Martin Taylor, who was sitting aside, also put forward his own opinions.

"To be honest, I really look forward to the cold Chelsea, because they are the team that really shines in the Premier League over the years, especially the very advanced pass-and-control play on the European continent, which is too impressive. Surprised."

"Yes, that's right." Andy Gray also nodded in agreement. "Many people think that if the Alpine Chelsea can succeed, it will greatly change the structure of the Premier League, especially the impression of many European continents."

Andy Gray smiled bitterly. "You know, Martin, they call us a technical and tactical desert."

"Haha, that's right, Ferguson is a typical Premier League style, Wenger is a defensive counterattack, and Alpine is a pass and control play. The Premier League this season is indeed very exciting."

"Okay, we have got the starting list for this game." Andy Gray took the words.

"The home team Arsenal still adopts a four-four-two formation. The goalkeeper is Lyman, and the back line is Ashley Cole, Campbell, Colo Touré and Lauren. From left to right, the midfielders are Pires, Gilberto Silva, Vieira and Ljungberg, the forward line is the French combination of Henry and Wiltord."

Martin Taylor immediately said: "From the perspective of Arsenal's starting lineup, defensive counterattacks are still the main focus. Henry and Wiltord are both fast forwards who are good at counterattacks. They performed well this season.

"Yes." Andy Gray agreed. "Chelsea's starting roster is a bit surprising."

"The goalkeeper is Van der Sar, the defense is Bridge, Gallas, Terry and Ferreira, the midfield is a combination of Deco, Makelele and Veron, and the trident is Ronaldinho. , Ibrahimovic and Eto'o."

"We saw that Ibrahimovic and Eto'o returned to the starting lineup, Martin, what do you think?"

"Yes, this will be a big suspense of the game." Martin Taylor replied.

"Although the outside world is dissatisfied with these two players and even scolds them, Gao Han is very stubborn and chooses to trust. Although he had previously started with players such as Good Johnson, Robben and Van Persie, his performance did not seem to satisfy Gao Han. This round has allowed these two players to start again. I believe Gao Han has his own ideas."

"But the question is also obvious. Whether the two players can live up to the expectations of the cold is fatal."

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With a whistle from the referee, this much-anticipated focus battle finally started.

At the beginning of the game, Arsenal took the lead in teeing off, and the Chelsea players quickly rushed towards the rear of Arsenal.

And it's not the kind of frontcourt players who stepped forward to harass, it was the entire defense line, which showed Chelsea's determination to press and press the frontcourt.

Arsenal obviously did not expect that Chelsea would pounce so hard. When the ball passed to Campbell's feet, Eto'o had already chased him forward. The England central defender made a long pass directly and transferred it to the right to Lauren.

But as soon as Laurent unloaded the ball, Ronaldinho came close, forcing him to change his mind temporarily and kick the ball forward with a big left foot.

But the quality of this pass was obviously not high, and after flying through halftime, it was quickly overtaken by Terry.

After just ten seconds of opening, Chelsea managed to get the ball back into his own hands.

Terry headed the ball to Makelele, who passed it forward to Veron.

After the Argentine midfielder pulled to the right and received the ball, he quickly instigated a counterattack.

Ibrahimovic from the center and Eto'o from the right side, both of them rushed towards Arsenal's penalty area at the same time.

Veron’s pass was just right to avoid Gilberto Silva and passed to Eto’o’s feet, but the Cameroonian player obviously wanted to play with Ibrahimovic after receiving the ball at the front of the penalty area. A match, after stopping the ball, knocked the ball to the Swedish center, but unexpectedly, Ibrahimovic rushed faster than him and rushed in front of him.

As a result, Eto'o gave a wonderful pass, but no one picked it up. Vieira quickly followed and made a big kick to make a clearance.

Ibrahimovic pointed to his front and looked at Eto'o, as if to say that you should pass forward.

"I thought you didn't run so fast." Eto'o walked back with his head down.

Ibrahimovic almost cursed directly.

Although the first attack failed to create a threat, Chelsea still held the ball and organized it patiently.

Soon I got another chance.

Ronaldinho retraced and passed Deco's pass to Veron, who made a long pass directly to the feet of Ibrahimovic, and the Swedish center moved the ball directly behind him. Knock, to pass it to Eto'o who plugged in later.

But this time Eto'o failed to appreciate Ibrahimovic's intentions, instead of inserting behind him diagonally, but sprinting straight forward.

As a result, the ball was once again grabbed by Vieira and passed directly back to the defense.

In less than three minutes, two turnovers caused Chelsea to lose the ball, not to mention, it also excited the fans at Highbury Stadium and exposed the team's own problems.

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"Sure enough, although the two of them are more active than before, they still can't."

Pat Rice saw Chelsea wasting two opportunities in a row and couldn't help but feel very happy.

The two turnovers reflected the problems between Ibrahimovic and Eto'o, lack of tacit understanding, and seemed to be a little unwilling to pass the ball for the other party, a little perfunctory.

Don't underestimate this, because one of them is a center forward and the other is a right winger, both of which are important aspects of the team's offense.

This kind of continuous pass is very demanding for players. Any error in any link represents the failure of the overall attack. Therefore, Chelsea's two opening attacks could not even penetrate the large penalty area.

Wenger not only saw this, he also saw more.

"Alpine is indeed very thoughtful. Chelsea’s overall pressing and oppression is very structured. The players’ off-ball running routes are all very purposeful. The forward insertion, pull, reentry, and crossover all reflect the idea of ​​Alpine. And their players have very good technical skills, so they have a clear pass control advantage."

"Their tactical execution efficiency is too high, and Gao Han must have worked hard in training." Wenger admired repeatedly.

But soon, the forward turned again. "But you see, whether it is pressing, running without the ball, or passing the ball, they are all serving the offense, but now their offense has reached Ibrahimovic. There is a problem here with Eto'o, which not only affects the smooth passing and control of the team, but also affects the team's offensive threat."

While talking, I saw Chelsea get another chance on the court.

Eto'o passed the ball from the right, after Veron plugged in to catch the ball, before Gilberto Silva, the ball was sent to Ibrahimovic's feet.

The Swedish center was at the front of the arc in the penalty area, holding the ball behind his back, facing Campbell and Kolo Toure alone.

One of the two Arsenal center defenders blocked the right side and the other blocked him. They just prevented Ibrahimovic from turning around and hitting the goal with his right foot, forcing the Swedish center to turn to the left and hitting nothing with his left foot The threatening shot was directly confiscated by goalkeeper Lyman.

This is also the first shot of the audience!

Wenger and Pat Rice clapped vigorously from the sidelines.

"Good job, good defense!" Wenger yelled to the players on the court.

As long as Chelsea’s offense can be blocked outside the penalty area~lightnovelpub.net~, Arsenal's goal is basically stable.

"Lauren, don't be paralyzed, pay attention to the number ten!" Wenger reminded his right back Lauren.

Lauren nodded on the court until his task was heavy.

At the same time, Wenger also announced that the team had begun to shrink the line of defense and tightly blocked his own half.

Over the years, the Gunners’ greatest advantage has been to counterattack quickly. Through a skilful and smooth pass, after grabbing the ball, in the shortest time possible, the gunman can score the ball into the opponent’s penalty area.

According to Arsenal's internal training requirements, the counter attack must be completed within ten seconds after the interception, and if it cannot be completed, give up.

Therefore, after understanding Alpine's intentions, Wenger also decisively took to shrink the line of defense, calmly played his best defensive counterattack, and waited for Chelsea to make mistakes.

As for possession and the pace of the game, Wenger never felt that his team could compete with Chelsea.