Chapter 383: The Roman Trident Makes a Big Trouble at the Emirates Stadium
[Finally replaced Eriksen, we were beaten in the first half]
[Last season, when we lost 3-2 to Nana away, Saka also focused on Eriksen and scored a goal]
[The above, you don't really think McTominay is better than Eriksen? 】
…
From the feedback from Manchester United fans in the barrage, it can be seen how unsatisfactory the team's defensive midfielder configuration is.
Last season, fans were fantasizing that one of McTominay and Fred would have to leave, and the club was once rumored to have had links with Mount, Barella and others, but in the end, the arrival of Chen Xiaoliang made Manchester United fans completely give up. However, it also caused another problem. After investing more than 300 million pounds, there is not enough financial balance space in the summer window to buy another practical midfielder, and the earliest they can recruit again will be in the winter window.
But there is only one Chen Xiaoliang. In 11 rounds of the Premier League, the team scored a total of 29 goals, and Chen Xiaoliang scored 13 goals alone, plus 4 assists, directly creating 17 goals. The team's offense was almost entirely carried on his shoulders. He made repeated forward runs and non-stop high-pressure defense, which meant that his time and opportunities to appear in the backcourt would be greatly reduced. The team's backcourt defense required his teammates to step up.
In the second half, Chen Xiaoliang, who was tasked with the reversal, directly targeted Zinchenko who had just taken a breath from the halftime break.
Both sides have obvious or hidden growth points.
It is clear that Arteta replaced Amadou Onana, who performed well in the first half, with Rice, the former West Ham United midfielder who was introduced at a high price.
Rice and Xhaka did almost nothing else in the second half and focused on helping Zinchenko defend Chen Xiaoliang on the court. Arteta believed that as long as Chen Xiaoliang's performance could be curbed by more than 30%, the 2-goal lead in this game could not only be maintained, but also expanded.
As for Chen Xiaoliang, when the team was 2 goals behind, he triggered his passive skill [Big Heart], and the 2 points of temporary increased attribute were applied to his jumping ability. His jumping ability, which had just increased to 18 through the huge reward of the Golden Ball Award a day ago, now temporarily increased to 20.
Surrounded by three people, Chen Xiaoliang changed his strategy.
In the second half, B Fee, Kva, and Fred tried to pass the ball to him several times, but whether it was a high ball or a low ball, it was difficult to accurately deliver it to Chen Xiaoliang's feet.
Rice and Xhaka were always moving inside and behind Chen Xiaoliang, cutting off Manchester United's passing route from the midfield and backcourt.
Only Bruno Fernandes's pass from behind in the 48th minute allowed Chen Xiaoliang to overtake Zinchenko and receive the ball, but because he was too close to the baseline, he had almost no chance of breaking through after three people surrounded him, and his cross hit Rice and bounced out of the baseline.
Not only the commentators from the Red Country, but even Sky Sports and European Sports said that Arteta was dealing with Chen Xiaoliang in the same way he dealt with the King of Football.
Either you can't pass it in, or you can't pass it out after passing it in.
Thinking about what the midfielder and Ten Hag had agreed to do, to cut inside more often and attack the goal more, Chen Xiaoliang could only say sorry in his heart. Attacking the goal was a must, but there was really no way to cut inside.
Let's move inward.
In the 51st minute, he made a position change gesture to B Fee and returned to the center.
The person who was most happy about this change of position was Zinchenko. He could be much calmer facing B Fee, while the midfielder Odegaard on the other side began to join Xhaka and Rice in double-teaming to prevent Chen Xiaoliang from receiving the ball.
Although some teams have used such tactics in Serie A, Odegaard and Rice, both 24 years old, are at the most energetic moment of their careers. The two of them intercepted the ball from the outside, and with Xhaka, who is slow but accustomed to physical confrontation and extremely aggressive, they still prevented Manchester United's midfield and backcourt from passing the ball.
But this is the case outside the penalty area, what about inside the penalty area?
In the 53rd minute, just two minutes after Chen Xiaoliang and B Fee switched positions, Fred pressed forward on the left and cooperated with Luke Shaw. Kvart moved inward to take Thomas away, and Luke Shaw, with his left foot, made a direct cross from the left side near the penalty area line.
On the other side, Chen Xiaoliang had already raised his hand to signal that he wanted the ball.
Luke Shaw's cross went straight to the back post, Cesco broke through the middle, and the two central defenders Ben White and Gabriel retreated all the way to defend. After Amadou Onana left the field, the pressure of defending Cesco at this high point was all on the two of them.
Cesco knew that the ball was not passed to him, but his supporting breakthrough in the middle was to prevent Arsenal's central defender from assisting Chen Xiaoliang.
Xhaka and Rice followed Chen Xiaoliang all the way, one in front and one behind, almost sticking to him. But when the ball fell, Xhaka, who was 186cm tall, and Rice, who was 188cm tall, found themselves becoming foils!
Luke Shaw's pass was clearly too long. From the predicted path of the ball, the two thought that there was no way Chen Xiaoliang could head the ball, and even if he did, it would just be a scratch on his scalp.
After all, Chen Xiaoliang is 183cm tall, a few centimeters shorter than both of them.
But they obviously did not take one thing into consideration, that is, if everything was within the range of mortal predictions, the man in front of them would have been killed by Manchester City's double-teaming and pressing. How could he have fought back to win the treble and the Golden Ball?
Any player who has won the Ballon d'Or, at least for that season, can be said to have reached the threshold of demigodhood in the realm of football.
Chen Xiaoliang jumped.
Xhaka and Rice bent their knees slightly but did not move. Only their eyes and necks moved.
Watch him jump high, watch him head the ball, watch him hit the goal.
Arteta on the sidelines is not like a spectator in the stands. He stands on the sidelines and watches every moment on both sides of the field from a parallel perspective .
As an experienced former professional player and midfielder, he, like goalkeeper Ramsdale on the field, believed that it was impossible for Chen Xiaoliang to head the ball.
Or no one can reach it at all!
For a moment, Arteta's breathing stopped, until there was a "bang" and the camera and microphone hanging above the goal played the sound of the ball hitting the goal frame inside the stadium and on the screen. Then he breathed a sigh of relief like the fans in the stands who exclaimed "Oh!"
Chen Xiaoliang himself could not help but laugh, his bounce was sufficient but his header was not good enough. If the header attribute was higher, it would not hit the crossbar but would fly into the goal along the bottom edge of the crossbar.
He gave a thumbs up to Luke Shaw who was sighing in the distance, then raised his right index finger to his teammates, and pointed at himself with his left index finger.
This is the most basic "No. 1 tactic", which is to cross the ball, but during the usual extra training, this tactic is centered around Cesco, so he pointed at himself, meaning that he should start passing the ball high to himself.
In the 56th minute, Manchester United did the same.
Chen Xiaoliang continued to tie down the defense of three midfielders in the middle outside the penalty area, allowing Fred and McTominay to press forward with confidence, cooperating with the players on both sides of the wing to create opportunities for crossing.
This time it was Fred who made the cross. He seemed to have taken a power pill, was too excited in defense, and lacked calmness in this game. The cross he made was ridiculously powerful. The ball he passed to the back point was passed to the right side of the penalty area.
Chen Xiaoliang ran a few steps towards the landing point. This time, Rice and Xhaka did not dare to be negligent. Although they could not hold Chen Xiaoliang to prevent him from moving in the penalty area, they surrounded him one from the front and one from the back. When Chen Xiaoliang jumped, Rice, who had more energy, also jumped. Xhaka made some small movements on the ground, touching Chen Xiaoliang's calves and feet.
Even if you can't destroy the high-altitude ball, it's good to interfere with it.
But when the two people jumped vertically and collided in the air, Rice's body was pushed away. Not to mention interfering, he couldn't even squeeze Chen Xiaoliang out of the air.
Chen Xiaoliang saw with his peripheral vision that Ramsdale was already guarding the goal post. He raised his forehead, but this time it was not a fierce header, but a small arc header, which sent the ball to the other side of the goal post!
Ramsdale quickly ran to the other side, while Cesco, who was rushing into the small penalty area, also changed direction and rushed towards the left goal post!
They both jumped at the same time! Although Cesco was in position first, Ramsdale, relying on his ability to use his hands, was the first to push the ball out of the baseline!
“Ouch!”
Two consecutive missed goals made the Manchester United fans who traveled with the team on the away game beat their chests and stamp their feet.
After landing, Rice looked at Xhaka, panting. Both of them blinked their eyelids, but there was nothing they could do.
At this time, captain Odegaard came over to give orders. He asked the two central defenders to pay attention to assisting Chen Xiaoliang and defending against air attacks together.
Seeing Odegaard's shouting, Chen Xiaoliang, who was squatting on one leg to tie his shoelaces, couldn't help laughing. He raised his head and looked through the crowd at Kva.
Kva was retreating to the corner of the penalty area waiting for B Fee to take the corner kick. When he saw Chen Xiaoliang looking at him, they both nodded and immediately understood what each other wanted to express.
Kva walked towards Bruno Fernandes who was about to kick off and whispered a few words, and Bruno Fernandes nodded.
The referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle, and B Fee did not take a run-up but pushed the ball to Kwa near the corner flag area.
Tactical corner kick!
Thomas in the penalty area rushed forward immediately, but seeing B Fee rushing into the penalty area, he was afraid that Kva would pass the ball back to B Fee, so he had to stop.
Kva took two steps towards the penalty area and kicked a cross directly!
The moment the ball came out, Chen Xiaoliang rushed towards the back post!
Just now, a tactical corner kick was taken and Manchester United players were running around in the penalty area, which made the positions of both sides in the penalty area a mess. At this time, Chen Xiaoliang rushed forward again, and Rice, who was defending him, was about to catch up, but was blocked by Fred who was halfway!
Fortunately, the two central defenders Ben White and Gabriel had just been reminded by captain Odegaard, and they rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang together.
We have almost lost the ball twice. We can’t give this Manchester United No. 7 with abnormal jumping ability any more chances in the air!
Even Ramsdale's attention was more focused on Chen Xiaoliang.
But! When the ball flew halfway, they regretted it!
This is a short pass, and it is clearly aimed at the near post!
But at this point there was no time for them to turn back!
At this time, on the left side of the small penalty area, Cesco had already bypassed the dense crowd in the middle and rushed up. He jumped high, and with no one defending, he headed the ball directly into the inside of the left post!
Lou Yichen: "2 to 1! Slovenian striker Cesco scored his third league goal of the season!"
"Manchester United used a tactical corner kick and successfully disrupted Arsenal's well-deployed defense by running in the penalty area. When Cesco finally shot at the goal, he was unguarded..."
Liu Yue: "Arsenal was very successful in grabbing the start today. Although one wing was blown away in the first half, they relied on blocking and defending in the middle of the penalty area, so that Xiaoliang's several accurate crosses could not help his teammates score. It can be said that the lead in the first half was due to defense."
"In the second half, Manchester United changed their style and began to frequently use Xiaoliang's jumping advantage to play high balls. Arteta also replaced Amadou Onana, who has strong aerial ability. The remaining players, whether Rice, Xhaka or Gabriel, could hardly compete with Xiaoliang in aerial defense."
Lou Yichen: "Xiaoliang has been in great form since arriving in the Premier League this season, scoring goals one after another, but Cesco and Kva, Xiaoliang's right-hand men, seem to be still adapting to the rhythm of the Premier League, especially in terms of physical confrontation."
"However, the successful connection between the two just now still showed us their tacit cooperation when they dominated the Roma last season. Once these two can adapt to the rhythm and find their form, Manchester United's frontcourt attack will become more fluid and terrifying."
After scoring the goal, Cesco rushed into the goal and picked up the ball. He waved to Kva to thank him for his assist, and rushed to the center line to save unnecessary dead ball time.
Arteta on the sidelines was regretting his decision so much. How come his carefully planned substitution plan was actually taken advantage of by Manchester United?
He had it well planned. In the first half, Amadou Onana would control the middle, and in the second half, Manchester United would definitely attack Chen Xiaoliang's advantageous side, and then replace him with Rice, who was full of energy and active in defense, to deal with Chen Xiaoliang in the half court.
But the Chen Xiaoliang in front of him was a bit like Chef Fan who looked at military tactics rather than recipes. He was like a second center like never before, frequently rushing into the penalty area and playing high balls.
What is even more helpless is his unattainable jumping ability!
what to do?
what to do?
Arteta still had his hands crossed in front of his chest with his brows slightly furrowed. From the outside, he looked just a little dissatisfied at most, but in fact, his heart was already a mess.
Normally, whenever the ball entered dead time, he would ask the players to come to him and give them some instructions, but now it was somewhat counterintuitive for him to stand there alone.
He counted the candidates on the bench, thought about it over and over again, and finally raised his hand and asked Takehiro Tomiyasu to warm up quickly. Then, in another dead ball 6 minutes later, he replaced Zinchenko, who was strongly targeted and did nothing today.
Arteta's plan is to add a high point in the penalty area, and use the same method of encircling Chen Xiaoliang on the ground to encircle him in the air, not giving him too much space in the penalty area to compete for headers, thereby suppressing the power of Manchester United's crosses.
But his adjustment this time was purely a cycle of treating the symptoms rather than the root cause, which was like an emergency short circuit in his brain.
He was so overwhelmed by Chen Xiaoliang's extreme jumps that he forgot that this man was called Chen Xiaoliang.
That’s right, Takehiro Tomiyasu is 188cm tall. As a Japanese player, he is a typical determined player with a positive attitude and a hard-working attitude, and he also has good skills.
Although he is right-footed, Takehiro Tomiyasu can play as a full-back on both sides. But Arteta forgot that although the Japanese international is not slow, he is much worse than Zinchenko who was just substituted off in terms of flexibility.
In the 65th minute, Saka's long shot was high and Manchester United attacked with a goal kick. Chen Xiaoliang appeared on the right flank again. Xhaka and Rice were still following him, while Odegaard guarded the middle and Takehiro Tomiyasu guarded the wing. No matter which route Chen Xiaoliang took to launch the attack, the two of them could double-team Rice and Xhaka in the first place.
The Manchester United midfield, which was wandering in the midfield without any pressure, completely controlled the ball from the second half. The ball possession rate of 41% to 59% in the first half had increased the ball possession rate for the whole game to 49% to 51%. Arsenal, who were playing at home, had begun to fall behind.
Kva moved to the middle and began to harass Odegaard, while Luke Shaw's overlapping pressure made it impossible for Thomas to follow Kva all the way inward.
McTominay passed the ball directly to Kva, who rushed towards the top of the penalty area. Odegaard had no choice but to turn around to block Kva. Takehiro Tomiyasu on the right moved inward and got closer to Chen Xiaoliang.
Kva came in front of Odegaard, pulled him away and then passed the ball to the right rear to B Fee on the right. B Fee did not advance with the ball, but directly passed it over the top to the back of Takehiro Tomiyasu who had just taken a few steps forward!
As soon as the through ball came out, Chen Xiaoliang cut diagonally to the right. Although Fu Yasu Jianyang's turning speed was far not as exaggerated as Ma Hangchen, it was still far behind the lightning-fast Chen Xiaoliang. Just as he adjusted his center of gravity, Chen Xiaoliang, who was running wildly without the ball, had already whizzed past him.
Xhaka and Rice were chasing him frantically, but who else in the world could catch up with Chen Xiaoliang when he was off the ball?
Arteta turned around and looked at what was happening on the wing near the bottom corner, and he wanted to curse "Baga"!
We just made replacements to strengthen the air defense, and this guy started attacking the ground and speed again!
In terms of through-pass ability, B Fee is still outstanding in the Premier League.
From January 2020 to the end of the season in June 2023, B Fee was even the player who created the most chances in the Premier League, with 260 times, 20 times more than De Bruyne, who ranked second. Salah and Grealish ranked third and fourth respectively.
Although this is also related to his iron man physique and the fact that he almost never misses a game, it is enough to prove that Big B's value of 80 million euros is well-founded.
The force of the ball he sent to Chen Xiaoliang was just right. Chen Xiaoliang stretched out his right foot and stopped, and the ball slowed down in front of him.
Without waiting for the people chasing him to catch up, he directly kicked a cross with his right foot 3 meters away from the corner flag area!
His crosses are fast and have a strong arc. People who are not familiar with him, let alone his opponents, even his teammates cannot predict where the ball will land!
By the time the ball has flown a short distance and you can see where it will land, it has already fallen to the designated position and there is no time to react.
But Cesco in the penalty area is an "outlier". No one in the world understands Chen Xiaoliang's playing style better than him. That is the result of three years of living together and training together, and it is the tacit understanding condensed from countless sweat!
Wandering around the penalty spot, he rushed directly to the near post. After flying halfway, the ball suddenly arced inward and then fell rapidly!
Cesco jumped up and headed the ball in front of the goal!
This time it was not a powerful header from close range, but he cleverly used the speed of the cross itself to head the ball back!
Seeing Cesco rushing towards the near post and Ramsdale's attempt to save the ball at the near post missed, he subconsciously reached out with his right hand but only got nothing.
Lou Yichen: "Ouch! 2 to 2! Beautiful!"
"Manchester United's sudden high-profile attack in the second half made Arsenal very uncomfortable!"
"If Cesco doesn't score, then he'll score two goals!"
"Rice and Xhaka were discussing something with Takehiro Tomiyasu. It seemed that all three of them were dissatisfied. Then the camera turned to Arteta!"
"Today, the sudden change in the second half was related to his substitutions."
Liu Yue: "That's right. In the first half, although Xiaoliang had many opportunities on the wing, the middle was like a fence blocking him. He didn't have many opportunities to cut inside. At the same time, Cesco in the middle was one against two or even one against three, so his crosses were basically not a threat."
"I didn't expect that after Rice was substituted in the second half, Cesco's side was relieved of the alarm, and Xiaoliang didn't play with you anymore. Everyone went into the penalty area and played high balls together."
"Arteta saw that the situation was not right and replaced Fuan Jianyang as the left back. As a result, Xiaoliang used the space behind Fuan Jianyang to cross the ball again just after he made up for the air defense."
"Without Amadou Onana's support, Cesco finally seized the opportunity and equalized the score."
On the sidelines, after celebrating, Ten Hag simply sat down on the bench.
Arteta called several defenders to ask and remind again and again, and then when he saw Ten Hag sitting on the Diaoyutai, he couldn't help but curse in his heart.
"After equalizing the score, he acted like he was sitting back and relaxing. What an old fox."
Ten Hag certainly couldn’t hear Arteta’s thoughts, but what echoed in his mind were the words that Sir Alex Ferguson had said to him. He thought:
"Is this a top player? Is this how Mourinho uses him? Put him on the field, and then all the head coach has to do is set up the framework, arrange the defensive tactics, and leave the offense to him to lead his teammates to respond to the situation?"
At this time, McLaren next to him patted him.
When Ten Hag chose to pursue a career in coaching after retiring, his first first-team job was as an assistant to McClaren, the then head coach of Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Although the two of them cannot be said to know each other intimately, they understand each other quite well.
McLaren knew that his old colleague would remain silent and blink faster when he was indecisive or faced with something he couldn't understand.
"Young people have a lot of ideas, and their decisions are correct. We should take some measures to help them implement their ideas. If things go wrong, it's not too late for us to intervene."
Ten Hag nodded slightly. After all, McClaren was one of the few people he trusted very much at Manchester United.
The Dutch coach just wasn't used to it.
He was not used to being a coach. All he had to do was sit on the sidelines without saying a word and watch his ace player decide the outcome of the game.
