Chapter 36 Where’s the Ball?

Just five days after Christmas, the 20th round of the Premier League was held on December 30.

As usual, Arsenal fans went to the Emirates Stadium early, but this time, their expressions were particularly heavy.

The club's continuous injuries seemed to be a layer of haze covering all Arsenal players.

The injuries of Wilshere and Cazorla hindered Arsenal's offense.

And Arteta's injury completely destroyed Arsenal's passing and control system.

Arsenal fans were very depressed.

Why are injuries concentrated in the midfield? Can't they be more even? Can't forwards or defenders share the pressure?

Of course, no injuries is the best situation.

But the three major midfielders of Arsenal are all injured and lying in bed.

Let's take a look at Arsenal's current midfield configuration.

Luka, Diaby, Ramsey and a "Zhang Juzheng".

Which of these four people can hold the ball and play Arsenal's passing and control system?

It's impossible to think with your butt.

Arsenal fans are worried!

They don't know how to arrange this lineup and how to prepare for the next game.

This also makes Arsenal fans generally depressed.

But even so, they still go to the home stadium to watch the game.

So what if?

What chemical reaction will happen?

In this round of games, they will play against the "magpies" Newcastle United.

Newcastle's performance this season is still unsatisfactory. If it were the previous Arsenal, they would have no reason to lose if they were playing at home.

But now, the midfield generals have been injured one after another, and they don't know how to win.

As the game is about to start, Arsenal fans stare at the starting list.

They want to see Cazorla, Arteta, Wilshere, any one will do.

They hope that the club is playing an April Fool's joke on them.

Although today is not April Fool's Day.

But Arsenal's starting lineup tells them that this injury is a fact!

Arsenal (4-4-2):

Goalkeeper: Mannone.

Defenders: Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Jenkinson.

Midfielders: Chamberlain, Ramsey, Lukay, Diaby.

Forwards: Suarez, Walcott.

Newcastle United (4-2-1-2-1):

Goalkeeper: Krul.

Defenders: Thornton, Perch, Coloccini, Simpson.

Midfielders: Bigirimana, Tiote, Malvo, Obertan, Cisse.

Forward: Demba Ba.

"With this formation, are we going to play a defensive counterattack?"

George Adams, the commentator on the scene, said in surprise.

Wenger's Arsenal has never played a defensive counterattack, especially at home.

Wenger advocates the theory of 'football at your feet'. He despises all defensive counterattack tactics and thinks it is an insult to the sport of football.

Wenger advocates that football must take the initiative and be played with enough passion.

But such a professor put up a defensive counterattack formation, which shows how bad the club's situation is.

Arsenal fans also opened their mouths wide, wanting to curse, but suddenly they were discouraged.

What else can they do?

Not playing defensive counterattacks, relying on these people to play passing and controlling?

This is impossible.

If they want to stabilize the status quo and wait for the return of other main players, they can only use a more conservative defensive counterattack tactic.

And this set of tactics is also called a "point-keeping weapon"!

However, they did not expect that Wenger would come up with such a set of tactics.

In the press box of the stands, the reporters were all crazy.

Wenger actually put out a defensive counterattack tactic, which is quite novel.

Previously, Wenger had criticized this tactical system in a high-profile manner, saying that it was killing the artistry of football.

And now, Wenger actually slapped himself in the face.

How can this not be exciting?

They have already thought of tomorrow's headline.

Once the report is out, it will probably cause a good response.

Wenger will become a laughing stock in the mouths of others!

Thinking of this, the reporters began to take pictures crazily.

Lekai stood in the stadium, waiting for the game to start.

Flashes flashed from all directions.

These reporters must be so happy.

Lucky pouted his lips unhappily, took a deep breath, and said loudly; "Guys! Everyone is waiting to see our jokes!"

The Arsenal players turned their heads to look at Lucky.

At this time, Lucky raised his arms, clenched them into fists, and waved them fiercely.

"Show them some power!"

Hey!

The Arsenal players grinned slightly, revealing a silent smile.

At this time, Vermaelen shouted: "Gunners!!"

Everyone was shocked.

"Get ready for battle!!"

In the Sina Sports live broadcast room, Zhan Jun was also commenting on the game.

"This is the 20th round of the 2012/2013 Premier League, Arsenal vs. Newcastle United at home!"

"Arsenal, playing at home, abnormally set up a defensive counterattack formation. Coach Zhang, what do you think about this?"

Coach Zhang Lu smiled and said, "Wenger is also forced to have no choice. Cazorla, Wilshere, and Arteta can play a passing and controlling system, but which of these Arsenal midfielders can hold the ball? What else can they do if they don't play defensive counterattacks? They still have to fight for the Champions League qualification next season!"

Zhan Jun continued; "So what role do you think Lekai plays in this lineup?"

Zhang Lu coached; "It should have a certain weight. After all, defense counterattacks, defense is the foundation. If you want to counterattack, you must ensure that the defense can be stabilized. Lekai's previous performance is obvious to all. He is not the core of offense and defense, but he should have enough weight and resource allocation!"

Zhang Lu's words are very conservative.

After all, the first Chinese player to play for a giant club, and he has just started, it is a bit unreliable to put him directly in the position of the core of offense and defense.

Of course, both Zhang Lu and other Chinese fans hope that Lekai can play a more important role.

And Wenger is not a conservative person. The professor has made bold decisions and training methods many times. Although most of them failed, the small part of success is enough for Arsenal to make a lot of money.

Therefore, Zhang Lu said so, but he is already looking forward to the role that Lekai will play in the game.

Wenger stood on the sidelines of the Arsenal coaching bench, and he was also a little nervous and nervous.

Can this lineup play out?

This game will give the answer to whether Lucky can withstand the pressure and become a qualified offensive and defensive core.

The same is true for Patles.

Compared with Wenger, he has a closer relationship with Lucky.

After all, in the more than one year of getting along day and night, he has watched Lucky improve again and again and come to the current level.

For Patles, Lucky is his most anticipated disciple who has not been polished yet.

Even Fabregas has not been able to give him this feeling.

The offensive and defensive core of 18 years and 9 months!

Fabregas did not have this treatment.

But he just caught up, there is no way!

In this system, Lucky's defense and passing ability are crucial.

Whether the whole team can be connected depends on Lucky's performance.

There are many amazing players in football, and there are also little demons who are as dazzling as meteors, but soon disappear.

Patrales does not want Lucky to be the latter.

He hopes that Lucky can become the pillar of Arsenal and the future of Arsenal.

Therefore, although he is only 18 years old, many people still put their hopes on him.

Pressure is motivation!

Kid! Everything depends on your performance!

In the East Stand, Meadows, Billy and other players in black jerseys were equally nervous.

Billy rubbed his hands: "Let me see! Arsenal! Don't give up!"

Meadows had a serious expression, and his eyes were fixed on the direction of Lekai.

This Chinese always gave him a very special feeling.

And this feeling may be verified in this game.

Is it the same as what he thought in his heart!

The same is true for other fans.

They saw that the referee had left the center circle in the stadium, and the moment Newcastle United striker Demba Ba was about to pass back, Arsenal fans burst into huge cheers.

"Forward!! Gunners!!——"

The much-anticipated game began. After the kick-off, Newcastle United did not choose to attack rashly, but passed back to look for opportunities.

Arsenal was pressed by Suarez and others in the frontcourt, and the rest did not move forward rashly.

Lekai cruised behind the center circle, constantly turning his head to observe the gap behind him.

Because there were enough players in his own half, the gap was basically filled.

But Newcastle was very smart and began to shift to the left and right sides.

Lekai read the trend of the game and observed the movements of each Newcastle player.

The 4-2-1-2-1 formation is a tactical formation with balanced offense and defense.

The position of the first '1', that is, Malvo, is very important. This is the first line of defense, and it requires a player who can fight well and has a certain long-range shooting ability.

The two forwards act as wings, and the front '1' Demba Ba needs to have strong personal ability.

Then he can break through the defense line and complete the shot.

Then he can pass to the left and right wings and ferry.

But the problem of this lineup is also very serious.

That is, the too rigid position and the large distance between the midfielders make it easy to be intercepted when passing.

Lekai licked his lips. Isn't the opportunity here?

Newcastle's hesitation caused Arsenal's midfield to move forward as a whole, and began to launch a fierce high-pressure defense in the frontcourt.

This also put great pressure on Newcastle players.

At the same time, they also saw the number of people in the opponent's backcourt decrease.

'It's okay to play! '

Malvo looked in the direction of Demba Ba and found that no one was standing next to him.

This is an opportunity!

Immediately, Malvo chose to pass the ball directly.

The ball drew an arc in the air and flew towards Demba Ba.

Demba Ba occupied the landing area and raised his head to welcome the ball.

In the relationship with Xiangyang, Demba Ba narrowed his eyes slightly under the dazzling light.

Suddenly, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of him.

The next second, accompanied by a "touch", the ball in the air disappeared.

Demba Ba opened his mouth slightly

Where is the ball?

He turned his head and saw a player wearing Arsenal's No. 4 jersey, rushing towards his own half with the ball!

－－－－－－－Off topic－－－－－－

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