Chapter 113: Locking Qualifications
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Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal 4-1 at home to knock down the leaders who had just secured the league title ahead of schedule. As soon as the news of the pen & fun & pavilion www.biquge.info came out, it immediately caused a super earthquake in English football!
Although Tottenham have faced Arsenal four times this season and have a dominant head-to-head record, not many thought Tottenham could afford to win Arsenal at home before this game. You must know that before this round of the league, Arsenal had just locked up the Premier League title this season four rounds in advance, which was the most energetic and momentum-strong time. Therefore, many people think that Tottenham met Arsenal at this time, and luck was really back home!
After all, after locking up the Premier League title, Arsenal, who have been eliminated from the domestic cup competition and the Champions League, can only pursue the goal of winning the championship trophy with an unbeaten season. And the Tottenham players who were stimulated by Arsenal's slogan of "undefeated to win the championship" are quite likely not to stick to defensive counter-attacking tactics in this game, but choose to take the initiative. In this way, Arsenal, who no longer have to fight hand-to-hand with Tottenham players in the front, can get more attacking space, and Tottenham, whose defensive strength has been greatly reduced, will also be torn to pieces by Arsenal in the gorgeous and fluid attack of the Gunners!
However, to everyone's surprise, in the face of Arsenal, who were full of morale and playing with full strength, Tottenham, who were not favored before the game, defeated the Gunners 4-1 under the leadership of George Nelson and won a hearty victory at White Hart Lane!
With this victory, Tottenham not only succeeded in turning the record between the two sides into three wins and two draws this season, but also swollen the faces of Arsenal, who had only released the rhetoric of "unbeaten to win the championship this season" not long ago - after all, the unbeaten golden body was broken in the first game after this bold statement, and it was also lost to Tottenham Hotspur, a sworn rival in the same city, so what kind of face does Arsenal have to show off in English football again?
The most surprising thing is that Tottenham, which gave up the usual defensive counterattack tactics in this game and played against Arsenal, actually showed a smooth attack on the pitch that was not inferior to the Gunners! Although there is still a big gap with Arsenal in terms of gorgeousness, Drogba and others have frequently crossed positions and tireless runs on the field, but they also make Tottenham's offensive quite good-looking, and at the same time more threatening!
It can be said that the reason why Tottenham Hotspur was able to suppress Arsenal at both ends of the pitch is inseparable from this offensive system based on off-ball running and cross-positioning. After all, the prevailing narrative in international football at the moment is that the positions are refined, with 11 players performing their duties according to their assigned positions on the pitch to form a sophisticated and orderly machine to win the game, rather than a powerful centre-forward like Didier Drogba retreating into the midfield to instigate an attack, as Tottenham is now, while Basturk, as a midfielder, runs into the box to grab a shot.
It is precisely with the extremely huge defensive pressure brought by this set of tactics that the Arsenal players have scruples and do not dare to invest too much in the attacking end. Otherwise, even if Ledley King and Nemanja Vidic have a deeper understanding of defence under Allegri's tutelage, and their positional sense and judgment of the ball have improved greatly, it will be difficult to resist Arsenal's fierce attack.
Although the battle between the two teams in this north London derby has made many neutral fans addicted, and they have a new understanding of Tottenham's attacking ability, what people don't know is that after the game, George secretly swore in his heart that he decided that he would never let Tottenham attack like this again unless he was forced to do so in the future!
After all, George himself still prefers to base himself on defense first and think about the offensive side after the defensive line is solid. And like in this derby with Arsenal, to strengthen the attack at the cost of weakening the defense, and to reduce the pressure on his own back line through attack, although George does not see anything abnormal on the surface, but in his heart he really plays a heartbeat, for fear that the players will be broken by Arsenal if they are not careful.
You must know that although Henry and Pire are not top superstars, they are also the best in today's football in terms of strength. If they are given a chance, there is no guarantee that they will not be breached by them, even if it is Cech who has the potential to become the world's number one goalkeeper for Tottenham.
Therefore, for the sake of his own health, but also because the emphasis on offense and defense is inconsistent with his football philosophy, George made such a decision.
At the same time, after the news of Tottenham's big home win over Arsenal spread, a wave of transfer offers from clubs in the top five leagues quickly filled the desks of Tottenham's transfer department, putting on a posture of digging Tottenham into a hollow shell. Countless scouts have travelled to London and spun around Tottenham's training ground every day, looking for opportunities to seduce Tottenham players.
For Manchester United, for example, Ferguson has extended an olive branch to Carrick and Heinze as always. However, this time, the lord also took a fancy to Vidic, believing that the Serbian and Montenegro centre-back could become the backbone of Manchester United's defence like Rio Ferdinand. Real Madrid and Barcelona are also interested in Vidic, with the former hoping that Vidic can replace Pavon and rebuild the Galaxy's defence, while Barcelona also hope that Vidic can replace the aging Frank de Boer as Puyol's new centre-back partner.
In addition, players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba, Villa, and Basturk have also received a lot of transfer offers. However, after George, the big boss, made a clear statement, Tottenham rejected all these offers, putting on a posture of "Lao Tzu just doesn't sell people, what can you do with me", so that many teams who just want to come to join in the fun, by the way, see if they can take advantage of the difficulties and retreat.
Although there has been a lot of rumors about the transfer of Tottenham players, George is relieved that most of the Tottenham players have ignored the overtures and solicitations from these clubs, and have chosen to stay at Tottenham. Only Redknapp Jr., who has been sick for a long time due to injury and finally came back but found that the team no longer has his place, and Darren Anderton, who is not in the main position under the impact of Ronaldo, has a certain interest in this. However, most clubs have shown little interest in the two men. After all, both Anderton and Redknapp Jr. have serious injury histories that are a common occurrence – and no one wants to see a star they've spent a lot of money on and not be able to play because of injury.
Now, after crushing the Gunners' attempt to win the league title unbeaten and ending Arsenal's unbeaten run, Tottenham drew 1-1 with Aston Villa in the 36th round of the Premier League a week later, taking away a draw and a point from Villa Park – Villa's striker Vassell gave the home side the lead in the 11th minute, while Luka Toney equalised with a cross from Bierovka in the second half to give Tottenham an away victory!
Always putting in a good performance against a strong team, but then always going to the gutter in some of the lesser games, this was the biggest problem George faced in his first season at Tottenham. Truth be told, if it weren't for Tottenham's constant conceding too many points against teams in the bottom half of the league this season, it would have been unknown who would have won the Premier League this season.
Seeing that Tottenham Hotspur actually shook hands with Aston Villa, Arsenal fans can be said to want to cry without tears, and their hatred for Tottenham has become a little deeper -- in the eyes of Arsenal fans, since Tottenham can draw with Aston Villa, why can't they choose not to fight them in the last round, but have to let Arsenal's dream of winning the championship undefeated completely come to naught? This is not clear whether it is adding to their blockage!
Tottenham fans naturally scoffed at this argument from Arsenal fans -- who was the first to shout the slogan "undefeated champions" before the game? How did you behave when the Spurs players lined up to welcome the Arsenal players before the game? It's good to complain that we are angry at Arsenal's results and don't want to be beautiful. But then again, why should we do you this favor?
Besides, Arsenal is not a "state official" who holds great power, and Tottenham Hotspur is not a "common people" who have no power to resist. Why should Tottenham consider Arsenal's feelings and help Arsenal achieve the great achievement of winning the league undefeated? What's more, Arsenal and Tottenham are a pair of mortal enemies. In such a situation, there is naturally no need for Tottenham to complete Arsenal's unbeaten season!
Besides, even if Tottenham repaid the grievances with virtue, it fulfilled Arsenal this time. But if Tottenham loses the second place in the standings because of this defeat, then who will pity Tottenham Hotspur, who has lost their direct qualification for the Champions League?
As a result, in the 37th round of the Premier League a week later, facing Blackburn, who are fighting for relegation, the Tottenham players who also have a clear goal are also going all out. In the end, Villa, Luca Toney and Drogba scored a goal each to help the better Tottenham Hotspur beat their opponents 3-0 at home and get their team's 20th league win this season!
As a result, Tottenham Hotspur, who had already picked up 74 points before the final league game, managed to secure a place in the league (third-placed Chelsea have 70 points from 37 league games that have already ended). This also means that Tottenham will not only be able to participate in the UEFA Champions League next season, but will also avoid the test of qualifying and can start directly from the group stage of the Champions Cup!