With eight league games remaining, a two-point margin doesn't seem to be a problem at all. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Do you want to continue to fight in the league?" Arthur asked himself.

With a great chance of defending his title, it is difficult for Arthur to give up on the answer.

Arthur was quick to give the final answer, though.

Because, after Arsenal beat Blackburn Rovers in the 30th round of the league, the only opponent after that is Tottenham Hotspur is a real strong opponent, and among the remaining 7 opponents, if it is not a veteran powerhouse such as Newcastle and Liverpool, which are not in good shape this season, or a weak team like Fulham and Birmingham that have already been relegated and in the middle and lower reaches of the league, it is difficult to create a real threat to Arsenal.

In the final eight league games, Arsenal have been able to pick up at least 18 to 19 league points.

In addition to Liverpool and Tottenham, there are real rivals such as Manchester United and Chelsea, and Blackburn is really sure that the league points are only 15 points, and this not only cannot surpass Arsenal, but will even continue to widen the point gap.

Blackburn are more certain than the uncertainty in the league against Arsenal over the two legs of the Champions League.

Although Blackburn's only defeat in the league this season was against Arsenal, that game was at Highbury Stadium.

Instead of expecting the rest of the league to stop Arsenal, in the two Champions League games against Arsenal, Blackburn have taken their destiny firmly into their own hands, and as long as they can beat their opponents, then they can ensure the results.

In addition, Arthur still remembers the Champions League this season, which was called a "civilian victory" this year, and the remaining three of the top four were Monaco, Deportivo La Coruna and Porto.

Now, although Arthur has already poached the former Porto coach Mourinho and the core of the midfield, Deco, it seems that the historical trajectory that has not changed much, and Porto is still competing with Lyon in the quarterfinals.

In the semi-finals and final, whether they faced Monaco, Deportivo La Coruna, or Lyon and Porto, Blackburn had the confidence to win.

"What else is there to hesitate about?" Arthur soon had the answer in his mind.

……

Although he made a rather difficult decision, Arthur was most concerned about one thing at this time, in addition to Blackburn's three games against Arsenal.

In the pre-match press conference against Arsenal in the quarter-final, manager Jose Mourinho brought in a rare 34-year-old captain, Jeff Kenner. Jose Mourinho officially announced at a press conference: "Jeff Kenna will choose to leave his beloved Blackburn Rovers at the end of this season. ”

As a banner for Blackburn in recent years, Jeff Kenner naturally became the team's captain from vice-captain after the retirement of veteran captain Henning Berg.

Before the start of this season's league season, there were rumours that this would be Jeff Kenna's last season for Blackburn, and it will be difficult for him to continue playing for Blackburn Rovers after he will no longer be able to start next season.

But as a player with a contract in place, it is not up to Jeff Kenner to decide whether or not to continue playing for Blackburn Rovers, it is up to Blackburn Rovers to decide.

In fact, before the start of the season, Jeff Kenner had the idea of switching to his team, but was eventually retained by Arthur and Mourinho.

Because Arthur knows that although the current Jeff Kenner is difficult to compete with Finnan and Paul Ferreira in the same position, as the only veteran player who has played for Blackburn for more than ten years, Jeff Kenner embodies a Blackburn spirit, a sense of belonging, which is a trait that other players cannot embody.

"On and off the court, Jeff Kenner sees the difficulties in the team and still persists, which is not something that all good athletes can do, and he plays a leading role in the team at this moment, which is the most valuable thing about him as a veteran player in the team for so many years." As the team's manager, Mourinho also respects Jeff Kenna's performances on and off the pitch.

This season, although Jeff Kenner is Blackburn's captain, he is no longer the main player of the team and often does not play, so the team's vice-captain Duff has become the team captain in the truest sense of the word.

Although Duff has just turned 25 years old, he is a well-established Blackburn himself from the Blackburn Academy, and Duff, who has been promoted from the youth team to the first team since the 1995-96 season, is also the longest-serving Blackburn Rovers player in the current Blackburn team other than Jeff Kenner.

Therefore, Duff's appointment as the captain of the team on Blake's home field did not cause any waves and doubts at all.

If Duff's vice-captain appointment is a logical one, then Blackburn's third and fourth captains have left the likes of Arthur and Mourinho struggling for a long time before the season.

Judging from the captain's temperament, time in the team and other factors, Blackburn's third captain should belong to Alonso, and he and Duff's calm and fiery personalities can also form a good complement.

However, in the end, Arthur appointed Frank Lampard as the club's third captain for the season, and Alonso, who had captained Real Sociedad in La Liga at the age of 19 in his previous life, had to bend the team's fourth.

The only reason Arthur will appoint Frank Lampard as the team's third captain this season, or vice-captain on the pitch, is because Lampard is an Englishman.

After Jeff Kenner leaves the team, Duff will definitely be the captain of Blackburn's team as long as he does not leave, and if the team's vice-captain is Alonso, then Blackburn's two captains are not English, or even English, which is definitely more good than bad in today's British football.

Frank Lampard, as Arthur's former vice-captain of Chelsea, also performed very well, and local players will inevitably have an advantage over foreign players in communicating with local fans and media, so Arthur's final appointment was also well received.

In this way, the four captains of Blackburn's first team this season are captain Jeff Kenna, vice-captain Duff, third captain Frank Lampard and fourth captain Alonso.

The vast majority of people, including Arthur, thought that perhaps within two or three years, the captaincy would not change, but no one expected that before Blackburn Rovers faced Arsenal in the quarter-finals, Mourinho suddenly announced that Jeff Kenna would switch to his team at the end of the season.

"Now it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it doesn't matter if he plays well or badly, just to make him happy, every single one of us, including me, is watching Jeff Kenner's performance." Mourinho said.

Before Mourinho announced Jeff Kenna's departure, he also had initial communication with Arthur.

From Mourinho's statement, Arthur understood that the reason why he chose to announce it at this time was to motivate the team.

"With the departure of Jeff Kenna, do you want to motivate the players in the team to work harder to fulfill the last wish of the old captain?" Arthur chuckled, because Mourinho's approach has a bit of a "waste last resort" feel.

"I hope this off-the-counter trick has some effect."

……

At 7 p.m. on March 25, 2004, the quarter-finals of the Champions League between Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal officially kicked off at Highbury Stadium.

Blackburn suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Arsenal this season, suffering their only league defeat so far this season. Arsene Wenger and the Gunners expressed their confidence in knocking out their opponents.

For this Champions League game, Jose Mourinho fielded the strongest squad, with Alonso, Makelele and Stam rotating to start for Blackburn.

Less than a minute into the game, Blackburn Rovers gave Arsenal a dismissal. Gyuli cut in deep into the right rib of the penalty area and volleyed high from a tight angle.

Soon after, Gyuli slapped into the box again, this time with Campbell fighting the fire. However, Arsenal were conceded less than ten minutes into the game, and a low-level mistake in the panic of Klich, who replaced Ashley Cole at the Gunners' left-back, gave Blackburn a crucial goal - Klich's rise to the top caused Frank Lampard's otherwise unthreatening pass to go straight through the Arsenal backline, and Gyuli won the ball in the box and volleyed it directly into the far corner.

1:0, Blackburn opened the scoring with a sharp counterattack!

It was also the first time Arsenal have tasted backward in the Champions League this season.

After this goal, Arsenal's defence began to fall apart. Gyuli, Ibrahimovic and Duff bombarded the Arsenal goal three times in a row, especially Duff, who was the captain of Blake's own field, and his breakthrough made Lauren helpless to receive a yellow card.

Between 4 minutes and 28 minutes, Arsenal did not have a single shot on goal for 24 minutes, and was pressed to the ground by Blackburn, and it can be said that Arsenal did not concede another goal during this time, thanks to Blackburn's bad luck.

However, good fortune doesn't always stay with Wenger.

In the 44th minute of the game, the Arsenal defense made a mistake in and out, Ibrahimovic beat Kolo Toure's header from a corner kick and crossed back to the goal, Finnan swept the ball from close range and deflected the ball, and Makelle Tieshu blossomed into the goal from close range.

2:0, Blackburn Rovers is the next city!

Arsenal were then caught up again in Blackburn's encirclement, with a succession of shots from Frank Lampard, Duff and Gyuli leaving Lehmann on the left.

Had it not been for Black's players on the pitch to pull back into the second half at Mourinho's signal, Arsenal would have lost even more ugly.

In the final 20 minutes, Arsenal's attack picked up, but Friedel's heroic play kept Blackburn alive.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Mourinho deliberately replaced Finnan with Jeff Kennan, who had just announced his departure for next season, and Duff immediately trotted to hand the captain's armband, which had been wearing on his arm, to the old captain, and the Blackburn fans who came to the away stadium also gave a collective standing ovation.

At full-time, Arsenal had 58 per cent possession, but their 12 shots were suppressed by Blackburn's 13, and there was a clear gap between them and Jose Mourinho's side in terms of absolute chances.

Arsene Wenger's vaunted passing of Arsenal did not play a beautiful football with butterflies at all, and instead the Gunners were beaten head-on by Blackburn's tenacious scrambling and running.

Seeing Wenger's dazed expression, the Arsenal fan covered his eyes.

Mistakes followed, and players ran around like headless flies...... Is this still the unbeaten Arsenal team that has been familiar this season?

In fact, the score of 0:2 was not enough for Arsenal in front of Blackburn. Even more shocking than the defeat was the way Arsenal failed.

'I've never seen Arsene Wenger's team play so deflated.' That's the BBC's interpretation of the game. Anyone who has watched the game knows that Mourinho completely won Wenger tactically in this game, if Arsenal is an accurate sword in the sky, this time it can be regarded as an unreasonable dragon slayer.

So what is Blackburn's tactical brilliance in this game, or what are the stronger and more advanced tactics than the control style of play?

First of all, let's take a look at Blackburn's starting lineup, I have to admit that these 11 people have super physical fitness, very explosive, and extremely fast speed and speed, and the rhythm is also fast, plus they are a young guard, and the advantage of physical strength and age is also quite obvious.

Blackburn used running and pressing throughout the game, completely intoxicating Arsenal's tactical system.

Blackburn have put a lot of pressure on Arsenal in this game, and whenever the likes of Thierry Henry or Ljungberg get the ball, Blackburn can always be the first to step forward and interfere.

Jose Mourinho's side seem to have an inexhaustible amount of energy, constantly running, constantly pressing, and more importantly, this Blackburn side can maintain that intensity for 90 minutes.

Lineker said: "This Blackburn Rovers are really scary, Arsenal are like a different team and haven't caught their breath for 90 minutes. ”

Blackburn didn't drag their feet in the attack at all, and played quite directly. Looking at their two goals, the first was Ibrahimovic's cross from the left, which resulted in Klich's goal coming from a corner.

Blackburn's midfield attack is simple and rough, and he can often smash the Yellow Dragon with a straight pass, but this direct style of play often achieves unexpected results, just like the delicate Heavenly Sword encountering the unreasonable Dragon Slayer.

Moreover, this Blackburn team has done a very good combination of side and center, whether it is Duff on the left or Gyuli on the right, there is Lampard and Alonso in the midfield to sort out, and there is Ibrahimovic in the forward position to attack, don't forget that they also have a midfield master Deco in the lineup, but he can't play this game.

So the Daily Mail said: "Arsene Wenger was shocked by this Blackburn side, and the team was a little overwhelmed. ”

Blackburn's more clever point is the way they crush Arsenal's attack. The Gunners have scored 81 goals in the league this season, an average of almost 2.8 goals per game, and Blackburn's clean sheet against Arsenal was a great achievement.

Take a look at Blackburn's defensive strategy, every player in the midfield has a defensive task, and when the ball is conceded, the Blackburn players run like desperate, doing everything possible not to let the Arsenal ball go down and not give them a chance to implement the tactics.

The marking of key players in particular was particularly successful, giving Arsenal almost no chances in the first half, and in the second half, as their stamina declined, Arsenal had several chances, but none of them took them.

In any case, it was a great win for Blackburn. (To be continued.) )