Chapter 53: The Frontrunner Under Pressure
"Arthur, the other party has rejected our offer. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info" Monchi said cautiously as he looked at Arthur, whose face was cloudy.
"And what about the players themselves?" Arthur frowned and asked: "You know, we pay him a lot more, and we are currently the leader of the Premier League, and Paris Saint-Germain may not be able to play in the UEFA Cup next season." ”
'He's not very interested in a winter transfer because of the World Cup and he's a little worried. Monchi replied quieter.
"Well, I know, then don't raise the offer yet, you can rest first." Arthur commanded with a calm face.
When Monch was out, Arthur slammed his hammer on the desk with a "snap".
He has reason to be depressed and depressed, because the player who has just turned down Blackburn's offer is called Ronaldo De Assis Moreira, who can also be called Ronaldinho, or Ronaldo for short.
Unlike other future superstars who joined Blackburn, Ronaldinho, who was seen as the next Pele early on, shone at the 1997 World Junior Championships, helping Brazil win the Copa America in 1999 and becoming the top scorer in the FIFA Union Cup with six goals.
Ronaldinho's eye-catching performances in international competitions have attracted the attention of many European giants, so it is difficult for Blackburn to really impress the glory of other young players who have won the Premier League and are currently the temporary leaders of the Premier League.
And for the winter transfer, Ronaldinho is also worried that he will not be able to adapt to the team's style and will not be in good form - you must know that in four months, the World Cup in South Korea and Japan will kick off, and Ronaldinho does not want to be absent.
"I can only wait until the summer to try again, but when the Hercules Cup is glorious, and then I want to buy Xiao Luo for less than 10 million pounds, it can only be regarded as a pipe dream, and this time the leak was not successful." Arthur sighed.
As for whether Ronaldinho, who had never been on the British Peninsula in his previous life, could adapt to the style of the Premier League and play to the level of the previous football king, Arthur was never worried.
On the one hand, because Ronaldinho has never been a system player, he may not be able to seamlessly integrate with the Premier League if he can adapt to Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A, but at least it is not a problem to exert his power to 80% or 90%. On the other hand, if the Barcelona Dream Team does not have Giuli and then Ronaldinho, it will definitely not "reproduce" the glory of Arthur's previous life.
And without the help of Ronaldinho and Giuli, can Messi and Iniesta still grow as quickly as Arthur did in their previous life and reach the top strength in world football? Can the Barcelona Dream II team still appear?
These are all big question marks.
……
In the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium on 24 February, Arsenal won their first trophy of the season on penalties against local rivals Tottenham.
Goalkeeper Seaman became Arsenal's biggest hero, saving three penalties from Tottenham players before Arsenal won 3-1.
The two sides were tied 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Thierry Henry's clever pass from the right in the 52nd minute burst into the Ljungberg penalty area, who slotted the ball into the far corner against two opponents.
Arsenal then took the advantage, but Thierry Henry and Bergkamp squandered a number of chances, notably in the 72nd minute when Henry was brought down in the box, but the referee did not award a penalty.
Five minutes into the final period, Tottenham's shot bounced off the post and in the chaos Sheringham scored to equalise and send the game to extra-time. In the first half of extra-time, Thierry Henry's pinpoint shot was saved by the Tottenham goalkeeper's left hand, and the two teams had to go to penalties.
With Pire's penalty slotted in, Arsenal eventually won the hard-fought victory.
In Arthur's previous life, it was Blackburn who originally won the League Cup this season.
However, unlike Blackburn, who finished 10th in the Premier League in the previous season, this Blackburn Rovers are now in full contention for the Premier League title this season, so they have been eliminated early after only sending substitutes in the League Cup and FA Cup.
And is Blackburn's approach appropriate?
On the evening of February 2, the 25th round of the Premier League continued, Blackburn Rovers hosted West Ham United, and Carsley replaced the cold Cambiaso into the starting lineup.
Blackburn Rovers were more aggressive in the opening period, and West Ham United made several long passes to find opportunities for offside, but Blackburn unexpectedly conceded the ball in the 10th minute: West Ham United's long pass was not a threat, but goalkeeper Friedel had abandoned the goal when Carsley was just in time to head it over, and Carsley's return to the top sent the ball flying towards the empty goal, and West Ham striker Defoe easily scored.
Although Mourinho on the sidelines did not show the slightest emotion, everyone realized that with this own goal alone, it was impossible for Carsley to shake Cambiaso's main midfield position.
Blackburn Rovers then quickly picked up the tempo and West Ham went on the defensive, even the midfielders got back to their own baseline.
In the 18th minute, Duff passed a free kick from the left to the goal, Ibrahimovic grabbed a header and was quite threatening, and Yang Zhi blocked the ball with a wonderful save. The smell of gunpowder rose in a fierce scramble, and Ibrahimovic elbowed the West Ham defender's head, who responded with a retaliatory foul.
In the 26th minute, Duff crossed from the left, and Ibrahimovic headed the goal slightly high in front of the small penalty line.
In the 36th minute, West Ham United's back hit Alonso's head in the midfield scramble, both of them were bleeding, and Alonso, who was obviously swollen at the eyebrow bone, was replaced by David Dunn, Mourinho expressed his extreme dissatisfaction with the foul action with a very excited action on the sidelines, and even had a verbal conflict with the West Ham United manager.
In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, Blackburn Rovers equalised: Frank Lampard's long pass from midfield launched an attack, Ibrahimovic fought for the ball into the West Ham United box, and Gyuli succinctly stepped forward and calmly fired a low shot into the goalkeeper from a tight angle to make the score 1-1.
At the start of the second half, Ibrahimovic threatened again with his individual ability, and his powerful low shot was blocked by James.
Ibrahimovic continued to show his ability by forcing a run into the West Ham penalty area, with defenders sliding in time to disrupt the ball off the line.
Duff and Finnan broke through on the left in quick succession, Blackburn Rovers were in a pressing position, and West Ham re-stabilized the situation through tight defence, and the game continued to be deadlocked.
In the 66th minute, Gyuli scrambled for the ball on the right and then made a quick cross, and Duff cleverly flanked it in front of the small penalty area, but he met the ball and shot slightly high. After missing the scoring opportunity, Blackburn Rovers were locked in a stalemate with West Ham United, with Duff and substitute Li Tie failing to pose a real threat after hitting the back of the net.
In the 76th minute, Blackburn Rovers went beyond the scoreline: Gyuli's free-kick from the right was blocked by West Ham in front of the box, Lampard hit the ball hard and James saved the ball, Ibrahimovic broke through the crowd and chested to shoot.
Blackburn, who were then playing at home, continued to attack, and Duff deftly broke away from the penalty area to shoot from a tight angle, and James blocked the ball off the line.
West Ham sent in a series of crosses from the wings and diagonally behind the Blackburn defence, but struggled to create a real threat.
West Ham United players continued to fight fiercely, the Blackburn players on the field were constantly put down by foul actions, the players on both sides had verbal friction, and the referee showed three yellow cards in a row to make West Ham not rude, and finally Blackburn won 2:1 against West Ham United, but it was also a big injury.
In the 26th round of the Premier League a week later, the violent clash with West Ham in the previous round clearly cast a shadow on Blackburn, although Cambiaso returned to the starting line-up, Blackburn Rovers were missing Alonso, Finnan and Ibrahimovic in the starting line-up.
In the 3rd minute, Blackburn took a free kick from the left side to the penalty area, and Drogba grabbed the header to score, but unfortunately it was offside.
In the 23rd minute, a Fulham defender put a tackle on the edge of the penalty area, tackled Gyuli and was judged to have committed a foul. Frank Lampard took the free-kick and curled a powerful left-footed curl around the wall into the near corner, where the Fulham goalkeeper was well positioned to secure the ball.
In the 32nd minute, Friedel sent the ball directly to the front of the goal line with a big kick, Cambiaso made a flash of inspiration and volleyed, and the ball flew out of a wonderful arc to bypass the goalkeeper, but unfortunately hit the crossbar and bounced off the bottom line.
In the final stages of the first half, Paolo Ferreira was injured in a collision with the opposing winger and was taken off the pitch and replaced by Sun Jihai, who was a panacea at the back and on the wing.
In the second half, the Fulham full-back was dizzy by Duff's disguised breakthrough and received a yellow card for a foul on the former. Subsequently, Duff's free kick was weak and was directly picked up by the opposing goalkeeper.
In the 55th minute, Cambiaso won the ball and handed a long pass directly to Drogba, Drogba broke through and then sent it to the side, and Duff met the ball outside the penalty area and shot wildly wide.
In the 57th minute, Duff's corner kick was played by the Fulham goalkeeper, and Blackburn passed into the box again from the left, but Drogba didn't bounce enough to let the goalkeeper pick the ball off again.
In the 67th minute, Benayoun, who returned from injury, replaced Duff, who was not in good form in this game, and had an outstanding performance. The Israeli received the ball on the right and passed it to the edge of the box after breaking through, Drogba took the ball away from a sudden low left-footed shot that grazed the right post.
In the 70th minute, it was Benayoun on the right side of the penalty area who broke through the cross, and the ball slid out of the goal.
Jose Mourinho then made a change, with Gillespie coming on for Frank Lampard and Benayoun being pushed up front.
Fulham unexpectedly broke the deadlock in the 81st minute - Fulham counter-attacked, Fulham midfielder advanced with the ball in the middle, distributed the ball to his teammate on the right, who looked up with the ball to observe the situation in the box, and then buckled with his right foot, and curled the ball with his left foot to the back post, and the pass landed at the junction of Stam and Friedel, just right.
The Fulham striker slapped the ball into the goal like an aerial relay, 1:0!
The Fulham striker who scored the goal also fought to the limit, and immediately after scoring the goal, he fell to the ground with cramps and was replaced by his teammates.
In the 85th minute, Blackburn Rovers had a series of shots in the box that were blocked by Fulham defenders, and Gillespie fired high from distance.
In the 88th minute, Benayoun's free-kick went straight over the crossbar.
In the end, Blackburn could only accept the bitter result of a surprise 0:1 defeat to Fulham.