Graham was overjoyed after taking a 1-0 lead, and Arsenal had only a handful of games under his management in which they were overtaken by their opponents. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoBecause Graham is one of the few British coaches who attaches extreme importance to defense, his stubborn and tough "1-0 doctrine" has always been scolded by hostile fans, and even jokingly called Highbury (Highbury) in the Graham era (Library), because the game is boring and boring, the fans are not interested, and the Gunners pay too much attention to physical confrontation, and the style is brave to the point of rudeness, which is also criticized by critics, but Graham's results are beyond reproach, The defence of the five old defences is a nightmare for all teams.

And Highbury Stadium is also one of the smallest stadiums in the Premier League, the length and width are only a little more than the minimum limit of the regular playing field stipulated by FIFA, taking the Frankie Stadium in Florence as an example, Highbury Stadium is 5 meters longer than Frankie, and 2 meters wide and narrow, don't think that this does not seem like much, for professional players who make a living by playing football every day, a little change in the distance of the stadium will affect them. Playing in such a compact stadium is where many teams with a high level of speed and skill are not able to play to their advantage, and it is more conducive to Arsenal to play to his defensive and physical strengths.

Perhaps it was the speed of Prato's counter-attack, or perhaps a renewed appreciation of Prato's quality, Graham's conservatism prevailed again, and he replaced Allan, who had not been in much form since the season, at half-time. Smith, replaced by midfielder Ian, who has good defensive ability. Sheri, go back to the old ways of winning defensively.

Ian. Sheri plays, and Steve. Moreau formed a double sapper back and built a solid wall in front of the defense line of the five old defenders. Cheri was firmly fixed and fell silent again.

However, Arsenal's already somewhat improved attack has once again fallen into a situation of one-man combat and isolation. Merson has not come out of the silence of drug rehabilitation, as if the drug rehabilitation center not only quit his drug addiction, but also quit the genius passing inspiration that day, plus Tomasi's care from time to time, Merson is sleepwalking in the front court. And Ian. Wright, on the other hand, is caught between Materazzi and Ayala, his shooting skills are very exquisite, he can get up and hit the goal with both left and right feet, and the shooting area is also very wide, and he can even make wonderful long-range shots from outside the box, but he is not a shooter like Ronaldo, he does not have the ability to dribble the ball in the world, and it is almost impossible to solve Materazzi and Ayala alone.

It's Hartson and Kevin. Campbell often cut inside and landed a couple of dangerous shots. However, with the five defenders refocusing on defence, it will not be easy for the two to get rid of Zanetti and Leonardo's defense alone. The few chances that were resisted by Toldo's concentration did not have much effect.

Graham has no intention of changing this situation, and in his opinion, although the attack is sacrificed, it is exchanged for the solidity of the defensive line. As the saying goes, "offense in exchange for spectators, defense wins trophies", the style of the team how many fans like him doesn't care at all, as long as he gets results, wins honors, and adds a lot of color to his coaching experience, everything else has nothing to do with him. This is also the reason why Arsenal also won a lot of honours during the Graham era, but in the hearts of Arsenal fans, he has never been as good as Arsene Wenger.

However, Arsenal, who sacrificed their attacking ability, did give a feeling of suffocation in defence. The defense line composed of the five elders at the back is like an iron wall, blocking all the lines leading to the goal 180 degrees without dead ends. Whether it is Vieri, Inzaghi or Effenberg and Tomasi, they can't help but lose in front of this reinforced concrete defense line that requires speed and speed, height and strength, and Prato almost did not form a threatening attack in the entire second half, knowing that they have Effenberg and Veron, two passing masters.

As the clock ticked by, the Arsenal fans were already excited in the stands, singing one cheerful song after another. They don't like the style of play of this Arsenal team, but they do have to admit that Graham's style of play is reassuring, and every time the opponent gets into that rhythm, the team is not far from victory, and today is an important game like the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals.

Although Spalletti frowned on the sidelines, he did not order the team to press all the lines and fight to the death with Arsenal, because Prato's current three-back lineup is obviously stronger than attacking, and the most suitable tactic is to defend and counterattack, using the strong defensive ability and good passing ability of the midfield, when the opponent tries to pass through the midfield, break the ball and launch a quick counterattack. This style of play is very powerful, almost facing the hand-to-hand defense after the midfield break, with the ability of Effenberg and Veron to create chances and the ability of Vieri and Inzaghi to seize opportunities, almost a dozen and a hand.

If Prato rashly presses out to attack on all fronts, they only have one offensive line in the middle of the road without the advantage of the wing, and they are easily blocked by the opponent, which is undoubtedly self-exalted. Losing just one goal away from home isn't too hard to swallow, and Prato still has a chance when he returns home, although Arsenal will certainly start with that suffocating defence.

In fact, Italy's defensive counter-attacking tactics are not boring in most cases, and the teams that use this kind of tactics, the explosion and rapid counterattack during the transition between attack and defense are the most exciting moments that embody the art of defensive counter-attack, and can also mobilize the enthusiasm of fans to the greatest extent. But when both teams play a game on the counter-attack, you can imagine how exciting the scene is.

In this dull to boring, boring to boring game, time slipped away bit by bit. The two sides seemed to have reached a tacit agreement on the scoreline, with Prato conceding by just one goal and leaving the game with a chance to go down, while Arsenal guaranteed the win without the opponents scoring away from home. In this case, the tempo of both sides slowed down and there were some passes that were noticeably delaying time.

However, in the 89th minute, when the assistant referee on the sidelines raised the sign for stoppage time, the situation suddenly changed on the field. Effenberg, who had several passes disrupted by the defender in the second half, finally seized the last chance firmly.