Chapter 543: Adjustment Completed
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The FA Cup is as important as the league in the minds of some established teams and people over the age of 40, and given its ultra-inclusive nature (almost all non-league clubs with basic facilities can sign up), it won't be surprising that the tournament's schedule could be moved to the weekend.
No, on January 9, the first Saturday after the resumption of the schedule, most of the matches in the third round of the FA Cup and the 32/12 finals have officially started before the league, and all the Premier League teams will appear in this round, and the excitement of the game has also improved, and it is no longer the previous rookie pecking at each other.
However, because there are few strong dialogues at this stage, most people's attention will still stay in the transfer market, and Casemiro, who has already proven himself at the Bernabeu, is undoubtedly the most eye-catching event at the moment.
Since the departure of Zizou in the summer of 2018 and the arrival of Julen Lopetegui at Real Madrid, the Brazilian midfielder's solidity in the team's main position has begun to show signs of shaking.
Even after Guti took over last summer, he continued the team building plan of his predecessor or Lafayette, vigorously supporting his own youth and the status of Spanish players in the team, so that Casemiro's situation is still not too good. Therefore, the defender, who contributed to the previous Champions League triumph before the Galaxy Battleship, finally made the decision to change the environment before the arrival of the 29-year-old, and the result happened to form a mutually beneficial relationship with the Blue Moon, who wanted to strengthen his midfield as soon as possible, and finally the two sides quickly reached an agreement to persuade Real Madrid to let go with a not low price.
Casemiro will not be able to qualify for Manchester City's European squad because he has already played for his old club in the Champions League, and Guardiola is willing to pay a huge sum of more than £1.9 billion (including four years' salary) for such a new signing, so the target is obviously aimed at league opponents Arsenal. This makes people excited that the next Premier League will be more exciting, and at the same time, they have to sigh at the heroism of the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates.
The Brazilian midfielder, who made his Premier League debut, made his England debut immediately, coming off the bench for half an hour against Championship side Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday and receiving widespread praise for his performance. Three days later, Casemiro scored his first goal for his new club with a beautiful long-range strike shortly after his debut in the second half, and was considered a model of value for money.
Relative to the smooth sailing of Manchester City's new signings, the prospect of Arsenal's most promising new star Balko is a little worrying.
Lee's failure to feature three new signings in the cup tie was delayed until Tuesday's 21st round of league games, as well as the fact that there was more pressure away to Championship leaders Middlesbrough and the fact that he didn't think it would be effective to send new players who had just started training with the team.
It's just that in this crucial game against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, Wilshere and the Spanish central defender only got less than 15 minutes of playing time as substitutes, and Messi II, who was expected by fans, couldn't even sit on the bench, which caused many people to sigh and disappoint.
But the good news is that the Gunners are in good shape after restarting their campaign, with both away trips achieving satisfactory results, which will be somewhat reassuring to fans who want to see their new signings play out right away.
On the second Saturday of January, Arsenal travel north to North Yorkshire to meet old rivals Myburgh in the third round of this year's FA Cup, which is not an easy win for the visitors, who have just returned from vacation.
Due to the fact that he is about to encounter a strong opponent in the league, Li Mudi still uses the starting lineup of rotation plus youth players in the domestic cup competition, and there is no advantage in the comparison of strength. But perhaps it was the team's good fortune in the tournament that helped them to avoid being dragged into extra-time by Golovin who was evenly matched throughout the game, with Golovin netting a winner at the end of regulation time.
(PS: In 2016, the FA changed the rules that had been in place for many years, removing the rule that there would be a replay after a draw in the quarter-finals, and replacing it with extra time until a penalty shoot-out; From the beginning of the 2020-21 season, all replay rules after the third round will be completely abolished, in order to reduce the burden on Premier League teams. )
It's no secret in English football that the FA Cup is a blessed place for Arsenal, as they are the team that have won the most titles in the competition, albeit just one ahead of arch-rivals Manchester United. Arsene Wenger, who has not been able to achieve good results in other competitions for many years, has become the manager of the team that has won the most FA Cup in history by winning the most important cup competition in England seven times.
In fact, the professor has not been able to achieve anything in other competitions since his last Premier League title in 2004, and if it weren't for the four FA Cup triumphs in the 14 years since, the bell would have been ringing long ago.
However, for Li Mudi, it is clear that he will not attach much importance to the domestic cup competition, at least in this season, it is still necessary to focus on the league, supplemented by European competitions, and the rest is a burden that can be given up when necessary, and this decision has also helped him and his team to occupy some advantages in the league just three days later.
Although it is a continuous away game, the Arsenal team, whose main players do not have a big physical consumption of physical strength, can still exert 100% energy against the strong Leicester City, which is in obvious contrast to the opponent's two-line attack.
With the hope of a European place in the league table looming and the Carabao Cup already out of the Premier League, David Moyes is still keen on this only chance to help his side reach the Europa League schedule, and after winning Leeds United last weekend, the Leicester players had to drag their tired bodies to the league leaders, which caused some fitness problems in the second half.
In the end, the home team was in a favorable situation of scoring the first goal, but finally lost two points in a row because they could not keep up with the rhythm of the opponent after 70 minutes, and lost 1-2 at the guns of Arsenal.
The winning Gunners are still breaking the record for wins and points in the same period in team history, but they can't widen the gap with Manchester City behind them, because the latter also gnawed a tough bone in this round, beating strong rivals Chelsea by a narrow goal at home, and the gap between the top two teams is maintained at five points. However, Tottenham, who are third in the table, dropped the chain and lost to Wolves in an upset, which is one step away from their first league title in 60 years, and it is almost unattainable.
On Sunday 17 January, just two days before the closing of the transfer window for all levels of the English professional leagues, the 22nd round of the Premier League kicked off at three points on the day.
Returning to their home stadium, Arsenal ushered in the challenge of Stoke City, the bottom team, and Li Moody finally allowed the new signing to make an official appearance under the noses of the majority of fans. Before the kick-off, the club also held a small event for Wilshere to return to the Emirates Stadium as a warm welcome to his return home.
Wearing the No. 10 shirt that had been vacant since Ozil's departure, the moment the young threat followed his teammates onto the pitch with tears in his eyes, the 60,000 gunners at the scene spontaneously stood up and sent the most sincere applause to the team's former hopeful star, which was recorded in its entirety by the cameras of the broadcaster's "Sky Sports", and became a classic scene that touched fans around the world.
The Gunners were joined by Diego Llorente in the starting line-up, with the Spain international joining French veteran José Koscielny in the home team's centre-back pairing for the day, and the boss was clearly hoping he could bring enough consistency to his squad and his supporters to stop worrying about the defence.
That expectation was not met this weekend, though, as the mediocre Llorente in terms of pace has become accustomed to the defensive strategy and pace of his time in Italy and Spain. Although after landing in the UK, he has deliberately strengthened the adaptability practice in training, but in the official game, he is still a little unable to grasp the steps of the whole team, and many times there are hesitations and even leaks when filling up for teammates, resulting in his own goal being broken twice in a row in the first half, and in the second half, he gave the opponent a penalty because of a reckless break, and was given an ultra-low score of 35 (10 out of 10) by the media after the game, which can be described as miserable.
Thankfully, their attackers were in good form on the day, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Dan Welbeck, Mkhitaryan, Andreas Torreira and Kolasinac scoring a goal each to help Arsenal win 5-3 in the shootout, and continue to lead the table by five points with Manchester City also taking three points.
But it was the visitors' homegrown striker Saido Beraho, a Burundian-born Bujumbura black player who had taken refuge in England at the age of 10, scored a brace in the matchup, including a penalty he created himself, and narrowly missed the league leaders.
However, the outside world's coverage of the versatile frontcourt was not immediately skipped as in the past, but instead put him on the important news section two days later, because on the day the winter transfer window closed, Li Mudi introduced him into his own team for 24.3 million pounds, and Belasino was nicknamed by many as "the man who conquered the Gunners manager with one game".
Of course, these are jokes, and while it's not unheard of, it's a coincidence that Arsenal clearly don't have the financial resources to sign a player of a lot of money.
After two transfers last summer and this winter, the number of homegrown English players in the first team remains woefully low, with the exception of centre-back Holding and striker Welbeck who have been able to squeeze into the rotation, while the trio of Callum Chambers, Carl Jenkinson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are pure substitutes and can only get some minutes in cup competitions that are not taken seriously by the manager. And in order to show the full strength of his side in some strong dialogues, Li Mudi has even repeatedly discharged the starting list without a single local player, which has never happened in his previous coaching career.
Although most of the many European giants are mostly foreign players, they will basically have at least two or three local main players, and it is really rare for Arsenal to be in such a state this season.
Therefore, whether it is for the requirements of the European registration rules or the pursuit of the most correct team building policy, Li Mudi must make achievements in promoting youth players and introducing English players as soon as possible. Wilshere's return is an attempt at him, and while there are better options in the transfer market, there is no better fit for the Gunners than the current marginalisation of homegrown players in the squad.
However, due to the unshakability of the main positions of Ndidi and Torreira, the small threat can only get a rotation role, and the team still needs more excellent local players to join. Considering that goalkeepers and defenders were out of the box for a while, and Arsenal lacked striker positions, this last signing was not a surprise.
Although Belasino's potential in the F system is not very high, only 165, he is also an excellent frontcourt all-rounder with his current ability infinitely close to full value. The dribbling technique and speed are around 15, the passing awareness is also quite good, and the shooting ability of 17 is a first-class existence in today's English football. It can also play in the position of right winger and forward midfield, which will play a significant positive role in enriching the Gunners' attacking routine.
Li Muddy has secretly decided to rank his appearance in the team ahead of Welbeck, who can only play the role of central striker, the limitation is too great, if he can get a reliable pillar central striker, Heibe's days at Arsenal may come to an end.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is also included in the precarious striker, and if the Gabonese 'sprinter' fails to get rid of his bad habit of wasting chances by the end of the season, he won't be on the Gunners' list for next season.