Arsenal hosted Manchester United in a very classic 'battle for the Chiefs'.

The spotlight of the match was on rising Dutch star Robin van Persie.

Robin van Persie came off the bench.

With 67 minutes played, United relied on Wayne Rooney's first goal in eight league games to keep Arsenal ahead and Arsene Wenger brought on Robin van Persie for Hleb and sent a signal to his players.

It's time to give it a go!

It was a classic substitution as Van Persie's introduction played a decisive role.

Prior to this round, Robin van Persie was Arsenal's most efficient goalscorer, scoring an average of 148 minutes, more than Thierry Henry's 160 minutes.

Van Persie continues to be efficient.

The goal came in the 83rd minute, Rosicky crossed from the right, Henry rubbed it in the back corner of the middle, Van Persie slapped it to the back post, and from a small angle, decisively pushed the top of the goal with his left foot, goalkeeper Van der Sar was helpless.

Robin van Persie equalised for Arsenal and the cheers at the Emirates Stadium reached their limit.

The golden goal pulled Arsenal back from the brink of death.

In the third minute of stoppage time, when the referee was about to blow the whistle for the end of the game, Thierry Henry scored the winning goal for Arsenal as they beat Manchester United to end a six-year embarrassing run of home games against the Red Devils.

When talking about Van Persie after the game, Wenger said with some regret, "I didn't plan to let Van Persie play because 'he still has a problem with his ankle', but Rooney's goal and Hleb and Rosicky couldn't open the wing for a long time, so I had to choose to let him play." ”

Van Persie was forced to play.

Arsene Wenger praised Van Persie's 'sense of smell', "It's hard to give the players where they should be when and where they should be, you have to be born with that ability and feeling. ”

"Van Persie can both forward [sprint] and drop back [to respond], he has matured a lot on the pitch, from an individual to a member of the team.

But the memories of this game are not all sweet, Wenger confirmed after the game that Van Persie accidentally injured after scoring a goal, and the bone in his foot was "partially cracked", "It has nothing to do with the old injury, he injured his foot after the goal, and he is really worried about his ankle". ”

Arsene Wenger's heavy tone worried many, and soon the latest news from The Sun confirmed that Van Persie had a fractured fifth phalangeal bone in his right foot and could miss the rest of the season.

If the results of a detailed examination are indeed an early farewell to the season, it will undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to Arsenal's future prospects.

————

Of course, Arsenal factors aside, the defeat was also a heavy blow to Manchester United.

Manchester United were just ten minutes away from beating Arsenal, but Rooney's first goal in eight games didn't give them the last laugh, and the 200th meeting between the two giants of the Premier League ended in defeat for the Red Devils, plus a 0-1 defeat at home in the first leg, Manchester United tasted the bitter taste of "double defeat" again after five years.

In the 18th round of the league, Manchester United had just lost to West Ham United, and this defeat also cost Manchester United three more points.

Millwall went all the way up, beating West Ham United to win four consecutive league games, and at the same time, they also opened a six-point gap in the standings and completely secured the first place in the league.

By the next day, Zhang Yang was in a good mood.

United's defeat was a bonus, and widening the gap meant less pressure and no more worrying about losing a game and being tied or overtaken by Manchester United.

The players are also very relaxed.

It also made the atmosphere of training the second day relaxed, and Van Persie's serious injury gave many teams, including Millwall, a wake-up call that the injured players would definitely not be able to play.

The current time is the high incidence of injuries, and we must pay more attention to the physical condition of the players.

Zhang Yang has other troubles.

The hype in the Spanish media continues, and it is constantly mentioned in the reports that he may join Real Madrid as an assistant coach, and many reporters are squatting outside the club, wanting to interview the news, and there are big media to book interviews.

Zhang Yang decided to hold a press conference after the training to clarify the rumors.

The Spanish hype was vigorous, and the British media continued to report it, and some people in the team believed the contents.

Frederick came over and asked, "Zhang, are you really going to Real Madrid?" ”

Zhang Yang rolled his eyes, "I don't know about this at all, there must be some misunderstanding, I am planning to clarify it to the media after the training is over." ”

Wilkinson walked into the training ground, and he went straight to Zhang Yang and asked about it.

Zhang Yang asked helplessly, "Will you believe it?" I gave up the contract I just signed just to go to Real Madrid as an assistant coach? It doesn't make sense at all, and I'm Chinese, not Spanish. ”

"Of course I believe you, just to make sure. When you say that, I probably understand. ”

"What?" Zhang Yang was a little confused.

Frederick and Wise also came over to listen to Wilkinson's explanation.

"To put it simply, Real Madrid's president, Calderón, uses you as a bargaining chip to win over members and the board. He said that he hoped to get the support of more members in a short period of time to consolidate his chairmanship. ”

Zhang Yang was stunned for a while, pondered for a moment, and said, "So, I'm being used?" ”

"Yes."

Wilkinson was very sure.

Zhang Yang is a little unbelievable, is it really 'people sit at home, disaster comes from the sky', he has nothing to do with Real Madrid, and he will become a bargaining chip for the other party's president?

"There are a lot of people who have been used, such as Kaka, Robben, Calderón's chips in the race for president, to get these players to join Real Madrid, he said it to everyone, he just didn't do it." Wilkinson explained, then laughed, "It's kind of funny that you can be tied with these stars." ”

"It's not something to be proud of."

Zhang Yang will not take it as a joke, because he is being used, and he is inexplicably used, and he feels that when he faces reporters for a while, his tone must be stronger.

An hour later, Zhang Yang was talking to Ruan Hailong about the Christmas Weibo update, when suddenly the phone called, and he looked down and noticed that it was Andy.

"Zhang, a call from Madrid, they want to ask if you are interested in joining Real Madrid."

Andy said in high spirits.

"What's the situation?" Zhang Yang didn't expect Real Madrid to really call.

"They prescribed...... Very interesting conditions. Yes, I was shocked. Andy said, "The manager said that if you can go to Real Madrid as an assistant coach, you are guaranteed an annual salary after tax, and the minimum is five million euros. ”

"Five million euros?" Zhang Yang pulled the corners of his mouth.

Real Madrid is really willing to spend money, with an annual salary of five million euros after tax, to hire an assistant coach?

It's too extravagant.

If it had been before last season, when Millwall had just been promoted to the Premier League, Real Madrid offered him this price and invited him to join the coaching team, maybe he would not have refused.

Five million euros!

The contract signed by Zhang Yang and Millwall, the average annual salary before tax is only 3 million pounds, which is almost 4.1 million euros, and Real Madrid directly raised the salary to 5 million, which is still 'the minimum can be obtained', that is, there is a lot of room for floating.

However, Zhang Yang was not moved at all, because his contract with Millwall has a series of bonus sharing clauses, as long as Millwall gets good results, he can easily get an annual salary of more than five million euros.

Andy continued, "The manager also said that Real Madrid will help you pay liquidated damages, and he also promised that after four years at Real Madrid, when the time is right, he will consider making you the manager of Real Madrid. ”

“……”

Zhang Yang felt a little speechless.

What a haughty face it must be to say it!

"As long as you work at Real Madrid for four years, we will consider you as the head coach of Real Madrid!" In other words, "You don't have the invitation to become the manager of Real Madrid yet, come and join Real Madrid!" Work hard and you'll have a chance later. ”

"What do you think?" Andy asked.

"What do you say?"

"Of course, I guess...... You will definitely refuse. Andy laughed, "I'm just calling to tell you about it, and I'll check with you by the way." Then I'll help you refuse. ”

"You're still going to call?" Zhang Yang asked suddenly.

"yes?"

"Don't say no outright. Give them my number and let Calderón call at six o'clock. ”

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

————

It was none other than Real Madrid's sporting manager Mijatovic who called Andy.

Although he is confident in the attractiveness of Real Madrid and the high salary, Mijatovic still does not have much confidence in poaching Zhang Yang, he just contacted Zhang Yang's agent according to Calderón, and talked about Real Madrid's sincerity in general, so that the other party can move on to the next step.

This is Mijatovic's strategy to poach people, and it is also a strategy implemented by Calderón.

Zhang Yang really became his bargaining chip.

Calderón and Mijatovic discussed the practice of constantly contacting Zhang Yang's agent, or contacting Zhang Yang himself, or even his acquaintances and friends, to constantly create news that 'Real Madrid has been in contact with Zhang Yang', and the longer the time drags on, the better.

This is very beneficial to them.

If it can be negotiated to let Zhang Yang come to Real Madrid, the process of 'delaying time' can also make Real Madrid's chips lower, otherwise, the process of 'delaying time' will also make the media make continuous reports, leaving everyone with the impression that 'Real Madrid has been working hard to poach', but in the end it didn't succeed, and then the media and fans will attribute part of the responsibility to 'Zhang Yang's rejection of Real Madrid', rather than their promise not being fulfilled.

From this point of view, Calderón deserves to be called a 'football politician'.

What Mijatovic didn't expect was that something seemed uncertain about things, and he had just contacted Zhang Yang's agent, and the other party called and said that Calderon and Zhang Yang would talk in person?

"Zhang Yang asked me to talk to him? So, he's tempted? When Mijatovic said this, Calderon was immediately very proud, and he felt that it was the wisest decision he had made since taking office.

"Probably, right?" Mijatovic is not sure.

Calderon thought for a moment and said, "But according to the original plan, we will continue to drag, and after a while on the phone, I will give him an uncertain attitude, and then the initiative is in our hands." ”

"Let's hope everything goes well." Mijatovic said, but his face did not change in the slightest.

He always felt that something was wrong.