Chapter 21: Facing Manchester United

Arsenal's youth storm has set off huge waves in the FA Cup and League Cup, especially after the 6-3 defeat of league opponents Liverpool, even some Gunners fans can't help but call on Wenger to give more opportunities to young players.

Among Arsenal fans, Descartes, Walcott, Ramsey and Vela are affectionately called the "Four Little Tigers".

However, the "Four Little Tigers" will not be able to play collectively next time, there will be a question mark, because Arsenal has entered the semi-finals of the League Cup, to this point, Wenger can no longer give up the championship, and Arsenal has been pulled away by Manchester United by 11 points in the league, the league championship has basically become a bubble, for Arsenal who has not won a championship for three years, it is one to grab a championship.

In such a situation, no matter how difficult the situation of the main players is, it is impossible for Arsenal to play in the reserve team anymore.

What's more, their next game against north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur is so much of a grudge between Arsenal and Tottenham that fans won't allow him to let go at such a time even if Wenger wanted to.

The feud between Arsenal and Tottenham goes back to the distant last century, when Arsenal president Norris was ready to move his home stadium to Highbury near the centre of North London in 1913, a move that was seen as a provocation by Tottenham Hotspur - Tottenham had already set their home stadium at White Hart Lane in north London in 1899, and how could Tottenham and the fans not be annoyed that Arsenal were coming here to get a piece of the action?

As a result, a deep class feud between the two teams was formed, and the relationship between the two teams was further aggravated by the departure of Graham from Highbury and into the arms of White Hart Lane after nine years at Arsenal.

Graham's "Iron Army" has made great achievements for Arsenal, and he has also become a meritorious coach in the eyes of fans, but his hero suddenly turned around and joined the camp of sworn enemies, how can Arsenal fans swallow this breath?

So in the north London derby, Arsenal fans began to boo Graham and his Tottenham legion, and Tottenham fans were not to be outdone, returning to home also did not give the Gunners a good face, back and forth, the relationship between the two teams gradually evolved into a life-and-death enemy.

The latest episode features the defection of Tottenham's defensive stalwart Campbell to Highbury, which angered Tottenham's top brass and fans, and then the two got into a fight.

Therefore, in the face of Tottenham, whether Wenger is willing or not, he must make an all-out gesture, otherwise no matter how many titles he wins and how many games his unbeaten run continues, he will become a sinner in the eyes of Arsenal fans.

This is the derby, this is the north London derby.

However, the match between Arsenal and Tottenham will not start until January 25, and they have a very important league game before that: on January 21, Sir Alex Ferguson will lead his Red Devils to Highbury, and as a pair of happy enemies who have been entangled for a decade, Wenger will not be able to prepare a generous gift for Lord Fowl.

This generous gift, of course, is to kick Manchester United's ass with all his might.

To tell the story of Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson, we have to paraphrase the adage that "it takes three days and three nights to tell". Ferguson succeeded Atkinson as Manchester United in 1986, and Arsene Wenger took charge of Arsenal in 1996.

When Alex Ferguson first arrived, the Reds, like their noisy neighbours, Manchester City, were in a relegation spiral, and the team was so poor that they were in debt and had to sell players to keep the club running. In 1989-1990, Manchester United suffered a 5-1 defeat at home to Manchester City, and the club was almost ready to call the media to announce the decision to sack him. Robbins' goal won over Nottingham Forest, which was one of Europe's biggest names at the time, and went on to win the FA Cup – Ferguson's first trophy in three and a half years at Old Trafford.

We all know the rest of the story, the "King" Cantona arrived at Old Trafford, the class of 92 was born, and Lord Ferguson led his Red Empire to 13 league titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 10 Community Shields, 2 European Championships, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, and a UEFA Super Cup in 26 years......

He alone won the championship in 26 years, almost about the same as the other 19 teams combined.

And in Manchester United's most proud days, the only thing that can compete with them is Arsene Wenger's Gunners.

Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal at the start of '96 and brought the Gunners back to third place in the league table, and the following year he won both the League Cup and FA Cup, giving hope to the Gunners who had been struggling under Graham.

In the 2001-2002 season, Arsene Wenger finally led Arsenal to the league title, ending the Red Devils' previous three-year red rule, and in the 2003-2004 season, Arsenal finally reached their peak - they created an impressive record of 26 wins and 12 draws in 38 games in the Premier League, and they were unbeaten in the Premier League.

The confrontation between Wenger and Ferguson has also become the signature of the Premier League in the past ten years, and it can be said that the rise of the Premier League is absolutely inseparable from the ten-year grievances between these two people.

It wasn't until 2013 that Lord Ferguson finally stepped down from office, and the Premier League ended this 17-year rivalry, and we must believe that world football has not had such a moving history before, and it will never be in the future.

Allow me to make a toast to our seventeen years that have passed.

With that backdrop, we can guess how seriously Arsene Wenger will take this game against Manchester United.

Despite the Carabao Cup semi-final four days later, Arsene Wenger was obliged to field all his available key players, with the only surprise being that Descartes, who is about to turn 18, was also in the squad.

This news made Descartes ecstatic, and at the same time made his friends very surprised, Walket ravaged the hair of Descartes and said stupidly: "You are so lucky, you can catch up with the game against Manchester United, obviously I am better than you, why didn't Mr. Wenger take a fancy to me?" ”

As a little bald head, Walcott envied not only Descartes' outstanding consciousness, but also his shiny blonde hair, so he would ravage Descartes' hair at every opportunity.

And Descartes was used to this, and while easily opening Walcott's magic hand, he happily teased: "What else is better than me besides running faster than me?" ”

Walket flexed off the muscles in his arm and replied with a smug face, "I'm stronger than you." ”

Descartes pinched the two thin bulging "muscles" twice with disdain, and said contemptuously: "Then you should hurry up and participate in bodybuilding, football matches are no longer for you." ”

Walcott was furious, pointed at Descartes and said angrily, "I'm going to fight you alone!" ”

Descartes raised his eyebrows and replied, "Yes, but you are not allowed to make hard trips with speed." ”

"Cut!" Walcott raised his middle finger and said with a sinister face: "You think I'm stupid? ”

Descartes nodded, expressing his deep approval, and immediately attracted Walcott's relentless pursuit, and the giggling and squatting between the two spread far and wide on the training ground.

Although Descartes pretended to be casual on the surface, he still felt very apprehensive in the face of such an important game.

In the previous game, because he needed to undergo special physical strengthening training, Wenger didn't even let him sign up for the FA Cup, I didn't expect him to have the opportunity to qualify for Manchester United, although not the main team, but Descartes couldn't help but feel overjoyed, think Keane, think Scholes, think about Giggs, just by reciting these names, Descartes felt a rush of blood in his heart, excited about to faint.

It was the most important stage of his life so far, and Descartes was looking forward to the game with great hope.

On January 21, Highbury Stadium was crowded, and at least 45,000 fans poured into the stands with a capacity of 38,500 spectators, all of whom came to cheer for Arsenal.

And when the Manchester United players stepped onto the pitch, the boos on the sidelines reached their peak, almost breaking through the roof of the stadium and going straight into the sky.

Lord Ferguson did not send his full squad in this game, due to Saha's injury, he lined up Rooney and Rossi in the front line, and the midfield was missing Ryan Giggs and Carrick, Park Ji-sung and Alain. Smith came in, right midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo, forward Scholes, and Nemanja Vidic also suffered a minor injury at the back, so Silvestre replaced him and Leo. Rio Ferdinand formed a centre-back pairing, with Heinze on the left and Gary on the right. Neville.

Arsenal's line-up is strikers Thierry Henry and Adebayo, and midfielders Rosicky, Baptista and Gilberto. Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Lauren, Toure, Senderos, Clichy lined up at the back.

Both teams have injuries, so now they are the strongest they can put out.

The match was also broadcast live from Sky Broadcasting, the Premier League's signature fixture, with more than 1 million fans expected to tune in to watch the game in front of their televisions.

Amid repeated cheers and boos from the 45,000 fans at the scene, this high-profile league finally kicked off.

Manchester United played away from home, so their strategy in the first half was based on defense, Park Ji-sung and Alan Smith teamed up to block the midfield, Cristiano Ronaldo was responsible for repeated attacks on the left and right flanks, and Scholes continued his shadow killer nature, silently dispatching in the front court, and playing the role of giving the enemy a fatal blow.

As for Wayne Rooney, his goal is to crush the opposition backline like a tank and create space for Paul Scholes or Cristiano Ronaldo to be ready to plug in behind him.

Rooney's partner, Rossi, who is also Italian, came to the Premier League before Descartes, and was brought to Old Trafford by Manchester United's scouts in 2004.

It's a pity that his football career is high and low, he played 13 games at Manchester United, scored 4 goals, but never became the right choice for Lord Fruel, with the arrival of Beba and others, he was finally sold to Villarreal by Manchester United, and then he has been transferred to Newcastle, Parma and many other teams, and finally settled in the purple lily.

His threat to the Arsenal goal is almost negligible.

What really makes Arsenal jealous is actually Ronaldo who is cruising behind Rooney.

After participating in the World Cup this season, Ronaldo has undergone a shocking transformation, he has changed from the "kid who can only pedal a bicycle" in the mouth of people to an out-and-out goal machine, he has scored 13 goals in the Premier League, and has scored 18 goals for Manchester United in all competitions, although not as crazy as the 2007-2008 season, but has initially shown his goalscoring talent.

His signature moves are no longer complicated and flamboyant cycling, he is gradually learning to use the combination of body and speed to break through, and like Descartes, Ronaldo seems very thin when he first arrives at Manchester United, but after a few seasons of Premier League training, he has become a very strong all-round player.

And it was Ronaldo's speed and breakthrough that helped Manchester United break the deadlock on the field in the 38th minute, C fell to the bottom line of the penalty area and passed, Rooney followed up with the shot, and the aging Lehmann was powerless to stop the shot, and Manchester United unexpectedly took a 1-0 lead in the first half.

This goal also made Wenger on the sidelines angry, he had made detailed arrangements before the game, and there were special arrangements for Ronaldo's marking, but even so it was broken through to the bottom line by Ronaldo, and the left-half defensive line composed of Senderos and Clichy left an indelible stain on the professor's heart.

In the second half, Descartes still did not get the opportunity to play, Wenger replaced Baptista with Hleb to enhance the ball control in the frontcourt, although Hleb was much worse, but the Belarusian's small-ball skills are not comparable to the abnormal Brazilians.

However, as an old rival who has known each other for many years, Wenger's change did not surprise Ferguson, and with a wave of his hand, the team immediately shrank the line to the middle, greatly compressing the space for Arsenal's midfield to control the ball, making it difficult for Hleb to display his martial arts.

And in the face of Leo. The backline composed of Rio Ferdinand and Silvestre, Henry and Adebayor did not have too good chances, the Kings of Highbury were a little tired in this game, since the departure of Bergkamp, Pire, Vieira and others, Henry single-handedly held up the entire sky of Arsenal, he hardly got any time to rest, at least 64 games a season, his fatigue is obvious.

And Togo's rough brother Adebayo is more of a goalscorer who relies on his teammates to play, his individual skills are not outstanding, and in this game, the nerve knife Sylvester suddenly went crazy, and his condition was amazingly good, and he didn't get any chances.

The situation on the field has been stalemate in the repeated contention of the midfield, although Arsenal wants to attack, but their forward line is in a very bad state in this game, can only sigh in vain, and Manchester United is in the middle of the game, can achieve a score of 1:0 is already satisfied, so Lord Fu did not attack again, but asked the team to defend solidly, and have the opportunity to use Ronaldo's speed to counterattack.

Such a scene made the audience on the sidelines feel very dissatisfied, you know, Arsenal fans are not those small town residents of Pavia, they have seen the world, they are fans of giants, as long as the team does not perform well, no matter who they dare to boo, so the sidelines began to sound boos.

It is believed that if the situation does not improve, there will be a massive wave of boos from the fans.

Arsene Wenger's face was starting to look a little ugly, with more than two-thirds of the way into the game and his players still unable to find a way to break through United's barriers, and it looked like a substitution was inevitable.

Arsene Wenger's eyes quickly swept over the bench, and because the team's main substitute striker Robin van Persie was out due to injury, there were only three attacking personnel left on the bench for this game, Hleb, Diaby and Descartes.

Hleb has replaced Baptista and now needs to improve the team's attack, with Diaby clearly not the best choice for a weak attack, and Arsene Wenger has finally set his sights on Descartes, who is making his first Premier League appearance.

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ps: Tomorrow's holiday, although I don't understand why I want to say congratulations to individuals on the National Day, but I still wish everyone a happy holiday. I wanted to say that there was only one chapter today, but I don't think everyone would agree, so I had to grit my teeth and come out in the afternoon, and I even gave up the opportunity to go home for dinner, so, you know?