Chapter 104: Meeting Liverpool
After selling Adebayo and Toure in a row, the Gunners started the new season with a 6-1 bloodbath for Everton. The glasses were scattered around by the prognosticators and were not ready to pick them up until the team's victory over Chelsea at the end of November last year. But they gained a firm foothold in the cold winter, and once relied on Xiao Qing's strong performance to taste the top of the list.
It's just that Arsenal's season has always been a battle of style and purpose: playing well and playing championly, and it seems that they can't be combined yet. Although Arsenal is still the league leader, although Arsenal have laughed in two consecutive top battles, they are not absolutely safe now, although they are holding the initiative to compete for the title, but Arsenal still cannot take it lightly.
The shortcomings of the squad and the experience to make up for it are the championship advantages of Manchester United and Chelsea; Compared to Arsenal, both teams have enough championship experience, they are more mature and do not have too many fatal flaws. Therefore, although Arsenal has achieved good results, they still need to work harder for the next games. Arsenal have managed to gain some advantage and they can't afford to squander their chances at this time, and now is a good chance for the young Gunners to sprint and they need to take it.
Age structure, physical fitness and tactical accomplishment, Arsenal's later life has no advantage, only the skills left are superficial, and only Jishu is destined to be useless. This is the impression that Arsenal left on fans and the media in the two top battles, although Arsenal has struggled through the difficulties, but Arsenal's shortcomings are still relatively worrying.
Nurture newcomers and live within your means. Advocate jishu. Focus on offense. None of this is wrong; Arsene Wenger has neglected character development while focusing on jishu, and he has become more and more paranoid and naïve in his tactical deployment. The lack of education has led to the fragile character of the current group of players, who cannot withstand setbacks, and are allowed to be eaten by others in adversity. They enjoy the sycophancy of the media so much that they forget that they have not yet achieved the size of the work, so they are blindly arrogant.
I have to admit that the Gunners have young players who are very young and talented. They are also the best teams in the Premier League and are the most beautiful and flashy; But when Arsenal won the halfway game, they got too much praise and they got a lot of fandom and the media touted a lot. So the young Gunners are a bit inflated, and then they are on the verge of being put to the brink in the battle for the top of the table against Manchester United and Chelsea.
If it weren't for Xiao Qing's decisive and wonderful performances in these two games in a row, then I believe that the current Arsenal would definitely be extremely distressed, and they would definitely be criticized overwhelmingly. Because although the score seems to be very favorable for Arsenal, it is just that Arsenal's performance during the game is really frustrating.
Xiao Qing is really powerless to complain about Arsenal's schedule, and the continuous encounters with strong opponents have made the Gunners under pressure during this time, and they have no chance to rest at this time, and they even feel breathless. The two consecutive top battles against Arsenal have indeed achieved good performances. But the next opponent in the 26th round is Liverpool, another Premier League giant.
Although Liverpool is weak and not strong. It can also be attributed to the absence of the main force, the incomplete lineup, and the strength of the giants to be reduced to the second rate. But the team has a fighting spirit, even in the bleakest moment, Benitez also bites the "top four firm", and finally looks forward to four consecutive home wins, seven rounds undefeated, stunned to drag himself from seventh back to the top four, partially fulfilling his promise.
Although Liverpool's performance this season is disappointing, but the performance of the Reds Liverpool in recent times can still make the fans more satisfied, they have been ranked seventh in the standings and finally climbed quickly in the standings with the unbeaten in the last seven rounds, although they have lost the opportunity to compete for the league title, although they are not far behind the first group, but Liverpool still has a good chance to win the top four in the standings and return to the Champions League next season.
Liverpool now have 44 points, but they are only one point ahead of Tottenham, with Manchester City and Villa tied on 41 points, and that's with both teams having a game in hand. So Liverpool are not in a safe position right now, they need to work harder to ensure they don't embarrass themselves in the table, and they need to take their chances in the remaining thirteen rounds.
Arsenal were Liverpool's next strong rivals, they were beaten by Arsenal at Anfield, and Liverpool also fell to the bottom of the first half of the game at that time; But now Liverpool's chance for revenge has come to challenge for the league leaders with their recent good form, and they have a chance to wrestle with Arsenal.
"It's going to be a crucial game for us. Our goal is to be able to move closer to the top three rankings through this race. Of course, our goal for the whole season is to finish in the top four, but as long as Arsenal give us a chance to go beyond it, we'll take it. Speaking to British Radio Sport Talk, Gerrard said, "We're going to compress their space and give them the lethal blow on the counter-attack." Everyone knows that if you give Arsenal time and space, they will crucify you. ”
Xiao Qing was a little stunned, Arsenal now has no energy to start a war of words with others, but this does not mean that Arsenal is so easy to bully; Xiao Qing definitely didn't expect that Liverpool couldn't bear the loneliness before the start of the 26th round of the game, and Xiao Qing definitely didn't expect that Gerrard would start to play at this time.
To be honest, although Xiao Qing is more sympathetic to the current downbeat situation of Liverpool, he is a little sad about the precariousness of such a wealthy family with a glorious history; But he really doesn't care about Liverpool, he doesn't think Liverpool have the ability to upset Arsenal at all.
Maybe it's just Gerrard's desire to show that the team wants to move further up the table, or maybe it's just a determination by Liverpool to get revenge away from home; However, this did not affect the pride of the Gunners, who have stumbled in the first two games at the top of the table, but Arsenal have proved their quality and put in good performances in the toughest fixtures of the season, which has also made the Arsenal players more confident now.
'Liverpool are a team that has to be respected, their history is admired by all the players, they are a great team and they have an amazing record. But as we all know, a lot of times the record is a motivating goal for the players to move forward, and I don't know if I can do more at Arsenal, but I know I'm trying to do my job well and I need to help the team do better. And Liverpool, I know they're not in a very good place right now; They want to move up the table and we need to work hard to maintain the advantage that we have so hard won. Their goal is to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League, and our goal is to win the league! Xiao Qing's unceremonious words completely detonated the public opinion media, it is obvious that this is Xiao Qing's riposte to Gerrard, and Xiao Qing's riposte is also a big irony for Liverpool.
Liverpool's goal is to secure the top four in the table, but Arsenal's goal is to win the league title! Liverpool does have a glorious history, but that is already in the past, and the current Liverpool may only be silent in the glory of the past, and the young Gunners are creating their own glory step by step!
Xiao Qing's words made the media in England very excited, as for Liverpool's fans, they were naturally very unhappy, they thought that Xiao Qing was too arrogant and arrogant, and they were all looking forward to Arsenal being taught a hard lesson by Liverpool at home.
Although Arsenal stormed Anfield in the first half of the game, Liverpool fans still have a lot of confidence in the team, because they don't think Arsenal have the quality to beat Liverpool twice, even if Arsenal are now league leaders. The first is that Arsenal has shown some stumbles in the last two rounds of strong dialogues, and the second is that Liverpool has been unbeaten in the last seven rounds of five wins and two draws, and their state is really good!
The league double against the Reds has rarely happened in recent years, when was the last time Arsenal did this? 2003-04 Season! As we all know, that was the last season Arsenal won the league title, and the Gunners also completed the first unbeaten unbeaten title in Premier League history. However, time flies, and I believe many Gunners fans did not expect that from the 4-2 home defeat to Liverpool in April 2004 until now, Arsenal has been unable to beat Liverpool twice in the league for too long.
The waiting process was so difficult, during this period, Arsenal was not only ousted from the throne by Chelsea first, but in the past three years, as Manchester United regained the domineering dominance of the 90s of the last century, the Gunners' watchful view of the league title has become the Premier League's version of "waiting for Godot".
Although Arsenal looks much better than Liverpool in the league now, when they did not win the title of Zuihou, both teams were relatively down-and-out Premier League giants, and they were in a more awkward situation. At best, it only gives the Gunners fans more to be proud of and boast about when facing KOPs.
But then again, as mentioned earlier, whenever Arsenal is expected to be high, they always drop the chain, but they can suddenly return to life after being sentenced to a suspended death, and why this phenomenon always happens to Arsenal, the team's poor stability is the key reason, and the reason why it cannot maintain stability is nothing more than that the squad is too young. And now it's time for Arsenal to try to get all the people to get to know them again. (To be continued......)