18？ 18

Arsene Wenger sat in the home team's dugout, bent over and watching the blue-shirted Chelsea players celebrate wildly on the pitch, and the Chelsea fans in the stands cheered equally obliviously, but those two numbers came to mind.

The former 18 is a question mark, but the latter 18 is an exclamation mark.

This was the question that many of the media had raised before the game, as Chelsea have gone 17 games winless against Arsenal in the last few years and they have not beaten Arsenal in many, many years, which is a psychological advantage for the Gunners.

After the arrival of Ye Qiu this season, the new coach and new players, after the drastic reform, this psychological pressure has weakened a lot, but Arsenal's psychological advantage has not been weakened much, until the last two legs of the league duel, Arsenal has failed to win the opponent, and they are all at a disadvantage on the field, which makes Arsenal a little panicked.

Arsene Wenger has no doubt that this year is the most promising year for Arsenal to hit the Champions League and the Premier League, not only because the team is in excellent form, but also because the main players including Thierry Henry, Vieira, Pire, etc. are in their playing years.

What I didn't expect was that suddenly a Chelsea horse was killed.

In the Premier League, Arsenal is behind Chelsea, and Wenger has no enough way to do this, because the league relies on accumulation, so he can only chase after him and wait for Chelsea to make mistakes, but in the European Champions Cup, Wenger is ambitious to eliminate Chelsea and win the Champions League.

As long as you pass Chelsea, whether it's Real Madrid or Monaco, it's not a problem

For the first leg against Chelsea, Wenger was painstakingly calculated, first doubting before the game, creating signs that Reyes, Ljungberg, Gilberto Silva, Ashley Cole and others were absent due to injury, and even many of his own people felt that it was true, but in the end these people were all on board.

He boldly replaced Bergkamp with Reyes, a risky approach that Wenger doesn't often use, but the results were clear, as Reyes scored the only goal of the first half and was a surprise in Arsenal's attack.

Defensively, Arsene Wenger has targeted Chelsea's attacking routines for the game countless times before the game, and has made all sorts of targeted arrangements and arrangements for the main attacking players in the Chelsea team, and he and his coaching staff have almost exhausted every possibility.

But at the end of the day, he left out one person, and that was Chelsea's No. 18, Claude Makellele

It's no surprise to miss Claude Makelele, as the French midfielder is best at defending, with his last goal coming back at Celta de Vigo in the 990 season, but in his two years at Celta he played 70 league games and scored three goals.

And in recent years, as Makelele's position has continued to move back, he has almost been insulated from the goal, which makes many, many people even wonder, will Makelele score? And many people also subconsciously put Makelele on the same level as a goal, saying that it is something that cannot happen.

I believe that countless people have overlooked the fact that Makelele is definitely a professional player with very solid fundamentals aside, and such a player, as long as he is given the opportunity, he can still score.

From the top of the arc to the goal, less than a meter, is it far?

For the current range of a professional player who casually fires a cannon of 30 meters, the meter is very short

Therefore, when Makelele's shot broke through Lehmann's goal, Wenger's first reaction was impossible, and the second reaction was frustration, because he had calculated a lot and missed a Makelele.

He should have thought about it a long time ago, because Deco was very far behind, and with Frank Lampard and Davies both pressing, how could Deco not press? The only explanation is that he deliberately did not press, and the reason why he did so was to create space and opportunities for Makelle to press.

When Arsenal's defense was focused on Deco, Lampard and Davies, Makelele, who had been stationed in front of the backline, suddenly pressed, completely disrupting Arsenal's rhythm, and everyone found out that no one was marking Makelele.

No. 18, unbeaten in 18 games, is there any hope?

Wenger can clearly feel that the breath in the chest of the players on the field, with the rapid loss of Makelele's shot, the physical energy was close to exhaustion, and now the opponent equalized, which made them all feel very annoyed and helpless.

But the worst thing is that Wenger obviously doesn't have many changes in his hands, because his team is all built around the French gang, Keown is old in the backline, Sendros and Klich are immature, Sigan has a lot of problems, there are only two substitutes in the midfield, Edu and Parlour in the midfield, and only two substitutes in Bergkamp and Wiltord in the front.

Bench depth has always been one of Arsenal's deadliest problems, and the reason for the team's repeated collapses in March and April, but Arsene Wenger has never wanted to further expand the team's squad and bench depth, which of course also has the team's financial budget problems, and partly because Wenger has never been good at rotation.

Perhaps, because Wenger is from an economic background, he has some ideas about finance, but it is undeniable that Arsenal's main squad is indeed very strong, but it is obviously insufficient in terms of bench thickness, whether it is with Manchester United or Chelsea, Arsenal's bench thickness can even be described as weak.

Of course, Wenger also has his own considerations, that is, if the control style of play adopts a rotation policy, the team's performance will definitely fluctuate, because the substitutes are certainly not as good as the main team, and for the team that adopts the possession style of play, the rotation and substitution will lead to an increase in the team's errors in ball control and passing and receiving

Ye Qiu also adopts a control style of play this season, but he does not chase possession, nor does he pursue offensive fluency, but pursues high-intensity pressing, and once he can't open the situation quickly, he transitions the ball to the front court and hands it to Ronaldinho, or finds Drogba through the wing-back forward side, and then opens up the situation, so it can be rotated appropriately.

But it is obvious that no matter how Arsenal changes, it is inseparable from Henry, Pire, Vieira and others, and the existence of these people determines that Arsenal's style of play must be based on ground control, and if it is ground-controlled, can Parlor rotate with Ljungberg?

Of course, it is possible to bring in skilled players to rotate from the beginning of the season, but the problem is that these types of players are not cheap.

The reason why many things in the world cannot be solved is not because the parties concerned can't understand it, because they can't understand it now, they will definitely understand it sooner or later, no one is hopelessly stupid, the real problem is that everyone can understand it, but there is no solution.

Perhaps, after the construction of Arsenal's new stadium is completed, Wenger will be able to show his strength

Ye Qiu noticed the sadness on Wenger's face, and now the person with a smile on his face is him, which can really be said to be a turn in feng shui.

Arsenal's morale has plummeted after the equaliser, and as the game continues, the fitness of the Arsenal players is running out rapidly, and Wenger does not seem to want to make a substitution yet, but it is expected to be soon.

"Arsenal should be starting to adjust, right?" Tengkat said beside Ye Qiu.

Ye Qiu thought for a while, shook his head and said: "I don't know how determined Wenger is, it depends on how determined Wenger is, there are not many cards in his hand that can be replaced, the current lineup is the most powerful lineup he can assemble, if you change people, that is, replace Reyes with Bergkamp, but how much effect can that achieve?" ”

This is the difference in team strategy, many people say that Ye Qiu is good at playing cup games, in fact, because Ye Qiu's team strategy has always been very change-oriented, for example, if Chelsea now asks for change, it is very simple, Ribery and Joe Cole replace Davis or Makelele, the team can immediately change the formation, and you can also play 333 depending on the situation.

On the other hand, Arsenal's bench line-up has almost no such substitutes available.

This is also the biggest problem of Wenger's Arsenal team all along, a set of lineups to the death, the main force is very strong, but you can never rely on a set of main lineup to beat the world, and in fact, this season, the reason why Arsenal can remain unbeaten, the main squad injuries are rarely a very important reason.

But this also leads to the accumulation of Arsenal's main squad with the accumulation of events, plus there is no winter break in the Premier League, even if Wenger tries to arrange substitutes and youth teams in the FA Cup and League Cup, but the main players are still very tired.

Not good at rotation, insisting on the main lineup to the end, this is also what Wenger implements the strategy of signing once a year after the age of 30, because it is not surprising that the phenomenon of premature aging caused by excessive fatigue of players, and in the previous life, there were far more stars in Wenger's hands than the stars he cultivated.

A lot of times, it's easy for fans to get caught up in something, such as seeing Arsenal start to be a home devil and think Arsene Wenger is good at developing young players, because they only see part of it and don't look at the rest.

Of course, Ye Qiu has always been sure that Arsene Wenger is absolutely great for Arsenal

"If he doesn't move, we won't move, and when he moves, we will move with him," Ye Qiu said with a smile.

The game has developed so far, Chelsea has taken control of the overall situation, Ye Qiu does not have the slightest worry, after the equalizer, Chelsea has away goals in hand, and the pressure is on Arsenal's side, it depends on how Wenger resolves the situation, and whether he has the courage to press out and play.

Ye Qiu has enough confidence in his team's defense, so he can't wait for Arsenal to press out and play.

But there are some things that he doesn't want to have, Wenger has never made substitutions, Chelsea has not made substitutions, Ye Qiu just attacked again after equalizing, and then asked the players to continue to maintain pressure, but appropriately relax some of the pressure and pressing on Arsenal.

The so-called appropriateness is to continue to wear down the fitness of the Arsenal players.

For this kind of technical team, the physical consumption to a certain extent, the body can no longer effectively complete the standardized technical movements, which will lead to the technical movements out of shape, and once the technical movements are out of shape, the mistakes in passing and receiving the ball will increase, which will inevitably bring some risks.

Ye Qiu will not change people, because he knows very well that the initiative is in his own hands, and if he continues to consume, Arsenal will have problems sooner or later.

He believes, and Arsene Wenger, knows this, but the Frenchman should be struggling with how to make a substitution

For a manager with a lot of experience and leading the team to play in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, every adjustment in the game, every substitution, must have its own purpose, so that it can be conveyed to the players.

Two substitutions before and after, with contradictory purposes, will only leave the players at a loss in the end.

Therefore, the head coach always believes in a principle at such a time, so as to respond to all changes, because many times, blind, purposeless substitutions and adjustments will only bring the opposite effect at the end of the day.

As for those who want to create luck by substitutions and then break the deadlock, Ye Qiu can only say that he should buy lottery tickets, and maybe the odds of winning the lottery may be higher.

Anyone could easily see smoke coming from the top of Thierry Henry's head, which meant that the French striker was on fire right now.

This game was hailed by Arsene Wenger as the most important game for Arsenal so far this season, but Thierry Henry was completely dumb in this game, and it can even be said that there was no performance, so why didn't he get angry?

And the reason why he didn't show anything was very simple, that is, the person in front of him

The handful of hair on the door of the head stands on end, I don't know how much wax Lu Dao has made to set it, the strange thing is that there are so many head balls, and it is not messed up, and under the straight vertical head is always a face that looks more like a sneer, small eyes, small nose, small ears, a villain, ugly to death.

But what makes Henry angry is that no matter where he moves, this person has always followed him, and his eyes have always been fixed on him, as if he is telling himself with great firmness that I will definitely stare at you

If it was in normal times, Bergkamp would definitely take the initiative to seek cooperation when he saw Henry being marked by the opponent, but in this game his partner was replaced by Reyes, and the Spaniard will be called the new Henry by many Arsenal fans, because he also likes to cruise on the left side, but in Henry's opinion, Reyes, who is fixed on the right side of this game, will not even be able to cooperate with him.

Against Henri Garreyes and against Taga Cannavaro, the former was almost completely defeated except for one goal

Regardless of where the ball came from, the Chelsea defence always seemed to be able to restrain and disintegrate, especially after conceding a goal, and they noticeably became more focused, not letting up even for a second, much to Henry's annoyance, temper and temper.

When he pulled to the left to get the ball and was caught by McCone and Terry, he saw that Reyes did not get close to him like Bergkamp, seeking cooperation, but waiting for his cross in the middle of the penalty area, Henry's heart suddenly became angry, he wanted to pick up this Spanish boy, slap him a few times, and ask him, why did you let Lao Tzu pass the ball to you?

It's not that he, Henry, plays a big name, it's not that he bullies newcomers, it's that he's so hot now

So Henry couldn't break through McCone and Terry's bag, and he crossed the ball straight and thought to himself, aren't you going to pass the ball? Pass the ball to you

Cannavaro was obviously prepared, this ball did not land well, because of the restrictions of McCone and Terry, the passing route was frozen a lot, and Reyes was obviously not prepared, he was waiting for Henry to pass the ball to him, so that he could eat Cannavaro alone, but he didn't expect that the Italian judged the landing point before him, and the header cleared to the left.

Evra won the ball and pushed forward quickly, and when he met Ljungberg, he passed directly to Davies.

The Dutchman cut in diagonally from the centre to the left, got the ball and quickly found a connection with Ronaldinho, who was in the middle of Lauren and Kolo Toure.

Chelsea's counter-attacking speed was not technically characterized by its speed, but it was clever to play.

When Ronaldinho rushed to the left side after Davies received the ball, he cleverly cut inside, on the one hand, he gave up the left side to Davies, and on the other hand, he went to find the gap between Lauren and Kolo Toure, and at this moment, Lauren had to guard against Davies and could not form a pinch with Kolo Toure.

Davies passed the ball to Ronaldinho's feet, but Kolo Toure reacted very quickly, he immediately stuck behind Ronaldinho, but the Brazilian leaned on Colo Toure with his body on the one hand, relying on his own people were already standing in the penalty area, Colo Toure did not dare to foul, and flexibly flicked the ball to his left side with his foot.

Ronaldinho's left side is the right side of the goal, at this time Drogba has run over to seek cooperation, and I don't know how the Brazilians saw Drogba, in short, he dialed, the ball just in front of Drogba, the Ivorian stretched out his right foot, so that the ball seemed to hit his instep, and rebounded directly and fell behind Collo Toure.

Collo Toure, who was looking at Drogba, realized that something was wrong at this time, because Ronaldinho, who was originally in front of him, didn't know when he was like a loach, sliding silently past him, and actually came to Drogba with a one-two collision with the wall on the line of the big penalty area.

Ronaldinho won the ball about 10 meters from the goal, facing the panicked Lehmann, the Brazilian made a skillful feint to trick Lehmann into thinking he was going to get up and make a save, but he chose to flexibly poke the ball directly into the bottom left corner of the goal, l

The whole process was done in one go, without waiting for anyone to react, Ronaldinho, who had already known in advance that he had stabbed the ball into the goal, quickly rushed out of the Arsenal penalty area, opened his arms, opened his big mouth excitedly, showed a mouth full of teeth, and celebrated the goal oblivionly.

It was only then that the cheers in the sky suddenly sounded, and everyone realized that the ball had been scored

Then everyone couldn't help but erupt in even louder cheers as Chelsea reversed