Chapter 50: Pressure and Yellow Cards
On 26 October, the 10th round of the 2009/10 English Premier League season was contested at Upton Park. Although West Ham are only in the relegation zone, they are still attractive as a London team, and this is also a London derby.
And when it comes to West Ham, I have to say that the once famous Hammers, West Ham has a long history, and West Ham was originally a team that belonged to workers. Founded in 1900 as the Thames Ironworks, the team was nicknamed "The Hammers" by the workers who carried the hammers. Coupled with a tough style of play, the Hammers can be said to be well deserved.
West Ham may be the epitome of a simple and brutal team, while Arsenal are the most flamboyant and slickest team in Europe, and the rivalry between these two teams with extreme styles is certainly attractive, even if the two teams are now in opposite positions at the top of the table.
Arsenal have won three and drawn one against West Ham in the past two seasons, remain unbeaten and have an absolute advantage. In the 28 Premier League games between the two sides, Arsenal won 16, drew 6 and lost 6. With seven wins, five draws and two defeats away, it can be said that Arsenal are still quite confident at Upton Park, although West Ham may be depressed by rough winds, but Upton Park is definitely one of Arsenal's favourite away games because they can get enough points here.
This game seems to be a good sign for Arsenal, who still have a few players on their injury list, but have been understaffed since the start of the new season. Now there are signs of turning around. Mannoni continued to start. The main goalkeeper Almunia sat on the bench for three consecutive games. Bendtner and Da Eduardo returned from groin injuries, while Nasri, who had a pre-season leg injury, was also on the bench. West Ham midfielder Parker returns from suspension and captain Upson plays against his former club.
goalkeeper Mannoni; Sarnia, Gallas, Vermaelen and Klich on the back line from right to left; In midfield, midfielder Alexander Song; attacking maneuvers Bregas, Diaby and Arshavin; On the forward line, Van Persie and Xiao Qing partnered.
West Ham 4-4-2 line-up, goalkeeper Green; Defender line Spektor, Tomkins. Upson, Ilunga; Behrami, Parker, Noble and Collins in midfield; Twin strikers Carlton Cole, Franco.
Xiao Qing felt very awkward, he didn't like the playful glances of his teammates, and of course the gossip of West Ham's players made him very unaccustomed; Although West Ham and Arsenal are both London teams, there is no big contradiction between the two teams in general.
West Ham United have strained relations with a number of clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, which are also in the London area; The rivalry with Chelsea has been a fixture with the two clubs' long history and has been dubbed the "East and West London Derby" by the media. The relationship with Tottenham Hotspur is due to the inclusion of Michael Hotspur. Carrick, Martin. Peters, Paul. Allen, Jermaine. Defoe and Scott. Parker and other players were poached into corners.
So it's even a little bit malicious to think that Arsenal and West Ham are both bitter enemies of Tottenham Hotspur, all right. The enemy of the enemy is a friend, and Arsenal don't even have much closeness to West Ham. But there is no tension in the relationship.
West Ham fans are largely known for their football hooligans, but it has to be said that West Ham fans are still quite hardcore, and they have a lot of die-hard fans. And now, the well-known West Ham fan of recent times, Piccia Pixi. Lott was depressed and got in touch with Xiao Qing again, and Xiao Qing could be regarded as having encountered an unwarranted disaster.
Actually, to be honest, Xiao Qing and Pixie. Lott's relationship is really average, although those media like to hype up the scandal between him and Pixie, but they really don't have much connection. It's just that what is a little depressing now is that Pixie is in the limelight now, and there are so many ulterior motives in the media before the game, so it's very simple, although this matter is not a big trouble, but it is indeed a bit of gossip.
The Pixies are staunch West Ham loyalists, and although her favourite player is Frank Lampard, she is also a West Ham fan. So when some media mentioned that Arsenal and West Ham, where Xiao Qing played, were about to meet, Pixie was depressed. Although she said that she supported West Ham, she and Xiao Qing actually have nothing to do with each other, but now those media only need to know out of context that she will go to the scene to watch the game, this is the first contact between Xiao Qing and Pixie in public after the media have hyped this topic for a long time.
Originally, I just wanted to prove that there was no relationship with Xiao Qing at all, but the out-of-context quotes of those hapless media made the current Pixie in a dilemma, even if she supported West Ham, but now it seems that she is still cheering for Xiao Qing. And in order to stimulate the sales of newspapers, those media do not need to worry about the feelings of Xiao Qing and Pixie at all, for them, the sales of newspapers are the most important.
Xiao Qing was very depressed, he was very embarrassed to appear in the gossip eyes of the players on both sides, especially the big mouth of Senderos who transmitted a lot of content to the ears of his teammates some time ago, so they also thought that there must be a story between Xiao Qing and Pixie. And this time, it seems that Xiao Qing doesn't want to explain clearly in a short period of time.
It's very interesting to watch other people's gossip and gossip, but it's not necessarily good to really fall on yourself; Now Xiao Qing can only appear embarrassedly, and even he feels that many people are coming to see the gossip in this game.
Although he felt a lot of unpleasant things when he played, but now that the game is about to officially start, Xiao Qing still put aside all those unhappiness temporarily, now what he needs is a good haode game, and now he needs to help the team win. Although Arsenal now occupy the position of the league leader, they have to admit that their advantage is not obvious, especially when Chelsea and Manchester United still have the strength to chase after them, and Arsenal need to make sure that they do not make mistakes. Not to mention, they had just messed up the birthday celebration for Arsene Wenger, and now they need to seize the opportunity to make amends.
Only one minute into the opening game, Alexander Song picked up a pass in the penalty area, Van Persie ferried, and Xiao Qing turned directly and volleyed and was blocked by the opposing defender. Two minutes later, Cesc Fabregas went through, Xiao Qing broke through and split the ball on the weak side, and Van Persie's shot from the left side of the box was saved by Green. Although they failed to score for the time being, Arsenal's ferocious attack made West Ham feel the pressure, and it is no joke to claim that the strongest attacking ability in Europe, and now West Ham has no chance to counterattack Arsenal, and now they can only strengthen their defense in frustration.
Arsenal is strengthening the attack in the hope of scoring goals to win the game, Xiao Qing is also very active at this time, and he began to burst out with more and more powerful offensive ability. In the previous Champions League group stage, Xiao Qing was given key attention and failed to score, although West Ham's defense against him in this game was also quite strong, but Xiao Qing broke out with a stronger fighting spirit, because he needs to prove himself, even if the defensive pressure is huge, but he will not be frozen so easily, he needs to prove that he can achieve a wonderful performance under heavy pressure.
There was a controversial scene in the twelfth minute of the game, Arshavin broke down the wing and crossed with his feet; Xiao Qing slammed the ball forward a little bit in front of the penalty area, and Xiao Qing, who had been separated by the ball, directly volleyed into the penalty area; But the ball seemed to hit the hands of the eye-catching former Arsenal defender Upson, Xiao Qing dared to guarantee that it was a handball, it should be a penalty, but the referee did not indicate anything at all.
"Man, you can see clearly, it's handball!" Xiao Qing yelled angrily at the referee, Wenger had complained that Xiao Qing did not get enough respect on the field, although Wenger was indeed fined for bombardment, but Xiao Qing also understood at this time that he seemed to be too low-key on the court, and he needed to fight for enough attention for himself.
"I don't know if you're seen or whatever, but I think if you're able to be a referee, then you have to show your professionalism!" Although the referee had a straight face, Xiao Qing still chattered behind him and complained, "Can I see your referee card?" Such obvious penalties will be missed, and maybe you need to improve your level again; Of course, if you don't have good eyes, I can give you a pair of glasses! ”
Upton Park was in an uproar, because Xiao Qing, who had been following the referee, finally succeeded in angering the referee, a yellow card, because Xiao Qing seemed to be attacking the referee, if it wasn't for the Arsenal players to pull Xiao Qing away in time, maybe it would be two yellow cards or a direct red card.
Xiao Qing shrugged his shoulders, although it was a yellow card, he didn't care at all, and it was even very likely that he would be punished after the game for questioning the referee's decision, but Xiao Qing didn't care about these at all. He is not easy to provoke, in the past, he just played on the court honestly and quietly, but now Xiao Qing knows that he needs to get more attention to fight for more treatment for himself, at least he can't let everyone think that he is a soft persimmon. Although this may anger the referee, Xiao Qing believes that the referee will be more cautious in the next game, and even in the future games, the referees need to worry about Xiao Qing's big mouth.
Although he got a yellow card, Xiao Qing was in a good mood, and Xiao Qing, who was not affected in any way, began to continue playing. (To be continued......)