Chapter 49: Hope and Remedy
Arsenal really messed up, and the three points that came in their hands became one because of their carelessness; Although the current three Champions League group games have also given Arsenal two wins and one draw to seven points, it is clear that the first place in the group will need to be sealed in the fourth group game. It's entirely Arsenal's own work, perhaps because of their recent good results that have made them a bit inflated, which has taught them a hard lesson now.
And the victory that was originally intended to be given to coach Arsene Wenger for his 60th birthday also became embarrassing at this time, and he failed to win, and the current Arsenal players are really disgraced.
After being breached in stoppage time, Arsenal's desire for three points away from home was halted in the moment of Zuihou, and Arsene Wenger certainly won't be happy. In an interview with Sky Sports after the game, Wenger lamented that the Champions League is still the Champions League, and his team should not make a single mistake, and as for celebrating his birthday, he is not in the mood.
Wenger said: 'We were frustrated because we played better than them today. We did well overall, but we didn't take advantage of our chances, so we were caught up in the Zuihou moment. If you have three minutes of stoppage time, you need to concentrate for 93 minutes, and you may make a mistake once, but you may have to pay for it. This is the Champions League. I'm sorry for the goal we conceded, maybe our players need to be smart at this point and I hope they can learn the lesson, it's good that it's only in the group stage, we have a chance to make amends, and if it's in the knockout rounds, it's probably going to make a season go naught.' ”
Of course, Arsene Wenger is not only reminding his players that they need to pay attention, but he is also working hard for the interests of his own team; As a big man in football. Arsene Wenger certainly knows something about fighting for his own good. It's not something to see in the eye. Even if you can't get obvious bias completely, at least you can't let others find benefits in your own home.
"The Champions League represents the highest level of football competition right now and I believe there needs to be more fairness here. Although I understand that sometimes misjudgments are part of the game, I hope to reduce them as much as possible, which will affect the attractiveness and fairness of the Champions League. Perhaps many people understand that some top players may be more likely to get some rights on the court; I'm sure everybody understands that, we need to protect our players, we need to play better. Arsene Wenger was a little frenzied. While it's likely that he'll be fined by UEFA, it's worth it if he's treated more fairly, as teams like Arsenal don't like fouls and don't want to be fouled by rough fouls.
'You've seen Shaw's performances and I think he's one of the best players at the moment. But looking at Xiao's treatment, he didn't get enough respect at all; I know Shaw has scored a lot of goals and I know Shaw has the ability to help the team win more. But looking at Shaw's stats, he got a penalty? I don't think so. "Arsene Wenger is upset, so he wants the others to be upset. He's going to disgust some people.
"I said that misjudgments are part of the game and these are things that can be avoided a lot. In this game, I think everyone saw the defense against Shaw. Everyone also saw what happened after Shaw was tackled in the penalty area. It's a penalty, there's no doubt about it; But it's a pity that the referee doesn't think so, and it's not even just the referee of this game, I think many referees will be indifferent when they see Shaw fall in the penalty area; Shaw has had a couple of penalties this season, as if there was only one! But looking at the defense against Shaw, I guess it's a joke at all! Wenger's words made the reporters excited, although the superstar whistle is a little less glamorous but it does exist, obviously Wenger is not satisfied with Xiao Qing being cared for by the referees at all, and Xiao Qing really did not get many penalty opportunities this season, and even in Hoffenheim Xiao Qing got very few penalty kicks.
Xiao Qing likes to break through, he always frequently hits the penalty area, which is relatively easy to create penalties; But it's a pity that Xiao Qing is difficult to get the approval of the referees, maybe because Xiao Qing has never liked to be knocked down and cheated on the penalty on the field, but he did suffer a lot of violations in the game, and this was originally a chance to get a penalty. As for saying that Xiao Qing's physical strength cannot be affected so simply, look at the Warcraft Drogba, his penalties are actually quite a lot.
It must be admitted that it was very uncomfortable to be equalised in the Zuihou moment of the game, and it was an important moment, the Arsenal players were hurt by AZ Alkmaar's home draw, and it also made the celebration of manager Arsene Wenger's 60th birthday a little embarrassing; The Arsenal players were embarrassed and wanted to celebrate the manager with high morale, but they could only say that they messed up.
was equalized by the opponent Zuihou at the moment, Wenger's Arsenal era encountered many times, completely lost three points, equalising is nothing, but the problem is that AZ Alkmaar's shot into the Arsenal goal turned out to be their only shot on target in the whole game, which is really a bit humiliating for Arsenal. The goalkeeper can't save that kind of ultra-close high-speed ball, so Mannoni is not responsible, the problem is still in the defender, when the opponent's high school striker in his early 1.9 meters jumps up to head the ball, none of the Arsenal defenders can watch him!
Arsenal's offensive gorgeousness, if it is always discounted by such defensive mediocrity, or even "reversed surpass", Wenger's inner championship dream has to encounter many problems that will not be imagined in advance. So the cliché is still Arsenal's defense, this season's Arsenal's offensive ability is the best in Europe, but almost every game has conceded goals, which also makes the giant Arsenal a little embarrassed, they want to win the championship in the offensive end is definitely surpassed, but their defense is seriously pulling back.
was hung by such a simple long pass to end the three-point wish, and it was the only attack of the opponent in the whole game to hit the target range, fortunately it was not a key battle, otherwise the Arsenal players would really want to cry without tears, but the "defensive bomb" was detonated again, and they couldn't complain to outsiders, so they could only find the reason from themselves. The two central defenders are too short and the ability of the entire defensive line is insufficient, which is a serious shortcoming for Arsenal now, which is the main reason why they are not favored to be the favorites to win the title in the first place, because the defense of every team that wants to win the title is really not too bad. Maybe Arsenal are fine against a team of average quality, but when they come up against a strong game, their defence is likely to undo the team's efforts.
However, although it is a pity that they failed to get three points, fortunately, this draw did not destroy any situation, Arsenal is still at the top of the group with seven points from three games, two wins and one draw, and AZ Alkmaar got one point this time, or ranked third in the group with two draws and one loss, and on the premise that there are three games left and two home games, Arsenal will not worry about AZ Alkmaar having the ability to catch up with these five points.
The biggest problem is Olympiacos, the Greek team except for the away defeat to Arsenal, the team has three points at both home games, and their game at home to Arsenal should be the most crucial game of this group competition, that is, to determine the top spot in the group, and this game happens to be the final game of the group.
The importance of the top spot in the group is self-evident, the maximum probability is reduced and the chances of other favorites to meet in the round of 16 in advance, the group competition for the top spot is the minimum thing, of course, this threat from the Greek team is not big, before meeting Olympiacos, Arsenal has played two home games, and the certainty of winning six points is not low, and whether Olympiacos can beat AZ Alkmaar away is still very suspenseful. In short, today's draw has made it possible for Arsenal and Olympiacos to compete for the top spot, but this possibility is not very likely, just look at the state of Xiao Qing, Van Persie and Xiaofa.
Arsenal were indeed held to a draw, but a big reason for this was luck, and of course more importantly, Arsenal underestimated the Dutch champions, because the Arsenal players were a little proud and underestimated. So Arsenal, who have learned their lesson in this game, need to be careful, and they certainly won't continue to make these low-level mistakes in the next games.
It can be said that Arsenal is determined to win the first place in the group, although the unexpected draw in this game makes Arsenal need to work harder in the next group stage, but as long as Arsenal is in good spirits, then it is still very certain to do it.
For Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, the last two Champions League group games have always had a special meaning. His last Champions League game coincided with his 13th anniversary in charge of Arsenal, and two days after AZ Alkmaar, the professor will celebrate his 60th birthday on 22 October.
How Arsene Wenger, who has a low profile off the pitch, will spend his 60th birthday is the question that the media was most concerned about in his pre-match press conference on Monday. However, the professor's answer disappointed the reporter a little, and there would be no celebration that day; And when it comes to Arsene Wenger's birthday wishes, it's interesting.
Although they were held to a draw, the fact that his youth squad was thriving still made Wenger feel good. The professor said that this is the most Haode group of players he has ever led: "I believe that the future of this team is very bright, and if you measure it by the number of goals, this is the team that excites me the most; In addition to the likes of Shaw, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, there are still plenty of attacking geniuses like Nasri, Rosicky, Theo Walcott, Eduardo and Vela that haven't been fully tapped. ”
He also wants to end the nightmare of four years without a title this season, "When you have players like that, you are naturally very excited because you know how much potential the team has and all you have to do is unleash it. We know we're still empty-handed, so we're going to win something this season. ”
And the Arsenal players also know that although they didn't send Haode birthday wishes in advance, they can still say something in the league. (To be continued......)