No. 226: Pulis midfield adjustments
"Back point, Dongfang Chen, header goal!" Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray roared with excitement.
All the Arsenal fans in the stadium stood up, their necks craned, their eyes fixed on the flying football.
With a bang, Dongfang Chen's head slammed into the flying football, and the football flew out quickly towards the back and upper corner of the goal.
In front of the goal, Stoke City's goalkeeper Begovic was shocked, he jumped up quickly, flew sideways, and stretched out his hands to block the speeding ball.
Sadly, this time God was not on his side.
The ball flew in front of him at a rapid pace and slammed into the goal behind him.
"Ball in, ball in, ball in, ball in, ball in, ball in, ball Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray roared with excitement, as if he was using all the strength in his body.
All the Arsenal fans at the scene jumped up excitedly and shouted excitedly, and they were so beautiful that they were bubbling.
"Dongfang Chen! King Dongfang Chen! Gun King Dongfang Chen! You are our God! God! God! Inside the new Wembley Stadium, all Arsenal fans roared excitedly, chanting Dongfangchen's name neatly.
"The ball is in! This time Begovic didn't play another god pounce! This time, Dongfang Chen's header flew directly into the dead corner of the goal, Begovic had no chance at all, and Arsenal led by one goal. Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray roared with excitement.
Dongfang Chen, who scored the goal, raised his fists high and waved his fists excitedly at the Arsenal fans in the stadium.
At this time, Van Persie, another striker of the Arsenal team, rushed up quickly, jumped on Dongfang Chen's back, and excitedly punched Dongfang Chen's back.
The players of the Arsenal team rushed up frantically and rushed to Dongfang Chen, who scored the goal, and they surrounded Dongfang Chen in the middle and celebrated excitedly together.
The goal went in, and in the 36th minute of the first half, Arsenal finally broke the deadlock on the pitch and took the lead. This is a very difficult time for the Stoke City team, it is obvious that at this time, they can't defend anymore, and they have to attack at this time. Sky Sports commentator Martin Taylor said immediately.
"Yes, at this time, there is no need for the Stoke City team to hold on any longer. According to the previous table of the Arsenal team, if the Stoke City team wants to continue to defend, the Arsenal team is likely to attack passively and ensure that the lead of this goal is at the end. Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray said.
Yes, at this time, Stoke City manager Pulis is now worried about this.
At this time, Pulis was a little entangled, he was thinking about whether he should go crazy and attack at this time, or should he continue to defend and counterattack?
At this time, it was very tangled, and Pulis was watching the game from the sidelines, while thinking about what to do in the next game.
Pulis knows he should have made his choice sooner at this point, and the sooner he makes it, the better it will be for Stoke City. But Priss was still a little undecided.
At this time, the players of the Stoke City team are also very conflicted on the field, some want to attack, some want to defend, at this time their thinking is not a little unified, and their defense is also some problems.
Arsenal had a very good chance before the end of the first half, and at the back post in the box, Comrade Walcott had a very good one-on-one chance. This one-man chance is almost a match for Van Persie's one-on-one chance.
This time, however, Walcott continued the poor form of Comrade Van Persie, and his volley went straight into Begovic's arms, and Begovic held the football in his arms without even moving.
At the end of the first half, Arsenal led Stoke City by one goal with Dongfang Chen's goal.
The first half of the game was not exciting, and the first half of the first half could even be said to be very boring, very bad. But the second half was not bad, the Arsenal team suddenly launched a fierce attack, which caught the Stoke City people off guard, and Dongfang Chen headed the goal and took the lead.
At this time, the players and fans of Stoke City are restless, they are now behind, they seem to be getting further and further away from the Champions League title, which makes them feel very bad.
When the players of the Stoke City team sat in the locker room, their expressions were very stern and very low.
Pulis, who walked into the dressing room, saw the state of the Stoke City players, he was ruthlessly dissatisfied, at this time, the Stoke City players should be full of fighting spirit, should teach the Arsenal team a hard lesson in the next game, and try their best to pull the score back.
Stoke City manager Pulis told his players at half-time: "We played well in the first half of the first half and defended very tightly, but in the second half we were a little lax and confused by the Arsenal team, which led to the goal. ”
Hearing the manager say this, the Stoke City players in the dressing room lowered their heads.
Stoke City manager Pulis said: "The first half of the first half of the game made it clear that the gap between us and Arsenal was not as big as everyone thinks, but if we are serious, we may not be able to beat Arsenal. ”
Hearing this, the Stoke City players raised their heads and looked at the manager.
Place continued: 'And we beat Arsenal four days ago, so we have to be confident that we can beat Arsenal. We must firmly believe in this. ”
Pulis watched the players' reactions before he continued: "Now we are behind and it is time for us to attack in the second half! This is the final, this is a winner-taker, and we have no choice but to attack. ”
The Stoke City players nodded their heads to indicate they knew it.
"In the second half we tried our best to attack, to take advantage of my advantage and to go through the air, the Arsenal defence was not very good and I hope you can take your chances and deal a fatal blow to the Arsenal people," said Pulis. ”
The Stoke City players nodded their heads and said they knew what to do.
After that, Pulis said a lot of things to stimulate the Stoke City players and make them more proactive and excited.
On the other side, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was talking to the Arsenal players.
Arsène Wenger had this to say about his Arsenal players: 'We played very well in the first half, our tactics worked, we took the lead. ”
The Arsenal players nodded in understanding.
Indeed, the reason why Arsenal played the way they played in the first half was that Arsenal had set it up before the game, and this was their tactic, they first paralyzed Stoke City, and then they suddenly exploded and gave Stoke City a fatal blow, and now they are ahead.
Arsène Wenger continued: "We are one goal ahead but we haven't won the game at the moment and I don't think it's a big advantage because it makes us more passive. ”
Dongfang Chen nodded, agreeing with Arsène Wenger's words, and the players of the Arsenal team naturally knew it.
'In the second half, Stoke City will definitely fight back like crazy and that's when we will really test us. Arsène Wenger said very sternly. When the Arsenal players heard Arsène Wenger say this, they immediately became stern.
Arsène Wenger continued: "Now Stoke City are behind, now they have only one way, and that is a crazy attack, and the second half is a very big test for me, you have to be mentally prepared, you know? ”
Dongfang Chen and the players of the Arsenal team nodded their heads one after another, indicating that they knew.
Arsène Wenger nodded with satisfaction, and then continued: "The biggest advantage of the Stoke City team is in the air, which is very difficult to defend, we have suffered their losses in the league before, today everyone must be careful, don't let their two wings pass lightly, cut off the connection between their wide players and the strikers, and don't let their aerial superiority play, you know?" ”
The Arsenal players immediately nodded firmly, indicating that they knew.
Arsène Wenger continued: "Of course, in the second half we still have to play and we have to put enough pressure on the opponent to try to push them back so we can rest easy. ”
The Arsenal players immediately stood up and shouted: "Got it, Professor!" ”
After that, Arsène Wenger also used words to mobilize the enthusiasm and emotion of the Arsenal players to prepare for the second half of the game.
"Okay, by this time, the players from both sides are back on the pitch and the second half is about to start." Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray said immediately.
At this time, Crouch and Karui stood in the center circle in the stadium, waiting for the referee's whistle.
The referee observed the situation in the stadium and found that there was nothing special happening in the stadium, and he immediately blew the whistle for the start of the second half.
The Stoke City fans in the stadium immediately cheered for the Stoke City team, hoping that the Stoke City team could attack and cause more problems for the Arsenal goal, and try to score as much as possible to stabilize the morale of the Stoke City team.
At the beginning of the second half, Stoke City was really much more active, and began to press heavily and besiege the Arsenal goal.
Of course, Stoke City's attacking style is still dominated by high balls, and their advantage is in the air.
At the start of the second half, Stoke City had a very good chance. Former Arsenal player Pennant was very active on the wing, and after receiving the ball, he suddenly changed direction in a succession of dribbling balls, which directly shook the Arsenal defenders.
Then, instead of continuing to break through with the ball, Pennant suddenly crossed directly with his feet, and the ball flew quickly into the Arsenal penalty area, and flew directly to the back post for Stoke City striker Kalou.