My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 125 Community Shield under the haze

The newly-started Arsenal are about to usher in their first championship game of the season: the Community Shield.

This event, which pitted last season's Premier League champions and FA Cup champions against each other, has gone through [-] years if it can be traced back to its predecessor, the Charity Shield.

Although the meaning of the Community Shield may be more to provide a warm-up opportunity for the two champion teams of last season, no one will give up this championship.

"We will go all out, this is not just a warm-up, this is a serious final. Both Roberto and I will do our best to win the Community Shield championship."

At the press conference the day before, when the reporter asked Chen Yao how important this match was to him, Chen Yao answered him like this.

"Mr. Coach, this is the first championship trophy you may win in your coaching career. Do you have anything to say?" A reporter asked.

"It's an amazing feeling and I think I will always remember my first trophy. I hope it will be the Community Shield and it will give us a good start to the new season. But Roberto's job is Brilliant, this game will be extremely tough," he replied.

"Is the loss of Robin van Persie a big deal for your team? Will it lower expectations for next season?" asked another reporter. "I mean - Mr. Coach, last season Van Persie contributed nearly Half of the goals."

"It's a tough challenge but we'll adapt. It's better to focus on the players we have now than on the players who have left."

"The last question - as the youngest manager in the Premier League, and coaching a club like Arsenal, are you and your team ready to face the pressure?"

The reporter of "Mirror" asked the last question of the pre-match press conference.

"We're always under pressure, it's everywhere, isn't it?" Chen Yao smiled, "It has nothing to do with my preparation, it's already a part of my life."

……

Wembley, [-]th August.

Chen Yao and Roberto Mancini met by chance before the match, and they had a face-to-face meeting in the corridor outside the locker room.

The Italian still had a melancholy artist temperament, he extended his hand friendly and shook Chen Yao.

"The last time I met you, you were just an assistant," Mancini said. "Congratulations, you have started a new stage in your career."

"Thank you, Roberto, and congratulations on winning the Premier League last season."

There was a smile on the corner of Mancini's mouth, which diluted his melancholy temperament a lot.

The success of last season is indeed worth recalling, and the 93rd-minute reversal to win the championship will be a shining page in the history of Manchester City.

"Thank you." Mancini tasted the pride of the Premier League defending champion, "I am very happy that I brought this trophy."

"By the way, Chen." Mancini leaned closer, "This job will be very hard. Maybe you will feel pain from the first game. Sometimes you don't know that after the next game, you will be greeted with pain." What is it?"

"Be prepared, it's your destiny, your destiny as a coach. I hope you win what's yours."

Mancini patted Chen Yao's shoulder, turned around and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"Thank you for your reminder, Roberto." Chen Yao muttered to himself, "And I've been looking forward to all this."

……

When the match at Wembley lasted two minutes, Chen Yao couldn't help but think of the question he answered at the pre-match press conference.

pressure.The pressure comes on so fast.

Wembley was flooded by the blue ocean, the cheers of Manchester City fans resounded through the sky, while the Arsenal fans in red and white jerseys cursed, angry and helpless.

The score was one to three, with Arsenal trailing.

Lillo and Bergkamp stood on both sides of Chen Yao with stern faces, but neither of them spoke.

Arsenal's performance was terrible.

In front of the new Premier League champions, the young Arsenal were defeated.

Such a situation was not unexpected, but when the pressure of failure fell heavily on his shoulders, the heaviness he felt was quite different from before.

Chen Yao thought that the team would be at a disadvantage.

Before the start of the game, he glanced at the team's panel. The overall tactical proficiency was 52%, and the individual adaptability of each player hovered around 60%, changing from dazzling red to unhealthy yellow.

This is far from enough. The one-month preparation time, substantial tactical restructuring, and major personnel turnover have all made the team's preparations more difficult.

In this game, the average age of Arsenal's players was 24.4 years old, but what is more extreme than the paper data reflects is that many players in the starting lineup are squeezed into the regular starting lineup for the first time.

The starting center forward is Oliver Giroud, who recently joined this summer. Behind him is the midfielder Santi Cazorla, and the left and right wings are Wilfred Zaha and Theo Walcott.

Appearing in the defensive midfielder are Arteta and Jorginho. Behind them, the defense line is followed by Kieran Gibbs, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Danny. Carvajal.

The starting goalkeeper is the 22-year-old Szczesny.

Chen Yao's brows were frowning from the first minute.

Giroud was sleepwalking, the striker showed his weaknesses to the fullest, he didn't understand his position, and the only shooting opportunities he had were easily wasted.

In the transition phase, Giroud was very uncomfortable with Arsenal's high-position pressing system. His poor sense of defensive position and slow speed did not bring any positive effects.

Santi Cazorla is also not very accustomed to Arsenal's system. His skills are very good and eye-catching. His balanced left and right foot skills allow him to complete gorgeous dribbling in Manchester City's [-]th zone.

But Cazorla and the team's offensive tacit understanding is far from enough. He is still accustomed to his rhythm in Malaga and occupies a lot of possession time.

"Santi is a bit sticky." After Cazorla got caught in Manchester City's double-team with a continuous horizontal dribble, Lillo said softly to Chen Yao, "He still needs time to integrate into our offense."

Theo Walcott and Zaha's performances were also lackluster.

"Little Tiger" was not in good physical condition, Zabaleta gave up his desire to get in, and watched him cautiously.

And Zaha didn't seem to be used to the feeling of starting the game. It wasn't until 10 minutes later that he completed his first successful dribble.

The other Arsenal players did not perform well either. Their counter-grabbing and pressing after losing the ball were aggressive, but the tacit understanding of the players was not very good. Although the scene was very aggressive, the Manchester City players found that penetrating Arsenal The pressing was not difficult.

"Do you want to give up this style of play?" Lillo was worried when he saw the situation on the field. "If the players are in the current state, it will be very difficult for us after the Premier League starts."

"This is a process, Juan." Chen Yao's complexion was not good-looking, "We can't give up halfway."

He felt that the sunshine in Wembley was not as strong as it was at the beginning. It was originally a sunny day, but the sky gradually turned cloudy.

The only thing that played normally in this game should be the defense of Koscielny and Mertesacker. The tacit understanding between these two defenders is getting higher and higher, but they can't stop Arsenal from conceding goals.

City's three goals came from Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure.

The scores of Aguero and Tevez both came from Manchester City's counterattack. They had a lot of space after breaking through Arsenal's high defense. The two forwards seized the opportunity in the battle with the Arsenal back line and each scored. One ball.

The third goal was a little accidental. In Arsenal's deep defense, Yaya Toure swung a kick outside the penalty area with luck and scored Arsenal's goal after refraction.

Arsenal pulled back a goal in the [-]th minute. In a pass from Carvajal, Giroud's grab was not strong, but Walcott, who cut into the penalty area, made a supplementary shot.

At this time, Roberto Mancini has begun to gradually replace the bench.

(End of this chapter)