My light shines on Arsenal

Chapter 144 A problem that takes time to solve
During halftime, Adkins was still encouraging his players.

"Boys, although we are three goals behind, but...well you did a great job..."

After saying a few words, Southampton's head coach pushed away the tactical board with a wry smile.

Trailing by three goals at halftime with no way to fight back, Adkins' professionalism prompted him to keep telling himself that the game was not over yet; but intellectually he knew that the game was over long ago.

"They move the ball so fast, it's scary." Center back Fonte said with a wry smile. "Jorginho and Verratti, they can always kick the ball to our defense before we can react." Weak side.”

"And Griezmann..." Goalkeeper Boruc threw his gloves to the ground. "How come you always let him go? How many times have I faced his single shot."

There was some tension between the defender and the goalkeeper, and Adkins hurried over to smooth things over: "That's enough, stop blaming each other."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Boruc spread his hands, "How many shots did we get in this half?"

"Eleven kicks." A coach next to him answered.

"Let them shoot [-] more shots in the second half and see how many I can save."

……

The atmosphere in Arsenal's dressing room was much more relaxed.

Giroud's face was full of smiles: "I never thought playing football would be so simple. I just carried him and bounced the ball into the penalty area. Anthony could always appear there and shoot the ball out... "

"Oliver, your pass is also very beautiful." Griezmann said modestly.

"You should also thank Santi. His dribbling at the top of the arc created a space as big as half a football field for you." Lillo rearranged the formation on the tactical board, with Cazorla at the top of the arc. Southampton's defensive formation was widely spread out.

Chen Yao came over and knocked on the whiteboard, "Boys, I'm very satisfied with your performance. The football we wanted to play has finally come out. But don't be proud. In the second half, I still need you to go all out."

He calculated in his mind that since Tim Lewis gave him a one-month deadline, there would be a total of four league games during this period. This was the second game.

His target score is ten points. If he wins this game, he will have six points. In the remaining two rounds, he is guaranteed to pass with one win and one draw.

It is very important for Chen Yao to stay as Arsenal's head coach.

It has been two and a half months since he took over the team, and his transformation of the team has only now begun to bear fruit.

He knows that the potential of this group of players has not been fully explored, and they still have huge room for improvement under this system. He wants to see his players reach their ideal state.

Then go conquer Europe and win Arsenal's long-lost European championship in a century.

It takes time.

……

In the second half of the game, Arsenal continued their strong offensive, while Southampton became more cautious.

Premier League coaches are generally very pragmatic. When they find that they cannot score three points from their opponents, they will not hesitate to put down the bus and then use long passes filled with ancient atmosphere to look for opportunities.

Compared with the later Premier League, which attracted stars and coaches from all over the world and led the tactical changes in European football after the TV broadcast fees increased significantly, the Premier League at this time was still on the eve of its golden age.Adkins did not hesitate to put up a squatting formation with five backs and two defensive midfielders. Southampton's defensive players covered their penalty area densely. This was the first time Arsenal faced such a situation this season.

Chen Yao is not very worried about this situation.

Southampton has obviously given up the ability to cause damage. When their forwards all retreat deep into the backcourt to participate in defense, their counterattack cannot increase the speed.

Arsenal players will have to face the problem of cracking the bus sooner or later. He does not require the players to come up with a solution now, but at least they can start to experience it from now on.

Verratti found it easy to advance from the backcourt, and the harassment of Southampton players was almost perfunctory. They ran a few routes and then retreated to the front of the penalty area to form a tight formation.

Adkins also gave up the idea of ​​winning this game. He made up his mind to use this game to train the team's defense.

Arsenal's attack was hampered by Southampton's congested backcourt.

Jorginho wanted to play a pass that penetrated two lines of defense like he did in the first half, but he found that he could not do this easily.

The opponent's defense line is too tightly arranged, and the middle is even more crowded. His through ball on the ground will be intercepted by the opponent halfway through.

Even if it is sent to the feet of his own players - usually Chamberlain or Cazorla, in the severe lack of space, it is difficult for Chamberlain's impact to be used, and Cazorla's lateral dribbling just sends himself deeper. It's just an encirclement.

Ten minutes into the second half, Chen Yao took the opportunity of a throw-in to give the players new instructions.

Arsenal quickly changed their offensive method. They no longer pursued direct penetration of the defense with passes, but gave more ball control to Verratti.

Marco Verratti is not tall, but he is very stable in the lower body and has excellent ability to combine man and ball.

He and Cazorla, two master dribblers, used their excellent dribbling abilities to take away the defenders and then returned to Jorginho.

Jorginho then connected to Giroud through a pass, and then the two wingers ran diagonally into the penalty area, with Giroud playing the ball.

After running this routine for about ten minutes, it also fell into a stagnation.

Verratti and Cazorla pushed to the forward line at the same time, causing disruption to Southampton's defense. However, the dribbling of the two technical players lacked sharpness and impact. After a short period of confusion, the opponent's defenders stood still. The position makes their offense difficult.

Chen Yao could see that even though the young Arsenal had an absolute advantage in possession of the ball, they were still unable to effectively break through the dense defense.

Especially for opponents who are determined to defend with all their players, if they still have good tactical discipline, it will be even more difficult to overcome.

But to become a team that can reach the top of the Premier League, Arsenal will face this situation sooner or later.

This will also take time to resolve.

But he was in no hurry. At least, Arsenal won in the fifth round of the Premier League.

When the referee blew the final whistle, the fans at the Emirates Stadium took their good mood home.

Arsenal defeated Southampton [-]-[-]. In the second half, although the Gunners had no achievements, they surrounded Southampton in the penalty area for half-time offensive and defensive drills. In the eyes of the Emirates Stadium audience, this was undoubtedly a one-sided game.

(End of this chapter)