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After a small victory over the menacing Liverpool at home and the defeat of the Red Army, Tottenham Hotspur, which has achieved six consecutive unbeaten matches in the league, continues to chase Arsenal with a two-point difference. Putting strong psychological pressure on this mortal enemy.
However, Tottenham's defeat of Liverpool and their fifth consecutive victory in the league and six rounds of unbeaten is not the most eye-catching thing in this round of Premier League. It should be said that Tottenham's limelight was completely stolen by another game that ended at the same time - after drawing with Newcastle United, Manchester United suffered a rebellion from old player Paul Ince in this round of the Premier League. In the attack, they lost to the newly promoted Wolves 0-1, losing two consecutive games in the league!
Obviously, the blower that Ferguson started before did not work as expected this time.
The most important thing is that after an unexpected loss to Wolves, Manchester United, which was only one point ahead of the Gunners before the game, had to hand over the top spot to Arsenal, and was in the league standings with Tottenham Hotspur, who won this round. Tied for second place.
Losing the hard-earned leading position is undoubtedly a very serious blow to the Manchester United players. At this time, the British media once again showed their fear of chaos in the world. They wrote articles and clamored that the era of Ferguson was over, and Manchester United, which had lost Beckham and George Nelson, was no longer the feared Premier League hegemon. , Arsenal, who plays gorgeous offensive football, is the new king of English football!
You know, obviously two rounds ago, when Arsenal was three points behind Manchester United, these media were still mocking Arsenal and praising Manchester United and Ferguson. This shows how duplicitous and duplicitous these British media are.
The change in the direction of public opinion has greatly increased the psychological pressure on Manchester United players and made the Red Devils' locker room begin to become unstable. Roy Keane, the outspoken captain, has been firing shots frequently recently, criticizing every player and phenomenon he dislikes. But the problem is that Keane himself is happy with the criticism, but his teammates may not be willing to buy it. Not to mention, Keane is no longer the super midfielder who was ranked among the top five in international football two years ago. The continuous decline in strength and condition has seriously affected the Irishman's authority in the Manchester United locker room.
It can be seen that these media are not wrong to a certain extent: the current Manchester United is indeed not the same team last season. Even if they are behind Arsenal by double digits in points, they still have the confidence and ability to regain this point in the standings. A disadvantaged Steel Division. With Beckham sadly leaving due to the boot scandal, main defender Ferdinand being suspended due to a drug test scandal, and Keane and other main players from the Triple Crown era aging, Manchester United's overall strength has been seriously affected. Moreover, Howard and Joaquin, who were introduced last summer, have not yet fully adapted to the rhythm of the Premier League, especially without the winter break that they are familiar with. As a result, the two people who were ill-prepared for this began to decline in competitive form after the New Year and no longer looked like they did. So stable and excellent in the first half.
The main players were aging, Beckham left the team, Ferdinand was suspended, and the newcomers were acclimated. It was under the combined effect of these factors that Manchester United struggled so hard after entering 2004, and was surpassed by its old rival Arsenal in the standings.
As for Chelsea, I don’t know if it is affected by rumors of coaching changes. The Blues’ performance has also been very unstable in recent times. In the past five league rounds, they have only achieved two wins, one draw and two losses, allowing Chelsea to further expand in the standings. The distance from the first three teams. Currently, Chelsea is already five points behind second-placed Manchester United and Tottenham, and the hope of winning the league can be said to be extremely slim.
Although Manchester United players are gearing up to regain the leading position from Arsenal as soon as possible, they can only put this idea aside for now. Because in the next two weeks, it will be time for the League Cup, the English domestic cup!
The opponent Tottenham Hotspur will face in the semi-finals of this English League Cup is Arsenal, who have just taken away the leadership position from Manchester United and are currently enjoying great success!
Both Arsenal and Tottenham players and supporters are excited about this arrangement. The former is because he finally has the opportunity to take revenge for being knocked off the top spot by Tottenham. Vieira even made a statement before the game, claiming that he would show off Tottenham on the court; Tottenham this time Wing is also eager to eliminate Arsenal in this confrontation, not only because Arsenal are Tottenham's sworn rivals in the same city, but also to avenge their head coach, George Nelson!
Although Vieira was severely punished by the disciplinary committee for his previous bad behavior, Tottenham did not forgive Vieira for this. After all, even now, more than three months after this incident, Vieira still has not made a public apology in any media or public place for his sneak attack on Tottenham coach George Nelson after the game, claiming that it was just an accident on his part. Accidents caused by slippery hands are definitely not intentional, and we will not apologize for them!
For this unreasonable explanation given by Vieira, everyone at Tottenham was naturally extremely angry - who can cross a distance of nearly ten meters with a slippery hand and push someone down with one move? Ella, not only did your hands slip, but your whole body slipped too?
Amid the old and new grudges, this League Cup semi-final did not require any mobilization from George and Wenger. Players from both sides could not wait to teach their opponents a lesson on the court.
In fact, according to the FA's initial thoughts, they did not plan to arrange the two League Cup semi-final matches between Tottenham and Arsenal so close to each other. In the view of the Football Association, a derby battle like this that is full of gimmicks should be broken up and played slowly to achieve the purpose of maximizing the impact, rather than being concentrated and completed within a week.
It is a pity that both Arsenal and Tottenham have very intensive schedules in February, and Tottenham have to play five games in just half a month. There is no extra time left for the League Cup, plus the League The date of the cup final has been set long ago, so the Football Association has no choice but to follow the original plan and put the two League Cup semi-finals between Tottenham and Arsenal within these two weeks.
"Boss, do you think we should find something to do for Arsenal? For example, let Vieira appear in court to testify on the day of the game, so that Arsenal cannot play with the strongest lineup?" John, who was sitting on the sofa in George's office, was taking a break from his busy schedule. Smith put forward a piece of advice that can be called a destructive suggestion, "Without Vieira, Arsenal's midfielder's defensive hardness and interception ability will drop at least two levels. In this way, our chances of defeating Arsenal will be greatly increased." "
"Don't, if you do this, all fools will know that the London court has an improper relationship with Tottenham Hotspur. By then, it will not be Vieira who will be passive, but me and Tottenham Hotspur. "George shook his head and rejected John's proposal, "Besides, in the last match, Arsenal has exposed its weaknesses, and I have also found a way to restrain it. There is no need to use these unsightly means. .”
"Also, boss, why do you insist on letting substitutes and bench players start in this important game?" Seeing that George rejected his suggestion, John no longer insisted, but changed the subject. , expressed a doubt in his mind, "If you show your strength to the players, I believe they can understand your difficulties, boss. Although Tottenham's bench depth is not bad, and the strength of the substitute players is also quite good, But there is still a clear gap compared with the main players. Arsenal will definitely use all the main players in this semi-final, but they will not use substitutes just because we send substitute players."
John was not the only one to question George's insistence on playing an all-substitute squad against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals. The coaching staff and players have also used similar reasons to persuade George, but so far, no one has been able to change George's decision.
In George's view, since he promised those substitutes and bench players that he would use them as the main force in the League Cup and FA Cup, he should keep his promise and let them play until the end instead of waiting until they lead the team. Go back on your words in the semi-finals or even the final.
Without the hard work and dedication of these players, how could Tottenham reach the League Cup semi-finals while focusing on the league battlefield? That being the case, what grounds do I have to deny these players the right to play?
Keeping your word will bring far more benefits to Tottenham than breaking your promise to win one or two games.
Sure enough, when they learned that their coach still decided to let them start in the League Cup semi-finals instead of using the main players to deal with Arsenal, Vermaelen and others who originally thought that there was no hope for the starting lineup were all overjoyed. As a result, the players' training attitude and enthusiasm immediately rose to a higher level, and they became even more devoted to George. They believed that being able to play under such a coach who kept his word was simply their greatest luck as players!
In this way, the time came to January 21, 2004. When Wenger looked at Tottenham standing in the tunnel in confusion, he didn't react to his own provocation, as if he hadn't heard anything, but the aura he exuded was no worse than that of his own players. As a player, the coach who originally felt that his team was expected to advance because George decided to hide the main force in the League Cup semi-finals suddenly felt that even if Tottenham sent a full substitute lineup today, it would be an extremely difficult nut to crack!
It seems that this game may not be as easy to play as imagined.
