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Villa's goal was like a wake-up call, not only shattering the Arsenal players' ambition to win a victory from White Hart Lane, but also putting the Arsenal players in a dilemma!
After all, although Tottenham has taken the lead in the total score, Arsenal is currently only one goal behind. Therefore, if they declare surrender when they are only one goal behind, Arsenal players will doubt whether the angry fans will rush out and cut them into pieces after this League Cup semi-final. . And if they continue to besiege Tottenham, Arsenal have not yet found a way to break through the turtle shell in front of them. At the same time, the defense will also bear considerable defensive pressure due to the pressure of the formation. Especially the left wing guarded by Ashley Cole was almost destroyed by his opponent Darren Anderton in this game due to tactical arrangements.
Therefore, for Arsenal players, the current situation makes them feel very entangled. Because after Tottenham scored the first goal, this League Cup semi-final has become a tasteless piece of food that is a pity to abandon. Of course, it feels very unwilling to give up, and the feelings of the fans must also be considered, but if you choose to persist, If this continues, Arsenal can't think of a countermeasure now, and the possibility of a comeback is also slim.
What worries Arsenal players the most is that if Tottenham continues to play more smoothly and replicate AC Milan's feat in the 1994 Champions League final on Arsenal, then it will be great fun. Arsenal players who were defeated miserably by their rivals in the same city had to be torn to pieces by the angry fans. The media would also take the opportunity to fan the flames and shoulder the heavy responsibility of causing trouble for Arsenal.
Like the Arsenal players who were struggling on the court, Wenger on the sidelines was also a little undecided. However, as the head coach, Wenger did not think about this issue from the same perspective as the players. The professor is now more worried about whether he will harm the team if he lets the main players compete against Tottenham in this game. Then perform on the league battlefield!
You know, the 23rd round of the Premier League with Manchester City is scheduled to take place four days later. Although Manchester City is not strong, and Arsenal is still playing at home, but in any case, Arsenal sent all the main players in these two League Cup semi-finals, which will inevitably bring some negative effects to the following league games. Influence. After all, compared with useless events like the League Cup, the Premier League and Champions League are the main battlefields for top teams like Arsenal.
Looking back at Tottenham, Villa's goal can be said to be a shot in the arm for everyone, allowing them to concentrate on persisting in the game according to George's tactical arrangement. Unlike Arsenal's situation, they who are originally substitutes do not need to think about the Premier League that will be played four days later, because that is the task of the main players and has little to do with them.
In the end, Wenger, who was worried about being criticized by fans and media after the game, did not dare to make the decision to let the team abandon the game early. After all, Tottenham and Arsenal are sworn enemies. Even if Wenger uses the excuse that the team needs to stay in the league, it may not be accepted by the fans. Therefore, Wenger plans to take another look at the situation and wait until he is sure that nothing can be done before announcing that he will give up the game.
At the same time, regarding some of the problems that the team had exposed in the past half hour, Wenger took advantage of the opportunity of Tottenham players to celebrate the goal on the sidelines, called Henry and Vieira to the sidelines for an interview, and asked them to He informed the two favorite generals of his plans and arrangements and asked them to convey these adjustments to other players.
However, just when Wenger made adjustments and ordered Vieira and Ashley Cole to reduce their investment in the offensive end and pay attention to marking Darren Anderton, Villa quietly ran to the left side of the court and met Anderton. Deton echoed each other on the left and right on the court!
For Villa's move, Arsenal players did not take it to heart at first. In their view, Villa was just doing useless work - he ran to the left and thought he could play as a left winger? You kid is too arrogant!
Although more than thirty years have passed since Michels proposed the total offense and total defense theory, position blurring has not yet become a mainstream trend in international football. Most head coaches are still working tirelessly to divide the positions. More granular, allowing players to perform their duties on the field. Affected by this, Arsenal players did not think Villa could perform well as a left winger. After all, based on the opponent's previous performance, they all believed that Villa was just an opportunist similar to Solskjaer and Inzaghi who prioritized scoring goals. Generally speaking, a player like this is not suitable to serve as a winger or full midfielder who needs to use his personal ability to open a breakthrough for the team and deliver cannonballs to his teammates on the front line.
What's more, although Lauren, who guards the right defense line for Arsenal, is not as famous as Cafu, Zanetti, and Salgado in the same position, he was able to qualify as the starting right back for Arsenal during this period. , which is enough to illustrate the strength of this Cameroon international. Therefore, before the game restarted, Arsenal were quite relieved because they did not feel that after targeting Anderton's side, Villa and Toni were still capable of causing them much trouble.
However, what happened next shocked the Arsenal players. They were shocked to find that Villa did not turn into an invisible man after moving to the left as they expected. Instead, he actively ran around the field, while seeking cooperation with his teammates, using passes and indiscretions. The ball moves to tear Arsenal's right defense apart!
Although Lauren is indeed a powerful star at the right back position, when defending players like Villa who are constantly hitting the ball and running seemingly endlessly, the Cameroonian will inevitably make some omissions in defense. This gives Villa room to play. In the remaining ten minutes of the first half, Villa used the cooperation with his teammates to get rid of Laurent's marking many times, dribbling the ball directly into Arsenal's penalty area, passing or shooting, almost helping Tottenham further expand their lead. Advantage!
He has a great sense of touch in front of goal like Inzaghi, good dribbling skills and off-the-ball movement, and an excellent sense of teamwork. How can such a comprehensive player only play as a substitute for Robbie Keane at Tottenham? Are you kidding me? ! It's almost better to have Robbie Keane come on as a substitute for him!
The more Wenger watched, the more frightened he became. He did not expect that this Spanish striker named Villa was so comprehensive. He could not only attack the team for the team, but also pull to the wing to create opportunities for his teammates and deliver cannonballs!
It is true that Villa does not have Anderton's beautiful footwork and excellent dribbling skills, and his game experience is far inferior to that of the latter who represented the Three Lions in the European Cup and World Cup. But as a Spanish player, Villa He's not a weakling technically. Even if he is not as good as real wingers such as Reyes, Joaquin, and Vincent, Villa still has the ability to break through Lauren's defense!
In fact, in terms of smell in front of the goal, Villa is definitely not as good as Inzaghi; in terms of fame, Villa is not as good as Atletico Madrid's golden boy Torres, who is three years younger than him; in terms of physical fitness, speed and explosive power, etc. The Spaniard cannot compare with Ribery, Robben and Reyes. But compared with these players, Villa is better in comprehensiveness, and he is rarely seen playing alone on the court. Most of the time, he creates opportunities by seeking cooperation with his teammates, which makes Villa The threat factor skyrocketed, because it was difficult for the players defending Villa to guess the Spaniard's offensive intentions.
Although Villa's performance surprised the Arsenal players and created a lot of murderous opportunities, when the first half ended, the score on the field was still 1-0, with the home team in front and the visiting team behind.
After hearing the whistle that ended the first half, the Arsenal players walked off the field with solemn faces. Obviously, after a first-half contest, Arsenal players have realized that their hope of advancing to the League Cup final has become smaller and smaller!
Wenger, who was walking from the sidelines to the players' tunnel, was also worried at this time. After all, although Vieira and Ashley Cole's return defense successfully contained Tottenham's right offensive, it also greatly reduced Arsenal's offensive threat. After all, Arsenal has never been a team that is good at attacking. The reason why their offensive firepower can dominate the Premier League mainly relies on cross-positioning in the offense and the passing and cooperation between players to disrupt the opponent's defense, thus gaining a lot of shooting opportunities.
Now, Tottenham have identified the weakness of Arsenal's lack of strong attack ability in the penalty area and concentrated their forces to defend the center. In order to stabilize the defense, Arsenal had to let Vieira and Ashley Cole retreat to defend to prevent Darren Anderton and Villa from attacking their defense. This further weakened Arsenal's offensive power.
In the 54th minute, Basturk dribbled the ball in the middle and forced a break through Gilberto's defense. After that, he played a textbook diagonal pass with Villa. The latter got rid of Lauren's marking and then received the ball and went straight to the penalty area. Under the double-teaming of Kolo Toure and Lauren one after another, he forced the goal from a small angle near the baseline!
Under Tuchel's careful training, Villa's shooting skills have made great progress. It can be seen from this shot from a small angle that Villa's shooting accuracy and power are very well controlled. It can almost be said that it is a shot that goes straight into the dead center of the goal!
At this moment, Lehmann once again stepped up to save Arsenal. I saw Germany's No. 2 national goalkeeper with quick eyes and quick hands making a side dive to block the ball from the goal. Then he immediately got up from the turf and blocked Drogba's close shot!
"It seems that under George's training, Tottenham have indeed grown to the point where they can compete with Arsenal." At the same time, Ferguson, who was sitting in front of the TV to watch the game, gave this evaluation, " Hehe, after the rise of Tottenham and Chelsea, life will not be easy for Wenger and Arsenal in the future~"
