Chapter 325: Zone Offense Tactics: Extraordinary Performance

In the 44th minute of the first half, the scoreboard at Highbury Stadium still showed 1:1, Chelsea and Arsenal were tied.

However, judging from the technical statistics in the second half of the game, Chelsea still had the upper hand, especially in terms of the number of shots hitting the goal frame. If it weren't for the brilliant performance of Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia, Chelsea might have changed the score long ago.

Although it is said that the advantage on the field cannot change the score, and if no goal is scored, it will have no effect on the outcome of the game, but for football matches, both sides play with advantage. The reason for this is that the probability of scoring a goal is high only when there is an advantage, because a team cannot always rely on luck to win the game, and the tactical role of the head coach is naturally aimed at giving his own team more advantages.

At this time, Arsenal coach Wenger was already fidgeting in the coaching booth. He didn't know how to help Arsenal regain the advantage. Up to now, Arsenal's offense had been severely hindered, while Chelsea, on the other hand, was going smoothly. He was not even sure whether the opponent would score a goal in the next second.

In the Frenchman's heart, he could only hope that Arsenal could drag the game to halftime.

As a result, the two teams tied in the first half. Chelsea's momentum in the second half will definitely weaken, and their performance will definitely decline, and Arsenal's chances of winning will increase again.

Of course, this is just Wenger's unilateral opinion. In the eyes of Chelsea coach Mourinho, it doesn't matter even if the score remains the same in the first half. As long as the team continues with the "zone attack tactics" and the cooperation in the second half is smoother, the performance will be better. Therefore, he is not worried at all.

At this moment, the expressions of the two head coaches formed a sharp contrast, which also reflected the current situation on the court on another level.

What slightly relieved Wenger was that at this time, the fourth official had already held up the extra time sign with a big '2' on it, indicating that there were only two minutes of extra time. He felt that Arsenal would have no problem defending until the half-time break.

………However, the game on the field would definitely not be affected by the French’s will. In the first minute of stoppage time, Chelsea finally got another excellent chance.

Wang Li passed the ball into the penalty area with a straight pass near the front of the penalty area. Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen shook off Toure's close defense and shot a volley, which was saved by goalkeeper Almunia and went out of the bottom line.

Chelsea got a corner kick on the left side, which was probably the last chance of the first half.

At this time, all Arsenal players returned to their own half, which made the penalty area crowded. The situation was not enough to be described as crowded. It was like a human wall was built in front of the goal, and there was no way to get through. In this situation, it was really not easy to find an opportunity to score a goal in the chaos.

Seeing the situation in the penalty area, Wang Li shook his head helplessly. He did not choose to go into the crowd to look for opportunities, but ran out of the penalty area. After thinking about it, he winked at Robben who was about to take a corner kick.

Arkin Robben had a strong ability to understand. After nodding slightly without meaning anything, he looked towards the small penalty area and waved in the direction of the small penalty area, as if he was greeting a Chelsea player, which made the Arsenal players even more nervous.

Back off, trot, pass the ball!!

Although Arsenal's defensive general Campbell had been guarding Wang Li closely, Robben's rambling performance just now was too realistic. No one expected that he would choose to pass the ball, and Campbell was the same, so Wang Li only ran forward one step and easily received the pass.

But even so, the Arsenal players are not worried. With so many people in the penalty area, even if the black-haired boy wants to shoot, it will be difficult for him to score.

This is indeed the case. Although the ball is at his feet and now within his shooting range, Wang Li still does not shoot directly because he is not sure he can score the goal. And looking at the time, Chelsea only has one shooting chance left, which cannot be wasted.

After receiving the ball, Wang Li was not too anxious. He pulled the ball back and forth, dodged Campbell's steal, and then kicked it to the Dutch boy who had just run back to the court from the baseline.

After Arkin Robben got the ball again, he chose to pass it back to William Gallas who was coming from behind.

At Chelsea, Gallas's offensive ability is the best among the defenders. This defender, who was produced by the famous French youth training academy Clairefontaine training base, is not only outstanding in one-on-one defense, but also has first-class speed and good passing ability. Now he has squeezed out Wayne Bridge's main position and won the unanimous trust of his teammates at Chelsea.

After receiving the ball, Gallas did not pass it directly to Wang Li. In fact, as a versatile player in the backcourt, the head coach did not require him to participate in the "zone attack tactics", so he had no pressure to pass the ball at all.

In fact, Gallas did not intentionally not pass the ball to Wang Li. This was just a normal reaction of the defenders when they made assists.

If we make a clear division, among the three lines on the field, the forwards are responsible for attack, the midfielders are half defensive and half offensive, and the defenders are responsible for defense.

So why do defenders sometimes need to participate in the attack! ?

In addition to scoring with set pieces and headers, in fact, another important purpose of the defender's assist is to tear apart the opponent's defense. Since the defender's position on the field is a little far back, when a team is attacking aggressively, passing the ball to the defender can force the opponent's defensive players to run out of the crowd to grab the ball.

Now, if Chelsea want to score a goal, they must disperse the players in the penalty area. Gallas does not pass the ball for this purpose.

Seeing the opponent's full-back get the ball, the players in Arsenal's penalty area also dispersed. It was not that they were too stupid to fall into this strategy, but when the opponent did not choose to lob the ball high into the penalty area, it would be impossible for Chelsea to adjust the offensive formation at will to look for shooting opportunities. In that case, the possibility of scoring would definitely increase significantly.

Young player Fabregas pressed towards Gallas.

Facing this rising star of Arsenal, Gallas was not nervous at all. While dribbling the ball slowly, he suddenly accelerated and broke through Fabregas directly! !

It was at this time that the Arsenal players noticed this black full-back from Chelsea. Undoubtedly, with this speed of dribbling alone, he could very likely become a qualified winger. Every player in Chelsea's starting lineup was really a coward.

But there was no time to think about it. Pires, who had just run out of the penalty area, immediately pressed forward again, but at this time, Gallas passed the ball to Wang Li with the outside of his foot. In fact, his previous action was only to tear Arsenal's defense. Since the goal had been achieved, it would be better to leave the final shooting opportunity to the team's black-haired boy - at least if he failed, the head coach would not blame him.

Wang Li will certainly be Arsenal's main defensive target. Even though he just passed the ball, in addition to Campbell, he still has Lauren beside him. Even without the first half of the game, Arsenal players know that Wang Li is the player who tests the defense the most and is the biggest threat in Chelsea's offense. What's more, in the first half, this black-haired boy really attacked Arsenal's defense a lot.

This time, Wang Li did not pass the ball again.

He took a few steps forward, met William Gallas's pass, turned around and moved his right foot, and after a simple back turn, he shook off Lauren in disguise, and directly chose to volley with his left foot in the penalty area! !

The shot was so sudden that Campbell had no time to react. There was also chaos in the Arsenal penalty area. In this situation, the football passed directly through Reyes and Flamini in the air and flew towards the blind corner of the goal.

Ashley Cole has done a great job!

After seeing the opposing player pass the ball to the black-haired boy, Cole, who knew Wang Li very well, kept an eye on Wang Li's movements, ready to respond to any unexpected situations. Obviously, this approach paid off, and he was the only player in the penalty area who reacted, including the goalkeeper. In his anxiety, Ashley Cole fell to the ground and tried to block the ball with his body. His choice was correct. The ball hit Cole's shoulder, slowed down, and rolled disorderly in the chaotic penalty area.

Seeing this situation, the Arsenal fans in the audience breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment, just when the football was about to go out of the goal, a foot came rushing over and lightly touched the football with the tip of the toe, changing its trajectory and flying into the net.

“Beep…”

“Beep…”

At this moment, in the unusually quiet Highbury Stadium, the two whistles from the referee's mouth were so harsh. Of course, this was for Arsenal fans. For the Blues fans, this was almost the most beautiful music in the world.

"The ball goes in! It's the Irish player Damien~~~Duff!!!"

The Chelsea fans in the Highbury Stadium were boiling with excitement. After watching Duff send the ball into the goal with his left foot, all the Chelsea fans stood up from their seats. Although the Irishman's reputation was not very impressive in Chelsea, which was full of stars, he became a hero in the hearts of all the Chelsea fans at that time.

"Oh my god! The ball went in, Chelsea overtook the score! Um... the name of the player who scored the goal is... Damon Anthony Dass!!? Oh, he is an Irish player. According to his profile, he is 25 years old this year. He was able to score a goal in the battle between Arsenal and Chelsea. I believe it will be of great help to his future career. Maybe he will be able to gain a starting position in Chelsea in the future..."

"However, Wang Li still deserves a lot of credit for this kick. His shot was very sudden, but unfortunately it was blocked by the opponent's defender. I have to say that these Premier League defenders are still very professional. For the team's victory, they did not hesitate to use their bodies to block the shot. This spirit is worthy of recognition..."

While the commentator of the ancient oriental country's Imperial TV station was still nagging, across China, countless fans watching the live broadcast were complaining about why the Imperial TV station had hired such a Premier League illiterate to comment on the game.

However, their complaints obviously had no effect, as the policies of the imperial court would not be swayed by the will of the masses.

Duff was very happy after scoring the goal. In fact, although his performance in Chelsea is getting better and better and his main position is getting more and more stable, his goal-scoring data is not outstanding. In Chelsea, his more task is to pass the ball and he does not have the ability to cut inside and shoot like Robben. But which striker would not want to score goals?

After the excitement, Duff jumped directly onto Wang Li without waiting for the Chelsea players to catch up. This time, Wang Li did not disappoint the Irishman. In order to celebrate for Duff, he carried him on his back for more than 50 meters and came to Chelsea's half, where other players pulled Duff up from Wang Li's back. Of course, there is no need to describe the way of celebration in words. Just look at the Irishman's hair full of grass debris and dirty face after the celebration.

Mourinho on the sidelines also stood up and clapped his hands happily, then looked at the Arsenal coaching bench with a slightly mocking look. After a spark with the Frenchman, he turned around with a smile and walked towards the visiting team's locker room.

The first half was over. For Chelsea, the score of 1:2 was perfect enough. All he needed to do was to encourage the players to keep working hard during the halftime break. In fact, all the tactical work had been prepared long before the game. Since no special passive situation occurred, he certainly didn't need to change the tactics rashly.

………When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, almost all Arsenal players breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure on them in the last ten minutes of the first half was too great. Every time Chelsea attacked, it seemed that they could penetrate Arsenal's defense, which made them have no idea whether the opponent would change the score in the next moment.

This is not just physical fatigue, but also mental tension. Now that the first half of the game is finally over, they can relax for a while, but at this time, the mentality of many Arsenal players towards this confrontation has changed - the Arsenal players who were confident of winning the game began to waver at this time.

In fact, it was not the score that shook these Arsenal players. Although Arsenal was the lagging side, the score of 1:2 was really not enough to defeat the stars' desire for victory. This was mainly because of the slump in the second half of the first half. In the following games, Chelsea's offensive threat was too great!

Due to Chelsea's crazy performance in the previous Premier League, many media and fans commented that Chelsea's offensive ability is the strongest in the Premier League. This made Arsenal players, who have always been proud of their offensive ability, feel indignant, but the 45 minutes of the first half of the game made them realize this, especially the opponent's No. 21 black-haired boy, who was almost omnipotent in offense.

And can Arsenal really limit his performance! ?

Thinking about how in the first half, despite the best efforts of their defenders to defend, the black-haired boy still equalized the score, and even made a very threatening shot in the last minute of the game, the Arsenal players were even more shaken - with this frustrated mood, they slowly returned to the home team's locker room.

But in fact, although the mentality of the players of the two teams is different, the performance of the head coaches in the locker rooms of the two teams is not much different.

Although Arsenal fell into a very passive position in the second half of the first half, Wenger felt that it was only caused by Chelsea's extraordinary performance. Although it was a pity that they failed to hold on to the score in the end, he was not dissatisfied with the players' performance. In fact, Arsenal had already performed exceptionally well in defense in this game. If the defense was consistent with the performance against Tottenham, the current score would not be 1:2, but even 1:3 or 1:4. Wenger would not find it strange - in the first half, Chelsea's offensive performance was a level higher than Tottenham's.

“Don’t be discouraged. The opponent played well in the first half, but with the halftime break, it is not easy for them to continue this state. We will continue to play like this in the second half. Remember, Arsenal’s victory does not rely on defense, but on scoring more goals than the opponent!!”

"...Where is this? Highbury Stadium! You will lose to that upstart team in front of so many Arsenal fans!? If so, you will not be able to face Arsenal fans again..."

While Wenger was cheering for the team, Mourinho was doing the same thing in the away team's locker room, but his expression was much more relaxed: "So what about Highbury Stadium? So what about Arsenal? We are still leading now, it's the same as in the previous games. Keep playing like this, I believe you will score the third goal, the fourth goal, or even more..."

"Think about it, if we beat them by two or three goals at Highbury, who would dare to say that Arsenal is the strongest team in London? Even they themselves would feel ashamed."

"Although we have the most points in the league, the Frenchman has always been very calm in front of the media, because Henry was the top scorer last season and Arsenal was the league champion, but this season, they have scored one goal less than us in every game. If they lose to Chelsea by a large score again, imagine what the Frenchman's expression will be. It is definitely a scene worth looking forward to."

Everyone laughed when they heard Mourinho's teasing encouragement.

Now, the team has a goal in hand, coupled with the dominant performance in the first half, they are full of confidence in victory. In the eyes of many players, as long as they follow the pre-match tactical deployment, the team can at least win. Thinking of this, many people feel more relaxed.

Among them, the old players of Chelsea are the worst affected, such as Lampard, Terry and so on.

In the past, Chelsea was a mid-table team in the Premier League almost every season, and could not be compared with Arsenal and Manchester United. Even with the 100 million euros spent by the Russians last season, the situation did not change much, and Chelsea only finished third in the league.

But now, the team is about to win all the games in the first half, which makes the league championship seem to be just around the corner. How can we not be excited! ?

………The half-time break had not yet ended and both teams came out of the locker room. Compared to the end of the first half, the mental outlook of the Arsenal players had improved significantly. Obviously, Wenger did a good job in motivating the players.

Now, players from both sides are looking forward to the second half.

Two minutes before the start of the game, they had already taken their positions on the court, waiting for the referee to announce the start of the game with fierce eye contact.

But the referees also need to rest. When there was one minute left in the game, the referee team entered the field and took their positions. The referee went directly to the center circle, put the whistle in his mouth, and waited for the second hand to reach '12'.

“Beep…”

With a long whistle, the second half of the game finally began amid everyone's anticipation.

Arsenal coach Wenger sat calmly in the coaching booth, watching Chelsea's attack. In his opinion, it was impossible for Chelsea to continue the performance in the second half of the first half. Generally speaking, a team's extraordinary performance could not last too long. It was like shooting in a basketball game, there would always be hot hands and cold hands.

But is it really like that?

(To be continued)