Chapter 149 Let’s Charge!

The heat was rising in the visiting team's locker room at St. Mary's Stadium.

All eleven starting players were sitting inside, breathing heavily.

Even Cech, the goalkeeper, is no exception.

The first half of the game ended with a score of 0-0, but that didn't mean the game was dull.

On the contrary, the pace of this game was very fast and the situation was very tense, with ups and downs without any slackness.

This also leads to serious physical exhaustion of the players.

Especially for several veterans in Chelsea.

"Many players have physical problems." After observing the players' condition, Ancelotti's chief assistant Demichelis walked back to the coaching area and reported the situation to Ancelotti.

Ancelotti had a serious look on his face because he found that Southampton was more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

Demichelis was Ancelotti's assistant when he was coaching AC Milan. He was the most outstanding expert in the world-famous Milan laboratory. He was poached by Ancelotti to Chelsea for a large sum of money and became Ancelotti's right-hand man.

What he excels at is physical fitness and player body control.

"The consumption rate is faster than we imagined. We have no way to control the rhythm. It has simply become a war of attrition!" Demichelis said helplessly and a little angrily.

From the perspective of a war of attrition, Chelsea is at a disadvantage.

On the one hand, there is the serious aging of the players, and on the other hand, there is the issue of schedule.

Chelsea have been playing games since Christmas without stopping.

After enduring the devilish Christmas schedule, we immediately entered the busy January.

We finally got through January, and the schedule for February is just as busy.

More importantly, the Champions League, which Abramovich values, is about to reignite the flames of war.

Logically speaking, Chelsea's squad is not well-stocked and they should selectively avoid some dispensable battles, such as the FA Cup.

But before the game, the owner Abramovich gave a strict order that they must beat Southampton at all costs. Even Ron Gourlay's words hinted that Ancelotti would be sacked if they lost.

This is also the reason why Ancelotti had to go forward despite knowing that it was a war of attrition in the first half.

"How long can you hold on?" Ancelotti asked with a cold face.

The most striking thing about him is undoubtedly his gray hair.

"We can only last twenty minutes at most in the second half. Any longer and something will go wrong," Demichelis predicted.

Ancelotti closed his eyes and said nothing, but everyone could see that he was in distress.

The situation on the field is now very stalemate. Neither side has been able to break the deadlock, and neither side is willing to make adjustments or changes.

"Or, should we defend for a draw?" Demichelis suggested.

He was not aware of the bet between Yang Huan and Abramovich. What he was considering was that according to the FA Cup schedule, if the first round was a draw, there would still be a second round, and Chelsea would be at home at that time.

Wouldn't it be great to return to Stamford Bridge and beat Southampton?

Ancelotti also felt that the proposal was very tempting and was the best decision for Chelsea at the moment.

But will Abramovich agree?

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At the same time, in the home team's locker room, the players were also gasping for breath, but the atmosphere was very different.

"Master Huan asked me to tell you that he is very satisfied with your performance in the first half and asked you to keep up the good work and beat Chelsea!"

Although it was conveyed through Luis Borini's mouth, it still made everyone in the locker room excited.

"Master Huan, don't worry. We won't let him down!"

"Yes, Louis, tell Master Huan that Chelsea is dead!"

"We must make Chelsea die at St. Mary's Stadium!"

"Well said, let's see if they dare to act wildly in front of us Southampton again!"

Each of the players seemed very excited, very excited and very motivated.

Head coach Bielsa came out at this time, carrying a tactical drawing board with him.

"Okay, be quiet!" Bielsa was as calm as ever.

If we hadn’t seen how excited he was on the field just now, I believe everyone would doubt what else could move him?

"In the first half, we pressed very well, especially against Lampard and Essien.

Everyone in the locker room looked at the Argentine madman and listened to what he said.

"Mikel got a yellow card and became very cautious. This is an opportunity that we ignored in the first half. We must make good use of it in the second half!"

This yellow card given twenty seconds after the start of the game should have been used, but the Southampton players seemed to have forgotten it, and Bielsa had to remind the players again.

This is Southampton's chance.

"I won't say much about the defensive issues. Positioning, assisting and responding need to be done well. Manuel needs to pay more attention in front of the goal and direct the defense and positioning more."

After being called, Neuer nodded heavily at the head coach.

In Bielsa's tactics, he, as a goalkeeper, is given a lot of freedom and tactical power, and can even command the defense.

Some people say that he is a sweeper-type goalkeeper who controls most of the penalty area.

"One more thing, we have to stay calm and patient in the second half. The situation in the first half was in our favor, so we should continue to play like this in the second half. We must not be impatient and pay attention to seizing the opportunity!"

Although Bielsa did not say when, everyone knew that he would observe from the sidelines.

When the time comes, Southampton will seize the opponent's loopholes and beat them to death!

"Don't worry, this game is still under our control!" Bielsa concluded calmly and confidently.

The players all laughed.

This is Bielsa's style!

So they often say that if Bielsa is left to do the pre-match mobilization, then it will be the end of it.

Because it's so calm!

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"What the hell is going on?"

In the stands, Abramovich was venting his anger at Ron Gourlay.

"After forty-five minutes, we still can't handle a League One team? It's really embarrassing to tell anyone about it!"

As if he hadn't vented his anger yet, he walked up the aisle for a few steps and cursed again: "We have so many stars, such high salaries, so many bonuses, what's the use? In the end, they can't even deal with a rubbish League One team. What are they doing?"

Ron Gourlay smiled helplessly as he endured the anger from his boss.

Pini Zahavi, with an expression as if it had nothing to do with me, sat aside without saying a word. But he was thinking in his heart whether he should send the information about the young players that he had finally found out to Southampton.

Chelsea is undoubtedly his biggest sponsor and they also attach great importance to youth training, but in the past two or three years, Abramovich has been tightening his purse strings. Although he spent a lot of money this winter to buy Torres and David Luiz, the financial budget is limited. Is he still willing to introduce players for youth training?

Relatively speaking, Southampton is undoubtedly more promising.

Yang Huan has made it clear that Southampton will continue to increase its efforts to recruit players in the next few years to enhance the team's competitiveness.

Although many people doubt where Southampton’s money will come from, with Yang Huan as a big sponsor, is money a problem?

"Pini!" Abramovich suddenly called Pini Zahavi.

"Ah?" Pini Zahavi was shocked, thinking that his thoughts had been exposed.

"We still have some problems in our team, especially in the midfield. Do you have any suitable candidates?"

When Pini Zahavi heard that business was coming, he immediately smiled and nodded, "Yes, Arsenal has considered selling Fabregas."

"Really?" This is a midfielder that Abramovich admires very much.

In his opinion, Fabregas is the representative of creative midfield and will be a booster for Chelsea to play offensive football.

"In terms of price, Arsenal's expectation is 60 million pounds."

Pini Zahavi's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing Abramovich's enthusiasm.

The subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis caused him to suffer heavy losses in his assets. Now he is really reluctant to spend so much money again.

As for Torres, he is a forward and was signed during the winter break as an emergency.

"I think if we try to negotiate, we should be able to get it to around £50 million."

The price is about the same as Torres, after all, he is the captain of Arsenal.

Abramovich said nothing, looking down at the court with a cold face.

When he saw him like this, Pini Zahavi knew there was no hope!

Today's Abramovich is no longer the Abramovich before the financial crisis.

After about half a minute of silence, Abramovich turned around again and looked at Ron Gourlay.

"Go tell Ancelotti that I want to win, I want him to lead Chelsea to beat Southampton!"

Finally, he spoke almost through gritted teeth.

Ron Gourlay immediately stood up and nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away." Then he walked towards the stairs.

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After fifteen minutes of game, both sides returned to the court.

"It can be seen that neither coach made any substitutions or adjustments during the half-time break." The commentator was analyzing the changes of both sides in the second half, but found that there were no changes.

There have not been many changes in tactics and players, which has led to little change in the situation.

The situation in the second half continued as it was in the first half, and the game was still stalemate.

The pace was very fast, both sides fought fiercely, the ball was transferred frequently, and the two sides were going back and forth against each other.

But they have not been able to create many threatening opportunities.

Time passes by every second.

Start at forty-five minutes, jump to fifty minutes, jump to sixty minutes...

Both sides still seemed to be motionless.

The fans watching the game gradually realized that Southampton's left side was becoming more and more active and began to create several threatening attacks.

But relatively speaking, Chelsea's trident in the front was like sleepwalking.

No one pulled to the side, no one moved, and there was not even the slightest spark of passion.

The condition of right-back Bosingwa is not ideal either.

As their physical energy was depleted, Lampard and Essien's running ability declined a lot, and their protection on the two wings also weakened.

In this situation, once David Alaba and Carvajal, the two full-backs who are almost used as wingers by Bielsa, move in, coupled with Chamberlain who actively moves to the wing, it is easy to create a two-on-one situation on the side with the ball.

Seeing loopholes in the team's defense and formation, Ancelotti immediately asked winger Malouda to warm up after entering the 60th minute.

Five minutes later, in the 66th minute, Chelsea made their first substitution of the entire game.

Malouda replaced the £50 million man Torres.

Torres only had one shot in the entire game and performed very poorly.

Malouda's appearance also foreshadowed Chelsea's tactical adjustments.

From the 4-4-2 midfield diamond formation at the beginning, the team switched back to the 4-3-3 that the team was familiar with last season and the first half of this season. Malouda and Anelka went to the wingers, and Drogba was alone at the front.

As soon as he saw Malouda come on as a substitute, Bielsa, who had been squatting on the sidelines, suddenly stood up from the ground.

He rushed to the sidelines, waving his hands and shouting loudly to the players on the field.

He is also making adjustments to the team's situation.

All Southampton players immediately realized one thing.

The time that Bielsa mentioned during the halftime break has finally come!

His gestures seemed as if he was shouting: Comrades, victory is at hand, let's charge!