Chapter 559 Idealists Must Die!

"Bang, come on, Saints!"

"Three points, Southampton warriors!"

"Let them see how powerful we are!"

In the packed Norwich Carrow Road stadium, the noise was deafening.

The Canaries' home atmosphere has always been excellent. The 27,000 seats are always full, making them one of the teams with the highest home attendance in the Premier League.

In the Premier League, there are not many teams that can sell out every game. Apart from the four traditional powerhouses of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, only Fulham, Norwich and Southampton, which was promoted this season, have full attendances.

After Manchester City won the league title last season, the average attendance this season has increased significantly, but it is only around 95%. It will be less in European competitions and cup competitions.

Southampton's stadium is basically full for every game, and all seats are sold out except for some mobile positions that have to be reserved.

This is also related to the low ticket prices that the team has insisted on for the past three years.

If you take into account a series of ticket costs and service costs such as insurance subsidized by the club, the Saints' ticket prices are the lowest in the Premier League.

Many people argue that Peter Kenyon did nothing during his time at Chelsea, but few people know that the greatest achievement of Mr. Bald and Ron Gourlay during their time at Chelsea was to turn Stamford Bridge into one of the most popular home grounds in the Premier League.

The attendance of some European competitions is difficult to guarantee, but when it comes to the Premier League, Stamford Bridge is always packed.

More importantly, Chelsea's ticket prices are relatively high among the 20 Premier League teams.

Compared to before Peter Kenyon took over Stamford Bridge, the Blues' attendance was quite poor in the Premier League.

In the past two years, Manchester City has also begun to learn from Southampton's practices. On the one hand, they have maintained low ticket prices for ordinary tickets. Their ordinary ticket prices rank second to last in the Premier League, only higher than Southampton.

But on the other hand, the ticket prices for the VIP boxes were greatly increased. After all, those who enter the VIP boxes are all rich people.

Relatively speaking, Norwich's Carrow Road Stadium does not have many boxes and commercial seats, basically all of them are ordinary seats, and the ticket prices are in the upper middle range in the Premier League, which is similar to the team's current performance.

When Yang Huan walked out of the elevator of the Chairman's Stand at Carrow Road Stadium, he was immediately shocked by the fanatical atmosphere there.

Carrow Road is so similar to St Mary's Stadium in Southampton!

“The fans who came with the team to the away game today were really hard-working!”

Yang Huan looked with a smile at the most remote corner of the opposite stadium, where hundreds of Southampton fans who were traveling with the team on the away game were accommodated.

There's nothing we can do. It's because you are the visiting team.

But even though they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and position, the Canaries' fans were not only numerous but also very fanatical, but the Saints' fans still made their voices heard in this vast ocean.

At the very least, Yang Huan, who was in the chairman's stand, heard their shouts.

"Welcome to Carrow Road, Mr. Yang Huan!"

The seventy-year-old Norwich boss, old lady Delia Smith, smiled and welcomed Yang from afar.

"Hello, Mrs. Smith!" Yang Huan walked up to her with a smile and shook hands with her.

Everyone knows that Delia Smith is not just a passionate Norwich fan, she is also the first lady of the British culinary world.

To quote the newspaper, she has been doing one thing for the past thirty years, and that is teaching the British to cook!

But what’s interesting is that this idol old lady who has influenced several generations of British people was actually a hairdresser.

This also proves one thing once again, from ancient times to the present, cross-border is the king!

Delia Smith, along with the Norwich management team, welcomed the Southampton management led by Yang Huan and came to the center of the chairman's stand at Carrow Road Stadium. After the host and the guest sat down, they started chatting.

"Mrs. Smith, you have to take it easy in this game!"

Norwich is currently ranked 13th in the Premier League, which can be said to be a ranking with no ambitions.

If we go up, we won’t be able to qualify for the European competitions; if we go down, we won’t have to worry about relegation.

Delia Smith heard this and laughed like the Queen of England.

"Mr. Yang Huan, you Southampton should show more mercy. Everyone knows that you Southampton are in amazing form recently. Please don't embarrass us in our home stadium!"

Yang Huan just smiled and said nothing more.

It is impossible for Norwich not to give their best at their home ground.

The reason why away games in the Premier League are difficult is that every team has to try their best to please their home audience, so they have to perform at their highest level at home.

At the very least, you are not required to defeat all your opponents, but even if you lose, you have to let your fans see that you have tried your best.

No fan will blame a team that has given its best but still lost the game!

Besides, with the current profit-sharing system of the Premier League, a league ranking is worth a lot of money. How could Norwich give up so easily?

While the two were chatting casually, the two teams walked out of the player tunnel under the leadership of the referee.

"Chris Hughton really gave his all in this battle!"

Peter Kenyon, who was sitting next to Yang Huan, said worriedly.

Yang Huan nodded. It would be strange if he didn’t try his best!

"Chris Hughton changed the formation this time, switching to a 4-5-1 formation. Previously, teams like Arsenal and Manchester United were defeated by this tactic. Now, it's our turn!"

After listening to Peter Kenyon's words, Yang Huan shook his head and smiled, "That may not be the case. Bielsa must be prepared!"

“Norwich also have a very good squad, with Rudy in goal.”

Peter Kenyon pointed to the players walking out below and introduced them to Yang Huan.

"The left back of the defense is the Spanish player Garrido, the central defenders are Bassong and Michael Turner, and the right back is the Scottish player Whittaker, all of whom are Premier League level players."

Garrido previously played for Real Sociedad and was later signed by Manchester City. He performed well for a while, but later lost his starting position and went to Lazio, still as a substitute. He came to Norwich in the summer of 2012.

Bassong is also a famous player in the Premier League. He has excellent physical fitness of African players. He has played for Metz, Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves in Ligue 1. He also came to Norwich last summer.

As for Michael Turner and Whittaker, they are also powerful stars with quite high level.

"The double defensive midfielder combination is Bradley Johnson, who is famous in Leeds United, and the black Norwegian player Tetai. Pilkington is on the left, Snodgrass is on the right, and the Irish attacking midfielder Hoolahan occupies the core position in the middle."

These players are also powerful players in the Premier League. They are either the main players in Ligue 1 like Tetai, or international players like Snodgrass and Hoolahan.

"Standing in the front is England's veteran center forward Holt!"

Holt has been playing in low-level leagues for many years, playing for Nottingham Forest, Blackpool and other teams. After switching to Norwich, his goal efficiency was amazing, helping Norwich complete three consecutive jumps in three years.

Especially in the two seasons he played in League One and the Championship, he scored more than 20 goals each time.

Last season was his first Premier League season, in which he scored 15 goals in 36 games.

But their efficiency has declined somewhat this season, but the threat is still considerable.

Judging from this lineup, Norwich's strength should not be underestimated. At least among the mid-level teams in the Premier League, it is still quite good and the gap between the players is not very big.

This type of team, coupled with a Chris Hughton, Norwich's overall control and defensive ability have been greatly improved this season, especially in their own home court.

This is also the most difficult part for Canary!

Southampton also sent out all their main players in this game.

The goalkeeper is Neuer, the defense line is David Alaba, Javi Martinez, Varane and Azpilicueta, and the three midfielders are Modric, Toni Kroos and Vidal.

The front trident is a combination of Neymar, Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale.

Judging from this starting lineup, Bielsa also attaches great importance to this game and wants to do his best to win three points at Carrow Road!

With the referee's whistle, the game officially kicked off.

Southampton, playing away, kicked off first.

As soon as the Saints kicked off, they did not rush forward with big strides as they did in the past. Instead, they passed the ball backwards, slowly controlling the ball under their feet and slowly pushing the entire defense line forward.

Norwich was also afraid of Southampton's powerful attacking lineup, and the defense line did not dare to press forward, adopting a retreat strategy. The two midfielders Bradley Johnson and Tettey always occupied the front center of the defense line.

The Canaries no longer dared to use their best full-backs, who were able to run across the field to join the attack.

Are you kidding? No matter whether it was Garrido or Whittaker, if they dared to think about attacking Neymar and Gareth Bale, they would have died long ago!

"Norwich's players are very evenly matched, but there is a common problem, which is the lack of speed!"

Peter Kenyon introduced himself with a smile.

Yang Huan nodded. Whether it was the veteran center forward Holt, or the two wingers Pilkington and Snodgrass, they all generally lacked speed. The biggest source of creativity in Norwich's midfield was Hoolahan, a typical Irish small and fast attacking midfielder, but he was already thirty years old and could not charge forward.

As a result, Norwich's entire midfield and frontcourt could not keep up the speed.

Facing such a team, Southampton should be the favorite.

Because the whole world knows that under Bielsa's leadership, the Saints are masters of high-pressure defense and high-intensity pressure and pressing in the midfield and frontcourt. Isn't this the natural nemesis of Norwich?

But what was somewhat surprising was that Southampton played very steadily after the opening.

If the ball is lost, the first thing we do is to press high and press, trying to regain the ball in the shortest time possible.

After getting the ball, he immediately slowed down the pace and controlled the ball slowly.

"We are actually playing the Barcelona style of play!" Yang Huan found it a little funny.

From a technical point of view, Southampton is definitely qualified to play possession against an opponent like Norwich.

Moreover, it’s still Norwich’s turn!

Just ten minutes into the game, Southampton had a 72 percent possession rate!

That is to say, Southampton controlled the ball for more than seven minutes out of ten minutes.

"It's rare to see Bielsa being so stable!" Yang Huan himself felt a little sad.

After all, it’s still pressure!

If Southampton wants to reverse Manchester United, they can’t make any more mistakes, not even a single mistake!

We must get 30 points in the remaining ten games!

This forced even Bielsa, who is crazy and adventurous by nature, to choose safer tactics.

To put it bluntly, Southampton's tactics are very simple: I have the advantage in ball possession, and you have the advantage in overall defense.

It doesn't matter, I will control you first and consume your energy. Once your energy is consumed to a certain level, you're finished!

This is definitely not Bielsa's usual style, as he is used to attacking after the opening!

I can only say that the Argentine madman has become much more pragmatic!

Perhaps, he really is eager to win a Premier League championship trophy!

At the very least, this can help him win more recognition and affirmation!

But when Yang Huan saw it, he felt very uncomfortable.

As the saying goes, ideals are full, but reality is so damn skinny!

This is an age where idealists must die!