Chapter 835 Another great team is rising

“The game is over!”

"Southampton defeated Arsenal 4-0 at Wembley Stadium with Pogba's double, Suarez and Hazard scoring, and got off to a good start in the new season."

"Gary, what do you think of this game?"

The question was asked by Neil Quinn, a famous Premier League commentator from Sky TV in the UK.

At this time, the live TV camera was focused on the Southampton players who were celebrating on the field and the fans who were celebrating wildly in the stands, while also waiting for the post-match awards ceremony.

Sitting next to Neil Quinn was former Manchester United star and England legendary right-back, Gary Neville.

"I think Wenger should be in the locker room now, telling his players that this is just a friendly match, don't overestimate its importance, and Bielsa should be affirming the team's performance while reminding the players not to be too obsessed with the result of the game, because it is just a slightly more important warm-up match!"

Hearing what Gary Neville said, Neil Quinn burst into laughter.

"It's certainly quite interesting, isn't it?"

"Yes, but a game like this doesn't prove anything!" Gary Neville said frankly.

Neil Quinn asked curiously, "Do you think that neither side tried their best in this match?"

"Of course not. They have used all their strength, but often the first game of a new season doesn't tell the whole story, especially in the Community Shield."

Neil Quinn nodded, "So how do you evaluate Arsenal's performance in this game?"

"How should I put it?" Gary Neville thought for a moment, "The Gunners' current problem is not that the team is not strong enough. With Arsenal's current lineup and Wenger's ability, there is still a great possibility that they will compete for the top four in the league. However, their poor performance in the strong dialogue has not been improved."

Neil Quinn added: "Arsenal were terrible against Liverpool, Southampton and Manchester City last season and that cost them a lot of points.

"Yes, that's right. The Gunners' midfield has lost its advantage. This is a long-standing problem, but Wenger always believes that a good offense can effectively resolve the pressure of defense, so his approach is not to simply strengthen the team's midfield defense."

Neil Quinn added: "We noticed that Southampton also used a midfield configuration of technical players."

"Yes, but last season, the double defensive midfielder formed by Toni Kroos and Modric was able to provide Southampton with strong organizational and creativity while also giving eye-catching defensive data, but no one in Arsenal's midfield except Arteta can give such a performance."

"Take this game for example. Among Southampton's three midfielders, Toni Kroos played the entire game. In this game, his number of passes in a single game exceeded 150 again. Why do I say, again?"

Gary Neville smiled and nodded in admiration. "Last season, the two best passers in the Premier League were Toni Kroos and Modric. The number of passes they made was far ahead of other passers in the Premier League. Even in Europe, they were the best."

"As early as last season, I have been saying that Southampton's most important midfielder is Toni Kroos, because throughout the season, he had five games with more than 120 passes in a single game, and three games with more than 150 passes in a single game. What about Modric? None!"

"Since 2010, Xavi has scored more than 120 goals in a single game with 24, followed by Toni Kroos with seven, followed by Thiago with five, and third are Xabi Alonso and Pirlo with four each."

"Among those who made more than 150 passes in a single game, Xavi made 17, Toni Kroos and Thiago made five each, and Xabi Alonso and Pirlo made four each."

"In the first game of this season, Toni Kroos played the entire game and made nearly 170 passes with a success rate of 92 percent, which was quite terrifying because he had just played the entire game in the World Cup in Brazil."

"Is this hard to understand?" Neil Quinn was a little surprised. "The Brazil World Cup has been over for a month, and he hasn't played many games in the past month, not even in the International Champions Cup."

"No, no, no, Neil, you don't understand me, that's exactly what I wanted to say."

"Oh?" Neil Quinn really didn't understand.

"My favourite player, Pirlo, once said that what he hated most was the warm-up before the game because it made him feel sick, and the same was true for my team-mate, Scholes, and even I believe that Xavi and Thiago, etc., are the same."

"But Toni Kroos is obviously different. After he participated in the World Cup, Southampton gave him a two-week vacation, but I heard that he returned to the team after a week of rest, and then began to strictly follow the training plan formulated by the Saints coaching staff and conduct special training. His professionalism is admirable."

"So, we saw that Di Maria was still resting, but Toni Kroos had already played the whole game."

"Remember, I said Southampton were going to take the physicality of their players a step further and they were investing quite a bit of money in helping their players get beyond the current state of sports science?"

"You mean Toni Kroos is going down this path?" asked Neil Quinn.

"Yes!" Gary Neville nodded firmly, "Not only him, but also other players, such as Fabregas."

Neil Quinn laughed, "He only played half the game."

"Yes, but did you notice that Fabregas almost dominated the attack in the first half of the game? In the first 45 minutes of the game, he made nearly 80 passes, 41 of which were to the penalty area, successfully finding the ball.

My teammates also scored 31 times. What does that mean?"

Neil Quinn has been commentating on Premier League games for many years, so he naturally realizes that this data is indeed quite eye-catching.

"Southampton let Modric go because they felt that they should reduce the team's control and improve the team's effective offense, so they sold Modric and brought in Fabregas."

"Through this game, we also saw that Pogba is fully capable of occupying a place in the midfield. Oscar also performed quite well after coming on as a substitute in the second half. Kovacic looks like he has the potential to succeed Modric."

"I even seriously suspect that in order to test his midfield, Bielsa even temporarily changed Matic, who was originally going to replace Toni Kroos, to play as a left center back and partner with Varane. And who dares to say that Matic playing as a left center back will not be another Javi Martinez?"

"Haha, Gary, what you said makes me feel a little bit..." Neil Quinn laughed, "I have no idea what kind of team formation Southampton is thinking about now?"

"Don't say you don't understand. I don't understand it either. I guess only crazy Bielsa can understand it!" Gary Neville laughed, "But one thing I can be very sure of is that Southampton's strength has not weakened, but has strengthened!"

"you mean……"

"Southampton's attacking ability is stronger than last season!"

"So this team is unbeatable?"

"No, of course they have flaws, that is defense, especially the left center back. Without Javi Martinez, whether it is Laporte or Nastasic, or Matic who plays as a guest, whoever will partner with Varane may leave hidden dangers."

"More importantly, Modric's ability to fight in defense was a great help to the midfield defense in the past, but now Fabregas can provide more support to the defense while ensuring the offensive level, which is a question."

"Players like Fabregas, Toni Kroos and even Pogba, their most distinctive ability is not reflected in the data. Their understanding of football far exceeds that of most other players. They can see through the game, read the game, control the rhythm of the game, and they know everything around them.

"Oh, yes, Di Maria is sometimes such a player, but he is not stable enough, so I believe what Bielsa said before the game, Di Maria's mentality is not yet adapted to the Premier League, he still needs some time, but Fabregas does not."

"In the new season, Southampton's front trident is already strong enough. If Bielsa can integrate this set of midfielders, any team facing Southampton will have only one choice, and that is to defend!"

At this point, Gary Neville laughed in amazement, "Hey, Neil, don't look at me like that. You have to believe that we are lucky."

"Why?"

"Because we have just witnessed a great Barcelona team, but now we are witnessing the rise of a great Saints team. If this is not luck, then what is it?"

Neil Quinn never expected that Gary Neville would have such a high opinion of Southampton.

Could it be that he was deliberately trying to flatter Yang Huan because he recently started writing a column for a mobile football app in China?

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Because he knew that Gary Neville had always been a straightforward and sincere person since his playing days.

Just ask yourself, how can a critic who will not hesitate to criticize his beloved Manchester United when they perform poorly, flatter a team he has little affection for?

It was at this moment that a deafening cheer came from the stadium stands.

It turned out that the award ceremony had already begun.

Led by captain Neuer, Southampton players walked into the royal box one after another.

From the live TV footage, we can see that Yang Huan walked to the exit of the box and hugged the players who came up one by one.

Their relationship seemed very warm, and they were talking and laughing with each other.

After hugging Yang Huan, the players walked towards Prince William one after another and received the Community Shield trophy from the Saints fan.

When Neuer, surrounded by his teammates, held up the Community Shield trophy, the whole audience burst into applause.

Pogba, who was elected the best player of the game, opened the champagne directly, held the bottle, and sprayed his teammates beside him continuously.

Everyone who saw this scene couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"Let's congratulate Southampton!"

“They deserved to win the game!”

"At the same time, let us all look forward to the Saints being able to continue to bring us more pleasing offensive football, more exciting games and more surprises in the new Premier League season."

"Finally, we would like to thank Gary Neville for his wonderful commentary and reviews."

"This is Sky TV, I'm Neil Quinn, and we'll see you in the new season!"