Before Chelsea face Arsenal's challenge at home, they must first challenge Sporting CP (formerly Sporting Lisbon) away in the second round of the Champions League group stage.
The current Sporting CP is coached by Marco Silva, who is only 37 years old. He has famous players like Nani and Patricio, as well as William Carvalho and Joao Mario.
The young talents are actually not weak at all.
But Pan Yi, who was full of confidence, still deployed a lineup mainly composed of rotating players, and still achieved a 4:1 victory!
Bamford scored twice, while Schürrle and Zouma also scored.
Sporting CP only scored a face-saving goal from Nani in stoppage time.
In the eyes of many people, the result of this game is not particularly surprising. After all, Chelsea feels really unstoppable now, and it is normal that Sporting CP cannot beat them.
But one person is particularly worried about such news.
That is Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger.
After all, Chelsea’s next opponent is Arsenal!
They also played in the Champions League in midweek and also went to Portugal for an away game, but they lost 0:2 to Porto.
How can the "professor" not feel worried with such a contrast in status?
"Originally, the situation in the Premier League this season looked very chaotic. We might really have a chance to compete for the championship, but now... Chelsea's state is too stable."
Wenger sat in his office and stared at the wall blankly. The expression on his face never relaxed, and he even looked a little old.
Last season, the professor led Arsenal in the 133rd FA Cup final. After conceding 2 goals in the first 8 minutes, they reversed Hull City 3-2 after overtime and won their first trophy in 9 years.
A championship trophy.
In other words, after Wenger won ten championships in the first eight years of coaching Arsenal, he entered the cycle of "ten years without a championship".
Although they have reached the FA Cup, League Cup finals many times during this period, and even entered the Champions League final once, they just missed the championship.
In the Premier League, although Arsenal can steadily enter the top four and obtain a place in the Champions League, the goal of competing for the championship seems to be getting further and further away from them.
Buy the universe in July, sell the captain in August, be the best team in September, win five crowns in October, have hope in November, have long goals in 12 months, be injured in January, stay in the league in February, enter the midfield in March, and compete in April
The semi-finals, fifth place in May, advanced to the semi-finals in June, can play in the play-offs, the whole team was overjoyed, breathed a sigh of relief, and was ready to sell the captain.
The above is almost the epitome of every season of Arsenal over the years.
As a result, Arsenal went from being the undefeated team of kings in the Premier League to becoming the joke champion in world football.
The so-called "football jokes have a stone's throw, Arsenal have eight games to their name" is this.
What about "40 million pounds 1", "our factory has collapsed", "temperature difference signing", "five years of Bayern, three years of Barcelona", "the best formation", "Wenger's zipper", "fighting for the four crazy demons",
If we elaborated on it in detail, ten chapters would not be complete.
But Wenger is not willing to give in!
Why doesn’t he want to win another Premier League championship?
The FA Cup champion is just a lower substitute.
But a champion is still a champion after all.
That is to say, last season's FA Cup championship boosted the morale of Arsenal and regained their confidence.
So this summer, they invested a huge amount of nearly 80 million pounds in signings!
Among them are Sanchez with 35 million pounds, Welbeck with 16 million pounds, Chambers with 12 million pounds, Debuchy with 10 million pounds, and Ospina with 3 million pounds.
If converted into euros, this is already more than what Chelsea has paid with Abramovich’s investment!
After all, they only spent 80 million euros on new players in the summer window.
After the start of the new season, Arsenal's state is indeed good. Although they failed to win more victories, they still maintained their unbeaten status with 2 wins and 4 draws.
What makes Wenger even more gratified is that although it has only been six rounds, it can be seen that the Premier League this season is very chaotic. Most of the big6's states are unstable, and some mid-to-lower teams have outstanding performances.
For example, Swansea and Aston Villa, which remained undefeated in the previous rounds, are still ranked fifth and sixth.
There is also Southampton. Although they had one draw and one loss in the first two rounds, they have defeated West Ham United, Newcastle, Swansea, and Queens Park Rangers in the last four games.
Such a record also allowed their points to suddenly reach second place, second only to Chelsea.
This was really a great opportunity for Arsenal!
After all, Arsenal's absolute strength is not outstanding in the Premier League. It is really difficult to score 90 or 100 points in a season and then lead the championship by a long way.
But if everyone gets in a mess, Arsenal has a chance.
Just like now, after six rounds, Manchester City only has 10 points, the same points as Arsenal, but they are third on goal difference.
Arsenal ranks fourth. (Eh?)
Manchester United is seventh, Tottenham is eighth, and Liverpool is only 14th.
But the problem is...
Chelsea is number one!
And he is the first to win!
They scored 18 points in six rounds. They are simply brutal and inhumane. They don’t seem to have the same style as other teams!
As a result, it seems that Arsenal's championship dream is about to drift away again.
After all, they are eight points behind Chelsea after six rounds!
In such a short schedule, this is actually a very scary score difference.
Under such circumstances, the current troubled times in the Premier League have become less friendly to Arsenal.
After all, this also shows that there are more teams competing for Champions League seats!
For Arsenal and Wenger, the Champions League seat is the last position that cannot be lost.
After all, although the Premier League championship is a huge honor, in terms of benefits, it is not much different from second or third place.
But if someone is kicked out of the top four and cannot play in the Champions League, the loss will be huge.
First of all, at least tens of millions of euros in wasted money are gone!
And it’s not just money, it’s also attractive to stars.
Although a larger salary can still attract stars, Arsenal are not rich after all. They can only pay the market price at most, and cannot pay too much premium to buy players or offer super-large contracts.
Therefore, by staying in the top four and ensuring that you can participate in the Champions League, you can maintain your competitiveness in the Premier League.
Once squeezed out, it may directly create a vicious cycle, and then it may sink for many years.
"So, whether we can beat Chelsea in this game, or at least not lose to them, is really important."
Wenger stood up and walked around the office.
Although Arsenal fans now seem confident that they can beat Chelsea, Wenger does not think this is an easy task.
Chelsea is such a beast!
Not only did they win completely, but they also scored three to four goals in almost every game. It was simply inhumane.
And if Arsenal can escape unscathed at Stamford Bridge when facing such a powerful Chelsea team, that would be really important.
Whether it is for Arsenal players or even Wenger himself, it will be of great help in terms of confidence in achieving good results this season (fighting for fourth place).
In fact, Wenger also has an advantage.
That is, Pan Yi has defeated many world-class coaches in recent years, but Wenger is one of the few coaches who has not fallen behind.
First of all, theoretically speaking, there was no real confrontation between Wenger and Pan Yi.
Because when AC Milan played against Arsenal in the Champions League knockout round three years ago, Pan Yi was just an assistant coach.
But now everyone knows that Pan Yi actually played a leading role in Milan's tactics at that time.
Therefore, even if these two games are included, Wenger is actually tied with Pan Yi - their record is one win and one loss!
After all, Arsenal had won one game against AC Milan at the time, but lost 0:4 in the first leg at San Siro, preventing Arsenal from making a comeback in the second round.
However, it was this 0:4 defeat that made Wenger still have a lot of fear for Pan Yi.
At that time, Pan Yi's use of Aubameyang and Yin Bu at the center position was simply perfect, and Wenger was stunned.
Moreover, after Pan Yi arrived in Hamburg, especially his current performance at Chelsea, Wenger was even more impressed.
Of course, he has also watched Chelsea's games in the previous rounds, which also gave him a clear understanding of the strength of Pan Yi and this Chelsea team.
He also saw the new offensive tactics Pan Yi showed to the world and the progress shown by Chelsea players.
Players emerge in every game, and progress is visible to the naked eye. Such a team is terrible!
Even Wenger feels that Pan Yi is even more comfortable than he was a few years ago, and can use so many formations so freely!
Therefore, the performance of Pan Yi and Chelsea did put tremendous pressure on Wenger, and even somewhat shook his confidence.
"Can I defeat him? What method should I use to defeat him? Or...prevent him from defeating me?"
Wenger thought about this question repeatedly.
Of course, as a truly world-class coach and an experienced old coach, he can adjust his mentality and find effective ways to deal with Pan Yi's Chelsea.
"They are a young team, and Pan Yi is also a young coach. After achieving such an excellent start, maybe they will become proud and complacent."
"In this case, they may relax on the court and expose their flaws."
"Maybe we really have a chance to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge?"
Wenger nodded secretly.
But he also understands that if Arsenal really can't stop Chelsea's progress, it may be difficult for the entire Premier League to stop it!
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An important basis for Wenger's belief that Chelsea will be "complacent and complacent" is that their head coach Pan Yi seems to be addicted to "high-intensity Internet surfing" recently.
If the head coach is proud, other players will naturally follow suit!
Unlike many stars and coaches, Pan Yi did not engage in social media such as Twitter, "There are country bumpkins" and "I must die".
He often posts some videos of Chelsea training and games on AB, the most popular video website in the country, and of course there are also some clips of his daily life.
On the day he made a high-profile announcement about moving into the ab station, his fans immediately jumped to 500,000, and a few days later there were already more than 2 million, which shows how popular he is in Dragon Kingdom. p>
Videos of Pan Yi interacting with his own players, especially with opposing players, after games always get the most attention.
For example, after the game against Manchester City, Pan Yi hugged the opponent's forward Aguero and took a selfie.
This video titled [Take a selfie with the selfie guru!] has already been viewed millions of times in just a few days.
In the following days, Pan Yi also released videos one after another after each game:
[Exceeding people like Messi and shooting Husky, come and see Husky.]
[Benteke is really strong, I wonder if he can shoot better than Heskey?]
[Let Nani talk about Nani’s experience]
Naturally, these videos have received crazy likes from Dragon Kingdom fans, and all of them have become popular.
Regardless of whether they are fans or not, everyone will post various comments in the video to show their support for this "new up leader".
"Wow, she is as productive as a sow!"
"Fire tongs Liu Ming, like first and then read."
"Look, this man is called Xiaoshuai, and the man next to him is called Xiaohei. They are studying how to pronounce Nani..."
"The video is good, it allows us to get close to so many stars, but it is a bit too short. Coach, you don't want others to say you are short, right?"
"This is the first time I saw a coach who posted a video on a website. He is still the most famous and awesome coach in the world! I was also the first to post a barrage! Mom, I am successful!"
"When you see me, you are no longer number one."
"Awesome! (The first barrage in my life, dedicated to the up owner)"
"Am I the only one who noticed the beautiful reporter behind Pan Yi and Aguero? I want to get all the information about this person within one minute!"
"Haha, what a beautiful reporter, I only noticed the appearance of the host. Does giegie have a girlfriend? Is she in need of a bed warmer?"
"Is this up owner a football player? That's boring. I still like basketball that allows people to sing, dance, and rap."
"..."
Pan Yi likes to interact with fans.
When he was a fan in his previous life, he really wanted to go to the stadium to watch football in person and interact with the stars.
But since he is short of money and has to go to work every day, he can basically only watch football on TV, or follow some online hosts who watch football in foreign countries and feel the foreign football atmosphere through their videos.
And even these up owners can actually only show the fans' enthusiasm and opinions about the team most of the time. There are very few who can truly interact with the stars in depth.
But now Pan Yi is different.
He is a world-famous coach!
He wants to take selfies with Aguero or something. Even if Akun loses, he will come over and have fun together. Of course, there is also his fellow Argentinian Scaloni in the Chelsea team, and the relationship between them is also
Not bad.
And if Pan Yi was taking photos of Chelsea players, it would be even simpler.
In addition to the fact that training content sometimes involves tactical secrets that are difficult to release, domestic fans can often watch various video clips of Chelsea players in restaurants, gyms, and physical therapy rooms on the website.
They can also learn about the daily life of Chelsea players and some interesting tidbits.
On ab.com, the two most popular Chelsea videos are about Kante.
[Shocking revelation: Kanter often eats without paying!]
In this video, it is Pan Yi who takes Kante, Cancelo and other players to a restaurant in London for dinner.
This restaurant is a joint venture between David Luiz and Willian, the two Brazilian stars in the team!
Then David Luiz accepted an interview with Pan Yi and said: "Coach, you are a good person. You will pay after eating. But many teammates never pay, especially Kanter!"
William added: "If you ask Kante to pay, he will usually say: 'Really? Do I have to pay? Oh, no! You and David are very good, you have a good heart.
'"
David Luiz continued: "Even if I said it in front of Kante now, he would say 'I won't pay'."
Finally, William smiled bitterly and said: "He will also say 'thank you' to us very politely. But my God, his English is terrible! When he says 'thank you', we sound like 'Thank you'."
fxxk you“,It sounds so uncomfortable!”
Another video is [Who is the most popular player in the Chelsea team?]
Pan Yi interviewed one after another, many of whom would mention Kanter.
"It's Kanter. He is so good, both on and off the court. He is warm-hearted, does not gossip, and works hard without complaining!"
"Yes, I am not the only one who says this. He is very good and it is great to have him in the team. He deserves all the praise."
"Of course, he doesn't like other people's praise. He would rather keep a low profile. We all know that he has such a character. It is precisely because of this character that we love him even more."
"He is so humble. If he hears us praising him, he will become nervous. Because of this, I will often go out of my way to praise him and ask reporters to interview him, haha!"
"But he also has some flaws, especially when playing poker, he really wants to win, so sometimes he will bend the rules."
"What are you changing the rules? He just cheats when playing cards! Let's put it this way, I am willing to do anything with Kanter, except playing cards."
In response to this, fans commented one after another:
"I always thought that Kanter had no black spots except black spots."
"I always thought baby Kanter was the cutest, but I didn't expect him to be so stingy. The more I look at him, the cuter he becomes."
"I think it's understandable that Kanter is a prostitute. Do you know that although Kanter is worth 40 million and earns over 100,000 a week, the car he drives is a second-hand mini coopers..."
"I heard that when he was a child, he used to pick up garbage to make a living. Maybe this developed his frugal habit. It was this experience that spurred him and made him an inspirational and successful player. How can Kanter be like this?
Can you not love me?"
"But he even cheats! Is this perhaps his desire to win? Can such a desire to win support him from running on the court non-stop for ninety minutes?"
"I have seen the video of Kante being interviewed by a reporter. Kante kept smiling and thanking the reporter, 'fxxk you', 'fxxk you'. I think the reporter would really be grateful."
"Haven't you heard that we are not afraid of the sky or the earth, we are only afraid of Kanter saying thank you!"
"Thank you Pan Yi for letting us see another side of Kanter. I will never let him come to my restaurant to play cards and then say thank you..."
Foreign fans are envious of the videos Pan Yi posted on the AB site and his interactions with fans!
They have no way of seeing this kind of first-hand interaction video between coaches and players!
Therefore, they can only climb over the wall, register an account at the ab website, and then move it to the external network so that everyone can satisfy their craving.
And even these second-hand videos of transportation can become popular instantly.
Pan Yi has simply become the world’s number one internet celebrity!
In fact, even if Pan Yi becomes an Internet celebrity, it has nothing to do with Wenger's "arrogance and complacency".
Although he is indeed very prolific and has released a large number of videos in a short period of time, it is actually a little effort.
He just shot it casually and then posted it later without any editing or dubbing.
It’s all natural and unprocessed!
So it doesn't take him much time. The growth of fans is natural and has nothing to do with "smugness".
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Among the videos released by Pan Yi, some have particularly attracted the attention of Dragon Kingdom fans.
That's some of the Dragon Nation faces that have emerged from Chelsea's Cobham academy.
Let’s start from the beginning.
Since Abramovich purchased Chelsea and established the Cobham base, Chelsea's youth training talents have also had their own venues in this base, and their training conditions have also undergone tremendous changes.
Various brand-new training buildings and various equipment have been introduced one after another. In short, the hardware facilities here have been greatly improved.
After Pan Yi took charge of Chelsea, he attached great importance to the youth training here.
Of course he also has the authority to manage Chelsea’s youth training!
After initially promoting some outstanding talents here, such as Chike, Ake and others to the first team, Pan Yi also intervened in some daily guidance of the youth team, such as letting them pay more attention to technology and creativity, encouraging players to perform individually,
Wait.
In this way, players will not be limited to a certain tactical framework when they are young, which will affect their development.
As for talents at all echelons of the youth team, Pan Yi also tried his best to promote the establishment and expansion of Chelsea's scouting network, searching for talented children around the world and letting them join Chelsea's youth training camp.
After all, Chelsea's first team is playing well now, but if they want to develop sustainably and become a century-old giant, they must strengthen their work in this area.
Of course you can build a strong team just by spending money, but if you want to truly stay local and take root in the community, "your own children" are indispensable.
Look at the support Pan Yi received from Chelsea fans after using so many young players from the youth training to play in the Premier League!
Some people already regard him as "our own Ferguson"!
Only by recruiting talents from all over the world and enriching Chelsea's youth training camp can we provide an endless supply of follow-up talents for the first team.
Of course, Abramovich and Chelsea's senior management also strongly supported Pan Yi's measures. They gave money when they wanted and people when they wanted!
When Pan Yi promoted such a project, he was naturally a bit "selfish".
That is, he suggested that the club prepare to establish Chelsea football schools in many places in the Dragon Kingdom, so that talented children from the Dragon Kingdom can learn football without having to consider the cost.
Under such measures, coupled with Pan Yi's extremely high popularity in Longguo - in fact, Pan Yi releases various videos on the ab station, which also has the consideration of increasing popularity, so that many parents who usually do not watch football can also pay attention to it.
Come here!
This means that before the Chelsea Football School is fully built, there are already countless registrations.
So Pan Yi asked people to hold some training camps in China first, and then select some outstanding students to study and live at Chelsea headquarters. All the expenses incurred will be borne by the club.
As for Chelsea Club, not to mention that Pan Yi is now the actual second-in-command, and everyone obeys his words;
In fact, just from a business operation perspective and a competitive perspective, they have not lost at all.
Everyone knows that the Longguo market is the largest market in the world, and the same is true for football.
As long as Chelsea can establish a good reputation in the country and let the younger generation become more Blues fans, it will definitely be beneficial to Chelsea's future.
Moreover, among this group of Dragon Kingdom students, some good seedlings have indeed been discovered.
Although it is still difficult for them to reach the level of European youth players, that is because they lack scientific training and teaching.
As long as there is the guidance of Chelsea's professional youth training coaches, who knows what will happen in the future?
Therefore, Pan Yi sometimes goes to the youth team to take videos of the lives and training of the young players of the Dragon Kingdom and put them on the ab website.
Of course, these videos will attract great attention from Dragon Kingdom fans.
"They are all so happy! I like their smiling faces."
"Yes, you can see that they are all happy from the bottom of their hearts!"
"That's not true. This is the football they really like. They don't have to be overwhelmed by those expensive tuition fees, and they won't be troubled by those messy hidden rules."
"Thank you Pan Yi! Thank you Pan Yi for giving them the opportunity to realize their dreams!"
"In fact, it also gives us ordinary Dragon Country fans a chance to realize their dreams. If they kick out in the future..."
"How can it be so easy to kick them out? There are still too few good seedlings."
"But isn't the Chelsea Football School already under construction? When the best prospects in the country are gathered in the school, and then selected to Chelsea for the guidance of the most professional coaches, who says there won't be Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi?" "I suddenly feel that it is really possible for the Dragon Country team to enter the World Cup again in the future."
"If that day comes, I will go find Pan Yi and give him a kiss!"
"Call me and I'll come with you!"
"You want to take advantage of Pan Yi, right? Can he do it just by asking you to do it? It's better to invite me too. The success rate of going together as a group is higher!"