Chapter 394 The first championship trophy of the new season!
The so-called Community Shield is actually similar to the Super Cup of the country in the leagues of various countries, with the league champion versus the cup champion.
The "Super Cup" in England is between the Premier League champions and the FA Cup champions. As for the League Cup, let's go for it.
The main reason is that the prize awarded to the winning team of this event is not a trophy, but a shield. Therefore, the name of the competition should not be called a certain cup, but everyone is used to calling it a shield and a cup.<
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Some people also say that England's Community Shield is actually more like an exhibition match or a friendly match. There may be some clues in its predecessor name "Charity Shield".
In fact, its competition rules are indeed a bit different from "regular" competitions such as the Premier League, FA Cup, and League Cup.
That’s because this competition has no restrictions on the team’s registrants, and six people can be substituted as substitutes!
This is even one more substitution than the number of substitutions after the subsequent restructuring.
But no matter how you say it, this is still a championship. It is always a "king of kings" battle between the Premier League champion and the FA Cup champion. Most teams still take it seriously.
This is especially true for the two teams participating in the Community Shield this season.
Chelsea has long shouted the slogan of winning seven championships. Of course, they don’t want to miss out on every championship;
In recent years, Arsenal can only participate in this competition by winning the FA Cup, and their growth in the number of championships is also very dependent on such a decisive final.
The football match serves as the opening match before the start of each season and is traditionally held at Wembley Stadium, and this year is no exception.
As the participating parties, Chelsea and Arsenal are naturally very convenient. After all, they are in London and do not need to travel around.
So on the night of August 2, at Wembley Stadium, these two old London rivals met again.
"Hello, professor."
During the handshake session, Pan Yi smiled and extended his hand to Wenger.
Wenger also smiled and shook hands with Pan Yi: "I'm very happy to compete with you again."
These two world-famous coaches have had a good trading relationship in the last two transfer windows, including Pan Yi's current assistant coach Arteta, who also came over to hug Wenger and then chatted happily with his old teammates. On the other side, players such as Willian, Cech, Gnabry, and Martin who exchanged clubs also chatted with old friends. It was a harmonious and loving scene.
But soon, Wenger showed his winning streak:
"I still remember the defeat in the last game. The lesson was profound. However, this game will not be so easy."
"Really?" Pan Yi asked with a smile.
Wenger seemed confident: "There is no doubt that our strength is not as good as yours Chelsea, but we can rely on a strong team to fight. If you want to win, it will not be so easy."
"It seems that you are fully prepared." Pan Yi was still smiling.
Wenger raised his head: "That's natural."
In the Premier League last season, Pan Yi led his team to a double defeat against Arsenal.
But Arsenal did not lose everything. They defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup and went on to win the championship.
This also gave Wenger some confidence when facing Pan Yi.
However, although the FA Cup championship temporarily calmed Arsenal fans' complaints against Wenger, the fact that they can only compete for fourth place in the Premier League in recent years has still put the professor under a lot of pressure.
Arsenal still has no movement in the transfer market this season. They only bought out Cech and loaned out Willian. To be honest, their strength has not improved much, especially with Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, etc. who have spent hundreds of millions of euros.
There is no competition between teams.
I have no money, what can I do?
But Wenger still hopes that his team can perform well when facing the Premier League powers.
Especially Chelsea.
If we can defeat this luxurious team that remained undefeated in the Premier League last season, we can add a trophy to the honor room and at the same time tell Arsenal fans: Be patient, we still have a chance!
Therefore, Arsenal also used all their main players in this game, and Wenger also arranged a more aggressive 433 formation.
The professor thought twice and placed William as a winger.
The main reason is that William was mainly used as a right winger at Chelsea last season, and this position is more familiar.
Although Wenger has been trying to make William familiar with the position of the midfielder in pre-season training and warm-ups, in such a game that determines the outcome, Wenger does not want too many uncertain factors. p>
On Chelsea's side, Pan Yi also showed off the 352 formation he practiced in summer training:
There is no suspense about the combination of Lukaku and Harry Kane on the striker, and Van Dijk also replaced Gary Cahill at the center back position.
In the middle of the midfield, which is the most variable position, Kanter, Hazard, and the B seat formed an inverted triangle position.
Kanter is centered and behind, standing in the midfielder position.
Hazard and seat B are on the left and right in front of Kanter. Hazard will be positioned further forward, close to the midfielder position; while seat B is more like an authentic central midfielder.<
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Matching this, Marcos Alonso and Azpilicueta on both sides are not actually in symmetrical positions, but one is further inside and the other is further to the side, thus forming an initial formation of left attacking and right defending.
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Obviously, the left side where Hazard is located will still be Chelsea’s main direction of attack!
As soon as the game started, Arsenal launched a frenzy of attacks against Chelsea.
Obviously, Wenger came prepared.
He knew very clearly that giving up the initiative to Chelsea, who was fighting against Pan Yi, would be tantamount to slow suicide!
So he has to attack and disrupt Chelsea's rhythm from the beginning.
Chelsea, on the other hand, was not in a hurry, and was just fighting with Arsenal in the midfield to gain the initiative in the game.
It's just that this is the first official game of the new season for both sides, and there are some changes in both personnel and formation. At the beginning, both sides showed some discomfort with the opponent's high-position press.
Especially on the Gunners side, the play seemed a bit tight, and many balls were passed and run without thinking of them. This also contributed to Wenger's complaint on the sidelines for more than 10 minutes.
As the game progressed, Chelsea's formation slightly recovered to cope with the opponent's violent attack.
Arsenal's lineup is seriously skewed to the left. Sanchez, Ramsey, Monreal, and even Giroud are gathered here. They hit the wall and penetrate in the small space, causing the Chelsea lineup to also gather to this side.
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This leaves a vast one-on-one space for William on the other side.
"I feel this is Wenger's tactic. He wants to use William's breakthrough and familiarity with his former teammates to single out Marcos Alonso. This may be the winner of Arsenal's game!"
The narrator said this.
He did guess right, and Arsenal's tactics do seem to be somewhat effective.
In the 13th minute of the game, William broke through from the wing and passed in. Giroud in the center got a chance to shoot, but the angle was too right and was blocked by Courtois, failing to create a threat.
Compared with Arsenal's aggressive attack, Chelsea appears to be more patient.
Pan Yi's main requirement for players is to control the ball at their feet and then pass it to mobilize their opponents.
However, with the Arsenal players running and impacting without hesitation, the passing and control effect was not very satisfactory, and the scene looked a bit passive.
But Pan Yi was not anxious at all, and the players on the field were also not impatient.
In the 20th minute, Van Dijk's defensive move outside the penalty area was too reckless and resulted in a foul, giving the opponent a free kick.
This foul was also reprimanded by Pan Yi on the sidelines, who thought he was too impatient. He could have occupied his position and waited for his teammates to come over, and then together they could find a way to force the opponent to pass back.
Of course, this also has something to do with Van Dijk's first official appearance on behalf of Chelsea. It is understandable that his feet are a little tight.
But it can also be seen from this that Pan Yi just hopes that the players can stabilize their mentality and first wear out Arsenal's most powerful attack.
After that, Arsenal continued to attack from the left and got consecutive shooting opportunities.
It’s just that most of these shots missed the goal, and two of them hit Courtois directly.
In fact, this is not entirely because of Courtois' outstanding performance, but a large part of the reason is that Chelsea's defense restricted it very well.
This allows Arsenal players to have a chance to hit the goal, but the angle is limited. Courtois can get the ball as long as he stays in position.
But for the Arsenal fans at Wembley Stadium, Arsenal is now playing against Chelsea!
This also made Gunners fans very excited and sang their own songs.
However, this kind of excitement comes and goes quickly.
Because without the support of waist strength, passion cannot last long.
None of Arsenal's three midfielders, Cazorla, Wilshere, and Ramsey, can be called a true defensive midfielder. In other words, they lack defensive capabilities.
At the beginning of the fierce attack, I could use offense instead of defense, temporarily covering up the problem of waist weakness. However, once the foreplay is over and the real sex begins, the fatigue will show.
At this time, Pan Yi walked to the sidelines, waved his hand, and Chelsea swarmed up.
At this time, Chelsea really showed their fangs that they had hidden for most of the game, and they were ready to eat Arsenal in one bite.
Such a sudden change in rhythm made the Arsenal generals a little at a loss for a while, and they were unable to adapt at all!
In the 32nd minute, Kante won the battle in the midfield, stole the ball from Wilshere and handed it to seat B, who directly passed a long pass to the Arsenal backcourt.
The two center backs Mertesacker and Koscielny made a mistake in their cooperation. Neither of them hit the ball. After getting the ball, Lukaku went directly into the penalty area and pushed the ball 15 meters away from the goal.
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And this is just Chelsea's first shot of the game!
But this shot directly led to a goal.
Wenger watched on the sidelines with his feet jumping. He simply could not tolerate such mistakes by his team.
The first shot was broken. What kind of defense is this?
But before Wenger's anger subsided, Chelsea launched another offensive.
In the 35th minute, after receiving the ball from the left, Hazard suddenly stopped and cut inside, attracting the attention of the defense and then passed low to the right side of the penalty area. Harry Kane stepped in from the back row and hit a curve ball with his left foot.
Directly into the upper right corner of the goal, two to zero!
Harry Kane scored on his official debut for Chelsea!
After that, Chelsea continued to maintain their advantage on the field and launched wave after wave of attacks against Arsenal.
During the halftime break, Pan Yi also changed five players at once, leaving only one substitution in hand to deal with unexpected events.
Abraham and Goretzka also made their official Blues career debuts.
Although half of the players were replaced, Chelsea still firmly controlled the situation on the field in the second half, while Arsenal lost all their energy and had to strengthen their defense.
In the 82nd minute, Goretzka, who came on as a substitute, took a tactical corner kick, and tall new center back Van Dijk hit a header in front of the goal, helping Chelsea rewrite the score to 3-0.
In the end, the score was maintained until the end.
"Do you want to hear the truth?"
After the game, when Pan Yi shook hands with Wenger again, he smiled and asked.
After Wenger lost the game, he was not in a good mood. He felt like an angry lion, ready to rush to the locker room and start blowing the hair dryer on his dissatisfied disciples.
But after listening to Pan Yi's words, he hesitated and finally nodded: "You say."
"Your style of play is very aggressive, but it's still a little too powerful. I feel like it's not easy to control with your current configuration."
"Continue."
"Furthermore, playing like this will consume a lot of players. It may be possible to play one or two games in the cup, but it is not suitable for such a long schedule in the league. So I think if this method of playing is really used to play in the league, it may be possible.
Very dangerous."
"Danger? Do you mean grades or..."
"They are all the same, they are all dangerous." Pan Yi said with a smile, "If your players are injured and absent due to fatigue, will the results still improve?"
Wenger nodded slightly and expressed his gratitude to Pan Yi for the reminder.
In the 0:3 defeat to Chelsea, it was obvious that Pan Yi had figured out the weaknesses of his lineup.
Based on this game, he could also see that Pan Yi deliberately retreated at the beginning in order to let Arsenal attack.
If Chelsea also attacks Arsenal at the beginning, Arsenal may not be able to withstand Chelsea's attacking power. However, Chelsea's consumption may be greater, and the efficiency may be reduced due to Arsenal's active contraction.<
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Therefore, Pan Yi used retreat to advance and relied on strategy to win.
But how could Wenger not know that there was something wrong with his style of play?
If it weren't for a game like the Community Shield that determined the outcome, he wouldn't have come up with this fateful formation.
The main reason is that when playing against Pan Yi, Wenger always has an involuntary lack of confidence, always thinking that conventional tactics cannot win, so he always has to find new ways to win by surprise by disrupting the opponent's deployment.
But he was still very grateful to Pan Yi for pointing it out.
After all, everyone is a coach in the Premier League, and they are all in bg6, and they are all direct competitors. Most people may see your weaknesses, but they may not say them out.
Wouldn't it be better to just take the medicine and give it another try next time?
This also shows Pan Yi’s grandeur.
Of course, there is another reason that Wenger did not think about.
Maybe it's because...Pan Yi didn't think Arsenal could threaten Chelsea?
"So, what do you think I should do? Or how should I change?" Wenger simply asked.
Anyway, there is nothing to be ashamed of if you admit that Pan Yi is better than yourself.
Is there any coach in the world who dares to say that he is better than Pan Yi?
I heard that Guardiola, Ancelotti, Allegri and other old boys have all come to Pan Yi for advice...
"It's still because of the midfield." Pan Yi also said bluntly, "The defensive hardness is too poor, and Wilshere and Ramsey are both a bit stupid and rush forward, lacking a real midfield organization.
"If someone can help defend, and someone can properly control the rhythm and sort out the midfield passes, the situation will be much better."
"Alas." Wenger sighed lightly.
Of course he wants to too.
But top defensive midfielders and top midfield organizers all cost money!
As Pan Yi said, are you willing to sell Kante to Arsenal?
I finally fell in love with Gretzka, but you snatched it away...
As for Willian, whom Pan Yi rented to Arsenal, he may indeed be able to develop into a top midfielder, but it will take some time.
"Although I'm not very convinced, I still want to thank you." Wenger stretched out his hand again.
The current lack of money can be regarded as Wenger's own choice, so he will not complain anymore.
Accept the reality and get through it slowly, and you may be able to usher in a new life after a while.
Pan Yi smiled. It was just a piece of cake for him to speak out the problem, but he really appreciated Wenger's magnanimity.
"Then let's keep walking and see."
"Okay."
After shaking hands vigorously, the two went back to their locker rooms.
The 3-0 victory over Arsenal also allowed Chelsea to win their first championship trophy in the new season!
Although the Community Shield does not have much weight and may be said to be the most insignificant one in Chelsea's "seven crowns" journey, it is undoubtedly a great benefit for the Premier League giants who are about to start the new season.
The long march has taken the first step! This fact also stimulates Chelsea, and even fans across the UK and Europe.
After this game, the three major European betting companies all issued odds for the new season of the Premier League. Chelsea deservedly ranked first and became the number one favorite to win the championship.
This is not surprising, but what is really surprising is the difference.
Chelsea's odds are as low as 137, which is almost one-third of the second-placed Manchester City. It can be described as unique.
Obviously, Chelsea's excellent performance last season and today's transfer operation make people feel very confident.
Manchester City's introduction of De Bruyne also makes people think that they are capable of competing with Chelsea in the new season, so they are ranked second.
After that, there are traditional strong teams such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and so on.
It is worth mentioning that Leicester City’s winning odds are as high as 5,000 to 1!
If Pan Yi hadn't been competing for the Premier League title this year, Leicester City would certainly not have been able to succeed. They would have tried to buy him for a million dollars...
After defeating Arsenal, Chelsea returned to the Cobham training base to continue training and preparations for the new season.
They will first face the challenge of Swansea at home on August 9th to kick off the new Premier League season, and then the European Super Cup against Sevilla on August 12th, and then return to play
Premier League.
Chelsea's coaching staff should also summarize the situation in the previous warm-up matches and the game against Arsenal, and make targeted adjustments and improvements to some of the problems exposed by the team.
On August 5, Pan Yi led the team to a collective appearance at Stamford Bridge and held the first public training session of the new season here, allowing all Chelsea fans to come and watch.
At the same time, the club also held a new season jersey conference on this day.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
This season, because the chest sponsor changed from Samsung, which they have cooperated with for 11 years, to Yokohama Tire, and the word ykaa is also printed on the chest, the feeling is obviously different from many previous seasons.
Moreover, the design style of Adidas this time is also significantly different from before, and it looks more fashionable.
Of course, the home jersey uses a blue color scheme. The design of the new home jersey is always loyal to the club's tradition. The design inspiration comes from several classic home jerseys that were loved by fans in the 1980s.
White and red decorative stripes appear on the collar, cuffs, shorts and socks, announcing that these club colors have returned to the club's jersey history.
Vertical fine lines, as one of several iconic features, have often appeared on the club's jerseys over the past 30 years.
The main color of the first away jersey returns to the classic white, supplemented by blue and red to match.
The second away jersey is black, with a transition form from black to white from top to bottom. The top is black, the shorts gradually become lighter from top to bottom, and the bottom is white socks, which is consistent with the club's home blue shirt and blue pants.
The traditional combination of white socks remains consistent.
Moreover, eye-catching horizontal stripes are added to the new jersey and shorts, bringing a fashionable and avant-garde trend experience.
There are also many details, such as adding buttons to the collar, which is the only time the Blues jersey has been worn by Adidas;
The fingerprints on the side label of the jersey symbolize the closer connection between fans and the club;
The vertical fine lines on the jersey, as an important element, often appear on the Blues jerseys in different periods;
Finally, there is the defending champion armband. This represents the glory of the Premier League champion!
"The new jersey also represents a new era." Ron Gourray also said:
"We have the best coach in the world and the best players in the world. They want to win all the championships. This is also the dream of everyone in our club."
"Every one of us knows that this is a difficult task. But we believe from the beginning to the end that the team can realize this dream! Because we have gathered a group of outstanding players, and more importantly, we have a great
And the amazing head coach."
"I believe that Chelsea players will wear this jersey and reach the highest podium again and again!"
Obviously, these words of Ron Gurray are not only showing Chelsea's new season jerseys to the outside world, but also showing Chelsea's ambitions for the new season!