Over the weekend, Manchester City faced Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium in the FA Cup semi-finals.
In the dressing room before the game, when Wenger got the Manchester City roster, he cursed in his heart.
It’s so disrespectful!
Do you really think Arsenal’s sword is at a disadvantage?
Wenger had the urge to rush over to the home team's locker room, grab Guardiola's clothes from his chest, spit on his face, and then teach him a lesson on the pitch.
You know, young people should be more humble, show some martial ethics, and not be too crazy!
When playing against Arsenal, none of the three main players in the frontcourt are available. Who are you looking down on?
But Wenger endured it!
He has even begun to think in his mind, what is Guardiola's wishful thinking?
Su Dong, Di Maria and Sanchez, the three frontcourt players, are all absent from the lineup. This is by no means accidental.
The midfielder is David Silva, Gareth Barry and Thiago. This is not accidental.
Is Guardiola planning to save the team’s core strength for the next game against Tottenham Hotspur?
Does he really feel that Arsenal is not as good as their rivals in North London?
Or does he think Manchester City can easily defeat the Gunners at home?
As Wenger thought about it, he became angry again.
In all his years in the Premier League, when had he ever been so humiliated?
Even Ferguson, that old fox, doesn’t have to do his best to fight when he meets Arsenal?
But Guardiola and his Manchester City dare to be so generous. It's really...
When he thought about it, Wenger became extremely angry, especially when he thought about being beaten 1-9 by the opponent at home...
Every time Wenger recalls it, he has the urge to collapse and vomit blood.
That game was really painful for Arsenal.
"Su Dong is a substitute." Pat Rice reminded Wenger.
Although Su Dong was not in the lineup, he was placed on the bench. It was obvious that Guardiola wanted to put him in the second half, but he was so sure. Can Manchester City persist until Su Dong played?
Or does he want to rely on this semi-main lineup to defeat Arsenal?
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Manchester City did not use all their main players, but the same is true for Arsenal?
Wenger also made a rotation this game.
The goalkeeper is Almunia, the defense is Gibbs, Koscielny, Djurou and Sagna, the midfielder is Denilson and Diaby at the back, Rosicky, Wilshere and Nasri are up front.
, the center forward is Robin van Persie.
Perhaps affected by the 1-9 loss at home, Wenger took down Fabianski and Spanish veteran Almunia.
Players such as Alexander Song and Vermaelen did not play for various reasons and were not even included in the squad.
Facts have proved that the Gunners also did not make the determination to fight Manchester City to the end in this game.
As the game started, Wenger's team did not actively attack or press, but mainly defended.
The Gunners wanted to counterattack, but Walcott, the fastest counterattack weapon, did not use it. This has to be said to be very surprising.
As soon as the game started, the Gunners began to implement their own tactics.
It can be summed up simply in four words: steady and fast-paced!
Yes, that's the literal meaning.
Manchester City took control of the ball from the start, and under the organization and planning of David Silva and Thiago, they kept attacking Arsenal's defense.
Dzeko, Adam Johnson, Milner and others took turns to threaten Arsenal's goal. Gareth Barry also had several opportunities to step in, but Almunia was in great form tonight and repeatedly defused Manchester City's attacks.
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Of course, we can also look at it the other way around, and none of Manchester City's shots pose an absolute threat.
In this way, the game was deadlocked.
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Su Dong sat on the bench, frowning and watching the game.
Watching Djurou and Koscielny struggling on the court, they both struggled against Dzeko.
He was wondering why Wenger thought that with the quality of these two central defenders, Arsenal could ensure results?
In recent years, many wingers and full-backs have emerged suddenly, which makes people feel as if the core of the team is moving to two wings. For example, Dani Alves is the core of the wing in Sevilla, and others like Messi play as a winger.
But in fact, Sevilla also had a strong player like Baptista in the middle at that time.
Not to mention Barcelona, Mourinho has always wanted to get a strong center.
What's the reason?
There is a saying in Italian football that is right, no matter how slippery you are on the wing, you have to return to the center to shoot.
Therefore, in European football, when any team is formed, it will definitely give priority to two positions.
The center forward and the center back, then the central midfielder.
This is what many fans call the central axis!
After the central axis is established, the rest is like a puzzle, constantly adding to it, and then improving the various positions and functions of the team, and finally forming a complete team.
It is not difficult to see from this set of processes how important the center and center back are to a team.
But Wenger's central defenders are Djuru and Koscielny, which is obviously a bit too much.
It cannot be said that these two central defenders have no strength. If they are in the middle of the Premier League, there will be no problem. However, Arsenal is a team that aims to be in the top four of the Premier League. Such a central defender configuration is obviously too stretched.
Of course, this can also be explained by the fact that Wenger is used to living a comfortable life, so even if the central defender stretches his hips, he is still confident that he can lead the team to the top four.
But Wenger has been repeatedly beaten this season, including Manchester City's 9-1 loss and the League Cup final loss to Birmingham, all proving one thing: Arsenal's two central defenders are unreliable.
Wenger should feel regretful now, but he missed an excellent opportunity to make up for his losses during the winter break.
The central defender who supported himself has to use it up with tears in his eyes!
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In the second half, the game was still deadlocked.
Neither side made any substitutions during the halftime break.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Manchester City still controls the ball, but has never been able to break through Arsenal's goal, while the Gunners continue to defend, wait for opportunities to counterattack, and occasionally launch counterattacks.
It is difficult for them to threaten Manchester City's goal.
There were more than 40,000 Manchester City fans in the stadium constantly cheering for the team, and the atmosphere in the stadium was extremely warm.
Manchester City has not reached the FA Cup semi-finals for decades. If they can reach another final or even win the championship, it will undoubtedly create club history. This is the common expectation of all Manchester City fans.
When the game reached the sixty-minute mark, Arsenal took the lead in making substitutions.
Ramsey replaced Diaby, who did not perform well and was not excited enough.
Each of these young players trained by Wenger at Arsenal is extremely talented and talented, but during the training process, various problems always arise, resulting in their final development not being as satisfactory as possible.
People's will.
This is also a problem that all teams committed to youth training will encounter.
Because of this, those wealthy teams at the top of the food chain would rather spend more money than buy and train young players, and it is difficult for young players to get opportunities in wealthy teams.
There are few giants that can truly promote their own youth training as much as Bayern.
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When the game reached the 65th minute, Manchester City also made substitutions.
Guardiola changed two players in one go.
Replaced Dzeko with Su Dong.
The Bosnian center did cause a lot of trouble for Arsenal's two central defenders tonight and tormented them quite a lot, but he was still just a little short of a goal.
Sometimes, the difference between Dzeko and a real superstar is just this little bit.
Sanchez replaced Milner, who performed well, but at this time, the team still needs Sanchez's attack on the right, which Milner does not have.
Wenger also saw Manchester City's intentions and immediately arranged the team's left defense.
Tonight he arranged to play youngster Gibbs. Facing Sanchez, Wenger probably didn't have much confidence, especially since the game had already gone on for more than an hour.
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After substitutions, the game restarts.
Manchester City's offensive style is obviously different from before.
The positioning of the three players in the midfield is different. David Silva is closer to the center, a bit like playing as an attacking midfielder. Gareth Barry has been pushing forward frequently in the previous hour, but now he has begun to retreat to the follow-up position.
Thiago is in a similar position.
Obviously, Manchester City's frontcourt offense is handed over to Su Dong, David Silva and Sanchez.
Adam Johnson is still on the left wing, containing Sagna.
Su Dong only played for eight minutes, that is, when the game reached the 73rd minute, Manchester City created an opportunity for him to directly face the goal.
During a frontcourt attack, David Silva took the ball in the middle. When Sudong almost overlapped Koscielny, he suddenly sent a through ball to the right side of Arsenal's penalty area.
At this time, Sanchez pulled Gibbs to the wing, leaving the right side of the penalty area blank.
Sudong quickly got rid of Koscielny, crossed to the right side of the penalty area, and caught up with David Silva's through ball.
Zhu Lu immediately followed up and stood between Su Dong and the goal.
After Su Dong caught up with the ball, he did not stop. Instead, he took advantage of the trend and made a gesture of sprinting down the bottom. After deceiving Zhu Lu to follow suit, he suddenly stopped, dunked the ball back with his right foot, and moved his left foot laterally.
With this sudden series of movements, Su Dong forcefully shook off Zhu Lu and created a gap.
Immediately afterwards, Su Dong chased after him and fired furiously with his left foot.
The ball flew with lightning speed, almost grazing the angle between the crossbar and the upright on the left side of the goal, and went into the goal.
The entire process, from start to emergency stop to lateral inward cuts, was completed in one go, leaving no chance for Arsenal's defensive players to react.
Koscielny couldn't keep up with Su Dong's rhythm throughout the whole process, and Zhu Lu was like a wooden stake. He was completely played by Su Dong. Let alone organizing, he couldn't even keep up with the frequency of Su Dong's movements.
Less than.
Using fast and slow tactics, Su Dong completely captured Arsenal's two central defenders!
This caused all Manchester City fans in the entire Etihad Stadium to let out heart-rending shouts.