In the crucial battle, the Gunners beat Chelsea 4-2. After this campaign, the Gunners tied Fourth Place Spurs in points and temporarily finished fifth due to goal difference.
When I woke up one night, it was a big victory!
This terrier is deeply rooted in the hearts of Premier League fans. Whoever says this, the listener will show a smile that can only be understood ineffable. The fans who say this are often self-deprecating, but with a little luck. Gun fans have finally ushered in a long-lost victory. Arsenal survived the darkness of three consecutive leagues, beating Chelsea 4-2 away from home, giving their opponents a three-game losing streak. Arsenal grabbed a valuable 3 points and only scored a goal difference to relegate to the city's rivals Tottenham Hotspur, and the battle for the dawn of the fourth.
The league championship has a higher gold content than the cup winner, not only because the process is long and tortuous, testing the comprehensive strength of the team, but also testing the quality of the player's will, as well as the level and determination of the head coach. Arteta called on all walks of life before the match: "Don't measure us by the standards of 20 years ago (Arsene Wenger, Arsenal broke into the Champions League for 20 consecutive years), and don't take the situation of 3 years ago to force the current team." We are always growing and changing. "After losing 3 rounds in a row, and with such determination, Arteta's nerves are strong enough.
The head coach will not concede defeat in front of people, and even if the passive situation is, it must be strong. Some people are blind and tell the truth, but they don't have the courage and ability to make changes; Arteta never screams, and he uses practical actions to support pre-match promises. Lost 3 rounds, what is the problem? Maybe it's wounded soldiers, maybe it's defense, it's more likely to be your own platoon.
Due to the injuries of Kenyo Bucheon and Tierney, Arteta's original plan was greatly impacted, the former has been injured since this new year, barely played in the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals, aggravated the injury, and lies until now. The latter also returned from the national team at the end of last month with an injury and was tired towards January. Coupled with the fact that defensive midfielder Thomas Patti also suffered an injury that led to a decline in form, Arteta was stretched to the limit. He tried three sets of play, using Tavales and Xhaka to fill the gap in the left gate, and the effect was not good. That's how the three-game losing streak came about. Originally very promising to hold the top four or even catch up with Chelsea, but spurs overtaken and were chased by Manchester United. Away to Chelsea, Arteta changed sides.
Tavares and Saka played as left and right wingbacks, respectively, with the defender embedded in Holden. The boldest move is to start Nketiah and replace veteran Lacazette. Nketiah had been almost forgotten before, and he didn't make much of an appearance in the first half of the season. In the Premier League, he played soy sauce, occasionally played with garbage time, let him save state in the cup, the FA Cup round trip, the League Cup was originally the main force, but once he touched Liverpool in the semi-final, Arteta wavered and gave up on him.
Nketia needs to start the activation form, and Arteta needs Nketia to prove that he was wrong to give up before. Nketiah may not be as skilled as Saka, but he is physically strong and fast, making him the right person to harass Chelsea's defence. Chelsea are also three defenders, but recently there are more loopholes in the defense and the play is erratic. Nketiah was able to grasp the mistakes made in the home team's backcourt. Christensen stabbed Lou in the Conte era – a cross that led to the Champions League home equaliser by Barca and fell out of favor. Since then, he has been the head coach for two terms, with Sarri taking him to play in the cups, and Lampard has also removed him from the main squad after trying it out. Chelsea lost at home to Real Madrid and Christensen was replaced after only half a game. This game was his return pass, laying the groundwork for Chelsea's repeated failures.
The game was full of the taste of the London derby, fierce and intense. Arsenal made a good start, with Nketiah and Smith Rowe leading the away team twice, but the right side of the defence was repeatedly penetrated by Chelsea. Two goals conceded, both of which were Chelsea's heavy fall on Ben White's side, were successively crossed by Werner to break through the shot and hang the net, and Azpilicueta sneaked into Gabriel's blind spot. By the time Tavares was surprised by his opponent's sneak attack, Azpilicueta was already running to celebrate.
Arsenal's defense is unreliable, and the outstanding problem is that many people are watching the opponent with the ball. Don't look at Smith Rowe's smooth scoring process, but Xhaka's consecutive dribbles in his own hinterland (taking advantage of the gap to penetrate Marcos Alonso's small goal) are quite risky. If this is broken, it will be an accident.
Both sides are in "see who scores more" mode. Nketiah's second goal was not only a masterpiece of taking the ball and turning around, but also the result of a series of mistakes in Chelsea's defence. Kante and Sal hit each other by mistake, and the ball returned to Nketiah's feet, a poke, and there was. Chelsea's goalscoring output has gone up and defensive mistakes have increased. This is not a matter of individuals, but of a collective decline. After the FA Cup passed the Crystal Palace, the Premier League ranking was temporarily safe, and then rotated Rudiger and Thiago Silva, and the improvised defense lacked tacit understanding.
Chelsea lost, of course, there are many objective reasons - the news of Abu changing hands with the club continues to plague the whole team, and many of the main players may find another way out next season, but more or their own unstable play. Lukaku made a rare start, playing only 60 minutes before being replaced by Havertz. Except for one-foot shots, it is not active most of the time. Tuchel has two players on hand who need to be activated by a strong current, and In addition to Lukaku there is Loftus Zik. Zeke scored in the FA Cup and seemed to be "alive", but Lukaku was still the same.
Tuchel repeatedly reminded the sky-high striker: You look at Werner, stunned by the tenacity to return to the starting, you also try your best? Lukaku can't say that he doesn't work hard, unlike Pogba and Aubameyang, who are high-paid foreign aides, he really wants to have a good performance. However, Tuchel has still not found a routine to play its characteristics, and Lukaku is at the trough of confidence, and just stimulating with a big stick has little effect. When Arsenal played well and went crazy, Tuchel was too late to change. This is again the problem of his lack of on-the-spot response, witnessing that some links do not work, and the adjustment is still too delayed.
Chelsea have two more stop-up games (both scheduled for the middle of next month), five points ahead of the two North London companies (these two teams also have make-ups, but the rescheduled North London derby), there is no way forward, and the footsteps of the pursuing soldiers behind them are getting clearer. If you are not careful, the scene of last season's failure to grab four in the final round may be repeated. At the moment, Chelsea have played with Tottenham and Arsenal and have made fewer mistakes than they have for the rest of the schedule. West Ham seems to have shifted its strategic focus to the Europa League, with Leicester City (the semi-finals of the European League Cup), Manchester United in a loose spell, Wolves and Leeds United both entering a vacation mode, and the only real player will be Frank Lampard's Everton. On a seemingly safe day, can Tuchel use it to customize the play for Lukaku?
Wen | Lin Liangfeng
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