Super Marshal

On the afternoon of September 12th, Manchester City Stadium.

As soon as he returned to the locker room from the court, Gao Han received a message from assistant coach Brian Kidd. Arsenal's starting lineup for this game made Gao Han very puzzled.

Not only him, but Brian Kidd next to him also felt strange.

"What's wrong?" Sergio Garcia was confused.

Gao Han casually thrust the paper with the starting list into his hand and replied: "Wenger has changed his formation."

Two weeks ago, when Arsenal challenged Manchester United away, Wenger deployed a 4-3-3 formation, with Bendtner, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie in the frontcourt. However, in this game, he deployed a 4-4-2 formation. .

The goalkeeper is Almunia, and the defense is Clichy, Gallas, Vermaelen and Sagna.

The most troublesome thing is the four players in the midfield, Alexander Song, Diaby, Denilson and Cesc Fabregas. How will these four players be arranged? Is it going to be the traditional four-four-two that Arsenal was good at before? Or do you have other arrangements?

The double forwards are Bendtner and Robin van Persie.

The central axis of Arsenal's entire lineup is inextricably linked to Gao Han. Gallas was the reason why Gao Han left Chelsea angrily. Fabregas and Van Persie were both discovered and promoted by Gao Han.

Gao Han has never doubted the strength of this team, but this game...

"Both young players, Diaby and Denilson, have been trained by Wenger in recent years and have played many positions. On the contrary, Alexander Song and Cesc Fabregas are basically fixed in the middle."

Brian Kidd's words made Gao Han nodded slightly, "You mean, the two of them are on the side, with Alexander Song and Fabregas in the middle?"

"It's completely possible." Brian Kidd nodded.

These two players are obviously not typical wide players. Wenger arranged for them to play for one purpose, to seize possession of the ball with Manchester City and at the same time try to suppress Manchester City's midfield.

"From the previous 4-3-3 formation that was more prone to attack, to the current 4-4-2 formation that is more offensive and defensive, Wenger is still quite wary of us, and they are no strangers to 4-4-2." Gao Han laughed. road.

Brian Kidd nodded, "Arsenal's regular formation last season was four-four-two."

"That's different. Before, they had Adebayor on the front line, and they also had players like Rosicky and Theo Walcott on the wings, but this time they arranged for Denilson and Diaby to start..."

Gao Han suddenly smiled and said, "Are you a little too cautious?"

Everyone couldn't help but find it funny after hearing this. Gao Han's so-called caution was actually making fun of Wenger's conservativeness.

Adebayor was Arsenal's main center last season. The Togolese player was one of the most outstanding centers in the Premier League last season. Although he was not Arsenal's leading scorer, this type of player often cannot be used. Measured by goals scored.

But this summer, after Adebayor fell out with Arsenal and Wenger, he moved to Real Madrid and played under Mourinho. This caused problems in Arsenal's forward line and many players had to adapt again. .

So far this season, Arsenal has scored the most goals in the Premier League. They scored a total of fifteen goals in the first four rounds. However, among these fifteen goals, only two were actually scored by forward players. , the goal efficiency of main forwards such as Robin van Persie is not even as good as that of midfielders such as Vermaelen, Diaby and Cesc Fabregas.

Obviously, Wenger's team needs to re-adapt to the offense without a top center, and Robin van Persie also needs to re-adapt to the new role of center.

Judging from the four games of the new season, both Diaby and Denilson still have offensive power.

"Should we make some adjustments?" Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Before the game, everyone at Manchester City thought Arsenal would play a 4,33 formation, but now Wenger suddenly changed to a 4,42 formation...

"No need." Gao Han waved his hand, "Everything remains the same. No matter how Wenger's playing style changes, it will always be the same. We still adopt the game strategy we formulated before, and we will adapt to the specific situation according to the situation on the field."

Brian Kidd couldn't help but nodded and smiled after hearing this.

He vaguely remembered that when Ferguson was coaching Manchester United, it seemed to be like this.

Although Brian Kidd rarely contacted Ferguson after leaving Manchester United, he often learned of Ferguson's evaluation of Gao Han from some friends and insiders. This was also the reason why he was willing to come to Manchester City as an assistant coach.

Now, he wanted to see if Gao Han was as magical as the legend said.

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"The goalkeeper is Petr Cech, the back three are Kompany, Xavi Martinez and Zabaleta, the midfielder is still Xabi Alonso and Mascherano, and David Silva and Modric are up front, and the front three is Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Sturridge."

In the visiting team's dressing room, Wenger read Manchester City's starting lineup to all the players.

In addition to Sturridge, the other ten players are Manchester City's starting lineup this season.

As for Sanchez, the reason why he was placed on the bench is probably related to the fact that he played two World Cup qualifiers.

Everyone knows that Bielsa's team is famous for its high consumption. Sanchez traveled half way around the world and played two full games in succession. The cold hid him in the snow and arranged for Sturridge, who has more physical fitness, to start. There is nothing wrong with that.

"The opponent in this game is Gao Han's Manchester City. There are many media and fans outside who are blaming Gao Han and bombarding Manchester City. But if you are indifferent to this team because of this, then I want to say that you are all wrong. , and it’s so wrong.”

Wenger's tone continued to increase, obviously hoping to attract the attention of all players.

"Yes, Manchester City invested 400 million euros this summer and has greatly increased its strength, but if you think about it, it takes more than a month of training to reintegrate more than a dozen players into a team and completely change the team's playing style. Who can do it?"

Wenger's words left many players present speechless.

Anyone who is familiar with the rules of football knows that this is a very difficult thing.

"Are Manchester City's results very poor?" Wenger sneered, "Won four games, scored five goals, and conceded one goal. Their number of goals is not many, but their defense is the best in the Premier League so far. Best of all, at the beginning of the season a lot of people said they would be dangerous playing three at the back, what about now?"

The Arsenal players in the locker room couldn't help but tense up. After listening to Wenger's words, they couldn't help but re-examine this Manchester City team. Indeed, as Wenger said, the defense is the best in the Premier League.

"Gao Han has had a very clear team planning from the beginning. He selects players based on his own plan. If you think about it carefully, Manchester City's average ball possession rate in the four games this season has reached 100%. Above 60, they are the only ones in the Premier League who can do that."

Everyone was shocked, truly feeling the threat from Manchester City.

Arsenal is also a ball-possession team. Each of them knows how difficult it is to achieve an average ball possession rate of more than 60% per game. However, Manchester City, this newly formed team, can do it. arrive.

"So, in this game, we must not let Manchester City easily gain possession of the ball."

Wenger once again reminded all the players present.

"After Alexander Song, Cesc Fabregas is responsible for guiding the midfield. You two must pay attention to protecting the center at all times. Diaby and Denilson must actively play a role on the wing, whether it is offense or defense, but you must also pay attention to , ready to rush to the center at any time and strengthen the defense in the center."

Wenger's eyes swept over each player, and finally settled on Cesc Fabregas.

The Spaniard has been in very good form recently and has just shined in the national team. Wenger also hopes that Cesc Fabregas can make a difference in this game.

"Ceske, you must pay attention to the situation at all times. As long as the center is stable, I allow you to actively attack forward. The players on the two wings must pay attention to support."

Fabregas understood what Wenger meant and nodded heavily.

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When the players from the two teams entered the city stadium one after another under the leadership of the referee, cheers spread throughout the stadium.

Even Sky TV's live commentator was surprised by Manchester City's home atmosphere this season.

"The joining of Gao Han and many superstar players has greatly stimulated Manchester City's football market. We have seen that in recent home games, the City Stadium has been full. It is said that their season ticket sales have exceeded 35,000. This creates Manchester City’s highest ever season ticket sales.”

"And Manchester City has had a pretty good start this season. The team has won four out of four games and currently ranks third in the league standings, behind Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur."

"Tottenham Hotspur is one of the most impressive teams in the Premier League this season. Redknapp has just defeated Chelsea's Scolari and Manchester City's Gao Han to be elected as the Premier League Manager of the Month for August. , Tottenham Hotspur forward Defoe defeated Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney and was elected Player of the Month."

"Many people are not particularly satisfied with Manchester City's start to the season. Recently, many media and fans from the outside world have criticized Gao Han's conservative one-to-zeroism. However, in this game against Arsenal, who are good at passing and controlling play, I believe it will be better. It was a great matchup.”

After the game started, both sides started a little cautiously, especially in the first five minutes, they were quite restrained and made many mistakes.

But five minutes later, the two sides began to enter a state of affairs, and the situation gradually became clearer.

Arsenal still want to seize the ball. The reason why Wenger returned to 442 is to exert more balanced pressure, especially the two players in the frontcourt, to put pressure on Manchester City's three defenders, forcing Manchester City's backcourt to be unable to do so. Pass the ball smoothly.

It can be seen that Wenger's change of formation was definitely not random, but was well prepared.

But Gao Han also did his homework and is known as the best coach in Europe who is good at pressing and pressing from a high position. From the beginning, he asked his players to put pressure on Arsenal, even on Arsenal's defense and even the goalkeeper.

The most obvious thing is that in the ninth minute of the game, Arsenal passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. Sturridge suddenly rushed into the penalty area, scaring the Gunners goalkeeper Almunia to make a big-footed clearance. However, the ball was headed by Kompany just after half-time. Back to Arsenal's half.

After Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball on the left, he used his skillful skills and excellent speed to catch a murderous opportunity between Sagna and Gallas, but then Benzema failed to pass the ball across the middle. Knowing this, he took a beat slowly, causing the ball to be cleared by Vermaelen's big foot.

But from this attack, everyone could smell Gao Han's strategy for this game.

Instead of competing with Arsenal for possession of the ball, they press and press from a high position in pursuit of offensive efficiency.

This also made Wenger frown and look worried.

On the other hand, Gao Han seems to have gained something.