super storm

Chapter 125 Touchstone

"The second half will resume."

"Judging from the game lineups of the two sides returning to the stadium, neither team has the idea of ​​making substitutions and adjustments."

"The young Ajax performed very well in the first half. Although the score was equalized at one point, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a goal very quickly. This goal from the Swedish center is very important."

"Now we will see if Arsenal will make tactical adjustments at half-time."

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"Ajax served first, but very quickly, the ball was lost."

"Arsenal is still in control of the situation on the field. The overall strength of the Gunners has an overwhelming advantage, but judging from the performance of the first half, Ajax is not completely without the ability to resist. Both teams are old European teams."

"Look at Arsenal's attack this time."

"Ljungberg on the right had no chance, crossed to the center and handed it to Vieira."

"Vieira goes to the left and passes to Pires."

"Henry pulls to the left to get the ball, which is the most dangerous area for French strikers."

"Facing Trabelsi, Henry was very fast, very flexible on his feet, passed back to Pires, and cut inside himself."

"Pirres made another pass, a beautiful two over one..."

"Henry takes the ball again, faces Heitinga, passes back into the box..."

"Pirres..."

"The ball went in!!!"

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"My God, less than 2 minutes into the second half, Arsenal scored a crucial goal with Henry assisting Pires!"

"Two to two, the two sides once again returned to the same starting line."

"It was a very, very morale-boosting goal, completely individual performances by two top players, Thierry Henry and Pires."

"Ajax had three players defending on this side, Trabelsi, Heitinga and Sneijder, but all three of them were played and applauded by Arsenal's two superstars, and they had no power to fight back."

"Especially Henry's last kick to assist Pires. Sneijder tried to pull Pires in the penalty area, but finally let go. He is obviously very aware of the consequences of pulling Pires down."

"The situation was suddenly reversed. Arsenal evened the score again at the beginning of the second half, two to two."

"This is definitely a spark of passion between top stars, a very wonderful cooperation."

"Henry and Pires from Arsenal!"

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The entire Amsterdam Arena fell into a deathly silence.

Head coach Ronald Koeman patted his forehead vigorously on the sidelines and kept shaking his head, obviously unable to accept this sudden change. He would never have thought that the team would be equalized by Arsenal just after the start of the second half.

But in the face of such a goal, what can he say?

Blame the players for poor defense?

No, Henry and Pires' continuous wall-slamming cooperation is not only fast, but also very tacit. Ajax's defensive players simply don't have enough time to react, let alone give countermeasures.

To put it in a dejected word, facing such an opponent really has no choice but to wait for death.

This goal was definitely a painful blow to Ajax's morale.

In the locker room just now, he was still encouraging and mobilizing the players, and he must keep the start in the second half, but he didn't expect that Arsenal would come directly to the field as soon as he came on the field. How could this make the Ajax players not depressed?

Looking at the stunned players on the court, Ronald Koeman suddenly felt pity. They are not very old, most of them are in their early twenties, but they have to suffer such a huge blow, can they bear it?
"We need to stabilize now, Ronald." Luther Carroll reminded from the side.

Ronald Koeman kept nodding, took a deep breath, and walked quickly to the sidelines.

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In the chairman's stand, after seeing Arsenal score at the beginning of the second half and equalize the score, chairman Van Prager raised his hands in surprise, shook his head constantly, and his face was full of frustration and discouragement.

Ajax was extremely lucky to score two goals against Arsenal in the first half. Originally, as long as they kept the [-]-[-] score, there was still hope for a guest at Highbury Stadium, but now, not only was they equalized, but Arsenal were also given two away goals.

In this crucial knockout match, it is quite unfavorable to give the opponent two away goals in the first round.

"The most important thing now is to hold on. The score of [-]-[-] is not hopeless, but if we fail to hold on, it may be a disastrous defeat at any time." Van Gaal said calmly.

He gave people the feeling that the outcome of the game, everything that happened on the court had nothing to do with him, and could not arouse him the slightest emotional fluctuations, but at this time, it made people feel that he was trustworthy.

"We were too young, and we were careless at the start, which gave Arsenal an opportunity. Henry and Pires' cooperation this time is indeed world-class. Even if we focus on defense, we may not be able to defend it. Therefore, it is understandable to lose such a goal."

Van Gaal fixed his eyes on the field. He noticed that Koeman, who was in front of the coach of the home team, walked to the sidelines to encourage the players, and a flash of appreciation flashed in his eyes. At this time, Koeman made a very correct choice.

"This is also a challenge for our young players. Difficulties on the football field are like touchstones. Whether it is gold or stone, it will soon emerge after being polished by difficulties."

Van Prager nodded. He is not the kind of chairman who doesn't understand football at all. Even if he really loses this game, it is normal. After all, he is facing the mighty Arsenal, and Ajax will be unpopular if they win.

It's just that his eyes looking towards the court are somewhat full of expectation.

As Van Gaal said, difficulty is the touchstone. Whether it is gold or stone depends on the performance of the next players.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, van der Vaart, Wesley Songk, Sneijder...

Who can stand up and save Ajax?
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What a tough opponent!

Yang Yang looked at the French teenager who was walking back panting beside him, and praised in his heart.

With fast speed, strong explosive power, and excellent endurance, Yang Yang couldn't help feeling that all his advantages were not worth mentioning in front of him.

It's really hard to believe that this is a young player.

And Clichy is already so good, how terrible is Ashley Cole, the world's top left back?
Compared with them, those left backs in the Eredivisie are too loose.

Especially as the game progressed and entered the second half, Chrissy didn't dare to give Yang Yang any space or chance.

Trabelsi was already exhausted facing Pires and Henry, and it was impossible to be able to press up to support Yang Yang. Sneijder was delayed, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was locked in the front, Van der Vaart began to fall into a habitual physical bottleneck after the second half, and his running gradually failed to keep up with the rhythm of the game.

Yang Yang is not surprised by the performance of the team captain, because he is like this in most games.

It is said that it was a serious injury before. After removing the meniscus, he lost his speed. As a result, he can't play his favorite striker now and has to adjust to the middle. However, playing midfield requires a lot of running, which happens to be his weakness.

In this game, he is facing midfielders like Vieira and Edu, especially Vieira. This dark and strong midfield star puts too much pressure on people. Yang Yang believes that it is difficult for anyone in the position of van der Vaart to perform normally.

How to do?
Yang Yang looked around at a loss, he felt as if he had fallen into a helpless situation.

After Arsenal equalized the score, their morale was boosted, and they launched wave after wave of offensives towards Ajax. Their strategy was very clear, that is, to strive for another goal, at least to return to London with a draw.

But for Ajax, a draw is unacceptable.

Without a home win, the possibility of an away promotion is very slim, and it can even be said to be impossible.

But now that the whole team is suppressed so embarrassingly, how can they score goals?

What to use to attack?

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Ronald Koeman was quick to make adjustments.

No. 60 minutes, Ajax replaced Van der Vaart with Garasek.

The substitution this time is obviously to strengthen the team's midfield defense. After all, Sneijder's delay is just a buffer strategy. What he is better at in Ajax is to play as a central midfielder, or a more advanced midfielder position, to give full play to his passing and organizational skills.

Before Van der Vaart left the field, he handed over the team's captain's armband to Garasek, and the 30-year-old veteran came on the field with Ronald Koeman's adjustment order. He made Sneijder move forward, and he dragged behind to form a double midfielder with De Jong.

Timely substitutions and tactical adjustments helped Ajax stabilize the situation on the field, and Arsenal's offense was also contained to a certain extent, especially the double defensive midfielders of Garasek and De Jong significantly strengthened the protection in front of the defense.

But soon, Arsenal also further strengthened the team's frontcourt offensive. High center forward Kanu replaced the Spanish teenager Reyes, who performed mediocre in this game. This is obviously to further strengthen Arsenal's frontcourt attack.

From the substitutions this time, it is not difficult to see that Ajax is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of overall strength and bench thickness, and Wenger is not satisfied with a draw at all. He wants to take away a victory from the away game.

Taking advantage of Arsenal's substitution, Yang Yang looked up at the scoreboard, and the time was exactly 64 minutes.

The head coach Ronald Koeman told him before the game that he was going to play 75 to [-] minutes in this game, and the time for him to leave the field was getting closer and closer, but it was always difficult for him to get a chance on the right.

This time Garasek played and did not bring any instructions from Ronald Koeman to Yang Yang. This seemed to confirm what the head coach said in the locker room during the intermission that he could no longer ask for more from the players.

Especially Yang Yang.

But this does not mean that Yang Yang has no demands on himself.

Facing Chrissy in the whole game, Yang Yang basically didn't take advantage of it, and he was very unconvinced.

This was the most difficult match he had played since his debut. The opponent turned out to be a young player who was only one year older than him. He really didn't believe that he couldn't take advantage of the opponent, even if Clichy was the star of hope handpicked by Wenger.

He just wants to try his best, and even if it doesn't work, he must create opportunities for his teammates who will come off the bench next.

Just thinking about it, Ajax finally hit another counterattack.

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(End of this chapter)