i am gun king

Chapter 415
Back to a week ago:

In the Kearney training base, Wenger was sitting on an office chair with his back to the desk and facing the window. Below was Arsenal’s training ground, but there were no players training at this time, but Wenger was still right. Staring at the training ground in a daze.

Arsenal started the season really well, which is what Wenger has always been.

As Ferguson said, Arsenal before the winter break were champions, but after the winter break Arsenal couldn't even qualify for the Champions League.

This is a bit of an exaggeration, but it also speaks of Arsenal’s biggest problem. The start is always very eye-catching and amazing, but after the winter break, especially in the final sprint, Arsenal lost themselves time and time again. The advantage created with great difficulty was even reversed in the end.

This season, Arsenal's start is as eye-catching as ever, and they are still leading. This state shows Arsenal's good competitive state, but at the same time, it also makes many people worry, that is, will Arsenal go back to the old road of the past few years?
Wenger is also facing the large training ground downstairs at this moment, thinking about this issue.

In fact, whether it is a person or a head coach, at his level, self-knowledge is no longer difficult. He is very clear about his own problems, but sometimes it is one thing to be clear, but it is difficult to change the inertial thinking and work habits.

"Do you know what your biggest problem is? You are so stubborn and cautious that we can easily guess what you will do. Therefore, in the eyes of many of us, you have no secrets at all."
Wenger couldn't help hearing what Heynckes had said to him, which made him very unconvinced, but he had to admit that being stubborn and cautious was his consistent style.

"Since you say I am stubborn and cautious, then I will not be stubborn and I will show you if I am not cautious." Wenger showed a vindictive smile. He also wanted to see what would happen when he was not stubborn and cautious.

Thinking of this, assistant coach Pete Ji Dong knocked on the door of Wenger's office and walked in, "Arsene, are you looking for me?" He said, and walked to Wenger's desk.

"This is the lineup and tactics I want to play against Bayern Munich on Saturday, please help me see." Wenger turned around and gently pushed a document on the desk to Pete Jidong.

The latter opened the file, and after a glance, he was a little surprised, and immediately read it more carefully.

"Back to 442" Pete Ji Dong lost his voice in surprise at first, but he looked more carefully
Wenger's starting lineup is still 442 with Buffon as the goalkeeper, Gibbs, Bennetia, Koscielny and Debussy in the defense, Cazorla, Arteta, Wanyama and Ozil in the midfield, and a double forward combination of Li Yuxin and Walcott in the frontcourt.

Over the years, as the tactics of the Premier League have gradually caught up with the mainland, they have begun to consciously move closer to the four lines. After claiming to return to the four lines, the old traditional Premier League coaches such as Ferguson and Wenger are also constantly improving. Like Ferguson, he has not adjusted the reform of Manchester United's tactics over the years.

The same is true for Wenger. He has always wanted to reorganize Arsenal's tactics, but he was limited by the player lineup before. However, after gradually letting go of core players such as Henry, Pires, and Vieira over the years, although the overall strength of the team has also declined, the tactical system has improved. Even Wenger began to consciously play 423l tactics.

But now returning to 442 has to be said to be an adventure, but Wenger's adventure is obviously not just this step.

Defensive forward pressure
This is the most shocking word for Pete and Ji Dong after reading this plan, because Wenger's so-called defensive forward pressure is not just to advance a little bit, but to advance very far to ensure that the team can compress Bayern Munich's entire midfield and use the forward pressure of the overall formation to suppress the opponent, so that Bayern Munich has no time and space to steal the ball and counterattack.

The purpose of doing this is naturally for offense, because after pressing up, the team's offense can play the greatest threat, and Wenger arranged for Walcott and Li Yuxin to start. These two players are also very targeted. They are facing Bayern Munich's Boateng and Dante respectively.

If Arsenal really successfully use this starting tactic to control the game, then it is conceivable that Bayern Munich will play very passively, because Wenger's approach is almost desperate.

But if there is a gain, there are risks, and the risks brought by such a desperate approach are also very large, that is, the physical consumption of the players, and Bayern Munich's counterattack, especially the ball behind the ball.

Toni Kroos has excellent long passing ability, but in the tight high-intensity oppression, his ball efficiency is not very fast, so in Wenger's set of tactics, the effect of Toni Kroos will be contained. On the contrary, Ozil's midfield through ball may have a greater effect. This is the focus of Arsenal's defense.

"Pate" Wenger also noticed the weird look on his assistant's face, and smiled, somewhat bitterly, "Perhaps what I said will make many people, including you, feel uncomfortable, but we have to admit one thing, now we don't have much advantage against Bayern Munich, and even in many ways, we are at a disadvantage."

After Pete and Ji Dong heard this, they first frowned, and then looked at Wenger with some admiration. At the very least, it was very, very difficult for someone like Wenger to admit this. In fact, except for some people who didn't want to admit it, most people could tell that Bayern Munich's strength was not inferior to Arsenal, on the contrary, it might even be better than Arsenal.

"When we are at a disadvantage, if we still follow the original inertial thinking to play against Bayern Munich, then we will definitely die miserably. Heynckes is too capable of targeted tactics. He knows how we will fight. He must also have targeted arrangements. Therefore, if we want to beat the opponent, we can only take risks and change."

Pate and Ji Dong always felt a little uncomfortable when they heard it, because Wenger, who has always been known for his stubbornness, said that he would change his team, why did it sound strange?

But he has no doubts about the sincerity of Wenger's words, because Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League last season, and Wenger was under a lot of pressure. If there is no improvement this season, Wenger might be criticized by the board of directors. So facing the most direct Champions League competitor, Wenger does not want to lose.

Wenger's eyes were fixed on his assistant all the time. He saw the eyes of Pete and Ji Dong, and understood something from it. He smiled bitterly and said, "We have to admit that the current Premier League is no longer what it was a few years ago, or even what it was a year ago."

Wenger also smiled, but shook his head at the same time, "Never underestimate this team, Pete, he carries the hope of Heynckes, he will be our strongest competitor in the Champions League in the past few years, and even, he has the hope of becoming the strongest team in the Premier League in the future, as long as they maintain the current momentum of progress."

There are many players in the Bayern Munich team that Wenger admires very much, such as Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, and Robben. They are all outstanding, but Wenger missed them for various reasons. Now as a competitor, Wenger naturally dare not underestimate this team.

"Heynckes often said that he studied me very well. This time I want to see if he is really what he said, or if he can really guess how I want to play this game."

Pete and Ji Dong looked at Wenger, what he read from Wenger's eyes was provocation, a passion he hadn't seen for a long time.

Perhaps, in the past few years, the calm of the Premier League and the lack of threat of Arsenal have worn away some of Wenger's vigor and passion, and also made him lack some fighting spirit, but now, it is a matter of the life and death of the team, and he is obviously regaining the passion of the past.

Just like when he landed in the Premier League and was ambitious to overthrow the Manchester United dynasty

Heynckes really didn't expect that Wenger would start with an unreasonable fast break.

Returning to the 4231 formation that the team is more familiar with, Li Yuxin and Walcott are arranged in the frontcourt. Wenger obviously did not think about being conservative or defending at the Emirates Stadium, but went straight up and attacked.

"Is he really dying?" Mauro Herman looked a little surprised.

After the start of the game, Arsenal's defensive line was pressed very high, and the two full-backs also actively pressed forward to directly participate in the offense. Coupled with Cazorla and Ozil on the two wings of the frontcourt, Arsenal actively used the defenders to press up to complete the number advantage in the frontcourt and conduct more effective and smooth possession of the ball.

Maybe it’s because they saw that Arsenal played aggressively against the visitors at the beginning of the game. The more than 3 Bayern Munich fans at White Hart Lane were very angry. They booed the Arsenal players one by one, and at the same time they were also cheering for the players of the home team. The stadium was very lively.
With the start of the game dominant, Arsenal began to use their advantage to threaten Bayern Munich's goal. In the 3rd minute, Ozil completed a cross from the right. Li Yuxin got stuck in his body and grabbed the header before Hangeland.

Neuer stood very steadily in front of the goal line. When Arteta hit a volley, he flew quickly, hugged the ball directly, and completed a beautiful flying save
The German goalkeeper stood up from the ground. He noticed Heynckes' gesture, indicating to him to hold on and not to worry, so he hugged the ball directly, avoiding Li Yuxin, who was pressing tightly in the frontcourt, and at the same time stretched out his hand to stabilize his teammates.

Perhaps seeing that Bayern Munich consciously wanted to delay time and slow down the pace, Arsenal began to shrink back consciously.

However, as soon as Bayern Munich threw a goal kick, Arsenal immediately pressed forward again, pressing very tightly in the midfield, and Bayern Munich also quickly completed an offensive advance. Ozil quickly passed the ball, trying to tear apart Arsenal's defense, but Koscielny blocked the position and intercepted the ball from halfway.

The ball soon fell to Li Yuxin's feet again. This time, Li Yuxin and Walcott crossed positions. The former faced Thiago Silva. The Togo striker took the ball and faced Thiago Silva. He wanted to make a direct face-to-face breakthrough. Unexpectedly, Thiago Silva was very quick and clean, and directly tackled the ball.

Cazorla scored the ball and gave it to Walcott in the penalty area. The England teenager kicked directly, but the kick was crooked.
Heynckes was really surprised when he saw Arsenal's offense from the sidelines, especially this almost desperate attack, because it really didn't look like Wenger's style at all, but he just appeared on Arsenal.

"Now the ball is basically turning in our half, which is not good for us," Mauro Hermann analyzed
Heynckes nodded, "This is his calculation, he wants to force us to fight"

While speaking, Heynckes pointed to the field, "Look carefully, their three lines are all pressed up and kept very compact, suppressing our midfielder. If Mourinho's Chelsea completes the restriction through proper retraction and players' running, then they press up to maintain a compact formation, and then complete the restriction."

Mauro Herman immediately reacted after hearing this, "Then we can hit the back."

Heynckes nodded, "Yes, in theory we can play behind the ball, but in fact, Toni Kroos is not very good at through balls. He is good at long passes, but his passes need space, so as long as the formation is tight enough and someone disturbs and influences Toni Kroos, then our passing efficiency will be greatly reduced, and Thomas is also closely guarded."

If you carefully observe Toni Kroos' passing, it is not difficult to find that his passing is often stopped and passed. This is the reason why his precision is so high.

Heynckes' strategy is to delay the completion, but now Arsenal presses up, further suppressing the space of Toni Kross.

Sometimes it is like this. You clearly know and see that there is a large space behind the opponent, but it is difficult for you to grasp it. First, Bayern Munich currently does not have possession of the ball. Second, Arsenal’s pressing is doing very well.

"This is a desperate style of play. He made it clear that he doesn't want to defend and play against us." Mauro Herman understood that the offenses of Arsenal and Bayern Munich are definitely in the top three in Europe, and the other team is Barcelona.

"They didn't have the confidence to defend our offense. Our defense has problems, and their defense may not be so good," Heynckes said with a smile. Both Arsenal and Bayern Munich have problems in defense.

If Bayern Munich's defense is mainly because the team tends to attack, and there are still obvious loopholes in the defense, then Arsenal's problem lies in the lack of tacit understanding between the players. Gibbs on the left and Debussy on the right are obviously not reassuring, and even the combination of Bennetia and Koscielny is not satisfactory.
Bayern Munich's offense was the strongest in Germany last season. In the eyes of discerning people, Bayern Munich's offense has been revitalized. Now, which team dares to say that it can defend against Bayern Munich's offense?
Heynckes smiled, "Actually, Mauro, we should be proud that being able to force our opponents to adopt such extreme tactics is an indirect proof of our success, isn't it?"

"Furthermore," Heynckes glanced at Wenger in front of the coaching bench of the home team, "It's really a confrontation, and we don't know who will win."

But not long after Heynckes finished speaking, Arsenal launched another attack. This time, Arteta stepped forward and received a cross from Ozil on the right. After getting the ball, he turned sideways and took two steps to the left. He quickly split to the left.

I saw that after the Spaniard got Arteta's pass, he stopped, rubbed, and rubbed an overhead pass.

In the penalty area, Li Yuxin had already run between Dante and Boateng at some point, like a cheetah lying in ambush, waiting for an opportunity. When he saw Cazorla's pass, he rushed forward quickly, and Cazorla's pass passed Dante's head just right.

In the penalty area, Li Yuxin, who had already jumped up to meet the ball, hit the top of his head lightly, and the ball was knocked in the opposite direction by him. Cech was powerless against such a header. He could only watch the ball go into the net.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL"

"In the 17th minute, Arsenal scored the first goal, from Lee's header." Andy Gray cheered loudly, apparently applauding for Arsenal's goal.

"After the start of the game, both sides played very openly, without the slightest conservativeness, but adopted a confrontational battle, but Bayern Munich seemed a little passive, especially in organizing the offense. Arsenal shot four times after the opening and created a goal. Bayern Munich has not found an effective offensive routine so far."

Wenger on the sidelines saw Li Yuxin's goal, shook his hands vigorously excitedly, and laughed and applauded the players. Just as he expected, both Heynckes and Bayern Munich were surprised by his almost suicidal style of play, even a little unexpected, so they seemed passive after the start, and Arsenal took the lead
"Wenger's team formation in this game is very risky, but the rewards are also very rich. Currently, the home team is temporarily ahead of Bayern Munich, and the home team has not performed very well since the start. We should take a closer look next time to see if Heynckes will make appropriate adjustments."

(End of this chapter)