Chapter 4 New Season, First Round!

In the afternoon training match, Lekai played well.

In the middle of the match, the professor ordered Lekai to make threatening long passes, preferably with Podolski or Gervinho.

Lekai fully executed this.

Two long passes were accurate to the opponent's gap.

But the problem was that neither of them could run.

Or rather, they didn't see the gap.

Wenger was a little helpless.

Let Walcott try to cooperate with Lekai.

It must be said that the effect was significant.

Walcott and Lekai were able to form a good response.

And after many long passes, Lekai seemed to have tasted the sweetness and was no longer willing to defend silently.

After cooperating with Arteta once, he sent a knife-like straight pass.

Another time was during a quick counterattack, when he received a pass from his teammate near the center circle, he used the outside of his foot to rub a large arc without stopping the ball.

It went directly from the left wing to the feet of Walcott on the right wing.

This big arc shocked the coaching staff.

To be honest, from Lucky's point of view, they could see Suarez ready to move in front of them.

There was also Podolski ready to start, but Walcott on the right wing didn't notice the movement at all.

And there were several people in the middle, and there was a blind spot.

Not to mention how good his footwork was, just how this guy saw this gap was terrifying enough.

This pass made the professor's heart burn.

He hoped Lucky would make another pass.

But unfortunately, after this pass, Lucky was unable to replicate it again.

Instead, he started to defend peacefully.

At first, the professor thought that Lucky couldn't find a good opportunity, or that the previous pass was just a fluke.

But Patras suddenly showed a scorer.

The main team 1:0 the substitute team!

Wenger opened his mouth slightly, recalling the previous warm-up match.

It seemed that after Arsenal gained an advantage or took the lead, this guy also began to fully devote himself to defense.

So, this is a score slave? !

Leading by one goal, they started to defend the point desperately.

Wenger wanted to cry but had no tears.

He thought that Mourinho would like this guy!

After the training, Wenger stood in front of everyone with a tactical board. Everyone knew that this was the announcement of the game list.

Tomorrow, August 18, the first round of the 2012/2013 Premier League season will start.

"Those whose names I called will participate in tomorrow's game!" Wenger looked around and looked down to see that he was reading out the names.

"Suarez, Podolski, Walcott, Arteta, Gervinho"

Everyone whose name was called showed joy on their faces. After all, being on the list for the new season was a good start for them.

Wenger looked up until the end, closed the list, and read out the last name.

"Luo Kai!"

Luo Kai's expression was calm, and so were the others.

There was no need to be too surprised that Luo Kai was on the list.

On the one hand, Luo Kai had a bright enough performance at the end of last season.

On the other hand, many players are eager for Luka to play.

For example, captain Vermaelen.

Since Alexander Song left, Vermaelen's defensive pressure has risen sharply.

Even if Alexander Song likes to rush forward, when defending, the opponent's offensive players must pass Alexander Song first.

And now?

Arteta, Diaby, Ramsey, Santos, Chamberlain, none of them are active in defense.

Ramsey is better, but that's it.

This defensive midfielder is the same as not having one, and all the pressure comes to the back line.

If Luka plays, a defensive gate will be laid directly at the back midfielder position.

The opponent can't even think about getting around, and Vermaelen's defensive pressure will be much less.

Vermaelen came over, patted Luka on the shoulder and said; "Congratulations, and do well tomorrow."

Luka was a little surprised.

It made him seem like a starter.

Others had the same idea.

They were not surprised at all that Luka played.

After all, they saw everything.

Performance at the end of last season + warm-up match performance + training performance = substitute/starting!

If Lekai is not eligible to play, then none of the defensive midfielders will be eligible.

When he returned to Billy's house that night, Lekai announced the good news.

Billy seemed to be prepared for this, and he directly showed three tickets.

"Look! I'm ready!" Billy shook the tickets to show off.

Lekai was surprised: "Do you know I will be on the roster?"

Billy shrugged and said; "If Wenger can't confirm your performance at the end of last season, then we can only doubt the professor's vision!"

"The professor is still very visionary, you are on the roster again, and you may be the starter!"

Lekai shook his head and said; "I shouldn't, the professor said he would let me practice for half a season!"

Wenger was open and honest with Lekai this time.

He needs Lekai to practice for half a season, and if his performance is still good, then Lekai can get the status of the starting main force.

Lekai has no complaints about this,

after all, he has waited for a season.

And there is still the possibility of coming on as a substitute in this half of the season, which is much better than before.

The next day, 15:30 pm London time.

The first round of the 2012/2013 Premier League, Arsenal vs. Sunderland, has already started for 30 minutes.

The score between the two sides is 1:1.

Starting lineups of both sides:

Arsenal (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Szczesny.

Defenders: Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs.

Midfielders: Diaby, Arteta, Cazorla.

Forwards: Gervinho, Suarez, Podolski.

Sunderland (4-5-1):

Goalkeeper: Mignolet.

Defenders: Richardson, O'Shea, Kural, Craig Gardner.

Midfielders: McLean, Colback, Cattermole, Larsson, Campbell.

Forward: Sessegnon.

At the beginning of the game, Arsenal relied on an offensive opportunity, with Podolski assisting Suarez to score a goal.

But Arsenal's lead lasted only two minutes. Sunderland took advantage of a defensive counterattack opportunity, Campbell drove into the penalty area and assisted Larsson to score.

After that, the game fell into a stalemate for a while.

This game also made the Arsenal fans at the scene tremble with fear.

They clearly felt that although Arsenal had absolute suppression in terms of offense.

But the defense seemed so weak.

That counterattack was not sharp or too fast.

But the opponent scored.

Arteta and Diaby just watched the opponent pass through the midfield without any restrictions at all.

As mentioned before, all the pressure came to Vermaelen.

The disrupted Arsenal defense faced the opponent's multi-player attack, and in the chaos, they had no choice but to lose the ball.

This goal stunned the Arsenal fans and the professor.

They never thought that Arsenal's defense was so weak.

The opponent broke it with one poke.

Now, due to the lack of defense, Arsenal dared not press forward, resulting in an extremely strange stalemate.

The professor could no longer sit still. He stood on the sidelines, frowning and looking at the back line.

He had never thought that after Arsenal left Alexander Song, they would enter such a weak back line.

The offense of a team like Sunderland could actually break through Arsenal's goal.

This is simply a joke.

But we have to face the problem.

There are indeed defensive problems in the back midfielder position.

Arteta's defense is not so active, and Diaby's performance is not praiseworthy.

Cazorla's performance is okay, but he rushed too far ahead and had no time to retreat.

At this time, Arsenal lost the ball again in the frontcourt, and Sunderland began to counterattack.

Sunderland midfielder Larsson took it and dribbled quickly.

But when he came to the center circle, Arteta and Diaby both moved, but soon stopped again.

After watching Larsson enter his own half, the two who missed the opportunity could only watch the ball pass between them and come to Campbell's feet on the left wing.

Arsenal's defense exploded again.

Gibbs rushed over in a hurry, but the opponent changed direction continuously and fell to the ground, and then cut inside.

Mertesacker made a fierce tackle before the opponent entered the penalty area.

He knocked the opponent down with the ball.

"Come on! What are you doing?!"

Vermaelen roared angrily.

He didn't understand what the midfielders were thinking. They didn't stick to the ball and watched the opponent pass it to the backcourt?

Arteta and Diaby also looked embarrassed.

At this time, the live commentator was also angry.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Move! Run with your legs!!"

"Do you think you can stop the opponent just by watching?!"

The anger of the live commentator spread to the fans.

They also cursed in the stands.

"Go! Damn it, what are you thinking?"

"Bad defense! You have no fighting spirit at all!!"

"Go! Arteta! Go! Diaby!!"

"What are you thinking about? Defend!!!!——"

Arsenal fans are angry.

They never thought that Alexander Song's departure would lead to this situation.

Last season, they kept scolding Alexander Song and criticized the opponent for not defending.

This season, that guy finally left, and then Arsenal's defense became shit!

At this moment, they suddenly missed Alexander Song's defense.

But the more this happened, the angrier they were.

To them, Song was a defective product.

And now that the defective product is gone, Arsenal's defense has become worse.

This is damned! !