Chapter 60

Chapter 60

On May 13th, the last round of the league before the start of the UEFA Cup final, the thirty-seventh round of La Liga, Mallorca played away against Valladolid.

Because the final is five days later, Mallorca applied to the Spanish Football Association, hoping to advance this round of the league one day, because both Mallorca and Valladolid have successfully relegated. Relegation or competition for European qualifications have no effect, so the Spanish Football Federation agreed to Mallorca's request for a game one day earlier.

In this game, Jose sent all the substitutes to play, and finally lost 1-2 to Valladolid in the away game. Almost no one cared about this game. After the game, the Mallorca team Immediately boarded the plane and flew to Copenhagen, Denmark, which is the location of the UEFA Cup final!

And two days after the Mallorca team set off, Mallorca fans also set off from Mallorca to Copenhagen collectively-the venue of the UEFA Cup final in Copenhagen. There are 10,000 tickets for Mallorca fans, and 13,000 Mallorca fans set off for Copenhagen at the same time!

Under the orderly organization of the Mallorca Fans Association, in addition to the 10,000 people who have tickets to enter the stadium to watch the game, the remaining 3,000 people will watch the live TV broadcast outside the stadium, expressing that they and the Mallorca people stand together!

"Our fan group has really strong organizational skills."

After hearing the news, Jose sighed, and then he focused all his attention on this not the last game of the season, but the most important game of the season!

For Arsenal, this season has undoubtedly been regarded as a failure.

In Wenger's first season in charge of Arsenal, he snatched a league title and an FA Cup from the mighty Manchester United, achieving the Triple Crown. However, they won nothing in the following season. Both the FA Cup and the FA Cup were eliminated, and the Champions League failed to enter the second stage of the group stage. Although they won the Charity Shield, they lost one draw and one loss against Manchester United in the league. The league points were thrown away by Manchester United As much as 18 points, although Manchester United's 91 league points and 97 league goals this season have set the Premier League record, but 18 points behind Manchester United in the league is enough to make Arsenal's league The runner-up was eclipsed, and most importantly, they didn't confirm their league runner-up position until the last round after a difficult victory over Chelsea...

The UEFA Cup has also become the last chance for Wenger and Arsenal to win honors this season.

Wenger is the second time to lead the team to the final of the European competition. The last time was when he coached Ligue 1 Monaco, which was in 1992. However, the Monaco led by Wenger lost in the final of the Cup Winners Cup. For Werder Bremen, it is also a pity for Wenger. Now the Cup Winners Cup has been submerged in the dust of history. For the first new UEFA Cup after the merger, Wenger is bound to win!

However, due to the previous stalemate in the Premier League, Wenger did not have much time to investigate the Mallorca team, and he cannot blame the Premier League team for not knowing the general situation. This season is originally a big year, and it can usually be delayed until the end of May. Or the national leagues in early June must be completed in mid-May. The dense schedule is completely understandable, and everyone wants to qualify for the Champions Cup. Everyone knows that it means money, a lot of money!

Wenger, whose energy is completely dragged down by the league, can only start to investigate the news of Mallorca after the end of the league on May 14, but this is helpless, and Wenger was also in the previous UEFA Cup match. It is not a big deal in his opinion to prepare for the next game when it is approaching.

So when the dust settled in the Premier League, Wenger began to investigate the opponent of Mallorca - for the opponent in the final, Mallorca, Arsenal still seemed relatively calm, after all, the opponent was just a mid-range team in La Liga That's all, isn't Deportivo, who is very likely to win the championship this season, still beaten by Arsenal 5-1 at Highbury? After Anelka left the Premier League to go to Real Madrid, Henry has quickly established his position in Arsenal. The Dutchman Bergkamp is even more aura. Eli and Pettit, the pair of French defensive midfielders control the midfield, coupled with the rich experience of the five veterans in the defense...

What is Mallorca!

However, Wenger did not underestimate Mallorca. He knew that there is no game in Europe that can be easily won. Mallorca was eliminated in the Champions League qualifiers. , participated in the Champions Cup for five consecutive years and has not been able to qualify for the group stage once! The European Champions Cup is originally one of the cruelest competitions in the world...

Of course, Wenger couldn't see too many details in just a few days. Although he collected the videos of Mallorca's last ten rounds of La Liga and the UEFA Cup in the second half of the season, he could only see a few points. ——First, Mallorca's defense is good; second, their offense is very distinctive; third, Tristan, the center forward, is their most important attacker; fourth, Eto'o has the Arsenal rear The speed that the defense fears the most...

Apart from these points, in a few days, no details can be seen at all.

However, in the games that Wenger saw, apart from Mallorca's extremely passive defensive tactics against Barcelona in the second half, it can be said that Mallorca played very smoothly. There are quite some characteristics, but this kind of performance does not seem to threaten Arsenal...

Wenger has confidence in his players, especially in terms of offense. Henry has never been afraid of a defense with space to sprint. Bergkamp's go-between can penetrate any team's defense. Overmars is fast and cuts inside. The scoring ability is not bad, Parlor is a bit inferior, but he is also a wide player with strong scoring ability, and Vieira's forward drive can also become Vieira's killer...

In the Premier League, although the number of goals scored by Arsenal is not as abnormal as that of Manchester United reaching 100, but the 73 goals in the 38 rounds is also the second-ranked attack power in the Premier League, almost reaching an average of one goal per game. , This kind of powerful attack power is the capital for Wenger to gain a foothold in the Premier League after taking over, not to mention that the defense line left by Graham is still strong three years later, with 43 league goals conceded second only to Liverpool and Chelsea, however, the number of goals scored by these two teams is only in the early 50s, and Arsenal conceded two fewer goals than the number one Manchester United.

Arsenal, who are both offensive and defensive, face Mallorca, which is also weaker than Arsenal in both aspects. The odds of winning are still quite high.

The state of the players also made Wenger feel at ease. Although it has been a long season, the state of the Arsenal players has not dropped too much. The physical fitness may be a little lacking, but don't forget that Arsenal is a Premier League team—— They have been fighting in the densest and cruelest league in the arena, and their physical fitness has always been their strongest link!

What's more, La Liga teams are not very good at physical pressing, and Premier League teams also have advantages in this regard. Arsenal relied on fierce pressing and continuous offense to wash Deportivo 5-1!

No matter how strong Mallorca is, it is no better than Deportivo, who double-killed them in the league. Otherwise, it is not La Coruna that is ranked first in the standings, but Mallorca...

So in this case, Wenger is just adjusting the players' status, and at the same time, he intends to rely on his strong overall strength to defeat Mallorca's defense and fighting spirit in one fell swoop, and take his first place after taking over Arsenal. It is also the first European trophy in his coaching career!

night, already deep.

The players had already gone to bed to rest, preparing for tomorrow's UEFA Cup match, but in Jose's room, the lights were still on.

"Overall recovery, zone defense, not giving Henry the space to break through, and at the same time minimizing Bergkamp's technical performance... Overmars wants to break through on the wing and let him break through. Anyway, Arsenal's two Although both forwards are not bad in height, their header ability is very average... As for Vieira's forward penetration, as long as the players concentrate, there will be no major problems. The current Vieira is not the future Vieira, the top midfielder who combines offense and defense, is still a bit short."

Jose carefully simulated the offensive and defensive routes of the two sides on the tactical board, and gradually became clear about the trend of the game.

"Henry's personal breakthrough, Bergkamp's organization, Vieri's forward drive, Overmars' wing... These are basically Arsenal's most powerful weapons... By the way, there are Kanu, if this guy plays, it means that Arsenal is going to fight high, and we need to remind the players to pay attention to this."

Jose muttered to himself: "As for the offense, I'll leave it to Diego and Samuel... mainly containment, but if there is a chance, you can also give them a shot. After all, Arsenal's defense is also based on defense." The old guy is in charge..."

"With that kind of intensive defense, there shouldn't be a big problem in blocking Arsenal's offense. The only thing I'm afraid of is some accidents on the pitch. Damn accidents. However, I don't believe that Wenger's luck will be so good. He is a good coach, but unfortunately, it seems that there is no European Games. Remember that he seems to have never won a European championship? Hehe, of course he can't be allowed to change history. To change history, only I can change it! "

"It's good to be able to counterattack and score goals. If you can't score and don't lose the ball... Damn, I don't want to use such a shameful tactic! But no matter whether it is the whole or the individual, Mallorca has no advantage, and can only fight. And physical strength, even if it consumes more physical strength, they can't let them score! If they score first, then the game will be difficult to run. If they are pulled out to play, it is estimated that Henry alone can beat mine. The team broke out... Thiago and Albert, do you want them to play? Or not, after all, there is not much cooperation between them and their teammates. Besides, two offensive players, in this kind of They may not be used under certain circumstances, but depending on the situation, maybe they can be used. After all, these two little guys are not bad at penalty kicks. Thiago is calm enough, his footwork is good, and Albert is not bad. "

"Physical fitness, there won't be any problems with physical fitness. After all, they played once a week before, and they kept their state without making them tired. Hehe, I don't have an advantage. At least I am preparing for this game. Bi Wenger I don't know how early it is, and the players are at their peak, if this can't kill Arsenal, I'd better concentrate on buying Mallorca, and then become the chairman of the management club."

The night was getting deeper, and at some point, the light in Jose's room was also turned off. In his dream, Jose was still talking in his sleep, talking about the changes that might be used in the final...

The night before the final battle, José didn't sleep well.