Reporter Xu Danlei reported that the holiday bells are gradually ringing, and the fourth place in the Premier League standings has locked a familiar name in advance. After five years, Arsenal are finally able to qualify for the Champions League for the first time and enter Christmas. Among them, there is the inspirational story of the Atta team climbing from the trough step by step after the opening three rounds of ink. This process also reflects the good effect brought about by the team's bold reinforcement in the summer window. Being able to stand in the current position, the Gunners have undoubtedly received important benefits from the schedule. Before the festival, Arsenal fans had received a gift of achievement from the team with three points of joy and three-point anticipation. Before the new round of the Premier League begins on Boxing Day, the Gunners will undoubtedly have to be vigilant with three points and hope for a good luck and always be with them.
The gunman has been away from the first four for a long time
After a nine-man rotation in the League Cup, Sunderland reached the semifinals, but the battle for four is still the Gunners' most critical goal this season, and it can even be said to be the only goal that can reflect the growth of the team. Arsenal don't have the genes to train for the league by winning cups. The League Cup, which City has won over the past four years as the "Pepp Cup", is an occasion for Guardiola to practice in order to maintain the fighting power of the league. Arteta, who won the FA Cup in his first half of his first half season in office, no longer needs to relieve the pressure of coaching with the championship. His pressure will only come from when he can lead the team to qualify for the Champions League.
Espanyol's two seasons of only eighth place is pressure. After finishing fourth in 2015/16, the Gunners have missed the Champions League for five consecutive years. Wenger coached for the final two seasons, and the team ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. Emery led the team fifth in the first season; the second half was replaced by Arteta, who led the team to the end of the season and had already missed the European competition, an FA Cup, which sent the team to the Europa League. At the end of last season, the Gunners not only missed the top four, but also did not mix in the European Cup, responding with a joke: finally do not have to go abroad to compete.
Beaten by the Hammers a week ago, Arsenal finished first in the top four after 438 days, compared to the last time after the first four rounds of last season. At this point, since the beginning of the 2017/18 season, the Gunners have only spent a total of 144 days in the top four places; compared with Manchester City 1094 days, Liverpool 1043 days, Chelsea 872 days, Leicester 567 days, Manchester United 532 days and Tottenham Hotspur 439 days. This data comparison not only shows the invaluable value of the top four pairs of today's Gunners, but also lists the main opponents on the team's road to the fourth.
From losing the record of 20 consecutive years in the Champions League to losing european qualification, Arsenal's slide in the Premier League did not come suddenly, which in turn showed that it is difficult to return to a high position overnight. However, a few days after winning the Hammers, the team won a big victory at Eland Road, which still aroused positive expectations for the future of fans. As the famous Keane put it, "During the difficult transition period, arsenal in the rebuilding is in the top four, why not keep it up?" I saw the strength and the belief of this team. ”
The beginning of the end of the transition period?
Arsene Wenger brought Arsenal to a two-game tie with Manchester United. Liverpool and Chelsea are involved in the top of the list, and the Premier League has formed a "senior"; Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have risen to become the "top six" - the Gunners are still on this list, but their status is declining. From the rise and fall of long-time rivals the Red Devils, Arsenal may learn from them.
All three are U.S.-controlled Premier League head clubs, and the common denominator is that those who do not understand football and manage football do not count. Liverpool fought for nearly 30 years to win the premier league title, after many years and silver. Henry's Reds can win the championship, first of all, they are willing to spend money to bring record-breaking reinforcements such as Alisson and Van Dijk to the Red Army, and secondly, let professionals manage professional affairs and let sports director Edwards become Klopp's right-hand man.
The opposite of Liverpool is Manchester United. David Gill and Ferguson left as a good pair and replaced them with Woodward and Moyes, creating a "fax machine" story when buying someone from La Liga. Santokuko, who was only in charge of profits, left with a curse. Manchester United lost the title in eight years to change the coach four times, now is the fifth, waiting for the sixth term, the action is not small, the money spent is not much, but the Premier League is the highest only to take the second, the Champions League is not every year can go.
Manchester United's goal of recapturing the Premier League at all times, and the competitive policy of joint competition actually swings from side to side, which seems to be beyond reproach. What are Arsenal's goals? With the goal of winning the championship, how much time is given, and what is the same amount of capital to help? With the goal of competing for four, will Arteta be able to stay in the manager's seat next season? There are too many problems in this. If the pursuit of playing iron while hot, then what kind of reinforcement can the team get in the winter window? This is a question that can be answered immediately.
Arsenal's most expensive summer slots have appeared after Wenger's departure, and there are also 80 million team-level operations to buy Pepe. Kroenke didn't take off the iron rooster mask after Wenger was gone; but he had to prove that he wasn't stingy, and that the money was nowhere near enough—even in terms of fighting for four.
Wenger is the only presence in the Premier League, not because of the number of league titles, but because of the style of play that is difficult for latecomers to replicate. But if you pay too much attention to the inheritance of the style of play, the seat of the Arsenal manager is too good to sit. Merson said that Bielsa, who was defeated by Arteta, was as stubborn as Wenger. In this way Leeds, Atta can win, other teams can win, and Manchester City has won seven. If Atta's work is easily copied, it's not a good thing for him and for Arsenal.
The difficulty of Manchester United's transformation has shown that it is not easy after the "godfather" leaves. More than three and a half years after Wenger left office, there was chaos in the Gunners' management, and the heads of operations and athletic affairs were replaced in batches. On a giant scale, the Gunners' transition period is not long. But at this point in five years, when christmas is spent for the first time in the Champions League, it is not clear whether it is the beginning of the end of the transition period or the beginning of the beginning.
Although youth is good, it is still impossible to be home
Arsenal, which now complements Arta's competitive architecture with sporting director Edu, was questioned at the beginning of its establishment. In the last summer window, the Gunners brought in William and renewed Ruiz, leaving Edu on his back to give welfare to his fellow countrymen. Fortunately, the Brazilians introduced by the team also have good seedlings like Martinelli. The club's operation this summer and the first half of the season also shows optimistic clues.
In the first three rounds of the season, Arsenal shot three shots in a row, lost to the title-winning double blue, and was also won by promoted Mabrentford. Public opinion is in the midst of mourning, but the top brass remains calm, and the location of Arteta is surprisingly stable. Looking back now, there is no doubt that management made the right decision at the time. Being able to burn money in the summer window to rank first in the Premier League still maintains its concentration, which also partly proves that the club seeks a long-term line.
Also in July, Edu praised the youth system for creating a lot of available materials for a team, which is a sign of the team's youthfulness. Sure enough, the following season began so far, and the young gunners are in charge. Atta, who is a young marshal himself, is happy to build a child soldier, and because he trusts young people, he can test his tactical ideas more quickly. In the Barca B team for many years to promote the hopeless Tower Coach, when playing football, it is better to play for the chicken head than for the bull; once coached, it is better to capture the desire to compete from the eyes of young players.
Suspects do not use, employ people do not doubt. The Gunners' start against the White Rose, which remained consistent in four consecutive rounds, was the first time in six and a half years. Young people are prone to return with blood, but they alone cannot push the team at the bottom of the season to the top four. The reason for the cautious optimism about the gunners' now young Klenk management is that Edu and Atta wanted people, bought and used.
Before the season, Arsenal had a roster of six first-team players. The list was later cashed in as goalkeeper Ramsdale, right-back Fuan Jianyang, centre-back Ben White, left-back Tavares, centre-forward Lokunga and organisational midfielder Erdega. Most of the above-mentioned super-semi players have played the main force and played well in the team, including the goalkeeper and the right gate, who are also the best competitors in the Premier League half.
However, the advantages of a set of soldiers and horses fighting continuously will soon be weakened. Spurs are out of the European Cup and will have only the domestic front left. The Gunners' results in the first half of the course have improved steadily, but also because there is no European war disturbance. Tottenham are the biggest threat to the Gunners' top four, thanks to the fact that the former is currently three games behind and six points behind. In today's competition for four groups, Manchester United are five points behind the Gunners in two games and West Ham are four points behind in one game.
Although the first four pairs of latecomers are pressure, just like penalties are awarded first, it is not impossible for latecomers to overtake. If Both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur win the make-up matches, they will both be ranked ahead of the Gunners. The supercomputer predicted arsenal to finish 7th at the end of the season, which was also a factor in calculating the uneven schedule.
The British media did not highly anticipate Arsenal's prospects for a fourth-place race because the team's performance in the first half was not convincing enough. Previous consecutive losses to Manchester United and Everton, the Gunners are still strong. The home Dragons away bugs are also a clear deficiency of the young team. Oba, who can't play without being a captain, still has the strength and experience that Martinelli can hardly provide immediately.
When the opponents who are competing for the fourth place are chasing close or even overtaking by the make-up match, forcing the young gunners to attack the heart and rush to the heart, gun fans will say "I have seen this episode", the difference is that it was a championship battle before. The winter window is a good opportunity to check the gaps and fill in the gaps. In addition to Lacazette and Martinelli, there should be a good striker who can play. For Nkaidia, who wears a hat on a black cat, the performance is still undulating. The time has come for the management to show the sincerity of the four.
