Chapter 199 Human-machine integration is the best way
In the locker room at Wembley Stadium, Wenger was conducting his final pre-match mobilization. His words were concise:
"... Kids, I won't say anything else. Now that we've come this far, we only have one goal!"
"I hope that after you step out of this door, the medal hanging around your neck when you return will be golden!"
As soon as Wenger finished speaking, the players couldn't wait to roar like "Wolf Warriors":
"Don't worry, Boss! We will definitely bring the FA Cup back for you!"
"The championship belongs to Arsenal!"
"Glory to Arsenal!"
"champion!"
"champion!"
After winning consecutive championships, Arsenal is no longer the team that often "falls off the pace" at the end of the season. The whole team has a "champion's heart", which is unprecedented since Xia Qi joined.
Pat Rice's face flushed with excitement. He was even more excited than the players. He waved his hand suddenly, pointed to the player tunnel, and shouted passionately: "Let's go!"
In his excitement, he didn't even realize that as his deputy, he had stolen Wenger's lines.
Wenger stood at the door with a serious expression on his face, high-fiving every player who was about to step onto the "battlefield".
Xia Qi stepped out of the locker room, high-fived Wenger, and said with a smile: "Boss, if you can smile, we will be more motivated."
Wenger heard this and gave him a light kick, then scolded him with a smile: "You are getting more and more naughty, you even dare to tease me. Don't touch the trophy when you line up to leave."
There is also metaphysics on the football field. For example, those who touch the trophy before the game are usually the runner-ups. However, some people do not believe this and touch it when they go on the field.
Xia Qi is becoming more and more "experienced", Wenger is afraid that he will touch this taboo, the FA Cup, this championship, Wenger really wants it!!!
After snatching the Premier League title from Ferguson, and then snatching the FA Cup from Mourinho, Wenger feels that he has no regrets in his life! !
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...
In the player tunnel, Xia Qi, Terry, Lampard... nodded to each other.
This is already the third time Arsenal and Chelsea have faced each other this season. Both sides are "old acquaintances".
Moreover, many of them are teammates in the national team. In the year of the World Cup, it is really difficult for such a tense final to happen.
The special feature of this game is actually the grudge between the two head coaches. In the players' hearts, it is not that important, at least not as important as the Champions League or Premier League titles.
Xia Qi and Terry are the captains of the two teams. They stood in front and chatted about the gossip of the World Cup, such as whether Messi's injury can be recovered before the World Cup, the enemy situation of Belgium, Germany, Spain and Italy, and who England will be in the same group with...
In short, from the pre-match perspective, this FA Cup final did not have the depressing atmosphere of a life-and-death duel, everything was bathed in the spring breeze.
The players entered the field.
The captains of both teams lined up side by side and entered the court under the guidance of three referees.
The entire Wembley Stadium erupted in the warmest applause and cheers at that moment!
Xia Qi looked at the shining trophy, resisted the urge to touch it, and kept comforting himself: "Just be patient! In ninety minutes, it will be yours!"
Xia Qi decided that after ninety minutes, he would use it to fill with beer and then drink it in one gulp!
A champion should be so domineering! (No objections accepted!)
...
...
Dull!
So dull!
Many people in the stands yawned, which is rare in a football match! After all, football is a passionate and enthusiastic sport...
As everyone knows, Chelsea's Mourinho is a 1:0ist, so although he achieved good results as coach of Real Madrid, he was still expelled from the Bernabeu.
However, isn't Arsenal, a team that advocates offensive football, on the other side of the game? ... This is also what the media and fans are looking forward to in this game.
But the reality is very different from people's speculation.
The game started out extremely dull.
Both sides were testing each other and were extremely cautious, both putting solid defense first. The game had been going on for six minutes and there had not been a single shot on goal.
If I hadn't seen the jerseys of both teams, I would have thought it was a "Village Super League" match! No, "Village Super League" is more exciting than this.
This match is already the third encounter between the two sides this season. All the players know each other well. Is there a need for a testing phase?
Many people began to blame Wenger.
Mourinho is a jerk like that. How could a guy like you with thick eyebrows and big eyes betray him?
...
...
On the court, facing the regained form of Xia Qi, Mourinho invested a lot of money and even used the core midfielder Lampard to defend Xia Qi.
In Mourinho's tactics, Lampard is the hub of the offensive and defensive transitions. Chelsea may not be able to take advantage of this exchange tactic.
Many football commentators could not guess Mourinho's thoughts. Like Wenger, they shook their heads at Mourinho's "clever trick" and were not optimistic about it.
Lampard doesn't want to return empty-handed this season, and the FA Cup is the closest to him.
When he faced the media before the game, he said: "We can't always let our opponents have the last laugh. The sky of England can't be only red..."
He is a man of his words. After the game starts, as long as Xia Qi approaches the penalty area, he will move forward...
At the same time, one of his teammates will be behind him to "defend behind", sometimes it is Terry, sometimes it is Mikel, Matic, ...
In short, Mourinho is serious about restricting Xia Qi, even at the cost of hurting both sides!
Xia Qi, who is in AI mode, will often pass the ball to his teammates under the AI's "best choice" after holding the ball.
However, his teammates played too conservatively, which was why neither side had a single shot on goal in the first six minutes of the game.
In a dead ball opportunity, Xia Qi decisively released the "one-button hang-up" and turned on the autonomous combat mode. It is better to rely on yourself than on others. Since you have no ambition, then, I'm sorry! I will do it alone...
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...
In a game without shots, the people who feel the most uncomfortable are not the yawning fans, but the football commentators.
Teacher Zhan Jun was speechless in the live broadcast room. After thinking about it, he pointed the finger at Mourinho, although Mourinho was also one of his favorite head coaches.
: "Chelsea played too conservatively. No wonder FIFA wants to encourage offense. Otherwise, the sport of football will be ruined by ugly football sooner or later."
However, his partner, Zhang Lu, has a different view:
"This is a top-level tactical showdown between top coaches. The result is boring, but the process is not boring.
Mourinho is worthy of being called "Kwen No. 1"! Although Chelsea's situation was ugly, Arsenal could not find a way to attack. This is Mourinho's victory.
You know, Arsenal just slaughtered Atletico Madrid 6:1, and their goal-scoring ability is unquestionable. Chelsea made them not have a single shot for six minutes, which is really not easy! ”
After hearing what Zhang Lu said, many people on the Internet gave Mourinho thumbs up. Mourinho and Wenger seemed to be the rule, so the boring game became the "simplicity is the best" of the sweeping monk in the eyes of some tacticians.
on the field,
Arsenal attacked from the wing.
The little tiger Walcott quickly broke through the wing, was intercepted by Chelsea, and then he passed the ball to De Bruyne.
Terry immediately rushed out of the penalty area, trying to steal the ball before De Bruyne got it.
However, Xia Qi, who was at the front of the penalty area, did the opposite of him at this moment and rushed into the penalty area with Lampard.
In a split second, De Bruyne passed the ball before Terry without even swinging his legs.
In the penalty area, Xia Qi made a forward move from the back post, caught up with the ball and prepared to shoot, but unexpectedly, Lampard pushed it secretly behind him.
Xia Qi, who had just unlocked the "one-button hang-up" function, did not have a perfect balance. He was pushed by him and instantly lost his balance and fell to the side.
The shot lost its accuracy and the ball flew directly into the stands.
"Penalty kick!"
Zhan Jun in the live broadcast room and the Arsenal fans on the stadium shouted excitedly.
Xia Qi also thought he would get a penalty kick, so he sat on the grass and waited for the whistle.
But the referee ignored it and blew the whistle to indicate that it was Chelsea's goal kick.
There was half booing and half applause at Wembley Stadium.
Wenger is angry! When he gets angry, he fights with his zipper...
Mourinho was sitting in the coaching booth, writing and drawing in his notebook with his head down...
"This ball was too crucial. Lampard's action was not obvious, and the referee did not dare to make a call. Chelsea escaped a disaster."
"Mourinho was very experienced and knew that the live broadcast would give him a close-up shot. He pretended to know nothing, but his sneaky eyes betrayed him..."
"From the slow-motion replay, it was a misjudgment."
The game continues,
When Chelsea was shrinking their defense, Arsenal also remained vigilant, fearing that they would fall into Mourinho's quick counterattack.
Cazorla and Gustavo, the two defensive midfielders, will never press forward at the same time.
Gustavo was more of a stay-behind, mopping up everything.
In the frontcourt, except for Xia Qi who was a little anxious, other players were not in a hurry to pass the ball directly into Chelsea's penalty area.
Instead, he slowly passed the ball around the periphery, looking for an opportunity.
However, after the referee made a wrong decision, the Arsenal players suddenly became united in their hatred of the enemy.
It's not just Xia Qi who is active. De Bruyne, Walcott, Balotelli... intersperse, move sideways, run into walls and run without the ball have become more frequent, and the number of times the ball is passed has also increased.
As Arsenal's passes and receptions increased, they peeled off Chelsea's "bus defense" layer by layer like peeling an onion.
A familiar feeling, a memory that will never fade away, emerged in the minds of some old gun fans, and tears suddenly welled up in their eyes uncontrollably...
Xia Qi is Henry, Walcott is Pires, De Bruyne is Bergkamp...
A long-forgotten song "The Great Emperor" floats over Wembley Stadium...
Chelsea's defense was stripped away and the goal was in danger frequently. First, Xia Qi made a wonderful pass while being double-teamed.
Walcott broke out from behind Balotelli and used his teammate Balotelli to attract the attention of Chelsea's defense. After receiving the ball, he adjusted and shot a lob, but was held in Cech's arms.
This shot might have been very different if Walcott hadn't adjusted it.
Unfortunately, there are no ifs on the court.
Three minutes later, Arsenal came back, still passing the ball layer by layer, peeling the onion layer by layer.
After De Bruyne and Balotelli made a wall pass in the middle,
An assist was given to Xia Qi, who stopped and dribbled past Lampard, a poor defender, and his low shot was blocked by Azpilicueta who came to defend.
Then, Cazorla and De Bruyne crossed positions and took a long shot from the edge of the penalty area. The shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced on the goal line, but was cleared by Terry.
Chelsea's goal was in danger frequently and Mourinho could no longer sit still. He walked to the edge of the field and began to direct the team's defense.
With the help of Mourinho, Chelsea slowly stabilized their position and began to try to counterattack.
After receiving Cech's goal kick, Luis passed the ball to Ramires, who pulled the ball, turned around, and quickly passed it out.
Eto'o received the ball on the wing, dribbled past Gustavo who was overexerting himself, then suddenly accelerated and instantly broke through Arsenal's defense.
"The cheetah is back!"
"Chelsea are fighting back!"
Eto'o moved forward all the way. At the same time, Chelsea, who had been hiding in defense, was like a beast that had awakened, and the whole team moved forward rapidly.
In a flash, Arsenal's three lines retreated back to their own penalty area like a receding tide...
When Luke Shaw saw that most of his teammates had returned, he immediately rushed to the "old but strong" Eto'o.
This future fat full-back of England was very sensible. He just stepped forward to interfere with Eto'o and was not in a hurry to steal the ball.
This kind of defense is exactly what gives Eto'o the most headaches. At the end of his career, Eto'o's double speed has declined, and he is no longer able to defend as he did before.
Not long after, Gustavo chased back and Eto'o had no choice but to pass the ball back.
Matic got the ball and immediately passed it horizontally, and Ramirez reorganized the attack.
Chelsea's quick counterattack eventually turned into a slow counterattack (positional warfare), and the players began to pass the ball back and forth in front of the Arsenal penalty area, looking for opportunities.
However, Arsenal is no longer a weak team. They retreated to three lines and did not give Chelsea any chance.
Lampard, who was exchanging pieces with Xia Qi, saw that his brothers could not find a breakthrough for a long time. In his anxiety, he forgot Mourinho's instructions, abandoned Xia Qi and pressed forward to join the attack.
On the sidelines, Mourinho frowned: a quick counterattack turned into a positional battle, which was what he least wanted to see. However, he never expected that his beloved player would make things worse and give him a heavy blow in such an unfavorable situation.
He wanted to stop it immediately but was worried that it would disrupt his own rhythm. After all, Chelsea was the attacking side now.
Wenger on the other side suddenly became alert and no longer worried about whether to zip up or unzip his shirt. He and assistant coach Pat Rice leaned forward at the same time, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.
On the court, Xia Qi made a quick decision: just click on the button to hang up!
Anyone who has played games knows that the combination of man and machine is the real way to go.
At this time, Arsenal had already returned to defense. Lampard's participation in the attack not only pressed the button for his own attack, but also seemed to have pressed the button for Arsenal's counterattack.
The moment he participated in the attack, Arsenal immediately pressed Chelsea, including the one who pressed the button - Lampard.
During the pressing process, Arsenal players did not stick to their original positions. They quickly inserted, rushed forward or filled in positions.
It looks like a chaotic battle, but if you look closely you will find that they always maintain their three formations in order.
This kind of switching to man-to-man defense at any time caused Chelsea a lot of trouble. Chelsea players had to remain highly nervous to avoid having their passes disrupted by sudden steals.
The offense and defense of both sides in front of Arsenal's penalty area reached the first climax after the opening.
Chelsea's central defender was also anxious, and Terry, the captain, couldn't help it either. He inserted himself from the back and dribbled the ball horizontally.
Seeing Torres roaming in the left side of the penalty area, it felt like a good opportunity. Just as he was about to pass the ball, he saw Xia Qi's icy face right in front of him.
Terry was not only startled, but also suddenly panicked. He wanted to dunk the ball, pull the ball, and get away, but where was the ball?
Chelsea lineup:
Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Defenders: Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Azpilicueta
Midfielders: Lampard, Mikel, Ramires, Matic
Forwards: Torres, Eto'o