From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 311: Chapter 97: Judging the Situation Upgraded to Level 4! The Disaster Arrives! The Lament of Didier Deschamps!

43-year-old Didier Deschamps stood by the sideline, his eyes deep with emotion... Oh no, that’s the sign of an impending collapse.

The downward trend swept uncontrollably across the whole Vélodrome, as if every Marseille player was trapped in a quagmire, stunned by Arsenal’s lightning-fast opening offensive.

This situation is not uncommon on the football field, no matter how strong the team... it can fall apart instantly due to a small change.

What usually follows is a huge defeat, a disaster!

No way!

In an instant, Deschamps snapped back to reality, with an anxious look on his face, he must change the on-field decline.

This former football great, now the locker room boss of a coaching career, experienced the loss of family at a young age, which made him mature earlier than others, with a strong desire for control over everything.

He fears everything around him suddenly slipping away, fears losing something important abruptly, he hates anything going beyond control.

”Attack!”

He opted for the extreme, wanting the players to gain confidence through successful organized offense, ”Get a feel, if you lose the ball, reclaim it immediately up front, create some trouble for them too!”

Retreating any further is certainly not an option now, the players would only play even more erratically, and Arsenal would use continuous offensives to completely break them down.

We can only try attacking... hope they can find the rhythm from this.

Deschamps knew it was a bold decision, an adventurous one, though he had more conservative options.

For example, making slight adjustments across various positions, making some unexpected small changes.

But in his judgment, slight adjustments would not work at all in this situation!

Only by using strong alterations to first stabilize the situation, can they gradually identify where the problem is, and then make some precise fine-tuning.

It’s all turned into a mess, everywhere is a problem, how to identify where to adjust?

On the other side, Wenger stood relaxed in place, raising both hands to cheer several times, dissipating the excitement within.

He had nothing much to adjust, since the players were already playing brilliantly, let them play... Just emphasize the defense during halftime.

”Beep!”

The referee quickly blew the whistle for the third time for kick-off, as Marseille players kicked off from the center circle for the second time this match.

”Charge forward!”

”Look to the right!”

”Trap him!”

”It’s coming, block the line!”

Arsenal players shouted as they charged up, with great momentum, seemingly unwilling to give Marseille players any breathing space.

They wanted to resolve the match’s suspense by halftime, if they scored another goal, this game would likely turn into a pure win for them.

”The match has just passed 15 minutes, and those who just turned on the TV screen might be surprised, how Arsenal has already taken a two to zero lead.

”Today they are indeed playing very fiercely... This brand new appearance, which appeared on them at the start of the season, now seems deeply imprinted on every player.

”Will there be more goals in the first half? This question might cause Marseille fans anxiety and Arsenal fans great anticipation.”

...

On the pitch, Marseille players attempted to break out past the midfield, choosing a very simple method of using long passes to lift the ball into Arsenal’s backfield.

This indeed somewhat relieved their pressure... Since Arteta arrived, Arsenal’s midfield interception capability has improved significantly.

Moreover, paired with him today, Rosicky and Alexander Song both have a tough playing style; fighting hard with them in midfield is clearly an unwise decision.

Better to lift the ball up first, whether or not they can obtain it, first press forward, push the frontline up a bit.

”Bang!”

”Bang!”

As the football stayed longer in the air, the rhythm seemed to slow down a lot, and Marseille seemed to have gotten the result they wanted.

But how could Arsenal players not see their intention, if you look closely, you’d find that every time Marseille attacks, Arsenal has very few people retreating, most are still pressing in Marseille’s backfield.

This is taking the risk of conceding a goal but striving to give Marseille a fatal strike as soon as they get the ball!

An all-out offensive!

But in fact, it’s more about pinning down Marseille!

Having scored 2 goals at the start, they have the confidence to do that... the consequences of conceding 1 goal they can withstand, but if they score 1 more goal, Marseille probably wouldn’t be able to hold on.

”Marseille’s wing attack opportunity! Gonzalez carrying the ball on the wing, Remi waiting in the middle!

”A cross! Poor landing, Szczeny grabs the ball directly from the air!

”Throws directly to Andre Santos, and with Vermaelen absent, he’s Arsenal’s first choice to play out and advance from the backfield!

”Andre Santos attempts to pass to Ma’el, but Benoit blocks the route, not wanting him to pass, delivers it to Arteta in the center!”

At the edge of the penalty area, Arteta carries the ball towards the left, his peripheral vision catches Benoit’s movements, hoping to draw him out and deliver it to Ma’el.

”Thump thump thump!” But just then, Ma’el suddenly chooses to move towards the byline, wanting to cut behind the opponent.

”Bang.” Arteta, without much hesitation, places his instep on the center of the ball, delivering a direct through ball.

Azpilicueta turns around and follows, always cautious of this point, highly focused.

He also believes, with his agility and burst, he can clear this ball out of the touchline or goal line before Ma’el gets to it.