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Chapter 526 Prelude

Chapter 526 Prelude

For Newcastle fans, the home game against Arsenal in the league is a day they have been looking forward to for a long time. If they can beat Arsenal in this game, then Newcastle will win the league championship one round ahead of schedule. This will be Pei Wei's third league championship in the 11 years since he took over Newcastle.

This is already a remarkable achievement. In Wenger’s first ten years at Arsenal, he only won three league titles. Although Manchester United’s Ferguson won the league title more frequently, you must know that when the Premier League was just established, there were not many competitors for Manchester United. In the beginning, Blackburn, later Newcastle, and later Arsenal, Manchester United actually had only one opponent in the league. In the current Premier League, there are four or five teams capable of winning the league title, which can be called the most competitive in the world. In the past ten seasons, Newcastle twice, Chelsea three times, Manchester United three times, Arsenal twice, and apart from Manchester United, no team has ever been able to defend the league title. This shows how high the overall level of the Premier League is now.

What's more, the possibility of Newcastle winning the quadruple this year is very high!If Newcastle can create this miracle, they will be the most brilliant team in the history of England's top league for more than 100 years!You must know that Manchester United failed to win the League Cup in the season when they won the Triple Crown!This season will be an absolute pinnacle in the history of the Newcastle club!

Although only one of the four championships has been won, as long as they can win three games, they can win the remaining three championships-it's that simple.

So after the victory over Stoke City, all Newcastle fans began to look forward to this game. The first of the three titles, and the most recent one, is the league title.Newcastle, which is now one point ahead of Arsenal, only needs to beat Arsenal at home to win the league title one round ahead of schedule. Even if the game is tied, they can still win the league title as long as they beat Portsmouth, which is unlikely to enter the European arena and is not in danger of relegation, in the final round.

So for Arsenal, they can only have a chance to win the league championship if they win Newcastle, because their opponent in the last round is Everton, and Everton will be distracted from the FA Cup final a week later. Arsenal's odds of winning are still quite high.

Perhaps it is for this reason that Newcastle fans are full of confidence in the victory of this game-even though it is Newcastle's home court, in order to win the league championship, Arsenal must attack to seize the chance of victory. Newcastle's tactical characteristics are absolutely not afraid of the opponent's attack.

It’s just that fans can think this way, players can think this way, but members of the coaching staff can’t think this way. What they are facing is not the data in the football manager game that they don’t know how to adapt, but the fresh people. People will do unexpected things. Who stipulates that if you want to win, you must launch a fierce attack in the away game?It is still a team with a solid defense and counterattack. Wenger would not be so stupid.

"Instead, I think Wenger will first consider defense." The day before the game, Mourinho said to Pei Wei: "He is not a coach who only knows how to attack, and he knows me very well, knowing that I will not be willing to win the league title in the last round... So for him, there are no difficulties outside the game. I will not fight for just one point in this game, and neither will he."

"I agree with your judgment." Pei Wei nodded: "We won't have much advantage off the court in this game, because we hope to win the league championship one round earlier, so that the main players have more time to rest and adjust...For Arsenal, the biggest trouble is probably how to defend Long Bisheng."

"They have David White, the tallest central defender in the Premier League." Mourinho reminded Pei Wei.

"What does that matter? Don't forget that White lost badly in front of Long Bisheng four years ago." Pei Wei didn't care too much.

Mourinho smiled and did not continue to say anything. Pei Wei is not the head coach. He still has a superficial view of players, but Mourinho can't just rely on his performance four years ago and think that Long Bisheng will definitely be able to beat White. The difference between professional players is not too big, and different states may have completely different results.

White, who once lost miserably in front of Long Bisheng, may be something that Newcastle can use, but Mourinho knows that Wenger, who he can see, must also be able to see it. If he still lets White defend Long Bisheng, then Long Bisheng will not beat White so easily.

If I put too much emphasis on this point and let Newcastle's attack focus on Long Bisheng, it may be in Wenger's arms. Facing such an opponent who is familiar with each other, often using some small tricks will not be able to achieve any effect, but will also affect my own performance.

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Before the big battle, both sides seemed very calm. Mourinho did not provoke each other before the game started. For an experienced coach like Wenger, rashly provoking would make him appear upset. Anyway, Newcastle's advantages do exist, and there is no need to fall behind.

Mourinho did not provoke a war of words, and Wenger was naturally happy and calm. After leading the team to Newcastle, the Arsenal team entered a reclusive state. The training was completely kept secret. No one could take a shot of their training. The same is true for Newcastle. The calmer it is, the more it means that there will be a big battle.

On the training ground these days, the Newcastle players looked the same on the surface, but they also knew the meaning of this league, especially Gerrard, although he performed as usual in the training these days, but his teammates who are familiar with him can see that Gerrard has spoken a lot less these days.

But it’s no wonder that he just made his debut in the Premier League and became an England international at the age of 20. He has been one of the best midfielders in the Premier League for more than a decade, but he has never had a Premier League champion in his honor.

This is the closest the 34-year-old Gerrard is to the Premier League title, and I am afraid it will be his best chance to win the league title as a main player in his career.

For more than two seasons, Gerrard has been a little depressed, especially after leaving Liverpool to pursue the championship. Many Liverpool fans have not forgiven him until now, and the first two seasons happened to catch up with Newcastle. The rare championship-free period in the past ten years is absolutely unbearable for Gerrard.

So in this season, Gerrard played the best performance after he came to Newcastle, but when the league title has not yet been won, even Gerrard, who is as determined as Gerrard, also has a feeling of uneasiness.

In fact, after coming to Newcastle, Gerrard's status in the team has always been awkward. On the one hand, he is a superstar whose reputation and status are not inferior to Messi and others. Even Newcastle captain Taylor is just his younger brother in the national team. It is also difficult for people to approach him.

Mourinho is aware of this situation, and he can only wait quietly for it. For a veteran like Gerrard, it is meaningless to talk too much. It is difficult to describe his mental state as good or bad.

Well, it’s because a veteran like this has excellent self-psychological adjustment ability. As long as he can adjust, his desire for honor can make him a fierce tiger on the court, and he can perform at his best or even perform supernormally. He can’t say it because Mourinho is not Gerrard.

The day of the game finally arrived. After the last training session at the training base, all Newcastle players boarded the bus and drove to the venue.

When the bus was tens of meters away from the gate of the training base, the big iron gate had already been opened with a "bang". The old doorman Murray's movements were always so punctual, whether it was opening the gate for the players coming to the training base or for the team bus preparing to leave the training base.

Long Bisheng, who was sitting in the last row, watched Murray standing by the gate and waving to the bus. He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Murray when he came to the training base on the first day.

He suddenly opened the window and waved to Murray: "Uncle Murray! Wait to hear the news of our championship on the radio!"

The shouts echoed at the entrance of the training base. Old Murray was stunned for a moment, and then laughed even harder: "I believe you can do it, lads!"

Other players stuck their heads out of the windows and waved to Murray. Mourinho looked at the players and laughed.

Pei Wei was paying attention to Gerrard. Just now Gerrard did the same thing as other players. When he sat back on his seat, the expression on his face became more determined.

"In a few hours, Newcastle's third league title will definitely come!" Pei Wei thought confidently in his heart.

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St James' Park.

There was still an hour and a half before the start of the game, but there were already crowds of Newcastle fans outside the stadium. Some of them didn't get tickets. Many people put up the "I need tickets" sign, and some people planned to watch the team enter the stadium before the game started, and then entered the stadium by themselves.

When the Newcastle bus appeared in their sight, the Newcastle fans in that area immediately boiled over, and everyone began to rush forward, regardless of the police's obstruction, shouting the slogan that Newcastle must win, and at the same time shouting the names of their favorite players.

The players in the bus didn't open the windows, but waved to the fans through the windows. The fans didn't care about this, they just wanted to express their excitement.

For the last 100-odd meters, the bus drove for about ten minutes before entering the stadium. After they entered the stadium, there was a wave of fans entering the stadium. Half an hour later, St. James' Park was full of seats, and the huge singing began to reverberate over the stadium.

After the warm-up, the players changed their clothes in the locker room, while Mourinho was doing the final mobilization.

"A season has come to an end, and our previous goals have come before us. It's the season of harvest." Mourinho's opening remarks were very simple: "But the season of harvest does not mean that we will definitely be able to reap the rewards. Our performance so far has been considered perfect, but what we can be sure of is still only one League Cup champion. In the next 20 days, we will have the opportunity to win three championships in a row. Standing in front of us, we don't have much advantage over them."

"Maybe in the league, we still have a little advantage, that is, our points are one point more than Arsenal. As long as we draw with them and win the last opponent, we are still the champion... I don't know how many of you think so, but I don't!" Mourinho raised his voice: "How many points did we lead Arsenal before half a season? Four points! A full four points! It took us half a season to get rid of them by four points. The game is not a must to win... But what? We have been caught up by Arsenal by three points in half a season. Of course, there are reasons why we are still distracted by the League Cup and the FA Cup, but Arsenal also have the task of the Champions League! Can we still underestimate them? Can we still think that our one-point advantage is an advantage?"

The players kept silent. Indeed, after the start of the second half of the season, although Newcastle attacked on four lines at the same time, when encountering a cup game that must be won, they often temporarily shifted their focus to the cup game and lost some points that should not be lost in the league. .

"Of course, there are various reasons for our ups and downs in the league in the second half of the season. If we are only satisfied with winning the league championship, our advantage this season is unshakable, but we have higher goals and pursuits! For this reason, we have sacrificed some interests in the league, but looking at our current achievements, these sacrifices are acceptable. This risk is also acceptable. We have faced more difficulties than other opponents, but Newcastle will not be afraid of these difficulties! We will defeat all difficulties, get all the honors of this season, and achieve an unprecedented feat ! As a player, this kind of season is not often encountered, nor is it often possible to win so many championships in one go, can you accept missing such a brilliant season?"

"No!" The players roared in unison. After a season of hard work, there are only a few games left. If they lose these games, they will lose all the previous wins. Who can accept such a result?

"Very good, I'm glad to see your courage, but facing an opponent like Arsenal, courage alone is not enough." Mourinho began to pour cold water on the players who were already hot. He was not worried about the fighting spirit of the players. No one would lose their fighting spirit in the face of the chance to win the championship. What he needed was the calmness of the players, not the hotheaded.

"Today's game, we still played according to our previous game style, pressing in the midfield to plan their offensive rhythm, especially their midfielder Cesc Fabregas, so on offense, Gerrard has to contain Fabregas's offense. When defending, Essien will closely mark Fabregas, so that he has fewer chances to get the ball. If he has fewer opportunities to play the ball, our defensive pressure will become less. Great, the defense is relatively good, so we have to break their defense and let their offense be confined to the middle, which is better than the middle of the midfielder, we are no worse than anyone else!"

Mainly on the side, supplemented by offense, use the attack from the side to force the opponent to concentrate the attack in the middle, and then let the two super-class midfielders, Essien and Gerrard, gradually suppress the opponent on both ends of the offense and defense, and steadily expand the advantage. This is indeed a very safe method.

Mourinho didn't mention the one-point advantage over Arsenal, but he took it into account. Newcastle certainly needs to win the championship one round earlier to buy time to adjust the main force's state, but they should not be more anxious than Arsenal, who can only win the championship. Now it depends on who can hold their breath.

"Stephen, you have a heavy task today. Don't go to the wing. Messi and Maicon are in charge of attacking on the right. Your main battlefield is in the center. Arsenal's four midfielders are all good at attacking in the center. Whether you and Michael can stabilize is the key to the victory of this game."

Seeing Gerrard's resolute eyes, Mourinho nodded with satisfaction. Compared with the defense and forward line, Arsenal's midfielder is the best. The performance of Newcastle midfielder Gerrard and Essien directly affects the team's performance.

After arranging everything, Mourinho breathed a sigh of relief, and his thoughts wandered, thinking: What is Wenger doing at this time?

(End of this chapter)