Midfielder

Unlucky luck, maybe this is the right way to describe Wenger's current situation. Originally, he was already troubled enough by Kenyon's step-by-step pressure, but someone still wanted to cause trouble for the old French man.

The transfer storm on Ashley Cole's side has not been suppressed yet, and the news that Vieira is leaving has been leaked by the Italian media. The Arsenal captain is now ready to leave.

And this time, after seeing someone breaking the news, Juventus also publicly stated that this is true.

They are trying to contact Arsenal and strive to resolve this transfer in the near future.

In fact, before the end of the season, the English media broke the news that Juventus in Italy has officially asked Arsenal to buy Vieira and has already made an accurate offer.

Although no one can give the most accurate transfer offer, the Italian's purchase of Vieira has been completely publicized, just like Kenyon has been chasing Ashley Cole.

It's just that the Premier League games were still going on at that time, and everyone was concerned about the championship battle. Not many people paid attention to those transfer rumors. Many Arsenal fans even thought it was fake news.

However, when the Italian made a public statement this time, the diehard Arsenal fans realized the crisis.

For the midfield core he personally cultivated, Wenger's attitude towards Vieira was basically the same as his feeling towards Henry, but this time the French midfielder was very determined to leave.

It can be said that after the transfer market opened, Vieira had communicated with the club enough. His intention to transfer to Juventus was very clear. He just hoped that the team would not set up obstacles.

In fact, the reason why Vieira wanted to leave was very simple. Wenger only agreed to a one-year contract renewal for those players who were over 30 years old, and never changed it, even Vieira's confidant was no exception.

The reason why Pires could stay for another year was nothing more than the hope to continue to fight with Arsenal for another year.

At least he wants to fight for the Champions League trophy with his old partner Henry, so Pires and Ljungberg will choose to stay, otherwise, they would have long been disgusted with the one-year contract.

For a professional player who has been struggling in the football circle for so many years, when he is gradually going downhill, if there is no reassuring contract, it is estimated that no one will agree.

Vieira is not the kind of ungrateful person, but he does not want to be so careless about his future.

When facing the contract renewal proposed by Arsenal, Vieira did not choose to consider any old feelings.

Handle official business, leave all problems to your agent, at least strive for the greatest benefits.

In fact, no one should criticize such a choice, just like Mendes said, if you want players to be loyal, it is no longer an era of relying on emotions, you must rely on money.

Mendes said that as an agent, you must abandon some distractions and consider your employer carefully.

Just like the contract issue with Lin Yi, if someone can offer better conditions, Mendes will definitely consider it, but the premise is that Lin Yi wants to leave, otherwise there is no need to discuss.

For example, the conditions offered by Real Madrid after the transfer was opened were very generous, but Lin Yi himself did not plan to leave Chelsea, and even if Mendes wanted to earn commissions, it was not this way.

This time Vieira was like this, he wanted to leave, so his agent had to execute the operation.

The mentor-apprentice relationship between Vieira and Wenger will not change, but for his future, the renewal conditions offered by Arsenal can no longer meet Vieira's current needs.

Weekly salary, bonus, contract length, these things have not changed after a failed season, which makes Vieira, the core of the team's midfield, simply unbearable.

Vieira may not want a new contract with a high salary, but at least he requires that the contract must be long enough, preferably until he retires from Arsenal.

After all, Vieira has won a lot of honors in the past few years at Arsenal, but under the strong impact of Chelsea, it is almost impossible for Arsenal to turn around in the short term.

Although Wenger said in front of the media that he wanted to regain the championship, Vieira thought that was just talk. It is unrealistic for Arsenal to overthrow Chelsea with real swords and guns, at least now.

Vieira did not ask the club to strengthen the lineup like Henry did, but now it seems that his proposal to spend the rest of his life at Arsenal is just his wishful thinking. The other party did not respond at all. Arsenal Club now adheres to its own salary structure and is unwilling to pay more.

Arsenal's response is indeed straightforward. There will be no more adjustments for a maximum of three years, including Henry's new contract will not exceed this period, but the salary can be increased to a certain extent. However, such a decision met Vieira, who has a very hot temper. You can fully imagine what the scene was like at that time.

Vieira rejected the proposal made by Arsenal without any hesitation, and even threatened that if the situation could not be changed, he would leave the team and seek a transfer.

Wenger had been a little overwhelmed in the middle and late stages of the season, and he did not participate too much in Vieira's contract renewal, but by the time he knew about it, Juventus had already made an offer.

And Vieira did not choose to continue negotiating with Arsenal. He was determined to leave now. The price offered by Juventus also made Arsenal unable to resist.

Although the price of 15 million euros is not a big deal in the current transfer market, it is the last price that Juventus can offer under Vieira's tough attitude.

If he does not choose to trade, Vieira has already said that he would rather stay in Arsenal for another year.

Then choose a free transfer next summer. This tough Frenchman can definitely do what he says.

Wenger's retention did not become the key to reverse the reality in the end. Two weeks before the start of the Community Shield, Arsenal lost their old captain, and Vieira successfully joined Juventus.

Wenger knew what this loss meant to the team by letting go of an absolute midfield core.

Fabregas is really outstanding, and Wenger really intends to let him succeed Vieira.

But now, even Wenger himself doesn't know whether it is a blessing or a curse to push him to the front line so hastily.

However, Vieira has left, and it is useless to miss him. Now Arsenal must set a new benchmark. One day after the old captain left, Wenger brought the captain's armband to Henry.

Perhaps Wenger can only trust the closest people under his command at this time, and Henry is cultivated by him. Perhaps before the veterans leave one after another, he is the only one who can be trusted.

Wenger may want to use this approach to tie up the heart of his main shooter. After all, after a very failed season, Henry has begun to crave the final battlefield of the Champions League more and more.

When seeing Chelsea lift the last Champions League, Henry may also want to taste the top of Europe.

If there is no hope before the end of his contract, maybe Henry will choose to transfer.

Wenger is very clear about this, so he is indeed a little worried about the current situation of the team. He is not sure whether a group of young soldiers can hold up the sign of the Arsenal under the leadership of the veterans.

But now they can only treat the dead horse as a living one. After all, Arsenal is not Chelsea, and Wenger is not the unscrupulous Kenyon in the transfer market. They can only tap their own potential.

After letting Vieira go reluctantly, Wenger seemed to have suddenly come to his senses. After severely extorting Kenyon, he also fulfilled Ashley Cole's wish to leave the team.

Although Kenyon was slaughtered by Wenger for 20 million euros and had to give up the ownership of Gallas, he thought it was worth it for the team to buy such an offensive and defensive player in the wing defense. After all, Ashley Cole's popularity in England has been rising sharply.

However, Mourinho expressed his dissatisfaction with the completion of this deal for the first time. He did not deny the role of Ashley Cole, but he never thought of giving up Gallas.

After all, the Frenchman who can play a versatile role in the back line has always performed well in Chelsea's defense. He also contributed to the strong defensive lineup last season.

But Wenger's condition was to give Arsenal's defense more protection, so he had said before the deal that either Gallas should be included in the deal, or the deal would be terminated.

After weighing the pros and cons, Kenyon gave up on Gallas. After all, the Frenchman was just a jack of all trades in the back line, not an absolute main force, while Ashley Cole was different.

Chelsea has always lacked top-level full-backs who can attack and defend well. Last season, neither Gallas, Bridge, nor even Ferreira were qualified full-backs, and Kenyon has been looking for the right person.

Paying one more Gallas and spending 10 million euros less, such a deal is not a loss in Kenyon's view, not to mention that Gallas is almost 30 years old, and Cole has just entered his golden age.

If he is lucky, Ashley Cole may have seven to eight years of good form to maintain.

So, even if Mourinho is a little dissatisfied with the deal, Kenyon still insists.

However, the price Kenyon has to pay is that he must find another all-rounder for Mourinho on the back line, from the potential Dawson to Gary Cahill who has just emerged in Sheffield United.

Although it is not known who he can get in the end, Kenyon owes Mourinho a defender anyway.

Although Arsenal got Gallas who can defend against the opponent's attack as a central defender, Wenger also knows that he can't expect to deal with those competitors with just one person. After all, the strength of this French defender has not reached that level of excellence, and Arsenal's defense is still a bit dangerous.

Wenger may have known that this approach will pay a price by letting go of two defensive stalwarts in a row.

When Arsenal and Chelsea gathered at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wenger rarely put on a defensive counterattack posture, because even he himself was very clear about the gap in strength between the two sides.

This is not that Arsenal is showing weakness, but when seeing Chelsea's luxurious midfield configuration that makes people drool, I am afraid that any team should know that it is too difficult to attack.

Not to mention how tight Chelsea's defense is, their potential strength in offense alone is terrifying enough, including Gerrard, Lampard, Lin Yi, plus Robben, Duff and Drogba.

Who dares to say that Chelsea can only win the championship by relying on defense? With this lineup and this impact, even Wenger himself said before the game that Chelsea's offensive ability is enough to overturn anyone.

Similarly, this anyone also includes Arsenal. Although the midfield configuration of Ljungberg, Pires, Fabregas and Flamini is also a good personnel match, it always feels a little bit worse.

Moreover, Wenger had a premonition before the game that Chelsea would probably oppress him strongly. The facts also proved that the prophetic feeling of this old French man was indeed very accurate.

Mourinho dared to arrange almost all the main lineups to play this game, just to suppress the opponent throughout the game. He asked everyone to remember this point in every position and must suppress it comprehensively.

As long as you are in the game, you must use fierce interception to deal with the opponent, and the same is true when attacking. Everyone must focus on themselves and face the fierce impact of Arsenal players.

Needless to say, Drogba faced Senderos. Even though the two looked similar in size, in a real collision, the Danish guy obviously couldn't stand up to the African elephant.

Less than four minutes after the start, Drogba squeezed past Senderos with his strong body. Lampard made a low pass on the wing and found Drogba accurately.

In one fell swoop, Drogba's shot in front of the goal not only made Lehmann helpless, but also made Wenger sigh deeply on the sidelines. There was no way, there was really no way, Senderos had really tried his best.

But in the face of Chelsea's three-dimensional all-round attack, Arsenal's defensive lineup always seemed a little stretched, especially in a one-on-one duel, they had no advantage at all.

Gerrard and Lampard's repeated attacks in the middle always threatened Arsenal's defense. Wenger might not have expected that Mourinho would concentrate the firepower of Lampard and Gerrard in the middle.

You know, when they were in the national team, it was a secret known to everyone that these two guys were incompatible with each other.

Even when Eriksson used them, he had to make a choice. Almost one of them played as a front midfielder, and the other had to be pulled to the side to wander. It was impossible for them to appear in the middle at the same time.

But Mourinho had the courage to let two people appear behind Drogba at the same time, and he gave Gerrard and Lampard free space to move around. They could choose to cruise in the middle and the side.

As long as there is a chance, anyone can play. Mourinho did not stipulate that only Lampard could be a shadow striker behind Drogba. Gerrard also has such offensive ability and he can also be competent for this position. The problem that Eriksson couldn't solve was not a problem for Mourinho.

It's very simple. Eriksson's national team midfielder does not have a commander who can mobilize everyone.

Chelsea's midfielder has Lin Yi. That kid can use his passes to maximize the offensive ability of Gerrard and Lampard, and at the same time let both of them have room to play their own strengths.

This is also the reason why Mourinho dared to let both De and Djokovic appear in the middle. Almost after the first training session after Chelsea's training camp, Mourinho had made such a tactical adjustment.

Originally, he wanted to refer to the way the English national team used these two people and let them separate, but Lin Yi's several passes in the training match gave Mourinho a new idea.

Just like now, the two Des are at the top of the middle at the same time. They can not only cause trouble to the opponent in the offense, but also help Lin Yi to stabilize the midfield defense when retreating.

This not only greatly increases the team's offensive ability, but also reduces Makelele's defensive pressure.

Maybe now Wenger has realized what he has overlooked in this game. Lin Yi did not use clever breakthroughs to attract others' attention in almost the first 20 minutes of the game.

Lin Yi is almost hidden behind the offense of De and Robben. He rarely sprints with the ball like last season. Most of the time, he just cruises around the arc of the center circle, waiting for the opportunity to pass.

Even Wenger almost forgot that there was such a dangerous little guy in Chelsea's midfield. Perhaps the offensive fire of Shuangde and others was too dazzling, and people had already ignored Lin Yi's existence.

Shuangde's fierce forward penetration brought great pressure to Arsenal's defense, especially since these two perverted guys had a long-range shot of 30 meters. If their defense line retreated too deep, they might make a fuss about long-range shots. Wenger certainly knew this trouble.

However, Wenger had not had time to remind his players to pay attention to the opponent's long-range artillery. In his first dribbling breakthrough, Lin Yi blocked Flamini's defense with his body, and knocked back a very concealed kick to Gerrard who was behind him. The guy kicked a long shot.

Lehmann rarely felt so depressed, but today he had encountered such embarrassing situations twice in the first 20 minutes. Gerrard's long shot once again passed his fingertips and went into the net.

2-0! Amid the deafening roar of Chelsea fans, Wenger had already frowned. What he felt now was not the pressure brought by falling behind in the score, but the strength of the opponent which also made him feel depressed. Just last season, they were able to fight with each other to a standstill.

But today, a season later, Chelsea has completely controlled the rhythm of the entire game.

Just like the little guy who has been ambushing in the midfield, Chelsea even has the strength to hold back against Arsenal. What a terrible group of lunatics, they are so powerful that people despair.

Wenger's frown at this moment represents the expressions of all the teams that are about to meet Chelsea. . .