Super Marshal

This is Szczesny’s ​​fifth year in London.

He still clearly remembers that in the winter when he was fifteen years old, it was snowing, and he was still playing for the youth team of Legia Warsaw, Poland. Arsenal scouts found him and played in the winter break of 2006. Period brought him to London.

At that time, the main goalkeeper of the Legia Warsaw first team was his current Arsenal teammate and competitor, Fabianski. At that time, the team had a well-known talented forward, Robert Lewandowski. base.

He left his home country at the age of fifteen and ventured into England alone. He first received training at Arsenal's youth academy. At the age of nineteen, he was loaned to Brentford in England's third-tier league and played for one season. After becoming the main force, his strength was also recognized by Arsenal, so he was retained in the team this summer and promoted to the first team.

Arsenal's current two goalkeepers are Almunia and Fabianski. The former's performance at Arsenal has been unstable in recent years, and the latter has also been the same. Therefore, Arsenal has high hopes for Szczesny. With high expectations, Wenger even publicly stated in an interview with the media, "I really believe that he will become Arsenal's number one goalkeeper one day."

This undoubtedly gave Szczesny strong self-confidence and high morale.

In addition to the coaching staff, luck is obviously on Szczesny's side.

With the start of the season, Spanish veterans Almunia and Fabianski were injured successively. This God-given opportunity allowed the third goalkeeper Szczesny to become the only Arsenal team player after December. The goalkeeper is the backbone of the team.

And Szczesny did not disappoint the coaching staff and teammates. In the games after January, he successively showed his strength, but he still guarded Arsenal's goal. For the Gunners who have been tortured by goalkeepers, It's already quite good.

But Szczesny is not satisfied. He feels that he can do better. He hopes to seize this God-given opportunity, counterattack and become Arsenal's main goalkeeper, so he is eager to perform in the League Cup final. .

Because this time the opponent is Manchester City.

Manchester City's head coach is Gao Han, who once took his good friend Lewandowski out of Poland and trained him into a well-known forward in Europe, a person that Szczesny greatly envied and respected.

After the start of this game, Szczesny was very active. He did not limit his activities to the small penalty area, but frequently and decisively attacked. His excitement also stimulated his body and brain nerves. , he even felt that every reaction he made was faster than usual.

Szczesny's performance also earned him frequent praise and recognition from Arsenal fans, which undoubtedly made him more confident.

When the game reached the 26th minute, Arsenal launched a counterattack and broke into Manchester City's penalty area, but the ball was intercepted successfully. Javi Martinez transferred the ball to the frontcourt.

Both teammates Djourou and Koscielny lagged behind and seized a favorable position in time, but Manchester City forward Sturridge refused to give up at all and chased the ball desperately. This made Djourou bear the brunt. Somewhat nervous.

Just when everyone thought that Zhu Lu had seized the most advantageous position and would definitely be able to head the ball directly back to the midfield, they did not expect that he did not touch the ball after leaping high.

At that moment, everyone exclaimed, and even Zhu Lu himself stared wide-eyed, unable to believe that he had missed the mark.

Szczesny behind him and Koscielny next to him were both shocked. They unanimously chose to rush towards the ball immediately, hoping to make up for the mistakes of their teammates at the critical moment.

"I come!"

"I come!"

The two shouted in unison, but they both didn't care about anything else and chased the ball.

They all saw Sturridge. The England striker was too fast. If he caught the ball, they would all be doomed.

The two caught up with the ball almost at the same time. Koscielny swung his foot and wanted to clear the ball directly. Szczesny was shocked and stopped his attack quickly for fear of being kicked by Koscielny. Koscielny was also surprised by the movement towards the ball. He subconsciously stopped his foot for fear of injuring the goalkeeper.

Due to a strange combination of circumstances, both of them failed to clear the ball in time, causing the ball to bounce quickly after it hit the ground. At this time, Sturridge, who was chasing from behind, caught up one step faster than them. He caught the ball, rose up against the rebound, and gently pushed the ball that was about to hit the ground.

The ball was so fast, along a straight line, and hit the unguarded Arsenal goal.

Szczesny and Koscielny sat on their knees, looking at each other in disbelief, and slumped there exhausted.

Neither of them could believe that they had made such a mistake, and both of them were deeply immersed in regret.

Behind them, Sturridge, who had been chasing relentlessly, turned around and rushed out of the stadium, celebrating the sudden goal crazily. He raised his right hand high and shouted excitedly to the fans in the stands and all the Manchester City players. They all rushed forward and surrounded him.

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"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!"

"Oh my God, Arsenal's defense made a very bizarre but fatal mistake in the 26th minute."

"Djourou's miss surprised both of his teammates, and there was a conflict in making judgments. As a result, both sides failed to clear the ball immediately, which resulted in Sturridge picking up a big advantage. "

"It was a really bad mistake and both Szczesny and Koscielny looked extremely frustrated."

"They do have reason to be frustrated because this goal will completely change the situation on the field."

"It is difficult for us to determine who is more responsible for this mistake, but it is undeniable that Arsenal's defense seriously failed in this game. Goalkeeper Szczesny shortly after the start There was one tackle on Sturridge, which was undoubtedly a penalty, but it was escaped because of a misjudgment by the linesman."

“But this time, there was definitely a conflict in the cooperation between him and his teammates. Neither of them adjusted their tacit understanding in time and rushed to the ball at the same time. As a result, neither of them could make a clearance in time. This is a very bad phenomenon. "

"As we said in the comments just now, Arsenal's problem is that there are many young players in the team. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has only just been appointed recently. Koscielny, Djurou and Squillac have not been able to develop a tacit understanding. , so Arsenal’s defensive worries have never been effectively resolved.”

"Now, this mistake has re-exposed the problem. It depends on how coach Wenger wants to solve it."

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Wenger seemed to have known for a long time that the live TV camera would be on him on the sidelines, so his face looked as normal, with the same expression of bitterness and hatred, as if he was saying, what can I do?

Djurou missed the top, disrupting the plans of all the defensive players. It can be seen that he was indeed very nervous at the time. He was chased by Sturridge all the way. He wanted to clear the ball as soon as possible, but the more he was like this, he just couldn't. Misjudgments are more likely to occur.

Djuru's mistake brought out the cooperation error between Szczesny and Koscielny, which in turn allowed the perseverant Sturridge to get a big advantage. I ask, what else can Wenger say?

Looking at the expressions of the three players in the stadium, they were either confused or regretful. Wenger really couldn't say anything at this time, so he had better choose to remain silent.

"Our defense has reached the point where we must make changes." Assistant coach Pat Rice shook his head and sighed.

How could Wenger himself not know?

Arsenal's defense has never been better in the past few years. They have been able to keep moving forward with bumps and bumps in the league. However, in the cup, this problem has become particularly obvious, and Arsenal has not won a championship in six years. The biggest deadlock.

But is that because Wenger is unwilling to sign?

No, it's because he has no money.

In the past few years, outstanding central defenders have basically been worth hundreds of times. For example, Manchester United brought in Pepe, Real Madrid brought in Bruno Alves, and the price is easily 30 to 40 million. Not long ago, Chelsea wanted to bring in David Luiz from Portugal, but the result Benfica was still unwilling to sell for 30 million euros, and Scolari was not going to stay for a long time, so Abramovich quickly called a halt to the transaction.

Good central defenders are in extremely short supply, and if one finally appears, it could be a sky-high price at any time. For Arsenal, there is no choice at all. At the very least, the Gunners cannot afford that kind of financial resources to compete.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Manchester United, Chelsea, Juventus... Who is not short of central defenders?

"Now is not the time to discuss this topic." Wenger said with a sigh.

"This mistake is unacceptable, but look at them. If we put pressure on them again at this time, they will probably collapse, so we should try to help them. After all, for defenders, mistakes are inevitable. .”

When Wenger said this, he felt very uncomfortable in his heart.

This conceded goal basically means that he is a little further away from the championship. It can even be said that he has no hope again.

"In addition to defense, we also have a very serious problem in this game. On the offensive end, Rosicky was too sluggish on the left, just like a missing invisible man. This is obviously unsatisfactory."

Pat Rice nodded after hearing this, "Mascherano's defense on this side is indeed very sharp, but Rosicky is indeed too sluggish. Do you want to replace him?"

Wenger also has a headache about this. If he replaces Rosicky, who can he replace?

Cesc Fabregas is not here, and Wilshere alone cannot afford to challenge the midfielder, so he needs Rosicky, but it is obvious that the Czech veteran did not perform at a satisfactory level, which forced Nasri to have to Do not retrace frequently.

The French midfielder is still the most eye-catching player in the Arsenal team in this game. His personal ability is superior, which will undoubtedly give him an advantage in the subsequent contract renewal negotiations and further put Wenger into a dilemma.

And Fabregas, Barcelona and Real Madrid are chasing him again. Can they keep him this summer?

Van Persie is also a big hidden danger. He has been disappointed with the team since he has not won a championship for many years. After his comeback, he showed an explosive performance. This certainly made Wenger happy, but it also made him worried.

Is the Dutch center still willing to stay at Arsenal?

Thousands of thoughts came to his head, making Wenger's whole head turn into a mess and he was dizzy.

Sometimes he even thinks that he might as well just quit. With his current status, why should he be so angry?

But when he thought about it again, he felt unwilling to do so.

Just like Ferguson, he must win another championship before retiring.

So why isn't he?