Chapter 138: The First Match of the New Season — Let the Bullets Fly a While
It turned out not every player is in it just for the money.
Especially in a World Cup year, Gustavo rejected Wolfsburg's high-paying offer and flew to London on the day of the Community Shield.
This signing → just right!
Gustavo—
his skillset leans toward the defensive holding midfield role. If the midfield already has a top organizer or metronome, Gustavo can serve as the defensive shield for any big club.
Conversely, if the midfield requires Gustavo to take on significant attacking duties, his ability isn't at the level of a big-club starter and he can only serve as a rotation player.
So for Bayern he was a bit of a luxury, but for Arsenal, he was just right.
Arsenal already had Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta in midfield — both capable of organization and tempo control, able to be Arsenal's attacking engine and rhythm keeper.
But purely defensively, neither of them is outstanding!
If Xia Qi's firepower hadn't been so fierce, Arsenal's defensive depth alone would have struggled to win a double.
As a top coach, Arsène Wenger of course knew his squad's weaknesses; strengthening the holding midfield was urgent. But Arsenal's owner was famously tight with money, and Wenger is not the kind to throw a tantrum until he gets his way.
With limited transfer budget, a discarded Bayern player whose price and ability fit perfectly was exactly what Wenger needed and what Arsenal could afford.
Actually at this time N'Golo Kanté — having joined the Foxes in 2015 and now grinding in Ligue 2 in this alternate timeline — would have been a better and cheaper choice, but Xia Qi is not a time traveler and could not help Wenger.
However, Gustavo has one advantage over Kanté: he's a versatile middle-to-back option, so signing him could cover multiple positions.
In addition, Wenger promoted the German youth prospect Serge Gnabry from the academy.
Gnabry is a year younger than Xia Qi and, like Xia Qi, can play left wing, right wing, and center forward — he's more suited to the right wing.
With those two additions Arsenal's three lines were tidy and had no glaring weaknesses.
That was good news for a side aiming to win more in the coming season.
Bookmakers accordingly shortened Arsenal's odds for the new Premier League title.
The title odds from lowest to highest were: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool.
With the squad sorted, Arsenal began tactical training.
Wenger designed a 3-6-1 formation as the season's starting lineup.
Midfield: Gustavo, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta as the deeper midfield three; Xia Qi, Kevin De Bruyne, Theo Walcott as the advanced midfield trio.
Center forward: Mario Balotelli.
Three center backs: Per Mertesacker, Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen.
As for how it would work out, only time would tell.
Arsenal's first match of the new season was against Aston Villa.
This club from the English Midlands was a lower-mid table side.
On paper and by historical comparison, Arsenal's victory looked certain.
But for weaker sides, losing is expected, and an upset would be their glorious moment.
That hunger to become famous overnight is the biggest headache when Arsenal visit an underdog away.
Wenger didn't want to lose the opening match.
Yet in the three training days before the trip he didn't increase intensity — he actually reduced it.
Wenger feared injuries. Whether Cazorla or Jack Wilshere or anyone else, many carried a "glass man" fragility.
Sometimes Wenger really wanted to do what Chinese folk do on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month — go to a temple, light an incense stick and ward off bad luck.
On August 11, 2013, Arsenal's 18-man squad boarded the team bus and set off for Birmingham ahead of schedule.
…
August 12, 2013
"Penguin Sports!"
"Penguin Sports!"
"Dear viewers, welcome to the kick-off broadcast of the 2013–2014 English Premier League opening round: Aston Villa at home against reigning champions Arsenal."
"I'm your old friend Zhan Jun."
"I'm Zhang Lu."
"…"
…
"Ding dong."
"Please select the host's mode: 'Training' or 'Match'."
"Match."
"Please choose the field position: A Forward, B…"
"A."
"Detected: the host's current team is in difficulty. Matching host attribute: [Aerial Acrobat]."
"The greater the pressure, the stronger the host! At critical moments you step up — there's no one else for the job."
"Please select 'Autonomous Mode' or 'One-Click AFK Mode'."
"Warm reminder: while AFK, the system will automatically execute actions to fulfill performance metrics."
"One-Click AFK!"
"..."
…
"Arsenal's three lines aren't linking well."
"Wenger's midfield rework hasn't succeeded."
"There's no dedicated defensive holding midfielder before; Cazorla's energy was more defensive. Now he's being asked to help organize the attack, and his role and De Bruyne's are not clearly defined…"
No sooner had Zhang Lu finished his sentence than Aston Villa seized on an Arsenal passing error and scored the first goal of the match.
Arsenal were behind away from home.
"Shot!"
"Weimann assists Benteke for the goal — a partnership from Villa's frontline."
"This goal came from an Arsenal midfield error and a quick counter."
"Aston Villa's counter was simple and efficient: two passes, a right-side pass from Weimann in front of the right post to the middle, and Benteke's late run and push finish."
Benteke celebrated with his teammates; this could be the brightest moment of his life, something to boast about to his grandchildren in old age…
Villa Park became a sea of joy; the Aston Villa anthem floated through the air.
On the pitch Arsenal's players looked bewildered.
To concede inside 15 minutes was the last thing they expected.
"There are no weak teams in the Premier League! From the first 15 minutes this shows Villa had every chance to score."
"From kickoff they refused to play like underdogs; they pressed aggressively and launched fierce pressure against Arsenal.
Normally such high pressing would not frighten an Arsenal side that faced Dortmund's 'mad dog' style.
But tonight Arsenal's midfielders felt as if afflicted by a slow-down curse — receiving and releasing the ball like sloths, always half a beat late.
That makes the ball carrier easy to trap.
Take the earlier conceded goal for example.
Cazorla received the ball but didn't play it out immediately; he lifted his head and looked around and in that one delayed second he was double-teamed and the ball was cut out…"
On the touchline Wenger's brow was tight; his greatest fear — that Cazorla and De Bruyne couldn't coexist — was materializing.
But Wenger was not overly worried.
He believed Cazorla + De Bruyne was fundamentally different from Gerrard + Lampard and trusted that after a few matches the pair would adapt to their new roles and soon produce a good partnership.
Actually the player most uncomfortable on the pitch at that moment was Martínez.
Last season Arsenal had used a four-back system; tonight they were playing with three at the back.
When Aston Villa's Weimann ghosted into the right post area, the three-back system's holes widened. When Weimann squared the ball, Benteke, having beaten Mertesacker, found himself shooting in space because no one had come across to help Mertesacker cover.
In short, where a forward previously had to break through two lines to face Martínez, now opening one door was enough.
Martínez watched the ball in the net with a face full of complaint — why must I be the one hurt by the midfield reformation?
Knocked by a blow right at kickoff!
When play resumed, Arsenal looked anxious.
Young players are easily swayed by emotions.
That anxiety, plus Villa's ferocity, meant Arsenal played terribly.
Their attacking organization nearly collapsed, although the defensive work was commendable.
New signing Gustavo's performance in the defensive midfield role made people exclaim: the professor's eye is deadly accurate!
He made at least two timely interceptions cutting out Villa's dangerous through balls.
"Gustavo's doing well. That pass would have been a one-on-one between Weimann and Umtiti — in such duels the forward often has the advantage."
"You might not trust Wenger's wallet but you can't deny his eye for talent; just look at those bargain signings."
In the first half Arsenal were listless, managing only two shots.
One was Xia Qi's fierce strike from the left of Villa's box, tipped out for a corner by keeper Guzan.
The other was Kevin De Bruyne's long-range effort from the edge of the box.
In the whole first half the defending champions Arsenal had just two shots — that shows how badly they played.
"Half-time! What a surprising first half. The reigning Premier League champions Arsenal have been awful. Is only the red-and-white Arsenal the real Arsenal? Is this yellow-shirted Arsenal an imposter?"
Amid Villa Park's cheers, Xia Qi and the others jogged down with heads lowered, wanting to get into the tunnel and disappear quickly…
At that moment, a few Aston Villa fans leaned over the player tunnel and shouted at Xia Qi: "Yellow-skin monkey, where are your shooting boots?"
Xia Qi's face darkened rapidly.
"Ding dong! Detected host being unreasonably provoked. Side quest triggered: In this match the host will score a hat-trick and lead Arsenal to take all three points.
Reward: [Perpetual Engine] attribute.
Attribute description: 1. On the pitch you will never suffer physical exhaustion. 2. Can be combined with other attributes.
Host, accept the quest?
Yes or No?"
Of course!
Even without rewards, do them!
…
In the dressing room the atmosphere was a little heavy.
Usually the liveliest presence, Mario Balotelli, kept his head down and fiddled with his gear.
Kevin De Bruyne looked even grimmer; he was staring at the floor as if there were a painting there.
In the first half the front commander De Bruyne had been not just poor but abysmally poor.
It's not entirely his fault — Cazorla is also an organizer.
The two had different understandings of tempo, causing the whole team's rhythm to collapse and preventing them from producing a coherent melody.
This problem doesn't show up in training.
On the training pitch everyone is brothers; they don't press like Aston Villa did.
With less intense interference, Cazorla and De Bruyne can still produce a song.
Now → the true colors were revealed!
Wenger walked into the dressing room without preamble:
"We played terribly in the first half, but it shouldn't be the fault of one or two players."
"We have two options to fix this. One: return to last season's old ways; then winning this match wouldn't be hard. But our rivals — Real, Manchester's double, Liverpool, Chelsea — have all strengthened this season while we haven't. To defend the title that way would be almost impossible.
"Two: face the problems, solve them, and play with the combinations as we do in training… I hope you choose the second.
"Now go get a massage and tell me before you go back out which option you chose."
This wasn't really a choice.
Fifteen minutes later,
Xia Qi and the others returned to the pitch for the second half!
The game didn't instantly improve after the hairdryer treatment.
Arsenal played stop-start like someone with prostate trouble.
By contrast Aston Villa continued to play well. In the 48th minute, Westwood dribbled through the center; after being stopped by Cazorla he played to the right.
The always active Weimann burst down the right.
He quickly reached the edge of Arsenal's box and saw Benteke making a run into the area.
Weimann didn't hesitate and curled a lofted pass into the box.
Benteke used his run and leapt high, beating Mertesacker to the header and flicking the ball.
"Benteke header!"
"Oh! It's a set-up!"
On the pitch Benteke didn't head straight at goal but nodded the ball toward the right post.
At the same time Weimann, as Umtiti turned to follow Benteke's motion, ghosted toward the right post.
Clearly this wasn't a Benteke improvisation but a planned Villa set play.
Seeing the ball head toward the right post, Martínez panicked; he'd been deceived by Benteke's high leap and quickly shifted his weight to the left.
Weimann sped in, cushioned the ball with his left foot,
and the ball changed direction into the goal.
Martínez's reaction was a few tenths of a second late; his fingertips brushed the ball but he couldn't keep it out.
2–0!
Only three minutes into the second half, Arsenal were hit again!
"Wow! Beautifully worked — essentially a wall pass inside the box."
"Poor Martínez. Villa's attacking design was clever; Martínez nearly got it but not quite."
"The blame for Arsenal conceding tonight isn't all on Martínez; it's on Wenger. Three at the back doesn't yet suit Arsenal, or the players aren't adapted."
"Yeah, last season the back four worked fine — why change the formation?"
"Tonight if you didn't look at the shirts you wouldn't see a strong team."
"Now the pressure's on Wenger: persist and continue to gel the new formation, or change players and revert?"
On the pitch, Xia Qi walked to the center circle and stood straight like a pine.
For some reason when Wenger saw Xia Qi like that his brow relaxed…
For some reason Arsenal fans watching on TV smiled when they saw Xia Qi's waist like a javelin…
For some reason the Gooners in the pub raised their glasses at Xia Qi's ice-like face…
Let the bullets fly a while… all Arsenal people showed their knowing smiles…
(END CHAPTER)
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