From Arsenal to the Ball God

Goodison Park, the 27th round of the Premier League match between Everton and Arsenal has already begun.

Everton is currently ranked 6th in the league, just behind Chelsea and Tottenham, even pressing Dalglish’s Liverpool by 3 points.

They are definitely not the underdog team of this era, any team competing against them at Goodison Park will face certain pressure.

"Everton....Everton.....!!"

"We are forever.....!"

The match kicked off at 3:30 pm that day, and Arsenal, who just won the English League Cup, set up a 4-2-4 offensive formation today.

Wenger placed Van Persie and Walcott in the center, with Ma’el and Gervinho on the sides.

This is the formation that the team has been practicing in regular tactical training recently, aimed at exerting dominance in the upcoming Premier League matches.

With the super-efficient flanking powerhouse Ma’el, Wenger has been researching how to make it easier for the team to blast through the opponent’s goals.

Now the entire Premier League knows that Arsenal is strong offensively, piling up numbers in the backfield to play positional warfare and seek counter-attacking opportunities.

Forcing Arsenal to play positional attacks against the opponent’s dense defense is definitely not the best choice, sometimes there is a risk of overturning.

Since that’s the case, they might as well deploy a 4-forward formation, with 2 center-forwards constantly retreating to the midfield when holding the ball in their own backfield for support.

In this way, if the opponent’s 2 center-backs choose not to follow the 2 players, they will have a number advantage of approximately 8 against 6 in the midfield.

Advancing the attack to the front also easily creates a balanced attack of 4 against 4, and with their frontline players of greater individual ability, there is a significant probability of breaking the opponent’s defense.

Once the opponent’s center-backs choose to follow Van Persie and Walcott, the space behind them will be exposed.

At this point, the 2 wingers will pierce like a sword into the space behind the center-backs, forming 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 attacks with the fullbacks clinging to them, or even fight for high balls directly facing the goalkeeper!

Ma’el’s speed and power advantage, along with his 1-on-1 or even 1-on-2 dribbling ability, will be utilized!

Of course, this is just an added offensive idea, and previously commonly used tactics will not be discarded. Every team must maintain variety.

"Bang!"

In the 18th minute of the match, Ma’el successfully dashed into the gap left behind the opponent’s center-backs, competing with the fullback defending him for a long pass from Kyle Walker.

He stopped the ball with his thigh and, while stopping the ball, led it towards the direction of attack without losing much speed.

The opposing right-back initially thought he would first settle the ball and then speed up, pausing in between, but now he can’t keep up.

Opportunity arises!

"Squeak!"

A sliding tackle sound came from Ma’el’s right side, as a defender rushed over at full speed and tackled fiercely.

It was the opponent’s left-back, seemingly watching this side closely, rushing from the start of Kyle Walker’s pass to him.

"Pop!"

Ma’el intended to chip the ball and jump slightly to dodge the tackle, yet fell half a step short as the ball was still slid out by the opponent, rolling out from near the corner flag.

Fortunately, he jumped at the last moment, avoiding the opponent’s tackle without falling.

"Aha...!" Goodison Park erupted in cheers and applause; this was like the last defender completing a steal, akin to scoring a goal or making an assist.

"Yeah...!" The full-back got up and punched the air, celebrating with immense excitement.

Ma’el regretfully clapped; he was just one step away from forming a single-handed chance, looking at Gervinho on the other side, "Hey! Hey! Just now, push forward and keep parallel with me!"

Gervinho seemed to feel he hadn’t done well just now, grimaced apologetically, and gestured towards Ma’el.

Ma’el wasn’t blaming him, just reminded, "If you had stepped up just now, he would have been apprehensive and not rushed over at full speed.

"Besides, even if he charged aggressively, if I pass you the ball, you can still form a one-on-one chance.

"No worries! Try again! We still have opportunities, one chance and we can win!"

He seemed very excited, with the new month bringing new outlooks; he hopes the team can achieve good results this month, and he himself can surpass 30 goals in the league.

"Boom!"

Due to Ramsey not being on the field, Arteta subsequently kicked a corner from the flank, which was hit by Everton defender Benis, but unfortunately bounced off Van Persie.

Van Persie’s expression shifted, poised for a direct volley without settling the ball.

"Squeak!"

Everyone knows the power he wields with this move, instantly causing two or three Everton players to slide in to block his shot.

"Boom." Van Persie suddenly retracted his leg and pushed the ball to an open Mertesacker on the right, who originally came up to compete for the header on the corner.

"Boom!!"

As the center-back received the ball, he didn’t employ a tricky shot, instead pulled back and unleashed a powerful shot within the penalty area.

The football fiercely crashed into the upper corner of the goal, causing the net to surge upwards, only settling after a second.

It’s a goal!

One-nil!

The iron tree blossoms!

"Yeah...!"

Mertesacker, finding it difficult to score, charged to the sidelines in exhilarating knee slides; behind him, several Arsenal players also slid along, with some diving full-bodied sliding along the ground.

Chaos on the field!

No wonder they are so excited; with all major battles nearly concluded, taking the lead to sound the horn for the title race has a very positive implication.