Chapter 277 Faith
May 15th, morning, sunny.
The moment I walked out of the house, I saw the rare blue sky in the UK, and even the mood improved a lot.
Wenger looked towards Dongfang, raised his head, squinted his eyes, and looked at the rising sun in Dongfang. His face was covered with the ravines of time.
This past season can be said to have made him feel the pressure he hasn't felt for a long time. The pressure Ye Qiu and Chelsea brought to him and Arsenal even exceeded the pressure created by Manchester United's Jedi counterattack.
Now before he has breakfast every morning, he has to watch TV news, and to look at the newspapers of that day, pay attention to Chelsea's movements, and when he returns to Kearney training base, the first thing he does is to ask his assistant Pat Rice, what happened to that bastard yesterday?
Sometimes when he thinks about it, he feels that he doesn't look like Arsenal's head coach at all, but like a loyal fan who is crazy about Chelsea and Ye Qiu. As long as Ye Qiu and Chelsea's every move, he will pay attention and become nervous. The whole life and team preparation revolve around the other side.
This kind of life is too tiring, so tired that it can almost crush a person.
"Dad" daughter Lily ran out of the house and hugged Wenger's legs directly. She could only reach Wenger's waist now, a very lively and cute little girl, while her sister was still having breakfast under the strict supervision of her wife, but she looked out the window, like a sister who was like a free-flowing bird, full of envy.
"My mom and I want to go to see you play," Lily said with anticipation.
Wenger squatted down kindly, "What's the best thing about the game?" He felt that his chances of winning today were not very high.
"But, sister Huang Chu wants to see it." Lily curled her lips naively.
Wenger has met Huang Chu several times, a very beautiful oriental woman, Ye Qiu's wife lives next door, and her relationship with her wife is pretty good. I heard that she is a doctor who graduated from Cambridge University, and today is the last round of the Premier League. There is no doubt that she will definitely go to see her husband's game.
"Lily, aren't we going to the park in the afternoon?" The wife walked from home to the door. When Wenger felt embarrassed, she relieved him and received Wenger's gratitude smile.
To be honest, he was unwilling to let his daughter see the scene of losing the whole season. It was not only cruel to children, but even more cruel to him, a father, even though he had already been mentally prepared for all this.
"Hmph" Lily frowned, hummed at her father, and ran back home quickly.
Wenger walked towards the garage and entered the car. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and rationally.
For him, winning this afternoon game was a sure thing, but after defeating his opponent, the possibility of Arsenal reversing Chelsea to win the championship was slim, because Ye Qiu could not allow his team to make a mistake in the last game.
But no matter what, Wenger must do his best to play this game well, not just for himself.
Sometimes, you must believe that when you feel irritated and unhappy, all the unhappy things will come to you, just like Wenger, who now would never have thought that the car that was driving home last night would break down early this morning and would not get angry no matter how hard he fought.
Wenger slapped the steering wheel a few times in the car, walked out of the car angrily, closed the car door heavily, and walked straight to the gate. Because his wife still had to look at the child, she couldn't take him to work. If David Dunn had no accidents, he should have gone to Kearney, so he only had one way now, and he was fighting.
Just as Wenger walked out of the house and picked up his cell phone and wanted to make a phone call, a car was driven out opposite him. The red Ferrari looked dazzling in the golden sunlight, but in Wenger's eyes, it was dazzling.
"What's wrong?" Ye Qiu lowered his head, saw from the car window, and looked through the door. The car in the garage was still there, which made Ye Qiu smile, "Is it bad?"
I wonder how annoying it was when I said that expression. Why didn’t his car break down?
"Oh, the time is almost over." Ye Qiu looked at Hamilton on his left wrist and curled his lips. Although there was no need to train this morning, the team still had to concentrate. Usually the day before the game, the players either stayed in a hotel or at a training base, but the next morning, the head coach must gather them on time.
Wenger certainly knew what Ye Qiu meant. For taxis in London, especially those who live in remote towns, they usually have to call the taxi company in advance. They will arrange nearby cars to pick them up and drop them off, but it often takes a lot of time to come and go.
"Am I going along the way?" Ye Qiu smiled and sent out an invitation.
Wenger hesitated for a moment and finally sat in Ye Qiu's Ferrari. He was worried that it would be awkward to sit in this small Ferrari with his 1-meter-93-meter-old size, but he didn't expect that after sitting in, he felt completely different and very comfortable, especially the set of seats specially customized for Ye Qiu.
"Your car should have changed too. It's not reliable at critical moments." Ye Qiu gently stepped on the accelerator, and the car rushed out directly, speeding up very quickly, giving people a strong sense of pushing back.
Wenger did not respond to Ye Qiu's pun words, but just turned his head and looked out the window blankly, as if the scenery that was flying back was even more attractive to him, giving him the illusion that time was moving back, and also making him involuntarily recall a very distant thing.
For a long time, they didn't speak, and the carriage was filled with an embarrassment called silence.
"Do you know, why I have been reluctant to leave Arsenal?" Wenger asked softly.
Ye Qiu didn't expect Wenger to take the initiative to talk to him and shook his head.
"I always remember it very clearly. I came to Arsenal in the late September 1996. Arsenal was very strong at that time and started very well. After I came, the team played 4 Premier League games since October, winning and drawing. Before that, Arsenal scored 5 wins and draws l losses. Then we met Manchester United in the second game in 1 month."
Wenger spoke very slowly and his tone was very gentle, making people feel comfortable, as if he was listening to the radio.
"It rained that game, it was wet and slippery. We did a good job in the whole game, but it showed a flaw. Our left back Winterburn blocked Andy Cole's shot into his goal in the first minute when he returned to the penalty area to participate in the defense."
Ye Qiu drove the car and looked ahead, but listened carefully to Wenger's words. He noticed that Wenger described all the time and data very clearly and thoroughly, with only one explanation, that is, this incident left a very deep impression on him.
It is profound that it happened in 1996, and today in 2004, he still remembers it so clearly.
"I felt like I lost at that time." When I said this, Wenger sneered, but not at anyone, but at his extremely naive thoughts at that time. "Losing is not unfamiliar to me. On the contrary, I am not that I have never lost the ball. Who hasn't lost the game for a professional coach?"
"I felt unwilling to give up at that time. I felt that I lost unjustly, but it was nothing to lose. Anyway, it was over and there was no way to save it. But the next day, a fan ran to me and cried to me and said that his cousin secretly hid himself after the team lost to Manchester United."
When Ye Qiu heard this, he couldn't help but be a little surprised. He shook his hand and turned his head to look at Wenger, his eyes full of disbelief. Wenger also looked at him and smiled, "My expression was exactly the same as yours now. I didn't believe it at all. I even replied, "Don't joke, and then I left."
"But that afternoon, David Dunn told me, hey, let's leave me time tomorrow afternoon, let's go to a fan's funeral, and I asked, what fans? He told me that after losing to Manchester United last night, a young fan committed suicide, and he was a student, and he has been an Arsenal fan since childhood."
Taking a deep breath, Wenger squeezed out a slightly reluctant smile, "I only realized after I got there that it turned out to be true. Some people would commit suicide because we lost a game. Some people would be willing to give up their lives because we lost a game. I didn't understand why? Why is this happening?"
"David Dunn told me, remember, man, anywhere else in the world, football may be just a game, a entertainment, or even a show, but in England, football is a faith"
"Look at the team logo on your chest. It is a faith that has been gathered with countless people over the past hundred years. Don't let it go or waste it casually, because you will never know that in your thoughts, it may just lose a game for you, but for a person, for a family, it is losing a life, ruining a family, and creating a tragedy."
Ye Qiu listened silently, he didn't know what he should express about this kind of thing, and he was more unable to understand.
Of course, many people may think that the person who committed suicide is a fool, who committed suicide for a game for no reason. But does anyone with this idea put himself in the shoes of the suicide person and think about it? Perhaps, because of this game, he will feel that his dreams and beliefs have completely collapsed, which makes him feel desperate.
Ye Qiu did not encourage such suicide, and he did not even want the same tragedy to happen again. He just felt that perhaps in this world, there were not many fans who would commit suicide because of a game.
Faith. After coming to England, Ye Qiu heard a lot about this word. Many people say that football is the belief of the English. If this is true, the fan is the best portrayal.
"Many people think I want to succeed, and I never deny this, but I will not leave Arsenal because I hope to use my strength to make this team and this faith continue to be passed on among Arsenal fans, which is more valuable than winning the championship."
"And in order to do this, I will do my best in every game without leaving myself any regrets or excuses."
The last sentence is what Wenger wants to say?
"Then I'm a little better than you," Ye Qiu smiled and said, "I never like to lose, and I always do my best in doing things. I never do things that make me regret, including today's game."
Wenger didn't say anything more and continued to look out the window. He was never a good person, especially when he was talking to Ye Qiu. He felt that saying a few more words would make him angry. But for some reason, he said a lot to Ye Qiu today, and there were even many things he didn't say to others before, but now he said them.
Perhaps, in his heart, even he admitted that he had not discussed the complex emotions of his opponents, Ye Qiu is really a good person, a good neighbor, a good friend, of course, he is a very bad opponent, and he is unlucky when he meets him.
Ye Qiu also thought a little in his heart. He used to think Wenger was stubborn and rigid, but now it seems that something is not the case. At least he can hear that Wenger intends to be loyal to Arsenal all his life, and this is more or less affected by the suicide fan back then, which made Wenger feel that he owed this team and what this group of fans wanted.
But this is a crazy world, who can imagine that in a few years, in order to build a new stadium, Wenger's coaching performance will also deteriorate. On the contrary, with the strong rise of teams such as Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal's status as a two-president champion has been challenged, and Wenger has also been criticized by Arsenal fans.
Ye Qiu is not good to say whether Wenger is wrong, because nothing in this world is definitely wrong.
But he felt that no matter how well a head coach does not bring results to the team and makes fans satisfied, fans may not appreciate it or understand it, because with the changes of the times and with the development of the future, many things are depreciating rapidly, including a person's belief.
But after sending Wenger to the hotel, Ye Qiu kept thinking about this issue on the way back to the hotel where Chelsea was stationed.
He has been busy all the time in the past. Since he came to London, he has been busy almost every day. He has never experienced the feelings of the fans well, nor has he experienced it well. What Wenger said is the belief of the English fans.
In the past, for him, Chelsea was a job he liked and loved, a vast platform that allowed him to prove his coaching ability. But after Wenger said this, Ye Qiu was suddenly interested in getting to know the fans here and their feelings for a team.
Wenger's day was destined to be unlucky and also destined to be bumpy.
Before he left the house in the morning, the car broke down. If it weren't for Ye Qiu, he would not be able to arrive at the hotel on time.
In this afternoon's game, his start was quite unsatisfactory. Although Arsenal's condition and physical fitness rebounded after adjustments, they were still relatively bad overall. However, they were still able to use the team's strong strength to suppress their opponents and create pressure on Leicester City.
But no one expected that Arsenal could not defeat him for a long time, but the visiting Leicester City scored the first goal in the first minute. Sinclair got rid of Vieira on the right and made a cross. The opponent's goalkeeper headed the ball in the small penalty area, scoring the first record for Leicester City.
All the Gunners fans at the Highbury Stadium were panicked, and the Arsenal players were panicked, and even the coaching staff and even the substitutes sitting on the sidelines were panicked. Wenger rushed to the sidelines and roared loudly and shouted at the players. He could not accept that the team would concede the goal and lose in such a situation.
The first half was not effective. During the halftime break, Wenger was very angry in the locker room and scolded all the players in the team for their poor performances, and even used threatening words to make everyone feel his anger.
Don't get angry when you are pressed on weekdays, don't be angered by being a professor
Wenger got angry and saw immediate results. The situation of the team in the second half completely changed. In just less than a minute of the second half, Borgkamp passed the penalty area. Ashley Cole inserted it from the left and shot, but the ball was saved. Henry calmly shot and scored a successful equalizer. This is Henry's 30th Premier League goal this season and is the first in the Premier League scorer list.
After scoring the goal, Henry seemed very excited because in the Premier League, scoring 30 goals is a threshold. With this result, you are enough to be among the club's legendary scorers. If you don't, sorry, you are not qualified enough.
Now, Henry has 30 goals in just 30 goals, 4 more than Chelsea's second-ranked chief scorer Lampard.
After equalizing the score, Arsenal still launched a fierce attack on Leicester City. Wenger also kept calling on the players to continue to strengthen the offensive, and he was also making continuous substitutions, replacing players such as Reyes, Pire and other players to further strengthen the team's offensive.
Finally, in the 78th minute, Arsenal scored again. Veteran Borgkamp pulled back and got the ball and turned around and passed the ball accurately. He tore open the defense line of Leicester City. Vieira inserted it, and under the disturbance of Henry and others, he penetrated directly into the penalty area, calmly swiped past the goalkeeper, and sent the ball into the empty goal.
The Highbury Stadium was completely boiling, and all the Gunners fans were shouting. It was obvious that if you win the opponent, Arsenal would still have the hope of winning the championship, and they would have the right to continue dreaming.
But as the whistle sounded at the end of the game and as the result of the Stamford Bridge Stadium, which is not far from Highbury Stadium, all the Gunners fans in the entire Highbury Stadium were speechless.
In that blue home court, Chelsea did not hold back at all. The Leeds United, which was destined to be relegated, Ye Qiu's team pulled out his bloodthirsty fangs from the beginning, and did not give Leeds United any chance to resist. They directly pushed Leeds United to the ground and beat them up.
5-ball slaughter, this means that the wishes of all Gunners fans are shattered
At this moment, the entire Hebry Stadium suddenly became silent, and then a faint cry began to come.
Chapter completed!