Chapter 31: Champions League First Match

In the training ground, Arsenal players are having a training match.

Judging from the situation on the field, the entire offense and defense are extremely smooth, but if you look carefully, it is not difficult to find Arsenal's sense of frustration when attacking.

This is a sense of frustration caused by a sudden change in rhythm.

Mainly from the cooperation between Wilshere and Aubameyang.

Although the two organizers have formed a certain tacit understanding, due to their different styles, it is difficult to integrate.

Of course, if you ignore this detail, the overall performance is still excellent.

Lucky and Patrice stood on the sidelines.

Lucai said: "This can only be done to this extent. The two of them have already cooperated with some gestures, but this is already the limit. If they want to fully integrate, they will need more time to invest in it."

Patrice also nodded and said: "I didn't think about how perfect the cooperation between them would be. I just need to be able to play a sufficient role and assume organizational responsibilities when you can't support it anymore."

Lucky nodded.

Patrice suddenly said: "It would be great if Cazorla was here."

Hearing this, Lucai also shook his head and smiled bitterly.

If Cazorla is still there, the cooperation between Lucky and Cazorla is enough to revive Arsenal.

Even during the period when Lucky was exercising his core attributes, the partnership between Cazorla and Lucky was still able to guarantee enough wins, instead of the extremely close games like now.

Of course, this is also the situation that most Premier League fans need to face.

Last season, Arsenal played smoothly. There are reasons why their strength has soared, and there are also reasons why many clubs lacked enough research on this new gunner.

But after entering this season, Arsenal experienced many blows and suffered a miserable start, and its status fluctuated.

Although Patrice wanted to reverse this situation, he also knew that it would be difficult to accomplish this problem with his half-baked coaching ability.

Of course, currently, there is no head coach more suitable for this position than Patrice.

After all, Patrice is the interim coach, served by Arsenal. After all, he is Arsenal's former assistant coach, and he also has the support of captain Lucai. No one dares to challenge Patrice's authority.

Changing to a brand new head coach can only lead to two developments.

Or, Arsenal can play all over the place and continue their glory.

Or, the conflict between the players and the coach completely breaks out, and Arsenal collapses directly.

And the latter is more likely.

In this case, Patrice is undoubtedly the best person to take over.

"The next game we play is Astana!"

This is the first time a team from Kazakhstan has reached the Champions League group stage, and this has also become the highlight moment of this team.

Although many people say that this is the weakest team in Group C, Arsenal's current state cannot be said to guarantee victory.

After all, the success of studying Arsenal has been announced to all parts of the world, and many people know how to target this Arsenal.

When Lucky cannot get out of the limit independently, Arsenal's offense will become weak.

Therefore, Astana will definitely use this point as a breakthrough.

"In the next game, can you break free?"

Patrice asked.

Lucai pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "I don't know, I can't guarantee it! But I will try my best to get rid of it."

Ability is not achieved overnight. After each game, Lucai tasted the fruits of training and obtained the opponent's highest-level three-man defense.

What lies ahead of Lucky now is how to break through this restrictive circle.

Of course, Lucai was also a little depressed. After all, he was targeted by the opponent just after the effect of his kick.

But if you think about it, you can understand that Arsenal's championship team and probably all clubs in the world don't want to see Arsenal return to the form of last season.

Therefore, they update information about Arsenal very quickly.

At the same time, the defense against Lucky also became intense.

Lucky is okay in the defensive midfielder position. Once he appears in the central midfielder, he will be tightly guarded.

But Lucky retreated to the midfielder position, and he was unable to produce enough offensive performance.

This is an extremely awkward thing, and it also shows Lucky's technical shortcomings.

"It would be great if I could play like Cazorla."

Lucky shook his head.

He also wants to be a samba dancer and have brilliant ball skills.

But my body doesn’t allow it!

Each person's body structure shows that there are many actions that Cazorla can do, but Lucky cannot.

If Lucky can play like Cazorla with his own abilities, he will probably be what Wenger calls Arsenal's super core.

This is also true, Lucky is Arsenal's captain and a core player.

The current situation at Arsenal is not good, and it is natural for Lucky, as the core, to blame himself.

After all, if this core is strong enough and has no shortcomings, will Arsenal still encounter this situation?

Lucky people ask themselves, if they can break through the circle of restrictions on their own, then they don't need to divide the organization.

"Don't think about these problems!"

Patrais patted Lekai on the shoulder and said, "Everyone is an independent individual. Cazorla has his own way of playing, and you have your own way of playing. The so-called core style of play is certainly a player without shortcomings, but is there really a player without shortcomings?"

Patrais smiled and said, "Every midfielder is a different type. Yaya Toure and Modric have no shortcomings, but are they really the same type of players?"

Lekai was stunned for a moment.

Patrais continued, "So, don't think about becoming someone. Some things cannot be achieved through training. You have to learn how to hide or solve them."

Lekai pondered for a moment, then scratched his head and said, "I don't really understand."

Patrais shrugged and said, "You will understand in the future. Play more balls and gain more experience. You will always know yourself best. I can give you advice, but I can't help you completely solve these problems."

Lekai nodded.

Patrais smiled and clapped his hands, calling the players.

"Boys, gather at the training base at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. We are going to Kazakhstan."

Hearing this, the faces of Arsenal players became solemn.

They knew very well that they were preparing for the Champions League.

As the Champions League champions last season, their performance this season cannot be too bad.

The good news is that the opponent in the first game is not strong, which may allow them to accumulate some game status.

The next day, Arsenal players flew to Asnata, also known as Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan.

This is the first time in history that Astana Club has entered the Champions League group stage. When they broke through the qualifying round, the whole of Kazakhstan was boiling.

As a league ranked low in European football, Kazakhstan has never had a team that has seen the posture of the Champions League.

They also failed to appreciate the style of those world-class superstars.

So for Kazakh fans, this day is particularly different.

Astana Stadium is a home stadium that can accommodate 30,000 people. Due to the sluggish football market in Kazakhstan, this home stadium has only a few thousand spectators all year round.

For this reason, in most cases, other stadiums are almost closed and a separate stadium is opened on one side.

But this time, Astana Stadium opened all the stands in the area and sold all the tickets in just one day.

The reason is simple, Kazakh fans came to see Arsenal!

As the Champions League champion!

The team has a number of stars such as Suarez, Lukay, Aubameyang, and is a Premier League giant with a long history. How can they miss this kind of game?

For every Kazakh fan or non-fan, they want to see the style of this Champions League champion and Premier League Gunner.

Not only the fans, but also the Astana players are extremely excited.

Although the opponent is Arsenal, they are also very nervous, but deep in their hearts they are full of excitement.

After all, this is their first time to enter the Champions League group stage and be able to directly talk to a giant team like Arsenal.

It can be said that this is the peak moment of their current career!