Chapter 25

After twenty-five rounds of the league, Arsenal was now ranked fifth, behind Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Fortunately, the points gap wasn't large, and they still had hope of breaking into the top four and securing a Champions League spot for next season.

Wenger had learned his lesson from the last away game against Liverpool and wouldn't carelessly guess Chen Hero's form again, then stimulate the players to attack Liverpool head-on.

This famous coach, known for playing offensive and artistic football, who insisted on his style even after years without a title, stating that he wanted to restore football to its original form, with less utilitarianism, now, when facing Chen Hero and Liverpool, had put down his pride and asked his team to shrink back and defend to the death in the game.

Yes, you read that right, defend to the death. Arsenal retreated directly into their defensive third, allowing Liverpool to bombard them from outside.

This kind of play was really not attractive.

And it made the Arsenal fans in the stands very dissatisfied.

Because this was really not the Arsenal they wanted to see!

Huddling near their own penalty area, allowing their opponents to do whatever they wanted in their thirty-meter zone. Arsenal didn't even have a single shot in the first fifteen minutes!

Was this still the Arsenal they knew?

Even the commentators were exclaiming that they couldn't understand it.

"I would have thought this was Chelsea or some other team, but definitely not Arsenal!"

"Wenger must be possessed by Mourinho, it must be!"

"Arsenal's tactics today are really incomprehensible… it's not that we can't figure out what they're trying to do, on the contrary, it's precisely because we see it clearly that we don't understand—what is Wenger thinking? Is an Arsenal that only defends and doesn't attack still Arsenal?"

"I can understand Wenger, he wants to defend a draw. But is Liverpool so easy to defend?"

There were also more literary commentators sighing: "A stubborn idealist, for a point, to stop the decline in his record against Liverpool, is even willing to abandon his dignity and ideals… I think this is truly a most realistic and cruel tragedy…"

"Regardless of whether Arsenal wins or loses this game, can I say that this is the death of an 'idealist'?"

Although many commentators were criticizing Wenger's tactics, and scattered boos rang out in the stands, when the television broadcast showed a close-up of Wenger, the old man stood stubbornly on the sidelines with a look of determination on his face, his eyes hidden in the shadows, and no one could see his expression clearly.

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Despite everyone scolding him and not understanding him, his tactics were actually working very well.

Because it was too unexpected for everyone, including Liverpool.

No one expected that a prestigious club like Arsenal would shrink into a ball in their own stadium to resist Liverpool's offensive. Even more unexpected was that a coach like Wenger would completely sacrifice offense for the sake of a draw.

As mentioned before, if many mid- and lower-tier Premier League teams were to face Liverpool at home, choosing to secure a draw would be their best course of action.

Because being able to secure a point at home would be considered their ability.

Having one point was better than having none, after all.

Of course, the downside of doing so was that the scene was too ugly. Being a turtle in one's own stadium was not afraid of being booed by the home fans.

Therefore, this approach had only appeared in mid- and lower-tier teams, because face and reputation were obviously not as important to them as a point; their primary concern was survival, not face.

But in wealthy clubs, it was different. Wealthy clubs all had their reputations to uphold; losing a game was not scary, what was scary was losing face and losing momentum.

So no one expected that Wenger could actually make such a decision.

Watching those Arsenal technical players, who could usually thread needles and play the violin with their feet on the field, whose attacking combinations were smooth and flowing, now desperately blocking shots.

It really made those who witnessed this scene not know what to say.

Conversely, how powerful must Liverpool be to make Wenger and Arsenal put down their pride and status and use such unconventional means to deal with them!

They had actually forced Arsenal and Wenger to this point!

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Liverpool didn't expect Arsenal to defend so resolutely, and seemed unprepared, lacking sufficient psychological preparation for a siege. They were always worried about Arsenal's counterattack, so they didn't dare to press forward with all their might, and kept a hand back to defend against Arsenal's counterattack.

Who would have thought that Arsenal was truly determined to defend to the death today.

In the end, after a dull battle, Arsenal actually held on!

When the final whistle blew, even Wenger himself looked a little incredulous.

Because in the game, there were several times when he thought his team was about to have their goal breached. Because Liverpool's offensive was so fierce, and Arsenal's defense was so battered and vulnerable.

But this time, God stood firmly on his side.

Chen Hero hit the post twice in the game, once with a header from close range. At that time, watching Chen Hero leap high in front of the goal, above everyone else, with almost no one able to interfere with him, and then heading the ball, Wenger's heart turned cold. He knew all too well how much pressure he would be under if he lost this game. This pressure wouldn't just come from the outside—he wasn't afraid of outside pressure—a large part of this pressure would also come from the team he coached. You had to know, it took him a lot of effort to convince these players to give up attacking and defend completely.

If it wasn't successful, then he shouldn't even think about persuading them to use this method to deal with Liverpool and Chen Hero in the future.

Fortunately, the football slammed hard into the crossbar with a bang, and then bounced out.

Wenger had the feeling of escaping death.

The second time, Chen Hero suddenly launched a cold arrow from the outside. Because it came so suddenly, Wenger felt even better than the first time, because he didn't even have time to feel anything before he saw the football hit the post and then skimmed out of bounds.

His heart then pounded wildly, making him a little scared.

But no matter what, his team had successfully held on to this draw!

Although the scene was ugly, who cared about the scene at this time!

One point! We got one point at our home stadium and drew with Liverpool, what a great achievement!

Wenger walked onto the field and began to hug his players one by one, patting them hard on the back.

This was encouragement and thanks to all the players.

He knew that these people had done their best, not only to play tactics that they were not familiar with, but also to withstand the pressure from the fans and the media.

But they held on!

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"Looking at Wenger like this, it's as if his team has defeated Liverpool… but, ironically, it's just a draw."

The commentator joked.

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Wenger didn't care what the commentators thought of him, because this draw proved that his approach was still effective.

He understood—whether Arsenal wanted to win the championship or get a Champions League spot, Liverpool wasn't the most important opponent, because if he couldn't deal with Liverpool, it didn't mean that no one else could. He believed that the old man wouldn't easily admit defeat, so the vanguard against Liverpool shouldn't be his Arsenal, and there was more than one team that had an irreconcilable feud with Liverpool.

What he had to do was very simple: bypass Liverpool, defeat other teams, who were much easier to deal with than Liverpool.

And when facing Liverpool, as long as he could guarantee that they wouldn't be defeated, that would be a great victory. In this way, when comparing the record of wins and losses between the two sides, Arsenal wouldn't be at a disadvantage. In this way, as long as Arsenal could ensure that they didn't stumble in other games, they would have a chance to compete for the championship.

Wenger still had confidence in Arsenal's strength. Arsenal had won the league championship with an undefeated record in a season, and he believed that the team still had such ability.

This game gave him great confidence!

Of course, at the post-match press conference, he was besieged by many reporters.

Everyone was asking him whether it was worth it to defend to the death for only one point, with a lot of indignation in their tone—Arsenal, how can you, a team that pursues artistic football, be so willing to degenerate!?

But Wenger ignored the reporters' questioning and replied very calmly: "As a coach, facing such a Liverpool, I think the result is more important than anything else. Of course, Arsenal is still Arsenal and will not change. But, as I said before, when facing Liverpool, I have to make some changes, even if only temporarily. I'm glad I succeeded."

Martin O'Neill seemed very helpless: "We didn't win, which of course isn't a good result. But the opponents played very tenaciously… to be honest, I'm as surprised as you are, because I didn't expect them to… uh, play like that in their own stadium… I have to admit, we were a bit unlucky today, Hero hit the post twice, even if only one goal went in, the situation would have been completely different. But that's football…"

A reporter asked O'Neill if he was worried that other teams would follow suit and block Liverpool in their own stadiums.

O'Neill shook his head: "No, not at all. We were just a little unlucky today."

Just kidding, of course you have to be tough at this time, you must let the opponents know—don't even think about using this to defeat us! We Liverpool were just unlucky this time, do you think you have the same good luck as Arsenal had in this game?!

If you're not tough, those sons of bitches will follow suit, and we Liverpool will have a lot of trouble in the future…

No one likes to fight a siege, everyone likes both sides to open up and attack each other, back and forth, how lively, there are many goals, the fans like to watch, and the media is full of praise… of course, the ultimate victory must be Liverpool, that's the only way.