As the FA Cup matches get closer, the focus of the English media's reports has shifted to their own domestic cup matches.

There are more and more news about the FA Cup in newspapers, TV, radio and the Internet.

Especially the strong showdown between Liverpool and Arsenal is the focus of everyone's attention.

But as everyone expected, there was no atmosphere of strong dialogue.

Wenger seemed very low-key and even surrendered early.

His series of remarks before the game all hinted that Arsenal had no chance of winning and Liverpool was too strong.

"...We have fought with them many times and almost all the methods have been tried. Our best result is to give up the offense, defend with all our might, and defend a draw at home. This method is applicable in the league, but it is not suitable for the cup. Because we don't need to win, and we can't win the game without scoring the goal..."

When Wenger was interviewed by a reporter, he spread his hands and curled his lips, expressing helplessness.

He said this with evidence. Arsenal and Liverpool have fought so many times, but they really didn't get any advantage... All the others were lost except for a draw.

Whether it is an attack or a defensive defense, it doesn't work.

But what he said was not recognized by everyone, because Arsenal, who had not gained the advantage in the past, met Liverpool's first team. Now they will meet Liverpool's reserve team in the League Cup and the FA Cup.

The strength of the first team and the reserve team is still very different. If Arsenal's main force attacks and does not underestimate the enemy, he can still win the reserve team with Chen Yingxiong...

So they have no idea why Wenger is so discouraged. And as his Arsenal head coach, is it really okay to say that this kind of blow to their morale before the game?

※ ※ ※

Within Arsenal, I was indeed a little dissatisfied and disappointed with Wenger's statement.

You should know that their opponent is not the first team, but the reserve team... No matter how strong the Liverpool reserve team is, it is just the reserve team. In front of so many people, this really makes many Arsenal players unable to hold back - we are Arsenal! How could a team that won the league championship with an unbeaten record in the season?

Even if they won the FA Cup last season, that reserve team has almost nothing to do with this reserve team now.

It can be said without hesitation that this reserve team is simply a group of rookies!

At the same time, they didn't understand why the boss suddenly surrendered? He had prepared carefully for so long before, but now he was about to compete, but he surrendered... This is unscientific!

Wenger never explained it. This made everyone more and more confused.

You know, they originally planned to compete with Liverpool, after all, this is the FA Cup, which is different from the League Cup.

Although the FA Cup is becoming increasingly useless now, it still occupies a very important position in the minds of English fans. After all, this is the oldest event in the world's modern football history, and this is enough for England fans to be proud.

Before the founding of the Premier League, the English League One could not compete with the FA Cup. Even in the years when the Champions League was just founded, England teams were not UEFA, thinking that the Champions League was not as good as their FA Cup. At that time, the FA Cup was the highest honor in English football. A team could not win even a league championship, as long as they could win a few FA Cup championships, they were all powerful players.

Teams like Wimbledon have never won a top league championship. They have only won a FA Cup championship once, which has made their fans proud for a long time.

This shows what the FA Cup champion had in the minds of England teams and fans in the early years.

Now this status is much worse than before, but the remaining power is still there.

There are still many people who regard winning the FA Cup championship as a supreme honor.

Even giants like Liverpool rarely do anything that they send the reserve team to play.

For Arsenal players, the reason why they hope to compete in the FA Cup is not only the different meanings of this cup, but also a very realistic consideration - in the league, they basically have no hope of winning the championship. Liverpool is now leading the way, and it is too difficult to catch up with them.

If they want to win a championship this season, the FA Cup is a good choice, and the League Cup is also good, but the FA Cup is ahead, so they will naturally compete in the FA Cup first.

They firmly believe that as long as they do not underestimate the enemy, they will not encounter any hardships until the finals after defeating Liverpool's reserve team. In other words, as long as they win Liverpool, they have a great chance of winning the championship.

Unexpectedly, the boss actually poured a basin of cold water on them.

It's really hurtful...

※ ※ ※

Wenger saw the problems reflected from the team during the training these days. The players seemed not attentive enough in training and were a little absent-minded... To put it bluntly, they were depressed.

He naturally knew what caused it.

The media outside have been saying these days that they have been too cautious and have already bowed their heads.

Some media have held up a dissatisfaction for Arsenal, believing that Arsenal, who was once so proud, has fallen to this point and has to rely on showing weakness to the enemy.

They all thought Wenger had done too much and lost Arsenal's face.

Looking at the absent-minded players, he sighed in his heart - it seems that his players think so too.

He also knew that if he had not coached in this team for more than ten years or even the club's director, he would have been afraid that these players would have rebelled long ago.

※ ※ ※

After the training, according to the practice, the head coach's training time is the general time. Usually, it mainly talks about everyone's problems and progress in training. Poor things should be pointed out and good things should be praised so that the players can have motivation and desire to make progress.

No matter it is just criticism or praise.

But today Wenger did not intend to criticize them or praise them, and he did not even intend to talk about the matter in training.

What he wants to tell everyone is another thing and answer their doubts. If this problem cannot be solved well, he knows that the next preparation will not be able to continue.

"I know you are doubting what I have said. You may think that I am too polite to a reserve team, even if it is Liverpool reserve team... I also know that you definitely think that as long as you don't underestimate the enemy, it is not too difficult to defeat a reserve team in the game."

A group of players looked at each other. They were really beaten by Wenger!

When the boss thought about what he thought, they knew, and they dared not be dissatisfied with any dissatisfaction... They just lowered their heads and drooped their eyelids, and used this method to silently express their attitude.

How could Wenger not know what they were doing, but he did not get furious, but continued. "But what I want to say now is that you are underestimating the enemy. You have looked down on your opponent without realizing it. How is the reserve team? Are our own reserve team weak? I never think Arsenal reserve team is the bottom, so Liverpool people will not think that their reserve team is the weak at the slaughter. Yes, they have replaced a group of players

, These are almost all new players, but don't forget that many of these players were drawn from the under-18 youth team. They have played in the youth team for many years, and they have nothing to say about their cooperation. All they lack is reserve team experience. Don't underestimate this team. Last season's FA Cup semi-finals, Tottenham underestimated them, what's the result? Last season's FA Cup final, Chelsea also underestimated them, so what's the result?"

After he said something, everyone still didn't say anything, but some people were still a little dissatisfied because they believed that they were not incompetent Tottenham, let alone Chelsea.

If Tottenham and Chelsea can lose to that team, they may not lose, not to mention that the difference between these two teams is still very obvious. The boss is right. The biggest difference between this Liverpool reserve team and the previous reserve team is experience. But this is also the most fatal. Experience cannot be compensated by half a season of hard training. Therefore, this team is destined to be inferior to the reserve team last season.

In this case, why should we be so cautious?

Yes, we just underestimate the enemy, but we can defeat this reserve team even if we underestimate the enemy!

A team that relies entirely on one person is simply a shame for football. These reserve team players are simply lying on Chen Yingxiong's body to suck his blood and take advantage of his light. After Chen Yingxiong leads the team to the finals, they will jump down to enjoy the final championship results.

Why should we treat such a team with caution?

How could Wenger have a look? How could he not see what these players think?

He suddenly thought of a key thing, and his eyes lit up.

The things that were still worried about before suddenly came to an easy solution.

He said with a straight face: "What? Don't believe me? Well, let's use the League Cup that will start soon to experiment, how about?"

As soon as he said this, everyone raised their heads in surprise, wondering why the head coach suddenly said this.

Wenger looked at a group of surprised players with serious faces and serious faces: "I'm serious, not kidding. In the next game, you play according to your ideas. If you can defeat the reserve team that you don't think is worth mentioning, then I will follow your ideas in the FA Cup. But if you don't win the game, then you have to listen to me in the FA Cup. If you want to prove that I'm wrong, there is no more powerful result than the actual results. Use your performance to convince me and tell me that I'm wrong."

A group of players looked at each other and were stunned for a moment.
Chapter completed!