Chapter 31 Stable!

A week has passed since the Community Shield Cup match, the first round of the Premier League of the new season has finally begun. As the defending champion, Leeds United met his strong rival in last season's championship competition right away...Arsenal!

The English FA has always had a tradition of arranging strong teams to collide in the first round and quickly increase the intensity of the league competition. This time is no exception. The league's championship and runner-up matches were directly arranged in the first round of the league.

Before the game started, Mourinho started complaining there: "I don't think it's a good thing to visit Elland Road Stadium in the first round. Many people say it's a good opportunity for us to beat our competitors, and our opponents are not ready yet, but what I want to say is that we will encounter huge difficulties at Elland Road Stadium. The number of international players in our team is no less than Leeds at all, and our players are older, which will make us face more difficulties when preparing for the pre-season, and we still play away. I think this schedule is unfair to Arsenal! But we will win away because we will definitely win the league championship this season!"

"Madman" is already 61 years old, and in the past few years he has shown good demeanor. He basically looks arrogant and rarely fights with people. Only after Simon Grayson returns last season, Mourinho seems to have become the thorny man he used to be, and his big mouth has opened again, but he only targets Simon Grayson, as if others are not worthy of being targeted by him.

Simon Grayson, who was targeted by Mourinho, seemed very modest and cautious, and said before the game: "I encountered a strong opponent in the first round of the new season. Even if I was fighting at home, the outcome of this game is still full of variables. What we need to do is to be able to steadily exert our strength. As for the results of the game, I think the result of a game will not have much impact on the team's goals this season... Oh, our goal? Haha, of course, the defending champion! In addition, we have returned to the Champions League, and this time we hope to bring surprises to the fans!"

The attitudes of the two head coaches before the game were arrogance and humility. One was determined to win, while the other seemed to worry that the team would lose the game. But when the first round of the new season of the Premier League, and even the whole season, people realized that the game was not what they imagined!

The two encounters between Leeds United and Arsenal last season were tied at Emirates Stadium 3:3. At Elland Road Stadium, Leeds United only narrowly defeated Arsenal 3:2. It can be said that both teams completely detonated their attack power in the game, and spared no effort to attack the opponent.

But this time... the game is different!

After the game began, Arsenal adopted a defensive counterattack tactic, while Leeds United's tactics were completely opposite to head coach Simon Grayson's modesty. As soon as they started, they launched their ball-control and oppressive style, which they were good at, and almost completely suppressed Arsenal's formation in the half.

This game that looks a bit "abnormal" is actually quite normal. As early as many years ago, every time Simon Grayson met Mourinho, whether it was leading Leeds United or Manchester United, the game scene was as if it was moving away from the moment.

Mourinho's best tactical style is defensive counterattack. The Portuguese's defensive counterattack tactics are even more tight and more urgency than the Italians. And when counterattacking, it also changes more and is more efficient, which is also Mourinho's unique skill.

As for Simon Grayson's "Solar System Tactics", it is no longer a secret. It is to revolve around Shaq, the core, and achieve the purpose of offense through ball control and local cooperation.

But in the past, when Simon Grayson and Mourinho met, Simon Grayson's team was stronger. Last season, the two teams fought against each other because their strength was almost the same. By this season... it was obvious that Mourinho had changed his direction again and admitted that the overall strength of the "Young Guards" is now above the "Gunter"!

At least, Mourinho also believes that his team's main lineup is compared with Leeds United's main lineup. It seems that the opponent is stronger, otherwise he would not have taken a defensive counterattack!

In fact, Mourinho really wants to win this game, otherwise he would not have used his talent. His resentment towards Simon Grayson is really too deep. It would be fine if he was snatched away by Leeds United in England last season. In the European arena, he also led Arsenal to the Champions League semi-finals and encountered Barcelona.

Luis Enrique, who entered the palace for the second time, was very clever and did not push down Simon Grayson's lineup, and even made too much adjustments in tactics. He just replaced Shaq with Salave and moved the offensive center from the center to the midfield. Then Barcelona eliminated Arsenal in two rounds with two 3:0 and a total score of 6:0. The four players who scored the goal were all introduced by Simon Grayson for Barcelona.

It can be said that the Gunners failed to the Champions League semi-final last season, which is equivalent to Mourinho's indirect loss to Simon Grayson again!

This season, Mourinho no longer intends to lead the team to compete for the Champions League trophy. He is determined to recover lost ground in England. He encountered Leeds United in the first round of the new season. How could the Portuguese not want to win in his heart?

Unfortunately, although Mourinho arranged Sparks to guard Shaq and arranged strict defense to limit Shaq's performance, Leeds United is really not a team that can be defeated by staring at Shaq to death.

Leeds United, which firmly controlled the game, took advantage of the corner kick opportunity in 17 minutes, and Ashley Hood headed the ball to open the Gunners' door!

After taking the lead, Leeds United became more confident. Although young players such as Lons, Hoydenk, Weather, Chen Jinlong, and Knuwells were young, their strength was really good. After last season's battle, these young people's experience and confidence have made great progress. They also have more experience in how to master the rhythm of the game. They have never given their opponents too good opportunities.

In the 64th minute of the second half, Shaq and Hoydenk put pressure on Arsenal on the right, but suddenly passed the ball to the small penalty area on Arsenal's left side. The Dutch talented young man Hoydenk made an accurate cross in the arc, and the small man Lons, who was shot, knocked the ball into the goal, and the score was expanded to 2:0!

In the week after the Community Shield Cup, Lance, who had just completed a contract renewal with the club and received a weekly salary of 50,000 pounds, was only 17 years old, but he had become England's number one attacker on the left, and even in the "Three Lions" he was the main force in the left offensive.

Many Arsenal stars were unable to perform a miracle when they were behind two goals. Sack, Willshere, Rooney, Barkley, Ramsey and others were unable to save Arsenal's fate in the end.

The Gunners, who are determined to compete for the championship with Leeds United, were defeated by their competitors 2:0 in the first round of the new season...

At the post-match press conference, Mourinho seemed extremely silent. He said nothing else except for complimenting Leeds United's control and affirming his team's fighting spirit.

Mourinho had no temper at all for the defeat in this game. Leeds United performed so well, almost surpassing Arsenal in all respects, with a ball possession rate of 54%:46%, shots of 14:5, corner kicks of 7:4, free kicks of 16:13, pass success rate of 82%:74%... These technical statistics indicators after another show that the "Youth Guards" did perform better in today's game, and winning... is reasonable!

When Leeds United defeated Arsenal 2-0 in the first round, Leeds fans began to look forward to the team's defending league championship this season and had a good performance in the Champions League.

The performance of the "Young Guards" did reassure her supporters. After defeating Arsenal 2-0 in the first round, Leeds United steadily advanced, beating Aston Villa 3:1 away in the league, tied Chelsea 0:0 at home, and swept Blackburn 7:0 away, achieving an unbeaten start of the new season with 3 wins and 1 draw.

This season, Leeds United's Champions League group stage was divided into Group B, with Inter Milan, Netherlands Ajax and Switzerland Basel. It can be counted as a top draw. Not to mention Basel, compared with Inter Milan and Ajax, Leeds United's combat effectiveness is more than one level higher than that of its opponents, and there is no problem in qualifying in the group.

When the first round of the Champions League group stage started, Leeds United tied 0:0 with Inter Milan away. Leeds's goal performance was normal, but Inter Milan, under the guidance of Bartini, played the Italian's "chain defense" to the extreme. Although Shaq, Lens, Murray and others made the opponent pay the price of four yellow cards, they failed to score.

Leeds United only scored 3 wins and 2 draws in five games in the new season, but Leeds fans seemed very happy. They even felt that the team's performance this season was better than last season!

The Community Shield lost to Manchester United 0:1 because Leeds United didn't make any effort at all. They were mainly young players to compete with the "Red Devils", only losing one goal and having an advantage in the field, which is enough to prove how outstanding Leeds' current youth training system is.

The two 0-0 draws against Chelsea can only prove that the team's luck is not very good and its condition has not been adjusted to its best, especially the draw with Chelsea at home. Leeds United has almost collapsed the "Blue Army". The 25-0 shooting ratio, 65%:35% possession rate, are enough to prove how powerful Leeds United are today.
Chapter completed!