Chapter 374: The Controversial Mourinho

"Okay, after a 15-minute break, the second half of the game will begin soon."

The players of both teams walked out of the tunnel, scattered into many rows and jogged into the field. At this time, a message popped up in the upper left corner of the screen.

↓ 6 Pogba
↑ 4 Fabregas
"Hmm? This substitution...what does Mourinho mean by this?"

Not only the two commentators from CCTV, the fans at the scene, and even the coaching staff of Arsenal were stunned.

Fabregas replaced Pogba who was in great form. What on earth was going through Mourinho's mind?
The director's camera turned to Boulder on the bench, who was already sweating profusely.

Being behind by one goal and unable to guess the opponent's tactics was difficult for Arsenal's coaching staff to accept.

Mourinho must have his reasons for making such substitutions. What is the reason behind it?

At this time, a very interesting scene appeared on the screen of CCTV's live broadcast room. This was a slow-motion replay. When the director announced that Pogba was leaving the field, Abramovich in the VIP box directly spit out the champagne he had just drunk and made a gesture of spreading his hands.

Obviously, the boss Abramovich doesn't know why Mourinho made such substitutions.

Pogba sat next to Cahill on the bench, wearing a sweatshirt over his jersey and the hood of the sweatshirt, looking like a basketball player taking a rest.

"Paul, why are you leaving the court? Go up, go up quickly!"

"What the hell?"

The fans closest to the back of the stands shouted that they had not seen enough of Pogba's wonderful performance!
Let's put the substitution issue aside for now. The game has already started and the Arsenal coaching staff dare not delay. While Bould was observing the situation on the field, he asked the equipment assistant to give a factual report.

Since it is not clear why Mourinho made this substitution, let's use the data to speak.

Pogba is the only player who has been substituted so far in the game, and he is also the only variable. By analyzing the difference in Chelsea's offensive and defensive data in the first and second half, we can understand Mourinho's intention of making this substitution.

However, Boulder discovered something very strange.

Whether it's the depth of attack, number of attacks, density of defense, or success rate of steals in the backcourt... Chelsea's data were all declining in the second half.

Bould was completely confused. All of Chelsea's objective data were declining, which meant that Mourinho's substitution had nothing to do with tactics!

"Jesus!"

After looking at the data in the notebook, Bould stood up from his chair. On the surface, he was watching the game on the field, but in fact, he was always glancing at Mourinho.

Now it seems that there is only one reason why Mourinho made this substitution, which is to try a new lineup system and playing style for the team.

In other words, Chelsea actually treated Arsenal, which is also in the top four, as a test subject!
Damn that old Portuguese guy!

Mourinho's underestimation of the opponent directly angered Bould, and the English coach directly advanced the time of substitution.

52 '
"Arsenal also made substitutions, No. 12 Giroud replaced No. 7 Sanchez, No. 23 Welbeck replaced No. 14 Walcott"

"Arsenal is trying to catch up with the score away from home by replacing two forwards in a row!"

Arsenal made the substitution just in time for a corner kick, and the tall Olivier Giroud got a very good chance right after coming on the pitch, heading the ball directly through the goal defended by Courtois.

It’s a pity that Koscielny fouled Jiang Yuan by pulling him down in the penalty area, so Giroud’s header was ruled invalid.

Remi pulled Jiang Yuan up from the ground. The latter patted the grass clippings on his butt and whispered "fuck".

Damn, it’s a good thing I fell to the ground just now, otherwise it would be terrible if Arsenal really caught up with the score.

1：0和1：1是两个完全不同的比分，1：0的状态下切尔西可以散散步，小摆烂一手也是没关系的，但1：1就不行了，切尔西必须全力进攻来拿到3分。

What Chelsea least wants now is the score to reach 1:1. As a striker, Jiang Yuan can clearly feel the gap between Fabregas and Pogba in attack. The latter's advancement speed and passing imagination are far beyond the former.

The only benefit that Fabregas brings to Chelsea is that when they are counterattacked, Fabregas will be more active in returning to defense than Pogba, so Terry and Zouma will not be under so much pressure.

Then there is no more.

Jiang Yuan, Hazard, Falcao, and even Remy felt uncomfortable with Mourinho's substitution, but unlike Bould, they knew the reason.

Given the situation in the locker room more than ten minutes ago, if Mourinho had allowed Pogba to continue playing, how would he, as a coach, speak in the locker room in the future?

Pretend you didn't hear?
This is not something Mourinho would do.

The game entered the 60th minute and things were getting more and more wrong. Without Ibrahimovic acting as a stake in the penalty area and Pogba acting as a bulldozer behind, after getting the ball, Hazard could only pass the ball back except for crossing positions with Jiang Yuan.

Arsenal were also smart. Bellerin and Chamberlain hung directly on Jiang Yuan, and in the end Hazard could only take a long shot by himself.

After a very unreasonable long shot, Hazard held his head with both hands and asked Jiang Yuan for help: "How do I come on?"

Jiang Yuan ran over and patted Hazard on the shoulder: "Forget it, just play defense."

The gap between Chelsea and Arsenal was almost non-existent to begin with. Now with three main players absent, it is pure dreaming for them to still want to suppress the opponent.

The good thing is that the score is 1:0 now, and the defense line is fully equipped. Chelsea only needs to make sure Arsenal does not score in the remaining 20 minutes to win the game.

The home team Blues slowed down the pace of the game when they were only leading by one goal, which made the fans in China who stayed up late to watch the game sleepy.

[What the hell, do you know how to pass the ball? What is Xiao Jiang doing? ]

[Do you still want to break through if you don’t pass the ball back? There are at least 3 people in front of Jiang Yuan. What’s the point of breaking through? Arsenal has already locked this road.]

[Mourinho is also a talent, why did he replace Pogba? 】

[I don't know. It's strange to replace Pogba. But I saw Pogba collide with Ozil when he was pressing in the first half. Was he injured?]

[How could Pogba be injured if Ozil wasn't injured? Pogba is not bad in confrontations anyway]

[We are only leading by one goal, can Mourinho please stop doing this? It makes me panic.]

[Pogba has a yellow card, Mourinho wants to protect Pogba, can't you see such a simple thing? 】

[To protect Pogba? Shouldn't they make substitutions at the 6th or 70th minute? What's the point of making substitutions at the beginning of the second half?]

[It doesn’t matter, as for Arsenal’s sewer attack, Chelsea is guaranteed to win]

[??? Arsenal's attack is like a sewer, but is Chelsea's defense also like a sewer? ]

[Arsenal: Thanks to Liverpool for giving Ibrahimovic a red card. We must seize this opportunity]

Arsenal's ranking in the league table this season is not as good as last season, but if you deny their strength because of this, you would be wrong.

In the first half of the league, Arsenal, led by Professor Wenger, defeated Liverpool with a score of 3:0. If it weren't for the three goals scored by Arsenal, the second place in the standings would not be Chelsea but Liverpool.

Arsenal defeated Liverpool, but Liverpool responded with Ibrahimovic's red card, and Chelsea became the third party between the two teams.

In the 72nd minute, Iwobi's shot in the penalty area almost penetrated Chelsea's goal, forcing Mourinho to start preparing for substitutions.

The players warming up off the field now are Chalobah and Alonso, both defenders. It is impossible to replace Terry and Zouma who are in hot form. Then Mourinho has only one choice for the substitution, which is to replace Hazard and Falcao.

As for Jiang Yuan, I'm sorry, Chelsea's main strategy this season is counterattack. As long as Jiang Yuan is not injured or has muscle fatigue, it is basically impossible for him to be replaced.

Defensive counterattack, the core is defense, but the word "counterattack" also has a very important position.

If you cut off the only sharp part of your body, your opponent will attack you with impunity.

Without Hazard and Ibrahimovic acting as wingmen, it would be impossible for Jiang Yuan to score any wonderful goals, but Mourinho knew that Jiang Yuan could play a deterrent role on the field.

As long as you, Jiang Yuan, are still on the field, Arsenal will never dare to let all the defenders press forward when attacking. This is the key.

In the 76th minute, Courtois' long pass found Jiang Yuan, who ran out for a solo shot. The ball had already hit the net of the goal but the referee called it offside. This is really something.

As the game approached the 80th minute, Arsenal played more and more aggressively. Ozil took the ball in the middle and passed it to Welbeck, who lofted the ball into the penalty area.

Giroud jumped in the penalty area and headed the ball back to Ozil, who then passed the ball to Monreal on the left.

"Follow him, just follow him!"

Courtois shouted that Ake had just participated in an attack and had not returned yet, so Zouma had to catch up.

Zouma's blocking ability is very good, but there is an essential difference between a central defender and a full-back. Monreal made a few simple feints and easily shook off Zouma, who was slow to change direction, and finally made a cross to Giroud outside the small penalty area.

"Giroud and Terry's confrontation, let's see if Giroud can grab the ball, this could be a draw for Arsenal..."

"GOAL! GOAL! A penalty goal from Olivier Giroud!"

"In the 81st minute of the game, Arsenal equalized against Chelsea!"

"Wait, let's see what the referee says. This ball is suspected to be offside. We need to see if it is really offside."

As soon as Giroud scored, Jiang Yuan went straight to the referee and kept shouting "offside" and "offside". In fact, Jiang Yuan didn't know whether the ball was offside or not, but he just shouted first regardless of the consequences.

In the camera, referee Jones held the earphone with one hand and listened to the judgment of the referee backstage.

At this time, VAR has already begun to be trialed in Major League Soccer matches. According to the judgment of the FIFA Development Committee, this technology can also help with the refereeing of football matches.

However, considering that the so-called "video assistant referee" technology has only just come out, all major leagues are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

As for offside, as long as it is not the offside at the millimeter level, it can be judged by the human eye.

"Beep!" The referee listened to the advice of the backstage assistant, blew the whistle and pointed to the center circle.

The goal is valid!

fuck!

Frustrated, Courtois kicked the goal post.

From the first half till now, the Belgian goalkeeper has been in surprisingly good form, but he was scored by the opponent in the last few minutes.

My goal is a clean sheet!

"Bravo Goal!"

As the camera focused, Boulder swung his right hand upwards, venting his excitement at the moment.

If we show Mourinho and Abramovich again, the Blues coach and major shareholder will already be unhappy.

“Beep, beep, beep—!!!”

"Okay, the game is over. Arsenal drew with Chelsea 1:1 in the away game."

"Chelsea led in the first half, but in the second half, Chelsea suddenly began to weaken."

Just as Huang Jianxiang analyzed, the worst part of Chelsea's game was the 15 minutes of halftime when Mourinho made wrong substitutions and tactical adjustments.

Of course, Ibrahimovic's red card and William's injury are still too crucial.

Arsenal's performance this season has been average. If they were to compete with a fully-formed Chelsea, the Gunners would have no chance at all.

Not to mention the Gunners, if William had not been injured, Chelsea might already be at the top of the standings.

After the game, the staff erected a huge billboard on the grass. Mourinho stood in front of the billboard, facing the camera of Sky Sports reporter, and his face was not very good.

"You were tied by Arsenal in the final minutes. Jose, as the coach of the team, do you think this result is acceptable?"

Mourinho shook his head: "It's unacceptable, but the fact is that we have to accept it. Our defense exposed problems in the first half, and in the second half, this problem was magnified. Of course, Arsenal is a very strong team, which is also one of the key reasons."

When talking about the difference between the first and second half, the reporter's eyes lit up: "You replaced Pogba at the beginning of the second half, and then the team's offensive end had obvious problems. Can you tell us why you replaced Pogba?"

"certainly"

Mourinho shrugged indifferently: "Paul already has a yellow card, and he had some conflicts with Mesut (Ozil) in the first half. Our players got red cards in the last round, and I don't want anyone to get a red card in this game."

"As I said just now, Arsenal is a very strong team. If we play with one less player, it will be very difficult for us in the second half."

Mourinho was right. The most feared thing in a strong dialogue is being short of players. In the dozens of minutes after Ibrahimovic was sent off in the 23rd round, Chelsea was constantly being beaten and was in great pain.

"Are you satisfied with Fabregas' performance?"

"To be honest, Cesc's performance today was not what I expected. This is because he has not participated in high-intensity games for a long time. I can understand that."

Mourinho looked at the camera with a smile. Although the game was equalized in the end, it was a draw after all, not a loss, so there was no need to be so sad.

The reporter pulled the microphone to his lips: "Well, will you give Fabregas more chances in the future?"

"If he can show good competitive condition in training and fully implement the team's tactics, he can get a starting position"

The reporter looked at Mourinho and glanced at the small note in his hand: "If Fabregas doesn't get a chance to start, will he be sold in the summer window?"

"The summer transfer window is in June, and it's only February now. It's still early, am I right?"

……

The post-match ratings from the football expert: Kante was the highest with 8.3, Jiang Yuan and Hazard were 7.8, Pogba was fourth with 7.5, Courtois was 6.2, and Mourinho was the lowest with 3.7.

Sky Sports - Why did the former best coach go crazy by replacing Pogba early to avoid a red card?
Chelsea legend Pat Nevin: I don’t understand why Mourinho replaced Pogba, this is incredible!
The Sun's front page headline - Pogba liked Pat Nevin's tweet criticising Mourinho, then un-liked it.

Online public opinion favors Pogba, and there are many Chelsea fans on Twitter and Instagram criticizing Mourinho.

There is no way. Pogba is really a monster this season. Fans can't think of any reason why Mourinho replaced Pogba.

If it was just because of the concern that Pogba would get a yellow card, there would be no need to replace him at the beginning of the second half.

Now the fans have a feeling that in today's game, if they replace Mourinho, they might be able to beat Arsenal 1:0.

The substitution was an outrageous mistake, this is an objective fact, so even if Mourinho has won two consecutive championships, he cannot avoid being criticized.

It wasn’t until noon the next day after the game that a newspaper article became a hot topic.

The front page headline of "Football London" - Massarando, a cleaner at Stamford Bridge, said that he saw Mourinho and Pogba talking at the door of the toilet during the game yesterday evening. According to Massarando's account, Mourinho was angry about Pogba's discipline and even directly called the Frenchman a "fool".

The news was very explosive, and fans realized that it was very likely that Mourinho was dissatisfied with Pogba's enthusiasm for the game, so he replaced him.

After London Football published the headline, RAC1 also reported the incident - Mourinho had an argument with Pogba in the locker room because Mourinho was very dissatisfied with Pogba's attitude towards the game.

Because of his bad attitude, Mourinho did not let Pogba start.

The problem is that Pogba's attitude is not good, but whether in offense or defense, Pogba is more powerful than Fabregas!

Looking at it this way...it seems like Pogba is right?
However, the incident took another turn in London on the evening of February 2, and the trigger for this turn was the British media HITC.

In the latest report, HITC stated that Pogba is leaking information from the locker room to ensure that public opinion is biased in his side.

Originally almost everyone was on Pogba's side, but after HITC broke the news, the number of Chelsea fans in Pogba's camp was reduced by half.

The media has reported a lot of inside information, but no one has yet revealed the fuse of the conflict between Pogba and Mourinho, which was Pogba's "shit", which made the fans also worried.

Chelsea signed Pogba for 1.1 million euros, but the player had a dispute with the meritorious coach half a season later. The most outrageous thing is that Pogba was signed by the meritorious coach himself.

What the hell is going on?
……

It was the morning of February 2th, Chelsea's first training session after being tied by Arsenal. Pogba and Jiang Yuan were showing off their football skills to each other.

Pogba stepped on the ball with his right foot and pulled it behind him. When he was in a good position, he raised his right leg and knocked the ball with the arch of his foot, directly hitting the ball from the ground.

"oh my gosh"

Jiang Yuan exclaimed, Pogba smiled and handed the ball to Jiang Yuan: "Come on Jiang, you come too"

"well..."

Jiang Yuan bit his lip and carefully recalled what Pogba had just done.

Step on the ball, pull it behind your back, pull the ball up with your toes, and then smash it to the ground with the arch of your foot!
Snapped!
Jiang Yuan used a lot of strength, and the ball bounced and hit his foot.

It has risen, but not completely.

"Hahahaha!"

Pogba held his stomach, pointed at Jiang Yuan and laughed: "Come on bro, you really don't have any sense of the ball at all"

"What? What does this have to do with ball sense?"

Jiang Yuan spread his hands and responded to Pogba: "This move depends on your proficiency, you will get it if you practice more."

Jiang Yuan was right. Although Pogba's kick-off looked fancy, it actually did not require much technical skills. Even someone who couldn't even dribble the ball could do it almost exactly after practicing for a few days.

“No means no”

Pogba didn't bother to be polite with Jiang Yuan and mocked his good brother. At this time, Hazard, who was squatting and watching the show, came over, looked at Jiang Yuan, and then made a back-kick exactly the same as Pogba's.

Hazard said nothing, but it seemed like he said everything.

"well..."

Jiang Yuan touched his nose, not knowing what to say. Pogba looked at Hazard in surprise: "You have practiced before, otherwise you wouldn't be able to do it the first time."

Hazard wanted to explain something when Chelsea's coaching team arrived. Mourinho was wearing a pure black adidas down jacket, with Brown and Rozovic on either side. Rozovic had a knitted hat on his head. Other than that, the three were dressed the same.

Seeing Mourinho coming over, Pogba and Hazard stopped talking.

The Portuguese player was purposeful, with his hands in his trouser pockets, and walked straight towards Pogba.

"Paul out!"

"What? Me?"

Pogba pointed at his chest and looked at Mourinho in confusion. The latter did not react and his hands remained in his trouser pockets.

"Paul, OUT!"

……

(End of this chapter)