Good News: Arsenal's Corner-Kick Tactics Were Unstoppable. Bad News: It Seemed Like That Was All They Could Do!

The score was 1-2 at halftime.

As Arsenal players high-fived and hugged each other, walking jubilantly into the tunnel, Manchester City fans on both sides of the stands launched into a tirade of abuse.

"Rogue! Tactical rogue!"

"Is this how you play football, huh?"

"The referee is blind! You're playing dog shit football!"

"If you're so capable, go play like this in the UEFA Champions League! You're only good at bullying your own people!"

Arsenal, playing at home in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, suffered a 0-2 defeat to Barcelona, being completely dominated by the Barca and playing utterly awful.

Therefore, seeing their team trailing, Manchester City fans deliberately used this match to provoke Arsenal players.

However, these players seemed completely unfazed by the jeers from Manchester City fans.

Giroud, who scored the first half goal, taunted a Manchester City fan by giving him the middle finger and even playfully sticking out his tongue at him, looking completely unconcerned.

Forget about the UEFA Champions League. We Arsenal have never even considered competing for UEFA Champions League. Look at our club history's trophies, do we have UEFA Champions League title?

This is exactly the EFL Cup we wanted, hehe~

In fact, Wenger had long been prepared for the rogue corner kick tactic, but he didn't use it even in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League home game against Barca, instead planning to use it in the EFL Cup final against Manchester City. This shows how much he values this trophy.

After all, the EFL Cup may not matter to Manchester City, but for Arsenal, who haven't won a title in years, it's a lifeline.

No one can take this trophy from Arsenal!

However, Arsenal seems to have miscalculated. Manchester City is not indifferent to the EFL Cup; on the contrary, they value it very much!

Every Manchester City player is eager to lift their first trophy of the season in March.

The key to turning the tide of this match lies in how to defend against Arsenal's corner kick tactics.

"I've figured it out, boss!" assistant coach Rayne said excitedly. "Arsenal can't do anything, except take those corner kicks. If we can break their tactic, we can definitely turn the game around!"

Pellegrini touched his brow, thinking, "Rayne has been with me for so many years, why is he still spouting nonsense? I know I need to break through, but how?"

"I suggest we call our set-piece coach immediately and get his opinion," Rayne said. "I'm sure he's watching the game on TV."

Like many Premier League teams, Manchester City has also hired a dedicated set-piece coach.

Whether defending set pieces or attacking from set pieces, the set-piece coach provides the players with professional guidance.

However, Pellegrini quickly dismissed the idea.

Any set-piece tactic, whether offensive or defensive, requires extensive pre-match practice in training in order to be executed effectively during the game.

At the very least, it should be explained in person.

In this short 15-minute halftime break, let alone whether Manchester City's set-piece coach can come up with a solution, even if he does, how can Pellegrini convey it to the players based solely on a phone explanation?

Wenger's rogue corner kick tactic, though rogue, was indeed effective from a tactical perspective.

In his coaching career, Pellegrini has never encountered a corner kick tactic that deliberately obstructs the movement of defensive players.

For a moment, his head full of white hair couldn't come up with a good way to defeat the enemy.

With time running out and the task heavy, he simply opened up to the players and let them share their thoughts.

A cacophony of voices erupted in the locker room!

Defender Ranocchia said there was no good way but to mark the man as closely as possible in man-marking tactics and push the attacking players away from the goalkeeper.

Veteran player Toure said that pressure must continue to be put on the referee to make him realize that it is wrong to allow Arsenal players to take corner kicks like this!

Full-back Zabaleta said that they must do everything possible to prevent Arsenal from getting any corner kicks, including set pieces.

However, Pellegrini felt that while these suggestions made sense, they didn't hit the nail on the head and were unlikely to have an immediate effect.

If the man-marking had been really tight, Arsenal players wouldn't have stood a chance. The problem is, they weren't marked properly!

What else is there to pressure the referee? The referee for this match is Oliver, who is also one of the "Four Blinds" in the Premier League. He has a tough and stubborn attitude. Do you think he will listen to your pressure? In the first half Toure got a yellow card for putting pressure on him. If you put pressure on him again, I'm afraid I will have to substitute you at halftime.

Some people even said that we should do everything we can to avoid giving Arsenal corner kicks and set pieces.

Is this something you can avoid just by wanting to?

There was a lot of chatter in the locker room, but no truly constructive suggestions were offered.

Pellegrini glanced at his watch; seven minutes had passed, and halftime was already halfway through.

This kind of wild thinking can't go on.

Pellegrini looked around and finally spotted Tang Long sitting in a corner of the locker room, head bowed in deep thought.

The Chile asked Tang Long tentatively, with an expectant tone:

"Tang, don't stay silent! Do you have any good ideas? Tell us!"

Although Tang Long is not yet 20 years old, his top-notch anticipation and accurate overall vision on the field have always impressed Pellegrini, who is full of praise for him.

Therefore, Pellegrini would occasionally discuss the team's tactics with Tang Long during training.

Tang Long often offered constructive suggestions.

While Pellegrini may not agree with or adopt all of Tang Long's ideas, Tang Long's innovative thinking and forward-thinking approach to football often provide new inspiration for old-school coaches like Pellegrini.

While his teammates were responding to Pellegrini's call in the locker room and offering their opinions, Tang Long remained silent.

It wasn't that he had nothing to say, but rather that in those limited few minutes, he was constantly reviewing Arsenal's corner kick tactics in his mind.

Meanwhile, another space in his mind was constantly exploring the match videos he usually fed to the AI System.

Many of these shots included goals scored from corner kicks.

[Search analysis in progress...]

Tang Long nodded knowingly.

Then Tang Long got up and walked over to Pellegrini, telling him his thoughts.

At first, Pellegrini nodded slightly in agreement with Tang Long's suggestion.

But the more he listened, the stranger it seemed, until finally his eyes widened in disbelief.

The other teammates, who were listening intently to Tang Long's advice, were even more astonished!

What kind of tactic is this?

Are you kidding me? This sounds even more bizarre than Arsenal's hooligan corner kick tactics!

The key is that we've never practiced this unique tactic in training.

Teaching assistant Rayne was instantly enraged!

"Tang! The boss asked you to speak so you could offer constructive suggestions. If you don't understand tactics, you can shut up and stop talking nonsense, okay? Halftime is precious!"

Faced with Rayne's accusations, Tang Long remained unperturbed, simply replying to him:

"You think my tactic is no good? Fine, you do it yourself! Give me some constructive suggestions!"

What constructive suggestions could Rayne possibly offer?

When Pellegrini first asked him, he actually said he wanted to call the team's set-piece coach, a move that Tang Long found quite distasteful. The situation was already at its most critical, and he wanted to ask the set-piece coach for remote guidance over the phone? Wasn't that ridiculous?

All eyes were on Pellegrini, awaiting his final decision.

Pellegrini pondered for a full minute, his eyes fixed on the tactics board, then suddenly glanced at his watch. They only had one minute left to rest!

Without further hesitation, he slapped his thigh and declared loudly, "Alright, do as Tang says!"

The second half has begun!

In the 52nd minute, Arsenal repeated their tactic.

After Welbeck dribbled the ball to the left flank, he faced off against Kolarov in a one-on-one situation.

Because he had inadvertently created a corner kick while defending Welbeck one-on-one last time, Kolarov didn't dare to be careless this time and quickly called Gündoğan to come and help defend.

However, Welbeck clearly came with a mission; this time, he didn't intend to break through the double-team defense, but instead dribbled the ball all the way to the wing.

When Kolarov closed in, aim at Kolarov ankle and unleash a powerful shot with the instep!

With a thud, the football bounced out of bounds.

Kolarov watched as Welbeck happily picked up the ball and tossed it to Cazorla, then realized with a start, "Damn, we fell for that kid's trick!"

Arsenal have won another corner kick!

Although Arsenal only had two shots in the first half, both of them resulted in goals, and both came from corner kicks.

This highly efficient corner kick attack drew cheers and jubilation from the Arsenal fans at Wembley Stadium.

When they saw Welbeck win another corner kick, many people started yelling.

"Score one! Score another one!"

"Beat Manchester City with a corner kick!"

"Hahaha, let's give him a hat-trick of corner kicks!"

"My God, in all these years, Arsenal has never looked forward to a corner kick like this!"

As usual, Giroud, Koscielny, and Welbeck, three tall players, entered Manchester City's penalty area, waiting for Toure, Ranocchia, and Otamendi to mark them closely.

But this time, they were completely stunned!

The players who came to mark them closely were not the tall Manchester City opponents from the first half.

Instead, it was Clichy, Zabaleta, and Sterling!

The average height of these three players is only about 1.75 meters, with the shortest, Sterling, being just over 1.7 meters tall.

Giroud, Koscielny, and Welbeck are all over 185 cm tall, with Giroud exceeding 190 cm.

But now Giroud is facing Clichy, Koscielny is facing Zabaleta, and Welbeck is standing next to Sterling.

From any angle, these three Arsenal players were more than half a head taller than the three Manchester City players marking them.

"Hey buddy, you're only just getting here? Are you sure you want to be wary of me?"

Welbeck pointed to his neck, laughing mocking his national team teammate Sterling.

Veteran Giroud sensed something was amiss.

His gaze swept around the penalty area, and when he saw that Ranocchia, Toure, and Kolarov, three tall players, were not marking him closely but instead using zonal marking inside the penalty area, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Shorter players are man-to-man marking, while taller players are zonal marking – isn't that going against the grain?

The most perplexing figure was Tang Long, who was standing near the penalty spot.

Tang Long changed position and retreated back into the penalty area.

With his hands behind his back, he paid no attention to the Arsenal players' positions on the field, only staring at Cazorla, who was preparing to take the penalty kick.

What Giroud found strange was, what was the point of standing at the penalty spot?

Which player would send a corner kick so far that it goes to the penalty spot? That's deliberately taking the ball away from the center of the goal.

While everyone was still wondering, Cazorla still raised one hand in a V-sign and took the corner kick!

Cazorla's V sign is very deceptive.

This was something Wenger specifically instructed him on during the pre-match practice.

Often, players taking corner kicks will use specific hand gestures to indicate whether they will deliver the kick to the front center or the far post.

However, the landing point of the ball that Wenger designed for Cazorla was dynamically changing!

This gesture can only be used three times.

The first time it's used, it represents a penalty point on the back; the second time, it represents a penalty point on the front; and the third time, it's still a penalty point on the back.

The movement remains the same, but the landing point changes, using this dynamic variation to confuse Manchester City's defensive players.

For this third corner kick, Cazorla delivered the ball to the far post again, just like his first corner kick!

Welbeck was positioned at the far post. He immediately retreated, hoping to shake off Sterling, and then headed the ball back into the middle.

Meanwhile, Koscielny and Giroud were ready in the middle, and their shoving and pushing turned Manchester City's penalty area upside down.

"Don't run!"

Sterling's acceleration was incredibly fast, in no way inferior to Welbeck's. Although Welbeck took three steps back, he accurately judged the landing point. However, Sterling, with his even faster acceleration, jumped even before Welbeck!

"Ah!!!"

Welbeck hadn't expected Sterling to react so quickly. Although, thanks to his height advantage, his forehead wasn't lower than Sterling's Sterling they jumped at the same time, they were only Pinzi. Welbeck's head collided heavily with Sterling's, and the ball bounced off between their heads!

"Mine!"

Tang Long, who was waiting near the penalty spot, anticipated the trajectory of the ball's rebound before anyone else and cleared it out of bounds with a long kick.

Only then did Giroud, who had retreated from the small penalty area, arrive late. He had originally intended to support Welbeck at the second ball.

Seeing his players successfully defend against the corner kick, Pellegrini, who had been on tenterhooks before Cazorla took the penalty, breathed a sigh of relief.

This tactic was very effective!

While using a shorter player to mark a taller player may not guarantee a win of the ball, the shorter player has faster reaction time, more agile footwork and acceleration, and can keep up with the opponent more quickly, preventing them from getting past him.

Especially in a corner kick tactic like Arsenal's, which relies on players moving over a wide area, shorter players have an advantage over taller ones.

Tang Long, positioned at the penalty spot, is a mobile player ready to pounce at any moment. Because his anticipation is a level above that of other players, Tang Long can clear the ball before it deflects or bounces unexpectedly.

Manchester City's successful corner kick defense left Wenger completely bewildered.

No one expected that Sterling could actually defend against Welbeck's header and disrupt him. Before this, even a proper center-back like Otamendi had been outmaneuvered by Welbeck.

Let's do it a fourth time!

Just five minutes later, Arsenal won another corner kick.

This time, Cazorla didn't make a V sign; instead, he raised one arm horizontally.

The ball didn't fly towards the near post or the far post, but instead flew towards the middle.

We're looking for Giroud!

Giroud is 193cm tall, but he was closely marked by Manchester City full-back Clichy, who is only 176cm tall.

Giroud was also very strategic when facing the ball. He first took a step back to the left, then a step back, and then a step forward, using several footwork movements to shake off Clichy. However, Clichy stuck to him like glue.

However, Giroud was not worried. His height advantage could completely overwhelm Clichy. But just as Giroud was about to jump, Ranocchia, another zone defender, had already arrived, and Tang Long also rushed over from behind.

Klichi pinned Giroud down from below, while Ranocchia and Tang Long attacked from the front and back!

Surrounded by three opponents, Giroud felt like he was being blocked by three walls. Although he managed to jump, he only managed to hit air. The ball Ranocchia, and when Giroud pulled back, the back of his head bumped into Tang Long's shoulder.

The enormous Giroud was thrown to the ground, clutching the back of his head and grimacing.

"Great, great, that's wonderful!"

Another successful corner kick defense filled Pellegrini with joy.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Rayne, who had previously questioned Tang Long's tactics, was quite surprised.

This time, the combination of man-to-man marking and zone defense completely suppressed Giroud.

"Rayne, I've really seen something new today. I never thought of using smaller players for man-to-man defense and bigger players for zone defense. It seems to be working quite well today. Rayne, you should really go and learn from Tang when you have the chance, listen to his tactical thinking. It will definitely benefit your improvement!"

Good news: Arsenal's corner kick tactics are truly unbeatable.

Bad news: It seems like that's all they know how to do!

After Manchester City thwarted Arsenal's corner kick tactics, they failed to register a single shot in the next 20 minutes, completely on the back foot.

The Arsenal players were frustrated and confused!

This tactic was something Professor Wenger had been developing for a long time.

This tactic was clearly very effective in the first half, scoring two goals against Manchester City, so why was it completely shut down in the second half?

Moreover, the idea of a smaller player marking a larger player is unheard of in any tactical context in world football.

Did Pellegrini orchestrate a new defensive system in midfield with masterful tactical skill, transforming the team in just 15 minutes?

That's incredible!

After 70 minutes, Arsenal players' stamina began to decline rapidly.

This is the time for Manchester City to reap the rewards.

In the 72nd minute, Tang Long's signature through ball, combined with Bony's mindless diagonal run, delivered a fatal blow, and the goal behind Cech was blasted open again!

Bony roared!

Tang Long opened his arms to him!

With the score tied and no new counter-attacking tactics in hand, Arsenal simply began to retreat completely.

In the 80th minute, Wenger brought on a defender to strengthen the defense, while Pellegrini also made substitutions, with Bony coming off and Agüero coming on, indicating that Manchester City's passing and possession in the attacking third was becoming more refined.

"We're now entering the final 10 minutes of the game!"

"The famous football star Ronaldo, who is also Tang Long's agent, once said that the decisive moment in a match is in the last 10 minutes!"

"The score is 2-2, both sides are on equal footing!"

"Arsenal had four set pieces in the second half, but none of them resulted in a shot on goal!"

"On the other hand, Manchester City's offensive has become increasingly fierce; they've struck after the enemy has made their move!"

"The scales of the game are already tipping!"

"Go Tang Long! Fans all over the country are cheering for you!"

"Victory and trophies are beckoning you!"