Chapter 53: A Test of Tacit Understanding

Chapter 53: A Test of Mutual Understanding

"What did the old man say?"

After returning from the touchline, Giroud was asked loudly by one of his teammates.

Giroud didn't say much immediately.

He looked toward Li Mo.

Then, he said aloud, "The old man said we are going to score, and we are going to win!!!"

After Arsenal's goal, the players' morale was already soaring.

Upon hearing these words, their morale skyrocketed even further.

The momentum between the two sides shifted.

As the match resumed, Arsenal quickly took control of the pitch.

Having tasted success with the first goal, Arsenal fully implemented their previous tactical approach.

They utilized Giroud, the giant central forward, as the tactical pivot, while Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere served as dual attacking midfielders feeding Li Mo with final passes.

Schalke 04's defensive line was clearly somewhat underprepared for this style of attack.

In the sixty-first minute, Li Mo once again received a through ball, faced the goalkeeper, and poked the ball into the net with the tip of his toe.

However, just before that, the whistle blew.

The assistant referee on the touchline had already raised his flag.

"Offside!!!" shouted Andy Grey regretfully at the top of his lungs.

In front of their televisions, many Arsenal fans clutched their heads in despair.

Gasps echoed through the stands of the Veltins-Arena.

"Li Mo puts the ball into the net once again, but unfortunately, it's offside! Schalke 04 escapes by the skin of their teeth! However, Arsenal has clearly found an attacking method that makes Schalke 04 extremely uncomfortable. Huub Stevens has to respond to this!"

Commentator Schmitz from Sport1 in Germany said with a slight frown.

The camera cut to Huub Stevens on the touchline.

The Schalke 04 manager was indeed experiencing a headache at this moment.

On one hand, he couldn't possibly have his center-backs follow Giroud all the way to midfield.

Doing so would leave the defensive line even thinner and grant Li Mo vastly more space to exploit.

Yet, Giroud's linking play in midfield was indeed causing a dilemma that Schalke's midfield struggled to handle.

What should he do?

"Make a substitution!" suggested Stevens' assistant.

Since the existing players on the pitch offered very little room for tactical adjustment, for a manager, the only option left was to make a substitution.

Stevens nodded.

He glanced toward his bench.

Among the substitutes, the only one who could rival Giroud in height and physical duels was probably the Brazilian center-back Marcelo Santana.

However, if he were to bring on Santana, he might as well push his current center-back, Joël Matip, further up the pitch, as Matip was certainly capable of matching Giroud physically.

That being the case...

Stevens quickly made his decision.

He decided to substitute center-back Kyriakos Papadopoulos in for American defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones. Papadopoulos was a versatile player capable of playing multiple defensive positions, including center-back, left-back, and defensive midfielder.

Moreover, he was a relatively short center-back whose greatest traits were mobility and agility.

His introduction would allow him and Matip to interchange defensive duties: Matip would push up to duel with Giroud, while Papadopoulos would use his speed and agility to hound Li Mo.

This seemed like a genuinely good solution.

For any manager facing a predicament, making a wrong decision was better than making no decision at all.

Stevens made his choice decisively.

However, while Papadopoulos stood on the touchline waiting to enter the pitch, possession remained firmly in Arsenal's control.

"Arsenal is controlling the ball in midfield... Li Mo attempts to make another forward run. Schalke 04's defensive line employs the offside trap tactic once again..."

Li Mo surged forward.

Simultaneously, Benedikt Höwedes, Joël Matip, Japanese right-back Atsuto Uchida, and Austrian left-back Christian Fuchs stepped up in unison, catching Li Mo in the offside trap.

Li Mo's run forward ended in futility once again.

Yet he was not discouraged, turning back to retrace his steps.

With Giroud on the pitch, Li Mo's job was indeed much easier—at least Giroud shouldered the vast majority of physical duels.

It wasn't that Li Mo couldn't handle physical contact.

However, his stamina remained a bottleneck, and physical duels were the most draining of all.

Before his stamina issue was fully resolved, Li Mo largely positioned himself as a poacher.

Relying on Giroud as a target man allowed his movement to be far more fluid—from this perspective, Arsène Wenger's observation had been spot-on.

To maximize Li Mo's scoring ability, it was best to pair him with a blue-collar partner who would do the dirty, exhausting work.

Both Höwedes and Matip were panting.

Their stamina was superior to Li Mo's, but defending him required an immense expenditure of physical energy—above all, it demanded absolute concentration.

Otherwise, if their attention lapsed even for a fraction of a second, Li Mo might suddenly appear behind them and latch onto a one-on-one opportunity!

This lingering sense of danger kept the nerves of Schalke's backline strained to the limit.

Even though Li Mo had been caught in the offside trap this time, both Höwedes and Matip knew there was little reason to celebrate.

That was the difference between a forward and a defender:

If a defender succeeded ten times and failed once, it was still a failure.

If a forward failed ten times and succeeded just once—that single success could mean a goal!!

Furthermore...

This time, Cazorla hadn't played the pass—though passing would have been fine too, as Schalke could have naturally reclaimed possession and released the accumulated pressure.

Cazorla had seen Schalke's defensive line step up collectively just as he was about to deliver the ball.

If he had played that pass, Li Mo would have likely been offside.

Therefore, he chose to pass backward instead, feeding the ball to Mikel Arteta, who was providing support in the central area.

Arteta looked up toward the front line, then pushed the ball directly into Giroud's feet with the instep of his foot.

Giroud had his back to Schalke's goal.

Initially, he intended to trap the ball and lay it off to the flank.

At that exact moment, he heard a shout.

"Olivier!!"

It was Li Mo!!

In Giroud's mind, Li Mo's habitual running routes flashed before him.

Even without turning his head to locate Li Mo, he decided to attempt a risky pass.

Facing Arteta's vertical pass, Giroud flicked the ball up with the outside of his right foot.

The ball lofted into the air, soaring over the heads of the two defenders rushing toward him.

Simultaneously, he completed a spin, spotting a very familiar figure...

Only to realize that this figure had overrun his run slightly...

Right at that instant, Giroud suddenly saw Li Mo spin around, locking eyes with him.

An inspiration struck him.

He slanted his run diagonally into the penalty area!

Li Mo had expected Giroud to play the ball to his feet, so he had accelerated to top speed after making his initial run.

Who would have guessed...

That Giroud would loft a chipped pass over the top.

The ball traveled slowly.

Li Mo had accidentally overcooked his run.

As he turned back, he saw the ball dropping toward him.

If he attempted to trap it with his back to the goal, all chances would likely evaporate.

So he looked at Giroud...

Everything now depended on whether the two of them shared any mutual understanding.

Li Mo met the ball, grazing it slightly with his head.

He redirected the ball horizontally toward the right side of the penalty area.

Li Mo's headed flick was executed to absolute perfection.

It was placed precisely so that Giroud, bursting forward at full speed, only needed to leap slightly to reach it.

True to expectation, Giroud sprinted forward at high speed.

Then...

He jumped.

Header!!

With virtually no defense contesting him, Giroud violently smashed the ball into the back of Schalke 04's net!