But this loss did not have a big impact on Arsenal.
Although I feel very depressed, Arsenal is still ranked first in the standings. What is there to be depressed about?
A one-point lead is also a lead.
Even though the team played like shit.
Arsenal players know it in their hearts, because there are no captain Luo Wu and forward Haaland in the team. Wouldn't it be strange to lose without them?
Not surprising.
This has actually formed a deep-rooted concept in their minds.
Facing Manchester City again in the League Cup final midweek, they really are not timid at all.
Because Luo Wu and Haaland may come back at the same time.
As long as they are here.
Then everything is possible.
Luo Wu's situation is a bit complicated at the moment. He didn't participate in the team's training the next day, or even trained alone.
Still recovering at home.
However, teammates who are very close to Luo Wu called or went to his home to offer condolences and inquire about news. The reply given by Luo Wu was that there was no big problem with him and there was a high probability that he would be able to participate in the game.
With this reassurance, their mood became happy again.
Just like Chelsea a dozen days ago, when Chelsea were leading by two goals in the League Cup, but Luo Wu came back and played for half of the game, knocking Chelsea out of the competition.
Now as long as Luo Wu returns to the bench, what's so scary about playing against Manchester City?
Didn’t Manchester City just lose 6:8?
Luo Wu is the key to this.
Arsenal players have such a weird mentality.
But Emery is not so optimistic. Luo Wu's words alone are inaccurate and must be verified by the team doctor. Only through machine inspection can we further determine the progress of Luo Wu's injury recovery.
If Luo Wu is injured, if you let him play, that will aggravate his injury. But this game is also the League Cup final. How much Arsenal longs for this championship.
Whenever there is a slight chance, Aimeili will let Luo Wu play in the game.
But you can't take risks.
So he was very cautious and specially arranged a medical staff beside Luo Wu to report the progress to him at any time.
In Emery's heart, without Luo Wu, it would be absolutely impossible to defeat Manchester City.
Arsenal will be left with nothing.
The news media also wanted to know the latest progress of Luo Wu's injury. Many paparazzi wandered around Luo Wu's mansion, trying to interview Luo Wu, but not even Luo Wu was seen.
With no other choice, they went to Arsenal's training ground to find out more information.
The news was that Luo Wu could not even leave the house and would be injured for at least another 10 days.
But is this news accurate? There are overwhelming reports about Luo Wu's injury, but they are all just based on inquiries.
Guardiola didn't believe it anyway.
So far, he has not apologized to Luo Wu. Now he has to face Arsenal led by Luo Wu, which can be said to be full of traffic.
Faced with the information given by the media, he simply did not believe that Luo Wu would not appear in the competition roster.
Therefore, when holding a tactics seminar, he still regarded Luo Wu as the only focus when deploying tactics.
"This is definitely a smoke bomb. I don't think Luo Wu will be injured for that long. Even if he is really injured and cannot play in the game, we still have to assume that he will play. Our first plan is to play if he does.
How to contain him."
"Don't believe the reports from outside news media and forget about all this. These are all false."
Once afraid of snake bites and ten years afraid of well ropes, Guardiola would rather train Luo Wu as an imaginary enemy to arrange everything.
He didn't want to suffer a loss from Luo Wu for the third time this season.
In fact, this does not require mobilization.
His disciples also held their breath in their hearts and agreed with the head coach's statement.
Otamendi, who had just been promoted to the first captain of the team, echoed:
"I think what the boss said is right. Things will never be that simple. Just think about that guy sitting on the bench on the second day of the Asian Cup final, and then Chelsea was sad. We must not make the same mistake.
.”
"I have a hunch that he is 100% going to play, so we have to be prepared now and start practicing how to defend him now."
Manchester City is facing a formidable enemy.
But Guardiola can't find a better way now, even though it is the third time he faces Arsenal with Luo Wu.
"Boss, how about we play defensive counterattack?" Otamendi suddenly made his suggestion.
"Defense wins championships."
A slight cold sweat broke out on Guardiola's forehead. Playing a defensive counterattack? He has never used such tactics in his life.
Defense wins championships? I have never won championships with defense in my life, but with offense!
So he did not respond to Otamendi.
In his heart, he still thinks about how to use absolute offense to destroy Arsenal.
Seeing that Guardiola remained silent, Otamendi continued.
"I think how we defended Messi before, how we should defend Luo Wu now?"
Guardiola was silent for a while and then shook his head.
"Messi is unstoppable."
"The same is true for Luo Wu."
"Offense is the best defense. We should not doubt this. If we play defensive tactics, the initiative will not be on our side. Then wouldn't we let him wreak havoc in our backcourt?"
"So defensive counterattacks are not considered."
"We still have to attack."
At this point, he actually already had the answer in his mind.
As for how to play and who to play, he still has to think carefully...
"If he plays, do we let him off early?" Otamendi added.
Guardiola finally looked at him and said calmly, "You don't need to ask me this question."
"In the absence of red and yellow cards, you should make appropriate tactical choices."
Although there is no direct answer, this is the general meaning.
Regarding Luo Wu, he didn't feel any guilt.
Defeating Luo Wu and defeating Arsenal was the only thing on his mind.
He has never hated someone so much.
He used to hate Ronaldo and Mourinho the most, but now there is another person added to the list.
Perhaps this is the biggest difficulty he has ever encountered in his life...
The bookmaker's prediction for the final this time was different from before, it just offered a tie.
Even if Manchester City slaughtered Chelsea and Arsenal lost the league, bookmakers still behaved cautiously.
After all, the current situation is not very clear. I don’t know whether Luo Wu will start or whether he will be included in the squad. Everything is unknown.
However, according to online surveys, the majority of people support Arsenal.
Perhaps people are tired of Manchester City winning, but 78% of people think Arsenal will win the championship.
However, such support is of no use and everything must be based on actual combat.