Wenger didn't scold his players for not listening to him before the last game, for their arrogance and underestimation that ultimately led to bitter fruit—that would have been too low-level. As a famous coach, how could he do such a superficial thing?

He simply told everyone to forget yesterday's game, just that one sentence, and then he didn't mention it again, starting to talk about the things to pay attention to in the next game.

He didn't say a word about the players' resistance to him before.

It was as if those things had never happened.

His attention was only on the next game.

But the more he was like this, the more tormented the Arsenal players became.

Of course, they couldn't show it directly, but everyone had already firmly resolved to defeat Liverpool in the next game and recover their reputation. To achieve this goal, they were willing to pay any price.

At the same time, the failure of this game also made them genuinely value the Liverpool reserve team. The boss was right, this was indeed not an ordinary reserve team, they had already proved with their performance that they deserved to be taken seriously by Arsenal's first team.

Wenger certainly knew these changes in the players' hearts. He continued to explain the tactical focus of the next game to everyone without revealing anything, but in his heart, he was already laughing.

Liverpool would definitely be arrogant and underestimate the enemy, while his side was full of murderous spirit and fighting spirit.

Now everything was ready.

Only the final battle remained.

※※※

Arsenal was buried in hard training, while the atmosphere on Liverpool's side was relatively relaxed.

They had already defeated Arsenal in the FA Cup, and they had the advantage psychologically. The victory in the first game filled them with confidence.

Arsenal was nothing more than this, they weren't afraid at all!

During this period, the reserve team players' favorite thing to do besides training was to pay attention to the praise and admiration they received from the media.

Every word was as sweet as honey, sweet all the way to their hearts.

These reserve team players also got to experience the feeling of being "top stars."

Now it wasn't just Chen Hero who was being besieged and interviewed by many media outlets after training, but them as well. And there were more fans than usual coming to take pictures with them and ask for autographs.

This made the suffering reserve team players burst into joy, feeling that this was simply the happiest and most glorious time since they entered the reserve team.

They even began to look forward to how the media would praise them after winning the second game.

※※※

Four days passed quickly, in the blink of an eye.

Soon, both sides ushered in their second encounter.

Arsenal came to Anfield for the second time in four days. They sat in the away team's locker room, waiting for boss Wenger to give his final pep talk.

In the past four days of training, Wenger had not mentioned the previous game, nor had he mentioned the players' previous dissatisfaction with his views, which resulted in a disastrous Waterloo.

But with only a dozen minutes left before this game, he finally mentioned the previous game.

Because he wanted to ignite the final fire for the team, turning them into a raging fire that would burn down all obstacles at Anfield.

"I know that game was a disgrace for many of you. For me, it was the same."

Everyone looked at Wenger in surprise. Wenger had been sitting on the coaching bench during that game, and even when the team lost the ball, he didn't show any expression. Everyone thought that he might be secretly happy about their failure.

Who would have thought that the boss was also very pained, but just didn't want to express it…

For a time, those players who had wronged Wenger in their hearts lowered their heads in shame, and at the same time their fighting spirit became even stronger—they must defeat Liverpool in the game, to wash away this shame for themselves and for the boss!

"The Arsenal first team lost to the Liverpool reserve team. No matter how strong they are, this result is abnormal. As long as we don't underestimate the enemy and take this game seriously, I firmly believe that the final victory will still belong to us. But unfortunately, we made an unforgivable mistake in the last game."

Hearing this, everyone lowered their heads even further.

"I hope that the failure of that game and this shame can make you understand one thing—on the football field, whether you are facing a top giant or an amateur team, you must take it seriously and not have any contempt. Because if you look down on your opponent, the one who will suffer in the end will only be you."

This time, no one showed disdain or displeasure in their eyes anymore. They had already tasted the lesson, the scars hadn't healed yet, and it was impossible to forget the pain.

"In this game, I once again ask everyone not to underestimate the enemy, and to go all out. Even if this is a reserve team, they are still a reserve team that has defeated you. We should all be grateful for the arrangement of this schedule, because it has given us a chance for revenge. In just four days, we can repay the humiliation we have suffered twice over. Such a good thing is rare!"

These words stirred up the emotions of those Arsenal players.

Everyone couldn't wait for the game to start now, so they could rush out and kill the Liverpool reserve team, leaving no one standing.

They raised their lowered heads, clenched their fists tightly, widened their eyes, and the muscles on their faces trembled slightly due to emotional excitement.

Wenger looked at these people and knew that his goal had been achieved. This final fire was lit very successfully.

Next…those young and energetic Liverpool reserve team players, don't let me down!

※※※

When the game started, the Liverpool reserve team players retreated to defend according to their original tactics. They were waiting for Arsenal to press up, attack impatiently, and then be intercepted by them for a counterattack.

But from the first minute, they noticed something was wrong.

Because this time, Arsenal didn't rush to attack like they did in the last game. Even if they pressed up, they didn't rush to shoot.

At first, they passed the ball back and forth in the back, and after slowly bringing the ball up, they didn't rush to shoot when facing Liverpool's shrinking defense. They were just very patiently passing the ball.

This kind of passing may seem like meaningless back-and-forth passing to outsiders who are just watching the fun. But in the eyes of real football experts, every pass has a purpose.

In these passes, Arsenal players were constantly changing positions, shuttling back and forth, and then trying to contact Liverpool's defense point by point.

If Liverpool's defense reacted strongly, they would retreat. If there was an opportunity, they would take advantage of the situation and break through.

In short, they tried to keep the ball under their control as much as possible.

Let Liverpool only be able to follow Arsenal's passing back and forth.

While consuming their stamina, they also made them expose flaws in their defense during frequent running. As long as there was a flaw, it would be Arsenal's chance to score.

This was Wenger's tactic.

Using Arsenal's best ball control and foot skills, as well as exquisite small-scale coordination, to wear down Liverpool.

Logically speaking, such tactics, if put in normal times, actually have little hope. Otherwise, Arsenal would have won Liverpool long ago, and wouldn't have to defend with all their might just to keep a draw at their home stadium.

But today was different. First of all, they were facing the Liverpool reserve team, whose strength was not comparable to the first team.

Secondly, this team had just defeated Arsenal four days ago, their morale was too strong, and arrogance and underestimation of the enemy were inevitable.

In this way, some loopholes would appear in their originally tight defense, and these loopholes would not appear in normal times.

This gave Arsenal a chance to turn the tables!

※※※

The Liverpool reserve team players were a little dumbfounded.

Before the game, according to the tactical strategy, they were required to defend the defense to the death and let Arsenal attack.

This tactic was correct, but they thought that Arsenal would be eager to score goals like they did in the last game, shooting a few shots as soon as they came up, wasting the attack while giving them a chance to counterattack.

But no, this time Arsenal seemed particularly steady.

They advanced slowly, unhurriedly.

If there was no good opportunity, they would rather pass the ball around the outside than risk passing the ball forward.

Unless there was a particularly good opportunity.

In this way, they passed back and forth, passing the ball from the right to the left, and then from the left to the right. Sometimes they passed all the way back, reorganized the attack, and then slowly passed it to the front.

The Liverpool fans in the stands began to boo, they were booing Arsenal for being cowards, not daring to attack.

The Arsenal players were as if they had cotton in their ears, the Liverpool fans' boos couldn't interfere with them at all.

They still played football according to their own rhythm and style.

This was something that the Liverpool reserve team players didn't expect.

Not to mention them, even the head coach Martin O'Neill, who was responsible for arranging the tactics, didn't expect that Arsenal could adjust so quickly after just losing to them, and think of using this method to deal with Liverpool.

They didn't seem to care about data such as the number of shots. Even if this game was a draw, they didn't seem to be afraid, because they could still go back to their home stadium, and there were always some advantages at home.

Martin O'Neill frowned.

Liverpool's tactic was defense and counterattack. If Arsenal played like this, Liverpool would not be able to counterattack casually, because as long as a loophole appeared in the defense line, it might be caught by the opponent. With Martin O'Neill's personality, he didn't dare to take the risk.

※※※

Martin O'Neill didn't dare to take risks. But the reserve team players on the field dared.

After the initial surprise, they found that the defensive pressure they were facing was not great, because Arsenal was more about horizontal passing, and there were very few penetrating passes forward, so it was much easier for them to defend.

When they found that there was no danger, their minds began to become active.

They had a lot of ideas in their minds.

The most tempting thing was to cleanly and neatly defeat Arsenal at home again.

Winning the Arsenal first team twice in four days would be a sensational thing for this reserve team.

At that time, I'm afraid that even if the first team went, they could also go to other Premier League teams.

At the thought of this tempting prospect, everyone felt as if a fire was burning in their hearts, making their mouths dry and tongue scorched, making them unable to suppress the impulse in their hearts…