The weekend is the seventeenth round of the Premier League, and Derby's opponent is Charlton Athletic.

Charlton Athletic are not a strong team, they joined the Premier League in 2001, and since then, Charlton have returned to the Premier League and have been fighting as a Premier League dark horse to this day.

Charlton Athletic's recruitment has not been spectacular in the new season, but they have brought in practical players, with Birmingham's Brian Hughes being meticulous and PSV Eindhoven's Danish full-back Romerdal being extraordinary.

Under manager Jubil Kubishley, the media believe Charlton will continue to be the same headache as last season.

After 16 rounds of the league, Charlton also proved it with their results, they are ranked ninth in the league, in comparison, the results are very good, this momentum continues, Charlton does not have to worry about relegation at all, and can even fight for a place in the European competition.

Charlton and Derby have little to do with each other, and under normal circumstances, they would have seized the opportunity to take all three points against a promoted team, but Derby have been much more 'dark horses' than them this season, and are currently in second place in the league, which puts Charlton under pressure against Derby County.

In order to get points, manager Kubishli arranged a tight defense and abandoned the attack, they just didn't want Derby County to score, and getting a point would be considered a victory.

If a certain football association hears this sentence, there will definitely be a sense of sympathy, but Charlton (but it is much better than a certain football association, because Kubishli's work is very practical, their defense is indeed very bad, Charlton is called a 'hard bone' because of this, trying to break through their full defense line, is not that easy.

Derby County are a team that is good at attacking, and the media still hopes for them.

However, in this game, Wan Sheng did not intend to let the team return to its original tactics and use flashy attacks to defeat the opponent, he just wanted to counterattack with a solid defense. To cope with the difficult schedule ahead, it is most important for the whole team to adapt to tactics, so in the face of Charlton, Wan Sheng did not change his tactics.

But he believes that even if they defend solidly and deal with Charlton Athletic in a fast-break football style, they will have a chance to score.

It was a test of Derby's fast-break football, and it turned out that Wan Sheng's judgment was correct.

Throughout the game, Charlton defended very tightly. But Derby County is no longer the original Derby County, even if they do not use attack-based tactics, they have a lot of offensive means, coordination, long shots, set-pieces, etc., are all means that Derby County is good at, plus Derby County frontcourt Van der Vaart and other players have suppressive strength, Charlton wants to hold 90 minutes is too difficult.

The goal came in the 37th minute of the first half, when Van der Vaart dribbled forward to secure a well-placed set-piece for Derby.

Ivan Crewe took the free-kick and smashed the Charlton Athletic goal with a curling lob that went around the wall. Help the team rewrite the score to 1:0.

In the end, Derby County won 1-0 against Charlton Athletic with this goal.

The 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic was nothing for a magnificent Derby County. So after the game, the whole Derby County team still looked very low-key, Wan Sheng didn't say anything at the press conference, and this victory was nothing in his opinion.

However, the media supporting Derby County after the game were excited as Chelsea drew away to Arsenal in this round. Derby County are back level on points with Chelsea, although they haven't been able to squeeze out the top spot in the league because of goal difference. But it's exciting enough to catch up with the points.

In response to this question, Wan Sheng also talked about it with a smile, "Arsenal's table is very good, and Heng has proved his value with his table. Two goals, he's a great striker. Chelsea played well, but if it were me, I wouldn't have said after the game 'a draw is acceptable', because for the league first, a draw is a defeat. ”

Wan Sheng then gloated, saying, "But I like to see Chelsea not win so we have a chance. I think after Christmas, the number one place in the league will change owners. ”

Except for some Derby County supporting media, which specifically reported Wansheng's commentary on Chelsea and Arsenal's match, other media have shown little interest in this, so even Wansheng talked about squeezing out Chelsea's place after Christmas, and no Chelsea supporting media refuted it.

Actually, mainly because the game was so hot.

Arsenal host Chelsea and, in a way, can also be said to be the London Derby, as the two teams are the strongest in London.

Chelsea had just lost the game before the game, Chelsea's first defeat in the Champions League, and against his old club Porto, which was Mourinho's homecoming, but he probably didn't expect it to be a double whammy, in addition to the loss, an unauthorised autobiography 'The Winner, From Setúbal to Stamford Bridge' sold for more than his own autobiography, and the lawsuit was rejected by the court.

However, back in London, Mourinho became the arrogant "God No. 2" again (Mourinho once said in front of the media, 'After God, it's me!') So he became God No. 2), when was Arsenal unfavourable at Highbury?

But before the game, the Guardian's five columnists predicted this "judgment day" game, and no one was optimistic about Arsenal.

Much of this is due to the trust placed in Mourinho as a strange "thinker", and before the game, in a press conference that was almost doubled, Mourinho issued a vicious attack, "It's just a matter of 10, 7 or 4, and then we can go into two home games comfortably." Remind you that in the two and a half years in Porto, I have never lost an important match, neither against Benfica nor against Sporting Lisbon. ”

After saying this, Mourinho added again, "10 points is a big gap!" He also advocated that his fans sing after the game, "We are still number one in the league." ”

Arsene Wenger has always conceded on the pitch and off the pitch as well, "I know full well that anything can change in an instant. He was dismissive of the optimism of the Portuguese, "I don't care what he says." We play at home and we just want to win. I don't believe that their fans can still laugh when they lose. ”

The French were not accustomed to the arrogant attitude of the Portuguese with confidence, "What a great achievement." Were they 17th in the league last year? The second in the league, the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, they already have a good foundation, and now they have spent so much money, is it reasonable to say that they have not improved? The money we spend is on the same level as Newcastle and Tottenham, and if you don't have money, you have to be a little bit creative. ”

Arsene Wenger then referred to Derby County, giving Mourinho a fatal blow, "Derby are just a promoted team and they have barely broken even in the summer, but they are only two points less than his team, after this game. Maybe the first place in the league is about to change hands. ”

"That's the comparison of 100 million euros and 0 euros, two league points, haha"

Mourinho is certainly not one to swallow his anger, and he immediately said, "Don't take other teams as an example, doesn't Henry spend money?" Is Patrick Vieira on loan? Was Reyes a Christmas gift from Sevilla? ”

The two continued to argue, saliva flying all over the place, but everyone knew that it was a little trick between two cunning coaches to disturb the morale of the army.

The pre-match excitement also affected the game. The game seemed to be a continuation of the war of words between the two coaches, and the final result also proved that the two were evenly matched.

Chelsea fans can chant "We are number one in the league" and Arsenal fans can respond to "Haven't beaten us in 14 years [in the league)".

Derbyshire, who was a bystander, laughed.

But Wan Sheng didn't just gloat over Chelsea. He also complimented Wenger by the way, after all, among the top four managers of the Premier League, Wenger has a good relationship with him. Alex Ferguson is the enemy and Jose Mourinho is the biggest rival. Benitez is a stranger who has no communication, so Wansheng is still very friendly to Wenger, who 'helped' the team to regain points. 'Congratulations to him for winning the Coach of the Year, this honour should have belonged to him, and in 2004, Arsenal were the most successful in Europe, and that was what he deserved.

Wan Sheng is talking about a recent selection.

BBC Sport has named the Premier League Manager of the Year 2004, and despite Chelsea's current popularity, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger won the title thanks to his excellent record last season.

Overall, Arsenal were the protagonists of the 2004 Premier League, who won the Premier League title unbeaten last season and were officially crowned in April, winning 26 of their 38 games and drawing 12 of their 38 games, including a 2-2 draw with Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Also worth mentioning is their unbeaten record, with Arsenal extending their unbeaten run of 49 league games before losing 2-0 at Manchester United, breaking the previous record of 42 held by Nottingham Forest.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with Derbyshire.

After playing the game with Charlton, taking advantage of the rare free time before Christmas, Wan Sheng waved his hand and gave the players three days off, three days of rest, Wan Sheng only told them to pay attention to their bodies, and at the same time relax, take a long breath at the same time, but also to prepare for the next schedule.

Vacation is not only rest, but also allows players to adjust their mentality, the body is important, and the mentality is equally important. Always in tension, always need to relax, Wan Sheng himself is the same, he has always worried about this for the team, worried about that, but on vacation, he can still relax.

Wan Sheng didn't think about how the team was, so he rested at home for three days relaxedly.

In three days, Wan Sheng and Dali stayed for a day, went to University College London for a day, and on the last day, he left it to himself, sleeping at home for nearly 20 hours, and then Chaos went out for breakfast, and when a neighbor greeted him, Wan Sheng reacted, "The holiday is over!" ”

Three days went by pretty quickly.

Four days later, Derby County ushered in a new round of league games, they beat Birmingham City 0-2 away, there is no suspense in this game, Birmingham are not very strong, so far this season, they are only 15th in the Premier League, this position even has to fight for relegation.

The win was a bit uneventful in the media, with Derby scoring two goals in the game, no more and no less, so there was nothing to be covered, but it was a good fit for Derby County to finish the half with a win.

However, Wan Sheng was actually very happy with the team's appearance, because in this game, he used a part of the rotation, Ribery, Alfred and Layton Bynes did not play, and in this situation, he was able to beat Birmingham City by two goals comfortably, and he felt that he could arrange as many rotations as possible.

In the past six months, the team's rotation has not been frequent, and most of them are a set of main lineups when facing strong teams, but it is different after Christmas, and the dense schedule is a headache to watch, and Wansheng has to use this method to ensure the team's state.

The game with Birmingham City proved that the substitute players can also play well, which shows that the team is more mature in the use of the 'os-fast' tactical system, and at the same time, in the past six months, everyone in the team has improved, Wan Sheng can see these clearly, so Wan Sheng is still very confident in what the team can do after Christmas.

At this time, the media also began to summarize halfway.

No one thinks of Derby County as a relegation team, because Derby County are second in the league at the halfway point, with the same number of points as Chelsea in the first place, and no one mentions that 'Derby County are facing a crisis', and they are at most 'worried' about the intensive schedule after Christmas, because anyone with long eyes can know that even if DerbyCounty's results drop after Christmas, their results this season will definitely not be worse.

By this time, many fans' impression of Derby County had also changed.

Previous media reports gave them the impression that Derby County has always relied on luck to win, and no matter how bad it is, it is just a dark horse, but now these fans have woken up to the fact that they find that the media reports are not true at all, and a team that relies on luck, or is just a promoted horse and a dark horse, can tie with the strong Chelsea points in the halfway? Even six points more than third-place Manchester United and seven more than fourth-place Arsenal, such a result is enough to gag many people's mouths.

As a result, many fans who are interested in this have begun to collect information about Derby County and re-examine this relatively unfamiliar team.

They soon discovered what stood out from this Derby team - they were so young!

Too young!

Before the Premier League had a team called Leeds United, their nickname was the 'Youth Army', but look at Derby County's main players who are no more than 25 years old, or even under the age of 23 to account for most of the main lineup, any other team is estimated to have no confidence to say anything about the 'Youth Army', this is the real Youth Army, and this Youth Army is quite good, they are the same as Chelsea, which is the first in the league and full of big names, and they are fully expected to compete for the league title this season.

When a lot of people realise this, Derby County gets more attention. (To be continued......) R1292