Arnold was almost in tears. In midfield, he swung his arm and slapped himself three times. At least he's a man.
After the Community Shield, Lin Hao will have some time to rest and will soon participate in team training, trying to integrate into the tactical system newly built by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
Arteta's tactics require a midfield that can organize the attack back and forth, coordinate with wingers and full-backs, and make diagonal runs into the flanks, etc.
There isn't anyone in Arsenal's current squad that Arteta is satisfied with. Arteta will still make signings, including full-backs, but the team can't stop playing before that. The current training is to select the right players, and then we'll see if they perform well in matches.
On September 12th, Arsenal's opening match, their first league game, was an away game against Fulham.
Arsenal played a perfect game of pressure, controlling the ball and then using the left and right flanks, with Saka and Lin Hao making breakthroughs. When they were countered, they won the ball back and launched counter-attacks, targeting Lin Hao.
Arsenal scored in the 30th, 30th, and 60th minutes of the match, with Lin Hao, Lin Hao, and Saka scoring respectively.
Lin Hao himself may not feel the difference, but in the eyes of fans and opponents, Lin Hao's progress in the past two years has been rapid, especially in his year with Paris Saint-Germain. As the team fought all the way to the Champions League final, it was a great opportunity to hone Lin Hao's skills and greatly improved him.
The second league match, which was also Arsenal's home opener, was against West Ham United.
In this match, West Ham United deployed a 5-4-1 defensive formation.
This did indeed cause Arsenal considerable trouble. What impressed Lin Hao the most was a kid named Rice. Goodness, he was impenetrable. Whenever Lin Hao successfully dribbled past someone, this kid would always manage to come back and re-establish his position.
What's even more frustrating is that Rice always seems to appear and steal the ball the very moment Lin Hao successfully dribbles past him.
Lin Hao, who was effectively contained, did not score in this match, but he did provide an assist, setting up Aubameyang's goal.
The final score was 2-1, with Arsenal winning by a narrow margin.
Arsenal won their first two league games and earned six points, a result that fans are very satisfied with.
Then, in the EFL Cup, Arsenal played away against Leicester City. Lin Hao had not forgotten Vardy's taunts and hurtful behavior from years ago. It was from that match that Lin Hao decided, "Let them do whatever they want. The whole football world is my enemy, so what?"
Lin Hao dominated possession and attacking in this match. Leicester City also learned from West Ham United's successful defense against Lin Hao in the previous match, with the defensive midfielders coming back to help defend and trying to capitalize on the gaps in Lin Hao's dribbling.
Lin Hao almost turned this road into a sieve. Lin Hao just didn't understand, you want others to help you, why don't you want two people to sandwich you?
Ultimately, they still underestimated Lin Hao; even if they had a way to deal with him, they didn't want to double-team him.
Finally, Lin Hao scored twice after a solo breakthrough, without any assists, relying on his own breakthroughs and shots to secure the victory in the EFL Cup.
Then, in the third round of the Premier League, another crucial match came, against their Community Shield opponents, the defending champions Liverpool.
Liverpool's home ground, Anfield Stadium, this match was the test match between Salah and Lin Hao, which was initiated after the last game.
Lin Hao was at the back of the team. When all the players came out, there was a very interesting phenomenon. When the players from both sides first came out, the Liverpool fans cheered enthusiastically, but when Lin Hao came out, it immediately turned into a chorus of boos.
Lin Hao couldn't help but smile wryly; there was nothing he could do.
Almost every player is booed by away fans when he is on the field or has the ball.
There's no way around it, he has too many enemies. In the past, fans didn't have any resentment towards him, at most they would tease him for not being a professional player, but other players were genuinely annoyed by him. He made those who teased him lose face, just like Salah said.
Making these players lose face is making their teams lose face too.
Naturally, the fans hated him.
It's alright. Like I said, only the strong get bothered by others. Kane has such a good reputation; he hasn't caused anyone any painful memories. How could he not be good?
However, this match was indeed a great test for Lin Hao. Salah is really strong. With two strikers, it's all about assists and goals.
Salah's ability is universally acknowledged. Lin Hao is also impressive, and everyone now admits that he is impressive, but compared to Salah, Salah has already proven his ability in various competitions, while Lin Hao is still young.
Lin Hao's personal duel is now being talked about by many fans. Those who haven't embarrassed themselves think it's great; if there's a grudge, let's settle it on the court.
Even those who have already embarrassed themselves feel good because they want to win back their lost face.
Therefore, Lin Hao's match was reported by specialized media and independent media. Lin Hao didn't know where they got the information. Generally, Lin Hao makes decisions on the spot, so the reports usually come after the match. This time, it was decided by the Community Shield, so it was reported long ago.
This has been discussed by fans for a long time, and everyone has always believed that Salah is still the better player.
The pre-match ceremony proceeded smoothly for both sides. As for the starting lineups, there were few changes from the Community Shield match. Arsenal still used a 3-4-3 formation with Leno in goal. The only change was that Saka did not start, and Willian started as the right forward.
The center forward is Lacazette.
Of the three young forwards, only Lin Hao is still on the field.
For Liverpool, there's only one change: the right midfield position is now occupied by Naby instead of Milner, who won the Community Shield.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal have won their first two matches of the new season, so one of them will inevitably have their winning streak ended in this game.
With the referee's whistle, the match began. Arsenal kicked off first, with Lacazette passing the ball to Xhaka, who then passed it directly to Lin Hao, who was advancing down the wing.
The pass wasn't very accurate, and it was a bit too close, but Lin Hao turned the situation around, slowed down, stretched his leg back, and pulled sideways to the inside line. This is one of Lin Hao's best dribbling skills, and it's also the kind of flair that Brazilian players have lost.
There are some Brazilian players nowadays who seem quite agile, but agility and flair are not the same thing.
Lin Hao is like that; he has a way to quickly adjust to any unexpected situation.
Lin Hao dribbled past Nabi along the inside line, and Salah came back to help defend. He held off Lin Hao for a moment, but if he went any further, he would be right in front of Fabinho. With the two of them surrounding him, the chances of winning were slim.
Lin Hao passed the ball to Melantz on the left flank, but Arnold blocked it with his leg.
"Oh dear!" Lin Hao was so upset. Being stopped by Arnold was even worse than losing the item himself!