Meanwhile, in the home team's locker room.
Although the space here was much larger than the away team's, it was indeed as Kevin had said. The FA had copied all the equipment here and placed it in the away team's locker room, trying their best to make Wembley a neutral venue.
However, Wembley was still in London, and the Arsenal players who hadn't left London still felt like they were playing at home.
At this moment, Wenger was giving his final instructions before the match.
"Make sure your passes in the backfield are stable and don't take unnecessary risks!!" Wenger emphasized.
Luton was a team that liked to press high up the pitch. In Wenger's opinion, this was the team's greatest strength. They had excellent discipline and were full of energy. This team, mainly composed of young players around the age of twenty, had no problems with stamina.
"They might press very aggressively!! So we can't be careless in the back!!" Wenger emphasized again, "The key to this match is that we absolutely cannot allow the opponent to get the chance to intercept the ball and launch a counterattack."
"Control possession and patiently look for their weaknesses!" Wenger slammed his fist on the tactics board, making a loud thud.
"The flanks!! The flanks are their weakness!!"
Indeed, compared to the center, Luton's flanks actually had a lot of space. However, Gao Bo didn't have a great solution. The team's strength was what it was. When defending, of course, the priority was to defend the key areas.
"We'll tear open space from the flanks and make use of the two half-spaces!!" Wenger glanced at his players, seeing that everyone was focused and not distracted, he opened his mouth and smiled: "Just like our training this week."
To deal with Luton, Arsenal's training sessions this week had all been focused on this opponent. This was almost the level of preparation they would have for a top team in the league.
To reach the final, Wenger would not allow any accidents to happen.
Four years without a significant trophy had put Wenger under immense pressure. This season, no matter what, he had to bring the FA Cup trophy back to the Emirates Stadium!
Wenger was determined to win.
...
The match was only a few minutes away from starting, and both head coaches had completed their final pre-match pep talks.
As the two teams lined up on the field, ready to enter, the coaching staff had already taken their seats on the bench.
Gao Bo took the initiative to walk over and shake hands with Wenger.
After all, in the coaching profession, Wenger was a world-renowned coach and a respectable senior. So Gao Bo extended both hands, giving Wenger plenty of respect.
Gao Bo always handled these harmless matters very well. This was probably related to his experience from his previous life. He rarely had the impetuousness of a young man.
Wenger reached out and shook hands with Gao Bo, staring at the young Gao Bo in a daze.
Many head coaches who faced Gao Bo for the first time couldn't help but be like this when they saw Gao Bo in person. After all, he was too young.
He was even younger than some of the players on the field. This gave Wenger a feeling he didn't know how to describe.
The other man was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, his waist was slightly bent, but his face was full of a confident smile.
Young and promising, I really don't know where this guy came from.
I wonder if I can poach him to be my assistant? Wenger thought.
Of course, Gao Bo didn't know what Wenger was thinking, but if he did, he certainly wouldn't be anyone's assistant....
....
"What did Wenger say to you?"
After Gao Bo returned, the two teams had already begun to line up to enter the field under the lead of the referee.
Gao Bo stood next to the bench, applauding with John Aston.
"He said he was sure to win, I said it wouldn't be that easy, then he said we'll see, and then I said I wouldn't mind buying him a drink if I won." Gao Bo said with a straight face, talking nonsense.
"Really??" John obviously didn't believe it.
He might have believed it if this conversation had happened between Wenger and Ferguson....
"Of course... not really!!"
Gao Bo turned his head and smiled.
John Aston was a little nervous at first, but when he saw that the head coach could still joke around like this, his nervousness was greatly relieved.
As the players from both sides entered the field, the fans from both sides were already competing with each other in the stands.
A loud and orderly song came from the Arsenal fans in the stands.
"We're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen!"
Gao Bo didn't react much after hearing it, he just thought it sounded familiar.
"Why do I seem to have heard this song at the Vauxhall Ground too?"
Because the Luton fans were also cheering for the Luton players on the field while the Arsenal fans were singing, Gao Bo couldn't hear the lyrics very clearly, but he did hear the melody.
"This song is called 'And it's Arsenal'. It has a long history. It started being sung at Highbury as early as the 1930s. It is considered the earliest cheering song of English teams. So in many stadiums, many teams have learned this melody, changed the lyrics, and sung it themselves." John explained from the side.
"Haha, if Arsenal's manager was Kroenke before, I guess he would charge other teams a copyright fee for the song..." Gao Bo laughed.
John and the others also laughed...
At this moment, a series of pre-match ceremonies on the field had also been completed. The players from both sides were standing in their respective positions, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle to start the match.
Arsenal got the kickoff. At this moment, Adebayor had the ball under his feet. Next to him was his strike partner, the Dutchman Robin van Persie!
With the referee's whistle, Adebayor kicked the ball to Van Persie, and then turned and ran forward!
"Alright, audience friends!! Ladies and gentlemen!! The first semi-final of the 2008-2009 FA Cup has finally kicked off at Wembley!! The two sides facing each other are Arsenal against this season's FA Cup dark horse, Luton!!! Who will be smiling as they walk out of this stadium after ninety minutes?!" Wrightkinson said passionately into the microphone in the commentary box.
"Maybe it will be a hundred and twenty minutes..." Next to Wrightkinson was Arsenal legend Paul Merson, who retired from Millwall last season. This Arsenal player, who was almost destroyed by alcohol in his youth, has now become a football commentator after retiring. Sky Sports specially invited him to be a commentary guest for this Arsenal match.
"Do you think this match is very likely to end in a draw?" Wrightkinson asked.
"Look at Luton's formation. They have placed five defenders in midfield. It seems like they are preparing to defend desperately in the penalty area for a draw. Although the probability of success is not high, I think this is Luton's only chance..." Paul Merson spoke eloquently in the commentary box.
However, at this moment, there was a burst of exclamations from the stands, and Paul Merson looked up in surprise.
He didn't see everything that happened before. On the field, he only saw Vardy holding his head and turning to run back...
Luton... completed a shot?
Paul Merson was a little unsure, but judging from the reaction of the fans, it was indeed the case.
Isn't Luton setting up a defensive fortress in this game?