Chapter 401 The strongest versus the strongest, it depends on who is stronger

Author: Ant who loves watching football

Pellegrini has been under a lot of pressure recently.

Last season, Manchester City ranked second behind Chelsea in the Premier League, but failed to reach the top 16 in the Champions League. Such results obviously did not satisfy Chairman Mubarak and owner Mansour.

Therefore, the matter of coaching change has been put on the agenda of Manchester City's senior management early on.

Some rumors have pointed out that Mubarak has had in-depth discussions with Bayern coach Guardiola, and many contract details have even been finalized.

However, because Guardiola insisted that he would complete his contract with Bayern before leaving the team, the deal did not proceed immediately.

After this season, Guardiola's contract at Bayern will expire.

If this rumor is true, it means that Pellegrini's time at Manchester City is coming to an end.

At this time, there is only one way to make Manchester City's top management change their minds: that is to prove themselves with excellent results in the Premier League and the Champions League!

Obviously, the second round home game against Chelsea is the top priority.

This is the showdown between the Premier League champion and the runner-up last season, and from the outside world, this is also a key battle that can determine the trend of the Premier League this season.

Whoever can win this game will undoubtedly have a psychological advantage in the following games, so that they can advance all the way and maybe win the championship in one fell swoop.

But on the contrary, if you lose the game against a direct championship opponent, it will undoubtedly be a fatal blow to the morale of the team, and then it will collapse and withdraw from the championship competition. This is not an alarmist.

In addition, there are two focuses in this game.

One is that Pan Yi's Chelsea has maintained an unbeaten streak of 39 games in the Premier League.

Chelsea's unbeaten record in team history was set by the Mourinho Blues between October 23, 2004 and October 29, 2005. The record at that time was 40 games unbeaten.

In other words, as long as Chelsea can escape unscathed at the Etihad Stadium, it will tie Mourinho's record.

The second one is, of course, the highest transfer bid in Manchester City’s history, De Bruyne, who is worth 80 million euros.

His duel with Chelsea's all-time leader Harry Kane, who is worth 85 million euros, is naturally eye-catching.

Moreover, when De Bruyne comes to the Premier League, he will meet again with his old friend and mentor Pan Yi, as well as with his Belgian national team teammates Lukaku, Hazard, and... Courtois.

In addition, since Chelsea defeated Swansea with four goals in the first round, while Manchester City defeated West Bromwich Albion 3:0 in an away game, these two teams are ranked in the Premier League standings with a goal difference advantage.

The first two.

Therefore, this showdown between the giants that took place early in the second round was really an out-and-out Battle of Tianwang Mountain!

This game undoubtedly attracted the attention of media and fans around the world.

——

At this time, in the visiting team's locker room, Pan Yi had also received Manchester City's starting lineup.

Pellegrini still uses his most commonly used -1 formation.

Several new players that Manchester City introduced at a high price in the summer window are all in action. The Argentinian Otamendi, introduced from Valencia, partners with captain Kompany as a double central defender. On both sides of them are Kolarov and Sagna.

.

Today's double midfielders are Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, and in front of them, Sterling, bought from Liverpool, is on the left, and De Bruyne, bought from Bayern, is on the right.

The attacking midfielder is David Silva.

The one at the front is Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero, and the one at the back guarding the goal is Joe Hart.

It can be said that this is indeed the strongest lineup of Manchester City at present. Every position is filled with top-ranked stars in the world, and there are no obvious shortcomings.

Pellegrini wants to complete his victory in this game and set the tone for this season's championship in one fell swoop!

Of course Pan Yi didn't dare to neglect.

He is also well aware of the impact this game will have on this season's Premier League campaign.

Wasn't his rotation in the European Super Cup just for today?

Therefore, Chelsea is also strong and strong.

The goalkeeper is Courtois, and the three central defenders in the back line are Terry, Van Dijk, and David Luiz.

The five midfielders are Marcos Alonso, Kante, Hazard, B seat, and Azpilicueta.

This arrangement is to maximize the control ability of the midfielder.

Controlling the ball at your feet and compressing the formation will naturally greatly reduce the threat of through balls from De Bruyne, David Silva and others.

The forward line is still Lukaku and Harry Kane.

Although these two main forwards play continuously, they are both in good physical condition and recover quickly. The interval between the two games this time is four days, so it is not a big problem.

After consulting the opinions of physical coach Pintus and chief team doctor Wolfat, Pan Yi decided to let them start.

It can be said that this lineup is also the strongest lineup of Chelsea in Pan Yi's mind at present!

The strongest versus the strongest, it depends on who is stronger!——

As the referee blew his whistle, the packed Etihad crowd roared with excitement.

With the support of the home team fans, Manchester City took the lead in launching an attack against Chelsea.

This is Pellegrini's main strategy today, which is to attack!

There are offensive players like Aguero, David Silva, De Bruyne, and Sterling in the frontcourt. If we don't attack, why bother?

Even Yaya Toure in the defensive midfield position is a capable player, and it's no problem to dribble the ball and score a goal.

Looking at the visiting team, Chelsea neither retreated nor pressed forward.

They played steadily and at their own pace from the start.

The backcourt is setting up defense in an orderly manner to take over the attack from Manchester City; while the midfield and frontcourt are actively fighting and using the excellent ball control abilities of Hazard, B and others to control the midfield with Manchester City.

Fight for.

The first threatening offensive in the game occurred in the fifth minute. After Manchester City stole the ball, Sterling on the left twisted his butt to form a breakthrough and passed a cross pass to Aguero in the middle.

Aguero was not greedy for credit and knocked back to Sterling again, but the happy boy kicked off the hat of an old man watching the game in the stands with a volley.

Manchester City's attack then shifted to the right.

Right back Sagna stepped in to assist, and a high-altitude ball that seemed to be passed and shot flew to the goal and was resolved by Courtois.

"This is one of his characteristics. He is solid defensively, but he lacks in accuracy in passing and shooting ability."

Arteta, standing next to Pan Yi, said.

Sagna is a former Arsenal player and a famous "factory beauty". Arteta, who is the former captain of Arsenal, is of course very familiar with him.

Pan Yi nodded slightly.

For the ball just now, Sagna had actually rushed to Chelsea's left rib with speed, but he didn't have much confidence in his shooting skills, so he didn't choose to cut in and shoot, but hurriedly passed the ball.

However, he did not control his footwork well when passing the ball, which caused the ball to go straight to the goal. Because of its weak strength, Courtois easily confiscated the ball.

Pan Yi pointed to the other side of the field: "Kolarov on the other side is attacking the strong and defending the weak."

This Serbian can also be said to be Pan Yi's old rival. His skills in positioning the ball and passing the ball are also impressive.

It's just that his speed is slow, and he is not particularly good at marking, tackling and defensive positioning. He is really the opposite of Sagna.

Because of this, Manchester City's main attack direction today is still on the left where Kolarov is located, and they will cooperate with Sterling's breakthrough here to make a fuss.

On the right, Sagna is allowed to defend firmly, and then wait for the opportunity to hand the ball to De Bruyne, allowing Ding Ding to use his super vision and precise passing to maneuver across both sides of the court, and use this to tear apart the opponent.

Break Chelsea's defense.

"So... we still have to focus on Kolarov today? Use the space when he assists to hit him behind?" Arteta thought for a while and said.

"No," Pan Yi shook his head gently, "We can see such an obvious gap, and of course Pellegrini can also imagine it."

In fact, when Pan Yi first played against Manchester City, he took advantage of Kolarov's defensive loopholes to attack.

Later, when he met Pan Yi, Pellegrini even gave up using Kolarov and instead used Clichy, who was more balanced in offense and defense, as the left back.

But today Pei Gong once again used Kolarov to face Pan Yi, so he must have thought of some foolproof strategy.

Pan Yi also noticed that in today's game, when Kolarov pressed for assists, Manchester City's double midfielders, whether Yaya Toure or Fernandinho, would consciously move closer to the left.

Fill the gap behind the Serbian.

Because of this, if we continue to forcefully attack this area, the effect will not be good.

"I suggest you look at De Bruyne's side." Pan Yi pointed to Manchester City's right wing.

Pan Yi's words immediately caused the surrounding coaching staff to turn their attention to De Bruyne on the court.

"What happened to him?" Arteta was a little confused. "He seemed to be in good condition today. Stopping the ball and getting rid of it shows the level of a world-class midfielder."

"But have you noticed that his new teammates don't quite adapt to his passing?"

Arteta observed attentively for a while: "It does seem a bit."

De Bruyne is a player with a great perspective on the overall situation. He can be said to be the controller on the court and a person with a God's perspective.

He is always able to pass the ball to the best position at the best time, which is commonly known as the space.

At this time, cooperation with teammates is very important.

A player of De Bruyne's level has a lot to consider when he passes the ball.

For example, what are the characteristics of teammates’ kicking skills, whether they are left-footed or right-footed, and which kicking method they prefer to use to receive what kind of passes;

If the ball needs to hit a gap and speed up, what is the speed of the teammates and even the physical consumption?

Then calculate how much advance should be given to allow them to sprint and catch the ball comfortably.

But the problem now is that De Bruyne's passing idea is a bit too unnatural, and it is difficult for his teammates to understand his intentions in a short period of time.

Take Sterling, who is most often found when De Bruyne makes diagonal passes, as an example.

Many times, Sterling hopes that the ball can be passed to his feet, allowing him to dribble again to create a breakthrough;

But De Bruyne helps you think more. His pass is to help you directly ignore the defensive player in front of you. You can just get behind and catch the ball.
To be continued...