Grass roots glory

Chapter 941 International Competition Day

Until the halftime break, the scoreboard was still 1:2, and the defending champion Manchester City fell behind at home.

Pellegrini walked into his team's locker room. He had a lot of complaints, and he was not satisfied with the defensive system of the entire defense.

But he walked into the locker room frowning, and seeing that all the players were silent and the atmosphere in the small room was very dull, he changed his mind temporarily.

After all, he is not the type of Van Gaal. At this time, he is still thinking more about the game.

"OK, OK, gentlemen, listen to me, it's not the end of the game, although we made some mistakes that shouldn't be made, but since we have made them, let's look forward and fix it. 1:2, we Only one goal behind. There is still a chance in the second half, can a draw be accepted? I don’t want to provoke everyone, to be honest we can do it now. Haha, but they don’t have to!”

There is capital, so Pellegrini encourages players in different ways. He understands that his players need confidence now.

Of course, this is not his specialty, and Van Gaal is much better than him in this regard.At the beginning of the second half, he made substitution adjustments on the front line.Bosnia and Herzegovina Gota Dzeko replaced Jovetic.

The backward Manchester City is completely different tactically.And Dzeko is not nailed to the single arrow position, he will even retreat to the midfield to fight for the first landing point of the big foot, and take advantage of the trend to ferry the header back. Aguero and Aguero, who are active around the three Manchester United defenders, Nasri is the real danger.

Smalling, Evans, and Dzeko couldn't take advantage of the fight for the top. At the beginning of the second half, Manchester City's defense line was pierced several times.

Zhou Tiancheng still has to come.

He saw that Fellaini and Dzeko couldn't take advantage of it at all, and he had to do his best every time to barely limit Dzeko.

It’s not that there is a big difference in height, Fellaini is even taller than Dzeko, but fighting for the top at high altitude is Dzeko’s specialty. When Fellaini hadn’t emerged a few seasons ago, Dzeko was already a Bundesliga player. Silver boots.

So it still depends on Zhou Tiancheng, if you want to catch the person who has held the silver boots, of course you have to get the golden boots.

Pellegrini trusted Dzeko a lot, and Manchester City changed a simple and direct routine in the second half, trying to catch them by surprise.

If there is no Zhou Tiancheng to face Dzeko, Manchester United's defense line may really suffer a big loss, and Zhou Tiancheng faces Dzeko, his defensive method is more like an experienced central defender.

Don't go head-to-head with the opponent, although he can be tough with his height and strength, Zhou Tiancheng chose to circle around Dzeko, aiming at the path of the ball and taking a step forward to steal it.

In terms of flexibility, Dzeko is certainly not his opponent.

Manchester City will be struggling next time. Before playing for 10 minutes, Pellegrini can't sit still, indicating that the players on the field will return to the first half of the game.

The scene became more and more like the way they pressed Manchester United in the first half.The ball was cut off as soon as it came to the midfield, and it couldn't reach Dzeko's head at all. Aguero and Nasri's running ability is naturally impossible to talk about.

"Chou Tiancheng is really the pinnacle of Manchester United. Manchester City can no longer find their high tower. Zhou Tiancheng's light has covered up Dzeko who can guide them to victory. Unremitting running, precise position selection, superb offensive and defensive transition, This is a top midfielder from a centre-back. Maybe what Manchester City did in the first half was right - letting Zhou Tiancheng go off is the only way out."

But Manchester City is not that kind of team, they are still used to controlling the ball at their feet.

Pellegrini's last substitution spot was reserved for Lampard, and the former Chelsea legend was his last card.

Manchester City's rhythm began to be controlled, and even Hart's goal kick was pushed forward layer by layer, playing very much without the style of the Premier League.

Pellegrini's thinking is still very clear. Only by controlling the ball at his feet can he activate the abilities of each player one by one, but he overlooked one point: Manchester United can also press high in the frontcourt like this. How do they grab it? , Manchester United also fully possesses the strength to fight back.

In other words, he was too confident in Lampard's control on the field, but it turned out that Zhou Tiancheng and Fellaini combined to complete an excellent press - Fellaini carried Lampard with his body, forcing him to catch the ball. The ball couldn't be controlled smoothly for a moment, Zhou Tiancheng came up from the other side to take advantage of the situation to keep the ball, and controlled the ball under his feet while stealing.

Immediately after facing Yaya Toure, he tried to push the ball to Rooney with a slight push of the arch, but the ball was intercepted by Demichelis, and then Juan Mata quickly followed up. As an excellent midfielder, he gave full play Knowing his specialty, Kompany saw him running towards the ball at high speed, thinking that he would also take a long shot.

Everyone who plays in midfield with Zhou Tiancheng should be wary of long shots. Perhaps this is Kompany's thinking at this time...

However, Mata’s choice was not like this. He did not have the bug-like long-range shooting skills of Zhou Tiancheng. Facing Kompany’s tackle, he gently rubbed the ball to the left side of the penalty area with his toes, and Di Maria followed the trend. With this line cut in, the attention of most of Manchester City's defenses was drawn to the front of the penalty area. Facing Joe Hart, Di Maria calmly pushed and scored from a small angle.

All Manchester City players squatted on the ground, and Pellegrini could only shake his head and smile wryly.

In the eyes of Carragher, this scene made him sigh: "Manchester City is about to collapse. Armed with money, why did they lose so badly against a real strong team in the Champions League? Maybe this is the reason. On Manchester United's side, Even if the score is behind, you will never see such a scene. Solskjaer's one-time battle became a legend that year, which proves that Manchester United has the determination to fight under any circumstances."

Yang Cheng said with a smile: "This is why Zhou Tiancheng would not choose Manchester City. This kind of Manchester United suits his appetite."

For this sake, the momentum of the game has been finalized.

Manchester United won a key victory, and they temporarily returned to the top of the standings after Liverpool played a day late.

For the first time in the post-match press conference, Van Gaal fully affirmed the team's performance. Talking about how to ensure the team's current ranking in the future, Van Gaal said confidently: "Of course it is to keep winning. The team is getting better and better. Come and go. Nothing can stop us."

Still, a reporter held back a smile and asked: "But the next international match day, you are so confident that the status of the main players will not be affected?"

The reporters felt that Van Gaal's confidence was simply unreasonable, and it was not enough to describe it with confidence.

The Premier League schedule is already dense, there is no winter break, and there is the FA Cup in the second half. The term "FIFA virus" was first used to describe the Premier League.

Not to mention anything else, an international footballer like Zhou Tiancheng has to travel thousands of kilometers across two continents to play two warm-up matches for the national team, and Di Maria wants to return to South America. These are the absolute main players.

Is Van Gaal really confident and not afraid to toss the main players, or is he just standing and talking without back pain?
(End of this chapter)