I Want to Be the King of Football

Monaco is actually very small.

From the Grimaldi Conference Centre back to the hotel in Manchester, it is not far away.

This is the first time Manchester City has participated in the European Super Cup. Although Soriano and Begiristan were well prepared and contacted Monaco in advance, unfortunately, they were taken first by Barcelona.

Their relationship with Monaco is clearly better.

As a last resort, Manchester City could only live further away and find another team in Monaco, Beausoleil, to borrow the venue.

Just like the training ground in Monaco, which is located halfway up the mountain, Beausoleil’s training ground is located on the other half of the mountain, but the scenery is not as beautiful as that of the Monaco training ground.

Fortunately, Manchester City only need one training session in the afternoon.

By the time Sudong and Begiristan returned to their hotel near the Monte Carlo Casino, the team had returned from practice.

As soon as Guardiola heard that the two were back, he immediately invited them over.

Not only Guardiola, Estiat and Torrent are there.

Seeing Guardiola's frown in the center, Su Dong and Begiristan glanced at each other, and both responded helplessly.

In private, players have given Guardiola a nickname, Mr. Tangle.

why?

Because he is so confused!

Many times, many things, he has to repeatedly struggle.

To put it nicely, this is called meticulousness, considering everything that may happen, but to put it badly, it can also be said to be indecisive, so Guardiola's on-the-spot command is also quite poor.

Obviously, the reason for his entanglement this time is not the just-concluded draw.

Even though it was a terrible draft, the first game is still far away, and it doesn't need to be considered for now.

There is only one thing that can make Guardiola so entangled, and that is the next European Super Cup.

...

Many people don't understand

Guardiola's mixed feelings for Barcelona.

He is the legendary captain of Barcelona, ​​but in the twilight of his career, he was ruthlessly kicked out by Barcelona at the age of 30, so that he was later reduced to Serie A, and even almost had no ball to play, and the next few years were basically mixed.

It can be said that Guardiola has a love-hate relationship with Barcelona.

After retiring, Guardiola began to work as a coach. After getting the coaching certificate, he entered the Barcelona youth team to coach, which is the opportunity created by Begiristan and Soriano.

Later, Barcelona was turbulent and determined to change the coach. Guardiola once became the number one favorite of the Barcelona coach, which gave him hope in his heart, and he wanted to show his ambitions in Barcelona.

But the reality is extremely cruel. At that time, the management of Barcelona did not give him such an opportunity at all. He would rather be criticized by many famous players, including Cruyff, and choose Mourinho, who is not in harmony with Barcelona's traditional style.

Guardiola continued to coach in the youth team and finally decided to leave England and start a business at Manchester City.

Compared with other head coaches, Guardiola's entrepreneurial history is very lucky, because he met Soriano and Begiristan who trusted him, and Sudong who always supported him, which made Guardiola even full. Controversial, but ultimately not dismissed.

From the beginning to the end, he was under enormous pressure, and it was only when he won the treble last season that he breathed a sigh of relief.

During that painful time, he always had one belief in his heart.

It's not enough to just prove himself like everyone else, he has to prove his strength in front of Barcelona!

The European Super Cup gave him such an opportunity.

A game is decided!

He attaches great importance to this game, but it is precisely because of this that he is nervous, uneasy, anxious, uneasy...

He is such a sentimental and complex person!

...

I still remember that during our time at Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer, Rummenigge, Hoeness and Heynckes, we sat together and discussed the tactics against Barcelona, ​​and finally concluded two ideas. .

Sudong somewhat relieved Guardiola's anxiety, because he did not want Guardiola to make wrong decisions because of anxiety and pressure, which is not a good thing for Manchester City.

The team's tactics are always based on the characteristics of the players, whether it is attacking or defending. The coach just chooses according to his own philosophy, so Barcelona must pass and control the ball, and the opponent will A choice needs to be made about that.”

One is the defensive counterattack, which restricts Barcelona's passing and controlling space by strictly guarding and compressing Messi's attacking space, thereby limiting Barcelona's passing and controlling attack, and then waiting for opportunities to find opportunities to counterattack and create murderous intentions.

In fact, it goes without saying that in the past few years, all teams facing Barcelona have adopted this tactic, even during the most difficult period for Barcelona.

Because since the days of Rijkaard, Barcelona has always been one of the strongest teams in European football.

The other is the counterattack. In the past few years, many media and fans have been asking why no team dares to play against Barcelona? And everyone's answer is only two words, courting death!

Guardiola and Begiristan all nodded.

What Su Dong said is actually true at all. Playing against Barcelona is really courting death.

Arsenal's passing and possession are good enough, right?

In the first round of the Champions League round of 16 last season, the Gunners met Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium, and the result was a 2-1 victory.

But in this game, the Gunners had only half of Barcelona's possession rate, 34 to 66.

Arsenal also won by counterattacking, at best, Wenger's team is not so ugly.

Just two weeks later, in the second round, at the Camp Nou, the ball possession ratio was 68 to 32, which seemed to be similar to the first round. Arsenal still wanted to repeat the old trick and adopt the same set of the first round. , but the result?

Three to one, the gunman was directly maimed.

To a certain extent, Van Persie's red card is both an accident and a necessity.

Just like what happened to many teams when they faced Barcelona, ​​red cards, fouls, misjudgments... All of these are actually a result of the strength of the two sides.

Arsenal couldn't win because they were so suppressed that they didn't even have a shot.

What is this concept?

In other words, the mighty Arsenal at Camp Nou couldn't even shoot a single shot in the 90-minute game.

With such a huge gap, even without Van Persie's red card, wouldn't he necessarily lose?

And this is still based on Arsenal's contracted defense, and they are constantly being beaten behind. What if they are pressed out?

It will be like Real Madrid, and the score will be maxed out in minutes.

Man City last season against Manchester United, against Arsenal, wasn't that the case?

In fact, this European Super Cup is now attracting the attention of the whole world.

Because Manchester City and Barcelona are the two teams with the strongest passing ability in European football today, and both have superstars.

Everyone is looking forward to it very much. They want to see if Manchester City has the strength and courage to challenge Barcelona?

Because so far, no team has dared to press out, play against Barcelona, ​​and defeat the opponent!

At that time, we reached a consensus that in order to play against Barcelona, ​​three conditions must be met.

First of all, the whole team must have a stable and unified high-efficiency pressing and pressing. This is because Barcelona's ability to control the ball is too strong. Only this level of pressing and pressing can grab the ball.

If you can't grab the ball, you can only let Barcelona pass and control the ball to attack. If you don't have the ball, you can only shrink the defense.

Second, it's not enough to just grab the ball, because in Mourinho's tactics, Barcelona's ability to counter grab and press is also very strong, so after grabbing the ball, you must be able to protect the ball and be able to keep it. The ball and avoid losing the ball too soon.

After grabbing the ball and then throwing it, this is a very fatal thing.

For example, throughout the ages, the standard for measuring a good defensive midfielder is, can it be protected after grabbing the ball?

A midfielder who can't protect the ball, no matter how good it is to grab the ball, is scum.

In the same way, in the face of Barcelona, ​​being able to grab the ball is just the beginning, and if you can protect the ball, this is the next step.

So, you need to have a very good passing ability that does not even lose to Barcelona, ​​and this has basically eliminated all the teams in European football now, except for us Manchester City!

Su Dong's words are very confident, but in fact, it is not unreasonable.

Manchester City's passing and control are indeed very good, and they have their own advantages with Barcelona. If they really want to fight, it is not necessarily who wins and who loses, but Manchester City will still be slightly inferior in terms of tacit understanding.

The first is very difficult. There are very few teams that can do it, but there are still some, such as Arsenal and AC Milan last season.

But the second rule is more difficult than the first one. I don’t know how many times it is difficult, and even for many teams, it is directly unsolvable.

If you want to play pass and control, it is not enough to rely on tactics alone, you also need players who can play pass and control.

Xavi and Iniesta are the best midfielders of all time, who is better than them?

Not to mention, there is a Messi in front.

Speaking of this, in fact, everyone knows what Su Dong means.

There is another very crucial and very important point. Su Dong didn't say it, but everyone knows it well.

The third rule, excellent physical fitness!

Many people think that Barcelona is playing pass and control, and the players are weak physically and physically, but in fact?

Wrong, terribly wrong!

Barcelona's players are short, but that doesn't mean that they have poor physical confrontation. They pass and control the ball, but it doesn't mean that their physical fitness is poor.

On the contrary, it is because they are a group of short players with excellent physical ability, technical players with outstanding physical fitness and skills at the feet, so Barcelona's passing and control system is so terrible.

Even if Mourinho goes to coach, he can only be forced to play pass control.

In other words, if any head coach in the world comes, Barcelona is playing pass control.

Unless the players are all washed out and a new batch is replaced.

The three points that Su Dong said were not understood by everyone present, but he now focused on the key points so that everyone's minds became clearer.

Looking at world football, Manchester City is the closest team to the three conditions listed by Sudong.

none of them!