Chapter 40 When the Superstar Shines

Chapter 40 When the Superstar Shines

Chapter 40 When the Superstar Shines

The score situation was not too difficult for Manchester City. Guardiola remained calm and did not choose to make substitutions during the halftime break.

His trust also motivated the three Manchester City forwards who started today.

Rodri also stepped out to calm the red-faced De Bruyne, signaling his midfield partner, who had a strong desire to win, not to be anxious.

"We still have a whole half to counterattack. Although their defense is very good, those players are not immune to mistakes. We will have a chance, Kevin."

Rodri said what Guardiola wanted to say most at the moment.

Manchester United's defense in the first half was indeed excellent, but from the perspective of personnel structure, the defensive core of the midfield, Matic, was still too old.

His partner Fred is okay, and it seems that he has been coached very well on the defensive end by Li Chen.

But Fernandez and Sancho are both attacking midfielders after all, and there will always be times when they lose their patience.

Moreover, Li Chen also needs them to move forward and provide support to the forwards and two full-backs at the moment of transition from offense to defense.

This is actually also an opportunity for Manchester City to counterattack.

When Manchester United had four midfielders defending in the middle, it was indeed difficult for Manchester City to launch a penetrating attack.

But what happens when Manchester United only has two or even one midfielder left in the middle?

Guardiola's eyes flashed, and he picked up a pen and quickly "connected" on the tactical board.

While the lines properly connect the players on Manchester City's three fronts, they also draw a counterattack channel that the entire Manchester City team can use...

Li Chen was very satisfied with the team's overall performance in the first half.

He also had no intention of making a halftime substitution.

Just let Rashford and Lingard enter the locker room early to listen to the tactical details of the team's adjustments in the second half of the game.

“Manchester City will naturally step up their attack in the second half, but Guardiola won’t always let us play Manchester City’s counterattacks as we wish.

Maybe they will give up control of the midfield appropriately and let us press forward to fight them. At this time, we need to be more patient and control the rhythm.

Of course, this does not mean that we cannot launch offensive tests against Manchester City, but in the process of making offensive attempts forward, you (pointing to several midfielders) need to grasp a "scale". "

The standard that Li Chen mentioned is actually the ability of top midfielders to read and predict the development of the game situation.

If it was midfielders like Modric, Kroos and Jorginho who were executing the tactics under him at this moment, he would not have mentioned this at all.

For these midfield organizers, controlling the rhythm is the most basic thing.

But both B Fee and Sancho are more like offensive cores rather than organizational cores who coordinate the entire field.

That's why he still mentioned this, hoping that the two of them could think and make decisions with a broader tactical perspective.

As for the team's performance in counterattacks and defense, he was quite satisfied and had no intention of making major adjustments.

Soon, the 15-minute break in the middle of the game was over, and the players from both teams adjusted their emotions and mentality and continued to play.

Manchester United, who kicked off first, chose to bypass the midfield as much as possible and attack from both wings.

However, Wan Bissaka on Manchester United's right side does not have much talent in dribbling the ball and coordinating attacks.

Sancho wanted to make a pass and cut with him, letting him take the ball and move to the side to attract the double-team defense of 1-2 opponents before passing the ball back to the inside line.

But this is too difficult for Wan Bissaka.

He could only understand that Sancho gave him the ball as a signal for him to try to break through.

Relying on his good physical fitness and good speed, Wan Bissaka did dribble the ball and break through Bernardo Silva's defense.

Trapped in Manchester City's tight defense, he didn't know how to end this offensive attempt.

So he chose to go down the bottom and send a cross.

Cavani and Ronaldo, who were closely guarded, were unable to get any chances.

Rodri, who was returning to defense, headed the ball to De Bruyne.

The latter seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. After adjusting his steps as soon as he received the ball, he made a long diagonal pass directly to the other side of the midfield!
The football hit the Manchester United half like a precision guided missile!

Grealish, who did not defend very deep as usual before, easily broke through to the slightly empty center of Manchester United after receiving the ball!

Wan Bissaka's extremely smooth attack from the bottom led Sancho directly to Manchester City's half.

At this moment Sancho was still chasing back desperately, but it was obvious that his return to defense was too late to help Matic stop Grealish!
Grealish, who attracted Matic to abandon his defensive position, also wisely chose to pass the ball in time.

Foden took the ball in the middle and attracted Maguire's defensive attention and continued to pass the ball to the right!
At this moment, Mahrez, who has advanced to the position, directly receives the ball and shoots!
His smooth shot is extremely threatening!

The football was about to fall directly into the upper left corner of Manchester United's goal!

At the critical moment, it was De Gea who stepped forward, and narrowly touched the football with his fingertips, and finally saved Mahrez's shot from going out of the bottom line!

The excited cheers of the home Manchester City fans just a second ago suddenly turned into huge sighs of frustration.

At this moment, Guardiola was slumped in the coaching seat with his hands on his head, looking utterly ungraceful.

But the next second, Guardiola trotted to the sidelines and excitedly applauded his players on the field!
This is exactly the change in the game that he wanted to see. Manchester City also needs to seize more opportunities like this, quickly pass through Manchester United's midfield and go straight to the enemy!

On the other side, Li Chen, who was frightened by Mahrez's threatening shot, also quickly walked to the sidelines.

However, he did not roar angrily, asking the players on the field to pay more attention to strengthening the defense.

Instead, he made a gesture to keep a cool head and signaled to the Manchester United players on the field not to be timid and to continue to try to attack boldly!
Li Chen had actually considered the defensive problems in Manchester United's midfield that Guardiola had thought about earlier.

B Fee and Sancho are indeed offensive midfielders, so it is impossible to expect them to suppress their inner impulses and defend honestly throughout the game.

Li Chen was already surprised that the two of them were able to participate in the defense so hard in the first half.

If such a midfield defense line is allowed to always stay in the middle, compress its position, and bear the huge offensive pressure from Manchester City, it is only a matter of time before mistakes are made.

Therefore, Li Chen made corresponding tactical adjustments during the halftime break, indicating that B Fee and Sancho could press forward and attack depending on the situation.

You just have to master the rhythm of the attack and not press forward too much, otherwise you will be laying mines for your teammates in the back.

But now it seems that Li Chen has somewhat underestimated Manchester City's offensive firepower.

In the first counterattack attempt after the start of the second half, Manchester City broke through Manchester United's midfield and almost scored a goal!

If Manchester City can launch a few more smooth counterattacks like this, it will put tremendous pressure on Manchester United's defense and De Gea.

However, active attack always involves risks.

If Manchester United doesn't want to be on the defensive all the time and wants to seek opportunities to further expand its lead, it must withstand such risks and pressure and confront Manchester City!

This is not only a duel of skills and tactics and player abilities between the two teams, but also a duel of courage! Li Chen didn't want to be timid. He arranged a tactic to try to press out and fight Manchester City, but then he was afraid to shrink back and act like a turtle.

He would rather fail with his players with courage on the way to charging towards the opponent than be a coward in the half just to maintain a one-goal lead!
Besides, can we really maintain the 1-0 score by defending in the first half?

Which team now dares to completely give up the midfield control and let Manchester City attack for the whole game? !

Li Chen didn't want to make the same mistake that too many head coaches had made before.

So he chose to give his players confidence and courage at this moment!

Manchester City's corner attack opportunity in the frontcourt was once again disrupted by Maguire, and Manchester United took the opportunity to launch a quick counterattack.

With the support of Li Chen, B Fee boldly received the ball on the wing and sent a threatening long pass towards Manchester City's penalty area!
Ronaldo desperately ran forward and actively sought physical contact with Stones before entering the penalty area to receive the ball.

Stones's speed of chasing back and his ability of physical confrontation are both better than Ronaldo.

But he still suffered from the loss of experience.

Originally, he ignored Ronaldo's close fight, and by now he might have taken the ball away before Ronaldo.

But he subconsciously slowed down and tried to block Ronaldo behind him.

The result was that Ronaldo had the opportunity to enter the penalty area with him to compete for the ball!

Ronaldo, who seemed to have lost his momentum to advance, suddenly exerted force and kicked the ball towards Manchester City's goal!

This scene made Ederson, who was already halfway through the attack, feel his scalp tingling!

The Manchester City fans at home didn’t know how many times they cursed Stones in their hearts at this moment!
But as they watched in despair, Ronaldo's lob shot finally hit the inside of the crossbar and bounced back into the small penalty area!

Laporta reacted quickly and cleared the ball with his foot!
I don’t know how many Manchester City fans covered their hearts at this moment, with painful expressions on their faces and sighed in relief.

Guardiola was frightened once again on the sidelines. He tightly pinched his assistant coach's shoulder with his right hand and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Stones, who was still in shock, made an apologetic gesture to his teammates, and he was still scared when he thought about it now.

Looking at Ronaldo who was howling with an unwilling look on his face, Stones secretly swore in his heart that he would never give Ronaldo any chance to threaten him in the remaining time of the game!

But a superstar player like Ronaldo, even when he is old and in great form, cannot be restricted by a defender.

Ronaldo, who had rested for a long enough time before the big battle, was in visibly excellent condition, and his whole body looked very light when he ran.

In the first half, he acted as a tactical bait and returned to defense many times. Although Ronaldo had no complaints, he must have been holding back and wanted to show himself on the offensive end.

Even though he had few opportunities to perform, he still seized them and was really close to scoring!
Once this deterrent power unique to superstars is released, Manchester City's star players will have to be wary of it.

Manchester City, who had reorganized their offensive, continued to press forward as a whole and launched an active attack on Manchester United.

But it was obvious that they no longer dared to push their organizational line into Manchester United's defensive third zone recklessly.

Attacking is what the entire Manchester City team has to do at this moment, but they must also consider the huge threat that a Cristiano Ronaldo in great form poses to the defense.

So they were destined to not be able to put their full effort into it.

Manchester City, which has not fully released its offensive firepower, can no longer frequently penetrate the midfield and face Manchester United's back line.

The game situation seemed to have entered a stable period, with Manchester United and Manchester City barely able to fight back and forth.

Although the number of offensive rounds was less, the situation was not as severe as in the first half where we were suppressed by the opponent for most of the time.

Guardiola, who should have made adjustments at this stage to further strengthen the team's offensive power, first replaced Mahrez with Gundogan, and then pushed Bernardo Silva to the front line.

Many fans were confused by this adjustment.

Instead, Li Chen directly replaced Cavani, who was unable to run, with Rashford, further enhancing the team's counterattack threat.

In the 63rd minute of the second half, Li Chen made another substitution, replacing Sancho with Lingard, and asked Elanga and Greenwood to warm up on the sidelines!
This substitution fully demonstrated Li Chen's tactical intention. He would never give up the possibility of threatening Manchester City through counterattack.

After Manchester United made two substitutions, the entire Manchester City team felt the pressure of the game suddenly increase!

As time went on, the situation became increasingly favorable to Manchester United.

But Guardiola had no choice at this moment and could only signal his disciples to resolutely intensify the attack!
They can no longer wait for Manchester United to make the first move and then passively seize the opportunity to counterattack.

Time has become Manchester City's biggest enemy at this moment.

Manchester City's attack also became a little anxious from its previous calmness.

Rodri may still be patient and want to control the rhythm and organize slowly.

But De Bruyne's two over-the-top passes forced the entire Manchester City team to speed up.

This is the opportunity Li Chen was waiting for!
In the 74th minute of the second half, Varane quickly chased back from the wing and not only stopped Foden's attack, but also successfully intercepted the ball!
At this moment, most of Manchester City's midfield and frontcourt players have pressed into Manchester United's half.

So after receiving the pass from Varane, Maguire sent a long pass forward without hesitation!
Rashford, who had not shown any threat on the offensive end since coming on as a substitute, received a long pass from Maguire on the wing and with a quick dribble, he directly left Kyle Walker, who was pressing him, behind!
Normally speaking, Walker's absolute speed is not slower than Rashford's.

But Walker, who had already played for more than 70 minutes, found it difficult to successfully defend against Rashford, who had just come on the field.

Lingard, who had also just come on the pitch, was also moving forward and constantly waving his hand in the middle.

Rashford seemed not to see it, and decisively cut inside to face Stones' defense. It seemed that he wanted to solve the opponent in a one-on-one manner!

This was also Rashford's favorite offensive tactic in the counterattack in the past few seasons.

He just needs to take the ball and pass Stones, then he can face Ederson and complete the shot, becoming the hero of the team!
All the fans watching the game thought that Rashford would definitely go it alone, including Manchester United fans.

Because this is the Rashford they have in mind. His dribbling and shooting after cutting inside are extremely threatening, and he does have the strong talent to make the final decision at the critical moment!

But just when Stones had no way to retreat and was about to go head-on to fight with Rashford, the latter chose to adjust his pace and send a lob pass!

The football passed Lingard who was preparing to score in the middle and went straight to the back of Manchester City's penalty area!

At this moment, Laporta could only turn his head in the middle of the penalty area and watch Ronaldo soar into the air and overpower Cancelo to complete his signature header!

"Ruined!"

Laporta sighed inwardly.

And Ederson, who was trying his best to save the ball behind him, was ultimately unable to deal with this close-range header!

It's really not his fault for this goal. Even if it was De Gea or Courtois who had excellent goalline skills standing in front of Manchester City's goal, they would not be able to save this powerful tomahawk header!

The football first hit the grass inside Manchester City's goal heavily, then bounced and hit the net.

Ronaldo had already opened his arms passionately and ran towards the corner flag area, leaving the only figure of the number seven in red soaring into the wind for the Manchester City players!
Li Chen clenched his fists on the sidelines, and finally let go and hugged Carrick and McFerran to celebrate!
Their trust in Ronaldo ultimately brought rich rewards to the team!

This is a team victory.

It’s also a victory for the superstar!
(End of this chapter)