After being rejected, I became Shi Yijiao

Chapter 252 Manchester Not By The Sea

On the evening of February 2th, Manchester, England, Old Trafford Stadium.

What will be held here tonight is the 25th round of the Premier League, Manchester United vs. Manchester City at home.

That is the Manchester Derby!
In recent years, with the rise of Blue Moon Manchester City, the Manchester Derby has become a global event.

The games and competitions between them are often super dramas in the Premier League, such as the famous 2011 miracle in the 2012-9320 season, Manchester City reversed and won the championship at the last second, while Manchester United on the other side could only be stunned.

And a year later, in the 2012-2013 season, Manchester United beat Manchester City to win the championship, allowing Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson to retire honorably.

The gathering of stars from these two teams has also made this ancient industrial city gradually become the center of European football culture.

But this year's situation is a bit special, because after Ferguson left, Manchester United was a bit broken.

After 25 rounds of the Premier League, the top three are Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. Their points are 56, 55, and 54 respectively, which is a gap of one point. At the same time, they also form the first group to compete for the championship. .

And what about Manchester United?

Ranked seventh with 41 points, ahead of them are Liverpool with 50 points, Tottenham with 47 points, and Everton with 45 points.

In other words, it is a bit difficult for them to even qualify for the Europa League.

At this time, the much-anticipated Manchester City Derby is ushered in. Manchester United wants to take this opportunity to take down Manchester City and let a comeback serf sing, while Manchester City wants to continue to crush this rival in the same city, so as to continue to maintain their competitiveness against the championship.

Both sides are at war!

……

Dzeko, Aguero, David Silva, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Jesús Navas, Milner...

In the dressing room of the visiting team, Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini was standing in front of the players, his eyes sweeping over the faces of each of them.

This old coach who has a civil engineering certificate and is known as the "Chilean Engineer" is also his first season in charge of Manchester City this year.

He knows that the pressure of coaching at Manchester City is great.

His predecessor, the Italian Mancini, won the first English top league title in Manchester City's 2012-year history in 44.

But just because he lost the league title and FA Cup title the next season, he was dismissed.

Of course, Manchester City's poor performance in the Champions League is also an important reason for Mancini's dismissal.

But in short, in the current Manchester City, if there is no outstanding performance, it will definitely not stay long.

And now, Pellegrini suspects that if he fails to win this Manchester Derby, the bad luck of getting out of class will follow.

Because tonight's game is about whether Manchester City can continue to compete for the championship, and it is also the game that Manchester City fans value most!
Perhaps it is also because Manchester City has not posed any threat to Manchester United for a long time before, so in the hearts of Manchester United fans, Manchester City's hatred value probably ranks third after Liverpool and Arsenal.

Maybe Leeds United will be ranked higher?
That was evidenced by Ferguson saying City were just "noisy neighbours".

But it's different for Manchester City fans.

Manchester United will always be their number one rival and the most hated opponent!
So, are Manchester's skies red or blue?
The time is pushed forward a few years or even ten or twenty years, and there should be no suspense about the answer.

but now?
It's hard to say.

Therefore, Pellegrini is confident that he will take these disciples in front of him to conquer Old Trafford and bring the victory to Manchester City fans!
"The current Manchester United is not scary at all, and Old Trafford is not the home of the Devils before." Pei Gong was doing the final mobilization.

"You're also the best players in the world, better than the guys next door. Whether it's in the Premier League or the Champions League, whether it's the World Cup or whatever, many of you have had great success."

"Successful players are never afraid of any challenges! So today, we must beat Manchester United at Old Trafford and win this Manchester derby!"

"We want to win the Premier League this season! Not only that, we also want to win the Champions League this season!"

"Four days after today's game, we will welcome our first opponent in the knockout round of the Champions League, Hamburg."

"I believe at this moment our German opponents are looking at us, trying to find a hole in us."

"Then let's play our best! Let them be scared!"

"Let's beat Moyes' Manchester United first, then Pan Yi's Hamburg and go all out!"

……

"Ah - chirp!"

In the stands, Pan Yi suddenly sneezed.

"Mother, who is secretly scolding me?" Pan Yi touched his nose.

After finishing the game against Brunswick that afternoon, Pan Yi and Nagelsmann rushed to Manchester overnight to watch the Manchester derby.

This is a great opportunity to watch your opponent up close!

Due to the importance of this game, Manchester City will definitely go all out, so that they will not see a big fight in the rotation of players, and they can also see Pellegrini's latest tactical ideas.

And Manchester United has also entered the top 16 of the Champions League. In fact, it can be regarded as a potential future opponent.

Inzaghi and Pintus and others stayed in Germany to lead the team, and after resting with the players, they came to the UK to join Pan Yi.

"Didn't you say before that when you sneeze, someone misses you?" Nagelsman looked at Pan Yi suspiciously, "Why did you scold you again?"

"Uh... this is to be sensed." Pan Yi explained casually, "If a beautiful woman is thinking of me, I can sense it. But just now I clearly felt that a stinky man was scolding me!"

"..." Nagelsman was speechless.

Anyway, let Pan Yi say the words, and the right to explain will always be in Pan Yi's mouth. Nagelsman has long been used to it.

"Look, they're entering the stadium!" Pan Yi pointed at the stadium, and gently took the topic away.

Nagelsmann looked up, sure enough.

Below the stands, red Manchester United players and blue Manchester City players are being led by the referee team into the Old Trafford turf.

Manchester United, playing at home today, put on a 433 attacking formation, obviously trying to eat up their opponents in the same city.

Up front, Welbeck is on the left, Mata is on the right, and Rooney is in the center.

Midfielder Carrick is centered and dragged behind, Fellaini and Cleverly are separated on both sides.

Lined up from left to right in the defense are Evra, Ferdinand, Jones and R. Da Silva.

Goalkeeper De Gea.

Pellegrini's formation is the 4411 formation he has often used this season.

The single arrow in front is Dzeko, and Aguero kicks a shadow forward behind him.

The midfield four will be David Silva, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas.

The back line is Clichy, Demichelis, Kompany, Zabaleta.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart.

"I asked you to study Peigong's Manchester City game before. Do you have any experience?" Pan Yi asked Nagelsmann.

Now Pan Yi attaches great importance to the training of these coaches under him, so he will test them when he has the opportunity.

With Nagelsman's savvy and learning attitude, coupled with the advice of a famous coach like Pan Yi, his growth rate is very fast.

Pan Yi feels that now Nagelsmann's ability must be qualified to be the head coach of a team in the five major leagues, it just depends on whether he is willing to go out and do it alone.

And if Nagelsman really flies solo, Pan Yi will not feel uncomfortable, but will be happy for him.

Developing players is training, and training coaches is also training.

At that time, the famous coaches of various teams will be his own apprentices, and Pan Yi can still have a peach and plum all over the world, wouldn't it be great?
Among other things, buying and selling players is easy to talk about.

Look at the high-end goods that Guardiola sold to Arteta in the summer of 2022, tsk tsk...that can send Arsenal to the top of the list!
Oh, it seems the other way around.That is what the master gave to the apprentice.

But it's actually the same, if one day Arteta develops, he will also repay Guardiola, won't he?
"Pellegrini's football philosophy is indeed quite different from the views of many modern top coaches."

Nagelsman didn't know that Pan Yi was thinking so much. He received the teacher's question and began to answer seriously:
"His tactics have two important starting points. One is the purpose of possession of the ball, which is to create scoring opportunities; the other is to achieve possession of the ball, and the offensive players can choose positions flexibly and freely."

"In the game, this Manchester City team is not obsessed with high possession rate blindly, they advocate forward and play more direct."

"They always produce higher expected goals against these possession-obsessed opponents, even though they don't have as much possession as they do."

"In other words, they are willing to sacrifice part of the ball to create more threats, and their offensive methods are unpredictable."

"From their formation structure and offensive running, we can see how Manchester City implements the above principles in actual combat. For example, their initial position is 4411, but when attacking, they often advance the wingers on both wings and become a team. 4231..."

Nagelsman said while Pan Yi nodded.

His analysis is basically correct, and it is also very consistent with the relevant part of Pellegrini in Pan Yi's system tutorial.

Pellegrini is different from the "proud son of heaven" like Guardiola. He is equivalent to working hard all the way from the lower levels.

Pei Gong's player career was silent, and after retiring and turning to coaching, he also grew up slowly.

After working hard in domestic and South American football for several years, he coached the Argentine powerhouse River Plate and began to attract the attention of European football.

In 2004, the "engineer" became the head coach of the Villarreal team and became one of the few South American coaches who entered Europe to coach.

After the yellow submarine won the second place in the league and the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Pei Gong was poached by Real Madrid.

However, in the second phase of the Galaxy Battleship, which was built with a lot of money, he was empty of all four, and finally left Malaga.

Then he succeeded again.

In the 2011/12 season, Malaga ranked fourth in La Liga, won the right to participate in the Champions League for the first time in history, and reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the next season.

Therefore, after Manchester City fired Italian coach Mancini, Pellegrini officially entered the vision of Manchester City's top management and successfully entered the Etihad Stadium.

During these years of climbing, he also summed up his own set of tactical systems, or tactical thinking.

Although it is said that every time he takes over a team, he has a definite purpose and makes specific adjustments according to the current situation of the team, but there are traces to follow.

For Pei Gong, the formation is not very important.The important thing is that the overall organization is tight and the operation is orderly. He also hopes that the team can play a smooth offensive, and the methods can be varied.

Therefore, in his team, the positional role changes more frequently, and only the central defenders and full backs on the defensive line have relatively few role changes.

Of course, this does not mean that Pei Gong's defenders have less responsibilities.

Manchester City's full-backs will make full use of the width of the field, and they have played a particularly important role in organizing the midfield and advancing forward.

When holding the ball in midfield, the two full-backs also frequently move in high positions, occupying the sidelines and providing width.

Due to the positioning of the full-backs, the midfielders and forwards can choose their positions more freely in the middle, which also leads to Manchester City being more efficient when they move forward.

"Manchester United played a high-position press today, and they were fierce when they came up." Nagelsmann suddenly stopped his tactical analysis of Pei Gong and pointed to the field.

Pan Yi also saw that Manchester United's three arrows directly pounced on Manchester City's defense after the start, trying to force the opponent to make mistakes by taking advantage of the fact that everyone was not yet warmed up at the start.

But Pan Yi also shook his head quickly, and said: "Pellegrini seems to have his own way to resolve the high press. Did you see that the two full-backs, Clichy and Zabaleta, are on the sidelines?" Stretches the opponent's pressing formation and makes it difficult for the opponent to close all the passing lanes."

Nagelsmann was thoughtful: "Yes. And at this time their advantages of flexible player selection and greater mobility are also reflected. The two midfielders in the middle, Yaya Toure and Fei Fernandinho's positions are closely connected, occupying two lines of space, as long as one of them receives the ball, the other can provide the line, so it is really not easy to be blocked."

Pan Yi nodded in agreement with Nagelsmann's words: "Because the wide range of full-backs on both sides, the center of Manchester City is extremely important. They not only need to ensure that the two midfielders are closely connected and not isolated when organizing the offensive ; just in case, once the ball is lost, the two can ensure the number advantage in the middle."

Nagelsmann thought: "Except for the full-backs and defensive midfielders, other players..."

Pan Yi said:

"Whether it's the left midfielder David Silva or the right midfielder Navas, they will often move inward to the center and get close to Fernandinho. In addition, the shadow forward Aguero will also retreat to a deeper position to respond to Aguero. Yatoure."

"In Pellegrini's Manchester City system, Aguero and the two full-backs are flexible and free to choose positions, rather than being limited to the initial position on paper."

"Any one of Aguero, David Silva, or Keylor Navas can drop back to catch the foot at any time during the organization stage of the backcourt. The first benefit brought by this method is: Disrupting the opponent's pressing team shape."

"It is worth noting that when they retreat, how will striker Dzeko react? He usually maintains a high position and maintains close contact with his teammates behind him. This is a clear division of labor to avoid too many players retreating Reach, as this often results in drawing the opposing defender toward the ball handler."

"And in this case, if Manchester City's ball goes forward, Aguero, David Silva or Keylor Navas can get a quick pass to the dangerous area in the middle, and the center is precisely Manchester City's numerical advantage. An area can form a through opportunity..."

At this time, Nagelsmann suddenly shouted: "Really! Look!"

On the field at this time, David Silva held the ball across the center line for Manchester City, and then handed it over to Aguero who retreated to get the ball.

After receiving the ball and turning around, Aguero immediately sent a very threatening through ball, hitting behind the opponent's back line.

And Manchester City center Dzeko dodged the opponent's defense with a smart movement, turned around and volleyed, and the ball went straight into the dead corner!

Less than 5 minutes into the game, Manchester City took the lead away from home!

The originally noisy Old Trafford Stadium suddenly became quiet like a speaker whose power was turned off.

"Great, great." Nagelsman shook his head for a while, and nodded for a while, and he didn't know whether he was praising Manchester City's attack sharply, or Kwapanyi's analysis was really in place.

"It's really good." Pan Yi also followed, but he praised something else, "Dzeko is quite a good center. He is tall and strong but not bulky. He is also very smart in playing football. It is very difficult to guard against."

"It feels like an enhanced version of Mitrovic." Nagelsman laughed, "He is a little taller than Mitrovic, but a little lighter than him. I don't know why Manchester United didn't play Vidic today. Jones couldn't guard him."

"I heard there was a slight injury." Pan Yi said, "But to be honest, I don't think even if our team sends a special person to defend Dzeko, it may not be able to defend against it."

"Oh?" Nagelsman was slightly surprised, "But he doesn't score too many goals. Is he more difficult to guard than Messi?"

"A player of his type is not measured by goals." Pan Yi answered questions, "You said just now that he is an enhanced version of Mitrovic, and now he is at the peak of his career. The role of the fulcrum in the team is still very prominent. Besides, when the team needs him to score, he will also stand up. Didn’t you score one just now?”

Nagelsmann thought for a while, nodded and admitted: "Indeed. This kind of more comprehensive player is indeed more difficult to defend, because there are fewer weaknesses. Then what should we do?"

Pan Yi said: "It's very simple. It is to make him less connected with his teammates and make Pei Gong's rotation system not run smoothly. Let's watch the game first, and you can think about it later."

The game on the field continued.

Nagelsman also gradually realized that Manchester City's offense is indeed very dependent on their front four, that is, Dzeko, Aguero, David Silva, and Navas.

On paper, these players have at least three different positional responsibilities: center forward, shadow forward and winger. In today's actual combat, they are performing position rotation all the time, playing different positional roles in the same game.

The linkage, rotation, and passing of the four players in the frontcourt are the key factors for Manchester City's smooth offense.

Aguero and David Silva will drop deep, but at the same time, they will frequently intersperse behind the opponent's back line.

In the 25th minute, Aguero moved to the left and played a one-two with David Silva at the front of the penalty area, while Navas and Dzeko were responsible for outflanking the penalty area.

This outflanking also formed a shot. David Silva passed the ball to the front of the small penalty area, but Navas, who was following up, hit it high.

After a few minutes, Aguero dropped deep to respond, while David Silva charged into the penalty area, but his shot was poorly angled and was picked up by De Gea.

Although they didn't score any goals, Nagelsmann also understood the way of Manchester City's offense.

Although it may look like a "random flow", there are many guiding principles in it that make it seamless and effective.

First, the players are close to each other.This means that the two wide midfielders, or wingers, are rarely left on the wing.

As long as Manchester City pushes the ball forward, the strikers basically occupy the middle, and they are close to each other, which is convenient for small-scale cooperation and crossing the opponent's defense line.

Second, pass the ball and run. Every player in the frontcourt is good at using this method to tear apart the opponent's defense.

Third, run behind the back line and push forward.Manchester City is not only good at possession of the ball, but also unique in the Premier League with its excellent ability to penetrate forward and pass the threatening ball behind.

In the 42nd minute, Aguero advanced with the ball after receiving the ball from a low post, and Dzeko on the striker saw the opportunity and immediately penetrated behind the opponent's back line.

This time it was Aguero who sent a precise pass without hesitation, Dzeko took the ball and shot again, and another exquisite goal appeared!
The first half is not over yet, Manchester City leads by two goals in the away game!

"So you understand?" Pan Yi asked suddenly.

"I probably understand." Nagelsmann replied, "It seems that Dzeko scored two goals, but the key to these two goals is actually Aguero. He connects the two wings and the center. If he can To suppress his performance, it is tantamount to suppressing Manchester City's attack."

Pan Yi nodded slightly: "You're right, but not all right. Ah Kun is very strong, just because of his comprehensive ability. But Manchester City's offense does not depend entirely on him. The current four-man team is not playing smoothly. Sometimes, their defensive midfielders, especially Yaya Toure, will stand out, so we have to make targeted arrangements for their midfield..."

In the second half of the game, Moyes allowed Manchester United players to strengthen the key guards against the loitering style of Manchester City's frontcourt personnel, which also had a certain effect, and Manchester United also got some offensive opportunities.

But Manchester City's defense is also tough.

They used an aggressive man-to-man high press, trying to prevent the opposition from possession.

And if pressing the opponent's double central defenders puts the midfielder at a numerical disadvantage, one of Manchester City's central defenders, usually Demichelis, will step forward to support the midfielder to implement the necessary pressure.

This is also the high demand that Pellegrini puts on the players: when pressing, they must be consistent and disciplined.

For example, Manchester City winger Keylor Navas not only has to mark his own target, but also blocks the opponent's forward passing line.

The Manchester City players carried out the manager's intentions and moved as a whole, so they were often able to drive the Manchester United players back to pass back and limit the opponent's possession of the ball.

Even in the away game against Manchester United, Manchester City still maintained a very aggressive defensive strategy most of the time, which also made Manchester United helpless.

However, Manchester City is different from other high-pressing teams: they prefer to win the ball back in the midfield, rather than just forcing the opponent to play long balls.

Therefore, although Manchester City is good at possession, its tackles and interceptions rank very high in the Premier League.

Manchester City defended Manchester United's attack, and their own counterattack was also very sharp.

As if to verify Pan Yi's statement, in the 80th minute, Yaya Toure dribbled the ball directly to the front of Manchester United's penalty area in a counterattack, and shot through the goal guarded by De Gea again with a strong kick.

0: 3!

In the end, Manchester United ended the Manchester derby with a disastrous defeat at Old Trafford.

Although the city of Manchester is not by the sea, it seems that the whole city tonight is sea blue...

(End of this chapter)