Green Journey

Chapter 485 This is the Manchester City we know!

At this time, in the eyes of commentators from all over the world, if Manchester City continues to play like this, it will not be far from losing the third goal.

During the intermission, Zhang Lu said in the LeTV live broadcast room: "Actually, when the first goal was conceded, it could be seen that there was a serious problem with Manchester City's defense."

"After Aguero and Sane let Mendy break into the penalty area, they not only stopped and stopped chasing, but also completely forgot that there was Bernardo Silva on the wing behind them."

"And apart from Stones, who was half kneeling on the ground and didn't get up, Manchester City only had 3 people in the small penalty area in front of the goal."

"As for Monaco, they have five players at the front, middle and back of the small penalty area. Those who don't know it think they are the defensive side."

After listening to Zhang Lu's words, Zhan Jun nodded and smiled, and said: "That's true, Monaco attacked very resolutely today, and Manchester City, the absence of Kyle Walker and captain Kompany's impact on the defense now seems too serious , It is not an exaggeration to say that he was beaten back to his original shape."

"Well, let's look at the second goal. Chu Zheng came to the ribs and formed a 2v2 with Stones outside the penalty area. At this time, Manchester City is not at a disadvantage."

"But Mendy came up in a blink of an eye, and he and Lemar were directly playing side by side. However, Chu Zheng wanted to keep an eye on Mbappé, so he couldn't form effective support for Stones."

"But Manchester City's problem this time is not with Chu Zheng and Stones, but with the top of the arc in the middle."

After finishing speaking, Zhang Lu looked at the replay of the highlights of the first half on TV and said: "Look at Manchester City's penalty area, four defenses and two defenses. Follow up on Bernardo Silva's runs."

"But the problem is not here, it's outside the box."

"At the top of the gourd, Fabinho started to drive forward and entered the penalty area. At this time, Sterling next to him should follow him."

"Sterling followed him at the beginning, but when he entered the penalty area, he let Fabinho run in front of him. Shoot."

"Players with a little bit of normal defensive awareness know that at this time they have to stand in front of Fabinho and block the position first." The more Zhang Lu said, the more helpless her tone became.

"Actually, it's understandable. After all, Sterling is an offensive player in the frontcourt. It's normal not to have this sense of crisis." Zhan Jun said.

At the same time, the three Linekers in the BCC live broadcast room also chatted enthusiastically.

Watching the highlights of the first half on TV, Gerrard said: "Guardiola has a strong ability to build a team. His design of the offensive structure of tactics is very delicate. He is definitely not the kind of player who cannot keep up with the times." , A coach who will not take the initiative to make changes."

"But in the Champions League, which requires a targeted design for one or two games, he is more sticking to his principles and has not abandoned his tactical habits."

Next to Lineker and Ferdinand nodded in agreement.

Guardiola does have a unique philosophy, but this does not mean that this style of play can be effective in any situation.

In fact, whether it is the former Bayern or the current Manchester City, he cannot perform tikitaka to a superb level like he did in Barcelona.

Therefore, the team naturally encountered the dilemma of insufficient control and frequent impacts.

But that's the problem here. Even though he is sometimes passive, he still chooses to believe in his players.

The same is true in the first half of today's game. Guardiola overestimated the defense without Walker and Kompany, which led to being rushed by Monaco full of mistakes.

Not only can't defend, but it also hurts the offensive end.

In the knockout stage of the Champions League, the opponents are actually very strong teams, and the weak ones have already returned to their hometowns, and some are even more powerful than famous.

Therefore, playing this kind of team, sometimes even if the adjustment is a little slower, will directly lead to the final result of being eliminated.

In a blink of an eye, players from both sides appeared in the channel, ready to play.

Seeing the silence around Stones, Chu Zheng walked over quickly and said, "John, it's not your fault that you forgot the goal."

From the end of the first half of the game, Chu Zheng found that Stones was a little unhappy, and seemed to be worried about his failure to defend Mendy's cross, which caused the team to lose the second goal.

In fact, I really don't blame Stones.

Fringing is the most basic and common way of running without the ball in the game, and most of the time it will happen on the wing.

Therefore, once defensive players fall into this one-on-two situation, they often fall into a dilemma.

Back then when he was in Chelsea's youth training, the coach told Chu Zheng that he would never lose out on the edge, and the only loser would be the defender who didn't have enough manpower.

If he had been in Stones' position just now, Chu Zheng would not be absolutely sure that he could stop Mendy from crossing.

"I know!" Stones smiled a little reluctantly, "Chu, I was almost there, and I could block the ball."

Chu Zheng nodded, said nothing more, and walked towards the court together with his arms around Stones' shoulders.

He can actually understand Stones' psychology.

The reason why this guy cares so much about his performance is definitely a lot of credit for Manchester City fans.

Since Stones made frequent mistakes, he can be said to have been sprayed miserably.

Sometimes even an innocuous mistake will be magnified by Manchester City fans and criticized.

So gradually, Stones paid special attention to his own performance, for fear of being caught by Manchester City fans again and being scolded to doubt his life.

Those guys really dare to scold, some fans will even go to the door of the player to scold, this kind of pressure is not something ordinary players can bear.

In fact, Stones' psychological endurance is already considered very good.

After Kompany returned from injury, although his playing time has decreased, his defense has actually changed significantly.

Due to his cautious attitude, his turnovers on defense have also decreased dramatically.

But it's a pity that Manchester City fans' impression of him has not been reversed for the time being.

As soon as Chu Zheng and the others walked out of the passage, there was a burst of laughter and noise behind them.

Chu Zheng looked back and saw the players from Monaco coming in groups of threes and twos laughing and playing around, he suddenly laughed, he must have been happy earlier!

Stones also looked back curiously, but for some reason there was a look of worry in his eyes.

After seeing it, Chu Zheng pointed out: "John, remember what Kevin and I told you during training, observe more, and believe in yourself, you can do it!"

After the words were finished, Chu Zheng stopped talking, turned around and trotted onto the stage.

Among the Monaco players, the head coach Jardim, who was hanging behind the team, saw Chu Zheng's smile, and immediately became vigilant and fell into thinking.

But after thinking about it, Jardin didn't guess Guardiola's coping strategy, which lacks core defensive players?

Take the bus?
Jardim thought it unlikely.

Opposite that is Guardiola.

If he was really that smooth, he wouldn't have been labeled stubborn and inflexible before.

So in Jardim's view, Guardiola had only two choices in the second half.

One is the improbable bus ride.

The other is to press up and bite them like a mad dog like in the first round.

But no matter what, Jardim is not afraid today.

Because he has made sufficient preparations before the game and has a tactical plan to deal with it.

And if Manchester City presses up, he thinks it will be more beneficial to their offense.

At that time, Mbappe will become his ultimate move.

Without Walker, Manchester City's defense will no longer be able to stop Mbappe.

Soon, the fourth official held up a substitution sign on the sidelines.

However, what is jaw-dropping is that Manchester City did not replace Fernandinho, who many believed should be replaced in the first half.

It turned out to be Sania.

And it was Yaya Toure who was replaced.

For a while, the commentators of various countries were collectively dumbfounded, and they were all confused by Guardiola's substitution.

Withdrawing a full-back and replacing it with a midfielder, this is another weird formation to play.

Although Guardiola has 2 Champions League titles and many cup titles, he is not considered by the outside world as a coach who is good at playing cup games.

This has something to do with his lack of flexibility and change, and sometimes he likes to give opponents unexpected changes in cup games.

Unexpectedly, in such a bad situation today, Guardiola did not strengthen his defense, but started acting like a monster again.

This courage is simply too fat.

"Want to play three central defenders?" Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu also had question marks in their heads in the LeTV live broadcast room.

But the question is who will come?

Yaya Toure once made a guest appearance and played well. This is an all-around fighter.

Fernandinho has also played as a defender, and his performance is not bad.

The on-site broadcast director obviously also knew the doubts in the hearts of countless commentators, and used wide-angle lenses to broadcast live after the game started.

Soon, countless commentators saw a brand new formation through the positions of Manchester City players.

"3241?!" In the BBC live broadcast room, Gerrard, Lineker, and Ferdinand looked at each other. They had never seen this formation.

The three of them were dumbfounded for a while, but at the same time they also realized that Guardiola seemed to have come up with something different.

All three of them suddenly became excited.

Since Guardiola dared to change on the spot, it means that Manchester City's weird 3241 formation must have been practiced by Manchester City players to the extent that it can be used.

Otherwise, with Guardiola's character, he would never do this.

But as the game started, many people discovered that this so-called 3241 is actually a derivative formation of 4141 in essence.

It's just that when Manchester City is holding the ball, Stones will come out and come to the midfield to play with Yaya Toure as a double midfielder.

And once Manchester City loses the ball and starts to attack and switch to defense, Stones will return to the position of central defender and become a 4141 formation again.

Although this is just a very simple up and down change, Guardiola's move is tantamount to dropping a blockbuster in world football.

This old boy is alive again!

Instead of playing the side midfielder, play the center midfielder instead!

Moreover, Guardiola's job is so neat that it really makes everyone's eyes shine, and it is full of innovation.

On the field, 5 minutes after the start of the game, Manchester City gave people a sense of surprise.

Among many people who know football techniques and tactics very well, such as Gerrard, they can see Guardiola's intention to change at a glance.

The role of Stones' position premise is to release Yaya Toure's offensive ability at position 6, so that Yaya Toure can rest assured and don't have to worry about what's behind him.

But even better, it also shared the pressure on Chu Zheng and De Bruyne, and liberated Chu Zheng and De Bruyne.

In addition, once Yaya Toure goes up, Manchester City's frontcourt offensive personnel will reach 6.

This kind of offensive investment is undoubtedly a crazy move in professional football games.

But it's very much Guardiola's style, because he and Klopp are essentially the same type of manager, both crazy.

On the sidelines, seeing the changes in Manchester City, Jardim, an insider, was even more confused than those outsiders.

For a moment, he actually felt at a loss.

Soon, Jardim forced himself to calm down.

He rushed to the coaching area quickly, staring at the field, observing the changes in Manchester City.

He must find out the flaws of Manchester City's new tactical strategy as soon as possible, and he feels flustered by the unknown.

At this moment, Jardim felt that he was a little dragon man. There was darkness in front of his eyes, and the world was silent. This darkness and silence seemed to swallow him up.

On the court, if Manchester City was lifeless in the first half, then it was alive and well in the second half.

The liberated Chu Zheng seemed to have taken root in the frontcourt from the first minute of the second half, and no longer retreated as frequently as in the first half.

Therefore, Manchester City's offensive end has come alive.

Not only did they come alive, Manchester City also showed their sharp fangs towards Monaco's defense.

In the 49th minute of the game, Manchester City got a left throw-in in the 30-meter area of ​​the front court.

The ball was quickly thrown by Kolarov to Chu Zheng who started running across from his ribs.

Chu Zheng stood sideways to stop the ball, and Bernardo Silva quickly went up to the right.

After Chu Zheng stopped the ball, there was a short pause.

After Bernardo Silva rushed to his side, he pushed the ball back to Kolarov who had served.

Kolarov knew very well that Chu Zheng was going two to one, so he kept pushing the ball back to Chu Zheng.

Seeing that Bernardo Silva was easily passed by, Fabinho, who came from the ribs, quickly started to rush to the side to continue to exert pressure.

But Fabinho didn't expect that Chu Zheng wanted him to come out.

In the next second, Chu Zheng, who was catching up to the ball on the sideline, made a dunk pass with his left foot, and the ball rolled towards Aguero in the upper corner of the penalty area.

But Sidibé reacted quickly and quickly pushed forward, and Raj directly closed the area from the upper corner of the penalty area to the penalty area in an instant.

So Aguero and Sane were surrounded by four Monaco players in a blink of an eye, unable to support each other.

Aguero had no choice but to take the outside line.

After Chu Zheng saw it, he quickly retreated, giving way to the bottom line on the side road.

But soon Aguero was surrounded by Fabinho, Sidibe and Bernardo Silva from the triangle near the touchline.

Chu Zheng, who was behind Aguero, quickly ran across the inside, trying to take away one person to relieve Aguero's pressure.

As a result, Fabinho and the three ignored Chu Zheng completely, but quickly tightened it like a pocket, surrounding Aguero in the middle.

However, miraculously, Aguero did not lose the ball.

He spiked the ball continuously with both feet, and relying on the speed of his feet, he even bent over and came out from between the tall Sidibe and Fabinho.

Sidibe continued to chase, and Aguero was forced into the corner in a blink of an eye, and it was difficult to turn and face the penalty area.

But when he came to the corner flagpole, taking advantage of Sidibé's failure to stick to it from behind, Aguero suddenly forcibly turned around and swept the ball along the baseline.

In front of the bottom line, at the angle between the sidelines of the restricted area, Chu Zheng stood still like a mountain, blocking Raj behind him.

Facing the incoming ball, Chu Zheng didn't even move his feet. The ball hit his feet and bounced upwards, falling behind him and Raj.

At the same time, Chu Zheng turned around on the spot.

Raj subconsciously pulled on Chu Zheng, but it turned out that Chu Zheng was like a heavy truck that started, and he let him go in an instant.

Moreover, this was in the restricted area, and Raj didn't dare to make any other excessive moves, otherwise he would be sentenced to death if he was seen by the referee.

"Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Seeing Chu Zheng, a god-level stop-and-go, the audience was in an uproar.

So everyone knew that Aguero was a blind pass, a dead horse as a living horse doctor, but in the end Chu Zheng just turned this kind of ball into an opportunity.

For a moment, the tense atmosphere spread on the scene and in the minds of countless people, and everyone stared at the Monaco restricted area.

In the commentary seat, Martin was so nervous that he even grabbed Smith beside him.

Smith's wrist was rosy from being clenched, but he didn't seem to feel it at all, and he was still staring at the court below.

Guardiola was equally nervous, he tiptoed in the penalty area unconsciously, as if this would allow him to see more clearly and further away.

Jardin next to him turned pale, and he had a bad premonition in his heart. A sense of panic enveloped his heart, making him stand uneasy, wishing he could turn around and look away.

On the court, after Chu Zheng passed Raj, he was quickly intercepted by Monaco for the second time.

At this time, in the penalty area of ​​Monaco, Remelsson stood in front of the upper corner of the small penalty area, and Mendy took the penalty kick in the middle, and there were only these two people.

Outside the penalty area, Chu Zheng faced the calm Remelsson and Subasic standing next to the goal post. He had almost no shooting angle.

Facing such a situation, Chu Zheng, who was slowly dribbling the ball, raised his foot and kicked it from the right side of the ball, and at the same time his body center of gravity also leaned to the left.

Immediately, Remelsson in front of Chu Zheng took the bait.

Remelsson thought that Chu Zheng was going to lead the ball from the left side, and his right side broke into the small penalty area, so he quickly changed his center of gravity.

However, in the next second, Remelsson was dumbfounded, and everyone was dumbfounded.

Countless fans in the stands wished they could kick their eyes out.

After Chu Zheng's right foot touched the ball from the right side, the ball jumped up miraculously and landed on Chu Zheng's right foot.

Immediately afterwards, Chu Zheng buckled his right knee inward, and with a flick of his right foot forward, he kicked the ball to the left rib at the top of the arc, which is Monaco's right rib, with his right outer instep.

"De Bruyne!!!!!!!!!!" Seeing this scene, all the commentators stared and exclaimed in unison.

At this moment, the middle of the Monaco penalty area is empty, and there is no one at the front of the top of the arc.

Facing Chu Zheng's inverted triangle return pass, De Bruyne, who started from the left rib at the top of the arc, entered the penalty area and shot angrily at the ball.

boom!
Swish!
After 0.5 seconds, the sound of the ball entering the net sounded in the penalty area.

Subasic, who returned in front of the goal, was completely helpless in the face of De Bruyne's almost violent 12-yard penalty kick.

He couldn't even make a save.

"Kevin!!!!!!!" The moment the goal was scored, countless Manchester City fans cheered at the scene, in Manchester, and in every corner of the world.

"This is Manchester City!! This is the Manchester City we know, the Guardiola we know!!"

"This is Chu Zheng!!!"

"He successfully assisted De Bruyne with a one-foot pass that has never appeared on a football field!"

"This is the tacit connection between the two geniuses!"

"One attracts the firepower, and the other takes the opportunity to plug in and complete the fatal blow!!!!!!!"

"Chu used a technique similar to the oxtail to complete the reverse pass, and his movements were large and fast, which led to him successfully fooling Germersson and all of us! This is really genius idea!!!!"

"God, this is a genius, he can always exceed people's expectations and help the team out of trouble in various magical ways!!!"

"This is Chu. This is the first time he has appeared in the Monaco penalty area in this game, and then we saw a magical scene. He used his extraordinary imagination to complete the fatal pass."

"..."

On the sidelines, the moment Guardiola scored the goal, he jumped up on the spot, punched in mid-air to celebrate, and showed a long-lost smile on his face.

He won the bet!

Although it was temporary, it also allowed Guardiola to see that this set of tactics that has been secretly practiced in the team for a long time is feasible in real battles.

But in the eyes of Guardiola, with the current staffing, it is far from being able to exert the power of this tactic.

Now Guardiola only hopes that Jardim will be stupid and discover the weakness of his tactics later.

As long as one more goal is scored and the score is tied, perhaps the confidence of these young players in Monaco will become shaky, and they may collapse by themselves.

(End of this chapter)