I started with Torres, to revive German football

Chapter 296 Harry Kane’s Ambition

After defeating Dynamo Kiev, Manchester City rushed back to Manchester overnight that night and did not spend the night in Kiev.

The recent schedule has been relatively tight. Guardiola did not leave one or two days of vacation for the players as usual, but chose to relax and prepare for the game.

Since the next round of the Premier League is scheduled at a earlier time, just this weekend night, Manchester City will be at home to welcome Tottenham Hotspur, who has been in good form recently!

Tottenham, an old rival, is still very familiar to Manchester City players. With such a short break and an upcoming fierce battle, Guardiola and his disciples can only use limited time to try their best. Get back into shape before the game.

After a short break of two or three days, the fans finally waited until October [-]nd, when the focus battle between Manchester City and Tottenham began in the evening of this day.

Recently, Tottenham have gradually regained their form after two draws and one win at the beginning of the season. Before this round of Premier League, they have won three consecutive Premier League games and rushed to fourth place in the league!

Harry Kane is in hot form and has grown into the top scorer second only to Zhao Jinge in the Premier League scorer list!

Since the scenes in the early games were unremarkable, the remaining round of the top four battle between Manchester City and Tottenham directly attracted the attention of all Premier League fans today.

Especially before the game, after Harry Kane, who has scored four goals in the last three Premier League games, said that he would compete with Zhao Jinge for the Premier League Golden Boot this season, the attraction of this game has skyrocketed!

In this situation where they are holding back their energy to prove their strength, the Tottenham players led by Kane had a serious look on their faces from the moment they entered the Etihad Stadium, and they seemed to be in high spirits.

Both teams returned to the locker room after warming up. For the Manchester City players, this was the first game in October. After this game, there was a two-week national team game, and the players also I want to use a victory to give the October game a good start.

Tottenham don't want to lose even more. Their star player doesn't want to be completely suppressed by Zhao Jinge. Several battles last season also provided a lot of fuel for the two teams.

Today on Manchester City's forward line, Zhao Jinge's partners are Mahrez and Sterling. Mane suffered a lot in the last Champions League game. Sterling, who did not travel with the team to Ukraine, happened to take his starting position.

In the midfield, Gundogan and David Silva, who traveled to Ukraine, were both on standby. Kante and Yaya Toure, who had rested for more than a week, started the game!

As for De Bruyne, who played the entire game in the last game, Guardiola will replace him in the second half if the game goes well.

At 09:30 in the evening, with the attention of countless fans, the home game between Manchester City and Tottenham started on time. The Manchester City fans once again raised the huge TIFO of "We are the champions", and the atmosphere at the scene was extremely enthusiastic. !
Guardiola watched the formations of both teams gradually spread out from the field, and he was still a little worried.

Tottenham's offensive group is still a great threat. Harry Kane at the center position is definitely the strongest center in the Premier League except Zhao Jinge. Not only does he have a strong scoring ability, but he also provides a strong support for Tottenham's frontcourt offense. Tactical support.

And Son Heung-min and Eriksen, who are partnering with Harry Kane on the front line in this game, should not be underestimated. The midfielder composed of Ali, Moussa Sissoko, and Wanyama is also very tough!
Last season, Tottenham's ability to rush into the Champions League with consecutive wins in the latter part of the season was most directly related to their young and energetic midfielder!

Even Manchester City, which was invincible in the Premier League last season, suffered at the hands of Tottenham.

Guardiola, as an old fox, has always paid close attention to Tottenham's midfield and frontcourt with Kane as the core. In this game, he also formulated strict tactics to limit Kane's performance.

No matter what, Kane cannot be allowed to get sufficient offensive space in his own hinterland. Otherwise, Manchester City has not yet fully adjusted the central defender combination, and it is really possible that it will not be Kane's opponent.

In addition to Kane, Eriksen has performed well in the Premier League this season after having excellent statistics in double figures with goals and assists for Tottenham last season. His passing and threatening abilities are very strong. Manchester City's backcourt players cannot relax their marking of Eriksen.

As for the competition in the midfield, Guardiola is not very worried. Real Madrid's midfielder has to retreat and control the field first under the pressure of Manchester City's midfielder. Tottenham's midfielder is very good, but compared with Manchester City's midfielder But it can't be compared, and the pressure on Manchester City is not too great.

Although they have a pair of top double midfielders and are full of midfield sweeping ability, their creativity and field control ability are still much inferior to Manchester City.

With the referee's whistle, Manchester City took the lead to kick off.

Perhaps because of Harry Kane's pre-match rants, Zhao Jinge seemed particularly proactive on the offensive end today!
Just over 30 seconds after Manchester City started, De Bruyne sent a long pass in the midfield. Zhao Jinge held Tottenham's center back Verton in front of Tottenham's penalty area.

Then in front of the Belgian central defender, he stopped the ball with his chest, turned around to open up space, and volleyed from outside Tottenham's penalty area!
Tottenham goalkeeper Lori was quite focused in the opening stage and saved Zhao Jinge's shot in a thrilling way!

Only half a minute into the game, Zhao Jinge used his personal ability to take a threatening shot, which made the Manchester City fans cheer directly.

On Tottenham's side, Lori was loudly reminding his teammates on the back line, especially Vertong. The old guard was beaten to death by Zhao Jinge just now!
Although Vertong has rich defensive experience, he is still a little inadequate in front of Zhao Jinge. In addition, as he gets older, his body functions are declining, and it is already difficult to defend the top center.

Weir Tongxiang, who originally wanted to guard Zhao Jinge alone, had no choice but to ask his partner Alderweireld to guard Zhao Jinge together.

Alderweireld is slightly smaller than Vertong, but he is also more flexible. It is hard to say whether he can guard Zhao Jinge.

But if he partners with his old teammates, Tottenham's backcourt players will still feel a little unsure, but no matter what, they can't give Zhao Jinge such an easy chance to start again.

Not only was goalkeeper Lori shocked just now, but other Tottenham defenders were also shocked into a cold sweat by Zhao Jinge's shot.

After Tottenham got the ball, Wanyama quickly passed the ball to Ali. After taking two steps, Ali dribbled the ball directly to the left.

Like Manchester City's probing attack at the beginning, Tottenham also handed the ball to Kane and asked Kane to try to see if he could open up the situation first.However, Yaya Toure's position was very good, and with Kanter's assistance in defense, Kane did not find a good opportunity and could only pass the ball back to Eriksson.

The two teams gradually entered the game after their own trials. In terms of playing style, both teams actually have strong counterattack capabilities. Manchester City is faster in terms of counterattack speed, but Tottenham rely on Alli and Son Heung-min to win. The ball advancement is no less generous.

It's just that Manchester City ultimately relied on its stronger midfield control ability to gradually compress the space for Tottenham's midfield as the game progressed.

Pochettino, affectionately called Uncle Po by domestic Tottenham fans, frowned at the situation on the field.

Less than 10 minutes into the game, Tottenham's midfielders had to start to retreat and organize, and Alli had to help the ball in the backcourt. Facing Manchester City's overall pressure, Tottenham wanted to open up the situation in the middle. It was very difficult to get up.

But this midfielder still has to fight. I don’t know how many Premier League teams have already demonstrated to Tottenham. What will happen when Manchester City completely controls the midfielder and continuously delivers the ball to Zhao Jinge.

He knows his own defensive situation well, and Pochettino does not think that Alderweireld and Vertonshare, who are over [-], can withstand Zhao Jinge's impact.

The goal that Zhao Jinge easily beat Verton in the opening game also illustrates the problem. If you want to reduce the pressure on the defense, you must cut off the connection between the Manchester City midfielder and Zhao Jinge.

Thinking of this, Pochettino stood on the sidelines and signaled Eriksen to retreat to the midfield wing.

In this case, Tottenham will now have four midfielders. Although there is only one Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in the front line, and one offensive point is reduced, at least Tottenham's control ability in the midfield will be enhanced, and Kai Well, you can also withdraw to respond at any time.

Sure enough, with Eriksen's retreat and support, Tottenham's midfielder slowly withstood Manchester City's forward pressure. One more player meant an extra point for the ball, coupled with Eriksen and Alli's delicate With technical support, Tottenham also made several good attacks in Manchester City's half.

After all, Harry Kane can serve as a fulcrum. Even with the interference of Kompany and Yaya Toure, Harry Kane cannot hold the ball every time, but Tottenham finally has some offensive opportunities.

Kane's intervention and Eriksen's threatening pass still put a lot of pressure on Manchester City's defense.

Kane's threat makes Yaya Toure dare not easily go forward to counterattack. Kante also needs to focus on interference and sweeping in the midfield, so now Manchester City's counterattack almost relies on a few players on the wing. Push forward, or rely on Teacher Ding's long pass.

When Mahrez saw this, he retreated decisively, just like Eriksen, helping the center sort out the situation and also getting the ball to help advance.

Wanyama and Sissoko were very wary of Zhao Jinge taking the ball. After all, when they faced each other last season, Zhao Jinge's several long-distance runs looked so shocking. No one dares to bet on whether Zhao Jinge can perform like that again. .

But Wanyama and Alli's double defense on Zhao Jinge gave other Manchester City players opportunities. Zhao Jinge likes this situation very much. He is not afraid of being double guarded, but he is afraid that his opponents will not have enough people to guard him!

Relying on Zhao Jinge's ball distribution, Manchester City immediately set off a considerable offensive wave in Tottenham's half.

After Zhao Jinge scored suddenly, he then went forward to grab the point, which made Tottenham's midfielder and backfield players very uncomfortable. Alderweireld was taller than Zhao Jinge, but he was slightly inferior in terms of confrontation ability. Zhao Jinge was alone. There is an advantage against any of Tottenham's centre-backs in a one-on-one matchup.

Sterling moved to the side to help Zhao Jinge open up space. Unfortunately, Wanyama decisively recovered the penalty area at this time and helped Alderweireld guard Zhao Jinge. Otherwise, Alderweireld would have been beaten by Zhao Jinge. One to one was destroyed.

"Damn it! What did he eat to grow up? I almost couldn't help stretching out my hand to pull him. I can't stop him at all!"

Alderweireld complained a little aggrievedly, but this time his teammates expressed understanding to him, because the joint defense of Wanyama and Alderweireld just now almost caused Zhao Jinge to be in the penalty area. Grab some inside.

This physical fitness may not be as good as Drogba at his peak, but it is also ranked among the top in the Premier League. The key is that Zhao Jinge is not yet 19 years old!

"Nesta at his peak is probably not 100% sure that he can stop him. You did a good job, Wanyama, you should help to defend later!
If I double-team Zhao, he will definitely pass the ball to Sterling. "

Vertong asked Wanyama for help. He and Alderweireld could not jointly defend a center of this level. He was physically strong and fast. He might not be able to defend him with his old bones. Injuried.

In the backcourt, several Tottenham players were discussing how to defend Zhao Jinge. In the frontcourt, Eriksen also had a hard time facing the defense of Kyle Walker and Kanter.

After all, he is not a speed player. He is relatively slow. It is very uncomfortable to be entangled by the fast Kanter and Walker. Although he can get rid of it with his skills, he cannot stop Kanter from calling for help.

Walker's defense is very tough. Eriksen doesn't like to face off against such a defender. He withdraws his position again and again, almost standing on the same line as Ali.

Pochettino's original intention of letting Eriksen retreat was to give Tottenham a numerical advantage in the midfield and push back Manchester City's forward pressure. However, Zhao Jinge and Mahrez's retreat and advancement with the ball made him adjust his tactics. Direct failure.

Manchester City can still set off an offensive frenzy in the hinterland of Tottenham thanks to Zhao Jinge's strong propulsion ability. Although for Zhao Jinge, the physical exertion is much greater than in usual games, it is only the first half and he will not rest until the end of the half. That's it, as long as he can score goals, it doesn't matter if he is tired.

Zhao Jinge's tireless attack made it difficult for Alderweireld to defend. Even with Wanyama's help, he still felt that he was about to be unable to withstand it.

The Manchester City players were surprised to see that Zhao Jinge had such a huge advantage over Tottenham's back line, so they kept feeding Zhao Jinge the ball without hesitation.

This scene can't help but remind countless Premier League fans of the scene when Drogba beat Senderos. The brutality was exactly the same!

(End of this chapter)