I started with Torres, to revive German football

Chapter 370 Otamendi regains trust

Trailing 0-3, Arsenal almost went into a state of madness.

This is a team that has always had its own temperament and pride. It was really difficult for the Arsenal players on the court to accept such a tragic loss.

The first match between the two sides this season was at the Emirates Stadium. As a result, Arsenal lost 0-3 at home.

That can be considered an unforgettable failure.

Now, at the Etihad Stadium, Arsenal still have nothing to do against Manchester City.

In fact, the situation is even more embarrassing than in the first game, and they are no match for them.

For most of the game, they couldn't even get past the halfway line.

Especially in the second half, Manchester City was already leading 3-0, but they were still in Arsenal's half. Looking at their posture, they really planned to play against Arsenal. How could Arsenal accept this?

As a result, Arsenal almost quickly stepped up its counterattack against Manchester City.

Arsenal's players are still very experienced. They soon realized that if Manchester City's defense pressed forward, the gaps exposed behind them would be larger, so they began to actively adopt the strategy of passing the ball directly behind them.

In this case, Otamendi and Kompany, as central defenders, bear the brunt.

In the 50th minute, the two sides started a fierce battle near the midline, and the ball changed hands back and forth.

Ramsey passed the ball behind him and tried to find Sanchez, but Kyle Walker took the lead and cleared the ball with his big foot.

The ball was kicked back to midfield, but Ramsey tried a direct pass, which was blocked by Kompany.

But the ball was intercepted by Volcock, and the Arsenal winger threw away Kante and sent a through ball.

Sanchez quickly crossed behind him, received the ball and entered the penalty area.

Seeing Sanchez forming a single goal, Caballero was about to leave the goal and attack. He saw Otamendi stabbing from the side. In the penalty area, when Sanchez kicked to hit the goal, the Argentine fell directly. He made a tackle on the ground and blocked Sanchez's shot.

Then, Otamendi got up from the ground again, used his body to block Welbeck who came after him, protected the ball, and passed it back to Caballero.

The Manchester City goalkeeper kicked forward with a big kick.

The entire Etihad Stadium erupted in cheers from Manchester City fans.

Caballero gave Otamendi a thumbs up from a distance!

Guardiola applauded Otamendi's wonderful defense vigorously on the sidelines, and did not forget to look back and smile at the assistant coach.

Facts have proved that his further training of Otamendi this season is still effective.

The central defender, who came to Manchester City with a high price last season, has become significantly more mature this season. With a little push, his potential can be squeezed out at once.

“He was really good tonight.”

Stones on the bench couldn't help but praise.

Otamendi is in the golden age of a central defender, and it is definitely worth looking forward to such a performance against a strong Premier League team.

More importantly, his defense against Sanchez was really good.

Now, Arsenal have started to let Sanchez drop back more.

"This is a good opportunity to see how much offensive pressure our defense can withstand in the absence of two main central defenders. Only with confidence in our hearts can we prepare our troops in the Champions League knockout rounds. Only by setting up the formation can you be more comfortable."

Guardiola explained:

"There are basically no problems in the league, but the physical fitness of Stones and Laporte has also reached a bottleneck. In the following games, if Otamendi doesn't mess up, we will still have to rely more on him!"

In fact, Guardiola didn't just want to score in this wave of attacks at the beginning of the second half.

Or, in a way, scoring is the icing on the cake.

What Guardiola really wants is to see how much offensive pressure Manchester City can withstand.

Arsenal is a very good touchstone. After all, Arsenal is also in the top 16 of this year's Champions League, and they played well in the two knockout rounds when they were eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain, and they are also very capable.

If Manchester City can withstand Arsenal's pressure, then in the knockout rounds, Guardiola will be more confident and the formation will be different.

There are even times when he can try more aggressive offensive tactics.

Otherwise, if you continue to play like this, you will feel unsure and difficult to operate.

"Didn't you already try it in previous games?"

"That was Stones and Laporte, and now it's Otamendi. I want to see if this kid can handle it." Guardiola said.

With just two centre-backs, that's not enough.

The reason why Guardiola wants to take this gamble is because he wants to get a feel for Otamendi. At least for now, he is definitely qualified to be a main rotation central defender.

On the court, the two sides were still fighting and stalemate.

To everyone's surprise, Manchester City had no intention of retreating. On the contrary, they kept pressing forward.

As a result, in the 56th minute, Gundogan made a long pass and wanted to hit directly behind Arsenal's defense, but Mustafi took the lead and headed the ball to Bellerin who came back before Zhao Jinge.

Then passed it to Xhaka and handed it to Ramsey.

Arsenal made continuous counterattacks. After Ramsey got the ball in the gap, he directly passed the ball behind Manchester City's defense.

Sanchez moved forward at the fastest speed, rushed into Manchester City's 30-meter area, and went straight to the penalty area.

Kompany and Cancelo chased after him, but Otamendi next to him was faster.

I saw the Argentinian central defender quickly passing by Walcock, sprinting forward at a faster speed, quickly narrowing the gap with Sanchez, and when Sanchez rushed into the top area of ​​the arc, he caught up with the Chilean forward.

The Chilean forward entered the penalty area, but at this moment, Otamendi made an inconspicuous blocking movement with his left hand. He did not touch Sanchez, but he had a vague intention of blocking it, while he himself Use your speed to get a half-step ahead.

At this critical moment, Otamendi suddenly fell to the ground and made a tackle.

Sanchez tripped Otamendi solidly and fell into the Manchester City penalty area, but the ball was tackled by Otamendi.

Caballero decisively abandoned the goal and grabbed the ball before Walcock.

Arsenal's players were protesting the foul and wanted a penalty, but the referee waved his hand towards them to indicate that it was not a penalty.

"It was a great tackle."

"Argentinian central defender Otamendi made a very wonderful tackle at a critical moment."    "We can see that Otamendi's tackle was very decisive, without any hesitation, and his judgment was very accurate."

"This central defender made a contribution at a critical moment!"

For the first time, Otamendi's name was chanted at the Etihad Stadium.

Countless fans were cheering for the young central defender, and so were Guardiola and others on the sidelines.

With two key tackles in a row, Otamendi's performance in the second half was extremely impressive.

Especially today, he was very calm and knew what he should do, instead of rushing like he did last season!

Encouraged by Otamendi's consecutive tackles, Manchester City began to launch a fierce attack.

Caballero quickly threw the ball and motioned for his teammates to press on.

Manchester City first launched an offensive from the right, and De Bruyne passed the ball to Mane on the right front.

The Senegalese dribbled the ball into the outside of Arsenal's penalty area and tried to cut inside, but was blocked by Bellerin and Xhaka and was forced to pass the ball back.

De Bruyne made another cross and passed it to the feet of Mahrez on the left.

Manchester City tried to create a breakthrough from the left, but Mahrez was also heavily targeted by Arsenal. He failed to get a chance on the left side of the penalty area and passed back to Gundogan who followed.

The German midfielder turned sideways, stopped the ball with his right foot, just avoided Ramsey, faced the right, and directly passed the ball across the ball.

At this time, the entire right side of the penalty area was completely empty.

Mane and Zhao Jinge were in the middle, Mahrez was on the left, and Arsenal's entire defensive formation was completely pulled inward, leaving the right side of the penalty area empty.

But at this time, Manchester City's right back Kyle Walker stepped in. When he received Gundogan's cross pass, he stopped the ball with his right foot and passed the ball directly without waiting for Bellerin to pounce on him.

The arc of this pass was not high and the ball was very fast, but it barely crossed the middle and landed at the back of the small penalty area.

Zhao Jinge was already prepared. After seeing Kyle Walker catch the ball, he already knew how to run. He rushed forward at the fastest speed, and with the momentum of the run-up, he jumped high to meet Kyle Walker. A diagonal pass and a head shot.

The football was hit hard by Zhao Jinge into the left side of Arsenal's goal.

"GOAL!!!!!!"

"Four to zero!"

“Man City scored another goal!!”

"Fifty-eighth minute, Manchester City wins again!"

"Goal from Zhao Jinge! He completed a wonderful fourth goal!"

After Zhao Jinge scored, he rushed out of the stadium excitedly and ran all the way to celebrate.

Fans at the Etihad Stadium also rushed out of their seats frantically in an instant.

The other players all caught up to celebrate Zhao Jinge.

The Arsenal players drooped their heads and looked very disinterested.

No matter how they blocked it, they couldn't stop the attack from Manchester City.

"This offensive style will become our ultimate weapon!"

The assistant coach couldn't help but praise. What is the ultimate weapon? It is a weapon that the opponent cannot defend even if he wants to.

For example, how did you prevent Barcelona from passing and controlling the ball?

If you can't prevent it, then you can only guard it and let nature take its course.

Manchester City's attack just now was actually carefully designed by Guardiola.

First, use the offense to attract all the opponent's defense, then use long passes to suddenly move to the space on the other side, and then insert the full-back from the side of the space to organize and plan the final attack.

Just like just now, how can Arsenal defend?

Gundogan and De Bruyne's long passes move faster than either of them, and their placement is precise.

Kyle Walker's late stop was also very beautiful. He had practiced it on weekdays and made no mistakes. After stopping the ball, he directly passed the ball diagonally to Zhao Jinge. Then the Manchester City King's jumping advantage was fully utilized with the help of the run-up. Who can block it? live?

In this case, Manchester City's offensive line cannot be defended at all.

This is just one side. What if Cancelo and Mahrez on the left also find opportunities?

When the time comes for Manchester City's two wings to work together, Manchester City's assistant coach can't imagine what it will be like.

But it will definitely shock the entire European football world!

As the league progressed, everyone clearly realized that Guardiola's signings were really full of meaning.

Just like left back Cancelo, he not only passes the ball very steadily, but also rarely loses the ball. He has a wide field of vision, and his long pass on the wing is not much worse than that of De Bruyne, and the ball speed is very fast. , precise placement.

And what about Guardiola?

In the overall pressing attack, he was directly pushed to the left center midfielder position, which further brought out his characteristics and advantages.

When Manchester City beat Arsenal 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium, the Daily Mail, which is close to Arsenal, commented immediately after the game and defined this fiasco.

This newspaper believes that the disastrous defeat at the Etihad Stadium has doomed Arsenal to find it difficult to enter the top four in the league.

"After this game, we are seven points behind Liverpool. Arsenal's current state is already very unstable. It is almost an impossible task to catch up in the final stage of the season."

The English media believes that Arsenal's disastrous defeat is not only due to the team's tactical failure.

"It turns out that Wenger is no longer suitable to assume the position of Arsenal head coach. He has no chance of winning in front of Guardiola. Even Arsenal was completely led by Manchester City throughout the game."

The Daily Mail analyzed that in this key matchup, Arsenal is not without a chance. They have the same ball possession rate as Manchester City, which is enough to prove Arsenal’s advantage in passing and controlling the ball. However, in terms of the number of shots, Manchester City As many as nineteen times, and Arsenal only had five shots.

"This is the fewest shots Arsenal have taken this season."

What is even more unacceptable is that Manchester City threatened Arsenal's goal nine times, while Arsenal shot at Manchester City's goal zero times. In other words, strictly speaking, Arsenal did not even threaten Kabbah. Lero's goal.

What a despairing gap!

The Daily Mail believes that Arsenal's performance in this game, except for their advantage in passing and controlling the ball, was almost a failure in all aspects.

Manchester City has had 27 successful one-on-one confrontations, but what about Arsenal?

Sorry, only eleven times.

As for the number of fouls, Arsenal had twenty, but Manchester City had only fourteen.

Corner kicks were taken seven times by Manchester City and only two by Arsenal.

Data cannot represent everything, but it can reflect some situations on the court more objectively.

(End of this chapter)