Starting with Milan as a central defender

With the whistle of the referee.

The game officially begins.

Manchester City possession.

Aguero kicks back Nasri.

Manchester City's formation immediately pressed forward and penetrated through precise and continuous short passes.

David Silva unknowingly switched positions with Nasri and dominated the direction of the Blue Moon Army in the middle.

Liverpool retreated quickly and stationed themselves in the half, forming an 8-man defensive formation, leaving only Sturridge and Coutinho to harass in the frontcourt.

There are no surprises.

Manchester City's midfielder showed an overwhelming advantage and soon brought the battle to the 30-meter area.

David Silva turned his back and frowned.

There is no space at the front of the penalty area
Because the Liverpool players' positioning was very particular, Gerrard, Henderson, and Joe Allen did not move too much to the side, but concentrated in the middle.

Emre Can stood on the side of Gerrard, providing strong protection and support.

The purpose is to sacrifice a certain counterattack position and compress the space near the midfield and backcourt, so that Manchester City cannot use their best ground passing and cutting to tear apart Liverpool's defense.

why?
Because Manchester City's frontcourt is dominated by small and fast players, they need a certain amount of space in the front midfield.

Liverpool's intensive positioning squeezes the opponent's living space and greatly reduces their offensive danger.

Manchester City are not stupid either. Doesn't this mean giving up huge space on the wing?
David Silva made a gesture and quickly shifted the focus of the attack.

The football passed continuously and came to Clichy's feet.

Manchester City's wing combination is similar to that of Argentina, both attacking and defending. With suitable wing midfielders, they can frequently create opportunities.

"We need to open things up from the wing."

"Come look at this ball!"

Clichy dribbled the ball directly downfield without trying to cut inside.

no way.
The center is basically crowded, and it is not easy to send the football in. We can only try to cross the ball to see if the Liverpool defender will make a mistake.

will not
Qin Yun had already judged Manchester City's intentions and vaccinated Sakho in advance to ask him to pay attention to his position.

As for Kolo Toure, his position selection ability is very good and he doesn't need to be reminded at all.

The football went straight to the back post.

At the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City fans became increasingly vocal.

Sakho easily jumped up to head the ball to clear the ball.

Nasri volleyed sideways, but due to interference from Henderson and Gerrard, he kicked the ball directly into the stands.

"It's difficult for Aguero to grab the first spot in front of Sakho."

"Liverpool lured the snake out of its hole and gave up space on the wing, but Manchester City had no commanding heights and could only return the ball."

"The tactics of the two teams are intertwined. I can predict that today's game will be a visual feast."

side of the field.

Rogers' expression is very happy. He is a classic theoretical coach.

To put it simply, he is good at formulating tactics.

But no matter how good the tactics are, they still need players to execute them.

The difference between a world-famous coach and a first-line coach is whether he can consider the ups and downs of the player's status, set up multiple guarantees, and change according to the current situation.

He made a fundamental mistake last season, treating players like robots who could execute perfectly.

That’s why it caused a breakdown on the defensive end.
But it's different now. Qin Yun is the guarantee.

Not only is he in a stable state, but he can also make up for his teammates' mistakes in a timely manner. This kind of defensive player is hard to find.

The other side.

Engineer Pellegri made a gesture to continue attacking from the side.

Liverpool's behavior is to use itself as bait, but Manchester City is a crocodile, with the ability to swallow its opponents in one bite.

Be careful to play with fire and burn yourself.

Liverpool goal kick.

Mignolet's long passing level is very poor and cannot be compared with his predecessor Reina.

Therefore, Manchester City aims at this point, and the overall formation is forward, waiting for you to make a short pass and then press.

no way.
Mignola could only bite the bullet.

The football flew towards the center circle. Coutinho turned his back and wanted to ferry it to his teammates, but suddenly he fell down on the turf uncontrollably.

"Yaya Toure!"

"He's like a tank, running rampant!"

With Coutinho's small body, neither of them can stop him.

The referee didn't say anything. This was a normal intensity of confrontation.

Yaya Toure dribbled the ball forward, forgetting the coach's words, and letting him stand behind to defend was no different from going to jail.

And with Fernandinho, the safety of the midfield and backfield is absolutely no problem.

Such was the case last season, as Yaya Toure was given greater freedom to develop into a turbocharged version of his destructive midfielder, proving to be nearly unstoppable.

Manchester City's formation quickly pressed forward, and players kept changing positions.

The two full-backs David Silva and Milner moved forward quickly.

Aguero hides in the blind spot of Liverpool's midfielder, ready to outflank him at any time.

The blue mudslide surges crazily, pushing forward suffocatingly with huge power, destroying all obstacles that stand in its way.

Manchester City fans burst into deafening cheers at the Etihad Stadium.

Yaya Toure didn't rush the ball.

He wants to flatten the opponent's formation as much as possible. After losing flexibility, counterattacks will not pose much of a threat.

Henderson stepped forward to intercept.

then
Yaya Toure suddenly moved to the right, not very fast, but with a slight lead, he squeezed Henderson away.

"Huh!"

"A rampaging beast!"

Yaya Toure didn't even need to raise his head to observe, he just kicked off.

Snapped!
A skillful and effortless pass, like a brilliant rainbow.

Using delicate footwork, he accurately found David Silva on the right.

"It's very smart. By speeding up the rhythm, it shortens the adjustment time of the opponent's defense!"

“David Silva has a lot of options!”

"Oh?"

"Driving the ball directly towards the ribs, I have full confidence in my own strength!"

Gerrard quickly approached and took the right opportunity to make a sudden move.

Snapped!
Not interrupted.
David Silva pretends to be inward, but in fact he is outward.

The swing of the center of gravity combined with the movements of the feet is extremely realistic.

Gerrard is very skillful. If he makes a mistake in stealing the ball, he immediately moves sideways to block the passing space.

Emre Can's help defense is very fast.

But space magicians have already completed their preparations to perform an unpredictable performance on the Etihad.

What is the essence of magic?
Cognitive biases caused by habitual thinking.

Or to use a simpler description, use common sense to deceive vision, psychology, and cognition.
David Silva made a diagonal pass to the left, and Clichy was already ready to insert it.

In the spotlight.

Lan Yue twisted her core body and swung her left foot in the opposite direction without leaving any trace.

Snapped!
A crisp sound of touching the ball sounded, which seemed to be the opening of the magic, attracting everyone's attention.

The football rolled strangely to the right side of the penalty area.

A classic magic trick that achieves the ultimate goal through misdirection.

Manchester City fans were passionate, waving their flags and beating loud drums, creating a terrifying momentum.

They were completely immersed in this performance, and what they saw before them was a dreamlike situation.

"Aguero, he moves left and right in the penalty area and his movement is extremely agile."

Sako couldn't react!
He is not good at man-to-man marking, and when faced with complex problems, his brain runs at high speed and goes into shutdown.

It’s like using Intel i9-11900K with GT 210 graphics card
By the time he reacts, his opponents may have already scored the ball.in the screen.

Aguero adjusted his posture and hit the ball to the near corner.

He is very confident in his shooting skills
At this distance, the chance that the goalkeeper can save it is very low.

Mignolet moved quickly.

His long passes and attacks are weak, but his goal-line skills are at the top level in the Premier League.

Too little time, too late
Suddenly, a red figure appeared in his field of vision.

Liverpool number 6?
Louis?
That thing is not that fast!
Before Mignolet could react, he saw that Aguero had not even completed the shooting action, and the football disappeared from under his feet and rolled out of the baseline.

A jaw-dropping tackle.

Be quick!
David Silva opened his mouth slightly, his previous fake actions were very sufficient, why didn't he deceive him.

"You can always glance behind you with your peripheral vision."

Qin Yun got up and brushed off the grass clippings on his body, smiled and patted Sako on the shoulder, without any blame in his eyes.

Sakho pursed his lips and nodded vigorously. Last season, he was reprimanded for often missing defenses, which even caused dissatisfaction among his teammates.

But the more he tried to focus, the more likely he was to make mistakes, turning it into a vicious cycle.

Only now did he understand what it was like to partner with a teammate of a very high level.

Qin Yun directed his teammates to defend the corner kick and glanced at David Silva.

I saw through your magic!
Common sense represents the outcome of an efficient but flawed cognitive model of the human brain.

Magic needs to find these properties before it can perform.

But unfortunately, the cognitive model in my brain is very complete, and even if there are loopholes, it is difficult to find them.

"Classic anticipatory defense!"

"Manchester City's great scoring opportunity was ruined!"

"Look at this corner kick, David Silva passes it directly to the back post"

"Kolo Toure and Yaya Toure fought against each other, but neither one could steal anything. The football was controlled by Henderson."

"Liverpool strikes back!"

Although Manchester City focuses on attacking, they dare not slack off on defense.

Once the ball is lost in the frontcourt, immediately start a counterattack on the spot.

Milner and Nasri defended each other like horns.

Henderson didn't dare to push the ball forward, so he quickly passed the ball diagonally to the wing.

Sterling kept tumbling with his short legs and saved the ball before it went out of bounds.

Fernandinho quickly approached.

Introduced from the miners for 4000 million euros last season, he is a representative whose strength is greater than his reputation.

He is 1 meters tall and weighs 79 kilograms. He is not strong, but his brain is very good.

Think of him as Busquets
But Sterling didn't have any brains at all and forced a breakthrough from the outside.

His instant acceleration ability is world-class.

Swish!
It passed like a bolt of lightning.

Fernandinho chased back in frustration, he had underestimated this nigger.

Sterling continued to accelerate. The weird posture did not affect the speed, but was full of original beauty.

The Liverpool fans sang loudly, like a clarion call for counterattack.

In an instant.

Sterling dribbled the ball across the midfield and passed to the center before Zabaleta could steal it.

Coutinho!

Without interference, his offensive talents can be perfectly unleashed.

Snapped!
An elegant pass!
The football spun violently and fell behind Clichy.

Of Manchester City's two full-backs, Zapaleta is much more stable than Clichy.

So Coutinho chose to focus on the right wing.

Sturridge made a diagonal cut from the ribs, carrying Clichy forward with force to complete the starting speed.

England's best shooting forward after Owen, and a very rare left-footed shooter.

If it weren't for the injury, maybe he would develop better in the future.

Mangala and Kompany have a clear division of labor.

The former is placed in the center of the penalty area, and the latter moves to the wing to fill in.

Sturridge suddenly slowed down and rubbed his left foot.

The football flew quickly to the left side of the small penalty area.

The ball is given deep in order to get past Mangala's defence.

Joe Hart quickly ran to the landing point.

But someone is faster than him!
Sterling!
Although the angle is not good, there is still a chance to score.

It depends on the player
Sterling raised his right foot slightly and shot into the far corner.

boom!
Joe Hart made a flying save and watched the football go over the crossbar and fly into the stands.

The Etihad Stadium suddenly burst into laughter.

"Masturbating two meters in front of the door?"

"It's really yours"

"Rogers hasn't understood that as long as Sterling stays away from the goal and doesn't shoot, his ability will be fully reflected."

"Alas, Liverpool's excellent scoring opportunity was wasted. It is not required to score, but it must at least be on target, right?"

Sterling walked back with his head lowered, his expression very embarrassed.

Sturridge hugged his big braised egg and looked over in disbelief.

Didn't you score this goal?
Studio.

Netizens laughed like crazy.
-
【Spokesperson of Happy Football! 】
-
[Lukaku, who has just transferred to Everton, is even better. In the last game, he missed half a meter in front of the goal. It was very difficult! 】
-
[My grandma can even score goals! 】
-
[Don’t scold Sterling, his tactical significance is far greater than his scoring significance. 】

The game restarts.

Manchester City advanced unhurriedly through the combination of wing and center.

David Silva acts as a front midfielder, like lubricant, making the process of tactical switching very smooth.

I have to say that Pellegrini's coaching level has only been 20 minutes in the first half, and he has already used three styles of play.

However, the kernel has not changed.
Liverpool even asked Coutinho to retreat to defend, leaving only Sturridge as a counterattack point.

Against a fierce offensive team like Manchester City, you need to get your defense in place first and resolutely not give your opponent opportunities in threatening areas in front of the penalty area.

Moreover, when Manchester City is attacking, they are accustomed to using the full-backs to form a numerical advantage in the partial space on the wing. This consumes a lot of physical energy and can easily lead to loss of position.

The 32th minute of the game.

David Silva advanced with the ball from the wing and made a 45-degree half-high pass from the right side of the penalty area.

Aguero stepped sideways to shoot, but was unable to use his power because he was blocked by Qin Yun.

Mignolet holds the ball easily.

Another attack that came to nothing.

As time passed, Manchester City seemed to be overwhelming, creating murderous opportunities on the wing many times.

However, facing Liverpool's impregnable defense, they failed to make any progress, which instead made the players' mentality slightly impatient.

Sakho entered the state and completed steals on Aguero many times.

However, Liverpool's counterattack also failed to create excellent opportunities similar to those before.

Manchester City strengthened its counterattack in the midfield and frontcourt, and was not stingy in fouling.

In order to prevent Sterling and Sturridge from quickly dribbling the ball, Fernandinho and Clichy have already turned yellow.

Finally, the referee's whistle announced the end of the first half.

The score remained unchanged at 0-0.

Manchester City fans are naturally unhappy. After all, they were the Premier League champions last season and broke the Premier League scoring record.

But now we can't take the lead.
Liverpool fans are quite satisfied. Their team has always been weak defensively, and they could barely cover it up last season with their strong offensive line.

But it's completely different now. They can feel the stability of the team.

Is this the influence of the "cornerstone of team building"? (End of chapter)