Chapter 472 Harry Kane attacks, Spurs turn over and the serfs sing!
After entering January, it seems that Manchester City's state has fluctuated a bit because of its huge lead.
In the four games in January, they achieved 2 wins and 2 draws.
If this record were placed on other teams, it would definitely make them feel very satisfied.
But for the defending champions Manchester City, it seems a little imperfect.
Especially Manchester City's 0:0 draw with Everton at home surprised the fans.
Manchester City was a bit slow to warm up in this game and missed a lot of opportunities.
Everton played really well, especially their forward Lukaku, who performed well in the game and created chances several times with his personal strength. It was a pity that his teammates were not good at seizing opportunities and wasted the opportunities he created.
Lukaku's performance last year was already very outstanding, and this year he continued his outstanding performance, attracting the attention of many teams and even giants.
Among them, Chelsea and Manchester United are most interested in Lukaku.
Lukaku is a former Chelsea player. Seeing how well he performed for the Toffees, Chelsea naturally wanted to bring him back to Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United lacks a strong center forward. As Everton is Manchester United's younger brother, it is natural for the big brother to consider the fact that Everton has such a good center forward in the team.
Given the relationship between Manchester United and Everton, this transfer should not be a big problem as long as the player himself does not object.
Guardiola doesn't take the outside world's discussions and even criticisms to heart.
The knockout stage of the Champions League is about to begin. He must allocate the players' physical energy as much as possible and reduce unnecessary consumption in order to face the cruel knockout stage of the Champions League.
Moreover, the record of 2 wins and 2 draws has no impact on Manchester City's top position. Their main rival Leicester City also has a record of 2 wins and 2 draws in these four rounds, and the gap between the two sides is still 12 points.
There are 15 rounds left in the league and Manchester City is 12 points ahead of its opponents. With such a huge advantage, Manchester City can naturally play more calmly.
After entering February, Guardiola became more bold in his team rotation.
In the fourth round of the FA Cup, Guardiola used a lineup that was almost entirely made up of substitutes.
However, what was unexpected was that this group of Manchester City substitutes won 5:0 away from home and beat Aston Villa into a state of confusion.
The best performance in this game was Manchester City's own youth player Iheanacho, who completed a hat trick with his head and feet, bringing his total number of goals this season to 14.
The season isn't over yet, and with his current goal-scoring efficiency, his total number of goals might reach 20 by the end of the season.
This is a very scary number. The top scorers of many Premier League teams cannot score so many goals in a season, let alone as a substitute!
After this game, Iheanacho's name became completely popular.
Now not only Premier League teams know him, but teams from other leagues also know his name.
In fact, during the winter break, a team had already made an offer to Manchester City, hoping to sign him.
However, these offers did not meet Guardiola's psychological expectations, and Iheanacho did not want to leave Manchester City for the time being, so they were all rejected.
Now, after such a brilliant performance, his value will surely continue to rise.
By the summer, if other teams want to take him away, Manchester City probably won't even look at any offer below 30 million euros.
Guardiola's attitude towards Iheanacho is actually very clear.
If he is willing to stay, Manchester City will open its doors to him and welcome him to continue to stay in the team.
But Guardiola will not promise him a starting position, he can only sit on the bench and compete for the starting position himself.
However, given Aguero's current form, it will be very difficult for Iheanacho to compete with him, not to mention that with the arrival of Sane, Jesus and others, his playing time will be further squeezed.
Therefore, Guardiola is still inclined to sell him or loan him out.
After Iheanacho had some communication with Guardiola, he had a clear idea in his mind. Although he was reluctant to leave Manchester City, he still made the decision to leave for the sake of his career.
Out of respect for his old club, he rejected the olive branch from the Premier League team and preferred to go to other leagues.
He is not opposed to La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and even Ligue 1.
When Manchester City released the news, many clubs became interested and sent people to investigate him.
Among them, there are even scouts from two Chinese Super League teams.
…
On February 6, after a 1-0 away win over Sunderland, Manchester City faced Leicester City again.
This is the second time the two teams have met in 40 days.
Since the last encounter, the two teams' current records are almost identical. In the past five league games, both teams have achieved 3 wins and 2 draws.
The difference is that the opponents Manchester City faced were generally weaker.
Leicester City’s opponents are all very strong, including strong teams like Tottenham and Liverpool.
And Leicester City has won every time facing these giants.
This greatly boosted Leicester City's morale before the second top battle with Manchester City, and they have completely come out of the shadow of the previous defeat.
Ranieri still appeared very humble as before. He complimented Manchester City and Guardiola, praising them as the best team and the best coach. He believed that Manchester City's dominance in the Premier League was unbreakable and that Leicester City's goal at the Etihad Stadium was to get a point.
Leicester City kept a very low profile, as if they had already accepted their fate.
However, when the game started, they didn't look like they were going to admit defeat.
Having learned from the previous defeat, Ranieri naturally chose a solid defensive counterattack tactic in this game.
Leicester City's formation was very tight. Except when counterattacking, when the team's formation would be slightly pressed out, at other times, their players basically did not leave the half court, or even leave the 30-meter area.
This extreme defense caused great trouble to Manchester City's offense.
During the winter break, Leicester City also strengthened its team by bringing in a very fast striker.
Every time it was their turn to counterattack, they would let the striker compete with Manchester City's defenders in speed.
The success rate of this tactic is not high, but the threat is not small.
In the first half, Leicester City relied on defensive counterattack tactics to fight on equal terms with Manchester City.
After the second half, Manchester City began to change its formation to 3241. Behind the striker, there was a large group of passers-by to deliver the ammunition to the striker.
What’s even better is that these passers are also attackers, and they have strong scoring abilities, especially Lin Quan.
This formation makes full use of the width of the field, stretching the opponent's defensive formation and creating excellent opportunities for attacking players, especially those who come in from behind the ribs.
With this tactic, Manchester City scored the first goal in the second half.
However, the opponent was also lucky. A long shot from outside the penalty area hit the defender's leg and refracted, unexpectedly equalizing the score.
Manchester City then scored another goal in a counterattack, but unfortunately it was offside.
In the following time, neither team made any progress and the game ended in a 1:1 draw.
After this battle, Manchester City's lead has not narrowed and is still 12 points.
Leicester City also successfully got a point away from home, so this result is acceptable to both sides! After the game with Leicester City, Manchester City entered a very busy schedule.
In the next half month, they have four games to play.
Among them are 2 Premier League games, one Champions League, one League Cup and one FA Cup.
Among these, three games are all concentrated in the last week of February, which makes Manchester City a little overwhelmed.
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Last season, Guardiola strategically gave up the FA Cup and League Cup in order to maintain the league and Champions League results.
This season, Manchester City has increased the depth of its bench, and Guardiola's rotation has been effective. While fighting on multiple fronts, the team's physical condition has not encountered too many problems.
Therefore, after consulting the players, Manchester City will not give up these cup competitions this season, hoping to win another Grand Slam!
Among them, the League Cup games have almost been played, with only the last final left.
The only problem is that it is Manchester City and Liverpool who have made it to the final round of the League Cup.
Like Arsenal, Liverpool has also been experiencing a championship drought in recent years. They will most likely not let go of even a small trophy like the League Cup.
Therefore, there is a high probability that Liverpool will field all its main players in the final.
To defeat them, it is probably not possible to rely solely on substitutes and young players.
Manchester City also has to send out its main players, but this game is very close to the league.
If we send our main players to fight Liverpool to the end, we might have to give up strategically in the 27th round of the league.
"It's okay to give up the 27th round of the league. Anyway, we have a big lead, and the 27th round of the league is very close to the Champions League quarter-finals. The players have just come back from the away game and their physical fitness must not have fully recovered. If we play another league game, we will definitely not be in shape to compete with Liverpool for the championship. So I agree to give up the league!"
During internal discussions, most of the coaching staff were in favor of giving up the league.
Even if they lose this game, the most they will lose is 3 points to their opponent. Their lead is still huge, so they don't have to worry about losing the championship.
Furthermore, the opponent is not strong, and Manchester City may not lose even if they send out substitutes. If they win or draw, it will be considered a gain.
Considering that they will give up the 27th round, Manchester City hopes to win the home game against Tottenham in the 26th round and secure the three points.
With Kane's continuous improvement in strength, under his leadership, Tottenham's record this season has improved a lot.
Although Son Heung-min was abducted by Manchester City, it had some adverse effects on them.
But Kane's rise made up for these shortcomings. He became a hot star in the Premier League and was touted by the media on Fleet Street as the new British star.
I don’t agree with those who have previously hyped him up as a British star. Kane really has the ability to do so.
So he has attracted the attention of a large number of top clubs. There are even rumors in Real Madrid that Florentino plans to introduce Kane to replace Ronaldo.
This statement is not groundless. After all, compared to the "old" Ronaldo, Kane, who was born in 1993, is younger and has greater potential in the future.
Real Madrid has bought many players from Tottenham, and Bale was bought from Tottenham.
However, when Real Madrid bought Bale, they were severely ripped off by Tottenham.
If they really want to poach Kane from Tottenham, they will probably be ripped off even more miserably. After all, in Tottenham's eyes, Kane is much more important than Bale!
Although Kane has performed very well in the past two seasons, almost no one was optimistic about Tottenham before the game.
The reason is very simple. Manchester City seems to have a blood restraint on Tottenham.
In the past few seasons, Manchester City has often scored big scores in games against Tottenham, with four, five or even five or six goals being scored. And this has happened not once or twice, but frequently.
So, before the game everyone thought Tottenham was doomed, and some people even made bets on how many games Tottenham would lose.
However, what no one expected was that Kane had his own explosion in this game.
He and Eriksen scored 3 goals together, helping the team to beat Manchester City 3:2 away from home, avenging the previous defeat and finally standing up in front of Manchester City.
The loss in this game was a big surprise for the entire Manchester City team. They couldn't even beat a strong opponent like Tottenham, and had already lost 3 points before the 27th round.
So, are they going to give up the next round of games? "Coach, should we adjust our previous plan?"
"Yes, if we lose again in the next round, our lead will probably be reduced to 6 points!"
There are still 12 rounds of the league, and a 6-point lead is actually not a small number.
But losing 6 points in two rounds of games is a bit wrong, even if they gave up one of the games on their own initiative.
If Manchester City shows such a decline, the suspense of this season's championship will reappear.
Then other teams will be more tenacious when they meet Manchester City. After all, apart from them, almost the entire Premier League does not want them to monopolize the Premier League championship.
This also means that their next games will be more difficult.
So, they can't afford to lose the next game.
After hearing what the coaching staff said, Guardiola also fell silent.
He knew the interests involved and that his decision would likely have a huge impact.
"Let me think about it carefully!"
Guardiola was not in a hurry to make a decision, because he couldn't make up his mind for the time being, so he planned to go home and discuss it with Lin Quan, or wait and see, and make a decision after the Champions League knockout round?
If it really doesn't work, then give up the cup competition, even if you lose the League Cup, it doesn't matter! After all, the Triple Crown does not include the League Cup!
(End of this chapter)