Chapter 802: The Upstarts’ Counterattack
In 2008, after Abu Dhabi’s Mansour acquired Manchester City, he declared that he would build a wealthy club within three years.
This was considered a joke by many people back then.
Especially the arrogant British, the media have attacked Manchester City and despised it as a nouveau riche, just like when Abramovich took over Chelsea. Although they cannot deny that Chelsea is already one of the strongest teams in the Premier League, they still do not recognize Chelsea as a wealthy club.
At least, Chelsea doesn’t have the Champions League!
In the first two seasons after taking over Manchester City, he bought many stars and spent a lot of money, but the results were mediocre.
But all this changed completely with the arrival of Su Dong.
Everyone has noticed that the Manchester City team that lacked offensive power last season has transformed itself into one of the most powerful attacking teams in the Premier League this season. The defense is still very good. The arrival of Pepe has greatly improved Manchester City's defense.
More importantly, as the season progressed, everyone was surprised to find that Su Dong’s arrival not only brought an improvement in strength, but also made him the captain of Manchester City, the soul of the team, and united the locker room.
As early as the beginning of the season, after Su Dong was elected as captain, the media questioned this decision, because Su Dong had never been a captain before and he was a newcomer. Would people in the locker room accept it?
But soon, they discovered that Manchester City's locker room was very quiet. Kompany and Zabaleta served as the team's vice-captains. The two of them were closely united around Su Dong, making Manchester City united.
Not long ago, Joe Hart and Gareth Barry were involved in a scandal, and everyone thought that the Manchester City dressing room was finally going to be in turmoil.
But the result was once again shocking.
Joe Hart and Gareth Barry both "rested" in the league at the weekend, but both of them refused all interviews from the outside world. Manchester City's locker room remained peaceful and it seemed as if there were no problems.
On the contrary, Manchester City is still actively trying to sign David Luiz and compete with Chelsea, Manchester United and other teams for talent.
Manchester City has no problems and is still moving forward positively.
The British media always have a strong spirit of doubt. They believe that Manchester City is pretending to be calm, but in fact the internal situation is a mess. It’s just that Blackpool is too weak and cannot pose a threat to Manchester City.
The News of the World publicly stated in a report on Sunday that the midweek match against Polish powerhouse Poznan Lech will be Manchester City's real disaster, because the team has performed exceptionally well in this season's Europa League group stage.
"Manchester City will face Poznan Lech in the Europa League and Arsenal at the weekend.
In the report, the British media that exposed the Joe Hart scandal reported extensively on Lech Poznan's performance this season. From the away draw with Juventus to the victory over Red Bull Salzburg, the Polish powerhouse has demonstrated considerable strength.
Before Manchester City faced Lech Poznan, Arsenal, their opponent in the ninth round of the weekend league, also showed an amazing form in the Champions League, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 at home. With a record of three wins, 14 goals scored and only two goals conceded, they are the best performing team in the Champions League group stage and no one can match them.
This undoubtedly brought huge game pressure to Manchester City.
The Independent, which is close to Arsenal, even loudly declared that the Gunners have a chance to compete in the Champions League this season after the Gunners' big win over Shakhtar Donetsk, and spoke highly of players such as Fabregas, Nasri, Wilshere and Rosicky.
Wenger also expressed satisfaction with the team's big win after the game.
"We are a team with gorgeous skills and extremely fast offensive speed, so we hate those players and teams who rely on their bodies and muscles to commit rough fouls. We play the most gorgeous and pleasing offensive football in Europe, like mercury pouring out of the ground."
Wenger believes that there is no need for Fabregas to seek to join Barcelona because Arsenal is stronger than Barcelona.
Wenger also spoke highly of the dual core of Wilshere and Fabregas, believing that they both performed at an extremely high level and that such a combination was the guarantee for Arsenal to launch a smooth attack.
"There is no doubt that the game against Manchester City at the weekend will be difficult, but with Cesc's return, we have won two consecutive games. We have played a mercury-like attack. We have found the idea of the game and built up confidence."
"My players and I are confident that we can beat Manchester City this weekend just like we did Shakhtar Donetsk!"
As the name suggests, this is actually a psychological warfare by Wenger.
Arsenal finished the game with a big win and wanted to use this momentum to put pressure on Manchester City.
Guardiola’s choice was to not accept the challenge and let the game speak for itself.
…………
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On the evening of October 21st, at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
Mansour appeared in Manchester City's home stands in a suit and tie, looking neat and tidy.
But the fans at the scene did not react enthusiastically to his arrival.
Obviously, they have not yet accepted this Middle Eastern tycoon who has invested huge amounts of money in the team but has not received any returns so far. Their attitude even seems a little indifferent.
This was Mansour's first appearance at the Etihad Stadium this season.
He will be here for a few days and in addition to the match against Poznan Lech, he will also be on site for the match against Arsenal.
But Mansour did not tell the players about his arrival, and he did not even intend to bring additional pressure to the team.
He appeared in the stands accompanied by club executives such as Mubarak, Soriano and Begiristain, and watched the players of both teams enter the field silently. Only when he saw Manchester City's leader Sudon come on the field did he reveal a smile full of accomplishment. This was his proudest masterpiece so far.
Su Dong finally put on the Manchester City jersey!
"He really plays a very important role. So far, if it weren't for him, we would not be at the top of the league." Soriano followed Mansour's gaze and praised Su Dong intentionally or unintentionally.
Mansoor nodded, "You all have worked hard."
In one sentence, Soriano and others were in a good mood.
"On my way to Manchester, I read a lot of media news, and many media were not optimistic about us."
"Yes," Begiristain said. "This is normal because the media likes to sensationalize. If most people are optimistic, some media will come out to criticize. In addition, the British media are biased to a certain extent, and we are relatively weak in this regard."
Manchester City still has no good media connections, so even if it is scolded in the media, it is difficult for Manchester City to respond.
Because no one can guarantee that the media will not cut off the beginning and end or take things out of context.
Rather than being used by the media and causing a more intense storm, it is better not to respond at all and save trouble.
"Are you confident of winning this game?" Mansour asked with concern.
He actually doesn't know much about football, but he likes to win.
"Winning is a high probability event, and we will stick to our own style of play and philosophy and show our strong team qualities," Begiristain said.
Mansur nodded again and said no more.
As the boss behind the scenes, he was well aware that every word he said might bring pressure to them.
He has enough patience, especially towards Su Dong.
…
As expected, Lech Poznan launched an active attack from the very beginning, just like they did against Juventus, and tried to suppress Manchester City's passing and control of the ball through active and strenuous running.
In just three minutes, they hurriedly kicked the ball from outside the penalty area and fired a long shot, which was the first shot of the game.
Manchester City tried to steady the tempo, but the Polish team pressed hard and pressed fiercely, not intending to give Manchester City any chance to breathe.
In two consecutive quick attacks, Manchester City tried to create danger through the two wings, but the crosses were not well placed and no chances were created. Su Dong missed the chances.
Guardiola was a little anxious on the sidelines, signaling the team to stay calm and not to cross the ball blindly, which was too inefficient.
Su Dong, wearing the captain's armband, also signaled to his teammates on the court to stay calm and patient.
In the 11th minute, Manchester City tried to open an attack on the left. After Di Maria got the ball, he failed to get a chance. He also listened to the advice of Guardiola and Su Dong and did not make a cross, but passed the ball back.
David Silva made a cross pass to Toni Kroos on the right side of the outer edge of the arc. It seemed that he was going to move to the right and let Sanchez launch the attack. The Chilean winger was on the right side of the penalty area at this moment.
Poznan Lech's defense also shifted quickly, focusing specifically on Manchester City's right side.
This is Manchester City's usual tactic. They always use this kind of passing back and forth to pull the opponent's defense.
But during the transfer of Poznan Lech's defense, a flaw was revealed. Toni Kroos did not pass the ball to Sanchez as they expected, but suddenly sent a diagonal pass with his right foot and passed the ball back to the left side of the top of the arc.
Su Dong, who had just run to the left to meet Di Maria, suddenly stopped at this moment.
Toni Kroos' pass landed just at Su Dong's feet.
Stop the ball, pull it, turn around, and shoot low with your left foot! "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"
"In the eleventh minute, Manchester City's first shot broke through the goal of Poznan Lech."
"Su Dong's low left-foot shot went straight into the bottom left corner of the Polish team's goal."
After Su Dong scored a goal, he quickly rushed out of the stadium and ran all the way to the sidelines.
At this moment, the live TV camera captured the Manchester City chairman's stand. The owner Mansour excitedly rushed out of his seat the moment Su Dong scored the goal. Like all Manchester City fans, he raised his hands high and cheered for Su Dong's goal.
This scene instantly brought Mansour closer to Manchester City fans.
Su Dong also high-fived and hugged all his teammates who came running to the sidelines to celebrate the goal.
Is Poznan Lech strong?
Maybe, but it depends on who it is for.
At least Su Dong felt that the defenders of this team were not that strong, and as long as he was given the opportunity, he would be able to score goals.
Those people outside who were waiting to see Manchester City make a fool of themselves were completely disappointed!
This is the counterattack from the upstarts from Manchester City!
(End of this chapter)
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