Chapter 840 There is no Su Dong in this year's Champions League!
"Good job, guys!"
In the away dressing room at the Emirates Stadium, Guardiola was full of praise for his team's performance.
Once inside, the Manchester City manager made no secret of his pride and pride in his team's first-half performance.
It's no wonder. He had such a hard time leading the team last season that he feels so proud now and feels refreshed.
Last season, Manchester City dominated the league in terms of ball possession, but their offense and results were not satisfactory. In the end, they only managed to win the Europa League. However, this is really unconvincing for Manchester City, which has invested heavily for two consecutive years.
Guardiola is a rookie head coach who is controversial in his own right and was almost fired.
It can be said that last season, from Guardiola to Soriano to Begiristain, everyone in Manchester City was under heavy pressure and burden, but all of this has disappeared this season.
The arrival of Pepe strengthened the team's defense and transformed Manchester City into the best defensive team in the Premier League; the joining of Toni Kroos greatly relieved the pressure on Busquets and David Silva, and the three of them together formed Manchester City's ball-control triangle, which is unbreakable.
But the most crucial one is still the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Guardiola still clearly remembers that someone once asked him why Santa Cruz performed so well at Blackburn, but after coming to Manchester City, he failed under his coaching?
Guardiola's response at the time was that Blackburn's style of football was not modern enough.
This statement was ridiculed by many people because Manchester City's performance was not ideal at the time. Not to mention telling the truth, even if Guardiola took a bite of food, it would be a crime, and even if he breathed a breath of air, it would be wrong.
But is there anything wrong with this statement? There is nothing wrong with it!
Which position is the most difficult to play in modern football?
No one really thinks it is a defender, a midfielder, right? It is a forward! Guardiola was born as a midfielder, and he can answer without hesitation that it is a forward, especially a center forward.
In the modern football tactical system, the further forward you go and the closer you get to the opponent's goal, the higher the ability requirements for the players.
Why didn't Santa Cruz work? The answer is simple: it didn't have enough capacity.
What remains is to carefully study what aspect of his ability is lacking, given that he is not good enough. Is it that he is not good enough as a center forward with his back to the goal? Or is it that his physical confrontation ability is not good enough? Or is it that his ability to compete for headers is lacking?
But generally speaking, his ability is not good enough.
Then why is Su Dong so successful?
Because they are strong enough! Last season, many people accused Manchester City of being a fake strong team, a nouveau riche, and a mercenary group. Why? Manchester City always had the advantage of ball possession in the game, but they never scored. Was it because of Manchester City's overall lack of strength? Really not.
Manchester City has invested so much money, and the players they have brought in have all proven their abilities in other teams. None of them are weaklings.
The reason why the team cannot win and has poor results is that the star players in the team are not strong enough.
Or it can be said that it is not strong enough!
I believe that fans who often watch the game will be familiar with the two scenes.
A weak team was suppressed by a strong team. After struggling hard, they scored a goal through a counterattack at a critical juncture.
A strong team was pressing a weak team hard, but they were unable to break through the situation and score a goal. Finally, at a critical juncture, a player had a flash of inspiration, scored a goal, and won for the team.
This should be a very common phenomenon in both football games, so why do such completely different situations occur?
The answer is simple. The strength of the star player determines a certain moment! In these two environments, both the strong and weak teams are trying their best to play their strongest side and restrain their opponents in a targeted manner. The strong team has the advantage and puts enough pressure on the opponent's defenders, but they never give in. Instead, they withstand the pressure and create opportunities for counterattacks.
This is a reflection of the strength of the star player.
The strong team had all the advantages, but the opponent withstood the pressure and was unable to score a goal. This was a reflection of the fact that the strong team's offensive players were not strong enough to defeat their opponent. Otherwise, there should have been a flash of inspiration or a devastating goal.
Many times, the strength of the star player determines the ceiling of a team.
Looking at Manchester City last season, was there a star player who could stand out? Was there a star player who could turn the situation around at a critical moment? Was there a star player whose personal ability stood out from the crowd? The answer is no!
Even Sanchez, the strongest player in the team, would be disarmed when faced with close defense from the opponent.
But what about Su Dong?
In how many games this season has he saved the team from danger at a critical moment? How many of his goals were first goals and how many were buzzer beaters?
The two most important positions in a team, which can also be said to be the pillars, are center forward and center back.
Last season, Kompany was the only central defender that Manchester City could barely do, which was far from enough, so Guardiola had to bring in Pepe. The result was obvious. As soon as Pepe came, Manchester City's defense was immediately transformed.
Why? Because Pepe is one of the most capable central defenders in the world today!
Not to mention the center forward, Su Dong has the strongest personal ability among the current players in the world football.
Even compared with those legendary players in history, he is definitely among the strongest.
With such strong points in place, Manchester City's two major pillars, support the overall competitiveness of the team, so even if the goalkeeper is a little bit weak, Manchester City will still be unstoppable.
Looking back at Arsenal, isn’t the problem obvious?
Who are Wenger's central defenders? Djokovic, Koscielny and Squillaci, none of whom have any real strengths.
Who is the center forward? Van Persie is only slightly stronger, Chamakh is a role player, and the rest are gone.
It would be strange if such an Arsenal could achieve good results!
If David Silva, Pepe, Toni Kroos, Busquets and Kompany determine the lower limit of Manchester City, then Su Dong determines the upper limit of Manchester City.
With Manchester City's current momentum, anyone can see that this team is destined to become the strongest team in Europe, and there is no need to add another one.
The most fortunate thing for the top teams competing for the Champions League this season is that Manchester City cannot play in the Champions League.
Otherwise, there would be nothing for them to do!
For example, Barcelona's Mourinho said early on that Barcelona would do its best to compete in the Champions League.
"This year is the best opportunity because there is no Su Dong in the Champions League, but he will be back next year!"
This is not what Mourinho said now, this is what he said before the season started.
This also represents the views of the mainstream European coaching circles on Guardiola's Manchester City and the powerful combination with Su Dong.
And Manchester City has confirmed the outside world's views of them through one game after another.
Especially tonight, they defeated Arsenal 5-0 in the first half. No matter how you look at it, they were on track to win a landslide victory over their opponent.
…
Guardiola stood among the players in the locker room, genuinely excited.
He had a lot of bold words he wanted to shout out to motivate his players, but in the end, all those thousands of words turned into just one sentence.
"Everyone keep working hard in the second half and don't let the 5-0 score in the first half go to waste!"
All the Manchester City players in the locker room became excited at once.
…………
…………
The game starts again.
After the second half, Arsenal was still very passive.
Trailing 0-5, Wenger's team was completely at a disadvantage.
Manchester City controlled the advantage and continuously launched attacks on Arsenal, while the Gunners barely maintained their position and occasionally launched a wave of attacks, trying to score a goal at home and save face.
But in the 57th minute, Manchester City successfully intercepted the ball on the left.
After Pepe followed Van Persie out, he cooperated with Marcelo to intercept Arsenal's pass on the left. Marcelo then kicked the ball to the right and passed it to Zabaleta who was unguarded.
The Argentine right-back stopped the ball, moved forward quickly, dribbled the ball directly across the center line and headed straight for Arsenal's half.
Manchester City's counterattack also came quickly.
Su Dong did not blindly advance in the middle and wait for his teammates to pass the ball. Instead, he saw that Arsenal's defense was retreating quickly, so he immediately retreated, pulled out the defense of Arsenal's defender, and ran out to meet Zabaleta.
Zabaleta immediately passed the ball to Su Dong and rushed into the penalty area.
After Su Dong stopped the ball and turned around, he suddenly pointed to Di Maria on the left and pretended to pass the ball to the left, which immediately made all Arsenal's defensive players look to the left.
Unexpectedly, Su Dong was just bluffing and did not pass the ball to the left. Instead, he suddenly sent a straight pass with the outside of his right foot and sent the ball to the right side of the penalty area.
Sanchez, who was seriously ignored, cut into the penalty area diagonally, successfully beat the offside trap and got a one-on-one chance, then calmly shot the ball into the empty goal.
Six to zero! The Chilean winger was so excited that he rushed towards Su Dong, jumped directly on Su Dong, and roared with ecstasy!
“So beautiful!”
"Su Dong strode leisurely and easily tore through Arsenal's defense with his pass."
"Six to zero!"
"Arsenal's defenders miscalculated. Sudon was not only able to threaten the opponent's goal himself, but also to create threats. He was also very cunning. Before passing the ball to Sanchez, he even deliberately pointed to the left to confuse Arsenal's defenders."
"Facing such an opponent, it is really despairing!"
"Of course, Wenger and his players are probably even more desperate. In less than an hour at home, they conceded six goals. This is not only a reflection of Manchester City's strong offensive firepower, but also evidence of Arsenal's lack of strength."
"Now, we have to admit that the overall pattern of the Premier League has changed. From Tottenham Hotspur's reversal of Arsenal to Manchester City's bloody slaughter of the Gunners, we can see the sudden change in the Premier League pattern."
"There is no doubt that Manchester City is already a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League and is the leader in the standings, while Tottenham Hotspur also has the power to change the Premier League landscape."
"Teams like Arsenal and Chelsea will have a hard time staying in the top four if they don't improve their strength!"
(End of this chapter)
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