Chapter 875: Change of formation
The Grove Hotel is located in a golf course.
Not only is the scenery here beautiful and the grass is green, but in the summer, when the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, strolling in the park is a unique and artistic experience.
Su Dong and Guardiola walked side by side on the tree-lined path.
This was proposed by Begiristain, who felt that Guardiola had put too much pressure on him in recent times.
In fact, it is no wonder. After all, the decisive battle is imminent, and the opponent is an old fox like Ferguson. Who can be sure of winning?
Su Dong claims that he will definitely win the finals. Since he started playing football, he has never lost as long as he makes it to the finals.
But ask yourself, is he sure of winning against Ferguson's Manchester United?
"I heard that you want to change the formation?" Su Dong asked lightly.
His tone was very gentle, more like a casual chat between two friends.
In fact, his relationship with Guardiola is indeed very good. It is no exaggeration to say that they are friends.
Guardiola sighed heavily, raised his head and looked at the starry sky, "I always feel that Ferguson will take advantage of you."
Come prepared, that's for sure.
Ferguson is no pushover either. He has played in countless finals, so he knows very well how the game should be played.
"Changing the formation before the final is very risky," Su Dong reminded.
This was also the concern of Soriano, Begiristain and others before. They even persuaded Guardiola on this issue and advised him not to change the formation in the final. After all, the risk is really great.
"There are risks whether we change the formation or not," Guardiola said helplessly. "Think about it, Ferguson knows us well enough. If he strangles you at this point, what will happen to our offense? Di Maria and Sanchez have speed and breakthrough, but their effectiveness in offensive battles is far inferior to yours."
This was proven last season.
Di Maria and Sanchez do have strong personal abilities. They can destroy a certain point of the opponent in an offensive battle, but they lack the ability to drive changes in the entire situation after destroying a certain point.
To put it simply, they are suitable for playing auxiliary roles rather than main roles.
In such an important final, guessing the opponent's tactics is a very important part. If you can predict the opponent's lineup and tactics and take targeted restraint, you will undoubtedly have an advantage in the game.
But there is also a possibility that you guessed wrong, or that you were restrained by the other party.
Among the many head coaches that Su Dong has experienced, Benítez has the strongest targeted tactics. He is always better able to predict the opponent's tactics and lineup. However, Benítez was restrained by Redknapp's Tottenham Hotspur at Inter Milan.
This is because there are huge hidden dangers when his tactics are combined with the team's lineup.
Manchester City seems to be perfect this season, but where in the world is perfection? Beckenbauer said that the strongest is often the weakest.
Su Dong is Manchester City's strongest point, but if this strongest point is restrained by the opponent, the strongest will become the weakest.
This is where Guardiola's anxiety comes from.
He was afraid that Su Dong would be restrained by Manchester United, so he wanted to change the team's tactics.
He wanted Su Dong to play the role of a free man in the frontcourt, and let Di Maria and Sanchez take the lead.
Guardiola's idea is that since Ferguson will arrange defense against Su Dong, Manchester City will withdraw Su Dong and let Di Maria and Sanchez suppress Manchester United's defense, let Su Dong act as a free man, pull Manchester United's defense line, and make Manchester United's targeted tactics aimless.
Is this a good idea? Su Dong thinks it is a good idea, but there are always gains and losses.
The advantages are needless to say, but the disadvantages are obvious, Su Dong will be away from the goal.
Even if he is willing, then can Di Maria and Sanchez suppress Manchester United's defense? If they can't, then won't Su Dong have to go up? Even if they can suppress, then let me ask, are their goalscoring efficiency high?
Can they guarantee that they can score goals like Su Dong in such a final? Don't let the final change of formation fail to achieve the effect, but instead hurt your waist.
This is also where Guardiola's anxiety lies.
He was predicting Ferguson, and Ferguson was predicting him, so who was right and who was wrong?
Or who can win the first move in the starting tactics? This is what Guardiola is most anxious about.
If it was just an ordinary game, it would probably be left like that, but it was the FA Cup final.
If Guardiola wins this game, he will become the most successful head coach in Manchester City's history, and at the same time he will be able to wash away the doubts and pressure he has encountered since last season.
Anyone in Guardiola's position at this moment would be equally anxious.
…
"Su, do you know what I envy most about you?" Guardiola suddenly asked.
Su Dong smiled and shook his head, "Tell me about it."
"You give me the feeling that you are never anxious and always full of confidence." Guardiola said here, turned his head and looked deeply at Su Dong for a while, "Back then, when I went from the youth team to the first team, Cruyff told me that anxiety is normal, and everyone must adapt to it, accept it, and overcome it."
“There are two types of people who don’t have anxiety: one is an extremely powerful person, because being powerful brings him absolute confidence; the other is a person who has no sense of responsibility and doesn’t care about any results at all.”
When he said this, Guardiola smiled at Su Dong with envy, "You belong to the former."
At this moment, Su Dong really wanted to ask a question on the Internet: How does it feel to be flattered by your head coach? There is always a feeling of being sold out! "Don't praise me, Pep." Su Dong hurriedly stopped, "I feel now that you are just trying to trick me."
Guardiola was stunned, then spread out his hands aggrievedly and asked, "Why am I trying to trick you?"
Finally, the Manchester City coach looked innocent, shook his head and sighed.
After the joke, Su Dong smiled and said: "Actually, Pep, you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself, and you don't need to be anxious. Just do whatever you want to do. I think you can beat Ferguson. I am optimistic about you!"
"Really?" Guardiola asked.
Su Dong nodded without question. "You said that you want me to play as a free man. I think that's fine. I can avoid the defensive focus of Manchester United and retreat. I can always go back in according to the situation. This way, I might be more threatening."
"As for pulling the edge, don't I do that often?"
In Su Dong's opinion, none of this is really a problem.
"But..." Su Dong changed the subject and stared at Guardiola, "Can you give me tactical freedom?"
Guardiola's tactics are not as demanding as Benítez's, but they are definitely not free either.
Su Dong has a lot of freedom and can make his own judgments based on the situation on the field, but it is only relative.
Now Guardiola wants him to be a free man, which is new.
How to play? Not to mention Su Dong, even Guardiola himself didn't have a rough idea. He didn't even know if the team could perform well in the game, so he was so anxious.
If the team fails to get into the right shape during the game, the game will be ruined.
"Believe me, Pep, we will definitely win!" Su Dong said with a double meaning.
…
"Hey, Sue, you can do it!"
On the morning of the FA Cup final, when Su Dong walked back to the team's check-in hole from the Sports Park where the hotel gym was located, he met Estiat in the lobby.
As soon as the Spanish Olympic water polo champion saw him, he rushed over and praised him directly.
"What do you mean by praising me so early in the morning?" Su Dong didn't stop and continued walking towards the elevator.
"Pep went out for a walk with you last night, and fell asleep when he came back. You have some tricks up your sleeve!"
Su Dong frowned when he heard this and said, "You scum, explain it clearly."
The elevator arrived just in time and Su Dong hurried in.
"First of all, Manel, let's not be so ambiguous. We are just going out to have a chat, a simple exchange between the head coach and the players. My fiancée is in the next building, so be careful with your words."
Estiarte had no idea that Su Dong had such evil intentions, and was immediately frightened.
"Also, how do you know he slept soundly after returning to his room last night?" After asking, Su Dong couldn't help laughing out loud.
The elevator arrived and after the door opened, Su Dong waved at Estiart, "Don't worry, I will keep it a secret."
Estiart was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and reached out to press the elevator door to open it. He wanted to rush out to explain, but it was too late. "Hey, what secret do you want to keep? I'm just worried about him, I..."
Estiat wanted to cry.
…………
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Due to UEFA regulations, the game time of this season's FA Cup final has been adjusted to the evening.
In the past, it was held in the afternoon.
As night falls, Wembley Stadium is packed with people.
Fans from all over the country, mainly from London and Manchester, flocked to Wembley Stadium from all directions.
This made the area around the stadium bustling with people.
Especially when the game time was approaching and the players of both teams arrived at Wembley Stadium, the atmosphere on the scene was pushed to the extreme.
This is the most important game that Wembley Stadium has ever hosted so far this season, and soon the stadium will host the most important game since its reconstruction, which is the Champions League final.
The two teams in the final are Manchester United and Barcelona.
So, in a sense, the FA Cup final is Manchester United's warm-up for the Champions League final.
Because of this, Manchester United is determined to win the FA Cup final.
Ferguson shouted before the game that he wanted to win the FA Cup final to warm up for the Champions League final.
Manchester United also went all out. Not only familiar media reporters, but even the club's big names came out one after another, using various means to create momentum, trying to suppress Manchester City and gain an advantage in public opinion.
Manchester City is lacking in foundation, at least there are not enough famous players to speak up for the club, so it is indeed behind Manchester United in momentum. But after all, as the new champions of the Premier League, there are still many people who are optimistic about Manchester City.
The head coaches of the two teams, Ferguson and Guardiola, also came up with their own unique ideas in pre-match preparations.
Interestingly, both head coaches chose to change their formation.
(End of this chapter)
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