Chapter 1041 Master Huan, stop teasing me!
It turned out that after Southampton took the lead, the game did become more open.
Pellegrini's team wanted to equalize the score and score a goal, but the Saints had a firm control of the situation and refused to let up.
After several rounds of exchanges between the two sides, the Saints scored again before the end of the first half.
Harry Kane retreated to get the ball and passed it back to Sturridge.
After getting the ball, the latter quickly rushed into the penalty area, but had no chance and could only knock it back to the front of the penalty area.
Oscar caught up with the ball, dribbled past Yaya Toure who was hurriedly returning to defense, and made a curved shot that went straight into the upper left corner of the goal.
Two to zero!
This score basically sentenced Manchester City to death.
In the second half, although Manchester City intended to strengthen the attack, they were afraid of being counterattacked by the Saints and did not dare to press forward.
On the other hand, the Saints, although they were all substitutes and second-team players, seemed to be at ease on the court.
This is quite difficult!
"Southampton today reminds me of Manchester United at the beginning of the century."
Prince William's sudden words made Yang Huan agree deeply.
"At that time, Manchester United won the treble and was invincible in the Premier League. The team also had world-class stars such as Roy Keane, Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy. The overall strength of the team was second to none in Europe."
At that time, except for the hidden dangers in the defense line caused by Ferguson's selling of Stam, Manchester United was basically not inferior to teams like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the midfield and frontcourt.
"What I felt most deeply from Manchester United during those years was a strong sense of dominance, a dominance that was built up over many years and allowed them to face challenges head-on no matter what opponent they faced."
Yang Huan nodded repeatedly. Manchester United’s Red Devil temperament was indeed established over the years.
Very tenacious and domineering, a typical representative of this type is Roy Keane.
Even a pretty boy like Beckham has proven to be not just an idol, but also a talented one.
At least Yang Huan has never seen an idol who runs 16 kilometers in a competition and vomits.
If we carefully analyze Manchester United's treble that year, it is not difficult to find that it is definitely the best embodiment of this dominance.
In addition to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, there were also exciting comebacks against Juventus, the FA Cup, and the Premier League.
How could Manchester United have done it without strong mental strength?
"Southampton today is a bit like Manchester United back then, with superior strength but a completely different temperament."
At this point, Prince William smiled slightly. "To be honest, the Saints during Bielsa's time were a bit like Manchester United, but Ancelotti has injected rationality into the team over the past six months. Now watching the Saints play is a pleasure, as if appreciating an art."
The Chinese have a saying that goes, "Too rigid will easily break."
To use a line from the movie Feng Yun, if you do things too thoroughly, your fate will end early.
Bielsa's football is exciting and brilliant, there is no doubt about that, but it is too strong.
Ancelotti is easy-going and his football philosophy has a bit of Italian literary style. His arrival has injected a bit of rationality and calmness into Southampton's football.
In Yang Huan's opinion, if the saints during Bielsa's period were teenagers and young men, then the saints during Ancelotti's period were mature men.
It is difficult to say who is better. Ancelotti has remained unbeaten so far, which is indeed quite outstanding, but it is inseparable from the foundation laid during the Bielsa period. Moreover, Bielsa's ** represents the determination to make progress and continuous innovation, while Ancelotti's maturity represents stability.
In the past, Bielsa's ideas worked well for building an empire, but now, the players in the team have matured, whether it is Hazard, Suarez, Toni Kroos, or other players in the team, they are all mature. The team has already built a large empire, and it will be difficult to make a breakthrough in the short term.
Therefore, at this time, Ancelotti is better than Bielsa.
If Guardiola was not there, Yang Huan would definitely continue to let Ancelotti coach, and would not easily think of changing coaches, at least in the next four or five years, because he believed that Ancelotti had the ability to keep the team among the top in Europe.
But now that Guardiola is here, the situation is very different.
But it doesn’t matter. With such outstanding coaching performance at Southampton this season, Ancelotti’s next stop should also be a top club.
Just as Master Huan had just thought of it, Mubarak had swapped seats with someone else and moved closer.
"Master Huan, can I ask you something?"
"What's up?"
"Is Ancelotti's contract with the Saints until the end of the season?" Mubarak asked with concern.
When Yang Huan heard this, he immediately understood that this guy was trying to poach his employees.
Manchester City's performance this season is indeed not ideal. Pellegrini has been coaching for many years and has been patient with the team, giving what he wants to everyone, but the results have never improved. This is really depressing.
In the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, Manchester City lost 1-2 to Guardiola's Bayern Munich at home. Although the Bundesliga giants lost Lewandowski and the performance of their two wings was sluggish, they still defeated Manchester City safely away from home with their strong overall control.
Manchester City, which was strong in men and horses, lost to Bayern Munich, which was short of players, at home. Pellegrini's embarrassment can be imagined.
"Aren't you keeping an eye on Guardiola?" Yang asked happily.
Prince William couldn't help but smile when Guardiola was mentioned.
Mubarak also looked depressed and waved his hand, "Master Huan, please stop teasing me!"
Over the past period of time, Guardiola has indeed been the hot favorite for coach selection for many Premier League teams. Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have all set their sights on the Spanish coach, and there are even reports that Abramovich personally visited Munich.
For two or three months, there were rumors throughout Europe that Guardiola was going to coach in the Premier League.
Bayern Munich officials also stated that the team's contract with Guardiola will end in the summer and the coach selection process will begin.
For a time, the whole of Europe was buzzing with rumors about who Guardiola would end up with.
Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United were all favorites, but in the end, no one won.
This is the revelation from Charlene Lahery, a columnist for The Southern Echo. The team Guardiola really wants to coach is not these teams, but Southampton.
Even Charlene Lahri revealed that Guardiola played a role in the Saints' signing of Messi.
This way the truth will be revealed.
The Saints neither admitted it nor denied it, and neither did Guardiola.
Therefore, the Premier League giants began to shift their targets one after another.
Manchester United has set its sights on Mourinho, who was sacked by Chelsea, but it is said that this news made Giggs and Ferguson behind him very unhappy, believing that Mourinho was simply unable to lead Manchester United back to the top.
Chelsea was in tears and Abramovich wanted to die.
However, the Blues' search for a new coach has been met with setbacks everywhere, and they have been rejected by famous European coaches such as Simeone, Klopp and Ronald Koeman. They are currently eyeing Italy national team coach Conte and Juventus coach Allegri.
Only for Manchester City, it is not easy to choose a suitable head coach.
"Have you really made up your mind to have surgery?" Yang Huan asked with a smile.
Manchester City’s current problem is not big, but it is not small either.
In the past few years, this team has always given people a feeling of being neither up nor down. If you analyze it carefully, it is not difficult to find that the root cause lies in the team's midfield, that is, Yaya Toure.
There is no doubt that Yaya Toure is the thigh of this team, but it is obvious that this thigh is not thick enough.
When Manchester City was just formed, Yaya Toure was undoubtedly the most important member. However, as world-class stars such as Aguero, David Silva and De Bruyne joined one by one, Yaya Toure's problems were exposed.
It’s not that the Ivory Coast’s midfield is not strong, but his characteristics make it impossible for him to lead Manchester City to achieve a breakthrough in strength.
On the contrary, Manchester City’s biggest problem now lies with Yaya Toure.
Why has Yaya Toure been making trouble in the past few years?
Because he knew that the team wanted to move him, but because of his performance, they did not dare to do so easily.
The tragedy of Manchester City is that they have never made up their minds and failed to bring in a midfielder capable of replacing Yaya Toure.
Today, as Ivorians grow older and their physical fitness gradually declines, this problem is particularly evident.
If we say that Yaya Toure led Manchester City in the first two years after joining the team, then in the following years, it was Manchester City that dragged Yaya Toure.
Whether it is the introduction of Fernandinho or Fernando, there is only one purpose, which is to solve the problem of Yaya Toure.
But obviously, it was not resolved in the end.
Mubarak shook his head and sighed, "Yaya Toure will be 33 years old after this season. Given the current situation this season, it is a good time to reorganize the team."
Yang Huan nodded. If they took action at this time, the fans’ reaction would be relatively smaller.
"Then keep it for me." Yang Huan said with a smile.
Mubarak was stunned. “Master Huan is interested in Yaya Touré?”
"No, my compatriots will be very interested," Yang explained with a smile.
Yaya Toure's characteristics do not suit Yang Huan's preferences. Even Guardiola, Bielsa, and Pochettino probably would not want to use Yaya Toure to form a team.
He is different from Ibrahimovic. Although they are both players who need the team to organize tactics around him, Ibrahimovic is a center forward and Yaya Toure is a crucial midfielder.
Moreover, Ibrahimovic's overall strength is obviously much higher than that of Yaya Toure.
However, the Chinese Super League team should not reject Yaya Toure.
As for whether it would strengthen competitors, Yang Huan had no worries in this regard.
He believes that the most important thing now is to make the Chinese Super League bigger and stronger. This requires not only one or two strong teams such as Beijing Guoan or Guangzhou Evergrande, but also the strengthening of the entire Chinese Super League team.
Only in this way can the prosperity of the entire league be driven.
In this way, the strength of Jingcheng Guoen will make sense, right?
If the Chinese Super League remains the same as before, then no matter how strong Beijing Guoan is, will it be interesting?
This is also the reason why in the past few years, Yang Huan has been helping the Chinese Super League teams contact big-name agents such as Mendes, Raiola, Pini Zahavi, and Khorabchian.
This is true for the Chinese Super League and the Premier League.
Manchester United signed Mourinho in order to fight against the Saints and Guardiola, and Yang Huan definitely agreed with it with both hands and feet.
The reason is simple: only with confrontation can there be prosperity and interest.
That's what fans like to see nowadays.
Just like this season, with the joining of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, fans all over the world are paying attention to the Premier League and watching how these two superstars fight.
But in the end, no one expected that after tearing it up, they ended up tearing out the top scorer Suarez.
Now the Uruguayan star has become incredibly popular, and even stars like Hazard and Pogba from the Saints have also become popular quickly.
With the addition of Messi, Southampton has become the most popular and most watched team in Europe.
On the other hand, Barcelona and Real Madrid have lost their top stars and their momentum is not as strong as before.
Now teams like Manchester United and Manchester City are eyeing Gareth Bale and Neymar. If they lose both the two big stars, the reputation of the two Spanish Super League giants will definitely be hit hard.