Entering February, Manchester City's game pressure is still very high.
The most miserable devil's schedule in history is not over yet.
On the evening of February 1st, Manchester City once again played against Liverpool and challenged Everton away.
Manchester City, who have been playing continuously, showed their fatigue in the away game.
Facing Everton, who was very patient and defended very tightly, although Manchester City controlled the ball and rhythm, they frequently missed scoring opportunities.
Neither Gareth Bale's single shot nor Robben's close-range shot helped Manchester City break the deadlock.
Suarez even hit the post twice with his shots.
What else is there to say?
In the end, the two sides shook hands and made a draw at zero to zero.
Manchester City got a draw.
…
It is worth mentioning that the transfer market during this year's Premier League winter break was not busy.
Many teams, including Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea, have always remained cautious.
Manchester United simply brought Scholes back and then poached a young player, Vesely, from Manchester City's youth academy.
Chelsea and Liverpool also made no big moves.
There were originally rumors that Tottenham Hotspur wanted to loan center Adebayor from Real Madrid, but it failed.
This is mainly because Tottenham sold center Pavlyuchenko to Lokomotiv Moscow for 7 million pounds, while Dzeko has encountered a rookie wall this season, and his performance in the Premier League has declined significantly, so Tottenham wants to introduce Alonso.
Debayor.
Liverpool were also interested in Adebayor, but Mourinho blocked the transfer.
Although Mourinho's dismissal is a foregone conclusion, Florentino and other Real Madrid executives have repeatedly stated that Mourinho will finish the season, so there is no reason to sell Adebayor during the winter break.
AS and Marca both revealed that Real Madrid is contacting Gao Shen and Mourinho will coach until the end of this season.
The slump in transfers during the winter break also reflects the situation of Premier League teams this season.
The biggest deal came from Newcastle.
The Magpies are currently ranked seventh in the Premier League, level with sixth-placed Arsenal, only one point behind fifth-placed Liverpool and two points behind Chelsea.
Such outstanding results made everyone at the Magpies very tempted, and they had the urge to compete for the Champions League.
As a result, the Magpies became the top transfer target during the winter break, bringing in Senegalese player Papiss Cisse from Freiburg of the Bundesliga.
Obviously, Newcastle is no longer satisfied with the combination of Andy Carroll and Demba Ba, and wants to strengthen the team's offense and strive to break into the top four in the league in the second half.
For this reason, they even paid Papiss Cisse a weekly salary of up to 100,000 pounds.
For teams outside the Champions League, this is really a sky-high price.
If we can really break into the Champions League, then this deal will definitely be a good deal, but if we fail to hit the top four, then there will be a big problem.
But sometimes it's like this. When things come to an end, whether to go forward or retreat, no matter which choice you choose, there are risks.
What’s interesting is that Senegal, where Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse played, failed to reach the group stage in the 2012 African Cup of Nations, so after the players joined, they went directly to the club to report.
Manchester City has only one player participating in the African Cup of Nations, and that is Yaya Toure, who has been reporting to the national team since the end of January.
Cote d'Ivoire qualified first in the group, and Yaya Toure will continue to play in Africa for a while.
Leeds United does have several African players, but Senegalese youngster Mane has not yet entered the national team, while Egyptian youngster Salah has entered the national team, but now the Egyptian national team is in a period of metabolism, and its results are very poor.
They even ranked at the bottom of the group stage and missed the Africa Cup of Nations.
As for the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Bolasie is located, they also failed to participate in the African Cup.
Therefore, this African Cup of Nations will not have a great impact on Manchester City and Leeds United.
…
On the evening of February 4th, Manchester Etihad Stadium.
In the 24th round of the Premier League, Manchester City faced Fulham at home.
Three days ago, the depression suffered by Everton in the away game was completely vented tonight at Fulham.
Only five minutes into the game, Hazard broke through from the left and passed in. Van Persie scored in front of the goal.
After that, Manchester City launched a series of offensives and the offense was very efficient.
In the 25th and 30th minutes of the first half, Manchester City scored two goals.
Before the end of the first half, Manchester City made another quick counterattack, and Robinho assisted Robinho to score another victory.
Four to zero!
At the end of the first half, Manchester City had already secured the victory.
Originally, Manchester City planned to continue to increase their offensive intensity in the second half and strive to score a big score.
Unexpectedly, the snow became heavier and heavier.
Considering safety issues, Gao Shen signaled the team to slow down the offensive.
At the 60th minute, the referee even temporarily suspended the game and asked the management of the Etihad Stadium to come in and clear the snow on the court.
Ten minutes later, the referee paused again and cleared the snow again.
After meeting Gao Shen, he chose to replace him.
After Yaya Toure is absent, Manchester City's current midfield staff has to deal with multi-line operations, which is still a bit stressful. He does not want his precious baby to be broken in the snow.
But even so, in the 82nd minute, Sturridge, who came on as a substitute, broke into the penalty area from the left and passed it across to the goal. Van Persie scored in one stroke and scored a hat trick.
Five to zero!
Manchester City beat Fulham!
…
When Manchester City won a big victory, Arsenal also beat Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at home and won full applause.
Chelsea was a bit unlucky. With a three-goal lead, they were beaten by Manchester United three goals in a row. In the end, they ended up drawing 3-3 with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
After the game, the game caused fierce controversy because the referee gave Manchester United two penalty kicks in just ten minutes.
Liverpool drew 0-0 at home with Tottenham Hotspur.
Benitez's team is still the same, with a strong midfield but weak offense.
It is revealed that Liverpool's coaching change has been put on the agenda, and the one most likely to take over is Rodgers, who has performed well in the Premier League this season after leading Swansea to promotion.
There is a full week of rest between the 24th and 25th rounds of the Premier League.
For the Premier League teams that have just gone through a devilish schedule during the Christmas and winter breaks, this can be said to be a very valuable help in times of need.
But not Manchester City.
Because Manchester City is participating in the Club World Cup, the sixteenth round home game against Arsenal has been postponed until now.
Next is another consecutive double-match week, with the FA Cup, League Cup finals and Champions League all about to start. Manchester City simply doesn’t have time, so it can only be held on Wednesday of this week.
It doesn't matter to Arsenal because they don't have the pressure of European competition, but Manchester City is miserable.
Since Christmas, Manchester City's schedule has been really, really tight, causing the whole team to almost collapse.
Many players are not in particularly good condition and do not have time to adjust properly.
There are also some players who have minor injuries but cannot rest.
Especially after Yaya Toure left for the African Cup of Nations, Manchester City's midfielder was under greater pressure.
In other words, Manchester City can barely sustain itself with such a strong lineup. If it were another Premier League team, they would have collapsed long ago!
In this make-up match, neither Manchester City nor Arsenal played very well. In the end, with David Silva's goal, they defeated Arsenal 1-0 and barely got three points.
…
On February 12, in the twenty-fifth round of the Premier League, Manchester City went south to Birmingham and challenged Aston Villa away.
After a tough battle, Manchester City relied on a corner kick, David Luiz scored a header, and scored the winning goal for Manchester City, beating Aston Villa 1-0 away from home.
After playing Aston Villa, Manchester City can finally rest.
Because the FA Cup is scheduled to be held on weekends, the Premier League was suspended on the weekend of this week for the fifth round knockout of the FA Cup. Manchester City's opponent was Brighton.
To be honest, this team was never taken seriously by Gao Shen from beginning to end.
The day after playing against Aston Villa, after conducting recovery training in the morning, Gao Shen immediately announced a two-day holiday.
The whole Carrington was in jubilation.
Not just the players, but the coaching staff and staff as well.
From Christmas to now, we have played a game every three days or so, and almost every game is against a strong opponent. This devilish schedule that almost drives people crazy has made everyone at Manchester City feel extremely painful.
Gao Shen and the coaching staff also kept persuading and guiding, which allowed the team to survive this painful torture.
But Gao Shen also clearly felt Manchester City's progress.
"We Chinese have a saying, the edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold!"
Gao Shen said with a smile as he faced the group of joyful birds that came out of their cages.
"I know that in the past nearly two months, you have put in tremendous efforts and unprecedented hard work. Now, everything is worth it."
"We reached the final of the League Cup, advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup, and always maintained the lead in the league. All of this is inseparable from your efforts and sweat."
"I hope you guys have a good rest."
The whole place was excited again.
But Gao Shen quickly changed the subject, "But I have to remind you that during the vacation, you can relax and rest, but you must not let me waste time. When you come back, I will ask the team medical team to carefully examine you.
If anyone’s body is not up to standard…”
Gao Shen snorted twice, with a threatening expression as you know my temper.
The players are overjoyed to have a holiday, so how can they care about it?
They all agreed quickly one by one.
As soon as Gao Shen called for disbandment, within half an hour, he took a shower, changed clothes, and drove away. Not a single one of these bastards was left behind.
This made Gao Shen, Carlo and others couldn't help laughing.
But I have to say that this period of time was really hard.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone, take a good rest these two days, we will have to work harder next time!" Gao Shen said.
Carlo, Brian Kidd and others all nodded.
The players are working hard, and the coaching staff is also working hard.
Arranging training every day and studying opponents in a targeted manner is not an easy task.
Each of them also devoted considerable energy and time.
Especially during the recent period, Gao Shen didn't know how he managed it. He left work on time every day and left all the work to his assistants, which made them all feel strange.
