Southampton played so aggressively in the away game right from the start, which was indeed something Manchester City didn't expect.
In fact, their technical content is not bad. Even De Jong, who plays as a defensive midfielder in the midfield, is a Dutch player. Of course, his foot skills are not bad. Barry is also an organizing midfielder. However, in fact, their basic skills are not bad, but their foot skills are not bad.
It's not delicate enough, so there's no problem with passing the ball, but it's a bit difficult to break through with the ball.
Among these three midfielders, the one who truly has the ability to break through is Yaya Toure.
So when facing Southampton, they were really uncomfortable with pressing high from the start.
Although they created an opportunity in the first two minutes, David Silva broke through from the wing and passed to the center. Yaya Toure followed up and shot a shot at the first time, but Navas struggled to save it.
But in the following time, they didn't get a chance to attack for a long time!
"Press! Press!"
Ji Ya shouted from the audience that the game had just started anyway, the players were full of energy, and he didn't have anything to worry about.
Barry's transfer ball was intercepted by Matuidi midway. After intercepting the ball, he quickly passed the ball forward. Vidal took the ball, but instead of breaking through by himself, he passed it to Willian and continued to advance.
William began to move forward at high speed along the wing, and Clichy approached him, but William still didn't worry about anything. He was tall and heavy enough, and he was not a fragile winger.
Under Clichy's entanglement, William still forced the ball to a place close to the penalty area line, and then passed the ball to Klein who came up to meet him. Klein went down along the wing and attracted Clichy.
, passed the ball to William again.
William immediately moved to the center, switching positions to James Ronaldo in the center to get the ball. Looking at De Jong who came up to defend, Ronaldo stepped lightly on a single shot, attracting the attention of De Jong and Pani behind him, and then
Then he raised his foot and passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area!
Vidal, who was penetrating forward, happened to receive Ronaldo's pass!
Lescott worked hard to block it - Vidal could already shoot directly from this position, but after seeing him pounce, Vidal cleverly raised his foot and passed the ball to the center of the penalty area...
Klose, who had been running around, appeared in that position!
Facing the attacking Joe Hart, Klose flicked the ball over Joe Hart's body with a light kick!
The ball drew an arc and flew into the gate of Manchester City!
The entire Etihad Stadium immediately became silent!
"The goal is in! Klose! Wonderful goal! The German striker scored in his first game for Southampton! Klose is exempt from signing, this is a real departure for Southampton.
A good move!"
Klose opened his arms and ran towards the visiting team's stands. The Southampton fans have always welcomed him. During every training session, the largest number of fans were waiting for him to ask for his autograph. This is actually normal.
Who is Luo Ze most famous for?
But you can't enjoy this kind of treatment at Bayern...
Therefore, Klose always felt that he did the right thing by transferring to Southampton and rejecting Lazio's invitation.
"Great job, keep going." Ji Ya and Klose high-fived each other and said loudly.
Mancini touched his chin. He really didn't expect Southampton's pressing, but he didn't respond too much.
He didn't believe how well Southampton could do.
This kind of high-position pressing is Barcelona's unique skill. Guardiola swept the entire Europe when he introduced it three seasons ago. Although he was hit hard by Mourinho's Inter Milan in the middle, he won two Champions League and two Champions League titles in three years.
Three La Liga games are enough for them to create a great era.
This kind of high-position pressing is something that all the giants in Europe are learning from. How can Southampton, a newly promoted team, learn better before others?
Are you kidding? This is.
So he just pressed his hand and told the players to calm down.
The game restarts.
Manchester City fans began to continue shouting. They did not believe that their team would be suppressed by Southampton like this, but the next game seemed to prove this point...
Southampton continued to press in the midfield, and once they got the ball, they began to pass the ball constantly and look for opportunities-high press and ball possession attack!
Manchester City fans were a little confused for a moment, not knowing whether their team was facing Barcelona or Southampton - the jerseys were also different.
The Manchester City players on the field felt the same way. The pressure brought by Southampton was real, and it was real that they were suppressed on both offense and defense.
The commentators were even more shocked when they looked at the data - half an hour into the game, Manchester City's ball possession rate was only 30%, and they were completely suppressed by Southampton!
"It's incredible that Southampton was able to suppress Manchester City like this through running and pressing!"
"In the midfield confrontation, Vidal, Matuidi Dembele's combination actually suppressed the combination of De Jong Bari and Yaya Toure! Southampton has two newcomers in the midfield!"
Various commentators began to doubt life, and Mancini felt more and more strange the more he watched.
He doesn't think that Southampton's players are better than Manchester City's. Although they are indeed very red, the fact that they can suppress Manchester City to this point must be because of their great tactical advantage.
But both sides are playing 433, and the specific tactics seem to be similar. What is Southampton's tactical advantage? This is a question that Mancini has not figured out yet.
A head coach at his level will never lose his composure because of the gain or loss of a game. It’s not scary to see a problem. As long as you can figure it out and solve it, it’s not a problem. The scary thing is that you can’t see it.
The problem cannot be solved yet...
Mancini needs to understand this problem now.
On the field, the two sides were still fighting fiercely. Southampton had the upper hand, while Manchester City relied on the players' personal abilities to create some opportunities.
Adam Johnson broke through from the wing and passed a cross. Silva, who switched to the center, met the ball and shot directly. Wundt was a step too slow to block, and the ball flew over his head. The next moment, it hit the crossbar hard.
!
There was a huge sigh above the Etihad Stadium, and then Manchester City fans began to applaud enthusiastically. In their view, although this attack did not score a goal, it proved that their offense was effective!
If you didn’t score this time, won’t you score next time?
However, such good wishes often do not become reality.
In the next attack, Manchester City's offense still showed little improvement. Instead, Southampton continued to look for opportunities.
Although they did not have a high center in the frontcourt, Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose relied on their skills and running skills to make Manchester City's two central defenders quite embarrassed.
Kompany was fine. Relying on his physical advantages and experience, he was still very comfortable marking Klose, but when Lescott faced Ronaldo, he looked very embarrassed.
