Regarding the FA Cup semi-final between York City and Manchester United, English football is of course generally optimistic about Manchester United.
No matter how you say it, Manchester United is still a wealthy team, a strong Premier League team led by Mourinho, and Mourinho is famous for his ability to play in cup competitions.
Although York City is the League One champion and has a "record" of defeating Tottenham and Arsenal, this team is not at the same level as Manchester United after all.
In the eyes of many people, they are at best a Championship-level team that will be upset, and they are not much different from the likes of Fulham before.
And in this atmosphere, when Pan Yi was interviewed by the English media, he directly started embarrassing mode against Mourinho's Manchester United.
How to blow?
He never mentioned that they could only rank sixth in the Premier League, but only talked about Manchester United's League Cup victory, especially their performance in reaching the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
In Pan Yi's words, Manchester United's performance in the European competition is extremely competitive. It is almost the face of the Premier League in the European competition. Chelsea will be ignored by me.
This is actually irritating Mourinho again.
Pan Yi almost told Mourinho clearly: Brother, if an outstanding and powerful team like yours goes to Wembley Stadium to play against a small English team like ours, they should boldly let their hands and feet go.
Attack!
The purpose of this is to allow Mourinho to attack.
And De Ligt's task is to accurately send the ball directly in front of that person.
The purpose of doing this is not necessarily to score goals, but to disrupt the opponent's rhythm of the game and test the opponent to facilitate the next game.
"But we are not afraid of such opponents. I have talked with my players and they are very excited to meet Manchester United at Wembley Stadium and are looking forward to a beautiful offensive battle with Manchester United!"
"This is the style of York City. They are all working hard when defending, and they are also crazy when attacking."
Facing Amon who was coming with the ball, Bailly did not dare to take a shot easily and could only retreat again and again to avoid being directly broken through by him with his speed.
After Alonso stole the ball, he quickly passed it to Rice to initiate a counterattack.
Right in front of the goal, Baker was like a heavy tank, rushing past Dalmian's blockage, rushing to the goal, facing Aman's cross, and pushing the ball.
"York City is ready. Together with Manchester United, we will give the fans a wonderful game!"
——
One side is bragging about Manchester United, while on the other side York City is preparing step by step, organizing and preparing for the game in an orderly manner.
Mourinho was even more confused.
The game remained stalemate. Although the competition was fierce, neither side achieved anything in the end.
They already have a very clear understanding of Manchester United's basic playing style and player characteristics.
"Let's talk about it next season, or next season." Pan Yi smiled.
When Rashford was about to get close to De Ligt, the Dutch central defender suddenly raised his leg and made a long pass.
This is Manchester United after all! The players' personal abilities are still above those of York City.
"On Manchester United's side, Ibrahimovic passed the ball back to central defender Rojo after the kick-off. Rojo was born as a full-back, but under Mourinho, he took advantage of his accurate passing and stood in front of him.
From the central defender position. Now he directly passes a long pass to the frontcourt."
"Okay, now both teams are standing in their own half, and the referee will blow the whistle soon."
"It's only been a minute!!! York City's quick counterattack was very exciting."
So, what to do now?
Continue the offensive tactics, or slow down a little and defend for a while?
The players' opinions began to become somewhat inconsistent, and many people looked to the sidelines to see what Mourinho thought.
Seeing that Manchester United chose to press forward and try to press in the frontcourt, Pan Yi nodded gently.
Anyway, he won today, no matter what you say.
However, when the two teams came to Wembley Stadium on April 23 and Pan Yi also got Manchester United's starting lineup, Wei Wei was still a little surprised.
This is the first time in the history of York City that they have been able to reach the final of such a heavyweight competition!
On the other side, Mourinho had two words written all over his face: disappointment.
The ball quickly passed through a beautiful arc from the edge of York City's penalty area, crossed over a large area of the stadium, and fell directly behind Manchester United's defense.
But Aman was getting faster and closer, and when he rushed into the penalty area, Aman chose to poke the ball toward the baseline. After avoiding Bailly, he accelerated to catch up.
The result... of course Amon ran the fastest!
I saw Manchester United's right wing, that is, York City's left wing, quickly passing by the wing-back Valencia.
"However, York City had already prepared for this ball. Two midfielders, Rice and Alonso, pinched Rashford one after another, and the ball came to the feet of the York City player."
According to the team's pre-match plan, they should score a goal first, but unexpectedly, York City scored first.
"Of course, the most important reason why York City can give everyone so much confidence is the existence of Pan Yi. The boss who knows the most about football in the world will always give the team's coaching staff the greatest support at critical moments."
On the forward line, the combination of Rashford + Ibrahimovic, one high and one fast, can also ensure offensive firepower.
Baker in the middle has already followed, and Lin Liangming, who plays on the right today, is a little slower, but he is also moving forward quickly.
"Only one minute into the game, York City scored against Manchester United! This is so surprising!!"
In fact, given Manchester United's strength advantage over York City, even if Mourinho chooses to use defensive counterattacks as the main tactic, they can still attack at the beginning.
Pan Yi once irritated Mourinho when he was in Milan. In the end, Mourinho led Real Madrid to play offensive football at San Siro, which ended up getting Pan Yi's way.
"Today York City still used their most commonly used formation, with Isakson as the goalkeeper and the back line..."
This tactic specially prepared for today's Manchester United worked, and of course he was happy.
As the best ball-playing central defender in the team, De Ligt also completed his task perfectly, otherwise there would be no Amon dribbling and passing.
Among them, Baker and Rice both had good scoring opportunities, but their shots missed the goal slightly and failed to convert into goals. This made the York City fans at the scene very disappointed.
Mourinho really still wants to eat York City in one bite.
"Many people say that although York City is only a League One team, their strength has actually reached the Premier League level, otherwise they would not be promoted to the Championship so easily. There are also many people who are optimistic that they can win next season.
Entering the Premier League in one fell swoop and achieving three consecutive promotions!”
Of course, York City is now leading by two goals, so they are not in a hurry, and the two sides have begun a stalemate for a period of time.
Besides, as Pan Yi said, no matter what, York City is just a League One team. Is it reasonable for Manchester United to put up a defensive posture against such a team?
In the end, Pan Yi encouraged his team, and by the way, he also PUAed Mourinho:
"Yes, Manchester United is a team with a glorious history and it might take York City a hundred years to catch up with them."
The ball hit the net!
It wasn't until this moment that Wembley Stadium erupted in exclamations from the fans, followed immediately by carnival.
In addition, the current Manchester United team, after a year of training from Mourinho, is really good at defensive counterattacks, but the positional battle after controlling the ball is still almost boring.
This feels like a replica of what Pan Yi used at Chelsea last season.
The starting players are as follows:
Cameroon winger Thomas Amang was sprinting at an extremely fast speed, quickly caught up with De Ligt's pass, and strode into Manchester United's penalty area with the ball.
"Sure enough, York City took the initiative to press forward as soon as the game started. This is quite bold, after all, they are facing Manchester United!"
In this way, in order to get the ball back quickly, Manchester United can only launch more intense pressing and pressing, whether it is the forward or the midfielder, all pressing up to block as many York City ball points as possible.
.
Now the old trick is repeated...
But when he saw Pan Yi approaching, he still managed a polite smile and walked towards Pan Yi.
Needless to say, Manchester United fans, some of them have already fallen behind by two goals before they even found their seats. How can this be justified?
Since they have won the League One title ahead of schedule, all the team's focus has now shifted to the FA Cup.
At this time, the live broadcast camera was also aimed at the coaching bench.
"But he never expected that York City would counterattack them with an opening attack!"
——
After Pan Yi scored a goal from Baker in the stands, he jumped up excitedly and cheered with the surrounding York City fans to celebrate the goal.
Mourinho actually came up with a formation instead of the -1 he originally preferred to use.
"Goallllllllllll!!!!!"
At this time, Pan Yi was sitting in the stands watching the game.
Mourinho thought of such a possibility inexplicably, but his thoughts quickly returned to the field.
"These three young players have made great progress since coming to York City, especially Amon. He seems to be no longer the striker who only dribbles with his head covered and likes to shoot wildly."
He looked at the tactical board in his hand, then at the York City players who were celebrating on the field, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
I saw Aguo cut in behind Bailly, got ahead of the goalkeeper, pushed the ball into the Manchester United goal again.
"York City's counterattack was very fast and well-organized, and Rice also stepped in."
Although Pan Yi used a provoking method before the game, they were not sure whether Mourinho would really take the bait, so they still had to be as cautious as possible and be prepared for everything.
At the same time, the three midfielders Rice, Alonso and Kulusevski also actively moved around to create enough ball routes for the backcourt.
Mourinho is like this, sometimes he is quite emotional.
During a quick counterattack after stealing the ball, Fellaini made a passing error.
Under the pressure of Manchester United, York City really failed to find a forward path for the ball when it reached the midfield, and immediately passed it back to De Ligt in the defense.
Just such a small amount of time quickly led to disagreements among Manchester United's players on the court.
As for which side it is, it is not drilled in detail, just whoever rushes the fastest will pass to whose side.
"Well done, boys!" Pan Yi shouted happily, regardless of whether the players on the field could hear it or not.
"The game has officially started, and Manchester United takes the lead."
So of course Pan Yi hopes that Manchester United can focus on offense, so that York City can have a chance!
Of course, he also saw the loopholes in Manchester United's backcourt this time, so he wanted the two wing-backs of Valencia and Ashley Young to retreat a little, but the pressure of the double forwards and the three midfielders
constant.
If fans just watch the live broadcast, they may not be able to see clearly the entire development process of this goal. They will just think, "Wow, why are there so many people suddenly?"
After all, York City was suppressed by Manchester United at the beginning. It felt like almost all the players were in their own half. Why did they suddenly reach the opponent's penalty area? And they scored a goal?
"De Ligt's long pass was just right, Amon's breakthrough with the ball was also quite threatening, and then there was the English Golden Boot Baker's easy push."
For example, for the start of the game, the coaching staff has prepared a variety of different possibilities, including whether Manchester United will adopt offensive tactics? Or will they choose to defend against counterattacks from the beginning? Or will they control the ball in a satisfactory manner?
In this way, it can basically be confirmed that Mourinho will still play offensive football in today's game.
Bailly immediately turned around to chase, but Amon attacked head-on and was faster. He had already caught up to the left side of the small penalty area, grabbed the ball before it went out of bounds, and passed the ball crosswise.
On Manchester United's side, the fast Rashford also rushed over immediately.
In fact, when De Ligt stopped the ball, Amon, Baker and Lin Liangming all rushed forward immediately to hit Manchester United behind.
However, the game had restarted at this time, and Manchester United's players seemed a little hesitant.
But Mourinho is still preparing the tactical board at this time, waiting for some details to be finalized before conveying it to the field!
This counterattack is really sharp!
The extremely fast winger, the center who grabs points in the middle...how can he be so similar to the routine he is best at?
"It seems that as Pan Yi said in the interview before the game, today will be a wonderful game!"
However, Pan Yi can also understand Mourinho. The main reason is that Manchester United currently does not have a really useful attacking midfielder, but they have several good central midfielders and defensive midfielders.
Today's stadium is all red, because whether it is Manchester United or York City, the traditional jersey color is red.
Goalkeeper: No. 1 De Gea.
One word is: hold on, don’t waver!
Forwards: No. 19 Rashford, No. 9 Ibrahimovic.
It wasn't until Amon rushed to the stands of York City fans to celebrate that they burst into thunderous cheers and called Amon's name crazily.
And this was within Pan Yi's expectation.
Then he walked down the stands and went to his own coaching bench, shaking hands and hugging the coaches and players one by one to express his congratulations.
Coupled with Fellaini's high points and Pogba's organization and scheduling, Manchester United's midfielder truly achieved orderly offense and defense.
This...could this goal be a little too fast?——
Pan Yi in the stands was really happy!
He originally thought that grabbing a goal would be great, but unexpectedly, Manchester United bought one, got one free, and gave him another one.
"If you give me another chance, we will not concede a goal, let alone lose." Mourinho said a little angrily.
Mourinho turned around and looked up towards the stands, but Pan Yi could not be found for a moment.
He just calculated that Mourinho would attack in the opening game, so after they pressed out, he then used De Ligt's long pass to quickly hit behind.
In this way, the pressure on York City can be maintained, and the defense can be made more stable to avoid further problems.
"When he served as a technical consultant for the Dragon Country national team, he also helped the Dragon Country team fight all the way up from the bottom of the group. After three consecutive victories, he also had hope of qualifying. Being able to succeed on both fronts really makes everyone
Everyone is amazed by Pan Yi’s extraordinary abilities!”
After changing sides and fighting again in the second half, York City still wanted stability and did not dare to press out easily. Instead, they waited for the opportunity to counterattack.
But the problem is, the opponent is just a League One team! How come the tactical execution is so strong and the team can switch from defense to offense so quickly?
This brat Pan Yi is really awesome. Even if he is the boss, he still has such a deep imprint on the team!
Build a good line of defense first.
I saw four defenders, Alphonso Davies, Westerman, De Ligt, and Takeyo Tomiyasu, lined up in a row and began to pass the ball skillfully.
"And Manchester United did not stay in their own half. All their players pressed forward quickly and seemed to be pressing the whole ball."
They didn't expect that the competition would go so smoothly!
"Tonight, we will be broadcasting live at Wembley Stadium for everyone. The teams facing each other are York City, the champions of English League One, and Manchester United from the Premier League!"
He was obviously unwilling to accept this game. He felt that his team was only disrupted by the two goals conceded in the opening game. If everything goes normally...
The main thing now is what tactics Mourinho will use at Wembley Stadium.
Maybe it might still be useful.
Mourinho on the sidelines couldn't help but exclaimed: "Behind! Behind on the right!"
"The formation he deployed today should be to suppress York City in the opening stage, and then use his numerical advantage in the midfield to control the game and ultimately win."
Especially Herrera, a strong player who is good at running, when he defeated Chelsea, he simply executed the man-to-man tactics in basketball to the best of his ability, making it difficult for Hazard to defend him.
Manchester United kept probing and trying to attack from all angles and directions, but failed.
At this time, Mourinho's latest instructions were finally conveyed to the field. Manchester United played more offensively and defensively, and it was not so easy to attack again.
"The current situation of both teams is pretty good. Manchester United is going very well in various cup competitions. They have also adjusted after experiencing the initial difficulties in the league and just defeated the leader Chelsea. Their morale is high.
.”
In just over five minutes, York City scored another victory!
Everyone in the entire Wembley Stadium was stunned.
So now... let's stop it when we're done!
Rice stopped the ball, turned around, and passed forward.
And York City was also stunned by the happiness that came instantly. Everyone opened their mouths and even forgot to cheer.
Come on, York City is already ready!
——
"Viewers, welcome to watch the FA Cup semi-finals of the 2016-2017 season."
If a strong team like Manchester United is determined to play defensive counterattack, how can York City still play?
To be honest, with York City's current strength, being able to win against two strong teams, Tottenham and Arsenal, relies entirely on counterattacks after solid defense.
"Manchester United has a set of responses. It looks like the two sides are going to start a fight. Their starting goalkeeper is De Gea, and the three defenders are..."
At this time, in the York City coaching bench, Scaloni, De Zerbi and others also looked confused.
The top priority now is how to equalize the score as soon as possible!
He immediately took out his tactical board and drew a few strokes on it.
Apart from anything else, Pan Yi often did this when he was coaching, so he must also guard against Mourinho suddenly doing this.
However, Manchester United's defense was a little loose at this time, and the York City players on the court once again launched a wave of fast-paced attacks and began to frequently create dangers inside and outside Manchester United's penalty area.
Pan Yi also personally came to the training base to serve as a temporary assistant coach, discussing tactics with Scaloni and De Zerbi.
"York City leads Manchester United 1:0! This makes Mourinho a little uncomfortable."
At this time, on Manchester United's side, Bailly was at the very back of the defense. When York City launched this long pass attack, he was the first to return to his position.
On the Manchester United side, Mourinho had a hint of shock on his face.
When he was a guest at Wembley Stadium, he thought of many possibilities and imagined that the team would concede the ball first, but he never expected that the team would concede the goal in the first minute. This is too outrageous!
"Let's see how this offense goes..."
On the York City side, Scaloni was excitedly hugging and celebrating with De Zerbi, Caskey and others behind him;
And such a stalemate lasted until the end of halftime.
If these two goals were scored, there would be no suspense in this game.
"York City has already secured a spot in the English Championship for next season, and has also eliminated Tottenham, Arsenal, Swansea and other Premier League teams in the FA Cup. The momentum is also very strong."
When they defended carefully, York City really couldn't break through the opponent's defense for a while.
But De Ligt was very calm. He calmly stopped the ball in front of him and stared straight ahead, as if waiting for something.
Baker received the ball sideways and immediately rushed forward with the ball. He tried to rush into the penalty area between the two central defenders Bailly and Rojo. After attracting the attention of the defense, he sent a ball from behind.
"This won't be another kind of double-red meeting in the future, right?"
This is because they were limited by the live camera, and the camera was focused on De Ligt who was holding the ball.
By the 60th minute, Mourinho replaced Rooney and Mata, which strengthened the team's frontcourt offense.
A two-goal lead in the first five minutes, what better start could there be?
Three minutes later, he replaced Martial again, almost using a five-forward posture to launch a fierce attack on York City's position.
But York City was well prepared for this.
If Manchester United has so many good players to defend and York City to attack, it will be really difficult with players like Baker and Armand.
After the first half, Scaloni did not ask the players to continue to increase their offensive intensity during the halftime break.
In the end, York City defeated Manchester United 2-0 at Wembley Stadium and successfully entered the FA Cup final this season!——
The moment the whistle sounded at the end of the game, Pan Yi raised his hands high, clenched his fists and cheered!
It is indeed not easy for York City to meet Manchester United in the English Championship next season, but it will be easy in the Premier League next season. Let’s talk about it then.
No matter what the result of the game is, Mourinho will always come back after the game!
But now, it is time for York City to celebrate its victory.