On the evening of February 16, Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England.
What will be held here tonight is the 25th round of the Premier League, when Manchester United plays Manchester City at home.
That’s Manchester City Derby!
In recent years, with the rise of Blue Moon Manchester City, the Manchester Derby has become a globally watched event.
The games and competitions between them are often super dramas in the Premier League, such as the famous 9320 miracle in the 2011-2012 season. Manchester City reversed the championship at the last second, while Manchester United on the other side could only be stunned.
A year later, in the 2012-2013 season, Manchester United defeated Manchester City to win the championship, allowing Manchester United head coach Sir Alex Ferguson to retire honorably.
The gathering of stars from these two teams has gradually made this ancient industrial city the center of European football culture.
However, this year's situation is a bit special, because after Ferguson left, Manchester United was a bit depressed.
After 25 rounds of the Premier League, the top three are Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. Their points are 56, 55, and 54 respectively, which is a one-point gap. At the same time, they have also formed the first group to compete for the championship.
.
And what about Manchester United?
They ranked seventh with 41 points, followed by Liverpool with 50 points, Tottenham with 47 points, and Everton with 45 points.
In other words, it is a bit difficult for them to even qualify for the Europa League.
At this time, the much-anticipated Manchester City Derby is ushering in. Manchester United wants to take this opportunity to overturn Manchester City and perform a serf singing, while Manchester City wants to continue to crush this city rival in order to continue to maintain competitiveness for the championship.<
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Both sides are at war with each other!
……
Dzeko, Aguero, David Silva, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas, Milner...
In the visiting team's locker room, Manchester City coach Pellegrini was standing in front of the players, his eyes scanning each of their faces.
This veteran coach, who holds a certificate in civil engineering and is known as the "Chilean Engineer", is also his first season coaching Manchester City.
He knows that coaching at Manchester City is very stressful.
His predecessor, Italian Mancini, won Manchester City's first English top league championship in 44 years of history in 2012.
But just because he lost the league championship and the FA Cup the next season, he was dismissed.
Of course, Manchester City's poor performance in the Champions League was also an important reason for Mancini's dismissal.
But in short, in the current Manchester City, if you don’t have outstanding results, you will definitely not stay for a long time.
And now, Pellegrini suspects that if he fails to win this Manchester derby, the bad luck of getting out of class will follow.
Because tonight’s game is about whether Manchester City can continue to compete for the championship, and it is also the game that Manchester City fans value most!
Perhaps it is precisely because Manchester City has not posed any threat to Manchester United for a long time, so in the hearts of Manchester United fans, Manchester City's hatred value is probably ranked third after Liverpool and Arsenal. p>
Maybe Leeds United will be further ahead?
Ferguson proved this when he said Manchester City were just "noisy neighbours".
But it's different for Manchester City fans.
Manchester United will always be their number one rival and their most hated opponent!
So, is the sky in Manchester red or blue?
If we push the time forward a few years or even ten or twenty years, there should be no suspense about this answer.
But now?
It’s really hard to say.
Therefore, Pellegrini is confident to lead these disciples in front of him to conquer Old Trafford and bring victory to Manchester City fans!
"Manchester United is not scary at all now, and Old Trafford is no longer the devil's home stadium it used to be." Peggong is doing the final mobilization.
"You are also the best players in the world, better than those next door. Whether it is in the Premier League or the Champions League, whether it is the World Cup or other competitions, many of you have achieved great success."<
/p>
"Successful players are never afraid of any challenges! So today, we must defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford and win this Manchester City derby!"
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"We want to win the Premier League championship this season! Not only that, we also want to win the Champions League championship this season!"
"Four days after today's game, we will face our first opponent in the Champions League knockout round, Hamburg."
"I believe that our German opponents are watching us at this moment, trying to find our flaws."
"Then let's put on our best performance! Let's scare them!"
"Let us first defeat Moyes' Manchester United, then defeat Pan Yi's Hamburg, and move forward with all our strength!"
……
"Ah - chirp!"
In the stands, Pan Yi suddenly sneezed.
"Damn, who is scolding me secretly?" Pan Yi touched his nose.
After the game against Braunschweig that afternoon, Pan Yi and Nagelsmann rushed to Manchester overnight to watch the Manchester City Derby.
This is a good opportunity to watch your opponent up close!
Due to the importance of this game, Manchester City will definitely go all out to avoid seeing a big fight among the rotation players, and they will also be able to see Pellegrini's latest tactical ideas.
And Manchester United has also entered the top 16 of the Champions League. In fact, it can be regarded as a potential future opponent. You can't suffer a loss by taking a look at it.
Inzaghi, Pintus and others will stay in Germany to lead the team, and then come to the UK to join Pan Yi after they have rested with the players.
"Didn't you say before that sneezing means someone is missing you?" Nagelsmann looked at Pan Yi doubtfully, "Why did you turn to scolding you again?"
"Uh... this needs to be sensed." Pan Yi explained casually, "If a beautiful woman is thinking about me, I can naturally sense it. But just now I clearly felt that a smelly man was scolding me!"
"..." Nagelsmann was speechless.
Anyway, Pan Yi has the say, and the right of interpretation is always in Pan Yi's mouth. Nagelsmann is already used to it.
"Look, they're entering!" Pan Yi pointed at the stadium and gently took the topic away.
Nagelsmann raised his eyes and saw, sure enough.
Under the stands, red Manchester United players and blue Manchester City players were led by the referee team into the Old Trafford turf.
Manchester United, playing at home today, set up a 433 attack formation, obviously wanting to eat up their city rivals.
On the front line, Welbeck is on the left, Mata is on the right, and Rooney is in the center.
Midfielder Carrick is in the middle and deep, with Fellaini and Cleverli on both sides.
Lined up from left to right on the back line are Evra, Ferdinand, Jones and R. Da Silva.
Goalkeeper De Gea.
Pellegrini's formation is the 4411 formation he often uses this season.
The single arrow in front is Dzeko, and Aguero plays a shadow forward behind him.
The four midfielders will be David Silva, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, and Jesus Navas.
The back line is Clichy, Demichelis, Kompany, and Zabaleta.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart.
"I have asked you to study Peggy's Manchester City game before. Do you have any experience?" Pan Yi asked Nagelsmann.
Now Pan Yi attaches great importance to the training of his coaches, so he will test them if he has the opportunity.
With Nagelsmann's understanding and learning attitude, coupled with the guidance of a cheating coach like Pan Yi, his growth rate is very fast.
Pan Yi feels that Nagelsmann is definitely capable of being the head coach of a team in one of the five major leagues. It just depends on whether he is willing to go out and work alone.
And if Nagelsmann really goes solo, Pan Yi won't feel any discomfort, but will be happy for him.
Training players is training, and training coaches is also training.
At that time, all the famous coaches of various teams will be their own apprentices, and Pan Yi will be able to have a lot of peaches and plums all over the world. Isn’t it wonderful?
If nothing else, it’s easy to negotiate the purchase and sale of players.
Look at the high-end goods that Guardiola will sell to Arteta in the summer of 2022, wow... that can send Arsenal to the top of the list!
Oh, it seems like it’s the other way around. It was given by the master to his apprentice.
But in fact, it is the same. If Arteta becomes prosperous one day, he will also repay Guardiola, right?
"Pellegrini's football philosophy is indeed quite different from the views of many modern top coaches."
Nagelsmann didn't know that Pan Yi was thinking so much. When he received the teacher's question, he began to answer it seriously:
"His tactics have two important starting points. One is the purpose of controlling the ball, which is to create scoring opportunities; the second is to achieve the purpose of controlling the ball, and the offensive players can choose their positions flexibly and freely."
"In the game, this Manchester City team is not obsessed with high ball possession. They advocate pushing forward and playing more directly."
"When they face such opponents who are obsessed with possession of the ball, although their possession rate is not as good as their opponents, they can always generate higher expected goals."
"In other words, they are willing to sacrifice part of the ball to create more threats, and their offensive methods are unpredictable."
"From their formation structure and offensive running, we can see how Manchester City implements the above principles in actual combat. For example, their initial position is 4411, but when attacking, they often advance the full midfielders on both wings and turn them into a
4231…”
Nagelsmann said while Pan Yi nodded.
His analysis is basically correct, and is consistent with the relevant parts of Pellegrini in Pan Yi's system tutorial.
Pellegrini is different from the "proud ones" like Guardiola. He has worked his way up from the bottom.
Peigong's playing career was silent, but after retiring and turning to coaching, he slowly grew up.
After working hard in domestic and South American football for several years, he coached the Argentine powerhouse River Plate and began to attract the attention of European football.
In 2004, "Engineer" became the head coach of Villarreal and became one of the few South American coaches to coach in Europe.
After the Yellow Submarine won second place in the league and the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Peggong was poached by Real Madrid.
But he failed in all four projects in the second phase of this heavily-financed Galaxy Battleship, and finally ran away from Malaga.
Then he succeeded again.
In the 2011/12 season, Malaga finished fourth in La Liga, won the right to participate in the Champions League for the first time in history, and reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League the next season.
Therefore, after Manchester City fired Italian coach Mancini, Pellegrini officially entered the vision of Manchester City's senior management and successfully entered the Intihad Stadium.
In the process of climbing for many years, he also summed up his own tactical system, or tactical thinking.
Although it is said that every time he takes over a team, he always makes some mistakes and makes specific adjustments based on the current situation of the team, but there are traces to follow.
For Pegong, the formation is not very important. What is important is that the overall organization is tight and the operation is orderly. He also hopes that the team can play a smooth offensive and the methods can be varied.
Therefore, in his team, positional roles change more frequently, and only the roles of center backs and full-backs on the defensive line change relatively rarely.
Of course, this does not mean that the defenders under Pei Gong have less responsibilities.
Manchester City's full-backs will make full use of the width of the field, playing a particularly important role in organizing in the midfield and backfield, or pushing forward.
When controlling the ball in the midfield, the two full-backs also frequently move in high positions, occupying the sidelines and providing width.
Due to the positioning of the full-backs, the midfielders and forwards can choose their positions more freely in the center, which also makes Manchester City more efficient when advancing forward.
"Today Manchester United played a high-position press, and they were very fierce from the beginning." Nagelsmann suddenly stopped his tactical analysis of Peigong and pointed to the court.
Pan Yi also saw that Manchester United's three arrows pounced directly on Manchester City's defense after the opening, trying to take advantage of the fact that everyone was not warm up at the beginning and force the opponent to make a mistake.
But Pan Yi quickly shook his head and said: "Pellegrini seems to have his own way of resolving high-position presses. Did you see that the two full-backs, Clichy and Zabaleta, are both here?"
Pull the opponent's pressing formation, making it difficult for the opponent to close all passing routes."
Nagelsmann thoughtfully said: "Yes. And at this time, their players are flexible and free in position selection, and their advantages of greater mobility are also reflected. The two midfielders in the middle, Yaya Toure and Fei
Hernandinho's positions are closely connected, occupying two lines of space. As long as one of them receives the ball, the other can provide the line, which is indeed not easy to be blocked."
Pan Yi nodded in agreement with Nagelsmann's words: "Since the full-backs on both sides are widely spaced apart, Manchester City's center is extremely important. They not only have to ensure that the two midfielders are closely connected when organizing the offensive and are not isolated.
"It's just in case, once the ball is lost, the two of them can ensure the numerical advantage in the middle."
Nagelsmann thought: "Except for the full-backs and midfielders, the other players..."
Pan Yi said:
"Whether it is left midfielder David Silva or right midfielder Navas, they will often move into the center, close to Fernandinho. In addition, shadow forward Aguero will also retreat deeper to meet the needs of Aguero.
Ature."
"In Pellegrini's Manchester City system, Aguero and the two wide midfielders can choose their positions flexibly and freely, instead of being limited to the initial position on paper."
"At any moment in the backcourt organization phase, any one of Aguero, David Silva, and Navas can drop back to receive the ball. The first benefit of this approach is: disrupting the opponent's pressing team.
Shape."
"It is worth noting that when they retreat, how will striker teammate Dzeko react? He usually maintains a high position and maintains close contact with the teammates behind him. This way the division of labor is clear and avoids too many players retreating.
The response is because this usually results in the opponent's defender being drawn toward the ball carrier."
"In this case, if Manchester City's ball goes forward, Aguero, David Silva or Navas can quickly pass the ball to the dangerous area in the middle, and Manchester City has the numerical advantage in the middle.
The area can form a through-ball opportunity..."
At this time, Nagelsmann suddenly shouted: "Really! Look!"
On the court at this time, Manchester City had David Silva holding the ball across the center line, and then handed it to Aguero who retreated to get the ball.
After receiving the ball, Aguero turned around and immediately sent a threatening through ball, hitting the opponent's back line.
Manchester City center Dzeko used a clever movement to dodge the opponent's defense, half-turned and volleyed, and the ball went straight into the dead corner!
In less than five minutes, Manchester City took the lead in the away game!
The originally noisy Old Trafford stadium suddenly became quiet like a speaker that had been turned off.
"Awesome, awesome." Nagelsmann shook his head for a while and nodded for a while. I don't know whether he was praising Manchester City's sharp offense or praising Pan Yi's analysis.
"It's really good." Pan Yi also followed, but he was praising something else. "Dzeko is a very good center. He is tall and strong but not bulky. He is also very smart in playing football. He is very difficult to guard." "It feels like an enhanced version of Mitrovic." Nagelsmann laughed. "He is a little taller than Mitrovic, but a little lighter. I don't know why Manchester United didn't play Vidic today. It feels like
Jones can't guard him."
"I heard it was a minor injury," Pan Yi said, "but to be honest, I think even if our team sends dedicated personnel to guard against Dzeko, they may not be able to guard against it."
"Oh?" Nagelsmann was slightly surprised, "But he doesn't score many goals. Is he harder to guard than Messi?"
"Players of his type are not measured by goals." Pan Yi answered the question, "You also said just now that he is an enhanced version of Mitrovic. Now he is at the peak of his career.
The fulcrum role in the team is still very prominent. Besides, when the team needs him to score goals, he will also step up. Didn't he just score one?"
Nagelsmann thought for a while, nodded and admitted: "Indeed. This kind of more comprehensive player is indeed more difficult to guard because there are fewer weaknesses. So what should we do?"
Pan Yidao: "It's very simple. It means that he has less contact with his teammates and makes Peigong's rotation system not run smoothly. Let's watch the game first and you can think about it later."
The game continues on the field.
Nagelsmann also gradually realized that Manchester City's offense really relies heavily on their frontcourt quartet, that is, Dzeko, Aguero, David Silva, and Navas.
On paper, these players have at least three different positional responsibilities: center, shadow forward and winger. In today's actual combat, they are rotating positions all the time, playing different positional roles in the same game. The linkage, rotation, and passing and receiving cooperation of the four frontcourt players are key factors in Manchester City's smooth attack.
Aguero and David Silva will drop deep, but at the same time, they will frequently penetrate behind the opponent's back line.
In the 25th minute, Aguero moved to the left and played a one-two with David Silva at the front of the penalty area, while Navas and Dzeko were responsible for rushing into the penalty area and outflanking them.
This outflanking also resulted in a shot. David Silva passed the ball to the small penalty area, but unfortunately Navas, who followed him, hit the ball too high.
A few minutes later, Aguero retreated deeply to respond, and David Silva rushed into the penalty area, but the shot angle was not good and was caught by De Gea.
Although he didn't score a goal, Nagelsmann also understood Manchester City's offensive method.
Although it looks like "random flow", it contains many guiding principles to make it seamless and effective.
First, the players are close to each other. This means that the two wide midfielders, or wingers, rarely stay on the wing.
As long as Manchester City advances the ball, the forwards basically occupy the center and are close to each other, which facilitates small-scale cooperation and crosses the opponent's defense line.
Second, passing and running, every player in the frontcourt is good at using this method to tear apart the opponent's defense.
Third, penetrate behind the back line and push forward. Manchester City is not only good at controlling the ball, but also is unique among Premier League teams with its excellent ability to penetrate forward and pass the ball behind the back.
In the 42nd minute, Aguero received the ball in the low post and advanced with the ball. Dzeko on the striker saw the opportunity and immediately penetrated behind the opponent's back line.
This time, Aguero sent a precise pass without hesitation, and Dzeko took the ball and shot again. Another exquisite cooperation goal appeared!
The first half is not over yet, Manchester City is leading by two goals in the away game!
"So do you understand?" Pan Yi suddenly asked.
"I probably understand." Nagelsmann replied. "It seems that Dzeko scored two goals, but the key to both goals actually lies with Aguero. He connects the two wingers and the center. If he can
Suppressing his performance is equivalent to suppressing Manchester City's offense."
Pan Yi nodded slightly: "You are right, but not entirely right. Akun is very strong, just because of his comprehensive ability. But Manchester City's offense does not rely entirely on him. The current four-man field is not playing smoothly.
When the time comes, their midfielders, especially Yaya Toure, will step up, so we also need to make targeted arrangements for their midfield..."
In the second half of the game, Moyes asked Manchester United players to increase their focus on the wandering style of Manchester City's frontcourt personnel. This also had a certain effect, and Manchester United also gained some offensive opportunities.
But Manchester City's defense is also very tough.
They adopted a proactive man-to-man high press in an effort to prevent their opponents from possessing the ball.
If the pressure on the opponent's two central defenders results in a numerical disadvantage in the midfield, one of Manchester City's central defenders, usually Demichelis, will step forward to support the midfielder to implement the necessary pressure.
This is also the high requirement Pellegrini puts on his players: when pressing, be consistent and maintain discipline.
For example, Manchester City winger Navas must not only mark his target, but also block the opponent's forward passing line.
Manchester City players carry out the coach's intentions and move as a whole, so they can often drive Manchester United players back to pass back and limit the opponent's possession of the ball.
Even against Manchester United on the road, Manchester City still maintained a very aggressive defensive strategy most of the time, leaving Manchester United with nothing to do.
However, Manchester City is different from other teams that press high: they prefer to regain the ball in the midfield rather than just forcing the opponent to play long passes.
Therefore, although Manchester City is good at controlling the ball, its number of tackles and interceptions still ranks very high in the Premier League.
Manchester City defended Manchester United's attack, and its own counterattack was also very sharp.
As if to verify Pan Yi's statement, in the 80th minute, Yaya Toure took the ball directly to the front of Manchester United's penalty area in a counterattack, and shot a powerful shot through the door guarded by De Gea again.
0:3!
In the end, Manchester United ended the Manchester City Derby with a disastrous defeat at Old Trafford.
Although Manchester is not by the sea, it seems that the entire city tonight is sea blue...