Once the league's chariot starts, it can only rumble forward without stopping for anyone.
The Europa League match in Romania is also a crucial battle for Manchester City.
The history of Manchester City began in 1880, which is 130 years ago. However, in the past 100 years, Manchester City has only won one European championship, not the Champions League and the League.
cup, but the winner's cup.
In the past three major European cups, the Cup Winners' Cup was a tournament for the cup champions of various countries. Compared with the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, its gold content was considered the lowest. However, later on, as the Champions League was reformed into the Champions League, it expanded on a large scale.
As a result, the UEFA Cup, which was originally as valuable as the Champions League, plummeted and became a second-rate event.
The UEFA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup were merged and now they have been reformed into the Europa League.
It can be said that Manchester City's only European-level championship is not very valuable, but it won the Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup in England that year, achieving a double crown. It was already the most glorious in the history of Manchester City.
's achievement.
To a certain extent, Manchester City’s so-called history and heritage can be said to be in vain.
But because of this, Manchester City especially cherishes the opportunity to participate in European competitions.
This time, Manchester City fans were extremely excited to be ranked in the top six of the league and advance to the Europa League. They even kept calling for the team to continue their efforts and perform in the Europa League.
Manchester City has a strong team and if it really wants to make a big effort to win the Europa League, it is not without a chance.
That's why the club attaches so much importance to the away game in Romania.
…
With two consecutive wins and no goals conceded at the beginning, everyone at Manchester City is satisfied with the team's performance.
This reflects that every player works extremely hard during training.
Since it was a double match in a week, Manchester City did not have any extra time to adjust after returning from Romania.
After spending some time on the road, after returning to Manchester, there was only one and a half days left for Manchester City to prepare for the second round of the league, the home game against Liverpool.
Yes, Manchester City will face Liverpool in the second round.
Playing Tottenham Hotspur first and then Liverpool, there is really no one left on this schedule.
However, two consecutive wins have still boosted the morale of the team, and they are quite confident about facing Liverpool at home.
After leading Fulham to the Europa League final last season, head coach Hodgson became so famous that he was able to replace Benitez as Liverpool head coach in the summer. However, his league debut was not successful and he was defeated by Arsenal at home.
It was a one-to-one tie.
But the good thing is that Liverpool has a week to prepare for the game, while Manchester City doesn't even have time to prepare.
…
After returning to Manchester, I first conducted a day of recovery training.
On the afternoon before the game, the team conducted some simple tactical drills. This was already squeezed out time, and there was no way to conduct systematic targeted training.
This is the biggest problem we face when we have double games in a week, especially when we travel long distances to play away games in the middle of the week.
However, during training, Guardiola still corrected some problems exposed by the team in the past two games, mainly the players' running and passing routes, as well as some coordination methods.
Su Dong also often communicates with Di Maria and Sanchez during training. Especially when there is a mistake in their cooperation, he will stop and make his intentions clear at that time.
"If you see me running over when you get the ball, be sure to pay attention to my hand gestures. I will give you a very clear signal as to where to pass the ball and how to catch it. I will figure it out myself. You have to believe me.
."
Su Dong felt that there was still a big gap in terms of cooperation and tacit understanding.
After all, when he was at Bayern, he worked with Franck Ribery and Robben for three years, and they had a good understanding of each other.
It is really a trouble when the teammates around you suddenly become two strangers.
What's more interesting is that when he was at Bayern, Ribery was responsible for getting the ball, and Robben was responsible for attacking. But now it's reversed. Di Maria on the left is responsible for attacking, and Sanchez on the right is responsible for receiving the ball.
Stronger.
This kind of reversal of left and right changes also takes some time to get used to.
On the contrary, David Silva has not cooperated with each other for many years, but they are very familiar with each other, and they often understand each other at the first glance.
"When necessary, I think you can try cross-positioning." Su Dong suggested.
Both Sanchez and Di Maria were impressed. The winger with the opposite foot is more suitable for kicking the goal.
A player who doesn't want to score goals is not a good player.
Di Maria and Sanchez too.
"Can we?" Sanchez and Di Maria both asked happily.
"Of course, I'll talk to Pep, but the premise is that you can do your job well and meet his requirements." Su Dong promised.
Sanchez and Di Maria immediately agreed with a smile.
Guardiola is actually a tyrant, and he has extremely strict requirements on his players.
But there was one exception, and that was Su Dong.
According to what he said in the locker room, Su Dong does not need to restrict at all, and he cannot even restrict it.
"I have watched many game videos of many players, and there are two players that I think should not be restricted by tactics. One is Su, and the other is Barcelona's Messi. For them, tactics cannot bring any improvement.
." Guardiola said this at the time.
This also seems to acknowledge Su Dong's privileges in Manchester City's technical and tactical system.
Of course, Manchester City players cannot deny Su Dong's role and are quite convinced by him.
"Don't thank me." Su Dong smiled and said to Sanchez and Di Maria, "You still have to work hard to improve your performance. Every next game will be a tough battle. If you fight well, kick the ball smoothly, anything will do.
If we don’t play well, we will all suffer.”
Both wingers nodded hurriedly, ensuring that they would not be lazy in paddling.
…
"What do you think about playing Liverpool?"
After the training, Pepe and Marcelo walked towards Su Dong, and the Portuguese central defender asked with a smile.
"What do you think?" Su Dong was very surprised.
Peipei clicked her tongue and said, "Look, you started pretending to be stupid for me again, right?"
"Yes, what he is best at is pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger." Marcelo helped.
Su Dong flew up and almost hit this kid.
I don’t know when I learned some Chinese from Su Dong and used it everywhere all day long.
Why did I pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger?
You're just pretending to be a pig, you pig head!
"Torres!" Pepe pointed out simply.
To say that Su Dong's biggest competitor in the Premier League was originally considered to be Torres.
The Spanish center's performance in the Premier League is indeed good, but due to injuries, his performance has declined.
However, before the season, after Torres heard that Su Dong had joined Manchester City, he said that he was working hard to find his best form and must compete with Su Dong.
Unexpectedly, Torres failed to score in the first round, and it was Drogba who broke out.
Who would have thought that this guy would score a hat trick?
Su Dong smiled mysteriously at Pepe, "I'm not worried about Torres at all now."
Now Pepe was surprised, "Why?"
"Guess." Su Dong said with a playful smile.
Pepe's expression looked like he had eaten a fly. Isn't it disgusting?
You know, as a central defender, Torres is Pepe's number one opponent. Su Dong didn't tell him. It's too much!
"I am more interested in Drogba now. This guy has continued his excellent form last season and has been breaking out." Su Dong is more looking forward to Drogba's performance.
Drogba was the top scorer in the Premier League last season, scoring 29 goals and ten assists in 32 games. Although his scoring efficiency is still higher than that of Su Dong, Messi and Ronnie.
It's not a small gap, but overall it's pretty good.
This season, this guy scored a hat trick in the first round, which was like giving Su Dong a blow.
At the age of thirty-two, his body functions have been declining, but this old guy is getting better and better as he plays, which is very interesting.
"Drogba broke out suddenly last season. I don't believe he can continue this season. Do you think that after he scored a hat trick in the first round, he can get another one in the second round?" Pepe shook his head vigorously. He didn't believe it.
In fact, Pepe has never been particularly convinced by Drogba.
In terms of physical strength, Pepe may not necessarily lose to Drogba. Of course, it is difficult to take advantage.
However, now that Drogba's physical function has declined, Pepe can gain some advantages, but the real outcome will not be known until the face-to-face battle between gongs and drums in the game.
"Seriously, you should work harder in the second round and don't let him bludgeon over there. Although Drogba is very strong, he is still 32 years old!" Pepe analyzed.
Except for a very few people such as Su Dong and Ronnie, Pepe doesn't like any forward.
There is no way, who made him a central defender?
Su Dong had to admit that what Pepe said made sense.
A player's body is not dependent on human will. No matter how hard he trains or maintains, it is difficult to maintain that peak state. He has to go downhill when he should go downhill. At best, it can only slow down the speed of decline.
"Hey, hurry up and tell me why you are not worried about Torres now?" Pepe suddenly came forward, put his arm on Su Dong's shoulder, and asked like a good buddy.
We will meet Torres tomorrow, and he is very concerned about it.
Su Dong laughed, but didn't say anything, with a "you know" expression.
"Since Wang went to Oxford, I noticed that you have changed, Su." Pepe said with an expression of regret as if he had accidentally made a friend.
"Really?" Su Dong asked cheerfully.
"It's become very..." Peipei originally wanted to say, "It's very shameless." But when he saw Su Dong's raised eyebrows, as if he was about to get angry at any time, he immediately gave in helplessly, "He became very handsome."
Marcelo on the side snorted and almost died laughing, but he didn't pay attention and received a kick from Pepe on the butt.
Oops, it’s broken.
…
As a last resort, in order to obtain favorable information, Pepe could only reluctantly agree to Su Dong's hint and treat him, Marcelo, David Silva and Toni Kroos to a sumptuous dinner.
After eating and drinking, Su Dong sighed softly.
"Actually, even if you don't treat me, I will definitely tell you."