Previously, when Chelsea coach Villas-Boas complained about the schedule, the media criticized Manchester City, leaving Villas speechless.
This is not just because Manchester City's results are better, but also because Manchester City's schedule is the devil among devils.
Four games were played in twelve days, especially between the 19th and 20th rounds, which were on December 31st and January 2nd respectively. In other words, there was only one day in between.
That's it?
This is just the beginning.
The FA Cup weekend is on January 6th, while others are on January 7th or even 8th.
So why is Manchester City one day ahead of others?
Because they will face the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals three days later.
Next is the 21st round of the league, and in the middle of the week is the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals.
Isn’t it a bit convoluted?
It's okay, you just need to know that in this devil's schedule, Manchester City has to play two more games than other teams, so that's okay.
However, Chelsea must also have opinions, because they have also reached the League Cup semi-finals and have to play two more games.
Let’s take a look at the opponents in the game.
In the twentieth round, Manchester City faced Liverpool at home.
In the third round of the FA Cup in midweek, Manchester City faced Manchester United at home.
Yes, you read that right, it’s Manchester United!
Those damn guys from the Football Association don’t even know how they drew the lottery, but they actually sent the top two teams in the Premier League to the third round of the FA Cup. Doesn’t this mean that the final is staged in advance?
But according to the FA, this also proves that the FA Cup draw is open, fair and just, and there is absolutely nothing fishy about it.
Look, even Manchester City and Manchester United were drawn in the third round. What else is wrong?
At least it’s not like the Champions League, where there are seed teams!
In the two legs of the League Cup semi-finals, the opponent is Liverpool, while Chelsea's opponent is Cardiff of the English Championship.
The strength of these two teams is not at the same level at all, and they are completely different.
The twenty-first round is an away game against Wigan Athletic, and the twenty-second round opponent is Tottenham Hotspur.
If Manchester City can defeat Manchester United in the third round and advance, the FA Cup will be next.
In other words, throughout January, every game for Manchester City was a tough battle.
Even though Wigan Athletic is deep in the relegation zone, their home stadium is not easy to play in. Both Liverpool and Chelsea have suffered enough here and only got one draw, not to mention the fatigue of Manchester City who have been exhausted for a long time.
expedition.
It can be said that Chelsea has no right to complain under Manchester City's hellishly difficult schedule.
…
The year 2011 has ended and 2012 has entered.
Manchester City welcomes Liverpool on the second day of the New Year.
At the Etihad Stadium, both sides made very strong rotations.
There is no way. Playing two games in three days without rotation will be too much for the players' bodies.
But even if they are rotated, many players are seriously out of shape.
After the start, both sides played dull in the first ten minutes, with no one creating any chances.
The absence of key players such as Bellamy and Gerrard has a great impact on Liverpool, while Manchester City is constantly adjusting.
In the fifteenth minute, Manchester City finally made a threatening attack.
Sudong retreated to the left and cooperated with Hazard and Moutinho. He failed to penetrate Liverpool's defense and was forced to pass back to Busquets to reorganize.
Gareth Barry spotted an opportunity and sent a long pass with his left foot, accurately passing behind the Liverpool defense.
Su Dong moved forward as quickly as possible, stopped the ball and formed a single shot.
After rushing into the penalty area, Su Dong pinned central defender Daniel Agger behind him. Facing the attacking goalkeeper Reina, he suddenly paused and adjusted, then took another shot and sent the ball into the Liverpool goal.
Su Dong has too much experience in dealing with such one-on-one shots.
He knows better than anyone how to disrupt the goalkeeper's rhythm and confuse their judgment.
After taking the lead, Manchester City slowed down its attack and rhythm slightly.
In the 41st minute, before the end of the first half, Manchester City once again created an opportunity. Su Dong broke through with the ball. He was fouled by Skrtel at the front of the penalty area and fell to the ground. The referee gave a yellow card. Manchester City got a frontcourt positioning.
Ball opportunity.
Su Dong did his job. Facing the Liverpool wall filled with senior players, he still used a wonderful curve ball, which went to the far corner, rubbed the upper right corner, and turned into the Liverpool goal, expanding the score for Manchester City.
, two to zero.
After establishing the advantage, Manchester City slowed down its offensive slightly.
After changing sides in the second half, Guardiola replaced Su Dong on time at 60 minutes. He hoped that he could get enough rest and recharge his batteries to prepare for the weekend's FA Cup game against Manchester United.
What was different from usual was that Su Dong did not stay on the bench after he came off the field this time. Instead, he went directly into the tunnel and returned to the locker room to rest and get a massage.
His personal coaching staff was already waiting for him inside.
…
"Manchester City fans at the Etihad Stadium are applauding Su Dong."
"This is one of the players who has played the most games and played the most minutes in Manchester City this season. As a center, especially a high center, this attendance rate is really, very amazing."
"More importantly, Su Dong can score goals for Manchester City every time he plays."
"It can be said that he is the key figure for Manchester City to advance on all four fronts this season."
"Manchester City fans know all this very well, so they give Su Dong high recognition, and we can also see that Su Dong is indeed very tired."
"But as the captain of Manchester City and the team's number one star, he can't rest yet!"
The applause from the Etihad stands continued for a long time when Su Dong entered the dressing room.
…………
…………
The twentieth round of the league was very cruel.
Manchester City finally defeated Liverpool 3-0. Su Dong scored twice. In the second half, Moutinho created a penalty kick. Milner calmly took the penalty and sealed the victory for Manchester City.
This is one of the few warmth in the cold winter months.
The coldest one is Boas.
The Portuguese young marshal now feels so sad that even God is going against him.
He was pressured by the media and fans before, his results were unsatisfactory, and the management was not satisfied with him. So after a large rotation, he finally remembered Lampard at the water cooler.
As a result, in the twentieth round, Lampard finally performed well throughout the game. He also used his own goal in the final stage of the game to help Chelsea defeat Wolves 2-1 away from home.
What could be more embarrassing than that?
He had not tasted the joy of victory for five rounds. As a result, he was replaced by Lampard this time. Chelsea won immediately, and it was Lampard who scored the winning goal.
What does this mean?
Villas-Boas can no longer imagine that his image in the Chelsea dressing room, fans, and even the outside media, instead of improving due to this victory, has fallen further, and it has fallen endlessly.
…
Compared to Chelsea, Arsenal's performance in this round can also be described as depressing.
Wenger has never introduced a strong central defender, and now he has finally paid the price.
Djurou received his second yellow card in the 78th minute and was sent off with a red card, leaving Arsenal without one player in the last ten minutes.
As a result, Fulham used these ten minutes to score two goals and reversed Arsenal 2-1.
Losing three points and Chelsea winning, the Gunners were kicked out of the top four in the league and replaced by the Blues.
After that are Liverpool and Newcastle.
Magpie Newcastle really had a blast this round.
Facing Manchester United at home, Newcastle played very well and beat Manchester United 3-0.
Ferguson's team led by two goals in the last round and was reversed 3-2 by their opponents. This time they lost even more completely, losing 3-0 to Newcastle away from home.
What? It’s embarrassing to lose three goals?
Isn’t this what you said?
In the last round, you said it was embarrassing for me to lead by two goals and then concede three goals and then be reversed. So this game I simply didn’t score two goals and just conceded three goals. You still said I was embarrassed?
Tell me, what do you want from Manchester United?
Can you give me a happy word?
Ferguson seemed very calm after the game, saying that this defeat was indeed disappointing. Newcastle's second goal completely killed Manchester United. From then on, the game completely lost its suspense.
As Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0, the gap between the two teams at the top of the standings has widened to 15 points. Ferguson regretfully said that this season's Premier League championship basically belongs to Manchester City.
"Although I hate to say this, we have to accept that Manchester City's advantage in the Premier League is gradually turning into a bargaining chip for them to win the championship. They are the most powerful contenders for the championship. It is difficult for other teams, including Manchester United, to affect it.
them."
But Ferguson was unconvinced by Guardiola's team.
"If you could give me Sudong, I could have more winning streaks, and I could even win the whole world, but the problem is, I don't have one!" Ferguson obviously also felt resentful about this.
He wanted to bring in Sneijder from Inter Milan, but Manchester United's management had no such plans.
Someone has calculated that in the past five years, Manchester United has spent a total of 160 million pounds on buying people in the transfer market, but it has earned 150 million pounds from selling people. In other words, Manchester United has spent a total of 160 million pounds on buying people in the transfer market.
The net investment was only £10 million.
Of course, the transfer income includes the huge income brought by Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid, but this itself is also part of the overall strength of the club, and Manchester United did not use this money for signings.
Today, Manchester United makes more than 100 million pounds in profit every season, but its losses have also reached an astonishing more than 80 million pounds. Behind this is the blood-sucking from the Glazer family.
Ferguson said that if you give him Sudong, he can win more consecutive games. This is definitely not an angry statement, but he really feels that Manchester United's current investment cannot support the scene of a wealthy club.
Now that Ferguson is still here, he can still rely on his own abilities to barely maintain the situation, but at his age, how long can he maintain it?
When he can't hold on any longer and retires, what will happen to Manchester United?
Ferguson didn't dare to think about it, but he was really annoyed.
After coaching Manchester United for so many years, when has he ever been so embarrassed?
Especially when he has to face Manchester City in the FA Cup next, what will he do to fight against Manchester City?
