Chapter 13 K-Block

Was De Gea a traditional goalkeeper?

No.

Traditional goalkeepers would lunge at the feet of a player in a one-on-one situation.

Was De Gea a modern goalkeeper?

Also no.

His ball-handling skills and coverage area weren't particularly vast.

Nor did he often combine the best possible pressing posture based on the actual situation when facing a one-on-one.

So, what was he?

What gave him a one-on-one save success rate more terrifying than the world's best goalkeeper?

Unparalleled hand-foot coordination.

The K-block.

...

"Smalling is out of the picture, he can only try his best to block the center of the goal."

"The Manchester United goalkeeper is out!"

"So slow."

"That stance?"

"It's the K-block!"

"The left knee is perpendicular to the body, sealing the near post."

"The right knee is down, sealing the far corner."

"Arms swinging low."

"A K-shaped barrier sealing all one-on-one shooting angles!"

"The guardian of Old Trafford!"

"De Gea!"

He Hui's speech speed reached its limit, and he couldn't help but call out the name of the Manchester United goalkeeper in his native language.

...

Old Trafford Stadium.

This Theatre of Dreams has seen countless classic moments from legendary players.

It carries the centuries of glory and tragedy of the Red Devils.

The more than seventy thousand fans in the stadium could hardly restrain their nervousness.

The Ferguson Stand.

The Bobby Charlton Stand.

The Stretford End.

The East Stand.

All eyes were focused on Manchester United's penalty area.

Arsenal number 10.

Manchester United number 1.

....

The Eye of Truth struggled to emerge.

It quietly stared at the Manchester United goalkeeper's body.

Center of gravity, exertion of limbs and joints, blocking tendencies...all the information flooded into Li Kang's mind.

Delivering one conclusion: impassable.

No shooting angle.

No room to break free.

De Gea in the K-stance could complete secondary saves and movements at any time, as long as he didn't lose his balance.

In an instant.

His vision was enveloped in a golden light.

It was the bald phantom again!

Brazil number 9!

Ronaldo!

....

De Gea was very confident.

He had defeated generations of Premier League strikers in one-on-one situations near the edge of the penalty area.

In this area, no one could defeat him.

Neither could Li.

Just when the Manchester United goalkeeper thought he had diffused the crisis.

Arsenal number 10 in front of him...made an unexpected move.

His left foot took a step to the front left.

Shifting his weight to the left.

His right foot also took a step to the front right.

Shifting his weight to the right.

The Theatre of Dreams collectively held its breath at this moment!

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The exaggerated amplitude of his upper body swaying displayed the beauty of the combination of power and skill.

Bicycle kick?

It was the pendulum!

An extremely domineering pendulum!

De Gea was dumbfounded, and his downward knees could no longer maintain his balance.

He was lost...unable to grasp Li Kang's left-right alternating center of gravity adjustments at high speed, dreamlike, ever-changing.

The only thing he could do was fall to the ground and watch the football enter the net.

...

Li Kang had dribbled past De Gea.

Facing an empty net, he scored with one kick.

The football lightly rippled Manchester United's net.

0:1!!!

Old Trafford, after two seconds of silence.

All the spectators' eyes were fixed on Arsenal number 10, who was bent over holding his knee.

Applause thundered.

The Theatre of Dreams never skimps on flowers and cheers.

"Ronaldo!"

"The pendulum dribble reappears in football..."

"Miracle!"

"Shining at Old Trafford!"

"Domineering!"

"Shocking!"

"Divine skill!"

"An unsolvable way to score!"

"In the extreme back-and-forth between the two sides, Li Kang broke the deadlock!"

...

ESPN live broadcast room.

Exploded.

-[Li Mingdeng is still not confident enough, he won't shoot until he dribbles past the goalkeeper.]

-[Too handsome! Too fierce!]

-[He actually got past him? Shocking.]

-[The visual impact is explosive.]

-[De Gea almost never becomes the backdrop for famous scenes...I wonder what his psychological shadow area is right now.]

-[Little Li's lower limbs, waist and abdominal strength, and body balance are too terrifying, right? What did he eat at Arsenal?]

-[After receiving the pass...the explosiveness of that start is also scary. My screen just glitched, and he had already charged to the edge of the penalty area and knocked Bailly flying!]

-[Manchester United's play style and defense are much stronger than last season, but it's a pity that they met Arsenal too early. The confidence built up by the three-game winning streak was kicked away by Li Kang's goal.]

-[No way, the fighting spirit of the Premier League Big Six is still very strong.]

....

De Gea's eyes were filled with astonishment.

Too perverted.

He had never been ravaged by such a perverted dribbling method.

He stared blankly at Li Kang's back.

Saying something that didn't fit the position of the losing side: "Li...are you okay?"

Li Kang shook his head and helped his teammate from the national team up.

Before De Gea could stand firm.

Arsenal players rushed over excitedly.

Maguire raised his fist and roared, "Li, wherever you tell me to charge, I'll charge!"

Walcott quickly explained, "Li told me to receive the ball at the time, you almost knocked me out!"

Cazorla and Morata excitedly put their arms around De Gea's neck and celebrated ecstatically.

In the distance.

Ibrahimovic looked dazed.

Suspecting that everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

He couldn't help but turn his head and look at the LED screen in mid-air, confirming the scoring process in amazement.

That's right.

It wasn't a bicycle kick.

It was a pendulum dribble!

It was his idol's ultimate skill!

Pogba angrily hammered the turf, he thought he wasn't much worse than Li...but he really couldn't do that kind of extremely perverted high-speed breakout move.

...

On the sidelines.

Mourinho sat steadily on the coaching bench.

Not showing half a bit of panic in front of the coaching staff.

Without any emotion.

But diligently thinking about the next tactical adjustments.

There was no way.

Li Kang almost overturned his opponent's tactical arrangements in every game.

On the other side.

Bould raised his arms and celebrated passionately.

If he were watching the game at home, he would have taken off his pants in excitement!

Wenger didn't continue to revel in the joy.

But anxiously applied to the fourth official to allow the team doctor to enter the field, but was not approved.

There is a kind of psychological personality that will review sadness in joy.

Wenger couldn't help but sigh, worried, looking like an old father who heard his daughter was going on a date for the first time.

It was of course worth celebrating to score a goal, but he was more concerned about Li Kang's health.

What a cannon shot from a distance, what a pendulum dribble...shocking as they were, they were extremely demanding on the body.

It's not like everyone is as rough as Morata and Xhaka.

Arsenal's midfield core experiencing a serious injury...has almost become a good tradition.

Especially Rosicky's leg fracture.

It left an indelible shadow on Wenger.

"Am I thinking too much?"

"Boss, no! The most important thing for you to do now is to celebrate!"

....

In the stands.

Ferguson looked calm, chewing gum slowly.

The fist resting on the armrest...was constantly trembling.

His heart was filled with mixed feelings.

If Van Gaal had brought Li Kang to Old Trafford after the Champions League qualifiers that year...Manchester United might have already started a new dynasty.

...

The referee - Atkinson looked at his watch, not urging the Arsenal players to end the celebration as soon as possible.

As Manchester United's nemesis, he never allowed "Ferguson Time" to appear before the end of the game.

The command area of Old Trafford will never see that famous scene again: a grumpy old man with white hair, a red face filled with anger, vigorously hitting his watch, and then roaring unspeakable content at the referee.

However.

Atkinson also did not forget that he was Wenger's nemesis.

He walked to the sidelines and warned the Arsenal coach not to always harass the fourth official.

...

The game restarted in the center circle.

Manchester United's morale was not affected too much.

Ibrahimovic stood in front of the ball, looking at Li Kang in the distance, and couldn't help showing an ambiguous smile.

Pa.

The ball was passed back to Herrera's feet.

"Herrera, everyone should be very familiar with him."

"He was the first player to be overturned by Li Kang in an official game, and he often appears in Li Kang's early highlights."

"It can be seen that Herrera has completed his transformation this season, handing over the offensive organization work to Pogba, and taking care of the dirty work himself."

"People call this combination: the Black and White Shuangsha."

The football soon came to Pogba's feet.

Without dragging his feet.

Manchester United advanced rapidly under the orchestration of this axis.

I have to say.

The French black man is really a super axis.

His physical hardware, various attribute abilities...are perfect.

Mourinho himself is not good at playing autonomous offense, but because of Pogba's existence, Manchester United has a strong half-court transition.

How does the football reach the opponent's attacking third?

This is a topic that a normal coaching team cannot avoid.

Different opponents, different situations, different resource control, it is too complicated.

Why is Pogba so expensive?

Because his personal ability can provide a better solution.

...

Li Kang is about to start doing problems again.

In the days before the game, he repeatedly watched videos of Mourinho's Manchester United.

He couldn't understand it at the time.

But in this game's back-and-forth between the two sides...he gradually grasped some problem-solving conditions.

In the God's perspective.

In the advancement, Manchester United not only has Pogba as an axis, but also Ibrahimovic, who comes with his own system.

It's an axis.

Not the core.

The two seem to have a halo.

It can indirectly alleviate the offensive and defensive pressure on the midfielders and forwards.

What about the others?

Martial's role positioning should be a feint attacker兼the winger finisher, but he is wandering outside the two axes in the team's advancement process.

Lingard is the key.

His off-ball running is like Pogba and Ibrahimovic's wingman.

This wingman is not only an auxiliary, but also has the three excellent abilities of passing, controlling, and shooting, and can switch roles at any time.

The Premier League Iniesta is really not bragging.

...

Pogba's hairstyle is very fancy.

But he and Neymar have one thing in common, they never play fancy tricks in tough games.

Pa!

Facing Walcott's entanglement.

The French black man quickly adjusted the position of his supporting foot, easily moved the ball away, and squeezed away the Arsenal Little Tiger calmly.

A sudden small acceleration.

Dribbling into the thirty-meter area.

It's different from the national team.

Although there is no Kante by his side.

But there is Lingard.

A bodyguard in the defensive stage may not be as useful as a wingman in the offensive stage.

"Xhaka's pressing!"

"Pogba couldn't break free for a while."

"Passed it to Lingard nearby."

"Hey."

"Beautiful one-two pass."

"The football is back at Pogba's feet."

...

With Lingard's existence.

Xhaka cannot complete a trade-off with Pogba.

The tacit understanding between the two geniuses from Manchester United's youth academy began to be established many years ago.

What else is Pogba expensive for?

He makes it difficult for opponents to judge the team's overall offensive direction.

That's right.

Referring to the Champions League final the year before last, Barcelona played Juventus, and Pogba made Busquets confused for a while.

This guy is not only balanced with both feet, he can just pass the ball accurately to the wings at will.

He almost has 90% of Kroos's skills.

The concealment of long passes is very high.

Strong anti-interference ability before passing.

In this historical period, everyone believes that he is a midfield genius who can win the Ballon d'Or in the future.

....

With a pa sound.

Before Pogba was besieged, he used an accurate long pass to penetrate behind Bellerin.

"Martial accelerates! Received the ball."

"It's too late for Bellerin to turn around and chase again!"

"Cut inside horizontally."

Are Arsenal defenders wooden stakes?

No.

Faced with this kind of accurate long-pass attack that pinched the weak side, Wenger's central idea in normal training matches was: don't easily lose your position.

But...it's useless against Ibrahimovic.

...

Edge of the penalty area.

Martial's overall speed is very fast, but his steps are sometimes dense and sometimes sparse, provoking Maguire's tense nerves.

Arsenal's defense is not that bad, they won't let a genius striker of Martial's level run rampant.

Maguire's anger value is about to be maxed out.

Zooming out the camera slightly.

Pogba once again甩开了Xhaka and rushed to the arc of the penalty area.

Cazorla quickly ran to try to cut off Manchester United's passing connection.

Pa.

"Martial did not pass horizontally to Pogba!"

"A挑传, is to find Ibrahimovic at the far end!"

"Manchester United's frontcourt has a lot of offensive points at this time, and full-back Luke Shaw has also 插到 the ribs."

"Can't let the Swede get the ball!"

...

Ibrahimovic's position is very changeable when attacking.

Strictly speaking.

This guy is an atypical center.

At this time, it happened to appear in Lingard's activity area.

As long as he wins the ball.

Manchester United can then use the offensive resources they have at this time to play Arsenal's defense out of tricks.

It's not a question of individual strength or weakness.

It's the lack of information flow between the systems.

It has only been less than four rounds since the start of the Premier League, and no one knows what kind of spark the two halo heroes Pogba and Ibrahimovic can collide.

If Arsenal continues to shrink the defense in an orderly manner, they can only become lambs to be slaughtered.

....

The football fell rapidly.

Ibrahimovic was about to stop the ball with his chest.

Suddenly, his vision was covered.

With a pa sound!

Li Kang jumped high and headed the ball out of bounds.

Ibrahimovic clapped his hands and gave Martial a thumbs up.

The end of Manchester United's attack was cut off by Mr. Two Hundred Million before it could be twisted out.

"Very reasonable choice."

"We can see that, under Manchester United's offensive pressure, if Arsenal shrinks the defense, it will be difficult to launch a conversion attack...launch a counterattack."

"Fortunately, Li Kang appeared in the most suitable position and cleared the ball out of bounds."

"The Premier League is like this."

"Whenever new things appear, they can always catch the strong teams by surprise, but it will be thoroughly studied by the top European teams in no more than ten league rounds."

"Li Kang's performance time is over."

"Now the stage of Old Trafford is handed over to Pogba and Ibrahimovic."

...

On the sidelines.

Mourinho applauded with satisfaction.

He was very satisfied with this offense.

Manchester United is playing something very new.

Looking back at the teams he has coached, even during the Real Madrid period, he did not give the players so much freedom in主动进攻.

Pogba is a treasure, if he can always maintain this kind of competitive attitude...

On the other side.

Bould touched his bald head in distress.

Arsenal's coaching staff is not good at making on-the-spot adjustments.

This is also one of the reasons why Wenger always loses to Mourinho.

"Boss, the pre-match defensive arrangement has been overturned by the opponent again...it's too passive to play like this."

"Don't worry, we are still leading by one goal for the time being, pay attention to Li's gestures, and see what kind of adjustments he needs."

Wenger turned his head and glanced at the bench, his tone calm.

Don't panic.

In this game, he is also thinking: Arsenal's失位defensive, it is impossible for Li to make up for it alone.

Can't repeat the Leverkusen disaster.

We must find the solution among these new recruits.

He hopes that Li Kang can lead the offense like Pogba, instead of分散 his energy on失位defensive.

....

Luke Shaw is about to throw the ball out of bounds.

Xhaka accidentally stepped on the back of Ibrahimovic's shoe while retreating.

Pa.

Ibrahimovic felt pain, and instinctively slapped the Swiss midfielder on the head.

Mustafi puffed up and pushed towards the Manchester United striker.

The scene instantly fell into chaos.

Rooney slipped out of the bench, shouting, "Don't be impulsive, we are still behind!"

Atkinson frowned, and while rushing to the scene, he took a card from his pocket.

Boos rang out at Old Trafford.

Two assistant referees quickly entered the field.

Mourinho and Wenger surrounded the fourth official and complained frantically.

Eventually.

Xhaka groaned on the ground for a long time covering his head.

His expression was extremely painful.

The Arsenal team doctor checked the injury slowly.

Atkinson was preparing to ask him to leave the field for treatment.

Mustafi on the other side fell to the ground again...

According to the rules: if two players fall to the ground at the same time, the game cannot be resumed.

Arsenal fans are a little confused, these two new recruits have injected a different temperament into the Gunners.

Li Kang did not trigger the module gain of "turning the tide"...

The shadow in the brain spread madly.

The God's perspective is constantly reviewing the offensive details of Manchester United.

Dense red little arrows, derived from problem-solving conditions.

It's still a bit difficult.