Chapter 1 BBC Studios

The BBC studio.

The organizers invited several Arsenal legends who had not arrived at the Emirates Stadium to watch the game.

"Do you feel that this Arsenal team in the 16/17 season is different from before?"

The host asked.

Adams thought for a moment and said, "These players won't wet the bed because of drinking too much. That's right, I quit drinking because Wenger respects me. He's always so gentle."

"At first, I really wanted to beat him up, but he was too gentle, so I pinned Wright, who was always late, against the wall."

"No special means, this weak university teacher controlled Arsenal's locker room. You know, we were very chaotic back then."

Everyone laughed.

When Wenger took over Arsenal, he faced a group of "old hooligans" with outdated playing styles, alcoholism, and violent tempers.

At that time, the media commented: A sheep wants to become the leader of a pack of wolves?

Vieira added: "The tactical style is also very different. In the beginning, Wenger asked us to play 4-4-2, defend low and counterattack, because our overall technique couldn't support long-term passing and pressing."

"Except for Bergkamp."

"It wasn't until after the 2000 European Cup, when Pires came to Arsenal, that all of this changed. We were able to keep our opponents pinned in their penalty area, often playing out massacres like 5-0 or 6-0."

"Wenger's tactical philosophy has always been evolving with the times."

"The rivals for the championship are also different. Manchester United was a red empire at that time, a European overlord-level club!"

Pires shook his head and said, "Henry is the core. He was a waste in Serie A for a year, but became a king after coming to Highbury. I think Wenger has the ability to turn decay into magic."

Henry's old face turned red, and he explained, "Bergkamp's role was more obvious at that time... Let's get back to the point. The challenges facing this Arsenal team this year are more complex, and the opponents are stronger. Although the attacking power and pressing ability are far inferior to our era, it is more balanced. Here, balance refers to stronger tactical adaptability."

Everyone turned their attention to the Ice Prince.

Bergkamp's expression was stern, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence: "This is Li's value. If he can continue his terrifying strength on the Champions League stage, no one can stop him."

The game time had reached the 15th minute.

The player's running data was inserted in the lower left corner of the big screen. Li Kang was at the bottom.

The Arsenal legends were silent.

Emirates Stadium.

Fans cheered to encourage their respective players.

Manchester City attacked frantically, and the formation also switched to 2-3-5!

The two full-backs switched to midfield form, ready to respond to the second point of attack at any time.

Single arrow – Aguero temporarily became a mascot, wandering in the area between the opponent's two central defenders: as a center forward, he missed the Mancini and Pellegrini era more than being a replaceable in Guardiola's Manchester City rebuild.

Sane and Sterling stretched the attacking width to the limit, widening the distance between Arsenal's two full-backs and central defenders.

De Bruyne and David Silva were active on the left and right sides, providing strong suppression and ready to send out deadly passes at any time.

Arsenal looked dangerous, but they didn't concede a goal.

Wenger had gained experience playing against Guardiola back then, and the changes in strong and weak sides in the low defense were extremely fast.

Li Kang occasionally looked to the sidelines, observing Guardiola's gestures.

The God's perspective gradually divided the football field into 20 small grids.

Zone 20.

His job is simple:

Whichever direction Manchester City mainly attacks, Arsenal's teammates increase the number of defenders in that direction.

And Li Kang stands on the weak side, strangling David Silva or De Bruyne's horizontal offensive transfer.

Gradually.

His effective running is getting less and less.

To give a direct example: the offensive passing and running changes of Manchester City at this stage are like a large bra, squeezing hard towards the opponent. Arsenal's defense is a pair of hands, using nine fingers to dismantle the more intense side of the large bra, leaving the little finger to resist the sudden switch of the large bra to squeeze on the other side.

The middle of this large bra has no buckle.

"Henry once said that during his time at Guardiola's Barcelona, he once abandoned the coaching staff's offensive arrangements, switched positions without authorization, and scored a goal, which made Guardiola furious and he was replaced not long after."

"The same is true for Manchester City at this time."

"All players' rotation and position changes cannot deviate from the framework arranged by Guardiola."

"Oh dear, David Silva's diagonal lob pass has been destroyed by Li Kang again."

"Guardiola's Manchester City has been rebuilding for a season, but there is still no progress. The offensive routines are complex but fixed."

Livestream.

The barrage flew.

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[Is Li Mingdeng loafing on the job?]

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[I heard that Da Paris is going to spend 220 million to poach Neymar, and Little Li's transfer record will be broken soon.]

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[What did Guardiola rebuild? Leaving the peak of Barcelona with Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi, he does harm wherever he goes. After screwing up Bayern, he screws up Manchester City, and now he is not as good as Mancini and Pellegrini.]

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[Don't worry, rebuilding needs to be calculated in years. Manchester City fans need to be patient and give Guardiola eight years to invest another 1.3 billion-1.6 billion euros! They will definitely be able to achieve the dominance of the peak Barcelona period.]

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[More than a billion? It's better to poach Li Mingdeng! Solve the Triple Crown in one go.]

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[The meaning is different. What the Abu Dhabi consortium needs is not a big-name player, nor is it pursuing a temporary championship, but to use Guardiola to build a real giant, including the youth training system, and establish a clear, highly ornamental, and highly inheritable football style from the bottom up.]

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[A superstar like Li Mingdeng, who comes with his own system, will only disrupt the future layout and style shaping of the Blue Moon. It has nothing to do with how much money is invested. Once he joins Manchester City and leaves, will other players be able to continue his super-god performance? Manchester City does not need a super giant in the future, but inheritance.]

-

[Guardiola's significance to Manchester City is equivalent to Cruyff to Barcelona! This is what the Abu Dhabi consortium is pursuing.]

The 20th minute of the game.

The first two parts of Manchester City's 2-3-5 formation have been pressed to the center circle.

Yaya Toure sent a ground diagonal pass to De Bruyne on the right side of the thirty-meter area.

The latter didn't turn his head, touched the ball with one foot, and passed it to Sane, who was sprinting forward on the wing.

After receiving the ball, Sane slowed down, pretending to break into the penalty area.

Arsenal's defenders immediately gathered there, and the entire defense line began to tilt.

At the same time.

De Bruyne took two steps back and found a better passing environment on the side.

Sane also immediately passed the ball back!

"Dangerous!"

"The rainbow is coming!"

"The left side of Arsenal's penalty area is empty again!"

"De Bruyne crosses from 45 degrees on the side!"

With a snap.

The football left Ding Ding's right foot and drew a rainbow-like arc in the sky above Arsenal's penalty area.

The landing point was extremely ambiguous, making Čech feel embarrassed back and forth.

Sterling slammed the turf, accelerated and started, broke into the penalty area, and looked like he could complete a fatal blow with his forehead!

As a result

He failed to get the cake and crashed into a wall.

Li Kang easily blocked the position, and Čech took the opportunity to fall to the ground and hug it.

"What a pity!"

"Effortless card position."

"Manchester City's understanding of offensive space is very thorough, grasping the number of changes in Arsenal's low-level defense, thereby creating a local advantage."

"But he happened to meet a La Masia No. 4 player who has a deeper understanding of space."

"Look at Arsenal's transition attack this time!"

If Manchester City loses possession of the ball during the autonomous offensive phase, the first reaction is not to retreat like Arsenal, but to form a coordinated pressure to grab back the ball on the spot in the local area where the football is located.

This is also one of the reasons why Guardiola dares to play with a single defensive midfielder or not arrange a defensive midfielder.

Too bad.

After two passes, the football came to Li Kang's feet.

Clichy, David Silva, and Sterling quickly double-teamed and tried to steal the ball.

They simply couldn't steal it.

They couldn't even successfully delay Arsenal's counterattack.

In Li Kang's vision, the phantom of the blue jersey number 21 appeared.

David Silva.

Space Magician module.

Slow version of Messi.

God's perspective, clearly deconstructing Guardiola's Manchester City's 20-zone defense division.

Twisting and turning.

One push and one pull.

Then another push.

The football was like a sharp blade, piercing through Manchester City's local counter-grabbing circle!

David Silva was a little dazed, but he didn't think too much, because Li Kang had always been excellent in his mind.

He didn't daze, but quickly turned around and returned to defense.

"Handsome!"

"Effortless super-long straight plug!"

"Domineering straight line, piercing through Manchester City's midfield defense area!"

"Giroud!"

Although Giroud is a single arrow, he runs the slowest and is in the recessed position in the offensive formation.

Bellerín, Sánchez, Cazorla, and Walcott sprinted forward frantically, widening the offensive width and forming a four-point fan!

The moment for Giroud, the old ox, to embroider has come!

Facing the ball with his back.

Raise your left foot.

Pa!

The football rose from the ground, rotating violently, and flew to the right side of Manchester City's half!

It happened to be the vacuum area after Clichy lost his position.

"Walcott!"

"Super fast horse!"

"One ride!"

"Perfect transition attack!"

Goalkeeper Caballero used all his strength to rush back to the penalty area.

Fernandinho, Kompany, and Otamendi quickly shrunk the defense line.

Too late.

Walcott had already dribbled the ball to the vicinity of the front line of the penalty area.

Decisively crossed to the center!

Cazorla and Sánchez formed two flanking points!

With a snap!

The Balance Master accomplished it in one fell swoop.

The football lightly crossed Caballero's head and fell into the net.

1:0!!!

"Goal!"

"Cazorla's exquisite lob pass!"

"Little Tiger's assist."

"Arsenal took the lead!"

"Guardiola's high-level defense has a lot of hidden dangers. Even the mid-range team Everton can slaughter this Blue Moon 4-0!"

"Including Leicester City, which just escaped the relegation zone, also defeated Manchester City 4-2 this season."

"There are also Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Manchester United, and Chelsea... We believe that Guardiola will definitely be able to avenge his shame next season!"

"Judging from the real-time standings... Manchester City has to work hard to compete for fourth place this season, so they will have a Champions League qualification next season."

The cheers at the Emirates Stadium are getting louder and louder.

The Premier League title is just around the corner.

Arsenal players gathered together and hugged each other tightly.

"Li, how did you pass the ball out? Was my distribution also handsome?"

"Compared with the previous two games against Liverpool and Tottenham, tonight is really too easy!"

Li Kang smiled and didn't continue to focus on Guardiola's gestures, feeling like he was cheating during an exam.

One side's joy sets off the other side's sadness.

De Bruyne, who chased back relentlessly, stomped his feet lightly in anger.

Caballero looked helpless. He finally managed to become Manchester City's main goalkeeper by overpowering Bravo. Was he going to experience a massacre today?

That feeling was more uncomfortable than when he was kicked in the bone by Ronaldo's penalty kick.

On the sidelines.

Wenger applauded with a smile. In terms of preemptive arrangements, he had never been crushed by Guardiola's peak Barcelona in those years.

Bould was overjoyed.

"Boss, starting from the next round, let's brush up the data for Li!"

Under the premise of winning the championship in advance, the coaching staff will really create opportunities for the core players to brush up the data.

Use the strength of the entire team to feed the cake.

Of course, there are also times when things go wrong, such as Mourinho's second term at Chelsea.

Wenger thought for a while and said, "Li may feed up the data of this group of teammates..."

On the other side.

Guardiola scratched his bald head in confusion.

After a season of experimentation, he didn't care so much about winning or losing.

"Did you see it? Li's passing position in the offensive phase is the full-back!"

"He will become the ball king on the defense line!"

"Giroud's form is a midfielder who plays a connecting function, and Cazorla is an example of a midfielder's offensive end."

"Arsenal is the pioneer of positional blurring."

He is a very pure tactical madman during the game, and occasionally gets angry and slaps his disciples on the butt.

Arteta looked black.

His own coach is crazy again, is he going to pull the other player to talk about tactics again?

It's not that complicated.

This is just Wenger giving the players full freedom in the transition attack.

Livestream.

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[Li Mingdeng is lazy, he doesn't want to run anymore, does he still want Arsenal to erect a statue for you? (dog head to protect life)]

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[Guardiola is doing experiments again. Manchester City has arranged nearly twenty kinds of defense line combinations this season. If you count the goalkeepers, there is no way to count how many changes there are.]

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[Guardiola: What is the ultimate in football?]

The game resumed.

Manchester City failed to find any opportunities.

The complex offensive routines have been studied by the coaching staffs of various Premier League teams: Without a passing goalkeeper like Bravo, the three major directions of cooperation around the flanks of the Blue Moon are relatively simple.

It is difficult for Guardiola to find the most suitable goalkeeper for the Manchester City system.

VIP box.

Arsenal's senior management is very satisfied with the game situation.

"We must substantially increase the bonus ratio for players and coaching staff!"

"Who will persuade Arsène again?"

"The bank said that if Wenger leaves Arsenal, it will start the normal loan approval standards for the club."

Everyone looked at each other, as if they had been poured a bucket of cold water over their heads.

Shareholders are clamoring for dividends.

Arsenal is undergoing a club modernization reform, and reform costs a lot of money...

BBC studio.

Bergkamp suddenly said: "Even we can erect statues at the Emirates Stadium, why isn't Wenger qualified?"

Is there more tonight? Yes, yes.