I started with Torres, to revive German football

Chapter 339 Sprint in February
The final score was fixed at three to one, losing at Manchester City's home court by two goals. Tottenham fans can actually accept this result.

That's at least better than Arsenal. After all, Arsenal lost more than two goals at Manchester City's home court!

The audience who watched the game were full of praise for the performance of the players on both sides.

This game is not only a competition of skills and tactics between the two sides, but also a competition of will.

Manchester City showed their absolute dominance in the Premier League this season, and Tottenham did not gain nothing after losing the game.

The young attackers in their team are full of talent. At least Harry Kane and others are really putting pressure on Manchester City's defensive players.

Several young English players who played on behalf of both sides in this game successfully established themselves as England's golden generation. Harry Kane, Alli, Sterling, Stones, Kyle Walker, and Danny Rose. After looking at it, England's lineup in the World Cup two years ago cannot be underestimated!
After the game, Zhao Jinge took the initiative to exchange jerseys with Eriksen, and the two even covered their mouths and communicated for a while on the court.

Zhao Jinge has a good sense for players like Eriksen. He doesn't know if there will be a chance to cooperate in the future, but it is always right to form a good relationship.

Of course, when it comes to true love, it has to be Teacher Ding!De Bruyne has fully grown up. When it comes to pie-making ability, none of the current midfielders can compare to De Bruyne, who is currently entering his peak period.

Once this game is over, Manchester City's opponents in the next two rounds of the league will be mid-to-lower teams, so Guardiola is likely to have to rotate again in the next league, so the main players will be in a happy mood.

After defeating a strong enemy, we had a holiday, and our rotating teammates also got a valuable opportunity in the next league game. Naturally, everyone was happy.

After returning to the locker room chatting and laughing, the assistant coach directly announced the decision of the main players to take two days off in place of Guardiola, who attended the post-match press conference.

Yaya Toure took the lead in cheering, but Zhao Jinge laughed and teased Mane and Dzeko, asking them to cheer for the next league game.

Dzeko's league goals have reached nine. If he plays the leading role in the next game and scores a goal, he will almost enter the top fifteen in the Premier League scorer list this season.

Together with Zhao Jinge, Mane, Mahrez, David Silva and Sterling, Manchester City will directly occupy six positions in the top [-] scorers, and will naturally steal the limelight again.

The fourth round of the No. 20 Premier League will start in three days. Even with the news that Manchester City defeated Tottenham again, as the league is in full swing, the relevant heat has gradually dropped.

Manchester City also successfully defeated Swansea in the No. 20 fourth round of the Premier League and continued to lead the standings.

As it happens, the fifth round draw of the FA Cup has come out at this time. On February [-], in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Manchester City will face Manchester United at home.

Breaking through will be the FA Cup quarter-finals, and winning three more games will lead to the championship. To be honest, if this is achieved, even if the Manchester City players want to avoid unnecessary consumption, the Manchester City fans will not agree.

What's more, there is no such thing as shrinking back when friends meet.

The club that Manchester City fans hate the most right now is Manchester United, there is no doubt about it!

Therefore, this FA Cup showdown is not just a cup match, especially for Manchester United. Manchester United's confidence that was shattered before is bound to be regained by Manchester City.

This will also be the fourth meeting between the two sides this season!
Both sides will not shrink back for the sake of dignity and the FA Cup championship, and then it will naturally be another inevitable battle.

However, there is still half a month before the start of this war, and the media has just begun to warm up the hype. Fans of Manchester United and Manchester City can only temporarily focus on the next round of the league.

Manchester United will face Sunderland on No. 12 in February, while Manchester City will challenge Stoke City away from home on No. 14. Judging from the opponent's ranking and the intensity of the schedule, Manchester City's game consumption will be slightly more.

Moreover, Sky City's home court has always had a BUFF bonus. Even though Manchester City basically won against Stoke City, Guardiola did not dare to be careless.

This season Stoke City introduced another tall defensive midfielder from Blackburn Rovers. Not only has his waist become stronger, but he has also gone further and further in terms of unique set-piece tactics.

This team is one of the few ruthless players in the Premier League who dares to compete with wealthy teams in high-altitude bombing.

There are five tall men over 1.9 meters tall, whoever gets hit twice will know how powerful they are.

And Stoke City's two strikers are also useful and affordable.

Both Crouch and Arnautovic are powerful forwards who can score close to double figures in the league in a single season. In addition to scoring goals, one of them has sufficient fulcrum ability, and the other can move to open up space. It can provide sufficient tactical support for the offensive group behind him.

The midfield combination of Shaqiri and Joe Allen is also technical enough!
From a certain point of view, today's Stoke City team may not necessarily be easier to play than Everton. Their finishing ability is slightly worse, but their defensive ability is outstanding, and there are many tricks in playing set kicks.

Although Sky City has just climbed to the No. 11 position in the league, they have no money. If they change the boss and get two reliable wing players, this lineup really wants to enter the European theater, or Very promising.

Guardiola's tactics for this game also revolved around the wing.

It is more difficult for Stoke City to make a strong breakthrough in the middle after the waist has hardened, and they still have to make a fuss about their weak midfield and wing areas.

On the afternoon of February 14th, Manchester City’s main players arrived at the Britannia Stadium.

Before the match against Manchester United, this game can be regarded as their warm-up battle. Not only their own fans are concerned, but Manchester United fans are also very concerned about their current state.

After all, after resting for more than a week, my physical fitness has recovered, but the state of the game may also become low.

Coupled with Stoke City's home advantage, many Manchester United fans are looking forward to Manchester City making a big comeback today.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the fifth round of the Premier League No. 20 match started on time at the Britannia Stadium.

In order to focus on taking care of Stoke City's wings, Guardiola directly arranged the wing combination of Mahrez and Sterling today.

Young people are always more motivated. David Silva stayed on the bench and waited until the advantage was sufficient before coming on to control the situation.

The midfield combination of De Bruyne and Gundogan is also very aggressive. When necessary, both Gundogan and Teacher Ding can advance with the ball. They are really good at speeding up the offensive rhythm.

Zhao Jinge is still alone at the center position, with equal emphasis on strength and skills. He has everything he wants. This is where Guardiola feels most at ease.

On the defense line, Clichy replaced Cancelo at left back today in order to release Mahrez's offensive ability. Today Guardiola does not intend to let Mahrez consume physical energy on the defensive end. What he wants is to let Mahrez Reis directly broke through Stoke City's right defense!
Stones and Laporte continue to partner as central defenders. Kyle Walker is out due to thigh muscle discomfort. Fernandinho will serve as right back today.This is the only bad news in the Manchester City team recently.

Kyle Walker should have a thigh muscle strain, so Fernandinho and Korolaf can only take turns taking the right back position.

The specific time to return depends on the opinion of the team doctor. It is initially estimated that it will take three to four weeks. Not to mention this round of the league, Kyle Walker will also have to take a truce in the following FA Cup battle and the first leg of the Champions League knockout round.

Fortunately, Fernandinho is really an all-around fighter in the midfield and backcourt. He can play from defender to midfielder. As long as the rotation is proper, it will not be a problem to survive this nearly month.

Although the offense on the right wing will be slightly affected, there is no need to worry about the defense. Anyone who dares to force his way into Fernandinho's defense zone must be prepared to have a few big teeth broken.

Stoke City also arranged their main lineup today. The formation is also [-], which is considered to be against Manchester City.

Therefore, at the beginning of the game, the fighting between the two teams in the midfield seemed a little anxious.

Stoke City's offensive ability is insufficient, but they have a good defense. There is no problem with their physical fitness in the opening stage. Four-on-four at least defended their own defense zone.

However, when Manchester City continued to shift the direction of attack to the wing, the form changed instantly.

No matter how hard Glen Johnson and Glen Huinan try, these two wide players who have barely reached the Premier League level and can only be regarded as the top players in the British Championship cannot withstand the impact of Mahrez.

This is a partial defensive loss of control caused by the gap in strength. No matter how you adjust the restrictions through tactics, it will be difficult for the top players in the British Championship to defend against world-class wing superstars.

And when one-on-one can't stop the offensive player, mobilizing the defender to double-team becomes the only option.

With little adjustment by Stoke City head coach Mark Hughes, Charlie Adam and Shawcross consciously moved closer to the right defensive zone.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Jinge directly changed his activity area. He went to the side closer to Mahrez and directly provided support to Mahrez on the offensive end.

When Stoke City squeezed Mahrez's space for movement on the left wing, Zhao Jinge could receive the ball and retreat to act as a transfer station, directly making a large-scale transfer to find Sterling who was active on the right wing. De Bruyne can also pull the ball. On the side, on the weak side of Stoke City's defense, there is a lot of room for several people to play.

Sky City's tough defense, which caused headaches for countless Premier League powers, was disintegrated by Manchester City bit by bit.

There is no need for the midfielder to press forward to organize the attack. Zhao Jinge can organize the attack in the frontcourt by himself.

Although the middle is still a bit impenetrable, due to the involvement of both sides and the continuous transfer of the ball, Stoke City's defense will loosen sooner or later.

Of course, Manchester City is still very cautious when dealing with Stoke City's occasional counterattacks. At least they will not easily give Stoke City the opportunity to set kicks and corner kicks in the frontcourt.

Even if a foul was required, Manchester City's midfielders and wing players took decisive action near the center circle early.

The first half lasted for almost 10 minutes. While Manchester City patiently looked for opportunities, they only gave Stoke City one chance to take a set kick in the frontcourt, and they did not give any corner kicks. Stoke City's head coach Mark Hugh Si shook his head repeatedly.

Guardiola came completely prepared and would rather start the offensive slowly than take the risk of pressing forward. He knew what Stoke City was pointing at and was unwilling to give Stoke City a chance to try their luck.

With Zhao Jinge's continuous support, Manchester City finally seized an excellent offensive opportunity in the 301st minute of the first half, with Mahrez successfully driving down the left wing.

Shawcross had to pull aside to intercept, so Mahrez could only barely knock the ball back into Stoke City's penalty area before taking the ball out of the baseline.

Zhao Jinge, who was trying to grab the point, had somewhat run away. It was obviously a bit reluctant to hook the ball at this time. With an idea, Zhao Jinge simply fell to the ground and poked the ball outside the penalty area with his extended right foot!
Let alone Stoke City's defensive players, many offensive players on Manchester City's side did not expect this.

It was precisely this sudden moment that when Gundogan inserted himself into the edge of the penalty area and pushed decisively, there were not many defensive players around him.

Zhao Jinge was actually a bit lucky. He just roughly knew that there was a gap behind him, so he pushed the ball through.

After seeing Gundogan's shot, he quickly rolled to the side to avoid affecting the path of the ball.

Grant's slow descent made him seem a bit clumsy when dealing with Gundogan's foot-to-the-ground chop.

When the football slid into the near corner of the goal post, his arm trying to intercept it was too late, and the Manchester City players had already started a passionate celebration near Stoke City's bottom line!

Mark Hughes couldn't hold back, waving his arms and swearing!

Zhao Jinge's reaction was really weird. He ran past and even fell to the ground and gave the ball to his teammates. He instantly felt like he didn't want to play.

He played with a group of ordinary players and humanoid plug-ins, how could he pass this game!

Guardiola was on the other side hugging his assistant in surprise.

They were also a little confused. It was the first time they had seen this kind of assist method. Guardiola was even speculating that Zhao Jinge was blind, right?

However, whether it is a stroke of genius or a fool's errand, Manchester City's lead is a real result and deserves to be celebrated!

After watching the director's replays several times, the commentator also said with a smile that Stoke City's luck was not very good.

But the strong have strong luck. If Manchester City didn't create an excellent offensive opportunity at that time, there would be no follow-up. In the final analysis, it was Manchester City's patience that rewarded them.

And in the case of falling behind, Stoke City can only think of ways on the offensive end.

If you want to use set-piece tactics, you must first deliver the ball to Manchester City's half.

Mark Hughes had a steady hand and did not make any bold advances in the first half, and Manchester City also consolidated its advantage until the halftime break.

As soon as the second half of the game started, Stoke City was a little ready to move.

(End of this chapter)