Chapter 173 The Greatest Comeback in History
Mourinho didn't give it in vain. After halftime, he decisively removed Mkhitaryan and Lingard and replaced them with Herrera and Rashford.
The baby-faced, 28-year-old Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera was transferred from Bilbao in 2014 and was worth 2 years as part of the famous "Yijianlian".
After Ferguson and before Mourinho, Herrera was an important part of Van Gaal's 'big circle tactics', and he even squeezed out Angel Di Maria.
1 Ford is a product of Manchester United's youth training. He was promoted to the first team by Van Gaal in January this year. He handed over 8 goals and 4 assists in half a season. People gave him the nickname "Master La", and he and Iheanacho of Manchester City were called the "Prince of Manchester City".
Both Herrera and Rashford have a strong imprint of Van Gaal, so not starting the game is not because they are not good, but because Mourinho does not want to take advantage of Van Gaal. However, the home score fell behind in the first half, and Mourinho could no longer be willful. Recovering the score was a top priority, so they both came on the field, replacing the disappointing Mkhitaryan and Lingard.
Modern football tactics are all interlocking. Herrera and Rashford helped Manchester United stabilize the midfield, forming mutual offense and defense with Manchester City on the wings. Valencia and Luke Shaw were the two full-backs. Just live.
With the wings open, Fellaini is no longer unable to control the midfield. He can safely squat in front of the center back and protect the front edge of the penalty area, which is his best defense.
In this way, Pogba is liberated. He is freed from the chaotic defense, and he can devote himself to tit-for-tat with Tintin and Silva, and allows Manchester United to maintain continuous counterattacks.
If something isn't broken, don't fix it. Except for the conceded goal in the first half, Manchester City had been playing smoothly. Guardiola had no reason to make adjustments. It was the most reasonable choice to continue to focus on me in the second half.
But after Mourinho's masterful adjustments brought Manchester United back to normal, one ebb and flow caused Manchester City to encounter problems here.
With just over a month of coaching, the entire Manchester City team has yet to fully grasp the essence of Guardiola's ball-handling, passing and cutting tactics, and the existing player configuration is far from the level expected by Guardiola's requirements.
Take Iheanacho as an example. He is a talent-hungry type who relies entirely on his precocious personal skills and physical flexibility to make waves. But Iheanacho's tactical reading ability is so poor that people want to punch him, and his movement without the ball is basically a joke.
Guardiola's ball control tactics are very high-end, and are essentially forward-less with a vague frontcourt position. On the technical side, players are required to have extremely high ability to catch and deliver the ball, while on the tactical level, they need clear reading skills and an excellent sense of position.
Especially on the front line, there is simply no room for players who only have fixed positions. You said that the three Barcelona champions Zhuoyang, Messi and Huluwa who won six championships back then?
Who is the center and who is the winger? Because Ibrahimovic can only play center, he has always been outside Barcelona's tactical system.
Therefore, Iheanacho, who can also only play center, is not Guardiola's dream man, and even Nolito is just a backup candidate if the summer transfer is not ideal.
In the first half, Manchester United abandoned both sides in order to go first. Manchester City played smoothly, and naturally no problems were exposed. Only when the tide receded did we know who was not wearing pants. Manchester United returned to normal in the second half. The ferocious and violent regional restrictions divided and locked Manchester City. The game became a brain-burning occasion to compete the tactical abilities of both sides. Those with insufficient IQ will naturally be looking for bad luck.
Iheanacho's true colors were revealed. Under the pressure of Manchester United's midfield and backcourt, he completely lost his position. He looked very active, but he was either competing for position with Sterling or interfering with De Bruyne.
Manchester City's stubborn passing and cutting in the frontcourt was half suppressed by Manchester United, and the other half was disrupted by Iheanacho. In the second half, Manchester City was extremely passive, just like a replica of the first half.
Guardiola is a perfectionist and he couldn't stand this. In the 53rd minute, he decisively replaced Iheanacho with 2 Nando Regues.
Fernando became famous in Porto and was worth 13.5 million pounds when he came to Manchester City in 2014. His type is basically a poor man's version of Busquets.
After Iheanacho was replaced, the chaos in Manchester City's midfield and frontcourt improved. Fernando also increased the control of the midfield, but he still couldn't take advantage of the courageous Manchester United.
The game actually fell into Manchester United's rhythm and Mourinho's rhythm.
For the third time, deputy Zabaleta replaced Nolito, who had lost his tactical role. Manchester City only had Sterling as a nominal forward on the field.
It's not that you don't understand, the world is changing rapidly. At this time, on the turf of Old Trafford, Manchester United was vigorously playing various offensive routines, and Manchester City set up a bus in the backcourt.
As soon as the jersey was changed, there were over 10,000 comments. If Mourinho plays the bus, people will say that bad habits die hard and he is anti-football. Guardiola does this because he is good at adapting and does not stick to small details.
Guardiola had no choice but to do this. He only had so many people at hand. If he didn't do this, would he be missed by Manchester United?
Guardiola needs suitable players to fill in the blanks for his tactics. Without competent answerers, he can only save the game first. After all, defending + counterattacking is the simplest formula.
After 70 minutes, the shooting ratio between the two sides was even at 18:18. Fortunately, Stones and Otamendi did not make the same mistakes as Blind and Bailly in the first half. God bless Bravo and he did not take another shot. The score It still remains unchanged at 2:1 for Manchester City.
Bravo is also Guardiola's backup tire. Although he has good passing and receiving skills at his feet and a large range of control, both of which meet Guardiola's requirements, as a goalkeeper, his unique skills with both hands are always Ultimately, Bravo is relatively mediocre precisely in this regard.
Otherwise, he would not have quickly lost to Ter Stegen, who was only 22 years old at the time, in the Barcelona goalkeeper battle in the 2014-15 season. Moreover, Bravo is 33 years old this year. It is obvious that he is just a transitional figure for Guardiola.
By the 80th minute of the game, Ding Ding and Silva had become defensive midfielders, and the Manchester City soldiers tried their best to keep Derby 3 points.
Jose Mourinho, the real man, would not give up. He replaced left back Luke Shaw with France's 21-year-old forward Anthony Martial in the 81st minute in a desperate attempt to win the day.
Gambling is like walking a tightrope. If you press hard, you have to risk the air leaking from the back.
In the 85th minute, Sterling, who was roaming on the right, seized the opportunity of Manchester United's side leakage, and David Silva's counterattack pass was just right.
A single move! Sterling runs like a gust of wind, and rinsing out De Gea is as satisfying as a Beijing veteran rinsing out a pot in winter.
Reflexively pushed the goal from a wide angle in the penalty area.
The football slides past...
Zhuo Yang: "..."
All the fans were stunned by Sterling's wit. He is really a happy boy.
Gua Shuai almost vomited blood, and his brain was suddenly burned with anger. Such a great opportunity to secure victory in the face of adversity, don’t you feel bad for Zaimai Ye Tian? Your happiness is based on my heart disease, do you understand?
Stomping his feet, shaking his arms and turning his head, he happened to see Zhuo Yang standing on the side with his shoulders hunched and enjoying himself. Gua Shuaishuai said, "You know how to watch a show in such a crucial game?"
I don’t remember anything. Guardiola dreams of returning to Barcelona in the 2010-11 season, and Zhuo Yang is his most reliable pillar.
"Why are you fucking laughing? Why don't you hurry up and replace Sterling with me? Quick, quick, quick..."
Zhuoyang knew that Guashuai was confused at this time, but he was not confused at all. He didn't even lose his mind for a second. Zhuoyang teleported to the referee's stand with a 'whoosh'.
By the time Guashuai realized that Zhuo Yang was not qualified to play, Manchester City's No. 18 was already handing over on the sideline.
Sterling knelt down on one knee towards Zhuoyang, Old Trafford stood at 7, and the Red Devils and Blue Moon sang in unison.
Ferguson and Beckham stood up and applauded, and Sky TV commentator Alan Shearer said excitedly: "This is the greatest comeback in football history."