Chapter Three Hundred and Sixty Seventh Miserable Lineup

One day, of course, is not enough for the players to recover.

So when they faced Aston Villa in the fifth round of the Premier League, Manchester City's lineup was very 'miserable', with substitutes in several positions, Wang Xiaolei and Sun Jihai did not make it into the squad, Torres, Ivan Crewe, David - Silva and Koppelle - Ferreira, did not appear in the starting lineup.

Aston Villa is much better.

After coach Martin O'Neal came to Aston Villa last year, the cost of buying players reached about 26 million last summer, while the first transaction of the season was 4 million, and the total exceeded the 30 million mark in one fell swoop.

The target of this investment is Haywood, the West Ham United striker, with a three-year contract, and then the club signed another West Ham United second player-midfield star and England B team member Leo- for a high price of 7.5 million non-stop. cork.

The arrival of two strongmen in the midfield and frontcourt is bound to cause some people to leave. Due to the large number of Villa's first-team players, O'Neill swung his stick and nearly ten players were forced to leave.

However, the departure of a large number of players did not affect the overall construction of Aston Villa. After all, the year before head coach Martin O'Neal took over, there were far more people entering than leaving. This time, it was just to balance the team (23 people around).

In the first four rounds of the league, Aston's results also proved that they are now stronger than last season.

4 games, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, the league lost to Liverpool at Anfield in the first round of the league. No one can say anything. The away draw with Newcastle United was also expected by the media. After all, Newcastle United is one of the five giants in the Premier League. One', still very strong, and home against South London's two teams, Fulham and Chelsea. Aston Villa have all been victorious, especially a game against Chelsea, which has made Aston Villa more morale.

In this way, when the game against Manchester City was greeted, Aston Villa was in high spirits, and O'Neal, the coach before the game, talked about it. "Manchester City are the top of the league so far. They are strong and in good form. But our goal is to take points at Manchester Stadium."

The game against Manchester City, 1 point or 3 points, is acceptable to the entire team of O'Neal and Aston Villa.

After seeing Manchester City's lineup, O'Neal's confidence is more abundant.

The big teams will be affected by the international game day, the stronger the team. the greater the impact. In the previous Premier League, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and other teams were the most affected, because they had a large number of international players, and now the Premier League is most affected by Manchester City.

Even Manchester United cannot compare with the number of internationals in Manchester City!

This is not to say that City have a better squad than Manchester United. But Manchester City is too young, and that's what makes it young. Almost all the outstanding players in the lineup are international players. Manchester United is different. Some veteran players, such as Scholes, Ryan Giggs, etc., have already announced their withdrawal from the national team. On international break, they will not be called up by the South Korean team, so the impact on Manchester United is not too great.

Manchester City is different.

"Manchester City has a whole team of internationals!" The Sun newspaper is no exaggeration.

Just look at this Manchester City team on the pitch and you can see how much they were affected: forwards Darren Bent and Giovanni Mauricio, midfielders Elano Blumer, Morris, Ernest Zier, Ljungberg, guard Glen Johnson, Lescott, Dunn, Robert Carlos, goalkeeper Joe Hart.

If ordinary fans glanced at the lineup, they would definitely think it was very gorgeous, but in fact, this set is Manchester City's semi-substitute lineup.

Giovanni - Mauricio, Ljungberg, Elano - Blumer, Robert - Carlos, Glenn - Johnson and goalkeeper Joe - Hart, six players are new to the summer.

Under normal circumstances, Wansheng will not send so many newcomers to the show.

Even an experienced world superstar like Robert Carlos will take a while to adapt to Manchester City's tactics. With the help of 'collaboration' skills, it will be faster, but to be as familiar with other veteran players, it will take at least a few moon.

Of course, there are differences between newcomers and newcomers in their adaptation to tactics.

For example, Torres, as a striker, has very low tactical requirements, while for example, Elano Blumer and Ljungberg, midfielders in such positions are connected before and after, it is not easy to learn to run.

In the team, a few newcomers from the summer, namely Torres and Carlos, can play slightly better.

Therefore, in a game, Wansheng will usually send 2 to 3 new players, which can ensure the performance of the team and can also train the new players to adapt to the tactics.

Sending more than 5 new players is different, even if there is a core Morris, the team will be very chaotic.

Defense and offense will be greatly affected.

The international break has just passed, and Wansheng has nothing to do. It is impossible for him to let players who are not rested play, which will easily cause injuries, so he can only send this lineup to deal with the league.

However, with the support of basic tactics and player strength, Manchester City still played very tough and did not show any weakness against Aston Villa.

But there's no denying that Aston Villa is better.

They had a good chance 17 minutes into the game.

Leo Koke's free kick in the frontcourt seemed to pass into the penalty area. Melberg's header failed to touch the ball, but goalkeeper Joe Hart made a wrong judgment. After the ball rebounded, it stuck to the right post access the network.

1:0!

Leo Kirk gives Aston Villa the lead!

At the Manchester Stadium, there was a sound of loss. Manchester City fans did not expect that it would be the opponent Aston Villa who scored the first goal.

After that, something even more unexpected happened - just three minutes after the game restarted, Aston Villa striker Carew received a pass from Ashley Young, grabbed the position and directly shook his head to attack the goal, and the football flew straight into the dead corner of the goal.

2:0.

Aston Villa lead Manchester City by two goals!

"2:0, 2:0... Striker Carew, he scored the second goal." Manchester Stadium commentator Berbat said worriedly, "Last season until now, Manchester City has never played a game like this. Passive. In just 20 minutes, the opponent was two goals ahead..."

At the same time, some reporters in the media booth were also very excited.

As neutral media, they have no real support object. They come to interview for big news.

for three seasons. Manchester City seem to be very strong. The two-time defending champions of the league don't talk much, and they have continued their unbeaten record in 42 rounds of the league, which is even more amazing.

If this game, Aston Villa can win Manchester City away, it is definitely the biggest news this month!

Those hostile media even more hope that Manchester City will lose, they are already gearing up to wait for the news of Manchester City's defeat. And reporters thought. It was reported after the game, "The fifth round of the league with Aston Villa is the beginning of the fall of Manchester City, and they will no longer be concerned about their losses afterward..."

The Birmingham commentator even said, "Maybe, we can celebrate Aston Villa's away win!"

————

Seeing Aston Villa score two goals, Wan Sheng frowned.

The current score is unexpected.

The opponent played much better than the team, and the state in front of goal was also very good. Scored two goals in two chances, which is too efficient. If someone told him that O'Neal on the opposite side also had his own 'plug-in', Wan Sheng felt that he could believe it.

Of course, that's not possible.

All I can say is that Aston Villa played really well.

Now Wansheng also knew what to do, he hurried to the sidelines, called the team captain Morris, and told the next defense.

"We have to stay for a while, and we have to be more active in the fight. The opponent's state is too good. Two goals have made them even more in shape. We have to try to stop them."

"In the first half, even if they don't chase the score, they can't let them score again!"

Morris nodded and returned to the field.

After the restart of the game, it was clear that Manchester City had stepped up their defense, and it was not easy for Aston Villa to find opportunities again.

Although Manchester City is good at the 'OS-F' control system, the emphasis is on rhythm control, which is very focused on offense, but when Manchester City retreats, the defensive ability is still quite strong.

The ability of the players is one aspect, and the stability of the defensive formation is another.

When Manchester City is dedicated to defending, it is absolutely comparable to the best defensive team in the world, and even Jose Mourinho's Chelsea is not necessarily 'more defensive' than Manchester City.

It is too difficult for Aston Villa to break this stalemate.

But at the same time, Manchester City's offense has also been greatly affected. Before, Manchester City had a certain advantage in the situation, but when defending with all their strength, the third-line formation will not be pressed too far forward, and the offensive threat will be much smaller.

On the scene, Aston Villa dominated, but Manchester City became suppressed.

This situation makes Birmingham fans and the hostile media of Manchester City even more proud. Before the game, no one thought that Aston Villa could play so well, and even suppress Manchester City in the situation.

This is what Manchester United, Chelsea and other strong teams have not done.

Aston Villa did it and led Manchester City by 2 goals, so many media and fans were looking forward to their victory.

At this moment, Wan Sheng was standing on the sidelines.

He frowned as he watched the game.

He is not frowning for the team's performance. In fact, the team's performance is not bad, at least not lower than the expectations before the game, two goals behind, more because the opponent's performance is too good.

This is not a shirk, but a fact.

In the previous game, Manchester City still had a situational advantage, and they played well in coordination. They also got a few chances in front of the opponent's goal. In comparison, Aston Villa's chances were less, but they scored. two balls.

This is temporary play, but temporary play is more important in football games.

The Aston Villa players took their chances, so they were 2 goals ahead, Manchester City didn't take their chances, so they were 2 goals behind. The difference of 2 goals was enough to decide the outcome of the game.

Wan Sheng is not reconciled to defeat, he is thinking about the current style of play.

The main thing about this Manchester City team on the field is that there are too many new players. If you make temporary substitution adjustments, you may not be able to play well. In addition, the opponent's state is really good. Must be able to recover two balls.

What should we do now? (To be continued ~^~)