Chapter 565 Haaland and Foden Appear, Manchester City’s Future!

The chaos between the two sides continued in the second half, with no one able to break the deadlock.

In the 86th minute, Guardiola made a key substitution. He replaced Mbappe and replaced Zabaleta.

This was a desperate substitution, replacing an offensive player with almost no defensive ability and replacing a main full-back.

Guardiola seemed unwilling to accept the result of a draw and wanted to take victory away from Anfield.

Mbappe knows the heavy responsibility on his shoulders. After coming on the field, he was very active on the wing, frequently using his speed to try to eat the opponent's full-backs alive, and then create scoring opportunities.

But if you often walk by the river, how can your shoes not get wet?

In the second minute of stoppage time, when Manchester City launched an attack from the wing again, the opponent quietly changed its defensive strategy. In addition to sending out full-backs to fight with Mbappe, Liverpool's midfielder Emre rushed up and attacked Mbappe. Bape double-teamed.

Mbappe obviously did not expect this. In his haste, he failed to protect the ball at his feet and was snatched away by a Liverpool player.

Although Liverpool did not score many goals or shots in this game, as long as they are given the opportunity to counterattack, they may create goals.

After Emre completed the steal, he avoided De Bruyne who came to intercept and found Coutinho on the wing with a long pass.

Coutinho dribbled the ball forward, attracted the opponent's attention, and suddenly lobbed the ball into the penalty area.

Wijnaldum, who came in from the other side, hit the football hard with his forehead while running.

After the football landed, it rebounded. Navas threw it in the wrong direction and the football hit the net.

All the Liverpool fans in the stands shouted with excitement!

Killer!

This is a true victory!

Liverpool finally defeated the opponent they have always wanted to beat - Manchester City at Anfield!

On the sidelines, Klopp seemed particularly excited after Wijnaldum scored and punched in excitement.

Guardiola, who was not far away from him, looked solemn and frowned not knowing what he was thinking.

These photographers are really good at putting two such contrasting head coaches in the same shot. Through the huge contrast in their expressions and movements, they use lens language to show the fans the completely different situations of the two teams.

Two minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

Although Guardiola was in a bad mood, he still packed his suit, walked up to Klopp with a calm face, and expressed congratulations to them.

Klopp accepted Guardiola's congratulations with a smile and held the other man's arm to have a deeper conversation.

But at this moment, news from another stadium made Klopp's good mood disappear.

Chelsea reversed course and defeated Stoke City at home, winning their 13th consecutive victory.

Liverpool finally managed to grab three points from Manchester City, but it didn't make much sense given Chelsea's winning streak.

When Guardiola learned the news, his expression didn't change much.

After losing to Liverpool, Manchester City has fallen out of the championship group, and the probability of this season's championship has nothing to do with them.

So whether Chelsea has a 13-game winning streak or a 14-game winning streak, they don't care or care.

…

Although there is no winter break in the Premier League, finishing the first half of the game does not mean that they can take a break to catch their breath.

But after Guardiola's team was opened up by double-digit points difference by Chelsea, his mentality gradually relaxed.

After leaving Liverpool and returning to Manchester, Guardiola gave his players a day off while he restructured his rotation plan for the second half of the season.

Since it is difficult to win the championship this season, don't blindly squeeze the main players, but give more opportunities and time to young players and substitute players.

On January 2, in the 20th round of the Premier League home game against Burnley, Guardiola made significant adjustments to the team's starting lineup.

Many main players including Lin Quan, De Bruyne, Aguero and others were placed on the bench, and their replacements were the team's substitutes and rotation players.

Jesus, Sane, Son Heung-min and others all got the opportunity to start.

Maybe it's because many of the team's absolute main players are not present, or maybe it's because the opponent plays very conservatively.

The performance of these Manchester City substitutes in the first half was not good. Although they completed many shots, they did not score a goal.

Not long after the second half began, the opponent took advantage of a corner kick to take the lead.

This made the Manchester City players on the field play more anxiously, and the result became worse.

The Manchester City fans who came to the Etihad Stadium did not express any dissatisfaction. Instead, they cheered loudly as always, always standing firmly on the team's side and being the team's most loyal 12th man.

Guardiola stood on the sidelines, his hands forming a trumpet, and shouted loudly at the players on the field who he felt were not playing well, reminding them that they should play more calmly and patiently.

Although these people are not the main players, they are Manchester City's substitutes. For a top team like Manchester City, can their substitutes be weak?

Definitely not!

Therefore, it is not that these players on the field are not strong enough, but they have not set their mentality correctly and have not fully utilized their strength.

Perhaps Guardiola's words had an effect. In the 62nd minute, Manchester City finally scored.

However, it was not these people on the front who scored the goal, but full-back Clichy.

But these people on the front line did not disappoint Guardiola. After Clichy equalized the score, the players' mentality stabilized and their performance on the court became better and better.

In the 68th minute of the second half, Manchester City's frontcourt trio completed a wonderful collaboration at the front of the penalty area. Jesus received a pass from Son Heung-min, headed the ball into the goal, and scored.

The score became 2:1, and Manchester City reversed the game.

After seeing this goal, Guardiola finally had a smile on his face.

This is the cooperation he hopes to see, and these players finally lived up to his expectations.

After Manchester City took the lead, Guardiola began to make substitutions.

In the 70th minute, Guardiola replaced Son Heung-min and replaced Mbappe.

On the way back from Anfield, Mbappe kept blaming himself for his mistakes in the final stage that led to the team's loss. For this reason, many people on the team, including the head coach, comforted him and finally did not let this happen. The No. 1 genius left a psychological shadow in his heart.

It is a good thing to have this sense of responsibility for the team, but as everyone says, football is a team sport of 11 people, and neither losing nor winning is the fault or credit of any one person.

Be crazy together when you win, and bear it together when you lose. Don't put all the responsibilities on yourself, otherwise you will only crush yourself.

Although his mentality has adjusted, Mbappe has become more diligent on the court.

After celebrating his 18th birthday last month, Mbappe is now an adult.

Lin Quan, the eldest brother of the team, had already led Manchester City to the Champions League when he was this age.

But now I still have nothing, so if I don’t fight now, when will I wait?

Burnley's players saw that the opponent was young and still a substitute, so they didn't pay much attention at first.

But when Mbappé performed several solo performances on the wing, they were all dumbfounded.

This guy came out of nowhere, why is he so fast, and that spike changes direction? If you spike the ball and change direction so quickly, does your knee really matter?

Mbappe does not have as rich an arsenal as Lin Quan, but he has maximized his advantages. In one word - fast!

Anyone who is passed by him has no chance of catching up with him, and the person who is defending him head-on has only one chance to either complete the steal from my feet or be passed by me.

In the 78th minute, less than 8 minutes into the game, Mbappe used his signature breakthrough from the wing and then cut in to score a goal, rewriting the score to 3:1.

After scoring, Mbappe suddenly ran to the sidelines and bowed and apologized to the Manchester City fans in the stands.

The fans were stunned for a moment, and then burst into even more enthusiastic applause and cheers.

Mbappe's move completely captured the hearts of Manchester City fans.

Guardiola was overjoyed when he saw that Mbappe also scored a goal. While applauding, he said to the assistant coach: "Go, let the two kids on the bench warm up!"

Arteta, the former Arsenal captain who had just joined the coaching staff of Manchester City, was stunned for a moment and subconsciously asked:

"Boss, are you talking about those two brats who are not yet 17 years old?"

Guardiola looked back and saw the two excited little guys on the bench, smiling and patting Arteta on the shoulder:

"Yes, it's them!"

Well, since the head coach has said so, Arteta has nothing to say.

He hurried back, found the two of them, and said to them:

"You still have yours, take off your coat and go to the sidelines to warm up!"

When the young player with a baby face heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Yes, coach!"

After saying that, he ran away, as if he was afraid that if he ran a step slower, such a good thing would slip away.

Another tall player couldn't believe it and asked:

"Coach, are we going to play?"

Arteta was not sure whether Guardiola would let them play, so he just said vaguely:

"Go warm up quickly, you don't have much time!"

As soon as the boy heard this, he stopped worrying about it, quickly took off his coat, rushed out, and ran at full speed faster than Baby Face.

"Is there such a way to warm up?"

"Is this guy too excited?"

"Haha, if I were 16 years old, I would be so excited when I learned that I was going to represent a top team!"

On the bench, several main players couldn't help but laugh after seeing the exaggerated behavior of the two teenagers.

Guardiola was really not joking. After the two warmed up, they were replaced together in the 82nd minute.

Haaland replaced Jesus and Foden replaced Gundogan.

Countless reporters at the scene pointed their cameras at the two young players who were preparing to play. They were still very young.

Although these two have not played for Manchester City's first team, they have long been famous in the youth team.

Many people regard them as the hope for the continuation of the Manchester City dynasty, and are just waiting for them to grow up one day, take over the team's banner from their predecessors, and take it to a higher level.

Although both are talented players, this is their first Premier League game after all.

Nervousness is certainly inevitable.

The opposing players seemed to think this was an opportunity, so they frequently targeted the two after they came on the field.

Fortunately for Haaland, he is a forward and cannot catch the ball alone in the frontcourt. He is also tall and strong, so the opponent has no good way to deal with him.

Foden is miserable!

He took over the position of Gundogan's attacking midfielder, and the ball rights in this position are still very heavy. Although after he came on, Manchester City immediately adjusted their style of play and reduced the attacking midfielder's ball rights.

But even so, when he had the ball at his feet, he was still severely targeted by the opponent.

Foden is not tall or heavy. If the opponent rushes up and bumps into him, he will be easily knocked down.

And once he was knocked down, the football at his feet was naturally lost.

Premier League referees have very loose enforcement standards. In their view, this kind of physical collision may be just a common physical confrontation, which is within the normal range, so in most cases they will not blow the whistle.

Foden was already nervous, and after being targeted and intercepted by the opponent, he became even more nervous now, and even blamed himself a little.

In this case, Foden's performance became worse and he even began to fear physical confrontation.

Guardiola took a look and thought this was going to be bad!

He even regretted letting Foden play too early. This kid is obviously not used to the intensity of physical confrontation in the Premier League. After all, the youth team will not encounter such brutal and rough people.

But then I thought about it, this is the only way for young players like Foden to grow up. It is impossible to keep them in a greenhouse to cultivate them, right?

If you continue to train like that, even a genius can be defeated by you.

As embarrassing as it is, let this guy recognize the reality and understand the gap between himself and professional league players. This will be more conducive to spurring their growth and progress.

Of course, after this game is over, the next period of time will focus on strengthening their physical confrontation training.

However, this matter still needs to be consulted with the youth training director. Maybe they have their own training plan.

These two are too young and Guardiola does not intend to take them to the league all the time.

It is enough to let them play once in a while to feel the atmosphere of the game and accumulate some experience in the competition.

After they have digested and absorbed what they learned in the league and grown, we will give them more opportunities to play and improve their abilities bit by bit.

Guardiola had done these things when he was at Barcelona. At that time, he really regarded Barcelona as his home and never planned to leave it in his life.

It's a pity that things go counterproductive, and changes at the top will eventually affect those working below them.

I only hope that this time, I can have such an opportunity in Manchester City!