Chapter 366 I Know You Are in a Hurry Today, but Please Don’t Be in a Hurry

In the midst of the celebrating crowd, Li Ang patted Trippier's head affectionately. He now likes this new teammate who plays with his head!

In the process of this goal, he and Kroos grasped the last key pass and shot.

But if we want to reward them, Trippier's previous smart inside advance should account for at least 30% of the work!

Maybe Trippier is not as good as Bertrand in terms of one-on-one penetration and one-on-one passing, but his offensive choices are much smarter than Bertrand.

He can complete the routine task of a full-back to attack forward, and at important moments, he can also take the ball to the middle to complete the key advancement, helping Li Ang and Kroos to reduce the tactical burden.

This kind of teammate with balanced offense and defense and strong ability to read the game is so likable. Li Ang does not hide his appreciation for Trippier at all.

After celebrating passionately off the court, Old Mourinho subconsciously looked at Bertrand who was cheering on the bench with other rotation players.

To be honest, both Mourinho himself and other coaches in the Chelsea coaching staff actually like Bertrand.

Although this guy sometimes makes some small mistakes on the field, his wing attack combination with Hazard has made great contributions to Chelsea's resurgence.

And although Bertrand is always a little unstable on the defensive end, he is at least obedient enough to do whatever the coaching staff asks him to do.

Mourinho was annoyed with him for making many mistakes and not making progress some time ago, but now he thinks of Bertrand's advantages and finally softens his heart.

He decided to give Bertrand more opportunities to adjust and play in subsequent games.

Azpilicueta played very well in the left defense, but on the offensive end, his cooperation with Hazard is still not as tacit as Bertrand.

Now the Chelsea coaching staff has not yet determined the starting positions of the two wing defenders.

If you have to say, Chelsea now has only one full-back who can sit in the starting lineup, and that is Azpilicueta.

Who can make the Spanish defender play both sides, and Mourinho is most assured of his defensive strength.

Apart from him, Trippier and Bertrand are still in Mourinho's probation period.

At most, Trippier is now ranked higher in Mourinho's mind.

As long as Bertrand himself has enough spirit, it is not impossible for him to return to the main lineup later.

Thinking of this, Mourinho's eyes softened when he looked at Bertrand.

However, he will definitely not communicate with Bertrand directly about the subsequent appearance adjustments at this time.

After making up his mind to have another encouraging talk with Bertrand in private, Mourinho put his energy back into the game.

Guardiola and the entire Manchester City team's "persistence" in offensive football made them lose this goal.

This is Guardiola's persistence, but it is an important warning for Mourinho.

When the Chelsea players on the field returned to the half after celebrating, Mourinho made a tactical gesture to continue to stabilize the defense line in front of Li Ang who was looking over.

Li Ang nodded calmly to show that he understood. In fact, Mourinho didn't need to explain. He would ask his teammates to continue to defend well.

After all, they are playing away today. Manchester City's offensive state is better than usual with the blessing of the home court.

Chelsea can certainly play against Manchester City. They have the strength.

But it is not cost-effective to go to the deadly attack under the pressure of Manchester City's full firepower.

It is safer to focus on defense and counterattack first.

Without saying too much, the whole Chelsea team can accept taking one point from the Etihad Stadium today. They can not win the match with Manchester City, but they must not lose!

Without taking too much risk, keeping a draw and winning is the most important thing for Chelsea.

After all, the league is not a one-shot deal. They don't need to decide the outcome in one game. The season is still long.

As long as they can continue to put pressure on Manchester City, the whole Chelsea team firmly believes that they will still be the final winner!

After the game resumed, Chelsea, who took a defensive posture again, undoubtedly gave Guardiola a headache.

But even if it feels difficult now, the whole Manchester City team has to grit their teeth and press forward desperately!

There is no way, Chelsea can accept playing away to maintain a draw and win, but they can't think like this.

What they are striving for today is to win at home and use this victory to completely break their demons of always losing to Chelsea.

If Guardiola issues a tactical order to suspend the attack at this moment, his players will directly fall into doubts about the coaching staff's tactical thinking.

So Guardiola and Manchester City's coaching staff have no choice at this moment. They must withstand the pressure and continue to give Manchester City's players on the field confidence.

However, Guardiola can still make some timely adjustments in the arrangement of offensive tactics.

For example, let Aguero withdraw from the penalty area more frequently to meet his teammates.

Let Sterling stop forcing the wing blindly, but should appropriately retract the position to receive the ball to contain Chelsea's defenders, and also make room for Kolarov behind him to insert.

Manchester City should be more patient on the offensive end, and the starting players of Manchester City are also capable of playing more delicately on the offensive end.

The more difficult the backward phase is, the less panic and anxiety you should have.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the Manchester City players who started today are experienced veterans, and the one who truly lacks experience is Sterling.

Therefore, the tactical adjustments made by Guardiola were quickly implemented and supported by the players.

Manchester City pressed fiercely on the court, but their offensive organization was not impatient. Instead, it was very methodical and continued to pull Chelsea's defense horizontally.

For a normal strong team, if Manchester City pinned them down in the half-court and constantly stretched the defense, the defensive players might not be able to last 15 minutes and would have to expose a lot of holes in the defense.

But Chelsea still firmly controlled the defensive rhythm at this time.

The overall movement of their defense line is very compact. Even if someone occasionally loses his position, nearby teammates will remind him in time or directly help him defend.

Chelsea can still show such composure when dealing with the siege of Manchester City.

On the one hand, Mourinho's superb methods of training the defensive line are due to this. On the other hand, the reason is of course Li Ang's ubiquitous coverage and interception!

If Manchester City's offense focuses on the wing, then Li Ang will not pay too much attention to it, but as long as Manchester City has the slightest idea of ​​​​penetrating through the middle, it must first get past him.

This kind of defensive method is exactly the same as when Mourinho led the team to play Barcelona.

Anyway, it is to prevent the team led by Guardiola from taking advantage of the midfield!

If Manchester City can really force the wing and rely on the personal ability of offensive players to break through Chelsea's defense, then Mourinho and Chelsea's players will recognize it.

But it turns out that relying on muscular gangsters and a group of defensive players with high motivation to station troops in the middle, such a simple play method can very well restrain the performance of teams with poor skills!

After all, penetration in the middle also requires room for technical display. Manchester City wanted to open up the situation, but Chelsea just didn't give them the space to open up the situation!

Cutting off the rhythm and destroying the smoothness of the game... Chelsea, who played "ugly football", did not care at all about the mood of neutral fans watching the game.

Li Ang and Matic directly turned into foul masters at the last moment of the first half of the game. Their frequent fouls with small tricks made Manchester City's offensive players miserable!

But if you want to appeal to the referee team, their little actions are not worthy of a card at all. At most, they interrupt the rhythm of the game and continue to disgust the Manchester City fans.

The playing style of veteran players like Li Ang and Matic caused the blood pressure of the home Manchester City fans to rise sharply.

After the short intermission ended, and as soon as the second half of the game started, Li Ang, who jogged out of the player tunnel, received a wave of "friendly greetings" from the scene.

However, Li Ang just laughed it off, and now this scene of wild boos from the audience has no effect on his mentality at all.

After the second half of the game started, Li Ang still led his teammates to shrink the half-court to consolidate the defense.

Amid the overwhelming boos and jeers at the Etihad Stadium, the Chelsea team ignored it and instead ran harder and pressed harder.

Of course, Manchester City's offensive players were not to be outdone. The main players of the two teams were much more aggressive on the court, and the smell of gunpowder on the court was getting stronger and stronger.

The referee on duty suddenly became the most nervous person on the court. He did not dare to forget the "feat" of Li Ang getting a red card in retaliation for a foul.

So Li Ang soon felt that the referee was wary of him, which made him somewhat dumbfounded.

Yes, he did take revenge on his teammates by kicking someone and receiving a red card, but that was because his opponent made too big a move first.

He himself is not a violent maniac. As long as his opponents don't mess with him, why should he take the initiative to receive a red card and be suspended?

Li Ang felt that the referee was a little too worried, but he had no idea how "important" he was to the FA now!

Compared with himself, the Football Association is now more worried about the damage to his external image, fearing that he will make any foul behavior that violates the express rules of the stadium.

After all, he is the next "Mr. Golden Ball" to come out of the Premier League after Cristiano Ronaldo. Li Ang now represents the face of the Premier League.

Can Chelsea's referees, who have been warned by the FA's top brass before every game, not be nervous? !

Fortunately, Li Ang behaved very rationally today and never had any large-scale conflicts with Manchester City's offensive players.

The referee was relieved when he saw this, but he still did not dare to relax his strict control of law enforcement standards.

Gradually, players from both teams began to receive yellow cards.

On Chelsea's side, Matic and Salah received cards successively, while on Manchester City's side, Aguero and Fernandinho mainly received yellow cards.

The Argentine striker still couldn't control his temper well.

He received the card not because he pressed too hard against Chelsea's defenders, but because he kept chattering dissatisfied with some of the referee's decisions, and finally cursed in front of the referee and was shown a yellow card.

Guardiola stood on the sidelines and couldn't help but cover his forehead. He is now only grateful that Otamendi missed this strong dialogue today because of his injury.

Otherwise, in the current heated duel atmosphere, he really didn't know what amazing moves the Argentine central defender with the same bad temper would do.

The game time will not be suspended with these fragmented fouls, it is still passing quickly.

In the 70th minute of the second half, Mourinho quickly replaced Matic, who was severely warned by the referee for a tactical foul.

Van Ginkel came on as a substitute, and Leon and Kroos retreated directly to the defensive midfielder position.

In the 76th minute of the game, Kroos tactically fouled Sterling who was advancing with the ball, and the referee immediately showed Kroos a yellow card!

But the players on the field of Manchester City were not satisfied with the referee's penalty this time. They began to put collective pressure, thinking that the referee condoned Chelsea's ugly fouls that constantly disrupted Manchester City's offensive rhythm!

Li Ang wanted to make a bigger fuss at this time.

He first separated several Manchester City players who questioned the referee, and then when Aguero pushed him angrily, he decisively sat down on the grass!

Seeing this, Aguero seemed to be more excited, and he kept chattering and wanted to lean over to grab Leon's collar.

The referee saw this and thought it was too much? !

He immediately blew the whistle and signaled the players from both sides to move away.

Then, under the tens of thousands of Manchester City fans' tense gaze, he called Aguero aside and showed him another yellow card!

Two yellow cards turned into one red card!

Aguero was sent off by the referee for his irrational behavior!

Guardiola stood on the sidelines with his hands on his hips. I don't know if he was angry, but a smile appeared on his face.

He was a little annoyed by the strict standards of the referee today, and even more annoyed by Aguero's behavior.

You said you pushed someone, and pushing and shoving is inevitable on the football field, but you should hide it!

Overthrowing Li Ang, who had just defended his refereeing dignity, in front of the referee?

What a stupid move!

Guardiola didn't even bother to complain to the fourth official.

Aguero was still defending himself with an unbelievable look on his face, but under the firm judgment of the referee on duty, he could only walk off the court in dissatisfaction and anger.

Manchester City's home fans booed with strong dissatisfaction!

But Li Ang, who aroused Aguero's anger and indirectly caused him to be sent off by the referee, was now smiling and communicating with his teammates with his mouth covered.

Regret and self-blame?

No, no, no!

Li Ang would not feel guilty at all for causing Aguero to be sent off. On the contrary, he was very happy!

Because Chelsea will once again "capture" Manchester City without bloodshed at the Etihad Stadium.

Aguero himself insisted on committing suicide and ruined the team's last hope. How can he be blamed?

Mourinho was also overjoyed when he saw Aguero being sent off. He quickly made the final tactical adjustment, replaced defensive players one after another, and steadily maintained the advantage of a one-goal lead!

Finally, after the referee blew the whistle three times, the entire Chelsea team ignored the overwhelming boos and hugged each other to celebrate!

Of course, Li Ang, who once again became the absolute focus, did not escape the interview requests of the reporters on the scene.

However, when asked by Sky Sports reporters whether he deliberately annoyed Aguero, Li Ang shook his head repeatedly.

"I just can't stand their collective pressure on the referee. As for Aguero? He has to pay the price for his own impulse. I didn't induce any foul!

You all know clearly when you watched the live broadcast of the game. He directly pushed me down, and I didn't choose to fight back. In this case, I am the victim. I chose to endure for the smooth progress of the game. This is the fact!"

The reporters on the scene looked at Li Ang's confident appearance and complained about his thick skin in their hearts.

"So what do you think about the Manchester City fans booing you throughout the game?"

Another reporter dug a hole for Li Ang, but Li Ang responded with a smile:

"They are free to do whatever they want, I don't have any opinion, but I still want to advise Manchester City fans at this moment:

I know you are in a hurry today, but you really don't have to be in a hurry..."

It's the last day of 2023. Foodie wishes all book friends to put aside the troubles and regrets of the past year, and live happily, succeed in their careers, and have their wishes come true in 2024!