Chapter 694: Chapter 693: The Great Way is Simple, Long Pass and Lobbing
Including the last time the teams faced off, Kompany also scored with a header from a corner kick.
Against Barcelona, he is the better choice.
After all, the average height in the Barcelona team is relatively short, making them somewhat powerless against aerial balls.
Kompany facing Barcelona possesses attributes in both attack and defense.
Why did Manchester City give up on Kompany and opt for Thiago Silva instead?
On the bench, Guardiola maintained a mysterious smile and chatted with Deschamps, "Thankfully, Kai reminded us."
"The players in Barcelona’s midfield and attack are very flexible and explosive, but they generally lack height."
"Compared to Desailly and Kompany, they are not as agile and are slower to turn."
"Fielding Thiago Silva, who is more flexible, can contain Barcelona’s forwards to the greatest extent."
"As for Kompany’s attributes in the offensive end... with Manchester City’s attacking power, the presence or absence of one more or less attacking aerial threat won’t make much of a difference."
Deschamps nodded in agreement, "The only slight worry is Thiago Silva’s physical condition. He’s not as fit as Chiellini."
Bang!
The two had just finished their conversation.
On the field, Deng Kai took the corner kick.
Thiago Silva headed the ball towards goal, but it veered slightly off target.
Schmeichel laughed on the side, "See, there’s no problem. If Kompany had been there, it would have been the same effect."
In the ninth minute, Barcelona responded in kind.
Ronaldinho, after fancily dribbling past Mascherano on the left, took a curled shot.
Bang!
The football didn’t fully curve as intended and was saved by Cech.
In the twelfth minute, Barcelona kept up the pressure.
Xavi made a through pass.
Quaresma, with an off-the-ball cut inside, received the ball and shook off Deng Kai with two technical moves, also avoiding Chiellini.
Bang!
Quaresma curled the shot with the outside of his foot!
Bang!
Thiago Silva stretched his leg to deflect the football, which flew out of bounds.
Had he not touched it, the football might have gone in.
Cech’s vision had just been slightly obscured by Chiellini.
Furthermore, the suddenness of Quaresma’s outside-foot shot is, by nature, very strong.
In the thirteenth minute.
After Barcelona took the corner kick.
Manchester City successfully controlled the first point of contact.
Indeed, Barcelona didn’t have many aerial threats on the field.
Ribery took the ball and ran straight forward, sprinting past the halfway line.
Adriano and Villa were racing alongside him.
Bang!
Ribery made a cross pass, giving Adriano a bit of a lead.
But the next moment he regretted it.
Valdes quickly rushed into the penalty area and cleared the football with a decisive kick.
Ribery instinctively looked back at Cech.
This f-ing... Isn’t this what Manchester City requires of a goalkeeper?
Valdes’s range of attack was quite large.
Schmeichel frowned, "Although the requirements are different, and the timing of the attack is not as good as Cech’s or Neuer’s, Valdes... is very decisive!"
Guardiola also nodded, "Barcelona’s tactical philosophy places great emphasis on the players’ technical skills on the ball. This attitude influences even the goalkeeper."
"Reina, Valdes, both have very good skills on the ball. And if you want to make full use of the goalkeeper’s skills on the ball, the best way is to expand their defensive zone."
"Turn them from a goalkeeper into a ’goal sweeper’."
"Otherwise, the goalkeeper’s skills on the ball could become a ticking time bomb for the team."
"But the ’goal sweeper’ style requires the entire defensive line, or even the whole team’s offensive and defensive system, to be in sync. Sporting Lisbon didn’t deliberately demand this; they got halfway there."
"And yet, even at halfway, they still won the Champions League."
"Manchester City has spent a year and is still polishing this... As long as the players stay fit, I can’t think of any team that can stop us in the future!"
In the nineteenth minute.
Deng Kai fell back.
Because Barcelona’s midfield and attacking players had suddenly initiated a bout of pressing in the midfield.
This was Barcelona’s tactical requirement.
But at the same time, it quite resembled the tactical demands of Lisbon Athletics and Manchester City.
This is also why Quaresma and Ronaldinho integrated so smoothly into Barcelona, shining so brightly.
Similarly, it was the reason why Guardiola integrated so fluidly into Lisbon Athletics back then.
That miracle of Lisbon Athletics, Guardiola baldy had a piece of the credit too.
Especially that UEFA Cup, if Deng Kai was the team’s core, then wouldn’t it be fair to say Guardiola baldy was the core of the backfield offense and organization?
Defensive player: Isn’t the backfield all about defensive core?
Pirlo: Guardiola baldy, you understand football!
Bang!
Deng Kai received the ball, moved it horizontally, shaking off Xavi’s entanglement, then passed to the approaching Maicon.
Maicon touched the ball and started picking up speed, looking like he’s about to forcefully burst through, right?
Van Bronckhorst, already a bit distant from Maicon, retreated quickly, ready to constrain Maicon at the offensive third.
Barcelona conducted a very detailed analysis on Manchester City’s players.
The two wing-backs of Manchester City were particularly important to them.
Many people believe that Manchester City’s offensive core is Deng Kai.
That’s not incorrect to say.
But in fact... the attacks initiated by Deng Kai account for only about thirty-something percent within the team.
The remaining sixty percent are all started by the two wing-backs!
Bang!
Maicon, just past the halfway line and unguarded, suddenly kicked the ball.
A diagonal forty-five-degree cross!
This... Barcelona was baffled.
This damned...not reaching the baseline before crossing?
This style of play, isn’t it hasty?
This kind of unsophisticated, opportunity-dismissive, straightforward kick, is precisely England’s most typical playing style... long ball and aerial challenge!
It really is simplicity at its finest, right!
If Barcelona’s disdain for baseline crosses is somewhat like Tesla’s disdain for domestic electric cars,
Then Barcelona’s disdain for long balls and aerial challenges is like Tesla’s disdain for Amperex Technology Limited, Small Island, Green Source, Tailing and other electric bicycles.
But that being said,
Tesla... might no longer have the right to look down upon others.
In a few more years, or even these years, it might be the domestic cars looking down on Tesla’s bare-bones house!
Bang!
Adriano barged around the penalty area and then powerfully out-jumped Puyol.
Puyol looked on speechlessly.
Height, that’s just freaking dominance!
The football shot into the net like a bullet.
"GOAL! One to zero!"
"The aggregate score is three to two! Manchester City takes the lead, Manchester City has the initiative!"
"Adriano has made his mark!"
"Maicon and Adriano connect! The two Brazilians at Camp Nou take the lead over the Brazilian team’s key player’s team!"
"Maicon and Adriano will highly likely appear in the Copa America this summer. The Brazilian national team is very likely to call them up."
Of course, in these two years, Copa America to the powerful Brazilian team... is about training newcomers.
Which Brazilian team player is not a club’s core?
With so many matches each season, rest is needed when it’s time for rest.
Only the World Cup can make them give their all.
So Copa America, very likely it will be the Brazilian B team playing.
Ronaldo, Carlos, Ronaldinho, Kaká, these superstars are definitely not going.
Adriano, Maicon, and even Thiago Silva, are all highly likely to join the Brazilian B team.
And Adriano is undoubtedly the core.
If it weren’t for the fact that he only rose to prominence these past two seasons, lacking team tenure, then based on his explosive performance this season, he could go directly to the first team without having to play in Copa America.
Of course, Adriano himself is very keen on playing in the Copa America.
After all, he has won few championships, and even a small louse can be meat too.
Deng Kai: Are you suggesting that I didn’t lead everyone to win more championships, and I let everyone down?
