Chapter 354 The feud between Guardiola and Mourinho, the super devil’s schedule is coming

Seeing that the defensive gap on the right side of the team is getting bigger and bigger, West Bromwich Albion has to deploy manpower to fill this hole.

But as a result, other positions have become somewhat stretched.

In the 34th minute of the first half, Lin Quan, who found an opportunity, successfully escaped from the frontcourt. After reaching the penalty area, he received a pass from De Bruyne and scored Manchester City's third goal of the game.

This goal basically killed all the suspense in this game!

Seeing this goal, both Guardiola on the sidelines and the Manchester City fans at the scene felt relieved.

Unless a miracle happens, West Bromwich Albion can go to sleep.

After Lin Quan scored, he walked to the sidelines and hugged Guardiola.

This is the first game the two have played together on the same team. Being able to score in such a game is very memorable for Lin Quan.

The cameras on the scene focused on the father and son who were hugging each other on the sidelines. In the commentary box, the commentators smiled and said:

"The two people hugging each other on the sidelines may be the most powerful father-son partnership in the history of football!"

"Haha, one is the youngest and most potential superstar in football; the other is the most famous young coach in football. You really can't find a stronger combination than this!"

"I wonder what kind of story this father and son will leave us in the football world!"

"Let's wait and see!"

…

The first half of the game ended quickly. During the intermission, Guardiola praised the players one by one, especially the young players who represented the team for the first time.

Being promoted and reused by Guardiola has doubled the confidence of these young players. Each of them is secretly determined to repay the coach's trust with their best performance. .

In the home team's dressing room, West Bromwich Albion coach Pepe Mel was furious.

If he had lost to Manchester City, who had used all their main players, he might not be so angry.

But this Manchester City team on the field is just a second-line lineup composed of a small number of main players and a large number of substitutes and young players.

Facing such a young version of Manchester City, they failed to win. Instead, they were humiliated by the opponent with 3 goals.

This makes Mel feel shameless!

This is their home court and they cannot accept such humiliation.

So, he scolded the players severely, turned on the hair dryer mode, and asked them to realize their shame and then be brave!

"We must show our momentum in the second half and use goals to defend the glory of our home court!"

Mel's eyes were full of madness!

In the second half, the side changed sides and the West Bromwich Albion players really increased their offensive intensity.

Pepe Mel's eyes were fixed on the court, looking forward to seeing the slightest chance of a turnaround.

There are many young players in Manchester City's team, and these players may not see any problems in the downwind game.

But once Manchester City falls into a disadvantage, their weaknesses will definitely be exposed.

Pepe Mel's plan is to constantly attack this weak link of Manchester City to open a gap.

However, what he didn't expect was that these young players in Manchester City were not easily defeated by his tactics.

Their fighting spirit was extremely high, and they persisted like invincible heroes.

The strength of these players is indeed not enough to support them on a stage as intense as the Premier League, at least not yet.

But what they lack in ability they make up for with fighting spirit and attitude, and the main players in the team are very reliable.

When these young players were in trouble, they relied on their experience and strong personal abilities to provide protection and assistance to the young players, helping them resolve crises one after another.

After someone took the lead, these young players felt extremely safe and their performance on the court was getting better and better.

West Bromwich Albion is not a wealthy team, and their players are just a group of ordinary players.

Their personal strength is not particularly strong, although they can rely on experience to outperform these young players.

But when they met Manchester City's main players and even some substitute players, they couldn't take advantage at all in terms of personal strength.

This caused the game to become tense, but it was difficult for West Bromwich Albion to make breakthroughs and score goals.

Seeing that the team's offense was hindered, Pepe Mel took heart and fought hard!

In the 66th minute, West Bromwich Albion made substitutions.

They replaced three players in a row, and all of them were offensive players.

This intention is very obvious, they are going to fight Manchester City desperately.

Guardiola was immediately happy when he saw the opponent's posture.

You can make substitutions, can't we?

He glanced at the bench, named Lampard, Kolarov and Yaya Toure, and replaced them one after another.

After these three people came on the field, Manchester City's defense became more solid, and the hardness of the midfield also increased significantly.

As a result, West Bromwich Albion's offensive coefficient was blocked by Manchester City players from their own goal.

In the end, the score of this game was fixed at 3:0. Manchester City, who played with a large number of substitutes, won a big victory on the road.

Guardiola's debut was a complete success!

After the game, Guardiola was chased by many reporters.

"Coach Guardiola, what do you think of this game?"

"Coach Guardiola, may I ask why you arranged such a starting lineup? Are you looking down on your opponents?"

"Coach Guardiola, who do you think is the best player in this game? Is it Lin Quan?"

…

The reporters almost put the microphone into Guardiola's mouth, which made Guardiola have to sigh, British reporters are really scary!

"My players performed very well in this game. I am very proud of them. If I want to choose a player with the best performance, there is no doubt that it should be Lin Quan!"

Guardiola did not shy away from suspicion and indeed gave this honor to Lin Quan.

This is not beyond the expectations of reporters.

"As for my feelings about the game, this game made me feel the passion of Premier League fans and the intensity of the league!"

Guardiola's answers are quite satisfactory and there is nothing wrong with them.

But suddenly a reporter interrupted: "Mr. Guardiola, what do you think of Coach Mourinho's remarks before the game?"

At the pre-match press conference of another game earlier, when a reporter asked Mourinho what he thought of Guardiola joining Manchester City.

Mourinho replied: "Pep is an excellent coach. I have no conflicts with him, but I am not optimistic about his future in Manchester City. This is the Premier League, not La Liga!"

Mourinho first said that he was not targeting Guardiola and only came to such a conclusion based on factual judgment.

"The matches in the Premier League are much more intense than those in La Liga. There are many strong teams here, the schedule is intensive, and the style of play is fierce. Only the truly strong can adapt here!"

The implication is that Guardiola is not a strong man.

The playing styles of La Liga and the Premier League are indeed very different, but it would be an exaggeration to say that Guardiola is completely unable to adapt to the style here.

So not surprisingly, his remarks immediately aroused huge controversy.

With the help of the news media, which did not take too much seriously, the interview video went viral on the Internet.

The feud between Mourinho and Guardiola can be traced back to the 2009-2010 season.

That season, the two sides met four times in the Champions League. Guardiola had the upper hand with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, but it was Mourinho who had the last laugh.

The Inter Milan he led eliminated the invincible Cosmos team Barcelona in the semi-finals with a total score of 3:2, successfully entered the finals, and finally won the Big Ears Cup, creating a Triple Crown hegemony.

The defeat that season made many Barcelona fans very regretful and disappointed. If they were not eliminated by Inter Milan in the Champions League this time, Barcelona would probably complete the feat of winning three consecutive Champions League titles.

Moreover, they were very unconvinced by the away game against Inter Milan.

At that time, due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, Barcelona was unable to fly to away games.

Players had to take buses and travel for more than ten hours to attend away games.

The long journey consumes a lot of physical energy of Barcelona players and greatly affects their condition.

Therefore, in the first leg of the away game, Barcelona was beaten 3:1 by Inter Milan!

If the impact of volcanic ash on both sides is the same, then if you lose, you lose, and there is nothing to complain about.

But by the time Inter Milan came to visit Camp Nou, the impact of volcanic ash was reduced and they could take a plane.

Inter Milan, whose state was not greatly affected, withstood Barcelona's crazy attack at Camp Nou.

Although Barcelona defeated Inter Milan 1:0 at home, they were eliminated due to a total score disadvantage, causing them to miss the opportunity to defend the Champions League.

This is both Barcelona's regret and Guardiola's regret.

Coupled with a series of remarks made by Mourinho during the game, the gap between the two was forged.

Moreover, after leading Inter Milan to win the championship, Real Madrid immediately invited Mourinho to the Bernabeu, hoping to rely on him to lead the team to stop Barcelona.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are mortal enemies, and the relationship between the two is acrimonious.

As the head coach of both teams, the feud between Mourinho and Guardiola has further deepened.

Originally, after both parties left La Liga, this conflict should have eased.

But last season, Guardiola first defeated Mourinho in the European Super Cup and then eliminated Mourinho's Chelsea in the Champions League knockout round.

The conflicts between the two sides have not only not eased, but have further deepened.

Now that Guardiola has come to the Premier League, the chances of the two teams playing against each other in the league and domestic cups have greatly increased.

The feud between Mourinho and Guardiola may reignite and become more intense.

After hearing what the reporter said, Guardiola was silent for a while.

He actually doesn't like to evaluate or even attack the head coaches of other teams.

But Mourinho's words made him feel very uncomfortable. If he didn't respond, he would feel very unhappy.

Moreover, Mourinho took the initiative to launch a challenge, so he naturally could not show weakness.

So Guardiola said seriously:

"The Premier League is indeed not La Liga, but for the truly strong, they can win wherever they go!"

The reporters were furious and quickly wrote down Guardiola's answer.

This is his response to Mourinho's challenge!

After learning of Guardiola's response, Mourinho, who led his team to defeat West Ham United and defended Chelsea's top spot, responded with a relaxed expression:

"I'm looking forward to the day when Mr. Guardiola leads the team to Stamford Bridge as a guest. Then I will do my best to entertain him and his team!"

The next match between Manchester City and Chelsea will have to wait until the 23rd round of the Premier League, when Manchester City will challenge Chelsea away from home.

The outcome of the new round of competition between the two will be determined by the outcome of this game.

But before that, because Mourinho's Chelsea are temporarily leading the standings, he seems quite calm now.

He has stayed in the Premier League much longer than Guardiola, and has suffered all the losses he deserves.

Guardiola has just arrived and has not started teaching fees yet.

When he starts paying tuition, he will know that the Premier League is not that easy to mess with!

…

After defeating West Bromwich Albion away from home, Manchester City returned to Manchester without stopping.

Two days later, they will face Burnley at home.

With such an intensive schedule like the Christmas Express, the players don't have much time to rest.

Fortunately, they don't have to think about the Champions League during this period, and their early exit from the League Cup also saves them from one cup competition.

But because of the coming of the Club World Cup, Manchester City had to be distracted.

After returning to the training base, Guardiola had no time to rest. He immediately convened an internal working meeting to discuss the schedule and game plan for the next period of time.

"From now to January 10, we have 6 games to play, namely two Club World Cup games, three Premier League games and one FA Cup game!"

"The 19th round of the Premier League on December 28 and the Club World Cup on December 29 are too close. We must strategically abandon one game!"

On Manchester City's schedule, the time of each game is circled in red pen.

Almost every other day, there is a red circle!

Just by looking at the date of this game, you can tell how intensive their schedule is.

"We can't give up on the Club World Cup. We have already won five championship trophies, and we are just missing the last one to achieve the sixth crown.

If you give up right now, your previous efforts will be in vain. After all, achieving the achievement of six championships is not something you get every chance! "

"We cannot give up the Premier League game easily. We are currently behind Chelsea in points. If we give up the Premier League game at this time, it is likely that the points gap will be further widened, and it will be difficult to catch up with the opponent!"

"What's even more terrible is that if we win the semi-finals of the Club World Cup, the date of the final will conflict with another Premier League game..."

Everyone was speechless. Completing 6 games in 12 days was really crazy!

Even excluding the two Club World Cup games, this schedule will be too much to bear.

Affected by the World Cup, this year's Club World Cup was postponed 10 days.

This was originally to take care of players who participated in the World Cup and did not have enough time to rest.

This allows them to play in the Club World Cup with peace of mind during the winter break without multi-front battles such as league and cup matches.

As a result, such good intentions turned into a nightmare for Champions League champion Manchester City.

The main reason is that the Premier League is too unique!

While teams in other major leagues are on vacation, they have no vacation. Not only do they not have any vacation, they also have to go fast in the league!

Under this circumstance, the Premier League team will suffer a great loss if it participates in the Club World Cup.

For Manchester City, the question now is, do they want to retain the league or do their best to compete for the sixth crown?