Chapter 467 This is the strength of Manchester City, Zidane’s shock!

"Mahrez is not used like this, it's a pity!"

Guardiola felt a little sorry when he saw Mahrez, who was working very hard on the court and trying to help the team.

Mahrez's abilities are actually very comprehensive, with good foot skills and excellent awareness.

Such a talent, based on Leicester City's lineup, should be developed into the core of the frontcourt's offense.

But in this game, Ranieri used Mahrez in the opposite direction, using him as an engineer, letting him do the dirty work done by defensive players.

That's not to say that this is totally impossible, but the energy of players is limited. When Mahrez is assigned too many defensive tasks, the energy that can be invested in offense is very limited.

Leicester City's offense is already weak. Without Mahrez, their offensive threat is even smaller and their methods are single.

Guardiola has actually seen the little thoughts in Ranieri's mind.

But he didn't pay much attention to it because he firmly believed that as long as Manchester City scored another goal, Leicester City's morale would collapse.

Leicester City's weaknesses are actually obvious. The midfielder is not strong enough and lacks a defensive midfielder with outstanding defensive capabilities.

If they can find a suitable player to make up for this shortcoming, then they may have a fight with Manchester City and then look for opportunities to counterattack Manchester City.

But in this game, Leicester City's midfielder has always been suppressed. If they cannot control the midfielder, they cannot deliver cannonballs to the frontcourt.

As a result, Ranieri's arrangements in the frontcourt were naturally in vain.

Instead of targeting the opponent's arrangement, it is better to continue to increase pressure in the frontcourt and not give the opponent a chance to pass the ball.

…

After Vardy missed the opportunity just now, Ranieri was very nervous.

But after seeing that Manchester City had not made adjustments for a long time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that Guardiola did not realize his intentions?

However, they had waited for a long time for the opportunity just now, and they didn't know how long it would take to get such an opportunity next time.

"Manchester City has stepped up their pressing in the frontcourt!"

Zidane keenly caught the change in Manchester City's tactics in the stands. He glanced at the game time and saw that just sixty minutes had passed.

Before the team changed tactics, Guardiola did not make any gestures. This means that this change of tactics was prepared by Guardiola in advance!

So, what was he going to do when he changed his tactics at the sixty-minute mark?

After Manchester City strengthened their frontcourt press, Leicester City's players played even harder.

The opponent's pressing forced them to speed up the pass, and after the speed increased, the pass success rate began to decline. Manchester City had completed four successful steals in just five minutes.

You must know that this is Leicester City's half. Losing the ball in their own half means that their goal will be threatened immediately.

The situation on the court was also the same. Three of Manchester City's four steals were converted into shots, with Son Heung-min, Lin Quan and Aguero each having a kick.

Although no goal was scored, it made Leicester City's goal tense and almost all the players' nerves became tense.

This situation is too dangerous. If they continue to play like this, it will only be a matter of time before they lose the ball again.

Therefore, there are two options before Ranieri now:

Continue to stick to the previous tactics, betting that Mahrez and Vardy can make contributions and help the team save the defeat.

It is better to make decisive adjustments, give up unrealistic illusions, strengthen the team's defense, and first withstand this wave of offensive.

If the score at this time is 0:0, Ranieri will most likely prefer the second option.

But the terrible thing is that the current score is that Leicester City is behind.

This means that even if they defended Manchester City's attack, it was useless. As long as they didn't score a goal and continued like this, they were waiting to die.

Ranieri hesitated for half a second, then clenched his fists and hesitated no longer.

Although he also felt that if he continued to play at this pace, Manchester City would be more likely to score early, but he had no other choice.

Now if you retreat to defend, you may not be able to defend. Vardy and Mahrez are not players with outstanding defensive abilities and will not play a big role.

Just when we want to strengthen our defense, we must make substitutions and replace them with specialized defensive players.

But when the score was behind, he, like other coaches, wanted to replace all the offensive players on the bench. How could he replace the team's two offensive generals?

At this time, what happened on the field further strengthened Ranieri's determination.

In the 69th minute of the second half, Leicester City, which had been waiting for a long time, finally had an excellent opportunity again.

After a successful defense, Delinwokot suddenly dribbled the ball forward. Under the opponent's interception and pressing, he struggled to get rid of it and sent a crucial pass.

Mahrez was overjoyed when he saw the football rolling towards him.

The flowers he was waiting for here were about to wither, and he finally got the chance.

Mahrez took the initiative to drop back to catch the ball. After receiving the ball, Cruyff turned around beautifully, got rid of the defender, and quickly dribbled the ball towards Manchester City's half.

After seeing this scene, the Leicester City fans at the King Power Stadium couldn't help but clenched their fists and stretched their necks to look at the stadium.

This was the best chance they had since the second half of the game.

If we can seize this opportunity, the two sides will return to the same starting line.

On the sidelines of the court, Ranieri and Guardiola stood up from the coaching bench almost at the same time, looking towards the court and Mahrez in unison.

Mahrez ran with the ball at high speed, accelerating while paying attention to the movements of his teammates.

As Leicester City's top scorer, Vardy has received great attention from Manchester City.

Van Dijk stayed close to him, not giving him any space to catch the ball.

If the ball is passed directly to Vardy, even if he finally catches the ball, it may be difficult to get rid of the defensive player and shoot a high-quality shot.

So, Mahrez decided to do it himself.

The current situation on the court is 2 versus 2, and he and Vardy have to deal with Manchester City's two central defenders.

Vardy has Van Dijk next to him, and in front of him is Manchester City captain Kompany.

But Kompany is in the middle, and he is still on the wing, which gives him plenty of room to move.

However, Kompany has already begun to move towards the wing. If he continues to dribble forward, he will definitely be intercepted by the opponent.

Therefore, for Mahrez, the best way to handle it is to complete the shot before the opponent intercepts it.

Or when he was dribbling the ball, he found other better opportunities. For example, Vardy ran out of space, and a teammate behind him stepped in to connect.

Although the football field is large, when the players are running at high speed, half the distance can be covered in just a few seconds.

Unfortunately, the latter assumption does not hold true.

Vardy was guarded tightly by Van Dijk and had no chance.

And his other teammates were unable to catch up at this time because their previous formation was too deep.

On the other hand, on Manchester City's side, several of the opponent's players were almost catching up with him.

This means that he must make a decision as soon as possible, otherwise, he will be trapped in the opponent's double-team, and by then he may not even have a chance to shoot.

Mahrez made a quick choice - cut inside and shoot.

"Well, good choice!"

"Yes, his teammates can't pick him up. Vardy's position is being closely watched, so Mahrez can only do it by himself!"

In the commentary box, both commentators expressed their understanding of Mahrez's choice.

With the overall formation suppressed, it is indeed impossible for Leicester City to deploy too many troops in the frontcourt.

This also means that when counterattacking, their players must rely on their own personal strength to open up the situation.

Although modern football is increasingly emphasizing the overall situation, in many games, we can still see those big-name players, relying on their super individual combat capabilities, to single-handedly change the outcome.

There is one such presence in Leicester City's opponents.

After Guardiola saw Mahrez's choice, there was a look of anticipation in his eyes.

He is looking forward to Mahrez's next performance. Cutting in and shooting is an essential skill for an excellent winger.

Among this type of players, Guardiola is fortunate enough to have coached all the top players.

Therefore, using these people as a reference, Mahrez's true strength can be easily detected.

After realizing that Mahrez was going to shoot, Kompany finally made a move.

He put his hands behind his back, trying to step forward to block Mahrez's shot angle.

Kompany doesn't know the opponent's breakthrough ability, but because there is a dribbler in the team, he becomes very cautious when facing the opponent's inward shot. He will never make a move easily or allow the opponent to pass by. Lose your chance.

Therefore, blocking the opponent's shooting angle and reducing the opponent's shooting percentage is the best option.

After Mahrez saw Kompany's movements, he realized the opponent's intention. He moved the ball horizontally and did not give the opponent a chance to get close.

He wanted to aim at the blind corner of the goal and complete a high-quality shot after swinging away from the angle. However, Van Dijk also moved at this time. He abandoned Vardy, moved forward, and moved closer to Kompany.

Now, Mahrez is in a dilemma.

Vardy was in an offside position and it was impossible to pass the ball to him.

The teammates behind him would not be able to come in a short time. If he didn't shoot, he would be double-teamed by the two opponents.

As a result, he only had time to sway slightly and shoot directly.

Mahrez was lucky. Although both Kompany and Van Dijk tried to block the ball with their bodies, the ball still passed between them.

Mahrez's luck didn't seem so good, because there happened to be Manchester City goalkeeper Navas sitting in the gap in the middle.

Because there was no angle for him to hit the blind corner, Mahrez's shot was a bit straight and was saved by Navas.

After Navas got the ball, he saw Cross retreating near the penalty area line and threw the ball directly to him from the ground.

Seeing Navas's action, the Manchester City players who had been retreating from all fronts just now braked quickly, turned around, and rushed towards the opponent's half.

Because of the attack just now, Leicester City's formation has already broken out.

At this time, seizing their opportunity to counterattack and launch a quick counterattack will be Manchester City's best chance to score.

Cross understood the idea, turned around with the ball, glanced at the position of his teammates, and then made a super long pass to the left side of Leicester City's half.

The ball he passed seemed to be a bit strong. It did not pass directly to the feet of his teammates, but went over the heads of his teammates and defensive players and landed on the lawn behind the two.

Well done! Teacher Tony!

Son Heung-min, who was accelerating, couldn't help but give Son Heung-min a thumbs up in his heart after seeing the landing point of the football.

This ball was passed really well!

If the ball is passed directly to his feet, he must slow down to catch the ball. Once he loses his speed, it will not be easy to get rid of the opponent's full-back.

But Cross passed the ball directly to the gap behind the opponent, which meant that Son Heung-min did not need to slow down, he only needed to speed up and rush over.

On the contrary, it is the opponent's full-back. His back is turned to the football at this time. If he wants to compete with Son Heung-min for the ball, he must turn around, and turning around takes time. Even if the full-back turns around very quickly, this second Half a second is enough for Son Heung-min to distance himself.

The opponent obviously knew this, so he immediately took action and threw Sun Xingmin to the ground.

Son Heung-min was stunned. Damn, is this playing football or wrestling?

Can you still play like this?

Hey, why didn't you hear the foul whistle?

The referee had the whistle in his mouth and was about to blow it, but when he saw Manchester City's No. 9 rushing towards him at high speed and receiving the ball, he immediately gave up the whistle and made a favorable offensive gesture to signal the game. continue.

Aguero was immediately pressed by the opponent's defender after receiving the ball.

He didn't dare to take the ball too much and immediately moved the ball to the center.

De Bruyne in the middle was already in position. After receiving the ball, he immediately made a pass and broke into the penalty area again.

This is almost the same position as the first half, even the passer is the same.

Of course, the same goes for the person receiving the ball. Lin Quan was like a ghost. He appeared in the penalty area at some point. He received De Bruyne's pass in the open space, easily pushed the ball and scored twice. , rewriting the score to 2:0.

The King Power Stadium was silent as Leicester City fans watched the football rolling in their own net in disbelief.

This round of offense and defense transition happened so fast that none of them could react.

Just a few seconds ago, they were still attacking and even hoped to equalize the score.

However, less than ten seconds later, the opponent scored the second goal of the game.

Not only were their attempts to equalize the score shattered, but the gap behind them was further widened.

"Hiss, what a terrifying counterattack speed!"

In the stands, Zidane was so shocked that the hair on his body stood up when he saw Manchester City's second goal.

Manchester City's counterattack efficiency made him a little scared.

Strong teams like to seize the opponent's opportunity to counterattack. Changes in offensive and defensive transitions are the best criterion for testing a team's hard power.

After all, the lineups of the wealthy teams are not weak. Once they get into position, it will be difficult to defeat them in a positional battle.

But as long as the team moves, loopholes and flaws will inevitably appear.

Therefore, in a battle between giants, whoever can better grasp the opponent's weaknesses will win the game.

And now, Manchester City has shown him Manchester City's terrifying ability to seize opportunities.

If Real Madrid encounters this Manchester City team without preparation, it may be a disaster!

Sure enough, there is no falsehood in the reputation. Manchester City, the defending champion, is truly terrifying.

This time is not in vain, this game is not in vain!