Chapter 149: Manchester City's Tricks

What are some ways to strengthen the offense?

Maybe there are many ways for some other coaches.

Sending a high striker to strengthen the wide crosses.

Increase the midfield and strengthen the pressure up front.

Pile up the strikers and get the ball into the opponent's box as much as possible, no matter what method is used.

Long shots, set-pieces, wide breaks.... And so on and so forth.

But for Pep Guardiola, there's only one thing in his football philosophy.

Offensive? Ball control!

Defend? Still possession!

Intensify the offense?

Still in possession!

The 3232 strange formation sent by Guardiola is a trick used by Guardiola at an extreme moment. With a crowd of people in the middle, the flanks have become weak areas, and the back three plus two midfielders are not very practical, but now it is an extreme situation, and Guardiola no longer thinks too much about defence, what they need now is attack.

Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling were wide on the flanks, and the purpose of their presence was to widen United's formation and create space in the middle for Manchester City to pass slowly.

Fernandinho and Fernando pressed high on the top, while Shabalet and Otamendi also pulled away from left and right, with Kompany trailing last.

De Bruyne stands in the middle and looks like a key player in the midfield, connecting the strikers, the flanks and the midfield.

With De Bruyne as the center, he and two midfielders, two strikers, as well as several players such as Sane and Sterling, formed several triangular positions.

But if you look at it as a whole, from the perspective of each Manchester City player, they will form at least two or more triangles with other Manchester City players.

This means that every player has at least three or more passing points to pass after receiving the ball.

The triangle principle is a very important part of the ball control strategy, and now Guardiola has used a thin position, which is naturally to form more triangles!

Manchester United didn't know much about Manchester City's strange formation, so Manchester City's possession quickly overwhelmed the half-time and kept Manchester United at bay.

Manchester United also tried to grab it for a while at the beginning, but this is in the hands of Manchester City, their formation seems to be born for passing and controlling the ball, after grabbing for a while without effect, Manchester United can only retract to their own half, anyway, now the score is 3-0, they just stay at the back and wait for the counterattack.

City were patient and in the fiftieth minute, they organised an attack.

The ball started with goalkeeper Bravo, Otamendi received the ball, Juan Mata came up to defend, Otamendi passed the ball to Kompany, who then passed to Shabaleta on the other side.

Sabaleta's forward and central points were blocked by Manchester United, but it didn't matter, Sabaleta had a third pass.

De Bruyne moved slightly closer to the right and Shabaleta got the ball out.

Li Qingshan and Pogba originally sealed Sabaleta's two passing lanes to the middle and forward, but now Zabalata passed the ball diagonally forward, making Li Qingshan and Pogba do useless work, they can only retreat and keep the formation tight.

De Bruyne was actually marked, and Herrera had already posted it when he was about to receive the ball, but De Bruyne was not flustered, he kept the ball and then passed the ball diagonally to the feet of Fernandinho.

Fernandinho also had a pass, and he slid the ball forward diagonally and to Leroy Sane, who was stretched almost close to the wing.

Before Sane could get the ball, Jesus and Sergio Aguero moved over, and the two and Sane formed a two-way pass angle for Sane to choose from.

Sane chose to give the ball to Aguero as soon as possible, and the ball went down the wing, and Aguero also moved to the side to receive the ball.

Aguero received the ball and turned, and United's defence had already moved, and it looked like City's pass was useless.

However, if anyone pays attention to Guardiola's hand, they will find that Guardiola's hand is half pulled out of his pocket.....

Sergio Aguero played the ball to Kevin De Bruyne, who had moved to the right edge of the line, before slotting into the box himself.

The same can be said for Gabriel Jesus, who has a strong presence in the box and whose defenders are keeping a tight guard against the two strikers.

Only at this time, De Bruyne neither passed the ball to the running Aguero, nor to Jesus in the penalty area, but slightly sideways, his right foot was like a push in Stoke, and the instep of his right foot pushed the ball diagonally to the left side of the penalty area, and the football moved through the grass with a sharp spin, drawing a clear arc between Manchester United's back line and the midfield line.

Guardiola's hand was completely out of his pocket, and his hand froze in the air, as if waiting for something.

Stirling!!!!!!!

There was an exclamation from the stands that Raheem Sterling was one of the players who didn't touch the ball in a series of passes before Manchester City, and as Manchester City gradually developed the ball to the right side of Manchester United, that is, the left side of Manchester City's attacking direction, Manchester United's defence began to move closer to the right.

And De Bruyne's pass is very penetrating, like a sharp scalpel!!

Raheem Sterling went around the box from the outside!!

Ball to Man Arrive!! He stopped the ball with a deep foot in the box!!

"Sterling single-handedly !!!!!!!"

The City fans in the stands held their breath, repeatedly afraid of disturbing Sterling's handling, while the United fans were wide-eyed.

This is a dangerous time. Ancelotti was already so shocked that she rushed to her seat and stood up.

In fact, at this point in the game, even conceding a goal is not a big deal, but Ancelotti has a chill down his spine.

From this series of Manchester City's combinations, he sees the shadow of a superpowerhouse, Pep Guardiola's side are not yet proficient in this style of play, and once they are polished, this will be a very dominant team.

Perhaps they will be Manchester United's biggest rivals next season!!

Sterling certainly didn't think much of it, he stopped the ball and looked at De Gea's position.

It didn't matter, Sterling was taken aback,

De Gea strikes very fast! It's almost in front of Sterling!!

Raheem Sterling panicked a bit, he got up with his right foot and finished the shot in a hurry!!

De Gea chested the ball into gear, and although Sterling's shot had no angle, De Gea didn't react at such a close distance, and it was already the limit to be able to block the shot with his body.

The ball bounced off De Gea's chest and back into the box!

Aguero didn't know when it would appear, he picked the ball up and the ball flew over De Gea's head and into the United goal...