Chapter 524: 79 Points Is Not 79 Points, It's 763, It's 754

Three minutes after the match between Mancheng and Spurs concluded, the Check Dongqiu Di app pinned a personal poster of Tang Ye to the top.

Fans who frequently watch Man United matches could mostly figure it out immediately.

This was the scene of Tang Ye celebrating his assist hat-trick against Mancheng during last season's match!

Pinned headline: Mancheng suffers a shocking defeat to Spurs; after 30 rounds, Man United tops the Premier League.

2018-19 Premier League Standings (as of Round 30):

1. Man United, 79 points.

2. Mancheng, 76 points.

3. Liwupu, 75 points.

4. Spurs, 55 points.

5. Chelsea, 55 points.

【What's going on? How did Mancheng suddenly collapse?】

【Damn, Mancheng has lost two in a row.】

【Brothers, when it comes to a war of attrition, you still have to look at my Man United; play long enough and Mancheng directly falls apart.】

【As a Mancheng fan, I'm saying we had too many matches in February; De Bruyne cramped up twice in a single game—can you handle that?】

【Didn't Man United also have too many matches in February?】

【GGMU!!!】

Mancheng's bench depth is much greater than Man United's; logically, if it came to a war of attrition, Mancheng should hold the advantage.

Yet the reality is that Man United withstood the impact of February's dense schedule, while Mancheng did not.

Man United could endure the absence of Luke Shaw and De Jong.

But Mancheng cannot!

Once De Bruyne got injured, the Mancheng players simply didn't know how to play football anymore.

In a post-match interview after losing to Spurs, Mancheng head coach Guardiola revealed a crucial piece of information: the injured and absent De Bruyne has currently resumed training with the first team and is planned to be available for matches within two weeks.

This is, of course, good news for Mancheng.

But the bad news is that Mancheng's current situation might not be able to wait those two weeks.

"So, before Kevin 【De Bruyne】 returns, do you think Man United will pull away from you? Although they also have key players absent, Man United continues to maintain a winning streak."

"Perhaps."

In the camera shot, Guardiola used his fingernails to scratch the scalp on his head.

One could clearly see several light red marks on Guardiola's head, all scraped out by his own hand.

The Mancheng head coach is under immense pressure now!

In the interview, Guardiola once again emphasized the huge impact of the dense schedules in February and January on Mancheng's squad.

Although it sounded a bit like making excuses for the failure, one cannot deny that the schedule over the past two months indeed weakened Mancheng's existing combat strength.

After watching this interview video, fans now had only one question.

Both faced dense schedules, and both suffered injuries to key players.

Why was Mancheng dragged down?

While Man United was not?

Time moved to the second day after Mancheng's loss, with Man United preparing for the next round of the FA Cup.

Ten Hag gathered all Man United players in the meeting room and briefly outlined the upcoming arrangements.

Many fans signaled that Man United needed to abandon the FA Cup and focus their energy on the league and the Champions League.

Regarding this, the Man United coaching staff held a different view.

"Our FA Cup match is on the 16th, and the match following the FA Cup is on the 30th."

Ten Hag paced back and forth in front of the whiteboard: "Fourteen days; a fourteen-day interval between matches. I think this time is completely sufficient; we will have ample, even surplus, time for adjustment."

The FA Cup would indeed cause some impact on Man United's league and Champions League campaigns, but considering this month's schedule arrangement was fairly decent, the impact of the FA Cup could be directly ignored.

In Ten Hag's view.

If the team had the capability, then it needed to strive to win every single trophy possible.

Looking at De Jong, he said: "Frenkie's training condition is good, so in my opinion, he will be available for the next match."

The Man United players in the meeting room said nothing.

Their faces showed no expression, but Tang Ye's heart was already beating rapidly.

Frenkie was about to return, and both Mancheng and Liwupu had encountered their own problems.

The situation looked extremely promising.

So what needed to be done next?

King Tom leads the Rat Army to charge!

The Rat Army is about to slash through everything!

Check Dongqiu Di republished a long article from the "Man Evening News": A deep analysis of the differences between the two Manchester giants.

A rare tactical article from the "Manchester Evening News".

Generally speaking, tactical articles are not very effective at attracting fan attention, because most fans, to be honest, are not very interested in tactics.

But this article from the "Man Evening News" was quite special; it precisely grabbed hold of the two teams with the highest traffic in the Premier League at the moment.

According to the analysis by reporters and tactical experts, the gap between Man United and Mancheng might be even larger than fans imagine.

Mancheng plays possession football; in order to achieve smooth offensive and defensive effects, every single player is extremely important.

So once a core player gets injured, such as De Bruyne, who organizes play in the midfield.

The entire team is like a computer; after De Bruyne's injury, Mancheng's network became laggy, with the same attacks taking 20% more time, so the team's win rate naturally dropped.

In comparison, Man United's tactics are much more straightforward.

According to a Man Evening News reporter, Man United has three common attacking methods, each different from the others.

1. Tang Ye passes to Rashford.

2. Tang Ye passes to Alli.

3. Tang Ye passes to Ziyech.

Man United chose to tie their offense to a single player, a tactic you basically never see in other teams across the top five European leagues.

Even if it's also a computer, having less RAM, a broken graphics card, or a poor network connection won't have much impact on Man United.

"Because some CPUs come with integrated graphics and networking," the Man Evening News reporter said.

If the CPU has integrated graphics and networking, then add a few simple RAM sticks and a monitor, and this computer can function.

The Man Evening News reporter used a metaphor to explain Man United's situation to the fans.

As long as the forward line players don't have issues and Tang Ye always maintains his best form, Man United's win rate won't drop too much no matter what.

Man United legend Ferdinand: Unless another Asian Cup is held in April, I can't think of any way to stop Man United from winning the Premier League title.

"There's an Asian Cup in April?"

In the Man United cafeteria, Tang Ye widened his eyes.

What Ferdinand said on Check Dongqiu Di nearly scared him to death.

"He meant 'if'; you misunderstood, Tom!"

Rodri corrected Tang Ye's misunderstanding.

Unless another Asian Cup is held in April.

The statement is very clear; a normal person wouldn't misunderstand it.

But Tang Ye managed to misunderstand it anyway.

Perhaps... this is the difference between a grandmaster and an ordinary person?

"Oh, I see. But why can't we win the championship if there's an Asian Cup in April? Is there a limit on how many trophies one person can win?"

"Haha."

Rashford couldn't bear it anymore; he covered his forehead with his hand: "What he means is, Tom, if there's an Asian Cup in April, wouldn't you have to go back to play? Then we'd be without our starting midfielder."

"Haha!"

The teammates nearby laughed, while Tang Ye acted as if he had suddenly realized the truth.

"He should have just said it directly; otherwise, fans will misunderstand just like I did."

Tang Ye could even imagine that scene.

Fans would be startled after seeing this news, just like the grandmaster was startled earlier!

"Well... I feel like besides you, no one else would misunderstand."

Rodri's words were extremely damaging; Tang Ye hung his head.

"Haha, it's okay, it's okay."

Rodri and Alli patted Tang Ye on the back: "We're always by your side; we'll help you understand, translating it into words you can grasp."

Among the Man United players present, Rodri and Alli have known Tang Ye the longest; aside from these two, there's only assistant coach Fan Fan Dejiahe sitting at the next table.

They know Tang Ye very well, understanding what he can comprehend and what he cannot.

Even little brother Rodri can predict what Grandmaster Tom might say next!

Putting the April Asian Cup news out of their minds, the Man United players began discussing the upcoming Champions League knockout round draw tonight.

"To be honest, I feel none of them are easy to play; it would be best to draw Liwupu, since we have a natural advantage against Premier League teams."

Fan Fan Dejiahe shared his thoughts with the players: "Although Erik isn't here now, he told me last night that Liwupu and Ajax should be the easiest to play. At least, that's the case for us."

There are eight teams in the Champions League quarter-finals, three of which are from the Premier League.

Compared to dealing with teams from other leagues, Man United is better at handling familiar opponents, like Spurs and Liwupu.

In comparison, Barcelona and Dortmund are not good choices.

"I feel like we're going to meet Dortmund."

Tang Ye suddenly said, blinking his eyes.

"The Champions League and Europa League draws are controlled by UEFA; didn't you know? Let me tell you, when I was at Villarreal, I drew Utrecht, and after I came to Man United, I drew Villarreal again."

The Man United players leaned their heads toward the center of the table as Tang Ye looked serious.

"Someone is controlling all this; I'm going to draw a team I don't want to play. Believe me."

"Are you sure, Tom?"

De Jong pretended to be surprised.

"Coincidences don't happen that many times!"

"It seems we need to be careful, but it doesn't matter; no matter who the opponent is, we have a grandmaster who will lead us to victory."

Fan Fan Dejiahe was very optimistic.

"The Athletic" — 2018-19 Champions League Quarter-Final Draw Teams: Man United, Spurs, Ajax, Barcelona, Liwupu, Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto.

Two hours before the official draw began, the head coaches and club officials of the eight participating teams arrived at the draw venue in Switzerland.

Click, click!

Among all the head coaches, Ten Hag's popularity was undoubtedly the most exaggerated.

Just two days before the draw started, thanks to Mancheng's defeat, Man United successfully topped the Premier League standings!

So now, standing before the Swiss reporter is the leader of the Premier League's top team!

"Erik, in this season's 30 league rounds, you have secured victory in 25 matches, with only one defeat. Currently, you sit atop the Premier League table with a total of 79 points; do you have any comments on this?"

Click-click!

While Ten Hag was being interviewed by reporters, Escrivá stood not far away.

His eyes were filled with envy.

"Hmm..."

"Because Mancheng won the Premier League title last season with a total of 100 points, many fans now feel that 79 points isn't much; I believe this notion is extremely mistaken."

Ten Hag spoke eloquently.

"Because you must understand that 79 points is not just 79 points."

Ten Hag's words left the reporters and coaches on site somewhat bewildered.

"79 points means 76 plus 3, and it also means 75 plus 4."

Oh.

The reporters dared not speak; after a moment of hesitation, they finally realized.

76 was Mancheng's point total; Mancheng's points plus 3 equaled Man United's points.

As for 75...

75 was Liwupu's point total; Liwupu's points plus 4 equaled Man United's points.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Champions League quarter-final draw results are out, Teng-Jia Army vs. Neymar and Mbappé, Liwupu vs. Tottenham in an all-Premier League clash, Dortmund vs. Barça.

1. Man United vs. Paris.

2. Liwupu vs. Tottenham.

3. Dortmund vs. Barça.

4. Ajax vs. Porto.

The opponents for all eight teams have been confirmed.

It is a great pity that Tang Ye's prediction turned out wrong; Man United did not face the Dortmund where Mr. Ferran plays.

Their opponent is Paris Saint-Germain, where Neymar and Mbappé play!

【Neymar playing against Tang Ye, a CS derby, is it?】

【I feel this draw is unfavorable for Man United.】

【Why is Escrivá facing Barça again?】

【Good heavens, I just checked; next month Man United has 7 matches, or 8 if they win the FA Cup—they really aren't treating us like humans.】

【Tang Ye sent me a text message: next month Man United will secure the Premier League title early; Chinese people don't lie to Chinese people.】

In the eyes of the fans, Man United's draw result was not good.

But in the eyes of Man United's players and coaching staff, this draw result was simply terrible!

This season, Man United's problems are obvious: one is the lack of top-tier players in the right winger and center forward positions.

The other is the full-backs.

And Paris's most prominent feature is that the wing attacks by the two players Mbappé and Neymar will give Man United a severe headache.

"Kylian runs very fast; Antonio, you'd better be careful."

A light rain had fallen on the training ground; on the pitch, Tang Ye, who was shooting baskets, started chatting with Valencia.

"I know; last night I went home and watched many match videos of Mbappé. In all likelihood, I won't be able to keep up... oh, not 'in all likelihood'—if he runs at full speed, I definitely won't be able to keep up with him."

Valencia was even more pessimistic than Tang Ye had imagined.

And as a defender, this Man United captain also noticed something that Tang Ye had not.

For Man United, Mbappé's greatest threat is not his top speed, but his instantaneous acceleration ability.

The Ninja Turtle's acceleration speed ranks among the very best across the entire top five leagues; at least within the Man United squad, there is no player who can match him.

"That's terrible then."

Tang Ye let out a long sigh.

If only they were playing against Paris a few years later; by then, he would have raised his speed attribute to 99 and then ruthlessly slay the Ninja Turtle!

Regrettably, Tang Ye has no way to contact his future self, so there is no way for him to deal with Mbappé.

"Hey, Tom!"

"Get moving, get moving; if you don't start running, you're going to catch a cold!"

Ten Hag's voice came from afar; Tang Ye quickly patted Valencia on the waist and then ran off.

Early morning, March 16.

This was the day of the FA Cup quarter-final match between Wolves and Man United.

English fans staying up late and Chinese fans waking up early simultaneously came across a piece of news.

Italian reporter Romano: Juventus has officially submitted a request to Man United to trade TY; they hope to bring TY to Italy using Cristiano plus 75 million euros.

(End of chapter)