Chapter 382: Two Hundred Million Mister Slacking Off (Daily Transition)

BBC studio.

The organizers invited several Arsenal legends who did not make it to the Emirates Stadium to watch the match.

"How do you feel this Arsenal side of the 16/17 season differs from before?"

The host asked.

Adams thought for a moment, then said: "These players won't wet the bed from drinking too much; that's right, I quit drinking because Wenger respected me, he's always been that gentle."

"At first I really wanted to beat him up, but he was just too gentle, so I pressed the perpetually late Wright against the wall."

"There wasn't any special method; this weak university professor just controlled Arsenal's locker room, you know, back then we were a mess."

Everybody laughed loudly.

When Wenger first took over Arsenal, he faced a group of outdated, drunken, violent, and dirty "old hooligans".

At the time, the media commented: "A sheep wanting to become the leader of a wolf pack?"

Vieira added: "The tactical style differences were also significant; Wenger initially had us play 4-4-2, defending deep and counterattacking, because our overall technique couldn't sustain prolonged passing and cutting pressure."

"Except for Bergkamp."

It wasn't until after the 2000 European Cup ended and Pires came to Arsenal that everything changed; we could pin opponents in the penalty area, often managing 5-0 or 6-0 routs.

"Wenger's tactical philosophy has always kept pace with the times."

"Even the title rivals were different; back then Manchester United was a red empire, a European hegemony-level club!"

Pires shook his head and said: "Henry is the core; he was a bust in Serie A for a year, but after coming to Highbury he became a king; I believe Wenger has the ability to turn decay into marvel."

Henry's old face turned red, he explained: "Back then Bergkamp's role was more obvious... Let's get back to the point; this year's Arsenal faces more complex challenges, stronger opponents, although our attacking and suppressing power is far inferior to that era, it's more balanced, and here balance means stronger tactical adaptability."

Everybody turned their gaze toward the Ice Prince.

Bergkamp's expression was grim; after a while he managed to say: "This is Li's value; if he can maintain his terrifying strength on the Champions League stage, no one can stop him."

The match had already reached the 15th minute.

The lower-left corner of the big screen displayed player running data... Li Kang was at the bottom.

The Arsenal legends fell silent instantly.

Emirates Stadium.

The fans cheered on their respective players with their voices.

Manchester City attacked frenziedly, their formation also switched to 2-3-5!

The two fullbacks switched to midfield roles, always ready to receive the second-point attack.

The lone striker Aguero temporarily became a mascot, drifting between the opponent's two centre-backs: as a centre-forward, he misses the Mancini and Pellegrini era... rather than being a replaceable part of Guardiola's Manchester City rebuild.

Sane and Sterling stretched the attacking width to the limit, opening up the distance between Arsenal's two fullbacks and centre-backs.

De Bruyne and David Silva were active on the left and right half-spaces, providing strong suppressing power, always ready to deliver a deadly pass.

Arsenal looked dangerous, yet they hadn't conceded a goal.

Wenger back then had experience dealing with Guardiola; the shifts between strong and weak sides in low defensive positioning were extremely fast.

Li Kang occasionally glanced toward the sideline, observing Guardiola's gestures.

God's perspective gradually divided the football pitch into 20 small grids.

20 zones.

His job is simple:

Whichever direction Manchester City mainly attacks, Arsenal teammates increase the numerical advantage in defense for that direction.

And Li Kang stands on the weak side's half-space, strangling David Silva's or De Bruyne's lateral attacking transfer.

Gradually.

His effective running became less and less...

Let's give a vivid example: Manchester City's attacking passing and running changes at this stage are like a big vicious cover, forcibly squeezing toward the opponent; Arsenal's defensive line is a pair of hands, with nine fingers dismantling the more violent side of the big vicious cover, leaving the little pinky to resist the sudden shift of the big vicious cover's squeeze to the other side.

The middle of this big vicious cover has no buckle.

"Henry once said that during his time at Guardiola's Barcelona, he once discarded the coaching staff's attacking setup, switched positions on his own and scored a goal, which infuriated Guardiola, who soon benched him."

"Manchester City during this period is the same."

"All players' rotations, position changes, and vague roles cannot escape the framework set by Guardiola."

"Oh no, David Silva's diagonal through ball was again broken by Li Kang."

"Guardiola's Manchester City rebuild has lasted a season, yet there's hardly any progress; the attacking patterns are complex but fixed."

Live broadcast room.

Danmu flying everywhere.

-【Is Li Mingdeng slacking off?】

-【Rumor has it Paris Saint-Germain will spend 2.2 billion to sign Neymar, and Little Li's transfer record is about to be broken.】

-【What has Guardiola rebuilt? After leaving Barcelona's peak with Ha, Alba, B, and Messi, wherever he goes he brings harm; having ruined Bayern and now Manchester City, he's still not as good as Mancini and Pellegrini.】

-【Don't rush, rebuilding needs to be measured in years; Manchester City fans need patience, give Guardiola eight years, then reinvest 13-16 billion euros! Surely they can attain the dominance of Barcelona's peak era.】

-【Ten-something billion? Better to just poach Li Mingdeng! One move solves the triple crown.】

-【Different meaning; the Abu Dhabi consortium doesn't need a big-name star, nor is it chasing a temporary title, but wants to build a true powerhouse through Guardiola, including a youth training system, building from the ground up a distinct, high-entertainment, strong-inheritance football style.】

-【A superstar like Li Mingdeng, who brings his own system, will only disrupt the Blue Moon's future layout and style shaping; regardless of how much money is invested, if he joins Manchester City and then leaves, can any other player continue his godlike performance? Manchester City in the future doesn't need a superstar, but needs inheritance.】

-【Guardiola's significance to Manchester City is equivalent to Cruyff to Barcelona! This is what the Abu Dhabi consortium is pursuing.】

The 20th minute of the match.

In Manchester City's 2-3-5 formation, the first two lines have already pressed up to the midfield line.

Yaya Touré delivered a low, diagonal pass, finding De Bruyne in the right side of the thirty-meter zone.

He didn't even turn his head, touched the ball once, and passed it to Sane, who was making a high-speed run down the flank.

Sané received the ball, eased his speed, and broke into the penalty area wearing sheep's clothing.

Arsenal's defensive players immediately gathered, and the whole defensive line began to tilt.

At the same time.

De Bruyne stepped back two steps, found a better passing environment on the flank.

Sané also immediately passed the ball back!

"Danger!"

"The rainbow is coming!"

"The left side of Arsenal's penalty area is empty again!"

"De Bruyne lofted a cross from the flank at a 45-degree angle!"

"Smack!"

The ball left Ding Ding's right foot, drawing a rainbow-like arc in the air above Arsenal's penalty area.

The landing point was extremely vague, leaving Cech in a dilemma.

Sterling stomped the grass, accelerated, surged into the penalty area, looking like he could finish with a deadly header!

Result...

He failed to get the biscuit, crashing into a wall.

Li Kang easily took position, Cech then fell to the ground in a tackle.

"What a pity!"

"Positioning without breaking a sweat."

"Manchester City's understanding of attacking space is thorough; they seized the numerical shift in Arsenal's low defensive positioning, thereby creating a local advantage."

"But they happened to meet a number 4 from La Masia with a deeper understanding of space."

"Look at Arsenal's transition attack this time!"

If Manchester City lose possession during their attacking phase, their first reaction is not to retreat like Arsenal, but to form a coordinated pressing to win the ball back locally where the ball is.

This is also one of the reasons Guardiola feels confident playing with a single defensive midfielder or none at all.

Too bad.

After two passes, the ball arrived at Li Kang's feet.

Krišic, David Silva, and Sterling quickly triple-teamed to win the ball back.

They couldn't win it at all.

They couldn't even successfully delay Arsenal's counterattack advance.

In Li Kang's vision, a phantom of the blue number 21 appeared.

David Silva.

Space magician module.

Slow-motion Messi.

God's perspective, clearly deconstructing the division of Guardiola-style Manchester City's 20-zone defensive line.

Dodging and weaving.

A flick and a pull.

Then a push.

The ball, like a blade, pierced Manchester City's local pressing ring!

David Silva was a bit dazed, but didn't think much, because in his mind Li Kang has always been excellent.

He didn't dawdle, but quickly turned back to defend.

"Suave!"

"A light-as-a-feather ultra-long through ball!"

"An overbearing straight line, stabbing through Manchester City's midfield defensive zone!"

"Giroud!"

Although Giroud is a lone striker, he runs the slowest, currently occupying a recessed position in the attacking formation.

Bellerín, Sánchez, Cazorla, and Walcott surged forward madly, widening the attack, forming a four-point fan!

The moment for this old ox Giroud to embroider has come!

Receive the ball with his back to it.

He lifted his left foot.

"Smack!"

The ball left the ground, spinning violently, flying toward the right side of Manchester City's half!

Exactly the vacuum zone left after Krišic lost position.

"Walcott!"

"Super steed!"

"Leaving dust behind!"

"Perfect transition attack!"

Goalkeeper Caballero gave it his all to rush back into the penalty area.

Fernandinho, Kompany, and Otamendi quickly contracted the defensive line.

Too late.

Walcott had already dribbled to the edge of the big penalty area.

Decisively passed sideways to the center!

Cazorla and Sanchez formed two flanking points!

Pa!

The Balance Master accomplished it in one move.

The ball lightly floated over Caballero's head and fell into the net.

1:0!

!

"The ball went in!"

"Cazorla's exquisite lofted pass!"

"The little tiger's assist."

"Arsenal opened the scoring!"

"Guardiola's high defensive line has huge flaws—even mid-table team Everton can thrash this Blue Moon side 4-0!"

"Including Leicester City, which just escaped the relegation zone, they also beat Manchester City 4-2 this season."

"And Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Manchester United, Chelsea... We believe Guardiola will surely redeem himself next season!"

"Looking at the real-time standings... Manchester City must strive for a top-four finish this season to qualify for the Champions League next season."

The cheers at the Emirates Stadium are growing louder.

The Premier League title is within reach.

Arsenal players gathered together, embracing tightly.

"Li, how did you pass the ball out? My through pass isn't bad either, right?"

"Compared to the previous two matches against Liverpool and Tottenham, tonight was really easy!"

Li Kang smiled, not continuing to focus on Guardiola's gestures, feeling like he was cheating on an exam.

One side's joy contrasted with the other's sorrow.

De Bruyne, who kept chasing back, angrily stomped his foot lightly.

Caballero looked helpless; after finally edging out Bravo to become Manchester City's starting goalkeeper, is he going to endure a rout today?

That feeling is worse than being kicked in the bone by a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty and fracturing it.

By the pitch.

Wenger laughed and clapped; purely in terms of initial setup, he had never been crushed by Guardiola's peak dream-three Barcelona.

Boerde was elated.

"Boss, starting next round, let's pad Li's stats!"

Even with the title already secured, the coaching staff will indeed create opportunities for core players to pad their stats.

They expended the team's full effort to feed the ball.

Of course, there are also cases of playing it too recklessly, like Mourinho's second stint at Chelsea.

Wenger thought for a moment and said: "Li might feed this group of teammates' stats upward..."

The other side.

Guardiola scratched his bald head in bewilderment.

After experiencing a season's trial, he no longer weighs victory and defeat so heavily.

"Do you see? Li's ball-out position in the attacking phase... is that of a full-back!"

"He will become the king of the defensive line!"

"Giroud's role is that of a midfielder linking play, while Cazorla is the epitome of a midfielder turned forward."

"Arsenal is a pioneer of positionless football."

During matches, he is a pure tactical maniac, occasionally losing his temper and smacking his disciples' buttocks.

Arteta had a black line across his face.

Our head coach is possessed again; won't he again drag opposing players to talk tactics?

There's nothing that complicated.

This is merely Wenger giving players ample freedom in transitioning attack.

The livestream.

-【Li Mingdeng is slacking off; he doesn't even want to run anymore, and still wonders if Arsenal will give him a statue? (dog head for self-preservation)】

-【Guardiola is still experimenting; Manchester City's defensive line combinations this season... are close to twenty types, and if you include the goalkeeper, there are countless variations.】

-【Guardiola: What is the ultimate of football, exactly?】

The match resumed.

Manchester City couldn't find any opportunities.

Complex attacking patterns have already been studied into set patterns by each Premier League coaching staff: without a ball-playing goalkeeper like Bravo, the Blue Moon's rib area develops three major directional combinations... relatively simple.

Guardiola finds it hard to find a goalkeeper best suited to Manchester City's system.

VIP box.

Arsenal's senior management were very satisfied with the match situation.

We want to greatly increase the bonus ratio for players and the coaching staff!

Who will go persuade Arsène again?

The bank indicated that if Wenger leaves Arsenal, they will initiate normal loan approval standards for the club.

Everyone looked at each other, as if drenched by a bucket of cold water.

Shareholders were clamoring for dividends.

Arsenal is undergoing club modernization reform, which will cost a lot of money...

BBC studio.

Bergkamp suddenly said: "Even we can have a statue erected at Emirates Stadium, why doesn't Wenger deserve it?"