Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

Chapter 532 - 362: Kill Him with a Counterattack! Tang Long Wins the Battle in Gualin, Agüero Happily Accepts a Big Gift!_2

Pellegrini kept shaking his head and sighing, angrily kicking the water bottle by his feet!

Nasri, on the Tottenham bench, returning once more to his old ground, felt quite delighted to see his former club trailing by two goals~

Pochettino, on the other hand, was ecstatic, discussing the next tactics with his assistant coach.

It seemed he hadn’t expected to lead by two goals before the game.

Sitting in the stands, Gundogan looked disappointed.

Just during halftime, he told his agent he wanted to go to Barça instead of Manchester City but got scolded badly over the phone, instructed to at least watch the whole match before deciding.

But now Gundogan wondered if it was even necessary to watch this game?

The Manchester City fans, however, were not having it.

Watching their team lose at home in the first Premier League match of the New Year was unacceptable!

Another wave of boos erupted.

Agüero’s hand rested on Tang Long’s shoulder.

The two looked up at the restless crowd in the Etihad Stadium.

Only these two on the team were truly calm at heart.

"It’s not a big problem," Agüero said. "We just need a breakthrough. Once we score the first goal, the floodgates will open, and goals will come pouring in."

"The breakthrough is with Gualin," Tang Long looked at Gualin’s lively back. "I know how to deal with him."

Actually, before the game, Pochettino’s tactical arrangement for Gualin was to mark Tang Long.

After all, in Pochettino’s mind, the physically strong and reasonably fast Gualin was the best choice to guard against the agile and dribbling-skilled Tang Long.

Moreover, the two had been teammates at Inter, so Gualin should be quite familiar with Tang Long’s technical moves.

But precisely because he was familiar with Tang Long, Gualin didn’t want to go one-on-one with him.

Because although Gualin was familiar with Tang Long, he also knew that the opponent understood a fatal weakness of his...

Tang Long dribbled toward Gualin!

Originally, it was Ali who was defending Tang Long, but during this transition, after receiving Toure’s pass, Tang Long slipped past Ali without continuing down the right. Instead, he cut back, heading directly towards Gualin.

"Eek!"

Once pretending to fear neither heaven nor earth, Gualin couldn’t help but get a bit scared when seeing Tang Long dribble towards him.

I’m not even in an attacking position, why is he coming at me on purpose?

Ali was still relentlessly chasing Tang Long from behind; having an extra helper gave Gualin some confidence.

Unexpectedly, Tang Long spun 180 degrees in an Iniesta-like move, instantly leaving Ali behind~

Ali, after two consecutive chases, stumbled to the ground and couldn’t get up immediately.

"Keep an eye on him, don’t let that kid get past again!"

Hearing the shout from goalkeeper Lori, Gualin could only step out, lowering his center of gravity, gritting his teeth for a one-on-one with Tang Long.

Gualin was very familiar with Tang Long’s dribbling skills, and likewise, Tang Long was no less acquainted with Gualin.

The Colombian, tall with long legs and ample stamina, was a significant defensive threat as a central midfielder, yet he wasn’t without weaknesses.

Gualin had a lower success rate in one-on-one tackles; his tackles were neither decisive nor precise, often failing to accurately predict the opponent’s pass or breakthrough direction in time, thereby missing the best opportunity to tackle!

Back when he was at Inter Milan, Mancini had given specific guidance on Gualin’s defensive positioning and tackling technique.

Unfortunately, while Gualin’s positioning had improved, his tackling still seemed somewhat amateurish.

This might be determined by the player’s natural talent. At Gualin’s age, trying to change was already too late.

Two quick stepovers intertwined with foot flicks and pedal moves!

Along with the scraping sound as the studs ploughed into the turf, Tang Long dropped his left arm, sunk his left shoulder; dropped his right arm, sunk his right shoulder!

In just one second, he performed two quick stepovers!

Then with his right foot, he lightly nudged the ball along from above—

As the ball rolled to the left, his foot swiftly glided over its surface, and then he swung his left foot in a Maradona-like move towards the right!

The ball simply rolled three or four circles from right to left, but Tang Long’s left and right feet danced above the ball several times!

The sole purpose of this dizzying sequence of moves was to lure Gualin into extending his foot!

Once Gualin extended his foot, his disadvantageous tackle move would be exposed, allowing Tang Long to slip past him.

To other Tottenham players, Tang Long’s limbs seemed to merely be waving chaotically above the ball, tracing out afterimages, even making it difficult to distinguish the specific moves;

Yet facing directly towards Tang Long, Gualin could see everything clearly, not daring to show any negligence.

He was diligently analyzing Tang Long’s moves, guessing his next intention.

At the exact moment Tang Long finished the stepover, Gualin impulsively wanted to strike out with his toe, to punt the ball away—

But just as he stretched halfway, he realized it wouldn’t work, thinking, "He’s trying to tempt me to strike. If I do, I’ll definitely be bypassed. I must resist the urge to tackle!"

Though in the moment he withdrew his foot, Gualin slightly stumbled, losing his balance momentarily, he exaggeratedly swung his arms twice, corrected himself without falling, and quickly stepped back to maintain a reasonable defensive distance from Tang Long.

Other Tottenham players had already closed in.

Since he couldn’t entice Gualin to extend his foot, Tang Long no longer persisted, passing the ball back to Kolarov who came to support;

Kolarov then transferred the ball to Toure, continuing back into the positional battle.