novelraw Chapter 539 - 367: Asking for Compliments on the Assist? Tang Long: Your pass was okay, but that’s about it!
Chapter 539 - 367: Asking for Compliments on the Assist? Tang Long: Your pass was okay, but that’s about it!
(Gundogan, after playing for five years at Dortmund, gradually grew into a top Bundesliga midfielder and won a Bundesliga championship)
Gundogan was forcefully inserted into Manchester City by Guardiola during the mid-season winter transfer.
Current head coach Pellegrini had only heard of this German midfielder and was not very familiar with his technical characteristics and field positions.
He only roughly knew that he could play multiple midfield positions, both as a holding midfielder and an attacking midfielder.
Though inwardly resistant to Gundogan’s sudden arrival, feeling it challenged his authority as head coach,
nevertheless, as a professional coach, Pellegrini wanted to maximize Gundogan’s potential to help the team achieve its season goals.
Especially since Gundogan couldn’t be registered for the latter stages of the Champions League, Pellegrini naturally focused his efforts on domestic league and cup competitions, freeing up more rest space for Tang Long, to prepare for the Champions League.
Perhaps seeing Gundogan displaying a good sense of the big picture and excellent footwork in his first training with the team;
or perhaps considering that in the league, when Tang Long rests, Gundogan could take his place;
so in this English League Cup match against Aston Villa, Gundogan did not start as a holding midfielder but as an attacking midfielder.
Unexpectedly, this was exactly in line with Gundogan’s wishes!
Upon hearing that he would start as an attacking midfielder, Gundogan was filled with anticipation.
He recalled the highly praised pass he gave to Agüero in training before;
while Tang Long casually replied, with an accustomed expression, which made this former Bundesliga Best XI midfielder quite unhappy!
Though he didn’t show it on the surface, the thought of wanting to prove he was no worse than Tang Long began to burn brightly!
As they lined up in the player tunnel.
He put his arm around the shoulder of the starting youngster, forward Iheanacho, and started gesturing.
"Young man, one characteristic of me playing as an attacking midfielder is that I always deliver highly penetrating through balls!"
"So, pay attention and make more runs. As long as you keep up with my rhythm, you’ll definitely score several goals!"
Listening to Gundogan’s broken German-accented English, Iheanacho nodded his head with a look of expectation.
He calculated that it had been quite a few matches since he last played, let alone started!
Even though he didn’t get to partner with Tang Long, Iheanacho had also heard of Gundogan’s reputation.
This bearded uncle, after all, won a Bundesliga championship, with solid foot skills, and he was so confident.
Recalling that this match is against the weak opponent Aston Villa, I, Iheanacho, could definitely score several goals.
Aston Villa is indeed very weak.
Manchester City and Aston Villa, one is a league leader, and the other is at the bottom.
This season, Aston Villa’s performance has been miserable, ranked at the bottom. The entire team is struggling to retain a Premier League spot by season’s end, but they don’t know when they’ll escape the relegation zone’s mud pit.
Their advancement in the English League Cup was purely due to luck, unexpectedly securing a last-minute win against Everton in the previous round at home.
However, against Manchester City, they had no expectations and felt they couldn’t win, just going through the motions.
The team’s focus is still on avoiding relegation.
Therefore, this match, Aston Villa also rotated nearly half of their main players like Manchester City.
On Manchester City’s side, the unlucky Joe Hart started, with Kompany and Ranocchia both resting. Replacing them were the long-unseen Mangala and Demichelis.
In the midfield, the double holding midfielders Fernandinho and Fernando started.
Sagna, who continuously started several matches, also got a rare rest opportunity, with Argentine veteran Sabaleta appearing as the right-back.
However, even with half the players rotated, the strength gap between the two teams was too great.
So from the first minute of the match, Manchester City firmly controlled possession, pressing against Aston Villa!
And Gundogan also thrived in the attacking midfielder position.
In the 12th minute of the first half, the ball was in Manchester City’s backfield. After eight consecutive passes, it was steadily delivered to attacking midfielder Gundogan’s feet.
Before receiving the ball, he had a great habit of turning his head to look.
Upon noticing that opponent’s holding midfielder Idrissa was three meters away from him, Gundogan confidently pulled the ball, turned to face the goal, thinking:
"Is this the defensive intensity of Premier League teams? Far worse than the Bundesliga!"
Almost the moment he turned, Gundogan spotted a slight gap in Aston Villa’s seemingly tight defensive alignment, and with a flick of his foot, he sent a through ball!
It’s just a pity that Iheanacho was a step too slow, couldn’t keep up with the rhythm, and the ball was collected by the opponent’s goalkeeper.
Seeing Iheanacho’s apologetic face repeatedly reaching out towards him, Gundogan also smiled and shook his head, turning back.
"Is this the level of Manchester City forwards? If it were Lewandowski or Aubameyang, it would’ve been a breakaway goal!"
Gundogan instantly lowered a few notches in his impression of Iheanacho.
But Aston Villa’s strength was truly lacking, and since they weren’t actually combating hard, just going through the motions.
So in the 26th minute, Gundogan once again demonstrated his basic skills as a midfielder with a direct pass.
This pass, in terms of power and angle, was nearly perfect, like a sharp scalpel precisely slicing through the seemingly impenetrable defensive line between two Aston Villa players!
This time, Iheanacho finally caught up with the rhythm and scored with a push shot.
Watching the ecstatic Iheanacho run towards him, Gundogan opened his arms to celebrate his first assist since joining Manchester City.
Of course.
He didn’t forget to glance over at Tang Long on the bench, observing his expression~
Gundogan believed his direct pass was beautifully executed, threading through two defenders precisely synchronizing with Iheanacho’s run.
He thought Tang Long on the bench would be shocked, at least stand up to applaud and cheer for him, right?
In the midst of the uproar, Tang Long remained indifferent.
He just sat quietly in his chair, holding a bottle of water, leisurely taking a sip.
He even splashed some water on Ranocchia beside him, joking around.
There was no sign of surprise at all.
Gundogan’s initially expectant and proud expression froze the moment he saw Tang Long, replaced by a hint of unmistakable displeasure and frustration.
"What? Look down on me, huh? Fine, just wait!"
In the subsequent match, Gundogan repeatedly delivered threatening direct passes, trying to keep Iheanacho scoring.
But the young Iheanacho constantly missed good chances, either not keeping up or shooting into the sky despite having spaces.
Manchester City entered halftime with a 1-0 lead.
Gundogan felt somewhat regrettable about this scoreline!
He thought, if Iheanacho were replaced by Aubameyang from Dort, the first half could have ended in a 4-0 blowout.
Nevertheless, delivering an assist in the first half of his debut match for the team, Gundogan was quite pleased with his performance.
Especially since that assist was a precise through pass, showcasing his sharp vision and skilled footwork in front of all teammates and the coaching staff, Gundogan felt quite proud!
I did win the Bundesliga title and got selected for the Best XI after all;
If we at Dort hadn’t been overshadowed by Bayern over the years, who knows how many titles we could have won!
Before Pellegrini entered the locker room to explain the second-half tactics.
Gundogan sat beside Tang Long.
"How about that pass, Tang?"
Gundogan probed, eagerly waiting for Tang Long’s response.
Drinking water, Tang Long was caught off guard by Gundogan’s sudden question.
He hadn’t swallowed yet, cheeks puffed, looking at Gundogan.
With a "gulp," he swallowed the water and said a bit bewildered, "Huh? Which pass are you talking about?"
Gundogan was a little annoyed!
Which pass?
You actually asked which pass?!
In the first half, I assisted Iheanacho, a beautiful direct pass, piercing the opponent’s two center-backs and landing it precisely in the penalty box to help him score, weren’t you sitting right there on the bench?
You’re really good at pretending, aren’t you!
Suppressing his inner fury, Gundogan coldly said, it was the assist that led to Iheanacho’s goal.
With Gundogan’s reminder, Tang Long suddenly realized, slapping his forehead.
"Oh, you’re talking about that direct pass, oh, sorry sorry, I was too busy drinking water off the field and didn’t pay close attention."
"So you’re saying you didn’t see it?" Gundogan was almost too lazy to deal with Tang Long.
"Haha, no, no, of course I saw it."
Tang Long sheepishly waved his hands and then praised Gundogan, saying his direct pass had a clear purpose!
The precision of the footwork was extremely accurate, successfully connecting with Iheanacho, excelling in the role of an attacking midfielder.
In short, the pass was awesome~
Hearing Tang Long finally compliment him, half of Gundogan’s anger faded away, with a proud smile on his face, thinking, you eventually acknowledge it!
However, Tang Long soon changed the tone, which reignited Gundogan’s fury.
"But I think, you know, this pass still has plenty of room for improvement, buddy. Sometimes having too clear an intention in passing isn’t a good thing; it’s easily intercepted."
(I initially planned to update three Chapters, but my dad suddenly got hospitalized today, so I hurried to visit him after work, writing until one o’clock now, only managed two Chapters. I won’t pull an all-nighter; saving my life is more important. Tomorrow is Friday, no matter what, let me make it up to you with three Chapters. Trust me!)