novelraw Chapter 545 - 371: Manchester City Concludes 8 Matches in January! Awaiting the Champions League Round of 16!
Chapter 545 - 371: Manchester City Concludes 8 Matches in January! Awaiting the Champions League Round of 16!
In this match, Tang Long’s performance not only once again conquered the fans at Itihad, but also won over the heart of the new signing, Gundogan.
The dislike for Tang Long’s advice faded away, replaced by deep admiration for him!
In the heart of this German player, Tang Long not only personally demonstrated what fast-paced football is all about, but more importantly, his passing intentions were unpredictable, highly deceptive, often creating a surprising winning situation in just two or three moves!
Their relationship also became closer during training.
Gundogan actively proposed to "pay respects" to Tang Long.
After consulting with Ranocchia and Kolarov, Tang Long also gladly welcomed this midfield general.
Although Gundogan does not speak Italian, he was smoothly integrated into the Italian Language Gang.
Thus, the Italian Language Gang led by Tang Long expanded from three members to four, becoming an indispensable force in Manchester City’s dressing room.
Due to the blow from Nasri’s incident and the decline in Toure’s competitive form, the Italian Language Gang even surpassed the French Language Gang, standing on equal footing with the Spanish Language Gang.
...
January of 2016 was a bustling month.
The opening of the winter transfer window allowed Premier League giants to use their funds to fill each team’s roster weaknesses.
As Chelsea gradually fell back in the Premier League title race, this season’s Premier League championship competition also became a tug-of-war between Manchester City and Manchester United.
The focus of the Premier League title race shifted from last season’s London back to this season’s Manchester.
Seeing Manchester City spend a hefty €31 million to bring Gundogan from Dortmund midway through the season, Manchester United couldn’t sit still!
They are currently 7 points behind Manchester City, a gap that is neither too large nor too small.
In the last dozen rounds of the league, Manchester United’s entire team firmly believes there is still hope to compete for the Premier League title.
Having already spent two billion in the summer window to acquire Icardi and De Bruyne, Manchester United’s board has no retreat; they must deliver a satisfactory result to their owner, fans, and shareholders.
So, Manchester United targeted Dortmund’s player Bender!
Due to feeling short-changed in Gundogan’s previous transfer, selling for less, Dortmund’s management held firm on their asking price this time.
With a determination for a quick resolution, the German midfielder finally joined Manchester United for a transfer fee of €50 million, almost double his Transfermarkt Value, making him the top transfer of Europe’s winter window!
Dortmund fans were in tears~
One winter, losing two key players, Gundogan and Bender, the happiest might be Bayern!
But Bayern fans cried too~
"How come my excavator hasn’t started yet and you two have already run off?"
"And ran so far away!"
If Gundogan’s arrival at Manchester City caused quite a stir in the Premier League,
Then Bender’s arrival at Manchester United added a hurricane to the waves, creating a towering tsunami!
The reason lies in the fact that both Gundogan and Bender represented Dortmund in this season’s UEFA Europa League.
Therefore, the two newcomers to the Premier League can only represent their teams in league matches and not compete in the Champions League.
These are transfers worth tens of millions of Euros, bought not to play in the Champions League, but just for league matches — such extravagance was nearly foolish in the past!
But considering the current title race situation in the Premier League, many analysts believe this indicates the Manchester Giants are well-prepared for the fierce competition in the second half of the season; it demonstrates their ambition to win the domestic league title!
The traditional right-wing media, the Daily Telegraph, once again published an editorial firmly placing the Premier League title competition on Manchester United.
"Since Sir Ferguson’s retirement, we have rarely seen Manchester United show such an incredible ambition on the midpaths of the Premier League title chase!"
"In recent years, many Premier League giants have developed a bad habit of prioritizing the league over the Champions League."
"Foreign management feels that to fully showcase a club’s commercial value and image, winning the Champions League is necessary."
"But we cannot forget, football in the United Kingdom belongs to the grassroots movement of the working class!"
"If a club cannot cement its roots in the domestic league, bringing thrilling performances to the fans, then it is abandoning the fundamental and forgetting the initial intent!"
"We believe under Van Gaal’s leadership, along with the efforts of players like Icardi, De Bruyne, and Bender, Manchester United is certain to make a strong comeback in the second half of the season and close the 7-point gap with real action!"
...
Blockbuster winter window transfers kept the fans on tenterhooks.
While the crowded January fixtures posed a severe test for the players.
The entire January, Manchester City has a staggering 8 matches to play!
On average, they need to complete a match in less than 4 days.
It’s a test for the fans’ wallets, and for the players’ stamina, isn’t it?
Among them, there are only 4 Premier League matches, the remaining 4 are English League Cup and FA Cup matches.
It’s said that the Premier League has no winter break, its players are model laborers of the five major leagues, yet it is also due to the scheduling challenges.
After all, the numerous domestic cup competitions in the Premier League, interspersed densely, objectively rob players of their rest opportunities.
Just after playing the Premier League’s 20th-round match against West Brom,
Manchester City immediately faces the FA Cup’s 3rd round, an away match against Norwich.
Two consecutive away games, Pellegrini once again exercised significant rotation.
The good news is that the Spanish midfielder David Silva, who had been absent for two months, finally made it to the bench and returned mid-game in the 60th minute.
After making his return, Silva immediately showcased excellent competitive form!
Not only did he assist Bony in scoring a goal, but he also fired a remarkable 23-meter curving shot into the top corner, helping Manchester City secure a 2:0 victory over the opponent away from home.
Silva’s exquisite free-kick technique also left Gundogan on the bench full of admiration.
He asked Tang Long about the order of free-kick takers within Manchester City.
Tang Long told him that for shots over 28 meters, the task usually falls to the heavy hitter Kolarov;
Within 25 meters, Silva, Toure, and even himself have the opportunity.
Gundogan nodded, showing a look eager to try. From then on, he voluntarily trained an extra half hour on free-kicks during practice.
...
Just three days after advancing in the FA Cup, Manchester City returned to their home ground for the Premier League’s 21st round against Newcastle.
Manchester City’s main players, who got a rest during the FA Cup, all started.
Tang Long and Gundogan both returned to the starting lineup.
However, this time, Pellegrini made a correct decision.
After experimenting in the past few rounds, the Chilean coach discovered that Gundogan, although outstanding in footwork, vision, and physical confrontation, is not suitable to play as a central attacking midfielder.
Because his passing is too purposeful, and he lacks the inspiration in passing compared to Tang Long.
If Tang Long is compared to Iniesta, able to elegantly maneuver in tight spaces near the penalty area;
Gundogan is actually more suitable for Harvey’s template, taking on the role of connecting the midfield and defense in the team’s backfield.
This adjustment was also immediately effective!
With Gundogan’s skillful linkage in the backfield, Tang Long was finally liberated from running back and forth between positions and instead could focus on executing the final pass in the front.
Bony and Agüero each scored two goals in the first and second halves.
Among them, three assists came from Tang Long!
Gundogan’s stats were also impressive.
Although he had no direct goal or assist data, he completed the most passes in the match with 108 and had a success rate of 96%, with almost no errors!
In terms of defensive statistics, Gundogan also contributed five interceptions and three steals.
Although Tang Long claimed Man of the Match with three assists, in the post-match ratings, both Tang Long and Gundogan got a perfect score of 10!
Bayern scout Raymond had an in-depth analysis of this in his tracking report on Gundogan.
"Since Gundogan came to Manchester City, his tactical role is even more evident than at Dortmund."
"Although he also played as a defensive midfielder at Dortmund, Manchester City’s players are stronger, giving Gundogan more support, which has improved his passing accuracy."
"With Tang Long and Agüero in the front, they both can tactically restrict at least two defensive players locally, allowing Gundogan to capitalize on opportunities and enrich Manchester City’s front attack level."
"Pellegrini precisely uncovered Gundogan’s characteristics; he and Tang Long, one at the back and one at the front, each stood in the most suitable place."
"We originally thought Gundogan would need 2-3 months to adapt to the Premier League, but it turns out he completed this task in just two or three matches!"
"Moreover, his English proficiency is far better than we expected, as he can independently handle interviews in English now."
Raymond even boasted a bit in his notes.
"Looking at it this way, Pep’s previous concerns seem unnecessary, which also proves our interest in this player is methodical. My work in identifying outstanding players has reached a high level."
The dense January schedule continues, and Manchester City can’t guarantee to win every match.
Later in the season, every team more or less showed signs of fatigue, increasing the randomness of matches, and unexpected incidents frequently happened.
Arsenal unsurprisingly slipped up~
Liverpool and Chelsea behaved more conservatively.
Despite strong performances from the Manchester Giants, Manchester United slightly took an advantage.
Unlike Gundogan, Bender was placed in the left winger position at Manchester United and directly participated in the attack.
Originally, the combination of De Bruyne and Icardi was already in full swing during the first half of the season, and adding Bender made the attack even richer in layers.
Knowing that in the half season at Dortmund, he produced six goals and eight assists.
In January’s eight games, Manchester United scored 28 goals, averaging 3.5 goals per game, far exceeding their average goal count in the first half of the season!
Including the 7-0 thrashing of West Ham United, which was a spectacle~
Icardi alone scored four goals, dazzling the entire game.
These eight matches resulted in seven wins and one draw for Manchester United, remaining unbeaten throughout January.
Manchester City also performed outstandingly, with seven wins and one loss in eight games.
However, the regret is that Manchester City lost a league match, while Manchester United drew an FA Cup game.
Which led Manchester City’s league lead over their city rivals to shrink from seven points to four points.
Four points is just a gap of two games.
This margin could be easily covered at any time, and even without needing to wait for the second half of the season’s Manchester Derby should the team collapse.
Nevertheless, Manchester City’s CEO Belgistan, in the team management meeting, did not impose additional pressure on the entire team.
He believed that losing just one match in the dense thirty days of the schedule with Silva returning smoothly from injury and no additional injuries made January one of the club’s most perfect months in recent years!
Belgistan emphasized February’s focus in the meeting.
Apart from not slacking off in the league, attention should also be directed toward the upcoming Champions League Round of 16 knockout stage.
"Our set minimum target for the Champions League at the season’s start was to reach the final, so we must triumph in both legs against Inter Milan!"
(One Chapter today and will catch up tomorrow with three Chapters)