novelraw Chapter 596 - 403: Not afraid of off-field tricks, let’s confront head-on! For this shot, Tang Long once again demonstrates top-notch anticipation!
Chapter 596 - 403: Not afraid of off-field tricks, let’s confront head-on! For this shot, Tang Long once again demonstrates top-notch anticipation!
The head coach of Inter Milan, Leno, was standing right at the entrance to the players’ tunnel!
He could see clearly that all the Manchester City players had changed their shoes to long-studded SGs.
He was suddenly surprised, how did Manchester City react so quickly?
Before the match, he had specially instructed the staff at the Inter Milan Club store to absolutely not sell shoes to Manchester City, but the opponent still succeeded.
Although Leno was slightly nervous, he had still left a contingency plan.
To say this coach, who was promoted from Inter Milan’s youth team to the first team, has excessive tactical expertise would be nonsense.
Compared to coaches of the same level in Serie A, he belongs to the lower tier, able to rank sixth in Serie A by relying entirely on last season’s foundation, progressing from second place in the Champions League group, also thanks to Bonazzoli’s last-minute decisive goal.
However, in this match, he had two tricks up his sleeve!
First was watering the grass, and another was reducing the width of the pitch.
He looked at the sidelines clearly away from him and quickly ordered the team to continue concentrating in the middle, even tighter than before.
"Lock down the middle, leave the flanks, even if they get to the wings, they have no space!"
After shouting, he deliberately glanced at Pellegrini.
When he found the Chilean old coach glaring at him, he instantly felt guilty, quickly turned his head, and looked at the ground, not daring to meet his gaze.
With suitable shoes, Pellegrini’s disciples also had ample space to showcase his tactical talents.
Pellegrini, within the realm of world-renowned coaches, although not comparable to top tactical masters like Ancelotti, Guardiola, he was simply a grandmaster compared to Leno.
Light rain fell from the sky, and the slipperiness of the grass continued to intensify;
Pellegrini decisively struck, going head-to-head with Leno!
Since you don’t want me to play possession, fine, I’ll go with the flow and not play it!
Pellegrini adjusted the formation from the initial 4231 to a 433.
The defensive line remained unchanged.
The three midfielders became Delph in the center, Yaya Toure slightly to the left, and Navas on the right.
And Tang Long—
once again was pushed onto the front line after several matches!
Previously during Agüero’s injury period, Tang Long had been pushed forward on the front line, running around Bony to act as bait.
To overturn the adverse situation in the second half, Pellegrini deployed three players on the front line, with the main firepower still being Agüero, secondary firepower Tang Long, and the last forward Sterling, who Pellegrini requested to frequently move and insert, acting as a disruptor in the front field.
Ronaldo stood in front of the large glass window of the VIP box, clearly seeing Manchester City’s positioning from a god’s perspective.
His face immediately lit up with joy, and he said to his friend Adriano beside him:
"In this way, Manchester City’s turnaround in the second half is absolutely possible!"
Ad scratched his bald head, somewhat naively replying:
"Manchester City has three forwards, only Tang is above 1.8 meters tall, Agüero and Sterling are just over 1.7 meters, there’s no tall forward, how can they attack?"
"Ad, who told you that attacking must have a tall forward? Back in the days of Barça, Messi, Eto’o, Villa, none of those three were over 1.8 meters."
"Ah? But Barça played ground possession back then, does this mean Manchester City will stick to the possession tactics from the first half on this field?"
"That’s not the point, I mean, even with a straightforward tactic, height is still not the determining factor for whether the forward players can fully perform, trust me, just watch!"
When Ad played, he was known for his physique and speed, a single violent shot was famous in the football world.
But in terms of tactical understanding, he was far inferior to Ronaldo!
So even after listening to a national team elder brother’s explanation, Ad was still puzzled, not understanding the matter clearly.
However, even so, as a former professional player, Ad quickly noticed the changes in Manchester City’s tactics from the god’s perspective in the stands.
"Toure is frequently moving forward, it seems he’s taking up the attacking midfielder position!"
Ad found that although Toure’s position was slightly left midfield, when Kolarov the left-back pressed forward, Toure would leave the left to him and then move inside.
Due to the ground conditions being really not ideal, whether it’s Ranocchia or keeper Caballero, they frequently played high balls, and the ball often landed on Toure’s side.
"Is this trying to let Toure score a header?"
"Toure is just a ball transfer machine, the focus is still on the three forwards, especially Tang."
Within the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Despite players with long-term personal sponsors still being unfamiliar with the new shoes due to brand and model differences, after 10 minutes of adjustment, they gradually got the feel.
Especially during running, sudden stops, and turns where no falls occurred, it avoided accidents.
In the 11th minute, the opportunity came!
Caballero’s goal kick steadily reached Ranocchia.
Just a second before Ranocchia received the ball, he instantly turned around to find no Inter player pressing him within a 20-meter radius.
In the second half, the opponent strictly followed coach Leno’s tactics of defensive contraction, so no forward crossed the halfway too much to press Manchester City’s ball-playing center-back.
After Ranocchia received the ball, Toure in midfield was signaling to him, but after glancing at the rather crowded midfield, pausing for 0.5 seconds, he pushed the ball to the left for Kolarov.
Although Inter played a few short passes in the backfield, the pitch conditions were not ideal, both the passing and receiving had to be extremely cautious, but since Inter didn’t press, there wasn’t much to discuss.
Seeing Ranocchia not giving the ball to midfield but pushing it to his own flank, Leno secretly rejoiced.
"Hehe, this pitch is much narrower, everyone is pressing in the center, where do you have the chance to pass?"
Even if Kolarov takes the ball on the wing, what can he do?
We won’t go for the steal, our formation won’t be stretched by you, the back three lines are steady, tightly knit, you can’t do anything.
No one expected Kolarov to not stop the ball, but instead, go straight for a long lob pass!
This long pass was delivered with the Serbian left-back’s adept technique.
He slightly turned, his left leg like a sturdy pivot, while his right foot gracefully swiped, barely grazing the turf.
Although he kicked a curve ball, this curve didn’t swing left or right, but came backward.
The ball soared higher and higher, passing through the searchlights’ night sky of Meazza Stadium, then seemed to lose its angle. Its speed decreased gradually, under gravity’s pull, plunging almost vertically towards the ground.
Lightly, floating...
Kolarov wanted exactly this effect!
Now Toure was positioned slightly left of centerfield, Brazilian side-back Jonathan saw the ball’s slow speed, with Toure just standing dumbly, hurriedly dashed forward trying to head the ball away from behind Toure.
Just at the moment he jumped, Toure suddenly turned, pushing his butt back and spreading his hands, pressing Jonathan firmly down!
He took advantage of his backward lean, bursting a loud "Ah" from his throat, his forehead ferociously smashed towards the front of the football.
When heading the ball, Toure didn’t even think about whom to pass it to on the front line.
But he knew well, the three behind him were constantly weaving their runs; as long as he headed it suddenly and the ball sped forward, there would surely be a chance for teammates.
"Whizz—"
Toure’s backward header was swift and flat, the ball hit the ground immediately after leaving his head, accelerating with the help of the slick grass!
Adriano in the box was startled, shouting, "This ball is in!"
The difference professional players see in watching compared to ordinary fans is significant.
Kolarov’s long pass flew towards Toure’s head, just as he headed it, the fans watching live or streaming were all wondering where Toure’s header would send the ball.
Their focus was all on the ball.
But within the box, Adriano’s attention during Toure’s header was on the front line’s three players’ movement.
He noticed just at Toure touched the ball, while the other Manchester City players and including Inter Milan’s defenders waited for the ball’s direction, Tang Long suddenly dashed left at high speed!
His slanted sprint was so quick, Adriano noticed his arching back and swinging arms, knowing this was a fast burst.
The ball indeed flew toward Tang Long’s charging direction!
Even as Toure’s scalp brushed the ball, Tang Long already used high-level prediction to guess the ball’s path ahead of time.
Seeing Tang Long suddenly swoop behind himself, center-back Andreolli was shocked, hastily chasing trying to keep up with Tang Long’s pace;
While Tang Long’s former teammate Santon was loudly calling, "Don’t rush, it’s tough for him to catch this ball, just hold your position!"
Yet it was clear both Andreolli and Santon had underestimated Tang Long’s ability.
Tang Long’s top-tier predictive skills allowed him to gauge the ball’s path ahead of time;
Having trained intensively at the AI Cloud Training Ground with the fly-eye technique, Tang Long clearly understood the football’s speed changes and spin frequency on field.
Kolarov’s backward spinning pass had a slow speed, but after Toure’s header, it changed into a forward spin, hitting ground gained extra speed - these series of changes overwhelmed Inter Milan’s defenders, their cognitive pace couldn’t match the ball trajectory alterations.
But Tang Long saw clearly, his pupils abruptly contracted!
A soft thud echoed, his instep gently retracted, not only stopping the ball surely but then his supporting foot sprang, spinning off his spot with a pull-back turn!
"Oops!"
This rhythm shift caught Andreolli off guard, he slipped!
Even the deeply cleated SG shoes couldn’t hold on the wet ground.
"Ah, Andreolli from Inter Milan actually slipped!"
"The slick grass affecting both Manchester City and Inter alike!"
"Tang Long’s quick maneuvers, bypassing the fallen Andreolli with ease!"
"Goalkeeper Sepe stunned, why not charge forward?"
"Too late!"
"Tang Long shoots and scores to the far corner!"
"Manchester City pulls back one goal!"
After scoring, Tang Long’s expression remained stern, without celebration, he ran straight into the net, snatching the ball from Sepe’s hands, then pivoting to race towards the center circle.
His lack of celebration was firstly for respect towards his former club.
Secondly the aggregate score was still behind, celebrating for what? We aim for advancement!
Leno, whatever despicable tricks you still have, bring them on.
My teammates and I will play all the way with you!
March in Milan, the night temperature only three or four degrees.
Cold wind blew, dense drizzle seeped into Tang Long’s sleeves.
Seen above Tang Long’s head, steamy heat wafted, like freshly steamed buns just uncovered from the steamer.
He slammed the ball heavily on the center-circle spot, icy rainwater surged up, splashing into Tang Long’s eyes...