Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 267 Arsenal's Fall to the Bottom
Three days later, Manchester City faced Wigan Athletic at home in the fourth round of the league.

Wigan Athletic is not a strong team; they barely avoided relegation last season, and their task this season is naturally to avoid relegation as well.

However, facing this kind of team is actually the most difficult, because they park the bus the whole game.

Despite being tightly marked throughout the match, Shan Yongzhuo still managed to score a goal in each half, leading Manchester City to a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic at home.

A week later, Manchester City traveled to London to face Fulham, the co-op owners.

Shan Yongzhuo was not included in the squad for this match. After discussing with Mancini, he decided to take a rest for the next round in preparation for the EFL Cup match two days later.

Mancini was initially quite concerned about Shan Yongzhuo's desire to participate in the EFL Cup and thus rest from the league, but when he heard Shan Yongzhuo say that he wanted to win all the titles, Mancini also became quite enthusiastic.

If he can win all the titles he can in a season, Mancini will gain unprecedented prestige.

This is a good thing; no head coach would complain about having too many championships.

Moreover, in the third round of the EFL Cup, Manchester City's opponent is Birmingham City, a Premier League team. Without Shan Yongzhuo, there was a real possibility of an upset.

So he took Shan Yongzhuo's advice and didn't let him travel with the team for this match.

Unexpectedly, Manchester City suffered a defeat at Craven Cottage.

In this match, Manchester City performed exceptionally well in the first half, with Balotelli and Aguero scoring goals. Within 30 minutes of the half, Manchester City had a two-goal lead.

But in the second half, the game took a dramatic turn.

Fulham, as if they were on steroids, completely dominated Manchester City, and scored in the 55th and 78th minutes to equalize the score.

Then, in the 91st minute of stoppage time, Fulham striker Dempsey unleashed a stunning 30-meter wonder goal, securing the victory.

In the end, Fulham defeated Manchester City 3-2 at home, ending Manchester City's winning streak.

The result of the match was very frustrating, especially for Mancini, who was extremely annoyed.

What's even more frustrating is that after their 5-0 thrashing of Bolton in the previous round, rival Manchester United defeated strong opponent Chelsea 3-1 at home in this round, achieving a five-game winning streak at the start of the season and dominating the league table.

Manchester United's five-game winning streak is quite impressive, with their 8-2 victory over Arsenal seemingly bringing back the Manchester United team that once dominated the Premier League.

As for Manchester City, they received a lot of criticism for this match.

The forwards performed well, especially Aguero, whose performance of one goal and one assist was a pleasant surprise.

However, Manchester City's defense was heavily criticized, with Lescott receiving the lowest rating of the match.

After the match, Mancini severely criticized all the players, especially the defenders.

Then, two days later in the EFL Cup, the defense once again displeased Mancini.

In this match, Shan Yongzhuo started and scored three goals, while Balotelli also scored one goal, but Manchester City still conceded two goals.

Ultimately, although they defeated Birmingham 4-2, Mancini was still very annoyed by the defense.

In fact, Manchester City's defense has always had significant problems, a problem that has become apparent since the Kolo Toure drug test incident last season.

Kompany is undoubtedly a very strong center-back, but it is clearly not enough to rely on him alone to support the entire defense.

Lescott has made more than one major mistake in the world. The newcomer, Mexes, has performed reasonably well, but he also has the major flaw of being too hasty in his defense.

The new signing, Clichy, has performed reasonably well, but Richards' performance this season has been nothing short of epic disaster, with his right flank constantly getting exploited.

The problem is that Mancini doesn't really have a decent right-back, so he has to keep using Richards.

Moreover, Mancini also discovered that defense is not just a problem for the defenders.

In Mancini's 4-2-2-2 formation, the two defensive midfielders are crucial, and the problem lies with them. De Jong's form this season has been a sharp decline; although he can still barely hold onto a starting position, he is no longer the player he once was.

The bigger problem is Yaya Touré.

This guy has a fiery attacking heart, and his constant forward runs are a major reason why Manchester City's defense is out of balance.

Unfortunately, his forward runs don't offer much overall help in the attack.

This is what frustrated Mancini.

He told Yaya Toure more than once not to push too far forward, but it was obviously to no avail.

This guy is still doing things his own way as always. It's not that he's disobedient, but it's just that the concept of "forward-thinking" seems to be engraved in his brain and has become part of his blood.

Moreover, he cannot easily substitute Yaya Toure, since Manchester City's midfield is the weakest point, with only veteran Barry left. Barry's ability to sweep up defenses is not worth mentioning.

Therefore, Mancini could only keep reminding Yaya Toure.

Then in the sixth round of the league, Shan Yongzhuo made his first start.

In this match, Yaya Touré set an example, making various interceptions and sweeping plays throughout the game, and his performance was outstanding.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that their opponent, Everton, has a pitifully weak attacking ability.

With Shan Yongzhuo scoring a goal in each half, Manchester City secured a 2-0 victory over Everton at the Etihad Stadium, thankfully avoiding further problems, otherwise Manchester United would have widened the gap.

The league continues in full swing.

A few days later, Manchester City traveled to Blackburn Rovers for an away game.

The match went relatively easily. Shan Yongzhuo sat on the bench and did not get a chance to play. Aguero and Balotelli were in great form, each scoring two goals, and Manchester City won 4-1 away against Blackburn.

After the match, the team had time to rest and adjust.

The initial stage of the league is now over.

Manchester City's record of 6 wins and 1 loss is still very satisfactory.

Manchester United are the best performing team, with 6 wins and 1 draw, accumulating 19 points and leading Manchester City by 1 point.

Chelsea is in third place with 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and 16 points.

Liverpool haven't fallen behind, sitting in sixth place with 13 points, but Arsenal, one of the traditional top four, have had a disappointing season.

Arsenal, who underwent a major overhaul in the summer, have only managed 2 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses after 7 rounds, accumulating 7 points and nearing the relegation zone.

Moreover, they suffered a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Manchester United away from home.

Arsenal, having almost lost its core players, can only rely on the returning Robin van Persie to carry the team, making things very difficult for Arsène Wenger.

It's always been the style of the English media to kick a man when he's down; last season, Liverpool turned the world into Arsenal.

Arsenal and Wenger were bombarded with criticism from the media, while various negative news about the team continued to emerge.

For a time, Arsenal was even more popular than Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

However, the Manchester City players had no interest in paying attention to these things.

They are about to face their biggest challenge in the Champions League. They are currently on a plane heading to an away game against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

(End of this chapter)