Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 395 Skilled and Flowing

“GOOOOOOOOOAL!”

"The ball is in!"

"That's right, the ball is in! The ball is in!"

The commentator excitedly shouted, "Shan Yongzhuo, he has already breached Stoke City's goal in the first minute of the match!"

"After he got the ball, he immediately shook off Camron."

"1 to 0!"

"We can see that Camron didn't react immediately; his reaction was a bit slow."

"This is deadly..."

The stands erupted in cheers, especially the Manchester City fans, who were ecstatic.

"They're in already?"

"Shan Yongzhuo is really amazing!"

"Of course, Shan never disappoints!"

"one!"

The sound from the stands immediately turned into a unanimous cheer and support for Shan Yongzhuo from Manchester City fans.

Manchester City fans were incredibly excited. Most of them came to support the team, but their anticipation for the game was largely due to Shan Yongzhuo. A game without Shan Yongzhuo felt incomplete to them.

Guardiola?

If Guardiola can achieve results with the team, they wouldn't mind supporting him.

But as it turns out, Guardiola didn't do as well as Shan Yongzhuo.

The current match is proof of this: Manchester City's first attack, with Shan Yongzhuo's first touch of the ball, broke through the opponent's goal.

On the sidelines, Manchester City's substitutes were also celebrating their goal.

Guardiola, on the other hand, fell into deep thought.

He had seen Shan Yongzhuo's performance on the field before; last season, his Barcelona team was defeated by Shan Yongzhuo.

And now, Guardiola is indeed deep in thought.

"That's really impressive..."

"No matter where he is, as long as he gets a chance to shoot, he almost always hits the target!"

Thinking about this, Guardiola hesitated again.

"No, my team should rely on the collective effort, not the performance of individual players!"

……

The game starts again.

Stoke City were extremely frustrated, as they never expected that the opponent's first wave of attack would breach their goal.

This is the worst start ever.

Many of his teammates were complaining to Geoff Camron: "Why are you spacing out!"

"Geoff, are you still asleep?"

"You're defending against Shan Yongzhuo!"

"Be careful, you must be on high alert!"

"Geoff, cheer up!"

"..."

Camron was frustrated by his teammates' complaints, but it was indeed his mistake, which left him with no way to argue.

He could only suppress his frustration and try his best.

"I will work hard, and I will never be worse than anyone else!"

"I need to defend against him, I need to prove myself!"

Camron's idea was simple, and the situation on the field gave him the opportunity to perform. Stoke City were under heavy pressure.

During this period, Manchester City has indeed been gradually implementing Guardiola's ideas and tactical approach. Although it still seems somewhat immature, it has already shown some of the characteristics of Barcelona.

On the field, Stoke City were having a tough time.

Manchester City maintained a firm grip on possession, boasting a 70% possession rate.

However, Shan Yongzhuo seemed somewhat out of place with his teammates.

He remained almost motionless on the field, occasionally running a few steps, calmly watching his teammates pass the ball back and forth.

Dan Yongzhuo was also helpless, but he was unable to integrate into his teammates' tactics and could only wait for his teammates to pass the ball to him when they had the opportunity.

Stoke City's style of play is a very typical counter-attacking style, with a relatively rough playing style that emphasizes physicality, tackling, and defense.

Therefore, even though they had very low possession, they were still able to keep their goal intact by pressing hard, and forced Manchester City to pass the ball around in the midfield and backfield. Every time the ball reached the front, it was easily intercepted.

This is also Guardiola's biggest headache.

Manchester City's players are not good enough, especially their midfielders.

Manchester City's attacking line and wingers are definitely strong, but their central midfielders don't quite meet Guardiola's requirements.

Whether it's Barry, Yaya Toure, or new signings Rodwell and Javi Garcia, these players are all typically more defensively oriented.

New signing Rodwell is valued by Guardiola, but his overall strength is still insufficient.

Therefore, Guardiola wanted to bring in a technical midfielder in the summer, and he had his sights set on Tottenham's midfielder Modric, but unfortunately Real Madrid snatched him away.

So, in the end, he could only use the existing people and then reuse Rodwell.

Rodwell's performance was decent; his midfield was able to suppress Stoke City, making it difficult for Stoke City to launch effective counter-attacks.

However, Manchester City also has serious problems.

They placed too much emphasis on passing in midfield, and often failed to pass the ball to the forwards when they had opportunities, causing Manchester City to miss many chances.

Dan Yongzhuo felt somewhat helpless, so he retreated even further.

In the 25th minute, he finally got a chance.

It was a drop back to receive the ball. After Yaya Toure got the ball, he saw Shan Yongzhuo's position and saw him raising his hand to ask for the ball, so he passed the ball directly to him.

After receiving the ball, Shan Yongzhuo used the Ghost Shadow Grappling Hand to dodge Camron's defense again, and then cleanly and neatly passed Huth, arriving at his most comfortable position on the edge of the penalty area.

He kicks the ball and shoots.

Crisp and neat.

The football flew straight into the goal, and Stoke City's goalkeeper Begovic had no chance.

"The ball is in!"

"It's still Shan Yongzhuo!"

The commentator, as if he had just fallen asleep and then witnessed a delightful surprise, shouted: "2-0! Shan Yongzhuo scores his second goal!"

"As expected, goals still depend on single bets."

"In fact, by now, the first half of the game has made some viewers want to doze off."

"All Manchester City did was keep passing the ball around, but they rarely really threatened Stoke City's goal."

"In the end, Shan Yongzhuo was more direct. He received the ball, broke through, and shot, all in one smooth and skillful motion, just like a goal he scored in training!"

Shan Yongzhuo's goal was a significant blow to Stoke City.

Firstly, they were down 0-2, and with only half the first half played, they were already down by two goals, which was really hard to accept.

Secondly, Shan Yongzhuo scored again. They focused almost a third of their defense on Shan Yongzhuo, but he still managed to score two goals easily.

This is very uncomfortable.

Despite their best efforts to limit the opponent's ability to score, they were still unable to prevent the opponent from scoring.

How else can this match be played?
Many Stoke City players have lost confidence.

(End of this chapter)