Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 434 Turning Stone into Gold: Cross

Manchester City faced Everton, their first opponent in December, in the field.

Last season, Everton finished seventh in the Premier League. So far this season, they have 22 points and are in sixth place in the Premier League. They are a tough opponent to beat.

Everton is also one of Shan Yongzhuo's least favorite opponents.

Everton's defense is very tough and they play it very well. Even Shan Yongzhuo felt a lot of pressure when facing Everton's tenacious defense.

However, most people still believe that Manchester City can beat Everton at home, because Manchester City is in such good form right now.

Furthermore, given that it was a home game, Shan Yongzhuo was given the opportunity to start. To everyone, it seemed that Manchester City had no reason to lose.

This match didn't receive much attention.

Because everyone thought Everton was doomed to lose, they didn't care about the game at all.

But the final result was unexpected by everyone.

3 is better than 4!

Manchester City lost to Everton at home.

When the result of the match came out, it immediately attracted a lot of attention. Many people found that Everton performed exceptionally well in this match. Their defense was very tough and solid, and their counter-attacks were also very effective, often delivering a fatal blow. Four counter-attacks in the first and second halves directly defeated Manchester City.

Manchester City actually did a good job of dominating the game, fully demonstrating the style of a strong team, allowing Everton only 7 shots throughout the entire match.

However, facing Everton's tenacious defense, they could only rely on Shan Yongzhuo's individual performance to score goals.

Shan Yongzhuo performed well, scoring all of the goals and completing a hat-trick.

Unfortunately, Manchester City's defense collectively displayed very poor acting skills in this match. In the 86th minute, when Manchester City pressed forward with all their players in an attempt to break the 3-3 draw, Everton seized the opportunity and launched a sharp counterattack, directly winning the game.

This is Manchester City's third league defeat this season. The last league loss was in the seventh round against Sunderland, when Shan Yongzhuo was playing for the national team and was not with the team.

In professional leagues, losing is actually quite normal; no team can win all the time.

Defeat can also bring lessons. In this match, Guardiola summarized that the epic disastrous performance of his defense was the biggest reason for the loss.

When a team has a clear advantage, the defensive players in the backcourt will instinctively push forward with all their might.

For example, the team's defensive linchpin, Kompany.

This guy has a very fiery attacking mindset, and the second goal conceded was largely due to his run into the box.

It was a Manchester City corner kick, and Kompany rushed into the penalty area to contest the header, but Everton cleared the ball and launched a beautiful counter-attack.

Not only Kompany, but all the other defensive players were noticeably slower in their recovery.

Therefore, Guardiola decided to give these defensive players a good workout during training.

Meanwhile, Shan Yongzhuo received Thomas Cross at his home.

This guy brought Shan Yongzhuo several more lucrative endorsements.

And this guy was clearly in a very good mood.

Granada's performance was truly beyond his expectations.

The La Liga season has completed fourteen rounds so far, and Granada has achieved an impressive record of five wins, five draws and four losses, ranking seventh in La Liga with 20 points. This achievement has stunned the Spanish media.

No one expected that this newly promoted team, which barely avoided relegation last season, would become completely different this season. Granada's outstanding new signings have attracted widespread attention.

Mane is the most promising player. In 14 La Liga matches, Mane has scored 6 goals, an astonishing efficiency of nearly 0.5 goals per game, and is considered Granada's number one star player.

This winger, who played in Ligue 2 last season and was relegated to Ligue 3 with his team, has performed so well in La Liga this season, which makes people marvel at Kroos's amazing eye for talent.

It's worth noting that Granada only spent 200 million euros to acquire Mane.

On the other hand, the player who has attracted much attention is Kanté, a defensive midfielder who was also found on a French online marketplace.

This diminutive defensive midfielder was not highly regarded when he joined Granada, but after more than ten rounds of league matches, Kante has now become a rising star in La Liga.

Kante, playing in the defensive midfield position, possesses exceptional stamina and can significantly enhance Granada's defense through tireless running and outstanding sweeping ability.

In 14 league matches, Granada has only conceded 11 goals, an average of less than one goal per game, which is extremely impressive in a league like La Liga.

Kante was the biggest contributor to Granada's improved defense.

This player, who, like Mane, was relegated to Ligue 3 with his team last season, once again proved Kroos's shrewd eye.

Another previously unknown player, Daley Blind, has also performed exceptionally well since joining Granada.

Little Blind is a full-back who joined Granada this season and has shown impressive attacking ability on the flanks. In 14 league matches, Little Blind has already contributed 4 assists, ranking among the top players in the assist charts.

Even Yuya Osako, the Japanese player who joined Granada for a pittance, deserves praise for his performance.

In 14 league matches, Yuya Osako made 6 substitute appearances and scored 2 goals. Considering his market value of 500,000 euros, this performance is quite good.

It's easy to imagine that if these players can maintain their form after a season of honing their skills, their market value will definitely skyrocket.

For those two unscrupulous businessmen, Shan Yongzhuo and Kroos, they could definitely make a fortune by exploiting this group of players.

This has made Kroos quite the talk of the town recently, with some media outlets calling him "Kroos who turns lead into gold."

Kroos was also very happy, even practically grinning from ear to ear.

However, he still has a clear understanding of himself.

It's not that he has a great eye for talent, but rather that Shan Yongzhuo's eye for talent is incredibly sharp.

Therefore, with the winter break fast approaching, Kroos decided to personally visit Shan Yongzhuo to discuss whether Granada should make any moves during the winter.

However, these were not what Shan Yongzhuo cared about most; he was more concerned about Feng Xiaoting.

“Well, he’s come on as a substitute a few times, but his performance has been rather average,” Kroos said somewhat embarrassedly. “Feng has performed quite well in training, but it’s still a bit difficult for him to become a starter.”

Shan Yongzhuo nodded; he had indeed thought of that.

The initial purpose of purchasing Feng Xiaoting was simply to help talented domestic players.

"It's alright, just let him learn from Van Dijk." Shan Yongzhuo didn't really care about it.

Learning from Van Dijk and occasionally getting playing time in La Liga, he should be better than Feng Xiaoting in his previous life when he didn't go abroad.

That's enough.

(End of this chapter)