We agreed to play football together, and you will be the head coach?

Chapter 364: Mars hits the Earth, Villa vs. Barcelona

April 20th, the 34th round of the Premier League.

Led by Kaka, Villa's second team challenged Fulham away.

Villa had the upper hand but couldn't score and the game was about to end in a draw, but Kaka suddenly exploded and broke the deadlock with a desperate counterattack.

Thanks to Kaka's counterattack goal, Villa won all three points and continued to lead Manchester United on goal difference.

But in this round, three of the four Manchester United players, Van Persie, Valencia and Ashley Young, scored, narrowing the goal difference between the two sides.

If the situation continues like this in the next few rounds, even if Villa is not overtaken by Manchester United in points, its advantage in goal difference may be lost.

what?
Are you asking who is the one among Manchester United's four kings who didn't score a goal?

Of course it’s boxing champion Rooney.

He participated in all the goals scored by the three kings.

On April 24th, Barcelona flew to Birmingham.

The enthusiastic and well-educated English aristocratic fans continued to verbally abuse Barcelona throughout the match, fulfilling their duty as a fan.

A Barcelona spokesman complained about all this in an interview, saying that the English were very rude.

Before the game, the performance of Messi and De Bruyne became the focus of major media.

This series may determine the winner of this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Similarly, there is a high probability that the winner of the Coach of the Year award will be decided.

If Guardiola cannot defeat He Tianqi and win the Champions League, He Tianqi may win the title of Head Coach of the Year for the tenth consecutive year!
Although Villa has leased the stadium in Birmingham this year, there is still a strong home atmosphere here.

Some players from both teams were interviewed before entering the stadium.

Messi: "I don't need to prove anything. De Bruyne may have a Ballon d'Or, but awards don't represent true strength."

De Bruyne: "The Ballon d'Or sometimes reflects who was the best in the past year, and sometimes not. But in any case, who will be the best next year is something the Ballon d'Or cannot predict."

Xavi: "We have the best midfield combination in the world and we are full of confidence for the next game."

Kante: "I don't know who is the best midfield combination in the world, but I will try my best to grab every ball I am supposed to grab."

Iniesta: "From the statistics, we are the most dominant team in Europe. Our ball possession rate, number of passes and other data are unmatched in world football."

Bale: "The boss has repeatedly stressed that possession and passing are only means, not ends. Killing with one blow is my mission and it is also an important way for Villa to kill opponents."

Pique: "We are never afraid of Villa's forward line. In fact, apart from Bale, they don't have any absolute main striker, which is a taboo in military strategy."

Lewandowski: "Will I still dive, cheat for yellow cards, or cause red cards? Your question is very rude. In fact, it doesn't depend on me. If the opponent plays well, of course I will play well too."

Valdes: "A player like Lewandowski will never be accepted by Barcelona. He will never join Barcelona, ​​and even if he joins, he will never have a place on the poster celebrating the 125th anniversary of Barcelona."

Van Dijk: "How to defend Messi? We mainly think about how to win the game, not any particular player."

Guardiola: "I understand that limiting Messi will be the most important task for Villa players in this game. Similarly, we will do our best to freeze De Bruyne and Kaka, but I guess he dare not play these two players at the same time."

He Tianqi: "What disappoints me most about Pep is that his experimental spirit has been declining since he joined Barcelona. My dear scientist is gone, and he is now just an increasingly mediocre coach."

"It's true that I won't play De Bruyne and Kaka at the same time in this game, but at the same time, he doesn't dare to take Messi off or arrange a fixed position for Messi."

"Center forward? This is just a trick to deceive others and himself except Messi. How much will other strikers of Barcelona have to sacrifice for this? How much will the coach's tactics have to sacrifice?"

“I would never allow that to happen to my team.”

"When Guardiola looks for a job next time, he must find a team like mine where he can absolutely realize his tactical intentions."

"Barca is nothing more than a fancy cage for him."

The two sides exchanged sharp words.

But from Guardiola's depressed expression before the game, it can be seen that his defense was broken.

Once psychological warfare begins, there will inevitably be losers.

Compared to He Tianqi who is about to be perfect, Guardiola's inner world is full of flaws.

……

With a whistle, the game between the two sides officially began.

Barcelona's starting lineup is very close to the one that future fans will be most familiar with:

Pedro, Messi, Sanchez
Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta

Alba, Bartra, Pique, Alves

Valdez
-

Also on the bench are Villa who has not yet fully recovered, Fabregas who is in poor form, Alexander Song who came to Barcelona as an Arsenal starter just to be a substitute, as well as young players Tello and Alcantara.

As for Villa, there are also some minor changes in the lineup:

Albrighton, Lukaku, Bale

De Bruyne, Kante, Pogba
Azpilicueta, Boateng, Van Dijk, Walker

Courtois
-

Kaka is sitting on the bench, and when he and De Bruyne appear on the field at the same time, the team's defensive pressure will be greater.

Guardiola is right on this point.

Fellaini was supposed to start but was injured due to a cold, so Pogba got the chance to start in another important tournament.

The reason for arranging Fellaini or Pogba is because He Tianqi has special arrangements for this position.

The player in this position will be responsible for the overall suppression of Busquets.

Especially physical suppression.

Therefore, technical midfielders are excluded.

Busquets is a defensive midfielder, and to suppress him means going to his own frontcourt frequently, but at the same time he cannot neglect defense, so higher requirements are placed on the player's running ability and coverage.

Taking all these conditions into consideration, only Fellaini and Pogba meet the requirements.

The former is a little slower but has good stamina and coverage. Under the training of He Tianqi, Fellaini has become another example of an all-around midfielder. The media often compares him with the former Yaya Toure.

Pogba is faster, but his overall awareness is a little worse, and he is currently slightly inferior to Fellaini in terms of combat effectiveness.

The reason why Busquets needs to be strictly restricted is that in Guardiola's tactics, the defensive midfielder is one of the key points of the formation, or even the most important one.

This was something that fans before and after had never expected.

Busquets, who is not good-looking and is considered a loser by many people, is actually the key player of the team.

But in the future, Guardiola's Manchester City will prove this with a series of losses and defeats after Rodri's injury.

It’s not that this defensive midfielder is so great, nor is it that he is unique.

The main task that Guardiola assigns to the defensive midfielder is a bottom line for the team.

As long as this foundation is there, the team will feel at ease even if they don't touch the ball, and the opponent will be wary. Guardiola's team will increase its combat effectiveness by 30%.

If this foundation is lost, the team will waste 30% of its strength, and it will be a tough battle to play against anyone.

In addition, in terms of restricting Messi, He Tianqi arranged Kante, Azpilicueta and Boateng, and asked them to jointly encircle and suppress the player, and be decisive in their kicks and attacks.

Keep playing aggressively against Messi.

The goal is not to steal the ball, but to use your body to attack Messi.

It is better to commit a foul than for Messi to break through in dangerous areas frequently.

Guardiola also guessed right about this.

Holding down the baby, bah... holding down Messi basically means holding down Barcelona.

The outcome of this game basically depends on how long Villa can hold Messi down.

As a result, one of the two moves made by He Tianqi was immediately demonstrated at the beginning.

In the second minute, Pogba received the ball in the frontcourt and easily passed Xavi using his footwork.

Busquets made a decisive flying tackle and knocked Pogba down.

Pogba jumped up to protect himself, and his studs scratched Busquets' face, causing blood to flow.

The Barcelona team doctor entered the field immediately.

The scene was filled with noise.

The opening scene is a scene of Mars colliding with the Earth.

"Red card! This is definitely a red card!" Xavi immediately put pressure on the referee. "Yes, Busquets's flying tackle is a red card, he didn't touch the ball at all!" De Bruyne did not give in, and the two argued fiercely beside the referee.

Players from both teams quickly gathered towards the scene.

Pique was furious from a distance: "What, do you want to fight?"

As a result, Van Dijk, who was in equally good shape, stepped forward and said, "If you want, I'll accompany you to the end!"

The two people also collided with each other.

Guardiola was sweating profusely.

"Pique!" Guardiola reminded Pique.

Before the game, he repeatedly stressed that when playing against Villa, just play well and don't do anything unnecessary, otherwise... those who understand will understand.

puff!

Pique laughed.

He was too close to Van Dijk, and seeing how serious the other was, he couldn't hold back for a moment.

He was just acting.

Many of his performances on the court, such as standing up for the team, come from his responsibility.

He is a member of Barcelona and wants to be the leader of the locker room of Barcelona, ​​so he has to shoulder the responsibility of the locker room leader.

In other words, in order to become the boss, one must behave in a corresponding manner to win people's hearts.

This isn't actually a bad review.

There is nothing wrong with striving for a goal. Many people have such a desire but are unable to fulfill those responsibilities.

But compared to some natural leaders, Pique is far behind.

The so-called natural leaders, such as Ramos, Van Dijk, etc., look the same as Pique, but the difference is that even if they are in a humble position, they will have the mentality to stand up for their teammates, regardless of whether they are leaders or not.

To put it bluntly, natural leaders are more loyal and will do anything even if there is no reward in return, in order to have a clear conscience.

Purposeful leaders pay more attention to the interests behind the scenes, and their actions must have a purpose.

Therefore, Pique laughed because Van Dijk was too serious. After all, they were just acting out the confrontation due to their status. It was of course funny to meet such a serious young man.

But Van Dijk kept staring at Pique.

You know, Van Dijk actually became Villa's main central defender only this season.

He is actually below Boateng in the central defender sequence.

But this defense line is now under his jurisdiction.

Soon, Busquets put a few Band-Aids on his face. It was not a big deal and would not leave scars.

However, the referee showed him a yellow card.

Death penalty can be avoided, but living crime cannot be avoided.

Busquets' flying tackle was indeed a foul.

In football rules, there is a theory of priority fouls.

From the moment of the foul, subsequent actions are theoretically not taken into consideration for penalties, unless it is a particularly malicious disciplinary foul.

Pogba's shoe studs scratched Busquets, which was not a disciplinary issue, but an accident caused by evasive action.

If Busquets did not commit the foul, there was a chance that Pogba would be given a yellow card because of his evasive action that caused the opponent to be injured. Although he had no malicious intent, he would have to bear part of the consequences.

But Busquets committed the foul first, and that flying tackle was a relatively serious foul.

and so……

"Fark!" Guardiola cursed the referee in a low voice on the sidelines, expressing his dissatisfaction with the penalty.

This wave of tug-of-war took some time.

In the fifth minute, Busquets, who had seemed to be in great pain before, suddenly recovered, stole the ball from behind Walker who was carelessly dribbling, and passed the ball to launch a counterattack.

Walker was speechless at this medical miracle. Who would have thought that this bamboo pole was so sinister?
Pedro received the ball on the left side of the frontcourt, but Kante came back quickly.

Pedro passed the ball back to Xavi.

Pogba immediately started pressing Xavi.

How can Xavi support Pogba's big body?

After a forced confrontation, he sent a straight pass to Messi in the middle.

However, Kante had already appeared in the passing path and stretched his foot to complete an interception.

Messi frowned.

He already felt that he was being targeted.

Guardiola was speechless about Kante's covering ability. He prefers a technical midfielder with a certain height. Of course, it would be better if this midfielder was stronger.

For example, Motta.

Busquets is just Motta's substitute in his mind.

He has always looked down on Kante, a purely defensive, covering Gattuso-style midfielder.

Because there is absolutely no way Kante could freeze Messi for the entire game.

In the eighth minute, Van Dijk launched an attack with a long pass from the backcourt.

Valdes rushed out of the penalty area and cleared the ball before Lukaku.

Lukaku turned his head and looked at He Tianqi, meaning, are you sure this is not the goalkeeper you trained?

The attack was too brave.

The striker feels very uncomfortable.

In the eleventh minute, Bale broke through Alba on the right.

Although Alba is also fast, he is at a disadvantage in physical confrontations.

However, Guardiola also had arrangements. Left center back Bartra came out early and took the opportunity to tackle Bale.

The referee believed that Bartra touched the ball first and did not call a foul.

But Bale showed his socks to the camera.

There are two obvious notches at the ankles.

Bartra touched his ankle first, and if he hadn't been lucky, he would have been injured.

This time it was Zidane and Southgate's turn to curse the referee on the sidelines.

In the 13th minute, De Bruyne passed the ball to Walker who came on the right.

Walker made a through pass.

Bale swept the ball from the bottom.

Batistuta stretched his leg to destroy the ball.

The football bounced to the outside right side of the penalty area.

Walker received the ball with a low shot, but he was quite restrained, otherwise it would have easily gone flying.

But Pique was in a good position and blocked the ball.

Albrighton also made a follow-up shot with the ball.

Unfortunately, this type of shot is not convenient to use with a lob, and the ball went slightly off the goal.

A player like Albrighton, who has superb footwork, is more suitable for stopping the ball and shooting rather than volleying.

In basketball, it is more suitable to dribble the ball, find the touch and then shoot.

Not suitable for catching and shooting.

These are definitely two different offensive modes.

But Villa was very much after that first shot.

Albrighton has basically reached his ceiling at Villa.

If he wants to go to the next level, he must consider going to a team that can allow him to play like a king.

(End of this chapter)