For Gao Han and Manchester City, the January game was more of an adjustment.

There is no winter break in the Premier League, the pressure of the players is high, and the tactical style of play in the cold requires high physical consumption, so it is necessary to take advantage of the January to make appropriate adjustments and rotations.

In the third round of the FA Cup in early January, Gao Han went straight to the bench and the young players to play away to Middlesbrough, and the result was 1-0, and Manchester City won away.

A week later, in the 21st round of the Premier League, Manchester City's main players beat Blackburn 5-0 at home after a full rest.

Sam Allardyce's side lost the game in a mess, not only only with 31 per cent possession, but also with only three shots on goal, which was so bad that Sam Allardyce himself couldn't stand it, and frequently praised the performances of Gao Han and Manchester City in the post-match press conference.

Kaka scored a brace in the game, Benzema crossed and shot, Sanchez provided two assists, and Cristiano Ronaldo did not score, but substitute Sturridge scored a goal.

Three days later, Manchester City faced the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa.

Gao Han once again arranged a semi-main version of the substitute line-up to play, and the result was a narrow 1-0 away victory, and Sturridge, who partnered with the Brazilian striker Ruo in the attack, scored an impressive goal.

At the weekend, in the 22nd round of the Premier League, Manchester City challenged Everton away.

Ten minutes into the game, Manchester City opened the scoring through Alexis Sanchez and were in control of the game smoothly after that, but they were never able to find the back of the net against Everton.

It wasn't until the 78th minute of the second half that David Silva assisted Cristiano Ronaldo for another goal.

In the end, Manchester City took all three points away from home 2-0.

In midweek, the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals was ushered in.

Sturridge has been in excellent performances for several games in a row, and Gao Han has started him this time and played as the team's central striker, and Sturridge has performed well, opening the scoring in the 30th minute of the first half.

Towards the end of the first half, the Aston Villa defender committed a serious foul and was sent off by the referee, and the game completely entered the rhythm of Manchester City, and in the second half, he kicked overhead and scored four goals in a row, and finally defeated Aston Villa 5-1 to advance to the final with an aggregate score of 6-1.

In the other game, Manchester United also eliminated Blackburn Rovers and met Manchester City in the League Cup final.

After playing the Carabao Cup in midweek, Gao Han continued to play in the same squad for the FA Cup at the weekend, beating Scunthorpe 4-2 away to advance to the next round, with the trident of Sturridge, Jo and Petrov all on the scoresheet.

Three days later, Gao Han rotated the squad again, away to Stoke City.

It was the 23rd round of the Premier League, and Manchester City had just won by seven goals at home a month ago, but this time they did not have a full squad, and as a result, Stoke City had the upper hand at home, and in the eighth minute, they took advantage of a corner kick and Shawcross assisted his team-mate to score.

But then the game was re-integrated into the rhythm of City's game, with Luka Modric equalising in the 32nd minute of the first half with the assist for Cristiano Ronaldo's goal.

In the second half, Manchester City continued to increase the attack, Shawcross in the 56th minute, defending Cristiano Ronaldo when a serious foul, was sent off by the referee red card, and then Gao Han pressed on the attack, with the blessing of the skill card, scored two goals in a row, and overtook the score.

In the end, Manchester City reversed Stoke City 3-1.

At the weekend, in the 24th round of the Premier League, Manchester City hosted Portsmouth at the bottom of the table.

Although Gao Han still adopted a large rotation in this game, it still beat Portsmouth 5-0 cleanly and won a hearty victory at home.

Entering February, Manchester City ushered in the 25th round of the Premier League, away to Hull City.

Just three minutes into the game, Manchester City announced that they had conceded a goal, but it was soon for Benzema to equalise for the Chinese City team.

After the rematch in the second half, it was goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric that helped Manchester City reverse Hull City 3-1 and win the three points again.

Three days later, in the 25th round of the Premier League, Manchester City sat at the City Stadium and welcomed Bolton.

After the change of manager, Bolton's performance improved a lot, successfully escaping the relegation zone and finishing 15th in the Premier League, but they are still jealous of the cold Manchester City, because Bolton's former manager Gary Megson will only be sacked in December last year, just after a heavy defeat at home to Manchester City.

But City taught Bolton hard a lesson from the start of the game, telling them that this was the City Stadium.

City opened the scoring just three minutes into the scoring and added just before half-time.

But after the rematch in the second half, Manchester City's defense once again exposed its problems, and Bolton seized the opportunity to counterattack, 2-1.

But City quickly adjusted and scored three goals in a row to win 5-1 at home to Bolton.

The successive victories have made Manchester City's morale like a rainbow, but since the winter break, the team's adjustment and rotation have also fully exposed various problems.

For example, in the summer transfer, Gao Han created a strong main squad for Manchester City, and the run-in was very good, but there were obvious problems with the substitutes and bench players, especially many players could not meet Gao Han's requirements.

Needless to say, David Dunn in the backline, Stephen Ireland in the midfield is also very problematic, especially the failure to play the main team, which makes him a thorn in the dressing room, and the situation of Brazilian midfielder Elano is also a focus of Gao Han.

Teenager Michael Johnson was vigorously cultivated by Gao Han, and judging from his performances in many games, he is not yet capable of being the main team, and Gao Han has to return Mascherano to the midfield many times.

But as a result, some problems have been exposed at the back.

On the contrary, the main lineup of Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Sanchez is indeed strong, Sturridge's performance and improvement this season are also obvious to all, Petrov is not a big problem as a substitute, and the Brazilian striker and England's homegrown winger Adam Johnson are enough to be reassured.

Don't look at Manchester City's winning streak now, but in fact, there are many problems exposed, but because of the team's strong attacking power, many problems are covered up, resulting in many problems that cannot be seen, but it does not mean that they do not exist.

If these problems are not well solved, this season may not be a big problem, but next season, after the team fights on multiple fronts, especially in the Champions League, many problems will become very fatal.

Therefore, Gao Han had to prepare early.

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Pablo Zabaleta has been in a depressed mood in recent times.

Although the Argentine has always been as diligent and hard-working as ever, whether it is training or competing, everyone can easily read the deep depression on his face.

At the age of twenty-five, he's in the prime of his career, and he's eager to compete in more competitions.

In the early months of the season, he was the main player on the team's right central defender, although he did not dare to say that he was outstanding, but at least he was remarkable, diligent and hardworking, but with the return of Kaka, Mascherano's position moved back, and Zabaleta was squeezed out of the main lineup and completely lost his position.

If it is from the perspective of a fan, Zabaleta has to admit that the three, four, and three formations after Kaka's return have made Manchester City more aggressive and hearty, and the connection between the three lines is also better, more reasonable, and the game is more fluid.

Even as a competitor, Mascherano's performance in the right central defender position made Zabaleta somewhat ashamed, but if it was Mascherano's substitute, Zabaleta was a little unwilling.

In the last two months, he has been sitting on the bench and while his teammates are laughing on the bench, he is closely watching the situation on the field, observing Mascherano's performance and appreciating the tactical intentions of head coach Gao Han.

He was convinced that what Mascherano could do, he could do.

But only if the team has to give him the opportunity to play and perform.

At the end of a full day of training sessions, before the dismissal, assistant coach Brian Kidd announced the squad for the English FA Cup round of 16 knockout match against Southampton tomorrow afternoon, and Zabaleta was selected again.

This is not surprising to him, because since the beginning of this season, the League Cup and Cup have not been the main battlefield of manager Gao Han, even in the League Cup, in the semi-finals, Gao Han has also arranged a semi-main and semi-substitute lineup, not to mention that it is now against Southampton in the third division.

The Saints are a traditional powerhouse in England, but they are not as good as they used to be.

If there are no accidents, I should still start.

Zabaleta thought to himself that if he could, he would not have wanted to play in the FA Cup, but in the Premier League and even the League Cup final against Manchester United, but now there is little hope.

Just as Zabaleta was a little frustrated and lost and ready to walk back to the dressing room, Brian Kidd walked up to him.

"Hey, Pablo, the boss told you to take a shower and change your clothes and take a trip to his office. ”

Zabaleta looked up unexpectedly and looked at the assistant coach, "What's the matter?"

Brian Kidd smiled, "I can't say for sure, but he'll tell you personally." ”

After smiling and patting Zabaleta on the shoulder, the assistant coach of Manchester City turned and left, leaving Zabaleta standing there alone, full of messiness, what is the situation?

Do you want to tell yourself the news of the start of tomorrow afternoon's game?

But no, it stands to reason that it should be announced tomorrow morning, how can it be now?

It's February, and the transfer market has long been closed, Zabaleta is not worried about his whereabouts, but he is still very puzzled in his heart, what is the reason why coach Gao Han is looking for him?

With a stomach full of doubts, Zabaleta returned to the locker room, took a shower, changed into dry clothes, said goodbye to his teammates, and went straight up the stairs to the second floor.

Walking in the corridor on the second floor, you can hear the sound of the coaching staff meeting from the coach's office in the distance.

Zabaleta has been used to this for a long time, as the coaching staff have to reconvene after each training session to take stock and discuss, especially considering there is an FA Cup game tomorrow.

The opponent Southampton is indeed not strong, Manchester City even if it is a full bench lineup, there is no suspense to defeat the Saints, but Gao Han and his team are still very cautious and careful to prepare for the game, which makes Zabaleta also have to feel admired.

But this still could not calm the doubts in his heart.