This Christmas, Dick was in a hurry, because although Christmas was in the middle of the week, Manchester City would not have to play two games in a row before and after Christmas, but there were so many affairs, Dick didn't have much time to go to Christmas comfortably, he just flew to Monaco with Charlotte, attended the royal family dinner and rushed back quickly, Charlotte stayed in Monaco to reunite with her family, Dick rushed back alone......

However, it was a bit pitiful, but City did well after Christmas, beating Blackburn Rovers 4-2 on the 28th, with Di Natale scoring twice, Barnes and substitute Ashley Young also scoring a goal each, and just two days later they faced Liverpool, who were more defensive in this game and ended up drawing 0-0 with Liverpool – which is quite good in the Devil's Christmas period.

During this period, Arsenal also won one and drew one, continuing to lead Manchester City by one point, Manchester United fell off the chain, they won one and lost one in two league rounds, and were thrown away by Manchester City by one point.

Dick is very happy with the team's performance and being able to survive this period of devilish fixtures proves that Manchester City are already quite good at the moment, and the form of the whole team has been stimulated, and the second half of the season is also the time for them to start sprinting.

In the first half of the season, Manchester City because of the run-in and other problems, the game will be a little up and down, but other strong teams are also some ups and downs because of the Champions Cup, the second half of the season unless they play the Champions Cup to enter the final, in fact, the Champions Cup has no special impact on them, at this time, it is the biggest test for Manchester City, and now Manchester City can show the ability to perform well after the rotation, which will make them have a better performance in the next league sprint.

Manchester City's game is getting better and better, but Vassell is getting more and more anxious, now he has to go to training every day, being late is a fine, he has to watch the game from the stands every time, even if he goes away, and more importantly, now his agent has been active for a long time, but no Premier League team has extended an olive branch to him......

Not to mention the top few strong teams, the midstream teams also have their own leading strikers, the relegation team Vassell didn't want to go before, and now even the relegation team has no one to ask for him, because his salary is too high......

"Admit your mistake and try to get back to the first team...... "The agent ran to persuade Vassell.

Vassell is reluctant to do this, after all, it is a bit too humiliating to do so, and even if he returns to the first team, there is no place for him in the first team now, Torres will soon return from injury, Sturridge has become the new favorite of Manchester City fans, and there is no place for him in the front line, so what's the use of returning to the first team?

He can only comfort his agent that there is still a month left before the winter transfer window closes, and he can find it slowly, even if he takes a salary cut, as long as there is a ball to play......

Vassell is depressed, but Dick won't pay attention to how depressed he is, anyway, Vassell is going to leave is also his business, if he doesn't leave, the contract is still a year and a half, with Manchester City's current financial resources, there is no problem with raising him for another year and a half, the key is that all the players are looking at Vassell's appearance now, which can be regarded as a deterrent to everyone, lest there be those who don't open their eyes to run out, to leave Kaiyan, and apply for a transfer seriously, the club will never leave you in trouble, if you play any tricks, The club has rules and regulations to punish you!

While Vassell was depressed, Dick was chatting with Torres.

After a month of recuperation, Torres is fully recovered, in fact, his injury can be healed for two weeks, but Dick knows that Torres has actually been tired for a long time, and some minor injuries are not thorough, it just so happens that Sturridge is doing well, and it doesn't hurt to let him recuperate more, in fact, after a month of recuperation, Torres has now reached a very good point in terms of physical fitness and condition, and in the second half of the season, Manchester City will rely on his strength to launch the final sprint to the championship!

"How's it going, do you feel the pressure? Recuperating from an injury for a month, it turned out that a little guy performed so well. Dick smiled and said to Torres that Sturridge has been really good in the past month, playing five games, scoring two goals, and playing very well in the games, which is really easy to put pressure on the main team.

"It's not too stressful...... There's competition everywhere, as long as I perform better. Torres laughed, knowing why Dick was talking to him, because Dick was worried that he would have other ideas......

"It's best if you think like that...... The next three is the league game against Newcastle and then the two cup games in a row, so I'm going to let you find out how you are in shape. Don't be too anxious, if the situation is good against Newcastle, I'll let you play for a minute or two, the FA Cup will let you play half time, and then you'll be able to start in the Carabao Cup, and slowly, we're still halfway through the season, and we've got three trophies to go, and my prize money is up to your performance. Dick laughed.

"No problem, Boss, I'll do well...... After you're gone, I haven't tasted a champion in a long time. Torres smiled slightly, this is his sincere words, Dick's two years of coaching Atletico Madrid, although Torres are all substitutes, but with the team won two league championships and a Champions Cup championship and a League Cup championship, and after Dick left, everything began to become so difficult, Atletico Madrid has not won a decent championship in the past five years, as the captain of Atletico Madrid, Torres also feels very depressed, and now, to be able to impact some decent honors as the main force, Torres is very much looking forward to it, I was also very eager.

He knows that the second half of the season will be even more severe, which is why he will agree to recuperate from the injury for another half a month, accumulate his strength, and play better in the second half of the season!

"Don't worry, Fernando, you will not worry about the championship and the glory in the next time, a player like you should get more things...... Now that you're on your way to your peak, try to do it. Dick nodded and whispered.

To say that the Premier League around Christmas, it is simply a history of blood and tears, the Bundesliga has a winter break of more than one month near Christmas, La Liga and Serie A also have at least a week to half a month of rest, only the Premier League, not only not the winter break, but the games during this period are more outrageously intensive, think about it, December 28 and December 30 Manchester City is to play two rounds of league in a row, and on January 3 after the New Year, there will be another league - this situation is not only Manchester City will encounter, All teams are like this, so in such a situation, it is more likely to fall behind.

At this time, he met Liverpool and Newcastle in a row, Manchester City's luck was not too good, and Dick was already very satisfied with Liverpool's draw, after all, the players were tired, but after all, Manchester City was still in second place, still one point behind Arsenal, and Dick was also trying to win the game in this game against Newcastle.

The game against Newcastle was hard from the start, although both sides were tired, but they also fought very fiercely on the field, this game was very overdrawn for both sides, the previous two consecutive league games made them very overdrawn, but in this case, Manchester City's previous rotation played a big role, at least in the degree of fatigue, Manchester City is not as tired as Newcastle......

After more than half an hour of entanglement, Manchester City finally had a slight advantage in terms of fitness, and the Newcastle players were tired, and in a quick counter-attack, Sturridge swung the ball down, and the follow-up Parker went straight into the box, and Di Natale rushed to shoot first, and the ball rolled under Given's armpit into the goal!

After taking the lead, Manchester City began to slowly control the situation, although they did not have the kind of control master in the midfield, but Dick has always consciously increased the passing link in training, and the back and forth passing and scheduling are slowly becoming proficient, although it is unlikely to reach the same heights as the previous three teams managed by Dick before having a metronome, but in some cases, it is still possible to use the pass to save energy and control the situation.

Manchester City has no European games this season, but next season can't be without, if every game is rushed, then even if the physical fitness is too good, it can't support the whole season, there is tension and relaxation, this is the king.

Although Manchester City's passing is not too proficient, it can still pass smoothly when the physical fitness of the Newcastle players has dropped greatly, and the main passing is concentrated in the backfield, and the Newcastle players do not dare to press too high......

After the start of the second half, Manchester City had the opportunity to continue to start to pour feet to save energy, and at the same time, the front court was also ready to launch a counterattack, such a tactic made Newcastle look very depressed, don't press up, these guys seem to be ready to fall to the end of the game, if you press up, the gap in the back field is too big, and Ribery's speed and dribbling alone can make them drink a pot.

In such an aggrieved mentality, the Newcastle players began to play more and more gaps, and finally in the 73rd minute, Manchester City seized another opportunity, Ribery broke through and created a corner, Parker took a corner, and Kompany, who inserted the assist, pressed the opponent's central defender Taylor with a header to expand the score to 2-0!

The goal meant City had essentially won the game, and in fact it was, as Dick replaced Di Natale with Fernando Torres after taking a two-goal lead, and his arrival sent the City fans to a round of applause, and after a month of absence, Torres was back in the spotlight.

However, Torres didn't look very excited as soon as he got on the field, he just ran honestly on the field, took the initiative to retreat to get the ball, passed, and let Sturridge be in the front, but he started to play, in this case, his performance naturally will not be much better, and in the end, he touched the ball a few times in the past ten minutes, a pass and a shot missed, and there was no performance that made people feel bright.

With Arsenal and Manchester United beating West Ham United and Birmingham City respectively, there is no change in the gap between the top three and the Premier League will be on a halt for the rest of the Premier League for the third round of the FA Cup (in which the Premier League teams will be playing) and the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals.