One day, of course, is not enough for all the players to recover.

So when facing Aston Villa in the fifth round of the Premier League, Manchester City's lineup was very 'miserable', with substitutes in several positions, Wang Xiaolei and Sun Jihai were not in the squad, Torres, Ivan Crewe, David Silva and Copelle Ferreira did not appear in the starting lineup.

Aston Villa is much better.

After manager Martin O'Neal arrived at Aston Villa last year, the cost of buying players reached around 26 million last summer, and the first deal of the season was 4 million, which totaled 30 million in one fell swoop.

The investment was made to West Ham striker Haywood on a three-year contract, and then the club continued to sign West Ham's second player, midfield star and England B team member Leo Coke, for 7.5 million.

The arrival of two strong men in the midfield is bound to trigger the departure of some people, due to the large number of Villa's first-team players, O'Neal waved the stick, and nearly ten players were forced to leave.

However, the departure of a large number of players has not affected the overall construction of Aston Villa, after all, the year before manager Martin O'Neill took over, there were far more people in than out, and this time it was just a matter of seeking a balance in the team (about 23 players).

In the first four rounds of the league, Aston results also prove that they are stronger now than last season.

4 games, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, lost to Liverpool at Anfield in the first round of the league, no one can say anything, the away draw against Newcastle United is also expected by the media, after all, Newcastle United is one of the 'five giants of the Premier League', it is still very strong, and the two teams at home against South London. Fulham, Chelsea, and Aston Villa have all won, especially the win over Chelsea, which has boosted Aston Villa's morale.

As a result, Aston Villa were in high spirits when they ushered in the game against Manchester City, and manager O'Neill spoke before the game. "Manchester City are at the top of the league so far, they are very strong and they are in good form. But our goal is to take the points at the Manchester Stadium. ”

One point, or three points, against Manchester City, is acceptable to O'Neill and Aston Villa as a team.

After seeing Manchester City's line-up, O'Neill's confidence is also more abundant.

The big teams are affected by the international break, and the stronger the team, the more affected it will be. In the previous Premier League, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and other teams were the most affected, because they had more international players in their squad, and now the Premier League is the most affected by Manchester City.

Even Manchester United can't compare to the number of internationals in Manchester City!

That's not to say that Manchester City's squad is better than Manchester United. It's that Manchester City is too young, and youth leads to it. Unlike Manchester United, where almost all of the outstanding performers are internationals, some veterans such as Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and others have announced their retirement from the national team. South Korean internationals like Park Ji-sung will not be called up by South Korea during the 'day-to-day' international break, so the impact on Manchester United is not too great.

Manchester City is different.

"Man City have a whole team of internationals!" The Sun is not an exaggeration.

Take a look at this Manchester City side on the pitch to see how much they have been affected: strikers Darren Bent and Giovanni Moricio. Midfielders Alano Brummer, Morris, Mesut Ozil, Ljungberg, defenders Glenn Johnson, Lescott, Dunn, Robert Carlos, goalkeeper Joe Hart.

If the average fan glances at the lineup, it must be considered very gorgeous, but in fact, this is Manchester City's semi-substitute lineup.

Giovanni Moricio, Ljungberg, Elano Brummer, Robert Carlos, Glenn Johnson and goalkeeper Joe Hart are all six newcomers to the summer.

Under normal circumstances, Wansheng would not send so many newcomers to play.

Even an experienced world superstar like Robert Carlos will take a while to get used to City's tactics and be quicker with the help of 'collaboration' skills, but it will take at least a few months to become as familiar as the rest of the veteran players.

Of course, there is also a difference in the adaptation of tactics to newcomers and newcomers.

For example, Torres, as a striker, has very low tactical requirements, and midfielders like Elano Brummer and Ljungberg, who are in the front and back of this position, it is not easy to learn to run.

In the team, a few newcomers from the summer, namely Torres and Carlos, can play slightly better, and the others are still in the stage of adapting to the tactics and can only be considered 'able to play with the team' now.

Therefore, in a game, Wansheng will generally send 2 to 3 newcomers, which can ensure the team's performance and also exercise the new players' adaptation to tactics.

It's a different story with more than five new players, and even with the core Morris, the team will play chaotically.

Defense, offense will be very affected.

Just after the international break, Wan Sheng couldn't do anything, he couldn't play players who didn't have a good rest, which could easily cause injuries, so he had to send this squad to deal with the league.

However, with basic tactics and player quality support, Manchester City still played very tough, and did not show the slightest weakness against Aston Villa.

But there's no denying that Aston Villa are doing better.

They had a good chance 17 minutes into the game.

Leo Corke's free-kick looked like a cross into the box and Melberg's header failed to touch the ball, but goalkeeper Joe Hart misjudged it, and the ball bounced off the right-hand post and into the net.

１:０！

Leo Cork helps Aston Villa take the lead!

At the Manchester Stadium, there was a sound of loss, and Manchester City fans did not expect that it would be the opponent Aston Villa who would score first.

Something unexpected happened after that - just three minutes after the game restarted, Aston Villa striker Carew received a pass from Ashley Young, grabbed the position and swung his head straight into the goal, and the ball flew straight into the corner of the goal.

２:０。

Aston Villa leads Manchester City by two goals!

“２:０，２:０…… Striker Kalou, who scored the second goal. Manchester Stadium commentator Belbart said worriedly, "Last season to now. City have never played so passively in a game where they were two goals ahead in just 20 minutes......

At the same time, some reporters in the media table were also very excited.

As a neutral media, they have no real support. They're here for the big news.

City have been very strong for three seasons, with two reigning league champions not to talk about, and a 42-game unbeaten run in the league is even more impressive.

If Aston Villa can win Manchester City away in this game, it will definitely be the biggest news of the month!

The hostile media wanted City to lose even more, and they were already waiting for the news of City's defeat, and there were reporters who were thinking. After the game, it was reported that "the fifth round of the league against Aston Villa is the beginning of Manchester City's downfall, and they will not be concerned about the loss after that......"

The Birmingham announcer even said, "Perhaps, we can celebrate Aston Villa's away win!" ”

――――

Seeing Aston Villa score two goals, Wan Sheng frowned.

Now the score is unexpected.

The opponent played much better than the team and the form in front of goal was also very good. Two goals in two chances, which is really efficient. If someone told him that O'Neill on the other side also had his own 'plug-in', Wansheng felt that he could believe it.

Of course, that can't be.

It can only be said that Aston Villa played too well.

Now Wan Sheng also knew what to do, he hurriedly walked to the sideline and called the captain of the team, Morris. Tell the next defense.

"We have to hold on for a while, and we have to be more aggressive in the fight. The opponent's form is so good, two goals, it makes them even more form, we have to try to stop them. ”

"The first half. Even if they don't chase the score, they can't score again! ”

Morris nodded and returned to the court.

After the resumption of the game, it was clear that Manchester City had strengthened their defence and it was not easy for Aston Villa to find another chance.

Although Manchester City is good at the 'OS-F' control system play, focusing on rhythm control, and very much on attack, when Manchester City retreats, the defensive ability is still quite strong.

The quality of the players is one thing, the solidity of the defensive formation is another.

When Manchester City is fully committed to defending, it is definitely comparable to the world's best defensive team, and even Jose Mourinho's Chelsea are not necessarily 'better defending' than Manchester City.

It's too difficult for Aston Villa to break this stubbornness.

But at the same time, Manchester City's attack has also been greatly affected, Manchester City still has a certain advantage in the situation before, but when defending with all its might, the three-line formation will not be too far forward, and the offensive threat is much smaller.

On the field, Aston Villa had the advantage, and Manchester City became suppressed.

This situation made the Birmingham fans and the hostile media of Manchester City even more proud, and no one expected Aston Villa to play so well before the game, and even be able to suppress Manchester City in the situation.

This is something that Manchester United, Chelsea and other strong teams have not done.

Aston Villa did it, leading Manchester City by two goals, and many media and fans were expecting their victory.

At this time, Wansheng was standing on the sidelines.

He watched the game, his brow furrowed.

He wasn't frowning about the team's performance, in fact, the team played well, at least not below the pre-match expectations, two goals behind, more because the opponent played too well.

This is not a shirking of responsibility, but a fact.

In the previous games, Manchester City still had the advantage of the situation, played well in cooperation, and got a few chances in front of the opponent's goal, compared to Aston Villa's chances, but they scored two goals.

It's improvisation, but it's more important in football.

The Aston Villa players took their chances, so they were 2 goals ahead, and Manchester City didn't take their chances, so they were 2 goals down. The difference of 2 goals is even enough to decide the outcome of the game.

Wan Sheng was not willing to fail, he was thinking about his current style of play.

The Manchester City team on the field, the most important thing is that there are 'too many newcomers', and temporary substitution adjustments may not be able to play in a good state, in addition, the opponent's state is really good, even if the team plays better, it may not be able to recover two goals.

Now what? (To be continued.) )