"CCTV, CCTV!"

"Viewers, this is the 2013-2014 season, the highlight of the fifth round of the Premier League, Manchester City's home game against Manchester United."

"I'm the host He Wei!"

"I'm Xu Yang!"

He Wei glanced at the current standings of the Premier League and said:

The two teams are currently first and fifth in the table, with Manchester City having won all four of their previous games and are top of the table with 12 points.

Manchester United, on the other hand, has two wins, one draw and one loss in four rounds, ranking fifth in the Premier League with 7 points. ”

Xu Yang added:

"Although Manchester City is in the lead in terms of the standings, the difference in quality between the two teams is not as big as the position shown in the standings."

"That's right, who wins this game depends on who plays better!"

"Without further ado, let's take a look at the starting line-ups of both sides......"

"Manchester City is in a 442 formation today, and Lin Quan's position appears in the front midfield, but he may not be fixed in this position, and it is likely to be the same as in the previous game, a free man in the frontfield."

"Yes, he's capable of playing in all positions up front, giving him enough tactical freedom to activate his power, and restricting him to one position would weaken his role."

"With the referee's whistle, the game begins!"

"Manchester City's possession, Aguero kicked the ball to Lin Quan, Lin Quan passed the ball back to captain Kompany, Manchester City played patiently and did not rush to attack."

Seeing Manchester City's patient footing in the backfield, Xu Yang and He Wei chatted.

'Manuel Pellegrini hasn't made many changes to City's attacking system since he arrived, and his focus has been on tidying up the team's backline.

"Yes, there is no doubt about City's attacking firepower, but they are not solid at the back.

If they are only facing some teams in the middle and lower tiers, Manchester City can use their strong attacking firepower to suppress their opponents and thus cover up their weaknesses at the back.

However, once they meet a strong team, their dead end will soon be exposed and they will be targeted by their opponents, which is why they did not go further in the Champions League last season. ”

……

After Kompany received Lin Quan's pass, he and his teammates fell a few times, and after attracting the opponent's striker to come and press, he decisively made a long pass, intending to kick the ball to the front court to find his own striker.

This was a bit of a surprise to the Manchester United players, who have been largely ground-penetrating since Manchester City brought in a large number of Spanish players.

It's rare to play this kind of long-pass attack, so the Reds are not much prepared for it.

Sergio Aguero received the ball and Carrick immediately rushed up to intercept it.

Aguero didn't dare to take more, and immediately passed the ball back to Lin Quan, who moved to the right and handed it to winger Navas.

Keylor Navas scurried wide, shook off Patrice Evra's interception and slotted in a cross near the baseline.

The ball was not passed well, with Manchester City's defenders Rio Ferdinand and Nedic both stuck in position, and Sergio Aguero and Negredo couldn't get their hands on the ball.

After fending off a quick break from Manchester City, David Moyes applauded the United players on the sidelines.

Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are both young, especially Ferdinand, who is 35 years old this year.

However, the duo's role at the back is still irreplaceable, and the Ferguson era relied on them to guard the back.

Moyes couldn't touch the two of them when he came, and he had to continue to reuse them.

However, both men have only one year left on their contracts, and if Manchester United do not win in the league and Champions League this year, it cannot be ruled out that the two will leave the team next year.

It was United's turn to counter-attack and Carrick handed the ball to Wayne Rooney.

Rooney relied on his excellent physical ability to take the ball and push forward for a while, and then passed the ball to team-mate Welbeck.

The world says that Lu Xiaopang's skills are very rough and he is a famous rough brother.

But this one he passed beautifully, and as long as Welbeck can get this ball, he could be a one-on-one knife.

As a result, the latter didn't know what was wrong, and actually slipped on the soles of his feet and missed this opportunity.

"Damn, there's too much water on the lawn, otherwise I'd have gotten this ball!"

Welbeck himself was embarrassed that he didn't get the goal, and made an excuse to explain.

Pellegrini on the sidelines was unhappy with the goal, and the team's midfield failed to form a barrier to interception, so Rooney burst past to complete the pass.

Fortunately, Manchester United made a mistake on their own, otherwise, Manchester City would have conceded a goal in that attack just now.

He gestured to the players on the pitch and signaled them to step up the midfield.

The team's midfielders, especially Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, have to harden up and not let the opposition pass through their midfield so casually.

After receiving instructions from the coach, City's midfield increased their scrambling and interceptions, and the two teams soon fell into a strangulation in the midfield.

In such strangulation battles, errors are increasing from players on both sides.

In the third minute of the game, Patrice Evra broke the ball in midfield and handed it to Fellaini, who just wanted to split the side, but was tackled by a Manchester City player.

City counter-attacked on the spot, with Fernandinho passing the ball to Negredo.

As soon as Negredo got the ball, he was immediately caught by the Manchester United players, and the ball was quickly lost.

It was United's turn to attack again, but the ball still couldn't get past the midfield and was shoveled out of the touchline by Yaya Toure.

The battle between the two sides on the field was fierce, with tackles and fouls constantly occurring.

With fouls again and again, the smell of gunpowder from players on both sides began to soar upward.

The referee saw that the situation was not good, and had to tighten the scale of the penalty to prevent the situation from getting out of control.

In the fifth minute of the game, Manchester City defender Nastasic knocked down Chris Smalling and was shown the first yellow card of the game by the referee.

The yellow card served as a good warning and the action of both sides was slightly restrained.

However, because of the fierce battle between the two sides in the midfield, both sides could not organize an attack, and the game fell into anxiety.

In the stands, Pep Guardiola held his chin and thought.

If he is the coach of both teams, how is this going to be solved now?

It may not seem enough to put the playmaker at the back, and the position should be dropped back a little deeper, for example at centre-back.

However, in this case, the defensive ability of the team's back line will inevitably decline, and if you encounter a team with strong offensive ability, you may be cocooned.

If you can't retreat, can you put the center of the organization on the side?

How about a wide back or a wide front midfield?

The idea was bold because no one had done it before.

Pep Guardiola himself wasn't sure if it would work, but once he came up with the idea, he couldn't help but want to go back and give it a try!

……

On the field, seeing that his teammates couldn't take advantage of the fight in the midfield, Lin Quan retreated and cooperated with his teammates to force the players of Manchester United.

The addition of Lin Quan has given Manchester City's midfield one more person, which not only has one more point to get the ball, but also increases the defensive coverage area of their midfield.

As a result, Manchester City gradually gained the upper hand in the midfield battle.

In the 15th minute, Manchester City organized an attack.

The ball was passed through the midfield and then to the feet of Sergio Aguero.

As soon as the latter got the ball, he was immediately caught by the Manchester United players.

Manchester United continued their previous tactics against Chelsea, allowing some space on both flanks, but increasing the strength of the defence in the middle, increasing the intensity of interceptions, and not giving the opponent a chance to explode in the middle.

Sergio Aguero is not very tall and is clearly at a disadvantage in the confrontation with defenders.

Seeing that the ball was about to be lost, he suddenly saw his teammate Lin Quan answering.

Aguero didn't think about it and immediately passed the ball to Lin Quan.

As soon as Lin Quan got the ball, the Manchester United players immediately changed the target of the bag, gave up on Aguero, and came at him.

Seeing that the opponent was menacing, Lin Quan did not fight hard with the opponent, but dribbled the ball back and got rid of Manchester United's bag.

The ball was almost brought to the centre circle by this time, and several of United's defenders hesitated, did not continue to step forward, retreated to their positions, and handed over the task of forcing Lin Quan to his teammates.

Lin Quan noticed the other party's choice, and he had a bottom in his heart.

Manchester United's defence is strictly zoned, and they will only come forward to intercept when they get into the defensive zone of the opposing defenders.

Once out of that area, their interception will not be so aggressive.

So, how do you find this specific dividing line?

He decided to try a few more times!

As soon as the Manchester United defenders retreated, they found that Lin Quan had killed with the ball again.

Lu Xiaopang tried to rob him, but was easily passed by Lin Quan.

In front of the nimble Lin Quan, Rooney was clumsy like a wild boar, and it was impossible to expect him to snatch the ball from Lin Quan's feet, unless he used foul tactics.

Carrick and Fellaini had to step forward to intercept, Lin Quan chose to pass the ball to his team-mates on the wing, and he resolutely stepped forward.

United's defence on the flanks was somewhat empty, allowing Keylor Navas to easily get through the half-pitch to assist his team-mates.

After receiving Lin Quan's pass, he sent a straight kick without interference, and handed the ball back to Lin Quan's feet.

At this time, both Carrick and Fellaini had been left behind by Lin Quan, who had suddenly activated.

Manchester United's defenders had to step up to intercept!

Lin Quan repeated his old tricks and dribbled the ball back.

Manchester United's defenders began to hesitate again, watching Carrick and Fellaini close on Lin Quan from left and right, and were about to complete the bag on him.

They decided to retreat!

Now is the time!

Seeing that the other party had abandoned his bag, Lin Quan seized this moment of opportunity, and he quickly started and rushed towards Ferdinand.

Among Vidic and Ferdinand, if you ask who is stronger, Lin Quan thinks Ferdinand is stronger, but that was a few years ago, and now the 35-year-old Ferdinand is facing many problems with older players: declining physical function and reduced reaction speed!

And this, for the central defenders, is the Achilles' heel!

Seeing that Lin Quan did not retreat but advanced, he suddenly killed a horse gun.

Vidic and Ferdinand were both amazed!

Especially the latter, when he saw Lin Quan coming towards him, he subconsciously wanted to stretch out his feet to intercept him.

But it occurred to him that this guy's feints could reach the level of fakeness, and the frequency of his feet was ridiculously fast.

If you stretch out your feet rashly, you will definitely be cleaned up by him!

Thinking of this, Ferdinand quickly gave up this idea, and he chose to retreat and wait for the assistance of his teammates.

However, Lin Quan would not give him so much time, seeing that Ferdinand did not stretch his feet, Lin Quan exploded, planning to eat him raw with speed!

Ferdinand was furious!

Good boy, this is looking down on me!

While reaching out to pull Lin Quan's jersey and organizing the other party to break through, he hurriedly turned around and thought, wanting to get stuck in the position.

If it were Ferdinand ten years ago or even five years ago, Lin Quan might not have the upper hand in such a matchup.

However, facing Ferdinand, who is already 35 years old and has a comprehensive decline in all aspects of his body.

It's not hard to beat him!

Shaking off Ferdinand's pull, Lin Quan took the first step to get in touch with the ball.

De Gea had already chosen to attack when he saw him trying to get past Rio Ferdinand, and at this time he was less than two metres away from Lin Quan, and in half a second, the ball would have been picked up by De Gea.

Lin Quan didn't panic, he calmly buckled the ball, handed it to his left foot, and after opening up a little space, he decisively chose to shoot.

De Gea hurriedly reached out to intercept, his reaction speed was already fast, but Lin Quan's shot was faster.

The ball went over De Gea's head and arced through the air and crashed into the net.

The Etihad Stadium was boiling in an instant, and more than 50,000 fans throughout the stadium thundered with joy and frantically celebrated the goal.

"Beautiful!"

After Guardiola saw this goal, he couldn't help but admire.

Not only was the shot beautiful, but the game before the goal was also very exciting.

"This kid has improved again, and it seems that every time I see him, he can bring me some new surprises!"

While Guardiola gave Lin Quan a round of applause, he couldn't help but say to assistant coach Ten Hag.

Ten Hag just thought that Lin Quan's pass and shot were very beautiful, but he didn't see anything else.

But since Guardiola said so, it naturally has his senses, so he also applauded along.

After scoring this goal, Lin Quan also looked very excited.

He ran to the corner, put his hand to his ear, and asked the fans in the stadium for applause and cheers.

Naturally, the Manchester City fans did not let him down, and the fans in the stadium shouted his name wildly, so loudly that it almost deafened people's ears.

Some Manchester City fans even started singing their own song for Lin Quan, the Song of Lin Quan.

The song was written by the fans themselves, and not many people could sing it.

But because the melody is catchy, after being sung live, it was quickly learned by more and more Manchester City fans.

So, it didn't take long for the entire Etihad Stadium to sing this song.

(End of chapter)