Guardiola ultimately decided to fight with everything he had for possession.
He announced this decision in the locker room before the match, but before that, he had privately mentioned it to Su Dong.
Su Dong expressed his support and promised to cooperate fully.
It was hard to say which of the two choices was better or worse. They simply reflected different personalities and philosophies, which led to different decisions.
Guardiola had wrestled with it for an entire day, showing how seriously he valued Su Dong's opinion. If it had been anyone else, he probably would not even have listened, and would have rejected it outright.
After all, Guardiola was a head coach with a very strong personality.
Su Dong was a professional player, and he had his own professional ethics.
What were professional ethics?
They meant that regardless of whether the head coach's decision suited one's wishes, one would carry it out unconditionally and with all one's strength on the field, even doing everything possible to help the head coach achieve that goal.
That was the professional ethic of a professional player.
Su Dong and Guardiola's relationship was built on mutual respect, including Su Dong's respect for Guardiola's opinions.
Of course, if he discovered during the match that Guardiola's tactics were ineffective or relatively poor, he would certainly offer his own opinion again, and might even do everything he could to persuade Guardiola.
But before that, respect had to be given to the head coach.
The Man City players did not resist Guardiola's decision, because this was the tactical approach Man City was best at.
In arranging the starting lineup, Guardiola continued with the regular formation they had used in the past.
Courtois was in goal, with Marcelo, Pepe, Kompany, and Zabaleta across the back; Busquets sat deep in