You Don't Know How to Play by the Rules?

Man City were indeed making preparations on two fronts this season. On one hand, they were striving to break into the European qualification spots in the league; on the other, they were putting more effort into the cup competitions, hoping to achieve something there.

They had reached the League Cup semifinals, but had encountered their bitter cross-city rivals, Manchester United.

The two-legged semifinals, which would be held in February, would be a major test for Man City.

The league had consistently failed to show much improvement, while the cup had brought them up against a formidable opponent. Man City's chances of securing European qualification were not particularly high.

Soriano and Begiristain both knew this very well.

Mansour's expression also grew ugly. He had invested so much money and assembled a team like this, yet the results had still failed to improve significantly. It had to be said that this was extremely discouraging.

Guardiola's Man City could be said to have undergone a complete overhaul. After Mark Hughes stepped down, Guardiola took over. From Mansour and Mubarak to Soriano and Begiristain, everyone supported him, allowing him to freely clear out players he did not want, such as Robinho, and reject players he had no interest in, such as Tevez.

It could be said that he was drawing a blueprint for Man City on a blank sheet of paper.

At present, the blueprint Guardiola had drawn was quite interesting. Viewed from a certain strategic height, it was surprisingly impressive. This Premier League team played a possession-based passing style similar to Barcelona's, and their football was attractive to watch, with an extremely high level of tactical content. They were definitely the most surprising team in the Premier League.

But competitive sports ultimately had to be judged by results. If the results were poor,