Southward to White Hart Lane, Sharpening Our Blades for Tottenham!
Time flew by and it was now August 23, 2015.
The Top Five Leagues have all resumed play, with the first round of the Premier League kicking off!
After careful consideration, the Premier League League has moved the start of Premier League first match to 12:30 p. m. local time.
Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur!
Manchester City's first Premier League match is a Blue Moon game against London powerhouse Tottenham Hotspur.
The Premier League League's arrangement is naturally aimed at maximizing viewership.
Manchester City, who finished second in the Premier League last season, are aiming to win the title this season.
They spent a whopping 200 million yuan in the transfer market, scouring the country to acquire top players like Tang Long, Lars Nova, Sterling, Otamendi, and Delph, demonstrating their formidable financial power in the British Isles!
From title contenders like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal to relegation-threatened teams like Sunderland, Hull City, and Burnley, all are eyeing Manchester City with hostility, their Blue Moon sense of crisis revealing their underlying animosity.
Tottenham Hotspur are also making waves this summer. After finishing fifth last season, their bottom line this season is to finish in the top four.
While Tottenham Hotspur owner Levy may not be as extravagant as the Abib Dhabi consortium, he has still spent hundreds of millions of euros to acquire stars such as Son Heung-min, Guarin, Alderweireld, N'Jie, and Wimmer.
One is a rising star in the Premier League who has emerged in recent years thanks to the influx of foreign investment;
One is the only traditional powerhouse team owned by an UK billionaire.
The clash between these two teams is full of hype and attracts a huge amount of viewers.
The Times even commented, "This is not a simple Premier League match, but a symbol of the struggle between UK domestic capital and foreign capital. Both teams have had a full summer of rest and are ready to go. The final result of this match will greatly influence the investment intentions of potential Premier League investors."
However, at the pre-match press conference, Manchester City's veteran manager Pellegrini, who is over 60 years old, appeared quite low-key.
Playing away from home, he still held back in his words.
"Tottenham Hotspur's strength is beyond doubt; their away form is a nightmare for many Premier League teams. Every beginning is difficult. If Manchester City wants to become a Premier League champion, playing against a strong Premier League team like Tottenham Hotspur will be a true test of our team's strength."
On the other hand, Tottenham's 43-year-old Argentina Tottenham Hotspur, Pochettino, who is relatively weaker, is making grand pronouncements.
"To break into the top four of the Premier League, it's far from enough to get points from mid-to-lower table teams. We must beat strong teams like Chelsea, Manchester City Arsenal to ensure we achieve our goal. In this home game, we have no room for error; our only objective is three points!"
The night before arriving in London.
While in the hotel, Tang Long sent Guarin a text message, teasing him in a slightly joking tone:
[We're meeting soon, old friend! I've heard the grass at White Hart Lane is of excellent quality, perfect for playing direct, through balls. Is that true?]
Guarin replied: [Haha, all I can tell you is that our pitch is wide, and once the formation is spread out, it's perfect for long-range shots. Tell Joe Hart to watch out!]
Tang Long's move to Manchester City also shifted the attention of countless China fans from Milan to Manchester.
CCTV originally intended to broadcast the Premier League, but LeSports beat them to it.
LeSports announced a partnership with Premier League rights holder Super Sports, officially becoming the Premier League media partner in mainland China for the 2015-2016 season.
The entire Premier League season, consisting of 380 matches, will be broadcast live in 1080p high definition across multiple channels, including PCs, tablets, and mobile devices.
And this opening match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur will be broadcast to China fans completely free of charge!
The commentator for this match is the renowned Zhan Jun.
A large number of fans who used to watch Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 flooded into the live stream room.
Many people find Zhan Jun's voice quite offensive, thinking it sounds a bit like a duck's voice and is rather strange.
However, China fans who watch the Premier League regularly are quite fond of Zhan Jun's magnetic voice and are fascinated by his commentary style, which features a wealth of obscure facts.
"Hello everyone, welcome to LeSports at 7:30 PM China time to watch the opening match of the 2015-2016 England Premier League season, Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester City. My partner is Coach Zhang Lu Coach Zhang, Coach Zhang!"
"Hello everyone, hehehehe!"
Fortunately, LeSports also invited Zhang Lu Coach Zhang, a familiar face to China football fans, to join the commentary.
When he heard that LeSports had invited him to commentate on the Premier League, the nearly 70-year-old Coach Zhang was overjoyed and couldn't help but chuckle a few times.
Last year, in order to commentate on Tang Long's matches at Inter Milan, Coach Zhang was forced to stay up until 3:00 AM every day to practice his "cultivation" skills.
This period of time in the underworld has made Coach Zhang's eye bags even bigger, bigger than his eyes.
Viewers can't tell if this is puffiness or eye bags anymore!
The Premier League is great! Premier League's fast-paced, exciting, and the commentary is thrilling.
Most importantly, the Premier League has a good timetable, with most matches starting at 10 PM local time in China.
Today's opening match was brought forward, starting at 7:30. Zhang Lu finished dinner at 6:00, burping contentedly, and leisurely drove to the live broadcast room. Coach Zhang was in a very good mood.
"I followed Tang Long's matches all year last year. This young man is amazing. He made a name for himself in Serie A and came to the Premier League this year. I heard that he also set a transfer record in Manchester City's history. Is that true, Zhan Jun?"
"Haha, Coach Zhang is right, 71 million euros, a Manchester City record! Let's see how Tang Long performs tonight!"
"Let me first introduce the starting lineup of the home team, Tottenham Hotspur. They are playing a 4-2-3-1 formation."
"One-sided, Harry Kane!"
"Attacking Eriksen!"
"Son Heung-min on the left wing, Lamela on the right wing!"
"The two defensive midfielders are Dier and Guarin!"
"The two center-backs are Alderweireld and Vertonghen!"
"Left-back Ben Davies, right- Walker!"
"Goalkeeper Lloris!"
Zhan Jun opened Manchester City's starting lineup.
"Manchester City also used a 4-2-3-1 formation!"
"Agüero the lone striker!"
"Attacking Milner!"
"Sterling is on the left wing, Navas is on the right!"
"Two defensive midfielders, Yaya Toure and Fernando!"
"Two center-backs, Kompany and Ranocchia!"
"Left- Kolarov, right- Sagna!"
"Goalkeeper, Joe Hart!"
Zhang Lu was also stunned after hearing this. He thought he must have misheard because Tang Long's name wasn't mentioned.
The starting lineup for the match was actually announced an hour before the game, but Zhang Lu didn't do his homework like Zhan Jun did before the match.
"Ah, our Tang Long isn't even in the starting lineup?" Zhang Lu asked in surprise.
"Yes, Coach Zhang, Tang Long didn't start. The attacking midfielder position is occupied by Milner, England player who was a regular starter in the second half of last season."
"Milner. How strong is he? How does he compare to Tang Long?"
Zhang Lu hasn't been commentating on Premier League matches much in recent years, and he doesn't watch many, so he doesn't know much about Milner.
Fortunately, the commentary atmosphere at LeSports wasn't as cautious as that at CCTV, so Zhang Lu simply asked Zhan Jun about it.
"Milner is an England international, with great running ability," Zhan Jun's answer was standard. "He played for Manchester City for many years and is a good player."
"Oh, I see. Then I'll have to keep a close eye on him in this match." Zhang Lu perked up. He wanted to watch Milner's performance closely and see why Tang Long, who cost the club 71 million euros in transfer fees, was being relegated to the bench by this 29-year-old England.
The live stream chat was filled with criticism when Tang Long wasn't even in the starting lineup!
- [What the heck? I happily came to watch the Premier League after dinner, specifically to see Tang Long, where is he?]
- [Has Pellegrini lost his mind? Milner is nowhere near as good as our Tang Long!]
[Wow, 71 million for a substitute? Manchester City may have money, but they can't afford to waste it like this!]
[Could it be that Tang Long is injured? That's troublesome, getting injured at the start of the season...]
- [He is not injured. The day before, Manchester City's official website posted pictures of the entire Manchester City training, and Tang Long was in them, even participating in a scrimmage.]
-[This is baffling. Coming to Manchester City to be a substitute is really worse than staying at Inter Milan, where at least you could be a starter.]
Hey! Manchester City pays high wages. If you were in their shoes, would you rather be a starter at Inter Milan or earn three times the salary to be a substitute at Manchester City?
-[Oh no, really? Did Tang Long only go to Manchester City for the money? To be honest, I'm a little disappointed...]
In fact, the netizens' speculations are just baseless guesses.
Manchester City spent a record transfer fee to acquire Tang Long, going through great lengths amidst fierce competition from numerous top clubs. They are certainly going to make him a key player.
If Pellegrini were to force Tang Long onto the bench, it would be unless Tang Long himself wanted to quit his job as head coach, especially since Pellegrini also greatly admires Tang Long.
In fact, Tang Long knew two days before the match that he would be on the bench.
Pellegrini said to him earnestly, "Tang, in the first round away game against Tottenham Hotspur, I will put you on the bench. There are two reasons for this, and I'll explain them to you slowly."
"First of all, you only officially joined the team a few days ago, and you almost missed our entire summer training camp at Manchester City. Although you are young and in good physical condition, you still need a slow and gradual recovery period, which is scientifically based."
"Secondly, the pace of the Premier League is very fast, much faster than Serie A. You need to observe and think more on the bench, especially watch how Milner, who plays in your position, plays. So, I will only give you 30 to 45 minutes. I hope you understand."
Tang Long readily accepted Pellegrini's idea and indicated that he had no objections.
He thought to himself, "Pellegrini deliberately mentioned Milner, my rival in the attacking midfield position, and even had me watch him play from the bench. There must be a deeper meaning behind that. Milner was a regular starter in the second half of last year's league season, and he's also an England international. He must have some exceptional skills. Manchester City was the runner-up in the Premier League last season, and the team is full of top players. How could anyone who plays here not be capable? I need to observe him closely."