Open Your Eyes and Watch! Tang Long Unleashes Dreamy Footwork! Now That's the Premier League's Best Midfielder!

Seeing this, Raymond, Guardiola's trusted scout at the Etihad Stadium, showed no surprise whatsoever.

He nodded and quickly bent down to take notes in his notebook.

[Gündoğan: My passing was too slow; I need more time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League.]

Guardiola and Raymond have been tracking Gündoğan for nearly half a year.

In their eyes, this Germany midfielder has the physique, the stamina, the vision, and, most importantly, the exquisite passing ability.

He perfectly fits the requirements of a defensive midfielder in Guardiola-style Tiki-taka.

However, one weakness of the 25-year-old Gündoğan is that he takes too much time to think when passing the ball!

Although the Bundesliga is highly competitive, many mid-to-lower table teams do not engage in relentless pressing.

But it's different in the Premier League.

The pace here is very fast; often, the defender's body has already collided with the ball before it even reaches their feet.

This requires players to have a certain level of physical fitness, as well as a fast-paced passing mindset.

From this perspective, Gündoğan is not yet capable of doing so!

This is precisely why Guardiola insisted on sending Gündoğan to Manchester City six months in advance—to allow him to adapt to the pace of the Premier League as quickly as possible within those six months.

From this perspective, Guardiola is indeed quite cunning.

He dumped the tasks he should have done himself onto Pellegrini, waiting for himself to take over as Manchester City manager six months later so he could reap the rewards.

After being helped up by Tang Long, Gündoğan looked at Tang Long in silence.

In the last game, you said my passes were too purposeful, and just now you said the frequency was too slow, as if I were completely useless...

However, this time Gündoğan did seem a little guilty.

Because he genuinely underestimated the pace of the opponent's striker Lambert!

Before he even noticed, Lambert rushed towards him like a whirlwind.

Such aggressive pressing at the start of the game is quite rare in the Bundesliga, and Gündoğan knew he had indeed been careless.

In the subsequent matches, he began to become more cautious.

Following Tang Long's instructions, they increased the pace of passing, trying to keep the time spent receiving the ball to no more than two seconds. They would immediately pass the ball once the opponent pressed forward, and frequently used one-touch passes to widen the passing range.

"Well done, Gündoğan! Just keep playing like that!"

In the 12th minute of the first half, Gündoğan and Tang Long connected.

Facing pressure from two midfielders, Tang Long passed the ball to Gündoğan with a single, non-stop touch of his left foot. Gündoğan tried to control the ball, but the defender behind him immediately closed in.

He stumbled, turned and kicked the ball directly to Navas on the right wing. Navas crossed from the byline to find Agüero in the penalty area, but unfortunately the ball went a little too high and was caught by the goalkeeper.

The attack was executed flawlessly. Although Gündoğan lost possession, he managed to switch the ball from the center to the wing from his attacking midfield position without making any mistakes.

Seeing this, Pellegrini, sitting on the sidelines, finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to assistant coach Rayne, saying:

"Fortunately, he has a relatively strong ability to regulate his emotions. Let's continue to observe him!"

Gündoğan does indeed possess a strong ability to self-regulate, which is essentially a form of self-learning and self-evolution for the player.

At 25, he is in his prime as a midfielder, with both his physique and awareness at their peak. With proper training, he still has a lot of room for improvement.

After Gündoğan increased the pace of his passing, he gradually adapted to West Bromwich Albion's early pressing.

In fact, West Bromwich Albion, as a mid-table team, came to Manchester City with a relatively low profile. Their pressing at the start of the game didn't last long. After 20 minutes, seeing that they hadn't broken through Manchester City's defense and had given up the idea of stealing a goal, they simply retreated to defend.

Gündoğan's advantages in the attacking midfield position are beginning to show.

He frequently mobilized the entire team through skillful passing and excellent vision, forcing West Bromwich Albion's players to run back and forth following Gündoğan's passes.

The opponent's attention and stamina were being worn down by each pass and each run.

Raymond didn't write anything down in his notebook about this, a characteristic of Gündoğan that he and Guardiola were already familiar with.

In the 31st minute of the first half, Gündoğan assisted Agüero with a through ball to open the scoring!

Tang Long moved forward appropriately from the defensive midfield position to close the distance with Gündoğan, and took full advantage of the pressure from Sterling and Navas on both sides to make full use of the central area.

At this stage of the match, Manchester City is at their most efficient in scoring.

Great players often have a tacit understanding. Although it was the first time Gündoğan and Tang Long had partnered up in the Premier League, their passing was remarkably in sync.

With two sharp kicks, Tang Long and Gündoğan a one-two pass!

After receiving the ball, Tang Long attracted a double-team from two defenders, and once again, without stopping the ball, gently flicked it with the outside of his foot.

The opponents thought Tang Long was going to pass to the wing, because both his eyes and the way he passed the ball were aimed at Nasri on the right. But they didn't expect that with a flick of the outside of his foot, the ball would spin and bounce back in the opposite direction to Gündoğan on the other side.

"Great shot!"

Gündoğan couldn't help but shout out. He was caught off guard by Tang Long's pass and even paused for a moment when he received the ball. However, he quickly recovered and glanced up at Agüero.

A bright, gaping hole appeared right in front of him!

If the ball is passed to him, Agüero only needs to make a slight offside run to create a one-on-one opportunity.

"There's a break!"

"Gündoğan has seen it, pass it straight through immediately!"

"Connect with Agüero!"

"Oh dear... what a pity."

"It was cut off halfway!"

"West Bromwich Albion's center-back Lescott, with his height and long legs, blocked the ball with a split!"

"Even facing his former club, Lescott is still as impressive as ever!"

At this moment, West Bromwich Albion's incredibly fast striker Berahino had drifted to the wing. Lescott spotted him, looked up, and launched a long pass, intending to launch a counter-attack immediately.

Fortunately, the experienced Agüero pulled him down from behind with his hand, relieving the opponent's counterattack with a tactical foul.

Perhaps to make amends, the referee gave Agüero a yellow card for his first foul of the match.

Agüero Gündoğan, saying nothing.

Now it's Gündoğan's turn to feel guilty!

Such a good opportunity for a through pass, not only did it not go through, but it also caused the team's star striker to receive a yellow card in the first half in order to stop the opponent's counterattack.

"Your pass was too obviously intentional!"

On his way back, Gündoğan saw Tang Long and suddenly recalled what Tang Long had said to him during the previous League Cup match.

At that time Gündoğan didn't take it seriously.

What's wrong with having a clear purpose?

Isn't this a good thing?

And I even provided an assist, so you're probably just jealous of me.

But after Gündoğan's pass was intercepted, he finally understood what Tang Long meant.

Against Premier League bottom-ranked and demoralized team like Aston Villa, passing some purposeful through balls might be fine, as the opponent can't stop them anyway;

But against a mid-table Premier League team like West Bromwich Albion, who also have the UEFA Europa League title to contend for, such a clearly purposeful pass is unlikely to get past their center-backs.

So what exactly constitutes a pass without a clear purpose?

Three more question marks appeared in Gündoğan's mind.

Soon, Tang Long demonstrated the matter to Gündoğan.

Playing at home against West Bromwich Albion, a goal in the first half is crucial to embolden the opponent to attack in the second half. If the score is tied, the opponent will likely continue to play defensively in the second half, setting up a solid defensive formation. Even for a team like Manchester City, breaking through their defense won't be an easy task.

Therefore, Manchester City's attacking pace did not slow down; on the contrary, their momentum became even stronger.

Under Tang Long's leadership, the entire backline even pushed forward, putting West Bromwich Albion firmly under pressure in their own half.

This presents a significant challenge for Manchester City's attack!

After all, in the densely populated opponent's defensive third, passing the ball around and getting players moving to find openings is a very challenging task.

We still need Tang Long!

With the opponent retreating, Tang Long could boldly move forward from the defensive midfield position, even at one point positioning himself parallel to Gündoğan, forming a double attacking midfield.

"Watch the game!"

Kolarov, dribbling down the wing, feigned a further run down the flank, his body thrusting forward while the ball rolled slowly.

It was this difference in rhythm that took away one of the opponent's full-backs. Kolarov immediately turned around and passed the ball to Tang Long, who came to receive it in the middle.

Just as Tang Long was about two meters away from the rolling ball, the opponent's two midfielders, Fletcher and Morrison, rushed towards Tang Long like dogs, sticking to his back!

One person was pulling on his jersey, while another simply blocked his path with their foot, waiting for the ball to come and be cleared.

Seeing this, even the battle-hardened Gündoğan was immediately shocked, thinking, "Is the Premier League defense this brutal?"

He felt that Tang Long's shot was definitely going to be intercepted.

What happened next made Gündoğan's eyes widen in disbelief!

Although Tang Long's jersey was being pulled beforehand, his sudden acceleration was so rapid that Fletcher, who was pulling him, stumbled and fell to the ground!

Meanwhile, the other defender, Morrison, seemed completely unprepared for Tang Long's sudden start. After Fletcher fell, he remained frozen in place.

Tang Long received the ball!

Seeing Tang Long successfully escape the encirclement, Gündoğan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly moved closer to Tang Long to receive the ball.

In my opinion, as long as Tang Long successfully passed the ball back under double-teaming, he completed a very good connection.

"Tang! Here..."

It was Gündoğan calling out to Tang Long, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly heard a "snap"!

Without any hesitation or thought after receiving the ball, Tang Long turned to the side and flicked the ball with the inside of his foot, sending it directly to the left wing!

This move completely overwhelmed Gündoğan; for a split second, his eyes couldn't even keep up with the ball's trajectory.

Once his gaze settled on the ball, he was shocked to discover that Sterling had somehow moved up behind the defenders!

"Great shot! Go and receive it!"

This through ball left Gündoğan utterly astonished. He suddenly understood what Tang Long meant by passing without too much purpose, because now, not only the opponent but even his own teammate couldn't figure out where Tang Long was going to pass the ball.

Gündoğan quickly started his engine, intending to meet Sterling!

Based on his understanding of Sterling, he knew that the player on the wing would attract opposing players to press him, leaving the middle open and creating a good opportunity for him, as the attacking midfielder, to take a long-range shot from the edge of the penalty area.

As expected, Sterling knew his shooting was poor, so instead of forcing a breakthrough and unleashing a powerful shot, he went down the byline and flicked the ball back into the middle with his left foot.

However, his start was ultimately a step too slow; before Gündoğan could catch up, the ball rolled towards him.

He was initially disappointed at having wasted this long-range shooting opportunity, but unexpectedly, a light blue figure flashed past him in an instant, much faster than him in both stride frequency and speed!

When Gündoğan finally saw the figure clearly and recognized the number 9, Tang Long was already sprinting at high speed, stopping and dribbling, making two crisp La Croqueta as he swept Lescott cleanly off the edge of the penalty area!

What a Dreamy Footwork!

Gündoğan was completely stunned!

He was clearly behind me when he passed the ball, so how did he suddenly rush in front of me?

"Agüero!"

Tang Long roared at Agüero from inside the penalty area!

This shout instantly drew the attention of both the other center-back, Dawson, and the opposing goalkeeper, Myhill, to Agüero.

Although Dawson immediately closed in on Agüero, Gündoğan felt that as long as Tang Long's pass was fast enough, Agüero, with his skill level, would definitely be able to score at the far post.

Bang!

Tang Long pretended to pass the ball, but at the last moment, his right ankle suddenly jerked from the outside in, slamming the ball hard into the middle!

Goalkeeper Myhill couldn't react in time and watched helplessly as the ball rolled past his feet and into the near corner of the goal!

He collapsed to the ground in a disheveled state, covering his face with his hands.

For any goalkeeper, having their near post breached is an absolute humiliation.

The principle of guarding the near post and leaving the far post open is a concept that all professional goalkeepers are repeatedly instilled with during their goalkeeping training.

Myhill wasn't unaware that Agüero needed to cover his near post, but Tang Long's sudden shout, the look he gave Agüero, and his body language before his final tackle—these three feints combined to completely fool him. Waaaaah!

The cheers at the Etihad Stadium were deafening!

"Tang!"

"Tang!"

"Chinatang!"

It's still the familiar Tang Long's three shouts!

His teammates rushed towards Tang Long and celebrated with him.

Standing at the edge of the penalty area, Gündoğan, overwhelmed and bewildered by the spectacle, shook his head and smiled.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly ran towards Tang Long to join the celebration.

When his teammates finished celebrating and turned to leave, Gündoğan was the last one to stay by Tang Long's side, giving him a high-five alone.

"Tang, a perfect performance! Everything you said is correct. I'm convinced!"