Manchester City's Eight Matches in January Came to an End! Now to Wait for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16!
Tang Long's performance in this match not only won over the Etihad fans once again, but also won over the heart of new signing Gündoğan.
The initial aversion to Tang Long's guidance vanished, replaced by deep admiration!
In this Germany player's mind, Tang Long not only personally demonstrated what fast-paced football is, but more importantly, his passing is unpredictable and highly deceptive, often creating a surprising and winning situation in just two or three passes!
During training, the two also became closer.
Gündoğan took the initiative to ask Tang Long to "pay his respects."
After discussions with Ranocchia and Kolarov, Tang Long gladly accepted this midfield general.
Although Gündoğan doesn't speak Italy, he was successfully integrated into the Italian-speaking Faction group.
Thus, Tang Long's Italian-speaking Faction expanded from three to four members, becoming an important force that could not be ignored in the Manchester City dressing room.
Due to the impact of the Nasri incident and the decline in Toure's performance, the Italian-speaking Faction has even surpassed the French-speaking Faction and is now on par with the Spanish-speaking Faction.
January 2016 was a lively month.
The opening of the winter transfer window has allowed Premier League giants to use their available funds to address weaknesses in their squads.
With Chelsea gradually falling behind in the Premier League title race, this season's Premier League contest has become a two-horse race between Manchester City and Manchester United.
The focus of the Premier League title race has shifted from London last season to Manchester this season.
Seeing Manchester City spend €31 million to bring in Gündoğan from Borussia Dortmund mid-season, Manchester United couldn't sit still any longer!
They are currently 7 points behind Manchester City, a gap that is neither too large nor too small.
With just over ten rounds left in the league, Manchester United firmly believes they still have a chance to compete for the Premier League title.
Having already spent 200 million euros in the summer transfer window to buy Icardi and De Bruyne, the Manchester United board has no way out. They must deliver a result that satisfies everyone from top to bottom, and be responsible to the owners, the fans, and the shareholders.
Therefore, Manchester United set their sights on Borussia Dortmund player Bender!
Feeling cheated in the previous transfer of Gündoğan, having sold him for too low a price, Borussia Dortmund's management is sticking to their asking price this time.
With a swift and decisive approach, the Germany midfielder ultimately joined Manchester United for a transfer fee of €50 million, almost double his Transfermarkt price, making him the most expensive winter transfer in Europe football!
Borussia Dortmund fans are going to cry.
After losing two key players, Gündoğan and Bender, in one winter, Bayern must be the happiest of all!
But Bayern fans also cried.
My excavator hasn't even started yet, why are you two running off?
And they ran so far!
If Gündoğan's arrival at Manchester City caused quite a stir in the Premier League;
Bender's arrival at Manchester United was like adding another hurricane to this turbulent situation, stirring up a massive wave!
The reason is that both Gündoğan and Bender have represented Borussia Dortmund in this season's UEFA Europa League.
Therefore, after the two new signings arrived in the Premier League, they can only play for their respective teams in the league and cannot play in the UEFA Champions League.
These are all transfers worth tens of millions of euros! Buying them means they can't play in the UEFA Champions League, only in the domestic league. In the past, this was considered incredibly extravagant, almost foolish!
However, considering the current Premier League title race, many analysts believe that this shows the Manchester clubs have made ample preparations for the fierce competition they will face in the second half of the season, demonstrating their ambition in the domestic league title race!
The traditional right-wing newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, once again published an editorial firmly betting on Manchester United to win the Premier League title this season.
"Since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, we have rarely seen Manchester United display such incredible ambition halfway through the Premier League title race!"
"In recent years, many Premier League powerhouses have developed a bad habit of prioritizing the league over the UEFA Champions League."
"The foreign management teams hired by these clubs believe that only by winning the UEFA Champions League can the club's commercial value and image be fully demonstrated."
"But we must not forget that in UK, football is a grassroots sport belonging to the working class!"
"If you can't establish yourself in your domestic league and deliver exciting performances for the fans, then you're putting the cart before the horse and forgetting your original aspirations!"
"I believe that under Van Gaal's leadership, and with the hard work of players like Icardi, De Bruyne, and Bender, Manchester United will definitely be able to catch up in the second half of the season and make up for the 7-point gap with concrete actions!"
The numerous high-profile winter transfers have whetted the appetites of football fans.
The packed schedule in January presents a severe test for the players.
Manchester City will have an astonishing eight matches to play throughout January!
On average, they have to complete a match in less than 4 days.
It's a test for fans' wallets, and it's equally challenging for the players' physical fitness.
Of these, only 4 are Premier League matches, while the remaining 4 are EFL Cup and FA Cup matches.
It's often said that the Premier League doesn't have a winter break, Premier League players are among the hardest-working in the Top Five Leagues, but this is partly due to the unavoidable scheduling of matches.
After all, the Premier League has many domestic cup competitions, and the dense schedule objectively deprives players of the opportunity to rest.
Just after the Premier League Round 20 match against West Bromwich Albion.
Manchester City's next match is the FA Cup third round, an away game against Norwich.
In two back-to-back away games, Pellegrini once again made significant rotations of his squad.
The good news is that Spain midfielder David Silva, who had been away from the field for two months, finally made it onto the bench and returned to the game in the 60th minute of the second half.
Silva has demonstrated a high level of performance since his return!
Not only did he assist Bony in scoring a goal, but he also personally unleashed a curling shot from 23 meters out into the top corner, helping Manchester City to a comfortable 2-0 away victory.
Silva's superb free-kick skills also drew praise from Gündoğan on the bench.
He asked Tang Long about the order in which Manchester City players take free kicks.
Tang Long told him that long-range shots of 28 meters or more are usually taken by the powerful striker Kolarov;
Within 25 meters, Silva, Toure, and even himself all have a chance.
Gündoğan nodded, looking eager to try as well, and from then on, he voluntarily added half an hour of free kick practice to his training sessions.
Just three days after advancing in the FA Cup, Manchester City returned home to play Newcastle in the 21st round of the Premier League.
Manchester City's key players, who had rested in the FA Cup, all started the game.
Tang Long and Gündoğan have both returned to the starting lineup.
However, this time, Pellegrini made the right decision.
After several rounds of trials, the Chile coach discovered that although Gündoğan has outstanding footwork, excellent vision and physical strength, he is not suitable for playing as an attacking midfielder.
Because his passing was too purposeful, and his passing inspiration was far inferior to Tang Long's.
If Tang Long were compared to Iniesta, he could weave through the penalty area like a butterfly;
Gündoğan is actually more suited to the Xavi model, taking on the important role of linking the midfield and defense in the team's backfield.
This adjustment has had an immediate and significant effect!
With Gündoğan's skillful link-up play in the backfield, Tang Long was finally freed up. He no longer had to run back and forth between the attacking midfield and defense positions, but could instead sit comfortably in the frontfield and serve as the final passer.
Bony and Agüero each scored two goals in the first and second halves respectively.
Three of those assists came from Tang Long!
Gündoğan's profile is equally impressive.
Although he doesn't have direct goal or assist statistics, he completed a game-high 108 passes with a 96% success rate and almost no mistakes!
In terms of defensive statistics, Gündoğan also contributed impressive numbers with 5 interceptions and 3 steals.
Although Tang Long, who provided three assists, was named the best player of the match, both Tang Long and Gündoğan received a perfect score of 10 in the post-match ratings!
Bayern scout Raymond provided an in-depth analysis of this in his scouting report on Gündoğan's tracking.
"Gündoğan's tactical role has been more pronounced since he joined Manchester City than it was at Borussia Dortmund."
"Although he also played as a defensive midfielder at Dortmund, his teammates at Manchester City were stronger and provided Gündoğan with more support, which improved the accuracy of his Gündoğan."
"With Tang Long and Agüero in the attacking third, they can both draw at least two defenders to their respective areas. Therefore, Gündoğan's timely runs forward can enrich Manchester City's attacking options."
"Pellegrini accurately identified Gündoğan's strengths, and he and Tang Long, one behind and one in front, each stood in the most suitable position."
"We originally thought it would take Gündoğan at least two to three months to adapt to the Premier League, but it seems he accomplished that in just two or three games!"
"Moreover, his English is much better than we expected; he can already conduct interviews in English independently."
Raymond even took the time to boast a few words in his notes.
"Looking at it this way, Pep's previous worries seem to have been unfounded, which also proves that our preference for this player is well-founded, and that my work in scouting outstanding players has reached a very high level."
The packed schedule continues in January, and Manchester City cannot guarantee a win in every match.
In the later stages, each team showed signs of fatigue to varying degrees, the unpredictability of the games increased, and unforeseen events occurred frequently.
Arsenal unsurprisingly faltered.
Liverpool and Chelsea, on the other hand, played a more conventional approach.
Although both Manchester clubs performed strongly, Manchester United still has a slight advantage overall.
Unlike Gündoğan, Bender was moved to the left winger position after arriving at Manchester United, directly participating in the attack.
The original combination of De Bruyne and Icardi was already firing on all cylinders in the first half of the season, and with the addition of Bender, the attacking options became even more diverse.
It's worth noting that in Dortmund, he recorded 6 goals and 8 assists.
In eight games in January, Manchester United scored a staggering 28 goals, averaging a whopping 3.5 goals per game, far exceeding their average goals per game in the first half of the season!
Among them was a humiliating 7-0 defeat to West Ham United.
Icardi single-handedly scored four goals, stunning the entire audience.
In these 8 matches, Manchester United achieved an impressive record of 7 wins and 1 draw, remaining unbeaten throughout January.
Manchester City have also performed exceptionally well, winning 7 and losing 1 of their 8 matches.
It's a bit of a shame that Manchester City lost a league match, while Manchester United drew a FA Cup game.
This resulted in Manchester City's league lead over their city rivals shrinking from 7 points to 4 points.
Four points, that's only the difference between two games.
This point difference could be erased at any time, and if the team collapses, it won't even need to wait until the Manchester Derby in the second half of the season.
Nevertheless, Manchester City CEO Begiristain did not put any more pressure on the team during a meeting with the entire management team.
He believes that with such a dense schedule of 30 days, the team only lost one game, injured player Silva made a smooth return, and there were no new injuries. This performance in January can be described as the club's most perfect January in recent years!
During the meeting, Begiristain emphasized the focus for February.
Besides maintaining a high level of focus in the league, they also need to keep their eyes on the upcoming UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
"Our minimum goal for the UEFA Champions League at the beginning of the season was to reach the final, so we must win both legs against Inter Milan!"
(One chapter today, I'll make up for it tomorrow, three chapters in total)