Faced with Manchester City's extreme passing and control, even a top team like Manchester United can only compete with them neck-and-neck for a period of time, but it is basically impossible to have tit-for-tat matches throughout the game.
First of all, physical strength is a problem.
No team is willing to put all the players' physical strength into fighting.
Secondly, high-position pressing requires the team to have an overall strategic plan.
It's not just two or three people rushing into the opponent's half to press, but the entire team must maintain a consistent formation and effectively press according to the position of the three-person team.
Otherwise, you will become a "monkey" in training.
However, no team will train this kind of defense as a daily routine.
Most high-position pressings still rely on the players' enthusiasm and willpower to complete.
Even Manchester City and Guardiola will not specifically train them in high-position pressing. They will only focus on counter-attacking and group pressing in the transition between offense and defense.
Therefore, many times, when Manchester City gets the ball in the opponent's frontcourt, it is not the most dangerous time.
The most dangerous time is when they counterattack in the opponent's backcourt after losing the ball.
Because when counterattacking, the opponent's defense is not so targeted. After grabbing the ball, counterattacking on the spot can often lead to unexpected opportunities.
Just like this time.
In the 20th minute of the first half, the Manchester United team, which had been suppressed by Manchester City for seven or eight minutes, finally organized an effective attack.
Pogba received Bruno Fernandes's through ball in the frontcourt, shook off the defensive player, and Pogba shot a long shot directly outside the arc of the penalty area.
This kick perfectly reflects Pogba's kicking skills.
The football drew a beautiful arc and bypassed the palm of goalkeeper Ederson, but the goalpost blocked this wonderful world wave.
With a "duang" sound, the football hit the goal post hard and bounced diagonally out of the penalty area.
Full back Zinchenko protected the second landing point outside the penalty area and quickly passed the ball to Sterling in front.
Sterling After receiving the ball, he ignored the opponent's rushing players, directly moved the ball forward, and forced a breakthrough.
The speed of Sterling caught the full-back of the Manchester United team off guard. When he wanted to reach out to pull him, Sterling was already gone.
The two defenders in the middle chased wildly, and Li Mingyu quickly followed up in the middle.
Two-on-two in the frontcourt.
Sterling dribbled the ball with his right foot. Facing the center back who came to defend him, he made two consecutive fake moves, finally making the opponent lose their center of gravity.
Sterling dunked the ball with his right foot past the opponent and directly into the penalty area of team Manchester United.
Li Mingyu did not continue to rush forward, but stopped outside the penalty area, leaving the other central defender Harry Maguire who was defending him in a dilemma.
In the end, he chose Sterling with the ball and discarded Li Mingyu without the ball.
Sterling entered the penalty area. Suddenly, he didn't know whether his feet were weak or the feeling of happy football came again. He felt like he didn't know how to deal with the ball.
Should he hit the goal directly, pass the goalkeeper, or pass the ball?
A patient with advanced stage difficulty in choosing - Sterling. When faced with these choices, he felt like his brain was about to shut down.
Central defender Harry Maguire saw the opportunity and made a beautiful sliding tackle to shovel the ball away from the feet of Sterling who was hesitant in his steps.
Just in time, Wan-Bissaka on the other side came back to defend and caught the ball near the baseline.
After losing the ball, Sterling didn't even have time to feel annoyed, so he relied on his body's instinct to rush towards the football again.
Wan-Bissaka looked at the furious Sterling, and cursed in his heart, Damn it, I had a great time just now!
Therefore, Wan-Bissaka wants to treat others the same way they treat others.
Wan-Bissaka raised his foot and made a movement to spread his foot forward.
Sure enough, Sterling was fooled. Far away, Sterling jumped over and stretched out his right leg, trying to block Wan-Bissaka. Even if he blocked the ball, he couldn't let the ball pass directly to the frontcourt.
Wan-Bissaka saw Sterling who had been fooled, and showed a sly smile. He lightly dunked the football to his left with his right foot.
Sterling's golf quotient is actually very high. It was just temporarily controlled by the happiness factor in the brain.
When he jumped up, he already knew that he had been fooled, so after landing, Sterling quickly turned around and pressed for Di Bisaka a second time.
This time, Wan-Bissaka felt a little numb. He was now at the bottom line of the penalty area, less than ten meters away from the goal. If he lost the ball here, the consequences would be disastrous.
Now, the best choice for Wan-Bissaka is to kick the ball out of the baseline and give Manchester City a corner kick.
However, this choice is the most cowardly choice, and most players will not do it unless they have to.
Therefore, Wan-Bissaka chose a decision that he regretted endlessly.
He chose to pass the ball to the goalkeeper.
However, while he was entangled with Sterling, Li Mingyu had quietly run into the penalty area.
When Wan-Bissaka passed the ball across to the goalkeeper, Li Mingyu quickly rushed into the small penalty area in two steps from outside the penalty area. Before De Gea could catch the ball, he blocked the path of the football.
De Gea opened his hands with a nervous look on his face and completely blocked the near post, not giving Li Mingyu a chance to shoot.
Li Mingyu made an action that stunned everyone.
Originally, Li Mingyu was facing the baseline, and his right side was the goal, but the angle was completely blocked by De Gea.
Li Mingyu used his right foot to pull back on the football, and then made a beautiful Marseille Turn, turning his back to the goal, but he already had a certain shooting angle. As long as he turned around and shot, he would have a good chance of scoring a goal.
But the center back Harry Maguire in front of him was only about one meter away from him, giving Li Mingyu no chance to turn around and shoot.
Li Mingyu's movements were very coherent. After pulling the ball back with his right foot, he knocked hard on the football with the heel of his left foot.
With his back to the goal, he shot a beautiful back-heel shot. De Gea never thought that Li Mingyu would use such a shooting method.
He just stood there, watching with a dull expression as the football flew past him and crashed into the net.
The entire Etihad Stadium suddenly fell into a carnival.
Li Mingyu's shot is simply a work of art.
It's like dancing on the court.
After scoring the goal, Li Mingyu greeted his teammates, rushed to the sidelines, knelt down domineeringly, and opened his arms to the fans.
The Manchester City fans in the stands shouted the name of Li Mingyu loudly.
Scoring goals in Manchester Derby will make the fans love you endlessly more than scoring goals in other games.
Let me tell you that for the next week or so, due to some things that need to be dealt with at home, there will only be 4,000 words updated every day. It will return to normal next week. I hope everyone can forgive me.