Messi was so scared that he cried when he maxed out his header talent at the start of the game

Chapter 671

"Drop deeper!"

"Get back!"

"Mark up!"

On the side of the court, McLeish, who has pure Scottish ancestry and short blond hair, kept shouting to remind the players.

After the opening.

He has been passionately participating in the team's defensive command.

The newly appointed Birmingham head coach has a luxurious resume of coaching in the Scottish Premier League.

He led Motherwell to the runner-up of the Scottish Premier League in 1995, led Hibernian to the Scottish Premier League in 1999, and led Glasgow Rangers to the domestic double championship and domestic triple championship in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

He was invited to become the new head coach of Birmingham this summer.

The brilliant achievements made in the Scottish Premier League are both motivation and pressure. As a famous coach in the Scottish Premier League, his goal this season is certainly not to stay in the league.

But he hopes to lead the newly promoted Birmingham to achieve some results in the new season.

And today's game against Manchester City.

McLeish sees this as a battle to inject energy into the new season. If he can draw with or even defeat Manchester City, the "Triple Crown" that has won three consecutive games, it will inspire the players' fighting spirit infinitely and prove his coaching ability. However, behind the huge rewards must be the same degree of challenges and pressure. After the opening. Manchester City, which got the ball, quickly suppressed Birmingham in the situation and firmly controlled the ball. McLeish can only keep reminding the players to stay focused and stabilize the defense to withstand the early stage of the opening, when Manchester City players are most energetic and motivated. McLeish's passionate command next to him made Guardiola a little restless. He kept commanding Manchester City players to continue to press forward, compressing Birmingham's defensive space, and at the same time doing more interspersed runs and transfers. Birmingham's defense is tougher than Guardiola imagined, and their execution is in place.

And Manchester City's adaptation time to the new starting lineup is much slower than he imagined.

The tacit understanding between players needs to be cultivated.

New players also need to get more intense confrontation and faster rhythm through formal games than training games to adapt to the Premier League as soon as possible.

Only in this way.

When the intensive schedule comes soon, Manchester City needs three or even four threads to fight.

When players are injured and need to be rotated.

Only then can there be more available players to deal with those key and challenging games.

This is why Guardiola once again replaced five different starters today.

However.

Adaptation means that you need to bear the cost of making mistakes to grow.

The team's offense.

It is far less smooth than the last game.

The transfer speed is not fast enough, the regional cooperation is also very rigid, and small mistakes and off-rhythm passes are constant.

Especially in the midfield position.

Bale and Rakitic's role in organizing the offense is not even as great as Modric's alone.

Bale is okay, his role is to explode on the wing.

But Ivan Rakitic, who started his first league game, has performed a bit badly so far.

In training matches.

This 19-year-old Croatian teenager can often show magical passes like "Little Modric".

But today.

He made a lot of mistakes, the ball was too slow, and many times he was a little panicked after being closely pressed by the opponent's players, and mostly passed back.

Guardiola can understand.

The intensity and pressure of the team's training matches and official matches are completely different.

In training matches.

The players are practicing tactics and showing themselves as much as possible.

But in actual combat.

A mistake or loss of the ball is likely to cause great damage to the team.

But understanding does not mean acceptance.

"Ivan?"

"Ivan?!"

"Ivan!! The ball is too slow!"

Ivan Rakitic has become the person Guardiola has shouted at the most since the start of the game.

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The game has reached the 30th minute.

The score is still 0:0.

In the ESPN live broadcast room, Wang Tao summarized the performance of both sides since the start of the game."In the past half hour."

"The situation is very dull."

"Manchester City has a clear advantage in ball possession, with a full 67%!"

"But facing Birmingham's tenacious defense."

"Manchester City has encountered a problem."

"How to convert ball possession into goals is a question that Manchester City players on the field need to think about now."

"Half an hour has passed."

"Manchester City's continuous passing, cutting, running and shifting have consumed a lot of players' physical energy, and the rhythm has obviously slowed down."

"Slow pace."

"For Birmingham, which uses defense as its main strategy today, this is obviously good news."

-【This game makes me sleepy...Manchester City made too many mistakes today. Several waves were about to gain momentum, but a pass error made them silent. 】

-【Today's offense was not smooth at all. Su Fei was surrounded tightly, the midfield could not create opportunities, and the forwards were almost invisible...Or should I replace Modric? I can't stand it anymore. 】

-【I can understand the lineup training, but I don't quite understand the training like this. With so many starting players replaced at once, can the offense be carried out? 】

-【To be honest, Birmingham played well today. Several waves of assists were done very well, and the ball was intercepted. I heard that a new head coach was replaced in the summer, and it feels like there is something. 】

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The commentator and the fans felt that Manchester City's offense was constipated today.

On the court.

Su Fei played a little uncomfortable.

Birmingham was very good at their own off-ball suppression today, and placed a heavy bet on themselves.

In such a situation at ordinary times.

The team can often open up the situation through Modric or Knight's offensive organization, and they can also push deeper, transforming from a front midfielder to a fulcrum in the front court to create chaos.

But today...

Rakitic is really not good. Since the start of the game, he has not been able to adapt to Birmingham's defense. Bale can explode, but the route of the cross is blocked by Birmingham.

Cross from the side, cross from the bottom line, inverted triangle cross... several attempts were blocked by Birmingham.

This feeling.

It makes Su Fei feel like he has returned to the 2005-06 season, isolated and helpless.

I can only say.

There is also a gap between the midfielders.

Modric and Knight, the two meritorious veterans, are still the two strongest forwards in the entire Manchester City.

It's a pity.

Both of them were pressed on the bench by Guardiola today, and up to now, Guardiola has no intention of making any substitutions.

Teammates don't work hard.

The head coach is focused on training.

Su Fei thought it through and could only take the initiative to create opportunities.

Make up your mind.

Su Fei started a wider range of interlaced runs, from retreating to get the ball in the backcourt, to organizing the attack in the midfield, to interlaced runs in the frontcourt.

Finally.

Near the end of the first half.

Su Fei helped Manchester City open up the situation through his unremitting efforts.......

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