Chapter 408 They are the best players

Author: The first foodie in darkness

On the afternoon of March 2, at Wembley Stadium, in the fan stands that were half red, white, and half blue, the fluttering flags kept tumbling as the cheers sounded.

In the stadium, the players from Sheffield United and Manchester City walked out of the tunnel and began to make final warm-up preparations.

Li Mo's "arrogant" speech before the game made the Manchester City players quite dissatisfied.

We’ve reached the finals, who doesn’t want to win?

They admit that there is a gap between them and Sheffield United in terms of physical strength, but at the final moment, no matter how hard it is to win, they still have to fight hard.

Pellegrini was quite grateful to Li Mo for accepting an interview with the media before the game and stating his championship declaration, otherwise he would have had no better way to stimulate the fighting spirit of the Manchester City players.

After all, Manchester City has never won against Sheffield United in the past few years, and the players' "phobia" cannot be overcome in a short time.

Whether you are angry or energetic, the surge in combat power brought about by your emotions will not last long, but it is still better than just facing your opponent head on.

Seeing that the military's morale was available, Pellegrini's confidence increased somewhat.

At least he made all his efforts before the finals, and then he looked at the overall performance of the team!

Compared to Manchester City, both coaches and players at Sheffield United appear to be very calm.

This is their third League Cup final since being promoted to the Premier League.

Having won the League Cup twice in two years, they have both experience and mentality.

After all, I have been excited, nervous, and apprehensive. The journey to win the championship has been repeated for the third time, and all preparations have come naturally.

Li Mo's speech before the game may bring some twists and turns to the final, but the Sheffield United players didn't think there was anything wrong with what Li Mo said.

Speed ​​also felt it didn't matter.

Everyone knows that Sheffield United will strive to win the Grand Slam of club honors this year, and this League Cup is the best place to start.

Of course Manchester City will not give in, so will Sheffield United give in?

After reaching the final, everyone will fight to the end based on their ability. Li Mo just expressed the unified thoughts and will of Sheffield United. If you Manchester City are more angry, they will be able to explode in strength overnight and transform into the Cosmos team?

So it doesn't matter what you say. Anyway, it will be a real fight in the end. Li Mo is confident that other Sheffield United players will feel more at ease.

After all, this boss has always been a show-off, and Li Mo is in the front to attract the most firepower. The Sheffield United players are so scared!

Before the game started, Speed ​​did not emphasize too much on the tactical arrangements and just asked the players to relax their muscles and mood.

Maguire put on the music, Bale stared at the fruit in front of him in a daze, and Drinkwater asked Maguire to massage his shoulders.

The atmosphere in the Sheffield United dressing room was calm and relaxed, perhaps because Neymar and Felipe Luis, who had only arrived this season, were a little nervous.

Luis was praying, and Neymar kept chatting with Li Mo to relieve his mood.

Li Mo saw that the time was almost up, slapped Neymar hard on the shoulder, then stood up with a big smile and asked his teammates to check his jersey and equipment.

At this moment, all the calm in the locker room disappeared, and almost all Sheffield United players roared and gave one last cheer.

"I'll warm up later. I don't need to say more about how to fight against Manchester City. I already said it before the game. If you don't win the championship today, you will have to accept the ridicule with me after the game."

Li Mo made some irresponsible jokes first. After accepting the middle finger raised by the brothers in protest, Li Mo finished the last mobilization with a smile.

"We are all here. If I don't go on stage with a trophy today, I will be sorry for the tens of thousands of fans present. As per the old rules, let's set a small goal first. During the halftime break, let's let the boss and the fans praise each other. How about

!”

"good!!!"

Amidst the roaring applause, Li Mo punched open the locker room door with satisfaction.

"Let's go!"

※※※

The sunshine this afternoon was not too dazzling. Looking at the golden turf and the players from the two teams starting to take the field, the Wembley scene instantly burst into strong cheers!

Director Xu Yangxu, who has become famous among domestic fans in recent days, was also invited by Sina to be a guest commentator today.

"It's a great day for Sheffield United to lift the trophy."

Director Xu is the first to speak up. His praise for Sheffield United always has a positive effect, and domestic fans are happy to hear it.

Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu also laughed. Although the guests who came to the live broadcast room in the past were all "our own people", it was really rare for people like Xu Yang to stand at Sheffield United without any brains and speak without any scruples.

"Director Xu seems to have full confidence in Sheffield United! However, all Sheffield United's starting players will play today, and they indeed have a great chance of winning against Manchester City. Players from both sides have already started to play. Director Xu, then just invite

Please introduce to the audience the starting lineups of both sides today."

Xu Yang responded, without even reading the manuscript, and very skillfully named the starting players of the two teams today.

There are no changes in players or formations on Sheffield United's side. Four, three, three, all starters come out, and there are many tridents. It is completely the strongest mode.

On the other hand, Manchester City, compared to the four-two-three-one they usually play in the league, today in the final, they played three midfielders at once and came out with a four-three-two-one.

Among them, the starting goalkeeper is Joe Hart. The defense line is arranged from left to right, namely:

Kolarov, Kompany, Demichelis and Zabaleta.

The three defensive midfielders are Fernandinho, William Carvalho and Javi Garcia.

David Silva and Jesus Navas serve as the left and right midfielders.

Starting center Aguero.

Few people would have guessed this set of formation changes, but its purpose is very obvious, which is to focus on control and interception of the ball to counterattack.

William Carvalho is in the center, and Fernandinho and Javi Garcia are on the left and right sides. Once these three midfielders are put out, the midfield defense and interception capabilities of Manchester City's current lineup are indeed increased to the top.

Before the game, many fans were discussing how Pellegrini would arrange Yaya Toure's position.

After all, the last time he played Sheffield United, Yaya Toure blew himself up and caused Manchester City to collapse, making Pellegrini very dissatisfied.

If Yaya Toure and Fernandinho continue to be held back, Manchester City will most likely suffer.

As a result, Pellegrini chose the simplest and most unexpected approach.

He couldn't choose Yaya Toure!

This is a very courageous tactical arrangement and selection. Pellegrini would rather trust William Carvalho, who is only one month shy of turning 22, than Yaya Toure. He can only praise him for his awesomeness.

Yaya Toure would definitely be very angry, but for Speed, Pei Gong's move did make him feel a little uncomfortable.

Because Pellegrini's arrangement effectively avoided the hidden dangers in the middle of Manchester City's original starting lineup.

It turns out that no matter which defensive midfielder Yaya Toure is partnered with, he gets emotional and goes forward too hard. When Sheffield United asked Li Mo to cut through the middle, he would do it accurately.

Be it Barry, De Jong, or now Fernandinho, there is nothing they can do about Li Mo's breakthrough.

But now Pellegrini lets the honest Carvalho stand in the center, and Fernandinho and Garcia support from the side. The ball is no problem in the backcourt, and the defense is more solid.

After all, Carvalho was brought to Manchester City by Pellegrini, so there was no need to say anything more about being obedient. He just had a desire to attack, and he didn't dare to disobey when Pellegrini asked him to defend the backcourt.

As for your claim that William Carvalho is too young and does not have the ability to start in Manchester City?

That makes sense, but if you look at just one game, it makes sense for William Carvalho to play as a defensive midfielder in a central position.

First of all, he has a very good sense of position and can stand his ground. At least on the defensive end, he is not always out of position like Yaya Toure.

Secondly, he has good physical strength, good frontal interception, and is stable in protecting the ball.

As for adjusting the ball slowly due to slow speed, that is not a problem.

Because Pergo didn't give him many organizational tasks at all. Fernandinho and Javi Garcia were the distributors of a large number of ball-handling in the backcourt. The only reason for bringing Carvalho was to make him stand firm.

In the middle, sacrifice yourself to fight against Li Mo.

If the speed is not good enough, there are teammates on both sides to cover up the defense. As long as the frontal blockage reaches that point and Li Mo's rush is not smooth, it is enough!

Looking at it this way, Carvalho's starting lineup is reasonable and even very cost-effective.

With such a human shield at the front of the defense, Kompany's defensive pressure will be much easier. Manchester City can only withstand Li Mo's impact first before they have a chance to counterattack later.

After all, Manchester City still has Kompany. Although it is not like Chelsea who have a pair of heavy central defenders, Kompany plus Demichelis is better than most Premier League teams.

Even if Manchester City cannot copy Chelsea's tactics for drawing with Sheffield United, they can still learn a lot. For Pellegrini, such reference is not a problem at all.

By the time the pre-match ceremony was over, the players from both sides, who were either a little nervous or confident of winning, had all taken their positions.

As soon as the time was up, the referee on duty blew the whistle to start the game. The Manchester City player who took the first kick quickly passed the ball to his own half and began to control the ball.

Sheffield United began to press in the frontcourt.

It has to be said that the three defensive midfielders that Manchester City deployed today really strengthened their ability to control the ball and transfer the ball in their own half.

William Carvalho is close to the center back line to assist Kompany in passing the ball, while Fernandinho and Javi Garcia stand in the ribs, adducting to meet Carvalho, spreading out and receiving passes from the sideline.

Three defensive midfielders, three receiving points, all three are quite skilled. This investment in controlling forces made Sheffield United's opening pressing effect much weaker than usual.

Manchester City did not rush to give up the ball. Although it was not convenient for them to calmly organize forward passes, if they could keep the ball at their feet, it would weaken Sheffield United's offensive ability in disguise.

Speed ​​stood on the sidelines and observed for a while. Seeing the speculative look on his face, the Sky Sports commentator thought he had made tactical adjustments.

As a result, Speed ​​watched for a long time, just told Matic to pay more attention to Aguero's movement, and then stopped.

Not only did Speed ​​not make any adjustments, he actually sat back on the coaching bench with confidence.
To be continued...