Chapter 62: Things I’m Good At

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In the 20th round of the Premier League, Arsenal played away against Bournemouth.

In this game, Lekai was still on the bench.

Mourinho wanted to let Lekai rest for a while and wait for the next round of the game to start.

In the absence of Lekai, Arsenal performed very well in the first half.

Scoring two goals in a row, scored by Mane and Lukaku respectively, also gave Arsenal a huge advantage.

Although Bournemouth scored a goal and pulled back one point in the last stage of the first half, the impact was not too great.

In the second half, Mourinho did not change the lineup, and the original team continued to work hard.

Arsenal, who played in an offensive state, soon scored another goal and expanded the score to 3:1.

This also made Mourinho feel that the game was almost certain.

But in the 65th minute, the situation suddenly changed. Bournemouth took advantage of a counterattack opportunity and drove straight in. Bellerin's header allowed Bournemouth's striker to seize the opportunity and score a goal.

Two minutes later, Bournemouth seized another counterattack opportunity and caught Arsenal off guard.

Martinez took the initiative, but misjudged and flicked the ankle of the opponent's offensive player, resulting in Arsenal being awarded a penalty.

Bournemouth scored the penalty steadily.

In just five minutes, two goals were scored in a row, and the two sides tied 3:3 in the 70th minute.

Mourinho was a little impatient, and he sent Lucky to the field again, hoping to get enough gains.

But on the one hand, after Bournemouth scored, the whole team retreated.

On the other hand, too little time was left for Lucky to play, resulting in Arsenal failing to score any goals.

In the end, Arsenal was tied with Bournemouth away in the 20th round of the game.

Based on this victory or defeat, Arsenal's ranking also took a sharp turn for the worse, and was kicked out of the top four Champions League zone, ranking fifth.

Chelsea currently tops the standings with 49 points, which has a certain advantage.

The rest of Tottenham, Manchester City, and Liverpool all have 42 points.

Arsenal is outside the Champions League zone with 41 points.

For this reason, the next round of games becomes extremely critical.

The direct dialogue between Arsenal and Manchester City will determine the ownership of the Champions League zone, and also determine which of the two teams will fall behind in the standings.

Neither Mourinho nor Guardiola obviously want to fall behind, and compared to Manchester City playing away, Arsenal has a home advantage.

In the next round, Luka will most likely start, and Kante will also return to the field.

This also makes Arsenal fans full of confidence to a certain extent.

After all, they tied Manchester City away in the previous game. As long as they win this round, Arsenal can firmly grasp the initiative.

As for Manchester City, they must win this game after losing to Liverpool in the 19th round to ensure their initiative in the standings.

The game has not started yet, but the gunpowder smell has begun to spread.

Guardiola has had a headache recently.

Why is it just at this stage that Luka and Kante have recovered from their injuries? How good would it be to stop for one more round?

This way they can play more easily.

The Champions League knockouts, the FA Cup and the league pressure also make Guardiola feel extremely tired.

Not only him, but also the players.

Manchester City is not very good at the moment.

Kompany, Gundogan and other players are injured.

Aguero and Fernandinho are suspended for a red card.

Facing Arsenal's defense, whether their forwards can play an effective offense is a key.

Sterling and Sane, they will bear the main offensive pressure of Manchester City.

But I feel a headache when I think of Sterling.

It's not just a matter of happy football.

Sterling's "fear of Kai" is also a troublesome thing.

The happy boy who usually performs well, once facing Lekai, he is like a wilted eggplant.

He dares not to pass, dares not to play.

For this reason, Guardiola also specially found a psychologist for counseling, but the effect is not obvious.

Once Sterling's wing is not effective, then he can only rely on Sane.

As for the midfield, David Silva, Yaya Toure and De Bruyne, elite soldiers and generals are all there, which makes Guardiola a little relieved.

At least they will not lose in the midfield.

And with the recent strong performance of Manchester City's midfield, they should be able to suppress Arsenal's midfield.

For this reason, Guardiola wants to put the weight of victory in the midfield.

"We don't want the ball!"

In the tactical room of Arsenal, Mourinho said to the players; "We don't need to compete with Manchester City for the ball. They like to control the ball, so let them control the ball. We just need to ensure the rhythm of pressing, and we can't let the opponent control the ball too comfortably. Once we get the opportunity, we will immediately launch a counterattack!"

Lekai also listened carefully to the tactical arrangement.

Mourinho's tactics are very reasonable.

At the beginning of the season, Luka could suppress the opponent's half, mainly because Manchester City's tactical system was not mature and not tacit.

But now Manchester City has established a passing and controlling system with De Bruyne as the main force after David Silva gave up the right to organize. It is impossible for Arsenal to play the same as in the first half of the season.

The result of competing with Manchester City for the ball will only be that Arsenal will be led around like a monkey.

Even though Lucky is confident in his pressing ability, he is not confident in grabbing the rhythm in the hands of the three top midfielders.

For this reason, defensive counterattack is the safest and the most suitable style of play for this current Arsenal team.

With Lucky and Kante in the midfield line, Jimenez and Hummels holding back, this kind of defensive lineup requires a lot of effort even if Manchester City wants to overcome it.

And once Arsenal seizes the opportunity, their counterattack is no joke!

Both sides have their own plans and are formulating the tactics that best suit them.

In the evening, De Bruyne was conducting set-piece training at Manchester City's training ground.

After a day of training, he stayed to continue training.

The pressure before the game made him need some outlets. Although the game had not yet started, Lucky's face lingered in his mind when he thought of facing Arsenal.

Beat him once!

I want to beat him once!

This is De Bruyne's most intuitive thought.

From Chelsea to Manchester City, De Bruyne has played against Lucky many times, but in his opinion, he has not won any of them.

Even in the first half of the season, they drew with Arsenal.

Both performed well.

But in De Bruyne's view, they have home field advantage, so they still lost.

De Bruyne is a man who loves to get into trouble and has a rather stubborn character.

Currently, his biggest wish is to defeat Lucky and Arsenal!

Complete defeat!

Under De Bruyne's training, a voice sounded from beside him.

"You should rest."

De Bruyne turned his head and looked over, and he found Guardiola walking over at some point.

"Sir, I want to practice for a while!"

De Bruyne wiped his sweat and said.

Guardiola smiled and said; "I like players who work hard, and I even like players who are talented and work hard, but you can't do this."

Guardiola picked up the ball, bumped it and asked, "Because of the next game?"

De Bruyne said nothing.

Guardiola: "Because of Kai?"

De Bruyne remained silent, but his eyebrows were tangled together.

Guardiola smiled; "It seems so!"

"He is very similar to me. He has excellent passing skills and a broad vision. The most important thing is that his defense is very strong, and I can't do this!" De Bruyne pursed his lips and said: "He's better than me!"

Guardiola: "I don't think so!"

De Bruyne looked up in surprise.

Guardiola said: "From the information and data I collected, your passing rate and threat level are higher than Kai's, and the positioning of the team is also different. You are an offensive player, while Kai has to take on more defensive work. "

"I admit that in a defensive situation, Kai's offensive ability gives people an amazing feeling!"

"But purely based on offensive ability, your performance is much better than Kai's."

"So, don't dwell on these issues. You are good at different things. Kai has found his own way of playing. He knows how to win in the game, while you are still in a state of confusion."

Guardiola kicked the ball high, stepped on it easily, turned around and said with a smile: "Why don't you use what you are best at to the extreme? Kai is very good at defense, so you can use your best pass. To break his defense, that’s the key!”