Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Mourinho slapped his thigh, holding the tactical board in his hand, and quickly walked from the sidelines to the coaching bench.

But he kept muttering in his heart, "Okay, you big-browed guy has also learned bad things!"

Guardiola really came up with something new to deal with Chelsea at home. This was a situation Mourinho didn't expect at all before the game!

In the past, Guardiola's passing and controlling style of play did often involve controlling the ball for a long time in his own half.

But this is the first time Mourinho has seen this kind of play that almost unites the midfielders, wingers and defenders to control the ball within a 30-meter area of ​​​​his own side to avoid the opponent's high pressure!

The key is that Guardiola's counterattack starting point is really novel.

Instead of relying on wingers to push forward, or relying on long passes to find the fulcrum of the center and then radiate the frontcourt attack, the full-backs push forward from behind and then seek opportunities to pass the ball.

Even the final finishing blow is initiated by the right back and completed by the left back.

It was the first time Chelsea faced this kind of tactical play, and the defense was almost penetrated by Manchester City!

If it weren't for Li Ang's desperate pursuit and bold defensive move at the last moment.

If Kolarov, who was almost unmarked at the time, successfully completed the shot in the penalty area, Mourinho really didn't know whether Cech could prevent it.

After quickly analyzing Guardiola's style of play with some nervousness and excitement, Mourinho and Holland also quickly made adjustments to the player positions on the tactical board.

Guardiola didn't have much excitement or joy on his face at the moment. Instead, he stood on the edge of the court chattering with his hands on his hips in displeasure.

If a reporter can get close to Guardiola at this time, he will be surprised to find that all that comes out of Guardiola's mouth is complaints about Li Ang!

Indeed, in the duel with the team coached by Mourinho, Guardiola's team has suffered many losses from Li Ang since the 11-12 season.

At the beginning, Li Ang restricted Messi's marking on the defensive end, which caused Barcelona to lack its most powerful explosive point and offensive firepower output.

Later, Li Ang gradually grew up to the point where he could break through Barcelona's center defense by inserting from behind, delivering cannonballs to Real Madrid's forward group, or he could insert himself forward to create a threat.

And now, Li Ang is constantly causing trouble for Guardiola's Manchester City on both offense and defense!

In the last match, if it hadn't been for Li Ang's convulsive explosion and two world-beating long-range shots, Manchester City wouldn't have been tactically passive for the entire game.

After patting his forehead and letting out a sigh of relief, Guardiola stood on the sidelines again and kept applauding his disciples to show encouragement.

The new style of play he developed almost overturned Chelsea when it first came out. Judging from the tactical effect, Guardiola is still very satisfied.

Although he also knew that Mourinho would definitely impose restrictions immediately and make tactical adjustments to deal with it.

But no matter what choice Mourinho makes later, as long as Manchester City does not have a strong desire to take the initiative to attack today, Chelsea will have no good way to defeat Manchester City.

After all, if Chelsea wants to break the deadlock as soon as possible, facing Manchester City who are recycling their formation, they must actively press forward to seek more offensive opportunities.

As long as Chelsea presses forward, Manchester City will always have the possibility of counterattacking on both wings.

Zabaleta and Kolarov are both full-backs with a strong desire to attack, and their skills are sufficient to support this style of play.

Of course, in Guardiola's mind, the ones who are most suitable for his tactics are of course his disciples in Barcelona.

The deep-lying organization of Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets is absolutely stable in controlling the ball.

If Manchester City's current right back is Alves and the left back is Alba, then the rapid counterattack will only be sharper!

It's a pity that he can't dig it out. If he can really dig it out, Guardiola would like to directly dig out Messi.

Wait for him to create a season of tactics at Manchester City. You can definitely compete with Chelsea in the Premier League!

After thinking about it for a while, Guardiola sighed and shook his head, returning his attention to reality.

The game restarted soon, and Mourinho had not had time to make targeted tactical adjustments, but the Chelsea players on the field became more vigilant against Manchester City's counterattacks on both wings.

Lampard no longer dared to advance forward easily to participate in the attack. He stayed in his own half with Matic on the left and right, blocking Manchester City's counterattack route.

Li Ang can grab and has a lot of physical fitness, but he can't do anything when facing the trio of Cesc Fabregas, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho who hold the ball late.

In the past, defensive pressure and ball interception were done because the opponent had the desire to attack forward and move the ball forward.

If the opponent wants to take the initiative to attack, there will naturally be a vulnerability that can be exploited.

But with Manchester City's current style of play, they have concentrated three holding midfielders in front of their back line, and two full midfielders who have dropped back to assist the ball.

Without taking the initiative to attack, there are really too few opportunities for Li Ang to steal.

This couldn't help but remind Li Ang of a tactic that Mourinho occasionally used when he was at Real Madrid.

That is the tactic of defending without any desire after taking the lead. If you say you won't attack, you really won't attack. After all, there is no transition between offense and defense. So how can the opponent catch the mistake and counterattack?

The tactics currently designed by Guardiola are similar to Mourinho's tactics of defending without desires and demands.

Mourinho subsequently made tactical adjustments, and Chelsea's offensive method also changed drastically.

Li Ang and Lampard took turns to insert themselves into Manchester City's half, and they used the three forwards in front to put pressure on Manchester City's defense.

But on the center line, Chelsea always maintains two midfielders to assist the full-backs in containing Manchester City's side counterattacks.

When necessary, Leon and Lampard can insert themselves into the Manchester City half, with Matic and David Luiz guarding the center line to assist the wide players in defense, and Terry alone can trail behind.

This kind of tactical arrangement is to win steadily. Guardiola only looked at it for a while and understood Mourinho's plan.

After Mourinho secretly scolded Guardiola for becoming cunning, Guardiola also continued to complain that Mourinho was still too conservative as before.

Both sides have put in a lot of effort on the defensive end. They want to gain steady benefits and are unwilling to take the risk of handing the knife handle to their opponents.

So after the game was thrilling for a while in the opening stage, it quickly entered into a patient competition between the two teams.

Manchester City waited for Chelsea to press forward aggressively, but Chelsea put in a limited amount of offensive power and defended the center line and wings, denying Manchester City a chance to counterattack.

After a stalemate for the entire first half, not to mention other neutral fans, the Chelsea and Manchester City fans at the scene all yawned a little.

However, Mourinho and Guardiola are relatively accepting of such a half-time situation.

If this round of the league is placed after the 30th round of the Premier League, and Manchester City is 6 points behind Chelsea, then Guardiola's tactical choices may be completely different.

But now the league has just reached the 24th round of the Premier League, and there are still 14 rounds of league games before the end of the entire season.

Therefore, Manchester City can still afford it and there is no need to rush into a direct decisive battle with Chelsea.

Before La Liga ended last season, Guardiola wanted to use this method to avoid opening up the points gap with Real Madrid.

It's a pity that he had a direct falling out with Barcelona's senior management in the winter window due to signing issues. Otherwise, if he continued to lead the team in the second half of the league, Real Madrid might not be able to easily win the championship in advance.

"You are as confident as ever..."

When the game reached the 60th minute of the second half, Mourinho remained unmoved, as if he was about to finish the game at his current pace.

Guardiola couldn't help but shook his head and muttered.

Mourinho doesn't seem to care at all that if he draws with Manchester City in this round of the league, Arsenal will take the opportunity to close the points gap.

In other words, Mourinho firmly believes that his team is more stable and can gain more points in games against the top 8 teams in the Premier League.

Therefore, in direct dialogue with Manchester City or Arsenal, Mourinho is not eager to make a deal, and directly knocks his competitors to the ground.

He still prefers a safe victory and a long-lasting league championship!

Guardiola really wants to take this opportunity to overthrow Chelsea.

But he also clearly knows that the current Manchester City team is far from meeting his tactical requirements. He still needs a season or two to find more suitable players and further improve his tactics.

Prior to this, facing Mourinho, who was faster in team building, more utilitarian in his playing style, and had Li Ang as the core of offense and defense, Guagliola knew that he could not fight casually.

He resisted the idea of ​​making a desperate move against Chelsea after the 70th minute of the second half.

So the commentators from various countries and countless neutral fans were surprised.

Because today they once again saw a rare glimpse of Guardiola who forcibly changed his tactical philosophy.

Even if they all know that Guardiola chose such a tactic, it was just by chance.

But such scenes are still too rare.

Li Ang also knew that Mourinho would not take risks when he didn't want to take risks, so he did not lead his teammates on the field to attack Manchester City.

In the last 20 minutes of the second half of the game, Manchester City no longer controlled the ball in their own penalty area. They also tried to penetrate the midfield.

But facing Chelsea, who had switched to a full-line defense at this moment, Manchester City's offense did not work.

Li Ang also honestly pulled Matic and Ramirez, who came on as a substitute in the second half, blocking all possibilities for Manchester City to attack from the center line.

In the end, the game ended with a score of 0-0. There was no winner in this game, or in other words, after this game, both Manchester City and Chelsea were losers.

Arsenal, who won against Crystal Palace, became the only winner, because they not only overtook Manchester City by two points, but also narrowed the point gap between themselves and Chelsea to 4 points.

This result is almost perfect for Arsenal fans.

The fans of Chelsea and Manchester City complained on the Internet and after a few complaints, they were able to accept the draw in their hearts.

Only the major sports media in England continue to criticize Manchester City and Chelsea for their conservatism, complaining that they did not play the exciting scenes they should have in this focus battle.

But it would be too difficult to see too many beautiful attacking scenes in a game that Mourinho is determined to be conservative.

Guardiola didn't want to give a chance, so such a result should be expected by the media.

Most of the employees within Sky Sports, after watching the first half of the game, knew that this so-called war would not cause any trouble.

But after the game, criticism should still be criticized. After all, they rely on public opinion for their livelihood.

A serious analysis of the tactical choices of the two head coaches will not attract much attention from fans, but they still have to create some buzz.

But this time they didn't have to wait long.

Five days later, in the 25th round of the Premier League, which continued. Liverpool kicked off the war with a 5-1 slaughter of Arsenal that shocked the whole of England.

In the afternoon, Manchester City took over the baton from Liverpool and swept and slaughtered Canary Norwich 6-0!

Chelsea, who played later, suppressed the Magpies Newcastle 5-0 not to be outdone!

Ibrahimovic and Hazard passed and shot one after another, Li Ang scored twice with a header and kick, and Terry scored his first league goal of the season!

At this time, all the British media suddenly became excited again.

Isn’t this the topic of discussion?

The strong performances of Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea aroused heated discussions among a large number of Premier League fans.

A world where only Arsenal is injured has been achieved~