Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Compared with other world-famous goalkeepers of his generation, Valdes may be second only to Casillas in terms of honors. Neither Buffon nor Cech is his opponent in this regard.

But just as the Barcelona Dream Three patron saint has risen to the ranks of football superstars, his shortcomings in goal-line technology have been criticized by fans and the media.

Because he is in Barcelona, ​​and with the rise of Meng San Barcelona, ​​he has won too many heavyweight championship honors.

So to be fair, outside fans have always viewed Valdes harshly.

In terms of goal-line skills, he is no match for top goalkeepers such as Casillas, Buffon and Cech.

But his level of saves is not as high as the second-tier level in football as evaluated by many fans.

Otherwise, even if he perfectly adapts to Guardiola's tactical system, he has absolute advantages that other goalkeepers do not have in terms of ball-playing skills and range of activities.

It is impossible for Valdes to sit on the position of Barcelona's main goalkeeper for ten years!

Li Ang also had several direct confrontations with Valdes when he was in La Liga.

At least in 2011-2012, and the following season, Li Ang believed that Valdez at least had the first-class save level in football.

The real turning point for Valdez's sharp decline in strength was last season's torn anterior cruciate ligament that cost him the season.

For a veteran, no matter what position he plays, encountering such a major injury basically means goodbye to the peak of his career.

At least in Li Ang's memory, after leaving Barcelona, ​​Valdez moved to many teams and failed to show the level of a first-class goalkeeper.

Therefore, he was particularly decisive in his choice of offensive goal this time.

His current long-range shots are famous for their violent power and fast ball speed.

Li Ang didn't particularly care about the pursuit of angles.

This method of hitting the door is best for surprise attacks.

Like De Gea and Joe Hart when they are focused, they can basically react and make corresponding saves.

But for Valdez, an old goalkeeper who has long since lost his form after a serious injury, Li Ang's unreasonable shooting made him extremely uncomfortable.

His brain responded, but his body struggled to keep up with the save instructions given by his brain.

Li Ang wonders if Guardiola will regret his tactical decision to start Valdes.

Maybe Guardiola will figure it out at some point in this game:

Compared with Valdez's resolute execution of his ball-playing tactics, Joe Hart's saving ability may be the defensive guarantee for Manchester City to compete with Chelsea to the end.

But Li Ang hopes that the key time point for Guardiola to figure out this issue can be postponed as much as possible.

It’s better to pick persimmons that are soft and pinch them~

He has scored a goal now, but his teammates are still waiting to sharpen their swords against Manchester City...

Guardiola subconsciously covered his cheeks and did not look at the electronic scoreboard that had changed on the court at this moment.

Li Ang's goal made the blood surge in his chest, but at least at this moment, Guardiola did not feel that Valdes was the main problem in the defense.

“Get the football! Get the football!!!

The two wings should be brought in as much as possible, we must have control of the midfield!

Don't let them get too many chances with the ball in our half! Push the battlefield out! Push through the center line! "

Guardiola immediately stood on the sidelines and further emphasized his tactical requirements to the Manchester City players on the field.

This is actually easy to understand, because one of Guardiola's tactical philosophies is to use the ball as much as possible to avoid the risk of losing the defense.

When the ball is controlled in the midfield area as much as possible, or further, is controlled more in the opponent's half, Guardiola's team's defense will of course be safer.

To put it more simply, Guardiola attributed this conceding goal to his own lack of ball control, which makes perfect sense.

Fabregas took a deep breath and looked at Li Ang who trotted past him after celebrating, with a touch of determination in his eyes.

"Only fighting against Li Ang on a technical level is an absolutely untenable method. If he were in control of the ball, even if I grabbed the ball just now, it would be difficult to break through further... Maybe, I really should let go more concern……"

Fabregas's thoughts were somewhat complicated, and every performance he had played against Li Ang in the past few seasons quickly flashed through his mind.

Rakitic had no idea of ​​his new midfield partner's change of heart at this moment.

He just moved to Manchester City from Sevilla this season, and he is not one of those young talents from the big clubs.

He climbed from the bottom step by step to where he is now.

He has his own rules of survival. Compared with the gentle and wealthy players, he also understands better what kind of performance should be used to limit the performance of the opponent's core midfielder in such adversity.

But he didn't expect that after the game restarted, he hadn't waited for him to "take action".

Fabregas took the lead and made a strong confrontation with Li Ang in the midfield!

In terms of pure physical confrontation ability, Fabregas is definitely not Li Ang's opponent.

But on the football field, the defensive side has too many ways to interfere with the attacking side.

Tactical fouls can basically be committed by any player.

And with the home whistle today, after Fabregas made an aggressive tactical foul against Li Ang for the first time, he didn't even get a verbal warning from the referee!

Such a scene stunned the Manchester City fans at the scene.

After all, since Guardiola arrived at Manchester City last season, as long as they play against Chelsea, Manchester City has basically been fighting against the more passive side.

Especially the Manchester City midfielder who plays against Li Ang.

Not to mention Fabregas and David Silva, who often retreats, even the previous Yaya Toure and Fernandinho couldn't take advantage of Li Ang.

But now the situation has been reversed, taking advantage of Cesc Fabregas at the home post, and the confrontation is getting bigger and bigger.

But Li Ang's retaliation was more likely to result in a verbal penalty from the referee!

This kind of stadium situation makes it difficult for Manchester City fans not to be excited.

Mourinho did not expect that the referee today would obviously give Manchester City more advantages at home.

This is definitely not a black whistle, the home whistle has always existed.

If today's game was played at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's players would only make the confrontation with Manchester City even more fierce.

After rubbing his temples, Mourinho stood on the sidelines.

Perhaps it would be more beneficial for Chelsea to decisively switch to a defensive counterattack at this moment, but such an idea only flashed through Mourinho's mind.

Since they need to complete a tactical upgrade this season, in such tough and crucial battles, Chelsea players need the firm support from the coaching staff even more!

The unwillingness to take too many risks is a character trait of Mourinho that is neither a shortcoming nor an advantage.

But in comparison, being at both ends is what Mourinho is more afraid of.

Once you have made a tactical decision, you must resolutely implement it to the end!

The Chelsea players who are fighting hard on the field need to do this, and the coaches who are doing tactical games off the field must set an example!

"The leader signals us to continue fighting with them! Fight for the ball, don't stop! Don't back down!"

Li Ang saw the tactical instructions made by Mourinho. He shook his clenched fists fiercely to convey the firm determination from the coaching staff to the surrounding teammates!

This is still an adventure. No matter when, it is a very risky move to compete against the team coached by Guardiola.

But Chelsea's players chose to trust their head coach and teammates at this moment!

Nothing can be broken or established.

Chelsea just needs such a hearty battle to further declare their existence to European football.

And what these players wearing Chelsea's blue jerseys have to do is to fight until the last minute on the field, on the battlefield that belongs to them, just like their predecessors!

Chelsea's choice of tactics surprised many commentators.

In the past, Mourinho has used this offensive tactic to grab the start more than once at Chelsea and even at Real Madrid.

But often after scoring the first goal, Mourinho's team will quickly enter the stage of formation contraction.

But after scoring a goal today, Chelsea still maintained the high-pressure tactics they implemented at the beginning of the game!

This style of play is extremely aggressive, but at the same time, Chelsea's backcourt also leaves enough room for Manchester City to counterattack.

Guardiola doesn't know what kind of medicine Mourinho is selling in this tactical gourd today.

But he knew that this was an opportunity for Manchester City!

There is a lot of pressure on the Manchester City players on the field, but no matter how much pressure there is, they must withstand it at this time!

Fabregas put aside his past pride and used the effective defensive moves he had learned throughout his life against Li Ang on the defensive end.

Although Li Ang was surprised, he didn't feel irritated.

After all, compared with the dirty opponents he had encountered in his previous career, these little defensive moves by Fabregas were relatively clean.

And he doesn't have much responsibility for team organization now.

Interacting with Fabregas for a while while running without the ball will not cause much interference to Chelsea's offensive operation.

What Li Ang is more concerned about is whether his teammates can withstand Manchester City's threatening counterattack after their teammates press almost all the way. Terry and Matic, who often retreats to help defend.

When it comes to counterattack speed, Manchester City is definitely enough.

Navas and Aguero are both fast counterattack horses, and Silva is also fast enough.

Coupled with the long pass guidance ability of Fabregas and Rakitic.

Li Ang feels that apart from not having a high point in the frontcourt to get the ball, Manchester City is already an out-and-out first-class team in terms of counterattack.

Just when Li Ang was on guard, Manchester City's David Silva retreated to get the ball.

After attracting the press of Kroos and Hazard, he knocked the ball horizontally and handed it to Fabregas who raised his hand.

Xiaofa just raised his head and observed, and Li Ang secretly thought in his heart that it was not good!

Just when Li Ang decisively turned his head and started to pursue him.

Fabregas had already sent a precise long diagonal pass, directly finding Jesus Navas who was already speeding up on the left!

Aguero acted as a tactical bait in this counterattack.

He attracted Matic's defensive attention, and facing Terry who was lagging behind, Navas did not give the opponent a chance to get close to him at all, and directly overtook him forcefully, heading towards Chelsea's bottom line!

Azpilicueta was desperately chasing back, but his speed obviously couldn't compare with Navas who was advancing forward.

For Chelsea, the only good news may be that Aguero and Silva have dedicated personnel to guard them at this moment.

But when Navas approached Chelsea's bottom line, he did not pass the ball back to find his striker teammate.

Instead, he hit the ball directly to the edge of Chelsea's penalty area in an inverted triangle!

Fabregas stopped advancing because his tactical intention had been achieved.

Watching Rakitic stop the ball at the top of the Chelsea penalty area, Guardiola almost rushed out of the coaching bench!

Rakitic took a deep breath, passed the ball with his right foot, and then directly hit a big arc shot that went straight to the upper right corner of the Chelsea goal!

The angle of the goal is very similar to Li Ang's previous goal angle!

The difference is that Li Ang's long-range shot is a powerful and heavy shot, and he pursues ball speed and strength.

But Rakitic's kick is more about angle and accuracy!

Faced with Rakitic's wonderful shot, Cech reacted and moved in advance and also made a wonderful save!

Although he is getting older, Cech used his rich experience to make early predictions, so he still has the opportunity to destroy Rakitic's shot.

At the critical moment, Cech seemed to desperately straighten his fingertips, which was less than half a centimeter to the limit, allowing Cech to successfully touch the football!

The football's trajectory towards the Chelsea goal was slightly changed, and eventually it hit the intersection between the Chelsea goal post and the crossbar, and bounced back into Chelsea's penalty area!

Thiago Silva, who was back on defense, didn't hesitate too much and kicked the football directly to the wing!

Bertrand, who retreated to get the ball, immediately heard Li Ang calling him!

"Ryan, kick the ball!"

Seeing that Li Ang, who had just reached the edge of his own defensive third zone, turned around and started to advance forward, Bertrand roughly estimated the distance and sent a long diagonal pass smoothly!

Rakitic didn't even have time to be upset, so he decisively turned around and started to chase back. Fabregas was the first to go straight to the spot where the football landed!

Li Ang glanced at his teammates running in front of him.

Seeing Ferlandinho and Fabregas rushing towards him with eager eyes, he quickly adjusted his position.

After turning his back to Fernandinho, Li Ang took off with all his strength and stopped Bertrand's long pass with his chest.

Then, under the surprised gazes of all the Manchester City fans, he decisively knocked the ball back to the oncoming Kroos!

Yes, Li Ang did not choose to forcefully turn around to guide the attack this time. Instead, he used an extremely standard fulcrum action to get the ball, allowing Cross to successfully take over the offensive organization!

Li Ang cast a trusting look at Cross. He didn't say anything, but at this moment, Cross felt connected with him!

Cross, who took the ball forward and took a step forward, stretched out his posture, and then sent a fast and threatening long pass towards Manchester City's penalty area!

The ball was not given to Hazard or De Bruyne who could deliver a threatening cross.

Cross reached the target in one step, and Ibrahimovic, who was running forward, gave an overhead through ball!

After he moved to Chelsea, he indeed began to play the eighth position regularly.

But he is also the most talented passer in world football!

He can now stop making multiple forward pass attempts in a game, but this does not mean that he has lost his ability to pass the ball threateningly.

Ibrahimovic, who rushed into the Manchester City penalty area, took off slightly and used his chest to cushion the ball, and then hit a volley from close range!

Valdes was shot without temper, and Chelsea scored their second goal of the game in the 31st minute of the first half!

Mourinho finally became excited. He rushed out of the coaching bench, roared on the sidelines and opened his arms!

He admitted that Guardiola may still be the best coach on the planet at coaching his team's offensive tactics.

He is indeed inferior to Guardiola in this regard.

But he will continue to learn, imitate and improve, so that his team can slowly make up for the shortcomings in offense!

Perhaps, after today's game, he can declare to Guardiola with great confidence:

Your sword is sharp, and my sword is not bad at all!