i want to be king

Chapter 949 How the Iron Army Was Forged

Many people say that Manchester City now is like Chelsea a few years ago.

This is actually overestimating Manchester City and underestimating Chelsea.

Before the Abu Dhabi consortium took over, Manchester City was a low-level team in the Premier League. Even after rushing back to the Premier League, Manchester City played the role of soft persimmons, so that Manchester United ignored this [noisy neighbor] so much, making the Manchester derby useless.

But Chelsea is markedly different.

Before Abramovich took over, Chelsea was already a top-ranked team in the Premier League, a bit like Tottenham Hotspur now, always stuck on the edge of the Champions League, just a short while away.

More importantly, Chelsea has a long-term set of very clear business ideas.

Many people only remember that Arsene Wenger landed at Arsenal in [-], but what they don’t know is that a year earlier than that, that is, in [-], Gullit, one of the Dutch Three Musketeers, transferred to Chelsea for free, and replaced Glenn Howard in [-] to coach Chelsea as a player and head coach.

Also in 1000, Italian striker Vialli moved from Juventus to Chelsea for US$[-] million. Two years later, in [-], when Gullit left Chelsea, Vialli continued to lead the team as a player and head coach.

From Gullit to Vialli, Chelsea have always been at the forefront of the European continentalization of the Premier League and have tasted the sweetness from it. Therefore, after Vialli dismissed get out of class, Chelsea continued to follow this route and invited the tinkerer Ranieri to coach.

This time Ranieri stayed at Chelsea for a full four years, until Abramovich injected a huge amount of money, Chelsea's overall strength has been completely transformed, Ranieri was also considered no longer suitable for Chelsea, and instead invited Mourinho to coach.

It can be said that before Mourinho coached Chelsea, the Blues were already a strong team in the Premier League, and they have been at the forefront of the European continentalization of the Premier League for many years, laying a solid foundation for the complete transformation during Mourinho's coaching period.

From Ranieri to Mourinho, one is that Mourinho brought the most advanced training concept in European football at that time, as well as the emphasis on wingers and the shaping of the team's spirit.

Perhaps, Mourinho failed to lead Chelsea to win the Champions League, but during his coaching years, Chelsea was an iron army that no one wanted to encounter in European football. This in itself is enough to prove the success of Mourinho's coaching.

Even many professionals believe that it was a mistake for Mourinho to coach Barcelona.

Barcelona is a technical school, which does not conform to Mourinho's philosophy from beginning to end. More importantly, this group of technical geniuses in Barcelona has no way to play the kind of toughness that Mourinho requires.

Mourinho's success in Barcelona is the success of Barcelona football, but the success in Chelsea belongs to Mourinho's success. Even now, the head coach has changed repeatedly, and this Chelsea team still has not been able to wash away the imprint left by Mourinho.

Boas lost the central axis of Drogba, Lampard and Terry, and he couldn't play immediately. In the end, he had to put Drogba and Terry back on the post and was forced to compromise. This is enough to explain the problem.

In fact, Boas was not wrong, so he was also recognized by Chelsea's management.

These veterans are getting old, and it's time to step down.

It is impossible for Chelsea to rely on this group of veterans forever, and it is impossible for the veterans to occupy Chelsea's main position forever.

But it is obvious that, for the time being, Chelsea still cannot completely break away from the framework that has been built over the past ten years. This has already penetrated into Chelsea players and all aspects of the team.

Manchester City coach Guardiola said before the game that it is very important to score first against Chelsea. It is out of his understanding of Chelsea that only by scoring first can Chelsea be forced to play.

If Chelsea are allowed to score first, the Blues will start to enter their most familiar counterattack tactics.

It's just that no one thought that Manchester City would be able to score at the beginning.

This not only stunned Chelsea, but even Manchester City itself was a little uncomfortable, so that in the few minutes after the goal, the two teams played a little chaotically.

Manchester City doesn't even know, should they continue to attack?
Or slow down the pace appropriately, stabilize possession and let Chelsea press out?

Guardiola on the sidelines and captain Su Dong on the field quickly realized the team's problems. Both of them stood up, stabilized the team's position, continued to attack for a while, then slowed down the pace, patiently controlled the ball, and let Chelsea press out.

Chelsea did not rush out blindly, they are also a very experienced team.

After conceding the ball, it was adjusted until the No. 205 minute before Chelsea seized a wave of opportunities and played a burst of climax.

First, Sturridge's pass, Drogba hit the goal from a close corner in the penalty area, which was saved by Courtois, and then Juan Mata's pass gave Drogba another chance to kick in the penalty area, but this time it went slightly wide.

After Chelsea attacked for a while, they also slowed down their pace appropriately.

Unexpectedly, in the No. 304 minute, Chelsea suddenly kicked out another quick counterattack.

Busquets' midfield pass was cut off, Sturridge went straight behind Marcelo, rushed past Manchester City's defense line with speed, avoided Drogba in the front point, and passed the ball to the unguarded back point.

Courtois reacted quickly, moved quickly, abandoned the goal and attacked before Meireles, and hit the ball out of the penalty area with one hand, so he collided with Meireles.

The ball was kicked straight out of bounds by Toni Kroos and City saved a very dangerous attack.

Courtois' defense this time even won a lot of applause at the Stamford Bridge Stadium, but he himself was hit hard and was taken to the sidelines by the team doctor for treatment. Fortunately, there was no serious problem and he returned to the court soon.

After that, the trend in the first half was basically that Manchester City controlled the ball, occasionally creating opportunities through pass penetration, while Chelsea patiently defended and waited for the opportunity to counterattack, but neither side could create any more threats.

……

After changing sides to fight again in the second half, Chelsea played a wave of fast-paced attacks as soon as the whistle blew, and at the same time, the actions at hand began to become bigger and bigger. Obviously, the players of the Blues also began to feel the pressure.

But Manchester City's defense is also not paper.

In the past two seasons, the central defender combination of Pepe and Kompany has always been the most solid central defender partner in the Premier League. Although Marcelo and Zabaleta are both offensive, Manchester City has a strong ability to pass and control the ball. Most of the game is controlled at Manchester City's feet, so Manchester City's defense has always been one of the best in the Premier League.

When Chelsea's attack was frustrated, Manchester City also waited patiently for their opportunity.

In 8 minutes, the Manchester City midfielder chased and intercepted, and finally succeeded in stealing the ball from Ramirez near the center line. David Silva quickly passed it to Su Dong.

Su Dong stopped the ball and turned around, striding forward a few steps. Seeing that Chelsea's defense line was retreating rapidly, he didn't hesitate much. He saw the timing, rushed forward, and shot furiously.

This kick was a long shot 27 meters away from the goal, which caught everyone by surprise.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was originally on the outside, but at this time he was hit unexpectedly. The whole person couldn't stop backing up, and finally jumped high, trying to hold the ball over the crossbar.

Unexpectedly, although Su Dong's shooting range was far, his feet were amazing. Cech couldn't hit the ball with one hand. He just changed the direction of the ball slightly, but it still fell into Chelsea's goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!"

"World wave!!!!!!"

"Oh my god, another world wave!"

"Su Dong scored twice, a wonderful goal, two to zero!!!"

Su Dong frantically rushed to the sidelines, ran all the way around the field, and was stopped by Guardiola on the coaching bench of the visiting team. The two embraced tightly on the sidelines, while other Manchester City players also chased up and stood in a group.

"Manchester City are really united and have impressed us immensely."

"Many people say that Guardiola is actually not good at dressing room management. On the contrary, Captain Su Dong is the soul of the dressing room. He has stabilized Manchester City's dressing room very well and made the teammates around him tightly united."

"It is very difficult to make a team like Manchester City achieve results and play cohesion, but it is Su Dong and Guardiola who work together to create an invincible Manchester City on the court."

Two to zero, this score made the Stamford Bridge stadium become silent.

Chelsea fans must be upset, but they have to admit that for now, Manchester City's strength is indeed above Chelsea.

Let alone sending out the main force, even if Manchester City plays with a rotation lineup, they may not necessarily lose to Chelsea.

No way, the rich and powerful team is so willful!
Back then, Chelsea also ravaged other teams in the Premier League in this way. Feng Shui took turns, and now it was their turn to be ravaged by Manchester City.

In the final analysis, it is still the power of capital.

The difference is that Manchester City has a superstar like Su Dong, which makes Manchester City's rise faster, faster and more unstoppable than Chelsea's back then.

In front of the coach of the home team, Boas put his hands on his waist and pursed his lips. He was obviously not satisfied with the result, but he also knew that the players had tried their best.

Chelsea's lineup is getting old, and the more time drags on, the worse it will be for Chelsea.

The battle against Valencia in the middle of the week had a great impact on Chelsea, and the players consumed a lot. As a result, in this game, they were still unable to block Manchester City's penetration and offense.

Especially their ability to pass and control the ball like mercury pouring down the ground is really terrifying and hard to guard against.

Boas also has to admit that only Barcelona and Barcelona's direct descendants can train such a pass and control system.

This is something other teams cannot learn.

(End of this chapter)