Chapter 158 Away game against Manchester City, Jiang’s back pass assists!

At night at Cobham training base, the lights were still on in the windows of the coach's office on the second floor.

"Leon, I can't understand it now. As you can see, they are all distracted on the field. Are they professional football players?"

Mourinho slumped on the sofa, touching his forehead with one hand. The team lost the first game, and he was destined to have a bad sleep tonight.

Brown poured Mourinho a cup of black coffee: "Jose, I think... last season's championship made the players relax their vigilance. You can see it during training. Some players are no longer as focused as before. But I think the biggest problem lies in tactics."

Mourinho looked up and stared at Brown: "So you're saying there's something wrong with my tactical arrangement?"

"No no no!"

Brown waved his hands repeatedly: "I'm not saying there's something wrong with your tactical arrangement. We used this tactic and this lineup last season and won the league championship. But it may not work this season, because all the Premier League teams know how we will play, just like today, Swansea had 4 people defending Eden, and the worst thing is that Eden doesn't seem to be in good shape."

"shit!"

Mourinho cursed. The single-core tactic has a big feature, that is, the team's victory or defeat depends largely on the status of the core on the day of the game. Mourinho certainly knew this problem, but he did not expect that this drawback would be exposed in the first round of the game.

You know, last season Chelsea relied on the forward line composed of Hazard, Costa and William to win 26 games, with a total score of 87 points, surpassing Manchester City to win the championship!

Mourinho frowned: "I think we need to observe the situation for a while. To be honest, Eden's performance in training was very average, far from my expectations. Damn it, I don't know what to do now!"

The Portuguese coach drank the coffee in the cup. There was a notebook next to the sofa, which was full of various lines. It can be seen that Mourinho's mental state does not seem to be very good.

Brown didn't dare to speak and sat down opposite. Then, Mourinho thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Lyon, maybe I should seek change? Do you think I should change?"

Brown leaned back on the sofa: "Jose, I'm just an assistant coach. You need to decide this matter..."

Brown seems a little irresponsible, but this is understandable.

The team's tactics for the entire season are usually determined during the offseason. Now that the official games have begun, if the tactics are suddenly changed, the players will definitely not have time to adapt, and the result of not being able to adapt is loss.

If it was a warm-up match or a training match, losing a few goals would not be a problem, but this is a Premier League match. Losing a game will cause the team to drop back a few places in the rankings. Even if Mourinho can accept it, the Blues fans cannot!

"Damn it! Lyon, now Chelsea, Eden on the left can't break through, and William on the right is like a passing machine, receiving the ball, taking a few steps, passing the ball to Diego, and Diego passed the ball to Eden. In the end, Eden's cut inside was blocked. This is our current situation, my God! Maybe I should consider putting William in the attacking midfielder position in the next game"

After hearing Mourinho's idea, Brown tilted his head back: "William plays as a front midfielder? What about Fabregas? You can't let him be a substitute, right?"

Mourinho shook his head: "No, no, no, you misunderstood me. Fabregas can fill the position of defensive midfielder. Oscar will not be brought in the next round."

"What about the right side?"

"Falcao or Jiang, both of them can play on the right side, which seems to be quite good. We can try it in training the day after tomorrow."

Mourinho seemed to have made up his mind.

……

At 8:15 on the evening of August 22th, Beijing time, Chelsea players finished their training for the day, and Mourinho gathered the players together before leaving get off work.

"I'm a little nervous..."

Zuma put his arm on Jiang Yuan's shoulder. What else would they do when they gathered the day before the game besides announcing the roster?
Jiang Yuan smiled and said: "Don't be nervous, we will definitely be substitutes"

Zuma gave Jiang Yuan a middle finger and said, "Come on! Jiang, can you be more confident? We are all very capable!"

Jiang Yuan shrugged without saying anything. Although William's position in Chelsea is not as good as Hazard's, it is not something he can shake at his current level. Soon, Mourinho took the notebook from Brown. As early as the night before, the roster for the match against Manchester City had been determined.

Mourinho's eyes swept over everyone one by one: "First, the goalkeeper... Begovic!"

Chelsea's current main goalkeeper is Courtois, but after yesterday's training, Courtois' physiotherapist suggested that he take a rest. To be on the safe side, Mourinho directly removed Courtois from the roster.

"Then the defenders, Azpilicueta, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic!"

Zouma, whose fate was declared by Mourinho, showed a frustrated expression. Jiang Yuan quickly patted the French guy on the shoulder and said, "It's okay. I'll be with you."

"Ok!"

The best comfort is not sympathy but empathy. It is uncomfortable to be a substitute, but it is also a happy thing to have brothers to accompany you as a substitute.

"Quiet!"

Mourinho glared at Jiang Yuan and continued, "Defensive midfielder, Matic, Fabregas, attacking midfielder William"

"what?"

William pointed at his nose, looking confused: "Jose, did you say something wrong?"

William has had the experience of playing as a midfielder during training, but tomorrow they are playing against Manchester City, can this be a joke?
Mourinho glanced at William and said coldly: "That's it. Okay, finally the forwards, Hazard, Diego, and... Jiang!"

!!!

Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up.

Damn, the future suddenly becomes bright!
Zouma on the side was stunned at this time. He was definitely the most disappointed person in the entire team.

One's own failure is sad, but isn't one's brother's success also enviable?
Jiang Yuan touched his nose and said, "Jose, am I playing on the right? 4-2-3-1?"

Mourinho rolled his eyes at Jiang Yuan and said unhappily, "What else? If you don't play on the right, are you going to play as a center forward?"

"Oh oh oh!"

Jiang Yuan nodded repeatedly.

Isn't this the lineup from the training a few days ago? It turns out Mourinho had prepared it long ago. Willian plays as attacking midfielder, he is really bold!

"Snapped!"

Mourinho closed his notebook with a serious expression: "Come on, everyone, do you understand? Especially you, Eden, show your due performance and show Manchester City what 7000 million euros means!"

"come on"

"come on"

"come on!"

……

"Zhuangdianertai! Zhuangdianertai! This is the live broadcast of the second round of the English Premier League, the match between Manchester City and Chelsea."

"After losing the first round, Chelsea travelled to Etihad Stadium for their second league game"

"In addition, the news that everyone is most concerned about is that Jiang Yuan is on the list of starting players officially announced by Chelsea before the game! Mourinho has made significant changes to the lineup. Willian, who was originally the starting right winger, will play as the central midfielder in this game. Hazard, Costa, and Jiang Yuan will form the Blues' forward line!"

"The game has begun. Let me introduce the starting lineups of both teams. First up is the home team Manchester City!"

Manchester City (4-2-3-1)

Defenders: Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov

Midfielders: Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, David Silva

Forwards: Navas, Sterling, Aguero
Goalkeeper: Joe Hart
Head coach: Manuel Luis Pellegrini

"Then it's Chelsea away, also 4-2-3-1!"

……

"Press forward, don't fall backwards! Press forward!"

Mourinho was shouting on the sidelines. The Portuguese coach of the Blues seemed a little anxious, so captain Terry decided to launch an attack. He made a precise long pass to Jiang Yuan on the right. Jiang Yuan stopped the ball with his chest and passed it to Fabregas.

"Clap!"

Jiang Yuan clapped his hands twice and bypassed Sterling. Fabregas understood and quickly sent a straight pass.

"Very good! A beautiful one-two combination. Jiang Yuan got the ball on the right. Start dribbling now!"

"Fernandinho is marking him, and Jiang Yuan is forced to walk to the sideline. What should he do? Can he get support? William ran to the left rear of Jiang Yuan. He knocked the ball with his heel. Beautiful! Jiang Yuan successfully sent the ball out despite Fernandinho's marking. Now it is William who has the ball."

"William started to make a move. This Brazilian has very good dribbling ability. Let's see if he will choose to break through in the middle... to Costa. Costa used his body to hold Yaya Toure and passed the ball back. Hazard rushed out to catch the ball!"

"Sagna reacted very quickly and followed him directly. So did Yaya Toure. When he saw Hazard got the ball, Yaya Toure ignored Costa and Hazard cut inside with the ball. Would this be a chance for Chelsea? Ouch! Under the simultaneous suppression of Sagna and Yaya Toure, Hazard lost the ball. What a pity!"

Hazard's mistake gave Manchester City a counterattack opportunity in the backcourt. After Kompany got the ball, Costa immediately chased him, so Kompany passed the ball back to Joe Hart, who knocked the ball to Kolarov on the left sideline.

"Get up!"

Fabregas shouted, and Jiang Yuan quickly fulfilled his duties, and implemented high-pressure defense with Costa. Kolarov had no choice but to use a long pass to transfer the ball to the right, and Navas got the ball.

"gogogo!"

Navas waved his hands twice, signaling his teammates to gradually move, and then took the ball one-on-one with Matic on the wing. Manchester City players successfully broke through the defense of Matic and Azpilicueta through some small-scale short passes, and finally David Silva sent a 45-degree cross.

Aguero had the upper hand in the physical confrontation with Cahill, jumping high and heading the ball into the goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLL!!!"

"Sergio Agüero!"

In the 15th minute of the game, Manchester City striker Aguero scored the first goal, 1:0!

The home fans at the Etihad Stadium sang the team song excitedly, and the domestic fans couldn't sit still when they saw Chelsea concede another goal.

[Damn it, can you pass the ball to Jiang Yuan a few more times? I just ordered two genuine jerseys yesterday. If Jiang Yuan doesn't have the ball again, I will buy pirated ones! ]

[I don't understand what Mourinho is thinking. Can you give Jiang Yuan more chances? Jiang Yuan hasn't had a single shot since the start of the game. Is he still a striker?]

[Aguero's header was awesome, you don't have to criticize him. Manchester City was the runner-up last season, they are a strong team, and they are at home. So what if Chelsea conceded one goal? Can you be a little more patient?]

[Hazard is great, but his form in these two games seems to be not so good? And that Willian, he can't play as a right winger and he plays as a front midfielder. Is this the coach's request or his own idea?] [Chelsea is a mess now. There is almost no coordination between the midfield and the front court. If this continues, Mourinho may be fired.]

[It's not necessary to sack him. Chelsea was the champion last season after all. Mourinho still has a lot of fans supporting him! ]

[It is true that I support you, but the problem is that if Chelsea continues like this, it will be hard for them to compete for the top four, let alone the championship this season! ]

[Trivia: If Chelsea loses this game again, they will be tied with Villa and Sunderland for last place. All three have 0 points. However, Liverpool and Bournemouth have not played yet. Bournemouth is unlikely to beat Liverpool at home. So, at the end of the second round, there will be 4 Premier League teams with 0 points, and one of them is the champion of last season. How ridiculous!]

[What the hell, can you be more realistic, Mourinho, don't force me to go to Twitter and scold you! ]

……

"Beep beep beep!"

The referee blew the whistle to end the first half and Manchester City temporarily led 2:0.

The situation in the entire first half was basically one-sided. Manchester City, playing at home, had a ball possession rate of up to 10% in the last 70 minutes. Fans who have watched a little bit of top leagues know that 70% ball possession rate is already very exaggerated. Chelsea was basically beaten by Manchester City. Fortunately, the two midfielders Fabregas and Matic performed well, otherwise Chelsea would have been scored four or five times!

"Rubbish!"

"asshole!"

"xuuuuu——"

Chelsea players were booed by fans at the Etihad Stadium on their way back to the dressing room.

Last season, Chelsea beat Manchester City by 8 points to win the championship. Manchester City fans still remember this!

In the visiting team's locker room, all the Chelsea players were covered in dust.

Mourinho said before the start of the season that he would get at least 6 points in the first three rounds.

As a result, they were defeated at home in the first round, and conceded two goals in one half in the second round. So far, Chelsea's only goal came from Terry's header, and then... and then nothing!

Zuma sat down next to Jiang Yuan and quietly nudged Jiang Yuan's arm twice: "Jiang, how do you feel?"

Jiang Yuan glanced at Zuma beside him and asked, "What do you think of us?"

"Um...being hung up and beaten?"

Jiang Yuan shrugged: "Yeah, I was just being hung up and beaten, what else can I do?"

Zouma licked his lips upon hearing this, not knowing what to say. When he first transferred here last season, the Blues were at their peak and had never encountered such a big setback!
"Snapped!"

Mourinho kicked the physiotherapy bed without saying anything. Seeing that Mourinho didn't say anything, Brown could only stand by silently.

Finally, when the halftime break was about to end, Mourinho stretched out his finger and swept it over all the starting players one by one: "Although we are behind, please stay calm. No, I need to stay calm. Please get on the court!"

……

“Welcome back, dear audience friends. Now it’s the second half of the game. I believe that the coaches of both sides have given guidance and changes to the players’ tactical arrangements. Let’s see if the Blues can catch up with the score at the Etihad Stadium in the second half!”

"Chelsea players are in a bad state, while Manchester City players, Aguero and Fernandinho look very happy!"

"..."

"Fabregas intercepted the ball, and it was kicked out. Matic and Navas were fighting for the ball. Matic headed the ball to Hazard. Beautiful!"

"Hazard passed the ball to William, William passed it to Fabregas, Jiang Yuan reached out for the ball, it was a direct pass from Fabregas!"

"It was somewhat similar to the attack in the first half, but this time Chelsea seemed to have made a little change. Matic's position was very forward. He swapped positions with William. Matic was almost standing in the same line as Hazard. What happened?"

"Never mind, let's take a look at the situation first. Jiang Yuan pulls the ball forward with his left foot, Fernandinho steals the ball, and Jiang Yuan passes the ball back to Matic... Two-on-one cooperation! Jiang Yuan avoids Fernandinho and is now preparing to go down the bottom!"

"No, no, no, Jiang Yuan is going to cut inside!"

Jiang Yuan was seen with his right arm across his chest, using one hand to hold Kolarov. To the surprise of Chelsea fans at the scene and in front of the TV, Jiang Yuan had the upper hand in the physical confrontation with Kolarov and was now approaching the penalty area.

But the good times did not last long. Manchester City's defenders sensed the danger and Mangala also rushed up. With two defending one on the wing, the Blue Moon defenders had given Jiang Yuan enough respect.

“Here!”

Matic ran behind Jiang Yuan to prepare for the response. At this time, Hazard had already run into an open space on the left. If Jiang Yuan passed the ball back, Matic could transfer the ball to the left in the first place.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yuan thought it over again and again and finally did not pass the ball. Instead, he took a few bicycle kicks and continued to walk into Manchester City's penalty area.

"Damn it, what is he doing!"

Assistant coach Brown cursed out directly. Considering the current situation on the field, Jiang Yuan should not have forced his way past two defenders. Isn't this just losing the ball for no reason?
When Mourinho saw Jiang Yuan covering his face with his hands while dribbling the ball, he could already see Chelsea losing possession of the ball!

Unexpectedly, a scene that stunned everyone in the Etihad Stadium appeared. Jiang Yuan did a half bicycle kick from inside to outside with his right foot, and then did a half bicycle kick from outside to inside with his left foot. Kolarov was dazzled by the fancy moves.

Suddenly, Jiang Yuan stepped over with his left foot from the outside and then took a half step toward his right calf with his right foot, with his left foot stepping on the original position of his right foot.

At this time, the ball was flicked with the outside of the left foot and passed between Kolarov and Mangala.

"Wow!"

Almost all the fans near the goal stood up. Jiang Yuan held Kolarov's body, alternating between protecting the ball with his left and right feet, and approached the small penalty area directly!
"Oh my god, a perfect one-on-two pass. Jiang Yuan used his physical fitness and ball sense to pass between Kolarov and Mangala. Now there is only Kompany in front of Jiang Yuan, and the goalkeeper is behind him."

"Kompany reacted quickly, and together with Joe Hart, they blocked Jiang Yuan's shooting angle. Jiang Yuan successfully brought the ball into the small penalty area, but it seemed that there was no chance of scoring!"

"Shoot! Wait... Oh my God, this is a back pass, Jiang Yuan successfully deceived the goalkeeper, Joe Hart fell to the ground to save the ball but Jiang Yuan didn't shoot at all, the ball fell to Matic's feet"

"Just volley without stopping the ball, and the ball goes in!"

"Matic scored with a long shot, assisted by Jiang Yuan's pass, 2:1, Chelsea pulled one back!"

"GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL!"

"Nemanja Mati, brilliant pass from Jiang!"

"what--"

Matic ran on the field with his arms open. As a defensive midfielder, he never expected that his first league goal of the season would come so soon.

The person who passed the ball was...

The new number 7 from China!
"Hey! Louder!"

Matic waved his hands, signaling the fans to shout louder. The away fans were already in joy of the goal, so they naturally gave face to the scorer Matic and shouted his name.

Unexpectedly, Matic turned around and pointed his index finger at Jiang Yuan.

The fans understood immediately and shouted loudly: "Jiang! Jiang! Jiang! Number 7 Jiang!"

"Ha ha!"

Jiang Yuan also opened his arms and hugged Matic tightly.

At the same time, a strange feeling of electric shock flashed through his mind.

Jiang Yuan reacted immediately.

His father is here!

[Congratulations to the host for getting the first assist in the Premier League, and get the reward: Phnom Penh Ronaldo template 5%]

[You have obtained a new attribute——King of the Champions League]

[Champions League King: During the UEFA Champions League, your five dimensions (speed, strength, shooting, passing, dribbling) will receive a 3% bonus (based on the values ​​published by FIFA). This bonus effect will double when entering the knockout stage, and you will trigger the reversal attribute when you fall behind in the first round of the knockout stage]

[Reversal: Five-dimensional values ​​increased by 10%. This effect will not be superimposed with the Champions League King]

Note: This increase cannot be triggered in the Europa League, and all effects only take effect in the starting lineup.

"This……"

Jiang Yuan rubbed Matic's hair and was suddenly stunned after listening to the system's narration.

Wow, it’s not enough to just use skills, so you’re just adding values ​​to yourself, right?

Before Jiang Yuan could be happy, Terry came running over from behind and rode on his back, then kissed Jiang Yuan on the top of his head: "Jiang, beautiful!"

"Damn, damn, this is brilliant!"

Mourinho suddenly jumped up from his chair.

A flawless one-two pass, a single player forced into the small penalty area to compress Manchester City's defense, leaving space for Matic at the edge of the penalty area, a fake shot to shake off the goalkeeper and then an imaginative return pass.

No one, including Mourinho, thought that Jiang Yuan's shot was fake.

No one expected that Jiang Yuan would give up the scoring opportunity and choose to pass back after the fake shot!

Jiang Yuan was like a nanny, arranging everything for Matic. The Sevilla player only needed to stretch out his left foot and the ball would go into the net!

For this goal, three elements are indispensable: excellent physical fitness, wonderful skills, and amazing imagination!

1300 euros?

This is not 1300 million euros, this is clearly Chelsea's answer on the right!
……

PS: Regarding Mourinho’s name, José is transliterated as “Jose” in Spanish, “José” in Portuguese, and “John” in English.

For the convenience of address, the players will be used to using Spanish, so don't worry about it.

(End of this chapter)