"With regard to the performance of Manchester City players, people have reached a consensus after half a season. Perhaps even Guardiola himself cannot deny that this defense is far from reaching qualified standards." - Marca
"Although the game process was a bit dangerous, we played well, it was an outstanding performance, and we created more opportunities. I like beautiful football, Chu performed great today, no, he has always been great!
》——Guardiola
"Bravo created a new type of goalkeeper, the holographic projection goalkeeper. In the two games between Manchester City and Everton Tottenham, the opponent shot 6 times and scored 6 goals, and his save success rate was zero."
——The Sun
"We played very well in the second half. Although the process was difficult, the players still showed a tenacious competitive spirit." - Pochettino
"Fuck off Bravo! Manchester City fans have had enough of Bravo. His poor performance almost pushed Manchester City into the abyss again. This Chilean may have no future in Manchester City." - BT sport
Although the game was won, the plot felt extremely familiar to people. Although Manchester City had the advantage throughout the game, they were penetrated by two feet again and almost lost the three points they got.
Therefore, after the game, the media did not let Manchester City go, nor Guardiola. The public opinion after the game was even more fierce than after the last 0-4 defeat to Everton.
The reason is because Guardiola made a big splash in the post-match interview, which shocked the media at the scene.
"The key to not conceding and not losing lies with the striker!" - Guardiola
It was this sentence that once again put Manchester City and Guardiola at the forefront of public opinion.
This statement stunned countless media and fans, and was later questioned as Guardiola's divine logic and fallacy.
Blame the forward for losing and blame the forward for conceding. What kind of brain circuit is this?
I have seen people blaming others, but I have never seen someone blaming someone like this.
Even Manchester City fans were stunned by Guardiola's remarks and felt a little embarrassed on their faces.
However, some famous European football players did not regard Guardiola's words as bizarre remarks, but began to analyze the profound meaning of these words.
Soon, someone combined Guardiola's tactical system and Manchester City's staffing to analyze the true meaning of Guardiola's words.
Let’s start with a superficial analysis and look at Manchester City’s staffing.
Not to mention the depth of Manchester City's forward line, it is not even adequate.
Manchester City currently has only one top striker in the team, Sergio Aguero.
But Aguero's recent performance is really unbearable to watch.
Among all the top forwards in European football, Aguero's recent goal efficiency is at the bottom of the Premier League and the other four major European leagues.
According to statistics from the "Daily Mail", Aguero's scoring efficiency in the past three months since mid-November last year has been pitifully low.
Although Aguero has suffered injury and red card suspension before, this weak performance is still very abnormal.
Not to mention that he cannot be compared with the performance of Ibrahimovic, Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo and other big players, even Giroud, who recently completed his contract extension with Arsenal and returned to Wenger's starting lineup, is much better than him.
The current predicament that Guardiola and Manchester City are encountering is actually caused by the low offensive efficiency of the forward line.
The evidence is in Manchester City's past games.
In Manchester City's past games, regardless of winning or losing, Manchester City has been able to maintain its advantage in passing and control.
However, the data met Guardiola's requirements, but they failed to win the victory in the end.
For example, in games against Chelsea and Everton, Manchester City did not lag behind on the field, and could even be said to have a certain advantage.
But in the end, they all lost, or even suffered miserably, due to low offensive efficiency and insufficient grasp.
Anyone familiar with Guardiola knows that midfield passing organization and control of the scene are the core of his football philosophy.
But this does not mean that Guardiola does not need a striker who can charge forward.
During the years when Guardiola coached Barcelona, he had Henry, Eto'o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and many other truly top forwards under him, and each of them had impressive scoring efficiency.
Even after he went to Bayern, he also had a forward combination of Lewandowski and Mandzukic who had been on the Bundesliga top scorer list.
In terms of midfield, in fact, for Guardiola's tactical system, the connecting role of the defensive midfielder and central midfielder on the central axis is extremely important.
During the Barcelona period, he had Xavi, Busquets, and Iniesta, a pair of Habaib who were invincible in the world.
When coaching Bayern, we also had midfield combinations like Martinez, Thiago, Alonso and Vidal, and they were equally capable.
The midfield combination of a frontcourt playmaker, a metronome, and a defensive midfielder is enough to allow his team to completely control the midfield.
Now Guardiola's puzzle piece in Manchester City's midfield has been put together.
Chu Zheng is a monster!
A frontcourt playmaker, metronome, and defensive midfielder, he can play as a goalkeeper, defender, fullback, and winger, which greatly enriches Guardiola's tactical options.
David Silva is mature and prudent. Although he is older, his rich experience and strong personal abilities can also bring great help to Manchester City.
De Bruyne, like Chu Zheng, is a talented midfielder, a rare world-class midfielder in football. He is also a little monster and has great potential to become a master midfielder.
Although the Brazilian double fee is one level behind, he is still a top-notch midfielder in world football.
So Guardiola's blueprint for Manchester City's midfield has been drawn up.
He already has a luxurious midfield lineup that is stronger than Barcelona and Bayern back then.
It can ensure the team's midfield control when facing any opponent, and even completely dominate the opponent.
On the defensive line, there are also a series of strong players in the teams that Guardiola has been in charge of.
Puyol and Pique during the Barcelona era, Lahm, Alaba and others during the Bayern era are also top-notch players.
Now Manchester City also has Kompany, a top central defender, in the defense, but there are a lot of injuries.
Although Otamendi and Stones are a little behind, they are definitely Europe's top central defenders.
But compared to the configuration of the midfield and frontcourt, Manchester City's configuration on the offensive line is undoubtedly more luxurious.
This is not to say that Guardiola's tactical system does not pay attention to defense.
It's that his defensive philosophy itself is different from other head coaches.
Guardiola is not the kind of pragmatist who just reaches for whatever is useful. He has his own football ideas and philosophy.
Although the defensive tactic may not concede the ball easily, not conceding the ball does not guarantee a win in the end.
For Guardiola, he has thrown away the conventional defensive manual.
What he needs is to combine defense and offense into one, completely blending them together.
Therefore, in Guardiola's tactical system, the central defender has become an important role responsible for passing the ball from the backcourt and intercepting the opponent's offensive terminator and his own offensive initiator.
This was the case with Puyol and Pique back then.
In the previous games when Guardiola coached the team, when his team adopted zone marking combined with strong pressing tactics, the defense became smooth sailing for his team.
Whether at Barcelona or Bayern, Guardiola created the best defensive record in the league at that time.
Although the defense of the team coached by Guardiola does not build a reinforced concrete wall like the Italians, under their strong control, opponents often cannot even get the ball, let alone attack.
But in the Premier League, this tactical strategy has become unsuitable.
First of all, the Premier League advocates physical confrontation. This league style means that Manchester City will face huge risks when losing the ball when in possession.
The second is the rapid offensive and defensive transition mode of Premier League teams. During the game, they often drive to the frontcourt with one big kick and wait for opportunities to launch attacks.
This simple and crude British style of play can quickly form a threatening attack if it is played just once out of ten times, which is enough to give Manchester City a drink.
However, if Manchester City now wants to achieve ball-possession defense and a tactical strategy of using offense instead of defense, the conditions are not mature enough.
Therefore, these experienced football legends, some of whom have even become head coaches, quickly came to a conclusion.
Guardiola wants the same defense as before.
He does not necessarily require the defenders to stand up and become the last iron wall to block the opponent, but requires the frontcourt players to work together to resolve the defensive pressure that the opponent tries to bring to them early in the opponent's half.
The process of resolving this pressure includes the scoring efficiency of the forwards.
Therefore, in the view of Guardiola, a master tactician, the problems of forwards and defenders affect each other, and the solution must start from both ends.
Based on these analyses, Guardiola's statement that he blames the forward for losing the ball is not a fallacy, but a fact.
