MTL - Football Feast, Starting From the Acquisition of European Clubs-Chapter 375 The Art of War

   Chapter 375 Sun Tzu's Art of War

  Mark Hughes knows very well that if he loses this game against Crystal Palace, it is likely to be his last game in charge of Manchester City.

   And this game is the home ground of Manchester City, club chairman Kaldun Al Mubarak will definitely be there to watch the game.

  If the team can't play to the owner's satisfaction, he is likely to be dismissed on the spot.

   Knowing that he had no way out, Mark Hughes put all the main players who could play into the starting lineup, and formed a 451 formation that mainly focuses on defensive counterattack tactics.

   Striker Robinho

   Left MF Petrov, MF De Jong, MF Elano, MF Fernandez, MF Wright Phillips

  Left-back Garrido, center-back Ben Haim, center-back Dunn, right-back Sabaleta

   Goalkeeper Hart

   On the Crystal Palace side, Chen Ran made it very clear in the pre-match preparation meeting that there is only one goal in this game, and that is to score as many goals as possible.

   To this end, he gave Crystal Palace a comprehensive attacking starting lineup.

   Center Tony

   Left midfielder Ribery, midfielder Kaka, right midfielder Messi

   MF Modric, MF Yaya Toure, MF Cesc Fabregas

  Left center back Chiellini, center back Thiago Silva, right center back Pepe

   Goalkeeper Cech

  From the moment the referee blew the whistle to start the game, Crystal Palace had an absolute advantage on the field.

  Because of Chen Ran's special explanation, the Crystal Palace players all tried their best to perform well, and launched a crazy attack on Manchester City's defense.

   Less than 20 minutes into the game, Kaka broke through Fernandez’s defense in the middle and scored a long-range shot to break through the goal guarded by Hart.

  “GOAL!!!!!”

  Crystal Palace led Manchester City 1-0 away.

   Seeing that his team was scored by Crystal Palace so quickly, Mark Hughes' heart sank.

   However, he still dare not let Manchester City change their tactics from defense to attack.

  Standing on the sidelines, Mark Hughes is still constantly calling on Manchester City players to pay attention to filling and assisting defense, and it seems that he has no intention of tying the score at all.

   "Mark Hughes seems to have made up his mind to be a shrunken turtle."

   Chen Ran, who has been silently paying attention to the movements of the Manchester City bench, immediately had this realization in his heart.

   "Gareth."

   "Boss, what are your orders?"

   Hearing Chen Ran's call, Southgate immediately came over.

   "You go and tell the team members that you can't relax and continue to strengthen the attack."

   "Okay, boss."

   Soon, Mark Hughes saw Gareth Southgate run from the bench to the sidelines and shouted for the Crystal Palace players to continue to press the attack.

   "Fxxxk! This **** Southgate, the Chinese didn't come out, what are you doing so aggressively as an Englishman?"

   glanced bitterly at Southgate who was yelling there, Mark Hughes secretly made a note for this guy.

  I don’t know if Southgate’s command played a role. On the Crystal Palace side, Tony soon received a free kick from Modric and scored a header.

  “GOAL!!!!!”

   Less than half an hour into the game, Crystal Palace's lead has been extended to two goals.

   This time, Mark Hughes was really anxious.

   Before the first half of the game was over, Manchester City was already 0:2 behind Crystal Palace.

   According to this goal efficiency, wouldn’t Manchester City lose four or five goals in this game?

  Then he, the manager of the Manchester City club, will definitely pack up and leave.

  Thinking of this, Mark Hughes turned his attention to Wright Phillips, the culprit who lost the ball.

  It is that he made a mistake in the defense on the right and was forced to foul to give Crystal Palace a free kick in the frontcourt, and then was scored by Tony.

   Originally wanted to use Wright Phillips' speed and breakthrough ability to attack the Crystal Palace's Mark Hughes, but now he doesn't care anymore.

   He immediately turned around and called out the veteran Harman from the bench and replaced Wright Phillips with him.

   Then, like Manchester City last time out against Crystal Palace, Mark Hughes changed the formation from 451 to 4141, leaving Hamann in the holding midfield.

   "Is this Mark Hughes so cowardly? Manchester City are now two goals behind. Not only did he not want to strengthen his offense to bring the score back, but instead he replaced an offensive player with a defensive midfielder."

  In the stands, many reporters who came to watch the game also put forward different views on Mark Hughes' substitution challenge.

   "Hehe, Mark Hughes' ability is not good at all. It is a dream to expect him to fight against that Chinese!"

"That's right. Although Manchester City was not a strong team in the past, it has always maintained a middle position in the Premier League. As a result, after Mark Hughes took over, he spent so much money, not only did not improve his performance, but fell into the relegation zone. If I were the boss of Manchester City, he would have been fired long ago."

   "Haha, I guess the patience of those Arabs with Mark Hughes has reached the limit. Haven't you heard? Manchester City recently had a hot fight with Inter Milan's head coach Mancini."

   "I heard that this game might be the last game for Mark Hughes to coach Manchester City."

   "OMG! That guy is really miserable. The last game against Crystal Palace, if Manchester City lose the game by a big score, then Mark Hughes's ending will be too ugly."

   "Oh, so it is. I said why Mark Hughes gave up offense and strengthened his defense when he was two goals behind. It turned out to be to avoid a tragedy."

   "Hehe, they're all old foxes. I know what's best for me."

   "Haha, Mark Hughes's own wishful thinking is useless. It depends on whether that Chinese person will give him face."

   "Then wish Mark Hughes the best of luck."

   Seeing Mark Hughes' substitution adjustment, Chen Ran immediately understood this guy's intention.

   However, he did not intend to let Mark Hughes go just like that.

   More than ten million euros, it hurts to think about it.

   found that the Crystal Palace players were a little relaxed after taking a two-goal lead, and Chen Ran immediately called Southgate to his side.

   "Gareth, go banging those guys. The game isn't over, it's not time to relax."

   "Eh, boss, the first half of the game is over in less than ten minutes. Do you still need to step up your offense? Why don't you let the players slow down for a while and wait until the second half to score a few more."

   "What? My words don't work, do they?"

  Chen Ran turned his head and glanced at Southgate lightly.

   "Er boss, I'll deliver your order now!"

   Chen Ran saw his whole body jolted, and Southgate immediately rushed out like a rabbit.

   Soon, Mark Hughes once again saw Southgate shouting on the sidelines and ordering the Crystal Palace players to continue to strengthen the attack.

   "Fxxxk! This **** Southgate, I have a grudge against you? As for chasing and fighting like this?"

  Mark Hughes was so angry that his eyes were spitting fire, staring at Southgate not far away, wishing to bite him to death.

   On the Crystal Palace bench, Southgate, who was greeting the players, suddenly felt a murderous aura.

   turned his head and saw Mark Hughes in the eye.

   smiled awkwardly but politely, and Southgate quickly turned his head back.

   "Mark Hughes, this old boy must hate himself."

  Southgate smiled bitterly inwardly, the boss was really insidious, he pushed himself out as a target.

   In this game, I don’t know if Chen Ran’s speech at the pre-match preparation meeting played a role, and the Crystal Palace players were in surprisingly good condition.

   Just when the game entered injury time in the first half, Ribery cut in and hit the goal after breaking through from the left. The ball went straight to the dead corner and broke the goal guarded by Hart again.

  “GOAL!!!!!”

  Crystal Palace leads Manchester City 3-0.

   At this time, Mark Hughes was so angry that he turned around and walked into the player tunnel before the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half of the game.

  “.”

   Seeing this scene, Southgate peeked at Chen Ran quietly, and coincidentally, Chen Ran also happened to be looking this way.

   "Gareth, well done, keep doing it in the second half."

   patted Southgate on the shoulder, Chen Ran also got up and prepared to leave.

   At this moment, the referee finally blew the whistle for the end of the first half of the game.

   On the big screen of Manchester City Stadium, the striking and dazzling 3:0 words make the whole stadium full of depressing atmosphere.

   There were even Manchester City fans who started to withdraw at this time.

   "Diego, what happened to the boss today? Why did you grab Manchester City and beat him to death?"

   After seeing Chen Ran walking away, Southgate immediately approached Simone for advice.

   "I don't know. However, the boss naturally has a reason for the boss to do this. Gareth, do what the boss tells you to do. You just need to remember that you are from the Crystal Palace."

   "Well, I see."

  In a VIP box at Manchester City Stadium, after watching the first half of the game, Karduen Al Mubarak stood up and moved a bit.

   "Tell the lawyer to be prepared that if Manchester City lose this game to Crystal Palace, then immediately after the game, notify Mark Hughes that he has been sacked."

   "Okay, boss."

   Intermission, Crystal Palace dressing room.

  Chen Ran only said one sentence, apart from giving blood to the team members as usual.

   "The second half of the game should be the same as the first half, attacking with all your strength and trying to score more goals, understand?"

   At this moment, even the players of Crystal Palace realized that something was wrong with Chen Ran today.

  According to Chen Ran's past habit, after taking a three-goal lead, he started to make substitutions and adjust his tactics.

   But today, instead of making any substitutions, he will continue to attack with all his strength.

   Did the Manchester City club offend the boss?

  Everyone exchanged glances and mourned for Manchester City Club in their hearts.

   It's not good to offend anyone, but the boss? Then don't blame us for being rude.

   On the other side, in the Manchester City dressing room, the air pressure was frighteningly low.

  Although Mark Hughes neither lost his temper nor cursed.

   But he stood there with a sullen face and did not speak, which scared the Manchester City players even breathing carefully.

  Although everyone knows that Mark Hughes's current head coach position is crumbling, and he may even be swept out of the house after this game, but no idiot wants to touch him at this time.

   Just when everyone thought the 15 minutes of the intermission would be spent like this, Mark Hughes spoke up.

   "I know I may not have much time left as Manchester City manager."

   "But I also believe that none of you want to experience a fiasco in your career."

   "So, I hope that in the second half of the game, everyone will not give up because they are already three goals behind."

   "It's not for me, it's for each of you, for all of you."

   After saying this, Mark Hughes turned around and left the locker room, leaving a group of Manchester City players looking at each other.

   Seeing this situation, Manchester City's current captain, Dunn, did his part to stand up.

   "Okay, guys, the boss is right. Not for others, but for ourselves. We have to keep working hard in the second half and never give up!"

"never give up!"

   At the beginning of the second half of the game, everyone unexpectedly discovered that the players on the Manchester City field were not affected by the three-goal lag, and were still going all out to fight for every ball.

   "This Mark Hughes is not useless. For the sake of the game, players are willing to work for him, but there are two strokes."

  Southgate sat on the bench and whispered with Simeone about the situation of the game.

  The huge advantage of a three-goal lead allows Crystal Palace to watch the game with a more relaxed mentality.

   Chen Ran, who also saw the situation on the court, was not surprised.

   Back to the light and back to the light.

   As long as 20 minutes later, if Manchester City has not equalized hope, then there will be a good show.

  Fifty minutes, fifty-five minutes, sixty minutes.

  As the game progressed, the players on the Manchester City field began to feel tired.

   Under the high pressure of Crystal Palace for a long time, their physical energy is much more consumed than usual.

   At this moment, Chen Ran took the lead.

   "Gareth, immediately notify Dzeko and Cavani to warm up, and then use them to replace Tony and Kaka. The team's formation has also changed from 3331 to 352."

"Dzeko and Cavani play as double forwards; Modric moves forward and lets him replace Kaka as an attacking midfielder; Ribery and Messira play left and right midfielders; Cesc Fabregas and Yaya. Toure partnered with a double midfielder."

   "Oh boss, let's not continue the attack?"

   Southgate was slightly taken aback, did the boss change his mind?

   "Who said not to attack? It's just a tactical attack. Now that we have entered the Christmas devil's schedule, we must prepare for the next game. Understand?"

   "Understood, boss."

After    assigned Southgate the task, Chen Ran turned to look at the Manchester City bench.

   "Sun Tzu's Art of War": "The Lord can't be angry and raise his army, and the general can't be angry and go to war."

  Mark Hughes, you're lucky.

   (end of this chapter)