Chapter 909 The League Begins
Chapter 909 The League Begins
After the end of the Community Shield, there is still one week before the first round of the Premier League, but Manchester City's signing work is not over yet.
Just two days after winning the Community Shield, the Manchester City club officially announced that they purchased the young French midfielder Blaise Matuidi from the Ligue [-] club Saint-Etienne. The official news did not disclose the specific transfer fee.
But the media quickly gave the answer.
700 million euros.
The 22-year-old young midfielder came to Manchester City in this way.
But most of the media's reaction is:
"...Manchester City spent 700 million to buy a nobody. They really have so much money that they have nowhere to spend it!"
"Blaise Matuidi? Who is he? Why is he worth 700 million euros?"
"Manchester City has money, so they are entitled to squander it in the transfer market. Even if Matuidi does not perform well, and the 700 million euros are in vain, Manchester City probably won't blink..."
"Matuidi's agent is very skillful, and he was able to sell this player for so much money..."
……
For the English media, most people don't know Matuidi, and they don't know anything about this young black player.
Only some French media expressed their blessings for Matuidi, and they believe that this talented young man will definitely be able to play his own place in Manchester City.
The English media don't know about Matuidi, but Benitez knows it very well. This young player who seems to be not well-known now is a good player in midfield defense.
From the 2005-2006 season, he played the main force in the Ligue 400, first in Troyes, and then transferred to Saint-Etienne for [-] million euros.
Has always been the main force.
Such a player is not incompetent.
Matuidi has the characteristics of all black players, and his physical fitness is extremely outstanding. As a defensive midfielder, this is very important because he needs to run on the court, from one penalty area to another, from the left side of the court to the right side.
Matuidi's running ability is very good, he can be seen on both ends of the offense and defense, and he also has a certain ability to insert in the back row to participate in the offense.
To put it simply, in French football, Matuidi has a nickname-"New Makelele".
Just looking at this nickname, everyone should know Matuidi's characteristics and abilities.
Being able to own a new Makelele, Benitez thinks 700 million euros is really a bargain.
His purchase of Matuidi was also planned a long time ago, but the negotiations with Saint-Etienne were more painful. The French club Lions opened their mouths, and the two sides have been bargaining back and forth.Finally, an agreement was reached on the transfer fee of 700 million euros, and Saint-Etienne also requested that if Manchester City wants to sell Matuidi in the future, 20.00% of the transfer fee should go to Saint-Etienne.
In order to win Matuidi, Manchester City has paid a high price.
Buying Matuidi, Benitez also completed the final step of his midfield reconstruction.
In his plan, Matuidi is dedicated to defense, partnering with Gareth Barry as a midfielder, with Sneijder playing as a midfielder in front, and then Rongguang, Robinho and Berbatov partnering as forwards.
This is with David Silva temporarily unavailable.
After David Silva is able to play, let's see who is in better condition, then let him play.
In this way, in Manchester City's midfield, there is no trace of last season.
The entire midfield has been replaced.
※※※
After buying Matuidi, Manchester City continued to look for targets in the transfer market.
Benitez believes that the team's bench is a little weak. Although it seems that there are many people, there are not many people who can use it.
He has sold a lot of people this summer, and he has cleared all those players who he thinks are useless.
Now at the center position, there are Berbatov and Sturridge. Only these two people are obviously not enough, because this season, Manchester City will fight in two lines in the Champions League and the domestic league. If there are two centers, in case someone is injured, there will be no substitutes.
So you have to buy a center forward.
Benitez finally selected the center Derdiyok, who played for the Swiss Basel team. This 1.9-meter-zero center has height and foot skills. His presence can give Manchester City more options for offense.
In addition to the center forward, Manchester City also appears to have a small number of personnel at the central defender position.
Now it's just Dunn.Lucio and Kompany are the three real central defenders. Richards can be a guest central defender, but more often, he is a right back.
Therefore, Benitez had to buy a central defender.
He took a fancy to Villarreal's main central defender, Uruguay international Diego Godin.
The only problem with Godin is that he may be more expensive, because Villarreal is not so easy to let go of his main central defender, and he has to spend more money.But for the rich and powerful Manchester City, this is not a problem at all.
In the end, Manchester City spent 300 million euros to bring Godin from the "Yellow Submarine" to the "Blue Moon".
These acquisitions were all done before the start of the first league game, because Benitez fought to give them more time to integrate into the team.
※※※
On August 2009th, the first round of the 2010-[-] Premier League season officially kicked off.
The opening game is Chelsea vs. Hull City.
The game ended with Chelsea beating Hull City 2:1.
Later, the Premier League teams have appeared.
Manchester City's first game is also in it, they travel to Blackburn.
This is also the first official game played by Sneijder on behalf of Manchester City.
In this game, Manchester City fielded the strongest lineup they could field.
After Sneijder played, Manchester City's offense suddenly changed again.
His ball organization and scheduling in the midfield are completely unmatched by Elano.
With him, Manchester City's attack is much more organized.
But what people are most concerned about is whether there can be some sparks between him and Rong Guang.
Glory is the core of Manchester City's offense, and Sneijder is the core of the organization.
The two cores compete in the same field and fight side by side. What performance can they show?
The answer is revealed at No.303 minutes.
After receiving the ball in midfield, Sneijder turned around and wiped out the Blackburn players who rushed too hard.
Then he almost didn't even look at it, and sent a straight kick!
At the same time, Rong Guang suddenly cut in from the side, rushed into the gap, received the through ball sent by Sneijder in the penalty area, and then shot with his right foot without stopping the ball!
The football went into the goal between the former England goalkeeper Robinson and the goal post, and Robinson only had time to make a save - the distance was too short, the power of Rongguang's shot was too great, the football was too fast, it was normal for him to be unable to react...
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!! He scored the first league goal of the new season for Manchester City!"
"Sneijder's assist! This is Sneijder's first game representing Manchester City, and he contributed an assist! Manchester City finally has a real playmaker!"
※※※
After scoring the goal, Rong Guang turned around and ran towards Sneijder, who stood there with open arms, waiting for him.
Rong Guang ran over, the two hugged each other, and other Manchester City players rushed up one after another, surrounding the two of them.
The Manchester City fans who accompanied the team in the stands sang "Song of Glory", and the joy from the heart came out with the singing.
They are now very sure that Manchester City is indeed getting stronger!
If it continues like this, Manchester City will become a force to be reckoned with in English football, and maybe even be able to spy on the league champion!
※※※
In the first half of the game, relying on Rongguang's goal, Manchester City took a one-goal lead.
In the second half, the two sides changed places to fight again, and this time it was Rongguang's turn to reciprocate.
He broke through with the ball, and after attracting three Blackburn players to defend him, he suddenly passed the football out, but he did not simply pass to the goal, but passed an inverted triangle, which was a bit beyond the expectations of the Blackburn defenders. They were either chasing Rongguang or guarding Berbatov in front of the goal. No one expected that Rongguang, who had almost broken through the bottom line, would pass the football outside the penalty area.
Because Blackburn's players were all compressed in the penalty area by Rong Guang's breakthrough, there was no one around the top of the free throw arc outside the penalty area. At this time, Sneijder won the ball and rushed up, directly shooting angrily!
Sneijder has a long shot ability!
His shot made the football fly into the air, passed the densely packed Blackburn players in the penalty area, and also made Blackburn goalkeeper Robinson beyond his reach. Although he flew towards the football, Sneijder's shot was too fast. He was still some distance away from the football...
In this way, the football plunged into the net!
"Sneijder --!! Sneijder!! Manchester City leads Blackburn 2-0! Just joined Manchester City, the first official game, and scored a goal! One assist, one goal, is there anything better than this debut? Sneijder used the fastest speed to make Manchester City fans fall in love with him!"
After scoring the goal, Sneijder was very excited, but he still didn't forget to thank Rongguang for the assist. He ran to Rongguang, and the two embraced again.
Benitez saw this scene off the court, and a smile appeared on his face.
He is not happy because the team leads the opponent by two goals. This is a matter of course. He is happy because Rong Guang and Sneijder have a tacit understanding, cooperate very well, and the relationship seems to be good.
In this way, he can rest assured that the core of the attack and the core of the organization are intimate and sincerely cooperate, and Manchester City's results will not be far behind.
He has confidence in Manchester City's results this season and in the following seasons.
With Sneijder, Manchester City's organizer has been found. Only with an excellent organizer can the characteristics of glory be brought into full play.
Although Rongguang can also pass the ball to assist, he is not an organizer after all. It is a waste to ask him to retreat to the midfield to play the organizer. What I want to use is Rongguang's offensive ability, let him penetrate the opponent's heart like a sharp knife!
After entering, stir it again, God can't save it!
(End of this chapter)