Chapter 514: Chapter 514

In defense, no matter how cautious the defenders are, they always have to face the player with the ball head-on.

This results in the defending side always being at a disadvantage.

They must watch the ball handler move first and then make their next defensive play based on the ball handler’s actions.

Many experienced defenders want to break out of this mold.

They hope to anticipate the ball handler’s attacking moves in advance, thus making defensive moves ahead of time, achieving the miraculous effect of proactive defense.

But this technique of turning passive into active requires extreme precision in the defender’s anticipation!

Used well, it gives twice the result with half the effort;

Used incorrectly, you’ll get bypassed without a doubt.

Just time, Tang Long’s footwork was like a pianist’s fingers, going the other way, tapping twice consecutively on the right side!

It’s not left-right-left, it’s right-right-right, brother!

Inbula didn’t expect Tang Long to sway right once, then sway right again immediately after, his anticipation was off!

Firm as a rock initially, his feet shuffled awkwardly in a panic.

At the moment the opponent’s center of gravity started to sway, Tang Long seized the timing, suddenly accelerated, and with the inner side of his right foot, heavily nudged the ball, dashing past Inbula’s left side!

At this moment, Tang’s body inclined 45° to the left while Inbula inclined 45° to the right.

When they brushed past each other, their torsos formed a 90° angle!

Through this angle, it was the silhouette of Ranocchia sprinting back, looking over his shoulder!

Parting ways, goodbye!

Inbula, this big guy standing at 188 cm, just like Crouch before him, was sent flying and stumbled to the ground by Tang Long, with both hands bracing behind him, watching Tang Long dribble towards the penalty area, perform a one-two with Ranocchia, breaking into the right side of the penalty area, then without stopping the ball, passed it back for Ranocchia to easily push it into the open net~

Alright, it’s completely over.

Stoke City fans cursed the British swear words, angrily threw their hats on the ground;

Some people were already packing up the cheer banners hanging from the railings, getting ready to leave.

Just now, the seamless cooperation between Tang Long and Ranocchia left Bony on the sidelines stunned~

Darn, I feel like there’s no need for me as the center-forward to even exist!

After returning from injury, he has only played two games—one of which was just a few minutes as a substitute, and the Italian center-back has already scored three goals, how could he not be excited.

The former Inter captain, usually known for his calm composure on the field, surprisingly took off his shirt, hurling it into the Stoke City night sky with a roar.

The high-powered white floodlights around the stadium pierced through the floating light blue shirt, casting this color onto Ranocchia’s handsomely howling face.

Though contorted with excessive excitement, his face was incredibly striking, with sharp features like an ancient Roman sculpture.

"Don’t just stand there, Bony, come over!"

Tang Long called Bony over, and the three of them embraced tightly.

In the stands, Raymond looked very satisfied.

He wrote down the last few words, smiling as he left with his notebook.

[In this attack initiated from the back, Ranocchia acted as the starting point, sprinting over 60 meters, while not observing his pre-injury condition on site, a player who can still sprint 60 meters at high speed after 80 minutes certainly has a healthy physique and abundant motivation]

[Tang’s dribbling was truly brilliant, with simple footwork feints, demonstrating precision control of rhythm, similar to Busquets]

[We must not overlook Bony’s role in pulling to the flank as a center-forward, Tang clearly took advantage of this to boldly cooperate with Ranocchia]

That day, on the last night flight from Stoke to Munich.

Scout Raymond had already swiftly organized his scout report on the laptop during the two-hour flight.

He didn’t even need to review his scouting notes.

In the 90-minute match between Manchester City and Stoke City, he had memorized every minute of the game, ready to recall whenever necessary.

He wrote extensively about Manchester City’s tactics, the performance of players in every position, starters and substitutes alike, all covered comprehensively.

Graduating from the University of Madrid’s philosophy department, Raymond even made a philosophically meaningful analogy at the end:

"Pellegrini’s possession-control system hasn’t surpassed Mancini’s, trapped in rigid thinking, like a cat fallen into a pit, circling repeatedly within the pit’s limited area;

But Tang Long and Ranocchia’s brilliant play gave Manchester City, this cat, remarkable springing ability, even if stuck in a pit, it can leap out in due time, running to a broader ground."

The flight was about to land.

Raymond felt a wave of fatigue.

On that business trip, flying back and forth between Munich and Stoke, at over fifty, he felt physically worn out.

He leaned tiredly against the seat, listened to the flight attendant’s instructions to fasten his seatbelt, and adjusted the seat until the plane landed and taxied a while, only then did he connect his phone to the laptop’s hotspot, sending the scout report email to Guardiola’s private inbox.

Finally, the task was completed!

Raymond felt relieved, rubbed his Yongquan point with his index finger and thumb, and closed his eyes to rest.

Suddenly, a thought surged up.

No, that’s not right!

In Raymond’s mind, the scene of Bo Yang’s pass being intercepted suddenly appeared.

He remembers very clearly, Bo Yang’s kick was perfect in power, angle, insight, and timing;

A seemingly casual straight pass instantly tore open Manchester City’s seemingly impenetrable central defense.

But why did this ball get intercepted midway?

At that time, Raymond was immersed in Bo Yang’s past glories, reminiscing about the moments he worked with this talented player at Barça.

His gaze affectionately focused on Bo Yang, not even following the ball like a typical spectator.

Raymond only remembers the nearby Stoke City fans lamenting loudly, saying it was Tang Long who intercepted the pass.

But Raymond didn’t see the complete process. Newest update provıded by noᴠelfire.net

There was no replay on the stadium’s big screen for this interception either.

This is normal; it wasn’t a goal or a spectacular shot, so there wouldn’t be a replay.

At the time, Raymond subconsciously felt that Tang Long’s speed must have played a decisive role to intercept Bo Yang’s pass.

Because Raymond remembers very clearly, at the moment Bo Yang passed the ball, Tang Long’s figure was not on the hidden line.

The more Raymond thinks about it, the more he feels something’s off!

Tang Long’s speed, though not slow and sometimes incredibly fast during dribbles, shouldn’t be fast enough to intercept a pass midway!

Moreover, Bo Yang’s initial ball speed wasn’t slow, it was a ground pass kicked with power, otherwise it couldn’t have penetrated through a narrow central area of Manchester City.

Munich time, two a.m.

Raymond walked out of the bridge with his backpack, not even giving a courteous smile to the stewardess, just headed forward alone.

His mind was filled with this matter.

He took out his phone, searching in the brightly lit yet sparsely populated airport hall, and finally found a replay online.

Anxiously manipulating the progress bar, he finally found the scene that took place in the 71st minute.

After watching this segment repeatedly more than ten times.

Raymond’s mood was long unsettled.

He took out the notebook from his backpack again, sat cross-legged on the ground, and immediately retracted the email sent to Guardiola, ready to add Tang Long’s stunning performance in this defense in the scout report.

Raymond finally saw clearly what caused Tang Long to disrupt Bo Yang’s brilliant pass!

But to his astonishment, the email that had just been sent was showing a recall failure, marked as [Read].

"Ah, Pep is really something, checking my email at this hour!"

Raymond laughed, knowing Guardiola was awake, and relying on their good relationship, he simply made a call.

"Pep, I know you’re awake, what are you doing?"

"Haha, I couldn’t sleep after thinking over the tactics for tomorrow night’s game against Dortmund, so I watched the replay of the Manchester City vs Stoke City match again."

"You mean, you watched the whole match?"

"That’s right Raymond, I watched the entire match, Tang’s performance was very good, secondly was Ranocchia. However, your scout report seems to have missed a crucial point."

Raymond grabbed his backpack, found a seat, and sat down leisurely.

"Pep, we’ve known each other for ten years, I want to see if we are really as they say, spiritually connected, so I want to ask you a question."

"Tang’s performance in this match was indeed outstanding, but what moment was his highlight in midfield? Don’t rush, I’ll count to three and we’ll say it together."

Raymond slowly counted three seconds.

Through the phone signal, both of them almost simultaneously blurted out:

"Intercepting Bo Yang’s pass!"