Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

Thinking back, Tang Long had just celebrated his 19th birthday, while in 1983, I was already over 32.

A middle-aged crisis swept over me again, a feeling of the younger generation overtaking the older, with the older being washed up on the beach.

But Toure is Toure, after all. What hasn't he seen at Barça back in the day?

He played alongside top players like Iniesta, Harvey, Busquets, Messi, and Villa.

In terms of player configuration, these guys are a notch above Manchester City's current lineup.

Toure was also a main central defender partnered with Captain Puyol back at Barça.

He quickly adjusted his mindset, temporarily forgetting the positional pressure brought by Tang Long, quickly immersing himself in the match.

In the 15th minute of the first half, Toure faced Zaka's aggressive breakthrough, extended his long leg, twisted his hips, and knocked Zaka clean, winning a tackle.

This tackle demonstrated Toure's strong physical prowess in one-on-one defense, as well as precise anticipation of the attacking player's moves.

Tang Long couldn't help but applaud him, giving him a thumbs up, "Great steal!"

Afterwards, Toure, with Ranocchia who came to support, played a one-two pass and handed the ball back to his partner Tang Long.

The three formed a triangular formation, instantly defusing Borussia Monchengladbach's pressing attack.

In the first ten minutes, Monchengladbach became the aggressor, launching a wave of attacks at Manchester City's home ground, as their coach had strategically planned before the match.

After all, comparing the strengths of both sides, Monchengladbach was the weaker opponent playing against a stronger one; if they played conventionally against Manchester City, they'd have no chance of winning.

They could only take a risky, surprise approach!

But unfortunately, not only did Manchester City withstand their press, but they also took the lead with a goal, causing Monchengladbach's initial momentum to falter.

This is exactly the difference between master-level players like Toure and fringe players like Bony and Milner.

An occasional mistake wouldn't affect a player of his caliber's mentality.

Minor disturbances pass in the turn of a page.

As long as later in the match, he responds calmly, showcasing his due capabilities and characteristics, he can make up for any mistakes.

Being an experienced player's sense of responsibility made Toure focus on the bigger picture, actively engaging in the match.

He wouldn't, unlike the ill-natured Milner, deliberately trip up Tang Long for stealing the spotlight.

Zaka, Monchengladbach's Swiss midfielder, was full of fighting spirit, never giving up!

After being thwarted in a physical confrontation with Yaya Toure, Zaka was undeterred, deciding to shift his attack to another midfielder, Tang Long.

In his view, Yaya Toure, at 1.9 meters tall and weighing over 90 kilos, was tall, dark, and hard, a midfield tower blocking his path;

But Tang Long, at 1.82 meters, was relatively lean compared to Toure, making him a breakthrough point.

Due to Tang Long's unexpectedly skillful performance facing crowd pressure earlier, Monchengladbach's midfielders were taken aback, so they didn't dare group up against him, for fear of losing rear coverage.

Thus, they sent Zaka to harass Tang Long one-on-one.

In this match, playing as a defensive midfielder, Pellegrini's instructions to Tang Long were merely to control ball possession in the backfield, while Yaya Toure would occasionally push forward, using his pace and burst to quickly draw defenders away, creating passing opportunities for Tang Long.

Simultaneously, fullbacks Kolarov and Sabaleta were actively crisscrossing the wings.

This was a style of play Tang Long enjoyed!

Previously at Inter Milan, while playing as a defensive midfielder, Mancini gave similar instructions to Tang Long's teammates.

Only when the teammates moved and ran, disturbing the on-field situation, could Tang Long fully leverage his exquisite spatial understanding to deliver lethal passes.

But Zaka clearly didn't want to see this happen, so he stuck to Tang Long like glue, employing all possible close-up defense.

Wherever Tang Long moved, Zaka followed.

Several times, with Zaka sticking so close and continually using his arms to harass the back,

Tang Long was forced to pass the ball back to Ranocchia, who redistributed it to the fullbacks, and then reorganized.

For this, Zaka felt quite proud; he believed he had fulfilled his tactical intention.

Zaka also being a midfielder, knew that most players in the defensive midfield position, when faced with pressing, opted for passing.

Dribbling past?

They wouldn't dare.

Toure's earlier mistake was a cautionary tale!

Because if dribbling fails at the defensive midfield position, it'd be stolen, leading to a one-on-one chance.

So even though they conceded a goal early, Monchengladbach tasked Zaka with man-marking Tang Long, preventing him from passing forward; as long as he forced him to pass back, the objective was achieved.

Seeing Tang Long, under Zaka's press, resorting frequently to passing back.

Watching this, in the studio, Dong Fangzhuo smiled slightly.

He perked up again!

"Coach Dong, at this stage of the first half, I've noticed Tang Long being restricted by the opponent's midfielder Zaka. He's sticking to Tang Long like glue, and Tang Long hasn't had any chance to turn and move forward," Zhan Jun expressed quite anxiously.

"Haha, this is a very obvious problem, isn't it? Little Tang was marked dead." Dong Fangzhuo's tone shifted, addressing Tang Long as Little Tang again.

Dong Fangzhuo began reminiscing about his glorious past.

"Back when I played at Manchester United, it wasn't just Tang Long; even top midfielders like Carrick and Scholes feared this kind of pressing."

"Actually, passing back isn't an issue as long as you keep the ball on your foot, preventing the opponent from snatching it, that's a successful possession."

"However, compared to Carrick and Scholes, our other midfielder Giggs's choices were much more flexible. Sometimes when the opponent pressed him, he'd suddenly turn, make a surprising dribble to shake off the opponent, then progress with the ball."

The match grew somewhat tense at this moment.

To lighten the mood, Dong Fangzhuo shared some interesting tales from watching Giggs play during his time with Manchester United.

"There was one match, I can't recall which round, but I remember the opponent being Stoke City. Their players were all tall, after all, Stoke City is known as Sky City, playing traditional English football.

"Giggs was pressed into a corner by the opponent's towering midfielders; wow, that pressing was fierce! They were pushing with their hands, and kicking with their legs, almost picking Giggs up and slamming him down.

"Coincidentally, the referee in that match had a loose whistle, and Giggs had been fouled several times without it being called. This emboldened the opponents; once they kept pressing, and Giggs kept retreating, almost back to our own penalty area."

"Just when everyone thought Giggs would pass back to the goalkeeper, unexpectedly, he nudged the ball forward, pretended to pass back, but last-second pulled it in a Cruyff turn from the outside!"

"In that moment, even I couldn't see it clearly from the bench. It was only on playback that we realized he had used a Cruyff turn!"

Dong Fangzhuo's tone was exuberant, as if he himself had performed the move instead of Giggs.

"Goodness me, executing a Cruyff turn within one's own penalty area to bypass an opponent's defender, what a high difficulty move. At that time, throughout the entire Premier League, only those old Manchester United players could pull off such a feat!"

Zhan Jun chuckled, adding, "Manchester United back then was truly a constellation of stars, a memory for our generation. Compared to the current Premier League players, in terms of strength, they're really hard to match up to the superstars back then."

"Haha, indeed, that's the point," Dong Fangzhuo's tone was rather bold, "After all, I came to the Premier League seven or eight years before Little Tang, so I might see some things more clearly than him. Actually playing football..."

Before Dong Fangzhuo could finish speaking, Tang Long, who was pressured to his own penalty arc by Zaka, chose not to pass back, but turned around, with a sudden foot pull, bypassed the charging Zaka, then swiftly advanced with the ball!

"Wow, wow, wow——"

The crowd at Itihad Stadium erupted in a wave of applause, everyone was amazed by Tang Long's maneuver!

In the studio, Zhan Jun and Dong Fangzhuo were stunned.

After a brief silence of a few seconds, Zhan Jun quickly reacted:

"Coach Dong, the move Tang Long just made facing Zaka, wasn't that exactly the Cruyff move you mentioned?"