Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

Silva listened to Bony's explanation and looked incredulous, thinking this kid was simply daydreaming.

With how you are, you still play professionally?

On the bench, sitting next to Tang Long, Agüero said to him:

"The midfield is too crowded, Bony should listen to Silva and cut to the wings, sigh, this guy still doesn't know how to position himself!"

Tang Long, however, remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

He felt Bony's positioning was not wrong; the key was whether the person passing the ball could make the pass.

Silva's technique might not be the problem, but in terms of thought and actual prediction, he was still lacking a bit!

Witnessing this scene, the reporter from the Daily Telegraph, who had been snubbed by Tang Long, quickly typed out a real-time news report.

[Absurd mistake! Agüero is the decisive person for Manchester City; when he's not on the field, City can't score!]

Bony is an important single forward focal point in Pellegrini's 4231 system.

His difficulty in connecting with Silva as the attacking midfielder meant Manchester City's offense lost the opportunity to secure good chances inside the box at the final stage.

Navas on the right did send over a few high balls, with decent placements;

Sterling on the left showed his speed and breakthrough advantages on the wing.

But Bony either headed too high or failed to grab a point.

Especially in Villa's penalty area, former Manchester City captain Richards got into a tussle with Bony.

Both are similarly robust black men, pulling and colliding with each other, neither yielding.

Fortunately, Aston Villa was truly struggling.

Villa means "villa" in English.

While the team's name sounds nice, being ranked at the bottom of the Premier League standings at the current stage isn't without reason.

Their offense is pitiful, and they only managed four shots in the first half, none hitting the target.

Caballero could stroll around leisurely.

In a flash, the 0-0 score persisted until halftime.

The Daily Telegraph broadcasted another real-time news:

[Manchester City, without Agüero, surprisingly unable to breach Villa's goal—what a boring first half!]

[Is this the match between the Premier League leader and bottom leader?]

[Manchester City can miss anyone except Agüero!]

Journalists from the Daily Telegraph exaggerated Agüero's importance on purpose;

simply to discredit all other Manchester City players, including Tang Long.

But they seemed to forget that although Agüero wasn't on the field, Tang Long was on the bench too.

Weren't they afraid he would come on and slap them in the face again?

Nonetheless, amidst the editor-in-chief's rampage, these editorial writers didn't care anymore. After all, they were salaried; if you want me to slander, I'll continue to slander. It's just allusive, who can't do a few keystrokes!

However, Pellegrini was basically satisfied with the team's first-half performance.

After all, this match saw too many players rotated.

At least the defense was done well; putting some force into it in the second half, scoring one or two goals, winning the match easily was part of the plan.

Pellegrini had planned before the match that if no goal was scored in the first half, Tang Long would come on in the 60th minute;

If there's still no goal within 10 minutes, Agüero would also come on, replacing Bony directly.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Bony still hadn't scored.

His thoughts and Silva's were always mismatched!

This wasn't entirely Silva's fault; after all, his games at Manchester City were really few, and he played mostly on the wing, with recent few midfield appearances;

Silva really liked playing this position since joining Manchester City, but the coordination with Bony remained relatively raw.

At the 60th minute, as planned, Tang Long came on as a substitute.

Silva walked down gloomily and gave Tang Long a lukewarm hug.

While heading towards the bench, he even stomped heavily on the water crate at his feet, clearly very unhappy about being substituted.

Speaking in Spanish to Agüero, he complained: "I was performing quite well; why was I subbed off?"

Agüero replied with a smug face: "Isn't it because I'm not here? If I were in Bony's position, you would have gotten a hat-trick of assists long ago. Hehe, you're unlucky to have this African fellow for your passer, just consider yourself unfortunate!"

Agüero then looked up at the scoreboard at Etihad Stadium.

Time had stealthily moved to 63 minutes.

Pellegrini had already informed Agüero before the game; he was aware of the coach's substitution arrangement.

Agüero lamented: "Bony, oh Bony, it's not me vying for your starting position; you're simply not effective as the center forward. Even paired with Tang Long, don't talk about finishing in the remaining 7 minutes; even with another 80 minutes, you wouldn't score!"

This is the confidence of the main forward for both the Argentina national team and Manchester City Club.

Thinking this, Agüero simply didn't sit down anymore and began warming up.

Pulling back, sprinting, stretching the ankles.

He knew right after 70 minutes, he was about to play.

Although during the midweek match against Juventus, Agüero was almost cramped from exhaustion, thinking about the weekend's Manchester Derby, he felt taking the chance to warm up in this game, playing with this relegation team Villa, scoring one or two goals would be a nice warm-up for the derby.

Pellegrini also thought the same; seeing Agüero voluntarily stand up to warm up, he nodded approvingly.

Apparently, neither Bony nor Iheanacho could shake Agüero's absolute starting role at Manchester City.

"Bony can't even score against Aston Villa; any good performance before was probably just a flash in the pan; this can't go on forever—maybe by winter, just sell him off, and bring in a center forward at least as strong as Dzeko; multi-line combat can't overuse Agüero."

When Agüero was doing warm-ups on the sidelines.

Cheers also echoed from the fans in the stands at Etihad Stadium!

They were chanting the name of the stadium's number 10 hero.

"Come on, Sergio, get on the field, Sergio!"

"Get on and score a goal!"

"Eternal hero Sergio, lead us to victory!"

The Daily Telegraph posts again:

[Tang has been on the field for four minutes, yet Manchester City's offense is still stagnant. This Manchester City can miss anyone but not Agüero!]

[Tang is merely a supporting type of player; without Agüero, he serves zero purpose attacking-wise!]

[We always over-emphasize the importance of an attacking midfielder, neglecting who seals the deal at the end!]

From players to coaches, to fans, and finally to media inciting the fire.

Everyone believed that without Agüero on the field, Manchester City couldn't score;

Even with Tang Long on, paired with a Bony, it was futile!

Despite them just reversing the powerful Juventus midweek, thanks to Tang Long's almost godly performance;

But let's not forget, half of Manchester City's total four goals came from their key forward, Argentine striker Sergio Agüero!

He was the player with the most goals in that match!

At this time.

Having played for most of the match, Bony began experiencing a decline in focus.

Though, after Tang Long came on, he started running diagonally vigorously, following routes the two had simulated in training;

But Tang Long hadn't yet spotted a good chance, and didn't forcefully deliver.

"Is this starting spot being wasted just like this?"

After Tang Long once again didn't send a threaded pass, Bony propped his hands on his knees, his eyes filled with confusion.

Feeling excited on his second start of the season began fading, leading him to slightly doubt himself.

He even thought, even if a threaded pass came later, he wouldn't have the stamina to chase it;

What's more, Bony had already seen Agüero warming up off the field!

Yet Bony didn't know.

In just two minutes, the wheel of his fate would change.

Not only would this game become the most glorious battle of his 8-year professional career, shaking the Premier League;

It would completely change his standing in Pellegrini's mind, even threatening the steadfast starting forward Agüero's position!

(Today's update is 4000 words, the author wants to rest early and sleep, bowing fist!)