Chi Meiya
Chapter 118 How Long Does It Take to Conquer Manchester City Fans? One Game Is Enough
"Ah ah ah!!"
The fans who had been following Zhao Gang since his days in the English Championship really didn't expect that even in the Premier League, he would still be that omnipotent, magical teenager!
He created countless miracles in the Championship, and now he's unstoppable in the Premier League!
The Norwich County fans cheered.
They could no longer hear Brooke's high-pitched "zhao" from the live broadcasts, but they wouldn't miss any of Zhao Gang's matches.
The people of Norwich are happy; they have two home teams in the Premier League!
One weekend, they can cheer for two teams!
Zhao Gang is a Norwich legend and a child of Norwich.
Seeing Zhao Gang in the Premier League, performing for Manchester City, they no longer need to worry about this child who left home as an adult to pursue his dreams.
Now, they just need to watch, cheer, and offer their blessings; that's enough!
"Beautiful!!"
"Zhao, your joining Manchester City is not your luck, but the luck of Manchester!"
"Whether it's Norwich or Manchester, both will be honored to have you!"
"Take them down!"
Halftime.
Leitman had long since turned off the live broadcast. Just seeing Zhao Gang's figure made his heart bleed, as if Zhao Gang's every step was trampling on his seemingly strong but actually fragile little heart.
He turned off the live broadcast three minutes after Zhao Gang delivered his second assist.
But this kind of person is inherently low; even with the live broadcast off, he couldn't help but continue to learn about Zhao Gang's performance through other means.
By the end of the first half, he was filled with a sense of powerlessness.
He opened his social media, not daring to post anything. Knowing that it would be full of gloating and insults, he still couldn't help but look.
With each comment he read, he became more and more dejected.
Finally, he saw this one:
"Stop hyping him up! What's Manchester City's lineup like? They'll win the championship with or without him! De Bruyne can also perform like this! What's the big deal about playing Sunderland?
Anyone could do it! It's because his teammates are strong; what does it have to do with him??"
The keyboard warriors who had been scolded into silence finally found a place to roost, and they left messages of support.
Leitman tremblingly gave a thumbs up and pinned the comment!
"Yes, yes, yes! Sunderland's defense is trash! Worse than a Championship team!"
"Manchester City is so strong; anyone would be the same!"
"Wait until they play the Premier League's top six; then we'll see what he's really made of. Hmph, you'll all be crying then!"
"It's all Aguero's strength! Aguero seized the opportunities; anyone could have passed those balls!"
Leitman felt much better after reading these comments.
"But Zhao scored one himself!"
When Leitman saw this comment, he only regretted that he couldn't delete it. He kept reporting it, hoping the official would step in and delete it directly.
"Lucky shot!"
"All the defenders were drawn away; he took a lucky shot himself. Any professional player could have scored that!"
"That's right, that's how it is!"
Leitman frantically liked the comments.
Soon, Ollie posted two updates in a row.
"Zhao, the new sun of the Dragon Country!"
She also included a picture of Zhao Gang eating the dumplings she made, looking helpless.
She had once heard Zhao Gang mention that Dragon Country Sun, who had always been Zhao Gang's idol.
He most hoped to make a name for himself in Europe, just like his idol.
The second update wasn't so friendly.
"Why didn't Manchester City spend seventy million to buy you? Are you worth more than a dog???"
Ollie directly @ed Leitman!
Almost everyone knew Zhao Gang's temperament; he had never responded to those who criticized or even slandered him on his social media accounts.
Most of his posts were training photos and some words of thanks.
In some people's eyes, his personality was a bit weak!
Now, someone couldn't stand it anymore and directly started fighting back, naming names!
Ollie herself had a large number of fans, and she had also received a lot of attention from fans because of her collaboration with Zhao Gang.
This time, her first update seemed to tell people that her relationship with Zhao Gang was unusual.
The second update directly stood up for Zhao Gang, scolding Leitman for barking like a dog.
No sarcasm, no beating around the bush, just a direct confrontation!
This provoked fierce abuse from many of Leitman's fans, and even Arsenal fans.
Ollie, like a female warrior, personally went into battle and replied to each comment one by one.
"I'm going to watch the game! Arsenal, please don't lose next week!!"
This update made Leitman tremble.
Next week, Manchester City will host Arsenal!
With Manchester City's strength, Arsenal is likely to be in trouble.
How embarrassing would it be to lose?
……
In the second half, Zhao Gang's performance was still good enough; his extremely sharp passes and breakthroughs turned Sunderland's left flank into the corridor of his own home.
However, Manchester City didn't score; Aguero was marked tightly and was very uncomfortable, and Sterling wasted another great scoring opportunity!
Although the scene was still one-sided, Zhao Gang clearly realized that the Premier League defenders were indeed fiercer than those in the Championship, and their pressing was more oppressive.
With his current physical strength, it was impossible for him to play so freely every game.
If he encountered a stronger team, he would definitely have to sprint the whole field, helping his teammates defend and reducing the pressure on the players behind him.
This was another great test of his stamina.
He had to find a way to improve his stamina and physical confrontation!
In the 60th minute of the game, Guardiola made a substitution.
"Well, this is Guardiola's characteristic; he probably didn't plan to let Zhao Gang play the whole game from the start. And looking at these sixty minutes, although Zhao Gang's performance was extremely eye-catching, it can also be seen that he was a bit excited and not very good at allocating his stamina.
This is something he should pay more attention to." Director Zhang still knew his football; he could see that Zhao Gang might have been too excited and active because it was his first time in the Premier League, making a lot of unnecessary runs, not as smooth as he was in Norwich.
"Yes, I believe this performance will give him and Guardiola enough confidence. Zhao Gang will definitely have even more dazzling performances in the future!"
"Ah? He's being subbed off after only sixty minutes??"
"Does Guardiola know how to use people? Zhao Gang's performance is so good!!"
"Zhao Gang's schedule in the Championship was even more demanding than in the Premier League, and he also played in the Europa League at the end. There's definitely no problem with his stamina!"
"That's right, that's right..."
The audience was unhappy. There were still half an hour left; why the rush to substitute him?
"Uh..."
Zhan Lu scratched his face; he screwed up.
He embarrassed himself big time!
They had just seen De Bruyne preparing to come on the field on the sidelines, and they thought it was a like-for-like substitution, but...
"In the 61st minute of the game, Guardiola made the first substitution; De Bruyne came on, replacing Sterling! This is a very, very strange substitution!"
Zhan Lu couldn't believe his eyes.
De Bruyne was coming on not to replace Zhao Gang in the same position, but to replace Sterling, the explosive point on the right!
Was this going to have Zhao Gang play Sterling's position on the right?
"6666..."
"The host is awesome... you can even get the substitutions wrong!"
"Hahaha..."
"So awkward..."
"Hehehe..." Director Zhang's standard laughter came out.
"This is indeed a bit incredible; Guardiola's football philosophy really surpasses us too much!"
"Sorry, audience friends!" Zhan Lu adjusted his state and hurriedly apologized to the audience.
Logically speaking, Guardiola would give new signings a certain amount of playing time, and if they started, he would definitely substitute them off in the second half.
Plus, with De Bruyne in the same position preparing to come on, it was easy for them to guess that De Bruyne would replace Zhao Gang.
Guardiola's substitution was really on another level!
"Zhao Gang really went to the right; is Guardiola preparing to build Zhao Gang into a free man in the frontcourt?"
"It's hard to say; maybe one day Zhao Gang will appear in Gundogan's position and become a defensive midfielder. There's only one Guardiola in this world!"
Guardiola's change in formation caused Manchester City to lose an explosive point; although Zhao Gang could break through, it was difficult for him to use speed to impact the defense.
Although De Bruyne's passing was very strong, it seemed to be affected by coming on as a substitute, and his performance wasn't particularly good.
That's De Bruyne; his technique is strong, but he's still a bit fragile mentally.
Sunderland's defense finally stabilized and didn't have any more major problems.
The later it got, the more stable Manchester City's players became, and they almost stopped attacking the goal.
The game ended.
Manchester City welcomed a winning start.
A 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland away from home.
"Did you see, did you see? Manchester City almost lost all attacking power after Sterling was subbed off! Zhao Gang only knows how to pass; the goal he scored was a lucky one! Once Aguero is marked tightly, Manchester City is finished!
His passing is useless!"
After the game, the great football-expert keyboard warriors finally stood up again.
"Tsk tsk tsk... are those two holes in your head for breathing??"
"Did you eat Wang Laoba's shit? How can there be someone like you, a traitor??"
"If you don't know how to watch football, go pee and play in the mud! Zhao Gang's performance is obvious to all. Why didn't Guardiola let you go up and play midfield?"
"Don't you know why Spain won the championship?? And you say passing is useless?"
"Are you blind? You won the Europa League Golden Boot? Zhao Gang only knows how to pass?
This is just Guardiola's tactics; Guardiola definitely didn't buy him because of his passing!"
"Manchester City didn't even attack later on; Zhao Gang obviously gave up attacking and ran back to defend..."
In Dragon Country, these people with abnormal brains who wanted to attract attention were blasted miserably.
Manchester City fans don't have this kind of two-faced dog.
Those fans who watched Zhao Gang running around aimlessly in the friendly matches almost rioted; after this game, they felt that Guardiola was really amazing.
Seventy million wasn't a loss; it was pretty good.
"Just don't let Zhao defend; he could play like that in Norwich, so why not in Manchester City??"
"Fernandinho and Gundogan are enough to help him guard the space behind! He can use passing and scoring to defeat all opponents!"
"Manchester City will definitely make a breakthrough in the Champions League because of this magical kid!"