I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 325: Breaking the circle! Sky-high auction! Double hat-trick in a single game! How did the trend of the Premier League change? [Subscribe]

If we were to talk about the most eye-catching tactic in European football in the 2014/15 season, it would definitely be the one that Van Gaal honed at Manchester United, which was jokingly called the big circle tactic by fans.

The so-called big circle tactics is essentially a way of saying back-passing and lateral transfer in the backcourt.

By 2015, almost all teams attach great importance to ball possession.

Offense is no longer the one-time deal it used to be.

Once the attack is frustrated, they will choose to pass the ball back to the backcourt to reorganize.

Van Gaal's big circle tactics are essentially the same.

But what is the difference?
It can be seen from Manchester United's lineup that the Red Devils' biggest problem is that their midfield control is not strong enough and they cannot suppress the frontcourt.

Maybe many people may find it strange to say this.

The midfield composed of Paul Pogba, Stroman, Carrick, Herrera, De Rossi, Juan Mata and others, plus the frontcourt of Cavani, Rooney, Robben, Ashley Young, Valencia and others, are not strong enough?

But it is indeed the case.

Van Gaal had a bumpy start to the season and his three-back formation was widely criticized. Later, he adopted a four-back formation, but the situation did not improve, which forced Van Gaal to make a series of adjustments.

Isn't there a single reliable central defender?

Daley Blind dropped back to play as a centre-back, but he was not strong enough.

David Luiz was indeed brave, but too reckless.

How to do?
Van Gaal decided to learn from the experience of the Italian national team and let De Rossi retreat to partner with David Luiz.

Daley Blind plays on the left, Valencia plays on the right, and Carrick is the single defensive midfielder.

On the surface it looks like a four-man defense, but in reality, Blind and Valencia often press forward, while Carrick often retreats.

The whole formation is about switching between three defenders and four defenders.

What’s even more interesting is that after Blind and Valencia press forward, the central defenders will move out to the sides, leaving space for Carrick to retreat while also supporting the flanks.

This resulted in Manchester United basically playing on the wing when they had the ball on offense.

If the left side is blocked, pass the ball back to the defense line and then pass it horizontally to the right side. If the right side is blocked, pass the ball back to the defense line and then transfer to the left side.

Did you find it?

In essence, it is still the same passing and controlling style of play.

Occasionally Pogba, Herrera, Carrick and Stroman will also make long passes.

The ball is basically active between the two flanks and the back line.

This resulted in the middle of the midfield being very empty.

It looks like it's going in circles.

This is the so-called big circle tactic.

The benefits of this tactic are obvious. It can maximize Manchester United's overall stability and control of the game.

Because the ball is always in the flanks and backcourt where there is more space.

As mentioned before, Manchester United's midfield control is insufficient.

Or it should be said that this team has not had the gene to play possession football since the Ferguson era.

But Van Gaal's style of play can ensure maximum control.

Another thing is to give full play to Manchester United's advantage in wing attack.

Pogba is very good at moving around the left rib area.

Daley Blind is a rather awkward player. Whether he plays as a defensive midfielder, center back or left back, he actually has some shortcomings and deficiencies, but his advantages are also obvious enough, that is, his passing and awareness are excellent.

In comparison, he is actually most suitable to play as a left back.

Blind, Pogba and Rooney, three players form the left side, and Herrera, Robben or Mata and Valencia form the right side.

Cavani is the center forward, with De Rossi, Carrick and David Luiz behind him.

This has formed a very special but eye-catching big circle tactic for Manchester United.

Frankly speaking, facing this style of play is still a headache.

Give the simplest example.

To grab the ball, Manchester United transfers the ball in the backcourt, which means they have to press forward to grab it, and they will inevitably expose flaws behind them.

Look at Manchester United's midfield and backcourt. Although other players except Pogba are not very good at controlling the ball, they have strong passing ability.

Once they start to steal the ball, Manchester United will have enough numerical advantage in the backcourt and will find an opportunity to attack you directly from behind.

Not going to grab it?
Wouldn't that just hand over the ball to Manchester United?

De Rossi retreated to play as a central defender and partnered with David Luiz, which made Manchester United's defense much more stable.

And his passing ability is also very good.

In this situation, teams that are not as strong as Manchester United will basically be controlled and beaten passively when they meet the Red Devils.

Teams with strength similar to or stronger than Manchester United often have a headache when they meet the Red Devils.

In the 10th round of this season, after Manchester United lost 0-1 to Manchester City away, Van Gaal began to study this style of play.

From the 11th round to the 21st round, in just 11 rounds, Manchester United has achieved an unbeaten record of 8 wins and 3 draws.

Two of the draws took place during the devilish Christmas schedule.

But the most important thing was the 2-1 away win over Arsenal and the 3-0 home win over Liverpool.

In two strong dialogues, Van Gaal's Manchester United won very brilliantly.

In the most recent round, they defeated Southampton, coached by Pochettino, 3-0 at home.

It can be said that Van Gaal's Manchester United is the most eye-catching team in the past period of time, except for Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

In the words of Manchester United fans: The big circle tactics is really awesome!

All Manchester United players performed very well in this tactical system.

The best performance among them was Pogba.

Many people say that Carrick is the core of this big circle tactics.

But Yang Cheng thinks not.

What is the core?
Without him, this tactic wouldn't work.

Is that Carrick?
Obviously not.

Carrick's role is to distribute players and transfer the ball, and from time to time there are long passes to launch fast breaks on the wing.

Blind, De Rossi, David Luiz, Stroman and others all have this ability.

Maybe not as good as Carrick, but in this tactical system, Carrick is important but not the core.

Is that Cavani as center forward?

Actually not.

Cavani is a center forward, but in this style of play, he is not a center forward in the traditional sense.

When the ball reached the frontcourt, Cavani was more focused on pulling and consuming the central defender.

On the contrary, it is Pogba, his running back, his ability to hold the ball under pressure in the frontcourt, and his excellent physical confrontation, that are the key to Manchester United's tactical play.

If we say that in Yang Cheng's previous life, Fellaini was the core of Van Gaal's big circle tactics, then now, Pogba is the soul of this big circle tactics.

The French midfielder also thrived in this style of play, fully demonstrating his abilities and threats.

Therefore, the teams that used to mark Carrick and suppress the ball in the midfield and backcourt were basically beaten badly by Van Gaal's Manchester United.

When the Chinese in Bayswater were designing targeted tactics before the game, Yang Cheng only expressed one opinion.

That is to let Casemiro mark Pogba.

"Stop Pogba from entering the threat area and the game will be won!"

As the person who personally trained Pogba, Yang Cheng is very aware of the threat posed by Pogba.

As for other aspects of tactics, they are basically left to Flick, Brian Kidd and others.

But Van Gaal's tactics have never been just the big circle tactics.

This is speaking from a holistic perspective.

There are many details worth noting.

For example, Valencia on the right side.

Many people would wonder, he is clearly a winger, so why is he placed at the full-back position?

This problem emerged just three minutes into the game at Prudential Arena.

At that time, Manchester United was moving the ball from the left to the right.

After getting the ball in the frontcourt, Robben cut inside to the right rib, but passed it back to Herrera.

At this time, the entire right side of the road was given up.

At this moment, Valencia moved forward very decisively and quickly crossed the center line at an extremely fast speed.

Herrera's pass was also given to him in time.

Valencia was very fast, and due to Robben's influence, the left side of the Bayswater Chinese was a little empty.

Therefore, Manchester United's right back dribbled the ball straight into the goal and almost broke through the defense line of the Bayswater Chinese.

At the most critical moment, Pepe decisively rushed out of the penalty area, made a precise sliding tackle, and cleared Valencia's ball directly out of the bottom line near the left bottom line of the penalty area.

Pepe's precise defense this time won him applause from the Prudential Stadium.

This veteran central defender, who is about to turn 32, is now performing more and more bravely.

This season, the two veteran central defenders Pepe and Thiago Silva have performed well, forming a solid defense line with young Van Dijk, Harry Maguire and John Stones.

So far, Bayswater Chinese have conceded only 21 goals in 11 Premier League games.

This tackle also gave Manchester United a chance for a corner kick.

……

"Pepe's defense was very decisive and very experienced."

"He caught Valencia's last step before the cross, stepped decisively, fell to the ground and tackled the ball, successfully destroying it."

"It can be said that this defense is a reflection of Pepe's experience and strength as a world-class central defender!"

"But the Chinese in Bayswater must also pay enough attention."

"Marcelo was taken away by Robben who cut inside just now, leaving the entire left side of the defense a little empty."

"We saw that Valencia's forward movement was really fast and sudden."

"Of course, we can also see from the slow motion footage that Casemiro was blocking Pogba."

"The two worked together for a while when they were at Bayswater Chinese, but Pogba now seems very dissatisfied with Casemiro and thinks he is always pestering him and is too clingy!"

"Haha, this should also be Yang Cheng's targeted tactic for this game."

"Instead of choking Carrick or marking Cavani, he marked Pogba."

"It's 3 minutes and 40 seconds now, first corner kick of the game."

"Look at how Manchester United punish this time."

"Give a tactical corner kick quickly."

"Manchester United didn't take the penalty directly, they passed it back."

"Find Robben."

"Robben made a diagonal pass with his left foot. He wanted to go to the back post, but he still had to find Pogba who was running in from behind."

"There are people in the Bayswater Chinese restricted area."

"Van Dijk cleared the ball beautifully with his header."

"At the critical moment, it still depends on Van Dijk!"

Van Dijk's header went straight out of the penalty area.

Harry Kane quickly retreated, stuck to his position in the 30-meter area on his own side, headed the ball to the first point, and headed it to Hazard in the middle.

The unguarded Hazard moved forward quickly, and when the ball landed, he used his forehead to head the ball in front of him, accelerated to catch up, and kept the ball firmly under his feet.

At this time, Gareth Bale on the right has already started.

If Valencia's sudden forward run just now brought a huge threat to the Chinese in Bayswater, then at this moment, the Welshmen, who had just displayed the FIFA Golden Ball trophy in front of their home fans before the game, also took off completely.

As soon as Hazard dribbled the ball to the center circle, he spotted an opportunity and made a diagonal pass to the right side of the frontcourt, right in front of Gareth Bale.

Harry Kane was moving forward at the fastest speed, but was still a beat late.

Gareth Bale caught up with Hazard's pass at an extremely fast speed, continued to move forward, and dribbled diagonally to the right side of Manchester United's penalty area, forcing De Rossi to move over.

David Luiz also moved closer.

In a one-on-one situation, they were not sure they could stop the sprinting Gareth Bale.

The Welsh player dribbled the ball all the way to the outside of the right corner of the penalty area, then suddenly made a fake move, feinted a shot, then actually dribbled inside and made a horizontal pass with his left foot.

Harry Kane then made a run from the back row, caught up with Gareth Bale's cross pass, and dribbled the ball into Manchester United's penalty area.

David Luiz wanted to turn around to intercept, but Harry Kane dribbled into the penalty area and passed the ball to his left foot.

After he stabilized his body, facing the attacking De Gea, Harry Kane calmly shot with his left foot.

De Gea fell to the ground to save the ball, but it was too late.
The ball went in a straight line and went into Manchester United's goal.

1 is better than 0!

"The ball went in!!!"

"Just 4 minutes and 05 seconds into the game, Bayswater Chinese made a quick counterattack, and Harry Kane's shot broke through Manchester United's goal!"

"The Chinese in Bayswater are counterattacking too fast!"

"Just now we were talking about how Valencia's sudden run from behind was very threatening and it was Van Gaal's hidden trump card."

“But now, we have to say that the counterattack of the Chinese in Bayswater is faster and sharper than Manchester United’s killer move!”

"Harry Kane stormed off the pitch in excitement."

"This young center forward is the biggest discovery of the Bayswater Chinese this season!"

"We have to admit that the Chinese in Bayswater are really good at creating stars."

"After Lewandowski left, we were all worried about Yang Cheng's team and felt that Giroud would find it difficult to shoulder the team's offensive burden."

"As a result, after only one season of training, Harry Kane stood out and had a big breakthrough."

"That's his 16th Premier League goal of the season!"

……

Ferguson sat in the stands at the Prudential Stadium.

Looking at the stadium, after the restart, Manchester United relied on their enthusiasm to continue attacking, but still could not find an effective way to penetrate the Chinese heartland of Bayswater. The godfather of Manchester United shook his head helplessly.

"Yang Cheng strangled the core of Manchester United, and Van Gaal's big circle tactics were broken!"

Accompanying Ferguson to watch the game was his younger brother Martin Ferguson, former chief scout of Manchester United.

Over the past decade or so, the two brothers, one as head coach and the other as a scout, often went to away games together to watch games.

And today's focus battle is like this, and the two retired brothers naturally cannot miss it.

"You mean, Pogba?" Martin Ferguson was a little puzzled.

"That's right. Neither Wenger nor Mancini invested too much in Pogba, which led to their failure. Yang Cheng attached great importance to Pogba. Look at Casemiro..."

When he said this, Ferguson couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration.

"This kid is really strong and muscular, he should play for us Manchester United!"

When Martin Ferguson heard this, he immediately revealed an awkward smile.

He really wanted to remind his brother that you are no longer the head coach of Manchester United, so stop worrying about it!
When they see a good player, they say he should play for Manchester United.

I don’t even think that with Manchester United’s current performance, would anyone really be willing to come?
"Yang Cheng is really amazing. What kind of magic does he have? He can always dig out some treasures from some unknown corners, or fully unleash the strength of players that others don't use well."

After hearing this, Ferguson looked speechless.

If I knew, would I have been so angry at him that I had a stroke?

"Van Gaal's team is in an awkward position now. They have a slight advantage in ball possession, but that's because the Chinese in Bayswater haven't shown their strength yet."

"But even though we had possession of the ball, we couldn't attack in the front court and could only pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter."

Ferguson clicked his tongue twice and shook his head.

"The middle is not working!" Martin Ferguson sighed.

Cavani is actually a very strong center forward, but the problem is that he faced Van Dijk and Pepe today.

These two central defenders are also very strong, making it difficult for Cavani to do anything.

"If this continues, there will be problems sooner or later."

Ferguson is now a bystander.

Combined with his many years of coaching experience, he clearly sees the current hidden dangers of Manchester United.

To put it bluntly, if your so-called big circle tactics cannot form an offensive threat and keep passing the ball around the periphery, what's the point?

But your entire formation has already pressed forward. If the opponent steals the ball and launches a counterattack, the gap left behind you will be very fatal.

Otherwise, why wouldn't Yang Cheng compete with Manchester United for control of the ball?
"Didn't Van Gaal see that?" Ferguson muttered to himself.

He felt something was wrong and he must have seen it.

But now we are behind in the score, so we want to grab another wave.

Thinking of this, Ferguson raised his head and looked at the score, 1-0.

I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

This guy Yang Cheng is really good at calculating.

It’s really a headache to compete with such an opponent!

Just like this one.

If they hadn't conceded a goal at the start of the game, I believe Van Gaal and Manchester United would be under much less pressure.

But the problem is, if it weren't for this ball, Yang Cheng would definitely change his playing style and rhythm.

So sometimes, encountering such a scary opponent can really make one’s blood pressure soar!
I hope Van Gaal can handle it and find a solution!

Ferguson prayed silently in his heart.

……

It turns out that Van Gaal is also very experienced.

After losing the ball in the 4th minute, he attacked for a few minutes, but seeing that there was no effect, he chose to strengthen the defense.

The Bayswater Chinese also played more calmly.

There was no rush to continue attacking.

After all, we were leading by one goal.

The stalemate in the game continued.

Manchester United took the ball from time to time and played their wide circle tactics, but they were always unable to create any threats.

But just when everyone thought that the game was calm and even a little boring, in the 35th minute, Manchester United passed the ball back and forth near the center line.

The ball was passed back to Carrick at the back line.

But he couldn't find a point to pass the ball.

Rooney retreated to the left side of the center line, which is the right side of the Bayswater Chinese, and raised his hand to ask for the ball.

Carrick also chose to make a long pass to Rooney's feet at the first opportunity.

But just when the England striker turned his back to the direction of attack and was about to receive the ball, he suddenly received a warning from his teammates around him.

I don't know when, Van Dijk suddenly chose to rush forward to steal the ball.

The Dutch center back was very fast, and he figured out the timing of Carrick passing the ball and Rooney receiving the ball, and rushed forward decisively.

When Rooney turned his back to receive the ball, Van Dijk appeared behind him.

Although he was warned by his teammates in advance, Rooney still rushed to protect the ball.

Rooney is 1 meters tall and Van Dijk is 76 meters tall.

There is a height difference of nearly 20 centimeters between the two.

The Dutchman rushed up from behind again, and using inertia, he stuck directly to Rooney and confronted him.

It felt like a car stopped at a traffic light, the driver stepped on the brakes, but a fully loaded dump truck from behind forced its way into the car, pushing the car forward involuntarily.

Rooney feels like he has no control over his own situation now.

The whole person couldn't stop stumbling forward.

But Van Dijk's timing was perfect.

Although Rooney fell directly to the ground, Van Dijk also fell to the ground.

Manchester United players felt that it was a foul.

Van Dijk fouled Rooney from behind.

But the referee Neil Swarbrick did not blow the whistle, but signaled for the game to continue.

This could be the end of the Manchester United players’ lives!
In the Premier League, it is always us at Manchester United who take advantage of the referees.

Why has the wind changed now?

This is not a whistle? Modric was the closest, rushed over immediately, and dribbled forward with the ball.

The Croatian midfielder dribbled the ball into Manchester United's half and was attacked by three Manchester United players.

Manchester United was so frightened that they didn't even care about defensive order.
Modric took the lead and made a diagonal pass, passing the ball to Harry Kane in the open space within the 30-meter area of ​​Manchester United.

Harry Kane stopped the ball with his back to the direction of attack and turned to the right.

It seems that he is going to cooperate with Gareth Bale.

The Welsh also started to move forward as soon as possible.

David Luiz, De Rossi, Carrick and others all kept a close eye on Harry Kane and Gareth Bale as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

But what was unexpected was that Harry Kane did turn and face to the right, but what was the reality?

He turned around and kicked the ball lightly behind him with his heel.

A red figure quickly moved forward, kicked the ball into Manchester United's penalty area, and then chased after it at the fastest speed.

The Belgian dribbled into the penalty area and broke through Manchester United's defense, creating a one-on-one opportunity.

Hazard made a series of small steps and then reached the left corner of the small penalty area. He volleyed the ball directly from De Gea's crotch into Manchester United's goal.

A low shot went through two goals!

"The ball is scored again!!"

"Goal from Hazard!"

"In the 35st minute of the first half, Bayswater Chinese scored another goal!"

"Manchester United were intercepted near the halfway line and launched a quick counterattack."

"I have to say that Manchester United's defense was a bit careless."

"Especially when Modric was dribbling forward, all three defenders lost their composure."

"Of course, we should also see that the entire counterattack by the Bayswater Chinese was very concise and very beautiful."

"Especially this back-heel pass from Harry Kane."

After Hazard scored the goal, he rushed out of the stadium.

All 9 fans in the stadium were cheering for the Belgians!
At this moment, Ferguson, who was sitting in the stands, was shaking his head helplessly.

This game is lost!

And you might lose miserably!

Because there is no threatening attack in the frontcourt.

When Pogba was locked down, Manchester United's attack was curbed.

……

The first half ended with a score of 2-0.

After the change of sides in the second half, the Chinese team of Bayswater basically continued the tactics used in the first half and patiently dealt with Manchester United.

The Red Devils soon revealed their flaws.

In the 53rd minute, Manchester United's midfielder made a mistake in passing the ball.

David Luiz made a dangerous pass.

When Pogba wanted to receive the ball, Casemiro suddenly came out from the side and intercepted the ball.

After successfully intercepting the ball, Casemiro did not choose to pass the ball, but instead made a long-distance ground pass himself.

The football slid on the grass and passed to Gareth Bale on the right side of the frontcourt at an extremely fast speed.

The Welsh player turned his back to the right sideline, and with his right foot, he stopped the ball right in front of him. Then he stepped on the floor and sprinted forward at top speed.

In an instant, Gareth Bale broke through De Rossi's defense and, like a flash of lightning, quickly chased the football behind Manchester United's defense line.

The Welsh player was extremely fast and in a flash he dribbled the ball into the right side of Manchester United's penalty area.

De Gea was also constantly adjusting his position to block Gareth Bale's shooting angle.

Especially be careful of the near corners.

But Gareth Bale keeps his eyes and ears open.

As soon as he saw De Rossi rushing towards him, he suddenly stopped and passed the ball to his left foot.

After adjusting his center of gravity, he didn't cut inside, but directly kicked a curve ball with his left foot.

The football drew an arc and went into the left side of Manchester United's goal.

De Rossi, who was chasing back fiercely, rushed straight past the goal.

3 is better than 0!

The whole stadium was boiling again!

Everyone in the stadium was shouting Gareth Bale's name.

Facing Manchester United, Gareth Bale once again performed brilliantly with one assist and one shot!
……

Bayswater Chinese finally won 3-0 at home against Manchester United thanks to goals from Gareth Bale, Harry Kane and Hazard!

This earned the Bayswater Chinese players rave reviews after the game!
Van Gaal was very disappointed with the result of the game.

His team had been unbeaten for 11 games before they lost at the Prudential Stadium in London.

Sky Sports commented immediately after the game, saying that the biggest gap between Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese is actually reflected in the offense of the two teams.

"There is no doubt that if Manchester United want to challenge the Bayswater Chinese, they need to strengthen at least two or three positions!"

After the game, Gareth Bale won the best player award without any suspense.

But Harry Kane and Hazard also scored highly.

Casemiro also scored very high.

The Brazilian midfielder performed well after joining the team last season and has taken another step forward this season.

Especially in this game, when facing Manchester United, he completely froze Pogba. After the game, he was praised by Yang Cheng, who believed that Casemiro was the key to victory.

This also made the Brazilian midfielder famous!
The Spanish media also said sourly, "Real Madrid felt the helplessness of Bayern back then!"

What this means is that Casemiro did not perform well in Real Madrid, but he became very powerful after going to Bayswater Chinese, and his tactics were exactly the same as Toni Kroos back then.

Daily Mail columnist Martin Samuel expressed his views on Manchester United.

He believes that there is a clear gap in strength between the two teams, but the biggest gap is on the offensive end.

"Manchester United need a Gareth Bale!"

What this means is that either they have to force Gareth Bale to join, but this is obviously unlikely.

Or buy back Ronaldo.

If you want to rebuild Manchester United, you must be willing to invest huge amounts of money and sign superstars!

Robben?

He was too injury-prone and his performance was inconsistent.

Cavani and Rooney?

After all, these two players are still a long way from becoming superstars at the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Messi.

All 22 rounds of matches have been played.

Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 away.

Chelsea beat Swansea 5-0 away from home, with Diego Costa and Oscar both scoring twice.

In the match between Manchester City and Arsenal at home, in the 24th minute of the first half, Arsenal scored a penalty.

In the second half, Messi was in great form, making one assist and one shot, helping Manchester City to reverse the Gunners 2-1.

Guardiola's team once again took 3 points.

……

In the middle of the week, the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Bayswater Chinese host Chelsea at home.

After just having a bloody battle with Manchester United, Yang Cheng now faces Chelsea, so he has to make some rotations.

As a result, in the 18th minute, center back Harry Maguire fouled Diego Costa while defending.

The latter fell in the penalty area of ​​Bayswater Chinese and the referee Atkinson directly awarded a penalty.

Diego Costa calmly scored the penalty to open the scoring for Chelsea.

But it was not until the 59th minute that Sterling received a pass from De Bruyne, used his speed to get rid of Khedira, then got past Gary Cahill, passed two defenders, dribbled into the penalty area, and shot, equalizing the score for the team.

Afterwards, Aaron Ramsey had a long shot that hit the post.

But in the end, Bayswater Chinese were tied 1-1 by Chelsea at home.

……

January 1, FA Cup third round.

Bayswater Chinese challenge Reading away.

Like before, Yang Cheng still played with young players and a substitute lineup.

We conceded a goal in the 25th minute of the first half.

But after the second half, Aaron Ramsey equalized the score for the team.

Then Solanke scored a goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese reversed Reading 2-1 and successfully advanced to the 5th round.

……

In the middle of the week, the second leg of the League Cup semi-final.

Bayswater Chinese visit Stamford Bridge.

This time, Yang Cheng arranged for several main players including Gareth Bale and Hazard to start.

But Mourinho also adopted a defensive tactic at home.

The two sides fought hard for 90 minutes, but the result was 0-0.

According to League Cup rules, the game went into overtime.

In the 114th minute, Chelsea won a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt.

Ivanovic ran into space and headed William's free kick into the goal guarded by Robert Green.

1 is better than 0!

In the end, Chelsea won 1-0 at home against Bayswater Chinese with this goal in extra time, and beat them 2-1 on aggregate, and successfully advanced to the League Cup final.

Another team that made it to the final was Liverpool.

Yang Cheng didn't take the League Cup defeat too seriously.

The reason is simple, the team's focus is not on this.

Nowadays, the situation in the Premier League is very good, so the Premier League and the Champions League are the main battlefields of this season.

Compared with Bayswater Chinese who reserved their strength and rotated their lineup, Chelsea sent out all their main players and gave it their all.

It's no surprise that Chelsea won as the two teams had inconsistent inputs.

……

After returning from Stamford Bridge with a defeat, the 23rd round of the Premier League arrived at the weekend.

Bayswater Chinese challenge Stoke City away.

Mark Hughes' team is fully prepared at home.

But in the 21st minute, Harry Kane scored against Stoke City.

In the 34th and 36th minutes, Harry Kane scored consecutively.

What’s more interesting is that all three goals came from Modric’s assists.

One performed a hat trick and the other performed an assist hat trick, which is also a beautiful story!

In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat Stoke City 3-1 away from home.

Mark Hughes' team scored a goal just before the end of the second half.

In this round, Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-0 at home.

Manchester United beat Leicester City 3-1.

Van Gaal's big circle tactics are still very effective when facing teams weaker than himself.

The focus of this round is undoubtedly Mourinho's Chelsea facing Guardiola's Manchester City at home.

But because Chelsea gave their all in the League Cup, they were a little weak at home.

In the end, they lost 1-2 to Manchester City at home.

Messi and David Silva scored one goal each.

In this round, Arsenal beat Aston Villa 5-0 at home.

……

After the 23rd round of the Premier League, except for the teams that had to participate in the fourth round of the FA Cup, other Premier League teams got precious rest time.

But the Bayswater Chinese were not idle.

Since West Bromwich Albion beat Birmingham 4-2 away in the fourth round of the FA Cup, there is no need to play a make-up match.

So on February 2, Bayswater Chinese welcomed the 3th round of make-up match.

Home game against the Knickerbockers.

This is a challenge for both teams.

Especially the Bayswater Chinese.

From Christmas till now, the team has been working non-stop. Except for a week's break in the middle of the month, the rest of the time they have two games a week.

They have to deal with the league, the League Cup and the FA Cup, and also consider the Champions League round of 2 knockout rounds in mid-to-late February.

This is still a huge challenge for the Chinese in Bayswater.

Therefore, Yang Cheng made a lot of rotation in the match against West Bromwich Albion at home.

Fortunately, the players on the team did not let him down.

Just four minutes into the game, De Bruyne made an assist, helping Walcott to successfully break through the offside trap and score the first goal for the team.

1 is better than 0!

Just 10 minutes later, it was the little tiger Walcott who received an assist from Giroud and helped the team score another goal.

2 is better than 0!

Just 3 minutes later, with a pass from John Stones, Sterling broke into the penalty area from the left and scored another goal for Bayswater Chinese, 3-0!

The Baggies are fighting to avoid relegation but are helpless about this midweek make-up match which has been postponed until now.

Perhaps, for them, instead of fighting hard with Bayswater Chinese in the middle of the week, it would be better to save some energy and compete with Burnley, who is also a relegation team, on the weekend.

At least this weekend's game will have a greater impact on the relegation situation.

After all, it's a make-up match, and losing won't affect the situation.

Of course, if you can win, that's another matter.

But is it possible to win against Bayswater Chinese at the Prudential Arena?
It is precisely because of this idea that West Bromwich Albion performed so mediocrely in this game.

In the 37th minute, with De Bruyne's assist, Walcott broke into the penalty area again to receive the ball and broke through West Bromwich's goal again.

4 is better than 0!

In the second half, West Bromwich Albion took advantage of a corner kick and scored a goal.

In the end, Bayswater Chinese beat West Bromwich Albion 4-1 at home with Walcott's hat trick and Sterling's goal.

After this round of games, Walcott received rave reviews.

When the team was exhausted after a long battle, the little tiger stepped up at the critical moment and scored a hat trick to help the team defeat the opponent and get valuable three points.

This will play a very crucial role in the subsequent league situation.

After this make-up match, Bayswater Chinese got 23 points with an impressive record of 21 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in 64 games, ranking first in the Premier League.

Manchester City ranks second in the Premier League with 60 points.

The Blue Moon's performance this season was also quite outstanding, but it was a pity that they met the more stable Bayswater Chinese.

Chelsea and Arsenal currently both have 51 points.

But what’s interesting is that Mourinho’s team has a better goal difference than Arsenal.

So, the Blues are now ranked 3rd and Arsenal are ranked 4th.

Manchester United ranked fifth with 48 points thanks to Van Gaal's winning streak in the past period.

Liverpool is in fifth place with 42 points.

Judging from the current overall situation, this season's champion will be born between Bayswater Chinese and Manchester City.

But the battle for the top four is still very fierce.

Especially Manchester United.

Van Gaal's big circle tactics allowed the Red Devils to regroup and they are now only three points behind Chelsea and Arsenal.

At present, it is still unclear who will win.

As for relegation, the situation is still very dangerous.

……

When the Chinese team at Bayswater finished their 17th round of the Premier League, the entire British football world was looking forward to an auction to be held in London on February 2, the day after the 8th round of the Premier League.

That was the first phase of the blind auction for the Premier League broadcasting rights from 2016 to 2019.

Due to the rapid development of the Premier League in recent seasons, coupled with the strong competitiveness of the Big Six teams, the competition in the league has become unprecedentedly fierce.

Especially last season, Manchester City defeated Bayswater Chinese for the first time to win the championship, which made fans all over the world excited.

The Premier League has also put a lot of effort into the broadcasting rights for the next three years.

For example, the number of bidders for local copyrights has increased from two to four.

It has introduced overseas giants such as the American Discovery Channel and Qatar's BeIN Sports.

This immediately made the auction of the Premier League's domestic broadcasting rights more intense.

In addition, the Premier League has also done a lot of work on the package.

Since there are now six teams in the Premier League with strong market appeal, the number of matches broadcast in each round has also increased.

Over the next three years, the total number of broadcasts per season will reach 168.

These 168 games were divided into 7 packages.

Every broadcaster participating in the auction will bid blindly for these seven packages.

The number of broadcasts has increased, but the time remains fixed. How to coordinate?

The Premier League has obtained unanimous agreement from the 20 clubs at the pre-season summit, and starting with this new package, the Premier League will officially launch Friday night games.

You know, in the past, most of the Premier League games were in the afternoon.

But the schedule just couldn't accommodate it, so we added a broadcast on Friday night.

However, it is obvious that some important sessions that will be broadcast live to the whole world will definitely be scheduled in the afternoon.

After all, there is the time difference to consider.

All these changes have determined that the copyright auction for the Premier League in the next three years will be an unprecedented sky-high price!
Like before, Yang Cheng was not curious about the auction of local copyrights, because Sky Sports generally obtained most of the copyrights, and they must have tried their best and carefully calculated the price closest to the limit.

The market is this big, not much different from the previous life.

But overseas copyright is what Yang Cheng is most concerned about.

This time will definitely be more rewarding than Yang Cheng’s previous life.

Because only 23 rounds have been played so far this season, the Premier League has been broadcast in more than 180 countries and regions around the world, and nearly 40 billion people regularly watch the Premier League.

Please note that it means watching frequently, not watching once.

This represents the strong appeal of the Premier League.

It is also the result of the efforts of all Premier League teams to develop overseas markets in the past few years.

And in the 24th round of the Premier League.

Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 away from home thanks to a goal from Fabregas.

Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-1 away.

Manchester City beat Hull City 2-0 at home, with both goals coming from Messi.

Bayswater Chinese beat Southampton 1-0 at home.

The goal scorer was Gareth Bale.

Liverpool was tied 0-0 by Everton away from home.

Mancini's team's performance this season is indeed mediocre, especially when Suarez failed to continue his hot form last season, the Reds' overall performance was not ideal.

Manchester United beat West Ham United 2-1 away from home.

Van Gaal's team defeated the Hammers with Daley Blind's winning goal in the 92nd minute and got the valuable 3 points.

After the 24th round of the Premier League, the whole world focused its attention on this sky-high auction in London.

(End of this chapter)