Manchester United's heir apparent, but can't play football.

Chapter 139 Copy! La Masia Position 4!

Before taking charge of Manchester United, Van Gaal would usually try to control his emotions after the team scored, quickly shifting his focus back to tactical adjustments and feigning calmness.

However, at that moment, he saw his Manchester United players rushing over and couldn't help but extend their palms to join in the celebration.

It's as if I've become decades younger.

"Good job!"

"This is the real Manchester United! We've suffocated Barcelona at the Camp Nou! We're up by two goals!"

"Great, guys! The next tactical adjustment is to wait for Li's signal!"

Van Persie didn't have any deep feelings for Barcelona. When he was kicked out of Barcelona, only Xavi came to see him off. The other young players he promoted were all rebellious.

Substitute players, assistant coaches, team doctors, and support staff all rushed forward.

Morata exclaimed excitedly, "Lee, you're so kind, you really gave me an assist!"

De Bruyne looked excited: I never expected Morata's shooting skills to be so reliable in such a crucial battle.

After the celebration ended.

Li Luo glanced at the opponent's half and thought: A strong team like Barcelona has a very fixed tactical framework. They are more concerned with whether they can play their own game and will not spend too much time on targeted deployments. Next, they will probably only slightly shift their attacking direction, from Neymar's left wing to Messi's right wing.

There was no complex tactical maneuvering involved.

Break all laws with one force.

From God's perspective, countless red lines extend wildly, tightly binding the two projections of Busquets and Iniesta.

Suck, suck, suck.

They frantically absorbed the midfield characteristics of both players.

Drain it thoroughly.

It was as if we resonated with each other.

In the system panel, Harvey's "Ultimate Control" module shone with an incredibly dazzling light.

Studio.
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Is the score reversed?
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[Incredible! Leading Barcelona by two goals, Li Luo has been in complete control of the game, orchestrating attacks and dismantling the defense. The Manchester United heir is practically the midfield successor Barcelona has always dreamed of.]
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[Haha, what's wrong with this world? Barcelona's Xavi just left for the Middle East, and the luck of being a midfield maestro has fallen on Manchester United?]
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I've noticed that Van Gaal's mastery of passing and control is far superior to that of Black Saint, especially considering that players like Carrick from Manchester United possess vision, awareness, and passing skills that are very compatible with Li Luo's.
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[Nonsense, Lao Fan has been working on this stuff for decades.]
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[A world-famous painting: Li Luo leaps into the air to subdue Mascherano—a truly overwhelming attack!]
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Mascherano is a strong defender, but Lo always manages to get past him.
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Don't panic, Barcelona fans! Messi hasn't even started yet.

Barcelona coaching bench.

Enrique composed himself.

"Don't fixate on Neymar's left wing."

"Let Alves on the right wing be in charge of the attack."

VIP private room.

Cruyff rubbed his forehead.

I felt ashamed.

Barcelona were humiliated by their opponents at Camp Nou in this way.
It was something he found hard to accept.

After taking over as manager of Barcelona in 1988, he restructured the La Masia youth academy.

All teams (from U8 to B) are required to use the same formation, emphasizing the total football philosophy of "goalkeepers initiate attacks, and defense begins with the forwards."

Seamless tactical succession ensures that the training direction of each echelon is completely synchronized with that of the first team.

Abandoning the traditional "speed and power priority" standard, instead looking for players with "strong ball control and imaginative playing style".

Then select the "La Masia No. 4" from each era, so that he can become the inheritor of the essence of the La Masia system and the soul of possession-based football.

The search for the perfect answer lies in the experimentation with Guardiola, De la Peña, Motta, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and Fabregas.

"When La Masia's possession-based philosophy loses 'control,' all its flaws will be exposed."

"The MSN triumphs that had a brilliant season can no longer mask Barcelona's decline."

Cruyff looked somber.

"But I don't understand why the midfield maestro best suited for Barcelona would end up at Manchester United?"

One-half.

"Hua Guoli is more like half of the La Masia power forward position, leaning towards control and offense."

"Beckenbauer is right, Lee is a 'virgin' and has not been influenced by any football philosophy."

The Barcelona management was completely baffled.

What is that old man, the "God of Football," muttering to himself?

Club official Bartomeu is a die-hard fan of Espanyol, the Catalan arch-rival.

The game restarted in the middle circle.

Suarez kicks off and passes the ball back to his own half.

Pique, no longer distracted, clearly passed the ball to Alves on the right wing.

The Samba full-back's ability far exceeds his reputation.

Strictly speaking, he was a crucial link in supporting Enrique's "fake control, real opposition" system.

Because Barcelona no longer has a midfield maestro like Xavi.

With Neymar unable to penetrate down the left flank, the team will largely have to rely on Alves to switch between his "full-back and winger" roles on the right flank.

Wow! A bulldozer on the side of the road.

“I think Alves is the invisible link connecting Enrique’s system, able to quickly deliver the ball to MSN and prevent Barcelona from falling into the passive passing game of ‘full-back to center-back, center-back to goalkeeper’.

"Pretty!"

"The ball has been passed to Messi in the attacking third!!!"

A deafening roar erupted at Camp Nou.

Even though Barcelona are temporarily down by two goals.

Catalan fans still believe that Messi can solve the problem.

Manchester United's defense quickly tightened up.

"Messi!"

"Not in a hurry."

"Messi organizing positional attacks? Huh? That's not Enrique's football philosophy."

"It was the reformed passing and possession philosophy of the late Vilanova."

"Instead of deliberately pursuing a wide fan shape, the form is more aggressive! It focuses on offensive ball control!"

"In 2012, Messi reached his peak within Vilanova's tactical system."

"Messi in '91 back then!"

"Messi is now taking on some of the organizational responsibilities."

After the defeat in the 2014 World Cup final, Messi gradually began to transform his game. His free-kick ability improved dramatically, his average number of shots per game decreased from 5.4 to 3.6, and his average number of key passes per game increased from 1.3 to 2.7.

do not know why.

The chants at Camp Nou grew louder and louder, as if in remembrance of the departed former Barcelona coach.

Studio.
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Wow! Barcelona's attacking play is so fierce right now! Messi isn't even strolling around anymore!
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[Vilanova's tactical legacy?]
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Why were those Barcelona fans in the stands crying? Vilanova didn't achieve much, did he? He even conceded a 7-0 defeat to Bayern Munich; I remember many Barcelona fans criticizing him.
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[Vilanova wasn't there at that time; he went to New York for treatment due to a relapse of his terminal illness. Seven Up was coached by Barcelona assistant coach Roura.]
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Three years ago in La Liga, Vilanova fielded 11 La Masia academy graduates on the pitch at the same time, a rarity among top European clubs; unlike Enrique now, who doesn't promote young players from La Masia's youth academy.
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Why isn't Manchester United controlling the ball and passing it around? Oh, they don't have the ball; it's with Barcelona!
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[Let me tell you about the tactical differences between Guardiola, Vilanova, and Enrique – has Barcelona sped up?]

"A thrilling and exhilarating passing and ball control duel!"

"Barcelona vs. Manchester United!"

"A clash of two football philosophies!"

"During this phase, Messi, in his semi-midfield form, created a wonderful chemistry with Busquets and Iniesta!"

The commentator's tone was excited.

Coach Zhang was speechless.

What kind of match is this? Passing and control vs. passing and control?

On the pitch, Barcelona, in control of the ball, once again thrashed Manchester United.

Courtside.

Van Gaal blushed and involuntarily crushed the mineral water bottle.

Enrique's face turned ashen: This is not his football philosophy.

VIP private room.

Cruyff's expression softened, but his tone remained firm: "The situation has reversed."

Time seemed to be slowed down, each second stretching out endlessly.

From God's perspective, Barcelona's positional attack resembles a taut steel wire. It's the possession-based system that Vilanova imprinted on the Blaugrana, where every pass and movement of a Barcelona player feels like precisely meshed gears—more aggressive and more threatening!
Li Luo had originally planned to break the deadlock: team up with Maranda to intercept the ball during a gap in Barcelona's passing game, accelerate forward the instant possession changes, seize the gap between Busquets and Mascherano, and attack directly behind Barcelona's defense.

Seize the opening for a counterattack.

But reality dealt him a cold blow. Vilanova's system clearly countered his counter-attacking plans: Barcelona compressed Manchester United's interception space with a higher passing speed; Alves deliberately slowed down the pace when advancing, drawing Manchester United's full-backs back to defend, which instead left Messi with space in the flanks; even Busquets, who should have been dropping back, frequently pushed forward to participate in the attacking chain, completely disrupting Manchester United's sweeping circle in the 30-meter zone.

There's no way to get out!
Like a Catalan girl who had arranged to stroll through the winding alleys of the Gothic Quarter, eat hot tapas in the La Bar district, enjoy the evening breeze along the Llefregate River, and chat about life and dreams, only to blush and say, "I'm tired," and want to find a guesthouse to rest, she suddenly smiled and shook her head: "Li, I'm sorry, we didn't meet in the best of times."

The cheers and boos around me receded like the tide, and the whole world suddenly sank into a deathly silence.

Li Luo was unusually calm. He hadn't expected that the dead Vilanova would force him to use the "Controller's" spatial rehearsal power.

From God's perspective, the red threads symbolizing the direction of the situation trembled violently, becoming increasingly taut under the invisible tactical tension, until they snapped with a cracking sound as thin as a spider's thread.

The next second, countless offensive possibilities unfolded in his mind, and he began to analyze them in all aspects.

"."

When Li Luo opened his eyes again, his gaze was calm.

Everything is under control.

The noise around me surged in like a tide from every corner of Camp Nou.

[Deconstruction complete.]

[You've gained something special from the Vilanova system: an understanding of the La Masia position 4.]

Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets.

Three phantom images of La Masia suddenly appeared and gradually merged into one in the night breeze.

[La Masia, position 4.]

Camp Nou's momentum surged suddenly.

Busquets' feint fooled the aggressive Maranda.

Snapped.

A brilliant short pass pierced through the dense crowd and found Messi.

More than 90,000 fans at the stadium shouted the name of the Barcelona superstar at the top of their lungs.

"coming!"

"Start in place!"

"Frontal blast!"

"He displayed an unparalleled gait in the dense crowd!"

"Left foot, left foot, left foot, right foot, right foot, right foot, right foot, left foot, left foot!"

"Slow down!"

"Speed up!"

"Two, three, four people in a row!"

"This is Messi!"

"Messi!!!"

The commentator was speaking incoherently.

Van Gaal was so nervous he was trembling all over.

Enrique pumped his fist in excitement. Two extreme emotions spread wildly through the Barcelona night sky.

Manchester United's low defensive line was overwhelmed by the relentless attacks, collapsing one section after another.

Luke Shaw, collapsing to the ground in disarray, proves utterly ineffective against Messi, a prodigy hailed as "England's future first full-back."
Schneiderlin was unable to keep up with Messi's pace and lost his balance.

Maranda, who came back to cover, met the same fate.

Blind was dealt a heavy blow.

De Gea is on high alert.

When he played for Atletico Madrid, Messi had already become his nemesis.

Small, quick lateral movements to adjust defensive positioning.

Manchester United's goalkeeper unleashed his signature move – the K-shaped block.

at the same time.

Manchester United maestro Michael Carrick bravely rushed out, attempting to thwart the Barcelona star's fatal blow with precise anticipation.

Snapped!
Messi, having penetrated into the right side of the penalty area, calmly and casually delivered a cross.

The ball rolled across the grass with surgical precision, cutting through Manchester United's defense horizontally.

"Is that spot empty?"

"Alba has appeared!"

"What awareness and vision Messi has! That was a brilliant pass!"

Manchester United's penalty area is in turmoil.

Even a player as strong as De Gea could only awkwardly adjust his defensive positioning at this moment.

That's too late!

There are so many things in life that we don't have time for!
Alba met the ball and took a shot.

Manchester United fans are filled with despair.

De Gea was utterly despondent.

Van Gaal, just like Wenger back then, knelt down.

"Danger!"

Snapped!
A white figure suddenly flashed by, touched the football first, and easily cleared it!
De Gea seemed to see a ray of light.

The cheers at Camp Nou came to an abrupt halt.

Messi looked completely bewildered and rolled on the ground in frustration.

Alba felt empty inside.

Busquets looked completely bewildered.

"Pretty!"

"Li Luo's crucial rescue!"

"He seemed to have anticipated Messi's fatal pass, and his timing for covering was perfect."

"The analysis of Barcelona's attacking chain has been completed."

"An brilliance that cannot be concealed."

Studio.
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[Holy crap!]
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[I thought Messi's pass to that spot was already the pinnacle of skill; Alba was several seconds late in making his run!]
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[Unexpectedly, Li Luo's interception was even more explosive! He anticipated Messi's prediction!]
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【Awesome! 】

An LED screen in mid-air played a slow-motion replay of Li Luo's defensive play.
"La Masia's power forward position?"

Van Gaal, Enrique, and Cruyff all thought of this word simultaneously.

A gentle breeze along the Riera Blanca River lifted the hem of her white dress.

Li Luo got up.

A red and blue phantom appeared in my field of vision.

It does not represent any particular legend.

It seems to have never existed in the world, but was merely an ideal model for generations.

Like a flowing light, it tells the story of this tactical role over nearly a century: Reynolds, Michels, Cruyff. The birth of Total Attack and Total Defense, the revolution of the power forward position, the individual improvement of the power forward position that keeps pace with the times, and then the functional dismantling into three parts.

The illusory figure shone even brighter, and the red and blue giant that once symbolized the dominance of possession football in the direction of Barcelona's half at Camp Nou began to slowly retreat with undisguised fear.

The night breeze blows.

The red and blue phantoms drifted away in the wind, turning into specks of starlight that merged into the body of the Chinese genius.

Li Luo's mental strength was temporarily unable to maintain the existence of this illusory image for long, but he had gained a different understanding of the La Masia legacy.

Before Manchester United fans around the world could even get excited, Barcelona had already thrown the ball out of bounds.

Li Luo reappeared in the shot, seemingly having anticipated the direction of the Blaugrana's attack, blocking the opponent's passing lane and easily cutting off the connection between Alves and Messi.

The whole audience was shocked.

That interception and clearance inside the penalty area was one thing, but how come when Barcelona took a throw-in, this kid anticipated and intercepted it again?
Van Gaal looked blank.

Cruyff couldn't help but grip the armrest tightly, leaning forward with his eyes fixed on the number seven of the Red Devils on the green field.

Snapped!
Barcelona's attacking players swarmed in like a tide, and the pressure of their immediate counter-pressing had just filled the halfway line when Li Luo raised his hand to signal De Bruyne to move to the wing and Carrick to move into the middle. The three of them instantly completed a triangular passing sequence in midfield.

"what?"

The commentator's voice was full of doubt: "Short pass."

The camera closely followed Li Luo's movements: instead of keeping a close eye on possession, he shifted laterally towards the flanks when De Bruyne received the ball, and then suddenly moved forward half a step when Carrick passed it back. His movements constantly intersected with those of his Manchester United teammates, creating space to break up Barcelona's pressing formation, and then closing in. By shortening the distance, like a dynamically adjusting polygon, he easily neutralized Barcelona's counter-pressing.

Courtside.

Enrique looked flustered and waved his hand vigorously, signaling his players to quickly take their positions and return to defense.

Don't try to steal it back.

Withdraw!
"Is it something more advanced?"

Coach Zhang suddenly realized: "Continuous short passes without stopping, relying on positioning to disrupt the rhythm of the counter-pressing, this is not Manchester United's usual style of play! It's not Van Gaal's football philosophy."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Carrick, on the pitch, was slowed down by Rakitic's marking, and the ball almost slipped away from his feet.

Li Luo seemed to have anticipated this scene. He moved a few steps in advance towards the direction where the two were locked in combat. Before the ball could roll out of his control, he hooked the ball with his foot and intercepted it. He then pushed the ball to De Bruyne in the open position. The whole counter-pressing sequence was even smoother than that of Barcelona's own players.

The entire audience was stunned: the style has really changed. Previously, Van Gaal's passing and control style was stable, but now, Li Luo has broken out of Van Gaal's framework and played something more sophisticated!
The short passes contain sudden changes in pace, the positioning is based on precise spatial anticipation, and even the recovery after a mistake reveals a different kind of style.

At this moment.

Li Luo is not just a "hero with an aura that benefits the whole team".

Every second he stood in midfield was just like a La Masia number 4, connecting the whole team:

By pausing and passing back to adjust the rhythm, the team significantly reduced the number of times it got stuck in a cycle of ineffective passes.

The off-the-ball movement is even more refined, creating more subtle receiving points for Manchester United during their advances, while also cleverly widening the attacking width, rather than simply receiving the ball for the sake of receiving it.

In terms of passing, it can choose the optimal solution based on the position and physical tendency of teammates, which greatly reduces ineffective deep passes.

The Chinese prodigy injected the logic of possession-based football into the "tactical heart" of Manchester United.

"coming!"

"Li Luo has slowed down?"

Courtside.

Van Gaal is paralyzed on the coaching bench.

Giggs asked with concern, "Boss, are you alright?"

Old Van took a deep breath: "Fortunately, La Masia didn't produce a midfielder like Li."

VIP private room.

Cruyff clutched his chest in anguish.

"why why?"

“Li Ta.”

He remembered Beckenbauer saying that Li Luo was a virgin, a genius midfielder who had never been defiled by any tactical system.

but.

How could their performance at this point be more La Masia than La Masia!

Within 40 meters of the Barcelona half.

When Li Luo received the pass from Kari, he deliberately slowed down all his movements. Instead of kicking the ball out in one go, he dribbled it half a meter in front of him and then paused for two seconds with the inside of his foot against the ball.

Barcelona was somewhat unaccustomed to the situation for a while.

The Manchester United teammates were also a bit taken aback.

'Li? Are you daydreaming?'

Li Luo looked confident, yet he also seemed to be "still hesitating about the direction of the pass," much like a player patiently searching for an opening in a possession-based system.

There were no boos from the stands at Camp Nou as usual.

Catalan fans were terrified that the Chinese prodigy might catch his breath and launch a fatal attack.

The Barcelona players were decisive.

Trailing by two goals, how could we not act decisively?

Alves, who was initially retreating to protect the flank on the right, noticed Li Luo's sluggish handling of the ball and unconsciously took a few steps forward, adjusting his body orientation and leaning his center of gravity slightly forward, clearly intending to intercept the ball while Li Luo was adjusting.

Busquets in the middle also moved forward half a step, reducing the distance between him and the defensive line from 5 meters to 3 meters. Even the two center-backs behind him moved forward as a whole. This is the typical logic of Barcelona's defense:

Once the opponent slows down their pace with the ball, press forward as a whole to compress the space.

Unfortunately, they didn't realize that Li Luo's "slowness" was a deliberate act of waiting for space.

Just as Alves made his tackle.

Li Luo gently swung his leg, and the football traced a perfectly flat arc along the grass, precisely passing through the gap between Busquets and Pique.

The timing of this pass was perfect:
It happened precisely at the moment when Barcelona's defense pushed forward, leaving a larger gap behind them.

The ball's speed was just right, not too fast for his teammates to catch, but rather rolled steadily into De Bruyne's running path before the other center-back, Mascherano, could track back.

De Bruyne adjusted his pace ahead of time, following Li Luo's lead.

He arrived behind the Barcelona defense almost simultaneously with the ball, and with a gentle push of his right foot, he led the ball into the penalty area.

Facing the goalkeeper directly.

The cheers from the Camp Nou stands abruptly ceased once again, followed by a short gasp. Barcelona fans were all too familiar with this rhythm: first, lure the opponent forward with a slow pace, then use a sudden low through ball to exploit the space behind the defense. This was a classic tactic used in the La Masia system to dismantle the central defense, but now it was perfectly replicated by Li Luo, who was wearing a white Manchester United away jersey.

"De Bruyne played very selflessly."

"Inside the penalty area, a cross."

"The Luke Shaw that was inserted."

"Why is he passing it back in a triangular pattern? Hey! What's Luke Shaw afraid of Mascherano for?"

"Pretty!"

"The pass went to Li Luo, who quickly moved up to the top of the arc!"

"Put!"

"The ball is in!"

"Li Luo scores twice! He breaches Barcelona's goal once again!"

"A night at Camp Nou, Manchester United are leading Barcelona by three goals!!!"

VIP private room.

Cruyff couldn't believe his eyes and murmured again, "La Masia, position 4."