With maxed-out heading ability from the start, I became the king of Arsenal.

With Ferguson launching his attack and Ancelotti responding strongly, the most talked-about war of words in the Premier League title race has officially begun.

During the crucial stage of the title race last season, Ferguson said that Chelsea's squad was built on a foundation of big money and lacked local roots.

Ancelotti responded to Manchester United's years of continuous high-spending on star players, saying that old money shouldn't complain about being poor.

It's like two fat people calling each other a fatso.

With Chelsea's performance declining this season, Ferguson seized the opportunity to continue his criticism, saying that Chelsea only relies on old players and has no future.

Ancelotti directly retorted that Manchester United has more veteran players and that the current youth academy is more of a gimmick.

Pulis was delighted to see the two renowned coaches engaging in a war of words.

Stoke City's manager made two bold predictions during training:

First, Manchester United will almost certainly field a rotated squad in the League Cup quarter-final.

The reason is simple: the rivalry between Manchester United and Chelsea is at its most intense.

Although the Premier League champions have two and a half squads, competing on both the Premier League and the Champions League is already very difficult, and trying to do too much at once can have serious consequences.

In addition, Manchester United's defense is full of veterans, and it would be a huge loss if they got injured against Stoke City.

Ferguson would certainly be very pragmatic when faced with these kinds of problems.

Secondly, Stoke City is unlikely to draw Arsenal before the final.

The answer is simpler: the organizing committee should try its best to satisfy what the fans want to watch in the final.

Sun Yu also supports this view, saying that commercial football is all about ratings, tickets, and merchandise.

There are too many examples to list.

Pulis glanced at the schedule: "If there's a blizzard at the end of the year, we might have to play Arsenal in both the Premier League and League Cup finals at the end of February, haha!"

Clearly, Pulis and Wenger have some history.

Stoke City's current goal is to secure the 40 points needed to avoid relegation as soon as possible.

Over the next few days, Stoke City players focused on preparing for their match against Manchester City.

At the pre-match press conference, Mancini appeared very restrained, praising Stoke City first, then Pulis, and finally the players.

The reporter simply asked him, "Who do you think is better, Balotelli or Sun Yu?"

Mancini dodged the question with a series of evasive maneuvers, prompting the English media to mock him for avoiding confrontation.

When Pulis answered a similar question, he chimed in, "Balotelli? Has he scored any goals this season?"

"No! Then what does he have to compare with Sun Yu on?"

11 month 27 day.

In the 15th round of the Premier League, Stoke City hosted Manchester City at home.

After more than three months of competition, Stoke City's squad has quietly undergone six changes compared to the beginning of the season.

Begovic displaced Sorensen as the starting goalkeeper.

In defense, the combination of Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, and Collins performed consistently.

In midfield, Pennant has taken Walters' starting position, while Whiteside and Delap remain the undisputed choices in the center, and set-piece specialist Etherington is indispensable.

At the center position, Sun Yu and Jones became the most troublesome twin towers.

Manchester City, with its wealthy owners, is a club that is the envy of the entire English football community.

First of all, the head coach position is enviable. It is a high-salary position with a patient management team, a sufficient transfer budget, and a great deal of autonomy.

Coaching a team like this is like playing a football manager game; the gaming experience is top-notch.

Mancini deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The goalkeeper is Joe Hart.

The four defenders are Richards, Kolo Toure, Kompany, and Kolarov.

The two defensive midfielders are De Jong and Barry, with David Silva in front of them.

The left and right wingers were Balotelli and Milner, who had not yet retired when Sun Yu traveled through time.

The center forward position is occupied by the top-tier striker, Tevez.

Manchester City has been continuously upgrading its squad in recent seasons, buying a bunch of new players every season.

The owner is not short of money; many players' salaries are double the market rate.

What's most frightening about this team is their squad depth; they have Given, Boateng, Lescott, Vieira, Adam Janssen, and Wright-Phillips on their bench.

Furthermore, Yaya Touré and Edin Dzeko are not yet on the roster due to injuries.

Pulis gave Manchester City a sharp critique in the dressing room: "Our opponents are very rich; they can spend hundreds of millions of pounds every season to upgrade half of their squad, but these players are just overpaid mercenaries."

"You can buy a championship team with money, but Manchester City isn't worthy of it right now."

"Avoid their midfield and bombard them with high balls; they can't win in a high-intensity contest!"

As the players from both sides entered the players' tunnel, Sun Yu immediately spotted Balotelli, who had a tuft of hair on his head.

This guy walks with a swaying gait, looking just like a thug from a movie.

Balotelli walked up to Sun Yu, tilting his head to look him up and down: "Hey! I've heard of you, they rave about you!"

"You've never played in the World Cup, never won the Champions League, never won any other title, so what makes you think you can compare to me?"

Sun Yu glanced at the other man and laughed, "Inter Milan can win the championship without you, Manchester City has achieved its current success without you, and Italy's elimination in the group stage was largely due to you. You're just a winger who can't score goals."

Balotelli's defensive penetration value +80

"you!"

Balotelli nearly lost his temper, pointing at Sun Yu and saying fiercely, "Today I'll show you the difference between a genius and an ordinary person!"

Sun Yu slapped Balotelli's hand away, then turned towards the players' tunnel without even glancing at him.

Whiteside rushed up and shoved Balotelli hard, pointing at him and saying, "Get lost, you bastard!"

Barry stood in front of Balotelli, and the players from both sides exchanged some unpleasant words, making the scene very awkward.

The match began with Stoke City launching a devastating three-pass attack.

The football arced into the penalty area, and Sun Yu and Kompany jumped at the same time. The two collided in mid-air and lost their balance.

[Kompany's armor penetration value +20]

The football bounced on the grass, Jones caught Kolo Toure and chipped the ball towards the far corner of the goal!

Joe Hart was like a live fish thrown into a frying pan, suddenly springing up and flipping the soccer ball over the crossbar face up.

The entire Stoke City crowd gasped in surprise, followed by applause.

Sun Yu and Kompany were helped up by their respective teammates. Sun Yu was surprised that Kompany was so strong.

Keep in mind that his physical attributes have been increased to 95, and his physical qualities can beat 99% of professional players.

Kompany's overall athletic ability is stronger than mine!

At the same time, Kompany was also observing Sun Yu.

He'd been playing football for so many years, and this was the first time he'd been brought down in mid-air.

Corner kick!

Four Stoke City players ran into Manchester City's penalty area, and Kompany dared not mark them individually, so he could only defend the central area.

Balotelli ran back into the penalty area and immediately tried to push Sun Yu.

Sun Yu directly used his arms to thrust them horizontally into the opponent's chest, but Balotelli was no pushover either.

The two men nudged each other with their arms three times in a row, and the referee immediately blew his whistle.

"You two need to control your emotions."

After the referee reminded the two players to stand on the edge of the penalty area, the two began pushing each other again.

Sun Yu unleashed a series of powerful shots, directly shoving Balotelli into the goal.

Balotelli's defensive penetration value +85

The players from both sides clashed instantly, and the live broadcast gave Balotelli a close-up shot.

The Italian prodigy stood there angrily, participating in the shoving with his eyes.

In the media area, Martin Tyler burst out laughing: "The two Golden Boy nominees started off like this; fans watching on TV are sure to love it."

Adams chuckled. "I wonder if Balotelli is just too well-protected; maybe he's still a child who never grew up."

"His personality simply couldn't support his talent, while Sun Yu has already become a qualified soldier."