FA Cup Manchester United staged a magical "counterattack", and Guardiola's "transformation" laid the root cause?

The Paper

2024-05-26 14:04Posted on the official account of Shanghai Paper

As the final finale of the English professional league this season, the FA Cup final finally gave some different kind of drama.

Manchester United, who have created the worst ranking in the Premier League (8th) in team history, defeated Manchester City 2-1, a team that has won four consecutive Premier League titles. It surprised many fans who were optimistic about Blue Moon winning another championship before the game.

While losing the championship, Guardiola may also have to think about whether the little cleverness he often shakes out is really so cost-effective?

Manchester United win the FA Cup.

An accidental mistake and a loss of a championship

Before the game, it was clear that more people would be betting on the Blues in full swing, with the gap between Manchester United and Manchester City being as many as 31 points in the just-concluded Premier League, and Manchester City have won six of their last seven Manchester derby.

Even Pep Guardiola's pre-match statement seemed more like a "post-match statement": "In 2019 and 2023, I led the team to win this competition, which was one of the best times I spent as a football coach. ”

However, the game was a bit of a surprise, as the Reds withstood the pressure on a 30th-minute counter-attack with a long ball, and the returning Gvardiol and Garnacho made a major mistake in their battle for the first spot, and his header flew past the head of the onrushing goalkeeper Ortega, who followed up to slotter into the empty net.

Gvardiol makes a mistake to give a gift.

Resuming the game, Gvardiol's "own assist" was undoubtedly the turning point. Before the game, Pep Guardiola stressed that he could not pin his hopes on the mistakes of Manchester United's players, but this time, it was his own players who gave a big gift.

In a final that would have been a winner, sudden changes often upset the balance on the pitch, so nine minutes after Garnacho smiled at the gift, United again passed through the front three, and Maynu rewrote the score to 2-0. City were completely passive, with 74 per cent possession and only one goal in the 87th minute from Doku from distance.

Looking back on the game, Pep Guardiola's expression was playful: "Manchester United did well in the second goal, we tried our best, but it came too late. The implication is that Manchester City's first goal was just a cheap opponent, and as the "perpetrator", Gvardiol was not surprised to be hit with a low score of 6.6 after the game.

Gvardiol

Another transformation, can it be a success story?

Gvardiol has been one of the brightest members of the Manchester City squad in the past period, scoring four goals and providing one assist in seven appearances as he contributes to the title race.

And Guardiola's transformation of him has also been highly praised by the media. Gvardiol has been playing mainly as a central defender, but in Pep Guardiola's hands, he has been deployed on the left flank and has been in a large position.

Pep Guardiola is eyeing Gvardiol's ability to possess the ball beyond most centre-backs. The accumulation of more players up front to make it a blind spot in the opposition's defence did work, but in this FA Cup final, Gvardiol messed up his job.

Manchester United doubled their scores.

Looking back, Guardiola himself may have to wonder what is the most valuable thing about a defender? Gvardiol's brilliance in attack stems from the freedom that Guardiola has given him, but when a defender is always thinking about finding space in central midfield, it is hard to avoid dampening his willingness to recycle.

So when Manchester United simply and directly hit Manchester City's back, Gvardiol was the hidden weakness.

Doku pulled a goal back for City.

One of the greatest coaches of his time, Pep Guardiola has an almost paranoid grasp of detail, and he is also obsessed with adapting individual players to the needs of the team's overall tactics.

At Bayern, Lahm moved from full-back to midfield. At Manchester City, centre-back John Stones spent most of his time in midfield and it was Guardiola's innovation that now it is Gvardiol's turn to make such a change.

However, Guardiola's "whole work" is not all so flawless, Stones is a success story, Lahm plays at the back is a bit of a snake in the end, Bayern has an excellent midfielder, but also a good full-back, the team as a whole has not improved.

Ten Hag holds the trophy.

More time will be seen how Gvardiol's makeover will ultimately be assessed, and given that the 22-year-old Croatian defender is seen as the successor to football's best centre-back after the World Cup, Guardiola's current plans will undoubtedly be in question.

Who is more valuable on the pitch between a top-class centre-back and a defender who scores goals occasionally but isn't solid enough? I'm afraid it's not hard to answer.

At the critical moment, Ten Hag once again "renewed his life"

In terms of the transformation of the player's position, Ancelotti's transformation of Pirlo is more revealing. Because of the lack of physical hardness and speed, it is difficult for Pirlo to meet the needs of top teams in the forward position, so An Shuai put Pirlo in the back of the front to maximize the player's passing ability, play to his strengths and avoid weaknesses, and also made Pirlo's football legend.

And Gua Shuai obviously has a more perfect central defender, but he wasted his martial arts at a critical moment. Of course, consequentialism is unfair to Guardiola, who needs to win every game in the sprint of the league and has defenders more involved in attack, but if Gvardiol's transformation becomes a long-term option for Guardiola, it will be worth the cost.

Pep Guardiola

Fortunately, Guardiola is not without seeing the problem, and he expressed a similar theory earlier this month, "The most important thing for a defender is to be safe, and scoring goals is an added bonus. ”

The game was destined to frustrate Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, with Manchester United and Ten Hag emerging as the big winners. Despite being the lowest in Premier League history, an FA Cup win has not only made United the team with the most cup titles in the English league (19), but Ten Hag's shaky position has been revived.

After the game, the "press conference coach" also became more confident, "If Manchester United don't want me, I'll go somewhere else to continue to win trophies." ”

Manchester United owner Ratcliffe

The stats show that Ten Hag has won the trophy in each of the past six seasons, including the League Cup and FA Cup at Manchester United. Manchester United owner Ratcliffe was pressed by reporters after the game to see if Ten Hag would stay, but Ratcliffe did not answer.

Clearly, United can feel Ten Hag's lack of strength in building a team, but he has always been able to continue his career with titles, and now whether he is going to stay has become a problem for the club.

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