Chapter 23: Loss of Energy

Lucky really didn't expect De Bruyne to be able to make such a defense.

After all, he is an offensive midfielder with good dribbling and super high passing ability, which can basically lock the main force and even the core position in the world's major teams.

But De Bruyne is still not satisfied.

Especially when he and Lucky kept fighting, he was also forced to keep growing.

Because De Bruyne found that once he stopped, he would never catch up.

A good player can be achieved through talent.

But a great player must have a good opponent.

De Bruyne believes that Lucky is his biggest opponent, who will not only put pressure on him, but also give him the motivation to keep moving forward.

Just like now, he can not only contribute to the offensive end, but also take on the work of pressing and intercepting when the team is at a disadvantage.

"Go up! I'll come over there!"

De Bruyne has a relatively gentle personality, and he rarely speaks in such a cold tone.

But at this time, he didn't care about these, and immediately directed his teammates to press forward, while controlling the passing line from Wilshere to Lekai.

This step also forced Wilshere to pass the ball to Aubameyang. This is the defensive focus of Manchester City. The space is narrow, which is not conducive to passing and breaking through.

But he just wants to force the opponent to pass the ball here.

Sure enough, when Aubameyang received the ball, he immediately ushered in the crazy pressing of Gundogan and Kyle Walker.

"Defensive linkage?"

Lekai watched very carefully. Manchester City was playing defensive linkage in the midfield and backcourt, which is also what Arsenal is best at.

The most important thing is that these guys are still playing well.

And De Bruyne's command is also very effective.

Lekai could have pulled out a gap and transferred the ball out of the restricted space.

But De Bruyne, while directing his teammates to press and prevent Wilshere from passing the ball in the first time, immediately came around Lekai to further restrict the passing channel.

In just less than a second, this guy completed an excellent defensive command.

"It's really unexpected!"

Sky Sports commentator, Paul Merson, also widened his eyes, watching De Bruyne, who was constantly directing his teammates to defend in the backcourt and occasionally joining in the pressing.

Moreover, the pressing was in good shape, which put a lot of pressure on Arsenal.

What kind of player was De Bruyne before.

A superb passer and organizer in offense.

It can be said that all of De Bruyne's talents are concentrated on the offensive end. He is not an all-around midfielder in the traditional sense.

Defense is De Bruyne's weakness.

Not to mention commanding defense.

And now?

Looking at the figure running in the field, his face flushed and sweat flying, Paul Merson was even more surprised.

"In fact, since last season, De Bruyne has been able to show this defensive posture from time to time, but we thought it was just his good luck at the time. Even in the World Cup, when Belgium was at a disadvantage, we could see De Bruyne's pressing, but due to tactical limitations and lack of team tacit understanding, his pressing was not very effective."

"And now, De Bruyne's defense has been completely stimulated in this game."

"Yes! We have reason to believe that De Bruyne is seriously learning defensive skills and positioning, and has produced enough results."

Dixon judged seriously.

On the sidelines, Guardiola was also constantly applauding, on the one hand to encourage his teammates, and on the other hand to admire De Bruyne's performance.

In fact, Guardiola's requirement for De Bruyne is to attack.

After all, there needs to be a clear division of labor in the team, and there is no need to spend effort on unnecessary work. Some work needs to be done by a dedicated person.

For this reason, when De Bruyne proposed to learn defense, Guardiola was more opposed.

But De Bruyne is also stubborn.

He still pesters his teammates and coaches for defensive training, and the effect is remarkable.

Guardiola was surprised when De Bruyne showed this kind of performance in the training match.

He will not ask De Bruyne to make changes in this direction, but he is also happy if De Bruyne can do more work.

In the game, De Bruyne ran happily, and he could be seen in both offense and defense.

It can be said that this period is his highlight moment. Because of De Bruyne's performance, Manchester City's offense has become smoother and more threatening.

Of course, what makes De Bruyne most excited is that he forced Lucky into the backcourt and dared not show his head.

He suppressed Lucky for the first time.

This is the most exciting thing for De Bruyne.

The only pity is that there is no anxiety or anger on Lucky's face, which makes De Bruyne a little regretful.

In Arsenal's half, Lucky retreated to defend.

He kept commanding the position and issued instructions again and again to command his teammates.

On the other hand, Lekai was also looking at De Bruyne, but there was a hint of emotion in his eyes.

Lekai had to admit that De Bruyne's performance on the defensive end was worthy of recognition.

And both his defensive skills and positioning have been significantly improved.

However, defense is not just running blindly.

In the beginning, in order to make up for the shortcomings of strength and function, Lekai also chose this defensive method.

That is to expand the defensive area and keep running in the field.

But this defensive method has a big disadvantage, that is, it requires a lot of physical energy, and the physical energy is lost too quickly.

In less than five minutes, De Bruyne's face was already red.

This guy was obviously playing high at this time, and he didn't react at all. His physical energy was losing rapidly.

Active running is certainly worthy of praise.

But how to retain physical energy in the field and burst out at the critical moment is also an extremely important link.

For this reason, Lekai is waiting patiently

"He ran too much!"

Guardiola's face suddenly became serious.

He knew De Bruyne's desire to perform, but it didn't mean that he could run like this.

45 minutes of physical energy was directly drained in 10 minutes.

Once De Bruyne came to his senses, he might not be able to stand up when he stopped.

Stop him!

This was the first thought in Guardiola's mind.

"Hey!

Kevin!

Stop! You can't run like this anymore!"

De Bruyne, who was running happily on the field, was stunned when he heard the coach's words.

The first thought in his mind was why can't he run?

But soon, he suddenly felt a little stuffy in his chest, his breathing was also very rapid, and the most important thing was that his legs were a little sore.

De Bruyne's expression suddenly changed.

Yes!

He ran too much!

At this time, he still looked around with a guilty conscience, hoping that the other party didn't notice his problem.

But the next second, he looked at Lekai.

Lekai looked at him with a pair of bright eyes, and then suddenly grinned, turned his head and ran forward.

De Bruyne's face changed and he turned his head immediately.

At this time, the ball also came to Lekai's feet.

De Bruyne ran over to limit him, and Lekai almost didn't make any skillful moves, flicking and dribbling the ball to the left.

De Bruyne was passed in two simple steps.

After being passed, De Bruyne also staggered and almost lost his footing.

He knew that there was a problem with his physical fitness.

At this time, Lekai had already rushed to their penalty area.

Take advantage of your illness to kill you!

At this time, Lekai will not be merciful.

Lekai pressed forward, and the Arsenal players followed the captain's pace.

They believed in Lekai's judgment and pressed forward directly.

After this pressure, they suddenly found that the huge defensive pressure before seemed to be relaxed a lot.

Manchester City's pressing and defense were not so clean and neat, and there were always some loopholes that could be exploited during the transfer process.

Although they quickly filled the gaps.

But as long as the pressure continued, these gaps and loopholes would only get bigger and bigger until Arsenal completely tore through the defense.

At this time, the Arsenal players understood that it was time for them to counterattack!

"Aubameyang made a cross, Giroud headed the ball"

"Mane shot from a small angle!"

"Kai!

Long shot!"

"Wilshere made a lob pass, Mane shot!"

The ball flew past the goal post.

But Arsenal's offensive was extremely strong.

"Arsenal began to bombard Manchester City, and Manchester City became more and more panicked in the face of Arsenal's attack. If the situation continues like this, Manchester City's goal will become more and more dangerous!"