The last time Crystal Palace played against Everton, because Li Tie did not get a chance to play, Chen Ran has not played the so-called "Chinese Derby" with domestic players in the Premier League.

This time against Manchester City, this scenario can be realized.

In a previous life, a short video of Sun Jihai defending Ronaldo alone was circulated on the Internet.

Sun Jihai in the video is at the peak of his career, while Ronaldo is still relatively immature, and he has not yet mastered some tricks.

Chen Ran also has some expectations as to whether Sun Jihai can recreate the classic moment of defending Ronaldo alone.

Of course, the final victory of the game must belong to Crystal Palace.

Speaking of the current Manchester City, there are still many good players.

For example, right midfielder Wright Phillips, left midfielder Sinclair and goalkeeper James are all England internationals.

There are also the famous former Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler, midfielder Button, midfielder Musampa, center back Distin, center back Dunn and others, who are also strong players.

The head coach is the famous former England coach Kevin Keegan.

Because this game featured Chen Ran's Crystal Palace and Sun Jihai's Manchester City, as well as the so-called "Chinese Derby" hyped by the domestic media, it attracted many fans to stay up late to watch the game.

"Haha, this shot is great, Chen Ran even went over to shake hands with Sun Jihai."

"It's rare. Since Li Tie couldn't play in the game, the only ones we can see in the Premier League are these two Chinese."

"Yeah, it would be great if more Chinese players could play in the five major leagues."

"How can it be that easy? If there were 20 Chinese players who played in the five major leagues, would we still be worried about not being able to enter the World Cup?"

"Hey, wake up quickly, the game is about to begin."

...

Facing Crystal Palace, the current leader of the Premier League, and playing away from home, Kevin Keegan was not careless. He arranged a 451 defensive counterattack formation.

But he didn't expect that as soon as the game started, he found that Crystal Palace was also playing defensive counterattack.

???

Kevin Keegan is confused, is Manchester City that strong?

Can the league leader Crystal Palace play a defensive counterattack at their home court?

He turned his head and looked at Chen Ran in the distance in confusion. What on earth did this Chinese man want to do?

Unlike the sensationalistic English media, after more than a year of observing the game, no head coach of an English team dares to treat Chen Ran as a fledgling rookie anymore.

If the previous English Championship and League Cup titles were not convincing enough, Crystal Palace's unbeatable record in the Premier League so far this season has shocked countless colleagues.

After all, Crystal Palace is not a wealthy team like Manchester United or Arsenal, and the players in the team are all old and young.

Achieving the current results, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this is entirely due to the head coach Chen Ran.

Maybe what the newspaper said was right, this Chinese man is indeed a talented coach.

The outstanding record has also made Chen Ran the target of research by many coaches. Every adjustment and arrangement he made to the Crystal Palace has gradually been taken out and considered over and over again.

As a result, many of Chen Ran's actions were over-interpreted.

For example, now, Chen Ran just considers that the physical fitness of the players may not be enough due to the double matches in a row. Therefore, he first uses more energy-saving tactics and then takes them back to counterattack.

However, any coach who has carefully studied Crystal Palace games knows that Crystal Palace always takes the initiative to attack at home.

"Crystal Palace has suddenly changed its formation. Isn't that Chinese guy trying to lure me into attacking and then hit us to counterattack?"

Kevin Keegan crossed his chest with his left hand, rubbed his chin with his right hand and muttered to himself.

"Forget it, it's better to be careful. Anyway, getting a point from the top of the league away from home is a good result."

After pondering for a long time, Kevin Keegan decided not to take the risk.

No matter how Crystal Palace plays, Manchester City will defend and counterattack until the end today.

Chen Ran's original thought was that he really hoped that Manchester City could press out and attack, and then Crystal Palace would retreat behind and fight Manchester City's counterattack. If they could score one goal or two goals, it would be a small victory. This would be easy and labor-saving.

He also didn't expect that he would be so intimidating in the hearts of his peers, so it was self-defeating.

Therefore, throughout the first half, neither Crystal Palace nor Manchester City had a strong desire to attack.

Except for a few frontcourt players who went into the attack, no more troops were invested.

The game makes people sleepy.

"This game almost made me fall asleep."

complained a reporter in the stands.

"That's right. It doesn't matter that Manchester City is relatively weak. Why is Crystal Palace, currently ranked first in the league, playing so feebly?"

"Crystal Palace also played in the UEFA Cup in the middle of the week. I guess there was a physical problem today."

"Haha, as expected, the strength is still not enough. It looks like this when playing a UEFA Cup game. Then if it plays a Champions League game, why don't you fall down from exhaustion on the spot?"

"It's probably their first time participating in a European competition and they're not used to it yet."

"The response has been so great at the beginning of this season. If it comes to a critical moment in the second half of the league to compete for the championship, can Crystal Palace still be able to hold on?"

"Haha, you are thinking too far. Maybe the Crystal Palace will already fall behind before that time comes."

"Yes, this is really possible. There are not just one or two teams that have been brought down by two-front operations in recent years."

"That's it, don't let Crystal Palace fall into the situation of being relegated again. In that case, the Chinese will be embarrassed."

...

At this time, Chen Ran was sitting on the bench watching the game.

He wasn't in a hurry, it wasn't time to use his strength yet.

On the court, the only ones who really put Crystal Palace into attack were Toni, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alves.

Without support, Ronaldo simply stopped seeking cooperation with his teammates.

As soon as the ball reached his feet, he immediately started dribbling the ball wildly.

This time, fans in China who stayed up late to watch the game were completely satisfied.

Because in the broadcast footage, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sun Jihai will appear dueling from time to time.

Of course, domestic fans don't know Ronaldo's future achievements, so they pay more attention to Sun Jihai's performance.

Nowadays, Cristiano Ronaldo's football is relatively simple and he has not yet mastered many tricks.

He faced off against Sun Jihai, who was at his peak. The two fought back and forth, winning and losing.

The game entered the halftime break just like that.

In the Crystal Palace locker room, Chen Ran clapped his hands and attracted the attention of the players.

"Okay, guys, have you had enough rest in the first half?"

"Hahaha......"

"Get some rest, boss."

"Boss, do you want to work?"

As soon as Chen Ran opened his mouth, the team members burst into laughter.

"Clever. In the second half, I cheered up. We are going to start attacking. Arsenal is still watching, and we must win this game. Do you understand?"

"clear!"

"Don't worry, boss."

"Victory is definitely ours!"

...

Military spirit is available.

Looking at the lively team members, Chen Ran nodded with satisfaction.

Immediately, he replaced Alves with Ribery, replaced Yaya Toure with Fabregas, and then pushed Modric and Fabregas to the front to play a double attacking midfielder, with Simeone behind them.

To protect.

The team's tactics have also changed from Simeone to Guardiola.

So, Kevin Keegan saw Crystal Palace make two substitutions at the beginning of the second half.

Kevin Keegan, who had carefully studied Chen Ran's tactics, immediately realized that something was wrong and Crystal Palace was about to change their formation and launch an attack.

However, Kevin Keegan originally deployed a 451 defensive counterattack formation, and had long been prepared to deal with the Crystal Palace offensive.

Therefore, apart from loudly reminding the players to be more vigilant, he has no plans to make substitutions for the time being.

He also wanted to observe again to see if Manchester City's defense could withstand Crystal Palace's attack.

When Crystal Palace changed its formation, the one who felt the strongest reaction was Sun Jihai, who was playing as right back.

Because now Ronaldo is no longer alone.

Chiellini behind him, Cesc Fabregas and Modric next to him, are all responding at any time, ready to cooperate with Ronaldo.
To be continued...