The 45-minute half-time quickly passed.
In the final minutes, Guardiola had repeatedly shouted at his players, constantly gesticulating and directing them.
As a world-class coach, he could naturally see the situation on the field.
Although it seemed like Manchester City controlled the initiative on the field and their ball possession rate was much higher than Sunderland's, most of it was passing the ball around in their own midfield and backfield, with not many truly threatening attacks.
Even when Manchester City later increased the frequency of crosses from the flanks, the final shots did not yield substantial results, and the resulting surge in momentum was only fleeting.
This made Guardiola feel a bit anxious.
He could even sense that his disciples were also getting a bit restless.
After all, under the gaze of over 50,000 fans at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City players certainly wanted to win any match, let alone a crucial moment in the race for the top four.
Who doesn't want to play in the Champions League? This is the ultimate dream for most professional players.
And today's opponent was a relegation-threatened team, so they naturally had to win.
But now, even after playing a half, Manchester City still couldn't break the deadlock, so the players' impatience would inevitably grow, thereby affecting their performance on the field.
So, as soon as the referee's half-time whistle blew, Guardiola immediately walked onto the field and chatted with the players for a few moments.
The content of the conversation was also very simple: to try their best to keep the players calm and absolutely not to rush!
Then Guardiola also grabbed Sterling, asking him not to focus too much on dribbling, but to pass the ball out as early as possible to create shooting opportunities for his teammates.
This was Guardiola's habit.
If he felt that a player on the field was not doing well, he would immediately communicate with him.
Not to mention his own players, sometimes he would even grab opposing players to chat with them...
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Two minutes later, inside the Sunderland locker room.
The starting players were all wiping sweat and breathing slightly.
Although they were under pressure from Manchester City throughout the first half, and Sunderland's players were constantly running and defending, their physical exertion was manageable.
This was mainly because Sunderland's formation was very flat, and the distance between players was relatively short, so they often didn't need to run too much to keep up with Manchester City's attacks.
More importantly, they had confidence!
This was the confidence Zhao Zhao gave them.
"We can definitely hold them!"
Zhao Zhao said so, and they indeed achieved this.
Moreover, as time went on, the players could increasingly feel the brilliance of Zhao Zhao's defensive tactics, which truly left Manchester City's highly valued stars helpless!
This also boosted their confidence in defending.
Mindset, to a large extent, affects competitive state and physical exertion.
If a player is very nervous on the field and finds it difficult to relax, he will always be tense when making movements, his muscles overly strained, and his energy consumption will be much faster than usual.
Currently, Sunderland and Manchester City players are probably examples of these two aspects.
Although Sunderland seemed to be passively taking hits, due to the players' confidence, resolute defense, and well-executed tactics, their mindset was relatively relaxed;
While Manchester City seemed to dominate the game, they couldn't break through, making them internally tense, which resulted in even higher physical exertion than Sunderland.
"So as long as we persist, we will have a chance."
At this moment, Zhao Zhao had walked to the tactics board.
"The premise of everything is still defense. They have star players who could, at any moment, ruin all our efforts with a flash of brilliance. So we must not relax our vigilance!"
Saying this, Zhao Zhao tapped the tactics board, at Manchester City's right flank.
"In this Manchester City team, De Bruyne is undoubtedly the most threatening player, and he is also the core of Guardiola's tactics."
"His role is very flexible, and his passing is extremely accurate, with excellent vision, so he is not easy to defend. The two shooting opportunities they created in the first half were both orchestrated by him."
"Therefore, in addition to Borini and Oviedo, who are marking him, both defensive midfielders must also come over to help at any time, including left center-back Kone."
"In this way, we have prepared a five-man encirclement for him. Once he enters the dangerous area, one of you must go up and stick close to him to prevent him from making the next move. The others, meanwhile, must be responsible for providing coverage, ready to perform secondary defense at any time."
"De Bruyne is certainly a very strong player, and I even think he will become the best midfielder in the world in the future. But no matter how strong he is, he cannot face the defense of so many of us. And as long as we can limit his performance, in the current situation, Manchester City will find it very difficult to penetrate our defense..."
Finally, Zhao Zhao waved his fist at the players:
"The opponent is very strong, but we don't need to panic at all, because if the draw continues, they are the ones who will be afraid."
"And you must remember, what I want is not actually a draw. Defense is only temporary; the final attack is my goal!"
"I want to defeat them at the Etihad Stadium!"
As soon as these words came out, the players looked at each other.
Most of the players seemed a bit surprised.
So Coach Zhao setting up such a bus formation wasn't to force a draw with Manchester City?
He actually wanted to win?
But the opponent was Manchester City!
In such a passive situation, was there really a chance?
Pure defense and scoring from defensive counter-attacks were truly not the same thing...
And a confident smile still hung on Zhao Zhao's face.
In the final simulation before the match, he tried to make a small adjustment during the game.
As a result, this adjustment indeed brought unexpectedly good results!
This, of course, truly gave Zhao Zhao confidence.
The current situation was developing in the right direction, and he also wanted his disciples to have this belief!
Otherwise, if everyone didn't believe they could beat Manchester City, how could they perform well?
"In fact, just as I explained before the match, as long as we stay focused, don't make mistakes, and make our defense impenetrable, we can create precious counter-attacking opportunities."
"I also believe we can seize such opportunities and change the score."
"In China, we have an old saying: 'When two brave men meet on a narrow road, the braver one wins.' There's also another saying: 'When facing an enemy, you must draw your sword.'"
"We must have this spirit of drawing our swords to defeat any powerful enemy!"
"Manchester City is elite, but I fight elites!"
"Go! We have already defeated Manchester United in Manchester, and today we can also defeat Manchester City!"
"Then, we will be the Kings of Manchester! Hahahaha!"
As Zhao Zhao burst into laughter, the Sunderland players also felt a surge of heroic spirit.
They all stood up in unison and shouted loudly:
"Yes! Defeat Manchester City, become the Kings of Manchester!"
"Kings of Manchester!"
"Kings of Manchester!!!"