Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 555: Chelsea's Quiet Rise

On August 13, 2016, the Premier League season for 2016-2017 officially kicked off.

In the opening match, last season's runner-up Leicester City was unexpectedly defeated by newly-promoted Hull City, causing a minor upset.

Leicester City's squad had not changed much. Under the strong insistence of head coach Claudio Ranieri, the club's higher-ups had refrained from short-sightedly selling their key players from the previous season.

However, after a full season, other teams had fully figured out this dark horse, and Leicester quickly lost their element of surprise, with their defeat to the newly-promoted team serving as proof.

As for reigning champions Manchester City, their performance in the first round wasn't particularly impressive either.

In their home game against Sunderland, they earned a penalty just 4 minutes in but failed to extend their lead. Instead, in the 71st minute of the second half, Sunderland capitalized on a chance to equalize.

Although Manchester City launched an all-out attack on Sunderland afterward, the visitors defended resolutely, and the match seemed destined for a draw.

However, in the 89th minute, Lin Quan's long-range shot caused a defensive error, resulting in an own goal by Sunderland's defender.

Thanks to that own goal, City secured a narrow victory to start the season on a positive note—though the three points felt somewhat lucky.

Compared to City, their cross-town rivals Manchester United had a much easier time.

Playing away from home, United ended the match in just over 20 minutes, with Mata, Rooney, and Ibrahimović all scoring, leading United to a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.

The contrast between the two teams was striking. After signing Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimović, United's attacking firepower had improved significantly.

Meanwhile, at City, the departure of Kroos had visibly weakened their strength.

This comparison delighted United fans, who believed this was their chance to reclaim the title of Manchester's top team by leaving City in their wake.

However, United's joy was short-lived after the next match.

On August 14, Arsenal and Liverpool clashed at the Emirates Stadium, delivering a thrilling, heart-pounding game for the fans.

Both teams played aggressive football, much to the delight of the audience.

In the 30th minute, Theo Walcott, who had missed a penalty earlier, redeemed himself by opening the scoring for Arsenal.

But the Gunners' joy was short-lived—just before halftime, Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho equalized.

After the break, Liverpool unleashed a relentless attacking wave, with Lallana, Coutinho, and Mané all scoring to push the score to 1-4!

At this point, the Arsenal fans at the stadium were nearly in despair, as their defense had been completely torn apart by Liverpool, with their two young center-backs performing miserably.

Yet, the Arsenal players didn't give up. In the 65th and 75th minutes, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chambers scored, giving the Gunners hope of an equalizer or even a comeback.

However, injuries to Walcott and Ramsey dashed their hopes.

In the end, Liverpool emerged victorious in this attacking battle, winning 4-3 and successfully capturing the Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool's strong performance filled their fans with optimism for the season ahead.

With young talents like Mané and Coutinho in the squad, the future looked bright.

Liverpool's rise shone so brightly that many people overlooked the fact that Chelsea, under new management, quietly secured a 2-1 victory over West Ham United in their first game.

After a disastrous season, Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich, made a decisive move to hire a top-tier coach for the team.

His target was the Italian manager, Antonio Conte.

Conte had led Juventus to three consecutive Serie A titles and had also managed the Italian national team.

In this year's European Championship, if Italy hadn't been unlucky enough to face reigning champions Spain so early, their results could have been even better.

Abramovich, never one to be stingy, not only hired Conte for a hefty price but also gave him a transfer budget of over 100 million pounds to overhaul the squad.

Conte didn't hold back, spending 140 million euros to bring in several strong players, strengthening Chelsea's lineup in key areas.

Notably, one of the new signings was none other than center-back David Luiz, who had previously left Chelsea.

When Chelsea sold Luiz, the transfer fee had been 50 million pounds, but they managed to buy him back for just 34 million pounds, effectively earning a profit of 16 million pounds in the process.

Chelsea's heavy spending clearly signaled their ambitions for the new season.

However, after last season's poor performance, and with most fans' attention focused on other top clubs, few people paid attention to this new-look Chelsea.

...

After the first round of matches, Liverpool received widespread praise, with Coutinho and Mané both making the Premier League Team of the Week.

Many people had high hopes for these two young players, especially Coutinho, whom many considered a top candidate to join the ranks of superstars like Lin Quan, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Messi.

If he could maintain his current outstanding form, Coutinho seemed destined to become a superstar in the near future.

In contrast to Liverpool, even though Manchester City had won their match, they faced criticism.

"Gündoğan clearly hasn't adapted to the pace of Premier League football. His debut was disastrous, and to be honest, a 6.5 rating is too generous!"

"Without Kroos, Manchester City's midfield has taken a big hit. While Lin Quan remains in top form, without strong support from the midfield, it's difficult for him to fully showcase his talent in attack!"

"City needs to reassess the strength of their squad and their transfer strategy. Perhaps they should make reinforcements while the transfer window is still open!"

In City's first match, Gündoğan started but was substituted after just 65 minutes.

It was clear that Guardiola wasn't satisfied with his performance.

So the external criticism wasn't entirely unfounded, though it was a bit harsh to judge Gündoğan so harshly based on just one game.

In response to the criticism, Guardiola publicly stated:

"Gündoğan is an excellent player, and I fully believe in his ability. He just needs time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League."

Guardiola's support reassured Gündoğan, who had been feeling anxious after his poor performance in the first match.

Premier League teams were extremely physical, and the referees allowed a lot of contact. Many fouls that would be called in other leagues were ignored here.

Gündoğan, new to the league, struggled to cope with the pace and the lenient officiating, which explained his underwhelming debut.

However, the outside world didn't understand his struggles, and he worried that he might be abandoned by both the fans and the coach.

Thankfully, Guardiola didn't give up on him and showed enough patience.

Still, Gündoğan knew he couldn't relax. He had to quickly adapt to the pace of the Premier League.

With that in mind, after each training session, Gündoğan stayed behind to do extra work, focusing on strength training to improve his physical toughness and better handle the Premier League's intensity.

Guardiola noticed Gündoğan's hard work and decided to trust him again in the second match, giving him another starting opportunity.

City's opponent in the second round was Stoke City, and the team had two familiar faces—Bojan, a former Barcelona player once touted as Messi's successor, and Marko Arnautović, Lin Quan's former teammate at Werder Bremen.

Bojan had been a legend in Barcelona's youth team, breaking numerous records, many of which had been set by Messi.

Before being promoted to the first team, Barcelona fans had high expectations for him.

However, Bojan quickly failed to live up to expectations in the senior team. After four years of struggling on the bench, Barcelona sold him to Roma at a low price.

Even in Serie A, Bojan failed to regain his form. After bouncing between clubs, he returned to Barcelona, only to be sold again, this time to Stoke City for a humiliatingly low fee of 1.8 million euros.

For Bojan, these experiences were nothing short of a nightmare, especially as he watched his fellow La Masia graduates, Messi and Lin Quan, ascend to superstardom.

Perhaps to prove he was just as good, Bojan played with great energy in this match. Near the end of the first half, he was even booked for a foul in defense.

He continued to fight hard in the second half and was finally rewarded with a penalty in the 49th minute, which he converted.

However, his goal didn't change anything, as Manchester City had already scored three goals by that point.

Agüero had netted twice in the first half, and Lin Quan had scored a free-kick early in the second, leaving Stoke City with little hope of a comeback.

Seeing Bojan's desperate efforts on the pitch, Guardiola couldn't help but sigh.

Bojan had played under Guardiola during his time at Barcelona, and the coach had once held high hopes for him.

As a La Masia graduate, Guardiola had always trusted and nurtured young players, especially those from the club's famed academy.

During his time at Barcelona, Guardiola was known for giving young players plenty of opportunities, particularly those from the youth academy.

But Bojan hadn't lived up to his expectations. Guardiola had given him chances, but Bojan failed to seize them and, in his eagerness to prove himself, fell into a pattern of playing too individually, which disrupted the team's play.

In the end, Guardiola had no choice but to give up on him.

Now, it seemed that Bojan might still hold some resentment toward him.

With another sigh, Guardiola shook his head and pushed these thoughts aside because City had just scored again.

This time, the goal came from the young substitute, Kylian Mbappé!

Using his speed, Mbappé blew past the opposition full-back and scored a brilliant goal.

Although Stoke City had already given up the fight by then, Guardiola still applauded Mbappé's effort.

The young Frenchman had shown remarkable growth this season.

Guardiola had originally thought it would take a few more years to develop Mbappé into a first-team regular, but the young player had surprised him.

It seemed that Guardiola would need to adjust his rotation plans for the new season. Mbappé was developing rapidly and would need ample playing time to continue his progress.

However, he would also need to manage Mbappé's minutes carefully to avoid physical exhaustion or injuries.

For young players, injuries were always the biggest threat—a single serious injury could derail all their potential.

City's away win slightly improved the public's perception of them.

Notably, Gündoğan's performance drew praise, with his match rating improving to 7.5, a significant improvement from the first game.

While he still struggled a bit in physical duels, his progress was evident.

Moreover, Gündoğan had smartly adapted to the Premier League's officiating, using the lenient standards to his advantage in defense, contributing significantly to the team's defensive efforts.

Guardiola was pleased with his performance and praised him during the post-match press conference.

This further boosted Gündoğan's confidence, making him train even harder and play with greater assurance.

The second round of matches saw some upsets. After conquering the Emirates Stadium in the first round, Liverpool shockingly lost to Burnley in the second—a newly-promoted side!

This result left fans bewildered. Suddenly, it was unclear whether Liverpool was strong or weak.

On the one hand, they had lost 0-2 to a promoted team, with no fight in them at all.

On the other hand, they had played an epic match and defeated Arsenal in a strong showing.

In short, Liverpool's form seemed to be in a "Schrödinger's state," wavering between strength and weakness.

As fans questioned Liverpool's true ability, Arsenal was held to a draw by Leicester City in their away game.

Hmm...

Could it be that both Arsenal and Liverpool weren't as strong as people thought?

Aside from Arsenal and Liverpool, their two struggling counterparts, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Tottenham all won their matches.

After two rounds, United sat atop the table, edging City by one goal on goal difference.

What was surprising, however, was that Chelsea had quietly won two games in a row, placing them third in the standings.

This result led people to start paying serious attention to the Chelsea team that Conte was leading.

(End of Chapter)

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