Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

In the player tunnel, both teams line up for the starting lineup.

Whether it's Tottenham or Manchester City, both sides have England national team members; a few national teammates, Sterling, Walker, Kane, Dale, exchanged some greetings.

Gualin strode directly towards Ranocchia, shouting loudly from afar as if nobody else were there.

"Captain, long time no see!"

"Haha, don't call me captain anymore, I'm just like you now, a Premier League rookie." The two laughed and hugged briefly.

Tang Long walked straight ahead in the player tunnel, and as he reached Gualin's side, Gualin grabbed him.

"Where are you running to?" Gualin cheerfully grabbed Tang Long's shoulder.

"Running to the bench." Tang Long replied.

Upon hearing that Tang Long was heading to the bench, Gualin was also surprised, looking incredulous.

"What, you're not in the starting lineup? Impossible, what is your coach thinking?"

Unlike Tang Long, Gualin transferred to Tottenham in July, spent the summer training with the team, meshed well with teammates, and his starting position was well deserved.

"I get it, you're afraid of my tackles right from the start, aren't you? Don't worry kid, I'll take good care of you, hahaha!"

Not waiting for Tang Long's reply, Gualin laughed and then turned to his good friend within the Tottenham team, the Danish star Eriksson, and said: "My old teammate from Inter is afraid of me, so scared he didn't dare to start, and went to the bench."

Tang Long and Ranocchia exchanged smiles, then turned to Gualin and said: "Let me ask you, did you take a dump before the game? If not, hold it until the end, definitely don't take one during halftime, if Pochettino can't find you, he won't be as forgiving as Mancini."

Then turned away, raising a middle finger towards Gualin's back.

Ranocchia laughed uncontrollably, leaning against the wall.

The story Tang Long just recounted is a joke only known to Inter players.

Last season, Gualin had an urge during halftime, rushed to the toilet for ten minutes, where Mancini originally had important tactics to discuss, couldn't find him, teammates said he went to take a dump, Mancini was so angry he replaced him with young Kovacic.

Afterwards, Gualin made a public apology in front of the team, sheepishly saying, please rest assured, teammates and coach, I will never dare to take a dump during halftime again.

At the time, hearing Gualin straightforwardly recite this comical apology, the whole team was holding back laughter in the locker room.

Finally, third goalkeeper Berni couldn't hold back and burst into laughter, the laughter spreading like contagion, causing uproarious laughter, even Mancini ended up laughing.

Now it's become a running joke within the team; Gualin frequently gets teased by Inter teammates, every halftime, asking him, are you going to take a dump?

This was also a matter that Tang Long was specially reminded of by the beautiful team doctor Gracie during his Manchester City transfer medical, so he took care of it first thing in the morning.

The three communicated in Italian, Tottenham's Eriksson, with limited Italian, only understood the word "dump".

"Dump, what dump?" he curiously asked Gualin in English.

Gualin's face suddenly turned red, muttering few words, afraid the embarrassment would spread among new teammates, hurriedly gestured Ranocchia to keep the backstory of the word from Eriksson.

Fortunately, Ranocchia being good-natured, didn't willingly reveal old teammate's secrets, nodding with a smile, letting Gualin off the hook.

...

With a whistle from the referee, the 2015-16 season, the first round of the Premier League officially began!

Perhaps because the opening match is against Manchester City, today White Hart Lane is packed to the brim.

Sixty thousand fans fill each seat completely.

Looking around, a sea of white, seemingly like a snowfall from heaven!

Tottenham, playing at home, launched three-pronged attacks against Manchester City under the intense chants from the fans.

Not only the big-bodied striker Kane fiercely pressing against Ranocchia;

The backs Walker, Dale, Gualin are frequently pressing forward, causing disturbances in the front field.

Playmaker Eriksson is wisely pulling back appropriately, repeatedly using long passes to probe Manchester City's defense.

Tottenham once formed an absolute pressing against Manchester City on the field.

Tang Long observed the strategies from the sidelines.

He realized, though both have opening triple strikes, Premier League teams and Serie A teams show drastically different performances.

Tottenham's opening "triple strikes" exhibit far greater stamina output and pressing intensity compared to Inter Milan!

They attempt to disrupt opponent's rhythm through high-speed runs and frequent physical confrontations, creating scoring opportunities.

Even if the formation is thrown into chaos, they don't care, rushing altogether at the ball holder, anyway, they won't allow ball holders to comfortably turn.

For instance, Gualin and Dale, these two block out the running areas of repeatedly three people, forcing Yaya Toure and Fernando into pass-backs often, rarely advancing the ball towards Tottenham's front.

Whether it's Tottenham's left Son Heung-min, or right Lamela, they can often break through the opponent's defense through personal skill, creating threats.

Like in the sixth minute, Son Heung-min moved to the left, forming a one-on-one duel with Manchester City's right back Sagna.

At this moment, Gualin already ran to the penalty area for support, his position briefly a vacuum.

If it were in Serie A, Son Heung-min should pass the ball to Gualin to create a chance for a long shot.

But Son Heung-min didn't!

With a smooth step-over technique, his body swayed, then rushed along the baseline, crossing!

The ball was headed away by Ranocchia, but just as Yaya Toure touched the ball, Dale pressed on, his knee forcefully against Toure's thigh, making the tall Côte d'Ivoire midfielder "ouch", knocked over, causing a tactical foul.

Tang Long nodded slightly, thinking: "In Serie A, coaches might focus more on gradually breaking through opponent's defenses through precise passing, positional awareness, and tactical coordination, but in the Premier League, the individual ability of attacking players plays a very important role."

After arriving in Manchester for a few days, Tang Long used all available time outside of training to frantically catch up on Premier League studies, feeding the AI system with a lot of video material.

However, match videos are ultimately match videos, viewed from a god's-eye perspective overlooking the entire field.

Some things can only be truly felt by standing on the sidelines, experiencing the tactical characteristics and playing style of the Premier League firsthand.

After watching for just 10 minutes, the fast pace of the Premier League left Tang Long quite shocked!

Last year, when he was promoted from Inter's youth team to the first team and started playing in Serie A, Berni had specifically reminded him, "The pace of Serie A matches is much faster than youth league matches, you need to work hard and adapt quickly!"

But now, sitting on the sidelines as a Manchester City player, Tang Long realized that the intensity of Serie A is far behind the Premier League!

Tang Long was surprised to find that in this high-intensity pace, Milner, the starting attacking midfielder, played steadily.

His sense of positioning in defense is excellent!

Even when Manchester City's formation was pressed very flat, Milner was very clear about where he should stand, when to retreat, and when to move wide.

Especially after 15 minutes into the match, having successfully resisted Tottenham's initial aggressive attacks, Manchester City gradually gained control of the ball's tempo, and Milner quickly integrated into Manchester City's pass-and-control tactical system.

He has a distinctive style in the attacking midfield position. Although he doesn't receive the ball much, his tireless running frequently creates receiving space for Yaya Toure, Silva, Sterling, and others.

Tang Long still had many questions about the Premier League.

He glanced around and looked at those beside him.

On the left sat Nasri, known as one of the French "Five Swans".

On the right was the Argentine international defender Sabaleta.

Both of them had serious faces, staring intently at the game's progression.

Occasionally, when Pellegrini shouted a few tactical commands from the sidelines, the two would listen intently, nodding or slightly shaking their heads.

Their attention was entirely on the game, with no one thinking to explain the characteristics of the match or how to play it to Tang Long, who was experiencing the Premier League for the first time in his career.

They were not Berni.

They were also not going to play Berni's role!

Tang Long thought to himself: "When I was at Inter, just promoted from the youth team to the first team, I was a clueless rookie, and naturally, there were senior brothers in the team to explain tactics and answer questions. But today is not like before. Now, I'm a player the club has invested heavily in, having won championships with Inter Milan. In my teammates' eyes, I'm already a big star, a mature player, so naturally, no one will proactively explain the game to me."

He thought again: "The competition within Manchester City is much greater than at Inter Milan. My arrival has made many feel threatened. Whether they can genuinely help me is still a question. Right now, if I want to adapt quickly to the pace of Premier League matches, I can't rely on others, only on myself!"

28 minutes into the first half.

Tottenham's defensive midfielder Dale took the ball.

Seeing that no one was around, just as he was about to turn, Milner rushed over like crazy.

Dale hesitated slightly with the ball, which was immediately intercepted by Milner!

Losing the ball in the defensive midfield position is very dangerous, so Dale had no choice but to reach out and pull Milner's shirt, toppling him to the ground.

The referee blew the whistle!

Manchester City was awarded a free kick in the front field, and Dale was given a yellow card.

"You're too ball-hogging, kid, just pass the ball to me directly!" Guarin loudly complained to Dale with outstretched hands.

Dale just shrugged and didn't look at Guarin.

Seeing this, Zhang Lu praised continuously and analyzed, "Milner can run like crazy, which is a tradition of English players. He has a tenacious 'stick-to-it' attribute, consistently nagging and harassing, which is very torturous for his matchups. Plus, he can dribble with both feet. This player is not simple. No wonder Pellegrini likes to use him. If Tang Long plays in Milner's position, he may not perform as well defensively."

David Silva stood before the set-piece.

Kompany, Ranocchia, Yaya Toure, Kolarov, and other tall players stood in Tottenham's penalty area.

Silva swung his leg swiftly, and the football, with a violent spin, flew high toward the far post!

Ranocchia, standing like a mountain, jumped on the spot with a powerful leap, overpowering Tottenham's central defender Vertonghen!

With a thud, the header looped into Lori's far corner!

1-0!

Manchester City took the lead in the 30th minute!

"Beautiful, great goal, Ranocchia!"

Tang Long rushed from the bench to the sidelines, arms wide open.

Hearing Tang Long's shout, Ranocchia first high-fived the assisting David Silva before turning to rush toward Tang Long, embracing him on the sidelines!

"Well done, my dear Italian lad!" Pellegrini gave Ranocchia three heavy pats, his hands clapping loudly on Ranocchia's back muscles, clearly very satisfied with his performance.

Pellegrini felt quite proud inside. The first goal of Manchester City's season came from a new signing, wasn't this a testament to how my old Pellegrini's keen eye on the transfer market, choosing the right people?

Milner stood far away but was somewhat unhappy.

This goal was something I fought hard to win.

Without the free kick I earned, there wouldn't be your header, Ranocchia.

You didn't even high-five me in celebration, just turned and ran to the bench to Tang Long.

What does this mean?

(There's another chapter. I promised a 10,000-word update and will deliver, but it will be released in the early hours.)