The Community Shield has an interesting rule: it allows six substitutions.
Recently, Gao Shen had been thinking about a particular question, what kind of tactical and technical changes will occur in football when the number of substitutions increases from three to five in the future?
Looking ahead from the perspective of 2021, the trend in football over the next few years would be faster transitions between attack and defense.
The so-called "using speed to beat slowness" refers to how quickly a team transitions between offense and defense.
In other words, at the moment possession changes, the team that lost the ball switches to defense, and the team that gained it transitions to offense. The faster team creates a timing advantage and gains the upper hand.
This is the overall trend, but within that, it's clear that players will be required to run more—especially in terms of sprints and shuttle runs.
That also means their physical exertion increases.
In that sense, increasing substitutions from three to five is essentially an upgrade in a team's overall fitness level.
Take Klopp's Dortmund, for instance. They could only maintain their intense pressing game for 60 minutes. With more substitutions, they might be able to push it to 75 minutes or even more.
In other words, it's not impossible for a team to fight tooth and nail for the entire match.
At the same time, expanding the substitution quota would inevitably affect squad depth.
Two more players per match, regardless of whether they're used or not, means teams need deeper personnel reserves.
So it would be unimaginable for a team like Barcelona to go an entire season using just 18 or 19 players.
Gao Shen had always believed that players—or more precisely, player fitness—was the key factor in football matches.
That was why he placed so much emphasis on fitness, to the point of always having two physical coaches, Buenaventura and Pintus, on his staff.
At Leeds United, Gao Shen also paid close attention to this. Sarri's staff included both a fitness coach and a conditioning coach.
Think of physical energy as a battery. That makes it easier to understand.
Now that the "battery" is slightly bigger, many previous limitations are no longer an issue, and the overall ceiling has been raised.
The faster pace is just one aspect. The intensity of matches is also increasing.
More pressing. More sprints. More end-to-end running...
With five substitutions available, using all of them means replacing half the starting lineup. That could completely change a team's tactical setup.
In other words, the tactical flexibility and in-game adaptability required of managers will also rise.
It's even possible that a single team might use multiple tactical systems in one match.
But with this comes a problem—the gap between strong and weak teams will become more pronounced.
Top teams have greater financial resources and can field a bench full of star players. That's an advantage weaker teams simply can't match. So in general, strong teams will benefit more.
That's why Gao Shen wanted to use the Community Shield as a chance to experiment early.
…
Wembley Stadium. Community Shield. Manchester City vs. Manchester United.
As soon as referee Phil Dowd blew the whistle to start the match, Manchester City took the initiative and launched an aggressive, high-tempo attack on Manchester United.
Tonight, at Wembley, Manchester City lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.
Goalkeeper: Neuer.
Defenders: Leighton Baines, David Luiz, Kompany, and Lichtsteiner.
Midfielders: David Silva, Fernandinho, Yaya Touré, and Robinho.
Forwards: Van Persie and Suárez.
It was a powerful, attack-minded lineup.
Less than a minute in, Leighton Baines broke down the left, drawing a foul from Ferdinand, who was shown a yellow card.
Manchester City kept up the pressure.
In the third minute, Van Persie laid it off to David Silva, whose shot was blocked by De Gea for a corner.
The resulting corner caused chaos in United's box.
Contrary to their usual style, Manchester City relentlessly pressed United, as if determined to take them down from the start.
This kind of approach caught Manchester United off guard. They were forced to defend passively and couldn't build any meaningful attacks.
In the 13th minute, Manchester United tried to counter, but Evra's cross was headed away by Kompany, and they failed to get a shot off.
City quickly responded. Lichtsteiner crossed from the right, and Van Persie's header at the far post nearly crept in. Suárez and Robinho followed up with shots, but both were blocked.
The match tempo kept increasing, with no signs of slowing.
Most notably, Manchester United still hadn't registered a shot on goal.
It wasn't until the 29th minute that United got their first shot. After Ashley Young was fouled by Lichtsteiner outside the box, Rooney took the free kick but it missed the target.
Just one minute later, David Silva played a beautiful through ball. Suárez timed his run perfectly, reached the ball inside the box, and squared it to the left just before De Gea could close him down. Van Persie followed up and scored into the empty net.
1–0!
…
Ferguson frowned as he watched Manchester City's players run to the sidelines to celebrate.
"What the hell is this kid doing?"
Ferguson was baffled.
The tempo of this match was unreal.
Yes, the Premier League is known for its pace, but even Ferguson was stunned by how fast the game was being played.
It felt reckless, almost suicidal.
It's just the Community Shield—why go so hard?
If Manchester City really planned to play like this all season, how long could their fitness last?
Ferguson didn't understand it. But one thing was certain—it looked powerful.
Was there a hidden logic behind this?
In the end, he gave up thinking about it and let it go for now.
Ferguson might have wanted to ignore it, but his players on the pitch couldn't.
In the 38th minute, Evra fouled Robinho on the left. David Silva sent in a free kick, and Kompany rose between United's two center backs and headed home.
2–0!
Ferguson slapped his forehead and shouted, "Fuck!"
Evra had been underwhelming all night. He just couldn't get into the game.
Four minutes later, Robinho dribbled in from the right and squared the ball. Van Persie received it just outside the penalty area. Vidic didn't close him down in time, and Van Persie fired a curling shot with his left foot toward the far post.
3–0!
Ferguson was speechless.
…
As an experienced manager, Ferguson could clearly see the problem.
At halftime, he made three immediate substitutions. Vidic and Evra were replaced by Phil Jones and Rafael, and Carrick made way for Lassana Diarra in midfield.
The changes instantly bolstered United's midfield and backline.
Manchester City had run rampant in the first half, claiming 65% possession with a stunning 87% pass success rate.
But it came at a heavy physical cost.
Less than ten minutes into the second half, Manchester United countered. Nani and Rooney combined up front, and Nani finished with a low-angle strike to pull one back.
Gao Shen was well aware of the physical toll.
Analyst Vargas had already pointed it out at halftime and repeated it just now.
So Gao Shen made two substitutions at once.
Hazard came on for Suárez, moving Van Persie into a lone striker role while David Silva shifted back to central midfield.
At the same time, Gareth Bale replaced Robinho and moved to the right, attacking Rafael's side.
This was also due to Robben's recent injury, which might keep him out of the league opener.
Gao Shen wanted to test whether Robinho or Bale should start on the right.
Just five minutes later, Gao Shen made a third change. Felipe replaced Leighton Baines.
Baines had also covered a lot of ground, and the fatigue was showing.
United made substitutions too, with Sneijder coming on to strengthen their attack.
Ferguson clearly wanted to exploit City's physical weakness and mount a comeback.
But Gao Shen quickly replaced David Silva with Sturridge, reverting to a 4-4-2.
Then Van Persie made way for Giroud, maintaining the two-striker setup.
With four substitutions made, City reignited their pressing game and began another high-intensity attack from the 75th minute.
In the 81st minute, Yaya Touré passed to Gareth Bale, who received it on the right side of the box. Bale shook off Rafael with a sudden cut inside and unleashed a thunderous left-footed strike into the bottom left corner.
De Gea had no chance.
4–1!
United responded quickly. Near the end of the second half, they launched a fast counter. Sneijder slipped a through ball behind the defense. Nani sprinted onto it.
Kompany, trying to clear near the halfway line, was pressured by Rooney and failed to clear cleanly. Nani pounced, rounded Neuer calmly, and scored into an empty net.
4–2!
The game was essentially over.
The entire Community Shield was played at a relentless pace. Both sides were so aggressive that it became overwhelming.
Manchester City in particular played much faster and sharper than before.
In the past, City were known to control possession. Tonight, it looked like they were on something—attacking at every opportunity and forcing United into a firefight.
In the end, Manchester City won. But Manchester United also managed to score twice.
…
"This is only the Community Shield, where you're allowed five substitutions!"
After the match, Ferguson angrily confronted Gao Shen.
"If this were a real match, try that and I'll have you flat on the ground by the second half. You believe that?"
(To be continued.)
***
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