On the evening of July 16th, at AT&T Field in Los Angeles, USA.
Manchester City played their first warm-up match of their U.S. training camp, facing Mexico's Club América.
Coincidentally, Gao Shen had previously considered signing Jackson Martínez from Club América, and now he finally had a chance to observe him up close.
As soon as the match started, Manchester City took control and opened the scoring in the 12th minute.
Then, in the 16th and 27th minutes, they scored two more goals in quick succession.
After halftime, City made a series of substitutions, and Yaya Touré added another goal.
In the end, Manchester City defeated Club América 4-0.
…
On the evening of July 19th, at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Canada.
Manchester City's second opponent was the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Fifteen minutes into the match, Van Persie scored City's first goal with a solo effort.
But in the 30th minute, Vancouver managed to equalize.
In the 39th minute, Leighton Baines and Eden Hazard combined on the left. After a series of slick passes, Van Persie struck again to give City the lead.
In the second half, City added two more goals in the 68th and 84th minutes.
Manchester City won 4-1 and recorded back-to-back victories.
…
On the evening of July 24th, at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.
Their third opponent was LA Galaxy.
Notably, Gao Shen's former player, David Beckham, started for the Galaxy.
From the start, Manchester City launched a flurry of attacks, scoring twice in the 12th and 20th minutes.
In the 29th minute, Sturridge added a third goal.
In the second half, Beckham delivered a free kick assist for a Galaxy consolation goal.
Final score: Manchester City 3, LA Galaxy 1.
…
Manchester City's three consecutive victories in North America left fans and media stunned.
This wasn't normal at all!
After all, Gao Shen had always been known for his wild experimentation in preseason matches. He rarely stuck to conventional tactics and often fielded experimental lineups, leading to historically poor preseason results.
But this time, Manchester City's performances were extraordinary.
Not only did they win all three matches, they clinched the tournament title, finishing above Real Madrid and Manchester United with 11 goals scored and only 2 conceded.
…
After completing the World Football Challenge, Manchester City flew from Los Angeles to Dublin, Ireland to participate in the inaugural Dublin Super Cup.
The tournament was organized by a sports branch of the media company Endemol in cooperation with the Irish Football Association, with hopes of turning it into a traditional summer event like the Amsterdam Tournament or the Emirates Cup.
The inaugural edition featured Manchester City, Inter Milan, Celtic, and an Irish Premier League All-Star Team.
City's first match was against the Irish All-Stars.
Due to the long journey from the U.S. to Ireland, the team arrived fatigued and had only a short rest before playing, which led to a sluggish first half.
However, in the second half, City made adjustments and began to dominate.
Goals came in the 50th, 59th, 75th, and 83rd minutes.
Final score: Manchester City 4, Irish All-Stars 0.
…
The challenge of this tournament was that matches were held two days apart.
The next day, City faced their biggest opponent—Inter Milan.
Just 67 seconds into the match, Leighton Baines cut inside from the left and crossed. David Silva got past his marker and shot low with his left foot. The shot was slightly off target, but Van Persie tapped it in past Julio César.
1-0!
City continued pressing while Inter sat back defensively.
In the 18th minute, Yaya Touré delivered a long pass. Baines crossed from the left again, and Suárez tapped in from close range.
2-0!
Yes, in this match, Gao Shen used a dual-striker setup with Van Persie and Suárez paired up front.
Before the break, Van Persie nearly added a third with a powerful header.
Then, just 32 seconds into the second half, Stanković misplaced a pass in the back line. David Silva immediately played a through ball, and Suárez finished clinically.
3-0!
Near the end, Hazard dribbled past several defenders on the left and squared the ball to the far post, where Robinho calmly slotted it home.
4-0!
Manchester City convincingly defeated Inter Milan to win the Dublin Super Cup.
…
While Manchester City were flying back from Ireland, the European football world was already buzzing about their preseason dominance.
The surprise wasn't that City had this level of ability. It was that the style of play was completely unlike Gao Shen's usual preseason approach.
For the past few years, whether at Napoli or Manchester City, Gao Shen had never taken preseason matches seriously, which led to poor results.
Some fans even joked that his preseason record looked like that of an amateur team.
And honestly, they weren't wrong.
But now, City had won five straight preseason matches. It was unbelievable.
Did this really look like a team managed by Gao Shen?
More importantly, the performances were convincing. The team attacked with fluidity and intensity.
When they landed back at Manchester Airport, reporters swarmed Gao Shen to ask about it.
Even he admitted he was surprised by how good the team looked this summer.
"This proves we're in a great place and at the right stage."
He wasn't wrong.
Fierce internal competition had pushed the players to work harder than ever.
Everyone wanted to seize the preseason opportunity and fight for a starting spot.
Many players, including Yaya Touré, had already begun personal training before the preseason camp and worked even harder during the sessions.
With that kind of dedication, how could they not play well?
The same was true for Van Persie, Suárez, Sturridge, and Giroud. The competition was intense.
Gao Shen understood the situation perfectly.
And he welcomed it. He was happy to use competition to push players to greater heights.
To be blunt, with City's current squad, there were very few teams in Europe that could match them. Even Inter Milan were clearly inferior overall.
In truth, Gao Shen had been having fun this summer.
He experimented freely with formations—4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2, even 3-3-1-3.
But perhaps because the players now understood his tactical philosophy more deeply and had developed better chemistry, no matter how Gao Shen adjusted things, they adapted quickly and played comfortably.
Even if something didn't feel right at first, they would adjust quickly.
Tactical execution became second nature.
…
August was approaching fast.
The European summer transfer window was entering its final stage.
Although most of the spotlight had been stolen by the wealthy Paris Saint-Germain, Premier League teams were still spending well.
Manchester United brought in Phil Jones, Ashley Young, and David de Gea. These three cost the Red Devils over £50 million—funds that Ferguson had fought hard to secure from the board.
After years of missing out on the top four, Arsenal finally reacted this summer by signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mertesacker, André Santos, Arteta, and more. However, the departure of captain Fàbregas to Barcelona for £25.5 million was a huge blow to their midfield.
The Gunners sell their captain every year. It had become a sad tradition.
All of this was part of their long-term stadium construction plan.
Villas-Boas, once Mourinho's assistant, returned to Chelsea this summer as head coach after achieving great success with Porto.
He had gone from an assistant to the boss, and the difference in status was massive. Still, his signings—including Lukaku, Juan Mata, and Romeu—were important additions.
From the moment he arrived, he made it clear he would lead a youth movement and appeared to challenge veteran locker-room leaders like Drogba, Lampard, and Terry.
Sometimes, Gao Shen couldn't help but sigh—character determines fate.
Villas-Boas was young and impulsive. Targeting senior players right away was asking for trouble.
It was like a new department manager walking into a company, doing nothing at first, and immediately starting fires. It could only end badly.
Even with all the top teams spending, the Premier League's overall investment wasn't as high as expected.
Take Tottenham, for example. They only signed Brad Friedel on a free and bought Scott Parker for £5.5 million. At the same time, they sold Jamie O'Hara for £3.5 million, Wilson Palacios for £8 million, and Robbie Keane for £3.3 million.
Tottenham actually turned a profit in the transfer window.
Clubs like Everton were just as frugal as always. Not only did they not buy, they sold players and made money.
So when the media finally compiled the Premier League's transfer stats, they were stunned.
Leeds United, a Championship team, ranked fifth with £19 million spent—only behind Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool.
Even more surprising, Leeds United brought in over 20 players—the most in European football.
It shocked everyone.
Of course, this stat only covered transfer spending. In terms of net spend, Leeds United was one of the few teams to make a profit.
Jonathan Howson alone brought in £10 million.
Queens Park Rangers signed six players for a total of just over £16 million.
Because they spent big on Jonathan Howson, other signings like Shaun Wright-Phillips were abandoned.
Gao Shen couldn't help but wonder what kind of face Mark Hughes would be making now.
Or maybe, was he regretting it?
(To be continued.)