I am the king of football

Chapter 269 Crazy enough
As time enters December, the flames of the Champions League gradually die down, and all major leagues have entered the mid-season. Both fans and teams have entered a season of fatigue. This is the time to test the ability of the major leagues' football associations to control the schedule before the start of the season.

The English Football Association obviously understands this very well. When arranging the Premier League schedule every season, they always attach great importance to the schedule in December, the last month of each year.

If mortal enemies can meet, then mortal enemies will meet; if there can be an exciting showdown, then it will be an exciting showdown. In short, the main purpose is to attract attention.

This practice makes the Premier League stand out when other leagues do not have Christmas or New Year's Eve battles, and also brings extremely high attention to the Premier League. The only ones who may suffer are the teams in the league.

After more than a dozen rounds of league battles, the players did not get a chance to breathe but instead faced more brutal fighting. The impact on the team's condition can be imagined. Fortunately, the restart of the Champions League and Europa League knockout rounds is generally after February of the following year, which will not affect the Premier League teams' combat effectiveness in European competitions.

Having said so much, I actually just want to emphasize one point: there is a reason why so many Premier League coaches were so angry during the devilish schedule in December that they cursed the FA for not treating players as human beings.

For example, Manchester United's December schedule this season is dominated by one strong match after another. The previous leisurely period of weak teams lining up to play is gone forever.

On December 9th, in the 16th round of the Premier League, Manchester United will go to the Etihad Stadium to challenge Manchester City. This is undoubtedly an extremely important game.

Last season's Premier League champion and runner-up showdown, a reversal in 93 minutes and 20 seconds, the Manchester derby, traditional giants vs emerging tycoons, a battle of dignity between the Red Devils and the Blue Moon.

This showdown was labeled with all kinds of labels before it even started. Media reporters, no matter which side they stood on, described both sides as a battle between Guan Gong and Qin Qiong, not seeking accurate analysis but only eye-catching.

After all, apart from the fact that their own team is the best in the hearts of fans of both teams, other objective and neutral fans just want to watch the fun.

Last season, Aguero's winning goal helped Manchester City beat Manchester United in the final moments to win the team's first Premier League title in history, which made everyone extremely happy. This time, everyone started looking forward to it early.

Compared to the media's fanning the flames and extensive coverage, the two teams remained quite silent until the day before the game. The coaches of both teams quietly urged their players to train honestly and continuously accumulate strength.

Many people were very surprised by this. Manchester City coach Mancini has always been a taciturn coach. He has a calm personality and does not like to interact too much with the media, so it is understandable that he did not say anything. But it is quite rare that old man Ferguson could actually suppress his emotions.

This is actually closely related to the state of the entire Manchester United team. In the last match of the Champions League group stage, the team lost unexpectedly. The starting players on the field were scolded by Ferguson after the game. The entire Manchester United locker room was extremely depressing, and then everyone was called back to the training ground the next day.

This defeat cooled down Ferguson's mood which had been gradually becoming cheerful because of the team's progress in all competitions. The match against Manchester City was the most important match of the season in his mind and there must not be any mistakes, so he had to let his disciples take it seriously.

However, things did not go as he wished. When the team's training resumed, except for Qin Hu and others who had been excluded from the roster and were training hard, the other players' states were exactly the same as their expressions after the unexpected loss to Cluj - extremely depressed.

How could Ferguson be in the mood to confront the media reporters? He was even too lazy to say a few harsh words. In the past few days of preparation, what he did most was to try various methods to stimulate his players.

It was not until the day before the game that a starting lineup that barely satisfied Ferguson was arranged.

"Tomorrow we will play 442, with Qin and Robin as the double strikers."

Qin Hu and Van Persie once again became Manchester United's forward combination, with four midfielders behind them to provide support.

"Four midfielders, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley and Ashley Young." The midfield combination of Carrick and Cleverley has proved to be the best partners this season. The two fast wingers Valencia and Young are arranged to match up with the opponent's full-backs who are not so hardcore in defense. Under Ferguson's emphasis, their main task is to create opportunities by breaking through the flanks when they cannot break into the middle.

"The back four is Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra and goalkeeper De Gea."

On the defensive line, the most stable and commonly used combination has returned. As Vidic's form has fluctuated, Ferdinand and Evans have become the defender combination with the most starting appearances, not to mention the two full-backs. Butner is unable to replace any of the outstanding main players.

After the starting lineup was announced, Ferguson also announced the substitute list. Vidic, who was in poor form, was not included in the list. Two defenders, Phil Jones and Smalling, were selected for the bench. Two veteran players, Giggs and Scholes, were also on standby. Knicks and Welbeck were the substitutes for the team's forward line.

After doing his best to select and arrange, Ferguson thought that everything he could do had been arranged. On the same day, he took Ferdinand and Qin Hu to formally hold a press conference for the team.

"We are ready to beat them at the Etihad Stadium and that is what Manchester United must and will do."

Ferguson said this directly and decisively, and both his expression and tone seemed to say that this was a notification and not a discussion, which almost made the media in the audience have a collective climax. This was the kind of Ferguson and such an explosive start they wanted, and now it's here.

"We lost the championship shamefully last season, which caused us old players to suffer all the time. Now, the chance for revenge has come. We will try our best in this game. As the boss said, Manchester United will definitely win this game!"

The captain of this game, Ferdinand, also had a firm attitude. As a veteran who has played for Manchester United for many years, he has a sense of belonging to the team and shares the glory and disgrace with the team. It was really painful to lose the championship in the injury time at the end of last season. Now they finally have a chance for revenge, and they must seize it.

"There is only one boss in Manchester and that is Manchester United!"

I thought Ferguson and Ferdinand's words were explosive and full of gunpowder, but the media at the scene never expected that the ultimate bomb would come at the end. It was Qin Hu, who has gradually become a must-have player for Ferguson's press conferences in recent games.

As a representative of the team's young players, Qin Hu, who is called the Little Overlord by the fans, has always been a representative of distinctive personality on the court, and at this moment, it is obvious that he has entered the combat state in advance.

"Qin, what do you mean by that? Do you think you're going to win, just like Mr. Ferguson?"

"That's right. There is a saying in Chinese philosophy: the process is tortuous, but the result is inevitable."

Looking at the reporters in front of him, Qin Hu knew that he had to set an example before the derby with his city rivals, so as to win more support and love from his own fans and boost the team's momentum.

"We have greater fans, a longer history and a strong desire for revenge. In addition, we have accumulated strength for half a season for this victory, so I think the victory will definitely belong to us."

"Okay okay."

The three representatives who attended the press conference did not utter a single soft word. After the press conference ended, reporters from major media outlets began to report on it frantically. For a while, the onlookers all exclaimed, "Wow, this guy is worthy of being the Red Devils. He's so crazy!"

The first chapter is here! Thank you all for your support!!!



(End of this chapter)