I am the king of football

Chapter 297 Upside Down Golden Hook
The reason why Zhan Jun emphasized in the final summary that Manchester United won the last round of the league before the winter break was that according to the FA's schedule for the FA Cup, the third round of the FA Cup was forcibly inserted into the day before the winter break.

This also means that if any Premier League team aspires to achieve something in the FA Cup, they cannot announce their disbandment after the end of the 21st round of the league. Everyone still has to prepare hard for the FA Cup.

At this point, the opinions of various coaches and players are already quite different.

"We are human beings, professional players are human beings too. Such a dense schedule is really unscientific!"

"We don't think it's right to sacrifice the team's form for ratings, especially when some teams still have European games to play. This will definitely affect the Premier League's performance in Europe."

"The FA is number one in ratings but has difficulty in European competitions. Does it need reform?"

There are player representatives, coaches speaking up, and media support. In previous years, there have been discussions about the FA's Double Holiday arrangements every season, but none of them have been as prominent as this season.

The reason is very simple, because two of the four Premier League teams participating in the Champions League this season were lost just in the process of breaking through the group stage. This is really a very tragic result.

Whether it was last season's Champions League champion Chelsea or last season's Premier League champion Manchester City, they both ended their Champions League journey this season early and embarrassingly.

Manchester City, in particular, had three draws and three losses in six group matches. The team was unlucky because their Champions League group stage schedule was arranged after the team's matches with other strong teams in the league.

Although it cannot be said that the blame lies entirely with the unreasonable schedule arrangement, it is impossible to expect the fans of these two teams not to criticize the English Football Association for its inhumane schedule arrangement. Everyone needs an outlet, and it is more convenient to directly criticize the official than to find the culprit in the team.

No matter how much they criticize or blame others, unless they don't want to make a living in the Premier League anymore, coaches and players still have to prepare diligently.

Except for some teams that have chosen to strategically give up the cup competitions as they focus on the league this season, most other teams still want to go one step further when the FA Cup just reaches the third round.

This was exactly what Ferguson meant. After the team resumed training, he began to train his troops intensively again.

In the third round of the FA Cup, they will travel to challenge the Hammers West Ham United. This team, as its name suggests, is as hard as a hammer and should not be underestimated.

Therefore, before the final match day, Ferguson continued to use the safe 4132 formation in the lineup.

"Qin and Welbeck are the two strikers."

Qin Hu and Hei Bei are the double strikers, and the focus lies in their impact.

"Scholes, Carrick, Giggs in the midfield, and Fletcher in the back."

Two veterans from Class 92 all started around Carrick. In this selection based purely on competitive condition and ability, the two veterans are still in their prime.

"Four defenders, Rafael, Smalling, Phil Jones, Evra, goalkeeper De Gea."

Phil Jones got the chance to start again. Being young and in excellent physical condition, he is growing faster and faster with more and more playing opportunities, which is undoubtedly gratifying.

As a young defender, I am not afraid of you making mistakes. What I am afraid of is that you make mistakes but never change or improve. Ferguson is quite looking forward to seeing Phil Jones' continuous growth after his comeback.

As for Smalling, Ferguson used him for the same reason as Jones, although his condition is actually similar to Ferdinand.

The team needs the future. Buying Maguire is for the future, and constantly giving Smalling and Phil Jones opportunities is also for the future. Sir Alex Ferguson, who is increasingly feeling his old age, must think more about the future of the team.

After everyone was ready, the Manchester United team set out on their away journey again. They took a bumpy bus ride and stayed near West Ham United's home stadium in east London the day before the game. The next day, the match between the two sides officially kicked off at West Ham United's home stadium, London Olympic Stadium.

And once the matchup began, it went very differently than people thought it would.

"It's a goal! Cole scored with a header after receiving an assist from Diarra! What an unexpected development~"

In the sixth minute of the game, when West Ham United, which was lined up in a 433 formation, sent a long pass into Manchester United's penalty area through the team's wing in an inadvertent attack, no one could have imagined that the Hammers' center forward would be able to find a gap between the two defenders and head the ball.

De Gea was caught off guard and could only watch the ball pass by his hand. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't.

There was nothing wrong with the two defenders' defense as a whole. If there was a problem, it was that they were too clean and did not put too much physical pressure on Cole. But then again, the game had just begun. Was it really worthwhile to use a foul in the penalty area to stop the opponent's header?

All I can say is that West Ham United, playing at home, are in really good shape and have good luck.

Fortunately, Manchester United is not afraid of their opponents in terms of overall strength, especially since their core striker Qin Hu also started the game.

"Manchester United quickly started to counterattack and their lineup pushed forward as a whole. However, West Ham United's midfield arrangement was still in the style of the Hammers. Although there were only three players, they were very tough."

After Carrick was fouled and brought down, and Scholes was involved in a tackle with his opponent, Manchester United gradually gained control of the ball outside the Hammers' midfield.

This may not be enough for some ordinary teams, but it is enough for Manchester United in this game.

In the 31st minute of the game, Manchester United launched a long pass.

"Giggs made a long diagonal pass! The ball flew to Welbeck's position, and he jumped high and headed the ball!"

"Shu~"

Welbeck headed the ball from the right side outside the penalty area to the front of the penalty area. His pass was slightly backward, which made it quite difficult for Qin Hu, who was running past, to touch the ball.

However, the next second, when he leaned against the defender behind him and jumped up and leaned back, everyone understood what he was going to do.

"Qin Hu jumped up and tried to hook the ball!"

"Oh!"

As defender Tomkins looked stunned, Qin Hu raised his tense right foot and swung it hard at the ball in the air.

"Shu~"

It was a textbook overhead kick, a beautiful arc, and the ball flew into the goal along the crossbar in front of the helpless eyes of West Ham United goalkeeper Asker.

"Goal! Goal! Goal! Qin Hu equalized the score. This was a very wonderful overhead kick attempt, which is rare in Qin Hu's career."

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

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(End of this chapter)