I am the king of football

Chapter 360: An Opponent Worthy of Attention

Putting aside the BIG6, Swansea's performance in the league this season is also remarkable. After 6 rounds of the league, thanks to several victories and draws against BIG teams, they performed better than their competitors at the same level and are now ranked ninth in the league.

This is definitely a very good result for this team which has only been promoted to the Premier League for two years. This season, under the leadership of the team's new head coach Michael Laudrup, this Black Swan team, which focuses on ground control technology, has also attracted many new fans because of its outstanding performance.

Before Manchester United was beaten 2-0 by Swansea at home in the first round, no one was interested in knowing these things.

There is a saying that goes, if you want your opponent to face you, then hit him hard, this saying is very true. Even though the victory was against Manchester United's rotation team B, Swansea City has become one of the few teams that have defeated the Red Devils this season.

This allowed Ferguson to finally arrange for his assistant coach to observe the opponent's games for a week before the game, and to get a better understanding of the core players of the team.

Currently, the Black Swans' most popular player is their striker Michu. The 27-year-old striker has been a godsend for Swansea this season.

As the team's main striker, he is deeply loved by Laudrup for his skillful ground skills. Now he has two shots and two assists in the League Cup. He has also scored ten goals in the league and entered the top ten of the scorer list.

In addition to Michu, Swansea also has players in their prime such as Graham and Nathan Dyer on the offensive line. Their delicate skills can be brought into play in Laudrup's technical tactics, and they are the main force this season.

In the midfield, South Korean midfielder Ji Sung-yueng is deeply loved by his own coach. The Korean's wide defensive coverage and his quick passing in the transition between offense and defense have enabled him to quickly integrate into this technical team after joining this season.

On the defensive line, Swansea's old captain Garry Monk is in charge, partnered with 26-year-old Chico. In addition, there is also the young full-back Ben Davies who emerged at the age of 20 and has attracted the attention of many giants.

As for the goalkeeper, it is Gerhard Tremmel who has performed stably this season. This goalkeeper was also the main contributor to blocking Manchester United's attack in the first round.

In the past, these players whose star power was much less than that of Manchester United's stars would hardly attract Sir Alex Ferguson's attention. But this time it was different. On the way to Wales, he took the trouble to emphasize to his players the characteristics of each of the opponent's main players.

"Compared to quick counterattacks, they are also more skilled in ground ball control. We must be careful of the opponent's continuous through passes and don't give them any chances."

"Understand coach!"

Finally, Ferguson closed the thick folder in his hand, closed his eyes and said nothing more. Most of the team's main players started this game, and all the arrangements he could make had been made. The rest depended on the players.

……

Nothing happened that night. The sun was shining brightly the next day. The sky in Wales was much brighter than that in Manchester. As one of the three kingdoms of the United Kingdom, the local customs and practices here are somewhat different from those of several cities in the UK.

Sitting on the team bus from the hotel where they were staying, today's game was held in the morning. The players were looking at the buildings on both sides of the street and the scattered Swansea fans passing by with great interest.

When we were almost at Swansea Liberty Stadium, we saw many Swansea fans wearing the home team's white jerseys with gold edges.

As Swansea's home ground, the Liberty Stadium can only accommodate a little over 20,000 people, which is indeed much smaller than Old Trafford. However, this did not affect the enthusiasm of the home team fans at all. They "kindly" gave a huge boo to the visiting Manchester United.

After complaining that it's the same no matter where you play as a guest, the Manchester United players closed the car windows and stopped looking around. Speaking of which, Swansea's home uniforms this season are quite similar to Real Madrid's home uniforms, which made the Manchester United team feel strangely familiar when they saw the opponent's players walking into the stadium from a distance after they officially stepped onto the stadium to start warming up.

"It seems that our fate with Real Madrid is far from over~"

Van Persie, who was practicing passing the ball with Qin Hu, complained that the two knockout matches that had just ended were so difficult that it was hard not to remember them.

“Haha, but the strength of this opponent is still different.”

Compared to Van Persie, the more serious Qin Hu is full of fighting spirit. Just as Ferguson said, no matter who the opponent is, if they want to reach the final, they must go all out to attack, otherwise the two away goals behind will be a huge barrier for any team.

"We will definitely advance, Robin."

"Yeah, definitely."

Suddenly, Van Persie made eye contact with Qin Hu, whose eyes exuded a captivating look. He was also infected by the young man in front of him. He remembered the indomitable momentum when he was young, which was just like Qin Hu at this moment.

Van Persie secretly cheered up. Just as Qin Hu said, no matter who the opponent is, they will definitely be the winners. The championship, isn't it for this that he came to Manchester United with a bad reputation?

……

"CCTV, CCTV, hello everyone. You are watching the second leg of the 2012-2013 English League Cup semi-final between Swansea and Manchester United at home. I am the commentator, Zhan Jun."

Time passed quickly. When both sides finished warming up and returned to the locker room and followed the referee team into the stadium, the countdown to the start of the game had already begun and Zhan Jun's voice officially sounded.

"The two teams have followed the referee team into the stadium again. Manchester United came to the Liberty Stadium with two away goals behind, which is a big disadvantage for them."

It was not until the end of the spectacular battle with Real Madrid that Manchester United fans realized how embarrassing the 0-2 loss was that no one had time to pay attention to. They had to face up to their opponents in this game and pray that the team could once again stage a stunning reversal. Fortunately, it seemed that their opponents in this game were not that strong.

However, is this really the case?
"Shoot!!! The first shot was scored five minutes into the game. Swansea, who had the right to kick off, made a delicate pass and finally forward Michu made a very threatening volley!"

"..."

This was the fifth minute of the game. De Gea used all his strength to block Michu's shot. When he landed, his heart was still pounding, and his back was almost soaked with cold sweat because of fear.

And at this moment, there are countless Red Devils who are the same as him.

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

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(End of this chapter)