I build a giant in the Premier League

Chapter 168 Advance to the finals! Brave and fierce price-raising alliance! [Subscribe]

March 4st afternoon, Wembley Stadium, London.

In accordance with the FA Cup semi-final rules, the match was held at the neutral Wembley Stadium.

Bayswater Chinese challenge Manchester United away.

Game time is 24 minutes and 12 seconds.

Ferdinand dribbled forward on the right side of the center circle in Manchester United's half.

After the two teams opened the game, there was a series of fast-paced offense and defense.

This time, the Chinese players from Bayswater quickly returned to their own half and set up a tight defense.

After Ferdinand dribbled the ball across the center line, he made a straight pass without waiting for Gareth Bale to get close.

Tevez ran sideways from the wing, stopped the ball with his back, turned around, shook off Matuidi, and moved diagonally towards the middle.

The Argentine beast is like a charging bull.

Rushing into the 30-meter area of ​​Bayswater Chinese, Tevez made a straight pass without waiting for Matic to get close.

Rooney received the ball outside the arc and made a beautiful two-pass wall pass to pass the ball back to Tevez.

Tevez rushed to the right side of the arc top area, pretending to shoot, and after deceiving the defender, he suddenly passed the ball to the right.

Ronaldo was on the right side of the penalty area and shot directly without stopping the ball.

Kompany and Piszczek were like two goal gods, closing the door at the same time and blocking Ronaldo's shooting angle.

The Portuguese's shot hit Kompany.

The Belgian center back intercepted the ball in time and passed it to the outside of the penalty area.

Piszczek immediately pulled to his own right side, and after receiving the ball, he dribbled forward with force and dribbled along the right sideline.

The Polish full-back advanced very quickly and dribbled the ball across the center line in no time.

At this time, Lewandowski in front was already in position and started raising his hand to ask for the ball.

Piszczek made a diagonal pass with his right foot, sending the ball directly over Lewandowski's head.

The Polish center forward blocked Vidic with his body near Manchester United's 30-meter area, jumped up and headed the ball to the left.

At this time, Gareth Bale was rushing across the center line at a very fast speed. He quickened his pace to catch up, and before O'Shea, he kicked the ball behind him, causing the Manchester United right-back's clearance to fall into nothing.

When O'Shea missed the ball completely, there were gasps from all over Wembley Stadium.

Then we saw Gareth Bale suddenly accelerate and sprint forward at the fastest speed.

If we simply compete in straight-line sprint speed, O'Shea can never beat Gareth Bale, as he also has to turn around.

The Welsh player rushed towards the football he had just poked out like lightning, then quickly chased forward and went straight into Manchester United's penalty area.

Ferdinand, who was at the end, rushed forward immediately, but Gareth Bale reacted faster and relied on his personal speed to overtake Ferdinand.

On the left side of Manchester United's penalty area, although Gareth Bale was disturbed by Ferdinand and could not cut inside, he was still able to send a diagonal pass with his left foot.

The ball moved from the left side of the penalty area to the right corner of the small penalty area.

At this moment, another lightning-fast figure rushed over, met Gareth Bale's diagonal pass, and shot the ball.

The ball went into Van der Sar's goal.

"The ball went in!!!"

"24 minutes!"

"The little tiger Walcott was the first to break through Manchester United's goal!"

Walcott couldn't wait to rush out of the stadium, ran all the way to the sidelines, and celebrated this crucial goal with ecstasy.

Behind him, Gareth Bale, Piszczek, Lewandowski, Aaron Ramsey and others all chased out.

The players of Bayswater Chinese huddled together on the sidelines to celebrate the team's goal.

"1 to 0!"

"Manchester United's defense was ultimately unable to withstand the repeated attacks from the Bayswater Chinese youth players."

"In today's FA Cup match, Manchester United played with their main lineup."

"Ferguson's team had just finished playing in the Champions League. Although all the main players were in the team, their overall performance was not as good as that of the young players from Bayswater Chinese."

"Yang Cheng once again fulfilled his promise and still played with a young lineup."

"I didn't expect that the young guys who lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final last season would be so excited at Wembley Stadium today."

"The aggressive momentum was revealed right from the start."

"Manchester United's defence was always under heavy pressure."

……

The first goal scored by the Chinese in Bayswater aroused the anger of the Manchester United fans who followed the team south to Wembley Stadium.

They kept helping the home team build momentum in the stands and kept making calls.

On the contrary, Bayswater Chinese, who played away from home, continued to play steadily.

Especially Matic who plays as the single defensive midfielder.

The defensive coverage and interceptions were pretty good.

This made Ferguson, who was sitting in the chairman's coaching seat, reveal a nostalgic look on his face.

People often say that the older you get, the more you like to reminisce about the past.

Ferguson didn't believe it before.

But now, he believed it.

Because he thought about the past more and more often, he began to wonder if he was getting older.

"Mike, do you remember the FA Cup semi-final in the 95/96 season?"

Ferguson's sudden question surprised assistant coach Mike Phelan who was sitting next to him.

For a moment, I didn't respond.

Seeing the assistant coach was stunned, Ferguson reminded him again, "It's also at the neutral Villa Park Stadium, we're playing Chelsea."

Mike Phelan was suddenly embarrassed.

"Sir, I was already at West Bromwich Albion by then."

Ferguson was obviously stunned for a moment, trying hard to search for his memories.

Mike Phelan was a midfielder back then. He was signed by Ferguson from Norwich, but Ferguson forgot the exact year. Anyway, after staying at Manchester United for a few years, he went to West Bromwich Albion.

“I officially retired in the summer of 96, but I started coaching the youth team at Norwich in December 95.”

When Mike Phelan talked about this, he smiled and said, "I left Manchester United in 94."

Ferguson suddenly realized and pieced his memories together.

"That's right. We were carrying out a new round of youth-oriented reforms in those years."

"That's right." Mike Phelan nodded with a smile, "At that time, our team was still very young. Giggs, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Scholes, Beckham and others were all in their early 20s."

"Phil Neville is only 19."

"Steve Bruce is still the captain and King Cantona is still there."

As Mike Phelan opened the conversation, Ferguson also began to reminisce.

"At that time, our strongest opponents in the league were London teams like Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea, who were nothing but idiots!"

When he said this, Ferguson couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Blackburn won the league title in 95 and Souness was the manager," said Mike Phelan.

"Yes, Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Wimbledon and Coventry were all strong teams at that time," Ferguson said with a sigh.

One disadvantage of having a long coaching career is that you remember many things better than anyone else.

And it’s often easy to get confused.

In Ferguson's memory, these teams still seem to be strong competitors.

But in the blink of an eye, they didn't know where they went.

Sometimes, Ferguson didn't know which level of league they were in unless he checked the league table.

"At that time, Bayswater Chinese was probably just an amateur team near Chinatown in central London, right?" Mike Phelan said sarcastically.

Ferguson remained noncommittal.

"The current Bayswater Chinese team reminds me of the Manchester United team in the 95/96 season. They also had a group of young players and were unstoppable in the league, but they did better than we did back then."

The FA Cup in the 95/96 season was also legendary.

The semi-finals are Manchester United vs Chelsea and Liverpool vs Aston Villa.

In the end, Manchester United and Liverpool met in the final.

Why did Ferguson suddenly think of the semi-final of that season?

Because in the FA Cup semi-final of the 95/96 season, when Manchester United played Chelsea at home, the team also lost a goal in the first half.

Gullit opened the scoring for Chelsea.

But in the second half, Cantona assisted Andy Cole to equalize the score in the 54th minute.

Five minutes later, Beckham scored the go-ahead goal.

At that time, Ferguson was not worried at all when he fell behind.

Because his team is young, full of vigor and vitality.

But now, after conceding a goal, Ferguson was very worried.

In his eyes, Bayswater Chinese are more like the Manchester United of that year!

Suddenly, Ferguson missed Beckham.

He suddenly felt a little regretful.

If he hadn't pushed Beckham so hard, hadn't interfered so much in his life, if he hadn't kicked him that time...

Maybe, now, Beckham should still be wearing Manchester United jersey and running on the field.

Ferguson suddenly turned his head and looked at the visiting team's coaching bench.

His best partner back then, Brian Kidd, is now sitting in the coaching booth of his opponent.

If Brian Kidd had not left back then, I believe the two of them would be able to talk about a lot of things that happened back then.

Manchester United and I...are old!

……

Given Ferguson's character and his current status, the sighing would only last for a few minutes.

In the first half, Bayswater Chinese temporarily led Manchester United 1-0 thanks to Walcott's goal.

But after the change of sides in the second half, Ferguson launched a counterattack again.

Especially in the 60th minute, Scholes was replaced by Ashley Young.

Manchester United immediately changed their formation and adopted a 442 formation.

Rooney and Tevez partnered up as the double striker, with Ashley Young and Ronaldo on the two wings.

Only Carrick and Anderson were left in the middle.

But Bayswater Chinese quickly created opportunities.

In the 65th minute, the ball control in the backcourt forced Manchester United to retreat to the 30-meter area.

Matic was on the left side of the midfield. When he received the pass from Thiago Silva, he got rid of Tevez's entanglement, dribbled the ball forward, attracted Ronaldo, and then passed it to the left.

Marcelo dribbled the ball forward along the left sideline.

Ronaldo did not participate in the defense, which allowed Marcelo to drive the ball straight into Manchester United's penalty area.

Anderson rushed out to assist in defense immediately, but Marcelo seized the opportunity and made a straight pass.

The ball was passed from the outside to the bottom line on the left side of Manchester United's penalty area.

Gareth Bale shook off O'Shea, quickly chased him, and made a low left-foot cross to the front of the small penalty area.

Lewandowski and Ferdinand, who followed up from the middle, were unable to catch up and missed the ball.

On the right side of Manchester United's penalty area, Walcott chased up and when he stopped the ball, he suddenly braked, dribbled the ball to his left foot, dribbled the ball sideways with his left foot, passed Vidic, and shot with his left foot.

The ball went straight into the left side of Manchester United's goal!
This made Van der Sar, who was guarding the right side of the goal, completely helpless.

2 is better than 0!

The entire Wembley Stadium was plunged into the carnival of Bayswater Chinese fans.

The more than 3 Manchester United fans who followed the team south could never have imagined that their team would lose so badly at home.

After conceding two goals in a row, Manchester United launched a counterattack at the last minute.

In the 83rd minute, Ashley Young stopped the ball on the left and cut inside. After dribbling past Piszczek, he sent a curved ball with his right foot, which fell directly into the far corner of the goal.

Ronaldo quickly cut into the right post, overpowered Jose Fonte, and headed the ball into the goal, changing the score to 1-2!

Manchester United launched a frantic counterattack at the last minute.

But the Chinese in Bayswater also launched counterattacks continuously.

In the end, neither side was able to score again.

2 is better than 1!

Bayswater Chinese defeated Manchester United away from home thanks to Walcott's two goals and successfully advanced to the FA Cup final!

This is also the second consecutive season that Bayswater Chinese have advanced to the FA Cup final!

……

"Brian must have scolded me a lot, right?"

After the game, still in the room at Wembley Stadium, Yang Cheng entertained Ferguson.

Drinking the wine given by Ferguson.

"The number of praises and scoldings is almost the same." Yang Cheng said with a smile.

"He would praise me?" Ferguson was a little surprised. "I don't believe it."

"Then you underestimate him. He has always praised your strengths."

Of course, he would never show mercy when criticizing people for their shortcomings or things they had done in the past.

After hearing this, Ferguson's mood immediately improved a lot.

He himself didn't understand why.

Anyway, he was really happy after hearing what Yang Cheng said.

"Your training of Gareth Bale and Walcott is really good, much better than Liverpool's training of Owen."

When it comes to Liverpool, Yang Cheng becomes more cautious.

Michael Owen was a product of Liverpool's youth training camp, but unlike Gerrard and Carragher who received training at Liverpool since childhood, Owen did not join Liverpool's youth training camp until he was 15 years old.

It is a semi-finished product franchise.

When Michael Owen was shining, he attracted competition from the entire English football world.

The competition between Manchester United and Liverpool was the most intense, but in the end, Owen chose Liverpool.

"You may not know that I once invited Owen to Carrington and talked to him in my office for a long time, but because of the feud between the two clubs, he was not willing to join Manchester United."

Although times have changed, Ferguson still showed a hint of admiration when talking about this talented English striker.

"I felt, as did he, that Liverpool were using him in a very problematic way, and they were overusing him when he was young.

"Moreover, whether it is from the team's tactics or the direction of player training, they only focus on his speed advantage and ignore his personal technical improvement."

"You know what? After playing a full season, Owen still had to participate in the national team's games. He didn't have enough time to rest and missed the best time to improve his personal skills!"

Hearing this, Yang Cheng nodded involuntarily, "Yes, it's a pity for Owen!"

Ferguson seemed to be encouraged and complained about Liverpool snatching Owen away from him.

After all, it was a fair competition that year and Manchester United just lost to Liverpool.

Liverpool's conditions were indeed not as good as Manchester United's. The head coaches from Evans to Houllier were indeed a bit too eager for quick success in training Owen. After all, Owen was Liverpool's top player and core fighting force at the time.

But this also led to Irving's frequent injuries later.

On the other hand, wasn’t Ferguson’s use of the trident the same last season?
How much has the form of Ronaldo and Rooney declined this season compared to last season?
The difference is that Ronaldo and Rooney are more durable than Irving and have not suffered serious injuries like Irving.

But Yang Cheng agreed with what Ferguson said, that Irving missed the best opportunity to improve his personal skills.

Starting from the youth team, especially in the first team, Owen's role was too single.

Gradually, Irving will involuntarily tend to be monotonous in everything from training to playing habits.

This is actually an inevitability of professional football.

For example, many people's impression of Drogba is that he was very rough in the early stage and his shooting efficiency was very poor, but he suddenly evolved in the later stage.

This is the appearance.

This involves the head coach's use of players, and the players have to make corresponding adjustments in their training and playing habits in order to complete their tasks.

By the same token, what impression did Essien give during the early days of Mourinho and Hiddink's coaching?
Why was it that when Ancelotti took over as coach, his organizational and passing abilities were suddenly developed?

How did players like Mikel and Anderson become engineers step by step, and how did their skills become rougher step by step?
The most typical example is Cristiano Ronaldo.

After he arrived at Real Madrid, he gradually weakened the wingers' breakthrough and dribbling abilities and strengthened scoring and physical confrontation. These were his personal choices.

Let’s look at Messi of Barcelona, ​​he has also been changing his playing style.

If Messi continues to play in the same way as when he debuted, Yang Cheng estimates that he will be in trouble as well.

After all, the club's training and positioning of young players really affects the players' entire careers.

Yang Cheng’s current training of Gareth Bale and Walcott is taking a different approach from Liverpool.

It is even different from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in the previous life.

Yang Cheng can even say with great confidence that his training method is the best way to tap and stimulate the potential of the two players.

Of course, it will take longer and require more patience with the players.

"By the way, Jazz, will you recruit any new players this summer?" Yang Cheng suddenly asked.

Ferguson immediately became wary. "Why? Do you really want me to help you raise the price?"

Price raising alliance?
Shouldn't this nickname start with Ferguson?
"I am concerned about you. According to the current situation, if you can't find the money, you may not be able to make it into the top four next season!" Yang Cheng said with a smile.

Ferguson snorted coldly, "You should take care of yourselves."

"If you really get ruined this summer, you'll be doomed next season too!"

"What am I afraid of?" Yang Cheng laughed. "I know how much I weigh. If we were really going to be crippled, we would have been crippled long ago. Why would we wait until now?"

Ferguson was really touched when he heard Yang Cheng's confident words.

He really wanted to ask Yang Cheng how he chose his people.
How come your vision is so accurate?
"Ha, didn't I tell you before? Barcelona's Busquets is definitely not wrong. If you dig him out, I guarantee you won't have to worry about the midfield and defense in the next few years."

After a pause, Yang Cheng said something very provocative, "Just like you almost signed Guardiola back then."

When Guardiola was determined to leave Barcelona, ​​Ferguson almost signed him.

You know what, Ferguson was actually a little tempted.

But when he considered that Yang Cheng was a bad guy, he couldn't believe it.

Could this be encouraging us at Manchester United to fight Barcelona to the death?

Yang Cheng thinks that among Barcelona's three midfielders, Hasan, Balotelli and Buenos Aires, the only one who can be poached now is Busquets.

If they really want to poach him, Barcelona will just cry.

When Yang Cheng's ceremonial three-man midfield is formed, won't they be able to sweep across Europe and be invincible?
As for Busquets joining Manchester United...

Well, that would be fun!

But after thinking for a while, Ferguson sighed helplessly.

Obviously, he couldn't get the money.

How much harm do the Glazer family do to Manchester United?

All I can say is, it’s so big that it’s hard to estimate!

As many Manchester United fans are asking in 2024, Manchester United's performance is so bad, don't the Glazer family care?
That’s the loveliness of fans!

Why should the Glazer family care about Manchester United's performance?
How much is a championship worth?

It doesn’t matter whether Manchester United’s performance is good or bad as long as it does not affect their vital interests.

The fans only care about winning the championship, they only care about money!
Everyone knows that the Glazer family got something for nothing and tricked Manchester United into a trap.

All the debts they incurred from the acquisition of Manchester United were transferred to Manchester United.

That's it?

No, no.

The three brothers all work for Manchester United and each receives a generous salary.

Also, they take at least 10 million pounds in dividends from Manchester United every year.

That's it?

more than!

There are also various miscellaneous fees such as consulting fees and management fees, which add up to a large sum of money.

Note, it’s every year!

In other words, in addition to helping them pay off their debts, Manchester United also has to be exploited by them.

For them, does it matter whether Manchester United wins the championship or not?

unimportant!
They will only take it seriously if Manchester United's operating performance declines to the point where it affects their profits.

And Manchester United wants to invest money to recruit players?
can.

First wait until the Glazer family has sucked enough blood and paid off their debts, then use the remaining money to recruit new players.

Want to sacrifice their interests?
dream!……

Because of the FA Cup semi-finals, the matches between Bayswater Chinese, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were postponed to mid-week.

In the FA Cup semi-final, Chelsea conceded a goal but then scored two goals in a row thanks to Malouda and Drogba.

In the end, the Blues reversed Arsenal 2-1 and successfully advanced to the final.

So, this season's FA Cup final is between Bayswater Chinese and Chelsea, a West London derby.

It is worth mentioning that in the FA Cup semi-final, the Gunners did not arrange Arshavin to start.

In the 33rd round of the Premier League in the middle of the week, Arsenal challenged Liverpool away. Thanks to Arshavin's four goals, they tied Liverpool 4-4 away.

Chelsea drew 0-0 with Everton at home.

Manchester United reversed Wigan Athletic 2-1 thanks to goals from Tevez and Carrick, even though they conceded a goal first.

Bayswater Chinese beat Middlesbrough 1-0 away from home thanks to a goal from Dzeko.

Because Manchester City beat West Bromwich Albion 4-2 at home in this round.

So, after this round, Manchester City and Chelsea gradually widened the gap.

Manchester City has overtaken Liverpool with 68 points.

The two teams now have the same points, but the Reds are ranked higher due to their goal difference advantage.

But everyone saw it.

There is a great chance that Manchester City can turn the situation around.

……

This weekend, the 34th round of the Premier League.

Manchester City beat Everton 2-1 away from home thanks to goals from Robinho and Kaka.

Liverpool beat Hull City 3-1 away from home thanks to Xabi Alonso and Kuyt's double.

Chelsea beat West Ham United 1-0 away from home thanks to Kalou's goal.

Manchester United, despite conceding two goals in a row, reversed Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 in the second half thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney both scoring twice.

Arsenal beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at home with Fabregas scoring twice.

Bayswater Chinese played at home and beat Stoke City 5-0 thanks to a hat trick from Dzeko and goals from Maicon and Di Maria.

Stoke City has performed fairly well this season, ranking 12th in the league and is not in danger of relegation for the time being.

In this game, they conceded three goals in less than 20 minutes.

At the end of the first half, Bayswater Chinese was already leading by 5 goals.

Throughout the second half, Yang Cheng was almost saving his strength for the Champions League semi-final next Wednesday.

……

Three heroes fight Barcelona!
This is how the media and fans around the world define this season's Champions League semi-final.

Moreover, this is the third consecutive season.

After the 34th round of the Premier League, Ferguson admitted for the first time that Manchester United's dream of winning four championships was shattered.

But he believes that consecutive losses in the league and FA Cup have made Manchester United hungry for the upcoming Champions League.

As for the Bayswater Chinese, Ferguson said, "They are the best performing team in European football!"

Ferguson believes that no team can easily beat Bayswater Chinese.

"We are very familiar with each other and we know each other's strengths and weaknesses, so Wednesday's match will not be decisive."

Ferguson believes that the players of both teams are in good shape and have basically no injuries.

The only suspense is who can restrain the opponent in the game.

"If we want to qualify, we must win our home court and not concede a goal."

Ferguson repeatedly stressed the importance of keeping a clean sheet against the Bayswater Chinese at home.

"Chelsea's two-legged match taught us that losing a home game can be devastating!"

This is exactly the same as what Hiddink said after the Champions League quarter-finals, that the loss and shutout in the first leg at Wembley determined the outcome of the two-legged match.

But how to restrain the attack of the Chinese in Bayswater?
Ferguson believes this is very difficult.

"Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Angel Di Maria are still very young but they are the fastest wide attackers in the Premier League."

"Moreover, they have the best midfield combination in the Premier League and even in Europe."

Ferguson admitted that the game would be very difficult and Manchester United must go all out.

"The same player can make zero mistakes in the previous game, but make many mistakes in the next game. These are normal phenomena and we cannot demand too much from them."

"But when facing the Bayswater Chinese, we have to do it and minimize mistakes as much as possible."

"Because any mistake may lead to losing the ball."

Ferguson also took the initiative to talk about Tevez.

The Argentines have been in incredibly good form recently, and the form of Ronaldo and Rooney has also clearly improved.

Ferguson admitted that Tevez's contract renewal encountered some problems, "but I am very sure that he will continue to stay at Manchester United!"

The outside world's interpretation of Ferguson is that after losing the league and FA Cup consecutively, Ferguson's attitude towards the next two rounds of games is relatively conservative.

At the pre-match press conference, Yang Cheng announced the 18-man squad for Manchester and said that the most important thing for the team in the first away game was to score an away goal.

"We are the defending champions, we should give it a try and take some risks!"

"In a game of this level, like the Champions League semi-final, when playing away, you often need to be bold and careful."

"I believe everyone knows the importance of away goals in the Champions League, and we will go all out for it!"

Yang Cheng did not reveal too much about the specific tactics, but repeatedly emphasized that "We Chinese at Bayswater will always stick to the past tactical play."

"We will not blindly change our tactics just because our opponent is Manchester United and the game is away. This is not our style."

But everyone knows that Yang Cheng and Ferguson have always been unpredictable in their use of troops.

Although, before the game both famous coaches expressed their attitudes, one on defense and the other on offense.

But who can tell for sure before the game starts?
……

On the evening of April 4th, Manchester Old Trafford Stadium.

In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, Bayswater Chinese challenged Manchester United away.

The game has been played for 70 minutes and the score is still 1-0.

International practice is that the home team goes first and the visiting team goes last.

In the 27th minute of the first half, Manchester United scored a goal against Neuer with a long-range free kick from 30 meters away by Ronaldo. However, neither team was able to score a goal in the rest of the time.

What was surprising was that both Yang Cheng and Ferguson fulfilled their pre-match remarks.

Ferguson said that the most important thing in the first leg home game was to keep Bayswater Chinese scoreless.

In fact, that's exactly what he did.

In terms of the lineup, Ferguson fielded the best front trident at the moment, took out Berbatov and arranged for Tevez to start.

But the most important thing is the midfield.

Ferguson fielded a midfield combination of Anderson, Carrick and Fletcher.

Scholes and Giggs, the two veterans he relied on most in the past, did not start.

It is not difficult to see Ferguson's tactical intention for this game from this starting lineup.

In one word, cruel!

From the beginning of the game, Manchester United, playing at home, showed their trump card.

Since we can't defend and can't win the attack, let's fight hard!

Rooney, Anderson, Tevez and Fletcher started fighting from the very beginning.

They constantly disrupted the offense and passing organization of the Chinese in Bayswater through strenuous running, fierce pressing and aggressive defense.

Not only that, Manchester United's players will actively seek out physical confrontations.

This is what happened to Anderson and Fletcher in midfield against Rakitic and Modric.

At the back line, Manchester United's defenders did the same thing when facing Bayswater Chinese's offensive players.

Especially Evra.

The French left-back's defense is a major weakness of Manchester United's defense.

Whether in the Champions League or in the Premier League, many teams play against Manchester United by targeting Evra.

As a result, Evra made it impossible for Walcott to gain any advantage tonight through close marking, active physical confrontation and decisive fouls.

If Gareth Bale on the left suppressed O'Shea, then Walcott on the right was frozen by Evra.

The French full-back was not only fast but also fierce in defense. With Anderson also assisting and protecting on the left side, Walcott really had no good solution.

The elegant Berbatov was taken off and replaced by the beast Tevez.

Ferguson made Manchester United's front, middle and back three lines very fierce.

In addition, the referee's slightly lenient enforcement at Old Trafford further boosted Manchester United's arrogance.

However, although Manchester United's fierce approach disrupted the passing and cutting attack of the Chinese in Bayswater, their own attack was also ineffective and they could only rely blindly on the personal abilities of their players.

The Bayswater Chinese's defense was not at a disadvantage.

Only Leighton Baines on the left seemed a little struggling when marking Ronaldo on the right.

A foul during defense in the first half gave Manchester United a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt.

Unexpectedly, Ronaldo took a direct free kick of about 30 meters.

And it was a falling leaf ball with a very strange arc.

Neuer didn't have a good solution for this.

Afterwards, the two teams continued this fierce and tense contest.

No one can come up with an effective solution.

Yang Cheng also did not make any substitutions and remained as unmoved as a mountain.

Manchester United also did not take any action.

……

When Yang Cheng looked at the time and found that it was already 70 minutes, he immediately walked back to the coaching seat and signaled several players including Di Maria to warm up.

Brian Kidd handed over a piece of data that he had just received from Jenny Vio.

"I didn't expect that we would be evenly matched!"

Yang Cheng glanced at the technical statistics and found them quite interesting indeed.

Ball possession rate: 48.8% to 51.2%.

Tackles: 27 to 26.

Tackle success rate: 74% vs. 73%.

Number of passes: 391 to 495.

Yellow card: 1-0.

Fouls: 9 to 8.

Number of shots: 9 to 9.

Shots on target: 4:4.

Yang Cheng just took a glance and felt it was a bit outrageous.

If this wasn't the Champions League semi-final, he would have suspected that the data was deliberately fabricated.

It’s so close!

But there are also some that are not very close.

For example, the number of passes.

There is also time when the ball is in half court.

55.9% of the time, the ball was in Manchester United's half.

This is enough to prove that the Chinese in Bayswater actually have the upper hand on the field.

But it doesn't show up in the data.

"They are dragging us into the quagmire by burning our physical energy, engaging in physical confrontation and attrition."

To use a phrase that will be very popular in the future.

Manchester United pulled the Bayswater Chinese, who had a technical advantage, to the same level, and then restrained them through a power confrontation.

I have to say, this is indeed a solution.

It just consumes too much energy!

So, Yang Cheng didn't move.

"What should we do now?" Brian Kidd asked with concern.

Yang Cheng handed the data in his hand back to Gianni Vio, turned around and looked at the court.

The Manchester United fans at the scene shouted particularly loudly and made a particularly big noise.

Obviously, they all hope that the Red Devils can maintain the current score.

1 to 0, the score is not big, but we won by keeping a clean sheet.

In the second away leg, Manchester United will have more cards in their hand.

"If we try harder, they will definitely reveal their weaknesses. They won't be able to handle it physically." Yang Cheng said confidently.

As he said that, Yang Cheng turned his head and looked at Gianni Vio, "Gianni, keep a close eye on the athletic performance of Manchester United players, especially the defense line, which will definitely be the hardest hit area for their physical fitness!"

Yang Cheng has always said that Manchester United's lineup is a bit thin.

Ferguson's usual practice is to squeeze the urine out of a toad.

Last season, they frantically exploited the front three, using Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez to their full potential.

This season, the situation has improved slightly with the introduction of Berbatov.

But there was a problem with the defense.

This season, due to injuries to Gary Neville, Wes Brown and others, Evans was unable to bear the heavy responsibility, and Ferguson almost used Vidic, Evra and Ferdinand to death.

There’s no way, there’s no one!
In fact, if it were any other head coach, these things could have been avoided.

Wes Brown has been plagued by injuries and Gary Neville is already 34 years old.

But Ferguson refused to recruit any new players.

The same is true in the midfield. Hargreaves was out for the season, Fletcher was injured frequently, and Ferguson has been using Carrick.

Ferguson's approach, especially in the last one or two months, has meant that both Manchester United and Bayswater Chinese players have had no rest, but Bayswater Chinese have had rotations.

What about Manchester United?
FA Cup, Champions League, league, almost the same lineup is used to play to the end.

Yang Cheng just didn't believe it!

Are Manchester United's players all made of steel and able to run forever?

"Do you want to start making substitutions?"

Brian Kidd asked with a concerned look on his face.

Yang Cheng shook his head. "Wait a little longer. I guess he is also waiting for us to change players."

This person is Ferguson.

"Their players will be exhausted faster than us!" Yang Cheng said very confidently.

……

After the 70th minute, the pace of the game obviously slowed down.

By the end of April, all the players were exhausted.

It is undoubtedly very risky for Ferguson to adopt such a style of play at this time.

By the 72nd minute, Manchester United players were clearly overwhelmed.

So Ferguson made two substitutions.

Scholes replaced Anderson.

The Brazilian midfield performed well in this game, and they worked very hard both in running and defending.

Of course, there were also many fouls.

But both sides had a good understanding of each other, and there was only one yellow card in the whole game, which was given to Tevez.

Moreover, it was in the Bayswater Chinese half when Tevez fouled Thiago Silva when he was trying to steal the ball.

The other substitution was for Tevez.

Berbatov went up.

Yang Cheng walked back to the coaching booth and asked Gianni Vio, "Evra and O'Shea, who has declined more physically?"

As early as a few years ago, after Yang Cheng hired Thad Fawcett to join the team, he established a sports performance evaluation mechanism.

Over the years, the coaching staff of Bayswater Chinese, especially the sports science department, has further digitized the evaluation of sports performance, and combined with real-time data from the scene, it can comprehensively assess the physical energy consumption of players on both sides.

Of course, this is just an assessment.

Some players can still perform flawlessly even if their physical fitness has declined seriously.

"Evra will decline more, he has played more minutes this season."

Yang Cheng immediately understood what was going on. He turned to look at the bench and waved to Di Maria, "Angel, come here!"

Di Maria immediately took off his coat and ran over quickly.

"You go up, replace Rakitic, and let Modric support you."

"Try to move in both half-spaces of Manchester United, supporting the wingers and centre-forwards, especially Evra and Vidic."

After a pause, Yang Cheng grabbed Di Maria's neck, pulled him in front of him, and said to him word by word: "Angel, remember, after you go up, whether you can break through the opponent's defense is very important, understand?"

"I understand!" Di Maria nodded heavily.

"Go forward if you have the chance, shoot if you can, don't hesitate!"

"it is good!"

Yang Cheng patted Di Maria on the shoulder, motioning him to run to the sidelines, ready to make a substitution at any time.

……

"It's time to bring on Di Maria."

In the home team coaching booth, Mike Phelan has been closely watching Yang Cheng's every move.

Seeing Di Maria running to the sidelines, he immediately reminded Ferguson.

Ferguson saw it, too.

"Who should we replace?"

Just as Ferguson asked the question, the fourth official on the sidelines had already raised the substitution sign, and Di Maria replaced Ivan Rakitic.

This immediately made Ferguson frown.

Obviously he was a little surprised by the substitution.

This was the second time Yang Cheng had surprised him.

Before the game, he guessed that Yang Cheng would focus on attacking O'Shea's side, so he specifically deployed defenses against O'Shea's right side, especially Fletcher.

But unexpectedly, Yang Cheng used Gareth Bale to suppress O'Shea.

Instead, on the left, Evra and Walcott were entrusted with the important task this time.

But the little tiger actually has few options when facing defensive players like Evra who can barely keep up with his speed.

This led to Walcott's somewhat sluggish performance on this side.

Ferguson originally thought that Yang Cheng would replace Walcott with Di Maria.

I didn't expect it to be Rakitic.

“This is about wanting to strengthen the attack, especially the attack in the flanks.”

Ferguson knows Yang Cheng too well.

The two have been fighting for several years and have played so many games every season, so they know exactly how many tricks each other has.

But then comes another problem.

Manchester United made one more substitution.

Do you want to use it?

who?

Ferguson glanced at the bench. If they really wanted to block it, there wouldn't be many people who could play a role.

For example, Giggs and Park Ji-sung were only barely competent.

The only player left on the defense line is young player Evans.

But Ferguson has to be wary of Ferdinand.

Manchester United's central defender has suffered a lot of injuries this season, and Ferguson has always been worried that he can't handle it.

Ferguson hesitated for a moment and shook his head secretly.

He immediately walked to the sidelines and reminded Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher, asking them to pay more attention to Di Maria.

The last substitution...

He still wanted to keep it, just in case.

(End of this chapter)