I almost helped Manchester United revive, but I chose to run away

Chapter 13 Who said he only knows how to play defense and counterattack? !

"Two consecutive wins at the start, the new Manchester United coach has magic!"

"Unity, understanding and trust are the key factors in Manchester United's transformation!"

The Redeemer is also the Most Suitable Person

"Speak your mind or say what you mean?"

……

The morning after Manchester United defeated Arsenal at home, major English media outlets rushed to release hot reports on the win.

After winning two consecutive league games, Manchester United has successfully overtaken Tottenham and returned to the top 6 of the Premier League. It currently has the same points as Arsenal, but is temporarily ranked sixth in the standings due to the disadvantage in goal difference.

Li Chen demonstrated a lot of new tactical content in these two winning league games, and his coaching skills have been recognized by the mainstream media in England.

Of course, for Manchester United fans - at least for the vast majority of normal Manchester United fans, Li Chen's performance in the first two rounds of leading the team is enough for them to give a full score!
In one round, they sniped the team at the top of the league standings, and in the next round, they eliminated the team's direct competitor for the top four.

Despite a hellish start, Li Chen not only stabilized the team's situation, but also helped the team win six points and return to the top six in the standings.

Such a situation can be said to be a dream. The vast majority of clear-headed Red Devils fans are now urging the management to complete the contract renewal with Li Chen as soon as possible.

However, there are still some Manchester United fans who still have complaints about Li Chen.

In fact, they were already convinced by Li Chen's coaching skills, but they felt uncomfortable when they saw that Li Chen still chose to abandon their favorite young players.

Especially after Li Chen said, "When the whole world doesn't believe in a player, the coach must stand behind him."

They felt that Li Chen was mocking them and strongly responding to the public opinion offensive they had launched earlier!

How else to explain his motive for saying this?

From the perspective of his fans, this is indeed a correct reflection of his choice to support Ronaldo, Matic and Martial.

But from the perspective of Manchester United fans who support Rashford and Greenwood, Li Chen was blatantly mocking them and saying one thing and thinking another.

They all performed poorly before and were questioned by the public. Why do you selectively support some players and turn a blind eye to the younger and outstanding youth players of the club? !

These Manchester United fans became angrier and angrier the more they thought about it. Their thinking had completely reached a dead end. They always felt that Li Chen was secretly laughing at them for their arrogance.

However, just as they were about to unite and protest on the Internet against Li Chen's unfair treatment of Rashford and Greenwood.

However, The Sun suddenly broke the news that Li Chen had a private conversation with the two young players after the training on December 12!

The news detailed the time Li Chen talked to the two players alone, as well as the relieved expressions on Rashford and Greenwood's faces after they walked out of the head coach's office respectively.

The Sun's authority in reporting this type of news has always been beyond doubt.

After reading the relevant reports, the group of Manchester United fans who were still preparing to continue protesting against Li Chen were a little confused.

In the end, they could only decide after watching the starting lineups and substitutions in the next round of the league.

Because Manchester United's appearance order in the 14th round of the Premier League was the last, and their appearance order in the 15th round of the league was relatively middle, there were only three days of rest time between the two league games.

So the fans didn't have to wait too long before the 15th round of the Premier League match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace began again.

In this match, the Manchester United team did not gain any advantage during the rest time.

They only had three days to rest and adjust, but their opponent Crystal Palace had a full five days of rest!
Crystal Palace has the advantage in preparation and adjustment of status.

In addition, Manchester United currently has serious injuries within the team, so Li Chen did not reveal any starting lineup information to the media before the game and did a very rigorous preparation work.

It was not until an hour before the game that the reporters, who had been waiting for a long time, got the list of Manchester United's starting lineup for the day.

"Martial and Matic are rested? It seems that Ronaldo will continue to play as the No. 9. Will Greenwood start? Will he play on the left or the right? Will Sancho continue to play as a winger in this game..."

Looking at Manchester United's starting lineup after rotating many main players, reporters at the scene started discussing it heatedly.

After receiving the news, fans from all walks of life also expressed their opinions online.

In fact, it is normal for young players like Greenwood and McTominay to get the chance to start.

After all, Martial is prone to injury when playing multiple games in a row, and Matic is getting older. It is reasonable for Li Chen to make rotation adjustments for these two positions.

However, the adjustment of one position in Manchester United's starting lineup has aroused doubts among many fans.

That is, Maguire replaced Bailly and returned to the starting lineup today.

Bailly's performance in the first two league games was considered satisfactory. Perhaps because of Li Chen's key instructions, his playing style is no longer as wild and reckless as before.

His individual performance was not particularly outstanding, but fortunately he did not make any mistakes, and he cooperated with Lindelof to stabilize the backcourt defense.

Even though his body is a bit fragile, at least he doesn't seem to be injured in the past two games. At any rate, he is better than Malouda, who directly caused Solskjaer to be fired, right?
Many Manchester United fans in China were worried for Li Chen after seeing his arrangement of players for today's game!

It’s really no wonder that they were pessimistic about the team’s “former captain”.

It can only be said that Maguire's performance under Solskjaer's tactical system in the new season was too abstract!
Not only did he make frequent mistakes when passing the ball under high pressure, but he was also always targeted by his opponents from behind, and every hit was accurate!

The physical advantage that Maguire showed in low-post defense last season has become a complete burden for him this season.

It seems that Li Chen doesn't play high pressure much now, but Maguire's previous poor performance is still vivid in people's minds, and it has left a psychological shadow on Manchester United fans!
God knows how big Maguire's psychological trauma is now, and whether his personal performance will be affected.

Anyway, considering the overall situation of the team, they are cautiously optimistic about Maguire returning to the team's starting lineup.

But Li Chen had already made such a decision, so they could only support him and wait and see how the game went...

On the afternoon of December 12th, the 5th round of the Premier League between Manchester United and Crystal Palace is about to kick off at Old Trafford!
The commentary voice of Zhan Jun, who is very familiar to Chinese fans, also sounded in time as the players from both teams finished lining up.

"Okay, following the camera, we have arrived at Old Trafford in Manchester!
Today, Coach Zhang and I will bring the live commentary of the 15th round of the Premier League to the audience.

Let me first introduce to you the starting lineup of the home team Manchester United today.

On the front line, Ronaldo, Greenwood and Sancho formed Manchester United's new offensive combination today.

McTominay, Fred and Bruno Fernandes formed a midfield three.

On the defensive line, Maguire returned to the starting lineup and partnered with Lindelof to form a double central defender today, with Telles as left back and Dalot as right back.

The starting goalkeeper is still De Gea. "As for the visiting team Crystal Palace, their starting lineup today is as follows:
The front three consisted of Benteke, Zaha and Jordan Ayew.

Gallagher, Kouyate and Schlupp are in midfield.

On the defensive line, the double central defenders are Gueye and Tomkins, with Mitchell as left back and Klein as right back.

The starting goalkeeper is Guaita. ”

After Zhan Jun introduced the starting lineups of the two teams, the referee on duty also looked at the time and blew the whistle on time not long after!
As soon as the game started, Crystal Palace head coach Vieira directly signaled his players to move forward, take a favorable position, and try a more proactive attack.

Before the game, when he hadn't received Manchester United's starting lineup, Vieira was indeed a little unsure, wondering whether Manchester United would make major changes to its tactics again in this game.

But after seeing the starting lineup arranged by Li Chen, Vieira finally felt relieved.

Manchester United rotated a lot of main players in this game, but they were basically positional substitutions, and the starting positions were no different from the previous two games.

So in other words, Li Chen's tactical style of play will not change much, and he will still play low-post defense and quick counterattacks overall.

Vieira naturally would not miss such an opportunity. He would definitely take the initiative and take advantage of Manchester United on the offensive end.

Crystal Palace's offensive firepower is certainly not among the best in the Premier League, but it is at least at a mid-level. With more offensive opportunities, who knows, they might score a goal!
To put it another way, even if they were not so lucky and could not score first, at least the battle was brought to Manchester United's half.

Vieira also made corresponding defensive deployments in response to Manchester United's sharp counterattacks in the first two league games.

So he was not afraid that Li Chen would use the same tactics that he used to defeat Chelsea and Arsenal to compete with him.

If Li Chen dares to underestimate Crystal Palace today, he will be in trouble...

Vieira, without any worries, quickly sat back in the coaching seat, looking very calm.

Until he saw that McTominay, who had regained the ball, was not in a hurry to pass the ball forward, but instead safely passed the ball back to Fernandes who had retreated behind him!

Gallagher's forward pressing and interception and Tomkins' immediate close defense against Ronaldo both failed.

Manchester United did not pursue a quick counterattack, but instead slowly organized the ball in the backcourt, and then steadily moved forward as a whole!

"Are you going to fight a positional war with us?!"

Vieira frowned and suddenly felt that this game was not as simple as he had imagined!
The Crystal Palace players on the field naturally would not sit idly by and watch Manchester United push forward like this.

They began to fight actively and spontaneously, trying to put defensive pressure on the players in Manchester United's midfield who had the ball!
But with Sancho's active retreat to get the ball and his teammates' active support, B Fee's pressure to pass the ball was not that great.

The close pressure of the Crystal Palace players on Sancho soon turned into defensive fouls as the referee blew the whistle!
Many fans who saw this scene felt it was very familiar, and then they thought about it carefully.

Hey, isn’t this the tactical method that Zidane used with Isco back then!

The same is true of using a player with excellent personal skills and strong ball protection ability to advance the ball in the wing and middle areas.

Anyway, there are enough players in the midfield and backcourt to serve as receiving points. If you want to play more steadily, you can use clear-minded ball transfer to wear down the opponent's defensive patience and physical strength.

If you want to play more proactively, let the technical player who holds the ball advance boldly look for opportunities in the opponent's defensive area.

If the opponent cannot steal the ball in a one-on-one match, he can only use more physical force and commit tactical fouls.

In this way, not only does the ball remain in our hands, but the goal of steadily advancing the front line is also achieved!

Li Chen and Zidane may differ in tactical details, but their general tactical thinking is the same.

However, Li Chen does not need to completely replicate Real Madrid's tactics at that time to Manchester United.

Because there is no need to. Which opponents did Real Madrid use this tactic against back then?

Li Chen only needs to replicate the parts and make Crystal Palace lose their temper!
Well, Vieira really can’t find any way to quickly crack Li Chen’s tactics.

Because there is no defensive player in their team who can limit Sancho's dribbling in a 1v1 situation.

Sancho does not pursue extraordinary efficiency, but just protects the ball and tries his best to get into the small spaces on the court.

If you can't steal the ball in a one-on-one situation and he takes advantage of you, that's a threat, after all, there are two shooters, Cristiano Ronaldo and Greenwood, in front of him!

Grit your teeth and get on with it. As soon as you move, Sancho will fall to the ground decisively. The key is that the referee's whistle sounded quite accurately!

Don’t use this trick too often, otherwise all three midfielders will get yellow cards and the second half of the game will be a mess!

Vieira realized that Li Chen wanted to use Sancho to constantly disrupt the defensive mentality and energy of his midfielders!

The focus is probably not on rushing to score a goal in the first half, but the tactical idea of ​​wasting time in the first half and reaping the rewards in the second half!
It is exactly the same tactical intention as when Zidane led Real Madrid to "wait the old man" in the Champions League!
"What the hell, who said this kid can only play defensive counterattacks?!"

Vieira almost gritted his teeth as he uttered this string of complaints.

At this time, the situation on the field was gradually tilting towards Manchester United.

In the 13th minute of the first half, Sancho protected the ball and attracted the double-team defense of two Crystal Palace midfielders, then kicked the ball to his own right!
B Fee quietly made a run, hooked out the defensive interception of Crystal Palace left-back Mitchell, and decisively passed the ball behind Mitchell!
Dalot, who was running down the wing, dribbled the ball straight towards the left bottom line of Crystal Palace!
At the moment when there was a little chaos in the Crystal Palace penalty area, Dalot, who had completed his observation, decisively sent a low pass!

C Ronaldo desperately made a run in the middle of the penalty area. His huge threat made the two central defenders of Crystal Palace focus their defensive attention on him at the first moment!

But Dalot's low pass passed through the front and middle of the Crystal Palace penalty area at an extremely fast speed!
Ronaldo was not the target that Dalot was looking for with this pass, but Greenwood who was following up at the back post!

The 20-year-old Greenwood nimbly shook off Klein who was defending him!

Before the football was within his control, he had already adjusted his pace.

The next moment, the ball arrived, and the people arrived!
An ordinary and steady arch shot sentenced Crystal Palace's defense to death at this moment!

The ball went into the net, and Guaita's ground defense arrived just after the ball crossed the line!

After confirming that the football had 100% rolled into the opponent's goal, Greenwood ran to the baseline excitedly, roaring and punching!

However, his solo celebration did not last long before it was interrupted by his teammates who swarmed over from behind.

After Li Chen and Carrick high-fived, they stood up from the coaching seat with a smile and applauded Greenwood's goal.

This attitude is completely inconsistent with the media's report before the game that Li Chen was going to abandon Greenwood!
Many reporters on the sidelines of Old Trafford were angrily deleting the long press releases written on their mobile phones.

"Damn it! Who spread the rumor that he can only play defense and counterattack?"

(End of this chapter)