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

Chapter 14: The Globally Popular “Super Li”

In fact, Li Chen never thought of becoming a coach who focuses on defense and counterattack.

Although he learned from Mourinho, the biggest similarity between him and Mourinho in tactical pursuit is pragmatism, rather than blindly pursuing defensive counterattack efficiency.

After taking over Burnley midway through last season, Li Chen also took advantage of the situation and used a retro 442 formation to lead Burnley to rush back from the relegation zone to the lower middle of the standings.

Counterattacks are of course necessary. Facing a strong team, if Burnley did not focus on counterattacks at that time, it would be a serious dereliction of duty for the head coach.

However, whenever he has the opportunity to face a weaker team, Li Chen will change the formation to 4231, focusing on midfield control and using more ground attacks to create scoring opportunities for the two forwards.

The same is true now at Manchester United.

When playing against Chelsea and Arsenal, Manchester United, with an incomplete and unstable lineup, naturally needs to give up the initiative in attack, seize the opportunity of offense and defense transition and attack behind the opponent more often.

With the team's morale boosted and facing the Crystal Palace, which is of average strength, Li Chen will of course deploy a tactic that emphasizes control and proactive attacks.

The situation of the army is ever-changing, and the shape of water is ever-changing. Compared with focusing only on creating a unique tactical system, Li Chen prefers to formulate appropriate tactical arrangements based on the strength of the opponent and his own players.

Since the end of last season, Mourinho has teased Li Chen many times in private, saying that he is more like a coach brought up by Ancelotti.

Li Chen always smiled and did not comment.

After all, he did stay under An Shuai for a year, so it's not wrong to say that he was half of An Shuai's disciple~
Li Chen has indeed learned a lot of good things from the two great football coaches in history.

People always see him as young and recognize his achievements as an assistant coach and his status in the industry, but they also always feel that he may not be able to lead a club alone.

But at this time they all seemed to have selectively forgotten that Li Chen had entered the coaching industry when he was in his teens.

More than ten years of dedicated study, more than ten years of accumulated observation, a solid tactical foundation, constant self-correction and the talent for decisiveness on the spot have made him what he is today.

He is not some mediocre coach who has made his way in the football world by relying on half-baked tactics and means of winning over players.

In this industry, he already has status and qualifications, and he is also familiar with the top coaches and so-called tactical trends in the football world.

Now, it's the football world's turn to get to know him...

Vieira was caught off guard by Li Chen's control tactics.

After all, he overestimated the defensive ability of his own midfield and underestimated the tactical backup that Li Chen had at hand.

The loss of this ball was like fate's punishment for his negligence in preparation.

Now, Vieira has to consider whether or not to continue to attack under pressure at Old Trafford.

Pressing forward is more in line with the game situation, and there is no need for Crystal Palace to consider surrendering so early.

But looking at the threatening offensive momentum shown by Manchester United, Vieira still hesitated subconsciously.

But while he was hesitating, Li Chen was very decisive. He made a tactical gesture of pressing forward with all his troops without giving Crystal Palace any chance to breathe!

Manchester United's midfielders and backcourt players, including Maguire, also pressed forward together!
A team with Maguire in defense is indeed not suitable for playing high-pressure tactics.

But if he is just besieging the opponent, Maguire's passing ability is enough to cover up his defensive disadvantage of turning too slowly.

Another point is that Li Chen also made restrictions on Crystal Palace's key counterattack targets.

Dalot, who was supposed to join the attack at this time, was delayed behind the right side of the lineup. He firmly remembered Li Chen's request for him to keep a close eye on Zaha's tactical arrangement.

After Telles made a big run on the left, Fred also moved over accordingly. On the one hand, he stayed back to receive the ball from his teammates, and on the other hand, he wanted to limit Jordan and Ayew's performance in the counterattack.

Li Chen did not use Maguire like Solskjaer did, placing him at the back of a high-pressure formation to bear huge defensive pressure.

Instead, his offensive positioning is used as a prerequisite to fully utilize his advantages in passing and advancing the ball, and sufficient defensive forces are also deployed behind him.

In this way, not only Maguire's defensive disadvantage was avoided, but the number of Manchester United players involved in the attack in the middle did not decrease because of Fred's delay.

At the most extreme point, Manchester United's offensive position was not like a variant of 433, but more like 352.

Fred, Lindelof and Dalot formed the bottom line of defense at the back of the lineup.

McTominay and B Fee took turns to advance in the middle of the midfield to put pressure on the opponent's defense. Maguire, who also stood in the middle, sometimes performed a "tank push".

Gallagher and Kouyate had no good way to deal with Maguire who was dribbling with the ball. They could only be pushed away by him and watch him pass the ball smoothly to the Manchester United players on the wing.

After the midfield was suppressed, Manchester United's two flanks naturally had more opportunities to shoot from the bottom.

The arrangement of Telles and Sancho on the left and right at this moment was also deliberate by Li Chen.

These two players' ability to kick and cross from the left and right flanks is the best among the healthy players currently in Manchester United.

He is not the best in football, but at least he deserves the description of "reliable".

Ronaldo and Greenwood also benefited greatly from their forward runs into the opponent's penalty area.

Under this tactical system, Ronaldo's header threat was finally able to play out normally.

There must be at least two defensive players in the Crystal Palace penalty area to double-team Ronaldo.

Greenwood can therefore get good shooting opportunities in the offensive space created by Ronaldo.

The double striker combination of the two has shown very good chemistry during this period.

Crystal Palace also had to invest more defensive strength in the two of them.

Fans of both teams at the scene thought that this offensive and defensive situation would continue for a while. Manchester United had the upper hand, but Crystal Palace's defense would not be so easy to break through again after it retreated in time.

Until McTominay suddenly came from the midfield and made a bigger run to compete for the header!
In the 26th minute of the first half, Greenwood and Ronaldo failed to score at two points in front of the penalty area. The two central defenders of Crystal Palace defended them very well.

Instead, it was the bold Wright who made a run in and overpowered Crystal Palace's right-back Klein at the back post, heading Sancho's cross into the Crystal Palace goal!
Guaita, who was in pretty good save form today, was completely defeated by McTominay's header!
2-0 at halftime!

Manchester United played a very beautiful offensive game at Old Trafford today and also achieved a very smooth result in the first half!
The die-hard Red Devils fans at Old Trafford were celebrating so happily that they almost forgot themselves!
With three consecutive league wins imminent, the top four ranking in the league that seemed so far away is now within reach!
And all of this is brought by Li Chen, who is interacting enthusiastically with the fans on the sidelines as usual!
Flexible tactical arrangements, appropriate starting lineups, and a confident and positive attitude towards preparations...

In the eyes of the vast majority of Manchester United fans, boldly appointing Li Chen as Manchester United's new head coach is the most correct thing Sandezi has done in all these years in office!

Perhaps a few years earlier, in the season when Mourinho was sacked, Li Chen was directly appointed as Manchester United's interim head coach. Manchester United might have successfully completed the reconstruction by now.

Why let Solskjaer waste so much time and effort?
There was also jubilation on Manchester United's bench at this moment, and next door, Vieira had roughly thrown the tactical board in his hand away, and he seemed to be in a very bad mood!

He felt that he was unlucky, and Crystal Palace was also unlucky today! He admitted the first goal, but the birth of the second goal seemed to have too many accidental factors in it.

Perhaps the Crystal Palace defenders failed in their duties - but it was more because the team's defensive tactical arrangements were not in place.

But Vieira did not want to accept such a result easily, nor did he want to admit that Li Chen's pre-match deployment was more detailed than his.

At this moment, Crystal Palace, which was two goals behind, had no way to retreat. Vieira simply abandoned all unnecessary tactical ideas and was determined to fight against Li Chen!

However, Li Chen changed his previous tactical thinking of pursuing victory and adjusted the positions of Manchester United players on the field again, creating a 4231 sniper formation on the defensive end.

McArthur and Fred defended in the middle, while Big B led Greenwood, who had returned to the left, and Sancho, who had returned to the right, to continuously pressure and interfere with the players in the midfield and backcourt of Crystal Palace who had the ball.

If it were during the previous times when the team's performance was volatile, it would have been difficult for these Manchester United midfielders and forwards to defend so hard.

But now that the team is about to win three games in a row and the situation is very good, they naturally don’t have much psychological resistance to actively participating in defense, and are also happy to contribute more to the team’s progress.

Sure enough, victory is the best medicine to improve all aspects of the team's problems.

In this enthusiastic atmosphere of active defense, Manchester United once again demonstrated its defensive tenacity and did not give Zaha and Jordan Ayew the opportunity to open gaps on the flanks.

No matter how anxious Vieira appeared on the sidelines, Crystal Palace, lacking technical changes in the midfield, still failed to open up the offensive situation, and the score of 2-0 remained until the end of the first half.

When coach Zhang Lu commented on Manchester United's performance in the first half of the game during the half-time break, he praised Li Chen for helping Manchester United correct the problem of not knowing how to control the game situation after taking the lead.

The current Manchester United team - at least in the last three league games - clearly knows how to guide the opponent to follow their own rhythm after taking the lead.

Whether it is pursuing a victory or decisively strengthening defense, Manchester United's tactical variations appear to be very methodical.

As soon as the commentators and fans see the direction of the game, they can also know the clear adjustment options of the Manchester United coaching staff.

Zhan Jun also smiled and agreed, and his words were all about the tactical success Li Chen achieved after playing for Manchester United.

Of course, there were also some calmer domestic fans who left messages in the live broadcast room, hoping that Li Chen would not be blinded by the two-goal lead in the second half of the game.

The upper limit of the explosive performance of the mid- and lower-level teams in the Premier League is getting higher every year, not to mention Crystal Palace, a typical tough mid-level team in the Premier League in recent seasons.

If they relax a little, it is not impossible for Manchester United to be tied with Crystal Palace at halftime or even reverse the score.

After all, teams like Manchester City and Liverpool have suffered a lot of losses at the hands of mid- and lower-level opponents in the league in recent seasons.

Manchester United is now very motivated to catch up, but after all, they have just emerged from a turbulent situation. If they want to return to the top four in the standings as soon as possible, they still need to treat every opponent more cautiously.

Their concerns were not unfounded, and Li Chen quickly proved with his actual performance how much he valued every opponent.

After the start of the second half, Li Chen did not signal the team to over-press the Crystal Palace defense line.

After all, what Crystal Palace lacks most now is the means to break the deadlock. Manchester United's pressing too far forward has given them the opportunity to launch a quick counterattack.

However, Li Chen did not give up control of the midfield directly, allowing Crystal Palace to calmly organize attacks to threaten Manchester United's defense.

He still made tactical arrangements in the midfield, continuing to use Sancho's stable ball control skills to constantly wear down the patience of Crystal Palace's pressing players.

He then moved his midfield defense line slightly forward and carried out frequent mid-position interference and sweeping interceptions on Crystal Palace.

With both control of the field and defense at the same time, the Crystal Palace players soon became unbalanced and began to frequently and actively commit tactical fouls!

Several Crystal Palace players who failed to seize the ball were now happy, but the rhythm of the game was disrupted, and in the end it was Crystal Palace itself that was in desperate need of offensive opportunities that suffered serious damage.

Vieira was extremely depressed watching from the sidelines.

From a player's perspective, he can fully understand the anxious mentality of his disciples at this moment.

But from the head coach's perspective, he could not forgive these players for wasting their own time for pressing and counterattacking.

Without much hesitation, Vieira directly used two substitutions in the 63rd minute of the second half, replacing Benteke and Kouyate with center forward Edward and midfielder Eze respectively.

This substitution seems to be fine at first glance, but in fact it fails to address the pain point of Crystal Palace's inability to break the deadlock at the moment.

Benteke's performance today was indeed average, and his brain was a bit off, committing tactical fouls on Manchester United's backcourt ball control players many times.

But Edward, who replaced him, was not very efficient in scoring goals, and when the situation on both wings could not be opened up, replacing him with another center forward would also be a waste of time.

Eze's dribbling and breakthrough abilities are indeed stronger, and this is exactly the variation point that Crystal Palace lacks on the offensive end at the moment.

But he could have replaced anyone else, but he chose to replace Crystal Palace's defensive midfielder Kouyate.

Li Chen was so happy when he saw Vieira's substitution choice.

He made a direct tactical adjustment, letting Ronaldo withdraw from the center position to the left, letting Greenwood move forward, and then whispered to Wan Bissaka who was about to replace Dalot.

Soon, Wan Bissaka, who came on as a substitute, directly brought Li Chen's latest tactical instructions to B Fee and other players on the field.

Six minutes later, Wan-Bissaka stole the ball from Zaha and passed it back to Maguire who raised his hand.

After receiving the ball, the latter just observed it for a moment, and then sent a long pass behind the Crystal Palace midfield defense line!

Eze and Schlupp were actively running in Manchester United's half just a second ago, but now they can't return to defense in time at all!
Greenwood, who got the ball, quickly advanced with the ball, attracting the attention of many Crystal Palace defenders along the way!
Finally, before Crystal Palace center back Tomkins made an interception, Greenwood passed the ball to B Fee who was already running at high speed on his right side.

The Portuguese midfielder seemed to have calculated the running positions of his teammates long ago, and he chose to pass the ball directly behind the Crystal Palace defense without stopping!
Ronaldo, who had been lurking behind Greenwood and had accumulated a lot of physical energy, is now moving forward at full speed!
The linesman did not raise the flag, which means that Ronaldo's diagonal run was very clever, and he was not offside as he was blocking Crystal Palace's central defender Gueye!
After taking a step forward with his left foot and adjusting the ball almost perfectly, Ronaldo turned his body and completed the shot with his right foot!

Guaita tried his best to rush to the far corner of the goal, but he failed to touch the ball in a hurry. He could only watch in pain as the ball flew into the goal he was guarding for the third time in the whole game!
3-0!

There will be no suspense in this game, Manchester United’s victory is certain!

The scene at Old Trafford has already become a sea of ​​Red Devils fans celebrating their victory in advance!

The red wave of people in the stands kept rolling and cheering until the referee checked the watch and blew the whistle to end the game!
In an instant, the Manchester United players on the field hugged each other passionately to celebrate!

Because before West Ham United started the game, Manchester United had already overtaken the standings and returned to the top four!

At this moment, the reporters on the sidelines were filming the celebrating figures of Manchester United players, while using a lot of film on Li Chen who once again stood with his hands on his hips and smiled!

At this moment, well-known sports media around the world began to work overtime to publish articles, praising Li Chen's amazing performance since he took office.

After the game, all the fans understood that the crazy story of "Super Li" would become popular all over the world!

(End of this chapter)