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

Chapter 9 He is persecuting Manchester United's future
An incredible upset victory made Li Chen once again a hot topic in English football and even world football just four days after he took over as Manchester United coach!
“I think we’re on the right track.”

"They already have such ability, I just put them in a more suitable position for them."

"We did take advantage of the situation because Chelsea's starting lineup was not fully formed, but only a better prepared team could have seized such an opportunity."

"I'm not the most special one, and I didn't come to Manchester United with the aura of a super coach. I just hope I can be the 'right one'."

After leading the team to an unexpected victory over Chelsea, what Li Chen said in the post-match interview became a hot topic among the celebratory Manchester United fans.

Winning just one key match is not enough for Li Chen to win the hearts of all Manchester United fans.

But not surprisingly, Li Chen has initially gained the support of these local Red Devils die-hard fans.

And all his interviews and speeches are very much to the fans' liking.

Before playing against a strong enemy, he would take responsibility to relieve the psychological pressure on the players. After winning, he would speak appropriately, neither being proud nor overly humble.

It can be said that Li Chen has initially demonstrated his personality traits and linguistic charm in his external speeches.

The more calm old Manchester United fans are still planning to wait and see whether Li Chen is a flash in the pan.

But some younger Manchester United supporters have been eager to announce on social media that they like the team's young coach!

At the same time, Manchester United also swept away the shadow of the team's previous defeats in the league and the coach's sacking that had shrouded the locker room.

Previously, various British media reported that there were some problems inside the Manchester United locker room, and this was not groundless.

These internal problems have more or less affected the team's performance, which is something that all Manchester United first-team players cannot deny.

It is difficult to completely resolve these conflicts within the locker room, but it is also easy to do so.

Win, keep winning, and keep advancing in two important global competitions, the Champions League and the Premier League.

As long as this can be achieved, no matter how big the conflicts in the locker room are, they will die down in the face of collective victory and honor.

The victory in a crucial battle made Manchester United's main players feel a lot more relaxed, including Maguire who was suspended due to a red card, and Luke Shaw and Cavani who are still recovering from injuries.

Of course, some players who did not benefit from Li Chen’s tactical adjustments may feel depressed and dissatisfied.

But since Li Chen has already gained the trust of the management and has initially gained the support of the locker room, no matter how dissatisfied they are, they can only remain silent for the time being.

After all, they still understand the simple truth that the first bird to stick its head out gets shot.

However, they can endure it for the time being, but the fans who stand behind them and support them can't bear it anymore.

On November 11, the morning after Manchester United defeated Chelsea away, several internet celebrities with a large fan base in the Manchester fan group took the lead in questioning Li Chen's use of players on their personal social media!
They didn't dare to say clearly that there was anything wrong with the starting lineup Li Chen chose in the match against Chelsea.

They just avoid the main point and question why Li Chen didn't give Rashford and Greenwood more time to adjust their game status after the victory was already decided?
Yes, the two Manchester United princes have been performing unstably since the start of this season, but can we blame all the problems on them?
The impact of injuries, the decline in tactical status and the increase in public pressure have all caused the performance of these two young players to fluctuate.

But after all, they are Manchester United's outstanding youth training representatives, and they all performed well last season.

If Li Chen could "let bygones be bygones" and bring Martial back into the starting lineup, why can't he be more tolerant towards Rashford and Greenwood?

After similar questioning articles were published, many fans who felt that the two Manchester United princes should be given more opportunities to prove themselves also chose to respond and agree.

The Manchester Evening News did not explicitly question Li Chen's selection of players, but after praising Li Chen's ability to adjust tactics, it also implicitly mentioned:
"There are always too many uncertainties in the performance of young players, but they are the club's valuable assets and future after all. We still need to give them more tolerance and expectations..."

All of a sudden, a new wave of public opinion quickly formed, and many journalists smelled traffic business opportunities in it and chose to write articles to follow up!

However, in the face of overwhelming so-called persuasion and questioning from the outside world, Li Chen remained silent and said nothing.

He was neither in a hurry to shift the blame to himself and point out the shortcomings of these two young players, nor did he openly admit that he was unwilling to use them.

He seemed to be completely unconcerned about the development of this matter, and was just actively preparing for the 14th round of the Premier League against Arsenal.

Li Chen's silent attitude once again aroused dissatisfaction among some Manchester United fans.

However, in comparison, the media that rushed to report this news seemed to be more anxious than Manchester United fans.

They were almost labeling Li Chen a tyrant who destroyed the career future of young people.

Fans of the other top six Premier League teams who had been worried that Manchester United might regain their spirits and catch up in the league table breathed a sigh of relief.

"The new coach had just taken over and led the team to win a tough battle, but the team started to pull the coach's legs. How can such a team have any hope of rising again?"

A Manchester City fan's sarcastic remarks on his personal social media expressed the thoughts of many neutral fans.

The outstanding youth players trained by the club are indeed important, but looking at the top four teams in the four major leagues, which one really relies on these young players to conquer the world? !
Nowadays, there are quite a few outstanding youth players, but it is very rare to have a head coach who can take over temporarily and lead the team to defeat strong opponents in a complicated locker room situation.

Many cool-headed Manchester United fans eventually realized that something was wrong.

It turns out that the media outlets that wrote the most aggressive articles questioning Li Chen were all from London!
This has solved the case. It turns out that the Manchester United fans have personally handed the knife to the London media. They just want to disrupt Manchester United's subsequent preparations as much as possible!
Unfortunately, it is too late to regret now.

Some Manchester United fans whose personal emotions were aroused did not feel they were wrong.

There are also some Manchester United fans who choose to remain neutral. Personally, they are obviously more inclined to give Rashford and Greenwood more playing opportunities.

At the pre-match press conference, Li Chen finally made his first positive response after the public opinion storm had fermented.

"In fact, this is not a problem for me. Mason is very young. At this stage, my starting lineup needs a center player who can provide tactical support. Mason obviously prefers to break into the penalty area to grab points. This is not to say that he is not doing well. On the contrary, I am optimistic about his future career development, but at this stage he is still in a stage where he needs to calmly learn from his predecessors."

"Marcus' physical condition has not recovered to its best. I will not take the risk of letting him return to the starting lineup immediately. This is to protect his career. Of course, if you want to have too many complicated interpretations, that is your freedom. I don't care about it..."

Li Chen felt that he had given a positive enough response. For these two Manchester United players, not allowing them to return to the starting lineup now was only one reason.

On the other hand, Li Chen also really feels that they still need some time to reflect on themselves, recognize the emotional problems in playing football, and then get back to their form.

Otherwise, how can these two young players talk about their career growth?

If someone coaxes them to play well, and they perform well for a while, they will feel that their position as a starter is their due, and they can continue to start even if their form declines significantly.

This is not professional football at all, it's just youth training and worldly wisdom!

Li Chen would never sit idly by and allow such a situation to happen in his team.

This is the only time I make such a positive response.

No matter how chaotic the outside world is, he will just build the team according to his own rules and plans.

Are Manchester United fans really dissatisfied with him?
Then put pressure on the higher-ups to fire him!

The next morning, Rashford and Greenwood, who came to the training base together to participate in the last training before the game, felt a little uneasy.

Before yesterday, they were indeed somewhat dissatisfied with Li Chen, thinking that he was just eliminating dissidents and deliberately using the two of them as an example to scare others.

But after the media reporters made such a fuss at the pre-match press conference yesterday, the two immediately felt that the fans had gone a little too far this time.

Pressure from public opinion is just a conventional method. Everyone still has a layer of skin left and can remain calm on the surface, but if you force them to abdicate in person, that would be a shameless act!

Rashford and Greenwood's respective agents were also very angry after watching the pre-match press conference, and quickly called to inform the two:

When the match between Manchester United and Arsenal is about to start, you must keep a low profile and never have an open conflict with Li Chen!

However, the two people who arrived at the training base with some anxiety soon discovered that Li Chen did not seem to have any intention of attacking them.

The attitude towards the two of them was similar to before, both of them were reminded to pay more attention to the technical details in training and learn more from Ronaldo's off-ball running in the counterattack.

After the whole morning's training, the two of them were sure of at least one thing, that is, Li Chen would not vent his anger on them because of the reporters' pressure.

Even as they felt relieved, they couldn't help but feel a little resentful.

Because Li Chen really didn't seem to care whether the two of them would make a fuss.

It feels terrible to no longer be valued by the head coach...

Li Chen naturally didn't know the complicated thoughts of the two young players, nor did he want to waste time exploring them.

Today we will play against Arsenal at home. For Li Chen, this is a battle of self-proof that cannot be lost!

This is his first time leading a team independently at Old Trafford!

If he can get another key victory, his position as Manchester United's interim head coach will be firmly secured.

But if Shili loses, the favorable public opinion environment that helped them win over Chelsea in the last league game will immediately backfire on them!
The pressure from public opinion made Li Chen somewhat nervous before the game.

This is completely different from last season when he led Burnley to challenge all the strong rivals in the Premier League.

At that time, let alone winning the game, if he could lead his team to a draw with these strong teams, he would only receive unanimous praise from those around him.

But now, as the head coach of Manchester United, still at home, winning will only be a basic task for him.

How to win big and win beautifully to gain more points from fans and media!
However, for Manchester United now, it is not an easy task to suppress Arsenal, which has quietly completed the transformation of the team, at home.

Whether in terms of physical strength or technology, Arsenal's midfield and frontcourt are not inferior to Manchester United.

Therefore, blindly forcing the team to press forward may very likely cause the team to lose the midfield rhythm first.

Li Chen would not make such a simple mistake, nor did he care about Manchester United's traditional "offensive spirit" that the media called for before the game.

For him, consolidating the midfield defense at the beginning of the game is still the most important thing.

High pressure is not suitable for the current Manchester United, so the best strategy is to put the battle line in their own half and deal with Arsenal first with less physical loss...

After the game officially started that night, Manchester United's main players strictly followed Li Chen's tactical instructions and decisively pulled the defense line to the top of the arc in the center circle of their own half.

It is not difficult for Manchester United's main players to carry out pressing and oppression in the middle and low positions.

After the space was compressed, Matic, who had sufficient defensive protection on both wings, was not afraid of the young player Odegaard testing the ball.

However, Dalot, who played as a right-back in the last game, was put in the starting position of left-back by Li Chen in this game, and Wan Bissaka returned to the right.

This resulted in Dalot needing more time to adapt to his new position at the beginning of the game, and Ronaldo had to retreat several times to help him defend, and his performance with the ball was mediocre.

Some Manchester United fans who saw this scene finally seized the opportunity and began to publicize the "correctness" of their views to other companions around them.

"Cristiano has lost the ability to get rid of the ball and dribble forward. The position that suits him better is obviously the No. 9 position, which will also bring him closer to the opponent's goal."

"Whether it's Marcus or Mason playing on the wing, they can use their speed and dribbling to create more threats to the opponent. How could the opponent be so reckless in attacking?!"

"Lee can't continue to be so stubborn. He is harming the future of Manchester United!"

(End of this chapter)