Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 75 The morale of the army is in chaos!

From a professional football perspective, Barcelona seems to be stuck in the 2011 Champions League final!

In the VIP box of the South Stand at Old Trafford, Ferguson, who was watching the game with the Glazers and Woodward, looked on with a sigh as he watched Manchester United score the opening goal against Barcelona just over three minutes into the game through Van Persie.

"During this period, Barcelona tried many changes, such as Guardiola bringing in Fabregas, and later Sanchez, who was initially just a player, but later the coach boldly used Martino."

"But Barcelona's football seems to have been frozen in 2011, as if time had stood still."

"Uh, no, their players are getting older."

As Ferguson spoke, a sudden surge of emotion welled up within him.

In the 2011 final, he faced that powerful Barcelona team.

Since then, Barcelona has been on a downward spiral.

They lost to Chelsea in 12, and were utterly thrashed by Bayern Munich in 13.

"If you were leading the team against Barcelona this season, I believe we would have won big in the first leg away from home, and tonight's game wouldn't have been so meaningful," Joel Glazer said, praising the team highly.

Now, the voices of Manchester fans opposing the Glazers are growing louder. They are eager for Ferguson to return and take charge of Manchester United again, so that they can quickly win back the local fans.

Ferguson smiled but didn't say anything.

Having coached for so many years, he knows very well what it means to be an expert and a novice.

To the untrained eye, Manchester United dominated both legs of the match against Barcelona. Although they didn't have possession, their overall defense was excellent.

In the competition, this gives people the feeling that it's very easy.

Just like the two matches between Bayern and Barcelona last season, it was very easy.

But if it were really that easy, why did Real Madrid lose 3-4 at the Bernabéu?

To the untrained eye, the match seemed easy because Yang Fan's tactics were effective and suppressed Barcelona.

What if someone else were to coach?

Take Ferguson for example.

Even after watching the first leg and the start of the second leg, he wasn't sure if he could replicate such a match and tactics if he went back to coach Manchester United.

This is the most interesting and fascinating aspect of football!

Just as Ferguson was speaking, the game resumed on the pitch.

As a result, after the kickoff, Barcelona continued to control the ball slowly and methodically, passing it around.

Less than three minutes later, in the sixth minute of the match, Manchester United launched another quick counter-attack.

Ultimately, Rooney's long-range shot from outside the penalty area went wide of the goal.

The entire Old Trafford erupted in cheers once again!

Having tasted success, Rooney, in conjunction with Van Persie, launched a pressing attack in the attacking third just one minute later.

Pique had no choice but to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Pinto.

The result was that the force was not strong enough.

Rooney rushed into the penalty area and tried to cut the ball past the Barcelona goalkeeper before Pinto could come out.

Pinto hastily scrambled his foot and saved the ball.

But it got sold.

After Rooney rushed over, he immediately turned around and poked the ball away before Pinto could make a second save.

Just as Rooney was about to chase after the ball, the referee blew his whistle, indicating that Rooney had committed a foul.

The stadium erupted in boos!

"The referee probably thought that the goalkeeper had already reached out to catch the ball, and Rooney's move to poke the ball from the side was a bit dangerous. At this point, he should have put some pressure on the referee on the sidelines and protested appropriately."

At this point, Ferguson shook his head and sighed.

Ultimately, I still lack experience!

When a head coach protests on the sidelines, it's often not to change the ruling, but to alert the referee and prevent them from applying biased standards towards the opponent, which would be very disadvantageous for their own team.

Many fans perceive the bias as something obvious.

On the contrary, everyone here is a professional, who would be so foolish?

Before the phone call scandal was exposed, who could have imagined it?

At most, I just felt that the referee's officiating was a bit biased.

True "care" is something that ordinary people can't even see.

For example, in situations where the score is evenly matched, the referee might favor one side, or call a foul directly when the offensive advantage is in play. These actions are very subtle and fall within the referee's officiating standards, so no one can find fault with them.

But the players in the game and the coaches on the sidelines can feel it.

It's even difficult to perform at a normal level.

Even with all the commotion, in the end, there were still some controversial rulings.

A penalty kick? A red card?

That's actually the roughest and most amateurish one.

Ferguson's frequent protests during matches were a way of putting pressure on the referee.

During his time managing Manchester United, Moyes was too concerned about his reputation and took his manners too seriously, always maintaining a polite and gentlemanly demeanor. As a result, he suffered losses that he had to swallow alone.

Yang Fan is still too inexperienced!

Just as Ferguson was having this thought, and saw referee Eriksson call Rooney over to give him a warning, Yang Fan, who was standing in front of the home team's coaching bench, suddenly rushed out and pointed at the field, protesting loudly.

"He didn't touch the goalkeeper's hand, he only touched the ball, so why is it a foul?"

"We're about to score!"

"Are you deliberately showing favoritism towards Barcelona?"

Yang Fan's shouts were very loud.

Even in the bustling stadium, Ferguson and others sitting in the VIP box could hear it clearly.

The boos from the fans in the stadium grew louder, and the shouts and curses became even more intense.

The fourth official on the sidelines stopped Yang Fan.

The referee rushed over and seemed to be sternly explaining something to Yang Fan.

The most interesting thing is that Yang Fan, who had been shouting very loudly and seemed to have lost control of his emotions, said a few words to Eriksson and then turned around and walked back to the coaching command area.

Before turning around, he smiled and waved to Eriksson as a gesture of goodwill.

Moreover, he didn't even get a card!

This made Ferguson, who was in the stands, laugh.

"He did it on purpose."

"What do you mean?" Woodward asked.

"A psychological tactic."

Ferguson also figured it out slowly after many years of coaching experience and communicating with many referees.

Unexpectedly, Yang Fan, this novice, actually learned it all on his own.

This kid is truly a prodigy!

IEEEn

Only the squeaky baby gets fed!

Yang Fan walked back to the coach's command area, inwardly grumbling.

This messed-up society just keeps pushing good people to become bad.

Yang Fan's approach is exactly the same as when he complained to his boss in his previous life's workplace.

Whether it's a loss or not, I'm determined to take it, and if I do, I have to let my boss know.

Not only do I need to let my superiors know, but I also need to proactively offer them a way out.

What?

A hard top?

The situation is at a standstill. Perhaps the leader has been forced to compromise this time, but what about the future?

Pick it up high, put it down gently; just let the leader know what's going on, that's enough.

Nani?

If the boss knows what's going on, will he let you suffer the same loss next time?

Why not fire such a leader instead of letting him go home for the New Year?

The same principle applies to negotiating with the referee.

"Barcelona has adjusted their formation."

Yang Fan walked back to the home team's coaching bench, where Steve Lund gave him a reminder.

Unlike at the start of the game, Iniesta has now returned to midfield, forming the Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets combination with Busquets and Xavi.

Neymar started on the right wing, but has now returned to the left wing.

Fabregas played as a striker, and Messi played as a right winger.

It actually matched the tactical formation diagram shown in the live TV broadcast.

Damn, there's a genius at the TV station!

Yang Fan stood on the sidelines for a while and noticed that Barcelona's overall performance did not improve after conceding a goal.

Manchester United, playing at home, continued to implement the attacking tactics devised by Yang Fan before the match.

Even after taking a one-goal lead and making the aggregate score 3-1, Manchester United continued to press forward.

What frustrated Barcelona even more was that Manchester United didn't let the ball linger at their feet at all.

Play down both flanks, use long passes, and play high balls.

Especially Fellaini's high point.

Yang Fan glanced at Martino in front of the away team's coaching bench; his face looked really bad.

We're too passive.

And there's not much that can be done.

Barcelona said: We have possession advantage.

Manchester United said: I play high balls.

Barcelona said: I have Messi and Neymar.

Manchester United said: I play high balls.

Barcelona says: We have Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets in midfield.

Manchester United said: "I use Fellaini as a high point when playing high balls, and this high ball style is so effective!"

Just when the game reached the 11th minute, and everyone thought that Manchester United was going to slow down their attack, Valencia moved forward into the 30-meter zone of Barcelona, ​​received a pass from Carrick, and then dribbled the ball forward along the right flank.

After taking a touch, Valencia delivered a high cross, lobbing it towards the far post inside Barcelona's penalty area.

This time, Fellaini didn't have time to make a forward run.

Mascherano got to the far post in time and headed the ball away.

The Argentine quickly rushed out of the penalty area and passed the ball to Xavi.

Fellaini was originally going to rush into the penalty area to contest the header, but he missed the second ball. As soon as he saw the ball passed to Xavi, he immediately lunged towards Barcelona's midfield.

Xavi received the ball with his back to the direction of attack. Seeing Fellaini coming at him aggressively, fearing that the opponent would rush up for a physical confrontation, he immediately passed the ball to Busquets.

This is also one of the specialties of Barcelona players.

A series of one-touch passes sent the ball out of the danger zone.

But this time, before Busquets even got the ball and had just secured his position, Rooney closed in from behind.

As the English striker spread his legs to chest down the ball, he launched an unreasonable challenge. The healthy and lucky Rooney was not afraid of anyone when it came to physical strength.

Busquets, on the other hand, was caught off guard and lost his footing while trying to control the ball with his chest, causing him to stumble and miss.

The Spanish defensive midfielder was also cunning, reacting quickly and diving forward.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Where's Rooney?

Not stupid, I immediately raised my hands to show that I was innocent.

The ball landed between Fellaini and Mascherano.

The Belgians aren't fast, but they're tall and have long legs; when they rush forward, they make a sliding tackle.

The ball went right through Mascherano's legs and landed on the left side of the penalty area behind him.

Van Persie was prepared and once again made a diagonal run into the area behind Mascherano.

When the ball came, the Dutchman did not stop it immediately, but turned slightly to the side to let it pass, chased after it, and before Pinto could come out, he took a shot with his left foot.

The football flew past Pinto at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye and into the Barcelona goal.

"G0 ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"11th minute! 11th minute!"

"Robin van Persie scored twice!"

"My goodness! Manchester United have scored two goals in just the first 11 minutes!"

"The final score is 4-1!"

"Barcelona had a really bad start tonight."

"On the contrary, Manchester United played better and better as the game progressed, especially at the start, completely dominating Barcelona."

"That's incredible!"

After scoring, Van Persie turned and rushed off the field to celebrate.

Manchester United players also chased after them one by one.

Meanwhile, in front of the home team's coaching bench, Yang Fan couldn't help but clench his fists and cheer loudly for Van Persie's goal.

Only on the pitch were Barcelona players protesting to the Swedish referee, arguing that Rooney's collision with Busquets should have been a foul and that the goal should not have been counted at all.

Eriksson kept gesturing for the Barcelona players to step back, repeatedly emphasizing that he clearly saw that Rooney had not committed a foul.

Goal stands!

Not only that, he immediately blew his whistle to indicate that the goal was valid and asked Barcelona to restart the game.

The entire Old Trafford stadium erupted in thunderous cheers.

No one expected the game to start so smoothly.

Two goals in 11 minutes?

And it was a brace from Van Persie!

After the Manchester United players finished celebrating and walked back to their own half, Van Persie made a point of running over to give Yang Fan a high-five and a hug.

"Alright, the game isn't over yet, we still have a chance to score."

"Go! Go!!"

When Yang Fan's shout came out, the live TV camera gave Martino a close-up shot next door.

Martino was visibly taken aback for a moment, followed by a look of resentment and sorrow in his eyes.

The Manchester United fans in the stands were in high spirits, shouting louder and beating their drums even louder.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Barcelona's morale began to crumble.