Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 76 There's a mastermind behind Manchester United!

"Manchester United's defense was more solid tonight than it was a week ago, and the players' execution was much better."

Martino looked very serious on the away team's bench.

Especially when he saw the game restart and Barcelona, ​​trailing by two goals, still couldn't find an effective way to break through Manchester United's defensive formation, he immediately felt a headache coming on.

That damn Manchester United!

Even at home, they defended as solidly as a tortoise shell.

Especially in the central midfield area.

One minute after Manchester United's goal, Barcelona finally had a chance.

Messi delivered a pass, and Fabregas' shot from outside the penalty area posed no threat whatsoever.

De Gea easily caught the ball.

In the 13th minute, with the team still unable to break through the middle, Alba on the left wing even started to try crossing the ball from the left to Messi inside the penalty area.

The result can be imagined.

If you pass the ball to Messi inside the penalty area, he can wreak havoc on the opponent's defense.

But if you pass the ball over his head—

Sorry, it's too high, I can't reach it.

"How could you cross the ball?" assistant Adrian Coria complained.

He has been working with Martino since 03, and is not only Martino's most trusted assistant, but also has another identity.

Before 03, he worked in the youth academy at Newell's Old Boys, where he coached many young players, one of whom was named Messi.

"It's an attempt, but the ball just can't be passed in." Another assistant, Jorge Pau Tasso, explained the players' intentions on the field. Compared to Coria's closeness to Messi, he was more objective.

Martino's face immediately turned even uglier upon hearing this.

Isn't it?

Barcelona's most prized passing and penetration skills failed to penetrate, forcing them to resort to crosses from the wings.

If this gets out, who will believe it?

"This isn't the weak Manchester United team from the stats!" Tasso muttered.

They realized it in the first round, and were clearly even stronger in the second round.

Especially targeted defense.

Manchester United were clearly better prepared, their players were more familiar with the game, and their execution was more effective.

I checked the time; 15 minutes had already passed.

Martino glanced at the game on the field again, his gaze involuntarily falling on Cleverley.

Wearing the number 23 jersey, he looked like he really was Beckham from his Real Madrid days.

In the central midfield, Carrick is mainly responsible for organizing and dropping deep.

Cleverley's job was to run.

Whether it was Neymar playing on the right wing before, or Messi now switching to the right wing, Cleverley always has to be in a defensive position to protect Ashley Young whenever the ball reaches Barcelona's right wing, thus minimizing the space for Barcelona's right winger to cut inside.

Without his inside cut, Neymar is alright, but Messi's threat level is greatly reduced.

If Alves comes up to receive the pass, Cleverley must immediately mark him.

Harvey came up, and Cleverley was the one who swept through.

Sometimes, even when Iniesta comes on and Carrick is further back, it's Cleverley who goes up.

In short, his tireless running was designed to prevent Barcelona from easily passing the ball out.

He does this when defending, and he also needs to keep running and supporting when attacking.

Just talking about such a heavy task makes Martino feel tired, let alone actually carrying it out on the field.

But from the start of the game until now, this number 23 is just like Beckham in his last season at Real Madrid, focusing solely on running.

"If Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, and Busquets could run like Manchester United's number 23, we wouldn't be in such a passive position at all," Martino said with a hint of envy.

"Yes, youth is wonderful!" Adrian Coria nodded.

"Cleverley's individual abilities are indeed limited, but his tactical execution and accuracy are really good."

"That's normal. If he didn't have tactical execution and a high success rate, he wouldn't have a foothold at Manchester United." Tasso echoed this sentiment, "Manchester United has never lacked players like that, like Cleverley and Fletcher."

Whether a player has the individual ability or not is obvious.

Just like Cleverley and Fletcher.

In midfield, let alone world-class tackling experts like Gattuso and Davies, if they had the tackling ability of Liverpool's Lucas Leiva or Bayern Munich's Hargreaves, Manchester United's midfield would be at least a level above.

Furthermore, there's no need to rely on constantly burning physical energy to maintain the team's tactics, as is the case now.

Generally speaking, individual defense has two objectives: one is to steal the ball.

This is something every team would want.

But stealing the ball isn't that easy.

Midfielders, especially those skilled at tackling, are highly sought after.

What if one's personal abilities are insufficient?

The second self-mark is to drive away and refuse.

The best approach is to deny the target entry into your defensive zone.

Once inside, they are driven away and forced to leave.

The biggest difference between the two is that the second objective does not involve stealing the ball, making it easier to achieve and ensuring better order and stability in the defense.

For example, when Guardiola took over Bayern Munich, his criticism of Jerome Boateng was: Did no one teach him how to defend?

Why?

Boateng has a habit of making sliding tackles all the time.

This is a defensive move aimed at stealing the ball.

The advantages are obvious, but the risks are also very high. If you fail to get the ball, the opponent will get past you, and the defensive order will be disrupted.

Now look at Atletico Madrid.

Simeone's team doesn't actually aim to win the ball; their goal is more about driving away and refusing to play.

This was also the case with Heynckes' Bayern Munich team last season.

Therefore, their possession rate can be very low, but their defense is excellent and very solid!

This was evident in tonight's match, where Barcelona began to control possession but were unable to penetrate Manchester United's defensive heartland.

They were even forced to cross from the wing.

Thinking of this, Martino turned his head and glanced at Yang Fan in front of the home team's coaching bench.

Every time he saw Yang Fan, he couldn't help but be amazed by Yang Fan's youth.

Yet, at such a young age, with no coaching experience, he managed to set up such a defensive formation—

"He either has a powerful backer, or, as Ferguson said, he's a prodigy!"

As Martino muttered to himself, Manchester United seized another opportunity and launched a counter-attack.

"Manchester United intercepted the ball on their own left flank."

"Barcelona made a passing error, Cleverley intercepted it midway and passed it to the left wing."

"Ashley Young leads a counter-attack."

"Look at this, Manchester United's fast counter-attack."

"One against three, Ashley Young was shut down on the left flank, but he still tried to dribble."

"Referee Eriksson blows his whistle."

"Alves fouled from behind, yellow card!"

"Even when facing three defenders, Ashley Young still dared to dribble past them."

"This is also the biggest change in Manchester United players since Yang Fan took over as coach; everyone looks more confident."

"Take the free kick quickly."

"Pass it back to Cleverley."

"Without stopping the ball, he launched a long pass directly behind the Barcelona defense."

"Van Persie————"

"The ball has gone out of bounds."

"Pique blocked Van Persie with his body this time, giving the Dutchman no chance."

"We saw Van Persie give Cleverley a thumbs up."

"That was a really good pass. If Van Persie had started his run a little earlier, he would have had the ball."

"It's now the 19th minute of the match."

"Barcelona's goal kick."

"But Manchester United showed no sign of backing down and continued to press high up the pitch."

Pinto kicked it straight at the goalkeeper.

"The ball landed in midfield, and Cleverley and Xavi jumped at the same time to contest for the header."

Cleverley gets the ball and heads it back to Carrick.

"Barcelona are starting to press forward."

"Carrick has no defenders pressing him, let's see how he handles it."

"Another long pass, still to the left side of the attacking third."

"Fellaini!"

When Fellaini got to the best position and jumped up to contest the header, Mascherano behind him could not even jump, except to block him with his body.

The difference is just too big!

But having learned from their previous encounters, Barcelona were more cautious this time.

Fellaini flicked the ball with his head, trying to deflect it behind Mascherano.

Pique was prepared, and he and Van Persie rushed forward at the same time, jumping simultaneously to contest the header.

In the end, Pique came out on top and headed the ball away first.

But under Van Persie's interference, Pique's header went high and far, landing in the central arc area.

Busquets immediately chased back, and when the ball came down, he kicked it away to clear the danger zone.

Just then, a red figure rushed over, bravely turning to the side and using its body to block the attack.

Busquets' clearance hit Rooney squarely and bounced towards the right side of the penalty spot in the penalty area.

Rooney rushed forward quickly.

Busquets was taken aback and immediately followed, leaning his body firmly against Rooney's left shoulder, trying to force Rooney to walk out.

Rooney held off Busquets' physical challenge, first gently adjusting the ball with his foot before chasing after it and unleashing a powerful shot from near the right corner of the six-yard box.

The whole process happens in the blink of an eye.

All anyone heard was a loud bang, and then they saw Lu Xiaopang's powerful shot, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, soar over Pinto's head and strike the lower edge of the goal crossbar, bouncing and deflecting into Barcelona's goal.

Rooney lost his balance and fell inside Barcelona's penalty area.

But the next moment, referee Eriksson blew the whistle to confirm the goal.

"GOALLLLLLLL!!!!

"My God, the 19th minute! The 19th minute! Manchester United scores again!"

"Rooney's powerful shot inside the penalty area has breached Barcelona's goal once again."

"3 to 0!"

"The final score is 5-1!"

"This is absolutely unbelievable!"

"But that's football!"

"It always manages to bring unexpected surprises when no one expects it!"

"Before tonight, who would have thought that Manchester United would score three goals in the opening 20 minutes?"

"We all know that Barcelona's away record has always been terrible, but we never expected that they would concede three goals in the opening game tonight."

"Barcelona are now down by four goals. Do they still have a chance to turn things around?"

When Yang Fan saw Rooney score, he was so excited that he almost rushed out of the command area.

He even clenched his fists and shouted loudly, venting his inner excitement.

He had considered trying to get off to a good start, but he never expected it to go so smoothly and be so effective.

3 is better than 0!

Is Barcelona too weak, or Manchester United too strong?

Or, both?

After the initial excitement subsided, Yang Fan looked at the scoreboard. Instead of seeing a 3-0 score, he saw the Champions League semi-final beckoning to him.

Looking at the pitch, the Barcelona players were clearly demoralized and none of them seemed excited.

Yang Fan actually realized this from the very beginning of the competition.

The current Barcelona team has many problems, not just with Xavi, Iniesta, and Busquets, but also with Messi, Fabregas, and the defense.

The most obvious thing is that their running ability is severely lacking.

Of course, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

Even if Barcelona is bad, they're still Barcelona!

As soon as the players finished celebrating their goal, Yang Fan immediately went to the sidelines and loudly reminded them to stay alert.

"Keep playing like this, steadily and surely."

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Next, Manchester United will face a counterattack from Barcelona!