host must win

Chapter 269 Struggling
Manchester United fell unexpectedly, and Arsenal seized the opportunity. They beat Aston Villa 2-0 in the away game, narrowing the gap with Manchester United to 4 points.

Instead, Chelsea played a dull battle with the defensively strong Birmingham at home, and ended up with a goalless draw.

The away game made Yin Jun feel a little unhappy, but when he returned to his home in Manchester, he was in a better mood, because his parents and second sister came to the UK to spend the Spring Festival with him.

During this Spring Festival, although Manchester United did not play for 8 days, Yin Jun did not plan to return to China, so his family still came to Manchester to accompany him for the Spring Festival.

The family of four spent another Spring Festival in a foreign country. Yin Jun's house was very lively, because Sun Jihai's family and Xiao Dong, who hadn't been to Belgium for the time being, all spent the New Year together at Yin Jun's house.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, his parents and second sister returned to China, while Yin Jun continued to prepare for the competition.

The following week is the FA Cup match, Manchester United's opponent is Northampton in the third division.Ferguson did not hesitate to carry out a big rotation. Captain Roy Keane and Howard were placed on the bench. Yin Jun, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Giggs and Gary Neville did not go to the away game with the team. Phil · Neville and Ferdinand are both suspended.Belgian central defender Van Buyten, who had just signed for Manchester United, was unable to represent the new owner in the FA Cup.

The last time Northampton played against Manchester United in the FA Cup dates back to 1970. George Best contributed 8 goals in an 2-6 game.

The difference in strength between the two teams is too huge. Even if Manchester United has rotated many main players, it is still not something that Northampton can match.The Red Devils got a penalty kick in the 3rd minute, but Forlan missed the ball.However, in the ensuing game, Manchester United scored a goal from Sylvester and Forlan respectively, coupled with the opponent's own goal, Manchester United finally won the game 3-0 away and advanced to the FA Cup Round 5.

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During the New Year, the national team played several warm-up matches against Macedonia and Finland, each of which played 2 games.However, because the Premier League is in the middle of the game, Ali Han did not recruit Yin Jun, Sun Jihai and Li Tie who played in the Premier League.

On the last day of January, Manchester United ushered in the 1rd round of the Premier League, sitting at Old Trafford against Saints Southampton.

The number of 67758 spectators in this game set a Premier League attendance record.Manchester United coach Ferguson arranged for Van Buyten, who had just transferred, to start.

The Saints are currently ranked ninth in the Premier League, but at Old Trafford, the Red Devils have encountered a bitter battle.Southampton's offense is a bit hip, but the defense is very good. The defense line that only conceded 22 goals in 18 rounds is second only to the top three in the standings.

Yin Jun was heavily marked by Southampton in this game and still did not score a goal, but he sent two assists, which was a major contributor to Manchester United's final 3:2 victory over their opponents at home.

Van Buyten, who had just joined, still had problems with the team's cooperation, which also caused the team's defense to concede two goals.However, Van Buyten's personal defensive ability has been recognized by Ferguson.In particular, his control over high-altitude balls is extremely strong, and he is definitely an air tyrant when defending.

In this round of competition, the top three in the standings all won, and all of them narrowly won.Chelsea won Blackburn 3:2 away, while Arsenal beat Manchester City 2:1 at home.

In the match between Manchester City and Arsenal, Sun Jihai performed very well, and he did not lose the wind against Pires and others.However, there is a big gap between Manchester City's overall strength and Arsenal's, and in the end they still failed to take away points from Highbury Stadium.

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A week later, Manchester United were at Goodison Park to challenge the Toffees.Li Tie did not enter Everton's squad for this game, so the fans did not see the expected Chinese derby.

Scholes scored twice in the first half, and Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his 131th goal in 100 Manchester United games, becoming the second most efficient player in Manchester United's history. Dennis Law used 111 goals. Completed a hundred goals in a game.

Although Manchester United took a 3-goal lead at halftime, Everton, who was ashamed and courageous, once tied the score in the second half, but Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice before the end of the game to help Manchester United finally take all 3 points.

Everton's two matches against Manchester United this season were very exciting. Both games were inextricably played, and Manchester United won by a narrow margin in the end.

However, Yin Jun, who scored twice at Old Trafford, was marked again in this game and failed to score for the second consecutive game.

Before mid-January, Yin Jun scored goals again and again, and the number of goals was rising steadily.But after winning the second player of the month this season, Yin Jun's scoring luck seems to have run out, and he failed to score in three consecutive league games.

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Not scoring in three games is actually not a big deal, after all, for professional players, not scoring in three consecutive games is simply too common.

However, when some British media reported on the game after the game, they focused on this matter. It seemed that apart from Yin Jun not scoring in three consecutive rounds, the game between Manchester United and Everton was lackluster. It's easy to say.

They deliberately highlighted the fact that Yin Jun didn't score a goal, and they hyped that Yin Jun had misfired for three consecutive league rounds, making people think that Yin Jun had really encountered the biggest crisis in his career:

"...In the focus of this round of the Premier League game that ended yesterday, Manchester United beat Everton 4:3 in an away game. Yin Jun, Manchester United's leading striker, suffered a setback. He was unable to score in the game for a long time. It’s as if it’s less than a shooting boot..."

If there are those who don't pay attention to what happened in this game at all, and only rely on the reports to understand Yin Jun's current situation, then they will definitely think that Yin Jun's performance in the game is very bad, and they may even have lost the initiative. The trust of the coach, and even the starting qualifications are about to be lost... But in fact, Yin Jun, who was said to be so serious by these media, just failed to score in three consecutive games.It's just that after their interpretation, this very common thing seems to hide a very big hidden danger.

"This is the first time that Yin Jun has failed to score in two or more consecutive league rounds this season. Before, he always scored consecutive goals, and at most interrupted one game in the middle...Although this is the first time, it is the first time that he is in the top scorer list. Yin Jun, who is making great strides, may indicate that his physical fitness and state will inevitably decline as the schedule is halfway through. The exaggerated state of the first half of the season will no longer exist..."

"What's even more frightening is that fans who are used to Yin Jun scoring consecutive goals will criticize Yin Jun's current sluggish state? Will it bring huge pressure to Yin Jun? Under such internal and external troubles, Yin Jun's own Will the mentality change? So don’t underestimate the fact that you have not scored in three consecutive rounds. This may be a harbinger of collapse..."

(End of this chapter)