Football: The butcher in the midfield at the start, the magic bird stunned

Chapter 396 Have you all forgotten that I am a midfielder?
0 to 5. In the end, Manchester United defeated Southampton with 5 goals in the away game and entered the semi-finals of the League Cup.

The next day, when they returned to Manchester, their opponents in the semi-finals also came out, and Chen Xiaoliang met his "old club" - Tottenham Hotspur.

According to the rules, there will be two home and away rounds in the semi-finals. The first round will be played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London on January 2024, 1. A week later, the two teams will move to Old Trafford to fight again. second round.

由于英超在1月1日至1月13日设置了两周的冬歇期，也就意味着曼联12月31日在客场踢完对热刺的联赛之后，将紧接着再与热刺交战两场。

As soon as the schedule was released, it was immediately discussed by the media.

"Levi's narrow vision missed an absolute superstar like Chen Xiaoliang"

"The current Sun Xingmin can still walk a few rounds in the hands of Chen Xiaoliang"

“哈里·凯恩、30岁、0冠军；陈小亮19岁、8座冠军、1次金球”

Topics like this are endless.

There is no harm without comparison, but competitive sports exist on the basis of comparison and confrontation.

In addition to the eagerly awaited media, there are two groups of people waiting for Manchester United and Chen Xiaoliang in Manchester.

The first group was Newcastle United, who arrived in Manchester one day earlier than Manchester United.

Head coach Eddie Howe strategically withdrew from the League Cup early and selectively, allowing the team to maintain sufficient rotation space and physical reserves.

11 wins, 6 draws and 39 points remain unbeaten. Although because of a little more draws, they are 2 points behind Liverpool and temporarily ranked 4th, and they are only 1 point ahead of Chelsea behind them. Ping, also remained undefeated, and finally qualified first.

Eddie Howe's secret is one word - keep.

However, it is not an iron barrel formation with a bus to defend, but a fierce and pressing defense from the frontcourt by constantly using running and pressing.

Some fans will say that Klopp plays like this, but Eddie Howe's team is obviously different.

第1、纽卡更年轻。24岁的伊萨克、26岁的吉马良斯、24岁的乔·威洛克、还有夏天从布莱顿买来的22岁的凯塞多，整个中前场都是一票生龙活虎的小伙子，从巴塞罗那买来的27岁的拉菲尼亚都算是老将了。

2. Their pressing is more ruthless, fiercer, and has more direct physical confrontation.This stems from Eddie Howe's devilish training intensity.

Although high-intensity training will affect the fatigue recovery of players, but relying on the number of soldiers and generals, high-pressure training can actually improve the tactical execution ability of players on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also make these players come to the Saudi tyrants. , Young people who get high salaries don't have the extra energy to spend time, drink and have fun at night.

Last season, Newcastle ranked fourth in the league, conceding 4 goals in 38 rounds, tied with Manchester City for the fewest goals conceded.

This season, Newcastle temporarily ranks 4th in the league, conceding 17 goals in 10 rounds, ranking first among 20 teams.

Although their 32 goals are the second-to-last in the BIG7, only better than the headless Tottenham, but they have a huge advantage in this game, that is, they have rested for a full week, unlike Manchester United , Just finished playing Southampton away on the 2nd, returned to Manchester for half a day to recover, and had to play another game at noon on the 22th.

With 3 goals and 1 assist, Chen Xiaoliang clocked in for more than 60 minutes in the last game and got 18 skill points.

However, the rewards are cashed out here (17→35), and it is reminded that since they are facing a low-level league team, the conditions are not enough to trigger the multiple rewards for cup hat-tricks...

But 4 breakthrough points are given (49→53)

Well, think about it... They are already full-level bosses, so they can't rely on refreshing the weak chickens in the hand village to gain experience...

After the game, Chen Xiaoliang only participated in 1 hour of recovery training, and practiced tactical running with the team members for 1 hour, saving a pitiful 2 training points (12 → 14)

At 2023:12 on December 24, 14, in the heavy snow like goose feathers, Chen Xiaoliang and his teammates put on long-sleeved jerseys and walked into Old Trafford.

Although the stadium does not have a switchable roof, the floor heating under the lawn has already been turned on. No matter how heavy the snow is, it will turn into water when it falls on the lawn, and it will be discharged through the drainage system immediately.

And this game also used the winter ball of the Premier League this season. The eye-catching bright yellow bottom with blue-purple red lines is also particularly eye-catching in snowy days.

The starting lineups of both teams have changed a lot from last season.

Most of Manchester United's players did not play in the last League Cup:
Goalkeeper De Gea, who took a break in the League Cup, returned to the starting lineup;
Four defenders Wan Bissaka, Varane, Lima, Timber;

Midfielder Fred, Casemiro, central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang;

Left winger Kwa, center Sesco, right winger Rashford.

Newcastle:

Goalkeeper Nick Pope;

Back four: Dan Byrne, Portman, Shar, Captain Trippier;
Three midfielders Caicedo, Guimaraes, Willock;

Left winger Joe Linton, center Isaac, right winger Rafinha.

From the very beginning, Newcastle immediately showed the momentum of waiting for work and turning away from customers.

In the 34th second, Fred received the ball in the backcourt. He just turned around and wanted to go forward, but he was pressed by Joelinton.

Fred didn't dare to stick the ball, and immediately kicked up his left foot, trying to pass the ball to Casemiro on the left, but as soon as the ball went out, it was interrupted by the retreating Isaac.

"Uh…"

The fans booed immediately, and Fred himself felt very embarrassed. He also knew that after the team confirmed that he would buy Milinkovic, he was in a very bad situation, so he immediately ran after Isaac. go.

Lima, who was standing behind, didn't expect Fred to throw the ball so casually, and immediately rushed up to block it, while Isaac had already raised his right foot, and was about to pass the ball to his teammate Lafite on the right. nia.

But Fred, who was behind Isaac, was in a hurry. Seeing Isaac's kick, he thought he was going to hit the door directly, and immediately stretched his legs to interfere from behind.

"Beep!"

In this difficult defensive action, the chance of fouling is twice as high as the chance of success. Before Fred's left leg touched the ball, he touched Isaac's right foot. The latter followed the trend and referee Andy ·Medley immediately blew the whistle, fouled from behind, blocked the attack, received a yellow card, and gave Newcastle a free kick about 1 meter away from the top of the penalty area.

Now, even De Gea, who usually has a good relationship with Fred, shook his head.

His reckless behavior turned an attack that was not too threatening into a free kick in an excellent position.

Veteran Trippier stood on the penalty spot, Manchester United formed a wall with six people, and the remaining Chen Xiaoliang and Casemiro were responsible for filling defense in the penalty area.

The wall is placed in front of Trippier's right, while De Gea is standing on the left side of the goal.

"Beep!"

The referee blew his whistle again, Trippier took two steps to run up, and rubbed the instep of his right foot under the ball!
The ball immediately pulled up on the spot, bypassed the heads of Rashford and Timber on the right side of the wall, barely fell, and flew directly into the dead corner of the upper right corner of the goal!

Lou Yichen: "Wow! Veteran Kieran Trippier! A free kick to the dead corner! Only one and a half minutes into the opening game, Newcastle United took the lead!"

Liu Yue: "This ball is very similar to the goal scored by Trippier in England's match against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup. It is almost the same position, the same footwork, and the same full moon as Beckham. Scimitar free kick."

Lou Yichen: "The camera was first aimed at the helpless De Gea, and then at Livakovic on the bench."

"Livakovic, as the second goal, played once in the Champions League group stage this season and 1 times in the cup. He is in good condition without conceding a goal."

"However, in the World Cup in 18, Trippier broke the gate of the old goalkeeper Subasic."

Liu Yue: "Like De Gea just arrived at Manchester United not long ago, it was almost the same dead corner. He saved a free kick from Mata who was still at Chelsea at the time."

"Lian Po is old, can he still eat?"

After losing the ball, Fred kept muttering to himself, not knowing whether he was blaming himself or praying to God that he could make up for his mistakes.

But in any case, his ending has been determined. Van der Sar has finalized the transfer of him to Fulham for a transfer fee of 2750 million pounds. necessary behavior.

But in the case that Milinkovic will be in place after the winter window opens, facing Newcastle's muscles and speed in the frontcourt today, Fred is indeed better than the technical B Fee and Eriksson. easy to use.

It's just that even the fans know that Fred is a ghost. It seems that he has evolved today and won the "God-level Ghost Card".

Chen Xiaoliang encouraged his teammates, then raised his hand to tell the Manchester United fans not to stop cheering, then returned to his seat and let Sesco drive the ball in the center circle.

"Beep!"

Two and a half minutes into the game, the referee blew his whistle four times. After Sesco kicked off, Newcastle continued to play hard and hard. Manchester United's backcourt players also had to wait for Fred to catch the ball. Consciously do a good job of adequate protection.

In the 7th minute, Chen Xiaoliang advanced with the ball in the middle, and was immediately double-teamed by Willock and Caicedo.

These two black players are young and strong, with a great range of movement. Although Caicedo is partial and Willock is partial in terms of ability, they have not compromised in the execution of head coach Eddie Howe's tactics. place.

As a teammate, I like such a player the most, but as an opponent, he will become the most troublesome existence.

The two people who had shrunk their formation for a quick press quickly posted up without waiting for Chen Xiaoliang to get up to speed. Any one of the units was one-on-one, and Chen Xiaoliang could use his explosive power to push the opponent away and then speed up to get rid of it.

But this is football after all, you have to control the ball with your feet, push the ground with force, and keep your body balanced.

Caicedo's stealing ability is very strong. Chen Xiaoliang has watched his video and the scouting information of the coaching staff in detail.

If your own dribbling ability of 18 is the standard, Caicedo's stealing ability is at least 18 or above.

If he had just arrived in Rome two years ago, he would have chosen to continue playing. Even if he was cut off, he could still try to get the ball back by counterattacking.

But now 1 goal behind at home, and because of the reckless mistakes of his teammates, he, who is already the spiritual pillar of the whole team, can no longer choose to act emotionally at this juncture.

He stepped on the ground with his right foot and used the right side of his body to hold Willock, who was relatively weaker of the two. He quickly shot the ball with his left foot, and pushed a diagonal line to Rashford, who was running in front of the right.

Facing Rashford in the snow today is the 31-year-old giant Dan Byrne with a height of 201.

Even if you think about it with your butt, you know that such a giant facing the extremely fast Rashford should be similar to the scene of using Maguire to defend against Mbappe.

However, Newcastle had already made arrangements. As soon as Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball, the left winger Joe Linton had already chased back and stopped Rashford.

In Eddie Howe's tactics, the center shrinks to form a dense defense, and the two wings open up space. When the midfielder is there, the midfielder pulls the side to defend the wing. When the midfielder is not there, the winger retreats to defend the wing. Because the wings The final direction of attack with the ball is still in the middle, so as long as the fence in the middle is tight, opening the wings properly will not increase the threat.

After all, there are only 10 people on the field, and the area that can be covered at the same time is limited.

Joe Linton used his strong body to interfere with Rashford's starting speed. When Rashford passed him, Dan Byrne had already retreated into the penalty area, and he was still guarding against Chen Xiaoliang's threat just now. Locke has run to the rib area on the right side of the penalty area.

Rashford glanced sideways and saw Caicedo and Brazilian midfielder Guimaraes in front of Chen Xiaoliang. He couldn't pass the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang in an inverted triangle.

So he simply went to the bottom, and then swept vigorously towards the goal. Although Sesco outflanked in place in time, the ball was first destroyed by Dan Byrne, who had been prepared for a long time.

"Beep!"

Manchester United right corner.

Kwa came over to kick off and chose a tactical corner kick to return.

Chen Xiaoliang received the ball from the right and made a cross directly.

Although the ball was passed extremely accurately, and the time difference between Cesko and Varane's front and back point feints and the main attack was also in place, facing Dan Byrne with a height of 201, Bottman with a height of 195, Willock with a height of 186 and 186 Char, these two high points are really powerless.

In the set-piece defense, Dan Byrne, who mainly defends Cesco, is like a high center forward grabbing rebounds in basketball. He overwhelms Cesco with half his head and heads the ball outside the penalty area. Trippier goes up and makes a long pass. Raffini Ya rushed forward immediately.

This Brazilian star, who only stayed in Barcelona for one season and then transferred back to the Premier League, is fast, good in crossing, skilled in dribbling, and good in technique. He may be lacking in dealing with people and things.

He played 50 times on behalf of Barcelona in all competitions last season, the number of times is the same as the main goalkeeper Ter Stegen, but he is still listed by Harvey in the list of sellables, which can be used to exchange funds and keep other things he wants. There are many players who can stay in the team, such as De Gea's favorite midfielder Frankie de Jong.

Back in the Premier League, Rafinha has no other requirements, but wants to be the absolute main force of a Champions League team.

As a "luxury" bought for 8000 million euros, Eddie Howe naturally met his requirements.

Rafinha ran wildly with the ball, and Timber, who stayed behind, gave Lima a gesture to let him defend the middle, while he kept running back in front of Rafinha.

The rest of the players, regardless of offense or defense, rushed from near Newcastle's penalty area to Manchester United's half.

Timbell retreated until he was almost at the left corner of his penalty area, turned around, and bent over to face Rafinha in a defensive posture.

Rafinha cuts directly inside. As a left-footed right winger, cutting inside is his special skill.

This is also one of the reasons why Ten Hag asked Timber to play as a left back tonight. Although the right-footed defender will be worse offensively when playing the left-back, it is just right for the left-footed right-winger in defense.

Timber was not shaken by Rafinha's first step, and walked in close to him.

Rafinha kicked, Timber thought he was going to shoot, and immediately stretched his legs to block!
However, it was not stopped, and Timbell immediately realized that it was a cross!
The ball flew over the head of Lima, who was defending in the middle, and flew to the back point!
Lou Yichen: "Click to plug in later!"

"Oh!"

"Isaac, Isaac, almost can help the team firmly grasp the victory!"

Liu Yue: "Rafinha still passed a high-quality cross despite Timber's interference."

"Lima defends second and prevents Rafinha from passing Timber and directly threatening the goal, and also cuts off his route for the high-speed Isaac to pass the ground ball, so he can only stand there."

"I didn't expect that Isaac rushed a little slowly, and Rafinha's left-footed pass arced towards the bottom line. His header failed to fully hit the ball. In the end, he rushed into the goal, but the ball Grabbed the left column and flew out."

Lou Yichen: "The referee Andy Medley seems to be communicating with the video referee team, and both De Gea and Isaac fell to the ground in the penalty area. De Gea on the ball collided and it seemed to be a hard hit."

Barrage:

[Friendly reminder, Rafinha only needs 8000 million euros, and Compass is sitting on the bench]

[There are so many good players in Brazil, but they just bought Fred and Anthony, two crouching dragons and phoenixes]

[Anthony take a good look, what is a winger! 】

...

The fans complained for a while, and the team doctors of both sides entered the field. After being prompted by the video referee team, the referee confirmed that Isaac did not hit the ball, and gave him a yellow card for obviously colliding with the goalkeeper.

The players of Newcastle were still not convinced and came up to appeal, but the referee made an elbow movement, which was exactly the same as Isaac's movement when he saw that he could not reach the ball and was about to collide with De Gea in the slow motion of returning to defense. .

Chen Xiaoliang immediately ran to De Gea's side.

De Gea, who was lying on his back, pointed to the right side of his chest. After pressing it lightly, the team doctor asked a few more words, turned his head and made a gesture of substitution to Ten Hag.

Livakovic, who was sitting on the bench, was immediately notified by assistant coach Van der Garhe, stood up and took off his thick coat. The prop manager and Sanmen Heaton would also rush over to help him put it on. Put on gloves.

The score fell behind, there was no threatening attack, and the main goalkeeper was injured and left the field, which made all Manchester United fans feel "thumped".

Some rested their cheeks in contemplation, and some prayed that De Gea would not be seriously injured.

But when they saw De Gea leaving the field on a stretcher, the fans still gave a loud applause.

Chen Xiaoliang accompanied the stretcher and escorted him all the way to the sidelines.

Then after Livakovic was allowed to enter the field by the fourth official, he was caught by Chen Xiaoliang who wanted to rush towards the goal.

"Relax, just like we usually do in extra training." Chen Xiaoliang said in his mouth, but he didn't look at Livakovic.

He was facing the fans in the stands around him, raised his hands to point at Livakovic, and then kept raising his hands.

The Manchester United players and staff on and off the field immediately applauded, and soon, the Manchester United fans burst into shouts and applause, cheering for the goalkeeper who was ordered in danger.

The referee blew the whistle to signal Livakovic to be in place quickly, and Chen Xiaoliang patted Livakovic on the back: "Go, believe in yourself, or tomorrow's extra practice will shoot you to death!"

Livakovic's spirit was lifted, and he was infinitely grateful. He waved to Chen Xiaoliang while running, and then raised his hands to thank the fans for their encouragement.

In this way, under the leadership of Chen Xiaoliang, the original setback turned into an expedition ceremony to rekindle the fighting spirit of the audience.

This is the so-called sad soldier must win.

The game continued, and the energetic Newcastle still carried out a strong high press and midfield strangle.

Facing such an opponent, one must be patient.

Chen Xiaoliang changed his previous style of playing wide open and close, left and right, and opened up an unprecedented mode in the middle of the midfield.

In the attack, if he is asked to shave his hair and the two sides change jerseys again, many old fans will definitely feel that they are watching a Real Madrid game, and the person who organizes in the midfield is Zidane.

Thousands of flowers pass through, and no leaf sticks to the body.

Whether it's Caicedo or Willock, Isaac or Joelinton, they didn't even have a chance to post Chen Xiaoliang in defense.

In the 13th minute, Casemiro took the ball and Chen Xiaoliang retreated to catch the ball.

Caicedo pressed forward, and Isaac immediately retreated to double-team.

Chen Xiaoliang half-turned and sent a long pass directly with his left foot. Sesco in the middle rushed forward for a while, leaning against Guimarães with his back, and after taking off, pushed the ball back to the adducted Kwa. Kwa's right foot was flat. The ball was shot vigorously and Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope fell to the ground and hugged him.

In the 16th minute, Lima broke the ball from Isaac's feet on the penalty area line and stabbed it to Fred. Fred, who didn't dare to make any more mistakes, chose the safest way and immediately passed it to the right side away from himself. The nearest and unguarded Wan-Bissaka.

Wan Bissaka watched Fred throw the blame to himself, while Joelinton had already started to his own, and immediately passed it to Rashford in front.

Rashford dribbled the ball forward, but was immediately blocked by Willock. He saw that his teammates in front were not in place, so he stepped on the ball and stopped, turned around and passed it back to Chen Xiaoliang in the middle.

Chen Xiaoliang caught the ball in an open space, and then made a move that amazed all the fans!
After receiving the ball, he turned the ball 360° on the spot with his right foot. When he turned halfway and faced his own goal, he flicked the ball behind him with his right foot towards the front field, and then turned around. After that, he immediately ran up towards the ball.

Caesedo, who was about to pounce on him just now, froze for a moment. He didn't know what Chen Xiaoliang was going to do. He thought he was going to catch the ball and pass it. At this time, he saw him go up to dribble the ball and started to speed up again.

However, he missed again, Chen Xiaoliang caught up with the ball, quickly made a gesture with his left hand, and then swept his right foot at the same time, sending a long pass directly to the forward field!
The fans who were surprised by Chen Xiaoliang's turn and shouted "Oh!" immediately fell into the doubt of "Huh?"

But as soon as the doubt arises, the answer is revealed.

Cesko, who was at the top, shot out in front of Shar and behind Botman in a diagonal stab. The moment Chen Xiaoliang's long pass came out, he started at a high speed and rushed up against offside.

One step inside the penalty area, the ball landed accurately on his feet, then bounced, landed on the turf in front of him, and then bounced slightly.

Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope looked at the route of the ball and Cesko's anti-offside running, and predicted that the two central defenders would be passed, and immediately attacked from the small penalty area!

Lou Yichen: "Good shot! Sesco stopped beautifully!"

"Shoot!"

"Oh! This ball is beautiful!!!"

"A connection of more than 60 meters!"

"Xiao Liang's pass is accurate, Cesko's shot is coquettish!"

Liu Yue: "Whether it's Manchester United's main attack on both sides after the start of the game, or the occasional hit in the middle to let Cesco head the ball back, it seems that Cesco is still playing the role of fulcrum in this game. The real threat still comes from the wings."

"But in this kind of inertial thinking, Xiaoliang suddenly came unexpectedly, and directly used the most direct long pass to penetrate Newcastle's dense defense in the middle, and the two central defenders were caught off guard by Cesco. The joint, of course, stopped really well, and the lob shot was also very clever."

After scoring the goal, Sesco ran to the sidelines to celebrate, and kept turning his head to wave to Chen Xiaoliang.

Chen Xiaoliang happily ran up, and the two clapped hands in celebration.

"Liangzi!" He has called this title for three years, and he learned it from Wu Lei when he was in Rome.

"They even forgot that you are a midfielder! Haha."

Chen Xiaoliang: "You talk a lot, haha."

Casemiro, who was also smiling on the side, said to Sesco: "Can you not flatter too much, can you blame others? Have you ever seen a midfielder who has scored more than 20 goals before half a season? ?”

Chen Xiaoliang laughed out loud.

Cesko was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized, and gently pushed Casemiro: "Old Ka, you will still say that this angle is great, I will learn it next time!"

Chen Xiaoliang stretched out his hands, palms up, and Casemiro and Cesko, who were on his left and right, immediately stretched out their hands and patted his palms.

The other teammates on the side walked back, laughing at their conversation just now.

Chen Xiaoliang: "It's just an equalizer! There is still a lot of time in the game, let's get the scene back!"

Everyone: "Good!"

In the stands, Sir Alex Ferguson and former Manchester United CEO David Gill, who were sitting together watching the game, also applauded happily.

David Gill: "Sir, have you ever imagined that if you were 20 years younger, you could coach him."

Ferguson smiled so that his eyes narrowed into a line: "I don't need to be 20 years younger, I want to know that the club can buy him, and I won't retire ten years ago."

After a pause, he added: "That guy Eric (Ten Hag) won't have a heart attack. If I were him, I would sit leisurely on the sidelines without even blinking my eyebrows. "

David Gill: "Such a high evaluation? Then you say, he or Cristiano back then, who is better?"

Ferguson waved his hand: "Haha, why are you like those boring reporters?"

He coughed and said, "Does this still need to be said?"

"How much effort I put into getting that kid into the Ballon d'Or position."

"And the person in front of us is already a Golden Globe winner. He will definitely win more than 5, or even more than 7."

　Thanks to the club's chief director [Yu Qingfeng] for the 4 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [Visible Invisible Man] for the 4 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [Book Sea Glutton] for the 3 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [July Snow Night] for the 2 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [I am also crazy] for the 2 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [book friend tail number 15192] for the 2 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the club executive director [Zai Lan] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [Jue Ai Death] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [Aiguaren] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [book friend tail number 14722] for the monthly pass!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)