Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 443 Ling Feng's addiction is not something every team can suffer from
The score of 4 to 2 was a barely acceptable result for both sides.

Monaco lost the game.

But getting two away goals at Old Trafford means that Monaco only needs to score two goals to eliminate Manchester United after returning to their home ground.

As for Manchester United, they won the game at home.

However, they did not kill their opponents in the first round.

It also gives the opponent the possibility of a comeback.

Therefore, Manchester United cannot take the second leg of the match lightly and must strive to secure their qualification for the next round away from home!

However, this is ultimately a valuable victory that turned the tables.

Both Mourinho and the fans were satisfied with the team's performance in the second half.

After the game, Mbappe on the bench took the initiative to find Ling Feng and asked to exchange jerseys.

Unfortunately, he was still a step slow.

B Silva, who was defeated head-on by Ling Feng in the European Youth Championship and the Champions League knockout rounds, took the initiative to ask Ling Feng to exchange jerseys at the end of the game.

And Ling Feng also agreed.

Seeing the disappointment that was hard to conceal on Mr. Mu's face, Ling Feng agreed to go back to the locker room to get a spare jersey in exchange.

Although it is not Ling Feng's farewell jersey, the meaning is the same.

After exchanging jerseys in the player tunnel, the two took a photo together holding each other's jerseys.

This photo was also uploaded to Ling Feng’s social media account.

And the text says:
"Swapping jerseys with future superstar @Mbappe"

Mu also liked this post, and then replied in the comment section:

"It's my pleasure!"

Afterwards, the two people who admired each other became good friends who followed each other on social media.

For Manchester United, who have returned to the Champions League knockout stage, victory in this game is of great significance.

This means they are still very competitive in the Champions League.

Of course, the most outstanding player in this game was Ling Feng, who made two assists and two shots, creating four goals alone.

Manchester United scored four goals in the game, and each one was related to Ling Feng.

Even if victory can cover up all problems.

However, Ling Feng's dazzling individual performance also caused a topic to be hotly discussed by the media and fans again:

Is Manchester United too dependent on Ling Feng's performance?

And this topic is also a cliché.

As early as the winter transfer window when Manchester United was on a roll and won the half-season championship, remarks that Manchester United was suffering from "Ling Feng addiction" appeared on the Internet.

And Ling Feng's words about dependency are not groundless.

So far this season, Manchester United has scored 72 goals in the Premier League and 18 goals in the Champions League, a total of a terrifying 90 goals!
Ling Feng made 22 appearances in the league, contributing 26 goals and 7 assists, and six appearances in the Champions League, contributing 9 goals and assists.

In total, he contributed 29 goals and 35 assists!
In other words, out of Manchester United's 90 goals, Ling Feng was directly involved in 64 of them!
More than two-thirds of the goals were created by the Red Devils' No. 7.

It is conceivable how much influence Ling Feng has on Manchester United's offense.

It is no exaggeration to say that Ling Feng alone carried the offensive banner of Manchester United!

If it weren't for his joining, Manchester United would never have transformed from a team with poor offensive power last season to the team with the most powerful offensive firepower in the entire Premier League!

As the world's most popular football club, any news related to Manchester United will receive huge attention.

What’s more, the person being talked about is Ling Feng, the “third best player in the world” who recently won the third place in the Ballon d’Or and was selected into the FIFA Team of the Year!
The next day, Liverpool's famous "Big Mouth" Carragher said in an interview:

"Congratulations to Manchester United for their first win in the Champions League knockout stage after three years."

"In this game, Ling Feng once again turned the tide and saved the team from dire straits."

"But it's not a good thing for Manchester United to rely too much on Ling Feng."

"Ling Feng is an incredible super player."

"He is to Manchester United what Messi is to Barcelona and what Ronaldo is to Real Madrid."

"But the best situation for a team is to operate as a whole. For example, Manchester United has many players who can be threatening points, rather than just relying on Ling Feng."

"When a team relies too much on a certain player, it is often difficult to achieve the team's goals. Because the opponent will try every means to limit this player, and this player will sometimes be rested or injured, then the team will be greatly affected."

"Ling Feng is certainly difficult to restrict, but he will inevitably be surrounded by his opponents, which increases the risk of injury."

These remarks, which seemed to be for Manchester United's benefit, also received support from many media and industry insiders.

It is worth mentioning that most of the supporters are supporters of the BIG6 teams except Manchester United.

Obviously, they hope that through this statement, other Manchester United stars will feel resentful towards Ling Feng, thus destroying the harmonious atmosphere of the Red Devils.

Because they simply cannot beat Manchester United on the field, they can only resort to this kind of trick!
As a Premier League giant, Manchester United has long been plagued by open and covert rivalries and private competitions among its stars.

In their opinion, even if Ling Feng is very strong.

However, given his age and experience, he may not be able to convince other teammates.

However, this little thought was also seen through and refuted by others!

Among them, Neville, the former Manchester United captain and the most loyal fan of Manchester United and the most capable of bragging, who is a famous enemy of Carragher, was the first to respond on social media:
"Shit!"

"If you say Manchester United is too dependent on Ling Feng's performance, that's for sure. But if you say other players are not threatening, that's a lie!"

"Rooney, Martial, Rashford, Lingard and others surrounded Ling Feng and made contributions to the team!"

Then, Neville directly listed the number of goals and assists scored by Manchester United players in the same period last season, as well as the number of goals and assists scored this season.

After comparison, it is obvious that compared with last season, under the leadership of Ling Feng, the offensive efficiency of Manchester United's frontcourt players has been significantly improved!
"What's more, not every team can suffer from Ling Feng's addiction!"

Neville's response also received support from the majority of Manchester United fans.

We have Lingfeng, and we are proud!

If you have the ability, find a player as awesome as Ling Feng to rely on!

For a time, there was a heated discussion in the British football world about "Ling Feng addiction".

As for the "Ling Feng addiction" that has been talked about by the outside world, Mourinho, the head coach of Manchester United, is somewhat unhappy.

During his coaching career, from Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea to Manchester United now, each team has many big-name stars.

However, the biggest star of the whole team is always this "special one"

Now, as Manchester United advances in the Premier League and the Champions League,

Even though he was very clear about Ling Feng's importance to Manchester United, he was also pleased and happy to have such a top player under his command.

However, his inner arrogance also made him feel ignored. He was clearly the leader of the team, so why did Ling Feng receive most of the praise?

You know, football is a team sport.

In Mourinho's view, he doesn't want everyone to ignore the efforts made by himself, the coaching team, and other players behind each victory!
Just like Barcelona with Messi.

Whenever Barcelona wins, everyone will say it is Messi's credit;
No one would think that it was the coach's proper tactics that allowed Messi to play comfortably on the field and give full play to his full strength;
Nor would it be considered that other teammates were also giving their all on the field, running actively for Messi on both the offensive and defensive ends.

Once a game is lost, everyone will blame the head coach and teammates, but they forget that Messi is the one who should take the most responsibility!

Of course, Messi is also a human being and his performance also fluctuates.

However, as the team's star player, you cannot just accept all the flowers and praise when you win, you must also take on more responsibilities and obligations when you lose!
This is why Messi has always been criticized.

Because when losing, the star player of Barcelona and Argentina will always just lower his head and put his hands on his hips!

. . .

Perhaps it was to prove to everyone that Manchester United was not a one-man team;
Perhaps it was to make Ling Feng understand that in addition to his personal ability, the head coach's tactical command and the performance of other players were also very important for the team's victory.

Or maybe it is to win the championship at the lowest cost.

In the League Cup final a few days later, Mourinho made an unexpected decision:

Ling Feng, the team's star player and absolute offensive core, was placed on the bench!

When the starting lineup was announced before the game, this decision successfully attracted the attention of the media and fans.

"What? Ling Feng won't be starting in the final?"

"Did Ling Feng get injured during pre-match training?"

“I haven’t heard of any media reports!”

You know, this is the first time Manchester United has reached the League Cup final again after seven years.

As Mourinho's first cup final since taking over the Red Devils, this final is of vital significance.

As long as they win, they will be able to win the first championship trophy on the road to the Red Devils' revival!
However, Mourinho chose to let the team's top scorer and star player sit on the bench? !
It is worth mentioning that Rooney, Herrera and Martial, three regular main players, were also sitting on the bench.

This operation was interpreted by the media as "arrogance" and "conceit"

The opponent, "Saints" Southampton, felt deeply humiliated.

Mourinho's move clearly means: "I'm not afraid of you even if I let you take over!"

Southampton coach Pierre also took the opportunity to encourage his players to turn humiliation into strength:

"Gentlemen, they think they can beat us without using that number seven!"

"But we will use our actions to tell them that they are wrong! And they are extremely wrong!"

"We didn't come to Wembley to be losers!"

"Go on stage! Let them see your determination to win!"

This pre-match speech directly brought a morale boost to the Saints players.

Just as both sides lined up to enter Wembley Stadium, the live broadcast camera was repeatedly given to Ling Feng sitting on the bench.

Both media reporters and fans are guessing what the Red Devils' No. 7, the football transfer king, is thinking at this moment.

As the star player, in the crucial match of the cup final, he was kept on the bench by the head coach even though he was not suspended or injured.

Many people speculated that Ling Feng would be dissatisfied with Mourinho's decision.

Even in front of the camera!

Because, in their impression, Ling Feng is a straightforward person!

However, whenever the camera was focused on Ling Feng on the bench, he either looked relaxed or was chatting and laughing with Rooney beside him.

It seems that his mood was not affected at all by the substitute arrangement.

However, only Ling Feng himself knew that he really didn't care at all!
In fact, before the team announced the starting lineup for the final the day before, Mourinho had told him in advance that he would be on the bench for this final.

Mourinho did not say why.

Ling Feng didn't ask any questions, but accepted the decision very calmly.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with him not starting in the League Cup final.

The head coach has the final say on the lineup. If he doesn't want himself to play, he must have his reasons.

As a player, he just has to follow the coach's instructions.

It's just a job, I'm not a member of the club's management, why should I worry so much about it?

Besides, he won the League Cup, a useless cup competition with no value at all, last season.

What if we win this season? What if we don’t?

It's not a Champions League final, so I'm just a substitute.

What's more, it's not like Manchester United will definitely not be able to beat Southampton without me.

Without me, Mourinho's Manchester United, which has players like Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Kante and others, would not be able to beat even a small team like Southampton. That would be too weak!

As it turns out, without Ling Feng, this Manchester United team would have much less threat and variety on the offensive end.

However, with Lingard replacing Rooney, the passing and cutting cooperation in the frontcourt can still be accelerated.

Moreover, under Mourinho's coaching, and with Kante, the Premier League's top midfielder who was abducted by Ling Feng, Manchester United's defense is definitely one of the best in the Premier League.

At the beginning of the game, although they were caught off guard by the high-spirited Southampton, they almost lost the ball.

Fortunately, De Gea made a great save to prevent the team from falling behind in the first ten minutes of the game.

Then, seeing the opponent's state, Mourinho waved his hand and decisively let the team retreat to the midline and focus on defensive counterattacks.

The Saints pressed forward without hesitation, launching wave after wave of attacks on Manchester United.

Little did they know that this was exactly what Mourinho wanted to see!

With the departure of Mane and Pelle, and midfielder Wanyama joining Tottenham, Southampton's squad strength has also improved.
Although the defense is led by Van Dijk, the defense is still solid.

But their weak performance on the offensive end prevented them from posing much threat.

However, after the signing of Gabiadini, a goal-scoring striker, in the winter window, the Saints' offense improved after the team changed to a 442 formation.

In this game, they made full use of the two flanks, avoiding Kante and Fellaini in the middle, constantly passing the ball and creating trouble for the forwards.

However, while they repeatedly posed threats to Manchester United's defense, their formation was too aggressive, leaving a huge gap behind them.

It was Mata, who replaced Ling Feng as the starting player in this game. In the 23rd minute of the game, he sent a lob ball to Lingard who was on the right.

The latter dribbled the ball down the field and completed a reverse triangle pass.

Ibrahimovic took a smart step back and shot into the far corner, scoring the first goal for the team!

(End of this chapter)