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

Chapter 444 League Cup Winner!
Looking at Ibrahimovic celebrating wildly with his arms open, tens of thousands of Saints fans in Wembley Stadium all showed disappointment.

You know, Southampton had not conceded a single goal in the League Cup this season before entering the final against Manchester United.

Even in the two rounds against Liverpool, the opponent did not score a goal.

The defensive skills are evident!
It is worth mentioning that a reporter told Ibrahimovic this news before the game.

The Swedish tower's response was also quite domineering:

That’s because you haven’t met me!
The great thing about Ibrahimovic is that he can often turn his boasts into reality!

With Ibrahimovic's goal, he not only ended the Saints' zero-block record in the League Cup this season, but also made himself the second oldest scorer in the League Cup final after George Eastham in 1972!
After taking the lead, Manchester United played more easily.

Although compared with Ling Feng, Mata's personal ability and physical fitness have obvious gaps.

However, his footwork and passing vision, especially in terms of linking attacks, are definitely top-notch in the entire Premier League midfield.

Seeing Mata running tirelessly and actively on the field and constantly threading the needle in the frontcourt, both the fans in the stands and the media reporters in front of the TV sincerely respected Mata's professional attitude!

You know, in the winter window three years ago, Mata, who lost his starting position in Chelsea, was sold to Manchester United by the then head coach Mourinho for 3700 million pounds.

At the time, the relationship between Mata and Mourinho was bad, and Mata had no shortage of criticisms and accusations against the madman.

I thought that after coming to Manchester United, I would be able to escape from the clutches of the "madman".

But what Mata never expected was that just two and a half years later, Mourinho, who was sacked by Chelsea, became the new helmsman of the Red Devils!

Due to the unpleasantness of the breakup between the two, as early as last summer, all media predicted that Mourinho would get rid of Mata.

However, Mata stayed in Carrington with his diligent attitude in training and games, as well as his outstanding strength.

Now, as the only player in the team who has won the World Cup, European Cup, Champions League and Europa League, Mata is not Mourinho's first choice in midfield.

But he still became an important rotation for the team in the midfield.

The British media also have different opinions on the story between the two.

"Mata made Mourinho realize his own value through his hard work and perseverance"

"Mourinho should be thankful that he kept Mata, otherwise Lukaku and De Bruyne would have turned against him again!"

Many fans also joked:
"Mourinho is playing a big game! When he was coaching Chelsea, he sold Mata to himself three years later!"

Seeing that Mata performed so well in this game, the live broadcast camera not only repeatedly focused on Mourinho sitting on the bench, but also occasionally focused on Ling Feng sitting behind him.

Of course, no one would think that Mata could shake Ling Feng's position as the star player with just one game.

They just think that Mourinho is worthy of being the world's top coach!
Even without their star player Ling Feng, they still had the upper hand in the finals.

At this moment, Ling Feng was thinking about what dishes to have for the celebration banquet after winning the championship.
However, Southampton is not such an easy target.

Losing the ball first did not make them retreat, but instead aroused their greater determination to win the game!

Moreover, they are not without
In this game, the Saints played on both sides, through Tadic and Raymond.
Apart from Kante and goalkeeper De Gea, the two starting full-backs have played the most minutes for Manchester United this season.

Therefore, under the Saints' repeated attacks, Valencia and Luke Shaw were under tremendous pressure.

The young and strong Luke Shaw is fine and can hold on for the time being.

However, the older Valencia was clearly overwhelmed by the double impact of the "Serbian Magician" Tadic and the left-back Bertrand's late runs.

If Kante hadn't come to the wing to assist repeatedly, Valencia might have become

Even so, Tadic delivered several accurate crosses from the left.

It was just that Gabiadini in the middle failed to seize the opportunity.
Being able to beat Liverpool and reach the League Cup final is enough to show the strength of this Saints team.

For a moment, Southampton pressed forward and Manchester United's defense was also in a panic.

Even during set pieces, Ibrahimovic could be seen returning to his own penalty area and clearing the ball with a header.

In Southampton's offensive tactics, in addition to crosses from the flanks, set pieces are also a powerful weapon.

In particular, Van Dijk, the Dutch central defender who just took over from Fonte and became the team captain, is Southampton's first attacking point in the set-piece tactics.

Therefore, when Southampton gets a set-piece opportunity, the Saints captain will also come to Manchester United's penalty area.
It is worth mentioning that this game can actually be regarded as Mourinho's on-site inspection of Van Dijk.

During the winter transfer window, Mourinho wanted to sign the steady Saints captain to make up for the team's shortcomings in central defense.

It’s a pity that the Saints, who just let go of former captain Fonte, have plenty of money and are unwilling to sell two captains in a row in the middle of the season.

After all, they are not Arsenal.
Since the start of the game, Mourinho has also focused on Van Dijk's performance.

In his opinion, Van Dijk definitely has all the qualities to be a world-class central defender.

Physical fitness, defensive awareness, ball passing skills.
In the set-piece attack, Van Dijk showed his extremely aggressive offensive attributes!
Even under the defense of Ibrahimovic, Van Dijk still got the ball and headed it hard into the goal.

If the angle hadn't been a little too straight, and De Gea had touched the ball with his fingertips, the ball might have flown into the goal instead of hitting the crossbar.

This goal also made everyone on the Manchester United bench break out in a cold sweat.

If Van Dijk had scored this header, both teams would have been back on the same starting line.

This only boosted Southampton's morale, making the second half more difficult for Manchester United.

"so close!"

"Yeah, I almost got in!"

"By the way, I heard that the boss wants to buy him. If he can join the team, it will definitely make the team's defense more stable."

Hearing Rooney's words, Ling Feng raised his eyebrows.

Since moving to Southampton in the summer of 2015, Van Dijk has quickly grown into one of the top central defenders in the Premier League.

Van Dijk's speed and confrontation are both top-notch.

Even if someone hits him from behind, he can use his speed to chase back and then use his long legs to poke the ball away.

Especially this season, with Southampton suffering from a serious loss of core players in the midfield and frontcourt, the defense he led has helped the Saints maintain their mid-table position in the league and prevent them from collapsing directly.

These days, excellent central defenders are a scarce commodity in the market.

If Van Dijk can join Manchester United, it will definitely be a huge improvement to Manchester United's defense.

Bailly is a central defender who rushes forward, while Van Dijk is a replacement expert and backcourt commander. The combination of the two is

Ling Feng in the frontcourt, Kante in the midfield, Van Dijk in the backcourt, this central axis, wow.
Just don't be too beautiful!
Of course, this is the most ideal situation. Southampton is definitely unwilling to sell such an excellent central defender.

And they are not the only club interested in Van Dijk.

However, if Manchester United wins the league title this season and then makes a breakthrough in the Champions League, they will definitely be in an advantageous position in the "Van Dijk battle" in the summer window.

The prerequisite is that Manchester United's management and transfer department do not do anything weird, but follow Mourinho's recruitment plan.

Thinking of this, Ling Feng couldn't help but smile:

Why do I worry so much?!
No matter who plays as a central defender, as long as he is there, Manchester United has the strength to compete for the championship!

. . .

After Van Dijk missed this great opportunity to score a goal, the first half of the game ended.

Manchester United returned to the locker room with a one-goal advantage.

During the half-time break, Mourinho did not make any personnel adjustments, but only affirmed the performance of his disciples.

Soon, both sides returned to the court again.

After the change of sides, Southampton continued to launch wave after wave of attacks.

However, although he was able to advance the ball into Manchester United's backcourt, he was also able to pass the ball into the penalty area.

But he still had the upper hand but couldn't score.

Instead, Manchester United once again seized the opportunity to switch from offense to defense.

In the 63rd minute, Manchester United intercepted the ball in the midfield!

Seeing that Ling Feng was not there to receive the ball in front, Kante directly dribbled the ball forward in the middle.

The sudden advance caught the Southampton players off guard.

It was not until the ball crossed the center line that Saints midfielder Ward Prowse stepped forward to intercept.

But before that, Kante had already made a very penetrating pass!

The ball passed through the space on the ribs and found Rashford who was making a high-speed run forward on the left!

One body length ahead of right-back Cedric, the talented young man from Carrington dribbled the ball into the penalty area and completed a powerful shot!
With a bang, the ball went into the net!

Both goals were the result of quick counterattacks after intercepting the ball in the midfield!
Moreover, the entire process from launching the attack to sending the ball into the opponent's goal took no more than ten seconds!
In this League Cup final where the star player did not appear, Mourinho used his signature Mourinho-style counterattack to stun Southampton!

However, after taking a two-goal lead, Manchester United players became a little lax.

In the 75th minute of the second half, the tenacious Southampton finally equalized the game through a cross from the wing, with the team's winter transfer target Gabiadini making a shot in front of the goal!
With fifteen minutes left in the game, the score difference returned to one goal.

There's still time!

Southampton saw hope of equalizing the score and attacked more aggressively and fiercely.

Seeing this, Mourinho did not have time to scold the players on the field, but made substitutions in time:
Replace Jones, who had just lost his position while marking a man, with another central defender Rojo!
Then replace Fellaini with Carrick!
The purpose of replacing two players in a row is naturally to stabilize the situation on the field.

The former is to increase the hardness of the back line, while the latter is to add a ball control and passing point in the middle.
With Carrick coming on the pitch, Manchester United's midfield control has been greatly strengthened.

Southampton's frontcourt pressure was suddenly halved in power.

As the team's metronome, Carrick can help the team control the rhythm of the game during the ball possession phase.

Moreover, his passing ability often allows him to pick the ball up and pass it to his teammates when the opponent is pressing.

Moreover, in addition to Mata, Carrick can also use his accurate long pass to directly hit the ball behind Southampton, allowing the two wingers Rashford and Lingard to have
As time went on, Southampton's attack became more and more impatient.

But they were afraid of Manchester United's sharp counterattack and did not dare to press forward with all their strength.

In this way, under Manchester United's deliberate control of the rhythm, the final unknowingly came to the last minute of regular time.

At this time, Mourinho also showed the cunning side of the world's top coach.

He used up his last substitution again and replaced Ibrahimovic with "Piggy" Sweinsteiger!

While delaying time, we also add a midfielder to strengthen the midfield defense.

Finally, with a long whistle from the referee, the game ended!

Ling Feng and other substitute players, who had been waiting on the sidelines for a long time, rushed into the court as soon as possible and celebrated with their teammates on the field.

Manchester United defeated Southampton 2-1 at Wembley Stadium and won the first championship on four fronts this season!
This is also Mourinho's first championship trophy since taking over Manchester United!
Although the League Cup is not a very prestigious trophy.

But, size is also a champion.

As for Ling Feng, although he did not participate in this competition.

But the feeling of lying on the crown is not bad.

"The game is over!"

"Manchester United are champions!"

"Mourinho used his commanding art to tell everyone that even without Ling Feng, the best player in the Premier League, he can still defeat his opponents and win the championship!"

"You are worthy of being the world's top coach!"

With Manchester United winning the championship, Ling Feng and Kante became the only two players in Premier League history to win the League Cup for two consecutive years while representing different teams!
It’s a pity that they just won the League Cup last year.

After winning the championship again this year, the system only symbolically rewarded a few free attribute points.

However, Ling Feng didn't care.

After all, no matter how small a mosquito is, it’s still meat!

It is worth mentioning that before the league final began, Manchester United’s arch-rival Liverpool made changes to the introduction on its official Twitter account - Liverpool Club has 41 championships and is the club with the most championships in England.

After Manchester United won the League Cup again after seven years, their number of championships also tied with Liverpool.

Therefore, the introduction on Liverpool’s official Twitter account must add the word “one of” after “the club with the most championships in England”!

In the immediate aftermath of the game, Manchester United’s official Twitter account also released a championship poster, and then secretly provoked Liverpool’s official media:

"This is the most successful team in England!"

(End of this chapter)