The Red Devils' revival starts with retaining Mourinho

At 11:00 the next morning, in the media and press room of Stamford Bridge Stadium in Fulham, London, Manchester United head coach Mourinho walked into this very familiar room with a steady pace. The scene was already surrounded by various media, and flashes of light were flashing one after another.

Mourinho looked serious but somewhat confident. He sat down slowly on the podium, and after scanning the eager eyes of the audience, he cleared his throat and opened this highly anticipated press conference.

"Hello, media friends." Mourinho's voice was low and powerful, instantly quieting the noisy scene. "Today, we are here to focus on the upcoming away game against Chelsea. First, I want to announce our team lineup for this game."

Here, he picked up the list he had prepared in his hand, paused slightly, and then said: "In the goalkeeper position, we sent Christian Romero this time. Christian Romero has been in excellent condition in training recently. His goal line reaction speed is very fast. He can always make accurate judgments and saves when facing the ball. He has also shown enough strength in the previous few games. I believe he can firmly guard our goal."

The reporters in the audience quickly recorded, and Mourinho continued to announce the arrangement of the back line. "On the back line, from right to left, we have Diogo Dalot, Joshko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and Lu Kershaw. Diogo Dalot's offensive attributes have always been what we rely on. His assists on the right side can often cause a lot of trouble to the opponent's defense, and his recent defensive performance has become more and more stable; Joshko Gvardiol, this young player, has extraordinary physical fitness and is not at all inferior in defensive confrontation. His growth rate makes us very happy; Ruben Dias, that is needless to say, he is the mainstay of our back line, with rich defensive experience and excellent positional sense. He can always appear in the most appropriate position at the critical moment to resolve the crisis; Lu Kershaw will wear the captain's armband in this game. He is an old player of Manchester United. I believe he can contribute his strength in defense."

Mourinho drank a sip of water, moistened his throat, and then talked about the personnel configuration in the midfield. "In the midfield, Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay and Nico Williams played together. Jesse Lingard's movement is very flexible. He can always find space in the final third and create excellent offensive opportunities for our forwards. Scott McTominay's interception ability in the midfield is quite good. He is like a solid barrier, effectively preventing the opponent's offensive progress. Nico Williams has delicate skills. His passing accuracy is very high. He can control the rhythm of the game well and move the ball reasonably in the midfield. . ”

“Looking at the forward line, Cody Gakpo, Jamal Musiala and Marcus Rashford will shoulder the responsibility of attacking the city for the team. Cody Gakpo's progress after coming to Manchester United is visible to the naked eye. He has a keen sense of smell in front of the goal. He can always accurately grasp the opportunity when it appears. He is a sharp blade on our front line; Jamal Musiala is young and talented. He has comprehensive skills and creativity. He can often make unexpected cooperation in the offense; Marcus Rashford is fast and explosive. His breakthrough The ability to break through the opponent's defense can easily tear open the opponent's defense and create more offensive space for us. "

After announcing the starting lineup, Mourinho paused and added: "Our bench is also full of talents, including Lee Grant, Ferland Mendy, Aurelian Chuameni, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Romelu Lukaku, Mason Greenwood, Dixon Bernard and other outstanding players. They have also been waiting for opportunities. Once they are needed on the field, they can always stand up and contribute their strength to the team. "

After Mourinho announced the team lineup against Chelsea, a quick-eyed reporter immediately stood up and asked loudly: "Mr. Mourinho, we noticed that Harry Maguire, David De Gea, Raphael Varane, Ashraf Hakimi, Theo Fernandez, Rodrigo Hernandez, Marco Verratti, Edinson Cavani and other important players did not appear in the starting lineup this time. Why is that?"

Mourinho frowned slightly, as if he expected this question to be raised. He cleared his throat and began to explain seriously.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these players are indeed our teamThe key force of the team, they have been starting in the last few games. As we all know, the intensity of professional football games is extremely high, and every game is a huge test for the players' physical and mental health. "He paused and continued, "In our Manchester United, there is a very professional club data center, which will conduct detailed and comprehensive tests on the physical condition of each player. Just before the game, after the data center's test, it was found that the physical fatigue of these players had reached a relatively high level. "

Mourinho's eyes revealed a trace of helplessness, "Harry Maguire, as an important member of the back line, he undertook a lot of defensive tasks in the previous games, frequently confronted the opponent's forwards physically, and the high-intensity combat made his body exhausted. David De Gea made wonderful saves on the goal line again and again, and every game was highly tense. The dual consumption of spirit and body made him very tired. Raphael Varane is the same. He keeps running and fighting on the defensive end, and his body is under heavy burden. "

"Ashraf Hakimi sprints back and forth on the wing, taking into account both offense and defense, which consumes a lot of energy. Theo Fernandez was exhausted from constantly organizing and dispatching in the midfield. Rodrigo Hernandez's midfield interception work also made him physically exhausted. Marco Verratti had to control the rhythm and participate in defense, and he was also exhausted. Edinson Cavani kept looking for opportunities and running to grab points on the front line, and his physical strength was seriously overdrawn. "

"We are very aware of the importance of these players, but in order to avoid them from being injured due to excessive fatigue, after all, once injured, it is a huge loss for the individual players and the entire team. Therefore, after careful consideration, we decided to arrange for these players to take turns to rest, so that they have enough time to recover their physical condition so that they can continue to serve the team in the best condition in subsequent games. "Mourinho's explanation made the reporters present nod their heads, and everyone understood the good intentions behind the absence of these main players.

"Mr. Mourinho, can you tell us more about Luke Shaw's situation? Another reporter asked.

"Luke Shaw is a young player that I, and the entire Manchester United coaching staff, are very optimistic about. In normal training, Luke Shaw's attitude is very positive. In every defensive training, he concentrates on every move and completes every action meticulously. Whether it is a simple position exercise or a complex one-on-one or one-on-many defensive confrontation training, he has invested 100% of his enthusiasm and energy."

"His physical fitness is also an important factor in his ability to play the defender position. He has a good height, which gives him a natural advantage when facing the high-altitude ball threats of the opponent's forwards. In terms of aerial headers, he has gradually shown "In addition, Lu Kershaw's speed should not be underestimated. As we all know, in modern football, defenders must not only have excellent defensive awareness and positional awareness, but also speed. When facing the opponent's forward's rapid breakthrough, Lu Kershaw can rely on his speed to chase back in time and quickly fill in the position, not giving the opponent a chance to easily break through the defense line. "

After Mourinho said this, the reporters in the audience nodded thoughtfully, and quickly recorded these details about Lu Kershaw in their notebooks.

At this moment, a senior and influential female reporter stood up first, holding the microphone tightly in her hand, with sharp eyes and a hint of doubt, and asked loudly: "Mr. Mourinho, I believe that everyone here is like me. Mason Greenwood, who was absent for more than half a year due to the shocking domestic violence incident, has now returned to the Manchester United bench. This decision is really unexpected. Can you tell us in detail what is going on behind this?"

As soon as these words came out, the press conference, which was originally a little noisy, suddenly became silent. All reporters stopped recording and cast their eyes on Mourinho. There was both expectation and scrutiny in their eyes. The whole venue seemed to be shrouded in a tense and depressing atmosphere.

Mourinho frowned slightly. He knew that this question would inevitably become the focus of this press conference and could not be avoided. He cleared his throat gently, and began to respond with a serious and somewhat calm expression: "Everyone, I understand everyone's high attention to Mason Greenwood's return to the bench. After all, the previous incident did cause a great social response, but I believe that all the journalists here know that not long ago, the Greater Manchester Police Department in England has issued a statement: Due to insufficient evidence, all charges against Manchester United player Mason Greenwood have been withdrawn. Manchester United's attitude towards Mason Greenwood is clear and consistent. He is a child from Manchester United's youth training. The child made a mistake. As a parent, we supervise him to admit and correct his mistakes. We have also seen that Mason Greenwood has publicly apologized for his irrational behavior many times and has been forgiven by the person involved, Ms. Harriet Robson. Their first child was born last week. "

He paused for a moment, looked around at the reporters who were listening attentively, and then said: "As the head coach of the team, I always adhere to a core principle in the selection of players, that is, to value the current state of the players. Whether it is to determine whether a player can enter the starting lineup or just enter the substitute list, our coaching staff first considers his actual performance in daily training. ”

At this time, another young and energetic female reporter stood up and asked anxiously with obvious questioning tone: "But, Mr. Mourinho, Mason Greenwood's domestic violence incident is not an ordinary small fault. It is a serious violation of moral ethics and even involves illegal behavior. Let him return to the bench so easily. Isn't the club afraid of causing more controversy and more serious adverse effects from the outside world? Will this not damage Manchester United's reputation? "

Mourinho's eyes flashed with a trace of determination. He sat steadily in the chair and responded calmly: "For the serious mistakes made by Mason Greenwood before, our Manchester United club has never ignored it, and we are well aware of the seriousness of its nature. Manchester United Club launched an internal investigation as soon as the incident happened, and has suspended and fined Mason Greenwood for his misconduct. As a professional football club with a glorious history and profound heritage, we will not and cannot punish players multiple times for the same mistake. I want to emphasize again: the police have dropped the charges against Mason Greenwood, and as a law-abiding citizen we cannot put our own cognition above the law. "