green showman

Chapter 977 Physical fitness?It's not Manchester United's weakness

The strength of Manchester United was witnessed by all. The long flight to East Asia for the Club World Cup looked exhausted.

After returning, Manchester United defeated Chelsea with 12 consecutive victories and Manchester City with 18 consecutive victories, and then won consecutive games in the intensive schedule in January. They only selectively gave up the League Cup with the lowest gold content, and defeated their old rival Liverpool in the double red meeting. .

But Manchester United's weaknesses are also in front of everyone's eyes. Physical fitness is their biggest problem. Many people think that Sun Wu is a novice after all, and there will be mistakes in the allocation of physical fitness to players.

In fact, many people in the industry think that Klopp's tactical thinking is correct in the replay of the double red game. If Manchester United were lucky enough to score twice because of the opponent's mistakes, it is really hard to say who will win and who will lose.

However, most people have overlooked a key point. As early as July last year, the schedule for the new season had already been released. How could Sun Wu not see the dense schedule? He is not blind.

Sun Wu's confidence is that, generally speaking, the team's starting lineup is the best, and the second team will be much inferior.

But in this Manchester United, except for a few key positions, it is difficult to say who is better in the starting lineup or the second team.

If it is a 4231 formation, the positions of Sun Wu, Kanter and Van Dijk are the most stable, and they also form the central axis of Manchester United.

Hard to say about other locations.

Although Alderweireld is outstanding, Phil Jones and Rojo also have their own characteristics, and Michael Keane also has great potential.

Lucas and Luke Shaw, Paval and Coleman, it is difficult to say who is stronger and who is weaker. It can only be said that Sun Wu will choose the starting lineup according to the opponents and their respective competitive states.

It is also difficult to find a stable partner for Sun Wu. Milner is diligent, Lingard has acceleration ability, Herrera has stronger organizational ability, and Fletcher is both offensive and defensive.

The front trident is similar. Although Griezmann is almost sure to lock in a main position, he relies more on his qualifications than his ability. After all, he is the top scorer in the Manchester United team for two consecutive years.

In Sun Wu's view, Salah and Mane are not inferior to Griezmann, and Bernardo Silva can bring more tactical options.

The rotation of the center position is even more normal. Harry Kane and Falcao have been very humble for a while, and they both hope that the other side will start and replace themselves...

Therefore, Sun Wu believes that physical fitness is a problem, and it may even cause big troubles for the team in the intensive schedule that lasts until mid-to-early February, but in the long run, physical fitness will not restrict Manchester United throughout the second half of the season. key factor.

In the eyes of many people questioning, on January 1, Manchester United ushered in a make-up match just three days after the double red meeting.

Canary Norwich basically came to the Premier League this season and then went back to play in the British Championship. It was late January, and the points were only able to break through double digits. There was basically no hope of relegation.

It was the left winger Raymond in the Norwich lineup that made the Premier League teams shine. Sun Wu remembered that Raymond went to Southampton later.

In this game, Sun Wu didn't plan to play, he didn't even let himself into the squad, if he didn't play, Manchester United couldn't beat Norwich, then really have to consider his future in Manchester United.

In this game, Sun Wu resumed the 4231 formation, and carried out a substantial rotation.

Herrera, Milner, Fletcher in midfield, Harry Kane, Salah, Lingard form a trident, Van Dijk rests at the back, Alderweireld and Michael Keane partner The defenders, Luke Shaw and Pavard split the two wings.

Sun Wu's rotation is so large that people are stunned. Only Alderweireld and De Gea are the only two players who continue to start.

Norwich manager Neal looked a little agitated in his pre-match press conference, possibly feeling Sun Wu looked down on him...

But after a quarter of an hour of the game, Neil had to admit that his anger and excitement in the eyes of the opponent... might be a joke.

Raymond, whom Neil placed high hopes on, was completely unable to display his excellent dribbling characteristics, and it was even difficult for him to get the ball.

Salah and Pavard completely dominated the right side of the court. Although they are both rookies and have only a short run-in time on the training ground, their running positions, passing and receiving cooperate very well.

In the 11th minute, Manchester United successfully broke the deadlock.

Salah cut in from the right and made a straight pass. Pawar picked a pass from the edge of the penalty area and Lingard easily scored with a header.

Norwich, who was behind, immediately retreated and played a defensive counterattack, while Manchester United continued to press high, but although there were many opportunities, Herrera's shot was a hair's breadth away, Salah's curved ball hit the far post, Harry Kane The close-range shot was magically blocked by the goalkeeper.

Norwich continued to defend in the second half, only aggressively pressing on set-pieces, and very aggressively targeted Michael Keane, the most inexperienced and least physically fit Manchester United defensive system.

In the 58th minute, Raymond took a free kick. Norwich striker Jerome, who was full of physical fitness, leaped high, but Michael Keane came out from the diagonal stab and grabbed the header to clear the siege. Collided in the air and landed, Michael Keane stood firmly and knocked down Jerome, who was unable to maintain his balance.

Sun Wu, who was standing on the sidelines, walked back with a smile and gave Mike Phelan a thumbs up. Michael Keane played the main force for a while at the beginning of the season, but he was obviously at a disadvantage in physical confrontation. The coaching staff arranged for this purpose After most of the season, Mike Phelan's special training has had an effect.

In the 65th minute, Manchester United finally expanded the score. It was still Michael Keane who headed the corner kick to clear the siege. Pavard on the right immediately sent a long-distance ground through ball. Salah stepped on the center line and started at high speed. After hitting all Norwich players, he crossed the middle of the penalty area and Harry Kane sent the ball into the empty goal.

Although his performance in the first game was average, the next two games had beautiful breakthroughs, which were able to win team-friendly assists. Salah began to gradually integrate into the team. In fact, this set of tactics is very suitable for his technical characteristics.

2 to 0, Manchester United won the game steadily, pushing the winning streak to 20 games... There are only 38 league rounds in the whole season, more than half of them.

After the game, the media began to pay attention to those Manchester United bench players. Although they may not be famous or worth a lot, they are all capable.

Up to now, Manchester United has finally made up for the two league games missed due to participating in the Club World Cup, and changes have also occurred in the standings.

22轮联赛，曼城和曼联都是20胜1平1负积61分，但曼城以净胜球的优势领跑积分榜。

切尔西19胜3负积57分，仅仅落后4分，而利物浦17胜5负积51分，已经落后榜首10分了。

Judging from the absolute scores, Chelsea and Liverpool can't be said to have played badly, but the Manchester City duo have been too bad this season.

The unscrupulous media began to praise Manchester United and belittle Manchester City.

The reason is simple. Manchester United's opponents were not strong until the Champions League knockout round began in mid-February.

And Manchester City started their devil's schedule. In the next round, they will face Tottenham Hotspur, which has gradually entered the state recently, and then against Chelsea, which is only 4 points behind. There is also a League Cup semi-final against Liverpool. There is also an FA Cup match.

However, Manchester United is also quite a headache. Sun Wu looked at the report submitted by Dr. Swell distressedly. Rojo's recovery is not bad, but Manchester United has no shortage of central defenders. I was injured again during running training yesterday, and my return time may be delayed until the end of February or early March.

(End of this chapter)