song of the saints

Chapter 78
It was already the afternoon of the second day when Chen Zhun stepped into the Old Trafford Stadium again. What greeted him was no longer an empty stadium, but more than [-] Red Devils fans cheering like a tsunami. In front of the sound, the hundreds of Southampton fans sitting in the away stands looked so small and insignificant.But they still spared no effort to dedicate their voices, just for the red and white feelings in their hearts.

In the locker room just now, Chen Zhun specifically instructed the players to stand on defense on the field, not to follow the rhythm of Manchester United's game, to compress Manchester United's offensive space, and to prevent the two sides from having the opportunity to cut in and shoot.Chen Zhun's starting lineup has also been adjusted today, from the original 442 to 451. To put it bluntly, it is just a bus.This is also the tactical intention taught to Chen Zhun by old Redknapp.Chen Zhun also understands the strength of the young Lu Xiaopang and Ronaldo. The newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, it is because of their rampage.Chen Zhunzhong piled up a large number of people in the backcourt to prevent them from breaking through and dribbling the ball on the side or in the middle, so as to tear apart Southampton's defense.

Manchester United's starting lineup today is due to Ruud van Nistelrooy's suspension, with Alan Smith and Wayne Rooney on the front line.The midfield four are veterans and rookies.Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Cristiano Ronaldo.At the back are Gabriel Heinze, Mikael Sylvester, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville.The goalkeeper is Roy Carroll.But looking at this lineup, the frontcourt has impact, the midfield has hardness, and the backcourt defense is relatively solid. The only thing is that the position of the goalkeeper is incompatible with the status of Manchester United's giants.Roy Carroll, who guards the goal today, was famous for making repeated amateur mistakes during his previous life at Manchester United.

Looking at the Southampton team's lineup, the goalkeeper is still Niemi, Michael Svensson returns to partner Klaus Lundkwan on the back line, and the two full-backs are Le Saux and Jason Dodd.Midfielder John Delap came back as a defensive midfielder, Chris Baird and Matt Oakley served as a double midfielder, the left midfielder was still David Prutton, and the right midfielder was replaced by 33-year-old veteran Paul - telfur.The lone striker is Peter Crouch.Today, Chen Zhun pinned all his scoring opportunities on set kicks and made use of Crouch's height to make a fuss.

But after the game started, Chen Zhun's sustenance turned into a bubble.Manchester United didn't mean to test at all after the opening. From the first minute, the Manchester United players on the field tried to eat Southampton completely.Chen Zhun frowned and looked at the one-sided situation on the field, then turned his head to look at the old man who was sitting on the coach's bench of the home team, chewing gum. His expression seemed to think that scoring a goal was only a matter of time. The question is how many of your own teams can make it.

In the past 15 minutes, Southampton successfully withstood Manchester United's tide-like offensive.Manchester United shot a terrifying 15 shots, with an average of one shot per minute.1 shots on target, thanks to goalkeeper Niemi's superb performance, otherwise the current Southampton team's gate has already become a briquette.The cloudless days have disappeared, and Southampton's defensive formation has maintained tightness since the start of the game, preventing Manchester United from breaking through easily from the wing or the center, except for the 7th and No.10 minutes. En Rooney's two headers were just outside the goal, and the other shots came from distance outside the box.But Chen Zhun didn't dare to relax at all, and still loudly directed the players to defend and mark people.The current Southampton team has completely defended the penalty area. You must know that this was just after the 12th minute of the first half.Even the high center Crouch withdrew to the front of his side's penalty area to participate in the defense. At least in the first half, Chen Zhun planned to defend like this, no matter how much Manchester United fans in the stadium booed his players.Of course, Chen Zhun is still worried about one thing now, which is the referee issue.Chen Zhun found that today's referee was obviously the home whistle, and many ordinary physical collisions were called fouls by Southampton players. On the other hand, he turned a blind eye to Manchester United's fouls.

The game passed by every minute and every second.The scene is still one-sided.Southampton's players have been staying in the penalty area and waiting for Manchester United's offensive round after round.

Chen Zhun on the sidelines was distracted by the tsunami-like cheers from the Manchester United fans behind him. This was the first time Chen Zhun felt like this, and he did not expect to encounter such a massive atmosphere.Manchester United fans have spared no effort to shout and sing for the home team since the opening, and never stopped.At the same time, Chen Zhun also found that his ability to withstand stress was really good, and he still encountered too few big scenes.But even though Chen Zhun was on the sidelines, he couldn't show it on his face, even if he was having churn in his heart, he pretended to be calm and directed the game.

The game unknowingly came to the 40th minute of the first half.The Manchester United team just had a long shot from "Ginger Head" Scholes outside the penalty area, but the penalty area is full of Southampton players' feet. This kind of long shot is just a chance. .After the long-range shot was blocked, the ball fell to the feet of captain Roy Keane, and then Roy Keane passed it to the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in a better position on the right. Ronaldo was still very young at the time. His face is a little immature, and his body is not as strong as in his peak period. At that time, his game style was still very unique, and he was a little obsessed with his feet on the court.a bit far
Back on the field, Ronaldo got the ball and wanted to prove himself. Facing the old defender Le Saux, who was ten years older than him, he first did a few cycling moves on the spot to shake Le Saux away. , but the seasoned Le Saux was not fooled, he still stuck to his defensive position and did not move at all. C Luo saw that Le Saux was not overwhelmed, so he decided to use his speed to break through the bottom line and use his speed advantage to pass Le Saux.But Le Saux had known Ronaldo's next move for a long time. He moved a few steps near the bottom line and occupied a favorable position in advance.Le Saux really admired the head coach. Before the game, Le Saux was called to the side by Chen Zhun, and he told Le Saux to guard against Ronaldo's breakthrough. His breakthrough usually goes to the bottom line after making a fake move. There is a breakthrough nearby, so be sure to get stuck in the position in advance.

At this time, Ronaldo started to start, at a speed like the wind!

(End of this chapter)