our champion dream

Chapter 92 The troubles of happiness

While Li Xiaoming was still being interviewed, Ferguson and his coaching staff ushered in troubles of happiness.

Because of the return of Scholes, the position of the current midfielder has overlapped. Whether Shang Liming or Scholes has become the most troublesome problem for Manchester United.

Because the opponent in the next game is Arsenal, Ferguson cannot be more cautious.Arsenal, as a giant team also known for its offense, although its strength has declined in recent years, no one has ever dared to underestimate this youth team under Wenger, not to mention that Arsenal now sits at the top of the Premier League. Cesc Fabregas, the core midfielder, if there is a loophole in the formation, then Arsenal's midfielder will definitely turn to control the field.

Just when Ferguson and the coaching staff were heartbroken, Meulenstein gave his thoughts.

"Rene, you said dual-core tactics, it's not impossible, but will it reduce our midfield defense?" Ferguson still raised his doubts.

Meulensteen said: "Alex, do you remember how we lost to Barcelona last season? Barcelona's midfielder Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, it didn't look like any of them really defended. The midfielder, but this midfielder completely contained our offense, and I couldn't find a chance under their control. Based on this, I think we also have the same possibility for Manchester United. Li Xiaoming, as Ines Tower's substitute, his offensive ability is unquestionable, and Carrick can connect the midfield very well, and then our Paul I believe will not perform worse than Harvey."

Ferguson thought for a while and nodded: "Arsenal is not a particularly strong defensive team, so I think we should try this new tactic, but Li's physical fitness, I think we still need to improve a lot, he will be our The biggest guarantee in the midfield."

Ferguson immediately took out the whiteboard from the office and began to analyze the tactical details and requirements with his coaching staff.

On the second day of the game, both Li Xiaoming and Scholes won the yellow vests that symbolize the team's main players.

The coaching staff is experimenting with a new tactical idea, which is to let Li Xiaoming and Scholes play the game at the same time.

Players are not surprised by this change.Li Xiaoming was able to start the game because Scholes was injured, so when Scholes returns from injury and performs well, he will return to the starting lineup sooner or later.But Li Xiaoming's performance is also good, it is impossible for Scholes to return to the starting lineup, let Li Xiaoming be a substitute, this is also unfair to Li Xiaoming.

So the two of them will definitely appear at the same time.

As for how to play at the same time, this is something the coaching staff has to consider.

Through training, the players saw some clues.

During the period when Scholes was injured, Manchester United changed from 442 to 4231. The original striker Berbatov was still recovering from his injury, which also gave Li Xiaoming more opportunities.Before 442, there were two midfielders in the middle of the midfield, one was Scholes, the other was Park Ji-sung, and Fletcher switched back and forth.As for Anderson, it is estimated that Ferguson has long forgotten to the sky. Ferguson's midfield combination ensures the midfield's defensive hardness and organizational ability.

After Scholes was injured, although Li Xiaoming successfully replaced Scholes' organization work, he was obviously not good at defense.If you continue to play 442, there are only four players in the midfield and only one midfielder in the middle, Ferguson is worried that the team's midfield defense is not strong enough.Moreover, many previous games have proved that Li Xiaoming's defense is indeed eye defense. Because of this matter, Ferguson often scolded his head and face.

So he changed the team's formation from 442 to 4231, and let Carrick and Fletcher start in the midfielder position. Li Xiaoming can boldly participate in the attack without worrying about losing the ball in the confrontation.And Carrick is known as the cross passer, which also proves that he has a very good ability to distribute the ball.

This formation worked well. With Scholes injured, Li Xiaoming led the team to a series of hearty victories.

The players have basically adapted to this formation, so make adjustments on this basis.

Veteran Scholes returned to the position of the midfielder, responsible for rhythm control and scheduling, while Li Xiaoming continued to stay in the position of the midfielder, because he was closer to the penalty area, responsible for more sophisticated offensive organization, such as the deadly final pass.And shooting and stuff like that.

The two keep in touch with each other and have a clear division of labor.

At the same time, it is also possible to switch positions forward and backward. Li Xiaoming can retreat to the position of the midfielder to make an inversion, and Scholes can also go forward to organize the attack. After all, Scholes was born as a midfielder, a legendary forward Waist, his heavy artillery and passing have passed the test of time.

This is the configuration of the golden three midfielders configured by the Manchester United coach for Manchester United

Once the three players with high-level passing ability can spark like Barcelona, ​​they will inevitably bring huge pressure to the opponent.

Ferguson asked Scholes to play as usual and not to worry too much about himself. If there is anything to pay attention to, it is to reduce the number of forward runs and leave the wider space in the frontcourt to Li Xiaoming.It is equivalent to Li Xiaoming starting to be in charge of the team's offensive direction, while Scholes has become the engine of the team.The performance of these two people will lead Manchester United's offensive direction.

This does not seem to be difficult for Scholes to do.

Although Scholes was born as a midfielder, when he got older, he played as a midfielder at Manchester United, most of the time at the back.It's just that there was no Li Xiaoming before, so he had to go forward to assist.This consumes a lot of his physical energy.

Now with Li Xiaoming, he doesn't have to run forward all the time, and he can also take care of defense in the backcourt.

And how does Li Xiaoming play?He began to cooperate with Scholes to reduce the gap in the midfield holding the ball. He clearly realized that Ferguson wanted to imitate Barcelona's midfield and build a team based on Carrick and Scholes as the axis. , a golden midfielder with himself as the baton.

He felt that the so-called dual-core should be like that at that time.

Scholes controls the football and rhythm more in the backcourt, while he is cruising just in front of him, waiting to catch him at any time.

Then pass the ball forward.

If Scholes can send the football forward by using long passes, Li Xiaoming will not go up to join in the fun, but wait for the opportunity in the frontcourt.

If Scholes is marked by the opponent and cannot move the football forward, he will return to the midfield a little bit, organize and control.

This also allowed both himself and Scholes to reduce their physical consumption in a different direction.

However, Li Xiaoming felt that after practicing for so long, his physical fitness was enough to cope with this kind of running.After all, without Scholes, his running range would have to be greater, because Carrick can only make cross passes, while Fletcher and Park Ji-sung are mostly engineers, so he plays alone Sometimes, you need to take on more responsibilities.But now because of Sikes, he doesn't have to retreat too deep, but he can run a little less distance than before, and consume less energy.You can also put as much energy into the offense as possible.

With the guidance of theory, Manchester United's next training is to seriously train the tactic of Qi.

Li Xiaoming practiced with his teammates on the training ground for a few days, and felt that he had gained a lot, because he knew exactly how he should play.

No matter how good the tactics are, if there is no way to implement them, they are just talking on paper.

Before that, it can be said that Manchester United's coach's tactics about dual-core or gold three slaves are just ideas. Only when Manchester United really plays out his ideas in the game, can they become practical and form a system.

But Scholes has never found the feeling of dual core. He has been playing the core midfielder before, and now he suddenly has an extra core.No matter how clear the division of labor is, he will subconsciously take two extra steps after taking the ball, or directly pass Li Xiaoming and then dribble forward, so that the positions of the two will overlap.

But in the offense, sometimes you think a little more and take two extra steps, and you may lose the best opportunity. the y
Scholes has been receiving single-core training before, and he is the core of the midfield.Everyone else has to revolve around him, and Carrick just plays a supporting role.Scholes always felt a little distressed about this, worried that he would drag down the team's progress because of himself.So when there is another core in the team and part of his work is divided up, he is not very able to adapt.

But these have all started to change over time.In such a calm training, Manchester United ushered in their old rival, Arsenal at home.

Arsenal entered the Champions League after defeating the Champions League play-off opponent Celtic in the game on the 27th. So far this season, Arsenal has not tasted a defeat. The media believes that Arsenal will become a strong contender for the championship, especially their midfielder with Fabregas as the core has already possessed the strength of a top European midfielder after Fabregas has matured.

两队共有过205次交锋，曼联以84胜46平76负稍占优势，上赛季阿森纳1胜1平占有上风，不过曼联在主场战平阿森纳夺冠。

After the team arrived at Manchester United, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was full of praise for Li Xiaoming's performance: "I think I may have missed a top young midfielder. We almost signed him at that time. It's amazing to have achieved such performance and achievements at such a young age. We have carefully studied the two games since his comeback. He has shown a very good competitive state. There is no doubt that he will be a key figure in this game. We He will be guarded hard."

Wenger's words aroused the interest of a lot of media. Under repeated inquiries from the media, Wenger revealed a piece of information that even Li Xiaoming did not know: "At that time, my scout provided me with two Chinese players. There was Li Xiaoming, but at that time I thought that although Li Shang had many talents, he did not have the strength to play in the Premier League, so I chose to give up. After all, I already had the same very top midfielder, but it seemed that I missed a part of the Premier League. A chance for the strongest midfield combination."

When a reporter asked Ferguson this question, Ferguson was very clear that Wenger had bad intentions, so he immediately fought back: "No, no, Wenger almost signed less players? I won't because What he said changed nothing. I still lined up the team's main lineup to face the opponent, and Manchester United's goal is always to win."

At the same time, a reporter ran to ask Li Xiaoming if he could get the chance to start.

"I don't know either. The team's starting lineup is prepared by the coaching staff. All I have to do is to train hard." Obviously, after staying with the old fox for a long time, Li Xiaoming's answer began to make the reporter gnash his teeth more and more.

"What do you think of Wenger's evaluation of you?"

"I am very happy to receive such a high evaluation. Wenger is a world-class coach, and his praise is an honor for me. But if I can play, I will definitely go all out."

Li Xiaoming's answer was still watertight.

Li Xiaoming's attitude seemed neither salty nor bland.But outside, they valued this game very much.Media reporters have begun to hype up with all kinds of exaggerated words.A few months ago, in the same place, Manchester United stepped on Arsenal's corpse to become king, so now this derby is defined as Arsenal's revenge battle.This is why the Premier League has received more attention than leagues in other regions. There are teams with the closest level here, and the tit-for-tat games between them are also topics that countless media talk about.This game is full of highlights and suspense.

This is also the most watched game in England in the fourth round of the league.It has even attracted attention on a European scale.

Naturally, it is impossible for China to lose attention.

Because this game is the first Manchester United and Arsenal derby experienced by Chinese players!

But Li Xiaoming didn't think so.

"I won't be nervous," he said calmly when he was interviewed by a Chinese reporter. "My first game was against Chelsea. Although Arsenal are strong, I believe we are stronger."

"But it is the Community Shield after all, and there is still a gap between the intensity of the real Premier League, especially at home, so the pressure we face is not the same." "It's okay, okay." Li Xiaoming smiled He replied, with the three big characters of not nervous still written on his face.

But this is just Li Xiaoming's thoughts.

Back in the locker room, Li Xiaoming could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the locker room became more and more serious. The players played less and less on the court, and their training attitude became more and more serious. , very optimistic, the most playful Nani has become serious, and everyone is seriously preparing for this eye-catching battle.

(End of this chapter)