Chapter 394: Ibrahimovic deep behind enemy lines? Or stay at Guagua?
Soon, the time came for the competition day.
Since the kick-off time is 12:30 noon on Saturday, the Manchester United players arrived at The Lowry Hotel the night before.
In the past, Manchester United players would stay at this particular hotel the night before home games.
However, after Mourinho took office, he made subtle changes.
Whether you can stay in a hotel or not depends mainly on the tee time.
If it is an evening game, that is, a Champions League game that kicks off at 8pm local time, the players do not need to check into the hotel. They can just arrive at the Lowry Hotel during lunch time on the match day.
But if it is an early game (kick-off at noon) or the traditional kick-off at 3pm British time, players must check into the hotel the night before.
Usually check-in takes place around 8:30 pm, and there will be photographers on site to take photos.
The media’s so-called “big list” before the game was guessed by photographers counting heads.
Two hours before the game, the Manchester United soldiers, wearing headphones on their heads and carrying backpacks on their shoulders, boarded the team bus that had been waiting for a long time at the door of the hotel and headed to Old Trafford Stadium amid the cheers of the fans!
Along the way, sitting by the window of the bus, Ling Feng could see fans wearing Manchester United jerseys and holding scarves and team flags in their hands, singing passionate team songs and cheering towards Heading to Old Trafford:
“Glory, glory, ManUnited!”
“United! United!”
When these Red Devils fans see Manchester United in the car On the occasion of the soldiers, enthusiastic cheers suddenly broke out:
"Comeon!"
"Guys, kill them!"
"Ling Bao, mommy loves you!"
"Zlatan, wear a hat in this game Great!”
Ling Feng and others in the car also waved to the fans through the car window.
At this time, Ling Feng felt someone hit his shoulder and couldn't help but turn his head.
I saw Emperor Lin’s expression of great expectation coming into view:
“Man, do you think I have a chance to play today?”
“You want this. Just ask the coach.”
“How dare I ask”
Although Lin Huang did not start in the first three rounds of the league, his performance as a substitute was definitely remarkable.
And there were goals scored.
His outstanding performance was noticed by Mourinho and his teammates.
Especially after Ling Feng joined, Lingard also joined Ling Feng's "additional training team".
This team has Ling Feng as the core and includes Lingard, Rashford, Kante, Luke Shaw and other young players in the team.
They mainly stay on the training ground together after training to continue practicing.
As for the additional training items, it is based on each person's relative weakness:
For example, Ling Feng will practice additional training on the back foot;
For example, Lingard will practice additional training on the stop. The ball and shooting, especially the first touch of the ball;
For example, under Ling Feng's suggestion, Rashford mainly practiced his foot skills.
The Premier League's number one defensive midfielder Kante and Luke Shaw are the training partners of several people!
In the one-on-one additional training, the offensive players practice offense and the defensive players practice defense, which is very reasonable!
Seeing Ling Feng taking the initiative to practice more with the young people in the team, both coach Mourinho and captain Rooney were very happy.
The joining of Ling Feng not only brings a huge improvement to the team's immediate combat effectiveness, but also brings an atmosphere of hard work and progress.
Given time, why should the Red Devils be unhappy? !
. . .
With the hard hype of the media, this Manchester City Derby version of "Guarana and Mu" has been exaggerated and filled with smoke.
It is worth mentioning that "The Sun" also received a lot of traffic.
According to The Sun, the Red Devils’ top scorer Ibrahimovic checked out after a few hours because he disliked the fact that The Lowry Hotel, where Manchester United was staying, did not have a swimming pool.
The Lowry Hotel is a five-star hotel, only 5.4 kilometers away from Old Trafford. Manchester United will stay in this hotel before every home game.
In addition, many players who have just joined Manchester United and have not yet settled in Manchester will choose to live here first.
But obviously for Ibrahimovic, not having a swimming pool is unacceptable, so he chose to stay at another luxury hotel in Manchester, Radisson Blue.
And this hotel is the favorite hotel for Manchester City players to stay!
The purpose of "The Sun" in concocting this news is obviously to attract attention, and then let the public think about it based on these specious reports.
However, this news has been criticized by many Red Devils fans.
"Although Zlatan Ibrahimovic likes to brag, he is not such an imprudent man."
"The gossip in the Sun is equivalent to official announcement, right?"
"You all I thought wrongly, Ibrahimovic didn’t dislike the hotel, but went to the hotel to wait for Guagua!”
The grudge between Ibrahimovic and Guagua is a well-known secret in football.
Ibrahimovic has also angrily criticized Guardiola in public many times. There are even rumors that Ibrahimovic claims to beat Guardiola every time he sees him!
However, these scandals, which have not been personally acknowledged by me, are just the talk among fans after dinner.
Ling Feng, who really knows the truth and can’t stand the fact that The Sun is always making trouble, directly criticized The Sun on his own social media:
“ Shit! That was all last month! At that time, Zlatan had not found a house, so he stayed in a hotel temporarily. "It's none of your business as to which hotel he wants to stay in." What the hell!”
Ling Feng’s attitude is very tough.
However, this is not the first time he has criticized the media on social media.
Especially because he always likes "The Sun" and has already been included in his blacklist!
Whether it is the intimate photos of him and his girlfriend on vacation or the private meeting with Manchester United's senior management, it was all exposed by the "Sun".
Therefore, he hated the Sun's all-pervasive reporters.
In other words, as long as you are a Premier League star, you don’t like the "Sun" who always digs into their private lives
However, "The Sun" didn't care at all about Ling Feng's anger, but was very happy.
Anyway, their reputation is already bad, and being scolded is not a matter of a day or two.
Ling Feng’s response brought more attention to the entire news, and newspaper sales also skyrocketed.
The editor-in-chief of "The Sun" burst into laughter when he saw Ling Feng's social media at the headquarters.
It is worth mentioning that this game, in addition to being a Manchester derby, In addition, it is also a duel between two teams with three consecutive league wins!
So far, the Premier League has played three rounds, and only three teams have maintained a winning record.
They are the "Red Devils" Manchester United ranked first with a goal difference advantage, the "Blue Army" Chelsea ranked second, and the "Blue Moon" Manchester City ranked third!
In other words, no matter who has the last laugh, the other team’s undefeated record will be ended! Even the outside world is using "fateful showdown" to highlight the importance of this crucial battle.
However, no matter how lively it is outside the court.
Back to the essence of the game, this is just an ordinary league game.
It does not mean that whoever wins will win the Premier League championship this season.
Both Guardiola and Mourinho were very calm before the game.
Even at the pre-match press conference, Mourinho, as the host, took the initiative to come to the press room and shake hands with Guardiola.
After Mourinho left, when Guardiola was asked if he would have a drink with Mourinho after the game, he also smiled and gave an affirmative answer:
"If he invites me, I will have a drink with him."
"Pep, this is your first time against Ling Feng, what do you think of this player?"
As the darling of thousands of English fans and the most expensive player in football today, Guardiola also anticipated this problem.
“I’ve seen him play and he’s an absolutely incredible player!”
“His vision on the field reminds me of Xavi and Messi. He can Pass the ball that makes teammates feel comfortable handling it and help the team win.”
"Moreover, his speed is simply shocking."
First he praised, and then when the corners of the reporters' mouths raised, Guagua suddenly changed the subject:
"But , I also have many top players in my team, including De Bruyne and David Silva, who can also pass exquisite passes. I 100% believe that my team can limit his performance! "< br>
Judging from Guardiola's expression, he obviously has full confidence in whether he can stop Ling Feng.
However, the media will certainly not let go of the world's top coach who is debuting in the Premier League so easily.
The reporter from the "Daily Mail" also jumped out immediately and asked:
"Pep, Mourinho thinks that Ling Feng has reached the level of Messi and Ronaldo. What do you think? ”
“I can only say that Messi is the best player I have ever seen!”
Although there was no direct answer, everyone heard the subtext:
Messi is the only one! No one else is worth mentioning!
After Ling Feng's topic, media reporters who like to make trouble also asked about Yaya Toure who was relegated to the sidelines:
"Pep, why didn't Toure get a chance to start? As a team The leader, he has not started once this season."
Faced with the reporter's very sharp and psychological question, Guardiola just raised his eyebrows and answered very officially:
"How to select players to play is all based on tactical considerations. I believe my players will understand"
After the press conference and pre-game warm-up full of overt and covert attacks, the two sides also made public an hour before the game. The starting lineup and the roster.
Manchester City changed from the 4231 tactical formation in the previous round of the league to 433.
The goalkeeper is Bravo;
The four defenders are Kolarov, Otamendi, Stones, and Sagna;
In the midfield, Fee Hernandinho is in the middle and behind, David Silva and De Bruyne are on the left and right respectively;
Nolito on the left, Sterling on the right, Iheanacho in the center!
For Manchester City, the team is missing three core players, Aguero, Kompany and Yaya Toure in this game, which is definitely a huge loss.
All summer long, the media has been talking a lot about how ruthless Mourinho's purge has been.
As everyone knows, Guardiola is even more ruthless towards Manchester City's meritorious players!
First, goalkeeper Joe Hart, the goalkeeper, was directly abandoned because his ball-playing ability did not meet Guagua's requirements for a goalkeeper, and he left on loan.
Then there is Yaya Toure, who had issues with him in Barcelona.
As soon as he arrived at the team, Guagua immediately gave him an ultimatum to leave.
In the end, because the quotation was not good enough and did not meet psychological expectations, Yaya Toure did not succeed.
And Guagua directly chose to hide the former Premier League's number one midfielder and only let him play in garbage time.
This made Yaya Toure even more uncomfortable.
I went up and kicked for a few minutes, but I didn’t know if I wanted to take a shower when I came down.
It is worth mentioning that Aguero's suspension has also caused concern among many Manchester City fans.
If 99 out of 100 people in the world think that the absence of the team's top scorer Aguero will definitely be very detrimental to Manchester City.
Then the only one left with a different opinion is Mourinho!
During the interview at the press conference, Mourinho believed that Aguero's suspension was not a disadvantage for Manchester City, but an advantage for Manchester City!
“When Aguero was on the court, we knew what their (Manchester City) formation was and how they played. However, Aguero suddenly couldn’t play, Sterling, De Bruyne , Iheanacho can take his place
"But there are completely different characteristics and functions, and there are too many uncertainties here."
This is Mourinho's original words.
Of course, whether this is a sign of weakness or a provocation, perhaps only Mourinho himself knows.
However, in order to show respect for Guardiola, his old enemy, Mourinho also made several position changes in the starting lineup.
The goalkeeper is De Gea, and the four defenders from left to right are Luke Shaw, Blind, Bailly and Valencia;
The double midfielder is Fellaini's partner Kante, who has the "cutest height difference";
Rooney is in the center, Martial and Lingfeng are separated on the left and right;
Ibrahimovic's single arrow!
After the starting lineup was announced, it also aroused heated discussions among fans.
Although Martial had zero goals and no assists in three games, and his lazy attitude on the court was angrily criticized by many Manchester United fans as "playing like a headless fly on the court"
However, after a private one-on-one interview, Mourinho decided to give him another chance.
If Martial does not listen to his suggestions in this game, he will not change his playing style.
Then, he can go to the bench!
Many people were a little surprised when they saw Ling Feng being placed as the right winger.
However, if you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
The purpose of Mourinho's arrangement is very simple. He hopes to use Ling Feng's super personal ability to attack Manchester City left back Kolarov from the wing, suppress him from attacking, and also tear apart Manchester City's defense. Create opportunities to shoot or cross!
Moreover, this is also a key step in Mourinho's tactics against Guardiola!
After all, Guagua's "full-backs move inwards to the center" style of play is no longer a secret.
Therefore, Mourinho wants Ling Feng to create a threat on the right and prevent Manchester City players from gathering in the center to calmly organize and pass the ball.
Soon, accompanied by the high-pitched singing from Old Trafford, the players from both sides led the ball boys and lined up into the stadium.
“Welcome to the fourth round of the Premier League brought to you by Sky Sports. Manchester United faces its rival Manchester City at home.”
“Both teams have experienced coaching changes in the summer, as well as more than 100 million pounds. Signings. And after the start of the new season, they are still unbeaten in the league."
"This is the first matchup between the two best managers in the world in the Premier League."
Accompanied by With a long whistle from referee Paul Tierney, the first round of the Manchester Derby this season officially started at Old Trafford!
(End of this chapter)