Lu Ling was lying in bed reading "Inverted Pyramid", a book written by a British journalist about changes in football tactics. It's not a profound thing, but the author is a very famous journalist named Jonathan Wilson. The writing is quite good, and she often takes it out and flips it over.

The phone next to the pillow dripped, Lu Ling put down the book, picked it up and looked at it, it was Pat who sent a message on WhatsApp.

"How's your date?"

She replied, "Not well. ”

[Patrick: Is the other party really that bad?]

Lu Ling: No, Leo is very good. In fact, the appointment wasn't done at all because the boss called me back.

Patrick: That must be embarrassing.

Lu Ling: It's okay. I'm pretty sure Leo can find a better girl than me, and I'm not worried.

Patrick: I'm skeptical.

Lu Ling: Are you satisfied with the contract?

Patrick: Okay. Where's my Christmas present?

Lu Ling: I'm sorry!!I've forgotten!!!I'll make it up to you!!

Patrick: Oh, Tina, you never remember your promise.

Lu Ling: Are you angry?

Patrick: Nope

Lu Ling: I will definitely give it to you, I don't understand why you are so concerned about the gift of 10 pounds, since you are already a rich child.

Patrick: Well, I'll have to change cars.

Lu Ling: Looking forward to your new car. I slept, good night. Oh, by the way, don't call me Tina, it's weird.

Patrick: I don't think it's strange at all. Good night, Tina. 】

****

Manchester is not close to London, but whether it is a train or a car, it is basically two or three hours away.

Located in the north-west of England, the city that developed during the Industrial Revolution is now best known for a local football club.

The name of this club is Manchester United.

Old Trafford isn't universally known as the Devil's home, but in fact, in the Ferguson era, it was never easy to take the three points away from the Theatre of Dreams. However, the club is suffering its biggest crisis since the Premier League era in recent years. In the three years since the departure of legendary manager Ferguson Freud, from David Moyes to Louis van Gaal, it seems that they have insulted the title of Red Devils manager.

What do British fans generally think of this team? There is a poll that the most popular club of British fans is Manchester United. However, in another poll, the club most hated by British fans was Manchester United.

Lu Ling told Nicholas about this on the bus.

The Spaniard smiled and said, "In Spain, we have two of them. ”

Lu Ling smiled awkwardly and looked out the window, where he could already see the huge white frame of Old Trafford.

Last season, QPR was beaten up here, and of course, she wasn't here at the time.

Speaking of which, in recent years, QPR has had some strange links with Manchester United.

For example, Park Ji-sung and Rio Ferdinand both went to Queens Park Rangers after leaving Manchester United.

For example, in the 2011-2012 season, in the final round of the championship-deciding season, QPR dramatically conceded two goals in stoppage time to send Manchester United's local rivals Manchester City to the Premier League title.

****

Away dressing room at Old Trafford.

Patrick lifted his socks from his ankles up to his knees, then tucked the shin guards in. Damn, he cursed, a little tense. So he pulled out the shin guards again, ready to put them in before the official appearance.

When he lowered his head to tie his shoes, the phone placed next to the seat vibrated a few times, and he picked it up and looked at it, it was Abby, who said she was already in the stands.

He had casually mentioned this game to Abby before, and he didn't want his girlfriend, who had always been uninterested in football, to say that he wanted to watch this game. Still from London. Manchester United is really attractive, he thought.

"Hope you don't get bored. He replied casually.

There was a message from the other end right away: "Honey, how will you celebrate if you score?"

Patrick froze for a moment with his phone. He had imagined the way he scored at Old Trafford many times without thinking about how to celebrate.

"Pat, hurry. Christine called from the door.

"It's coming. He put down his phone and ran out.

The sky over Manchester was overcast, as if it could rain at any moment. The temperature is several degrees cooler than in London.

During the pre-match warm-up, the QPR players came out of the locker room and cheers rang out from the away fan zone. In the huge stadium, these voices seem a little lonely.

Patrick walked to the side of the field. After about 20 seconds, there was a much higher cheer than before, and he knew it was the Manchester United players who walked out of the tunnel after them.

Both teams occupy half of the field and begin to practice simple passes. Patrick looked up – the 76,000-seat Old Trafford stands weren't quite crowded, but they were already buzzing.

Jack brought him here to watch a game when he was a kid and he wasn't very impressed by that game, probably because he wasn't a Manchester United fan himself. But like all British kids, this pitch is hard to refuse.

Zixiang seemed to be extremely excited today, and his voice was very loud during the warm-up. He kicked the ball over, and Patrick, after receiving his pass, took a few steps, hit the goal, and went in. His feet seemed to feel good today, and when he looked back, he saw the assistant coach clapping him lightly.

The moment Lu Ling stepped on the turf of Old Trafford, he felt more deeply why this place is called the Theater of Dreams.

Red, red, red, and noise and flash. She suddenly realized that because the opponent was Manchester United, there would be countless fans around the world watching in front of the TV over the time difference.

Nicholas was presumably still in a pre-match interview with broadcaster BTSport at this time. She walked up to George and chatted about Charlie's injuries, and they both thought he should be fine.

When she looked around, she always felt that there were countless pairs of eyes staring at her. As soon as she turned around, sure enough, there were many reporters and fans with camera equipment facing this side. She seemed to hear the sporadic teasing of her gender, but it didn't stir up any ripples in her heart.

It feels good, she thought.

****

Lu Ling came out of the players' tunnel after Nicholas, and she came out just in time to see the Spaniard shaking hands with the Dutch. They even spoke cordially, and the Dutchman's body language showed that he knew Nicholas.

She was a little surprised.

They sat down in the dugout almost together.

Lu Ling covered his mouth with his hand and muttered in a low voice, "You never told me that you knew Van Gaal." ”

Nicholas tilted his head, "That's because it doesn't matter." ”

In the third round of the FA Cup, Manchester United officially played Queens Park Rangers at home.

Dutchman Louis van Gaal's '95 Ajax is a myth of a generation, and he himself has become famous all over the world. Later, I went to many giants, Barcelona, Bayern, and although they both had championships, they were all chickens and dogs when they left. He also had a great time after bringing the Netherlands to the last four at the 2014 World Cup, and Manchester United fans who were in dire straits at the time were looking forward to the arrival of the Dutch manager. A season and a half later, there are more and more voices of disappointment among United fans.

This time, he, like Nicholas, lined up the formation of 4231.

Nicholas understands that Manchester United's overall strength is undoubtedly not comparable to that of QPR. But in terms of local strength, QPR can score goals as long as they grasp the opponent's Achilles' heels.

Over the years, the two positions of central defender and playmaker have been sought after countless times because of Barcelona's success, and many teams and managers will do the same. Of course, Van Gaal didn't learn it from Pep Guardiola. In fact, as one of the branches of the Dutch all-attacking and all-defensive system, he also has this thing in his own football philosophy.

However, who are the central players at Manchester United right now?

No.17 Daley Blind is the Dutchman's first-choice centre-back, while No.16 Michael Carrick is the Dutchman's playmaker.

Lu Ling's initial ignorance is also here, in her opinion, Blind's ability to play the ball is good, although it will be a huge problem when defending, but the head coach should use his strengths with a player, right?

As for Carrick, Lu Ling believes that he is a relatively underrated English player in recent years, although his ability as a playmaker is not as good as some first-class players in this position, such as Barcelona's Sergio Busquets, but he is indeed a very smart player, and his control of the overall situation and the judgment of the ball line are quite good. It's a pity that now that I'm getting older and older, I'm declining very much. But it's not impossible.

In his office that day, Nicholas said that the central axis of Blind and Carrick was one of United's dead ends. Blind is not a bad player, but he should not have been put in the centre-back position at all. Manchester United have suffered enough on this point so far this season. And Carrick, who is also older, is paired with Blind behind him. This central axis is a domino.

So, Nicholas's idea was for Patrick to constantly try to harass the area.

"Mr. Flores, if that's exactly what you said, then why does Van Gaal still fight like this?" Lu Ling asked him at that time.

"Because he's Louis van Gaal. Nicholas smirked contemptuously, "haven't you always thought I was stubborn?, my dear assistant, if you knew Louie, you would find me flexible." ”

When Lu Ling recalled this part, she suddenly found that Nicholas's tone did seem to know Van Gaal, but at that time, her attention was all on tactics and she didn't think about it.

****

On the pitch, Manchester United's No.9 Anthony Martial picked up the ball.

This player was acquired by Manchester United at a sky-high price this season. Lu Ling didn't know much about him, she had only watched a few games of last season's Monaco and didn't feel very impressive at the time, but his performance at Manchester United this season was very good and breathtaking. It is no exaggeration to say that the Frenchman, who has just turned 20, is now the strongest player in the Red Devils' squad.

Anthony Martial made a name for himself at Manchester United in September. At that time, Pat was still depressed in the QPR reserves. Despite the fact that he often brushes up on the number of days against the sky, he doesn't even have a chance to enter the first team. Now, he has finally made his mark in the Championship.

She looked at the boy in the blue and white jersey of No. 43 again, although the two have different www.biquge.info, but who knows what will happen in the future?

Anthony Martial's ball down the flank was poked out by Daniel Torger. It's still Manchester United's touchline ball at the moment.

Lu Ling re-stared at Manchester United's No. 9, with a calm temperament, and a smile on the corner of his mouth, which was a bit similar to Pat, both of whom were young and old-fashioned personalities and playing styles. However, it is not necessarily that there is no temper.

"Anthony Martial, this kid is going to cause us problems. ”

Nicholas's gaze never left the court, and Lu Ling thought he hadn't heard what he said.

But after a while, the Spaniard suddenly leaned back, "No more trouble than Patrick has caused Manchester United." ”