After Christmas, before the winter break, the Premier League halfway game began, Manchester United easily beat Black Cat Sunderland 2-0 at home to lead the table by 11 points.

In the last 19 seasons of the Premier League, the final number of half-time titles has been 11, with a chance of winning more than 57 per cent, and with an 11-point lead, no team has been reversed.

Manchester United's home win over Sunderland was understandable, and no one would have thought Sunderland could cause an upset at Old Trafford.

To the surprise of fans, Manchester United's legendary captain Gary, who announced his retirement during the winter break a long time ago. Neville did not retire after the final game before the winter break.

Many people previously thought that this was the best time for Neville to announce his retirement, and it can be seen from Neville's original conversation that Neville is ready to retire after the halfway point.

Some fans wonder if Neville is ready to retire at the end of this season, after all, Manchester United now has such a big points advantage, even if Neville can't play, he can finally lift the league championship trophy as Manchester United captain.

But soon the "Sun" reporter broke the news that Gary. Neville recommended Gao Xiaodong to Alex Ferguson as Manchester United's captain, and he postponed his retirement in order to wait for the results of the Ballon d'Or to be announced. Now Gao Xiaodong is young and has little qualifications, and it may be difficult to convince everyone to be the captain, and if Gao Xiaodong can win the Golden Ball Award, this will greatly improve Gao Xiaodong's competitiveness and provide more favorable conditions for Gao Xiaodong to become the captain of Manchester United.

The Daily Mail also made a similar report to The Sun, saying Gary. Neville did recommend Gao Xiaodong to Ferguson as Manchester United captain, but the Daily Mail thinks it was Gary. Neville was recommended to Ferguson by Mendes, who is likely to work as a coach after retiring, has a wide range of contacts, and Mendes, who has many stars, is naturally an important object of Neville's friendship.

The media reports made fans in an uproar, most fans thought it was a joke, not to mention Gao Xiaodong's age, he had just joined the team for less than a year, why did Gao Xiaodong become the captain of Manchester United, if he really became the captain, a few people would listen to him.

But there are also many fans who think that Gao Xiaodong's ability and emotional intelligence are very good, Manchester United can lead the second place by so many points in the halfway, Gao Xiaodong has made great contributions, and Gao Xiaodong has had the experience of being a vice president in Porto and Inter Milan, and it is not unacceptable for Gao Xiaodong to be the captain in the absence of a suitable captain in Manchester United.

But then Gary. Neville refuted the rumors, saying that Gao Xiaodong does have the ability to be the captain of Manchester United, but he did not recommend Gao Xiaodong to Ferguson as the captain, nor did he make a deal with Mendes.

Although Neville has refuted the rumors, but this refutation of the rumors is useless, Manchester United League is smooth sailing, fans have no topic except to discuss when Manchester United's unbeaten unbeaten will end, and now the topic of whether Gao Xiaodong can be the captain has obviously detonated the gossip enthusiasm of the media and fans, reporters have repeatedly reported, fans are hotly discussing, whether Gao Xiaodong will become the youngest captain in Manchester United history has immediately become a hot topic in European football, and the three major bookmakers in Europe have even opened odds for Gao Xiaodong to be the captain.

It wasn't until Inter Milan coach Benitez stepped down that the media and fans paid attention to the famous coach who had just coached for half a season, and the topic of Gao Xiaodong as the captain gradually declined, but with the opening of the winter transfer window, the Golden Ball Award entered the final sprint stage, Gao Xiaodong soon became the focus of European football, and this time the focus of media and fans became whether Gao Xiaodong could win the Golden Ball.

Gao Xiaodong's rivals are Barcelona's midfielders Xavi and Iniesta, last season, Gao Xiaodong led Inter Milan to win the club's highest honor, the League Cup and the Champions League treble, while Barcelona won the league title, Iniesta and Xavi also won the World Cup, team honors are almost the same.

After the start of the season, Gao Xiaodong transferred to Manchester United, leading Manchester United to win the halfway title with an unbeaten record, 11 points ahead of second-place Chelsea, and Barcelona did not perform much, they faced Jose Mourinho's Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid, 5 points ahead of Real Madrid at the halfway, and swept Real Madrid 5-0 in the national derby.

Judging from the performance of this whole year, Gao Xiaodong, Xavi, Iniesta, who won the Ballon d'Or have enough reasons, plus this is the first selection after the merger of the Ballon d'Or and the World Footballer, who won the Ballon d'Or has become even more confusing.

For Gao Xiaodong, although he has a superstar system, when he captains Manchester United and wins the Ballon d'Or, these results are not up to him, and what he can do now is to work harder on the pitch and strive to win more people's support.

In 2011, Gao Xiaodong's first battle was an alternative Chinese derby, where he will travel to challenge Chinese Yang Ka-shing's Birmingham City.

Yang Ka-shing is a die-hard Premier League fan who became the club's largest shareholder in June 2007 when he acquired a 29.9% stake in Birmingham Premier League through his listed company, Hongfeng International Holdings Limited. Later, Hongfeng International slowly acquired the shares of Birmingham, until this season Yang Ka-shing completely bought Birmingham, becoming the first Chinese owner in the history of the Premier League.

Birmingham have a poor record in the league and are currently third from bottom in the league and are in a very bad relegation situation, but in the cup competition, Birmingham have been an upset, they have reached the last four of the Carabao Cup, and they will reach the Carabao Cup final if they beat West Ham United.

Although Yang Ka-shing and Gao Xiaodong do not know each other, they are both Chinese, Yang Ka-shing has always praised Gao Xiaodong on many occasions, thinking that Gao Xiaodong is the pride of the Chinese and the representative of Chinese football, and said that if Gao Xiaodong has the idea of playing in a small team like Birmingham, he will buy Gao Xiaodong even if he is bankrupt to create a Chinese power.

Of course, Gao Xiaodong also reciprocated the favor, often praising Yang Ka-shing for showing the determination of Chinese people to do a good job in football, making contributions to football, and being a real fan businessman who speaks with actions.

Birmingham has a close relationship with Arsenal in the Premier League, but in recent years, Arsenal's strength is not good, and he can't take care of his younger brother, so Birmingham's situation in the league is also very difficult.