Neil Field.

The bus carrying the Manchester United players drove into the stadium parking area through the side door, and the players walked down with their luggage, everyone with a relaxed smile on their faces, and it could be seen that the game did not put much pressure on them.

Ahead of his trip to London, Alex Ferguson stressed 'it is a must win'.

The United players did not feel the pressure because the opponent was only Millwall, who had a good record, but it was also a small club with few stars in the team, and the difference in quality between the two sides was stark, and the players did not think that Millwall was qualified to challenge Manchester United.

It's not carelessness, it's confidence in yourself.

The last time United played Millwall was in the FA Cup final in the 2003-2004 season, when they miraculously progressed to the FA Cup final, beating Millwall 3-0 in 90 minutes at Cardiff Millennium Stadium to win the 'most easy' FA Cup.

I still remember that game.

Many of the players felt more relaxed when they recalled it, and they looked left and right at Neil Stadium.

Millwall are not too strange to the team, but Neil Stadium is definitely unfamiliar, and the last time United came to Neil Stadium was back in the 1995-1996 Carabao Cup, when the two teams met in the fourth round, and the result was self-evident, with United comfortably beating Millwall away to the next round.

There is only one Gary Neville in the current Manchester United squad who played in that game, and Neville is still injured and did not come with the team, so the Manchester United players are very new to Neil Stadium.

They looked carefully from side to side.

Millwall will be Manchester United's opponents next season, and they will not be the last time they come, so a good look at the opponent's home stadium may help the game as well?

————

Millwall side.

In the morning, the whole team had a warm-up training, and Zhang Yang also arranged a short tactical training to familiarize the team with the style of play.

The war of words that broke out before the game did not seem to affect Zhang Yang, and he also hoped that the team could beat Manchester United, but the difference in strength between the two sides was also obvious, and letting the players 'strive for victory' may also cause psychological pressure.

is not only the tactical planning and the details of the game against Manchester United, Zhang Yang also took the initiative to ask Smitchell about the things that should be paid attention to against Manchester United.

Smitchell is the most familiar with Manchester United in the team, having played against United many times during his few seasons at Liverpool, and he has a lot of experience and can certainly say something different.

Smitchell explained a few words, talked about Manchester United's regular push play, and also talked about the need to pay attention to players, such as striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, wide Ryan Giggs, etc., and then Zhang Yang simply asked the whole team to gather, solemnly asked Smitchell to do a 'experience sharing with Manchester United', Zhang Yang and other members of the coaching staff also listened patiently on the side.

This was interesting to Smitchell.

Smitchell is not a football coach, he has always been an ordinary player, and he was not very regarded at Liverpool before, although he performed well on weekdays, but because of injuries and age and technical problems, most of the time, he was not a core player in the team.

Now he's a key player and has been recognised by the manager to help share his experience against Manchester United?

"That's interesting!"

Not only did Smitchell find it interesting, but he also found it interesting that Zhang Yang was able to make this decision, and the average manager would not let the players come forward and say anything, even in the Liverpool team, Gerrard would not stand up and share his game experience with his team-mates, or talk about how to play the game or anything like that, because that's the job of the coaching staff.

Maybe Gerrard could have said it better, but he's just a player.

Zhang Yang didn't care at all.

He doesn't know how to pretend to understand, it's not good for the game, as for face and the like, it's not by saying that the game is fought for, everyone in the team knows his resume, he has no experience as a professional player, and he has just served as an official head coach, and his perception of Manchester United only stays on the game video, so that Smitchell, who has rich experience with Manchester United, shares his experience with Manchester United, it is not a big deal at all, and it will also make a direct reminder to other players.

This also shows that Zhang Yang attaches great importance to the game.

On the way to Neil Stadium, some of the players discussed privately --

"Looks like the boss wants to win!"

"Against Arsenal and Liverpool, I haven't seen the boss so nervous. He probably wanted to win Manchester United and shut up the old Scottish man. ”

"The boss didn't say it, but I know that the boss won't be willing to lose!"

"I'm not reconciled! I want to win! ”

"I want to win too! What is Manchester United! Today we can definitely win! ”

"Hahaha...... I didn't even think about losing! Livermore's words caught a lot of attention, and he continued to laugh, "We haven't lost until now, so why did we lose this game?" We're going to win! ”

This thoughtless sentence made many teammates laugh.

They find that thinking about things is simple, and sometimes it's a good thing, like they think about the strength of Manchester United, the gap between the two sides, and so on, and they will make a judgment about the game in their heads, but Livermore is different, he doesn't think about the gap between the two sides, he doesn't think about things that are too complicated, he just knows how to work hard.

And that's exactly what they're supposed to do.

They're just Millwall players, not members of the coaching staff, and it's none of their business how they play the game or how many chances they have to win, they just have to play hard.

————

As the head coach of the team, Zhang Yang will not think so simple.

Manchester United is the strongest team Millwall has ever faced, and Arsenal and Liverpool have not been able to compare with it before.

The outside world is saying that 'Manchester United is experiencing a critical moment of replacing the old with the new', and in addition, Manchester United Club also has a lot of troubles, such as the summer just bought by the Americans, and the top management has completed a big change, which must have a big impact on the team, but these do not mean that Manchester United's strength will be worse.

They've always been strong.

Old and new?

If a small club changes its squad, it can really make a lot of impact, because the 'newcomers' of a small club represent young players who are not well-known, and it is not easy for these players to play.

Manchester United are a big club.

The so-called 'new' in Manchester United's team refers to a group of newcomers such as Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Saha, Alan Smith and others, who are unimaginable to other clubs, and play at a better level than the veterans.

'Old' isn't really old.

For example, the 'old and strong' Ryan Giggs and Scholes are only in their early thirties, and Roy Keane, who has just left the team, is definitely not old, at least he can still have the top form and strength, and he is very intimidating in the top league, and Van Nisterluyt in the front line is also one of the world's top strikers, he is almost 30 years old, but even if he transfers away, there will be other big clubs rushing to ask for it.

This is Manchester United's old and new generation!

Whether it is the older generation or the new generation, the strength of each player is much stronger than Millwall.

The gap between the two teams is evident.

However, even the media did not dare to say that Manchester United would be able to win the game, Millwall won a little too many games, successive defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool, so that many people recognized that Millwall is not a traditional team that evaluates the strength of the team just by looking at the lineup, 'Millwall has a chance to win', is something that all the media admit, as for how many opportunities, it is a matter of opinion, wisdom and wisdom.

During the opening of the game, various commentators also analyzed the starting lineup, and the "Sky Sports" commentator was Kevin Bullard, who commented on the Liverpool vs Millwall game, got an idea of Millwall's lineup, and began by analysing the core players of both sides that could decide the game.

Josh Simpson was mentioned in Millwall's squad, and Bullard commented on Simpson as follows, "The free-kick level goes straight to David Beckham, he is an important force for England's young generation!" ”

Jody Morris is also mentioned.

However, Morris was mentioned because he did not start for Millwall, but sat on the bench, "Morris should not have fully recovered from his injury, Millwall used him as a hole card." If the situation is unfavorable, presumably Morris will come into play. ”

There are a lot of players to mention in United's squad.

Recently, the players who have attracted attention are Alan Smith, C-Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney in the front line is also more famous than Van Nistelrooy, not that Rooney is better than Van Nistelrooy, because Rooney is an English player and a young player who is just about to turn 20 years old, and as long as he performs, he will be noticed by the media.

Less than ten minutes into the game, Kevin Bullard noticed that Millwall's defense didn't seem to be his own judgment.

Millwall did not limit Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo too much, and Alan Smith can be described as 'laissez-faire', the opposing players can only be said to be normal games, and their focus on defending is midfielder Scholes.

If you look closely at the game for a few minutes, it will be clear that Scholes is very restricted, and when Scholes is up front, he will be flanked by at least one defender, sometimes as much as two.

Such a targeted defense has caused Paul Scholes big problems.

It was difficult for Scholes to perform individually, and it was not easy to cooperate with his teammates, because the other defenders of Millwall blocked the passing line in a targeted manner, and many times Scholes could only choose to pass back.

"Scholes was targeted." Kevin Bullard lamented, "Selectively dropping restrictions on young players such as Alan Smith and Wayne Rooney is probably Millwall's defensive targeting strategy, but is it really good to do so?" ”

At the same time as Kevin Bullard analyzed, there was also a constant discussion among media reporters.

Manchester United's players in the squad are Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and the new and outstanding Alan Smith, while the rest of the players up front have received less attention, with Paul Scholes being the least noticed.

Scholes?

When many people think of Scholes, they think that he is about to retire.

Although no one has said that Scholes is not doing well, it is true that Scholes is not mentioned many times in various reports.

Manchester United's '92 Golden Generation' has many outstanding players, including two Neville, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, etc., the least of which is Scholes, because in the England national team, he is also difficult to compete with Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and difficult to play the main team.

A few years ago, Manchester United's standout player was David Beckham.

After Beckham left, Manchester United's star became Ruud van Nistelrooy, and now 'the old and the new', C-Ronaldo, Rooney and others have also performed well, but no time belongs to Scholes, he can't even compare with his teammate Giggs, because Giggs also has the name of 'the king of the left side'.

What is Millwall's purpose in defending against Scholes?

The above is just the idea of the media.

Noting that Millwall was focusing on Paul Scholes, United boss Alex Ferguson immediately turned his head to the Millwall dugout.

The young man was sitting 'leisurely': playing with a deck of playing cards in his hand, a relaxed smile on his face, not like a steady manager, but like a neutral fan who didn't care about winning or losing.

But Ferguson couldn't help but glance up, "Limit Scholes...... Was it the youngster who made the decision, or the Millwall coaching staff? ”

Ferguson frowned slightly.

As an experienced manager, Ferguson does not take any of his accomplished opponents lightly, the opponent is only a young man in his early twenties, but he can lead an ordinary Championship team to a miraculous result to win the Championship, and the new season of league performance is not by chance.

This young man must have some skills.

Now on the field, Millwall's defensive approach also happened to hit Manchester United's soft underbelly.

Manchester United have a lot of good players.

Players such as Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Van Nistelrooy, each of them are big stars when they are taken out individually, but Manchester United is a team as a whole, as long as the team has corresponding tactics, and the ability of a single star is good, but when they get to the game, they must follow the tactics to play.

Paul Scholes is the heart of Manchester United's attack.

No matter how skilled and individual the other players are, they have to play around Scholes, and in most games, other players are more eye-catching, such as Cristiano Ronaldo's dribbling and cutting shots, Rooney's rampage on the pitch, his clean burst, Van Nistelrooy's dominance in the penalty area, etc., their performances are more attractive to fans, and their names are frequently featured in media reports.

Scholes is somewhat obscure in comparison.

But there's more to any attack than just a crucial kick in the game, and there is a lot of work to be done until then, and Paul Scholes is the heart of United's playmaking attack, and he will use his control of the big picture and his team-mates to make it easier for them to get their chances.

If Paul Scholes is confined to death, Manchester United will lose an arm.

"This young man is really a bit of a level!" While Ferguson thought with a smile, he was also a lot more vigilant.