Chapter 40: Playing Cards
In the final moments of the summer transfer window, the shocking news that Brazilian superstar Kaka is seeking a transfer to escape the Bernabeu suddenly revealed that the entire world football world was in an uproar.
Kaka and Real Madrid dominated the front page headlines of the world's major mainstream sports media in an instant, and were pushed to the forefront of public opinion.
And various versions of rumors and scandals are also endless.
"Exploring the real reason for the breakdown between Kaka and Real Madrid!"
'Kaka couldn't accept Pellegrini's departure, he saw it as disrespectful to the team's merits, so he was determined to leave the Bernabeu, who had no 'human touch'!"
"Insiders have revealed: The reason for Kaka's decision to leave is the tension between him and the team's new boss Jose Mourinho – the Portuguese don't trust the Brazilian star!"
"AC Milan say they are interested in their plan to bring the Brazilian superstar back to the Apennines!"
"Premier League giants Manchester City shot again, and the Abu Dhabi consortium said that as long as Kaka is willing to come, they can even provide Real Madrid with a blank cheque for the amount to fill in Florentino!"
'Frank Lampard: Kaka is a fantastic world-class superstar and of course it would be fantastic to be able to come to Stamford Bridge and play with him!'
"Manchester United have joined the race for the Brazilian star, and Ferguson says he has never hidden his admiration and pursuit of Kaka!"
"The latest news, Kaka's wife Caroline has been working on their real estate in Spain, and various facts have proved that the time for Kaka to leave the Bernabeu has entered the countdown, where is Kaka's next stop?"
For Kaka's various reports, endless, endless, today there is this media said that Kaka and a giant team in Serie A have reached an intention, tomorrow the media confirmed that Kaka has accepted the invitation of a team in the Premier League, and the media swore that Kaka will not leave Spain this summer, because the Real Madrid management wants to sell the Brazilian for a good price, but so far, because of the lack of time, not many teams have been able to meet their expectations.
In short, the whole European football world has gone crazy, everyone is paying attention to the Kaka transfer incident, and the major giants are also seizing the time to contact Real Madrid and Kaka, hoping to make breakthrough or even decisive progress.
……
The outside world is in an uproar, but time does not stop waiting for a certain person or event.
Manchester United have joined the race for Kaka, but it is up to Alex Ferguson and the transfer department to deal with these things, and for all of the United players, after the Community Shield, they will have only one priority: to prepare for the upcoming Premier League season.
Time is fast forward to August 14, this day is the 2010-2011 season, the day when the Premier League reopened.
On the 14th, there is only one game to be played, and the two sides are Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City with a blue moon, and the two teams will blow the horn of the new Premier League season.
The Premier League is one of the first of Europe's top five leagues, so while other leagues are still putting the finishing touches on the new season, England has already captured the attention of fans around the world.
However, Tottenham's opening game against Manchester City was a bit disappointing, in which both teams had a lackluster performance, lackluster attack, and a series of mistakes in defence, both teams had a lot of shots on goal, but neither team could have scored - it was both the opening game and the strong talk, and it was supposed to be a good matchup, but it was clear that both teams were affected by the summer, and the players did not fully recover from their vacation form. It didn't show any form going into the intense competition of the new season.
The game ended 0-0 and for the fans, the process and outcome of the opening game was simply boring, but for Tottenham and Manchester City, the result of the draw was able to satisfy both of them - there was no strong dialogue, just two rookies pecking each other, and it was already very good to be able to get a point each without losing.
"Not enterprising", this is the British media's evaluation of the poor performance of the two teams of Tottenham and Manchester City throughout the game after the game, and many fans also expressed their dissatisfaction and doubts about the performance of the two teams.
But disappointment was disappointment, and the fans turned their attention to other teams a day later, and on the 15th, the Premier League was in full swing and the flames of war were rekindled.
The big clubs, the big teams, and the promoted horses who were promoted from the Championship last season, whether it is the big teams that have expectations for the new season league title, or the teams that aim to qualify for next season's European competition and aim for relegation from the beginning, all of them are attacking, except for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, the other 18 teams want to use a win as a good start to the new season.
……
For Manchester United, the schedule of the new season is very favorable for them, although the first game is away from home, to Newcastle on the Tyne, but in the first round of the league, they are the last to play, the match date is on the 17th, which gives Manchester United more time to rest and prepare.
While the rest of the Premier League was in full swing, on August 16, all the members of Manchester United arrived in Newcastle City by bus, and after a night's rest, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the next day, they boarded the bus again and went to St James's Park, Newcastle's main venue.
In fact, England is not a country with a large land area, and the distance between cities is not too far, and when there is a game, it is often from its own city in the morning and arrives before noon.
Ferguson decided to arrive at Newcastle a day earlier to give the players more time to rest and prepare.
After a meal at the hotel where China was staying, around 2.30pm, the Manchester United players, led by the assistant coach, boarded the bus and headed to St James's Park.
Newcastle is not far from the hotel where Manchester United stays, but the hotel is in the city center, the venue is in the northeastern suburbs, on foot, almost half an hour to arrive, if you take a car, it is estimated that more than ten minutes is enough.
Newcastle City is very lively today, the start of the new Premier League season has made the country's football fans in a state of excitement, and today the Magpie Newcastle is about to play, which makes the city's fans feel extremely excited.
Magpies Newcastle is also a well-known team in the history of English football, they have not only won the English top flight championship many times, but also won the FA Cup and League Cup. Shearer, Shola. Ameobi, Titus. Brambull ...... Zhexi players have left their own mark of glory in the history of English football. Shearer is even more legendary, as a super goalscorer, he once held the Premier League record for the most goals scored by 260 goals, and is highly sought after and loved by British fans.
Of course, more people know about Newcastle as a team, in addition to their long history and glorious honors, among them, the promotion of the film is also indispensable. In the football-themed movie "One Goal to Fame", the male protagonist became famous at St. James' Park and gradually grew into a real superstar.
It can be seen from the selection of the film in Newcastle that this team is indeed a force to be reckoned with in English football.
Unfortunately, Newcastle's results in recent years have been extremely unsatisfactory, and they were even relegated to the second division of the Champions League. And this season, they finally returned to the top flight.
So, the city's fans are exalted and exalted, and while the glory of the past does not mean the present and the future, the people who love this team still hope that Newcastle will have a fresh start as they return to the top flight.
The game doesn't start until around 5:30 in the evening, but in the city at this moment, the streets and alleys are full of magpie fans wearing black, white, black and white striped shirts, people holding scarves, waving flags with the magpie emblem, and fans with their faces painted in various colors, people are shaking their fists and shouting loudly in the streets, and the momentum is quite spectacular.
There was a crowd of people everywhere, so the bus had to slow down and move forward slowly.
Magpie fans also spotted the bus with the Manchester United logo on it, with some shouting at the bus as they walked by, while others shook their fists in protest, saying that today's Magpies would bring Manchester United home.
In the midst of all kinds of noise, Fan Bizhuang, who was sitting by the window, even heard a faint shout from the crowd, and the name of the shout surprised him a little.
"They're calling you, Michael."
Fan Bizhuang turned around and pointed out the window to Owen, who was sitting in the back.
Owen stretched out his arm out of the car with a smile on his face and shook it vigorously, and suddenly, there was another cheer outside. "Michael!" "Michael!" The shouts were louder.
"I've been here for a while before, and it seems that the people here haven't forgotten about me. It's really impressive. ”
After interacting with the fans for a while, Owen shrank his body back and explained to Fan Bizhuang with a smile.
Fan Bizhuang didn't know about this stubble, nodded, and made a sudden realization.
"Fan! Fan! ”
"Come here! We're a bad guy! Come, come, play with us for a while! ”
"Hell, the bus is moving like a snail today, it's boring to sit in the car, Fan, come and play cards with us."
The inside of the bus was spacious, and in the aisle, someone had set up a small table, surrounded by several players, and Neville was waving and shouting at Fan Bizhuang, holding a deck of playing cards.
Fan Bizhuang was a little dumbfounded, on the way to the opponent's home stadium, before the first league game of the new season was about to start, these guys actually ...... Playing cards in the carriage?
Fan Bizhuang was really worried that the old Scottish man who was not very good-tempered would angrily drive the group out of the car - and then he soon had no such worries, and he saw Ferguson in the crowd, and the little old man was sitting next to the table, waving to Fan Bizhuang.
"Fan! Fan! ”
"Stop grinding, come here! We're missing someone! ”
Seeing that the head coach was also greeting him, Fan Bizhuang suddenly had a feeling of thunder, and almost fainted directly without a black eye.
What the hell is going on?
Such a team, Manchester United? The most successful team in the Premier League since its inception? Is this really reliable? Before the game, a group of people, from players to coaches, actually gathered to play cards, which ...... I'm not dreaming, am I?
Oh damn it, God, it looks like I'm really dreaming, wake me up!
Fan Bizhuang covered his forehead, speechless.