Members of United's coaching staff sit on either side of a small conference room at Carrington's training centre. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Manager Alex Ferguson sits in the main seat.

This time, the coaching staff is discussing tomorrow's game with AC Milan, the general direction such as tactics and the like, the coaching staff has been formulated, but the squad and starting list have not been determined.

According to UEFA Champions League rules, United will hold a pre-match press conference two hours later, during which the squad will be announced.

The starting line-up was not announced until two hours before the game, but as the day approached, they had to discuss the results.

Shen Yang sat on one side of Ferguson, and on the other side was Mike Ferran, the 'second-in-command' of the coaching staff.

That's not to say that he has the absolute trust of Alex Ferguson, on par with Mike Ferran, and everyone knows that he's just an outsider, and it's arranged to show that he is taken seriously.

Ferguson asked Shen Yang to participate in the discussion, hoping that he could come up with some suggestions.

The cooperation between Manchester United and the 'Sheep Football Training Group' has involved millions of euros in more than ten days, and Ferguson also hopes that the 'Sheep Football Training Group' can really play a certain role.

After the meeting, some of the coaches started talking about tactics and stuff.

Several coaches all participated in the discussion, but Shen Yang didn't say a word, just listened silently.

For tactics and the like, he was not interested at all.

After that, the conversation shifted to the squad, with the main players of the squad sure to be in the squad, with the discussion focusing on a number of fringe players, with the three players at the centre of controversy being Philip Bardersley, Jemba Jemba and Darren Fletchel.

Due to the limited number of players in the squad, only two of the three players will be included in the squad, and one will be eliminated.

It's just the little things.

All three are in the squad, and they can only sit on the bench, and in most cases, they have no chance to play, and Ferguson did not ask the opinions of others, so he directly called Darren Flechel into the squad, without even explaining the reason.

Other coaches also tacitly agreed.

Shen Yang was a little puzzled, and when the others were discussing, he whispered to Queiroz next to him, and Queiroz whispered, "Flechel is from Manchester United's academy. ”

Shen Yang was stunned.

When it comes to the selection of substitutes that don't matter the outcome of the match, any club will favour home-grown players.

These players value the club very much.

Some players who have been transferred from other clubs, even though they are also Manchester United players, have little loyalty to speak of, and may have other temptations to choose to leave Manchester United and find another way.

On the choice of Philip Bardesley and Jemba Jemba, Ferguson asked Shen Yang, "Which of these two players do you think is more suitable?" ”

Shen Yang asked suspiciously, "Aren't they a position?" ”

"What if it's not a location?"

There are 18 players in the Champions League squad, 11 main players and 7 substitutes, which is definitely enough normally, and the lack of players in one position is not a big deal.

'I think Bardesley is a little bit better and he's in better shape.

Shen Yang replied.

Ferguson frowned slightly, he really didn't understand the explanation of 'better condition', and a player's state can also be seen?

He couldn't believe it.

Shen Yang talked about Bardesley's better condition, and Ferguson responded, "Then Bardesley!" "Actually, he liked Bardesley, Fletchel was a striker, Djemba was also a striker, and he couldn't have led 'two strikers who were almost impossible to play'.

After that, the starting list was discussed.

There's no controversy in other positions, but it's not the same up front.

United's absolute striker Ruin van Nistelrooy has just returned from injury and only returned to normal training yesterday, and it is questionable whether to start him.

Can Van Nistelrooy's form be guaranteed?

It was a difficult decision for the United coaching staff.

Van Nistelrooy is certainly the strongest, but whether his ability is guaranteed is a big question, and even if it is discussed, it is impossible to determine whether the decision is the right one.

Ferguson's invitation to Shen Yang to participate in the discussion was also for this purpose.

Several coaches looked at Shen Yang.

The 'Sheep Football Training Team' conducts 'state training', maybe Shen Yang's opinion will be more correct than theirs, right?

Many coaches wanted Shen Yang to nod.

Van Nistelrooy's appearance or not is too important for Manchester United, and Rooney's ability is also good, but compared to Van Nistelrooy, it is still a lot worse, after all, Rooney is too young.

Shen Yang didn't give hope, but shook his head and said, "Fan's condition is too bad, if he plays, I dare to say that he will definitely not show anything." ”

A group of coaches fell silent.

They don't know if what Shen Yang said is correct, but it is a fact that Van Nistelrooy has only just recovered from injury.

Ferguson coughed lightly and moved on to the next topic, saying, "So who replaces Ruud van Nistelrooy?" ”

"Fran!" Shen Yang said with certainty.

"Fran?"

Many coaches shouted in surprise.

Diego Forlan is a good goalscorer, he was Manchester United's 'third striker' last season and last season, but this season Forlan has been injured and has spent most of his time recuperating, plus the team has Wayne Rooney and Alan Smith, Saha and others, Forlan has almost no chance to play.

Forlan has also been training quietly since his recovery last month, and he doesn't even have a chance to make the squad.

In this game, they also did not consider putting Forlan in the squad.

Shen Yang explained, "This is my suggestion. Forlan is in great form at the moment, I dare say he's the best in the centre, and I don't know why you didn't put him in the squad, but I'm sure he's coming out and he's going to show for sure. ”

The reason why Shen Yang is so sure is that Fran's state has reached 99%, which is the highest state valuation.

99% of the game means that Fran is not only able to perform well on the field, but also has the potential to perform exceptionally.

Ferguson frowned.

The other coaches shook their heads silently, they didn't believe Shen Yang's statement, on the other hand, Fran is really good, but Fran hasn't played for a long time, who can say what kind of performance he has?

In the next discussion, Shen Yang did not participate.

In the end, the coaching staff took half of the advice – they kicked Alan Smith out of the squad and put Forlan in the squad, but the starting striker changed from Van Nistelrooy to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

――――

Manchester United held a pre-match press conference that night, and manager Alex Ferguson immediately announced Manchester United's squad.

There are no surprises in this list.

With 18 players in the Champions League squad, and the discrepancy between the real list and the media's predictions is one or two fringe players, Diego Forlan's inclusion in the squad was somewhat unexpected, but it is not surprising that Forlan made 27 appearances for United last season and reappeared in the squad.

The media is more concerned about United's starting line-up, especially the forward combination.

"Will Ruud van Nistelrooy start?" That's what the media cares about.

Ferguson said nothing about this.

"No comment!"

That's Ferguson's only answer.

Ahead of the AC Milan game, Ferguson did not reveal any idea of the starting line-up.

The next morning, Manchester United gathered early, a morning of training, the benefits of the home game reflected, Manchester United can continue to train with peace of mind, just wait for the game to start, and the away team AC Milan, arrived in Manchester the night before, after settling in the hotel, also need to go to the temporary venue to warm up, the mental state is certainly not comparable.

The morning state training continued.

The state training will not take effect until the next day, and Shen Yang did not arrange a full set of training for the players, but only asked each player to do some muscle stretching action training in the morning and afternoon.

This kind of training helps to relax the muscles of the body, which is close to maintaining the effect.

For the match with AC Milan, Shen Yang is more confident than the Manchester United coaching staff, and even all the players, after only two days of training, the state of Manchester United players has reached more than 83%, and the average can reach 85%, and some players who are already in good condition have exceeded 90%.

Two of the most in-form players are Diego Forlan and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Diego Forlan's form is 99%, C-Ronaldo is 98%, it is a pity that the Manchester United coaching staff did not follow the advice, they only put Diego Forlan in the squad, not the starter, otherwise Shen Yang's confidence is more sufficient.

There are still benefits for Manchester United to win.

When the 'Sheep Football Training Team' cooperates with Manchester United, it is natural to hope that Manchester United's results are very good.

This is also tantamount to indirect advertising.

Although it cannot directly prove the effect of 'state training', it also lets other clubs know that the teams that have cooperated with the 'Sheep Football Training Group' have achieved quite good results.

That's actually the best effect.

It's like a manager who's coached a team and the team has done really well, it's not necessarily all the manager's credit, but it's a very successful resume, and if it's always that way, then everybody will recognise the manager's ability.

The same goes for the 'Sheep Football Training Group'.

One or two cooperations, because the time is very short, and it is only auxiliary training, naturally it cannot make everyone believe in the effect, but it is different all the time, and every time the cooperative team can achieve better results, it is enough for everyone to recognize the training effect.

The Manchester United players had a break until three o'clock at noon.

The whole crew then took a bus into Old Trafford.

The atmosphere of the tournament was already felt at Old Trafford, and as the fans entered the stadium, the stadium became noisy and the home and away fans began to cheer on.

This game is very important for both sides, with Manchester United's advantage being at home, but the two-legged game is often played first and then home, leaving the tiebreaker at home to be more advantageous.

AC Milan are a strong team.

Despite playing away from home in the first game, they were confident of victory.

This is the confidence that belongs to the Italian giants AC Milan.

In recent years, the rise of the Premier League has been very fast, but in the UEFA points rankings, Serie A is still the world's first league, as the giant AC Milan that dominates Serie A, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are the world's No. 1 team, and their results in the Champions League over the years are also very gorgeous.

AC Milan is also at its peak, and the two most famous players in the team are none other than the famous Ukrainian nuclear warhead Shepchenko and the Brazilian genius Kaka, and the combination of the two can be said to have swept Europe.

But AC Milan, as a traditional Italian team, has never relied on the front court to win.

Italian football has always been defensive-oriented, AC Milan's defense is the strongest defense in the world, which is recognized by many people, and because of this, many media believe that how Manchester United can break through the AC Milan defense is a key issue, and in terms of victory or defeat, they believe that whether Manchester United can score in two legs is a big problem.

The game also started with AC Milan's defense......