Although the Carabao Cup is a standard affair and the final happens to be sandwiched between the two knockout games against Porto, it is more or less the title of the tournament and there is no reason for Ferguson and Manchester United to give up a trophy close at hand, as is the case with any team. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

What's more, according to the current bad situation of Manchester United, although Ferguson did not say it explicitly, in fact, he has already muttered in his heart about the prospect of the team in the league and the Champions League, the two most important and important competitions of the year, this season, and has doubts in his heart.

In the Premier League, the most difficult long-distance rally in major European leagues, Beckham's departure and Rio Ferdinand's ban have hit Manchester United too hard, one is the tactical core, the other is the backbone of the defense, and Manchester United is destined to remain in stable and good form for a long time without the two, which can be seen from Manchester United's ups and downs this season, extremely inconsistent performance. In the battle for the league title, the most important thing is stability.

Because Manchester United has unexpectedly lost points in the league recently, it has been taken advantage of by Premier League upstart Chelsea to overtake and slipped to the third place in the league standings. The gap between Arsenal, who have only tasted one defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the league so far this season, has widened to double digits.

Even if the two teams meet in the second leg of the league, Manchester United can win again, can they really catch up with the difference between victory and defeat in the remaining 12 league games, Ferguson said a big hello to this. The coach knows very well that although this Arsenal team has too many draws in the league, its form is too good and stable, and it can be said that it has reached the current ceiling and peak of this team, but it is not the previous Newcastle that even if they are 12 points ahead of him, he is confident that they can overtake Newcastle.

He may not have said anything publicly within the team, but in reality, Ferguson has little hope in his mind that he will compete for the Premier League title this season.

The same can be said for the Champions League, with no doubt that they can overcome Jose Mourinho's Porto in the second leg at Old Trafford, but not so hopeful that they will win the title.

He hated this judgment very much, but he had to admit in his heart that it was a very calm and rational judgment. Having led the team to win the Champions League in '99, he knows very well that this is a typical competition that will be more difficult to play the further you go.

Although the knockout rounds before the final are all two-legged, in fact, the more teams you meet later, the stronger they become, often not weaker than themselves, or even stronger than themselves. In such a situation, as long as any game is not played well, it is possible to be eliminated by one game.

Ferguson is well aware that this is a difficult schedule for the current unstable, rebuilding Manchester United team to adapt to, and every step forward will be very difficult, with a high risk of being eliminated.

So, in general, with little difficulty in securing a Champions League place in the league, the two most favourable competitions for Manchester United this season are actually the two domestic cup competitions in England – the League Cup and the FA Cup.

It is precisely because of this that in the face of this League Cup championship that can be won in one game, Ferguson and Manchester United will not give up. However, with Mourinho's Porto at home in midweek, it is necessary to rotate some of the necessary key players.

After all, no matter how difficult the Champions League is, it is also a cup competition that has always liked miracles, so although he is well aware of the current difficulties of Manchester United reaching the top of the Champions League, Ferguson, whose desire to win is not weaker than Li Lei, will naturally not give up so easily.

Since Roy is not destined to play in the second leg in midweek, he should continue to start this game.

Ruud (Vanney), well, forget it, he needs to rest. Luis (Saha) and Diego (Forlan) are available to start.

Ryan can't, Cristiano can.

......

Sitting in a makeshift office specially arranged for him at the hotel, Ferguson wore reading glasses and scribbled the list on a blank piece of paper. After a long time, the starting line-up and tactical formation to be arranged for tomorrow's League Cup final were finally arranged.

Then, he deliberately looked at the starting lineup he had just drawn up for the final after watching the video of Bolton's game before, and after confirming that there was no problem, he finally ended his busy work all afternoon.

Outside the window, it was dark and dark. At this time, although it was almost 5 o'clock, it was not even the day of March, and the sun naturally set early. By the time Ferguson stood up with his aching old waist and walked outside to the balcony to look into the distance, all he could see was a little red tail of the beautiful sunset.

"Uh... Hmmm......"

With his right hand clenched into a fist and slapped his aching waist, Ferguson breathed in the fresh air outside the house, and his mouth couldn't help but let out a sore or comfortable snort.

In recent years, he has become more and more able to feel his physical age, and the busy, stressful work of the United manager is about to make him more and more inadequate. In the past, he was still the strong Ferguson who liked to take care of everything in the team, but now, he has had to delegate some power and let someone else do some of the less important work in his place.

This is the main reason why he has been trying his best to keep Portuguese Queiroz, who has become Real Madrid manager at this time, in the summer of '03. In the past, Ferguson has always believed in the concept of the supremacy of the manager, and a good manager can lead a team by himself, which can maximize and determine the authority of a manager in the team, but now the old coach can no longer do without the help of a good assistant coach.

It is precisely because of this that he publicly expressed his intention to retire in the 01-02 season. In the end, if it weren't for the efforts of all Manchester United clubs and Manchester United fans to keep him, and said that he finally changed his mind after the old coach who still didn't have a complete way to put down football at that time, he would have officially retired that summer.

However, when a person is old, he is old, no matter how resolute and decisive the person was before, after realizing that he is old, there will always be a little more sadness and nostalgia in his heart, and Ferguson is no exception.

At this moment, looking at the last bit of sunset tail left in the sky, the old handsome's eyes, which had always been shining, inevitably carried a trace of sadness of vicissitudes of remembrance.

"Hurry up and get me water!"

"I'll definitely win next time!"

"Less nonsense! Later, more on that later. I'm thirsty, hurry up, 'water deliverer'! ”

......

But at this moment, the energetic and loud young voices of two familiar Ferguson who were arguing suddenly came from the small training ground of the hotel, interrupting his slightly sad thoughts.

The old handsome man followed the prestige, but it was not Li Lei and Ronaldo. Immediately, the corners of the old handsome mouth curved, and he suddenly laughed.

Although from his current place, he can only vaguely see the figures of Ronaldo and Li Lei, and he can't see what they are doing, but he doesn't have to see it clearly at all to guess what the two are doing.

I don't know who spread it, anyway, Li Lei and Ronaldo, the two young people in the team, don't like each other, and they always like to gamble on the water delivery service after training, which has long been a well-known anecdote.

And compared with other players in the Manchester United team, Ferguson, as the manager of Manchester United, also knows more "secrets", including the first bet between the two is not the current free kick but a penalty, how Ronaldo entangled Li Lei and Li Lei ignored it, and how the two reached a betting agreement on the free kick in the end.

The old coach knew very well how Li Lei and Ronaldo, two young and vigorous young people, looked down on each other, but he did not come forward to stop this series of gambling fights between the two. Because in his opinion, the mismatch between these two people is not because they dislike each other, but just because they don't admit defeat to each other, and he will not stop this kind of relationship that can intensify healthy competition.

And, not only would he not stop him, but he would also take the time to stand at a distance, watching the innocuous gambling fight between the two from a distance. He likes to see scenes like this because it gives him a glimpse of United's vibrant future and gives him a long-lost sense of youth energy.

"Hehehe......"

Looking at the training ground at this moment from a distance, Ronaldo was extremely reluctant to look at it, and the pace of delivering water was delayed to death step by step, as well as the posture of a former evil landlord and nobleman with Li Lei's legs crossed by Erlang on the side, the old man couldn't help but laugh easily.

This laughter is both gratifying and full of hope!

Fervent!

Deeply!!