Chapter 55: Heartbeat
The crowd on the pitch quickly gathered and dispersed, and everyone saw that the player who collapsed to the ground in pain was indeed Arsenal's No. 4 Cesc Fabregas.
Although Wayne Rooney was sent off for a bad foul, Ferguson was relieved to see Cesc Fabregas lying on the ground.
Of course, he won't tell others that he thinks this foul is worth it, but if he can really get Fabregas off the field, Ferguson actually cares a lot in his heart, after all, Xiaofa is the core of Arsenal's organization, and its importance to Arsenal is self-evident.
However, Lord Fergus's gum only chewed a few times in his mouth, and his legs were lowered again, because he saw Wenger arguing with the linesman on the sidelines in a frustrated manner, while he was also motioning for the players on the bench to come out and warm up.
Ferguson saw that it was the No. 18 Descartes who came out of the bench at Arsenal.
For Descartes, Ferguson had a different feeling.
Three years ago, when Descartes made a name for himself at the World Junior Championships, leading Italy to Peru to the throne, Ferguson was among the first to pay attention to Descartes' big coaches, and even Arsene Wenger tried to get Descartes' contact information from him.
Later, Ferguson sent people to Pavia to investigate Descartes, and if Descartes had not left Italy at that time, perhaps he would have recruited this young man full of aura.
Who would have expected that Wenger would stab in the middle and use Huairou's means to intercept Descartes to Arsenal halfway. If Ferguson had known about Descartes' later achievements, he would have been eager to take a gun and kill Wenger and his dogs.
A year later, when the little guy first appeared in the match between Arsenal and Manchester United, he helped Arsenal win over Manchester United with an assist and a stoppage-time stunner, and also staged another "one-goal fame" story.
Since then, Descartes' performance has been on Ferguson's radar, whether he has been full of controversy, doubt, suspicion or ridicule. Ferguson never gave up his desire to get him. Because he always thought that this little guy was the one he needed.
If you want to talk about why Ferguson came up with such an idea, you have to start with his transformation of Manchester United.
Ferguson single-handedly cultivated the "Class of 92" at Manchester United, crisscrossing the Europa continent. This is something that is often talked about. But if you are not a professional. Few people have gone back to notice that Lord Ferguson has brought not only those talented players to Manchester United, but also Manchester United's sophisticated and rigorous off-ball running system.
At the peak of Manchester United. The four major midfielders Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, Keane, except for Giggs, no one is known for being good at breaking through, except for Scholes, no one is known for being good at organization, it can be said that Giggs can only be regarded as second-rate in terms of organization, and Scholes can only be regarded as second-rate in terms of breakthrough, Beckham can only be regarded as second-rate in terms of organization and breakthrough, maybe it is not as good, Keane is not a world-class organizational midfielder, so with such a midfielder, How did Manchester United dominate Europe and become the "treble"?
The answer is Alex Ferguson's sophisticated off-ball system for Manchester United.
When most of the teams in Europe are still relying on the traditional classical forward midfielder to organize the attack, "standing and playing", Manchester United has begun to run like a stream, and compared with Zidane alone, there will definitely be a gap in his strength, but when Scholes is placed in Manchester United's system, he is like a fish in water, and the other three midfield teammates are fluent, running like a dazzling eye, and there is hardly any team's midfield at that time that can be compared with Manchester United.
It can be said that it was the positive running that created the situation where Manchester United were one step ahead of their opponents in the same era, which is enough to explain why Beckham's running ability caused a stir in the Spanish media after his transfer to Real Madrid - because he has always played this way at Manchester United.
But after entering the 05-06 season, the rise of Barcelona has made more people aware of the importance of running and physical fitness, with the establishment of a new benchmark for Barcelona running tens of thousands of meters per game, European football has more demanding requirements in terms of physical fitness and running distance, so Manchester United's running advantage has gradually disappeared.
Of course, this is not to say that United's system of running without the ball is only running, running is only the basis of the system, and there are more details in terms of technology, otherwise United will not be able to continue to win the league title afterwards.
However, running was indeed one of the main factors in Manchester United's lead in the Premier League and even the European powers.
When the big teams behind gradually caught up in this regard, Manchester United's advantage was gone, and their position in the Premier League was also greatly affected, with Arsenal taking away one title and Chelsea snatching two titles, which are the most direct proof of this.
Manchester United was able to win two consecutive titles in the next 06-07 and 07-08 seasons, not because they became stronger, but because their opponents Chelsea either had civil strife or Arsenal collapsed.
As the saying goes, Ferguson has always understood that Manchester United will not last long on their running advantage, so he has been thinking about changes to the team's tactics to make them richer and more difficult to prevent.
He first introduced Veron, trying to use the organizational ability of the "Argentine wizard" to make Manchester United have more changes, but unfortunately Veron's rhythm and Manchester United are not at the same point at all, he is a traditional organizational striker, accustomed to a board and a slow way to organize the game, and Manchester United's tactics are based on fast running and non-stop passing, so Veron finally failed, and Ferguson was also saddled with the black pot of "unknown people".
Later, Ferguson studied Arsene Wenger and promoted Ronaldo to the position of free man in the frontcourt, and the results were surprisingly good, Ronaldo's performance in the first two seasons increased by leaps and bounds, and in one fell swoop from "bicycle boy" to the world's most valuable "sir".
Although Ronaldo was picked up by Real Madrid with gold bricks. But Ferguson is also adamant about the belief that the team should have a very strong free man up front.
Rooney was not the right fit for him, as he was too hot-tempered and had not yet shown his organizational talents; Nani is also not suitable, Nani is still too young, he is at most like Cristiano Ronaldo four or five years ago, in addition to showing his dazzling skills, he has not yet been able to understand the essence of the free man in the front court.
To find the right person, who could be better than the original?
Ferguson moved Cristiano Ronaldo to the position of shadow striker because he got inspiration from the game against Arsenal. And the one who inspired him. It was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now that Ronaldo is gone, isn't it a good opportunity to bring in Descartes?
As for whether Arsenal will let go or not, this issue has never been in the consideration of Lord Ferguson, and he is a player that Ferguson really looks at. Even if he tries everything, he will get it. Those who were cut off for reinforcements. It's just that his mind is not resolute, and when the other party's conditions exceed his bottom limit, he just gave up casually.
And Descartes was the bottom line in his mind. It is definitely much higher than Alves and the like, and even, higher than Ronaldo's 80 million.
Ferguson understood very well why Wenger would send Descartes at this time, so he immediately walked to the sidelines, pulled Evra who was staying on the touchline, and whispered to him: "Tell Park and Carrick, show me that Descartes, and you, reduce the assists, and don't give him any chances." ”
Evra was stunned for a moment, he had fought with Descartes more than once or twice, but Lord Verdere had never told him so solemnly before, could it be that this guy had become more powerful again?
Efra, who was questioning, still conveyed the meaning of Lord Fu to his teammates, and Carrick only smiled faintly when he heard this instruction, but Park Ji-sung frowned.
Park Ji-sung transferred to Manchester United in 05, compared with many bigwigs in the Manchester United team at that time, his skills and awareness are not outstanding, the only thing he can rely on is his diligence and obedience to Ferguson, since Ferguson asked them to pay attention to that Descartes, he must carry out Ferguson's instructions to the letter, because he understands very well that this is the foundation of his foothold in Manchester United.
So when Descartes came on the court, Park Ji-sung stuck to him like a piece of kraft candy.
Perhaps because he was a little uncomfortable when he first came on the field, his two consecutive breakthroughs were broken by Park Ji-sung and Evra, which made Descartes somewhat embarrassed, and he smiled apologetically at his teammates, then turned his head and began to focus on the game.
When Descartes put all his mind into the game, his performance was unstoppable, not because of how sharp his breakthrough was, but because his running position was so erratic, he would appear on the right, on the left, and even suddenly appear near the center line to counterattack, which made Park Ji-sung, who was famous for his "three lungs", a little unable to keep up - not because of his physical strength, but because he really didn't know where Descartes would run next, he could only passively catch up behind.
On the football field, anticipation and positioning are quite important, and when you can't judge your opponent's next move, you are not far from failure.
Although Park Ji-sung has been trying to press on Descartes, the running enemy cannot be completely blocked, and just when he is one step slower because of a hesitation, Descartes wins his chance.
After Cesc Fabregas was gone, Arsene Wenger brought on Descartes, but did not remove the two strikers, so Arsenal are now effectively in a 433 formation on the pitch, but Descartes' range of movement covers almost the entire front, so their midfield can continue to maintain some delicate balance.
But when Descartes received the ball on the edge of the box, the situation immediately set off a wave, and Van Persie and Bendtner burst into the box to pull the defensive strength for Descartes, leaving only one Ferdinand in the United penalty area to be able to pull out the strength to defend Descartes.
Park Ji-sung, on the other hand, was stuck behind by Descartes because of a momentary negligence, and when he saw Descartes' footsteps stepping into the penalty area, he had already given up his intention to foul, because he knew very well that a foul at this time was not only a penalty, but also could make the team one less person.
10 to 11 can barely play, 9 to 11 is really powerless.
So Descartes took small steps and began to approach Ferdinand step by step.
Rio Ferdinand is one of England's best centre-backs in recent years. He is 1.89 meters tall and weighs 85KG, it is rare that his speed is not slow, and his reaction is very fast, after all, he was also born as a forward-guard, so in one-on-one defense, his winning rate is quite high.
In the face of Descartes' one-on-one heads-up, Ferdinand was cautious, and he may not have a little contempt in his heart, just because of Descartes' height and weight. He was confident that he would be able to push him out four or five meters away with a single ass.
Descartes really moved. His right shoulder sank as if to break through Ferdinand's left, and Ferdinand immediately lowered his focus, but he didn't rush out. He has a lot of experience. Knowing that Descartes is nothing more than a feint. His follow-up moves are the killer moves.
Sure enough, Descartes quickly retracted his center of gravity and then deflected to the left again.
Rio Ferdinand still didn't rush into action. He knows the way of deception of the forwards, such a simple action can't deceive him, what he is doing now is not to steal Descartes' ball, but to block his forward path, and wait until Park Ji-sung behind him makes up for it, and the two of them are sandwiched, no matter how good Descartes' feints are, there is no way to escape.
But Descartes then leaned more to the left, and his right foot hooked the bottom of the ball, which was really ready to break through!
Ferdinand's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a pin's eye, his center of gravity quickly leaned to the right, and his body unconsciously leaned forward a little, his plan was that if Descartes really broke through from this side, then he would stick his body up in the process of running, he believed that with his strength and weight, Descartes would not be able to accelerate the start at all, so it would be much easier to break the ball.
But what if Descartes was a feint? Ferdinand was not flustered because his left foot remained in place, and if Descartes retracted his weight and tried to break through from the left, he could also pull back at any time and block his path.
This is the best decision an experienced centre-back can make in a flash.
Rio Ferdinand believed his defence had been flawless, and Descartes had no way out.
But in the blink of an eye, Ferdinand's eyes bulged out, because he saw that Descartes didn't continue to break through at all, he, he shot!
Yes, all of Descartes' actions were aimed at deceiving Ferdinand, but he didn't want to break through, he just wanted to deceive Ferdinand into spreading his legs.
When he leaned to the left, Ferdinand had to move his right leg one step to block his running path so that he could start at any time, and to prevent Descartes from retracting his center of gravity, his left leg remained in place, ready to switch support legs at any time. But in this way, his legs unconsciously opened, leaving a big split.
And Descartes's right foot, which was originally hooked at the bottom of the ball, suddenly turned into a stab at this moment, and directly poked the ball out of his crotch.
Ferdinand was horrified, because he knew very well that he was now standing very close to the small penalty area, and the distance between the ball and the goal would not exceed 7 meters at most, and his size just blocked Descartes, and also blocked the view of the goalkeeper Van der Sar behind him......
“GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! GOAL! GOAL!Descartes, Descartes, Descartes!!! The voice of the Arsenal commentator sounded over the loudspeakers at the scene, and he used all his strength as if he was about to shout hoarse.
And along with the roar of the commentators, as well as the more than 60,000 Arsenal fans at the scene, all the worries and vented at this moment simply made the entire Emirates Stadium shake.
"The ball is in, the ball is in! Descartes, Descartes, Descartes! Great Descartes! The Arsenal commentator shouted Descartes three times in a row, as if he didn't find it enjoyable, and shouted three more times, his voice was full of indescribable ecstasy, and the scene also sounded a neat cry with his command, "Deska, Deska, Deska" This name that seemed to have magic resounded throughout the stadium and quickly became a uniform slogan in the mouths of fans.
Descartes was also very happy after the goal, he ran all the way to the Arsenal fans gathered under the stands, and gave them a flying kiss, this action once again ushered in a warm response, at this moment, "Descartes" is the only sound in the entire Emirates Stadium, and this teenager called "Descartes" is the only god in the entire Emirates Stadium.
Looking at the back of Descartes, Ferdinand and other Manchester United players have an indescribable loss in their eyes, they have done everything they can, in the case of one less player, they and Arsenal are inseparable, but all this, with this goal disappeared, the two sides are back to the same running line again, 10 to 11, 45 minutes to go, can they hold on?
And at this time, the only forgotten person was Ferguson sitting in the United dugout, unlike all the Manchester United players, Ferguson's eyes were not on the pitch at this time, his face was not lost, on the contrary, it was full of faint joy, his eyes followed Descartes to the stands of Arsenal fans, his eyes were full of contemplation.
Just now, even he thought that Descartes had no way out, Ferdinand deserved to be one of the best central defenders in the world at the moment, he did everything that a defender could do, sealing almost all possible flaws, but no one could have imagined that Descartes would send the ball into the enemy's goal in such an unbelievable way.
Although it is just a simple crotch, but such a ball, you must have extremely precise control of your body, have an extremely agile response to the opponent's reaction, and more importantly, you must have absolutely strong self-confidence, it seems that this goal is only between 1 second or 2 seconds, but the whole confrontation process, if there is any slight mistake, this goal is gone.
This little guy is getting more and more powerful!
Lord Fu only felt a burst of secret joy in his heart, he seemed to have seen Descartes put on the red shirt and charge for Manchester United, at that moment, he seemed to have a long-lost throbbing, for many years, since the batch of 92 students, there are fewer and fewer good players who can make him excited. (To be continued......)