Chapter 160: White Rose VS White Lily

After eliminating his old club Ferguson, Degan, who returned to the league, completely incarnated as a killing god, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich, and Reading have all become Degan's sacrifices, and now Degan gives people only one feeling, that is, unstoppable.

In the league standings, Tottenham is also unbeatable, and the points gap between them and Manchester United is getting bigger and bigger, this situation, even if Digan has been black all his life, he has to admit that this season, I am afraid it will be difficult to prevent Tottenham from winning the league.

Not only in the league, but also in the League Cup, Tottenham have also made it all the way, and now they have reached the semi-finals, in the semi-finals, they will face Aston Villa, and then Tottenham will face the FA Cup, and in the third round of the FA Cup, Tottenham will travel to Leeds United.

Once Leeds United's youth guards, shocking European football, but now, this white rose has long withered and can only rise and fall in the Championship and League One, and the Champions League semi-finals they once created can only exist in the memory of Leeds fans.

The rise of Leeds United, or at the end of the last century, was marked by the rise of David. O'Reilly was an assistant to legendary Arsenal boss Granham until he took charge of Leeds United, and Leeds United was his first solo manager.

As soon as he took over, O'Reilly vigorously promoted the team's rejuvenation reforms, and he recruited Jonathan from the youth team. Woodgate, Alain. Smith and Stephen. McPhail, plus Colwill and Ian, who are already on the first team. Hart, Leeds United's first team was full of youth for a while.

And the champion David of that year, who was recalled from Newcastle United. Barty has taken on the responsibility of strengthening the midfield defence and coaching the younger players.

In his first season at Leeds United, O'Reilly led the team to fourth place in the table and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

The following season, Leeds dominated the Premier League, at one point topping the table at the end of 1999, before finishing third in the Premier League that season and qualifying for the Champions League the following year.

In order to cope with the challenge of the Champions League, O'Reilly signed long-awaited Australian goalscorer Mark from Celtic. Viduka has recruited French midfielder Oliver from Ligue 1. Duckett, whose £7.2 million transfer fee was also the highest in the club's history, and the following year, Leeds United bought West Ham United and England national team player Leo for a record £18 million. Ferdinand.

The 2000/2001 season has also become an unforgettable memory for Leeds United fans, as the young Leeds United elite team made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League, writing the most glorious chapter in the club's history.

A glass of wine, a glass of wine, a decade of night rain in the rivers and lakes, today's Leeds United has long since changed its appearance in the wash of years, but fans will still remember the shining names of Viduka, Ferdinand, Duckett, Smith, and the conquest of this white-clad "Young Guard" in the Champions League, although they are no longer in the center of the stage, although their stories are so far away that they are like a dream.

It all started on May 8, 2001, at the Mestalla Stadium in Spain, where Alexis Sanchez, who scored twice, and Mendieta, who had the icing on the cake, helped Valencia beat Leeds United 3-0, and the Champions League myth of the "Young Guard" came to an end.

If Leeds United was still regarded by the hot-headed British media as having one foot in the final after drawing 0-0 at home to Valencia in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, then the head-on attack of the "Bats" was enough to bring the flowering period of the "White Rose" to an early end.

Even so, the White Roses were worthy of respect for their performance that season, as they emerged from the Group of Death as the only Premier League side to progress to the last four of the Champions League that season, their best result in the Champions League.

When Leeds United and Barcelona, AC Milan and Besiktas were in Group H, the vast majority of fans thought that the Premier League seedlings could "die of addiction", in such a group of death, the "Young Guards" had no chance of winning, and the two giants of Italy and Spain were the favourites to qualify, and Leeds United's first 0:4 defeat to Barcelona seemed to illustrate this.

The nightmarish start to the campaign did not dampen Leeds' ambitions, and in the second group game, Bowyer's long-range strike in the 88th minute caused a low-level mistake by Dida, and with this goal, Leeds United beat AC Milan 1-0 and scored a valuable three points.

The third round of the group in which Leeds United beat Besiktas 6-0 was a classic, after Bowyer opened the scoring for the home team, the "White Rose" was full of firepower, and the goals of Viduka, Smith, Buck and Huckby completely collapsed the opponent's psychological defense, and Bowyer's injury time push drew a halt to the team's massacre. In the last three group games, Leeds United drew three opponents in the group stage in a row and successfully qualified for the second group stage.

In the second group group, Leeds United are in Group D with Real Madrid, Anderlecht and Lazio, and the life of O'Leary's team is better than the first group, but Lazio is still a difficult bone to gnaw.

In the opening game of the group, Real Madrid gave Leeds United a 2:0 defeat, but the "Young Guards" quickly adjusted their form and narrowly defeated Lazio 1:0 in the second round with Allen Smith's stunner. In the first meeting with the Belgian powerhouse, they relied on the goals of Hart and Bowyer to win 2:1, and in the second leg encounter between the two teams, Leeds United won the opponent 4:1 and played a heart-wrenching three-game winning streak. In the fifth round of the away challenge to Real Madrid, Leeds United lost 2:3 to the opponent, and in the final round of the group, O'Leary's team played a high score of 3:3 with Lazio, and finally relied on three wins, one draw and two losses to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Champions League 1/4 finals, Leeds United and Deportivo La Coruna met in a narrow way, in the first leg of the battle between the two sides, the "Young Guards" decided the battle, Hart, Smith and Ferdinand's goals made the home team win 3:0, and the British media's comments after the game were concise: Leeds United's boys have grown beards, and they are more mature. Although they lost 0:2 in the second game, Leeds United still reached the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 3:2.

The 'White Rose' was unable to break through the Iberian side's encirclement twice in a row, and Valencia put an end to Leeds' march and the legend of the white coat came to an abrupt end. Leeds United used their actions to explain what it means to be a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, and the miracle journey of the Champions League has also made many young talents in the team famous and started the glorious road of their careers.

But after a short period of glory, Leeds United, which was heavily indebted due to the purchase of star players, became a "fallen angel", from the Premier League to the Championship to League One, the "White Rose" withered and scattered in a decade, and was forgotten in an inconspicuous corner.

Chairman Peter. During Rizdale's tenure, the team borrowed heavily and hoped to fill the funding gap by qualifying for the Champions League and sharing the event's televising and sponsorship revenues.

Leeds United lure Seth with high transfer fees and wages. Johnson and Robbie. Fowler joined one after another, but the team failed to match the investment in the Premier League, failed to qualify for the Champions League in the following seasons, and the team was unable to pay its huge debts.

In the end, Leeds United had to sell the player, struggling to get by, selling Leao for almost £30 million. Rio Ferdinand was seen as a symptom of the team's financial crisis, and eventually Ridsdale and O'Reilly broke up with the player's transfer.

Venables led the team, which then took over Elland Road, but also failed to make a leap forward in the team's performance, and other players were put up for sale to cover the deficit, including Woodgate, who was the "not for sale" that Rieddale had promised to Venerables.

During this period, a number of players, including Bowyer, Fowler, Keane, Martin and Colwill, were transferred by the club at a bargain price, and by the time Colwill left, Leeds United's financial situation had developed to the point of dire.

Despite the best efforts of the club's management, the club was unable to escape the catastrophe and Leeds United were eventually relegated.

After many years of ups and downs, Leeds United has not been able to return to the Premier League, from ravaging the Champions League to sinking into the Championship and even falling into League One, and then returning to the Championship this summer, Leeds United is a team with a story, and the ten-year record of "White Rose" is worth savoring every fan.

Tottenham's aggressive recruitment before the start of the season, especially the high-priced arrival of Degan, was once regarded as the second Leeds United, because after the introduction of many stars, Tottenham's total salary has reached the fourth place among the 20 teams in the Premier League, behind Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.

However, Tottenham do not have the oil godfather of Manchester City, the Russian oligarchs of Chelsea, and the support of the shrewd and wealthy Glazer family.

It can be said that Levy is gambling, he has put all his wealth on Degan's body, and if it is done, Tottenham will be able to soar to the sky, lose, and Tottenham will immediately fall into an endless abyss.

But now it seems that Levy is winning the bet, Tottenham are currently at the top of the league table, the Champions League, the League Cup, the FA Cup, the withered white roses Leeds United obviously can't stop the white lily from blooming, if everything goes according to the current trend, Tottenham may even win the unprecedented quadruple glory in English football.

Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United play this game at Leeds United's home stadium, Elland Road, which has not welcomed a Premier League team before.

With the team's fleet getting worse and the slightest hope of a revival, even die-hard Leeds fans can't help but be a little disappointed with the team, and Elland Road Stadium attendance has not exceeded 50% for a long time since the team was relegated to League One.

"There aren't many markets like this in England." Deegan walked into the stadium and looked at the empty stands around him, and he couldn't help but sigh.

In England, where the atmosphere of football is strongest, it is really not easy to meet such a home stadium, and Leeds United is still a team that has been glorious in the past.

Leeds United doesn't feel the vibrancy of the past anymore, it feels like it's full of twilight, and there's no hope on the faces of those players who come on the pitch as if it's all about work, for errands.

Leeds United's former glory, Degan was also excited in his previous life, but now, everything in the past has become yesterday's yellow flowers, the failure of the business strategy, coupled with the team's lack of heritage, so that Leeds United's white rose has not really bloomed, and it will soon wither.

Tottenham now seem to be following the same path as Leeds United, with the same big pay for star players, but Degan is convinced that Tottenham will not follow the same path as Leeds, they will succeed and they will eventually go to glory.

Tottenham took the lead just five minutes into the game, a standard Degan-esque goal, a long drive in midfield and no one could stop him, Leeds defended very badly, the players on the pitch felt lazy, and a team like this would be impossible to make a difference.

When Degan singled out the Leeds United goalkeeper and scored the ball, the stands at Elland Road Stadium were full of cursing from Leeds United fans, and Degan saw only numbness on the faces of Leeds United players.

This team has long missed the opportunity to make a comeback.

When Leeds were relegated from the Premier League, many thought it was just a mistake that shouldn't have happened, but it has proven that Leeds have not come back from the wrong track until now.

Leeds did get off to a high start in the Championship season just after relegation, with almost everyone expecting them to return to the Premier League soon, but after the winter break, the team sold their key players again, and when that season ended, Leeds were only mid-table in the table.

In the 2005/2006 season, Leeds United finally finished in the top six of the table at the end of the season and were able to participate in the promotion play-offs, the team had a chance to compete for direct promotion, but was left behind by Sheffield United in the second half, the team was beaten by Watford 3-0 in the semi-final after the semi-final reversal of Preston North End, and then the leading scorer Rob Brown. Hess moved to Sheffield United.

In the 2006/2007 season, Leeds United had a poor start to the season, losing back-to-back games, and the manager was sacked shortly after the start of the season. Wise did his best, but he didn't have a good deck of cards, and for most of the season, Wise failed to get the team out of the relegation zone, and when that season ended, Leeds United were relegated to the third tier for the first time in their history.

In the 2007/2008 season, Leeds United finished in the top six of League One and reached the final of the League One promotion play-offs, but lost 0-1 to Doncaster at Wembley and lost the chance to qualify for the Championship.

It wasn't until the 2010/2011 season that Leeds United's performance finally improved, and they were promoted to the Championship, but this seemed to be their limit, and last season, Leeds United had a very poor performance in the Championship and were barely relegated until the final round of the league.

In the face of such a Leeds United, it can be said that Tottenham does not need to put out 100% energy at all, and they can easily win.

But for some reason, Deegan was particularly excited as soon as he came up today, after taking the lead for Tottenham, just three minutes later, Bale cut inside on the wing and was tripped by a Leeds United defender, Tottenham got a free kick opportunity, Degan took the penalty, curled the ball, and the ball went straight into the far corner of the goal.

2:0!

Two goals in a row, Leeds United was completely stunned, there was not much energy, and at the moment it disappeared, when the first half ended, Tottenham had taken a 5:0 lead, it can be said that this game has completely lost its suspense.

At the start of the second half, when Deegan led his brothers on the pitch, he was surprised to find that there were few Leeds United fans in the stands at Elland Road Stadium.

Because it was an FA Cup match, there were not many Tottenham fans in this game, only more than 200, but even so, it still exceeded the number of Leeds United fans.

Looking at the corner of the stands, there are more than 100 Leeds United fans sitting alone, and Deegan even has a sad feeling, this is the young guard who was famous and shocked the world football, and it has only been more than ten years, and everything has been wrong.

Seeing this scene, Degan was not much interested in this game, in the 53rd minute of the second half, Degan received a cross from Lennon in the penalty area, scored with a header, and completed a hat trick, he took the initiative to apply for the field for the first time since his debut.

When Deegan stepped off the pitch, he saw a look of relief in the eyes of the Leeds United players.

Leeds United are really hard to come back to.

After the game, Digan did not go back to the dressing room, but sat next to Antienes.

"Isn't it very touching?" Antienes asked with a smile.

Deegan smiled and said: "Who would have imagined that this is the young guard that once defeated Barcelona, AC Milan and Deportivo La Coruna in the Champions League, this team is rotten to the bone, completely hopeless, from the club's management, to the players, and even the fans, there is no hope!" ”