Chapter 373: League Situation
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Wan Sheng held back the fire in his belly!
In the matter of recruiting Wang Xiaolei and Sun Jihai in the warm-up match of the Chinese national team, the two players involved must be victims.
Manchester City FC were also victims as two strong players were unavailable.
As the head coach of the team, he is also a victim, otherwise the lineup in this game would not be so 'difficult'.
A 'victim' just said a word dissatisfiedly, and said it 'rubbing the side', without really mentioning anything, and after a few days, it became 'unpatriotic'?
This big hat is so tightly buttoned!
Wan Sheng glared at the reporter and laughed angrily, "Look at this game, look at our starting lineup!" Neither Ray appeared in the starting lineup. You know why? His form was affected and he couldn't compete properly at all! β
'As a manager, I have to be responsible for the players' bodies. If he can't get back into form, I'm going to keep starting Joe Hart! β
"Have you ever thought about how much impact this will have on Xiao Lei's competition at the club? Let's talk about Sun Jihai, he is 30 years old, it is not easy to get a chance to play in the team, I gave him a day of extreme love before, but if he wants to fully recover his body, it will take at least a week, which is not counting the recovery of his state. β
"When the Chinese national team recruited players, did you think about these problems?"
"I didn't blame the selection of the Chinese national team! I'm not the head coach of the Chinese national team, I don't have that power! But I think that when the national team recruits players, it should always be considered for the players, right? For a week, my players have been going back and forth between Europe and China, what kind of form can they be in training? β
"As far as I know, the Chinese team is just playing a warm-up match against Oman. Can a warm-up game be used to make such a big move? β
"I don't want to compare, but look at the Korean team. Park Ji-sung has not been included in the South Korean team's squad for the Asian Cup, and in ordinary games, the South Korean team will not call up players to play in Europe. Why did the Chinese team insist on doing this? β
"It's not just affecting the club, it's affecting the players!"
Hearing Wan Sheng's somewhat annoyed explanation, many reporters in the audience should also reconcile, especially those reporters who support Manchester City, the reason why this game is so difficult is not that Aston Villa played too well, but that Manchester City couldn't come up with a good lineup.
Manchester City are too affected by the 'international break'!
Now there are still 'foreign' reporters accusing Wan Sheng of pointing fingers at the 'national team'? They don't understand what kind of thinking these Chinese journalists have!
This is true even for both neutral and hostile media. Although they stand from different angles, the teams they support will also be affected by the 'international competition' to some extent.
When the national team and the club clash, they mostly support the club, after all, there are no important international competitions in September, and a warm-up match for the national team affects the club?
Amusing!
As a result, a group of reporters in the audience rarely stood on the united front.
The reporter who interviewed felt that he had provoked the anger of the public, and immediately stopped talking when he looked at Wan Sheng's face, he didn't want to offend Wan Sheng because of this, and he was recently disqualified from interviewing Manchester City Club. I don't want to offend so many peers, and it's definitely not a good thing to go against everyone.
What's more, the purpose of his interview has been achieved.
The most important thing is to let Wan Sheng express his opinion on this matter, and he can send the original words back to China. As for what will happen to domestic public opinion, that is not something he should be concerned about.
ββββ
After the draw with Aston Villa, Manchester City continued their unbeaten run with three wins and two draws in five league games.
However, this record no longer supports them to remain firmly at the top of the league.
The 5th round of the Premier League is over. There are two teams, Manchester United and Liverpool, who are also catching up in points. The results of the two teams are also 5 games, 3 wins and 2 draws. Tied with Manchester City on 11 points.
Manchester United have a small goal difference, scoring just three goals in five league games, leaving them third in the league.
Last season, Manchester United was the team with the most goals, 93 league goals, more than Manchester City's 11, ranking first in the Premier League, but in the first five rounds of this season, Manchester United's attack was weak, and there were many boring battles, and only 4 goals in the first 4 rounds of games (2 for themselves and 2 for opponents), which was the fewest among all teams in the Premier League, so that BBC Sports TV began to joke about Manchester United, "In today's Premier League, it is not worth spending money to watch Manchester United's games, because you can see the fewest goals." β
Against Sunderland, Saha's goal helped United win a tough victory, and various British media outlets said that "Saha saved Manchester United".
Ferguson's side really need someone to "save", and the efficiency of three goals in five rounds is too low and too low, and they only score more goals than Reading, tied with Sunderland and Derby County.
In the fifth round of the league, Manchester United shot as many as 20 times, but only 3 were completed in the penalty area, and the rest were long-range shots from the outside.
"Manchester Sport" analyzed, "...... This shows that United struggle to move the ball to the most dangerous places in an orderly manner, and can only try their luck with long-range kicks when they can't penetrate the opposition defence. β
"In the first five rounds, Manchester United was very different from last year in terms of statistics, and the efficiency was amazing. With 77 shots on goal, the Premier League has the most shots, but their 40.3 per cent shot on target is only in the middle of the pack, while Arsenal, who missed shots last year, are currently top of the pack with 56.1 per cent. In terms of chances, Manchester United are the bottom of the Premier League, scoring only three goals from 77 attempts, a measly 3.9 per cent clearance, the bottom of the top 20, and 13 percentage points behind top Liverpool (17.2 per cent converted into goals). β
In fact, the reason why Manchester United scored so few goals is mainly due to personnel problems, Rooney was injured in the first round, Cristiano Ronaldo was suspended in the second round, and the two players combined to score 31 goals last year, not to mention the involvement in the attack.
Therefore, last season's overall attack of Manchester United actually relied on individual strong points to drive the overall situation, and once one or two people were missing, it was likely to be ineffective.
The good news for Manchester United is that these two are coming back.
This round is the last suspension of C-Ronaldo. Rooney has also recovered from his injury sooner than expected and will undergo a scan next week to see if he is back in action.
"Manchester Sport" said happily, "Once these two men are put together, plus the return of Saha, Manchester United's attacking firepower is expected to recover." β
But many other media outlets have commented on Manchester United as more than just a lack of personnel, "There is a sign worth noting, Scholes has slowed down a bit this season, mainly in the speed of the ball. There were 3 times in this game that he adjusted his feet, but was blocked by defenders. β
'In the first half I thought we were too slow to pass the ball and had good possession but didn't create a real threat. Ferguson also pointed out after the game that the midfield was not moving fast enough. Scholes's main task last season was to get the ball to the front attackers as soon as possible, and let Ronaldo and others get the ball in the "offensive position" before the opponent closed the formation, but due to the slow scheduling in this game, the opponent had time to recycle and organize the defense. The inward pass could no longer be passed, and Tevez and others could only withdraw to receive the ball with their backs.
A similar phenomenon was seen with Paul Scholes against Tottenham.
"I don't know if this is because he started to do it at the age of nearly 33." The Guardian commented.
Liverpool are the polar opposite of Manchester United.
In the 5th round of the Premier League, Liverpool hosted Derby County. Created a big score of the game, 7:0, no one could have imagined this score before the game.
After the game, various media outlets praised Liverpool's midfielder Xavi Alonso.
Liverpool have also suffered from the 'international break' problem, and the key to the problem lies with captain Steven Gerrard. Benitez was on the same page with McLaren before the game, because England insisted on recruiting Steven Gerrard to play with an injury, and even shouted the slogan "Glory for the country".
On the one hand, Benitez argues with reason. He was well aware of the importance of Steven Gerrard's explosiveness to the Reds, and on the other hand, he experimented with a new combination in midfield to find a captain's replacement and was surprised to see Alonso as the new Steven Gerrard in the 7-0 thrashing of Derby County.
Liverpool were the only team to open the scoring in each of the first four games of the Premier League and conceded just two, so the first goal was crucial.
Xavi Alonso was the one to break the ice.
In the 26th minute, he took a free-kick in front of the goal, which seemed to be a cross and shot into the penalty area, Kuyt made a head-shaking motion, but did not touch the ball but shook the opposing goalkeeper, and the free-kick sent by Alonso bounced directly into the net, which was the Spaniard's 10th Premier League goal in three years.
Gerrard, who was sitting in the stands, had a relaxed expression and even flipped up his pre-match guide, "Because the Reds captain knows that this game is won." Gerrard certainly didn't expect Alonso's goal to set off a slaughter.
After that, Xavi Alonso scored twice to score the second goal, and Volonin, Finnen, Kuyt and others wanted to score one after another.
The score was settled at 7-0.
Seven goals in the game, an unimaginable victory, Alonso's performance was extremely gorgeous, he became the best player of the game, and at the same time, after 5 rounds, he also became the FA's 'best of the round', perhaps the only regret for Alonso was that shortly after the start of the second half, he received a cross knock from teammate Kuyt, and his right-footed shot flew the ball away, missing the opportunity to score a hat-trick.
'Alonso should have scored a hat-trick tonight.' Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez said after the game.
According to the Sky Sports analysis, "Alonso's outburst is thanks to Mascherano, the Argentine's relentless running and tackling on the pitch completely liberated the Spaniards." Partnering Gerrard in the past, Alonso has focused on passing and helping to defend, allowing Gerrard, who has more ability to cut forward, as a dagger behind the striker. Alonso's role has quietly changed since Gerrard's truce, Sissoko's goal in the last round has masked the energy he has invested in attack, and today Benitez has placed a more aggressive defensive Mascherano next to him, Alonso's focus is completely biased towards attack, and he is often seen at the edge of the box and even in the box, he has become the new dagger of the Reds. β
Alonso was also voted Man of the Match by the media after the game.
Liverpool put on a title challenge and moved up to the top of the table after all the matches were played in round 5.
However, Alonso immediately calmed down when it came to the title, "I know everyone is asking if Liverpool are ready for the title, I understand the mood of everyone, but I prefer to think about how to play the next game. Our form has been inconsistent in the last three years, with ups and downs, the away record is not as good as at home, so now it's more important than anything else to play every game. β
Liverpool sit at the top of the league table, and Reds fans who have been waiting for the league title for more than a decade seem to see a bright future in this season's title.
However, head coach Rafael Benitez has kept a low profile, admitting he is happy and pleased with the performance of his players, although he warns that it is only the early stages of the Premier League title race.
'I'm happy with the team's performance, we played well, scoring goals in a row and keeping a clean sheet. Benitez said enthusiastically. "It's certainly good for our supporters to see the team at the top of the table. But now we have to keep going and try to play every game. It's too early to talk about league titles. β
'Man City have 11 points, Manchester United have 11 points, we just rely on goal difference to be in first place. I want to keep it up, but we have to be wary of our competitors and keep playing every game. β
"That's what we need to do at the moment, after all, the league has only been played for five rounds."
Benitez spoke cautiously, but from the way he kept smiling, the Spaniard was still very happy.
Where there is joy, there is loss.
Manchester City lost the top spot in the league and the Manchester City players were certainly not happy.
After returning to daily training, Wan Sheng's expression has been very grim, in fact, he doesn't care about the current league standings, after all, the team has not been pulled apart in points, in addition, in the last game, the team has gained a lot, and the next games will definitely get better and better.
But in training, Wan Sheng remained serious, as if he was dissatisfied with the team's results, in order to put pressure on the players to let them know that he was dissatisfied with losing the first place in the league.
In this way, the team will train and prepare harder.
It is not clear how much of an effect this will have, but two days later in the league against Fulham, Manchester City visited Craven Cottage and won by three goals comfortably, which proved something somewhat.
After the match against Fulham, Manchester City will prepare for the first round of the Champions League group stage.
In the first round of the Champions League, Manchester City was at home.
But the opponent is very noteworthy, it is Ligue 1 champions Lyon.
As last season's Ligue 1 champions, Lyon are still favored by more French fans.
Because no matter in terms of the team's personnel mix or the club's management, Lyon has the conditions to defend the title and is expected to make a difference in the European arena.
Ps. chasing more children's shoes, are there any free appreciation tickets and starting coins~ The countdown to the 515 red envelope list is over, I'll pull a ticket, ask for an increase and appreciation vote, and finally rush a handful! (To be continued.) )