Chapter 17: Frontcourt all-rounders

On the training ground, everyone arrived and began the routine training task.

Before Gary Neville officially introduced Levi to the crowd, the players showed a different attitude and were generally friendly.

Led by the captain, the United players lined up on the pitch, and Levi walked through the middle with his head down, and the crowd raised his slap and gently slapped him on the back, and several hands slapped him on the buttocks, causing a burst of laughter.

A simple welcome ceremony, which marked Levi's official role as a member of Manchester United.

The crowd then began physical and technical training under assistant coach Mike Fallon.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson stood on the sidelines, his deep eyes staring at the sweaty players on the field, and occasionally giving a command.

Soon after, when he felt like it was about the same, he walked onto the pitch and stopped the process.

The training phase begins.

Ferguson's eyes swept over the faces of the Manchester United players and roughly divided them into two teams.

Team A and Team B.

Team A is mainly composed of the main team of the starters.

Team B is mostly the main rotation and is slightly weaker.

Of course, in order to maintain a certain degree of game intensity and avoid the strength of Team A being too devastating, a certain degree of doping will still be carried out.

"Levi, tell me where you play in Scotland!"

Ferguson said in a deep voice.

Levi glanced at the players present, trying to roughly determine whose position he could fill.

After that, he looked at Ferguson and said, "BOSS! At Hibernian I mainly play as a centre-forward or shadow striker, but I can play in a lot of positions, as a wing-forward or as a winger. ”

"It depends on your needs."

Levy's words immediately sparked a wave of uproar within the United team.

"Oh~ an all-rounder!"

Scholes smiled and patted O'Shea on the shoulder.

"O'Shea, you're going to lose your job!"

O'Shea is known for his versatility in the Manchester United squad, starting his career as a striker and then as a defender, but can play as a left wing-back, centre-back, right wing-back and defensive midfielder.

He is a rare all-round player in football.

Even, he played as a goalkeeper.

In Manchester United's match against Tottenham on 4 February 2007, United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was injured and could not continue the game after running out of substitutions, and Ferguson had to put on goalkeeper gloves at the end of the game and play a cameo role as goalkeeper.

In the final stages, team-mate Ferdinand seemed to be possessed by Manchester United's junior Harry Maguire many years later, and sent a big gift back, and Robbie Keane got a one-on-one chance and went straight to the goal.

O'Shea made a decisive choice to attack, blocking Keane's shot and finally Manchester United were able to win 4-0.

"Good!"

Ferguson nodded in satisfaction, as if admiring Levy's confidence.

It's good for young players to have self-confidence, but of course Levi has to show that his self-confidence can be put into practice.

'Alright, you play left wing-back, let's see what you can do'

Ferguson lined up a rough lineup.

List of Team A:

Goalkeeper: Edwin van der Sar

Defenders: Neville, Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Evra

Midfielders: Fletcher, Scholes, Ryan Giggs

Forwards: Tevez, Berbatov, Nani

List of Team B:

Goalkeeper: Kuszczak

Defenders: Simpson, O'Shea, Evans, Sylvester

Midfielders: Gibson, Hargreaves, Park Ji-sung

Forwards: Campbell, Manucho, Levy

As for the others, they did not play for the time being, waiting for the opportunity to rotate the game.

It's just a training match, it doesn't mean that some of the players who didn't play were not favored by Ferguson, just to check the pre-match form.

Ferguson's lineup for this training match is not a standard 433 formation, but an irregular formation between 433 and 442.

In detail, it is actually closer to the 442 formation, with a forward center followed by a shadow striker to form a forward firepower.

Wing-backs, on the other hand, take on the responsibility between the front line and the midfield.

When the team launches an offensive forward, it is inserted into the front to take on the forward task, and when it is dispatched, it retreats to a certain extent to act as a fourth midfielder, taking on a certain amount of organization and advancing tasks.

In many cases, in the main lineup, this role is filled by Cristiano Ronaldo.

He has not yet returned to the team and his place has been replaced by his Portuguese compatriot.

Training begins.

Team B kicks off first.

Manuccio passes the ball to Campbell, who gets the ball.

The twenty men on the field moved almost simultaneously, either quickly inserting into a forcing position or falling into position to provide cover for the ball carrier.

Levi's eyes gleamed with excitement.

The action and tactical understanding of the top teams were vividly displayed in the first seconds of a training match.

This kind of performance has only been seen when he watched Barcelona's main lineup before.

Giggs was very fast and quickly ran to Campbell's side after he had the ball.

With Carrick out injured, United are missing a midfield role.

As a result, Scholes made a cameo appearance during training.

He and Paul Scholes at the back, as well as Fletcher and Nani on the other flank, formed a regular quadrilateral on the field.

Blocked the path where Campbell and Manujo cooperated in the first place.

The former can only be passed back to Park Ji-sung.

Levi had already run close to the other two strikers after kick-off, but he clearly didn't have the trust of his teammates.

At the same time, he has Tevez marking in his position.

His teammates may not believe that he has the ability to fight "The Beast" hand-to-hand.

This thing is quite scary to look at, not to mention physical confrontation.

Park Ji-sung took the ball and pushed diagonally with it, passing the ball to Hargreaves again, who teamed up with Gibson to take control of the situation temporarily.

But Team A's ferocious slaughter has also begun.

Gibson played the ball to Hargreaves, and then the tall Manujo inserted it into the heart of the opposition and reached for the ball.

Hargreaves made a long pass, and Manuccio leaped high for the top, but then his body trembled like a kite with a broken string.

Ferdinand seemed to be a step late to the jump, but he was very sophisticated in timing Manuccio's exhaustion.

The clever but tough late starter came first and won the battle.

Team A then attacked.

Scholes easily got rid of Park Ji-sung's pressing after winning the ball, and a straight kick directly penetrated the defense of Team B.

The amount in advance is quite comfortable.

Giggs, who was running down the wing, touched the ball just as the ball slowed down slightly.

Then the Welshman got rid of Sylvestre at an accelerated pace.

Bottom cross.

The ball was very comfortable, and Tevez cut into the box, squeezed through the defender's body, and found the landing spot with precision.

Didn't jump much, and the header rubbed.

Goalkeeper Kuszczak saves the ball.

Just in time for Evans and Berbatov, who were about to clear the siege, made physical contact, and the dashing brother reached out and touched the football first.

Hooked and picked, he turned and shook Evans.

A low volley bounces off the ground in front of the goal line and refracts into the net.

Team A opened the scoring and the players cheered.

And the running distance of the dashing brother in this game is not even a hundred meters.

That's what characterizes him.

There are only two things to do on the pitch, to walk and to score goals.

If you don't have a handsome goal, you won't score.

Four minutes into the game, Levi had yet to touch the ball.

Team B restarted the ball and the ball was passed to Park Ji-sung again.

In the face of Team A's Scholes and Fletcher pressing, Levi was once again in support of the position.

"Hey, Park, pass the ball to that new kid."

Ferguson shouted from the sidelines.

He could see that several of the young players on Team B, such as Manuccio and Campbell, were not convinced by Levi.

A transfer fee of 10 million euros is sky-high for an eighteen-year-old.

Levi must prove that he deserves the price.

Hearing this, Park Ji-sung looked up at Levi's position.

Pass the ball to him.

At the moment of the pass, Tevez sped up to squeeze Levi away.

But it didn't push.

Levi ran back to catch the ball, and there was a "rough man" like kraft candy on the side behind him.

A step, a buckle, a beautiful turning motion.

Levi walked leisurely past the "beast".

Keep the ball going.

He immediately confronted Fletcher, made an acceleration and then made a sharp stop to change direction, repeatedly shaking his opponent's position.

Suddenly, the right foot picked up the football and passed it to Campbell.

He and Manuccio immediately formed a triangle to attack Team A's defense.

Ferguson's eyes flashed with appreciation.

Levi is dashing.

As well as the calm handling after passing and the subsequent insertion of the sense of position, it is vividly displayed in just a dozen seconds.

Talent visible to the naked eye.

On the pitch, Campbell carried the ball to the edge of the penalty area, and was helpless in the face of Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, as well as Patrice Evra, who was caught between the two defenders.

At this point, Levi stepped into his side, and Campbell played the ball to Levi.

Rio Ferdinand grabs.

Levi flicked his right foot sideways towards Ferdinand, waiting for Park Ji-sung to plug in and give it back to him, who got the ball and plugged it in.

Levi, who had crossed Ferdinand, regained possession, but the veteran Ferdinand had already squeezed his body, and Gary Neville had already made a low-body tackle.

The ball flew off the crowd and Levi picked it up for Campbell before closing the door.

"It's beautiful!"

Ferguson exclaimed.

Levi, who was squeezed by Ferdinand, regained his balance and skipped Gary Neville.

Ran out of a tiny gap.

Campbell passes the ball again to Levi, who runs to the edge of the box.

A light knock on the heel.

Manuccio slotted into the box from his flank, and under Vidic's pressure, he didn't hesitate to shoot directly.

Van der Sar made a leap of air to save the ball.

The attack was not completed, but Levi's image in everyone's hearts had quietly changed.