Old Trafford, players tunnel.
An old man wearing a windbreaker stood behind the team, chewing gum.
Beside him, behind another team, George Lee was also chewing something.
Ferguson stared at Li, and when George Li saw Ferguson looking at him, he blew a bubble out of his mouth.
"Boo~" the bubble burst.
Several other members of the Leeds United coaching staff standing behind George Lee couldn't help but laugh.
"Boy, no matter how big or small." In the end, it was Ferguson who broke the silence between the two. The two had ignored each other since they came out of their respective locker rooms.
"I just want to try what it feels like to chew gum during a game."
"You call this chewing gum?"
"I couldn't help it. I didn't have any chewing gum at home, so I asked Carl for two bubble gums."
After saying that, George Li spit out the chewing gum in his mouth and threw it into the trash can nearby.
"Why did you vomit it up again?"
"It's boring. I don't know how you can chew it for a whole game. Isn't it tasteless?"
"Haha~" The old man smiled and ignored him.
"Old man, I heard that you had a minor operation?"
"Yes, I installed a small thing here." The old man pointed to his heart.
"You know what Chris said to me in the locker room just now."
"What did he say?" The old man knew that his other disciple would not have anything nice to say, so his tone was not very good.
"He asked me to bring a magnet and put it on your chest when I shook your hand, so Manchester United would not have a manager today."
Ferguson looked at Chris Casper angrily, and Casper saw Ferguson looking over and smiled and waved to Ferguson.
Ferguson continued to scan the Leeds United coaching staff, looking at each of his former colleagues, disciples, and players under his command, and couldn't help but sigh. Things in the world are unpredictable, and he never thought that this group of people would stand opposite him one day.
At the front of the team, Gary Neville, the captain of Manchester United today, looked at Alan Smith who was exhaling heavily next to him.
"First time becoming captain?"
Due to the retirement of Leeds United's veteran captain Radebe last season, the captain's armband this season has been worn on Mateo's hand. Mateo did not play today because of a muscle strain after the last game. In addition, the team's vice-captain Gary Kelly did not start today, so Smith will serve as the team's captain today.
"Yes." Originally serving as captain for the first time, Smith thought about whether he should be more aloof, but seeing how enthusiastic the other party was, he answered politely.
Neville didn't say much after hearing Smith's answer, and continued to stand upright, waiting to lead the team into the stadium.
Seeing that Neville did not continue, Smith also learned to stand upright, waiting to enter.
"Sir, you have to believe me. I really didn't say this. I am innocent."
Suddenly, the voice of the team coach Casper came from behind, which was quite loud. Smith couldn't help but look back to see what was going on.
"Let's go." Goalkeeper Paul Robinson, standing behind Smith, patted Smith with his goalkeeper glove.
Smith breathed a sigh of relief again and led the team into the stadium.
^^^
Leeds United's starting lineup today is unchanged from the previous games. The only change is that the team's center back Mateo has a muscle strain, so Matteisen starts in his place and partners with Albchesson at center back. Standing on both sides of them are still Hart and Mills, two familiar players from Leeds United. Because he is older and George Lee has higher requirements for the team's full-backs, the team's veteran right back Kelly is almost completely replaced by Mills. Kelly only played two games in the final stages of the first two games. In the second game, there was basically no special performance.
Leeds United's midfielder today is still the combination of Graveson, Davis and Smith. Smith also wore the captain's armband today, which is also of great significance. In the first three games, Smith performed well and fully met Lee's expectations before the season. He scored three goals in three games, scoring in each game, and was in hot form. And this season, his position has retreated. Who knows, this not only did not affect his offensive efficiency, but also stimulated his other potential. The media in Leeds and Yorkshire are now almost singing praises for Smith.
The two wingers are still Grenchar and Romedal. Their positions are not very fixed. They often exchange positions and cross moves, making it difficult for opponents to figure out. The lone forward is still the Dutchman who the team spent 3.5 million pounds to introduce this year, Robin Van Persie. Although Van Persie performed well in the first three rounds of the league, and his running, fighting and pressing satisfied coach Li, he has yet to score a goal. No matter how good a forward's other performances are, as long as he can't score goals, he cannot be considered an excellent forward.
Defensive forward, Smith once joked about Van Persie that day in the bar. Mills, who went to the bar with him, also half-joked that Van Persie's pressure in the frontcourt made him, a defensive player, save a lot of effort in defense. He wanted to give Van Persie a drink on behalf of the team's defense.
Therefore, Van Persie is under a lot of pressure now, and he really wants to end his scoring drought in today's game and score his first goal in the Premier League.
On the other hand, Manchester United is not optimistic. There are a large number of injuries in the team. Ferdinand, Brown, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Keane are all unable to play due to injuries. Wayne Rooney, the talented English player introduced by the team from Everton this summer, is still recovering due to injuries in the European Cup and is expected to return. In just a few games, he can make his first appearance at Manchester United.
Today, Manchester United put together a 451 lineup, with Gary Neville, Sylvester, O'Shea, and Spector in the backcourt to partner goalkeeper Howard. The three midfielders are Fletcher, Kleberson, and Scholes, the two wings are Giggs and Ronaldinho, and the lone forward is Frenchman Saha.
After the kick-off, Manchester United focused its attack on the right, allowing Ronaldinho to initiate the attack many times. However, due to Li George's special arrangements before the game, the effect was not obvious.
Ronaldinho's dazzling dribbling could not disrupt Leeds United's defense. Instead, he made frequent mistakes with the help of Graveson and Davis. Ferguson also kept turning on the hairdryer on the sidelines to let Ronaldinho pass more passes. Ball, don’t go it alone.
In the 25th minute of the first half, Ronaldinho once again chose to go it alone. He did not pass the ball to Scholes on the side. He pedaled two bicycles in place and tried to beat Hart with speed. As a result, the man passed and the ball passed. But he was guarded by Hart.
After Hart missed the ball in one defense, he immediately counterattacked and took two steps forward. When he saw Kleberson coming up, he passed it to Davis. After Davis received the ball, he immediately passed it to Glenshaal on the left. you.
Glenchard stopped the ball because he saw Neville blocking his path forward, and then used his right foot to pass the ball. At this time, both Van Persie and Smith were running forward, taking away most of Manchester United's defense. Grenchar made a large-scale transfer, and the ball went to the feet of Romedal on the right. Romedal stopped forward and started to speed up, making Fletcher who was approaching completely unable to keep up. After Fletcher, Romedal began to rush towards the penalty area, and when he was approaching the corner of the penalty area, he met Manchester United defender Spector. Romedal directly kicked off a low pass and the ball passed directly between the goalkeeper and the center back and reached the back point.
Van Persie, who had been waiting for several games, finally caught the opportunity. Because the two central defenders were attracted by Smith to the front point, he was completely unmarked at the back point and easily pushed the ball into the net with his left foot.
Howard made a symbolic pounce, but couldn't reach it at all.
"Roar~~~" Van Persie ran to the camera and roared. He finally vented his anger after suppressing it for a long time.
After celebrating, he started running towards the team's coaching bench again and stretched out his hand from afar. When he was about to run in front of Li, Li also stretched out his right hand.
"Pa~" The two generals high-fived vigorously.
"NICE!" "Well done." "Good shot, Robin."
Other members of the coaching staff also celebrated with Van Persie.
Manchester United kicked off and the ball was passed back to Scholes. Immediately two Leeds United players came over. Scholes immediately passed the ball back to Sylvester.
As soon as Sylvester stopped the ball, he saw Van Persie coming over in an unusual way, and quickly passed the ball to O'Shea on the edge. As a result, the pass was not passed well. Smith touched the ball before O'Shea. The ball rolled towards the penalty area. Smith also ran towards the penalty area. O'Shea quickly turned around and chased after him.
Fortunately, Howard struck out early and destroyed the ball.
"Shit, what are you doing?"
The old man's hair dryer rang again.
After cursing a few words, he calmed down and saw several pairs of eyes looking at him from the coaching bench next to him.
After chewing gum twice, he asked the assistant coach to make room for him to sit down. He did this series of actions without blushing.
"Only Manchester United's defense is not as good as ours." Li George said a bit stinkingly when he saw that Manchester United's defense almost made a big mistake.
"You just bully others because they have many injuries. If Ruud van Nistelrooy was on the court, would you dare to press him like this?" Cruyff Jr. said.
"Take advantage of his illness and kill him. I originally thought I could get points if I didn't lose, but in this situation, I want to take 3 points away from the old man."
"Look!" Casper next to him pointed towards the field.
On the field of Manchester United, Scholes took the ball on the right side of the field, crossed almost the entire field, and handed the ball to Giggs on the left.
Giggs stopped the ball steadily, faced Mills' defense, dunked with his right foot, pushed with his left foot, and the ball went out. Giggs immediately accelerated to catch up, but Mills was pulling behind him. Giggs swung his hand and tried to shake off the unruly hand behind Mills, but failed.
Finally, the two stopped near the penalty area. Giggs slowed down the ball without getting rid of Mills. Mills braked and stopped in front of Giggs.
When Giggs saw Mills stop, he moved his left foot again and passed to the right of Mills. At this time, Mills stopped and it was too late to catch up.
Giggs reached the small penalty area, raised his left foot and shot.
He hit a close corner directly and was very powerful.
Robinson thought he was going to cross because he basically blocked the angle in front of the goal, but he didn't expect Giggs to shoot. He was completely stunned.
The ball flew into the back of the net, causing a wave of white waves.
1 to 1.
Manchester United equalized the score immediately after conceding the goal.
Giggs lifted his shirt over his head and faced the Old Trafford crowd with his hands spread out.
"This chest hair is so ugly."
George Li complained and saw Ferguson shouting and jumping next door.
After dancing, Ferguson turned back and glanced at Li proudly.
After seeing the Manchester United players finish celebrating, Lee George looked at his players on the field.
Mills saw the head coach looking at him, and Lee stretched out a finger in the direction of Giggs and tapped it twice.
Mills nodded quickly, knowing that the coach wanted him to keep an eye on Giggs.
In the ensuing first half of the game, Leeds United basically pressed Manchester United, frequently using high pressure to put pressure on Manchester United. But Manchester United did not make any mistakes again and relied on defense to dismantle Leeds United's offense. Manchester United also took advantage of Leeds United's aggressive pressure and launched several counterattacks. Ronaldinho's several breakthroughs were also quite threatening.
In the second half of the first half, both sides went back and forth, but neither achieved anything.
In the end, the two sides temporarily stayed on the same starting line at 1-1 in the first half.
