"I'm so nervous, we're going to be relegated."
This is what Lee George said to Ferguson before Leeds United's first Premier League game of the season.
At that time, the two people met again in the players' tunnel. Leeds United's home game against Manchester United was about to start.
This is the third round of the Premier League. The first two rounds were rescheduled because Leeds United had to play in the Champions League qualifiers and the European Super Cup. Today's third round of the league is actually Leeds United's first Premier League match this season.
Because they did not play in the first two rounds, Leeds United is now ranked at the bottom of the standings with a record of 0 points in two games less, only a few more goal differences than the two teams that have lost two consecutive games.
"Go away, then my old man is here to have fun, right?" Ferguson knew that George Li was joking and didn't say much.
"It's true, old man. It's been ten days since the league started, and I'm on the relegation team." George Li continued to make fun of Ferguson.
"Then do you want me to give you 3 points?"
"Okay, that's the best." George Li followed Ferguson's words and continued to say shamelessly.
"Oh, you have a beautiful idea." After saying that, Ferguson turned around and walked into the venue first.
"If you don't give it, I won't give it. At worst, I will take it myself." George Li also followed and started to walk out of the player tunnel.
The current Leeds United can be said to have strong troops and horses, and they have the ability to challenge all the strong teams in the Premier League.
Ferguson walked into the stadium first, and by this time players from both sides had begun to line up for the opening ceremony. He looked all the way through, and here at Leeds United were Smith, Van der Sar, Kuyt, Van Persie, Graveson, Milner, Parker, Baines, Matthisson, Woodgate and Mills.
This is almost the strongest lineup of Leeds United. Ferguson couldn't help but sigh that in just three years, Leeds United has been led by his disciples to become a powerful team. Last season, it once threatened his second position in the league.
What's even more rare is that this lineup did not cost too much transfer fees. Most of the signings were bought at a low cost. The most expensive one is the newly purchased Dutch forward Kuyt. 12 million pounds. Like another Dutch forward Robin van Persie, when Leeds United introduced him, it was only 3.5 million pounds. Ferguson estimates that if the price is multiplied by ten now, there are probably people who want him.
And most of the players are very young, most of them are under 30 years old, and the oldest one is goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. But for the goalkeeper position, the older the better, it has no impact.
Ferguson looked at the disciples on the other side. Sitting on the bench were Davis, Lennon, Bowyer, De Jong, Albuchesson, etc. They were simply rich and had no fear of the consequences of the intensive schedule. Impact of attrition.
After looking around, the Manchester United head coach made up his mind to spend a lot of money to recruit players next season, otherwise he would really be left behind by these emerging Premier League teams.
Chelsea, Leeds United, West Ham United and Aston Villa have all completed their recruitment transformation due to the acquisition and capital injection by the new owners, and are gradually beginning to show their power in the Premier League. This does not guarantee that more big bosses will enter the Premier League in the future, and the situation will definitely be even more chaotic.
After the game started, Leeds United showed their special skills, pressing high and counterattacking in the frontcourt. Although Barcelona won the last game 3-0, it was extremely uncomfortable. Barcelona passed the ball around on the court, and then took long shots.
Playing against Manchester United today, I can finally show off my own characteristics.
Manchester United is also an old rival of Leeds United in recent years, and they also understand Leeds United's style of play. In addition to the two teams playing against each other twice in the league every year, the FA Cup and League Cup are always drawn together for some reason. One year, they even played against each other five times in one season.
After Manchester United center back Ferdinand received the return pass from his teammate, he did not pass it to goalkeeper Robinson. Instead, he began to observe nearby teammates. This must be observed carefully. There may be a Leeds United player hiding next to a teammate. As for the players.
At the same time, he also noticed Kuyt who was about to rush to his side.
When his head coach arranged the tactics before the game, he paid special attention to the Dutch forward. The Dutch Footballer of the Year and the top scorer in the Eredivisie, but Kuyt is not at all a forward like his former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy. He has plenty of physical fitness and a lot of off-the-ball movement. It can be said that this kind of striker is better than Ruud van Nistelrooy. It is more difficult to deal with forwards who eat cakes in the small penalty area.
Judging from his performance in several warm-up matches, Champions League qualifiers, and the Super Cup after joining Leeds United, he is a difficult character.
Ferdinand passed the ball to O'Shea before Kuyt could reach him, ensuring there was no one around.
As soon as O'Shea stopped the ball, the ball was slightly blocked. Smith on the left immediately threw away Wes Brown, who was originally guarding him, and rushed towards O'Shea. On the other side, Kuyt immediately blocked the ball. O'Shea passes back to Ferdinand.
O'Shea could only take a step forward and kicked to the side with a big foot.
The ball flew to the right side of Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo ran desperately in the direction of the football, but still couldn't reach the ball and saw the ball fly out of the sideline.
It had just started, but Ronaldinho, who was already blushing, jumped on the sideline, obviously regretting not catching the ball. If he can chase the ball, he can break through on the wing.
"What are you doing, bastard!" Ferguson could see that this was caused by a small mistake by O'Shea. He had no control over the intensity and direction of the pass, and he just kicked the ball out like a clearance.
Ferguson was also anxious. Before this game, Manchester United had won two consecutive games, and both were big wins. In the first round, they beat Fulham 5-1 at home, and in the second round they defeated Charlton 3-0 away from home.
The team seemed a little complacent and underestimated the opponent.
Don’t even think about it, is Leeds United on the same level as its opponents in the previous two games?
Moreover, Ruud van Nistelrooy has already transferred to Real Madrid. Rooney was injured in the second round, and the offensive firepower is definitely not enough. The two forwards sent today are Saha and Solskjaer.
The offense is probably not expected and can only rely on the two wingers, especially Ronaldinho's personal performance on the right.
At this time, the defense must not make any mistakes.
However, Ferguson is really afraid of something.
In the 12th minute of the game, Milner, who played in midfield today, cooperated with Mills to prevent Giggs' breakthrough and immediately grabbed the ball.
After Mills intercepted the ball, the ball rolled directly to Milner's feet.
Milner started to counterattack and advance through the center. At this time, Van Persie, who was originally on the right, began to advance diagonally towards the center. Then Kuyt saw Van Persie running and started to run to the right.
Milner saw that Kuyt's gap was obviously larger, so he passed the ball to the right. And in order not to be intercepted by the Manchester United defender who was following, he made a long pass from behind, which was passed behind Manchester United's left defense.
Kuyt got the ball before Sylvester, and then started to cut in the middle. He was just one step faster and passed in front of Sylvester.
Originally, he wanted to pass it straight to Van Persie who entered the penalty area, but Ferdinand seemed to be stuck in the passing route and he did not dare to pass it.
I saw Smith on the left heading towards the center, so I wanted to hit the wall with him to cooperate.
But as soon as the ball was given to Smith, Smith found that he was too close to Kuyt and the space was too small to pass the ball, so he passed the ball back to Graveson behind.
Kuyt and Smith completed another position change. Kuyt came to the left side of the penalty area, Smith was in the middle, and Van Persie ran out of the penalty area on the right. Just now, Van Persie failed to get Kuyt for the first time. After Yite's through ball, he was in an offside position.
Kuyt entered the penalty area from the left and looked up to see a ball flying towards his head.
It turned out that after Graveson got the ball, he used his right foot to rub the ball into the penalty area.
Manchester United's defense has been confused by Leeds United's movement. The three defenders stared at Robin van Persie and Smith, but Kuyt was missed.
Kuyt directly chose to head the ball towards the goal. Facing the attacking Robinson, he faced the ball with his forehead, leaned back first, and then shook his head.
The ball flew past Robinson to the back post.
Ferdinand, who came to the rescue, threw himself out and tried to kick the ball out on the goal line, but still failed to reach the football.
1 to 0.
The "relegation team" Leeds United took the lead. The leading opponent was Manchester United, which had previously won 2 games and had a 7-goal difference.
