Just after Smith scored Leeds' first goal, it started to drizzle in Manchester.
The turf on the field became slippery and the surface of the football was stained with water.
This makes it more difficult for players to control football.
In the 16th minute of the game, because O'Shea received Carrick's back pass and stopped the ball a little, Kuyt snatched the ball away from the wing.
Fortunately, Heinze made up the defense in time and stopped Leeds United's frontcourt counterattack through a foul. For this reason, Heinze also received a yellow card.
The situation at that time was that Carrick passed the ball back to O'Shea, who was slightly to the left. O'Shea was thinking about Graveson in front of him on the right, Milner on the right, and there would definitely be Davis waiting to sneak behind him. .
I want to stop the ball to the left, so that I can avoid the frontcourt attack of these people from Leeds United.
But because the ball was too slippery, he stopped the ball a little wider and was intercepted by Kuyt on the other side.
Almost causing catastrophe.
Today Milner did not appear on the wing as requested by Lee George, but started as the team's midfielder, partnering Graveson and Parker.
The task given to him by Lee George is the team's horizontal coverage in offense and defense.
This is different from the B2B midfielder, which is front and back coverage. What Li George needs is for Milner to complete the coverage between the two sidelines. For example, when the team's winger cuts inside and the full-back fails to intervene in time or is in the midfield position, Milner will go to the wing to fill the gap and receive the ball coming from the wing.
Similarly, if the winger is picking up the ball along the wing, Milner will come to the rib position on the winger's side to help with the ball.
What George Lee likes is Milner's relatively balanced feet, fast speed, courage to fight, and abundant physical fitness.
Judging from the performance of the nearly 30 minutes in the first half, Milner performed very well. The reception, cooperation, and ball delivery were left to Milner on the left and right, and the transition in the middle was left to Graveson. Anyway, there was Parker behind him. Two people can confidently and boldly cooperate with the two wingers to play the ball. Coupled with the retreating Kevin Davis, Leeds United always maintains a numerical advantage in a certain area of the midfield during the offensive advancement.
In the 36th minute of the game, Manchester United's left midfielder, Kieran Richardson, slipped when facing England international Mills, handing the attacking football directly to the feet of his opponent.
Mills simply chose to push forward.
Seeing Mills advancing, Kuyt quickly chose to run close to the sideline, trying to attract Heinze away and prevent him from going forward to defend Mills.
The rest of Leeds' frontcourt players also began to push forward, helping Mills to stretch out United's defence.
When Mills entered the Manchester United half, the first thing he saw was O'Shea.
But O'Shea kept retreating because several Leeds United players were advancing. If O'Shea took the initiative to defend, Mills had at least two options to pass the ball to the feet of the Leeds United players behind him. O'Shea The only option is to keep retreating to protect the defense line.
Davis is at the front, with Ferdinand and Vidic guarding him. O'Shea stands between Milner and Graveson, thinking that no matter who Mills passes to, he can make up for it immediately.
Kuyt is watched by Heinze on the right wing.
On the left side, Smith was rushing to the center, and Neville didn't dare to get too close. One was Baynes coming up from the left of Leeds United, and he couldn't completely let go of him; and the other one was Smith who was about to come after taking a few more steps. Ferdinand's defensive range has increased, and he can give up Smith to Ferdinand.
Ferdinand!
Neville thought about Leeds United's goal just now and was no longer worried about Ferdinand. He was anxious to let Baines go and defend in the middle.
If Mills wants to pass the ball to Bynes, it must be a long pass. Then Neville is confident that he can come back to defend Bynes at this time.
But Mills told Manchester United's defensive players with practical actions.
You are thinking too much!
After entering the Manchester United half, Mills observed the situation while advancing, but no one came to defend him. He advanced to the penalty area and still no one came to defend him.
Mills just wanted to shoot.
But since I don't do this often, I was still a little worried, so I continued to click the ball forward.
Finally Vidic saw Mills's intention and began to move forward to defend.
Mills didn't wait any longer, raised his foot and shot.
This ball is very fast and Milton is very powerful.
It flew directly past Vidic's face and headed towards the goal.
Robinson has been preparing to save the ball. But because the weather was too slippery, the ball was not held by Robinson after it hit Robinson's glove. Instead, it rubbed his glove and continued toward the goal.
"duang~"
The ball hit the goal post.
All the Manchester United fans broke into a cold sweat, and then applauded Robinson for completing the save.
Robinson raised his shoulders and wiped the water from his face with his shoulder jersey. I don't know if it was the rain or the sweat from the shock of the ball just now.
Robinson was frightened when he thought about it. He actually had a weak hand just now. It just looked like he was diving for the ball, but he actually didn't catch the ball because it was too slippery.
If another one is scored, Robinson may have to think about how he will be scolded by Ferguson when he goes back.
Robinson looked at Mills who shot, and then at Smith who just scored.
His two former teammates were too cruel to him, and they didn't care about face at all.
Thinking about the fact that most of the opponents are teammates who have fought with him for a season, including Woodgate on the court and Bowyer off the court, they can be regarded as teammates of the previous generation of Leeds United.
Now they are both at Leeds United and have become their own rivals.
And Leeds United's current goalkeeper is Edwin van der Sar who the team found after he left.
The Dutch goalkeeper on the opposite side was very empty today and seemed to have not saved the ball yet.
It’s really free!
In fact, it is not that Van der Sar did not save. In the first half, he completed a defense against Ronaldinho's long shot and held the opponent's shot.
Then in the 42nd minute of the game, Van der Sar faced his second defense, which was still a long shot from his opponent. Rooney's shot was taken directly by Van der Sar because it was too straight.
In the 44th minute of the game, Carrick rarely passed the ball. A very hidden through ball found behind Matteisson and Baines. Ronaldinho got rid of Baines and chased the ball.
But Van der Sar, who was sent directly outside the penalty area, made a clearance.
These were all three of Van der Sar's defenses in the first half, all of which successfully defused the opponent's attacks, two of which were shots within the opponent's goal frame.
As for why we emphasize this data so much, it's because these were all three threatening attacks by Manchester United in the first half.
And those two shots were exactly the total number of shots Manchester United took in the first half.
