After Leeds United won Chelsea at home, Leeds United won the "Black Cat" Sunderland away in the Premier League a week later.
Then came the expedition to Spain. With the situation of ensuring the first place in the group, Li George sent a lineup of half main force and half substitute to challenge the old rival Sevilla.
The result was still Leeds United winning 1-0 thanks to Kuyt's goal. In the Champions League, Leeds United has swept away the embarrassment of being eliminated from the group last season and used its strength to prove that it is indeed no longer just a strong Premier League team, but a strong European team.
Ranked first in the Champions League group, ranked first in the league group, and also entered the top 8 in the League Cup, plus the Community Shield won before the start of the league.
It can be said that if Leeds United can continue to maintain its success, it will not be a problem to win the half-time Premier League championship. Judging from the situation in previous years, most of the teams that won the Premier League half-time championship also won the final league championship.
Although there is no medal or trophy for the half-time winner, it is at least a good sign, right?
^^^
In the Thorpe Arch training ground, Leeds United players are training while talking to each other. Everyone's face was filled with smiles, and the training was carried out amidst laughter and laughter.
In recent rounds of competition, although some players have been injured, several players have made a successful comeback.
Woodgate and Sneijder both returned to the team after experiencing thigh strains and caught up with the next round of Premier League games. Among them, Woodgate also came on as a substitute in the last game against Sevilla and gained nearly 30 minutes of game time. Judging from the situation of the game, his recovery is relatively good.
Sneijder's situation is even better. Although he did not catch up with the Champions League games, he stayed in the UK to participate in Leeds United's reserve team games. During the game, Sneijder showed a "Tongtiandai" performance and taught Manchester United's reserve team a good lesson.
"Next time I will put all the main players into the reserve team to play with you."
These were the words left to George Lee by Ferguson, who came to Yorkshire with the team to watch the reserve team match. The old man specially came to inspect several midfielders and backfield players in his reserve team, wondering if he could promote one or two players next season. Come to the first team.
But after seeing Sneijder's performance, the old man gave up the idea.
Despondently, he went back to prepare for the next Premier League game against Leeds United. Seeing Sneijder's performance, he also knew that Sneijder would definitely play in the game in this state, so he had to make some preparations for this. .
If George Lee knew what Ferguson was thinking, he would definitely be shocked.
Because Lee George himself has not decided whether to let Sneijder start the next game. It is not that Sneijder has not recovered well. It can be said that Sneijder's condition has been fully restored. It's because Smith has performed so well in the central midfielder position in the team recently.
Although George Lee's performance against Chelsea prevented Smith from being too involved in the offensive organization, the stronger Smith still helped the team's midfielder organize the offense in the next two games. It can be said that Leeds United's Playmaker is not an exaggeration either.
However, George Lee couldn't say anything because Smith not only organized the offense, he also did an excellent job in penetrating, shooting, intercepting, fighting and other aspects.
Since he is doing his job very well, why would George Li organize things like icing on the cake?
So, now George Li has a little worry about happiness.
In his original idea, the midfield combination should be a combination of Parker, Barry and Sneijder. Smith's position is to partner with Robben on the team's wing.
But now Smith returns to the central midfielder position and performs well.
"If I have to choose between Sneijder and Smith..." George Lee kept saying to himself, "Barry is injured, and it seems better for Parker and Button to partner with Smith... ...If Barry comes back, Parker, Barry and Sneijder are more suitable...Barry...Barry..."
George Li kept chanting the name "Barry".
"Barry, Gareth Barry!"
George Li finally thought of a new combination.
^^^
The highlight of the 16th round of the 2007/08 Premier League season has begun. Manchester United, ranked third in the league, will face the league's "leader" Leeds United at home.
The game just kicked off. Kuyt, the forward of the away team Leeds United, passed the ball back to Sneijder. Ferguson on the sidelines stopped chewing gum.
He and his assistants discussed for two days, and they all thought that Leeds United would put Sneijder back into the main lineup after Sneijder returned. Especially after Ferguson watched Sneijder's game in the reserve team, he specially arranged several defensive tactics to target Sneijder.
Today, he sent two midfielders, Hargreaves and Anderson, instead of Carrick, a controlling midfielder. He just wanted to use the Brazilian teenager Anderson to penetrate the midfield to attack the opponent's double back. The waist, coupled with Ronaldinho on the wing and Rooney and Tevez in front, should allow Sneijder to consume more physical energy in defense, so that Sneijder does not have to focus too much on offense. among.
Ronaldinho, Rooney, and Tevez at Manchester United can be said to be Ferguson's most satisfying "three counterattackers". Only three of them are needed in the offense to tear through the entire opponent's defense.
However, when Ferguson saw the man next to Sneijder, he was a little dumbfounded.
Alan Smith is today's midfield partner of Sneijder and Parker.
George Lee abandoned the 354 formation that he had been using before, and also abandoned the combination of double midfielders. Instead, he only left Parker as a midfielder, and instead let Sneijder and Smith serve as central midfielders at the same time.
He changed to the 433 used at the beginning of the season, and Kuyt still came forward. Arnesen and Bell were deployed on the wing, and the two full-backs were also relatively fast Blake and Bynes. Due to Milner's injury, Leeds United still sent Blake, who has performed well recently, on the right wing today.
Ferguson placed three "2"s here, but George Lee placed a group of "A"s here.
Today's game will eventually be an offensive battle, and both sides will invest a lot of troops in the attack.
Correspondingly, the defenses of both sides will be under tremendous pressure. Here at Manchester United, Robinson, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, and Brown are considered the strongest defensive lineup that Manchester United can come up with. Since the start of the game, they are the team that has conceded the fewest goals except Leeds United.
As for Leeds United, two full-backs who are fast and capable of forward penetration partner Woodgate and Matteisson, two central defenders with certain tracking abilities, who are enough to deal with Manchester United's signature counterattack. Don't forget that their goalkeeper is the experienced Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
If we talk about the ten years before the 21st century, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League was Schmeichel. So after the 21st, the best goalkeepers in the Premier League are Van der Sar and Cech.
Originally, this honor should only belong to Cech, but after coming to Leeds United, Van der Sar became a strong contender for this honor with his outstanding performance.
