NOVEL FROG Chapter 43
At the Carrington training ground.
Rojo intercepted the opponent's pass in the penalty area, and passed the ball to Chen Huan who had moved to an empty space.
Chen Huan looked up to observe the situation in the front court while turning around with the ball.
In his field of vision, Rooney was raising his hand to ask for the ball.
The Hawkeye system showed that it was not a good passing line.
Chen Huan suddenly kicked the inside of the ball with the instep of his foot, and the football flew into the air before the opponent's striker could get close to it, and fell towards the opponent's half. In the front court, Rooney started quickly, and his fishhook movement shook the opposing central defender, which allowed the Manchester United striker to continue to advance and not be offside.
The football fell in front of Rooney. In front of him, the goalkeeper had already abandoned the goal to block Rooney's shooting line. Behind Rooney, the defender who was chasing him was also using small movements to interfere with Rooney.
Rooney volleyed the ball without stopping the ball.
""Pah!"
With a crisp sound, the football shot out, pierced through the goalkeeper's fingers, and crashed into the net.
……
On the sidelines, Van Gaal subconsciously clenched his fists.
Chen Huan made a beautiful pass, and Rooney's fishhook run was even more brilliant.
At the same time, Van Gaal also realized that if Chen Huan was only allowed to play as a defensive midfielder, it would be a waste of his opponent's offensive talent.
Maybe he should try to change his opponent's position?
……
"Chen, great pass, I can't wait to score with your pass after the suspension ends."
As soon as the goal was scored, the absolute leader in the Manchester United dressing room ran to Chen Huan and said with a smile.
Rooney was sent off and faced a three-match suspension in the Premier League.
……
The training match continued.
After several months of the most scientific training at Manchester United and several high-intensity Premier League games, Chen Huan had a new understanding of how to use the system.
The football was passed to Chen Huan again. When he faced the opponent's pressure, he got rid of the opponent's defense with a flexible change of direction, and then a long-distance diagonal pass penetrated the opponent's defense and landed at the feet of winger Di Maria.
Unfortunately, Di Maria took the ball and shot a cannon.
"beep——"
Van Gaal blew the whistle to end the game
"Chen, can you play as a central midfielder?"
The concept of central midfielder is quite broad, and it is subdivided according to the characteristics of the players in this position and the tactical requirements of the head coach.
However, the basic functions of central midfielder are to connect the defense and organize the offense.
"Head, I can try."
Chen Huan did not agree or refuse immediately, but answered Van Gaal's question with a relatively neutral sentence.
"Okay, in the next training session, you will play as a central midfielder."
After that, Van Gaal pointed to Herrera, who was in the same training team as Chen Huan, and said,"You come down, Blind comes up, you play as Chen Huan's defensive midfielder, and the game continues."
When the whistle sounded, Chen Huan immediately entered the state of central midfielder, but because he had previously played as a defensive midfielder, he still regarded"linking defense" as his main task.
Even so, Chen Huan's opportunities to organize offense have also increased significantly.
……
Chelsea's Cobham training ground
"Stop, stop, stop!
Mourinho called a halt to the training match and trotted into the stadium.
"Oscar, how many times do I have to tell you this?
Mourinho's face was filled with anger. He pulled the Brazilian striker wearing the No. 8 jersey in front of him and pointed angrily at the empty space behind him.
"Defend, defend! Even a striker must actively participate in defense. Why didn't you enter your own defense zone immediately after the ball was changed?"
Oscar lowered his head. At this time, he was not a famous player of the Dragon League Harbor Team. He was still a talented Brazilian striker playing for Chelsea.
"I'm sorry, coach. I'll pay attention next time."
Mourinho's expression eased a little, and he said to several offensive players:"In the next game, we will face Manchester United at home. I reiterate one last time that Manchester United's midfield and backcourt are extremely dependent on the passing and organizational ability of the defensive midfielder named Chen. You must press him hard and ruthlessly!"
"I guess I don’t need to reiterate our goals for this season, right?"
"For the league championship, we have to play every game as if it were a final. Do you understand?!"
""Yes, coach!"
The players responded in unison, like an army.
……
On the afternoon of October 27, the Manchester United bus drove down the main road and headed for Stamford Bridge.
The bus was very quiet.
Everyone looked out the window, their eyes thoughtful.
The Blues, led by the madman Mourinho, have been unbeaten in the Premier League for eight consecutive rounds, showing the momentum to win the league championship. Tonight's game is destined to be a bloody battle.
Stamford Bridge has come into view, and the two sides of the bus in the distance are full of Chelsea fans.
The Blues fans shook their jerseys vigorously when the Manchester United bus passed by, and cursed the Manchester United players on the bus. The Manchester United players on the bus have long been accustomed to all this. They put on headphones and no longer looked out the window.
After entering the away team's locker room at Stamford Bridge, the starting players quickly changed their equipment, and Van Gaal also set up a tactical board in the locker room.
"Chen, your performance in today's game will be extremely important."
Van Gaal called Chen Huan to him again and said earnestly:"Mourinho's team will definitely set up the bus in their half. Our offensive players in the front court must focus on the offense to have a chance to tear through their damn defense, so... the defense in the back court depends on you."
"Don't worry, head"
"Okay, boys, cheer up, remember how the Chelsea fans outside the stadium scolded you?"
Van Gaal raised his voice to all the first-team players.
"Let's end Chelsea's unbeaten streak!"
……
In the early morning,
Longguo TV was broadcasting this powerful dialogue between the BIG6.
"Coach Zhang, what do you think of the match between Chelsea and Manchester United tonight? Which team do you think will win?"
"First of all, I definitely support Manchester United, because Manchester United has its own children after all, haha, I believe that most of the Dragon fans and I have the same mentality. But at the same time, we must also look at today's game objectively"
"Chelsea has not lost a single game so far this season. In this summer window, Chelsea brought their top scorer Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid for 38 million euros, and introduced Barcelona's talented midfielder Fabregas for 33 million euros, followed by Cuadrado for 31 million euros and Filipe Luis for 20 million euros."
"Such a large amount of signings has greatly enhanced Chelsea's offensive capabilities. So far this season, Chelsea has created a 6:3 massacre against Everton, a 4:1 bloodbath against Swansea, and a 6:0 defeat against Maribor in the Champions League group stage."
"Chelsea's goal this season is obviously to win the league title, so Mourinho must get the three points against Manchester United."
"On the other hand, the situation at Manchester United is not optimistic. In this game, coach Van Gaal deployed the same 4141 formation as in the previous game against West Bromwich Albion, but Manchester United's captain and the team's offensive core Rooney was suspended for three games and therefore could not play in this game. Manchester United's firepower in this game must have been greatly reduced."
"The game hasn't started yet, so we certainly can't underestimate Manchester United, but... this game doesn't allow us to be optimistic."
……