Facing the familiar Lazio, Chen Xiaoliang seemed to have returned to his career in Rome.
Although Manchester United's lineup has many shortcomings, it is only relative to top clubs like Manchester City and Bayern. Compared with Roma, Manchester United's lineup is definitely ahead.
Not to mention Lima, Luke Shaw, Varane, Casemiro and others, even Lindelof, Wan Bissaka and others are much stronger than Ibanez, Celik and others.
There is just one thing, just as Chen Xiaoliang and B Fee argued, he saw much less desire to win in these Manchester United players than in Roma.
At that time, under the coaching of Mourinho, the Roma had a mentality of not being afraid of wearing shoes even if they were barefoot. They were not afraid of meeting anyone and had a feeling of making a fortune by pulling someone down with them or a pair of shoes.
It’s not that Mourinho has completely changed Roma. In fact, he is more like a shot in the arm, injecting huge but short-term confidence into Roma.
Coupled with the successful signing of Chen Xiaoliang and the success of betting on Kva, Cesco, Gvadiol and others, the team has generated a huge sense of enterprising spirit.
Finally created the Triple Crown miracle.
But Roma has no baggage. Even if they can't win the Champions League or even make it into the top four in Serie A, the fans will be disappointed at most. But deep down, such a result just means they have returned to the club's "normal ranking."
Manchester United is different.
They failed to qualify for the Champions League, and thousands of people cursed them, while opposing fans beat drums and gongs and put up lights and decorations.
Celebrating qualification to the Champions League after finishing fourth is a betrayal of the team's history. It is complacent and shameless.
Even after Sir Alex Ferguson retired and finished second twice, they were still under pressure from their city rivals. Not only Manchester, but the sky of the Premier League was no longer red.
This kind of pressure is completely different from that of Rome, whose ancestors were also runners-up for many years.
Therefore, after the opening, Manchester United, who were asked by Ten Hag to fight for victory with all their strength, immediately took the initiative and launched a fierce offensive.
The 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder Marcos Antonio is a good player. After being bought by Lazio from Shakhtar Donetsk last season, he adapted for a season and has become the starting midfielder this season.
However, the positioning of Milinkovic-Savic on the right and Alberto on the left resulted in this midfielder, who was strong in attack but weak in defense, having to frequently face off against Chen Xiaoliang one-on-one.
Can it be defended? Even the British schoolchildren in the stands know that it cannot be defended.
For this reason, Alberto and Milinkovic-Savic kept supporting and double-teaming the middle, which resulted in the two flanks of Lazio losing the control and protection of the midfield in the 4-3-3 system. This allowed Rashford on the right to frequently move inwards to attack the penalty area, while Kvart on the left "made a big fuss" and played what could be described as his best game since joining Manchester United.
In the 27th minute, in Lazio's positional battle, Immobile's shot from the left side of the penalty area was blocked by Varane. Manchester United launched a quick attack. Kva again received a pass from Casemiro on the left. Facing the 30-year-old Montenegrin defender Marusic, Kva received the ball and stopped and passed him behind who was about to intercept.
Milinkovic rushed back to make up for the defense, and Kva went straight into the penalty area from the left side of the penalty area without stopping.
With Cesco in the middle, Rashford at the far post and Chen Xiaoliang outside the penalty area, the three-point encirclement forced Lazio's temporarily retreating defense to choose to retreat as much as possible and concentrate its defense instead of dispersing to mark each other.
Facing the right center back Casale who was standing still to block the ball, Kva faked a pass with his left foot, but Casale stretched out his legs to block it, only to find that he was blocking nothing.
Kva moved his left foot to his right foot, adjusted half a step, and shot directly into the upper corner to score!
Manchester United leads 1-0!
The announcer inside Old Trafford shouted excitedly, this was the first goal scored by "Georgian Messi" after joining the team!
After easily passing the ball and witnessing Kvart's one-on-one run on the wing, Casemiro, who got his first assist of the season, was the first to rush up and picked up Kvart, who looked thin compared to him.
But then again, it was the British media who were good at making trouble. Seeing the united and passionate celebration on the field, the broadcaster immediately turned the camera to Maguire and B Fee who had just finished clapping and celebrating on the bench and were now sitting expressionless.
The most proud person is Gary Neville. The improved performance of Manchester United this season has made him more confident in the broadcast room, and his voice is much louder than that of his old rival Carragher.
Unlike the quarrel between the two, Lampard, who was unemployed at home and no one dared to hire him in a short period of time because of his brilliant record in his second stay at Chelsea, hit the nail on the head.
It has to be said that as a legendary player, although his ability to lead a team is a mystery, his ability to observe and analyze is still online.
He pointed out directly that Manchester United scored a total of 16 goals and 14 assists in the new season. The three players from Roma contributed 10 goals and 6 assists, almost carrying the team forward.
The reason why they can connect so quickly and seamlessly is that, on the one hand, the individual combat capabilities of these three people are stronger than each other, and on the other hand, the three of them have their own system. Even if other teammates do not form a good cooperation with them, the three of them can open up the situation for the team through small internal cooperation.
And he believes that Ten Hag also saw this, so he began to let the three of them start together more often in strong dialogues, and Rashford gave way to Cesco to move to the wing to launch the attack.
In the 45th minute, just when the first half was about to end, Manchester United got a free kick opportunity on the left side. Eriksen passed the ball to the back of the goal. Varane headed the ball back, and Casemiro followed up and jumped high, pushed Alberto who was defending him away in the air, and headed the ball into the goal.
2 to 0!
After the former Roma player scored the first goal, two former Real Madrid players connected in the penalty area.
The three have won a total of 10 Champions League titles, and their unparalleled success in this tournament has given them great confidence to defeat any opponent.
Hamad Al Thani, the new owner of Manchester United, who was wearing a headscarf in the box, kept nodding his head. Although Varane and Semimiro were not bought by him, he kept telling himself in his heart that buying championship-level stars is indeed useful.
After spending a huge amount of money in the summer window, this member of the Qatari royal family is obviously not satisfied yet.
Regarding the selection of management personnel, he has had several rounds of communication with Ajax's current CEO Van der Sar, hoping that the Manchester United legend can come to take up the position.
In the few years since he took office at Ajax after retiring, the achievements of this veteran Dutch team in competition competitiveness and youth training development have been obvious to all.
Secondly, regarding the selection of club director, Mutaf was highly recognized by Hamad Al Thani because he personally handled the transfer and bought the Roma trio, so his position was safe, but only temporarily.
Hamad Al Thani has ordered the club to plan transfer matters for the winter window and next summer window in advance while complying with the fiscal balance bill, and to buy a few more championship-level players so that Manchester United's lineup can rival any European giants and regain the lead over Manchester City in the Premier League.
But this Qatari royal is not stupid. With the lesson of Burley in mind, he does not want the team to become the next Chelsea.
As the saying goes, I am the richest man in the world with a piece of cloth on my head. Seeing the new owner emphasize buying stars regardless of cost, the club is a little uncomfortable...
As for other candidates, Hamad Al Thani is not in a hurry to replace them. He wants to wait for Van der Sar to take office and then let him adjust the club's management structure. However, one thing can be seen from the fact that he renamed the fund for acquiring Manchester United as the "92 Foundation" that he very much hopes that members of Class 92 and other retired players with the spirit of Manchester United can join Manchester United's coaching staff.
Wes Brown, who filed for bankruptcy in the first half of the year, has joined the coaching staff of the youth academy. This is not only a financial support for the main right-back in the 2008 Champions League winning team, but also shows Hamad Al Thani's determination to revive Manchester United's spirit.
Another famous player, Nicky Butt, is now the CEO of Salford, an English League Two club owned by Class 92. The reason he voluntarily resigned from the position of Manchester United's youth training director in 2021 was that he believed that the management "did not understand football" and only interfered recklessly.
Nikki Butt is willing to come back, but he made only one request, that is, if he is there, there will be no Mutaf, and if Mutaf is there, there will be no him.
To this end, Hamad Al Thani is willing to adjust Mutaf's functions to implement specific transfer work under the instruction of the management, while other football affairs of the club's first team will be handed over to technical director Fletcher, who is a candidate acceptable to the board of directors, Manchester United legends and players.
All of this has one purpose, which is to build a team around Chen Xiaoliang that is capable of challenging the championship of any tournament.
With a 2-goal lead, Ten Hag didn't say anything during the half-time break , but just asked B Fee and Maguire to warm up and prepare to go on the field in the second half.
Lazio was ranked third in Serie A last season and its strength is actually not bad. It’s just that the team’s attitude towards the Champions League is not motivated from top to bottom. It seems that after six rounds of group matches, the team’s mission is accomplished.
In the 53rd minute, in a corner kick attack, Romagnoli's header hit the crossbar. After the ball bounced back, Milinkovic grabbed the ball in the chaos and volleyed it into Manchester United's goal.
However, just as the Lazio players were celebrating simply, the Greek referee Sigiropoulos chose to watch VAR after being reminded by the video referee team, and then determined that Romagnoli fouled Lima before heading the ball, so the goal was ruled invalid.
Although the score was not changed, this "loss of ball" still made the players feel pressured. They played very rigorously in the remaining time and did not blindly press forward, but focused on the integrity of the formation.
As one side gained strength, the other side lost strength. Lazio took advantage of this opportunity to gradually increase the intensity of their offensive pressure. Since they were already two goals behind, they might as well press forward a few more times.
In the 69th minute, Ten Hag replaced Eriksen with Maguire, letting him play as a central defender and playing a five-defender formation.
His appearance also perked up many fans in the stands, who took out their mobile phones to capture the scene and appreciate the long-lost style of the aircraft carrier.
His appearance also significantly improved Manchester United's air defense capability in the penalty area. Lazio's several crosses were fruitless, and they did not have the speed advantage on the wing, so they were unable to break through the bottom line and pass the ball across the small penalty area. Therefore, they began to frequently take long shots from the front.
Therefore, Chen Xiaoliang began to retreat to help McTominay, who replaced Casemiro, to defend the front and curb Lazio's gradually rising offensive momentum.
In the 77th minute, midfielder Antonio pressed forward and received the pass from veteran winger Pedro who cut inside and prepared for a long shot.
Just as he was moving forward quickly and preparing to adjust his pace before shooting, Chen Xiaoliang rushed up from the top of the arc and tackled him.
One is advancing quickly, ready to use the ball and his own momentum to maximize the power of the shot, while the other is sprinting and sliding, ready to destroy the ball before the opponent shoots.
Immediately, a scene of Mars hitting the Earth occurred on the court.
Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball, and on the other side of the ball, Antonio's shooting foot also hit it.
But there is a big gap in leg strength between the two, and they use the soles of their feet for tackles and the tops of their feet for shots. Even though there is a ball in between, it is still a case of soft against hard.
In addition, when Antonio shot, his body leaned forward and his left supporting leg was slightly lifted off the ground. As a result, the ball was stepped back by Chen Xiaoliang. Before Antonio could complete his shooting, he was tripped by the ball and fell forward.
Antonio fell to the ground, holding his right leg and screaming in pain. The team doctor and the stretcher immediately came in. The team doctor checked and fortunately there was no fracture, but the knee ligament was strained or even torn.
Chen Xiaoliang did not encounter any trouble from the referee or the opposing players when he stood up. It was a very clean tackle in front of the penalty area. Lima and others came over to ask him if he was injured, but Chen Xiaoliang shook his head and said that he was completely fine.
It can be seen from this ball that there are still players on Lazio who really want to win.
When Antonio saw that Chen Xiaoliang was about to tackle the ball, he still did not retract his legs, but still chose to shoot with force, which was a very "brave" behavior on the court.
At least other Lazio players who have played against Chen Xiaoliang before would not adopt such a desperate style of play in a one-on-one face-off with him.
They all knew that this red countryman was once regarded as Gattuso's successor, and his nickname was also the Butcher. Who would have seen a man rushing up to him with a machete and confronting him head-on...
As Antonio was carried off on a stretcher, applause broke out from the stands, both for Antonio's bravery and Chen Xiaoliang's toughness. Only Sarri sighed helplessly on the sidelines, put his right middle finger on the tip of his nose and sniffed the smell of tobacco and tar that had been stained on it for decades.
Lazio, who had no intention of winning, lost their fighting spirit even more after seeing their main midfielder get injured and leave the field in a head-on confrontation. They also began to reduce physical contact in offense, especially in frontal attacks, and they would go around Chen Xiaoliang.
In this way, the quality of the attack can be imagined, and Manchester United finally won the second round of the Champions League group stage 2-0.
In another match, PSV Eindhoven was beaten 1-4 by Bayern at home. Van Nistelrooy's young guards were unable to stop Tuchel's armored forces, which allowed Bayern to surpass Manchester United and rank first in the group with a three-goal difference.
In other rounds, the top teams almost all won and ranked in the top two in the group.
The best player of the game was Casemiro, who scored one goal and made one assist. The local media in Manchester joked that this was the first game in which Chen Xiaoliang "did nothing" since joining the team, referring to the fact that he neither scored a goal nor made an assist in the game.
The word "actually" is called high-level Versailles by fans.
After the game, the system collected a total of 5 skill points (62 → 67)
There is only one round left in the devilish schedule. We will face West Ham United in three days. Fortunately, it will be played at home, which saves the players from the fatigue of traveling.
There was no conversation for three days, but Ten Hag explained the captain's appointment for the first time at the team meeting. He said that the club's management will be adjusted soon, so before the arrival of the new CEO, the team's current arrangements will be temporary. The new CEO will also be officially announced during the national team competition cycle after the end of the next round of the league.
Although he spoke rather vaguely and the club is currently keeping silent, seeing Arnold already packing up his things to prepare for handover after his successor arrives, and the bookmakers close to closing the odds on Van der Sar taking over, with the odds dropping to 1 to 0.05, which means you only earn 5 yuan if you bet 100 yuan and win, everyone in the team actually knows that it is a foregone conclusion that the Manchester United legend will come to the club and join hands with Ten Hag again.
Apart from this, there is nothing else to do during the three days of rest and training except for 12 training points (21→33).
West Ham United head coach Moyes, who returned to Old Trafford once again, is not having an easy time. Two draws and three losses at the start of the season have put him third from the bottom. Before the game, he said that Manchester United's biggest weakness at the moment is physical fitness, and the overly dense game schedule has made the Red Devils tired.
After the game started, the Hammers did as he had expected, frequently using fast breaks and consciously speeding up the pace of the game to fight against Manchester United.
Throughout the first half, West Ham United hardly fought any positional battles.
As soon as Manchester United finished their positional battle, they launched a counterattack immediately. As soon as Manchester United finished their counterattack, they launched a counterattack again immediately.
Even after taking a corner kick in the frontcourt and grabbing the second point, there is no hesitation, either passing the ball immediately or taking a long shot.
In short, Moyes' team tonight is based on one word - fast.
Ten Hag only rotated some players tonight. Before facing Manchester City away in the 10th round, Manchester United's opponents were relatively weak. Starting from the 10th round against Manchester City, there will be a series of Big7 civil wars.
Ten Hag hopes that the team can get all the points they deserve before starting the strong dialogue. After all, facing the Big 7 who once again set a record for the total transfer amount in the top five leagues in the summer, no one can guarantee how many points they can get after continuous battles and the interspersed with the Champions League.
But this also made Moyes' tactics work.
Whether it was Lima, Luke Shaw, Casemiro or Kwa, they all showed signs of fatigue under the Hammers' almost back-and-forth style of play.
You know, West Ham, who only play one game a week, have had a seven-day rest. Plus, they now have five substitutions, so they have a big advantage in terms of physical competition.
The two wingers, Jarrod Bowen and Benrahma, were like Kingsley Coman and Sane possessed, and they fired at the flanks guarded by Luke Shaw and Dalot.
I don't play any tricks on you, I just compete with you in speed and stamina with the ball in counterattacks.
Ten Hag originally wanted to send on Timber, but seeing West Ham playing like that, he was glad he didn't do so.
Although the relatively young Brandon Williams has been training with the first team since last season and is no longer on loan, he and the coaching staff cannot rest assured in such a game.
The club has made advance preparations in this regard and has already agreed to bring in Leicester City youngster Luke Thomas as Luke Shaw's replacement in the winter window for a transfer fee of 45 million pounds.
The 21-year-old English player, who came from Leicester's youth training, mainly plays as a left back, but can also play as a left wing back and left midfielder.
Although Leicester City was eventually relegated to the Championship last season, he has accumulated more than 20 Premier League and cup starting experiences, and is also Leicester City's starting left-back in the Championship this season.
However, as the current CEO Arnold is about to leave, the board of directors requires that the transfer be finally confirmed after the new CEO is in place.
However, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, and the precarious situation on the field made Ten Hag frown.
You should know that in the final stage of the league last season, Manchester United lost 1-0 to West Ham United as a guest at the London Stadium and almost lost the final Champions League spot.
At halftime, the score was 0-0. Although Manchester United led in terms of shots and ball possession, it was obvious that West Ham, playing away from home, played with more momentum and threat.
When Ten Hag didn't come in the midfield, he thought about it again and again, and made a bold decision. He replaced the tired Cesco with Fred, letting Fred on the left, Casemiro in the middle, and B Fee on the right, playing a three-midfielder tactic.
In this way, there are only the opposing players in front of Chen Xiaoliang.
In the first half, under West Ham's running and bombing, Chen Xiaoliang was forced to retreat significantly to defend, which caused him to be far away from the opponent's goal during the attack, and also made the connection and interaction between him, Kva and Cesco become extremely rare.
Once these two players lost Chen Xiaoliang's support in the midfield, they would lose a lot of opportunities to get the ball, which greatly reduced their threat.
At the same time, the tall and long-legged Cesco can't play any role in preventing the opponent's counterattack, and although Kva on the left actively returns to defense, his offensive ability is as strong as his defensive ability...
He often runs back long distances, but can't help much in the double-team with Luke Shaw. Whether it is physical confrontation in defense or stealing the ball, they are all his weaknesses.
It seems that this Georgian has spent all his time practicing dribbling and passing since he was a child, forgetting that a football player should also practice defense.
But the threat he poses on offense is enough for any head coach to choose to overlook his inability to defend.
As a result, Manchester United played a strikerless formation in the second half, and Ten Hag simply used three defensive midfielders to prevent Chen Xiaoliang from returning to defense.
Facts have proved that, like Gerrard and Mourinho, when a head coach chooses to believe in Chen Xiaoliang, it means that Chen Xiaoliang is about to bring him victory.
Chen Xiaoliang's unstructured style of play in the second half made it difficult for West Ham's midfield and backcourt to defend.
After selling Rice for 80 million pounds in cash plus other terms, totaling 100 million pounds, West Ham chose to spend 15 million euros to buy Algerian midfielder Hakeem Boudault from Nice in Ligue 1.
The 23-year-old Algerian international can do everything: make runs, assist, defend and commit fouls. Although he is not strong, he is a standard all-round midfielder.
But just like many "XXX stars", such as the Japanese Messi and the Mexican Ronaldo when they met the real Messi and Ronaldo, when this Boudeau met Chen Xiaoliang, the best all-around midfielder in today's football world, he immediately went from being proficient in everything to being poor at everything.
In the 64th minute, after West Ham United launched three consecutive attacks in the backcourt, B Fee kicked the ball to the left. Kva, who was given the "privilege" by Ten Hag not to return to defense in the second half of the game, immediately moved forward after receiving the ball in the open space.
Although the right-back Correll, who was bought from Paris Saint-Germain for 12 million euros, has won three Ligue 1 titles, he was ruthlessly crushed by Kvart, the main player of the treble winners, in a one-on-one defensive situation in which he retreated at high speed.
Kva, who had shaken off Correll, entered the penalty area from the left, and suddenly changed direction and dribbled the ball towards the top of the penalty area.
Midfielder Soucek and right center back Zouma both thought that he was going to cut inside and shoot at a wide angle to the far corner, so they kept a close eye on him. Unexpectedly, Kva not only ran outside, but also passed the ball outside.
Who should he pass it to? Of course, he passed it to Chen Xiaoliang who was following him.
Anthony on the right had just returned to defense and had no time to join the game. At this time, there were only Kva and Chen Xiaoliang in the frontcourt.
Facing Bao Dawu's defense, Chen Xiaoliang first dribbled to make his attempt miss, and then immediately used his right foot to flick the ball and then a short sprint to shake him off.
West Ham's defenders thought Chen Xiaoliang was going to go to the right side of the penalty area, so left center back Agde came up in advance to block his way.
In this way, Kwa, who was moving horizontally in the penalty area, had the opportunity to go around behind Agde.
Chen Xiaoliang flicked the ball with his right foot and moved it back to the left. In an instant he made a second change of direction and headed towards the left side of the small penalty area.
Zuma, who was defending Kwa, stopped suddenly and wanted to go back to block Chen Xiaoliang, but Shauke rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang before him.
Kva continued to run towards the right side of the penalty area, as if he was ready to receive the pass from Chen Xiaoliang and shoot at any time.
Facing the dense crowd, West Ham goalkeeper Fabianski saw that Chen Xiaoliang was defending in front of him, and immediately followed Kva who was moving sideways and chose to move to his left side to prevent him from shooting at close range after receiving the ball.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he moved, Chen Xiaoliang swung his left foot backwards.
When Soucek saw him about to pass the ball, he immediately jumped up to block it!
As a result, Chen Xiaoliang stepped on the ground with his left foot and followed with his right foot. With a very fast and short-distance push, like a putter on a golf green, the ball passed under Soucek's body and kicked to the left side of the goal!
Fabianski, whose center of gravity shifted to the left, stopped immediately and tried to turn around and dive to the right.
But he is already 38 years old, and is at the age where his brain is faster than his body but his body cannot keep up with his brain.
The transmission of consciousness failed to mobilize the body's actions in a split second, and Chen Xiaoliang's unexpected shot rolled into the goal to the astonishment of a group of people.
"In?!"
“In!”
“It really went in!”
Although the Manchester United fans in the stands were already celebrating, many of them seemed as stunned as the West Ham players on the field. They did not expect the ball to go in like this.
There was no Chen Xiaoliang's signature shot, nor was there a curved shot after Kva's continuous breakthroughs. It was just a sudden and slow shot that sent the ball into the goal.
Without waiting for the players in the backcourt to run up, Chen Xiaoliang rushed to the north stand, jumped high and punched the air to celebrate.
At this time, two people on the field shouted in the same helpless voice: "Why is this possible???"
One is Moyes and the other is B Fee.
With 7 goals in 6 games, B Fee is very "injured".
Although he was happy about the team's achievements, he knew that he could not return to the position of main attacking midfielder after Chen Xiaoliang's performance.
This is not just buying a midfielder, this is clearly buying a goal-scoring machine!
What puzzles Bruno Fernandes the most is that he is also an excellent player, so why does it take so much effort for him to score a goal or give an assist, but it is so easy for this 19-year-old Chinese?
Unreasonable, unfair and unscientific!
He also suspected that Chen Xiaoliang did something special where no one else could see.
For example, taking banned drugs.
Because almost everyone who has been teammates with Chen Xiaoliang for a few days will be shocked by his incredible endurance.
I've seen people who can run, but I've never seen anyone who can run as fast as this.
If this was an African player from Mali or Côte d'Ivoire, everyone would have accepted it, but he turned out to be an Asian yellow man.
There were Asians who were good at running in the past. Manchester United had a Korean legend named Park Ji-sung, who was once called Park Sanfei by fans.
But even if Park Ji-sung was invited back to the team at this moment, he would still be surprised at Chen Xiaoliang's endurance level.
Maybe he would also say, "If I have three lungs, then he definitely has nine lungs."
But the problem is that he has played so many games, both in the Premier League and the Champions League, and urine samples have been taken four or five times. No matter whether it was bottle A tested on the spot or bottle B tested randomly afterwards, there was no problem with Chen Xiaoliang's test results. And B Fee also knows that if there was a problem, it would have been discovered in the Champions League during those two years in Rome, even if it was not checked in Serie A.
Not to mention this guy has competed in the World Track and Field Championships, where testing is stricter and more frequent, and he has to undergo inspections by the International Olympic Committee and anti-doping agencies.
Moreover, even if you have good physical strength, it does not mean that you can score goals, make assists, or defend. These are real skills that need to be practiced.
B Fee ran up and followed other teammates to pat Chen Xiaoliang on the back to express his celebration. On the way back to his own half, he secretly made a decision that surprised himself.
For the rest of the game, both sides replaced several players. As the game time progressed, West Ham's pace inevitably slowed down.
Although they played vigorously, this is the limit of the team's strength.
In the Bundesliga, fans often criticize that once a strong local player appears in the league, he will be immediately bought by Bayern.
But think about it the other way around, Bayern can only send 11 players into a game, and the first team can only maintain around 25 people.
But in the Premier League, for relatively well-known mid- and lower-level teams like West Ham, Brighton, Southampton, Aston Villa and Everton, once a good local player appears, who doesn't need to be strong but only needs to show relatively good talent, it will not be just one team that will come to snatch him. At first it was Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, then Chelsea, and then Manchester City and Tottenham joined in, and now even Newcastle has started to snatch him.
The 17 Bundesliga teams can still keep some players for their own use while feeding Bayern, but these mid- and lower-level teams in the Premier League really don't have even a bone left.
The key is to train a player like Rice. Arsenal has thrown 100 million at him, so why not sell him?
Even if the head coach does not want to sell, it is useless if the players want to leave. The club owner also needs the money to maintain the club's expenses. At the same time, by selling one Rice, one can buy six or seven Boudaux. Although there is no household registration book, local young players can be relied on to complete the registration. The task of relegation still requires these cost-effective players.
As a result, the Premier League giants have been buying stars both internally and externally, while the mid- and lower-level teams have been insisting on youth training on the one hand, and on the other hand, they have been buying cost-effective and practical players from other leagues on the other.
Grealish, Rice, Ben White, Kevin Phillips, including the older Maguire, Luke Shaw, and the older Rooney and other players, eventually joined the ranks of the top clubs from the teams that trained them.
Once an oligopoly is formed, the mid- and lower-level teams will never be able to turn things around.
Like many people who cannot achieve class leap, they can only hope that one day their dilapidated old house will be noticed by a developer, and that they will be able to get several houses after demolition, which would be considered a dramatic increase in personal wealth.
Like Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle before, if they had not been favored by oil capital, they might still be wandering back and forth between the upper and lower two and a half pages of the standings like West Ham, Brighton and Aston Villa.
If you want to become a wealthy family by relying on your own development, it may not be possible even in fifty or a hundred years.
In the end, thanks to Chen Xiaoliang's cold shot, Manchester United defeated West Ham 1-0 without any danger and achieved 6 consecutive league victories. The team also entered a half-month suspension period, and world football entered the national team competition cycle.
In this game, Chen Xiaoliang played defense in the first half and offense in the second half, and deservedly won the best player of the game, and received 12 training points (33→45) and 1 breakthrough point (27→28)
Almost all the players in Manchester United are members of the national team. When the international competition cycle arrives, everyone goes to the airport to meet up with the national teams around the world. Only De Gea and Varane, who have retired from the national team, stayed in the Carrington base, and of course there is Chen Xiaoliang, who has never been selected for the national team.
For a while, Chen Xiaoliang had no one to practice with, and could only do some individual exercises alone with the help of equipment.
Taking advantage of this time, Chen Xiaoliang invited Shen Mengyu and Shen Menglu, whom he hadn't seen for a long time, to visit his new house in Cheshire.
The two have become the absolute main force of the Celtic women's football team, and they also won the Scottish FA Cup last season. However, because they are still unable to beat Rangers women's football team in the league, they have never been able to experience the Women's Champions League.
When Chen Xiaoliang and Shen Mengyu met again this time, they both felt like they were in a different world.
I think back to when we first met in Glasgow three years ago, we were both new to the city and were both looking for opportunities to play football.
Unexpectedly, three years later, Chen Xiaoliang has become one of the best players on the planet. Even in the 2023 Golden Ball Awards to be awarded in a month, his odds are already tied with Messi, who won the World Cup and was named the King of Football last year.
Incredibly, it seems that for people who know Xiaoliang, the first words that come to mind when they think of him are these four words.
Gerrard said so, Mourinho said so, and even people related to football but in various fields, from Zhan Jun, Zhang Lu to Totti, De Rossi, Capello, Hitzfeld, etc., all said so.
But these four words are not Chen Xiaoliang's patent. A week later, B Fee also gave him an incredible performance.
Due to the time difference and different match schedules involved in the specific dates of national team matches, some national team matches ended earlier.
And because there will be the European Cup in the summer of 2024, some national team coaches have begun to become cautious in the use of some main players. After all, no one wants the main players to get injured in friendly matches besides the heavy workload of the league.
Therefore, national teams such as Portugal and Argentina, which only arranged one friendly match, ended their international competition cycle early, and B Fee, Ganacho, Lima and others also returned to the Carrington base one after another.
For Chen Xiaoliang, this means that his extra training group can resume operations again.
As Slovenia and Georgia still had a match, after the regular training that day, Chen Xiaoliang, Ganacho and Lima started to set up props and prepare to start extra training.
"Hey, I want to join in, too."
Chen Xiaoliang, who was bending over to put down the cone bucket, heard someone calling him. Although he did not turn around, the voice shocked him greatly.
The moment he turned around, he glanced at the expressions of Lima and Ganacchio, and they both gave him looks of disbelief.
It turned out to be B Fee!
Everyone knows that this Portuguese man and Chen Xiaoliang don't get along, but everyone also knows that B Fee is the kind of person who means what he says, expresses his dissatisfaction, and will not do anything sinister behind others' backs.
As soon as he came back from the national team, he wanted to join Chen Xiaoliang's extra training group? What was going on?
Of course Chen Xiaoliang agreed. Although he couldn't help swallowing his saliva when he agreed, B Fee soon proved with his actions that he was indeed there to participate seriously.
B Fee just wants to know: everyone is playing the same game, training the same way, having the same tactical meetings, and eating at the same restaurant in the base, so why is this guy so different and making such rapid progress?
Since he didn't take any medicine, then there must be some trick in his extra training. How else can it be explained?
Is it possible that he is cheating?