Chapter 381: Unbeaten in the league, qualified for the Champions League, and face the BIG7's third battle!
Wilfried Zaha, the "real" Zaha king in London, has dual citizenship of Côte d'Ivoire and England. He was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson from Crystal Palace in the winter window in January 2013.
He has excellent physical fitness, sharp dribbling, tough playing style, and because he has English nationality, he is within the scope of the household registration for the Premier League.
But with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2013, neither Moyes nor Van Gaal, as well as successive England coaches, seemed to have no interest in this black guy. They either loaned him out, sold him, or simply ignored him.
In the end, he chose to play for Côte d'Ivoire and returned to Crystal Palace after many twists and turns.
Although he has good abilities, he just can't get the favor of wealthy families, which has a lot to do with his personal character.
At this moment, Chen Xiaoliang on the field deeply felt this.
Zaha, wearing the Crystal Palace captain's armband, seemed like a bulldog. Although he played as a left winger, he repeatedly asked for the ball in the central defense area of Chen Xiaoliang, who played as a defensive midfielder today, and started to break through Chen Xiaoliang after getting the ball.
The burst speed was eaten alive and shoveled;
He faked a change of direction and passed the opponent, but was intercepted;
He wanted to turn around when he got the ball with his back to the basket, but after catching the ball on the ground, Chen Xiaoliang pressed him so hard with his body that he couldn't even turn around properly. As for the ball from the sky, Chen Xiaoliang jumped up and blocked it with his head like a basketball dunk.
Indiscriminate and all-round backwardness.
Zaha became more and more annoyed as the game went on. He thought that today would be the day for his 30-year-old self to teach this 19-year-old new Ballon d'Or winner, who in his eyes had won the award in vain, a lesson. However, he did not expect that he might have encountered the double reincarnation of Beckenbauer and Rijkaard, and was completely defended.
Every time he was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang, Zaha seemed completely unwilling to accept the reality of the critical hit, just like those "foul monsters" on the baseball field who, as long as they were blocked by the opponent and could not score, would accuse others of hitting their hands or blocking them. He repeatedly complained loudly to the referee:
"He pushed me!"
“He pulled my jersey!”
"He had me pinned down!"
His repeated complaints ultimately earned him a yellow card. The referee was so annoyed with him that he almost went crazy, so he simply pulled out a card and told him to shut up, accusing him of disrupting the normal order of the game.
The king of football, in less than half the game, became the king of bad football in the eyes of fans.
In the 41st minute, Eriksen assisted Maguire with a header from a free kick, which was his first assist in the league this season. Coincidentally, this free kick came from Zaha's foul on Chen Xiaoliang in defense.
Of course, that was the story that happened on the other side of the field.
Chen Xiaoliang overtook on the outside, and he accelerated on the inside to catch up, but couldn't catch up;
Chen Xiaoliang faked past the defense, but he couldn't tell whether the main foot of Manchester United's No. 7 was the recognized right foot or the left foot. He was confused by the fast dribbling with the left foot and the right foot, and he couldn't even figure out which side to turn.
As for Chen Xiaoliang receiving the ball with his back to the goal, it was like a bulldozer crushing a small bungalow. Zaha, who was confident in his strong body and explosive power, was pushed back repeatedly by Chen Xiaoliang's butt and back, not to mention jumping to compete for the header through his body.
In the end, he had no choice but to foul.
As soon as the first half was over, coach Hodgson replaced the captain, who he had tried hard to retain at the end of last season and finally successfully renewed his contract for one year.
Now, he has answered the question of why several consecutive Manchester United coaches were unwilling to give him a chance in front of Old Trafford and countless Red Devils fans around the world.
Everything below the neck is not world-class, but his temper is.
In the second half, although Crystal Palace launched a quick attack with long passes and lobs, Manchester United changed the score to 2-0 in the 79th minute with McTominay's smart shot in the penalty area melee caused by a corner kick, which also laid the foundation for the safe acquisition of 3 points.
In this round of the league, Liverpool, who have recovered, had a fierce offensive battle with Chelsea, who have also made significant progress this season, at Anfield. In the end, they defended their home court 2-1. With 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, they continued to rank third with 26 points, while Chelsea ranked fifth with 22 points.
Newcastle and Arsenal also defeated their opponents successively, ranking 4th and 6th with 25 points and 22 points respectively;
Manchester City defeated Brentford 1-2 away from home, continuing their unbeaten streak with 9 wins and 2 draws, and still ranked second with 29 points;
Only Tottenham Hotspur in the BIG7 was tied 1-1 by Fulham at home in a match that was not a strong match. With 5 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses, they have only 17 points. Ranked 7th, they are 8 points behind the top four. They have already started striving for the top four before the third of the league this season.
Tottenham's slump is not only due to the team owner Levy's outrageous actions, but also has something to do with Chen Xiaoliang.
Never mind winning the Ballon d'Or, ever since Chen Xiaoliang and Mourinho were successful in Rome, Spurs have been mocked by opposing fans every time they play away games:
"You sold the Ballon d'Or for £35 million. You had the best vision."
"Kane, leave Tottenham, and win the championship"
"Mourinho left you two European champions, but you couldn't even win a League Cup"
Change your mindset, really change your mindset.
Although Chen Xiaoliang played in a relatively backward position in this game and did not have any direct goals or assists, his defensive performance, especially because Zaha kept taking the initiative to come over and seek death, resulted in him having an abnormal statistics of 9 steals, 5 interceptions and 7 successful headers in the whole game.
Behind him, the long-lost pair of Maguire and Varane, who started today, basically only had to do one thing, which was air defense, because almost all ground balls were intercepted by Chen Xiaoliang.
After the game, when Ten Hag was interviewed by the media in the player channel, he bluntly stated that this was what he thought was the most incredible game Chen Xiaoliang had played since joining the team.
In the Sky Sports live broadcast room, Liverpool legend Carragher, who has always criticized Manchester United, also had to praise it, saying that if you randomly pick any top giants and add up the defensive data of the midfielders on the field, it may not be better than the results achieved by Chen Xiaoliang alone in this game.
Chen Xiaoliang was once again named the best player of the match and received 10 training points (25 → 35).
After winning the Player of the Month award once in August, the Player of the Month award in September was won by Haaland, who scored 8 goals in 4 league games that month. The two of them took turns to be the host, and the Player of the Month award in October was again given to Chen Xiaoliang.
Chen Xiaoliang won the honor of the best of the month for the second time.
In the only three league games in October, he scored 3 goals and assisted 1 time, helping the team to 2 wins and 1 draw. The 1 draw was an away draw with the main rival Manchester City. At the same time, he averaged 15.6 kilometers per game, 3.7 steals and 2.2 interceptions. He ranked second in both the scorer list and the assist list, and has become the undisputed top midfielder in the Premier League.
Through the mission reward [obtain breakthrough points equal to the total number of goals and assists this month], he obtained 4 breakthrough points (28→32).
As the game was played in the afternoon, after the game, Ten Hag led the players who did not play to conduct a 60-minute training session directly at Old Trafford, and let all the players who played for more than 45 minutes go home to rest.
Therefore, no holiday was arranged for the next day.
Two days later, on November 9, they will face PSV Eindhoven in the fourth match of the Champions League group stage at home.
If they want to take the initiative in the fight for first place in the group, they must strive to get all three points in this home game.
We have to mention Maguire here. The former Manchester United captain lost 5 kilograms in a month. Although his weight is still 95 kilograms, his attitude made the whole team, whether it is Ten Hag or Chen Xiaoliang, see his determination to prove himself again.
The coaching staff hopes that he can lose at least 5 kilograms to further increase his flexibility and turning speed.
Lindelof, who is also in the team, is 187cm tall and weighs 80kg, Varane is 191cm tall and weighs 78kg, Lima is 175cm tall and weighs 77kg, and Timber is 179cm tall and weighs 79kg. Although there are obvious differences in height among the four, their BMI indexes are all between 22-25, except for him who is over 26, which is already considered overweight for ordinary people.
Although the physical fitness of professional athletes cannot be judged by the indicators of ordinary people, Maguire 's clumsiness and slowness are visible to the naked eye, seriously affecting his ability to return to defense and protect the space behind him as a central defender when the formation moves forward as a whole.
But at this moment, Manchester United hit the jackpot.
Van Nistelrooy, who had a dispute with the club last season and was eventually retained, chose to resign again because he criticized the club for having "no ambition" in team planning and winter transfer window signings.
Eindhoven can only let coaching staff member Fred Rutten temporarily serve as interim head coach.
Changing coaches at the last minute is a taboo in military strategy. Both industry insiders and fans are familiar with this. The most vivid example is Tottenham, who chose to fire Mourinho before the League Cup final.
PSV Eindhoven, whose morale was unstable and playing away from home, finally lost the game after holding out for 65 minutes at Old Trafford.
Chen Xiaoliang scored a goal that shocked all the media and fans, but it was a real goal that went into the goal.
He was in the area on the right side outside the penalty area, about 29 meters away from the goal, and he shot directly with his left foot, yes, you read that right, with his left foot, catching Eindhoven's Argentine goalkeeper Walter Benítez off guard.
Although Chen Xiaoliang had a rare record of scoring a direct free kick like Beckham, and also had a record of scoring a goal by directly shooting the ball into the goal after his teammates had passed the ball to him, taking the free kick directly with his left foot was something that no one who knew there was a player like Chen Xiaoliang in the world could have imagined, including his teammates on the field, as well as his old teammates and coaches who were watching the game on TV.
With his hands on his head, a confused look on his face and eyes wide open, he stood there in a daze. These were the reactions of the players from both sides after he kicked a direct free kick with his left foot, which had little rotation but was extremely fast and flew into the upper right corner of the goal.
He specifically asked Bruno Fernandes for this free throw.
Since B Fee, Rashford and Eriksen are all right-footed players, the angle for shooting a free kick with their right foot on the right side outside the penalty area is too small, so they usually can only choose to cross the ball into the penalty area. Therefore, even the human wall formed by the three Eindhoven players blocked the route of the right-footed curve ball.
No one thought that Chen Xiaoliang would actually take the penalty kick. Everyone thought he was just faking a shot, and no one thought that he would use his left foot to take the penalty kick.
What is the highest level of fake-come-true?
It was so realistic that it not only fooled the opponent, but also fooled its own people.
In the end, despite PSV's reluctant resistance, although Manchester United failed to expand the score with as many as 20 shots, they trapped their opponents in the half and successfully won all three points. With 2 wins, 2 draws and 8 points, they continued to rank second in the group.
On the other hand, Bayern, who were visiting the Olympic Stadium in Rome, also escaped with a penalty goal, and continued to occupy the top spot in the group with 3 wins, 1 draw and 10 points.
Even if PSV Eindhoven, ranked 3rd with 2 draws and 2 losses and 2 points, wins the last two rounds and Manchester United loses both, both teams will have 8 points. Due to the group stage ranking rules, teams with the same points will first look at each other's records. Manchester United won 1 and drew 1 in the two games against PSV Eindhoven, so even if the above situation occurs, Manchester United will advance as 2nd in the group.
So far, although Group D has the reputation of being the group of death, after four rounds, Bayern and Manchester United have already qualified for the group. The remaining two rounds will be the final battle between the two teams for the top spot in the group.
Chen Xiaoliang scored the only goal in this game, but the best award went to goalkeeper Walter Benítez who made a high catch and prevented the demoralized PSV Eindhoven from being beaten into a sieve.
Chen Xiaoliang gained 7 skill points (63→70) and 1 breakthrough point (32→33)
However, Ten Hag still did not send out all the main players in this game. Kvadrat and Cesco, who played against Crystal Palace, were placed on the bench.
The real test will be in the third of three games in eight days, when they will visit the Emirates Stadium in London to challenge Arsenal, the "Arsenal" runner-up of the Premier League last season.
Arsenal currently has 22 points, the same as Chelsea, with the same number of goals scored and conceded. However, due to Chelsea's 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the sixth round of the league, Arsenal is currently ranked sixth, 9 points behind the top Manchester United.
Although the start was not as brilliant as last season, the Gunners, who spent 200 million pounds to buy Kaoru Mitoma, Rice and Amadou Onana in the summer , have been in good form recently after a period of running-in.
In this round of the Champions League group stage, they beat Barcelona, led by Xavi and Messi, 3-2 at home, and had a 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the two rounds. Especially in this game when Barcelona possessed the ball for more than 60%, Arteta used the fast backcourt advancement to repeatedly create killing opportunities in the transition from offense to defense.
The new three arrows formed by Kaoru Mitoma, Martinelli and Saka have also become the most offensive and best-looking striker combination in the Premier League this season.
Amadou Onana, who was bought from Everton, has significantly increased the hardness of the midfield behind Odegaard with his excellent physical fitness and tackling ability in the rotation with Jorginho and Xhaka.
At the press conference the day before the game, Arteta first praised Manchester United's performance this season, and also congratulated Chen Xiaoliang on winning the Golden Ball. He compared Manchester United's signing of Chen Xiaoliang to the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo that year, believing that this would bring huge changes and success to Manchester United.
However, he did not come here specifically to praise his opponent as he was playing at home. He then changed the subject and said that in the final stage of last season, the team lost the championship because of the young and inexperienced players, and their unstable mentality after Manchester City's counterattack, but this season the team still set its goal on winning the championship.
He also specifically pointed out that Manchester United is also very young. Although it is now 9 points ahead of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool are chasing closely behind it. It is very likely that it will fall into a slump after a defeat and being overtaken by its opponents in the rankings.
Ten Hag's response was very calm. He just said that if you focus on doing your own job well, you can get the expected results.
Chen Xiaoliang thought, if it were Mourinho, after hearing Arteta's sarcasm, he would definitely respond with a lot of sarcastic remarks, saying things like leading by 8 points for most of the season and finally losing the championship, which would really be the best topic for ridicule.
Recently, he mocked teams such as Lens, Marseille, and Monaco in Ligue 1.
The disadvantages of doing this are obvious. The team will become the public enemy of the league, but there are also advantages. It will give the players a strong psychological hint - in front of you, those clubs are all scum.
One and a half hours before the game, the media announced the starting lineups of both teams.
Arsenal side:
goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale;
The back four: Zinchenko, Gabriel, Ben White and Thomas;
The three midfielders are captain Ødegaard, Amadou Onana and Granit Xhaka;
The three forwards are Kaori Mitoma, Martinelli and Saka.
For Manchester United, Timber, Lindelof and Casemiro continue to be absent due to injuries:
goalkeeper David de Gea;
The back four: Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lima and Luke Shaw;
Double defensive midfielders Eriksson and Fred, central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang;
Left winger Kva, center forward Cesco, right winger B Fee.
Manchester United fans who had been waiting for this focus battle immediately started cursing after seeing the starting lineup, angrily asking why Ten Hag started using B Fee as right winger after a circle. History has proved many times that he has almost no threat in this position.
But after the game started, these Manchester United fans soon discovered that the point they criticized the most turned out to be the most popular part.
