Chapter 386 Big News! Another Ballon d'Or winner joins Old Trafford!
Rice's sending off meant that Arteta's back-up strategy in this game had completely failed. He tried to strengthen the team's "hardness" by introducing Rice and Amadou Onana and keeping Xhaka. Not only in terms of physical confrontation, but also in terms of confidence when facing strong teams.
But "hardness" will turn into "recklessness" if it goes too far, and the result of impulsiveness will inevitably be the devil.
Arsenal, fighting with one man less, is still making a final effort.
In the 93rd minute, Arsenal kicked off. Odegaard dribbled the ball high up the field. Except for goalkeeper Ramsdale, the other eight Arsenal players almost all rushed into Manchester United's penalty area, while all Manchester United players also returned to defense and blocked the penalty area.
At this time, Arsenal fans no longer thought about turning defeat into victory and winning all three points. Being able to equalize and get one point would keep the team's chances of winning the championship this season hopeful.
Odegaard kicked the ball into the penalty area and raised his right hand before passing the ball, meaning he was going to the right side of the penalty spot.
As the ball began to fall, Saliba, Gabriel, Takehiro Tomiyasu and other "experts" had already rushed to the right side of the penalty area.
Chen Xiaoliang and Cesco also ran over.
Lou Yichen: "The ball falls! First point! Saliba heads the ball!"
Liu Yue shouted at the same time: "Xiao Liang is blocked!"
Lou Yichen: "Head to the deep end of the penalty area!"
"Thomas, keep up!"
"It's coming out! It's Maguire!"
"Maguire made a great contribution at the critical moment!"
"The referee didn't blow the whistle! There's still time left in the game! Manchester United launched a counterattack!"
"Fred passed it to Ganacho on the left!"
"Takehiro Fuyasu is chasing after him!"
"Come to the center line!"
"Pass the ball to the middle, Xiaoliang catches it!"
"Look! Xiao Liang turned right, accelerated, and easily got rid of Odegaard!"
"Rashford is also coming up on the right side. Let's see what Xiaoliang will do with this ball!"
"Lead straight ahead!"
"Into the penalty area! Ramsdale rushes forward to block!"
"Little Liang, lift your feet!"
"Pass it to Rashford on the right!"
"Empty goal! Another goal! Beautiful! 3 to 5!"
“This is a real buzzer-beater!”
Liu Yue: "I thought the previous Manchester derby, with a total of six goals scored by both sides, was a feast for the eyes, but I didn't expect today's game to be more open, with goals being scored until the last minute."
Lou Yichen: "Arsenal pressed forward with all their players, but they didn't expect that the high ball would be blocked by Maguire and out of the penalty area. Arsenal only had Odegaard at the back. Facing Manchester United's quick counterattack, he was alone and could not cope with it."
Liu Yue: "Xiaoliang didn't choose to shoot in the end, but instead gave Rashford an assist. He scored one goal and made three assists in this game, which can be regarded as completing an assist hat trick."
A dejected Arsenal returned to the halfway line to kick off after Manchester United finished celebrating.
As soon as the ball was kicked out, referee Michael Oliver blew the final whistle.
In 12 rounds of games, Manchester United had 11 wins and 1 draw, earning an astonishing 34 points, creating the best start in the first 12 rounds in Premier League history, the same as Manchester City in the 2011-12 season, the 2017-18 season, and Liverpool in the 2019-20 season.
You know, the teams that started in the previous three times eventually won the Premier League championship of that season.
But Manchester City, with 10 wins and 2 draws in 12 rounds and 32 points, also tied the second-best start in the first 12 rounds in history. Chelsea in the 2014-15 season and Manchester City in the 2018-19 season, who achieved the same record, also won the final Premier League championship.
Faced with two extremely strong teams, authoritative media have begun to use the term "a fight between gods" to describe this season's championship battle. Some commentators even believe that in terms of club revenue, there can be said to be the BIG7, but if one only looks at tournament dominance, there is only the BIG2 in today's Premier League.
Of course, the media said so, but some individual teams did not agree. They watched the two Manchester teams fighting hard in the front, while they themselves were chasing closely behind.
Liverpool won 1-4 against Crystal Palace away in this round, with 9 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, accumulating 29 points, ranking third with 3 points behind Manchester City.
Klopp's team has clearly fought back this season. With the help of Barella, Ward-Prowse and McAllister, the midfield has undergone a complete transformation. At the same time, Gvardiol also proved that the treble he won while on loan in Roma was by no means luck , but the result of his hard work as the team's defensive pillar at the time.
Newcastle, ranked 4th, has 8 wins and 4 draws, and is the third unbeaten team after the Manchester City duo. It has 28 points, 1 point behind Liverpool and ranks 4th.
Next are Chelsea with 25 points, Arsenal with 22 points and Tottenham with 18 points.
After three games in eight days, the team finally got a week of respite, but a week later they will start a week-long schedule of two games.
On November 19, they will face the newly promoted Sheffield United at home. They are currently ranked second from the bottom in the league with 2 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses. On November 23, they will play against Championship Sunderland in the fourth round of the League Cup at home.
Fortunately, these two teams are relatively weak, and Ten Hag has already notified in advance that he will rotate the main players to give substitutes and young players the opportunity to prove themselves.
On November 26, they will still play at home against Fulham, which is ranked 13th in the league. On November 30, they will travel to challenge Lazio to compete for the first place in the Champions League group.
The next day, the team also received good news and bad news.
The bad news is that Luke Shaw's injury is not a simple ligament sprain or tear , but a fracture of the lateral metatarsal. If treated conservatively, he will need to rest for at least 10 weeks, and his playing time will depend on his recovery level.
The good news is that Casemiro has started individual training, and after a few days' confirmation by the team doctor, he will be able to train with the team again.
But Timber and Lindelof still need about 2 weeks to recover.
Since Luke Shaw broke his tibia and fibula in a tackle on September 16, 2015, he has suffered serious injuries such as groin strain and foot injury. He has rested for a total of 464 days in two seasons. He was once considered to no longer have enough ability and confidence to continue staying at Manchester United.
But the club and the then head coaches Van Gaal and Solskjaer gave him time and confidence to regain his health and form.
After that serious injury, although he continued to suffer minor injuries, he basically played around 40 games every season, especially in the 2020 European Cup, where he helped England reach the final as the main left-back, finally allowing people to see his rebirth after Nirvana.
However, the club now has only one full-time left-back, Brandon Williams, which is a headache for Ten Hag.
Newly acquired left-back Luke Thomas will not join the team until January 2.
In the matches against Arsenal and Manchester City, although the processes were very exciting and the players' performances were outstanding, the fact that they conceded 6 goals in two games only shows that the team's defense was "full of holes". As for the offense, it was truly Chen Xiaoliang who was invincible, carrying the team to equalize and reverse the game time and time again.
To put it bluntly, there is still a huge gap in strength between the team's main players and substitutes. With or without Casemiro in the defensive midfielder position, the team's defensive performance is really like two different teams.
The continuous use of main players will also create the risk of injuries.
To this end, he asked his old friend and colleague Van der Sar, as well as the director in charge of transfers, Mutaf, to introduce an experienced rotation center forward and a defensive midfielder.
These two people relieve the pressure on Casemiro and Cesco.
Not only Ten Hag, but even his teammates think that Cesco, who is only 20 years old and has just arrived in the Premier League, has played too many games. Moreover, he spends a lot of time in the frontcourt, especially in the penalty area, fighting with the opponent's generally strong central defenders, which undoubtedly increases his physical exhaustion and injury risk.
Seeing the extraordinary results this season and the statement of owner Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani that they were "not short of money", the club immediately agreed to the head coach's request and contacted several super agents to find and recommend candidates for reference by the club's transfer team.
Boss Jasim also attended a team training session and visited several players who were recovering from injuries at noon.
In order to narrow the distance and dilute the royal color, he asked everyone in the club to call him "Jasim" directly in the future, instead of adding a long and complicated string of surnames and marks in his full name, even in emails that do not involve the circulation of formal documents.
His full name is "Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani". According to the Qatari naming rules, "Sheikh" is the title that royal members must be given as stipulated by the ruling Al Thani family. Women are called "Sheikha", which means "chief", which is equivalent to the prince in the ancient Red Kingdom.
"Ben" is a connecting word. The name before "Ben" is the person's name, and the name after "Ben" is the person's father's name.
So in plain words, his full name is "Qatar Chief Jassim, son of Hamad, and owner of the royal bloodline of Al Thani."
So he asked everyone in the club to call him Jasim. It was like a big leader named "Wang Fugui" suddenly told his subordinates that from now on no one should call him "Bu Wang" or "Leader", but just call him "Fugui". Considering Jasim's identity, this was indeed a very humble thing to do.
However, this Qatari "rich man" had a clear disagreement with Ten Hag on one thing. As a desert sheikh who wanted to spend his money quickly, he did not like Manchester United's venture capital being snatched away by other teams, especially Chelsea, in the transfer market. He was eager to spend another 300 million in the winter window. As long as the team took a fancy to a capable star, they would sign him immediately without worrying about transfer fees, wages or contracts.
But in Ten Hag's view, this is obviously a big mistake. The club's salary structure must remain stable. Chen Xiaoliang's weekly salary of 400,000 pounds is the ceiling. Even if a big-name player joins, the fixed weekly salary cannot exceed 200,000 pounds. The rest is reflected in the floating bonus determined by performance.
200,000 pounds, in Jasim's view, was just the amount of money to send away beggars.
Can 200,000 pounds impress Haaland, can it win Mbappe? Can it get a player who can win the Ballon d'Or?
But soon, Van der Sar and Mutaf really gave him a surprise, and the transfer news also shocked the entire European football world.
Due to the fierce competition between Chen Xiaoliang and Haaland in the Premier League, fans have completely embraced the new era after the Melo era, which makes Mbappe, who has the highest annual salary in Europe in Ligue 1, quite unhappy.
That night at the Chatelet Théâtre, when he saw Chen Xiaoliang receiving the Ballon d'Or from Messi amid standing applause, he decided that after taking advantage of Paris Saint-Germain this season, he would go to a club that had real strength, heritage, fame and could help him reach the pinnacle of football.
With his requirements and the actual situation, there is only one club in Europe that can satisfy him.
Barcelona has no money, and even if they break the lever, they still can’t afford Mbappé;
Bayern will not spend a huge amount of money on a player and remain skeptical about Mbappe's team spirit;
Of course, AC Milan and AC Milan also want to buy Mbappe, but the more likely operation is to wait until Mbappe is 35 years old and sign him for free or rent him for a season;
With Chen Xiaoliang, Manchester United will not have another Ballon d'Or contender to upset the balance in the dressing room.
The same goes for Manchester City. They already have Haaland, and Mbappe himself would not be willing to join;
As for the other strong teams, Chelsea has money but no Champions League qualification, Liverpool has background and strength but no money, Newcastle has money but no fame and background, Arsenal...
Pick any Arsenal fan and they won’t think that the Arsenal can be linked with Mbappe. If there is a rumor one day, it must be an exaggeration. Just sleep on it for a while.
Only Real Madrid is a couple that both the man and the woman are interested in.
After introducing Vlahovic in the summer window, signing Firmino as a free agent, and recalling Brahim Dias from his loan to AC Milan, the vitality of the Galacticos' midfield and frontcourt has been significantly improved, but problems have also arisen. These three players are not strong enough and do not fully meet the positioning of the "Galacticos".
Club president Florentino's targets have always been Mbappe and Haaland. Since the latter is obviously not possible in a short period of time and his playing style overlaps with Vlahovic, Mbappe, who is dissatisfied in Paris Saint-Germain, naturally became the first choice.
The two sides have already agreed that in the summer window of 2024, after receiving a huge loyalty bonus from Paris Saint-Germain, the player will transfer to Real Madrid with only one year left on his contract.
When new people come, old people will naturally leave.
A traditional center forward Vlahovic, plus a Firmino who can play as a wing, center or false nine, plus the new head coach Nagelsmann's preference for newcomers, have greatly reduced the playing opportunities of Benzema, who is about to turn 36.
He originally wanted to go to the desert to seek gold this summer, but later renewed his contract with the team for one year at Florentino's request. Now he feels that his mission in Real Madrid has been completed.
The emergence of Riise, as well as the approval of Van der Sar and Jassim, made another name outside the Saudi League appear in his selection for the next stop.
There is a passionate football culture, the two strongest young players, unparalleled ratings and attention, and his two old friends - Casemiro and Varane.
Moreover, an 18-month contract with an additional one-year priority renewal is in line with his current positioning of himself.
Instead of playing in the desert league right now, why not get together with old friends and experience a different football culture?
For their own meritorious players, everyone from the club president Florentino to the staff expressed their best wishes for Benzema's departure, and only charged Manchester United a symbolic transfer fee to cover tax costs.
So, Manchester United issued an official announcement on November 16, 2023:
"Ballon d'Or winner, French player Benzema will join the club after the winter transfer window opens. The club management and coaching staff believe that his successful experience and ability will help the team achieve better results in multiple battles and help young players improve their competitive level."
Under Van der Sar's micro-management, Benzema's weekly salary was set at the red line of 200,000 pounds, but at the same time a 15 million pounds season bonus clause was also attached. If both the personal and team parts are realized, he will receive an annual salary of 25 million pounds.
This can be said to be the most generous terms that the top teams in the five major leagues can offer outside the Desert League.
As a middleman, Riise also received corresponding commissions. Of course, Benzema's name was the one that shocked him among the two people recommended to him by Chen Xiaoliang at that time.
But the other person didn't have such a smooth journey.
The day after the official announcement, Chen Xiaoliang received a call from Riise when he got home from training in the evening.
Reese said angrily: "I found out that I was followed!"
Chen Xiaoliang: "What's wrong?"
Riise: "Ugarte was snatched up by Chelsea! As soon as I showed up at Sporting CP's club, Chelsea got the news and knew we were eyeing Ugarte!"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Is this possible? How much did they spend?"
Riise: "65 million euros, directly triggering the buyout clause, giving a 6-year contract, and 150% of the salary we offered. Burley is really a madman!"
Chen Xiaoliang thought for a moment and said, "Go to Salzburg and contact Solskjaer."
Riise: "What do you mean, why would someone who buys Red Bull contact Ole?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "No, I'll give you two names. One is the one you really want to contact, that person is in Molde. You are too big a target now, Solskjaer will help you. The other one is a fake target in Red Bull, you can release it as a smokescreen. If someone else grabs it, let them grab that one."
Riise: "OK! There are a bunch of little monsters at Red Bull. If those dog noses are capable, they can clear them out."
Chen Xiaoliang: "Remember to recommend it to Van der Sar as soon as the deal is done. The news will leak out sooner or later, so we still have to act quickly."
On November 19, Chen Xiaoliang led the team to Old Trafford again. Although they were short of players and Casemiro, who had recovered from injury, did not play for safety reasons, facing the weak Sheffield United team, Manchester United used the forward combination of Sancho, Anthony and Ganacho, and let Dalot play as a left back. In the 11th minute, Sancho received a through pass from B Fee outside the penalty area and scored.
Then in the 41st minute, Ganacchio was tripped in the penalty area and Chen Xiaoliang took the penalty kick to change the score to 2-0.
After 20 minutes of the second half, Chen Xiaoliang was also substituted. Ten Hag boldly sent on 18-year-old midfielder Menou. In the end, the score did not change. The 2-0 result allowed Manchester United to continue to lead Manchester City by 2 points and lead the standings.
