Chapter 409: Fighting against the old club again, the ultimate goal is to achieve a Grand Slam in the club
3 to 4, the score on the big screen was frozen, and the seven-goal battle was also the final with the highest score in the recent English domestic cup competition.
A lonely and unwilling Arteta walked into the field, pulled up his sad disciples from the lawn, encouraged them, then lined up with them, climbed up the stairs from the stands, and received the silver medal symbolizing the runner-up.
On the other side, Ten Hag was celebrating with Manchester United players on the field.
To be honest, after conceding two goals in just over three minutes at the start of the game, he himself felt that the tragedy of being beaten 7-0 by Liverpool might be repeated tonight.
Fortunately, the team in front of us is no longer the team of last season. The players have a backbone and a metronome on the court. Once the situation gets out of control, Chen Xiaoliang will step forward at the first time to lead the players to make adjustments.
This saved Ten Hag a lot of trouble, allowing him to observe the opponent's changes more and work on personnel arrangements and tactical adjustments in a timely manner.
The worst situation for a head coach on the sidelines is being "confused" and "acting on impulse".
Whether it's the type who sits on the sidelines without moving the entire game, or the type who keeps yelling and remotely controlling the players on the sidelines, it will actually affect the players' performance.
After all, players' personalities are not the same. Some players are the type who like to be the center of attention. The more attention the head coach pays to them, the more excited they become. However, some players like to focus on their own world, and will feel nervous and unable to concentrate if disturbed by external factors.
At this moment, Ten Hag finally realized what Sir Alex Ferguson once told him about, what it felt like to have a "field commander" like Roy Keane.
Arsenal players walked down from the royal box amid encouraging applause from the audience, which meant it was the turn of the entire Manchester United team to take the field.
Behind Chen Xiaoliang were B Fee, Casemiro, and De Gea who was injured and in casual clothes. After them were former captain Maguire, Benzema, Rashford, Luke Shaw, Varane and other players who have a high status in the locker room, and then the other players.
They walked up the famous 107 steps of Wembley. Although there were security guards blocking the way, the fans in the stands on both sides still came over excitedly and stretched out their hands, wanting to shake hands with these world-famous players.
Chen Xiaoliang shook hands with almost every hand that was extended.
Arriving at the royal box stands, with all the players lined up on both sides, Chen Xiaoliang received the League Cup trophy from the hands of Carabao Chairman, Thai Sathien Setthasit. However, he was stunned during the process because he saw that the base of the trophy was separated from the trophy.
Bruno Fernandes immediately acted like a veteran player: "This trophy is like this. When you lift it up, the base and the body of the cup are not connected."
Chen Xiaoliang turned around and laughed: "It seems that you were also shocked last year, right? Haha."
B Fei: "Damn, you found out all this."
The League Cup trophy is not big, but unlike other trophies, it has three handles on the cup. Chen Xiaoliang stood in the middle and held the inner handle, while B Fee and Casemiro held one side each.
The two were also stunned for a moment. They didn't expect that Chen Xiaoliang would invite them to raise a toast together.
Chen Xiaoliang: "This is the first trophy we have won together, let us lift it up together!"
With the players shouting "Oh..." in preparation, the three of them first lowered the trophy, then raised it up together with force, and the whole audience immediately cheered "Yeah" together.
After raising the toast, Chen Xiaoliang immediately handed the trophy to his teammates on both sides so that everyone could enjoy the exciting moment of raising the toast.
For him, the moment he lifted the trophy, his championship journey was over.
Then, according to the procedure, the trophy went around and returned to Chen Xiaoliang's hands. He led his teammates down the 107 steps again, returned to the podium that had been set up on the field, raised the trophy again, took photos, and walked around the field to thank the fans.
When everyone returned to the player tunnel, the Arsenal players had already left, and the owner Jassim, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Gill and other Manchester United club directors greeted and paid tribute to the victorious players one by one.
When shaking hands with Chen Xiaoliang, the 83-year-old Sir Alex Ferguson did not hesitate to use any words of praise, and his boss Jassim beside him also laughed heartily.
Ferguson: "Steven (Gerrard) didn't come today. He knew you would win the title, and he couldn't come to celebrate Manchester United's championship. But I believe he must be watching TV and must be hating me for bringing you to us last summer."
Chen Xiaoliang: "Haha, let's not talk about the past, but I can guarantee that this trophy is just the beginning."
However, unlike the celebratory atmosphere, the reporters still wanted to find some news besides the championship. They asked Chen Xiaoliang why he greeted the Arsenal players and coaches after the game but did not greet Rice. Chen Xiaoliang's answer was:
"As a player who is watched by so many people every moment on the court, there are three things I will not do."
"First, flagrant fouls ruin other people's careers."
"Second, diving to get a penalty."
"Third, acting to cheat a foul."
"What we did was not just for a moment or a game. Even if we won the game in a dirty way, the Internet, the media, and the fans will always remember what you did."
Reporter: "Are you referring to the fall of Condoleezza Rice?"
Chen Xiaoliang smiled and did not respond directly: "I only know that no matter which team the fans are from, they all hope that the team they support can rely on strength and hard work to win the opponent fairly."
After saying that, he walked away.
The next morning, Chen Xiaoliang turned on the system in bed as usual.
Last night's champion, two goals and one assist, was named the best player of the match, and received 14 skill points (58→72)
The card drawn for the [Big Club Mission] was Bergkamp's back-to-back dribble card.
However, the content of this card almost made Chen Xiaoliang burst out laughing:
[Effect: When holding the ball with your back to the goal, dribbling and passing +2]
[Restriction: Cannot be used in the next game after taking an airplane]
Older fans all know that Arsenal legend Bergkamp has a severe fear of flying. Flying makes him feel extremely uncomfortable, so when playing away games he either drives himself or takes the train.
When going to away games in Europe, he would take the Channel Tunnel and would even take a boat rather than a plane. For this reason, he gave up many long-distance away games. He even bid farewell to the national team after the 2000 European Cup at the age of 31. One of the reasons was that the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan required him to travel between various cities in the two countries... It was almost unrealistic not to take a plane.
After getting the rewards, the next step is achievements.
[The achievement of coming back from two goals behind in the final has been achieved]
[Achievement Reward: Passive skill Big Heart +1]
[Passive skill LV2: Big Heart, when the team is 2 goals behind, two random attributes will increase by 2 points]
Although it is better than LV1, it still depends on luck. If you are unlucky, you may still get embarrassed by getting a corner kick...
Next, returning to the main interface, Chen Xiaoliang discovered that there was a dark golden light shining on [King of Football]. It was the same style as when an achievement was unlocked, but the color was not golden, but dark gold.
Almost everyone who has played the game knows that dark gold is usually brighter than gold.
He clicked on it and saw that the first step of a series of achievements in the King of Football system had been unlocked:
[The ultimate dominance of a single top club]
[England League Cup 1/1, Premier League 0/1, England FA Cup 0/1, Community Shield 0/1, Champions League 0/1, European Super Cup 0/1, New Club World Cup 0/1]
Then when this achievement is completed, you can get a greater achievement [Club Grand Slam ], and the greater achievement above [Club Grand Slam] is those two extremely sacred words - [King of Football].
The problem is that [Club Grand Slam] is just one of several achievements to unlock the King of Football...
Also unlocked is [Personal Honor Ultimate Domination]
[Ballon d’Or 1/5, FIFA World Player of the Year 1/5, ??? ??? ??? ??? , 0/1, ??? ??? ??? ??? ×/√]
In addition to these two series of achievements, just like the "???" you saw in [Personal Honor Ultimate Domination], there is another series of achievements [???] below these two achievements.
Chen Xiaoliang rubbed his eyes to confirm that he was not mistaken. It was indeed a series of question marks representing the undisplayed content.
Only when all three achievements are completed, the progress of the King of Football Championship will reach 100%.
Chen Xiaoliang was in a daze for a while. He knew what the requirements for the achievements were, and he also knew that he was on the road to achieving these achievements. It just took time, a lot of time.
After coming to his senses, he turned off the system, washed up, and set off back to Manchester with the team.
After returning to Manchester City, the team did not arrange a holiday, but gathered directly on the afternoon of March 5 and flew to the Italian capital of Rome.
On the night when Chen Xiaoliang led Manchester United to win the League Cup, Gerrard's Roma was defeated 2-1 by Inter Milan away from home and is still ranked third in the league.
Two days later, Chen Xiaoliang will return to the old place and play against Roma in the second round of the Champions League round of 16 at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
Although the official press conference has not yet been held, the media has already gone wild.
Chen Xiaoliang faces his old club and former mentor. There are also many players in the Roma lineup who have close ties with Manchester United. This script is enough for reporters to make up many jokes.
But the fans' feelings were real. At Rome's Fiumicino Airport, thousands of fans greeted Chen Xiaoliang at the arrival gate. Many of them held posters of Kova and Cesco, thanking these three men for bringing unforgettable glory to the city of Rome.
In order to avoid affecting the preparations of both sides, the Italian Football Association directly allowed Manchester United to use the Olympic Stadium for training preparations. The 15-minute media open training session also attracted hundreds of reporters to come and shoot.
Ten Hag was also very tactful. At the press conference the day before the game, he promised that Chen Xiaoliang, Cesco and Kva would start together because "the three of them, especially Chen, have immeasurable importance in the hearts of the fans of this city."
He did what he said. Manchester United even sent Joe Hart as the starter to allow the veteran to make his Champions League debut after his loan.
Gerrard told the media that the fans' love for Chen Xiaoliang will not affect their support for Roma. They prefer to see the team perform at a high level at home and in front of Chen Xiaoliang.
The difference of 2 goals does not mean that there is no suspense in this round of knockouts. His players are preparing to create a miracle.
One hour before the game, the starting lineup was announced for Manchester United:
goalkeeper Joe Hart;
The back four: Dalot, Varane, Lindelof, Luke Shaw;
Double defensive midfielders: Bruno Fernandes, Timber, and central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang;
The three forwards are Kva, Cesco and Anthony.
In Rome:
goalkeeper Patricio;
The three central defenders are Mancini, Tuanzebe and Ito Hiroki;
Wingbacks Zalewski and Spinazzola;
Double defensive midfielders Kokku and Wijnaldum;
Double attacking midfielders Van de Beek and Pellegrini;
Forward Vitor Roque.
Although both sides fielded their strongest lineups within their rotation range, anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was still a clear gap between the two teams' lineups. This meant that even when playing at home, Gerrard still fielded a seven-man defensive configuration of three central defenders, two wingbacks and two defensive midfielders.
In the first half, the visiting team Manchester United kicked off first and quickly put pressure on Roma.
Roma fans will not be annoyed by the extremely low ball possession rate in defensive counterattacks, because last season they won the treble by giving up the ball and resolutely counterattacking.
If Gerrard can design the bus at the same level as Mourinho, Roma fans will only be very happy.
But the problem is that the designer is there, but the driver is gone.
Whether it is Kokcu, Pellegrini or Rock, no one can replace Chen Xiaoliang's role.
In modern football, if the midfield is suppressed, it means the field is completely suppressed.
In the 7th minute, Chen Xiaoliang took a long shot from 37 meters away, but it was blocked by Roma goalkeeper Patricio.
De Rossi in the live broadcast room said that this ball was like Chen Xiaoliang testing whether his old teammate Patricio was still familiar with his long-range shooting habits.
In the 19th minute, Manchester United took a corner kick. B Fee took the ball from the left side. Varane headed the ball in the middle, but the ball was slightly higher.
In the 23rd minute, Van de Beek was preparing to attack with the ball in the frontcourt, but was caught up from behind by the retreating Chen Xiaoliang, who stretched out his leg to clear the ball away.
After Van de Beek's ball was intercepted, he tripped over Chen Xiaoliang's right leg, lost his balance and fell forward. He got up and wanted to argue with Chen Xiaoliang. Then an interesting scene happened. Before Roma's teammates went up to persuade them to stop fighting, Timber and Lima, who saw the situation was not good, ran over first.
One of them was teammates with Van de Beek for a year, and the other came to Ajax Youth Training Academy at the age of 13. When he was promoted to the first team training by Ten Hag in 2019, Van de Beek, who was also a product of Ajax Youth Training, was the team's main attacking midfielder at the time.
Timber pulled Van der Beck and said, "Brother, don't be like this, calm down."
Van der Beck: "Your elbow is outward..." Halfway through, Van der Beck also realized that something was wrong. Now the two are opponents, "If he tackles me like this, I will get hurt."
Lima, who has a direct personality, is not as gentle as Timber. He said directly to Van der Beck: "If he really wanted you to get hurt, you would have left the field now."
Pellegrini ran over and gently pushed Chen Xiaoliang away. It seemed like he was standing up for Van de Beek, but in fact he was telling Chen Xiaoliang not to get into trouble.
It is rare in a football match that teammates and opponents both run over to protect the same person during a verbal conflict.
Ten Hag on the sidelines laughed inwardly, while Gerrard shook his head.
The little incident passed quickly and the game continued to be controlled by Manchester United.
The most eye-catching performance tonight was that of Kva. Facing his old teammates Zalewski and Mancini, who were familiar with the game, he kept changing direction, going down the rim, cutting inside, and getting rid of the defense.
The most dangerous attack of Roma in the first half was Pellegrini's direct free kick in the frontcourt in the 33rd minute. The ball drew an arc and went straight to the right side of the goal, but was blocked by the well-prepared Joe Hart and went out of the baseline.
In the 41st minute, the score balance was broken. Chen Xiaoliang was pressed by Kokku in the middle, so he retreated directly to his own half to ask for the ball.
Lindelof saw the boss coming and immediately passed the ball.
Chen Xiaoliang received the ball and turned around, just looked up and immediately kicked the ball out.
Just when everyone on and off the field was wondering what Chen Xiaoliang was going to do, the ball had already flown across most of the field and arrived at the top of the arc in front of the Roma penalty area. There, a figure had already made an offside move from the left side and went around behind the defender to prepare to receive the ball!
Neither Mancini nor Tuanzebe saw Kvarr coming in from the side, but Patricio, realizing that the situation was not good, had already rushed out from the goal line to try his best to intercept.
Kva originally wanted to receive the ball and attack again, but he saw Patricio attacking from the corner of his eye. He jumped lightly at the top of the arc and headed the ball towards Roma's goal!
Lou Yichen: "Beautiful!"
"An assist that spans half the stadium!"
"It was totally beyond the expectations of the entire Roma defense."
Liu Yue: "After the last League Cup match, Lineker's words were forwarded by media around the world, and this moment once again proves that what he said was absolutely right."
"We have seen many times that when Xiaoliang goes forward into the penalty area, he can create a huge impact on the goal. But now, when he retreats to the defensive midfielder position, he can directly use his superb passing ability to help his teammates score."
"Such a player is almost impossible to defend in actual combat. At least from the current situation, all the major teams have not found a good way to defend Chen Xiaoliang. Perhaps the most effective way is to use offense and ball control like Arsenal and Manchester City did to push Manchester United's formation back as a whole and keep Chen Xiaoliang away from their own half as much as possible. Then, once the offense and defense switch, they rely on the ability of the midfielders and backfielders to jointly prevent Chen Xiaoliang from approaching the penalty area."
Lou Yichen: "Old Liu hit the nail on the head. This is why Manchester United is no longer interested in Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona after signing him, but instead bought Milinkovic-Savic, who has stronger defensive and confrontational abilities."
"There are rumors that Manchester United will send veteran Eriksen away in the summer and buy a young defensive midfielder as a rotation for Casemiro."
Liu Yue: "With Manchester United's current performance and the transfer budget that they don't have to worry about after Jasim takes over, plus the fact that the Financial Fair Play Act can be further circumvented after the revenue increases, it won't be a problem for them to buy anyone they want."
"From the current situation, whether it is the outside world's expectations or the odds of the bookmakers, Manchester United can already compete with Guardiola's Manchester City in the Champions League and the Premier League.
"The biggest suspense in the league is what the result of the second derby between the two teams will be, while the Champions League will depend on which opponents the two teams will draw in the draw for the quarter-finals to the final."
