Volume 1: Playing football with me will break your legs Chapter 21: Find a seat quickly
"Three defenders?"
When the players from both teams lined up on the field, the commentators immediately expressed their surprise.
Lineker was the first to speak:
"Van Gaal not only wants to train young players, but also practice the three-back tactic?"
As a Manchester United star who just retired a few days ago, Neville was also very surprised:
"The Manchester United I'm familiar with has always adhered to the traditional 442 style of play. Even if there are occasional changes, three defenders are rarely used. Van Gaal... is he going to initiate a major tactical change at Manchester United?"
Lineker muttered quietly:
“Wouldn’t that be too risky?”
Neville glanced at him. Although he did not object directly, the expression on his face clearly showed dissatisfaction:
[Just a League Cup match? What's the risk?]
[This is a half-time attack and defense drill between a Premier League giant and a fourth-tier team! ]
[Even if Manchester United only sends seven players, they can still crush Wimbledon with eleven players! ]
…
“Ding ~~~”
A whistle ignited the atmosphere at the King's Meadow and announced the official start of this match with a huge disparity in strength.
Akinfenwa kicked the ball back, and center back Phillips took control of the ball for a moment before passing it diagonally to the right, and the ball landed at Li Polo's feet.
Manchester United lined up in a 352 formation, or to be more specific, it could be described as 3412, with three central defenders, four midfielders, one attacking midfielder and two forwards. In this formation, the two forwards were positioned closer to the center, so naturally there were no dedicated wingers to directly pressure Li Polo.
In this case, Li Polo has plenty of time to dribble the ball forward and participate in the attack appropriately.
Seeing that he chose to move forward, Welbeck, who was on the left side of the double striker, hesitated for a moment and did not immediately move forward to press, but watched him dribble the ball across the center line.
At this moment, Shinji Kagawa was far away in the middle, and the four midfielders retreated as usual. There was no defensive player within 20 meters around Li Polo. Even if his dribbling skills were a little amateurish, it was enough to advance easily.
When Li Polo entered Manchester United's 25-meter area, Manchester United players finally reacted. The nearest midfielder Nick Powell gave up retreating and rushed over aggressively!
But just as he started to speed up, he saw his opponent sent the ball behind him, so he had to brake and slow down, then change direction to defend.
But he failed this time too. Powell had just turned around when he saw the home team's midfielder George Francon sweep the ball to the front right!
The simplest one-two!
[Negative emotions from Powell, +1! ]
Li Polo received the ball again, and he was already very close to the edge of the penalty area!
Marnik Vermier, the most outer of Manchester United's three central defenders, did not dare to delay and rushed out of the penalty area in time, getting stuck on the inside route.
But the defender didn't know that the opponent he was about to face had a mediocre talent in dribbling.
This was indeed the case. Li Boluo had no intention of challenging him one-on-one, nor did he make any move to cut inside. He just accelerated slightly and swung his right foot to make a cross!
Although full-back is not his most accustomed position, Li Boluo is no stranger to the basic tactic of crossing the ball from the bottom. After dribbling the ball to the middle, the rest depends on the luck of the two forwards!
Akinfenwa and Dubis, who had already entered the penalty area, were observing the flight trajectory of the ball, but the first one to take action was Manchester United captain Jonathan Evans.
The central defender from Northern Ireland jumped high before Dubis, trying to head the ball out of the danger zone, but perhaps because he was not prepared enough, he jumped a moment too late. The ball rubbed against his hair and slightly changed its flight trajectory, but it still flew towards the most dangerous area.
Goalkeeper De Gea's heart sank. If Evans hadn't touched the ball, the ball would still be under his control. But damn it, the ball refracted on Evans' head and landed two or three meters away.
It was this two or three meter distance that put De Gea in a dilemma!
The ball fell at the feet of Akinfenwa near the penalty spot.
Among Manchester United's three central defenders, Vermier was still in front of Li Polo, Evans was still flying in the air, and only Michael Keane was left, but he was restrained by Dubis. The unguarded Akinfenwa shot easily, and even though De Gea reacted quickly, he could only watch the ball whizzing past his fingers!
1:0!
In the 27th second of the game, the new Wimbledon scored the first goal!
The stadium with less than 5,000 people suddenly became boiling!
Many fans hadn’t even found their seats before their teams had already taken the lead!
“Roar~~”
The goal scorer Akinfenwa roared to the sky with excitement, pounded his chest with both fists, and with his muscles trembling all over his body, he looked like a King Kong!
This is a goal against Manchester United!
And it’s top goalkeeper De Gea!
How could he remain indifferent? !
…
"What an unexpected start. The Red Devils in London suffered a heavy blow. Less than half a minute into the game, the city guarded by De Gea was lost..."
Zhan Jun, who was introducing the starting lineups of both teams, was a little surprised, but he quickly calmed down and did not laugh out loud:
"Losing the ball too early will definitely inspire Manchester United's fighting spirit. In the next game... I'm afraid Wimbledon won't play too comfortably!"
His British counterpart also echoed this view, Neville said:
"It might be a good thing that we lost the ball at the beginning, as we still had 90 minutes to tie the game and turn the game around."
Lineker praised the home team’s performance:
"Wimbledon's attack was very determined, and it took only three passes to tear through Manchester United's defense. It seems that they really have some ideas for this game."
Neville said grimly:
"Wimbledon had better shrink back now, because what's about to greet them is an offensive frenzy from Manchester United!"
What the old captain of the Red Devils said was absolutely right. After the home team players finished celebrating, Manchester United immediately launched an attack.
To be fair, in the midfield of Manchester United, Welbeck's sharp speed, Hernandez's flexible movement, and Shinji Kagawa's delicate organizational ability, relying on this offensive trident alone, are enough to cause huge trouble to Wimbledon's defense. In view of Manchester United's characteristics, Adre also made special arrangements:
"High-pressure, close pressure!"
Among the three, the offensive core is undoubtedly the former Dortmund superstar. Therefore, when Shinji Kagawa has the ball, the four midfielders Rigg, Franka, Boorman and Reeves will immediately form and completely cut off his line of transporting shells forward!
With no one to pass the ball to, Kagawa wanted to work on his own, but was immediately stopped by a fierce tackle from the left-back and vice-captain Smith, preventing him from dribbling any further. Manchester United's first attack came to an abrupt end.
Smith finally returned to the court with full health and blue. After stealing the ball, he took advantage of the situation and kicked the ball, trying to launch a quick counterattack. Unfortunately, the long pass was too far and floated, and it flew directly out of the sideline...
Zhan Jun shook his head repeatedly:
"After all, he is only a League Two player. Although he defends very fiercely, his basic passing and receiving skills are indeed average. He wasted a rare counterattack opportunity in vain."
Smith's face darkened and he raised his hand to apologize to his teammates:
"It was a poor performance. I must pay attention next time!"
Fortunately, we were ahead in the score and everyone was relatively tolerant, no one cared about this ordinary mistake.
After all, as a fourth-tier team, passing errors are commonplace!
…
Manchester United threw the ball out of bounds and soon launched a second round of attack. After they pulled the ball back and forth in the midfield several times, Kagawa shook off the defense with his excellent dribbling skills and sent a low pass forward!
Welbeck rode away and successfully got past the offside position through the gap between Lee Polo and Phillips, instantly creating a one-on-one opportunity!
Unfortunately, "Black Bei" did not adjust his feet fully when receiving the ball, and his powerful shot hit the goal frame and flew into the stands, making goalkeeper Xie A break out in a cold sweat.
"Look at this attack, the strength of Manchester United players is fully revealed!"
Neville was in high spirits and in high spirits:
"Although Wimbledon 's defense is very tight, the gap in strength between the two sides is too big. As time goes by, they will definitely not be able to keep pressing high. Once their physical strength is affected, they will be defeated by Manchester United in minutes!"
Before he finished speaking, Xie A kicked the ball out of the goal.
As a goalkeeper who was once selected for the England national team, Shea's long pass level is completely beyond Smith's level. He accurately found Akinfenwa, who easily received the ball and transferred to the right without any delay.
Left midfielder Francon almost repeated Li Polo's previous tactics: he dribbled the ball 15 meters and then made a decisive cross, and Dubis, who was in front of the goal, headed the ball!
Unfortunately, their luck was a little worse. This time De Gea reacted quickly and lifted the ball out of the baseline with one hand at the last moment, avoiding the team's embarrassing start of losing two goals in five minutes.
New Wimbledon got the first corner kick opportunity.
