On the evening of January 27th, Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester.
In the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals, Manchester City challenged Manchester United away.
When referee Weber blew the whistle to end the game, Gao Shen stood in front of the visiting team's coaching bench with a livid look on his face.
He had every reason to be disappointed with the outcome of this game.
Two to one, Manchester City defeated Manchester City at home with Carrick's pass and shot.
Since Manchester City was held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United in the first round at the Intihad Stadium, the Red Devils ultimately defeated Manchester City 3-2 and successfully reached the League Cup final.
Manchester City stopped in the semi-finals!
Wearing a black coat, it was still difficult to resist the pervasive cold air. Gao Shen exhaled a little, and a wisp of white smoke slowly rose in front of him, giving people a very ethereal feeling.
It's like the profoundness of this moment.
His feelings about the past month also felt very unreal.
After losing to Everton 0-2 and halting their winning streak, Manchester City seemed to be on bad luck.
Robben was injured, and then Hazard, Suarez, David Luiz, Robinho, David Silva, and two days ago, Javi Martinez was also injured.
Chief team doctor Dr. Marcos Sala gave Gao Shen a detailed test report and believed that there are many reasons for the continuous injuries of Manchester City players. One is the Premier League schedule, the other is the cold weather, and the players' psychology.
Affected by continuous injuries, Manchester City's record has also been ups and downs.
After losing to Everton, Manchester City came out of the shadows in the FA Cup on January 2. They defeated Middlesbrough in the Championship 4-0 away from home, and they played with a substitute lineup, which is enough to prove Manchester City's strength.
In the subsequent 21st round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated Blackburn Rovers 4-1 at home.
Although they drew 1-1 at home with Manchester United in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals in midweek, they soon defeated Wolves 3-0 away in the 22nd round of the Premier League.
Although the number of injuries in the team continues to increase, Manchester City's victory continues.
But soon, the situation slipped again in a direction that Gao Shen and the coaching staff could not stop.
In the twenty-third round, Manchester City drew with Stoke City 1-1 away from home.
Although Gao Shen said after the game that David Silva's absence due to injury had a great impact on Manchester City, he knew very well that the team's performance was really unsatisfactory.
The Premier League teams are not weak as a whole. When they are in good form, Manchester City can be invincible, but once their form declines, Stoke City can cause trouble for Manchester City.
In the fourth round of the FA Cup at the weekend, Manchester City's opponent was also Stoke City.
As a result, Manchester City lost 0-1 in the away game this time and were eliminated from the FA Cup.
What's even worse is that three days later, today, Manchester City lost another game at Old Trafford.
One to two, Manchester City lost to their local rivals Manchester United and were eliminated from the League Cup.
In four days and two games, Manchester City was eliminated from the competition for two championships.
This gave Gao Shen a really unreal feeling.
Because a month ago, his team was in the Premier League and was invincible.
But who would have thought that one month later, he would lose the right to compete for two championships.
Currently, Manchester City is still top of the Premier League, but it has obviously been shaken.
Because while Manchester City has lost five points in a month, Manchester United and Liverpool have maintained unbeatable records.
In the past month, Arsenal suffered two draws, Chelsea also suffered two draws, and even Ancelotti's team had two draws in the 18th round of the Premier League on December 19th and the 19th round on Boxing Day.
It's a draw.
Looking back at Manchester United, Ferguson's team has experienced continuous outbreaks since mid-December.
In the past seven league games, Manchester United has won seven consecutive games, scoring 23 goals and conceding only one.
There is also Benitez's Liverpool, which also performed well during this period. Although it is not as eye-catching as Manchester United, its results are very stable.
This makes it difficult for Gao Shen not to have a suspicion: Could it be said that with more local players, they can really cope with the devilish schedule during Christmas and winter breaks?
…
After the game, Gao Shen was called by Ferguson to a meeting room at Old Trafford for a drink.
After winning the game, Ferguson was very happy. It happened that Gao Shen sent him another box of good Chilean wine. This made the old Scottish man extremely happy and kept praising the good wine.
Gao Shen secretly smiled bitterly in his heart, isn't this the same style that he gave to him last time?
Last time I drank it, I said it was astringent, but this time I praised it as a good wine. It all depends on your mood.
"Do you want to know my secret to coping with the devilish schedule during the Christmas and winter break?" Ferguson asked pretending to be mysterious.
Gao Shen glanced at him angrily and sneered, "Isn't it just tradition, heritage, and local players?"
He found this out from Ferguson's book in the tactical library.
In the book, Ferguson believes that to cope with the devilish schedule during the Christmas and winter breaks, it is not only necessary to have enough bench thickness to withstand the rotation, but also to have enough psychological preparation for the players, and even the psychology of the players is the most important.
of.
"Look, it's just superficial." Ferguson was obviously in a good mood.
Gao Shen said "dismissively", how could he not see that this bad old man was having fun?
"I told you a long time ago that you are based on foreign players, and most of the players are playing in the Premier League for the first time. They have no experience at all. No matter how much you tell them, they will not do anything.
A lot of preparation is actually useless.”
When Ferguson said this, he laughed proudly, "It's like a child. You tell him that boiling water is hot and tell him not to drink it, but he has no intuitive impression of how hot the boiling water is.
, so they still can’t help but drink it, and when their mouths are scalded, they will naturally understand how hot the boiled water is.”
Gao Shen still looked dismissive on the surface, but in his heart he had to admit that it made sense.
"You know, some people are born to be flexible and good at finding patterns and grasping the essence of things, but some people, such as Wenger, lose points every time during Christmas and the winter break, and you just wait and see.
, and next will be Arsenal’s season of losing points.”
In the next round, the 24th round of the Premier League, Manchester United will challenge Arsenal away from home.
Gao Shen seriously suspected that Ferguson was cheering for this game.
"Then what kind of person do I look like?" Gao Shen looked at Ferguson jokingly.
Ferguson chuckled and did not answer directly, but changed the topic.
"Benitez has performed well this year, but in his first season as manager of Liverpool, he just encountered the Christmas and winter break schedule. In the month after Boxing Day, he lost three games out of six games, including the
Two consecutive defeats.”
After a pause, Ferguson looked deeply at Gao Shen and said, "Your record so far is the same as Benitez's second season. You have lost five points this month."
Gao Shen smiled, feeling that Ferguson was probably praising someone.
In fact, Gao Shen feels that the real question is not whether it is the first time to coach in the Premier League, but the players.
That year was also the first time Mourinho coached the Premier League, but he won consecutively during the Christmas and winter breaks.
After all, Chelsea's winning streak during the winter break was all thanks to Chelsea's original team.
But Manchester City is different. After Gao Shen took office, he completely overturned the reorganization and introduced many players who were in the Premier League for the first time.
This is the reason why Manchester City performed poorly during the Christmas and winter breaks.
"Just wait and see, I will definitely be able to break out during the Christmas and winter breaks next season!" Gao Shen said very resolutely.
Ferguson looked at Gao Shen deeply, and originally wanted to say one or two words to hit him, but he thought that Gao Shen would not be affected by him, so he might as well save his energy.
"I'm waiting!" Ferguson said calmly.
"Also, you have to be careful. Both the League Cup and the FA Cup are finished. I will keep chasing after you!"
Gao Shen laughed, "Old Sir, I don't seem to have reminded you that after this wave of winning streak, you are still the fourth child!"
"It's just two points away," Ferguson said confidently.
He always counterattacks in the second half and has rich experience and confidence in this.
…
Manchester City is finished!
Manchester City was eliminated from the League Cup and FA Cup, which immediately caused an uproar in British and European football.
Everyone knows how scary and troublesome the Premier League's Christmas and winter break schedules are, but they never expected that Manchester City's state would take a drastic turn. It would be like a completely different game from the Blue Moon who had nineteen consecutive wins.
Like a team.
The British media is used to this.
In fact, they are quite proud of the devil's schedule, at least even Gao Shen is frustrated.
This is not only a unique feature of the Premier League, but also something they are proud of.
In an interview with the media, Gao Shen publicly stated that he was willing to take all responsibilities.
"My players have done what they can do. I know that they have tried their best. The responsibility for the loss lies with me because I was not prepared for the devil's schedule."
However, the Manchester Evening News interviewed Manchester City captain Kompany and the Belgian central defender had the opposite statement from Gao Shen.
Kompany revealed that Gao Shen and the coaching staff have done a lot of preparation work for the devilish schedule, and the players have also worked hard to play well, but everyone's condition is not very ideal, causing the team's overall condition to also decline.
.
"This is never anyone's responsibility, but the responsibility of all of us on the team."
Kompany also revealed that Gao Shen is a very high-level head coach, which can be seen from the previous nineteen consecutive victories.
"Our team is indeed at a low point right now, but I don't think these difficulties can stop us."
Regarding how the team can get out of the current predicament, Kompany said that Gao Shen has clearly told the locker room that he has full confidence in everyone and that he believes the players can gradually adjust.
"We feel the trust and support from the head coach, and we also believe that Manchester City can get out of the trough soon."
Gao Shen once again reiterated in the interview that these difficulties will not defeat Manchester City.
"It is indeed a pity to miss the League Cup and FA Cup this season, but in turn, it will make us focus more on the league. At the same time, it will also motivate us to strive for better results next season.
