Following the referee's whistle, Manchester United, who took the first kick, immediately launched an attack towards the enemy's position.
After the pass was passed back to Carrick, the England midfielder spotted the opportunity and sent a long pass directly to the frontcourt to find Rooney.
David Luiz took the lead and beat Rooney to head the ball back, but Manchester United's entire formation quickly pressed forward and all passed the center line, forming a strong pressure on Manchester City.
Suddenly, a melee broke out in the area between the center line of Manchester City's half and the penalty area.
Although Gao Shen had been mentally prepared for this, he was still surprised by its intensity.
"The old man doesn't want to get over it, right?" Gao Shen said with a wry smile.
Carlo, Lucas, Sarri and others all knew about his relationship with Ferguson. Before the game, Gao Shen specially sent someone to send a box of wine to Ferguson.
Even though I tried very hard to keep a low profile, I was still photographed "accidentally" by the pervasive reporters.
"He just wants to start the game right now," Sarri analyzed.
This is actually quite helpless.
If you look at Manchester United's situation after the opening, you will know that Manchester City worked hard to control the ball, but Manchester United did not. They just played high and high, passing forward when they had the chance, and passing back to organize when they had no chance, but the ball was in possession of the ball.
It's like it's burning your feet, it's gone as soon as it's passed.
Of course, it can also be said that this was caused by Manchester City's pressing and oppression.
At least, in Manchester City's frontcourt, the trident of Gareth Bale, Suarez and Robben still presses very hard.
These three players, except for Robben, the other two are the kind of physical fiends who can run for a full 90 minutes, run 12 or 13 kilometers, and even speed up at the last moment.
Especially Gareth Bale.
Eighty minutes ago, it was like a warm-up for him.
Let me ask you, how do you fight against such an opponent?
Let's defend. The ball is given to Manchester City. Let's not talk about whether we can defend it. Even if we can defend it, Manchester City will definitely have the advantage in terms of physical consumption, and Blue Moon's physical fitness itself is very advantageous. After the game is exhausted, we will win.
, the final stage is even more difficult.
Therefore, Ferguson's choice is actually a helpless move.
If your skills are inferior to those of others, there is nothing you can do.
Gao Shen walked to the sidelines and signaled to Javi Martinez to pay attention to Sneijder.
As long as Sneijder is stuck, Manchester United's ball path will either be from the wings or long passes.
Ferguson was also very brave and just played in the high position.
In the first minute and a half, Lars Diarra and Sneijder pressed into Manchester City's penalty area, forcing Neuer to pass the ball long.
After that, the two teams went back and forth like this, and most of the game was played in Manchester City's half.
In the third minute, Manchester United had a chance to break into the penalty area. Valencia used its speed to overtake on the right and sent a low ball into the right side of the penalty area to find Rooney.
When Rooney stopped the ball, he was interfered by David Luiz and had to turn around to protect the ball. When he wanted to pass it to Sneijder, he made a mistake in passing the ball and Javi Martinez cleared the ball first.
This is actually also a problem for Manchester United now.
Rooney's passing and receiving ability in high-pressure situations is not stable enough, and it is difficult for the entire midfield and frontcourt to connect in series.
But it's even worse when it comes to Berbatov. The dashing brother can play a ruthless role for the whole game without breaking a sweat, but he can't be used lightly.
"Ferguson should miss Benzema very much." Gao Shen smiled cheerfully.
There is indeed news that Manchester United wants to bring in the frustrated Benzema from Real Madrid because the Frenchman is not liked by Mourinho and has very little playing time. Mourinho prefers Adebayor.
Mourinho even described Benzema as a cat, saying he was not aggressive at all.
Call it a provocation or a contradiction, but Benzema is really likely to leave the team now.
…
In the first five minutes, Manchester City didn't even have a chance to break into Manchester United's penalty area. They were all blocked outside the penalty area.
Moreover, this situation seems to be very difficult to break, because Manchester United is really going all out.
Ferguson's attitude was more resolute than Gao Shen had imagined, and his attitude of not giving up until I scored a goal made Manchester United indomitable on the court.
Manchester City's offensive end has not been able to open up the situation, but Gao Shen has explained before the game, so the players are not in a hurry and still play steadily. This is also a major feature of Manchester City this season, and they have begun to become more calm.
In the words of the media and fans, this is called dominance.
Regarding Manchester United's pressure and attack, Manchester City's strategy is to directly ignore Park Ji-sung on the left and Robben to contain Evra.
The Koreans were brave enough and defended well. Facing Lichtsteiner, Gao Shen didn't take him seriously.
If Nani is replaced, Gao Shen will still have to work hard.
Valencia on the right responded more with offside. In the first five minutes, Valencia fell into the offside trap twice.
This left both the Ecuadorian winger and Ferguson speechless.
As soon as the long ball was passed behind him, he was offside. Damn it, can you still play the game well?
Fabio was also very active and began to press frequently.
But Manchester United's center was not open.
As Gao Shen said, Rooney is very strong, but in a 433 formation, it is still a bit difficult to be a center.
So after seeing that the situation was stabilized, Gao Shen felt a lot more relaxed. He turned to Sarri and said: "Did you see? When the midfielder does not have an advantage, a strong center is far more important.
Beyond others.”
What Gao Shen said is not only the current Manchester United, but also the future Leeds United.
He had discussed this issue with Sarri before. Gao Shen believed that in a league like the English Championship, or even the Premier League, when the midfielder does not have an advantage, or the advantage is not obvious, the existence of a strong center will have a great impact on the entire team.
The improvement of a team is extremely important.
The difference lies in how powerful this center is!
Sarri recognizes the advanced judgment, but in the English Championship, a league that values physical confrontation even more than the Premier League, it is not easy to find a center who has outstanding physical confrontation ability and can coordinate with the midfielder's passing.
Rooney is not that bad, is he?
Despite his ability, on a stage like the Champions League semi-finals, facing a team of Manchester City's level, his passing was still full of errors. If it had been anyone else, it would have been even more so.
Chelsea is what Gao Shen calls this type of top team.
But there is a Drogba!
In today's world football, where can we find the second Didier Drogba?
"Don't worry, I'll find one for you!"
Sarri still remembers that Gao Shen confidently promised him at that time, and he was full of expectations for it.
…
I have to say that Ferguson is really fierce and very determined.
From the first minute of the game, Manchester United frantically put pressure on Manchester City, showing an aura that they would not return the goal if they did not score. Even when Manchester City played steadily, Manchester United still did not give up, organizing and organizing again and again.
offensive.
In the fifth minute, Manchester United refused to retreat.
In the tenth minute, Manchester United still refused to retreat.
Even in the fifteenth minute, Manchester United still did not retreat.
This had to surprise everyone on the sidelines.
What is Ferguson doing?
He is risking his life!
Gao Shen thought that Ferguson would attack at the beginning, and also thought that he would focus on the game at the beginning, but he never expected that he would be so determined, and even felt that he would decide the winner at the beginning.
Either Manchester United scores a goal, and Manchester City will be very passive in the next situation and will face Manchester United's strict defense and sharp counterattack.
Rooney, Valencia, and Sneijder are prepared for this.
Or, Manchester United's attack failed, and it's hard to say how the game will go.
The worst possible situation is that Manchester United cannot attack for a long time and is counterattacked by Manchester City and scores a goal.
This basically declared that Ferguson's tactics failed in this game.
I have to admit, this is a very courageous choice!
It is also a choice that fits Ferguson’s character and temperament very well!
He is the kind of person who would rather stand and be fucked to death than linger on for a while.
With Manchester United exerting crazy pressure, Manchester City was also not idle.
Gao Shen kept adjusting the team, stabilizing the position and waiting for the opportunity to launch an attack.
But I have to admit that Manchester United had a strong awareness of returning to defense tonight and was very fast.
As soon as the ball was lost in front, Manchester City's counterattack had just passed the halfway line, and Manchester United was already back.
Taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, Gao Shen called Lichtsteiner on the right to his side.
"During the counterattack, when the forward progress is unfavorable, you and Felipe have to step forward, allowing Gareth Bale and Robben to move to the ribs. You quickly insert and hit the outside."
"Understood, boss." Lichtsteiner returned to the court.
…
The game restarted, and Lichtsteiner quickly conveyed his profound instructions to the surrounding teammates.
Manchester City quickly made adjustments.
But by this time, twenty minutes had passed.
In this fast-paced offense and defense, both sides consume a lot of energy, especially Manchester United, which takes the initiative to attack. This rapid back and forth sprint consumes a lot of players, so that their pressing and oppression have to slow down slightly.
.
No one can maintain high-energy output for ninety minutes!
It is very, very difficult for Manchester United to be able to hold on to this kind of crazy pressing for more than twenty minutes.
But once the ball is lost, Manchester United's replay speed is still very fast.
In the 23rd minute, Manchester City seized an opportunity and quickly counterattacked. Robben dribbled the ball from the right and cut in near the 30-meter perimeter, but was double-teamed by Carrick and Evra.
, was forced to pass the ball back.
Rakitic passed to David Silva, and the Spaniard tried to pass forward to Suarez.
Unfortunately, after Suarez received the ball with his back, he was surrounded by Manchester United defensive players. He was forced to pass the ball back to David Silva, and Rooney had already returned to his position.
David Silva passed to Rakitic and wanted to organize it again, but Manchester United's defensive pressure came up.
As a last resort, Rakitic passed back to Javi Martinez and then to David Luiz in the backcourt.
All attention was attracted by the football in the left half. Only Gao Shen saw on the sidelines that Lichtsteiner, who was in front of him just now, had quietly crossed the center line and was still fast.
