On the morning of May 14th, in a high-end manor hotel in the northwest suburbs of London, during Manchester City's pre-match tactical meeting, Gao Shen warned his players seriously.
This made the assistant coach Brian Kidd standing next to him look a little strange. He wanted to laugh, but couldn't.
The unlucky Arsenal has become a negative example again!
Fortunately, this was only said within the team. If Wenger heard it outside, wouldn't it make Wenger angry to death?
It is estimated that Wenger's first reaction was to take back the Colney training base.
Labor and capital are no longer borrowed!
The reason why Arsenal is used as a backdrop is because Arsenal met Birmingham City in this year's League Cup final.
The whole world feels that there is no problem for the Gunners to win this trophy.
But who would have thought that Arsenal would lose.
Sometimes it is really hard to believe that the Gunners would lose to Birmingham in the final, continuing their fine tradition of failing to win the championship for many years. Wenger's team looks like it will continue without a championship to the end.
Before this FA Cup final, Manchester City was the well-deserved number one favorite.
Not only because before today, Manchester City had beaten Manchester United four times this season, but also because Manchester United is now in a mess.
It's also interesting to say.
Manchester United's chaos comes from Ryan Giggs.
The affair of Welsh players has been reported in the news for a long time. The media and fans thought it was relatively new at first and caused a certain amount of heat, but it quickly dissipated.
After all, Giggs is about to retire.
But the problem lies with his sister-in-law Natasha.
She brazenly broke the news in the News of the World, causing an uproar around the world.
It turns out that behind Giggs's affair scandal, there is also such breaking news as his sister-in-law scandal, and the key is that it lasts for eight years. This is simply outrageous and fucking opened the door to outrageous things!
All taboos are the hottest topics, and public opinion explodes immediately.
In just a few days, Natasha broke the news every day in the News of the World and dug deeper every day.
The Daily Mail said that Natasha earned as much as half a million pounds just by breaking the news for the News of the World.
This amount of money is indeed nothing to a superstar like Giggs, but to ordinary people, it is absolutely an astronomical figure, because the money Giggs threw to Natasha for an abortion was only 500 pounds.
Now, the entire British paparazzi are like grabbing a piece of fat, rushing to bite them madly, just to get a piece of the pie, so Giggs's mistresses are dug out one after another.
This kind of thing is really not uncommon in the football circle.
Professional football is a vanity fair. Any woman who gets close to a star will immediately become worth a hundred times as much, make the headlines of major media, and attract everyone's attention.
Stars don’t have too many worries in this regard. Firstly, it’s because they are at this age and their bodies are stronger than ordinary people, so they simply can’t withstand the temptation. Secondly, as stars, their foundation is to play football.
, who cares about life off the field?
As long as it's within the scope of the law, no one cares at all.
Morality?
That's just for ordinary people. When it comes to stars, especially those in top leagues, morality is definitely the rarest luxury.
Besides, fans don't care at all about how many girls you pick up, they only care about your status.
media?
The hype lasted for a while, but it soon passed. Even such tidbits can increase the commercial value of players.
However, this time the Giggs incident went a bit too far. After all, she is his sister-in-law, and her nature is even worse than Terry's original friendship with his wife. Therefore, it caused a lot of trouble both outside and within Manchester United.
of commotion.
Sources say Ferguson was furious.
And this is simply equivalent to indirectly helping Manchester City.
…
"So far this season, we have played four games against Manchester United and we have won all four. As I said before, being able to defeat Manchester United five times in one season is an unprecedented achievement."
"So in this FA Cup final, I ask you to give me a 120,000-point spirit. I want to see you show your best state and performance. I want to see the FA Cup after the game.
Champion’s trophy!”
The players also nodded.
At this point, there is no need to talk too much, the players will be aware of it.
This is the first time in the history of Manchester City to win the Triple Crown. Even in the history of English football, it is only the second time.
More importantly, Manchester City's management gave a high bonus for winning the championship.
In addition to individual championship rewards, Manchester City's bonuses also include additional rewards for double, triple, and even quadruple crowns, which can be said to be quite generous.
Therefore, whether it is for fame or profit, Manchester City players will definitely try their best.
This season, Manchester City has played four games with Manchester United. In some games, Ferguson will adopt the opening attack tactics, and in other games, he will play more securely. But no matter how Manchester United changes, Manchester City will always respond with a safe start.
.
Fighting steadily, there is a strong aura of "no matter how strong the wind is, I will not move".
This has been interpreted by the media and fans as Manchester City's confidence and transformation.
But this time, what Gao Shen emphasized the most was still a stable start.
In the last game at Old Trafford, Manchester United was given a chance to score a goal, but this time Gao Shen reminded his players that they must not make similar mistakes again.
"No matter how Manchester United plays, they must ultimately focus on defensive counterattacks. We have such strength to gain advantages in the game, especially possession of the ball, control the rhythm, and then suppress the opponent."
Gao Shen also revealed a piece of information, that is, Giggs did not go south with the team.
Obviously, Giggs is indeed not suitable to play in the current season, and this will further restrict Manchester United.
If nothing unexpected happens, either Park Ji-sung will be taken away, Sneijder will be pulled out to the side, and Anderson or Fletcher will be deployed in the midfield.
The purpose of this is to strengthen the interception and defense of the midfield, but creativity and wing offense will be somewhat affected.
But it is also possible to continue the previous tactics, with Park Ji-sung playing on the left, Sneijder, Carrick and Lars Diarra forming the midfield. We do not even rule out taking Sneijder and replacing him with a player with more outstanding defensive ability.
midfielder.
In this way, Manchester United is completely betting on Manchester City's counterattack opportunities.
Ferguson is not a person who likes to place his hopes on his opponents, so I guess he will not touch Sneijder.
The hardest thing to guess is the defense.
Evra is on the left, which is basically no problem, but it is troublesome on the right.
Fabio was not very stable before, O'Shea and Smalling were both blown away by Gareth Bale, what should I do?
Gao Shen now fully understands the feeling of being able to crush someone to death with one level of strength.
This time Gao Shen plans to adopt a 4-2-3 formation.
Goalkeeper: Neuer.
Defense: Leighton Baines, David Luiz, Jerome Boateng and Zabaleta.
Midfield: Fernandinho and Yaya Toure at the back, with Gareth Bale, Hazard and Robben in front.
Forward: Robin van Persie.
The reason for this arrangement is that this group of players has played in the league and cup competitions this season. The FA Cup has reached this point basically because of their performance. You can't win them in the crucial finals, right?
But facing Manchester United, Gao Shen also has to line up his strongest lineup to face it, so Gareth Bale and Robben must be used on the two wings, and whether the center position is Van Persie or Suarez, it actually doesn't matter much.
Both players are the most powerful attacking forwards this season.
The real trouble is that Gao Shen is still worried about Leighton Baines and Jerome Boateng.
The former faced Valencia. Gao Shen knew how fast the Ecuadorian winger was.
Ferguson would even rather use him than Nani, which shows how much he trusts Valencia.
Boateng has made great progress, but problems still exist. When facing Rooney, we must be cautious.
Gao Shen can't use him because his previous performance was really good.
Sometimes, when the head coach arranges his troops, he not only has to consider the strongest, but also pay attention to the unity of the locker room and appease people's hearts.
…
After explaining all the things that should be paid attention to, Gao Shen also reassured the players and told them not to be nervous.
"All in all, today you should eat, drink, take a nap, refresh yourself, and relax. For this afternoon's game, just think of it as a visit to Wembley Stadium, a tour, and a visit to the Football Association
Bring the cup champion back, it’s that simple!”
In the end, Gao Shen used the most relaxed and carefree gesture to appease his players.
The players couldn't help laughing when they heard what he said was funny.
If only it were this easy!
But when the head coach said this, they all felt that the pressure had been reduced a lot.
Manchester City does have a strength advantage. As long as they perform normally and win this championship, it won't be a big problem.
Gao Shen naturally had a panoramic view of all the players' expressions and reactions, and he didn't care.
"By the way, after we return to Manchester tonight, we should find a place to have a meal. Where should we go?"
After Gao Shen asked the question loudly, he pulled out a chair and sat down, allowing everyone to express their opinions.
"That barbecue restaurant last time was pretty good." David Lewis, who knew Gao Shen best, was the first to raise his hand.
"I don't like barbecue very much. I think the Chinese food is pretty good. It's the same restaurant where the boss invited us to eat last time."
"Chinese food is good, and I support Chinese food."
"I think we should eat Western food, barbecue is also fine, how about McDonald's?"
"Damn it, do you have some ambition? Eat McDonald's after winning the championship? Are you planning to steal Giggs' headlines?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Anyway, if you talk nonsense behind closed doors, no one will spread it, let alone offend others.
"Then, follow the old rules and vote by show of hands!" captain Kompany expressed his stance.
When everyone heard it, it was reasonable and reasonable, and they immediately expressed their stance.
For a moment, the conference room was noisy, and everyone began to discuss the matter of eating.
As for the FA Cup final, I seem to have forgotten it.
