While Gao Shen was studying how to play against Manchester United while having a barbecue at his home in Madrid, Ferguson was also studying Real Madrid at the Carrington training base in Manchester.
In front of the Manchester United coach, on this huge tactical board, is what he guessed will be Real Madrid's starting lineup.
Goalkeeper: Casillas.
Defence: Arbeloa, Ramos, Varane and Carvajal.
Midfield: Xabi Alonso deep, Toni Kroos and Modric in the centre.
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria.
If nothing unexpected happens, this should be Real Madrid's starting lineup.
Ferguson and his team of assistants also summarized and analyzed intelligence from multiple sources.
One of the key points is that although Marcelo participated in the team's training, his body is still far from reaching the standard for playing games, which led Ferguson to speculate that Gao Shen would not take the risk of using him.
Ferguson knew Gao Shen well. He was not the kind of ruthless person who could not use players as consumables.
But even so, Real Madrid's lineup is still stronger than Manchester United.
How to contain Real Madrid's offense will become a key issue facing Manchester United at the Bernabeu.
If you want to contain Real Madrid's offense, you must first restrict Ronaldo.
Everyone knows that the Portuguese is the most threatening offensive player in Real Madrid.
How to arrange this lineup?
"Raphael alone cannot stop Ronnie. We need at least two people on the wing."
Assistant coach Mike Phelan said a correct nonsense, and Ferguson glanced at him, feeling helpless.
Doesn't he know?
No, what he needs is to determine who will be Raphael's assistant.
More importantly, will Gao Shen let Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria cross-change positions like he did at Manchester City?
Once Real Madrid's front three cross and change positions, how will Manchester United defend it?
These are the key.
If the wingers are allowed to come back for reinforcements, this will inevitably affect the team's offense.
Facing a strong team like Real Madrid, if Manchester United cannot exert enough offensive pressure in the frontcourt, the final result will be that Real Madrid will beat them and score goals one after another.
Finally, don't expect Manchester United to walk out of the Bernabeu well.
Ferguson understands the profound better than anyone.
He knows very well that advanced tactics are like this, if you give them a little sunshine, they will shine.
But if you don't use wingers, you can only use defensive midfielders. One player is not enough for Carrick, you need two.
Cleverley? Phil Jones? Schneiderlin?
Ferguson thought about it secretly in his mind, and placed two chess pieces directly on the back midfielder, No. 16 and No. 28.
No. 16 is Carrick and No. 28 is Schneiderlin.
The two stand with Carrick on the left and Schneiderlin on the right.
Obviously, Ferguson's intention is to use Schneiderlin to cooperate with Rafael to restrict Ronaldo.
Especially the Portuguese cutting in from the left.
As for the defense, Manchester United has basically not changed.
From left to right, Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand and Rafael.
This is already Manchester United's strongest defensive lineup.
Back then, Manchester United's defense was the best in European football, and Manchester United won the Champions League. However, in recent years, this defense has aged, but it is still strong and strong. It is a key factor in Manchester United's current leadership in the Premier League standings.
Ferguson knows better than anyone that if he wants to win the championship, this line of defense is crucial.
But then a new problem arose.
With double midfielders, that means playing 4, 2, 3, 1. How do you line up in the frontcourt?
Ferguson has thought about strengthening the team's forward line, but has never been able to find a suitable candidate.
Unlike Gao Shen's previous life, Berbatov is still at Manchester United.
But Ferguson does not believe that such a game is suitable for the Bulgarian center to start, because he cannot put enough pressure on Real Madrid's defense in the frontcourt.
Manchester United's biggest advantage in this game is pressing and counterattacking.
Play possession game with Real Madrid?
Ferguson's brain is not broken yet!
More importantly, if Carrick and Schneiderlin are used as a double midfielder, who will pass the ball in the midfield?
Ferguson placed No. 23, representing Sneijder, in the attacking midfielder position, followed by Rooney. This was his duty.
On the right is Valencia, who is also Manchester United's best wide player now.
On the left, Ferguson chose Welbeck among Nani, Shinji Kagawa and Welbeck.
Mike Phelan and his assistants all stood silently behind, watching the Manchester United coach keep thinking about it, and finally put the players' numbers on each position. They all immediately understood what the coach meant.
The right wing is Manchester United's offensive channel. Valencia can play a key role on this side, while Welbeck must be used to suppress Carvajal on the left wing.
Manchester United's forward is tall and strong and has an absolute physical advantage. More importantly, Welbeck has performed well this season, a bit like Ronaldo back then. Ferguson still wants to let him play in this position.
More importantly, with Real Madrid missing Marcelo on the left, the right will definitely be the focus of attack. By that time, after Carvajal moves forward, Welbeck will get more opportunities.
.
After careful analysis and consideration in their minds, Mike Phelan and others couldn't help but find that Ferguson's formation was the most reasonable.
Even if Real Madrid's front trident really crosses and switches positions, Manchester United can make adjustments and directly let Welbeck retreat, cooperate with Evra's defense, and let Valencia step up.
More importantly, both Welbeck and Valencia have very obvious speed advantages.
In the midfield, Schneiderlin is very good at grabbing the ball and his passing ability is very strong. These allow him to play a very important role in Manchester United's tactical map.
But this is only an ideal arrangement after all. How much it can really be achieved depends on the players' on-the-spot performance in the game.
Especially the veterans and young players on the back line.
The current Manchester United defense is old and young.
Evra and Vidic are both 31 years old, Ferdinand is 33 years old, and Rafael and De Gea are both 21 years old.
Obviously, this is also a hidden danger.
But there is no way, Ferguson is retiring. If he wants to win a championship before retiring, he must maintain the stability of the lineup and not make a big move. Otherwise, if he is not careful, the ship may capsize at any time.
So Manchester United didn't make any big splash this past summer.
But this has also affected Manchester United's overall strength.
Not to mention compared with giant teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, even in the Premier League, Manchester United's lineup still looks shabby compared to Manchester City.
But what happened to Han Hao?
Ferguson just has the ability to bring a shabby lineup to a championship!
No, Manchester United is the leader of the Premier League now, so you can’t accept it.
…
"Boss, is our goal in this game a goal?" asked another assistant coach Rene Meulensteen.
The Dutchman is Manchester United's technical coach, highly praised by Ferguson, and is now in charge of the team's training.
If Ferguson wants to score goals, the next training must be arranged accordingly.
"We definitely want to score, but this is not the goal." Ferguson said with a frown.
Rene Meulensteen and Mike Phelan were very confused. What did this mean?
"Facing Gao Shen's team, the most fearful thing is the lack of unified thinking. Once the players are not unified in thinking on the court, the three lines are likely to be disconnected, and this is the opportunity Gao Shen is best at taking advantage of."
His superb formations are praised by countless people, and what he is best at is taking advantage of the opponents' weaknesses exposed in the game to carry out targeted attacks, which naturally includes what Ferguson said.
"To be honest, this game is not good for us, because we have one less day off than Real Madrid, and it is an away game. For us, the best way is to unify our thinking, steadily contain Real Madrid's offense, and have a chance to win again.
Goal."
The two assistants understood immediately.
Scoring is the icing on the cake, and getting out of the game intact is what Ferguson wants.
This is indeed difficult and not easy to do.
Real Madrid is by far the team with the strongest offensive firepower in Europe, and Cristiano Ronaldo is also the superstar who has scored the most goals so far. Facing such a Real Madrid, one can imagine the pressure that Manchester United is under.
Even Ferguson was worried. Can the combination of Schneiderling and Raphael effectively contain Ronaldo?
As far as he knows, under the advanced training this season, Ronaldo's playing style is obviously different from the past.
If he can freeze Real Madrid's offense in the away game, even if he doesn't score a goal, Ferguson will be confident of turning the situation around when he returns to Old Trafford, which is Manchester United's territory.
I am afraid that Real Madrid will seize the opportunity!
But if Ferguson were to defend tightly and get rid of the iron barrel formation, he couldn't do it.
The old man has never set up an iron barrel formation in his life. Even when facing Barcelona and Manchester City, Manchester United is fearless.
This is the spirit engraved in the bones of Manchester United!
Besides, if you set up the iron barrel formation, you can escape from the Bernabeu unscathed?
This is too belittling the profoundness.
"The focus of the next training will be on practicing the defensive formation, which must be kept compact and orderly."
"I guess that even if Gao Shen doesn't make arrangements at the start, he will definitely let the tridents cross and switch positions during the game to stretch our defense and midfield. Therefore, we must also take time to conduct targeted training."
Ferguson's stabbing arrangement immediately put Rene Meulensteen in a difficult position.
"Then against Everton..."
Before facing Real Madrid, Manchester United will face Everton at home.
This is also a key battle, related to Manchester United's top position in the league.
"Don't worry, I am confident in this game. There is no need to arrange training. I know how to play against Everton."
This is Ferguson's advantage.
He has been in the Premier League for decades and knows every team very well. He knows all the changes and abilities, so even without targeted training, he can still let Manchester United defeat their opponents.
Of course, there are no accidents.
For example, Chelsea, coached by Mourinho since 2004, and Manchester City, coached by Gao Shen since 2009, both suffered heavy losses from Ferguson and Manchester United.
But Everton clearly does not belong to this category.
Moyes doesn't have the same abilities as Mourinho and Gao Shen.
