spnManchester United lost at home to Leeds United, the league's top leader, and failed in the FA Cup as soon as they debuted. It replaced Liverpool's draw with Reading the day before and became the biggest upset in the third round of the FA Cup.
The upset is more of a psychological contrast caused by the gap in league levels between the two teams. Those who follow Manchester United this season should know that Manchester United did not lose unjustly. The Red Devils have escaped from disadvantages and adversity many times this season, covering up many shortcomings. Hong Fu
Even people like Sir Alex Ferguson sometimes fail to take care of their luck. Excessive rotation, poor performance of the secondary selection and slow on-the-spot play led to Manchester United's tragedy.
Before the game, the media praised Ferguson for his miraculous achievements in hundreds of rotations, which is ironic in hindsight. Ferguson made 7 changes to the lineup that defeated Wigan. The midfield was completely replaced, and only Brown was left in the defense. The rotation went too far.
This is the main reason for the passive situation. Although Leeds is in League One, they are in the FA Cup, a hotbed of unpopularity.
, the league level is not a reason for the weak to prey on the strong, not to mention the deep hatred between the red and white roses for decades. Leeds, who are in strong form, turned away and dominated, which exceeded Manchester United's expectations. Ferguson's compliments to the opponent's coach before the game were not as dazzling as before.
The opponent's cleverness actually inspired Leeds to fight tooth and nail.
Manchester United has a heavy task in the game. The injured defenders are gradually returning to the team. There is also the League Cup semi-final derby in the middle of the week. Rotation is inevitable. However, taking out Carrick and Fletcher at the same time clearly underestimated the fighting ability of Leeds' midfield. Anderson and Gibson as
The beaters are not inferior, but they are not as good as Carrick and Fletcher in handling the ball. Manchester United made too many passing mistakes in the frontcourt, which is largely the result of the poor delivery of these two people. At the end of the game, Fu
Gerson replaced Anderson and blindly added troops to the front line. In fact, he was still worried about the game against Manchester City. The goal he conceded was apparently caused by Kuszczak's reckless attack. He gave up the goal when a defender was chasing the opponent's lone player, but the source was not.
The pass in the frontcourt of Manchester United was interrupted. Leeds got the ball and immediately passed the ball behind the defense. Beckford made a wonderful shot to seal the victory. Neville made his first start in a month, and the opponent quickly counterattacked and found this weakness.
Rotation is a common phenomenon in football. With Manchester United's status, it is necessary to maintain a large lineup to cope with four fronts. Rotation is a way to let the main team breathe. If the secondary selection fails to do its homework, it will not only affect the rotation progress, but also affect the main team's rest.
Anderson, Gibson, Obertan and Welbeck have performed well in different games, but most of the time they start, and there is still a big gap between their level and expectations. In many games, veterans such as Giggs cannot stabilize the situation.
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Gibson had a beautiful long shot against West Ham United and eliminated Tottenham in the League Cup. He used two more long shot goals to convince Ferguson to continue to give him a chance, but by defeating Aston Villa and Fulham
After two defeats, people found that he had too much to learn. The senior Keane had to add more skills at this age.
When he joined Manchester United, he immediately seized the opportunity when Robson was injured and became the engine of Manchester United's midfield. Welbeck's development trajectory was the same as Gibson's, erratic, and he was quite amateurish in handling the ball when he needed to perform. Obertan made his appearance
It's very impressive, but he still hasn't found a way to integrate into the overall style of play.
Manchester United conceded a goal in the 19th minute, but Ferguson waited until nearly 60 minutes before making substitutions. It was too late. After replacing Giggs, Valencia and Owen, Manchester United's offense doubled, but Leeds had stabilized their position and adapted.
Manchester United's rhythm was broken. If substitutions were made at halftime, Manchester United would at least have more time to counterattack.
Manchester United's official website stated that the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals will be postponed to January 19 (Tuesday), and the second leg will be postponed to January 27 (Wednesday); Arsenal will face Bolton at home in the make-up match, a new game
The date has not yet been determined. This means that Manchester United’s home league match against Hull City, originally scheduled for January 26, will also be postponed. However, this is a big deal for Manchester United.
But it is a great advantage. First of all, Manchester United will have a truce of up to 8 days before the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals; but Manchester City must challenge Scunthorpe away in the fourth round of the FA Cup on the 24th.
In 72 hours, Mancini's team will go to an away game to challenge Manchester United. Even if Manchester City wins the first round, there is no guarantee that the Red Devils, who are waiting for work, will not make a comeback with the help of a favorable schedule.
And if the derby with Manchester City goes ahead as usual this morning, Manchester United will have to chew on the tough nut of Birmingham on Saturday. If Sir Alex Ferguson sends half of the main force or the youth team to play in the derby, I am afraid it will be difficult to stop Manchester City, which is extremely ferocious after the coaching change.
What's more, Manchester City is still playing at home. If they lose to Manchester City after losing to Leeds United, if they lose two consecutive games unfortunately, it will be a heavy blow to the morale of the Red Devils. If Manchester United sends all its main players to challenge
Manchester City is bound to have an impact on their away game against Birmingham in the Premier League two and a half days later. After all, Birmingham has an impressive record of 7 wins and 4 draws in the past 11 Premier League games. And if they fail to win against Birmingham, the Red Devils may be further pulled by Chelsea.
With a lot of points, the Blues will challenge the limited strength of Hull City in an away game this round, and it will not be difficult to get 3 points. Therefore, the heavy snow in the northwest of England can be said to be a timely relief for Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson.
At this time, an Italian unexpectedly also started chatting.
Mancini has made a good start since taking charge of Manchester City, which has given him the pride of guiding the country. He recently talked about Manchester United's decline this season, saying that the Red Devils let go of two key players as the main reason.
This Wednesday, the first leg of the League Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Manchester United was delayed due to heavy snow on January 19. Mancini can relax a little. He pointed out that the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez is a huge loss to any team. Manchester United
Also paying the price.
"Tevez and Ronaldo are two top players," Mancini said. "When a team loses these two people, they may lose something, which is normal."
"In my opinion, Tevez is one of the top ten players in Europe, and top players naturally come at a high price."
Mancini's words seemed to be meant for Ferguson. At first, Manchester United was hesitant about whether to buy out Tevez at a high price and was slow to express its attitude. This annoyed the Argentine. At the last moment, when the Red Devils agreed to pay the buyout amount, Tevez
Weiss has decided to leave the team, which makes
Manchester City picked up a big bargain. So far this season, Tevez has become Manchester City's weapon to attack the city. He has scored 9 goals in the league, but Manchester United has never found Rooney's ideal partner, Berbatov and Owen.
The performance cannot be said to be completely satisfactory.
Talking about the postponement of the game with Manchester United due to heavy snow, Mancini expressed regret. "Everyone feels very sorry for the postponement, but we encountered rare weather conditions. Although we made every effort to make the stadium turf condition bearable for the game,
But we need to consider the safety of fans traveling, especially when there is a low temperature warning for Wednesday night. In the end, those who participated in the discussion believed that it would be too dangerous to play as usual."
"I have a lot of respect for Ferguson because he won so many trophies, but we wanted to beat him and we didn't go out there to make him feel good."
There is a banner in the Stretford Stand at Old Trafford noting how many years have passed since Manchester City last won a title. The current number is 33 to 34 years, which is a reference to their city rivals.
Mockery, but Mancini said City would soon tear down the banner and United's reign would be over.
"When we go to Old Trafford we will take that banner down! This is the last year it will be up there, for sure."
"All the fans think about the derby, but the big clubs think big and think about trophies. The League Cup semi-finals are very important. If we win, we can go to Wembley. We think about trophies and trophies."
Premier League."
When Li Yu was asked by the media what he thought of the head coach of his rival in the same city, he said this: "The strong don't need to say anything at all, only the weak will chatter!"
The media published this passage as it is on the headlines of the sports section. Everyone knows who is the strong and who is the weak.
But what surprised everyone was that this incident was both a beginning and an end. The two parties involved never came forward to express anything to the media.
Li Yu stood up to speak for Manchester United and won the support of all Manchester United fans. This is the star of Manchester United, who is domineering and confident! [
In fact, these are some stunts deliberately created by the media during the period when there is no competition in the snowy UK.
In the latest round of the league, almost all games had to be postponed due to weather issues.
But Manchester United received news from Birmingham on the previous day that Manchester United's away game against Birmingham could go ahead as scheduled.
Manchester United's away trip this time was a little rushed. Apart from Manchester United's game, only Arsenal's game against Everton could go on normally.
On the day of the game, snowflakes were already falling in the sky in Birmingham, but compared with other places, the snowfall seemed insignificant. There was no snow on Birmingham's home stadium, St. Andrews Stadium.
Although there is no snow, it is definitely slippery. When the Manchester United players were in the locker room, they were asked to replace the long-spin players that the club had already arranged for training on the field.
In this game, Manchester United's formation once again had a huge game, 4-5-1!
That 1 is Li Yu!
Li Yu, who returns to the front line, will shoulder the important task of attacking Manchester United.
The last time Birmingham defeated Manchester United was on November 11, 1978. The Red Devils suffered a 1-5 away defeat. However, in the 22 games since then in the past 32 years, Manchester United has remained unbeaten with 16 wins and 6 draws. The two sides have met in 11 Premier League games.
9 wins, 2 draws
The momentum is obvious. In the 99 historical encounters between the two sides, Manchester United has 47 wins, 27 draws and 25 losses. Ferguson rotates 7 players, Brown continues to partner with Evans as central defender, Rafael, Valencia, Park Ji-sung, Carrick, Fletcher, Si
Coles and Evra started.
Many matches in this round were postponed due to weather reasons, but this match went on as scheduled, with the local temperature in Birmingham being only minus 2 degrees.
In such a cold weather, all the players were covered very tightly, especially the players on the bench. They were well-dressed in warm clothes, and they also had to put another one on their legs, so they were wrapped tightly.
The number of players on the field was much thinner, and many players wore neck braces to keep warm. Li Yu kept moving her body while waiting for the opening whistle.
The whistle blew and the game started. In the 3rd minute, Valencia took a corner kick. Evans' header was blocked by Ridgewell. Then Valencia broke into the penalty area and passed back on the right side but was blocked. Fletcher
The shot from 12 yards on the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Barry Ferguson.
There were several consecutive shots. Although Li Yu was not directly involved, the role played by Manchester United's No. 9 was obvious to all. Birmingham's defensive attention was all attracted by Li Yu, which gave the midfielder more space.
and opportunities.
In fact, as the Premier League teams attach great importance to Li Yu's offensive threat, what Li Yu has to face if he wants to score goals is not the defense of one player. In many cases, two or even three players are involved.
It is still very difficult for Li Yu to defend and score goals. Li Yu must keep moving to find openings and opportunities. Otherwise, it will not be easy to find opportunities amid the intensive targeting of defensive players.
Li Yu is also used to this kind of differentiated treatment. Whether it is a strong team or a weak team, they are surprisingly consistent in dealing with Li Yu.
Manchester United's No. 9 is constantly running, looking for opportunities.
In the 15th minute, Manchester United got a corner kick, which was their second corner kick of the game. Li Yu's judgment on the placement is recognized as the best in the Manchester United team. Other players were taking the corner kick.
When playing, there will always be some hints about a certain point or player, whether it is eyes or actions, there will be more or less.
However, Manchester United's corner kick did not have any similar action at all. Guess it, Birmingham players!
When Valencia set up the football and stepped back to prepare for the free throw, Li Yu still stayed in the circle.
But when Valencia started to run up, Li Yu also moved. He first made a sprinting posture to go forward, which made Birmingham's defenders mistakenly think that he was going to grab the front spot, and ran forward with him.
.In this way, flaws and gaps appeared in the originally heavily besieged encirclement.[
Li Yu suddenly braked and ran backwards, successfully escaping from the encirclement.
Then he moved backwards and backward.
At the same time, the football also flew over.
When breaking away from the tight siege, Li Yu had already determined where the football would land.
The football's arc was very high, but its speed was not slow, and it fell quickly.
Li Yu jumped up while running back and faced the football head-on.
At this time, there was no Birmingham defensive player around him. They were all deceived by Manchester United's No. 9's fake move. When they reacted, they turned around and saw only Li Yuteng's figure in the air.
Li Yu spread his arms in the air to maintain balance, then exerted force on his waist and abdomen, thrust his head forward, and saw a powerful header!
Just when everyone's hearts were in their throats, Birmingham goalkeeper Hart appeared in the right position. The goalkeeper used his legs to almost block the football from the goal line.
There was a loud roar in the stands.
it's all over……
The shocked Birmingham fans soon saw Scholes in the crowd sweep the football away from him as Hart pounced on it.
The ball went in!
The football flew into the net!
Scoring a goal looks so easy!
"goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool! Veteran Scholes' goal. The Manchester United veteran should really thank Li Yu for the header just now. In fact, the header should have been scored, but now he just changed the name of the scorer.
I believe that at least half of the cheers from Manchester United fans at this time are for Manchester United No. 9!"
"Manchester United took a one-goal lead in the away game. This was definitely a good first half!"
All opponents know that letting Manchester United take the lead means that the opponent must be more careful!
Birmingham has no other choice. If you lose one, you will lose. If you lose several, you will lose. It would be better to attack one!
Birmingham, who came in very strong, immediately launched a fierce attack. Originally, such slippery field conditions were more suitable for a weak team with relatively weak technology and relatively strong body.
No one expected that in such a cold weather, the players from the two teams not only did not warm up slowly, but immediately became passionate, going back and forth, and the scene was quite interesting.
After that header, Li Yu was even more closely guarded by his opponents. He clearly heard the Birmingham coach scolding the defenders loudly. There are few Premier League coaches except Wenger who don't know how to curse!
Manchester United almost broke the deadlock again in the 24th minute. Valencia passed the ball to the right side of the penalty area. Li Yu, who succeeded in countering offside, shot a single shot from the upper right corner of the penalty area but was blocked by Joe Hart decisively.
Li Yu's single goal failed to score. Counting the header just now, it was already his second attack on goal. Both were successfully saved by Hart. Li Yu couldn't help but take a look at the equally young Birmingham goalkeeper in front of him.
He also knew that the young man's team should be Manchester City, and he was only on loan from Birmingham. Seeing Hart's excitement after the successful save, Li Yu was determined to break this goal.
This is actually a psychological problem. When you pay enough attention to a player, if you cannot establish your confidence for the first time, you will be somewhat affected when you face each other again in the future, especially the contradiction between the goalkeeper and the forward.
Relationship, if you have the idea of scoring a goal, you must do it without giving your opponent confidence.
In the 31st minute, McFadden fouled Scholes in front of the penalty area. Valencia's free kick from 25 yards was blocked, and Li Yu's follow-up shot was also blocked.
Manchester United's No. 9 has a strong goalkeeper goal today. This is what everyone sees. Although he did not score a goal, Ferguson still applauded to express his affirmation for Li Yu.
And the old man also believes that the reason why Li Yu has such continuous opportunities to shoot and score sooner or later is not because the old Scottish man blindly believes in his players, but because Li Yu's desire to score goals is already unstoppable.
