The next week, Manchester United will travel to London to face Fulham!
Before the game, even though it was an away game, Manchester United was unanimously favored by everyone and returned home with three points.
Ferguson thought he might have underestimated his opponent, and the away game against Fulham ended in a 2:2 draw!
Not only Ferguson, but all the players on the field admitted after the game that Fulham was far better prepared than they were, and Manchester United's carelessness turned three points into one.
You can choose to accept all of these reasons or not.
Li Yu admitted after the game that this was a mistake. Everyone in the team was a little lax. He himself included. He did not expect that the game would be so difficult. He was not 100% prepared for the game. Getting one point was already quite a lot.
That's right, I will try my best in the next game and never let the mistake happen again.
On the other hand, Manchester United's competitors, Chelsea, were also away from home, but they scored 6:0 and bloodbathed Wigan Athletic.
Arsenal also taught newly promoted Blackpool a good lesson at home, another 6:0!
The unexpected loss of points in the second round was a lesson for Manchester United.
Back at home in the third round, Manchester United did not make any more mistakes, especially Li Yu, who kept his word and West Ham United became the unlucky guy, 4:0!
The second 4:0 at Old Trafford in the new season!
Li Yu scored two goals again. Rooney did not play due to muscle fatigue. Nani's burst made up for Rooney's absence. He scored one goal and one assist to help Manchester United win a big victory at home. The icing on the cake was the veteran Skoll's last goal.
Si scored.
In two rounds of games, Li Yu scored four goals. The ultra-high goal efficiency in the World Cup continues. Every year, every giant team will always target one person, and he is Glenn Thompson, the maker of the Premier League schedule.
Glenn Thompson was unintentional. He is Ferguson's natural enemy. In the past 18 years, Ferguson has often vented his anger at the organizers of the Premier League schedule. Thompson is this person. He has not heard from the four giants this season.
The coach scolded him, but Scudamore wanted to applaud him first. The first few rounds of strong versus weak, strong and weak matches were extremely eye-catching and exciting, and he inadvertently took the lead in setting off a wave in the five major leagues*
*.
In the opening game, two old enemies, Tottenham and Manchester City, met on a narrow road and staged a very meaningful draw, which already gave the new season a perfect start. In the first round, there was also a clash between Chelsea and newly promoted West Brom, a massacre.
Heavy rain was coming, and Arsenal and Liverpool met in Anfield in the finale, which ended happily 1-1. In the second round, the Red Army visited Manchester City non-stop, and it was another duel between old and new nobles. Wigan, Blackpool, and Newcastle United had
Clubs that are likely to be relegated have all encountered strong opponents, three 6-0s, dark horses and massacres.
In the third round, Tottenham met Wigan, who were bloodbathed 9-1 last season, at White Hart Lane to discuss the matter. After entering September, the two upstarts Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea will fight against each other, with one game in each round.
Games that suffocated the fans came one after another. The chaos among the heroes was certainly the fundamental reason for the exciting schedule in every round, but Thompson naturally also contributed a lot.
But Thompson did not do it intentionally. The complicated procedures of the Premier League schedule are beyond his control. The biggest principle is to stagger local teams. For example, Liverpool and Everton will not schedule home games at the same time. Other parameters include
In order to shorten the fan's travel schedule as much as possible on Christmas Day, some clubs have special requirements due to geographical reasons, etc., the parameters are input into one of his computer programs, and then a series of schedules are released.
That's not the end of it, Thompson's job is overseen by a regulatory panel, making it difficult to cheat.
After review, the last step still needs to be approved by the police departments of each city. After these procedures, the new season schedule will be announced to the public. Thompson commented on Ferguson’s complaints over the years, saying that he has become “accustomed to it”. What makes him feel most unjust is
What is true is that most of the complaints from wealthy clubs are caused by conflicts in the Champions League schedule, but long before UEFA confirms the group stage opponents and home and away games, the Premier League schedule has been released, so strictly speaking, even if Thompson wants to "do it"
Manchester United or Chelsea are both very difficult.
After three rounds of league games, Manchester United, the Red Devils who aim to overthrow Chelsea's defending Premier League champions in the new season, have accumulated 7 points with 2 wins and 1 draw, temporarily ranking third in the standings.
However, the new season brings surprises to all Manchester United people, not the new players led by Hernandez. On the contrary, the explosion of veteran Scholes is beyond everyone's expectation. Accurate long pass
, sharp through ball, Scholes, who is one year older in the new season, seems to be "possessed by Zidane". But the 35-year-old Scholes can only be regarded as an "extra gift" after all, the new
This season, the Red Devils have made an all-out attack on all four lines, and it is obvious that they cannot rely on the performance of this "ginger head" every game.
Putting aside the offensive end led by Li Yu, Manchester United's midfield and backfield are actually the most worrying, especially the configuration of the midfield, which has always been strong in offense and weak in defense. Last season's defense problems were suddenly exposed.
After the game came out, many experts were saying that it was not so much that Manchester United's defensive level had dropped, but that it was Manchester United's midfield defense that was not good.
In fact, when looking at Manchester United's first-line lineup, it is not difficult to find a familiar but long-lost name: Mr. Hargreaves, the 17-million-pound man. However, this former England international has not
He almost never appeared on the court again. Although he made a brief appearance for 30 seconds at the end of last season, it was just a familiar appearance at best.
In fact, towards the end of last season, the 29-year-old midfielder once started training with the first team. Unfortunately, during pre-season training this summer, Hargreaves' knee injury recurred again and he was dismissed by the head coach.
Ferguson was sent back to expert Richard Sterman in Colorado, USA, for another "overhaul".
"I have a big question now, whether to keep a place in the 25-man league roster for Hargreaves." Ferguson said helplessly. Another injury cast a shadow on the career of the former Bayern Munich star.
, having used up the golden years of his career in the past two years without getting better, perhaps what awaits Hargreaves will eventually be the end of retiring young.
Unlike Hargreaves, another midfielder, Anderson, has returned from injury, but after nearly half a year on the bed, it is doubtful whether he can return to form as soon as possible and adapt to the rhythm of the league.
"It must be realized that he has been away from the game for too long. He has just started recovery training this Wednesday. Although Anderson's fighting spirit and fighting spirit are very high, I have to further pay close attention to his status."
Regarding the current situation of the Brazilian player, Ferguson said that he is still not optimistic. Carrick is completely different from the above two people. The former English footballer has slipped in the last season's Champions League knockout match with Bayern.
After the local "amateur" slipped, he was completely relegated to the sidelines by head coach Ferguson. Later, he was abandoned by Capello for this summer's World Cup. It can be said that Carrick has now reached the lowest point of his career.
.
One has a long way to go to come back from a serious injury; one is in a sluggish state after recovering from a serious injury; and another is simply regarded as useless. In the position of the defensive midfielder, Ferguson has lost three effective players in the blink of an eye, giving Manchester United a lot of opportunities to attack on the fourth line in the new season.
Covered with a layer of fog.
Fortunately, the door to the transfer market is still closed in a few days, and Sir Alex still has time to strengthen the team's midfield.
According to news from the Netherlands, the "Daily Mail" also confirmed that in desperation, Ferguson once again thought of the new star he had once been optimistic about, the talented midfielder Stephen Defo from Standard Liege in Belgium. The 22-year-old Defo had played in the
He suffered a serious injury last season and was away from the game for half a year. However, during the period when he was most depressed while recuperating from his injury, Telford was able to get back on his feet precisely because he received a letter of encouragement from Ferguson.
"Daily Mail" also said that because they failed to stand out in the Europa League qualifying rounds, Standard Liege had to sell the star player to maintain the club's operations, but the price higher than 12 million pounds will be a constraint.
The biggest factor for a "Scholes successor" to join Old Trafford.
Not to mention whether Manchester United can complete the final transfer in the transfer window, the draw for the Champions League group stage has been announced in advance.
Ferguson saw with his own eyes that Manchester United were drawn out of the top draw in Monaco.
Manchester United faced La Liga third place Valencia, Scottish Premier League champions Glasgow Rangers and Turkish Premier League champions Bursaspor in the Champions League group stage draw. Both Manchester United CEO David Gill and Manchester United coach Ferguson expressed satisfaction with the result. Objectively
In other words, Manchester United is obviously the strongest in this group. It should be said that it is not difficult for the Red Devils to successfully qualify or even win the first place in the group.
Among these three teams, the one that may pose the greatest threat to Manchester United is probably Valencia. However, Valencia sold its two signature stars David Villa and David Silva this summer.
, In addition, the Bat Army also sold Zigic and Marchena, and only introduced Soldado, Tino Costa, Ricardo Costa, Del Horno, Topal and Aduris, etc.
People's strength has dropped significantly.
In the history of the European war, Manchester United and Valencia have played against each other 6 times before. Manchester United has 1 win, 4 draws and 1 loss. In the 1982-83 season, in the first round of the UEFA Cup, Manchester United drew 0-0 at home with Valencia and 1 away game.
-2 loss to the opponent, with a total score of 1-2 in the two rounds and the opponent was eliminated; in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 1999-00 season, Manchester United defeated Valencia 3-0 at home and drew 0-0 away from the opponent; in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 2000-01 season
In the match, Manchester United was 1-1 at home and 0-0 away from home, and both drew with their opponents in both rounds. Judging from the past historical confrontation records, Manchester United did not suffer in the encounter with the Bat Legion. But now Valencia's strength has declined, and for
This is a good opportunity for Manchester United.
Manchester United's other opponent in the group stage is Glasgow Rangers, a place where Ferguson once struggled as a player.
In the 1967-69 season, Ferguson represented Glasgow Rangers in the league and scored 25 goals in 41 games, which was very efficient. However, the 1969 Scottish Cup final changed Ferguson's fate with the Rangers. Glasgow Rangers suffered a 0-4 defeat.
Celtic massacred. Ferguson was accused of being responsible for one of the goals conceded after the game, and was demoted to the youth team by the angry Rangers senior management. Later, Ferguson left the team angrily and switched to Falkirk.
It’s impossible to say that Ferguson and Rangers had a quarrel over this, but one fact is that after Ferguson became coach, he led Aberdeen to win the league championship, breaking the 15-year-old rivalry between Rangers and Celtic for the league title.
Years of dominance. Although you are the hegemon of the Scottish Premiership, the level of the Scottish Premiership has dropped a lot in recent years. Moreover, the Rangers only poached Weis and striker Beatty from the Premier League this summer, and their strength has not been greatly improved.
Enhancement. In the history of the Champions League, Manchester United was paired with Rangers in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the 2003-04 season. As a result, Manchester United won 3-0 at home and 1-0 away from home, a double win at home and away.
The last opponent is Bursaspor, the "mysterious team" from Turkey. This little-known team won the Turkish Super League championship and the Turkish Super Cup last season.
The vast majority of Bursaspor players are Turkish. The team has 4 Argentine foreign players, 2 Serbian foreign players, and one Bulgarian and Romanian foreign player. Although Manchester United had a 6-2 home victory against the Turkish giants in the Champions League group stage,
Nebahce's record, but in last season's Champions League group stage, Manchester United lost 0-1 at home to Turkey's other giant Besiktas. Therefore, this time they met the more mysterious Bursa
Sports, the Red Devils have to be very careful.
For Manchester United, it would be the best thing if they could secure first place in the Champions League group as soon as possible.
By analyzing the schedule, we know that after Manchester United finishes playing in the Champions League, the next three games will be very difficult.
On September 14th, in the first round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester United faced Glasgow Rangers at home. Five days after this game, Manchester United will face the powerful rival Liverpool at home in the Premier League; on September 29, the second round of the Champions League group stage
After returning from the away challenge to Valencia, Manchester United will return home non-stop to prepare for the league away challenge to Sunderland three days later. Two consecutive away games, you can imagine the difficulty.
On December 7, in the sixth round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester United will face Valencia at home. Four days later, Manchester United will face Arsenal at home in the Premier League. On the 18th, Manchester United will challenge away in the Premier League.
Chelsea, these three games are crucial to Manchester United's journey throughout the season, and if they want to play these focus games well, Manchester United must strive to lock in the top spot in the group before facing Valencia at home.
Location.
The Champions League group stage draw has been announced. Among the top three in the Premier League, Chelsea's draw is relatively unfavorable. Ancelotti's Blues may face a relatively severe test in recent years.
After Valencia was placed in Manchester United's group, Real Madrid was definitely placed in one of the four groups e-h according to the match day television broadcast rules stipulated in the draw.
However, England legend Lineker helped the English team avoid the "Galactic Fleet".
However, Chelsea did not encounter a "soft persimmon". The emergence of Marseille still forced the Blues to be careful. As one of the three giants in Ligue 1 (the other two giants are Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain), Marseille is
Last season's Ligue 1 title was their first since being relegated in 1993 due to a bribery scandal involving the club's president.
In recent years, Marseille has been a frequent visitor to the Champions League. In the last three seasons, Marseille has participated in the Champions League and reached the top 16 in the 2008-2009 season. Last season, Marseille was in the same group as Real Madrid and AC Milan.
, but failed to qualify. Since the Champions League was restructured into its current format, Marseille has participated in a total of 4 group matches, 2 of which reached the knockout stage, and in the other two times, the team also achieved 2 wins and 1 draw.
His achievements and strength cannot be underestimated.
In this group, Chelsea has more than one opponent: Marseille. Spartak Moscow is another tough nut to crack.
For the major European clubs, the last thing they want to encounter in the Champions League is a Russian team - which means they have to fight in ice and snow. Moreover, due to the cold climate in Russia, the stadiums there use
All are artificial turf.
In 2007, the England team fell on the artificial turf in Moscow. They lost to the Russian team in an away game and failed to enter the 2008 European Cup finals. For an older team like Chelsea, the weather
It is unknown whether the competition venue and the competition venue will bring additional consumption to them.
In Chelsea's group, the fourth-tier Slovak Zilina team can be said to be a "mysterious team." In this Champions League qualifying play-off, Slovakia was eliminated 2-0 at home and 1-0 away from home.
Sparta Prague. The result of not conceding a goal in two games is enough to illustrate their strength. Previously, Zilina had never participated in the Champions League group stage. Although its strength is difficult to pose a threat to Chelsea, if it is underestimated
They, the Blue Army, are very likely to capsize in the ditch.
The relatively average strength of the group opponents is not the only difficulty Chelsea encounters. According to the schedule, Chelsea's Champions League group stage will last until December 8 at the latest, and during this period, Chelsea will encounter five league title opponents.
4 (except Manchester United). What is even more unfavorable is that on September 25th and October 3rd, Chelsea will face Manchester City and Arsenal in the league. In the middle of these two games, there will be a Champions League game.
In addition, on November 7, Chelsea will also play an away game against Liverpool after playing a Champions League game. The difficulty of the schedule can be imagined.
For Chelsea players, it is becoming more and more difficult to fight on two fronts. Lampard, Drogba, Malouda, and Anelka are all over 30, and Terry will soon
He is about to enter his thirties. This week, Malouda said in an interview: "I am already thirty, and I know that a player's career is short. In Europe, no team is stronger than Chelsea. I
The goal is to win the Champions League." Kalou also said at the beginning of the season that because the team's main players are getting older day by day, "this season will be the Blues' last chance to win the Champions League title."
Of course, winning the "Big Ears Cup" ultimately depends on performance in the knockout stages. It can be expected that Chelsea will not encounter too much trouble in the group stage, and qualifying will never be a big problem.
For the Blues, due to the age of the team and the downsizing this season, in the first half of the season, the less consumption the better. Otherwise, like in the 2006-07 season, they will be unable to bear it at the last moment and compete for the four championships.
slogan, but in the end it fell short and only won two insignificant cup championships. The tragedy is not impossible to repeat.
