The match has been going on for 15 minutes.
These were perhaps the most painful 15 minutes the Leeds United players experienced on the pitch, as their passes barely crossed the halfway line.
After the match started, Manchester United displayed a strong pressing style at home. Ferguson seemed to have studied Leeds United's tactics from last season, and Manchester United started by playing a high-pressing game.
For Leeds United, the main outlet for the ball is Modric; he is the brain of the entire Leeds United team.
It seems that Ferguson has a very clear understanding of Leeds United's approach.
Therefore, whenever Modric received the ball, Scholes and Rooney would immediately close in, using their physical advantages to establish a tight defense against him. At the same time, the experienced Keane would roam around Deisler like a ghost, always ready to pounce.
Several times, Modric was forced to make hasty passes due to aggressive pressing from the opposition, but these passes often lacked accuracy and power, resulting in them being intercepted midway by the quick-thinking Keane. As a result, Leeds United struggled to mount any truly threatening attacks, and the game became increasingly deadlocked.
"Oh dear, the ball has been intercepted again. Leeds United is in danger if this continues!" Su Tao said. "Modric passed the ball while being double-teamed, but Deisler was intercepted by Keane as soon as he received the ball. Manchester United immediately launched a counter-attack, and Keane passed the ball to Giggs on the left wing."
"Brilliant! Before Milner and Mascherano could encircle him, Giggs made a sudden change of direction, slipping between them. Now, there's a clear path ahead of him!"
After dribbling past two players, Giggs suddenly accelerated, carrying the ball towards the penalty area. Silva, seeing Giggs about to break into the penalty area, had to come over to cover. But when he was about 2 or 3 meters away from Giggs, the experienced Welsh veteran directly passed the ball across to the middle, where Van Nistelrooy was waiting for his pass.
Inside the penalty area, Van Nistelrooy, preparing to receive the ball, was closely marked by Kompany, while Chiellini roamed around Rooney. Just when everyone thought that Van Nistelrooy would have a hard time getting the ball due to Kompany's interference, the Dutchman turned sharply the instant he was about to receive the ball, letting it slip to the far post. Cristiano Ronaldo, who was already waiting unmarked at the far post, unleashed a beautiful volley, making the score 1-0.
This goal infuriated Li Shiguang, who had been directing from the sidelines. He couldn't help but yell at Ribery, who was frustrated because he knew his mistake had led to the goal: "Frank, what are you doing! Keep a close eye on that Portuguese guy, okay?"
Although Li Shiguang had made as many preparations as possible for this match, the ball is round after all, and even with a system, he couldn't predict everything that would happen on the field in advance.
Ten minutes later, Ronaldo broke through on the right wing. After being beaten, Ribery had no choice but to commit a foul, which not only earned him a yellow card but also gave Manchester United a free kick about 23 meters from the goal.
Then, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in excellent form today, scored a perfect dipping shot, once again beating Kasper Schmeichel.
Just 25 minutes into the game, Manchester United took a 2-0 lead over Leeds United at home.
Seeing Manchester United score another goal, Erre Geddy, who was commentating in the studio today, held his head in his hands and cried out in anguish: "Oh no! Ribery is in terrible form today. Leeds United are too passive now. They can't organize any effective attacks. They have to attack when they are two goals down. Let's see how Ribery will adjust!"
After Ronaldo scored that goal, Li Shiguang could already see on the system panel that Ribery's performance had changed from normal to poor. He knew that these two mistakes had led to the team conceding goals and had affected Ribery's confidence.
Looking at the system panel, Li Shiguang was considering whether or not to replace Ribery.
However, Li Shiguang knew that substituting Ribery at this point would further damage his confidence, and it might take many more games to rebuild it, which would undoubtedly be detrimental to the player's development.
Moreover, seeing Ronaldo celebrating wildly right now, having already scored twice in the first 25 minutes, he is riding high on his morale. Even if I were to bring on another player, I wouldn't dare say I could definitely stop him!
Thinking of this, before the game started, Li Shiguang quickly signaled Milner to come over.
As Milner ran up to Li Shiguang, he heard his coach say, "James, for the next 25 minutes, you and Frank will drop back to the defensive line. You two don't need to push into midfield anymore. Also, have Vardy come back to the midfield area to participate more in defense. We'll park the bus in our own half and, if there's an opportunity, launch long balls forward to Falcao. Manchester United's morale is high right now, so we need to take a break and let everyone focus. We'll make adjustments at halftime."
Milner glanced at Li Shiguang in surprise upon hearing his words.
The team was already two goals down, and everyone could see that both goals were Ribery's mistakes. Milner thought Li Shiguang was going to substitute Ribery, but his coach didn't even mention substitutions.
However, after more than a year of working together, Milner had developed a habit of unconditionally trusting Li Shiguang, so he hurriedly ran back to call his teammates to take their positions according to Li Shiguang's arrangement.
Watching the scene on TV where Li Shiguang and Milner were talking.
Su Tao said, "We saw Li Shiguang call Milner to the sidelines to give him instructions. It seems like he's preparing to make a substitution. Leeds United are now two goals down and need to make adjustments!"
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