Chapter 220: Facing the Hammer, the first game of the return league!

September 28, the day after the third round of the League Cup, at Carrington training base.

Manchester United players are undergoing recovery training. In fact, the frequency of high-intensity training of Premier League teams will drop a lot after entering the competition period.

After all, in order to increase the commercial value of the league, the Premier League has the tightest schedule among the five major leagues, and there is no winter break for players to rest, so teams must pay attention to player injuries.

Especially around Christmas and the winter transfer window, every team will basically encounter a wave of injuries.

For example, if Arsenal had not been plagued by injuries, they would have won more than 20 English Premier League titles.

As for the Champions League title, there is still no sign of it until now.

In fact, Chu Feng felt that with Manchester United's current bench depth, it was barely enough to fight on three fronts, but if the FA Cup was added, it would probably be a challenge.

Therefore, Mourinho must buy more players in the winter window.

Fortunately, Chu Feng doesn’t have to worry about injuries. After this period of research, he found that his appetite has increased significantly.

This is due to the increase in training volume and the need to repair injuries.

When the morning training task was over, Chu Feng was the only one left on the training ground, and the Manchester United players gathered in a group on the sidelines.

"Chu is simply an animal. This amount of training makes my knees sore!"

Mahrez wiped the sweat from his forehead.

After coming to Manchester United, he has experienced the pain and joy of internal competition. After all, his teammates are training frantically every day, you can't just remain indifferent, right?

Pogba nodded: "I am sincerely happy for Chu to win the UEFA Best Player award."

Although what he said might be a bit exaggerated, he really didn't have much jealousy in his heart.

The main reason is that he and Chu Feng have a pretty good relationship, especially since Chu Feng often takes care of his changing emotions.

In fact, Pogba is like a naughty elementary school student who likes to tease his colleagues and make some irrelevant jokes.

A very typical histrionic personality.

If the locker room atmosphere is united and orderly, then he is the happy pill that can liven up the team atmosphere.

And once there is a problem in the locker room, he will be a bombshell that will explode.

This has been verified before.

Since Ibrahimovic left Manchester United, Chu Feng has become the bond between Mourinho and Manchester United players, keeping the relationship between the two sides as stable as possible.

Fortunately, Mourinho has gradually begun to change.

He still pursues authority, obedience and order, but has learned to change the way he communicates.

Just like Sir Alex Ferguson said before.

When a player who reaches the pinnacle through self-discipline appears, the whole team will be united as one. This is the situation in the Manchester United locker room at present.

And as long as Chu Feng can keep persisting, his status in the hearts of Manchester United players will only get higher and higher.

A day passes in a flash. It is 12:30 local time in the UK, which is 20:30 China time.

The seventh round of the Premier League has arrived as scheduled.

Taking into account the significant increase in ratings in China, the English Football Association deliberately adjusted Manchester United's schedule to make it easier for Chinese fans to watch.

In fact, this is also the reason why the Premier League is becoming more and more popular in the country.

Manchester United players came to London again, and their opponent this round is West Ham United.

Before the start of this season, West Ham United and Fulham vowed to change the Premier League landscape.

The former spent nearly 100 million euros to introduce seven new players, while the latter spent 1.17 million euros to buy 12 players.

Unfortunately, the waters of the Premier League are very complicated, and the two teams could not grasp the situation at all. They suffered four consecutive defeats at the start and ranked in the bottom two of the standings.

Not to mention breaking the pattern, we are afraid that we will become brothers in distress on the road to relegation.

Fortunately, West Ham United gradually regained its form, defeating Everton 3-1 and drawing 0-0 with Chelsea.

Therefore, West Ham United players attach great importance to this game.

Since Tottenham can beat Manchester United, they can do the same and are determined to get their second win of the season.

And West Ham United changed its head coach this season.

He is Pellegrini, who was dismissed from China Fortune Land Development in an embarrassing manner. He was nicknamed "Engineer" because he has a certificate in civil engineering.

He had previously led Manchester City to win the first Premier League title in team history.

By the way, Pellegrini took over the job from his best friend.

However, despite the team's strong strength and the presence of outstanding players such as Maschignano, Lavezzi, Gervinho, etc., the team only achieved 4 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses and 15 points in 11 league games.

That's why Pellegrini was temporarily fired.

Moreover, since the country conducted a strict investigation into the Football Association and the Chinese Super League, unprecedented corruption in the football world was discovered. Tiezi Ge was taken away for investigation while he was working at Zall.

It didn't take long for shocking news to come out.

Pellegrini has regained his form since returning to the Premier League and completed eight important signings.

These include Wilshere, Lucas, Fabianski and others. To put it bluntly, they have become Arsenal's second team.

It’s just that the little threat was born with a body prone to injuries, and he started recovering from his injuries right after joining the team.

After entering the London Stadium, the two sides met during the warm-up phase and briefly greeted each other.

"haven't seen you for a long time!"

Chu Feng waved towards Fabianski. He was very impressed with Fabianski because that was the first goalkeeper he dribbled past with a pendulum in the league.

But Fabianski ignored it.

I have transferred from Swansea to West Ham United, I can't be abused by Chu Feng, right? You know, there are Zabaleta and Rice in front of him, the former is Manchester City's championship hero, and the latter is the future star of the Premier League.

Chu Feng didn't care. He looked up at the sky. Today in London, the weather turned from sunny to cloudy. It was good news that he wouldn't be exposed to the sun.

After a simple warm-up, players from both teams returned to the locker room.

Mourinho repeated the tactical requirements, "Because West Ham United is accustomed to using a single defensive midfielder, Rashford and Mahrez, you need to frequently move inward to surround Rice and pull out the opponent's defense line!"

"At the same time, the two full-backs quickly run forward, and the forwards charge into the penalty area, forming a multi-point outflanking!"

"Chu, your mission is quite complicated. You can decide whether to push forward or retreat based on the situation."

Chu Feng nodded to show that he understood.

Recently Mourinho is accustomed to giving him more tactical freedom to allow him to better display his personal abilities.

Based on Mourinho's previous character, he basically would not give players similar privileges.

This shows how much he trusts Chu Feng.

In fact, Mourinho has another idea.

That is, after a long period of reviewing games, Chu Feng has developed an excellent ability to read games and can always make correct judgments based on his consciousness.

If Chu Feng is restricted by rules and regulations, it will instead erode the player's spirituality.

Soon the players from both teams returned to the player tunnel. Rice stared at the armband on Chu Feng's arm. The gap between the two had unknowingly become so big.

But he will not lose confidence in himself!

He will continue to work hard to catch up with Chu Feng as soon as possible. At the same time, he firmly believes that sooner or later he will be worth over 100 million and become a legend of West Ham United.

"Good evening, audience friends!"

"Now we are broadcasting the 7th round of the 2018-19 Premier League!"

"West Ham United vs Manchester United!"

"Both teams have already chosen their sides. Let's take a look at the starting lineups for both teams. The team wearing the crimson jerseys is West Ham United. They lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Goalkeeper:."

"West Ham United used this lineup in the last round and tied Chelsea with dense defense in the backcourt. Goalkeeper Fabianski made several great saves!"

"Let's take a look at Manchester United's starting lineup. Mourinho still chose 4-3-3. Goalkeeper:"

"Maguire and Bailly have proven their defensive abilities and I think they are one of the top three partnerships in the Premier League."

"Since two veteran players, Ashley Young and Valencia, did not play, Xiao Chu still served as the captain of this game."

"It can be seen that since Lukaku wasted several opportunities, Mourinho rarely puts him in the starting lineup. I guess Lukaku is losing weight crazily recently!"

Zhan Jun and Zhang Lu briefly analyzed the lineups of both teams, and then inserted a commercial.

[The knife is great, it can still run even without power! ]

Soon the scene cut back to the London Stadium.

Beep! With the referee's whistle, the game officially began! Manchester United did not launch an offensive after the kick-off, but passed the ball back and forth in the midfield to get the players into the game as soon as possible.

As for West Ham United, they took the initiative to compress their defense line and built a dense defense in the middle.

Rice followed Chu Feng closely, determined not to give Chu Feng any chance to receive the ball and to use the simplest method to freeze Manchester United's offensive explosive point.

Pellegrini has also made targeted arrangements for this.

The two wingers return deep to participate in the defense and block the passing lines.

Even if Manchester United wants to create space and seek opportunities through passing, West Ham United will try to disrupt the passing with the thickness of its defense.

To put it simply, the back line and the midfield and front court are divided into two lines.

When Manchester United passes the ball to the middle, the defense will compress and interfere with the middle from both sides.

When Manchester United passes the ball to the wing, the full-backs and wing midfielders will surround it and increase the distance between the two by occupying the crossing line.

Manchester United did not attack rashly. Instead, they controlled the ball and waited patiently. The 90 minutes of game time was enough for them to squander.

According to Mourinho's arrangement, they concentrated their forces in the heart of West Ham United, intending to confront West Ham United in the middle.

The reason is very simple.

Manchester United has a weapon to break through dense defense!

When Rashford and Mahrez gathered in the middle, Rice felt unprecedented pressure. He was already exhausted just dealing with Chu Feng, not to mention three excellent players who were good at breakthroughs.

The trio formed a sharp chisel, madly attacking the center of West Ham United.

14th minute of the game.

Mahrez dribbled past Felipe, made a wall pass with Chu Feng in the middle, and shot directly from the right side of the penalty area.

The football hit the post and flew out of the bottom line.

West Ham United fans were immediately scared out of their wits. You know what you are good at, and Mourinho knows exactly how to break the bus.

Of course, it also has something to do with Manchester United's front trident.

Pellegrini could only wave his hand to indicate the formation premise and use the entire back line to suppress Manchester United's forward line.

Things have indeed improved a lot.

But he also fell into Mourinho's trap. His initial goal was to create space.

Due to West Ham United's formation, the defensive density on both wings and in the penalty area decreased, and large unmanned areas appeared.

Just a few minutes later.

Manchester United tore through the opponent's defense on the left, and Pogba quickly dribbled the ball to the bottom line.

In order to support his teammates, Zabaleta was too close to the middle, so he was too far behind Pogba and could only rush straight into the penalty area to defend.

At the same time, Manchester United's front trident took action. The tacit cross-running made Rice dazzled. When he realized it belatedly, he was looking for Chu Feng.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

My heart was hanging in the air instantly! Because Chu Feng had already accelerated and rushed into the penalty area without knowing it, and his destination was between the two central defenders of West Ham United!

Pogba's precise pass with his left foot bypassed Balbuena!

Issa was about to kick the ball away when he suddenly heard Rice's voice.

"Watch your left!"

But it takes a certain amount of time for nerves to transmit information. Before he could react, a figure instantly occupied most of his field of vision!

But there was one more person at West Ham United who reacted.

Fabianski kept keeping an eye on Chu Feng and chose to leave without hesitation!

A very standard saving posture, expanding the defensive area to the extreme!

In the eyes of the fans, it was just a matter of a moment, and the distance between the two people was already infinitely close. No one thought that Chu Feng could score the goal.

Because his processing time and space are too small.

But the next second, they changed their minds.

What is dominance on the court?

Absolute control of football + instant thinking + understanding of the opponent. It sounds simple but few people can do it.

Lift your right foot slightly and prepare to shoot directly.

At the moment when Fabianski's center of gravity moved, his right foot paused slightly, and then gently hit the football.

Fabianski's pupils suddenly shrank and he subconsciously reached out to cover his crotch!

But he gave up all his focus and could only watch the football pass through the small door and finally cross the white goal line! Chu Feng ran excitedly to the away stands to celebrate after hearing the referee's whistle.

"Nice through-the-box goal!"

"In such a small space, Xiao Chu was able to perform a fake move. It's like he was equipped with an acceleration gear!"

"Top-notch combination of man and ball, ball sense and physical fitness!"

"Congratulations to Manchester United for scoring the first goal away from home. Mourinho used tactics to pull West Ham United's defense, tearing the defense apart from both wings and then combining the sides and the middle!"

"Among them, the positioning of Manchester United's trident was very clever!"

"Look at this wonderful tactical design. Perhaps Mourinho, who won the Champions League, has regained his amazing talent from ten years ago!"

When Zhan Jun saw Chu Feng score a goal, the corners of his mouth almost cracked to his ears.

Previously, Chu Feng was banned for three games by UEFA, causing his position in the scorer list to drop again and again. Zhan Jun was very worried when he saw it.

Today Chu Feng finally opened his league.

For Manchester United fans, it is naturally something worth celebrating. After all, they are still waiting for Chu Feng to defend the Premier League Golden Boot Award.

At this time, Ibrahimovic, who was in the United States, turned off his mobile phone, changed his equipment and walked out of the locker room.

The smile on his lips was full of relief. The boy who once followed him has grown into a leader who can stand on his own.

He suddenly had an impulse.

It would be better to return to the top five leagues at the end of this season. He wants to experience the feeling of being an opponent of Chu Feng.

With the lead in hand, Manchester United took over the tempo of the game, frequently passing the ball down the field looking for chances and making long passes whenever they had the chance.

The West Ham United players could only run around in a hurry.

Rice felt Chu Feng's suppressive power even more personally. As long as he slacked off even a little, Chu Feng would disappear from his sight.

He shuttled between West Ham United's defense like a ghost.

Mourinho smiled and opened the tactical board on the sidelines. "Chu's positioning is getting richer and richer, and it has become easier for us to make tactics."

"Indeed, just revolve around him."

Faria smacked his lips.

Both wings fly together, combining the sides and the middle, advancing through the middle, defending and counterattacking. This actually requires a very high tactical awareness from the players, but Chu Feng can quickly switch between different roles, just like a veteran who has experienced many battles.

Compared to the Chuzhuang Wang type of center, Chu Feng is definitely more useful.

Lukaku, who was sitting on the bench, felt like crying, as he was clearly the Black and White Devils last season. He even laughed behind Rashford's back about his position being taken away.

Unexpectedly, karma has its own consequences and I have become a victim.

He secretly made up his mind to speed up his weight loss, and if that didn't work, try playing as a right winger. Anyway, as long as he didn't have to compete with Chu Feng, it would be fine.

The game on the field continues.

Pellegrini is the coach of the Premier League championship after all, and he quickly made appropriate adjustments.

Every time Manchester United made a short pass in the middle, they tried to use the players in the middle as a fulcrum to run back and cut in, but they were always interrupted in time by West Ham United players.

It must be said that Hammer's defensive tenacity and concentration are terrifying.

Otherwise, they would not be labeled as robbing the rich to help the poor.

And they intensified the fight against Chu Feng, using multiple people to defend and limit his breakthrough.

Don't hesitate to commit fouls at critical moments.

What’s interesting is that after Chu Feng was fouled tactically, the West Ham United players would help him and give him a very friendly smile.

Chu Feng couldn't help but sigh at the reputation of the human shadow tree, the fight was not in vain.

Near the end of the first half, Manchester United launched a quick counterattack.

West Ham United's front players did not have time to return to defense, resulting in a significant weakening of the depth of the backcourt defense.

Unfortunately, the opponent returned to defense too quickly and Rashford's cross pass was too fast. Chu Feng had no way to adjust his kick and eventually kicked the ball out of the baseline.

After the second half of the game started.

Mourinho also made adjustments. Since ground passing could not open up the situation, he chose to use high-altitude bombing tactics.

However, Manchester United's offense is based on solid defense, so the intensity is not as high as expected.

As time went by, Pellegrini finally couldn't sit still anymore and waved his hand to signal an all-out attack.

This gave Manchester United the opportunity to counterattack.

This is what Mourinho is best at. The dense defense made it difficult for West Ham United to start, and Rice had not developed his offensive ability at this time.

69th minute of the game.

After West Ham United replaced Arnautovic with Lucas, they tried to equalize the score through a corner kick.

But Maguire taught them a lesson, using his strong body to suppress Lucas and heading the ball to the front of the penalty area.

Manchester United's quick counterattack began from here. The simple and neat pass broke through West Ham United's counterattack, and the football landed accurately at Chu Feng's feet.

Five against one in the frontcourt!

Rice was like a trembling little quail, who could only keep retreating to buy space for time.

He really hoped that Chu Feng could be a little more selfish.

Fabianski yelled, “Don’t retreat!”

At the same time, Rice seized the moment when Chu Feng touched the ball and stepped on the grass to intercept!

But Chu Feng selflessly passed the ball to Mahrez who was in a better position on the side, and the latter lived up to Chu Feng's trust and volleyed the ball into the goal!

Mahrez excitedly jumped onto Chu Feng's back and waved to the Manchester United fans who had come from afar.

In fact, he didn't expect Chu Feng to pass the ball, because every forward wants to score a goal himself, but Chu Feng chose to give him the chance.

The polo king was somewhat touched.

He previously thought that Chu Feng was not suitable to be the captain, after all, he was too young and prone to being inconsiderate.

"It's my treat tonight!"

Mahrez said excitedly.

The Manchester United players followed suit and kept slapping the polo king's butt.

After the game resumed, Mourinho replaced two defensive players, which also determined the outcome of the game.

In the end, West Ham United lost 0-2 to Manchester United, and Manchester United took three points away from the London Stadium.

After the game, a sports commentator said: "In general, Manchester United can do better in some details, such as the two full-backs' grasp of the timing of forward insertion, and the lack of support from teammates when Chu broke through the ribs, etc."

"But from the adjustments and offensive tactics, we can see the changes and enrichment of Manchester United. I think after the running-in period at the beginning of the season, Manchester United will become stronger than last season!"

The shadow of Chu Feng’s suspension has dissipated, and Manchester United fans are filled with confidence again.

They began to look forward to the Champions League group stage in October, when Manchester United will travel to Germany to play against Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim has the youngest head coach in Bundesliga history.

Nagelsmann! You know, he is younger than Ronaldo! Bringing Hoffenheim from a relegation team to the Champions League is definitely an opponent that cannot be underestimated. If Manchester United is careless, it is very likely to overturn.

Mourinho attached great importance to this young head coach and began studying his tactics a few days in advance.

Because they were playing away, the Manchester United players boarded a flight to Sinsheim in advance without having a few days' rest.

The second round of the Champions League group stage is about to begin!

(End of this chapter)