Chapter 260 A true leader is mentally prepared when he enters the arena: everyone makes mistakes.

February 2, 2019.

One day before the start of the 25th round of the Premier League, Chu Feng came to the head coach's office and pointed to the gloomy sky outside: "Boss, the weather is very good today."

"If you have anything to say, just say it directly!" Mourinho closed the folder, his face full of helplessness.

In fact, he vaguely guessed the reason why Chu Feng was looking for him: Maguire.

"It was yesterday's recovery training. I felt that Harry was in pretty good shape. I thought we should give him another chance."

Chu Feng simply got straight to the point.

If Maguire is placed on the bench because of this incident, it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on his spirit and state.

In the original world, Karius' career was directly ruined because of those two huge mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final.

Although Maguire's situation is simpler, no one can say how it will develop.

Mourinho raised his eyes slightly and asked with a smile: "Harry made such a low-level mistake, aren't you angry?"

"Boss, there's something I don't know whether I should say or not." Chu Feng didn't wait for Mourinho to interrupt him and continued, "Some people are not real leaders, but try to be leaders. Such people always scold others after they make mistakes."

“But true leaders go into the game with the understanding that everyone makes mistakes.”

"Do you think what I said is right?"

Although Ibrahimovic had told him before he left that as a captain he should not be stingy with criticism and should put enough pressure on his teammates.

But Chu Feng's personality determines that he will never do those things.

So he decided to do it his own way.

That is, when things are not going well, you are the first one to step forward and take responsibility.

"You kid, you even scolded me?" Mourinho pointed at Chu Feng and scolded him with a smile, "But you underestimate me too much, am I such an unreasonable person?"

Although he is extremely strict with his players, he is not inhumane.

On the contrary, compared with other head coaches, he knows how to protect his players better.

For example, yesterday, Mourinho said in an interview with the media: "Some people write and say things that have a very bad influence on my players. Maybe they think the players should be what they think they are."

"But my players are not like that. They work very hard on the court. I can only say that you media people are stupid."

“.”

Anyone familiar with Mourinho would instantly understand that he is using fierce words to attract media attention and protect his disciples from outside public opinion.

He has been using this tactic since he started at Inter Milan.

"Boss, am I not worrying too much?"

Chu Feng scratched his head and said, "Then you go ahead and do your work. I still have a few sets of training to do."

After saying that, he quickly slipped out of the office and closed the door.

"This kid, really."

Mourinho complained and continued to look at his laptop, which was showing the video of Atletico Madrid's game.

For Manchester United, the most crucial match in February is the first leg against Atletico Madrid.

According to UEFA rules, the group leader will play away first and then at home, so Manchester United will have to travel to Spain, which will definitely have a certain impact on the players' condition.

The other side.

After returning to the training ground, Chu Feng patted Maguire's head hard and said, "Harry, don't let that incident affect your mentality. Remember the mistakes, correct them, and make up for the mistakes you made. This is what a good player should do."

"Chu, do you think the boss will lose trust in me?" Maguire said anxiously.

"How is that possible? You know the boss. He always gives people two chances."

Chu Feng shook his head decisively.

Finally, he added earnestly: "Harry, don't let everyone down. Come on!"

He has done everything he can, and the rest depends on Maguire himself.

Perhaps this incident was a catastrophic blow to him, but how to face difficulties and setbacks is the truly important quality.

If Maguire is unable to recover, it means he is not suitable to be a player.

Cruyff once said: "Football is like war."

If a person does not have enough fighting spirit and perseverance, he will never become an excellent player, let alone deserve to win the championship and honor.

Maguire nodded vigorously.

February 3rd.

The 25th round of the Premier League begins with Manchester United playing away against Leicester City.

"Manchester United sent out their full main lineup today. It should be the loss in the last game that brought great pressure to Mourinho. I don't know if the players' condition has been affected. Well, Manchester United completed the advancement through the combination of the wing and the middle, penetrated the ground in the midfield and sent the ball to Chu Feng's feet!"

"Pass the ball to Pogba with your back, then turn around and penetrate the penalty area!"

“Nice move!”

"Pogba made a straight pass, Chu Feng pushed the ball into the far corner and it went in!"

"Manchester United scored the first goal just three minutes into the first half. It seems that the doubts from the outside world are a bit unnecessary!"

“.”

"Look at Leicester City's quick counterattack, Maddison finds Vardy with pinpoint accuracy!"

"Bailly was very fast in the tackle, Vardy changed direction and broke through directly, Maguire! He made the perfect timing to make the crucial interception for Manchester United!"

"He was in great shape against his old team! He didn't pass the ball but dribbled forward himself and made a long pass to the left!"

"Rashford stopped and passed, then shot directly in front of the goal!"

"Mahrez followed up with a volley and scored!"

"Before the first half was over, Manchester United was already two goals ahead. We could clearly see that the Manchester United boys were holding back their energy."

“Sometimes encountering public opinion is not a bad thing.”

“.”

"Thanks to goals from Chu, Mahrez and Pogba, Manchester United beat Leicester City 3-0, breaking the doubts with facts!"

"Congratulations to Manchester United!"

On the bus back to Manchester, the atmosphere was obviously much more cheerful than when we came, and everyone had a smile on their face.

"In the next game we will play against Cottagers, we will try to get another big win, and then we will go to Madrid to meet Atletico!"

Mahrez grinned.

Two consecutive victories should be able to clear away the previous haze and bring the morale of Manchester United players back to its highest peak.

By then, our chances of winning against Atletico Madrid will be higher.

"What is there to be afraid of Atletico? It's not like we haven't won before."

Rashford is full of confidence.

Recently he seems to have entered a period of rapid growth. He can feel his progress every day and his appearance frequency is increasing.

His love life is also going well and he is about to get engaged to his girlfriend.

To sum up, people feel refreshed when good things happen to them.

"Don't let your guard down. Atletico Madrid is only stronger than it was six months ago, especially in terms of defense."

"The combination of high-pressure defense and point-to-point defense makes the opponent's every step forward with the ball be blocked and intercepted. We have already rushed to the second place in the La Liga standings."

Assistant coach Faria stood up.

"Yes, Atletico is also used to using fierce physical confrontation, actively depleting the opponent's physical strength in the first half, and then strengthening the offense through substitutions in the second half."

Chu Feng has also watched a lot of Atletico Madrid's games recently.

Mourinho nodded when he heard this. In fact, he already had an idea in his mind, which was to fight a war of attrition in the first round of the Champions League.

According to the Champions League rules, yellow cards accumulated in the group stage will be carried into the knockout stage and will be automatically cleared after the quarter-finals and will not affect the semi-finals.

Atletico's tactical style of play resulted in many players receiving yellow cards. Diego Costa, Correa, Jimenez, Felipe and Thomas, among others, will be suspended in the second leg if they receive yellow cards again.

Manchester United only has Ashley Young and Matic.

So Mourinho was ready to equalize at home and force Atletico players to commit fouls and receive yellow cards, laying a solid foundation for victory in two rounds.

"Training will begin at 9am tomorrow morning, and no one is allowed to ask for leave!"

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

When the bus stopped at the entrance of Carrington training base, Mourinho spoke in a deep voice to the Manchester United players.

He was worried that some people would get too excited and go to bars and nightclubs to indulge themselves in the middle of the night, so he asked the players to have a meal together in the morning and then carry out targeted training.

This is also a habit he developed at the beginning of his coaching career.

After driving back home, Chu Feng turned on the TV. The match between Manchester City and Arsenal was just coming to an end, and the score between the two teams was temporarily 3-1.

Aguero was in great form today, scoring a hat-trick in less than 60 minutes.

Koscielny scored for Arsenal.

Originally the two teams played back and forth in the first half, but after Guardiola replaced Sane, Manchester City's attack on the left was immediately activated.

Arsenal were held to zero shots in the second half.

A Sky Sports commentator said: "The scary thing is not the 3:1 score, but Arsenal's inability to fight back after falling behind. This is not only a technical and tactical problem, but also a problem with the players' spirit and mentality."

When Guendouzi's pass from the backcourt was intercepted, he did not turn around and chase back immediately, but spread his hands and complained to his teammates.

Chu Feng didn't continue reading.

He has already understood that given Arsenal's situation, they will no longer pose much of a threat this season, and Manchester United's real opponents are still Manchester City and Liverpool.

The next day.

Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-1 with goals from Salah and Van Dijk.

Time flies and it is February 9th.

In the 26th round of the Premier League, Manchester United faced Fulham.

The Farmers have basically been lingering in the relegation zone every year, and now they are ranked second from the bottom with only 22 points, 10 points behind Brighton, which is fourth from the bottom.

So they played very strongly today.

You should know that the broadcasting fees of the Premier League are shared very fairly. Even the team at the bottom of the rankings earns as much as the top teams in other leagues.

So no one wants to be relegated.

Mourinho's eyelids twitched when he saw the desperate play of the farmers. If a few players were injured today, how could they play in the Champions League knockout round? But he must not give in at this time, otherwise the opponent would take the initiative.

Fortunately, Manchester United players have strong individual abilities and finally opened up the game in the 23rd minute. Herrera intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and passed it to Chu Feng in the middle.

Facing the double-team of two or three people, Chu Feng was unable to break through and simply passed the ball diagonally to the right.

Mahrez received the ball into the penalty area, stopped sharply and knocked it back to the front of the penalty area.

Because Chu Feng attracted a large number of defensive players, Pogba made a forward run without being marked and completed a high-quality volley to score.

As the intensity of the confrontation on the field increased, Manchester United players gradually became more and more angry.

Who says offensive players are inherently at a disadvantage?

Chu Feng relied on his injury immunity module and performed even harder than the farm players.

Whenever the Fulham defenders sought physical confrontation, Chu Feng would rush forward with all his strength without saying a word, causing great pain to the Fulham defenders.

Under Chu Feng's example and leadership, Manchester United gradually took control of the situation.

"Slow down, control the tempo!" Mourinho's eyelids twitched as he watched from the sidelines, and he could not help but scold angrily: "What a bunch of fools!"

However, in the noisy Craven Cottage stadium, his voice was drowned out before it could travel far.

The relegation team has nothing to be proud of except their desperate playing style. Once the opponent performs more aggressively, their true colors will be exposed immediately.

Soon, Pogba's long shot was picked up by Fulham goalkeeper Rico and then thrown to Dennis on the right.

"Rob!"

Chu Feng cut off the passing routes of Fulham's full-backs and central defenders, and Rashford and other teammates also followed up with pressure.

Fulham's ability to pass the ball from the back was poor to begin with, and they instantly became flustered under Manchester United's relentless high-pressure defense.

After receiving the ball, Chambers, a former Arsenal player, was implicitly pushed forward by Matic, causing the ball passed to Le Marchand to be too powerful.

Chu Feng immediately changed direction and rushed towards Le Marchand.

Le Marchand looked at the aggressive Chu Feng and thought about passing the ball back to the goalkeeper, letting Rico clear the ball with a long kick.

But when he passed the ball, Chu Feng seemed to have predicted it. He stretched out his legs to block the ball in advance and shot with his right foot.

Bang! The football rushed towards the right side of the goal.

Rico was unable to react and just stood there in a daze.

"Goal! Manchester United's frontcourt pressing tactics restricted Fulham's backcourt passes and forced the opponent to make mistakes through tacit pressing."

"It has to be said that Mourinho has become much bolder this season and is no longer limited to a single defensive counterattack tactic."

"Of course, the premise is that there are good enough players."

"Compared to Chelsea's situation of being leaderless, Manchester United rarely has players who are confused after Chu became the second captain."

Manchester United fans who came from afar cheered wildly.

They gradually rediscovered the feeling of the Red Devils' invincibility 20 years ago. At that time, the most anticipated thing every week was to go to watch Manchester United's games together.

Time flies, they are no longer young, but fortunately their passion has not faded.

After scoring the goal, Chu Feng rushed to the corner area to celebrate, waving his fists vigorously and hitting the air, as if venting his frustration.

There has been a constant stream of criticism from the outside world recently, and similar reports can be seen from time to time.

Even if Chu Feng didn't take the initiative to look for it, he would always find out from various channels. To be honest, he was somewhat unhappy.

Coupled with the toughness of Fulham players today, the fire in his heart was ignited.

That's why I tried so hard just now.

In the end, Fulham lost 0:2 to Manchester United. In the second half, Chu Feng wanted to continue, but was forced to be replaced by Mourinho.

The main thing is that Chu Feng has obviously gotten too excited, and if he continues, something bad might happen.

After the Premier League ended, Manchester United players flew to Madrid, Spain that evening.

Prepare for the Champions League quarter-finals in four days.

(End of this chapter)