Sheffield United and Southampton's home jerseys are very similar, both with red and white sword stripes.
Historically speaking, Sheffield United was founded earlier than Southampton, and Sheffield United's red and white sword stripes are the earliest style.
So, when Gu Ran first saw the Blades business gang wearing red and white sword striped jerseys, he almost thought they were the Southampton Saints diehard fans who had arrived early.
Until one of the members of the Blade Business Gang took off his pants, soaked his little brother in a full beer glass, and then drank it all arrogantly facing the Southampton bus.
Gu Ran then realized that he didn't have such a dishonest fan.
The Blades' mockery did not stop there. They also took out a Southampton team flag and burned it in front of the bus while shouting "You don't deserve to wear red and white".
Although this behavior is very bad, it is actually a relatively restrained behavior of the Blade Business Gang.
After all, they are all white roses. The Blades business gang did not besiege the bus, but just performed arrogantly next to the bus, trying to interfere with the mentality of the Southampton players.
Although the Blades gang did not commit large-scale murders in the history of English football, they were once a very terrifying existence.
The name "Blade Business Gang" alone sounds very professional.
The Blades business gang not only forced Sheffield Wednesday, a club in the same city that had the same owner at the time, to change its nickname from "Blades" to "Owls", but also threatened players in various ways - including opposing players and their own players who played poorly.
Smashing the opponent's bus was a minor offense, and sending razor blades to the homes of one's own players and coaches was also normal practice - the earliest operation of sending razor blades came from the Blade Business Gang.
Around the 1950s, the Blades Gang also controlled the ticketing of the South Stand of Bramall Lane Stadium, and the South Stand became a means of revenue for the Blades Gang. At that time, Bramall Lane Stadium still sold standing tickets. The stands, which were originally scheduled to accommodate more than 10,000 people, were forcibly crammed with more than 30,000 people by the Blades Gang. All the revenue from the extra standing tickets belonged to the Blades Gang.
Of course, in the English football world under the culture of football hooliganism, there are far more than just the Blades business gang that monopolizes the ticketing of the south stand of the home stadium, but the Blades business gang was the first to start and is also the most professional.
In addition, the Blade Business Department is also involved in local gang affairs, including kidnapping, trafficking, lending, extortion, and blackmail.
It can be said that the Blades business gang in their heyday was a real gang. Every team that came to Sheffield United's home ground to play almost risked being injured or disabled.
However, in modern times, the Blade Business Gang has returned to being a normal fan organization. Apart from interfering with the opposing team before the game, the Blade Business Gang has not done anything too outrageous.
After watching the Blades gang's beer-washing and flag-burning performances, Southampton's bus successfully drove into the Bramall Lane Stadium.
The players' mentality was not disturbed too much, after all, they are all professionals.
After finishing their lunch in the players' restaurant at noon, the players took a nap in the visiting team's locker room.
After lunch, Coach Adkins took the players to Bramall Lane Stadium to adapt to the field.
According to the rules of football matches, the visiting team can adapt to the venue within 48 hours, but the home team's stadium must meet the requirements.
Generally speaking, England is not a big place and many competition venues are very close. You don't need to take a plane, just a bus is enough. If you arrive two days in advance, you have to book a hotel. In addition, the English football schedule is relatively dense, so unless it is an absolutely crucial match, the clubs will not spend extra money to book a hotel. They all come on the same day, adapt to the venue on the same day, play on the same day, and leave on the same day.
However, if it is an intercontinental competition, or a cup semi-final or final, the club will attach great importance to it and arrange charter flights and book hotels in advance.
Southampton trained at Bramall Lane for two hours and then returned to the locker room to analyze and fine-tune tactical details.
At 5:30 pm, fans began to enter the stadium.
Although Sheffield United's record in the past two seasons has not been good, the enthusiasm of Sheffield United fans has never diminished and the stadium attendance is also very impressive.
Bramall Lane Stadium can accommodate 30,413 spectators.
The home team's die-hard Blades fans filled the south stand early on, and many die-hard Saints fans also came to the north stand.
After disguising herself, the young diva Taylor Swift, accompanied by her female assistant, arrived early at the box reserved for her by Gu Ran. Taylor also sent Gu Ran an encouraging text message with a love emoticon, but did not receive a response from Gu Ran.
Since entering the visiting team's locker room, Gu Ran turned off his cell phone and locked it in the locker.
——This is called professionalism.
Major news media also occupied advantageous positions early on, with cameras set up in large numbers around the stadium.
In the scout area of the main stand, Chelsea's Emenalo, Liverpool's Edwards and Manchester City's Pratt, the three big guys sat together with smiles on their faces.
Although the summer transfer window has ended, the fight for Gu Ran has never stopped for a second.
Especially after the environmental charity dinner, these wealthy families were basically at loggerheads.
Of course, in addition to Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, Arsenal is also very eager to get Gu Ran. Arsenal fans who have witnessed Gu Ran's strength with their own eyes have been waiting for him for a long time.
Coach Wenger also wanted to attend the environmental protection dinner, but in the end he didn't go because he was worried about having to bid for the auction items and had put all his money in the bank for financial management.
Coach Wenger did not send scouts to watch Gu Ran's games because, although the expense was small, Arsenal was too poor to afford it.
Coach Wenger used another cost-effective and intuitive method, which was to watch the TV broadcast himself, then dig out Gu Ran's data himself, and then enjoy the beauty of Gu Ran's data alone.
Coach Wenger's love for Gu Ran is carried out silently...
For today's match, William Hill's pre-match odds are: home win 2.33, draw 3.77, loss 2.77.
Judging from the odds of this handicap, bookmakers are not very sure about this game. Although Southampton has been in a strong momentum recently and has a super star like Gu Ran, Sheffield United is best at fixed-point sniping, and this game is the third knockout round of the Carabao Cup. It is already very good for the average English League One club to reach the third knockout round. The FA Cup will also start soon. The average English League One club is likely to give up the Carabao Cup in order to avoid fighting on multiple fronts.
Therefore, William Hill gave such a conservative handicap.
6:30 pm.
The coaches of both teams attended the pre-match press conference together.
Coach Adkins took the initiative to shake hands and hug Southampton legend Mickey Adams, and praised Mickey Adams' outstanding performance when he was a player for Southampton.
Mickey Adams, 49, is also very envious of the winning rate that coach Adkins has achieved at Southampton since his start.
When reporters mentioned Gu Ran, Mickey Adams said that as a former left-back player, he had always been paying attention to Gu Ran's performance, but their Sheffield United team was able to limit Gu Ran's performance today, defeating Southampton and advancing to the fourth round of the League Cup.
Coach Adkins laughed and declined to comment.
The pre-match press conference ended in a relatively friendly atmosphere.
At 7 pm, the referee team entered the venue to inspect the competition venue.
After the field inspection was completed, the away team Southampton was the first to enter the field for pre-match warm-up training.
In today's game, Southampton players wore black away jerseys.
When Gu Ran stood on the grass of Bramall Lane Stadium wearing a black jersey, the Saints fans in the north stands suddenly went crazy!
This crazy feeling can be described as "a short separation is better than a new marriage"!
Gu Ran took a rest for one game, and the Saints fans hadn't seen him for at least 10 days. When they saw him today, the die-hard fans couldn't control themselves! The Saints fans jumped wildly, waving the team flags in their hands, and some fans even took off their shirts and shouted "Chinese Dad" heartbreakingly.
Taylor Swift, who was sitting in a luxury box eating a Big Mac, widened her eyes in surprise. "Oh my God, I didn't expect Gu's fans to be so fanatical, even more fanatical than my fans... well, almost as fanatical. And, I didn't expect Gu Ran to look so handsome in a jersey. Humph, my butt hurts when I think of Gu."
Female assistant: ...
On the court, Gu Ran applauded and thanked the Saints fans again and again, and then concentrated on the warm-up training.
Soon, Sheffield United players also came on the field to warm up.
The Blades fans at the scene cheered wildly, and red and white fireworks were lit on the south stand. The atmosphere at the home stadium was very warm.
After half an hour of warm-up training, players from both teams left the field and returned to their respective locker rooms for the final pre-match training.
Coach Adkins's speech was still brief: Boys, work hard!
At 7:35, players from both teams lined up in the tunnel, holding their caddies' hands, ready to officially take the court.
As soon as the live broadcast was connected to the live signal, the live broadcast room was suddenly flooded with bullet comments, and the number of people in the live broadcast room instantly exceeded 200,000! As soon as it came on, "I am really Dong Fangzhuo" fired 10 super rockets, directly detonating the entire live broadcast room.
Soon after, all kinds of gifts flooded the screen, and before the game even started, the total amount of the gifts soared towards 100,000 yuan!
In the entire current online live broadcast room, only Gu Ran can achieve such influence.
At this time, under the guidance of the referees on duty, players from both sides officially entered the field and lined up to shake hands.
Sheffield United's captain and veteran central defender Charles Morgan, and Southampton's captain Davis, came to the referee to toss a coin.
Davis guessed wrong and won the priority to kick off for Southampton, while Charles Morgan won the priority to pick the ball for Sheffield United.
The captains of both teams shook hands and exchanged team flags according to the procedure. The players of both teams took photos in their respective half of the field and then formed their formations.
In today's game, Southampton, playing away, still adopted a 442 formation. The offensive tactic was direct passing, and the defensive strategy was high pressure, actively confronting Sheffield United.
The two forwards are veteran Gurley and 18-year-old youngster Tony Garrod.
Garrod has performed very stably in recent games. He has the speed and height, and he also plays a good role as a fulcrum in the frontcourt.
The most important point is that Garrod is very aggressive and is very suitable for attacking tough teams like Sheffield United in the early stages.
The left midfielder is still the "big boy" Chamberlain, and the right midfielder is still the spiritual Schneiderlin.
The two midfielders are Lambert and Hammond.
In fact, Hammond's personal ability is not very high. Whether in terms of defense or offense, Hammond is not the kind of player that people can be very reassured. However, with the running-in of the team, Hammond's progress as a veteran is obvious to all. In addition, Southampton currently does not have the financial resources to buy a defensive midfielder-type star, so Hammond can only be used in this position.
Gu Ran is still the left back and Richardson is the right back.
The two central defenders are veteran Jaidi and 20-year-old Aaron Martin.
Aaron Martin had made mistakes in the previous few games, but in this game, Coach Adkins chose to continue to trust Martin's confrontation ability.
After all, although vice-captain Walton is more experienced, he can no longer meet Coach Adkins' requirements in terms of physical confrontation.
Finally, Southampton's goalkeeper is still captain Davis.
Sheffield United also deployed their classic 442 formation.
As the most typical English team, Sheffield United has always adhered to the traditional style of play - long passes and physical confrontation - before being taken over by "The Godfather" Wilder.
Their interim head coach Mickey Adams is also the master of this traditional style of play.
Mickey Adams is not the official head coach of Sheffield United. It was because Sheffield United failed to be promoted to the Premier League last season and is still in the Championship queue, so the big boss Kevin McCabe fired the then head coach in anger. However, at the beginning of the new season, they have not been able to find a suitable head coach. In desperation, McCabe had to come forward in person and ask Mickey Adams, who had just been fired from Leicester, to take temporary charge of the team.
Mickey Adams was born and raised in Sheffield, so when the local big boss asked for help, Mickey Adams was naturally happy to help.
According to military intelligence before the game, Mickey Adams attached great importance to defense, and his core tactical strategy was defensive counterattack.
Therefore, today Southampton is facing a team that is slightly stronger overall but also extremely good at defensive counterattacks. This is equivalent to playing an enhanced version of themselves.
Sheffield United's two forwards are No. 10 Daniel Bogdanovic and No. 9 Ched Evans.
According to military intelligence before the game, Daniel Bogdanovic is 30 years old and is a Malta international. He has made 30 appearances for his country so far and scored 4 goals.
Bogdanovic's shooting is not very outstanding, but with a height of 188cm and a weight of 74kg, he has a strong impact and a strong ability to fulcrum in the frontcourt. He can often create chaos in front of the goal by crashing into the ball, thus creating better space for his teammates.
No. 9 Ched Evans, who is only 21 years old this year, is known as the "Welsh Star". He has been selected for the Welsh national team 12 times, scored 3 goals, and is an important core player of the Welsh national team.
It can even be said that before Gareth Bale was recruited into the Welsh national team, Ched Evans was the darling of Welsh fans.
Ched Evans possesses all the qualities of a classic center forward. He is 183cm tall and weighs a terrifying 76KG. He is a typical human bulldozer. His physical confrontation, aggressiveness, speed, and shooting skills are all first-class.
Unfortunately, Ched Evans suffered a serious spinal injury in the future, and his star career was ultimately cut short.
For now, Ched Evans is the focal point of Southampton’s defence.
Sheffield United's left midfielder is the 33-year-old veteran, No. 17 Richard Cresswell.
Clayswell is very experienced on the wing, with both offensive and defensive capabilities, a tough style of play, and a strong sense of aggressiveness and teamwork. His only drawback is his slow speed and slow turning speed, but he is very experienced and often makes up for it with rough physical confrontations and brutal sliding tackles.
Sheffield United's right midfielder is Northern Ireland international, 24-year-old Jamie Ward.
This player is only 166cm tall and weighs 49kg, a typical small player.
However, his confrontational nature is not bad at all.
Small players are relatively rare in English football, but there is a market for them.
There are many famous "corner flagpole" players in the football world (corner flagpole is not less than 1.5 meters), such as Saviola, who won the South American Footballer of the Year at the age of 18, and the 165cm Verratti who joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 to play with God Ibrahimovic and scored a header to break the three Barcelona goals, such as the 167cm Cazorla who is regarded by coach Wenger as the most balanced left and right foot in the world, and the 168cm Sanchez who is also a thick thigh of Arsenal...
Of course, there is also the football king Maradona.
Maradona is 165cm tall, so God is also 165cm tall.
In addition, there is Messi who is 170cm tall.
Although Messi is considered tall among these players, his height is indeed not high among football players with average model height, especially since Messi has been treated with growth hormone drugs.
As for Messi's strength, there is no need to say more. Although Messi is only 170cm tall, his weight reaches 72kg.
Many people only see Messi's agility and skills, but ignore that Messi's confrontation is also world-class.
Messi is not at a disadvantage when facing tall players who are 180cm or 190cm tall.
In fact, if we follow Barcelona's fixed-point passing and controlling style of play, Messi should be considered a system player. The so-called system player will be lost in the crowd if he deviates from the fixed playing mode, but Messi is not like that. Messi comes from the system, but transcends the system. This has a lot to do with his own technical ability, especially his physical confrontation ability.
Moreover, another very important factor is that being small, fast and agile is also part of the team's tactics.
Xiaokuailing is not only suitable for transmission and control flow systems, but also for almost all systems.
Especially when a team with a relatively stereotyped overall style is matched with a small and fast player, it can often have the effect of blowing up the entire court.
Although Jamie Ward of Sheffield United is not as good as Messi and Saviola, he is also a small and agile player.
Southampton originally had such a configuration, such as the left midfielder Holmes who was sitting on the bench, but Holmes was not fast enough, not agile enough, and obviously not good at physical confrontation.
According to the military intelligence before the game, Jamie Ward's explosiveness, speed, dribbling, crossing, and long-range shots are all first-class, and he is even strong in physical confrontation.
Jamie Ward must also be the core of Sheffield United's organization.
Before the game, Coach Adkins also asked his players to focus on Jamie Ward and never let him break through the left side defense easily.
Sheffield United's two midfielders are No. 22 Daniel Phillips and No. 8 Michael Doyle.
Felix Coker is 19 years old and is on loan from Chelsea's youth team. He is a young player that Chelsea has been widely eyeing.
According to military intelligence before the game, Felixscock's crossing and dribbling were still good and quite smart, but his defense was a little lacking.
Michael Doyle is an Irish international. He has a hot temper and is extremely aggressive. He once chased and hit the referee on the field, for which he was expelled from the Irish national team. However, his ability in tackling and running without the ball is very good.
In today's game, Sheffield United's interim head coach Mickey Adams placed Doyle in the right center position, obviously to target Gu Ran who was assisting Southampton on the left side.
Sheffield United's left-back is No. 20 Joe Martock, who is on loan from Championship team West Bromwich Albion. Martock is only 20 years old, 181cm tall, 78kg, strong, runs actively, and is also very good at stealing, marking, and positioning.
The right back is No. 3 Nelson Noseworthy, who is on loan from the Black Cats Sunderland. He is a Jamaican international and his dribbling, tackling, aggressiveness, imagination, explosiveness and physical confrontation are all first-class.
The two central defenders are No. 21 Shane Lawrie and captain No. 5 Charles Morgan.
The 21-year-old Shane Lowry is on loan from Aston Villa. He is a left-footed central defender. He is fierce and decisive in defense, has a good sense of position and has a certain aerial advantage, but he is slow to start and turn.
The 33-year-old Charles Morgan is experienced, strong, and good at actively seeking confrontation. His aggressiveness is comparable to Doyle who dares to chase and hit the referee. In addition, he has quite good on-the-spot command ability, which is equivalent to half a head coach.
Finally, Sheffield United's goalkeeper is No. 29 Richard Wright. Wright has been selected for the England national team twice, but both times he was only a substitute goalkeeper.
However, Wright, who is 33 years old, is 188cm tall and weighs 88kg. He is very confrontational in frontal attacks and is extremely good at one-on-one situations in the penalty area. He also has a high level of long-footed kicks and can often perform passionate scenes of assisting the ball into the opponent's penalty area.
In general, Sheffield United does not have any top-notch stars, but its style is very obvious, that is, they like to use physical confrontation to control the game.
This is actually similar to the style of the Southampton team, both of which belong to the traditional English style.
Therefore, today's match will definitely be a very interesting and exciting White Rose civil war!
At this time, the referee looked at his watch.
…
(End of this chapter)