Chapter 928 Manchester United
is in trouble!
This is Ferguson's personal experience after Manchester United defeated Galati Steel 2-0 away.
From the moment Ferguson left the Oturu Stadium and boarded the team bus to catch a plane to Bucharest, he was thinking about this issue all the way, and he became increasingly aware of the seriousness of this issue.
Although the game eventually ended with Rooney's double goal, defeating Galati Steel away from home, the process of the game was very difficult. It was not until the 64th minute that Manchester United took the lead and scored a penalty kick from Rooney after a handball in the opponent's penalty area.
But the good times didn't last long. Just two minutes later, Vidic made a flying tackle on his opponent and was sent off with a red card.
Although Manchester United, with one man less, was still not at a disadvantage, it was even more difficult for them to open up the game. Until the final stage of the game, Rooney was tripped in the penalty area again and scored another penalty kick, making it 2-0.
Two goals, both were penalties.
The offensive end performed poorly, Rooney and Hernandez failed to perform well, Valencia and Nani on the wingers did not meet expectations, and Carrick and Anderson in the midfield failed to protect the defense well, which made Manchester United play very disorganized in this game.
The offense, midfield and defense are all worrying.
What's worse is that Vidic, who had been performing calmly, also made a mistake.
After Van der Sar retired, Ferguson also had high hopes for De Gea, but the Spanish goalkeeper has made frequent mistakes since joining Manchester United, so much so that Ferguson could no longer tolerate it in this game. He directly put him on the bench and let Lindegaard start. This can be regarded as a warning to De Gea.
They are all young players, but Courtois, who was introduced from next door, has shined and is showing signs of catching up with Van der Sar, while De Gea has performed poorly, making many mistakes, which is far from expectations.
At the post-match press conference, Ferguson pointed out that the reason for the team's poor performance was the long journey.
He listed a list of data.
The charter flight from Manchester to Bucharest, Romania, took more than three hours, not including the time from the training base to the airport, which was at least four hours in total.
It takes four hours to travel more than 200 kilometers from Bucharest Airport to the small town of Galati.
The reason is simple, Galati is just a small border town in Romania. Last season was the first time in their history that they won the Romanian League Championship, but after winning the championship, their performance this season has plummeted.
Whether it is the stadium facilities, field conditions, or the road conditions from Bucharest to Galati, everything is very bad.
In order to play a game, Manchester United spent a full eight hours on the road, which is a huge consumption for any team, and this was when Manchester United chartered a plane.
What if you don’t charter a plane?
There is only one flight from Manchester to Bucharest, at around six in the morning.
If you don't fly from Manchester, but from London or other cities, it will take longer, and some may even require waiting for a day at the transfer station.
It is for this reason that Ferguson, in the post-match press conference, blamed all the team's poor performance on the journey, believing that the energy consumption on the road was far greater than that of away games.
What’s even worse is that after the game, Manchester United had to drive four hours from Galati to Bucharest overnight, and then take a chartered flight for more than three hours back to Manchester.
It is expected to arrive in Manchester by daybreak.
But this would make training the next day basically impossible.
We will rest on Friday and Saturday, and then have the Manchester derby on Sunday.
Ferguson really had the urge to curse!
…
After a bumpy journey to Bucharest, while waiting to board the plane, Ferguson also received news from Manchester that Manchester City had reversed Villarreal 4-1.
This is definitely not good news.
“Fuck it!”
When the old Scottish coach heard the news, he cursed angrily.
He soon received more detailed information, especially Manchester City's lineup in this game, the team's tactical play, and the players' performance. Everything was sent to Ferguson.
"We are at a great disadvantage!" Assistant coach Mike Phelan was also very annoyed.
In fact, Ferguson was right. Playing such an away game in the Champions League is really deadly.
Who can believe that in today's world, it takes eight hours to play an away game? It is simply unreasonable.
More importantly, there is not even an airport near Galati, so the only way is to land in Bucharest, more than 200 kilometers away, and then take a bus, which is a bumpy four-hour journey.
After Ferguson cursed, he stopped complaining.
The reason why he complained at the press conference was more to change the subject, let everyone ignore the team's poor performance and minimize the team's pressure.
But in fact, he knew very well that complaining blindly would not solve the problem at all.
If, at the beginning of the season, Manchester United won six consecutive games and was closely following Manchester City with an unstoppable momentum, which once made people think that the Red Devils had the strength to challenge for the league title, then as the season progressed, after just two rounds, Manchester United's problems had been fully exposed.
In fact, it was exposed as early as the six-game winning streak.
Because Manchester United drew in the first two rounds of the Champions League group stage.
According to the current situation, Manchester United must defeat all their opponents in the next three rounds to have a chance to challenge for the top spot in the group, otherwise it is likely to fall to others.
Manchester United’s biggest problem is actually very simple, that is, the players are not strong enough and the bench is not deep enough.
Since the Glazer family transferred their debts, Manchester United has not made heavy investments for many years. As a result, Manchester United has been purely supported by Ferguson in recent years, and the team's lineup has become very thin.
On the front line, Berbatov has never shown a stable performance, and Macheda and others are not trustworthy. At present, the only ones who can make Ferguson feel at ease are Hernandez and Rooney, but these two players are not efficient.
The performances of Nani and Valencia on the wingers were sometimes good and sometimes bad, and it was difficult for them to have stable performances.
The midfield is the hardest hit area.
There are three main players this season, Carrick, Anderson and Cleverley.
Carrick is already 30 years old. He is getting older and can no longer work as hard as he used to. Anderson and Cleverley have yet to be able to take charge of the team. Veteran Giggs is not only old, but also plagued by sex scandals. Fletcher is no longer capable of playing as a starter after he fell ill last season.
After Scholes retired, Manchester United's midfield has found it difficult to support the team's current multi-line operations.
Just like this time, when playing against Galati Steel, Ferguson let Carrick and Anderson start. The team traveled a long distance and consumed a lot of energy. When returning to Manchester to play against Manchester City, who could he arrange to play? If either of them played, wouldn't they be abused by Manchester City's midfield?
You know, Guardiola has rotated all the players in the last two games and fielded two or three strong lineups. If you pick any of them at that time, they can suppress Manchester United's midfield.
Once the midfield loses its advantage, what can Manchester United use to stop Manchester City?
Defense? Vidic and Ferdinand are very strong, but these two central defenders are old and have been suffering from more and more injuries recently. Smalling, Phil Jones and Evans, let alone Su Dong, even Aguero and Dzeko may not be able to stop them.
Originally, there was a goalkeeper named Edwin van der Sar, who was in charge, but now that Edwin van der Sar has retired, who can fill the vacancy left by De Gea and Lindegaard? The answer is no!
The goalkeeper who is hailed as having the greatest chance of becoming the Premier League's best goalkeeper after Van der Sar is next door.
…
After boarding the charter flight in Bucharest, Ferguson had trouble sleeping.
He was thinking about the current situation of the team, especially how to face Manchester City next? Last season, he was slaughtered by the opponent. Before that, he was full of confidence and shouted for revenge, but after a few games, he suddenly found that his team had nothing to fight Manchester City.
Then we should guard against it strictly?
The question is, can it be defended?
He knows how strong the penetration ability of Guardiola's passing and controlling style of play is, and he also understands how good the passing ability of Manchester City's players in the frontcourt is. With Manchester United's current midfield and defense, can they defend against it?
If you can't defend it, then push it out? Don't be ridiculous! If you can't even defend it, push it out, won't it be a more miserable death?
Ferguson suddenly felt a sense of despair and powerlessness. He felt that no matter what choice he made, it would be wrong and a dead end.
"Maybe we should call Paul back." Ferguson suddenly muttered to himself.
Assistant coach Mike Phelan, who was sitting next to him, didn't react for a moment. He exclaimed, and looked at Ferguson in surprise, but found that Ferguson didn't seem to intend to explain anything to him. He was immediately puzzled.
Paul?
Is there Paul in the Manchester United team?
Could it be Paul Pogba, the French teenager in the youth team who Ferguson praised as having the potential to become a world-class midfielder in the future? Well, he is also 18 years old and can indeed enter the first team.
…
Having just finished a game and then had a bumpy four-hour drive, even though the players were physically and mentally exhausted, no one could sleep on the plane.
Ferguson kept his eyes open the whole time, thinking about the problem.
No one knows what he is thinking, and no one knows how he plans to solve the current difficulties the team is facing, but everyone believes that he will always find a way.
This is the trust and reliance that Manchester United has on him.
This trust is built on the brilliant achievements that Ferguson has achieved at Manchester United over the past few decades.
After finally enduring the long flight, the plane slowly landed at Manchester Airport.
When the players walked out of the cabin, it was already morning outside.
Taking into account the time difference, they spent more than ten hours on the road.
Ferguson also let out a long breath.
After thinking about it for a whole night, he still couldn't figure it out.
Manchester welcomed a very rare good weather in the morning, but Ferguson still felt cold in his heart and felt that it was going to rain.
(End of this chapter)
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