Chapter 181 Premier League First Battle

The English Football Association is very good at satisfying the appetite of fans. In the Premier League schedule, the opening match of the first round is that Manchester United, led by Sir Alex Ferguson, will face last season's champion Arsenal at Old Trafford.

This evenly matched match will undoubtedly become the focus of this round!

In the simple training in the morning, Chelsea players also talked about this game. However, they are all gloating, just like Bridge now---

"I think the game this afternoon will end in a draw, which will be great. Of course, you know which game I'm referring to!" His funny way of expression made his teammates laugh.

For Chelsea, a draw between Arsenal and Manchester United is of course the best result. Although it is only the first round of the league, the real road to winning the championship has already started. The points in every game are very important and may affect the final championship!

After the morning training, Mourinho's assistant Clark read out the list of players: "Goalkeepers Cech and Thomas, defenders Carvalho, Bridge, Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Huth, forwards Makelele, Joe Cole, Lampard, Robben, Duff, Geremi, forwards Allen, Drogba, Gudjohnsen, Mutu."

This 18-man roster includes almost all of the team's main players. It seems that Mourinho attaches great importance to this game and he wants to give the team a good start in the first round.

Chelsea's game started at 4pm on the 14th. They were going to Birmingham, the second largest city in England, to challenge Birmingham away. It takes at least an hour and a half to drive from London to Birmingham, so after lunch, Mourinho took the players on the bus to participate in the first round of the Premier League.

For Chelsea, which has undergone a lot of changes in players this season, this game is a test of the team's strength and a challenge for Mourinho. Throughout July, Abramovich did not hesitate to spend 100 million euros to support Mourinho's transfer work. As for the effect, today's game may show a lot.

This also brings more pressure to Mourinho!

In the bus, the players were doing their own things. Wang Li sat alone in the front row, admiring the scenery of the suburbs of London. He enjoyed this feeling, which made him calm. Before the game, this peaceful state of mind allowed him to exert more strength in the game, which he deeply understood.

However, Mourinho walked over with a smile and patted him on the shoulder, "How about it, Alan, are you feeling nervous now?"

Wang Li turned his head in surprise. As far as he could remember, this cold-faced coach took the initiative to care about him for the first time. "Thank you. I don't feel nervous."

"Are you used to staying in Chelsea? I guess your home is in London."

"Yes, it's near the London Museum." Wang Li made a sitting gesture, indicating Mourinho to sit next to him.

"That's great. Is that why you chose Chelsea?" Mourinho has always been confused about Wang Li's choice to join Chelsea. In July, Chelsea cast a wide net around the world to introduce capable players, and emerging players like Rooney were also among the invitations, but most of them directly refused.

The only ones who really wanted to join Chelsea were players like Drogba who had been playing in Ligue 1. In his impression, young players like Wang Li were more attracted to big teams like Manchester United and Liverpool. Besides, it was said that this black-haired boy had been a pure Arsenal fan since he was a child.

"Nothing. I originally wanted to go to Liverpool, but you know, Michael went to Real Madrid." Wang Li answered sincerely.

Mourinho nodded in understanding and turned the topic to the game. "This game is the first one of the new season. It is very important for Chelsea. The opponent is not a real soft persimmon. At least it is much stronger than the team we played a few days ago. We must not be careless."

Wang Li was stunned for a moment, his expression did not change, but he was laughing in his heart, 'It turns out that this cold-faced coach is nervous, he is really a little cute! ', Although he thought so, he still replied: "I will try my best to help the team win."

Mourinho listened to him and nodded again, with a satisfied smile on his face. "Come on, the team's training time is too short and the overall coordination is not smooth, but I still hope you can score a goal in the afternoon game."

"Okay, boss, I'll do my best."

The two chatted about some things in life, and Mourinho returned to the assistant coach and began to write and draw on the tactical board. He would occasionally turn back to consult Clark's opinion. It seems that this Portuguese man at least listens to other people's opinions in terms of tactics.

…………

Time passed quickly on the bus, and in the blink of an eye we arrived in Birmingham. There were still about two hours before the game started, but many fans wearing blue Birmingham home team jerseys had already appeared next to St. Andrews Stadium. These fans gathered around the stadium, waiting to enter the stadium to watch the game.

Chelsea's bus drove directly into St. Andrews Stadium from the side door. After getting off the bus, the players dispersed. Most of them went directly to the locker room, and a few walked around inside the stadium, observing this historic stadium.

St. Andrews Stadium was completed in 1906. It is located about 1.5 miles from the city center and is surrounded by commercial areas, residential areas, factories, etc. It has an excellent geographical location. Therefore, in Birmingham, the second largest city in England, most people are fans of Birmingham Football Club.

It is said that this stadium has only more than 30,000 seats, but it has accommodated more than 60,000 fans to watch the game together. This is really novel. Perhaps what Birmingham needs most now is to expand the stadium to meet the demands of fans.

However, this has nothing to do with Chelsea. About an hour and a half before the game, according to the rules of the English Football Association, Mourinho had to attend the pre-match press conference. However, Mourinho did not have any good feelings towards these reporters. Even if it was to fulfill his promise, he would not answer their questions.

"Chelsea will do their best to win this game."

After leaving these words, the Portuguese player with a cold face walked out of the press conference directly, leaving only the lonely Birmingham head coach Bruce.

"What a rude Portuguese!" At this moment, countless reporters in the venue cursed Mourinho at the same time, but it was useless, so they could only turn to interview Bruce.

Bruce was very confident in front of reporters. "This summer, Izzet and Heskey joined the team, which enhanced the team's offensive ability. The team is stronger than last season, and the players are more familiar with each other, which is very helpful for the team's tactical coordination. In addition to the frontcourt, we have also added some important players in other positions. After training in the summer, the team has matured."

“Maybe there is a big gap between Birmingham and our opponents in terms of lineup, but we are confident that we can play well. Although today’s game may be difficult, we will work hard to win and try to make a good start for this season.”

It can be seen that the former Manchester United captain is very satisfied with the team's current situation. He was very polite and did not mention Mourinho who had just left, and only talked about some of the situations in Birmingham.

When he was a player, as the captain of Manchester United, Bruce was very arrogant, but in the coaching profession, he is still a newcomer and needs to learn many new things, so before he succeeds, perhaps it is right for him to choose to keep a low profile.

…………

At 12:50 p.m., St. Andrews Stadium was already packed. Fans of both teams had entered the stadium early. Sitting in the stands on the southeast side of the stadium were Chelsea fans. At a glance, there were about 5,000 people, but that was far less than the number of Birmingham fans, the home team. In the Birmingham fans' stands, there were crowds of people everywhere. Many fans wearing the home team's blue jerseys had the earth painted on their left cheeks and a football painted on their right cheeks, with a line connecting the two in the middle - this was Birmingham's team emblem. The stands were dazzling, showing the excitement of the fans.

In a VIP box of the stadium, Mr. Abrahimovic also came to Birmingham. Next to him was Birmingham chairman Gold. It seemed that the two chairmen were looking forward to the game. For Abramovich, perhaps he could see from this game the coaching ability of the Portuguese he hired at a high price, and also see how much effect the 100 million euros spent this summer had.

At this time, in the player tunnel, the two teams were ready to go on the field. Today, Chelsea players wore pure black uniforms, which is indeed rare. In the past, Chelsea's away uniforms were white. Perhaps this is another change brought about by Mourinho.

“Beep…”

With the whistle of the referee Clattenborg, players from both teams began to enter the field, the cheers of the fans in the stands gradually became louder, and the on-site commentator began to introduce the starting lineups of the two teams.

The commentator seemed to be very experienced. When he introduced the players, he paused after each name, waiting for the fans to call or boo, "... Next is No. 16 Emil Heskey!... Wing forward Gasper Grunkhal... Goalkeeper Mike Taylor!..."

It seems that Heskey, who just transferred from Liverpool to Birmingham, is very popular among the fans. In the entire Birmingham starting lineup, only he and goalkeeper Taylor have the highest voice.

"...Chelsea's lineup is really full of elites. First of all, the center forwards are No. 15 Drogba and No. 21 Alan Wang, the midfielders are No. 8 Lampard, No. 10 Joe Cole, No. 14 Geremi and No. 4 Makelele, and the defenders..."

It was obvious that the commentator was a pure Birmingham supporter. He introduced the home team louder and louder, but when introducing Chelsea, he just mentioned it briefly, which made the Chelsea fans in the audience boo in dissatisfaction. Perhaps the FA should consider using two commentators in the league, just like in international matches...

"Today, Chelsea lined up in a 433 semi-defensive formation. It seems that this Portuguese madman is still very conservative. Speaking of which, Chelsea's lineup is really luxurious. The value of these players is almost 10 times that of Birmingham players. If they lose this game, Mr. Mourinho may be very embarrassed."

"A world-class aircraft carrier was easily destroyed by a submarine. This is definitely the biggest joke since the turn of the century. I really look forward to this happening soon!!"

After hearing the commentator's words, the Chelsea players on the field all held their breath, and even the hot-tempered Makelele was about to blurt out a word starting with the letter "F". Fortunately, the referee didn't see it, otherwise he would have received a warning or even a yellow card before the game even started, which would have been a real joke.

With the referee's whistle, the game began. At the start of Chelsea, Drogba passed the ball to Wang Li and ran towards the frontcourt. Wang Li kicked the ball back with his heel and also moved forward into Birmingham's defensive formation.

The ball went back and forth in the backcourt. When the Birmingham players were getting a little impatient, Joe Cole on the right side made a long pass and sent the ball to the frontcourt. Lampard squeezed away the defensive players, received the ball, changed his stance, flashed out of the passing space, and poked the ball with his left foot, and the ball rolled towards Wang Li.

At this time, Wang Li had two defensive players around him. Before the game, Bruce had emphasized the need to give special "care" to this young player, so since Wang Li came to the frontcourt, there was always a Birmingham defender following him.

As a last resort, Wang Li could only run forward a few steps, jump up on the spot, and head the ball to the left, where was Bridge's position. He had already advanced to the outside of the penalty area on the left.

Bridget made a sudden run, shook off the defender, aimed at the ball, and rubbed it hard on the bottom edge. The ball spun in the air, drew a semicircular curve, and fell into the penalty area.

Birmingham defender Cunningham had been guarding Drogba since the start of the game. He knew that this big black man with a 'ferocious' look had strength that was absolutely proportional to his appearance, so when Bridge made the cross, he used his body to hold Drogba tightly, trying to prevent him from jumping and competing with his teammates for the ball.

Unfortunately, Cunningham probably never thought about how his strength could be compared with Drogba, who was known as the "Monster". By the time he realized it, it was too late.

Drogba swayed his body left and right in the crowd, squeezed away the opponents around him, jumped up hard, and headed the ball directly into the goal! !

"Cross the ball, Drogba, shoot! Mike... it's Mike... he saved the ball from going out of bounds! It was really lucky that Chelsea launched such an attack at the beginning and almost scored a goal. Birmingham boys, you have to be serious, or you'll lose if you keep playing like this!" The commentator who was talking about aircraft carriers and submarines with great interest just now has begun to worry about the team...

One and a half minutes into the game, Chelsea used a simple combination to give Birmingham a head start. The long cheers from the audience had already explained the mood of Birmingham fans at the moment.

Fortunately, the ball didn't go in!!