Chapter 591 No One Available

“Is this Old Trafford?”

Walking out of the player tunnel, immersed in the bustling and noisy center of Old Trafford, Michael Laudrup felt his heartbeat speeding up, and getting faster and faster!

This made his whole body burn, and he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and listened.

He felt as if he was caught in a huge whirlpool and couldn't extricate himself.

This is the largest home stadium in the Premier League, Old Trafford, which can accommodate more than 76,000 people!

This is also the holy land of the Red Devil that he most desires to conquer!

The Dane suddenly opened his eyes and a confident smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, as if the vast red ocean in front of him was just an illusion to him.

He was once one of the best superstars in the world.

Therefore, he longs to become the best super coach in the world!

This is his goal and his desire!

As a former superstar, Michael Laudrup knows better than anyone that the fame and status of a super coach is based on accumulation, and is accumulated through victory after victory in strong dialogues.

Just like tonight's battle at Old Trafford, it means a lot to him.

If he wins, he will become famous overnight!

This made Michael Laudrup feel inexplicably excited.

He has been away from the core of professional football for a long time, and he is eager to regain the attention of fans around the world.

Tonight is your chance!

Over the past month or so, Swansea's record has been terrible.

First they met Arsenal in the 30th round, and then Tottenham Hotspur in the 31st round, and ended up losing two games in a row.

After a draw with Norwich away and a win over Wigan Athletic, they immediately faced Southampton in week 34 and lost!

After that, they met Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, losing one and drawing one.

As a result, from late March to April, the entire performance of Swansea, which was striving to move up, was extremely tragic.

The whole team was filled with anger and was eager to vent.

Now it’s just right that Manchester United has run into the trap!

Targeting Manchester United?

That’s a great idea!

Michael Laudrup knows better than anyone that the situation in the Premier League is so tense now that anyone who can snipe Manchester United and Southampton will become famous overnight.

Let me ask you, as a professional player, who would be willing to miss such a good opportunity?

So, whenever Laudrup thought of this, his heart felt hot.

"Alan, do you know what I want to do most now?"

Michael Laudrup seemed very excited.

He has been preparing for tonight's game for a whole week.

Assistant coach Alan Curtis shook his head and smiled bitterly, reminding, "It's better not to swear."

Michel Laudrup laughed loudly when he heard this, and just then he saw Ferguson from the home team coming over. It was obvious that he was coming over to go through the pre-match etiquette, such as shaking hands or something.

"I want to tell him right now, I want to *!"

Alan Curtis had a helpless expression on his face, as if to say, "I knew you would say that," but he laughed.

"We have no desire for anything this season, but tonight, if we play well, we will be more glorious than anyone else!"

These are what Michael Laudrup just said to the players in the locker room.

Targeting Manchester United is an offer that Swansea City, which neither needs to avoid relegation nor can afford to covet the qualification for European competitions, cannot refuse!

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The moment Ferguson saw Swansea's starting lineup, he understood why the Danish youngster had such a cunning look in his eyes when he ran to the visiting team's coaching bench to shake hands with Laudrup.

He is really cunning!

He actually arranged the Korean midfielder Ji Sung-yueng to play as a central defender!

Many people who are familiar with the Premier League regard Rogers' Swansea as the Barcelona of the Premier League.

Swan Lake’s ball control style is indeed very similar to Barcelona.

But after Rogers went to Liverpool, he was replaced by Laudrup, who performed well in La Liga. Coupled with the adjustments and changes of players in the summer transfer window, Laudrup's team played in a more direct style than Rogers.

The simplest proof is that Swansea's average number of passes and ball possession per game are decreasing, but they are scoring more goals.

Swansea's biggest discovery this season is Spanish midfielder Michu.

The false nine tactics tailored for him by Laudrup brought out Michu's strength to the maximum.

Coupled with the speed and skills of Pablo, Dyer and Routledge, as well as the two full-backs' attacking runs, Swansea's entire midfield and frontcourt offensive combination became a real headache.

"They arranged for Ji Sung-yueng to start and play as a central defender. He has used him several times this season, mainly to play to the Koreans' advantages in ball possession and distribution, and to plan attacks from the back line!"

Mike Phelan tried to analyse the intentions behind Laudrup's changes to the starting line-up.

As for the change of formation where the midfielders are placed further back, this is no longer new to everyone.

Bielsa let Javi Martinez play as a central defender, which established Javi Martinez's strength as a world-class star.

Guardiola also arranged Mascherano to play as a central defender, rather than the defensive midfielder position that the Argentine player was accustomed to.

To put it bluntly, the purpose of the midfielders moving back is to control and distribute the ball.

Moreover, Swansea's midfield is a double defensive midfielder combination of Britton and De Guzman, who are capable of both offense and defense and have considerable strength.

It was entirely foreseeable that Laudrup's plan was very shrewd, which was to use Ki Sung-yueng's falling back, cooperate with the Spanish central defender Chico who was excellent in passing and long passes, to form a ball possession advantage in the midfield and backcourt with De Guzman and Britton, and then drive Swansea's entire attack.

To deal with such tactical play, it is actually very simple, that is to strengthen the pressing in the midfield and frontcourt.

But the problem is that Ferguson did not arrange the players in the midfield to pressure Swansea's central defenders. Instead, he focused more on Britton and De Guzman.

It’s not that Manchester United doesn’t want to do it, but that they can’t do it.

Van Persie is 30 years old. From the winter break to now, he has played almost every game. He was only occasionally a substitute or substituted in the FA Cup. In other games, he played the full 90 minutes, plus the national team games in February and March.

This is already the limit for Van Persie, who is already 30 years old and whose physical fitness is not particularly good.

Especially in recent rounds, Southampton has been chasing so closely, Manchester United has been under so much pressure, the players have fought so hard and consumed so much energy, and because of their age and physical fitness, they cannot recover as well as those young people, and their recent form has been obviously affected.

In this situation, if Ferguson asked Van Persie to force Swansea's central defender again, Van Persie would definitely go crazy.

Looking at the entire Premier League, at the end of the season, the only one who can beat the opponent's central defender into a dog is probably Southampton's perverted center forward Ibrahimovic!

So, Laudrup's calculations were very shrewd!

At the very least, Ferguson had no way to deal with Ji Sung-yueng's move!

As it turned out, as the game started, Swansea took the initiative and played a ball possession tactic at Old Trafford.

Although Manchester United got a chance to enter Swansea's penalty area in the twelfth second, forcing Ji Sung-yueng to kick the ball out of the baseline to clear the ball, Swansea had complete control of the situation from then on.

Ji Sung-yueng was on the defensive line. Because he was not under pressure or clamping, he was able to control the ball easily. According to the situation on the field, he reasonably distributed the ball to the two flanks and launched Swansea's attack.

When the ball reached the front court, Laudrup's deadly move was revealed.

In the final analysis, it was still the same as before, relying on the pressure of the frontcourt players, the frequent position changes and cuts between Dyer, Routledge and Pablo, which completely disrupted Manchester United's frontcourt defensive order.

Mi Chu, the false number nine, is also a headache.

Going forward, he was able to fight against Ferdinand and Vidic, and even win some one-on-one duels, but his real tactical value was his retreat, which allowed him to provide a quick pass and connect the attacks and breakthroughs of the three front attackers.

In this game, Manchester United's right-back Rafael and substitute right-back Phil Jones were both suspended due to red cards, and Smalling replaced them as right-back.

The player did not return to the game until November after suffering a fracture at the beginning of the season, but he has not been able to adjust to his current form since his return. He was given the task of playing in a critical moment, and he played as a right-back, a role he is not good at, so Ferguson was not very confident.

But is there any way?

Rafael and Phil Jones are both suspended. If Smalling is not used, who should be used?

No one is available!

Laudrup is also a smart guy. When attacking, he seized the weak spot of Manchester United and kept attacking Manchester United's right side!

The most troublesome one is Pablo. This Spaniard was quite strong in the La Liga. Although he didn't do well in Valencia, his competitors were of the same level as David Silva and Juan Mata.

After arriving at Swansea, he immediately performed amazingly.

Pablo's excellent skills, fast speed and strong breakthrough ability make him a sharp knife in Laudrup's front line.

Now, this sharp knife is always roaming around Manchester United's soft spot on the right, occasionally taking the ball, teasing the tall but somewhat clumsy Smalling, or suddenly disappearing, and the next time he appears, he will receive the ball behind Smalling.

Every time Ferguson was frightened and furious on the sidelines.

I was afraid that if he wasn't careful, this guy would score a goal himself or assist his teammates!

At this moment, Ferguson finally realized what it meant to be unable to cook without rice.

He is well aware of the problems the team is currently facing. Swansea has created threats on the right side time and again, which is really frightening, but unfortunately, he has no more effective solution.

In the whole team, who is more reliable than Smalling?

So, Ferguson could only stand on the sidelines and watch Swansea City toy with their right-back and create threats again and again in their home court, but he could do nothing and could only stand there anxiously.

Apart from that, there's nothing he can do!

Interestingly, at the same time, inside Wembley Stadium, far away in the western suburbs of London, there was also a person who was facing the same dilemma as Ferguson at the moment, and he was even worse off than Ferguson.

Because, facing the powerful Southampton, he had no idea what to do!

Yes, he is Chelsea’s acting head coach, Zenden!

The Dutchman had experienced such a battle before when he served as an assistant to Benítez.

But at that time, he was more about giving advice to Benítez, and as for how to make the decision, that was Benítez's business.

But now it's different.

Everyone was counting on him to turn the situation around and come up with effective ways to deal with Southampton's powerful offensive.

But unfortunately, he had no solution at all.

Even when he walked out of the coaching booth and stood on the sidelines, he didn't even know how to remind his players.

He was completely confused!

Even as a coach, he was a novice, and facing the experienced Bielsa, he was completely helpless.

They could only stand on the sidelines and watch their team retreat to their own half, or even into the penalty area, time and time again, passively taking the beating and unable to resist!

This made him feel ashamed.

I even wanted to leave early!