Chapter 678: Choking Cherry

Manchester United's next league opponent is Bournemouth. This team has been in the lower leagues of England for a long time. In the 2014-2015 season, they were promoted to the Premier League as the second place in the English Championship. This is also the first time they have been promoted to the top league in England in 116 years since their establishment.

In its first season in the top league (2015-2016 season), Bournemouth finished 16th in the Premier League and successfully retained its place in the Premier League. In the 2016-2017 season, Bournemouth even surpassed the previous season's results and finished 9th in the Premier League.

Last season, Bournemouth once again ranked 10th in the Premier League standings, which was also quite surprising.

Halfway through this season's league schedule, Bournemouth ranks 10th, only 7 points less than Leicester City, which is ranked 2th. This is enough to show that Bournemouth's performance is quite good.

Despite this, the media does not believe that Manchester United's unbeaten record will be ended by Bournemouth, a mid-table team.

Even the local media in Bournemouth thought so. They said that looking at Arsenal's body still there, no one would want to provoke or attack Manchester United.

Even when Bournemouth head coach Eddie Howe was asked by the media whether Bournemouth could break Manchester United's unbeaten streak, he waved his hands in panic, saying that we would not discuss this topic. Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal, the strong teams ranked as the BIG6 with Manchester United, have no way to beat Manchester United, let alone us. This is not something Bournemouth should get involved in. We just want to play well.

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Bruno didn't care what Eddie Howe said. In fact, the gentleman's low profile was suspicious.

Although Eddie Howe has less than four seasons of experience as a Premier League coach, he is no unknown figure. This player who came from Bournemouth's youth training system played 270 times for Bournemouth during his playing career and is a Bournemouth legend. After becoming a coach, he led Bournemouth from League One to the Premier League and established a firm foothold in the Premier League.

Thanks to his outstanding coaching at Bournemouth, Eddie Howe won the 2015 English Football Manager Association Coach of the Year award.

It can be said that Eddie Howe is a rising star among English coaches in recent years and is highly regarded. His coaching ability is also very good. He is able to stabilize the small team Bournemouth in the middle of the Premier League, which is not something that anyone can do.

Moreover, even though Manchester United has been unbeaten for 58 games, they cannot take it lightly when facing mid- and lower-level teams.

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Bruno was not the only one who thought that Eddie Howe's behavior was problematic, Mourinho did the same. Before the match with Bournemouth, Mourinho repeatedly told the players not to be fooled by Bournemouth's servility and to be careful.

The players more or less listened to what was said. In the last game against Huddersfield, their mentality was wrong and they were severely scolded by Mourinho.

Even so, after the game started, Manchester United players were still shocked by the tough attitude and fighting spirit shown by Bournemouth.

The "Cherry Army", who were very low-key before the game, burst out with great energy after the game started. Although they didn't say anything before the game, they used practical actions to tell everyone: they are eager to beat Manchester United and write their names into the history of Premier League and European football!

The reality is, whichever team can beat Manchester United and break their unbeaten streak will really become famous, they will make headlines in media around the world, and the names of the players who score the goals will become known around the world.

For a small team like Bournemouth, it is very difficult for them to compete for championship awards. Even the most useless League Cup is not something that a small team like Bournemouth can covet in the increasingly inward-looking English football world!

This season, Manchester United was eliminated in the third round of the League Cup and missed the chance to win three consecutive League Cup titles. The teams that can enter the League Cup quarterfinals are the four BIG6 teams of Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea. Bournemouth was also eliminated by the Blues Chelsea in the quarter-finals.

But it was different from the match against Manchester United, this was a decisive match. As long as they fought hard, they would have a chance to beat Manchester United and win extraordinary prestige and attention.

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"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Ake! Ake!! Ake!!!" Lineker's voice was filled with rising question marks and exclamation marks. "In the injury time of the first half, a goal was scored. It was not scored by Manchester United, but by Bournemouth! Ake scored for Bournemouth!"

"In the corner kick melee, Brooks made a cross from the left side of the penalty area, and Ake scored with a header from close range! They lead Manchester United 1:0 away from home at Old Trafford! Bournemouth, who was extremely low-key before the game, is leading!"

While Bournemouth players were celebrating wildly, Manchester United players were frustrated and aggrieved.

After the game started, although Bournemouth was full of fighting spirit, the rhythm of the game was still controlled by Manchester United. They had a higher ball possession rate than their opponents and their number of shots was far more than their opponents.

In such a situation, Manchester United was defeated by Bournemouth's quick counterattack, which really made Manchester United players a little depressed.

However, the commentators have a different view from the players.

"Although Manchester United had a high ball possession rate and many shots, they were unable to really threaten Bournemouth's goal. On the contrary, Manchester United was a little too relaxed on the defensive end, and Bournemouth finally seized a counterattack opportunity and succeeded in the attack! Let's look at Mourinho, he looks very angry."

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Mourinho was indeed angry, and the players gave him the feeling that they responded to him with a seemingly positive attitude, as if to say: Boss, we listened to what you said, look, we are very positive!

These guys!

Mourinho's face turned pale.

In fact, Mourinho's heart is not as angry as his expression shows. His anger is for the players to see, telling them: I am angry! The consequences are serious!

Deep down, he was not surprised. When a team becomes accustomed to winning and has been unbeaten for 58 games, they will gradually become lazy.

This is not a derogatory word, it is a neutral word. No one can always concentrate highly and consistently. A team with more than 20 players cannot do it.

In addition, Manchester United players' performance on the field also seemed to be worried about gains and losses. They were a little too concerned about creating a 59-game unbeaten record, and instead played not as smoothly and reliably as normal.

To put it more deeply, Manchester United now needs a defeat, or even just one loss, to end their unbeaten streak and the team's condition will return to normal.

Yes, Mourinho does not think that his players are proud. Although they have won 13 championship trophies in the past two years, which is an honor that most professional players will find difficult to obtain in their lifetime, these young people of Manchester United still have a desire for victory and have not reached the sage moment of "boredom after the climax."

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Mourinho believes that the current state of Manchester United players is actually a kind of inertia, or to put it more bluntly and appropriately, fatigue.

Physical fatigue, physiological fatigue, mental fatigue, and even fatigue from what you hear and see... The media talks about Manchester United's unbeaten record every day, and the players are excited but also a little tired.

Mourinho understands this and he has grasped these reasons, but that does not mean he is willing to accept failure and willing to let Bournemouth break his unbeaten record.

He wants to lead Manchester United to move forward. When will he be deflowered? Just wait and see. When he can't hold on any longer, whoever he meets will be the lucky one.

However, he hasn't won enough and needs to continue to make great strides forward.

At the end of the first half, the score was 0:1, and Manchester United was trailing 0:1 at home.

At halftime, to the surprise of the players, Mourinho did not yell at them, he just told them a truth: he understood that the team was tired, but he could not accept the team losing to Bournemouth.

"Why should Bournemouth get away with such a great and historic victory over Manchester United?"

The players were stunned at first, and then the atmosphere became heated.

Yes, why should Bournemouth be so cheap? How shameless are they?

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And the occasion is not right today. This is the day when Manchester United will set a new record, the team's last game in 2018, and the team's last game in this stadium.

Yes, this was Manchester United's last game at Old Trafford.

After a year and a half of preliminary construction, the reconstruction of Old Trafford is about to enter a new phase.

Starting from 2019, this century-old stadium will be demolished and a new top-level modern stadium will be built.

According to the plan, Manchester United will not move into the new stadium until 2021.

In the next two years, Manchester United will have to find other venues for its home games.

Originally, Manchester United intended to lease Manchester City's home stadium, the Etihad Stadium, as Manchester United's home stadium for the next two years, but due to various reasons, the negotiations were unsuccessful.

In addition to the Etihad Stadium, Manchester United had also planned to lease the new Wembley Stadium as the team's home stadium for the next two years. However, because Tottenham signed the contract first, and the new Wembley Stadium also had to host the England national team's home games, it would be difficult for it to accommodate Manchester United's home games, so Manchester United had to choose another target.

As a top club, Manchester United will definitely not choose stadiums with too small capacity as their temporary home ground due to their fan base.

In the end, Manchester United chose to rent the home of the Welsh national team, Cardiff Millennium Stadium, as the team's temporary home for the next two years.

Manchester United must not lose in their last home game at Old Trafford!