Chapter 236: New season first round match against Reading, Part (Review of Chelsea's massacre)

The intensity of the second half of the game increased, and Manchester United focused more on Rooney, who repeatedly broke through the opponent's defense in the first half. Rooney was naturally targeted by the defenders, and fouls and fouls were frequent, which made Li Qi frown as he was warming up on the sidelines...

When the game came to the 57th minute, the quantitative change finally led to a qualitative change! It was not Manchester United that broke the deadlock, but Rooney was injured!

In the 57th minute, Carrick sent a cross from the right, and Rooney shot from 8 yards in front of the goal, but the ball went over the crossbar. However, after the shot, Rooney fell to the ground, holding his calf. It turned out that Duberry, who had just come to intercept and interfere, had hit Rooney's foot hard!

Although Rooney returned to the game after temporary treatment, he fell to the ground in pain again 2 minutes later and signaled for a substitution as he could not continue the game.

So Sir Alex quickly sent on new signing Li Qi to replace the injured Rooney, and moved Ronaldo to the front line to play as a center forward.

Seeing Ronaldo trying to get the ball and speed past the opponent in the center position where the opponent is focusing on defending, everyone knows that Ronaldo is obviously not suitable to play as a center forward, at least Ronaldo at this time is not suitable to play as a center forward.

At this time, Ronaldo did not have the skills and physique of a Premier League center forward, and he was mainly not mentally prepared. After all, in previous training, he mainly played as a winger, or at most as a shadow striker. He had never practiced the center position that directly attacked the opponent's turtle shell like this.

So watching Ronaldo make a fool of himself in the center position for ten minutes, Sir Alex couldn't bear it anymore. It was too cruel to use the game as training. So in the 68th minute of the game, he replaced the strong O'Shea to play center as a bridgehead, replaced Sylvester who was also injured in the fight, let Evra return to the left back position, Ronaldo returned to the right side, and Li Qi switched to the left side.

However, although O'Shea is a technically well-rounded player in Manchester United, the key is that he is strong enough and is particularly good at fighting with brutal teams like Reading. However, what O'Shea, who plays as a center forward, lacks is the technique to handle the ball finely in the center position and the awareness and feeling that a center should have in the penalty area.

Although O'Shea played a certain role as a bridgehead and opened up a certain amount of offensive space for Manchester United's midfield and frontcourt, there were not many attacks that were actually successful and several opportunities were wasted.

The most regrettable opportunity was missed in the 71st minute. Li Qi stole the header of the ball from Reading striker Doyle who was returning to the penalty area on the left, then faked a shot and dribbled past the goal line!

Unfortunately, Giggs, who was attracting defense at the front point, couldn't touch the ball, and O'Shea, who was unmarked in the middle, didn't catch up in time. Ronaldo fell to the ground and shot under the interference of the defender, but unfortunately it was a cannon...

Seeing that Li Qi played calmly on the wing and seemed to have smoothly integrated into the game, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to let Li Qi switch to the middle to try to play as a center forward, let O'Shea play as a defender, and Evra returned to the left midfielder; it was really a lot of trouble.

Sir Alex Ferguson didn't want to let new signing Li Qi take the risk of playing in an unfamiliar position before he had fully adapted to the Premier League, especially in this kind of moment that requires breaking through intensive melee; however, it is also important to grab points in the first round, so he could only let Li Qi try it first.

Li Qi received the order from his boss, so he naturally did not dare to disobey and sat in the center position obediently. However, Li Qi was actually a little scared of Reading, which had just staged a tragic massacre against Chelsea last season: he did not know whether Bruno Bernard and Raiola, who helped him manage the European Football Health Development Foundation, had helped him to make arrangements in the Premier League. It would be a shame if a few youngsters seriously injured him...

However, Li Qi has never been a physical combat type of player. Li Qi is better at playing football with his brain. Coupled with the higher frequency of triggering burst points when he is fully focused, Li Qi plays at the center position with the shadow of the cool Berbatov.

By making a precise and freehand pass at a key position, Li Qi not only avoided rough fouls from the opponent, but also made the ball move in front of Manchester United's penalty area, bringing greater pressure to Reading's defense.

It was just that the teammates and Li Qi did not cooperate well enough, and they missed several of Li Qi's imaginative passes.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson was still a little dissatisfied. Although Li Qi's center forward style of play was very elegant and did create some danger, a center forward who was on the edge of the danger zone and had no way of developing deep into the penalty area could not make the final decision. And in this game, the opponent's goalkeeper Hahnemann was as difficult to deal with as if he had been given a cheat. He could do everything from high to low and it was difficult to break the opponent's goal relying only on long shots.

Just when Sir Alex Ferguson was frowning and preparing to adjust the lineup again, Reading made changes first.

In the 81st minute, after Li Qi switched to the middle and cooperated with Ronaldo for the first time, his half-turned left-foot shot hit the right post and went wide of the goal; Reading coach Coppell, who had already vaguely seen hope of scoring points at the Theatre of Dreams, could no longer sit still. If they continued playing like this, they would most likely be defeated by the Red Devils, and they had to restrict Manchester United's No. 17 even more.

So Reading replaced the striker Doyle, who had been used as a defender, with midfielder Kitson, obviously to sweep and intercept the dangerous area in front of Reading's penalty area, especially focusing on defending Li Qi.

Less than a minute after Kitson came on the pitch following the coach's instructions, he fired a Taekwondo-like flying kick at Li Qi, who was passing the ball with his back to the goal at the corner of the penalty area. Oh no, it was a flying tackle with his foot raised high.

Fortunately, Li Qi had practiced before, and saw that Kitson's eyes were not right, so he was prepared, so he dodged the flying kick by leaning sideways like a martial arts sparring, but he was still knocked to the ground by Kitson who flew over...

This time, referee Styles showed no mercy and sent Kitson, who had just come on, off the field with a red card. Seeing Li Qi brush off the grass and stand up easily, Sir Alex, the team doctor and his teammates breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, no third player was injured.

However, Wang Laoji's direct shot from the set piece was again saved by Hahnemann, and he missed this excellent direct free kick opportunity.

As the game entered its final stages, the coaches of both teams simultaneously played their third card. On the Reading side, coach Coppell had no choice but to replace the only remaining striker, with 10 players huddled in the penalty area to defend.

Sir Alex Ferguson replaced Wes Brown with Fletcher, who made his 100th appearance for Manchester United. Fletcher, Scholes and Evra were left in charge of kicking the ball. All the players rushed into Reading's penalty area and kicked high balls into the goal.

In fact, Li Qi felt that if he was given a little more time, he should be able to create more threatening opportunities; however, all the opponents retreated to the penalty area. Even if he could get a chance to shoot in the penalty area, it was hard to say whether the ball could penetrate the crowd.

Apparently Sir Alex was also anxious, and he still lacked some confidence in Li Qi, who had just joined the team. He could only follow the routine, set up a high point, kick a high ball, smash it in, and hope for a miracle...

In the 95th minute, Ronaldo's free kick from 25 yards in front of the goal also missed the goal, and the miracle that defending champion Manchester United expected did not happen. Reading, who was one man short, finally held on to a 0-0 draw and successfully took a point away from Old Trafford in the first round of the 07/08 Premier League!

@

When facing Reading in the 07/08 season, we have to mention the Chelsea "family massacre" that shocked the world in the 06/07 season. The instigator was this new Premier League team with basically the same personnel framework!

06/07赛季是雷丁成立135年后首次升上英格兰顶级联赛的处子赛季，而且作为英冠冠军升超的雷丁队可是以106个英冠积分打破了桑德兰保持的105分旧纪录。

As a rookie in the Premier League, the Reading team located in Berkshire in the southeast of England naturally follows the survival style of all small Premier League teams, that is, they make up for their lack of skills by committing fouls. In order to stay in the Premier League and keep the huge profits, the lack of foundation and the lack of skills and tactics really cannot keep up with the Reading team. The playing tactics are not simply fouling, but rough and desperate.

In the eighth round of the 06/07 Premier League, the defending champions Chelsea traveled to challenge the champions of the English Championship, Reading. Before that, Chelsea had won seven consecutive games in the league, and Reading was just a newly promoted team, so everyone thought it would be a one-sided game. However, no one expected that in order to win this game, Chelsea paid an almost unimaginable price.

Just 20 seconds into the game, the Reading midfielder passed the ball into the Chelsea penalty area, and Chelsea goalkeeper Cech quickly rushed out to grab the ball. However, Reading striker Hunter, who followed up, had enough time to avoid Cech, but he did not retract his foot, but instead gambled on the one in ten thousand chance that the goalkeeper would let the ball slip, or perhaps he wanted to give the goalkeeper a warning so that he would hesitate to attack later...

Hunter's right knee hit Cech's head hard. The Czech goalkeeper crawled to the sidelines for help with his last bit of consciousness, and fell into shock and coma, and was then rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

After emergency diagnosis, it was found that Cech's skull was fractured in the collision and his life was in danger.

But the most shocking thing is that the referee Riley did not say anything to Hunter who caused the accident, not even a yellow card, thinking it was just an ordinary collision on the field. This also encouraged Reading players to continue to use rough fouls in subsequent games.

After Cech was injured and left the field, the then Chelsea coach Mourinho had to replace the substitute goalkeeper Cudicini, but Reading's infringement on Chelsea's goalkeeper was not over yet.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Reading took a corner kick from the right side. Cudicini jumped up and tried to kick the ball out, but was hit directly on the side of his head by the elbow of Reading player Sonko next to him. The former fell to the ground on the spot.

Shockingly, referee Riley still did not react until Terry and others frantically shouted to remind him that Cudicini was lying unconscious on the ground, and then he blew the whistle to stop the game. This time, the emergency personnel spent as long as 8 minutes, using a neck fixation brace to give Cudicini emergency treatment.

Cudicini also walked into the stadium vertically and was carried out horizontally.

After being assaulted, Cudicini was unable to continue playing, and Chelsea, having used up their quota of substitutions, had to let captain Terry borrow clothes from third goalkeeper Hilario and act as goalkeeper for the last few minutes.

However, Riley did not stop the game immediately, and the injury time did not end until the 12th minute in chaos because Chelsea's assistant coaches rushed to Reading's bench to fight.

Although Chelsea won the game 1-0 thanks to an own goal by Lampard, Mourinho suppressed his anger and commented coldly after the game: "I am not surprised by what happened to Cech. The opponent wanted to play like this. I was very worried at the time. Cech is lucky to be alive..."

The impact of this foul on Cech was absolutely huge. Although the Czech goalkeeper, who was once in critical condition, miraculously returned to the field three months later, he had to wear a helmet to play games from then on, becoming a famous beret on the football field, also known as the Peeping Man, oh no, it’s the Helmet Man!

This is the Chelsea tragedy caused by Reading. When Ricardo heard about it last season, he was stunned and even wavered in his idea of ​​joining the Premier League. But he didn't expect that what was coming would always come, and it happened in the first round of the new season. But fortunately, it was Rooney and Sylvester who were injured, not the protagonist of this book, otherwise this chapter would be the end of the book...

(At this moment, the author was frantically scratching the few pitiful hairs on his head, and then complaining hysterically: The protagonist should just be killed, because no one reads this book, no one loves it, no one supports it, no one comments on it, and no one rewards it! Destroy it!

……

The style of the painting changes, and the author starts to flatter all the readers: I sincerely ask for the support of the readers, and hope that they will continue to pay attention to it. It would be even better if they can give some good comments and forward it.

Otherwise, Ricardo Li Qi might have an accident someday! )

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However, since we have mentioned these famous violent fouls in football, Manchester United is not much better, especially the legendary captain of the Red Devils - the football villain Roy Keane.

In the 97/98 season, Roy Keane traveled with Manchester United to challenge the arch-rival "White Rose" Leeds United. During a scramble, Roy Keane tripped Haaland (now the Norwegian magician Haaland's father) from behind, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground. After Keane fell to the ground, he did not get up in order to avoid the foul penalty. Haaland stepped forward and mocked loudly: "You are a despicable villain who faked an injury!"

Unexpectedly, Keane would hold a grudge against Haaland for this taunt... Four years later, Haaland had transferred to Manchester United's rival Manchester City, and Keane finally found a chance for revenge. In a Manchester derby, Keane raised his right foot and kicked Haaland's right knee hard, sending the Norwegian flying. There is no doubt that Keane received a Ruby War God card for this malicious foul.

It is hard to say whether he was a mean person or not, because Keane did not hide the fact that he committed a malicious foul. In his autobiography, Keane frankly said: "I have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and I kicked hard on purpose." But the legendary captain of the Red Devils is really not tolerant, and the original cause was that he committed a foul first...

Haaland missed almost all the games of the following season after the foul and retired soon after. This was also considered to be directly related to Keane. However, objectively speaking, Haaland's retirement was due to his long-term injury to his left knee, and Keane kicked his right knee. After the foul, Haaland even finished the Manchester derby. So Haaland's retirement actually had little to do with Keane.

Fast forward to the summer of 2022, the Norwegian rising star Haaland was once close to joining the Red Devils Manchester United because of Solskjaer, but the transfer ultimately did not take place.

Besides his own choice, Haaland's passing of Manchester United may also have something to do with his father, Haaland Sr. After all, Haaland's father played for many rival teams of Manchester United when he was a player, and he was also kicked fiercely by Manchester United legend Roy Keane, which can be regarded as a lot of grudges.

Of course, Manchester City’s wealth is also an important reason...

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