Chapter 237 The worst start for the defending Premier League champions,

The first round of the highly anticipated new Premier League season was full of surprises. Liverpool narrowly won, Chelsea narrowly won, and Arsenal narrowly won. The most surprising thing was that Manchester United, the last team to appear in the new season, as the defending champion, simply caused a big upset and played a sad game with the relegation favorite Reading, making the first round of the Premier League full of surprises!

Although they were all narrow wins, Manchester United, which only had one draw, had obviously fallen behind from the beginning of the season when the other three major title contenders all won.

In the first round of the Premier League that started a day earlier, Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 87-2 away from home thanks to captain Gerrard's direct free kick in the 1th minute.

Arsenal and Chelsea both played against Manchester United on the same day, but the two teams started their games in the early morning at 12 noon and 13: respectively.

Arsenal will play Fulham in the first London derby of the season at the Emirates Stadium.

However, Arsenal coach Wenger and the 52 spectators at the Emirates Stadium probably never dreamed that in the first game of the new season, their team conceded the first goal in just 549 seconds, breaking the record for the fastest goal conceded since Wenger took over as Arsenal coach. The direct contributor to this goal was the Gunners' unshakable number one goalkeeper, German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann; in his th league game, the German goalkeeper unfortunately became the protagonist...

Looking back at the whole process of losing the ball, it was actually not a very special opportunity.

After Arsenal got the ball, the defender Gallas, who was stuck in position, did not dare to turn around under the pressure of the opponent's forward Healy, but chose to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Lehmann, who kicked the ball forward or passed it to the side. Friends who have played football know that in most cases this is a normal anti-pressing routine, and basically everyone who has played football knows it.

But the problem is that, faced with the normal routine, Lehmann chose an abnormal way of handling it. Maybe he was thinking about the new season and new atmosphere, so he must give his teammates, fans and coaches something new and fresh, so that his old friends would give the Gunners' live broadcast room a 666!

Lehmann saw the ball coming and instead of kicking it directly, he wanted to lightly pass the ball back to Gallas; perhaps he thought that this would deceive the onrushing Hilly, and then he could easily let Gallas take control of the ball again and then calmly launch an attack.

But Fulham striker Healy, looking at his name - sharp, you can tell that this Northern Irishman is obviously also a smart guy. He had long discovered that Lehmann wanted to do something tricky.

So Lehmann's prediction was predicted by Healy in advance, which is the legendary magical skill of predicting your prediction. Not only was Healy not fooled by Lehmann, but he intercepted Lehmann's return pass to Gallas at the first time. As a result, the ball was intercepted by Healy and directly kicked into the Arsenal goal!

52 seconds into the game, Arsenal fell behind 1-0 and Lehmann sat on the grass with a constipated look on his face.

Lehmann had a bad kick last season. In the match against Manchester City, he missed the target with his kick and was intercepted by Barton. After three passes, Beasley broke the deadlock. Perhaps Lehmann was not sure about long-foot clearance from then on, so he simply chose to pass the ball back with the inside of his foot, but the opponent still judged it in advance, resulting in the ball being intercepted and lost.

Lehmann laughed at Kahn and Barthez, but in the end, he still had to bear it all himself...

At the end of last season, Lehmann renewed his contract with the club for another year, intending to contribute another season to the Gunners, but from today's game, it can be seen that Lehmann's deterrence in front of the goal is almost in a free fall. In the past, the German had many big scenes and was able to hold his own in front of the goal, but from today's game, Lehmann's state and strength have begun to make people uneasy.

It is no wonder that Professor Wenger went against all odds and signed the young goalkeeper Fabianski this summer. It seems that this was a preparation for Lehmann's departure next season; but now it seems that this process may have to be advanced a little.

Although Arsenal lost the ball quickly after the opening, fortunately, in the last ten minutes of the game, Arsenal scored two goals in a row with Van Persie's penalty kick and Hleb's goal in the stoppage time, and finally reversed the score to 2-1 and defeated the farmer Fulham.

Coincidentally, in the match between Chelsea and Birmingham, Birmingham, who were visiting at Stamford Bridge, took the lead in breaking the deadlock in the 15th minute of the first half and got off to a dream start.

Chelsea then quickly reversed the score with goals from two new signings, Pizarro and Malouda, but Birmingham scored again soon after, bringing the two teams back to the same starting line.

Fortunately, in the second half, African buffalo Essien scored a world-class goal with a long shot from 25 yards away from the goal, helping Chelsea win with a score of 3-2.

此役过后，切尔西将联赛主场不败纪录延续到64场，打破利物浦在1978年2月至1981年1月间在安菲尔德创造的英格兰顶级联赛63场主场不败的纪录。

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Therefore, among the four teams that were agreed to be contenders for the championship before the season, only Manchester United was injured in the first round of the league.

Facing Reading's iron defense, the Red Devils just couldn't unleash their offensive power; their ball possession rate was as high as 73%, their shots were 25 to 3, their shots on target were 12 to 2, their shots off target were 13 to 1, their corner kicks were 12 to 3, and their time in the opponent's 30-meter area was as high as 44%. Judging from the data, they really shouldn't have ended up with a blank draw, but the fact is 0 to 0.

There was no turning point in this game. Manchester United's offensive rhythm was maintained from the first minute to the end of the game, and Manchester United had one more player in the last ten minutes. However, a god-like Hahnemann and a group of Reading players who refused to come out of the penalty area were enough to turn every tsunami-like attack at Old Trafford into a heavy sigh.

Rooney's accidental injury can barely be regarded as a turning point in the game. After all, the departure of the main striker caused Manchester United's attack wave to stagnate. After all, there was no backup center on the Red Devils' bench, and Sir Alex Ferguson's subsequent changes of tactics were all somewhat helpless temporary responses, which ultimately did not achieve the expected results.

Another thing worth mentioning is Kitson's red card - this is the first red card of the new Premier League season. Kitson was sent off 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute, which is also a surprising record. However, this lightning red card is still far from the fastest record. Last season, Sheffield United striker Gillespie set a record of being sent off 25 seconds after coming on the field.

The sports edition of The Times believes that there are deep-seated reasons for Manchester United's poor performance in the first round of the league: "Because it is difficult to say which player performed poorly, Manchester United seemed a bit sluggish overall, especially in offense, and the sharp pass and shot combination of last season was gone.

This may be a side effect of the Asian tour this summer. The long flight, hot weather and tight schedule are enough to make Giggs, Scholes and other elderly players exhausted, and the poor level of the opponents in the warm-up matches and the slow pace of the games can hardly be said to have a real effect on the team's pre-season preparations.

However, because the trip to Asia shortened the team's preparation time after returning to the UK, Manchester United did not have time to play a few real warm-up matches before rushing into the new season. This made the team feel extremely uncomfortable when they came back to face their real opponents in the Premier League.

And for various reasons, Manchester United's summer training did not provide much opportunity for the newcomers to integrate with the team. Hargreaves was injured and had been training alone in Asia, while Anderson did not have many opportunities to train with the team because he participated in the America's Cup. Only Ricardo Liqi had played a few warm-up matches with the team before, but it was too early to say that he would integrate into the team.

The game state can only be found little by little in actual combat, so it is understandable that the whole Manchester United team is in a low state in this game..."

At the post-match press conference, the media thought Sir Alex Ferguson was still being stubborn: "There was no sense of crisis in today's game. We did everything we could, with a strong desire to attack, a good grasp of the rhythm, and played very coolly. Basically, everything you want to achieve in the first game was reflected, except for one goal."

However, Ricardo, who knew some of the inside story, did not think that Sir Alex was simply being tough. At least Manchester United did lack a little luck in this game.

Ricardo felt that if Rooney had not been injured, it would only be a matter of time before the ball broke through Reading's goal. Alternatively, if Rooney had been injured earlier, he would have been able to come on the field earlier and play as a center forward for a longer time, which would have also given him a high probability of breaking the deadlock.

But the fact is that it is so unfortunate, with various coincidences added up, the time and opportunity were just a little bit off; plus, while the opponent was hiding in the penalty area and defending, there was also a goalkeeper who was cheating, so saving 12 shots in one game can be considered a masterpiece!

Of course, the media's analysis of the summer trip to Asia is indeed one of the reasons for Manchester United's poor performance in the first round, but would Manchester United or Sir Alex Ferguson not know about this impact? This is not the first time Manchester United has traveled to Asia.

The club and coaching staff know that the trip to Asia will inevitably shorten the time and quality of the team's pre-season preparations. However, compared with the huge benefits and influence accumulated by the trip to Asia, it is obviously more important for the long-term development and construction of the club, so they can only choose the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

So does Sir Alex Ferguson have no plan to deal with the expected situation? Of course there is a remedy, which is to extend the pre-season preparation period. While other teams have entered the regular training rhythm after the start of the league, Manchester United is still maintaining a high-intensity pre-season physical training plan of two training sessions a day.

Even on the morning of the game, Sir Alex Ferguson arranged a relatively easy tactical training session because they were playing at home and did not have to travel far. However, the team was still in the physical training and reserve period, so naturally the players were particularly tired, which was one of the reasons why the team was not in good overall condition during the game.

Ricardo also secretly asked the coaching staff and the big brothers in the team, how long will this inhumane one-day double training last? With such a schedule, Ricardo has no time to visit the private training team to conduct special training to make up for his shortcomings.

As a result, the answer from coach Mike Phelan and the older brothers in the team was very consistent, that is, "It's over when the boss says it's over. If the team can't satisfy him, we will probably have to keep practicing..."

However, even if Sir Ferguson is not worried about the team's condition, Rooney's injury still worries him, after all, the next round of the Premier League will be in three days.

The day after the game, Manchester United officially announced that after further examination, Rooney's injury was confirmed to be a fracture in his left foot, so Rooney will be away from the field for at least 2 months.

Not only will Rooney definitely miss the upcoming games against Portsmouth and Manchester City, the media expects Rooney to miss at least 13 official games, including eight league games, two Champions League games, two European Championship preliminaries, and one national team warm-up match (A level).

In the league, they are the second round of the Premier League away against Portsmouth, the third round away against Manchester City, the fourth round at home against Tottenham, the fifth round at home against Sunderland, the sixth round away against Everton, the seventh round at home against Chelsea, the eighth round away against Birmingham, and the ninth round at home against Wigan; among them, the focus battle between Manchester United and Chelsea at the end of September is the most critical.

In the Champions League, according to the schedule set by UEFA, the first match of the 32-team group stage is scheduled for September 9 and 18, and the second match is scheduled for October 19 and 10. It seems that Rooney will miss both.

The biggest problem now is the England national team's games. Rooney will miss the England-Germany match at Wembley on August 8. He can only watch the European Championship qualifiers against Israel on September 22 and Russia on September 9. But it's hard to say about the home game against Estonia on October 8, which is exactly two months apart. Will Rooney have recovered to the level required for the game, or will he only be able to adjust and play lightly? It's still unknown.

In any case, England coach McClaren must be prepared for Rooney's absence.

At the press conference, Ferguson was very disappointed with Rooney's injury: "We will be missing Rooney for two months, and this is conservative. We need to let Rooney rest for at least two months, but in fact I still hope he can come back soon."

A day earlier, Sir Alex Ferguson had said: "Tevez is most likely to play in the Manchester City derby next weekend." But plans can't keep up with changes. Rooney was injured and left the field. The TV broadcast gave Tevez a long close-up shot sitting in the stands. Everyone knew that it was time for the beast to be released.

Sir Alex Ferguson had been planning for Rooney and Tevez to join forces to lead the charge for Manchester United, but Rooney's accidental injury disrupted the plan. With few forwards available, Ferguson had to admit: "I have to consider using Tevez in Portsmouth anyway. He will slowly integrate into the team's philosophy."

L'Equipe analyzed immediately after Rooney confirmed his injury for two months: "Tevez is likely to play as a lone striker, cruising at the forefront of Manchester United, behind him is the attacking line composed of Giggs, Ronaldo, Li Qi or Evra. In other words, Tevez's role is to replace Rooney, rather than injecting new attacking elements into Manchester United as everyone expected.

Former Manchester United star Pallister once commented seriously on Tevez: He is very free on the field, you can find him in any corner of the field. You know that defenders hate such players the most, too difficult to deal with. He can appear anywhere. On the left, on the right, and of course in the middle, he can cause trouble in all positions. You can never be sure whether he will assist or attack directly. For defenders, he is synonymous with nightmare.

Pallister's words can be applied to Rooney word for word. So from the analysis of Tevez's characteristics, he is very similar to Rooney, with a wide range of movement, the ability to pass and shoot, a strong body, and strong impact...

However, Tevez was originally expected to play in the derby against Manchester City next weekend, and he has just started training with the team. How much of his potential can this Argentine beast, who has never cooperated with his teammates, perform in the face of such a severe test?

In addition to accumulating physical strength, practicing tactics, and finding the match form, a systematic pre-season training also has a very important purpose, which is to prevent players from getting injured. This is an important lesson for Manchester United this summer. The team already has many old injured players such as Gary Neville, Saha, and Park Ji-sung. Now, Rooney, the only striker who can be used besides the new signing Tevez, is injured. An injury crisis has hit Manchester United fiercely at the beginning of the season..."

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After closing the newspaper, Ricardo, who had already been confirmed to start in the next away league game, couldn't help but sigh for the Chinese striker Dong Yuanchao on the way to Portsmouth, the southernmost city in England, by train:

How come Rooney is the only available striker? Except for Tevez, Rooney and Saha, everyone has completely ignored this fourth striker in the Manchester United team...

And Sir Alex Ferguson did not include Dong Yuanchao in the match roster, which means that he would rather not put a backup striker on the bench than trust Dong Yuanchao.

How can I save you then? Xiao Dongdong...

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