Chapter 256: Finally... gave Ronaldo the first chance!

The League Cup is the last of the four major trophies in England, and in the past it was just a place for the top clubs to review their youth training. Manchester United only reached the final twice during this period, and most seasons did not make it past the fourth round.

The League Cup in the new season was supposed to be a good opportunity and platform for young players of Manchester United to train. However, the Red Devils, led by some first-line players such as O'Shea, Anderson and Carrick, lost 0-2 at home to Coventry, a level lower than Manchester United. This made Sir Alex Ferguson embarrassed. Although Manchester United has been upset many times in cup competitions in recent years, such humiliation is rare. You know, Coventry had no fewer opportunities than Manchester United in this game.

At the press conference after the game, Sir Alex seemed to be trying hard to suppress his anger and said: "This is equivalent to us being beaten up. This is definitely a surprising result. I didn't expect it in advance. I don't want to find some objective reasons to ease the crisis. This game is too bad."

Although disappointed, Sir Alex Ferguson did not regret putting eight new players in the starting lineup. These eight players had never played in the official games before this season, and their average age was less than 8 years old: "You have to give young players opportunities. There should be nothing surprising about the personnel changes in this game. They have to play games... I hope to find some games for them to practice in the near future, but players like Pique, Eagles and Simpson can't play more reserve team games because they have to be on standby in the first team lineup at all times. This is a problem."

However, just as Ricardo realized on the VIP bench, the loss in the League Cup and elimination did not disturb the Manchester United team for too long. Even the fans and the media had no opinions except for a period of disappointment.

After all, it’s not the first or second time that Manchester United has used substitutes to fool around in the League Cup. Including this time, in the past ten seasons, there have been 6 seasons in which Manchester United failed to get past the fourth round of the League Cup. For Manchester United, this means only winning one game or not winning a single game in the League Cup. Everyone has gotten used to it…

It's just that some fans may envy other teams' substitutes and young lineups, such as Arsenal and Chelsea, who also played with young players but successfully passed the test. However, as long as Manchester United performs well in the league and the Champions League, these are minor problems. After all, Manchester United's first team also has a lot of tomorrow's stars.

Of course, Chinese fans and Dong Yuanchao are extremely disappointed...

@

Just three days later, in order to prepare for the second round of the Champions League group match against Roma at home next week, Manchester United scheduled the weekend league to be played in the early morning of Saturday; this is also the reason why Sir Alex Ferguson arranged most of the first-team main players to rest in the League Cup.

In the 07th round of the 08/8 English Premier League, Manchester United will travel to Birmingham. Although the match is scheduled for 17:15 on Saturday afternoon, since Birmingham is only 139 kilometers away from Manchester, it only takes a little more than an hour to take the team bus, which is about the same time as the evening rush hour from the city to Old Trafford.

Therefore, the Manchester United team did not deliberately set out early, but only set out for the competition venue at 14: on the day of the game for pre-match training and warm-up.

Manchester United's starting lineup is almost the same as the previous round of the league, except that Giggs replaced Carrick, and Leeds and Scholes partnered in the middle. This is also the first time Leeds has played in the middle of the midfield in an official game this season. However, in the training sessions in the past few days, Sir Alex Ferguson deliberately arranged for Giggs and Leeds to frequently switch positions during the game. To put it bluntly, when physical output is needed, Leeds is responsible for defensive interception and sprinting, while Giggs and Scholes, the two masters, are responsible for organization and midfield organization...

When Manchester United's team bus drove into the second largest international city in the UK after London, Ricardo, as a curious baby, also observed this modern industrial city through the glass window.

Birmingham is located in central England, on the main railway line from London to Liverpool. It has convenient transportation. A 5-hour railway radius can cover 90% of the UK. Its population and area are second only to London.

Birmingham is one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. James Watt, the father of the Industrial Revolution, invented the two-way cylinder steam engine here. It is also one of the major manufacturing centers of the United Kingdom and the world's largest metal processing area. It is known as the "British Detroit". Birmingham is the world's largest and most concentrated industrial area. More than 25% of the UK's exports are manufactured in the Birmingham area.

However, in modern times, Birmingham's economy is also shifting towards the tertiary industry, and the financial and tourism industries are developing rapidly.

The Greater Birmingham area has the largest young population in Europe and has been ranked as the city with the best quality of life in the UK by the Mercer Living Index for three consecutive years. It is also the most diverse city in the UK, with world-class companies, R&D centers, world-renowned universities and innovative entrepreneurs. It is a vibrant and prosperous business region with more than 1900 international companies.

As for sports, Birmingham was officially named the "European City of Sports" in the 90s and has two well-known Premier League clubs - Aston Villa and Manchester United's opponent in this round, Birmingham City.

Birmingham City's home stadium is called St. Andrews, which is close to the city center, between factories, railways and residential areas. It is not very big, with a capacity of just over 100 people. It is a professional football stadium without a runway, and the viewing experience is first-class.

曼联与伯明翰两队的英超历史交锋共有8场，曼联6胜2平优势明显。双方历史交锋共有96场，曼联44胜27平25负，也占据绝对优势。伯明翰上次取胜曼联还要追溯到1978年11月11日，不过当时红魔在客场可是1比5惨败。但其后近30年来的19场比赛中，曼联13胜6平保持不败。

However, after the game started, Li Qi soon felt that this game was not so easy to play...

Just one minute into the game, Scholes made a mistake in passing the ball under pressure in the backcourt. Jerome intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and took two steps to the left side of the penalty area arc. He shot with his left foot. Fortunately, the angle of the ball was not too tricky, and Van der Sar, who had not been distracted since the kick-off, bravely saved the ball from going out of bounds.

Then Sebastian Larsson took a corner kick from the left side, and Kudrouth successfully grabbed the ball from 10 yards in front of the goal and headed it, but the Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar once again pressed the ball under him in front of the goal line.

The home team's two consecutive attacks at the beginning made the entire Manchester United team break out in a cold sweat.

Manchester United then tried to control the ball and the tempo of the game, but Birmingham's midfield and frontcourt pressing was very fierce, especially the focus on pressing Manchester United's Xuanming and two elders, which had a good effect, as if they had guessed Sir Alex Ferguson's midfield arrangement in advance. So at this time, the football commentator on the broadcast reminded the audience that Birmingham's current head coach Bruce was Sir Alex's former disciple and had a clear understanding of Sir Alex's tactical thinking.

Birmingham arranged a tough and black midfield so that Scholes and Giggs were covered with big men as soon as they got the ball, which really restricted Manchester United's forward pass. The two old Manchester United players were over 30 years old and they were really unable to deal with the tough and black men. Moreover, the two were not in very good condition in this game and were not excited, so they could only pass the ball back frequently for safety.

But in the fierce Premier League game, how much space and time can you pass the ball safely?

So when the game came to the 17th minute, Birmingham intercepted Giggs' cross and launched a counterattack. After the ball was immediately passed to the right, Sebastian Larsson dribbled past Evra and sent a beautiful cross. McSheffrey headed the ball into the goal from 12 yards away!

The ball was headed in a parabola and passed Van der Sar who was blocking the near post. The ball was about to fall into the net, but Ferdinand who returned to defense in time cleared the ball on the goal line.

Birmingham almost scored the first goal, but Manchester United escaped again...

However, Birmingham's high-pressure pressing was obviously more lasting than the Manchester United team expected. These black guys were really good. They had been pressing for nearly 20 minutes and still had the energy to run. Therefore, the pressure faced by Manchester United in the midfield and backcourt did not decrease.

Van der Sar, who was injured in the 23rd minute, almost gave a great gift in the 26th minute. Van der Sar made a mistake in clearing the ball and was directly intercepted by Birmingham striker Jerome. Unfortunately, the latter's long shot from 30 yards was too careless and was once again blocked by Manchester United's defender in time before the goal line. This time it was Vidic who made the contribution.

Both Ligue 30 and Ronaldo played somewhat helplessly, because the ball seldom came to their feet, and Sir Alex Ferguson's tactical arrangement before the game was that they would be responsible for forward attacks and did not need to retreat too deep to provide support; but the game was almost minutes in, and Manchester United's midfield and backcourt were in great chaos.

Just when Li Qi decided to retreat to the defensive midfielder position to protect and stabilize the position, Manchester United's defensive general Ferdinand made a mistake in stopping the ball under the pressure of the opponent's forward. Fortunately, McSheffrey's cross from the left was strong enough, and Sebastian Larsson barely headed the ball from 6 yards far away, but it was too high and too far, and was confiscated by Van der Sar who jumped high...

However, the first half hour of the game made Manchester United nervous. They never controlled the ball well. Scholes and Giggs seemed to have the wrong rhythm and made constant mistakes. Then Birmingham's midfield and frontcourt directly attacked Manchester United's defense. The home team had at least four golden opportunities to break the deadlock.

However, when Li Qi took the initiative to return to the defensive midfielder position and acted as the ball passing point behind Scholes and Giggs, Manchester United finally stabilized. Li Qi's pass was very resolute and decisive, and the accuracy was quite good. The method was also very simple, that is, to continuously pass the ball diagonally, through, high or over the top to the area of ​​​​C Ronaldo and Rooney, allowing them to take the ball as a fulcrum in the frontcourt.

Once the two of them protected the ball, they immediately moved forward to support and break Birmingham's siege; and the physical strength of the Birmingham black guys was obviously significantly lower than at the beginning of the game. For a while, they had no way to deal with Li Qi who almost retreated to the back line to make a long pass, so they could only retreat to the half court and take up their position.

At this time, the tactics arranged by Sir Alex Ferguson before the game were barely implemented. Scholes and Giggs began to organize the attack calmly in the midfield and frontcourt, but the task of attacking was given to Ronaldo and Tevez, and Li Qi was still in the position of defensive midfielder to stabilize the formation...

In the last 15 minutes of the first half, Manchester United finally stood their ground and won back some attacks, but most of them were long shots outside the penalty area, and most of them came from Ronaldo. Only Scholes broke into the penalty area and was knocked down by Birmingham defender Kelly, but the referee refused to award a penalty.

So the exciting first half ended with the Manchester United team still feeling nervous and the game ended in a 0-0 draw at halftime.

Before the start of the second half, Manchester United received another bad news. Van der Sar, who was injured in the first half, could not continue the game. Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to make a passive substitution and Kuszczak came on as a substitute.

However, at the same time, Sir Alex Ferguson also made some fine-tuning to the tactics. Li Qi was asked to follow the playing style at the end of the first half, and to retreat to the front of the back line to provide a barrier and protection, and to be responsible for connecting the back line and the midfield. Tevez would retreat to take on the role of attacking together with Ronaldo.

Li Qi naturally obeyed the order after receiving it from his boss, but then he thought that the functions of Scholes and Giggs in the midfield would be somewhat overlapping and wasted... But let Sir Alex Ferguson arrange and dispatch this matter.

In the second half, the home team Birmingham initially wanted to replicate the tactics used in the opening phase of the first half, pressing fiercely, with their main targets being the two rough central defenders and the two old midfielders.

However, this time, with an additional support point in front of Manchester United's defense who moves quickly, passes the ball stably and fills in on time, Birmingham's tactics had little effect.

Before Birmingham had time to adjust its tactics, Li Qi discovered a gap in the home team's forward formation.

In the 51st minute of the game, before Li Qi received the pass from Ferdinand, he noticed that there was no opponent player behind him to intercept, and Birmingham's midfield wanted to block his passing route. Because Li Qi rarely dribbled the ball before, and basically kicked the ball out, which made Birmingham's midfield and frontcourt lonely for more than 5 minutes, so this time they wanted to block Li Qi's pass.

Unexpectedly, this time Li Qi calmly received the ball and turned around, observing the situation on the field openly. He dribbled two steps, and when he saw that the opponent's midfield was in a situation where two men were in a fight or not, Li Qi made a slight adjustment and made a long pass over the top.

Li Qi's long pass was a bit swirly and a bit floating, and the speed of the ball was not fast, so it did not seem to pose much threat at first glance. However, Birmingham's full-back Kudru was too nervous and excited, so he jumped too early, and the ball just passed over his head and fell behind him like a fallen leaf...

At this time, Ronaldo volleyed from Kudrou's side, intercepted the ball behind Kudrou like lightning, then cut in horizontally without hesitation and headed towards the middle of the penalty area from the right. On the way, he continuously changed the rhythm and direction and used his speed to get rid of the interception of the two central defenders of Birmingham.

Then Ronaldo dribbled into the penalty area and used a fake move to deceive Birmingham goalkeeper Mark Taylor. The latter attacked early thinking that Ronaldo would suddenly shoot into the far corner, but he didn't expect Ronaldo to fake a shot and then dribble sideways to avoid the shooting field.

The goal was empty at this time, and Ronaldo flicked his ankle and sent the ball into the net lightly! Ronaldo started his 100th Premier League game and scored a smooth single-player goal, helping Manchester United break the deadlock away from home, 1-0!

Li Qi also successfully achieved a KPI, giving C Ronaldo +1 assist in the new season!

Ronaldo also turned around and called on Rooney, Li Qi, Tevez and others to celebrate this amazing goal together, and vented the pent-up anger in his chest...

Ronaldo hugged Li Qi and praised Li Qi for his perfect pass, which just went over Kudrou. If the latter could be more cautious and turn around to handle the ball, it might be better, but he would still face Ronaldo's close pressure on his side. If he hesitated for a moment, the ball would be intercepted, unless Kudrou was willing to clear it in the first place.

But to be honest, Li Qi just tried it out randomly. Although he found the gap and Ronaldo's running position, there were too many variables in long passes, so he just wanted to give it a try. If it didn't work, there would still be time to organize it later. But he didn't expect that the protagonist's halo was possessed and it worked immediately...

And Ronaldo's solo move from near the half-court was also smooth. He changed the rhythm and direction several times freely while dribbling the ball at high speed without any stumbling. The ball always stuck firmly to his feet. It was a top-level aesthetic enjoyment of the assault!

This ball left the fans at St. Andrews dumbfounded. It was clear that the home team had been in the advantage of the game and had more chances, so how come they suddenly lost?

It shouldn't be like this! Shouldn't the script be about a heroic young man who is not afraid of sacrifice and bravely kills the demon successfully?

Well, there are still nearly 40 minutes of game time! It must be a magical script of a shocking reversal...

……