Chapter 277 Manchester United’s points rush… er, a slap in the face.

After the final 16 participating teams of the European Cup were announced, major European bookmakers immediately announced the winning odds of each team in the 2008 Swiss and Austrian European Cup, with Germany, Italy and France ranking in the top three.

According to William Hill data, Germany is the favorite to win the championship with the lowest odds of 6.0, followed by World Cup champions and runners-up Italy at 6.5 and France at 7.5, followed by Spain at 8.0, the Netherlands at 9.0 and Portugal at 10.0. Austria, one of the hosts, ranks last with an odds index of 81.0.

However, after the draw for the round of 12 is completed on December 2, major European bookmakers will certainly adjust the odds of each team winning the championship accordingly.

When Ricardo saw the news from the bookmaker, he naturally remembered that he had asked his cousin about his betting situation before the game.

My cousin Francis is a typical second-generation rich man. He is idle and does not contribute to the gambling company. What else can he do? Getting married and having children is not his choice...

As expected, he not only bought Italy to advance, but also England to advance, and both teams were heavily bet on winning the championship. This made Ricardo speechless, and what made Ricardo even more speechless was the reason why his cousin bought England. After all, it was easy to understand why he bought Italy, after all, he was half Italian, and his genius nephew was a member of the Italian national team.

But why did he buy England? My cousin said it was because his nephew went to play in the Premier League!

What does his nephew's going to play in the Premier League have to do with his support for the England national team? This amazing logic left Ricardo speechless for a moment, and he didn't want to explain to his uncle that even if he went to play in the Premier League, he couldn't play for the England team...

And Ricardo is also very self-aware. Even if he can play for the England team, Ricardo does not think he can save this European Eastern team! After all, the factions in England are too chaotic, the head coach can't control the situation at all, and he is obviously too selfish. If you check it carefully, there will definitely be problems. It's nothing more than the story of Eriksson or Tie Ge.

Although such factions and stories exist in every national team, at least Italy still has a true midfield master Pirlo who can convince everyone to take the initiative to pass the ball to him for organization, but who is Ricardo? Without the support of his own circle and unable to get possession of the ball, he is at most a tool.

The head coach's lower limit determines the team's upper limit, but it is obvious that McClaren's lower limit is very low...

However, Ricciardo found that after Italy advanced to the finals, Italy coach Donadoni was a little bit proud, and made a bold statement after the team advanced: "I can imagine that the European Cup will be as difficult as the World Cup, but we will participate in the European Cup with the same ambition as always, fighting for victory. This is my consistent idea. Going onto the court is to achieve the best results."

Donadoni obviously attributed many of the previous coincidences and luck to his own planning, and began to magnify his role and status in the Italian national team: "My dream is to build a team with a winning mindset that always thinks about high goals, just like AC Milan in the era of Sacchi and Capello. I will let the Italian team participate in the European Cup with this idea. I will push the players' abilities to the limit in every game and then win the European Cup!"

This is not a good sign. The way to grow is to develop slowly. If you show off your skills in a high-profile way, you will definitely be taught a lesson. If Donadoni wants to challenge more in the finals, then Cardo will have a bad feeling. He thinks that the prospects of the Azzurri in the finals of this European Cup are not very good...

After the European Cup, Li stayed with Julian in Chicago for two days, after all, it was Thanksgiving. Julian also visited and experienced the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), which has been ranked first in the United States for more than 20 years and is nicknamed the best rehabilitation hospital on earth.

RIC was founded in 1954 by the famous orthopedic surgeon Paul B. Magnuson. It was initially intended to treat and care for a large number of trauma patients and disabled people caused by World War II. After more than 60 years of development, RIC has become an outstanding leader in sports medicine and rehabilitation services, providing patients with the highest level of therapeutic medical services and achieving the best treatment results through integrated research, scientific discovery and education.

RIC is the sports rehabilitation medicine industry-university-research complex that Ricardo dreams of, but obviously, with Ricardo's current financial resources, he can't afford it. This is a national-level medical research center, and it is absolutely impossible to get it without several Bs; however, this will be a good partner and learning goal. He will first establish a relationship with Professor Connolly...

@

On the weekend when the Premier League battle reignited, Ricardo hurried back to England, but did not report to Manchester United first. Instead, he went to London to hang out with Sarafina. Oh no, it was Thanksgiving. After all, according to Sir Alex, Ricardo should still be recuperating at home in Milan. Little did he know that the VIP treatment that Ricardo had received at RIC in Chicago at his own expense had cured his sprains and strains, and he had resumed training on his own for two days.

After the national team match day, the 14th round of the Premier League started at noon on Saturday, November 2007, 11.

And before Manchester United's away game against Bolton.

The famous English football magazine Sky Sports organized fans to vote for the strongest team in Ferguson's 21 years as Manchester United coach. Unexpectedly, but also reasonable, everyone agreed that the strongest team was not the invincible team during the treble in 99. Instead, it was the team led by Sir Alex this season, which was the strongest team in the past 21 years in everyone's eyes!

Sir Alex Ferguson also agreed with this statement in an interview before the game: "Rooney and Ronaldo lead a group of young players, and the new season has added Tevez, Li Qi and Anderson. The three new players broke out immediately after a short period of adaptation, which was somewhat unexpected, especially Li Qi, who is indeed the biggest surprise so far this season."

"And this Manchester United is indeed the strongest Manchester United I have ever had. I think I am willing to rank it as the strongest team in my coaching career. They are young, harmonious, united and courageous. Their goal is to win the championship!"

But Sir Alex may not have noticed that three of the five people he just mentioned will miss this round of the Premier League. Rooney was injured for a month in the last round of the league, while Ronaldo and Ricardo Richarlison both suffered minor injuries during the national team match day. They were affected by the Fifa virus and need to rest for a few days.

Therefore, at 15 p.m., the Manchester United starting lineup at the Reebok Stadium could only be regarded as a substitute lineup. After all, the three most powerful attacking players were all absent, and Vidic on the defensive line was also absent due to a back injury caused by the national team's game.

Manchester United's starting 4-4-2 parallel formation for this game is:

Goalkeeper No. 1: Van der Sar;

The back line from right to left is No. 6 Wes Brown, No. 19 Pique, No. 5 Ferdinand and No. 3 Evra;

The midfield quartet is No. 4 Hargreaves, No. 16 Carrick, No. 8 Anderson and No. 11 Giggs;

The two strikers are No. 32 Tevez and No. 9 Saha.

曼联在双方近9次交锋中7胜2平保持不败，近5次交锋全胜。双方英超历史交锋16场，博尔顿2胜4平10负处于劣势，其中主场3平5负未尝胜绩。1996年2月，博尔顿还曾0比6惨败。不过双方历史交锋111场，博尔顿41胜24平46负，并没有太大劣势。

In this game, Manchester United, who were almost missing their entire main offensive lineup, played very cautiously at the start and did not even have a shot in the first 10 minutes.

The first shot of the game came from a long-range shot by Bolton midfielder Guthrie, who came from Liverpool's youth training camp.

The first goal of the game also came from Bolton's first shot on target in the 11th minute of the game.

Evra fouled Guthrie in the backcourt, Campo's free kick was passed into the penalty area, Pique made a serious mistake in clearing the ball and it went directly over the top. The talented French striker Anelka stopped the ball 8 yards in front of the goal and turned around to shoot low to score. This was his seventh league goal this season.

This was the only goal of the game.

Facing the result of conceding the first goal, Manchester United seemed to be unprepared. They were unable to open up the situation in the following game, with only three shots in the first half, and almost no threat to Bolton's goal. In order to change this passive situation, Ferguson replaced Pique with O'Shea shortly after the start of the second half, showing a desperate momentum.

Although Manchester United's offensive performance did improve afterwards, in the subsequent games, the lagging Manchester United was eager to counterattack, but was still limited by the chaotic offensive organization and was constantly interrupted by the home team's fierce interceptions and fouls. Obviously, Bolton took advantage of the fact that the Red Devils were affected by the Fifa virus and were full of injuries, and continued to hit the Red Devils' wounds.

Kevin Davis knocking down Evra almost became a common sight on the field throughout the game. Frontal and side sliding tackles and body collisions occurred frequently, and poor Evra was knocked down by fierce and vicious tackles almost every time.

In addition to Kevin Davis, many other Bolton players almost received the Ruby War Card in the early stages of the game. However, the referee of this game indulged the home team on the edge of danger and was reluctant to take out the damn red card.

Sir Alex Ferguson was furious at this. At the end of the first half, he blocked the players' tunnel and angrily scolded the referee Clattenburg. As a result, Sir Alex was sent to the stands during the half-time break.

After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson revealed what happened in an interview with his son. He pointed out that the referee should control the overly aggressive fouling strategy of Bolton players: "... I just want him to know how bad his penalty was in the first half. But some referees don't like to hear it and don't like to face the facts." (Listen, who likes to hear this... But this is our lovely old Sir Alex Ferguson, who speaks his mind.)

"There was only chaos in the first half. Fouls one after another. Bolton players' physical collisions exceeded the normal scale, and there were two or three very hurtful tackles... I know Bolton has to fight for relegation and fight for survival, but their playing style is too fierce. The referee should give more protection to Manchester United players."

However, Bolton manager Megson responded triumphantly in a post-match interview: "It's hard to say whether we played too aggressively, but we definitely played aggressively!"

In the end, Manchester United suffered their first defeat in the last 11 league games. What embarrassed Sir Alex Ferguson was not that he was sent to the stands, but that Manchester United, who boasted before the game that they were the best, lost their 29-year unbeaten record at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton won their first victory in the last 10 league games with these three points, and escaped relegation for the first time this season. Manchester United's league points were surpassed by Arsenal, who beat Wigan Athletic by two goals in advance...

In the first 13 league games, Manchester United had 197 shots on target, which was a perfect answer to the fans. With an average of 15 shots on target per game, you can imagine how much the opposing goalkeeper was suffering. But this round of the match against Bolton was a completely different scene. Although the number of shots reached 15, there were only two shots on target.

When seeing Tevez masturbating in the penalty area, Ricardo couldn't bear to watch: I must have woken up in the wrong position today...

@

After the game, Ricardo did not pay attention to Sir Alex Ferguson's rage at the press conference. After all, what good words could Sir Alex Ferguson say when he was sent to the stands in the midfield for angrily scolding the referee?

Moreover, it was the first time in 15 years that Manchester United lost at the Reebok Stadium in the Premier League. The last time Bolton beat Manchester United here was in 1978. You can imagine how bad the boss was feeling. I was really glad that I was absent due to injury, and Ricardo Richie escaped.

However, while browsing the news, Ricardo came across a pre-match Premier League column by The Guardian:

"It's easier to conquer than to keep it, and the same is true for the Premier League. Since 1960, only three teams have been able to defend the title in England's top league: Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. So this year, Manchester United's road to defending the title is more difficult than overthrowing Chelsea's dominance last season. After the first 13 rounds, Manchester United and Arsenal have the same points, but are temporarily ranked first by the advantage of goal difference. But the actual situation is that Manchester United is not in an advantageous position, but Ferguson and Ronaldo both shouted the championship slogan. Where does their confidence come from?

First of all, Manchester United's defensive performance is the best among all the strong teams. In the first 13 rounds, they only conceded 6 goals, ranking last in the league, conceding a goal every 195 minutes on average, and even conceding 8 goals without a goal, the most. Arsenal and Chelsea also kept their record within single digits, with the former conceding 11 goals in 9 games and the latter conceding 13 goals in 9 games, but their records are obviously slightly inferior. Liverpool conceded 6 goals, the same as Manchester United, but they have played one game less.

In addition, Manchester United also surpasses its three main rivals in terms of defensive stability. Vidic and Ferdinand are the best central defenders in the Premier League at the moment, and people constantly compare them with former Manchester United legends such as Bruce. Brown and Evra are not top players, but they are stable in their main positions and have good cooperation with their teammates. And after captain Gary Neville returns from injury, the right-wing attack and defense capabilities will be improved to a higher level.

Among the top four teams, Chelsea has the biggest defensive fluctuations. Cech, Terry, and Ferreira are injured. Carvalho also suffered a waist injury in the recent game, and Ashley Cole has just recovered from injury. The days three years ago when Mourinho led the team to break many league defensive records and win the championship in one fell swoop are gone. Time flies, and Chelsea's iron defense cannot escape the ruthless injuries.

Liverpool is also facing similar problems. Agger is injured, the aging Hyypia has made many own goals, Arbeloa is running around, and the entire defense line has never established a main four. Arsenal is in a better situation. Sagna's joining has made the right defense more stable. However, the central defender combination is a hidden danger for the Gunners. Gallas has been lying in bed for more than half a year. Toure will leave the team in the winter to support the African Cup. Senderos is a hopeless person. Wenger has recently used Gilberto as a guest player, which is certainly not the best solution.

As for the Africa Cup, Manchester United will be least affected by it. Christmas is often the watershed of the Premier League championship race, but with the Africa Cup this year, Arsenal and Chelsea will be greatly affected. Drogba, Essien and Mikel of the Blues may all leave the team at that time. Arsenal's defensive stalwart Toure mentioned above will take leave, and right winger Eboue will also leave the team. Manchester United's advantage in personnel configuration will be revealed. In January and February, not only will no main players leave the team, but Ferguson will also welcome a wave of injured players returning, Park Ji-sung, Scholes and others will return one after another, and Manchester United can start an early sprint.

Of course, Liverpool is not greatly affected by the African Cup, but judging from the current standings, they still have some distance to go with Manchester United.

However, before the winter comes, Manchester United will immediately face a small-scale points rush. The Red Devils' next three opponents in the league are Bolton, third from the bottom, Fulham, and Derby, last from the bottom, while Arsenal and Chelsea's opponents are both tough.

In addition, qualifying for the European Champions League early will allow Sir Alex to fully rotate the team and train new players in the European arena..."

Uh, but this is embarrassing! The comment date is just yesterday. Manchester United lost the first game of the points rush. They didn’t get a single point. The head coach was sent to the stands. This is a slap in the face...

……