Neil Stadium.

The bus carrying Manchester United players drove into the parking area of ​​the stadium through the side door. Players walked down with their luggage, with each of them smiling relaxedly, and it was obvious that the game did not have much pressure on them.

Before going to London, Ferguson emphasized that "must win."

Manchester United players did not feel the pressure because their opponent was Millwall. The latter's performance was indeed good, but it was just a small club. There were almost no stars in the team. The difference in strength between the two sides was obvious. The players did not think Millwall was qualified to challenge Manchester United.

This is not careless, but confidence in oneself.

The last time Manchester United played against Millwall was in the FA Cup final in the 2003-2004 season. Millwall miraculously advanced to the FA Cup final. However, at Cardiff Millwall's Millwall 3-0 in 90 minutes, Manchester United beat Millwall 3-0 in 90 minutes and won the "easiest" FA Cup championship.

That game is still vivid in my mind.

Many players felt even more relaxed when they recalled it, and they looked at Neal Stadium left and right.

Millwall is not a strange team, but Neal Stadium is definitely unfamiliar. The last time Manchester United came to Neal Stadium, it can be traced back to the League Cup in the 1995-1996 season. At that time, the two teams met on the fourth lap, and the result was naturally self-evident. Manchester United easily defeated Millwall away and made it closer to the next round.

Among the Manchester United lineups, only one of them has participated in that game. Neville was injured and did not follow the team, so Manchester United players are very unfamiliar with Neal Stadium.

They looked around carefully.

Millwall will be Manchester United's opponent next season. It is definitely not the last time they come. If you look at your opponent's home court, it may also be helpful to the game?

———

Millwall's side.

The whole team conducted warm-up training in the morning, and Zhang Yang also arranged a short tactical training to make the team familiar with the playing style.

The verbal battle that broke out before the game did not seem to affect Zhang Yang. He also hoped that the team could defeat Manchester United, but the gap in strength between the two sides was also very obvious. Letting the players "strive to win" may also cause psychological pressure. Zhang Yang put the goal in his heart and did not talk to anyone, but his arrangement of the game has reached the extreme.

Not only tactical planning, but also Zhang Yang also took the initiative to ask Smitchell what should be paid attention to when playing against Manchester United.

Smitchell is the most familiar to Manchester United in the team. During his several seasons at Liverpool, Smitchell played against Manchester United many times. He has a lot of experience and can definitely say something different.

Smitchell explained a few words, talking about Manchester United's regular promotion style, and also talking about the need to pay attention to players, such as forward Van Nie, Giggs on the wing, etc. Later, Zhang Yang simply asked the whole team to gather and solemnly asked Smitchell to share his experience of "playing with Manchester United". Zhang Yang and other coaching staff members also listened patiently.

This made Smitchell find it very interesting.

Smitchell is not a football coach. He has always been an ordinary player and was not valued at Liverpool in the past. Although he performed well on weekdays, he was not the core player of the team most of the time due to injuries, age and technical issues.

Now he has become a core player and has been recognized by the head coach to help the team share his experience in playing against Manchester United?

"It's really interesting!"

Smitchell not only thinks this matter is interesting, but also thinks it is interesting that Zhang Yang can make this decision. Ordinary head coaches will not let players stand up and say anything. Even in Liverpool, Gerald will not stand up to share game experience with his teammates, or talk about how to play the game, because that is the job of the coaching staff.

Maybe Gerald could say better, but he was just a player.

Zhang Yang didn't care at all.

He doesn't say anything "pretending to understand". It won't be beneficial to the game. As for face, it's not achieved through talking about the game. Everyone in the team knows his resume. He has no experience as a professional player, and he just has just served as a formal head coach. His understanding of Manchester United is only on the game video. Let Smitchell, who has rich experience in playing against Manchester United, share his experience in playing against Manchester United. It's no big deal, and it will also give direct reminders to other players.

This also shows that Zhang Yang attaches great importance to the competition.

On the way to Neal Stadium, some players started discussing it privately-

"It seems that the boss wants to win!"

"I didn't see the boss so nervous when playing against Arsenal and Liverpool. He probably wanted to win Manchester United and shut up that Scotland man."

"The boss didn't say it, but I know, the boss won't be willing to lose!"

"I'm not willing to give up! I want to win!"

"I want to win too! What's Manchester United? We will definitely win today!"

"Hahaha... I never thought of losing!" Livermore attracted a lot of attention with one sentence. He continued to laugh, "We have never lost so far, why would we lose this game? We will definitely win!"

This unintelligent sentence made many teammates laugh.

They found that thinking about things is simple, and sometimes it is a good thing. For example, they consider Manchester United's strength and the gap between the two sides, and they will make a judgment on the game in their minds. But Livermore is different. He will not consider the gap between the two sides, nor do he think about things that are too complicated. He only knows how to perform hard.

This is exactly what they should do.

They are just Millwall players, not members of the coaching staff. How to play the game and how many chances of winning have nothing to do with them. They just need to play hard.

———

As the team's head coach, Zhang Yang would not think so simple.

Manchester United is the strongest team Millwall has ever met, and Arsenal and Liverpool have never compared it before.

The outside world is saying that "Manchester United is experiencing a critical moment of new and old changes". In addition, Manchester United clubs also have a lot of troubles. For example, just acquired by the Americans in the summer and the senior management completed a major change of blood, which will definitely have a significant impact on the team, but this does not mean that Manchester United's strength will become worse.

They have always been strong.

Alternate between old and new?

If a small club upgrades the lineup, it will really have a lot of impact, because the "newcomers" of the small club represent young players with little fame, and it is not easy for these players to play out.

Manchester United is a giant club.

The so-called "new" in Manchester United refers to a group of new players such as Wayne Rooney, C-Ronaldo, Sach, Alan Smith. They are something other clubs dare not imagine. Their performance in the game is better than that of veterans.

‘Old’ is not really old either.

For example, Giggs and Scholes, who are "old and strong", are only in their early thirties. Roy Keane, who has just left the team, is definitely not old. At least he can still have the best form and strength. He is very shocking when he plays in the top league. Van Nisterluit, who is the best striker in the world. He is almost thirty years old, but even if he transfers, other giant clubs will rush to ask for it.

This is the old and new generation of Manchester United!

Whether it is the old generation or the new generation, every player's strength is much better than Millwall.

The difference between the two teams is evident.

However, even the media dare not say that Manchester United will definitely win the game. Millwall won too many games. She defeated Arsenal and Liverpool in succession, making many people realize that Millwall is not a traditional team that only looks at the lineup to evaluate strength. "Milwall has a chance to win" is something that all media admit. As for the number of opportunities, it is a matter of person's opinion.

During the opening of the game, various commentators also analyzed the starting lineup. The commentator of "Sky Sports" was Kevin Brad. He explained the Liverpool's game against Millwall, and had some understanding of Millwall's lineup. He analyzed the core players of both sides who may determine the game at the beginning.

Millwall was mentioned in the team and Josh Simpson was, Brad's comment on Simpson was, "He catching up with David Beckham at the free kick level, he is an important force in the youth generation in England!"

Jody Morris was also mentioned.

However, the reason why Morris was mentioned was that he did not start for Millwall, but sat on the bench. "Morris should not have completely recovered from injury. Millwall used him as a trump card. If the situation is unfavorable, Morris will probably be sent to the court."

There are more players to mention in Manchester United.

In recent times, players who have attracted attention include Alan Smith, C Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney on the front line are also more famous than Van Nie. It's not that Rooney performs better than Van Nie, because Rooney is an English player and a young player who is about to turn 20. As long as he performs, he will be noticed by the media.

When the game was less than ten minutes old, Kevin Brad discovered that Millwall's defense seemed to be different from his own judgment.

Millwall did not restrict Rooney too much, C-Ronaldo, and Alan Smith can be described as "leniency". The players against him can only be said to be normal games, while the midfielder Scholes is the key to defending.

Just watch the game carefully for a few minutes and you can clearly see that Scholes was restricted very much. When Scholes was in the frontcourt, he would follow at least one defensive player, and sometimes it would expand to two.

Such targeted defense has caused Scholes a big trouble.

It is difficult for Scholes to perform personally, and it is not easy to cooperate with his teammates, because other defensive players in Millwall block the passing line in a targeted manner, and Scholes often has to choose to pass back.

"Scholes was targeted." Kevin Brad sighed, "Selectively giving up the restrictions on young players such as Alan Smith and Rooney, probably Millwall's defensive targeting strategy, but is it really good to do this?"

While Kevin Brad's analysis, media reporters were also constantly discussing.

The players who are being watched in Manchester United are Rooney, C Ronaldo, and the newly-promoted Alan Smith. Other players in the frontcourt have received less attention, and Scholes is the one who is least watched.

Scholes?

Many people think of Scholes and think that he is about to retire.

Although no one said Scholes was not doing well, Scholes was not mentioned in various reports.

Manchester United's '92 Golden Generation' has many outstanding players, including two Neville, David Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, etc. The one who is concerned about the least is Scholes, because in the England national team, it is difficult for him to compete with Gerald and Lampard, and it is difficult to play as the main player.

A great player from Manchester United a few years ago was Beckham.

After Beckham left, Manchester United's star became Van Nie. From now on, C-Ronaldo, Rooney and others also performed well, but there was no time for Scholes. He even couldn't compare with his teammate Giggs because Giggs also had the title of "King of the Left".

What is Millwall's purpose in defending Scholes?

The above is just the media's idea.

When Millwall focused on Scholes, Manchester United coach Ferguson immediately turned to look at Millwall coach's seat.

The young man was sitting leisurely: playing with a deck of playing cards in his hand, and his relaxed smile was imprinted on his face. He didn't look like a steady head coach, but instead he was a neutral fan who didn't care about the outcome.

But Ferguson couldn't help but look up, "Is it this young man who restricted Scholes... or Millwall's coaching staff who made this decision?"

Ferguson frowned slightly.

As an experienced head coach, Ferguson will not underestimate any opponent who has achieved success. The opponent is just a young man in his early twenties, but he can lead an ordinary team in the English Championship and win the English Championship with miraculous results. The league performance in the new season is definitely not something that can be brought about by luck.

This young man must be a little capable.

Now on the court, Millwall's defensive approach happened to hit Manchester United's weakness.

Manchester United has many great players.

Players like Rooney, C-Ronaldo, Van Nicht, etc., each one is a well-known big star, but Manchester United is a team as a whole. As long as it is a team, it has corresponding tactics. The ability of a single star is good, but when they go to the court, they must follow the tactics to play.

Scholes is the core point of Manchester United's offense.

No matter how superb other players have excellent skills and outstanding personal abilities, they still have to play around Scholes. In most games, other players are more attractive, such as C Ronaldo's extraordinary, inward shot, Rooney's rampage on the court, clean and neat shots, Van Nie's performance in the penalty area, etc. Their performances are more attractive to fans' attention, and their names are frequently seen in media reports.

Scholes is somewhat unknown compared to it.

But any attack is more than a key lasting kick. Before that, there is a lot of work to be done. Scholes is the core of Manchester United's organizational offensive. He will use his control of the overall situation and cooperation with his teammates to make Manchester United's offensive kicks smoother and make teammates more likely to get opportunities.

If Scholes is restricted from death, Manchester United will lose an arm.
Chapter completed!