super king

Chapter 245 Chapter [052] Encountered a blow to the head [two chapters combined into one chapter]

On the night of November 2008, 11, McLaren led the team to the hotel where they stayed in Manchester. Due to the late arrival, they immediately rested without any activities.And the next morning, the Twente team started their adaptive training in Manchester. Although McLaren was from England, he was very familiar with England, but his disciples were very unfamiliar with England, let alone the climate here.Therefore, they must adapt to all this as soon as possible before they can beat Manchester City in the game.

Although McLaren's performance in England's coaching position is not satisfactory, but we cannot deny his talent, otherwise McLaren won the No.2 in the Eredivisie League in the first season of accepting the Twente team.McLaren's full name is Steve McLaren. He was born on May 1961, 5.In the player era, the name McLaren was hardly known by anyone. He only played in the second and third leagues, and then retired directly due to injuries.After retiring, he spent his coaching apprenticeship at Oxford United, and then he was picked up by Derby County coach Jim Smith as Derby County's assistant coach.The two worked together to lead the Derby team to the Premier League, and in the next two years, they won consecutive mid-range results.During the three and a half years in Derby, McLaren was deeply trusted by the head coach, and his authority became more and more powerful. Although he was named as an assistant head coach in the last year and a half, he was actually fully performing the duties of the head coach.His achievements attracted the attention of Manchester United coach Ferguson, and in early 3 he strongly invited McClaren as Manchester United's assistant coach.
Manchester United's performance at the beginning of the 98-99 season was not outstanding, falling behind the defending champion Arsenal in the league, and the triple crown has not yet been written off.However, after McClaren took office, Manchester United's strength has taken a qualitative leap. In the first half of 99, Manchester United became an invincible team.So McClaren became one of the hottest coaches in England.

Manchester United signed a three-year contract with McClaren. McClaren not only became the highest-paid assistant coach in England's history, but also apparently will succeed Ferguson, who is about to retire, as the new head of the Manchester United dynasty. In the 99-00 season, the Manchester United team reached the peak of team strength and won the league championship more than a month earlier in April. Unfortunately, they had poor luck in the knockout round of the Champions League and were upset by Real Madrid.

At the end of 2000, England coach Keegan suddenly resigned.The FA invited McClaren to be England's interim manager.There are so many head coaches who don't choose, but they value an assistant head coach. McLaren's strength and prestige can be seen.Manchester United initially agreed to McLaren's second role, but soon backed out.There are rumors on the road that Ferguson was jealous of McLaren, so he prevented him from taking charge of the national team.After this setback, McLaren knew that Lafayette was too conceited, and it would be difficult for him to succeed him smoothly, so he worked actively and prepared to be his own boss. In the summer of 01, Leeds, West Ham United and Middlesbrough all extended an olive branch to him. He finally chose Middlesbrough because the owner of Middlesbrough allowed him to be the assistant coach of England while being the head coach.

After that, it was not until 2006 that McLaren became the head coach of the England team, but his performance in leading the team was indeed unreasonable, so at the end of 2007, McLaren was dismissed by the FA.After that, McLaren took over the coach of the Twente team, and in the first season he took over the Twente team, the Twente team won the No.2 of the Eredivisie League and entered the UEFA Champions League.Although, in the UEFA Champions League qualifying match, they lost to the Premier League powerhouse Arsenal with a score of 0:6 in two rounds.But it can be seen from these resumes that McLaren is not in vain.

Therefore, we can imagine that Mark Hughes attaches great importance to this game.Although the opponent is well-known, Mark Hughes is not afraid of McLaren, because one of the characteristics of McLaren coaching the team is that he likes to use the 4-3-3 formation the most. It can also be said that McLaren particularly loves the 4-3-3 formation. Whether it is in England or Twente, the formation that McLaren uses most is the 4-3-3 formation.Moreover, the reason why Twente was able to win No.2 in the Eredivisie League was also because of McLaren's 4-3-3 formation.Therefore, Mark Hughes already knew the opponent's tactics, so he could see the tricks.

On November 2008, 11, McLaren took his team to another team in Manchester, Manchester United's training base for training.After all, McLaren and Manchester United still have a very deep friendship, and it is very common to borrow their training ground.For this training, McLaren conducted closed training, and no media could get any news about their training.After training at Manchester United's grounds, McLaren immediately took their team back to the hotel where they were staying and rested.

At 10 o'clock the next morning, McLaren took his team to the Manchester City Stadium, the home of Manchester City, for training to adapt to the venue.Their training was open to the whole process, which made the media reporters who came here very happy.However, when they watched the entire training of the Twente team, they were disappointed.Because, the Twente team did not have any substantive training at all this time, it was just warming up, running, familiarizing themselves with the softness of the turf and so on!

Seeing this situation, the media reporters on the scene realized something. It seems that their tactical arrangements have been trained on the Manchester United training ground, so they did not conduct tactical drills here.At this time, all media reporters were wondering what kind of training McLaren's Twente team had conducted at Manchester United's training base.

At this time, some journalists related to Manchester United have shifted their focus to Manchester United. They hope to get some news about Twente from here.In this way, if they can publish some news that others do not have in their newspapers, then the sales of their newspapers will be guaranteed, and then their chances of promotion will come, so those reporters who have a relationship with Manchester United teammates have rushed to Manchester United, and then media reporters who have no relationship with Manchester United have started to contact their friends who have a relationship with Manchester United teammates. Anyway, at this time, the media reporters are busy.

Although, before that, the Manchester City team had a lot of results, and they had one draw and two losses in three away games, and only accumulated one point.However, there are still a lot of Manchester City teams who came to watch the game, because the Manchester City Stadium, which can accommodate more than 7000 people, has been packed to the brim.Although there are also fans of the Twente team from afar, but the team of only a thousand people seems so small in front of the huge crowd of Manchester City fans.

"Hello, audience friends. This is BBC TV. I'm John Mortensen. Today we're bringing you a match in Group A of the 2008-2009 UEFA Cup group stage. The two teams are Manchester City from England and Twente, which has a long history with England!"
"This game has attracted a lot of attention before the game. This is because of one person, that is, the former England coach McClaren. This is the second time that McClaren led the team to face an English team after he was fired by the FA. In the previous collision with the English team, McClaren lost to the ground and was slaughtered by Arsene Wenger's Arsenal team. Therefore, their match against Manchester City this time is McLaren's revenge battle watched by the Twente fans. I think McLaren's shame will continue, because this season's Manchester City team is not weak!" Mark Lawrenson also opened his mouth and introduced.

"Before this game, we can also see from the news from the pre-match media and McLaren's performance in front of the media that McLaren wanted to use this game to change the English people's perception of him. He wanted to use this game to make him stand up, so today McLaren came with a reason to win. Facing such a team, Mark Hughes is in trouble. Moreover, the situation of Manchester City is not very good in the recent period. The current Manchester City team is like a person with a cold. Low." John Mortensen began to worry about Manchester City.

"Right now, the players of the Manchester City team seem to be a little out of shape. For example, Xu Zhou, who was very eye-catching before, has been silent in these few games. And the same is true for other players. Manchester City seems to have lost their ability to attack overnight. Facing the bad-willed Twente team at this time, Manchester City is indeed in danger!" Mark Lawrenson seems not to be optimistic about Manchester City either. Cup, so, I believe they will not lose this game so easily!"

"Besides, I had news before the game that the management of the Manchester City team had issued a death order, that is, the game must be won. Moreover, the management of the Manchester City team offered a winning bonus of 300 million pounds for this game. This winning bonus is very high. This will definitely stimulate the players of the Manchester City team. Therefore, Manchester City also has a reason not to lose. This is definitely a wonderful game!" John Mortenson said.

Indeed, before the game, the management of the Manchester City team did propose a winning prize of 300 million pounds in cash. When the players of the Manchester City team heard the news, everyone was taken aback. They were also shocked by such a high bonus, but in an instant, they became very excited.Moreover, the management of the Manchester City club also proposed that the goal of this game will also be increased by 25 pounds. This goal has already exceeded Xu Zhou's three-month salary. This is definitely a big deal.And the assists will also be increased to 10 pounds. This is definitely a crazy night.

Before the start of the game, the top management of the Manchester City team came to the Manchester City team's locker room and emphasized the bonus again. This is a naked temptation.The players of the Manchester City team rushed out of the locker room like hungry wolves one by one, their eyes were red like chicken blood.

Seeing the players rushing out of the dressing room, the fans roared wildly in the Manchester City Stadium. They were cheering wildly. They were cheering for the team. They hoped that the team could bring them a victory. They had been looking forward to this victory for a long time. They continued to want victory, victory, victory...

"The players from both sides have already played. Let's take a look at the starting rosters of both sides today!" Speaking of this, John Mortensen quickly flipped through the information in his hand, but he didn't stop talking. "McLaren is very fond of the 4-3-3 formation. I don't know if he will still form a 4-3-3 attacking lineup today? I am looking forward to it!"

The starting rosters for both sides are as follows:
Home team: Manchester City, head coach: Mark Hughes, formation 4-2-3-1
Goalkeeper: 1-Joe Hart
Four defenders [from left to right]: 5-Zabaleta, 22-Dunn, 2-Richards, 15-Garrido

Double midfielders: 11-Elano, 33-Kompani

Three midfielders [from left to right]: 7-Ireland, 8-Robinho, 10-Xu Zhou
Single striker: 24-if

Away team: Twente, manager: Steve McClaren, formation 4-3-3
Goalkeeper: 1-Bao Shuka

Four defenders [from left to right]: 2-Vernat, 12-Hibert, 18-C. Diaudi, 19-Frank Douglas
Three midfielders [from left to right]: 8-Jap Stam, 6-Parama, 10-Robert Pires
Three forwards [from left to right]: 7-Danny Paul, 15-E. Ilya, 9-Nkufo

"Oh, sure enough, sure enough, McLaren still formed his favorite attacking lineup of 4-3-3. It seems that after so many years, McLaren still hasn't changed his habit. In fact, this is not a good habit of his. I think Mark Hughes must have studied McLaren's tactics in great detail before the game. Therefore, today's game does not seem to be completely inclined to the Twente team. This game is really worth looking forward to!" John Mortensen said with such an expression.

"Hehe, I don't think so. Maybe it's McLaren's blindfold. Although McLaren's performance in the England national team is very poor, we are still very clear about his strength. Moreover, after he led the Twente team, we can also see McLaren's ability. Perhaps this 4-3-3 is just superficial, and his purpose is to confuse Mark Hughes!" Mark Lawrenson said.

"Oh, if that's the case, then we have to pray for Mark Hughes. I hope things don't go as you imagined. If that's the case, Manchester City will be in danger today!!" Hearing Mark Lawrenson's words, John Mortensen was slightly shocked. If it was what Mark Lawrenson said, then the current McLaren would be too shocking!
"Hehe, whether this is the case or not, we will know after watching the game!" Mark Lawrenson said with an inscrutable smile.Obviously, he is very confident in his judgment.This made John Mortensen frowned slightly. Obviously, he was thinking about the confidence from Mark Lawrenson. Could it be that Mark Lawrenson knew something from Manchester United?
John Mortensen glanced at Mark Lawrenson thoughtfully, and then continued to speak to the microphone in front of him: "Okay, audience friends, the game is about to start, let's cheer with all our strength and cheer for the arrival of this game. Okay, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game. The first kick-off is the Manchester City team, which is wearing the traditional sky blue team. They will attack the Twente team wearing the red team frantically!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Manchester City fans were cheering wildly at the scene.Of course, there were Twente fans from afar among the cheering crowd, because they were also looking forward to the game.

When the game started, the head coaches of both sides sat calmly on the coaching bench, watching the progress of the game with calm eyes.At this time, the reporters on the sidelines turned their cameras on the head coaches of both sides. They wanted to record the expressions of the two head coaches at this time. They really wanted to know which of the two had the fastest and most exaggerated expression changes after the game.

"Flute..." Suddenly, a mournful whistle exploded in the stadium.

This abrupt whistle shocked all the fans at the scene. What happened?Why did the head coach blow the whistle?At this time, all the fans in the audience cast their eyes into the stadium one after another, wanting to see what happened.

And at this moment, the player wearing the red Twente No. [-] jersey opened his arms and galloped wildly against the wind.And behind him, are the extremely excited Twente players. They also galloped across the field at a crazy speed, chasing Nkufo who was galloping ahead.

The ball is in! !

The Twente team from afar scored.

A blow to the head, the Manchester City team took a blow just after the game started! !
(End of this chapter)