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Chapter 180 Fighting Liverpool 1
Although a weird goal was conceded in the game against Birmingham, the Manchester United team did not affect the next game because of this accident, and the subsequent league still maintained a strong leading momentum.

As of the UEFA Champions League match in February, Manchester United defeated Roma 2-1 at home, leaving a better opportunity for their opponents. Although Ferguson regretted it, he didn't care too much. In his opinion, although Roma performed relatively strong this season, But it is still very difficult to pose a relatively large threat to Manchester United in the knockout round.

This is not to say that Manchester United is much better than Rome today, it is just a kind of confidence. In everyone's eyes, it is very easy for Manchester United to advance.

In the subsequent league game against Fulham, Ferguson consciously stayed, not just because he was about to go to Rome, but because it was a league game with Liverpool before playing against Rome.

Perhaps it was to pay the bill for the following games. Manchester United, who played away and opened the deadlock first by Rooney, replaced Giggs, Rooney and Ferdinand in the second half. The serious foul was sent off by the referee with a red card, and then Duff's free kick hit Carrick and then changed to Dempsey's feet. .

After equalizing, Fulham relied on the advantage of having one more player to overwhelm, but Manchester United still couldn't find a chance to counterattack.

The game ended in a draw, and Ferguson was quite depressed after the game, and the ending of the game also made him very uncomfortable. Although he still has a great lead in the league, if he can't win in the next game against Liverpool, Manchester United will be overtaken by Manchester City and Chelsea. These two teams also fight on multiple fronts, but their state is not inferior to Manchester United.

And what makes Manchester United even more uncomfortable now is that Liverpool will compete with Arsenal for the No.4 position, and Tottenham Villa will be chasing after them. Under such circumstances, Liverpool will definitely go all out.

If they fight Liverpool desperately, Manchester United is likely to get nothing, and it will affect the Champions League match with Rome.

It was self-inflicted that a dangerous signal suddenly appeared in a good situation, and Ferguson's depression can be imagined.

"Do you want to fight?" A few days before the game against Liverpool, all of Manchester United were thinking about this question. Although this is the coach's business, the players really want to know how to do this game.

A word of nervousness, this is a rare situation this season, even if the score is behind, it has never happened.

There is no doubt about the threat of Liverpool. Gerrard's state has recovered. The half-dead situation of last season has long since ceased to exist. Keeping Torres is Liverpool's biggest goal this season. If they cannot participate in the Champions League for two seasons, Liverpool will also There will be no persuasiveness to keep Torres. This season, Torres has rarely been injured. It can be said that he has improved his own protection, and it can also be regarded as an improvement in ability.

Of course, these are not good things for Manchester United. Whether it is Gerrard or Torres, each is easy to deal with. Their ability to bite the top three this season does not mean that their strength has regressed, but because the top three have different levels. Accumulation, Manchester United has completed the training of new players, Chelsea's capital is still there, and Manchester City is the team that is running in place.

Although Liverpool is not considered a disabled team, they are still not as good as the top three against the team as a whole. In this situation, they can still fight Arsenal to the death, which shows the morale of the team.

In addition, Aquilani, who was identified as a parallel importer last season, seems to have found the rhythm of the Premier League. Although he did not play much this season, he scored 9 goals, which is unmatched by last season. It seems that several players of Manchester United this season are slightly insufficient, but Benitez dared to let him start in this game. It is difficult to say that he is not a threat. God knows if he will suddenly make a comeback.

Compared with Manchester United's Champions League, League, and FA Cup three-line battle, Liverpool is not easy this season. Although they lost the first game of the FA Cup, they are the favorites in the Europa League. Despite the lack of preparation last season Failed to pass, but this season they clearly hope to make a breakthrough in the European arena.

Of course, this has no conflict with the league. Manchester United does not want to give up, and Liverpool will naturally not give up.

For Manchester United, although Ferguson wanted to fight hard, he still left a hand when arranging the players. In the defense, the goalkeeper Niu Shisan remained unchanged. Fra and Raphael.

Midfielder Silva started, Mike and Scholes partnered in the middle, Valencia was on the right, striker Berbatov took a break, and Grafite started with Rooney.

Benitez formed a 4231 formation, with Torres at the front, Aquilani, Gerrard and Babel behind him, Mascherano and Lucas to protect the center, and right back Degen to replace the injured Glen Johnson started, with Carragher and Agger at center back, Insua on the left, and Reina in goal.

After the opening, compared to Manchester United's deliberate stability, Liverpool attacked quite hard, quite a bit of an anti-customer stance.

Aquilania made a side pass, and Torres' header was vacated by Niu Shisan, and the first shot between the two sides was completed.

Vidic, who was defending Torres, was quite embarrassed. Today, Torres is more difficult to approach than before. Every time he defends, he may be lost by the opponent's sudden change of direction.

Fortunately, Evans is ready to support the defense at any time, reducing Torres' chances of shooting.

Even so, Niu Shisan still feels a lot of pressure in front of the goal. Gerrard's long-range shot seems to be in front of him at any time. It's not that Niu Shisan is afraid of the opponent's long-range shot, but because Manchester United's defense line is stretched today. Standing too far back is not conducive to the defense of long-range shots. Although Niu Shisan is confident in his ability, he is absolutely not blind. He is confident that he can defend against long-range shots, but he dare not say that any long-range shots can It can be prevented, just like the number of goals conceded this season is much more than last season, but it cannot be said that his ability level has declined, but that opponents are more targeted when attacking him, and the angle or intensity is getting worse. Reasonable.

Besides, the area of ​​the goalkeeper is too small compared to the goal. What Niu Shisan can do is the reverse range within his power. If it exceeds a certain limit, he is possessed by a god. God wears the No. 13 jersey. .

More than a year of professional career has also made Niu Shisan understand a lot of things. Sometimes the shrinking of defenders is not because of their defensive problems, but because the opponent is too tight, and they have to narrow the defensive range to reduce Physical energy consumption, otherwise, every ball will run in a large area, and the one who suffers will always be yourself. If you can't hold your feet in the back, if there are too many fouls, the team will be over.

Of course, these are not excuses for Manchester United to be suppressed. No matter what Ferguson thinks, Niu Shisan will never allow frequent dangers in front of him, while his own protective umbrella is getting smaller and smaller.

"Vidic, I think you can push out a little bit, don't think about any unexpected situations, we should trust each other, and we should also believe in our own abilities."

Looking back at Niu Shisan, Vidic was very helpless: I don't want to, but isn't there no way?Who doesn’t want to do it if you can press it out, but once you press it out, you will come out in a gap. At that time, I can’t catch up, and you can’t catch up. If you are cheaper than the opponent, we will have to be criticized when we look back. You don’t feel much about the hair dryer. Yes, but I am very serious!
Although he was a bit reluctant, after hearing what Niu Shisan said, Vidic still had to take the lead. Now he was the oldest in the defense.

I don't know if it's because of the back line pressing up. Manchester United's fight in the midfield is much better than before, and the offensive opportunities have gradually increased.

Mike even had the leisure to make arrangements in midfield, which was something Ferguson had long hoped for.

However, in order to cross the gates of Mascherano and Lucas, Mike's scheduling is still a bit weak. In addition to passing the ball to the two wingers relatively easily, he went straight to Ceroney and Scholes several times. Passes are all intercepted in the middle.

It seems that there is almost no way to pass the ball through the opponent's penalty area except for picking the ball.

However, the game changed in the 15th minute.

Mike, who failed to pass the ball in a row, simply dribbled the ball towards Mascherano. As the toughest waist in Liverpool today, Mascherano was obviously not ready, and he was still hesitating whether to defend Scholes or meet Mike. At the time, Mike had already passed the ball. Although he judged that Mike was a fake this time, Mascherano had to move to block it. It's a fake move, but if you don't guard against it, it may come true.

Sure enough, Mike made a smooth right foot, the pass turned into a push ball, and rushed towards the space between Lucas and Mascherano in a diagonal stab.

Naturally, Lucas wouldn't let Mike pass easily, but if Mike wanted to pass the ball at this time, the two couldn't stop them.

Rooney went straight, and the football went straight between Carragher and Degen. Rooney, who entered the penalty area from the front of the penalty area, did not hesitate to catch up with the football and volleyed with his left foot from a close corner. Although Reina had already pounced on the football, Reluctantly, Rooney's shot was too powerful, and the football changed by Reina brushed the inside of the post and flew into the goal.

This is already Rooney's 20th goal in the league this season. Although it is not much worse than the number in the same period last season, it is even more surprising in terms of efficiency. You must know that although he has played a lot this season, But the number of times he was replaced was the most in the team. Ferguson managed to ensure his physical condition so that he would not be dragged down by fatigue.

(End of this chapter)