Manchester United legend

Chapter 136 Premier League Season Summary
The league has entered an era of more intense competition, just like the turbulent torrent under the ice floe in early spring.For the Premier League, this is an era in which the torrent of money is intensifying, and it is also a new era of new tactics and new styles.

From August of the previous year to May of this year, 8 fierce league battles were fought.In addition to deciding the championship and runner-up, and the final relegation team list, various awards have also been awarded to various teams. It seems that everything has been settled.

At the end of the long season, 380 teams have scored 20 goals in 1019 league games this season. The number of goals has once again increased compared to last season.

One set of data is very strange. Manchester United is the most aggressive team in the league. It has scored 73 goals throughout the season, averaging 1.92 goals per game.

What does the weird league goals and conceded data show?Manchester United ranked first in both statistics, why were they overtaken in the final points?In fact, these two data can't explain anything, or Manchester United's data is just a false decoration on weak teams.

Comparing the data of the previous season, we can know that the complexity of things is far more than the data of goals scored and conceded.

Manchester United scored a total of 76 goals last season, which is more than Manchester United this season, but it only corresponds to 21 wins; what is even more strange is that Manchester United was not the best defense last season.Throughout last season, Manchester United had 26 wins, 44 draws and 5 losses, conceded as many as 21 goals, and finally won the championship with 12 points; but what about Manchester United this season?The Red Devils scored 5 wins, 44 draws and 75 losses, and scored 23 points, 8 points more than last season, but they finished second.

Why is this happening?

First of all, we must know that it is not that Manchester United has become weaker, but that the opponent has become stronger.The new championship opponent Arsenal is not Newcastle, this is a stronger opponent, this is a more stable team.

Arsenal scored 78 points throughout the season and beat Manchester United to win the championship by 1 point. It is precisely because of their performance that they are far stronger than Newcastle.

The root cause of Manchester United's nightmare season, combined with the analysis of the schedule, is the fall behind in the second half.

From leading by 12 points to being led by 4 points by the opponent, the difference of 16 points occurred within more than two months after the New Year. Manchester United played many bad games in a row before and after they were eliminated from the FA Cup and the Champions League.In particular, being defeated by the opponent in the most critical home game will determine the future standings situation.

It is easy for Manchester United to play against a weak team. Once they lead, it is easy to blow up the opponent's defense and score a super scary score.But this season, Manchester United has frequently conceded goals and lost to the mid-upstream teams.

When the opponent became stronger, Manchester United did not win the game that needed to be won, especially did not grab enough points in the strong dialogue.

In addition, although Manchester United conceded the fewest goals, these conceded goals correspond to almost the most losses since Manchester United played in the Premier League.Manchester United lost a full 7 games!Later, Ferguson invented a sentence, "One of the conditions for winning the Premier League is that the team cannot lose more than 5 games in the league!"

Arsenal's success demonstrates both:

First of all, Arsenal's champions are also piled up with money; Arsenal's champions are almost all due to Wenger's generosity.

Looking at the main players in the Arsenal team, almost more than half of them were bought by Wenger: Overmars, Vieira, Patty, Anelka..., of course, Bergkamp is the best player of the season.

Such a strong lineup, although it made Arsenal's shareholders bleed, it did increase the strength of the team and finally won the championship.

In addition, Arsenal's success is brought about by Wenger's high-level coaching.The championship this time is inseparable from Wenger's outstanding contribution, and the glory of the "double crown" also proves how important an excellent coach is in the football field.

Wenger did bring a new lineup to the team, and more importantly, a new style of play. Starting from Arsenal, the Premier League has embarked on a long and difficult quest to pursue the combination of technical flow and physical speed.

In addition to Manchester United's 92 generation continuing to grow, the core of the stadium is someone else.Arsenal stole the most important scenery, "Ice Prince" Bergkamp became the most dazzling star in the Premier League, and he became the best player of both the Premier League and the Journalists Association.

This season, Bergkamp is full of firepower, full of vitality, and omnipotent in Arsenal's forward line.

What shocked the fans was that Bergkamp was not only capable of scoring all kinds of goals, but also that his technique was so superb and his awareness so good that the entire Premier League defender collectively became his background board.

Bergkamp scored 16 goals in the league, although not the Golden Boot, but these 16 goals are all wonderful and memorable.

Not only that, Bergkamp also made the best goal of the season in the Premier League. He scored a hat-trick in the 3-3 draw with Leicester and scored an unparalleled goal.

It was an amazing half-volley to break the net. He first caught the high-altitude ball with his back to the goal, then used a hanging ball to move past the defender who couldn't find the ball, and then patted the ball with his foot to control the rhythm.

Art, imagination, delicate control, powerful shots - Bergkamp's feet can be used to dance on a tightrope, Bergkamp's feet can be used to pull the trigger of a Browning pistol!
This goal is one of the best goals of Bergkamp's career and one of the most elite goals in the Premier League. Countless years later, this goal still amazes, fascinates and worships the fans.

Arsenal's other legendary striker, Ian Wright, also created brilliance this year. He scored a hat-trick in Arsenal's 4-1 home win over Bolton, and finally broke the record of 178 goals scored by the legendary striker Clive Bastin for Arsenal, becoming the striker with the most goals for Arsenal.

Of course, there are Vieira's growing midfield core in the Arsenal camp, as well as the brilliant Overmars and Anelka, and they have always been proud of the five veterans of the defense. Although they are all old goblins, their defense is indeed still stable.

In addition to Arsenal, the whole of England - naturally including Liverpool fans - is looking forward to the genius of the young striker Michael Owen who is under 20 years old.

The golden boy from Anfield had a lot of stars when he debuted. The media unceremoniously said that Owen was the biggest discovery of the Premier League this year. Liverpool finally contributed a shooter to the England national team that could match Shearer.

Owen scored 36 goals in 18 games this season, tied with Blackburn's Chris Sutton and Coventry's Dion Dublin as the top scorer!
The strong team at that time was Leeds United, and O'Reilly's appointment brought the short-lived glory of the White Rose team.At that time, Leeds United was very youthful, and their white clothes became a unique scene of the youth storm in the Premier League.

Just as hot as winning the championship is the relegation battle.Tottenham, the London giants, fell into the quagmire of relegation.Tottenham's start has been dismal, and many fans are worried about whether they will be relegated early.

However, the German striker Klinsmann was welcomed back to the White Hart Lane Stadium in winter. This is his second time playing for Tottenham.

The Golden Bomber, who shouldered the mission of the savior in danger, did not disappoint either. In the 15 games in the second half of the season, Klinsmann scored 9 goals, helping Tottenham quickly get rid of the relegation crisis, especially in the penultimate round of relegation. In the key battle, Tottenham defeated Wimbledon 2-6 away and successfully relegated. Among them, Klinsmann scored 2 goals in one breath and became the hero of Tottenham again!

Between relegation and championship competition, the trend of continentalization and globalization of the Premier League continues. Not only the flow of wealth marked by money, but also the flow of talent marked by players and coaches is becoming more and more obvious.

In London, Chelsea changed coaches halfway through, with former Italy international striker Vialli replacing Gullit as head coach, while Gullit quickly took over at Newcastle.The "sexy football" that Gullit advocated and practiced in the Premier League ended in failure, and his contract renewal negotiations with Chelsea are more like a farce.

In February 1998, Chelsea began negotiations with Gullit to renew his contract, but he was fired soon after. The club said that Gullit's annual salary requirement was 2 million pounds, which was higher than the combined annual salary of Ferguson and Wenger!
When the media learned of this figure, they all ridiculed the Dutchman as "really crazy about money".Of course, Gullit argued that it was just one of his negotiating tactics, and he could completely lower his wages, "The club fired me, money is just an excuse."But it was too late, as Chelsea replaced him with Vialli as if they had premeditated.

Chelsea have been in excellent form since Vialli took office, and their combat effectiveness has also improved to a new level. They reached the UEFA Cup final all the way, and finally defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 at Wembley to win the championship.Not only that, Chelsea also passed five stages and cut six generals, reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, finally defeated their opponents, and won the championship trophy.

This fact also tells the European continent that the Premier League teams have become stronger day by day, and the fangs that are occasionally displayed are ferocious and full of sharpness.

Just when Manchester United became a spectator, the express train of the Premier League was rolling forward, wrapped in vast funds, wrapped in young teenagers or famous superstars from the European continent and around the world, wrapped in more and more foreign coaches, and more new lineups, new styles of play, and new ideas.

(End of this chapter)