Chapter 1,017 Another Goalpost

In the locker room, Manchester United's players were all yelling at Stoke City. In an FA Cup final that fans around the world watched, they actually set up a big fight from the beginning and didn't even have a decent attack in the first half of the game. , not afraid of embarrassment at all, simply shameless to the extreme.

Ferguson slammed the table unhappily, "What's the use of talking about this! Football depends on results. If you can win, you are a hero. If you can't, you are a coward."

Facing a team like Stoke City, not scoring a goal in half the game is not a shameful thing. The main reason is that the game process is too annoying. Manchester United is like a tiger facing a hedgehog, with no place to bite. It was very awkward.

Ferdinand explained: "We were a bit unlucky in the first half, otherwise we would have scored."

Ferguson was still sullen, "Do you have to rely on luck to win against Stoke City?"

Ferdinand said sarcastically: "That's not what I meant. The opponent has set up an iron barrel formation, which makes it difficult for anyone to fight."

Old men such as Scholes and Giggs have a good relationship with Ferdinand, and they all stood up and said that the iron barrel formation is indeed difficult to defeat. If there is no good attack method, Stoke City may not be able to break through the gate in the second half.

Ferguson just wanted to give his disciples a beating and did not want to spend his precious 15 minutes criticizing him. However, in the face of Stoke City's completely unrestrained defense, even the extremely experienced Ferguson did not What a great idea.

During the first half of the game, Ferguson and several members of the coaching staff had been discussing how to score.

If the two sides open up and fight, any team will have weaknesses. Just seize the weaknesses and attack fiercely. However, all Stoke City players shrank to defend near the penalty area. With almost no space, all weaknesses were eliminated. They were all covered up, so they could only attack by force.

Ferguson has been coaching for decades. In terms of experience, no one has more experience than him. After much thought, Ferguson decided to play a protracted game.

The FA Cup final is a decisive game. If the score cannot be decided in 90 minutes, there will be 30 minutes of overtime. If the winner still cannot be decided, it will be a penalty shootout.

Of course Manchester United does not want to have a penalty shootout with Stoke City, but now that Stoke City's morale is high, it is a bit difficult to win the game within 90 minutes, so Ferguson hopes to continue to apply pressure during regular time and score better goals. , It doesn’t matter if you can’t, just wait until overtime before launching a fierce attack.

In another dressing room, the players and coaches of Stoke City were very excited. Although it was only a zero-0 against Manchester United at halftime, it was enough to make them happy. The opponent was Manchester United, the most powerful team in world football today. one,

And they are just a relegation team.

The iron barrel formation is definitely ugly. Everyone wants to play a smooth and smooth total offense and total defense, but how can a relegation team win against a wealthy team without being ugly and practical?

The zero seal in the first half also brought strong confidence to Stoke City. Since they were able to keep Manchester United clean for 45 minutes, then according to this tactic, they will have no problem keeping Manchester United clean for 45 minutes. If they are lucky, they may be able to steal one. .

Stoke City head coach Pulis believes that Manchester United will definitely not let themselves drag the game into overtime. That would be too unstable. Manchester United should attack desperately in the second half. Maybe at that time, Manchester United's flaws will be exposed. As long as Stoke If City can give a fatal blow, Stoke City's dream of winning Manchester United may come true.

second half

Neither Manchester United nor Stoke City made any substitutions, and everyone went to Wembley Stadium again with different thoughts.

Just like the first half, Stoke City didn't even make a tentative attack, they just stayed in their own half and waited for Manchester United to attack.

Manchester United's players received Ferguson's orders during the halftime break and knew that scoring goals was not necessary in the second half. Their main task was to press, consume their opponents' physical and mental energy, and make them make mistakes.

I have to say that Ferguson's experience is still useful. His arrangements fundamentally eliminated the anxiety of Manchester United players, allowing them to besiege Stoke City's goal with a relatively calm mentality.

Breaking through dense defense is a worldwide problem. The tricks are long-range set kicks and header bombing. Manchester United have tried these tricks several times in the first half, but they have not been very effective. It is easy to get two fatal shots. , but hit the goalpost again.

Without Ferguson's comforting and motivational work during the halftime break, if there was no progress in the second half, the mentality of the Manchester United players would probably collapse.

Now, although Manchester United's offense still has no effect, the players' mentality is very stable. They believe in Ferguson's tactics and believe that under constant pressure, Stoke City's players will definitely be unable to withstand it.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Manchester United had a chance to score.

Gao Xiaodong pulled Nani over, and the two launched a strong attack from the wing.

Nani and Gao Xiaodong are both players with one-on-one extraordinary ability. The two of them attack from the wing, and Stoke City can't defend it with full-backs and full-midfielders alone.

However, Stoke City was indeed in a bad situation. In crisis on the right, their defensive players in the center did not assist in defending on the wing. Instead, forward Jones, who was in charge, returned to defend on the wing.

Defending three against two is definitely easy to defend, but Gao Xiaodong, who has never been very good at breaking through, suddenly broke out. He deceived Jones with a fake move, then went through the crotch and beat Wilson, dribbling the ball from the side into the penalty area.

Gao Xiaodong's long-range shooting ability is very impressive, and allowing him to penetrate the penalty area will put goalkeeper Sorensen to a great test.

This time the situation suddenly changed, and the originally calm and uneventful situation suddenly became tense.

Stoke City's central players did not care about the defense in the middle. Center defender Huth and midfielder Whelan immediately moved to the side to defend, one to prevent Gao Xiaodong from shooting and the other to prevent Gao Xiaodong from passing.

As soon as Gao Xiaodong entered the penalty area, Huth arrived. Gao Xiaodong bullied Huth for being too tall and not flexible enough. He tried to shoot. When Huth wanted to block it, Gao Xiaodong dunked the ball and passed Huth.

Hu Te's biggest problem is his slow turn. He is very good at other things, but this time Gao Xiaodong finally took advantage of him.

However, Stoke City, which was heavily defensive, had no shortage of defensive personnel. Before Gao Xiaodong could take another shot, Whelan arrived.

The chance to shoot was gone, and Gao Xiaodong had no choice but to pass the ball back to the front of the penalty area.

This time it was Rooney who stood at the front of the penalty area.

When Gao Xiaodong broke through from the wing just now, Rooney saw so many people in the penalty area and took the initiative to retreat to the front of the penalty area to wait for an opportunity.

This time the opportunity came. Rooney rushed over like a gust of wind and hit the ball without giving the Stoke City players any chance to block it.

Rooney played very decisively, but goalkeeper Sorensen was in really good shape. He had just been attracted to the wing by Gao Xiaodong, but he moved over quickly and flew to block the ball.

Hernandez had been roaming in the penalty area, and the ball bounced right at his feet. Ou Shiren, who was next to Hernandez, had no time to stop the ball and pushed it with the arch of his foot in a hurry.

The goalkeeper had already fallen to the ground. The ball only needed to be hit within the goal frame. Unfortunately, Hernandez hit the ball on the goal post in a hurry.