Chapter 1,181 Victory over Bolton

Back in Manchester, Gao Xiaodong didn't even take a moment's rest before he threw himself into preparing for the game against Bolton.

Bolton has always been known as a "nursing home". The team's business strategy for many years has been to introduce elderly veterans at low prices and use their rich experience to help the team avoid relegation.

But after coach Coyle took office, Bolton's style has undergone a huge change. The team has introduced many capable players, and its style of play has also changed from a simple long pass counterattack to one that pays attention to coordination, and has truly become a "fast horse". .

Last season, Bolton's performance was impressive. Relying on fast and effective offense, the team was at the top of the standings for a long time. Among them, Swedish international Elmander and South Korean rising star Lee Chung-yong performed particularly eye-catchingly. In the second half of the season, the status of several players declined. The youngster Sturridge, who was on loan from Chelsea, took on the heavy responsibility of the team's offense and scored in 5 consecutive games.

But Bolton is a team with "no ambitions". After getting the relegation points early, Bolton lost all the games in the last three rounds of the league, giving life-saving points to the relegation opponents. The team finally finished 14th. Obviously, this The ranking does not reflect Bolton's true combat effectiveness.

U.S. international Holden is still recuperating after a serious knee injury this season, while South Korean international Lee Ching-yong suffered a broken leg in a warm-up match and is likely to be reimbursed for the new season. Elmander left the team when his contract expired, loaned Sturridge back to Chelsea, and let go of Matthew Taylor. Head coach Coyle hired two old players from his old club Burnley: former Manchester United player Gers and Mills also acquired Villa midfielder Leo Koke and Swansea main midfielder Pratali for zero price. Obviously these transfers are not enough, and Bolton's overall strength has declined compared to last season.

Although Bolton is not a strong team and has only won once in the last 17 games between the two sides, Manchester United's problem is not the opponent, but the FIFA virus.

FIFA stipulates some international match days. During these days, each football club is required to unconditionally release players to return home to participate in national team competitions.

Players participating in international competitions need to go through long-distance flights, competitions, jet lag, etc., which can easily cause fatigue. What's more serious is that these players may get injured in international competitions. Therefore, these international players who return to the club after the international break often perform poorly. This phenomenon is called the club being infected by the "FIFA virus".

Although clubs are all affected by the FIFA virus, there are not many international players in weak teams, and they are rarely the main players, while the players of the rich teams are basically the international players of the national team, and the vast majority are still the main players of the national team. Therefore, the players of the rich teams are also the main players of the national team. The team is much more harmed by the "FIFA virus" than the underdog club.

The earliest Manchester United players to return to Manchester were only three days away from the game. Most players only had two days, and some even came back the day before the game.

Although Ferguson did not give the players any time to rest,

However, the intensity of the training is very low because the players are too tired. If the intensity is too high, it will be difficult to relieve muscle fatigue and it will also be easy to get injured.

The day before the game, when Ferguson announced the starting lineup for the match against Bolton, he put several of the team's absolute main players on the bench. Among these absolute main players, except for Gao Xiaodong, they were all veteran players.

In addition to considering the FIFA virus, Ferguson also took into account the midweek Champions League match with Benfica.

After evaluation, Gao Xiaodong's physical condition is still good, but because the Champions League match against Benfica in midweek is a tough battle and he has to rely on Gao Xiaodong, Ferguson does not dare to be careless.

Ferguson loved Gao Xiaodong very much. Gao Xiaodong returned to the national team to participate in the World Cup qualifiers. Ferguson has always paid attention to Gao Xiaodong and often praised Gao Xiaodong in the media. Gao Xiaodong was sent off with a red card, and Ferguson also severely criticized the referee. Irmatov, but in fact Ferguson was very happy, thinking that Gao Xiaodong would not have to go back to participate in the next game, and could devote all his energy to the league and Champions League.

But Gao Xiaodong unexpectedly told Ferguson that he would have to go back to train with the team in the next national team game. This made Ferguson very angry. He immediately expressed that he would negotiate with the Chinese Football Association and the national team coach Camacho. Gao Xiaodong was not allowed to go back.

Gao Xiaodong also figured out Camacho's thoughts along the way. He told Ferguson that going back would not have any impact on him. His physical fitness was very good, and he had just returned and did not want to have a conflict with the coach.

Since Gao Xiaodong insisted on going back, Ferguson had no choice. However, considering that Gao Xiaodong's upcoming schedule was even tighter, Ferguson still hid Gao Xiaodong in games against teams like Bolton.

Gao Xiaodong has a system in place and has no worries about physical fitness. However, good intentions are difficult to refuse, so Gao Xiaodong can only accept Ferguson's arrangement.

The match against Bolton will be at 5:30 pm on the 10th.

The match will take place at Bolton Wanderers' Reebok Stadium.

Bolton coach Coyle understands the impact of the FIFA virus and the midweek Champions League game on Manchester United, so he played his best in this game, trying to take advantage of the situation and win Manchester United.

Manchester United obviously rested, and some fringe players and newcomers came on.

Manchester United's starting goalkeeper is 1-De Gea; the 4 defenders are 4-Phil Jones, 5-Ferdinand, 6-Evans, 12-Smolin; 17-Nani, 23-Cleverley, 8-Anderson, 18-Ashley Young; 10-Rooney, 14-Hernandez

Even with such a lineup, the Chinese team still had the upper hand in the game against Bolton.

Coyle uses a 4-4-2 formation, which allows his team to make full use of the width of the pitch, allowing the full-backs to press forward and assist. But the team's strength lies in its two wingers. Last season, Petrov, Li Qinglong and other wingers helped the team score a total of 21 goals. The combination of wing and center makes Bolton's offense impressive. Although there is no Li Qinglong now, Coyle still uses the original style of play.

But against Manchester United, Coyle's tactics met their nemesis.

Manchester United's offense also attaches great importance to the wing. Nani and Ashley Young are both wing players. In addition, Rooney often pulls wide. They directly suppressed Bolton's wing.

Although their skills were inferior and their tactics were restrained, Bolton did not want to admit defeat at home. They performed very fiercely in defense. They committed three fouls in the first 4 minutes, and their movements were very large, which made Ferguson very dissatisfied on the sidelines.

However, Manchester United played more sophisticatedly. In the 5th minute of the game, Manchester United counterattacked. Ferdinand made a long pass. Nani received the ball on the right side of the penalty area and made a pass from the edge. The unguarded Hernandez scored from close range with a shovel shot from the front. , turning the score into 1:0.

Falling behind, Bolton were eager to save some face in front of their home fans and immediately launched a massive counterattack in an attempt to quickly get back the score.

For Manchester United, it is definitely very good for Bolton to attack in a big way. They can easily fight Bolton's counterattack from behind.

Sure enough, in the 12th minute, full-back Phil Jones quickly counterattacked. He dribbled the ball all the way to the baseline and then made a cross from the right. Rooney jumped in at high speed and scored with a shot from the edge of the small penalty area, turning the score into 2:0.

After taking a two-goal lead, Manchester United played more relaxedly and scored 8 minutes later from Phil. Jones assisted Rooney again.

In 20 minutes, Manchester United took a 3-goal lead, basically locking the victory. In this case, of course, Ferguson would not replace Gao Xiaodong and other absolute main players. In the second half, Ferguson replaced the young Pogba for training. After Rooney scored a hat trick, Rooney was replaced by Park Ji-sung, allowing Rooney to accept the cheers from the fans and letting Park Ji-sung find his game status.

Even though Manchester United brought on more substitutes, Bolton still could not reverse the situation on the field. Instead, Hernandez scored another goal in the 85th minute. In the end, Manchester United, who came on as a substitute, won the away game 5-0 without any blood. Bolton Wanderers, having won their fourth consecutive league win, continue to lead the table.