Nine Hundred and Eighty Eighth: Confident Ferguson

When Gao Shen was at home in Madrid, studying how to play against Manchester United while grilling meat, Ferguson was also studying Real Madrid at the Manchester Carrington training base.

In front of the Manchester United coach, on this huge tactical board, is his guess, Real Madrid's starting lineup.

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas.

Defense: Arbeloa, Ramos, Varane and Carvajal.

Midfield: Xavi Alonso drags deep, Toni Kroos and Modric center.

Forwards: Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria.

If nothing else, this should be Real Madrid's starting lineup.

Ferguson and his team of assistants also came out after summarizing and analyzing multiple sources of intelligence.

One of the key points is that although Marcelo has participated in the team's training, his body is far from reaching the standard for playing the game. This makes Ferguson guess that Gao Shen will not risk using him.

Ferguson knows Gao Shen, he is not the kind of ruthless person who cannot use players as consumables.

But even so, Real Madrid's lineup is still stronger than Manchester United.

How to contain Real Madrid's offense will become a key issue for Manchester United at the Bernabeu.

If you want to contain Real Madrid's offense, you must first restrict Ronaldo.

Everyone knows that the Portuguese is the most threatening offensive player in the Real Madrid team.

How should this lineup be arranged?

"Raphael alone can't stop Ronnie. We need at least two people on the wing."

Assistant coach Mike Phelan uttered a big, correct piece of crap, and Ferguson gave him a look, feeling a little helpless.

Doesn't he know?

No, what he needs is to determine who will be Raphael's assistant.

More importantly, will Gao Shen let Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria switch positions like they did in Manchester City?

Once Real Madrid's front trident is crossed, how will Manchester United defend?

These are the key.

If the winger is allowed to come back to help, this will inevitably affect the team's offense.

Facing a strong team like Real Madrid, if Manchester United cannot exert enough offensive pressure in the frontcourt, the final result will be to be beaten by Real Madrid and score goals one after another.

In the end, Manchester United should not expect to get out of the Bernabeu well.

Ferguson knows the depth better than anyone else.

He is very clear that the advanced tactics are like this, and it will be brilliant if given some sunshine.

But if you don't use the winger, you can only use the midfielder. Carrick is not enough for one person, so he needs two.

Cleverly? Phil Jones? Schneiderlin?

Ferguson thought about it secretly, and directly placed two chess pieces on the back midfielder, No. 16 and No. 28 respectively.

No. 16 is Carrick and No. 28 is Schneiderlin.

The position of the two is that Carrick is on the left and Schneiderlin is on the right.

Obviously, Ferguson's intention is to use Schneiderlin to cooperate with Raphael to limit Ronaldo.

Especially the Portuguese cut inside on the left.

As for the defense, Manchester United basically did not change.

From left to right, Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand and Rafael.

This is already Manchester United's strongest defensive lineup.

At that time, Manchester United's defense line was the best in European football. This Manchester United won the Champions League, but in the past few years, this line of defense has aged, but it is still old and strong. It is now the key factor for Manchester United to lead the Premier League standings.

Ferguson knows better than anyone that this line of defense is crucial if he wants to win the championship.

But then a new problem arose.

Double midfielder, that is to play four two three one, how to line up in the frontcourt?

Ferguson has thought about strengthening the team's striker, but has not been able to find a suitable candidate.

Unlike Gao Shen's previous life, Berbatov is still staying at Manchester United.

But Ferguson does not think that such a game is suitable for the Bulgarian center to start, because he cannot put enough pressure on Real Madrid's defense in the frontcourt.

Manchester United's biggest advantage in this game is to press, press and counterattack.

Play possession with Real Madrid?

Ferguson's brain is not broken yet!

More importantly, with Carrick and Schneiderlin partnering double midfielders, who will pass the ball in the midfield?

Ferguson put No. 23, who represents Sneijder, in the position of the attacking midfielder, and Rooney is further ahead, which is his duty.

On the right is Valencia, which is also Manchester United's best performing wide player.

On the left, Ferguson chose Welbeck among Nani, Shinji Kagawa and Welbeck.

Mike Phelan and his assistants stood behind silently, watching the old Manchester United coach keep deliberating, and finally put the player's number on each position, and they all immediately understood what the old coach meant.

The right flank is Manchester United's offensive channel, and Valencia can play a key role on this side, while the left flank is to use Welbeck to suppress Carvajal.

Manchester United's striker is tall and strong and has an absolute advantage physically. More importantly, Welbeck has performed well this season, a bit like Ronaldo back then. Ferguson still wants him to play in this position.

More importantly, in the absence of Marcelo on the left, Real Madrid's right will definitely be the key offensive channel. At that time, Carvajal will advance and back, and Welbeck's side will get more opportunities .

After careful analysis and pondering in the minds of Mike Phelan and others, they couldn't help but find that Ferguson's formation was the most reasonable.

Even if Real Madrid's front trident really crossed positions, then Manchester United can make adjustments and directly let Welbeck retreat, cooperate with Evra's defense, and let Valencia go up.

More importantly, Welbeck and Valencia's speed advantage is very obvious.

In terms of midfield, Schneiderlin is very good at grabbing, and his passing ability is very strong, all of which allow him to play a very important role in Manchester United's tactical map.

But after all, this is only an ideal arrangement. How much it can really play depends on the players' performance on the spot in the game.

Especially the veterans and teenagers in the defense.

The current Manchester United defense is old and small.

Evra and Vidic are both 31, Ferdinand is 33 and Rafael and De Gea are both 21.

Obviously, this is also a hidden danger.

But there is no way, Ferguson is going to retire. If he wants to grab a championship before retirement, he must maintain the stability of the lineup and not make any big moves. Otherwise, a little carelessness may capsize the ship at any time.

So Manchester United did not make a big deal this past summer.

But this also affected Manchester United's overall strength.

Let alone comparing with giants such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​even in the Premier League, compared with Manchester City, Manchester United's lineup still looks very shabby.

But what's the matter with the shabby?

Ferguson just has the ability to bring a poor lineup to the championship!

No, now Manchester United is the leader of the Premier League, so they can't accept it.

...

"Boss, is our goal in this game to score goals?" asked another assistant coach, René Meulensteen.

The Dutchman is Manchester United's technical coach, highly praised by Ferguson, and is now in charge of the team's training.

If Ferguson wants to score goals, then the next training must be arranged in a targeted manner.

"We definitely want to score, but that's not the goal," Ferguson said, frowning.

Both René Meulensteen and Mike Phelan were very puzzled. What did this mean?

"Facing a Gaoshen team, the most fearful thing is that the thinking is not unified. Once the players are not unified on the court, the three lines are likely to be disconnected, and this is the opportunity that Gaoshen is best at taking advantage of."

The profound formation of troops is admired by countless people, and what he is best at is to use the weakness exposed by the opponent in the game to carry out targeted strikes, which naturally includes what Ferguson said.

"To be honest, this game is not good for us, because we have one day less rest than Real Madrid, and it is an away game. For us, the best way is to unify our thinking, firmly contain Real Madrid's attack, and have the opportunity to play again. Goal."

The two assistants immediately understood.

Goals are the icing on the cake, getting out is what Ferguson wanted.

This is really difficult and not easy to do.

So far, Real Madrid can be called the team with the strongest offensive firepower in the European arena. Ronaldo is also the superstar with the most goals so far. Facing such a Real Madrid, the pressure on Manchester United can be imagined.

Even Ferguson was worried, whether the combination of Schneiderlin and Raphael can effectively contain Ronaldo?

As far as he knows, under the advanced training this season, Ronaldo's playing style is obviously different from the past.

If Real Madrid's attack can be frozen in the away game, even if there is no goal, Ferguson is confident to reverse the situation when he returns to Old Trafford, which is Manchester United's territory.

I'm afraid that Real Madrid will seize the opportunity!

But Ferguson can't do it if he wants to guard against death and get rid of the iron barrel formation.

The old man has never put up an iron bucket in his life. Even facing Barcelona and Manchester City, Manchester United is fearless.

This is the spirit engraved in the bones of Manchester United!

Besides, with the iron barrel array, can you retreat at the Bernabeu?

This is too underestimating the profound.

"The focus of the next training is to drill the defensive formation, which must be kept compact and orderly."

"I guess, even if Gao Shen doesn't arrange the start, he will definitely let the trident cross and switch positions during the game, so as to stretch our defense and midfield. Therefore, we also need to spare time for targeted training."

Ferguson's poking arrangement immediately made René Meulenstein embarrassed.

"That against Everton..."

Before playing Real Madrid, Manchester United will face Everton at home.

This is also a key battle, which is related to Manchester United's top position in the league.

"Don't worry, I have confidence in this game, training can be arranged without arrangement, I know how to play against Everton."

This is Ferguson's advantage.

He has been in the Premier League for decades, and he knows every team well, what changes, what capabilities, he knows everything, so even without targeted training, he can still let Manchester United beat their opponents.

Of course, there were no accidents.

For example, since 2004, Chelsea under Mourinho's coaching, and Manchester City under Gao Shen's coaching since 2009, all of which have caused Ferguson and Manchester United to suffer greatly.

But Everton clearly does not belong to this ranks.

Moyes does not have the ability of Mourinho and Gao Shen.

Ferguson still has this confidence.