Chapter 816 Pre-Match Arrangements

On December 11, all the Champions League group stages came to an end. There were five teams in the Premier League this season, four of which stood out and entered the knockout rounds. Only Arsenal failed to qualify by one point and had to play in the Europa League. .

Professor Wenger was once again denounced by the fans for this. It is said that the club's board of directors is not on Wenger's side this time. Failure to enter the knockout rounds means a large loss of income, and subsequent advertisers will also be stingy. stand up.

Manchester United was the first to qualify, qualifying two rounds in advance and securing first place in the group one round in advance.

Manchester City got better after the Manchester City Derby, sweeping their opponents in the next three games and qualifying second in the group behind Barcelona.

Chelsea took revenge by sending last season's knockout opponent Paris Saint-Germain to play in the Europa League. Mourinho defeated Bayern Munich with difficulty at home in his last game and also qualified second in the group.

However, Liverpool qualified first in the group. After Sun Wu left Anfield, Sturridge, who returned from injury, scored twice as a substitute and finally locked the score at 8-0, while Real Madrid was defeated by Juventus at home. draw.

Sun Wu glanced at the second-ranked teams, who will Manchester United draw?

Nowadays, lots are drawn in every round of the Champions League knockout rounds. Only the first round draw has certain conditions. Players from the same group in the group stage will not be drawn, nor will those from the same league.

Therefore, Manchester United's opponents may be Shakhtar Donetsk, Morocco, Basel, Benfica and Real Madrid.

While I was still thinking about it, Mike Phelan suddenly shouted at the door, "Best, where should you be now!?"

Sun Wu quickly threw away the information and ran downstairs to the training ground. In fact, Pochettino and the others didn't care about Sun Wu sitting in the office, and Sun Wu himself didn't care either. After all, he knew that he, a time traveler, had the ability to self-regulate. , the main person staring at him is Mike Phelan, an old man who is loyal to the Red Devils.

A 7VS7 training was going on at the training ground. Sun Wu roared and ran in without even wearing a vest.

"He shares it with both sides." Jesus nodded to Sun Wu, "Best, no matter which side you are on, you are responsible for organizing the attack."

Only two minutes after stepping onto the lawn, Sun Wu sent a beautiful diagonal ball. Lukaku ran over poor Blackett like a tank, entered the penalty area and scored with a curved ball like a winger.

Three minutes later, Sun Wu sent a cross to another penalty area. Klose shook off McNair, jumped high before Smalling, and shook his head in front to break through the gate guarded by De Gea.

"The state has obviously improved." Miguel whispered on the sidelines: "After two games of rest, the effect seems to be very significant."

"Well, he has more smiles on his face and his brows are no longer frowning all the time." Jesus said with a smile: "Mauricio always said before that Best was busier than him..."

Sun Wu and Klose high-fived, and glanced at Smalling from the corner of his eye. This central defender who was valued by Ferguson back then is now in an awkward position in the team.

The main positions of Alderweireld and Phil Jones are very stable. Smalling was originally the first substitute, but his performance in several rotations was very poor and inexplicable mistakes often occurred. In yesterday's Champions League game, Schalke 04's Both goals are directly related to him.

The most terrible thing is Ashley Young. After Rojo got a red card against Arsenal and was suspended, Professor Young, who is in his contract year, took advantage of the situation and has now become the main force at left back. Even if Luke Shaw recovers from injury, it may not be possible. Can steal a spot.

In this case, after Alderweireld was injured in the last round of the league, Pochettino chose Rojo instead of Smalling, and he has become the fourth choice central defender.

In addition, there are rumors in the transfer market that Manchester United will strengthen the central defender during the winter transfer period. Michael Keane, who is on loan to Cardiff City, may also return early. This happened last season... Januzaj returned early. , Smalling has already considered leaving the team, after all, he is still in his prime.

After playing the Champions League yesterday, we will resume training today, fly to Anfield tomorrow, and have the Double Reds meeting the day after tomorrow, so the tactical meeting is scheduled for this afternoon.

What surprised the players was that Sun Wu did not take the stage today. In previous lessons like this, Sun Wu would stand in front of the tactical board and point out some details, perhaps to make a teammate be more vigilant, or to tell everyone to be careful about a certain opponent's player.

"Firmino is a key figure. He has a wide range of activities and can appear anywhere in the frontcourt." Jesus nodded at the No. 19 chess piece. "When he retreats to get the ball, the full-backs on both wings should pay attention to the two Liverpool players." The winger moves in.

And Firmino may not only go to Coutinho. Gerrard and Henderson are both capable of sending out passes, which is the focus of defense in positional battles. "

Sitting quietly below and listening to Jesus' tactical deployment, Sun Wu looked at the tactical board carefully. Klopp's tactics are still somewhat different from those in his previous life.

In the previous life, Coutinho left quickly, which directly led to the lack of creativity in Liverpool's midfield. Klopp chose to let the two full-backs press forward to assist. Alexander-Arnold and Robertson's assists in a single season both reached double digits. This This is the first time in the Premier League.

But now Coutinho is still there, and the left back Moreno is a trap. The wing attack basically relies on Di Maria in front of him. The right back Piszczek on the other side is very good. This is Liverpool's offense. One of the key points.

In other words, Klopp’s current tactical thinking does not have both wings flying together, but it can combine the middle and the sides. Sun Wu glanced at Ashley Young and wondered whether he could block Piszczek’s impact. .

Finally, Miguel announced the starting lineup for this game.

"De Gea, Phil Jones, Rojo, Valencia, Ashley Young, Schneiderlin, Best, Herrera, Lukaku, Thomas Muller, Griezmann."

Sun Wu frowned slightly. Herrera was relatively balanced and could help both offensively and defensively. However, facing Liverpool who pressed very fiercely in the high post, Herrera was prone to losing the ball, but his position was better. Carrick, who sits deep and is a better passer, is more suitable.

However, Sun Wu soon understood that Pochettino was unwilling to shrink his head and play defensive counterattack. This can be seen from the fact that he used Erba instead of Mane.

"Substitute Lindegaard, Mane, Coleman, Klose, Lingard, Blackett...Fletcher."

Sun Wu was first surprised that Smalling was not included in the squad, and then was happy that Fletcher came back.

The Scot has recovered from injury, but has been playing in the reserve team for the past two weeks and seems to be in first-team form now.

Leaving the meeting room, Smalling looked particularly lonely. He was now ranked behind Blackett in the order of appearance, although he knew in his heart that Blackett was on the bench because he could play as a central defender and as a kicker. Left back.