Chapter 348 A New Beginning (Happy New Year!)

At 13:30 GMT on August 14, Manchester United ushered in the opening game of the new Premier League season.

This is likely to be Bruno's first appearance after joining Manchester United, but it is not Manchester United's first appearance in the new season. A week ago, as last season's FA Cup champions, they had already competed with last season's Premier League champions Leicester City at the New Wembley Stadium for the Community Shield. In the end, relying on Ibrahimovic's winning goal, Manchester United defeated the Blue Fox 2:1 and won the first championship of the new season.

It's just that at that time, although Bruno had officially joined Manchester United, he had not yet appeared on the team, so the championship had nothing to do with Bruno.

Now, Manchester United's away challenge to Cherries Bournemouth in the opening game of the new Premier League season will be Bruno's first appearance at Manchester United.

Before the game, Manchester United conducted acclimatization training at Bournemouth's Dean Court Stadium, and many media gathered around the court.

………………

After training, reporters swarmed around Bruno and asked him to talk about his feelings about the upcoming new season.

"I feel good." Bruno's answer was simple, because he didn't know what to say. For him, whether it is Serie A or the Premier League, they are all leagues. There is nothing special about going from one league to another.

"Are you feeling nervous, Bruno?"

"No, it's not my first time playing professionally." Bruno said with a smile.

"No, I mean now that you are playing at Manchester United, more people around the world will watch your games. They are paying attention to you. This is also an invisible pressure..."

"Understanding pressure is a required course for professional players." Bruno replied.

"With a net worth of 200 million euros, does it really not put you under any pressure?" At this time, a reporter squeezed in and asked a question that stunned Bruno.

"I have already answered this question, and now my answer is still the same. Value is motivation. It will make me work hard to live up to this value and not let up." Bruno said to this reporter with a smile.

This answer is polite and polite, neither humble nor arrogant. The reporter who was deliberately looking for trouble was speechless. But he had a quick mind and quickly thought of another one: "What do you think of the criticism in the media that you will become the biggest 'parallel importer' in history?"

"I don't think so. As a player, it is useless to defend yourself with words. I will use my actual actions to prove my value and ability. I believe that after one season, no one will say that I am a 'parallel import'. "

………………

Before the game, Mourinho announced their starting lineup. Unlike the last Community Shield game against Leicester City, Mata came off the bench in the last game, and he started this game.

Rashford, the rising star of the striker last season, was selected into the squad for this game, but was not included in the starting lineup.

In the first game of the league, Mourinho still used his most often used 433 formation. Bruno played in the left midfield, Kante played as a deep midfielder, Mata played in the right midfield, and the front trident was Rooney, Ibrahimovic and Martial's combination.

As soon as the starting list was announced, the suspense in everyone's minds disappeared.

We were still discussing who would be lucky enough to participate in Manchester United's first league game of the new season. Those who were selected were naturally very happy, while those who were not selected would inevitably have some regrets.

The stone in Mata's heart also fell to the ground.

Because of the unpleasant experience of working with Mourinho at Chelsea, Mata was very worried about his position in the team in the new season. In addition, the media continued to hype the original case, which made Mata worried during this period. Uneasy, lest I repeat the same mistakes I made at Chelsea.

In the last Community Shield match, he came on as a substitute and was even substituted in the final stages of the game. This kind of experience is simply humiliating for the players, and it also made Mata doubt that he would sit on the bench more often in the new season.

This experience gave Mata the idea of ​​​​submitting a transfer application to Manchester United and escaping from Manchester United before the summer transfer window closed.

After all, before Bruno arrived, he had already been put on the bench by Mourinho. If Bruno joins again, will there still be a place for him in the Manchester United team?

But starting this game seems to be an attitude expressed by Mourinho.

………………

When playing away games, Mata and Kante live in the same room.

On the night before the game, the players didn't go anywhere and were resting in their rooms. With nothing to do, the two people in the room could only pass the time by chatting, and there was nothing interesting to watch on TV.

Mata, who has a gentle personality, was the first player Kante got to know after moving to Manchester United, and he was also his first friend after joining Manchester United.

In Kante's view, Bruno, who "stole" Mata's No. 8 jersey and wanted to take away Mata's position in the team, must have been regarded as an "enemy" by Mata.

Kanter intends to resolve the grievances between his two good friends, so when chatting, he always talks about his experience in Udinese and tells Mata as interesting stories.

Of course, since we are talking about Udinese, how can we not talk about Bruno, the core of Udinese?

Kanter wants to tell Mata in this way that Bruno is not a bad person, and the two of them can get along peacefully and contribute to the team.

Mata knew what he was thinking, but he didn't interrupt Kante. Because he is also very curious about this Portuguese, it is not bad to know what kind of person Bruno is from Kanter's mouth.

The important thing is that this will not make him appear to be taking the initiative to understand Bruno, so that he can live with it in terms of face: It’s not that I have to understand you, it’s my roommate Kanter who always keeps saying it in my ears. It’s okay not to listen...

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"Bruno really helped me a lot, Juan. You know, when I first joined Udinese, I was always a player who didn't know how to attack. I didn't score a goal for half a season."

Mata nodded, although this was completely different from the Kante he remembered.

After all, as the midfielder of last season's dark horse Leicester City, Kante, although he is famous for his ubiquitous defense in the Premier League, has nothing to do with his inability to attack. Not only is he the steal leader in Leicester City, he also has offensive statistics of 5 goals and 7 assists, making him a complete midfielder with both offense and defense. Kanter was also selected for last season's Premier League Best Team.

Now listening to Kanter himself, he was once a player who couldn't attack?

Although Kanter is a defensive midfielder, in a situation where players are required to be more comprehensive and lose the ball first, a player who cannot attack will still be subject to many restrictions on the court.

He and Kanter met after Kanter joined Leicester City. He didn't know much about his previous affairs, and naturally he didn't know Kanter's original predicament at Udinese.

"Although I didn't ask Udinese to spend much transfer fee on me, there were a lot of criticisms about me from the outside, saying that I was a 'parallel import'. And coach Guidolin still insisted on letting me start, as long as I didn't Being injured means starting every game, which puts a lot of pressure on me..."

Kanter talks easily now, but he was definitely not in such a mental state at that time. He even had doubts about himself, wondering whether he really had no offensive talent.

"If it weren't for Bruno, we might not have known each other at all, ha!"

………………

This is definitely not Kanter's sensationalism, what he said is true. If Bruno hadn't restored his confidence, if Bruno hadn't told him that "little trick of shooting", then he would not have performed well in the following three seasons, nor would he have been spotted by the top giants Manchester United this summer and spent a lot of money. purchase.

"He told me to have confidence in myself, and he also told me a shooting secret to ensure a goal." Kanter said mysteriously.

Mata became interested and asked curiously: "What's the secret?"

"Before shooting, I shouted in my mind: 'This goal will definitely go in'!"

Mata grinned. Is this a secret?

"Don't believe it, Juan! I just followed what he said and really scored a key goal in the subsequent game!" Kanter said seriously, "Bruno is really a good person, a great person. He is He is very popular in Udinese, he can play with everyone, and he is also very enthusiastic. When I first arrived in Udinese and I was still staying in a hotel, he helped me rent a house, which is how I met him. "

Listening to Kanter's words, Mata remained silent.

Of course he doesn't think Bruno is really a bad guy, but this has nothing to do with his character. Bruno's arrival robbed him of his core position. What was originally his team has now become Bruno's team. He couldn't accept this reality for a while, and Bruno had not fully demonstrated his abilities and proved whether he was really worthy of leading this team. How can you let him, the former core of the team, be easily let go?

He is ready to take over the team if Bruno proves to be ineffective.

This matter has to do with lackluster character and strength. And he believed that Bruno must also understand this.

Mata yawned and said to Kante: "Go to sleep, N'Golo. There is still a game tomorrow."

Kanter knew that the conversation was over, and Mata was no longer interested in listening to Bruno's story, so he got up to wash up in a cooperative manner.

Before entering the bathroom, he turned to Mata and said: "One day, you will like Bruno."

Mata shrugged noncommittally.

………………

Manchester United's first round of the new season officially kicks off at 1:30 pm local time on August 14th. This time is the hottest time in summer. This is something Bruno rarely experienced in Serie A. Serie A also has afternoon games, but they are basically played after 5 p.m., when the weather has cooled down.

Italians have a rich nightlife, which can be seen from their game schedule. Most games are scheduled between 8 and 9 pm, which is the prime time.

The nightlife of the British is much inferior to that of the Italians, so most of their games are arranged in the afternoon under the scorching sun.

However, it is said that this arrangement is to take care of Eastern audiences. Because the Premier League has developed a very good market in Asia, has many fans, and has huge commercial interests.

In order to allow fans in Asia to watch exciting Premier League games without staying up late, the Premier League has made such arrangements. For example, the match between Manchester United and Bournemouth was broadcast at 8:30 pm Beijing time. Watching a game at this time ended at nearly 10:30, just in time to wash up and go to bed. So for Chinese viewers, the time period to watch the Premier League is very good.

The audience in the East enjoyed watching it, but the players playing on the court suffered. Playing in the scorching sun is definitely a test for the players, with high temperatures, strong ultraviolet rays, yin and yang fields, and bright sunshine that dazzles the eyes.

When Bruno stepped onto the court to warm up, a wave of heat hit his face and almost made him take a step back.

The inside of the stadium is relatively cool, and even without air conditioning, the temperature will be several degrees lower than the sun-baked stadium outside. This change in temperature will make people suddenly feel uncomfortable.

But it will be fine once you get used to it.

………………

Bruno stepped onto the court and felt the heat on his feet and ankles. Today's weather forecast says it's thirty-four degrees, but the ground temperature is estimated to be over forty degrees.

He moved his body a little, but he wasn't afraid of the heat. It was better than the cold, because he didn't have to worry about his body being injured due to the cold. If it's hot, you'll just sweat more.

He ran onto the court, warmed up as the coach asked, and looked up at the court from time to time.

Bournemouth was promoted to the Premier League last season. In the end, they ranked 16th in the league and successfully avoided relegation. As a newly promoted team, Bournemouth's ability to achieve such results is inseparable from their head coach Eddie Howe. The young coach, who was elected the English Football League's Coach of the Decade in 2015, spent three years taking Bournemouth from League One to the Premier League.

The Dean Court Stadium, Bournemouth's home ground, is only a small stadium that can accommodate about 11,000 people. It is considered the smallest in the entire Premier League, let alone the one that ranks first in the Premier League. The stadium is compared to Old Trafford.

However, for Bournemouth, a small town with a total population of only a few hundred thousand, this kind of stadium is just right.

A lot of people came to this stadium today, and it was almost full. Bruno saw a lot of red figures inside, which was obviously different from Bournemouth's red and black sword-striped jerseys. Those were Manchester United fans wearing Manchester United's home jerseys.

New stadium, new team, new jerseys, new teammates, new fans, new league, new season.

Everything is new, even hope.

This is a fresh start.

In this "Home of Hope", he hopes to become a legend.

The first update of the new year, I wish all book friends a happy new year!

New year, new beginning, new hope, I wish you all the best in the new year!