Chapter 484 New Captain

Amid cheers throughout the stadium, Manchester United players pounced on Bruno, celebrating his goal.

This is Manchester United's first league goal of the new season, which is somewhat memorable.

Mata's whole body wrapped around Bruno's neck, and said sourly and without complaint: "I have obviously raised my hand, why don't you pass it to me?"

Bruno laughed loudly and said: "I saw it, you ran well. I originally wanted to pass it, but I felt more confident."

Anyway, we have entered, who knows how sure we are?

Zero angle... more confident?

Mata couldn't bear it any longer and had the urge to go crazy.

His chances are obviously better, right?

Bruno laughed and hugged Mata's shoulders, turned to look at Joe Hart, who looked sad in front of the West Ham United goal, and secretly held a second of silence for him.

Speaking of which, this meritorious goalkeeper who guarded the Blue Moon Legion's goal during the rise of Manchester City is also quite miserable. As the main goalkeeper of two Premier League championships, four-time Premier League Golden Glove Award winner, and a member of the Premier League club with 100 clean sheets, Joe Hart is definitely a successful goalkeeper, but what more people remember is the world-beating goals. , Rooney's barb, Ibrahimovic's barb, Gaspar's side hook, Crouch's volley...

Perhaps after today, Joe Hart’s background list will also include Bruno’s Zero Degree!

………………

After Bruno high-fived his teammates one by one to celebrate, he called his teammates back to the playing field and prepared to restart the game.

Naturally, a goal cannot satisfy Bruno, because Manchester United not only wants to win this game, but also wants to win beautifully and win the house. Only in this way can Mourinho insist on using the current style of play.

Bruno knows very well that Mourinho is a very stubborn person, which also makes it difficult for him to stay in a team for too long, and then the world football world has the saying that Mourinho has three years.

In his first season with Mourinho, Bruno felt very good and the team also achieved outstanding results.

According to past rules, Mourinho's second year of coaching the team is when he really achieves results, so this season, Bruno's goal is to go to the Champions League.

Now it is rare that Mourinho intends to make changes, and he also hopes that this change can change Mourinho's destiny.

………………

When Bruno scored the first goal for Manchester United, the situation on the field was completely broken.

Just five minutes later, Bruno cooperated with Valencia on the right and once again created an opportunity. Valencia crossed to the front of the penalty area. Mata quickly stepped in and scored in one fell swoop, giving Manchester United another victory.

2:0!

West Ham United lost two goals in a row and their morale was depleted. Although rock coach Bilic tried desperately to prevent the team from defeat, he still could not withstand Manchester United, which was like a wolf in the first round of the new season.

In the 19th minute, West Ham United passed the ball to the frontcourt and made a mistake. Kanter quickly found McTominay with a long pass.

Little Mike, who was a guest center, flew the header behind the defense. Bruno quickly made a diagonal pass, caught up with the ball and easily passed the goalkeeper. He pushed the ball into the empty goal and scored twice, extending the score to 3:0.

In the 29th minute, Manchester United launched another offensive. Mata cooperated with Rashford on the left, and Rashford shot and scored again.

4:0!

After a devastating defeat, West Ham United has been completely stunned!

Although Manchester United slowed down the pace appropriately after taking a four-goal lead, before the end of the first half, Valencia passed from the right and McTominay scored with a header from close range.

5:0!

Manchester United entered the halftime break with a five-goal victory, and everyone believed that the team was certain to win.

The situation in the second half developed almost according to the team's expectations. West Ham United, which had lost five goals in a row, could only barely hold on to its defense and had no ability to counterattack. Manchester United was not in a hurry to attack after taking a five-goal lead. Control the ball.

In the end, Manchester United defeated West Ham United 5-0 at home and won a hearty victory.

Manchester United defeated West Ham United 5-0 in the first round of the league and climbed to the top of the Premier League.

The second ranked team is newly promoted Huddersfield. Huddersfield defeated Crystal Palace 3:0 away from home in the first round of the league, beating Manchester City and Tottenham, which both won 2:0, with a goal difference advantage.

………………

There is a week between the first and second rounds.

United had a day off the day after the game and a half-day on Friday morning.

Bruno did not take a vacation, but continued to stay at the club and practice hard because he knew that his condition was recovering rapidly and he did not feel that he needed a rest.

On Friday afternoon, everyone in the team returned to the Carrington training base.

After the afternoon training, Mourinho did not immediately announce the disbandment, but announced one thing, that is, Carrick joined his coaching staff. This season, Carrick will play for Manchester United as a player and assistant coach.

Carrick also said that in order to better serve the team, he will resign as team captain.

This also means that Manchester United must re-elect their captain.

Re-electing the captain is definitely a big deal in the locker room.

Carrick is a qualified and conscientious captain, but as everyone can see, he has gradually lost his main position. Although he still has the identity of a player this season, it can be seen from his resignation as captain that his identity this season has actually changed to the team's assistant coach.

Who is more suitable when Carrick is no longer the captain of the team?

Many team captains will choose the youth training lineage. Such players are undoubtedly the best choice.

But what is embarrassing is that although there are several youth training players such as Rashford, Lingard and McTominay in the current Manchester United team, they are all newcomers without exception. Whether in terms of qualifications or prestige, they cannot take on the captaincy of Manchester United, a giant team.

………………

Since it is impossible to choose the youth training lineage, we can only consider it from the aspects of qualifications and prestige.

Judging from the resume, the team's vice-captain Valencia can do it because he is the player with the longest service time in the team. The Ecuadorian joined the team in the summer of 2009 and has played for Manchester United for eight years, earlier than Smalling, De Gea and Ashley Young.

Valencia has a calm personality, and as a veteran of Ferguson's affairs, he is also very prestigious in the team's locker room. As a captain, he has good conditions in all aspects.

But there is a problem. Valencia is 32 years old and has not been the absolute main force of the team in the past two seasons. And with the joining of Cancelo this season, his playing time may be further compressed.

If he is elected captain, it will definitely be a transitional role.

As for the rest of Smalling, Ashley Young and De Gea, they all have problems of one kind or another and are not good candidates for captain.

Many people also think that Bruno is suitable. He is the top star in the team, his performance on the field is convincing, and his fighting spirit is very strong. It is easy to infect his teammates around him. But the problem is that he is too young and has only been in the team for a year, so he is not qualified enough.

………………

The game is on Saturday at noon, and the training on Friday is mainly targeted tactical drills.

Manchester United's opponent in the second round, Swansea, is not very strong. They were able to stay in the league last season thanks to their performance in the last few rounds. In fact, they were in the relegation zone most of the time and even became the vice-captain.

So Manchester United's away game against Swansea was not stressful. Both the training and the players were relaxed.

As usual, the team stayed in the hotel the night before the game.

Bruno is no longer the inexperienced boy. He has packed up and doesn't need to go home.

He practiced until nightfall and then went back to the locker room to take a shower and change clothes.

When he walked out of the locker room with his luggage, he saw Carrick, who had become the team's assistant coach, waiting outside. Seeing Bruno, Carrick smiled and said, "I knew you must be still there. I'll take you there."

Bruno smiled and didn't refuse. He accompanied Carrick to the parking lot to pick up the car.

The Laurie Hotel where Manchester United stayed is in the center of Manchester, about four kilometers away from Old Trafford, which is very convenient.

Bruno vaguely guessed that Carrick must have something to say to him.

Sure enough, as soon as he got in the car and started the engine, Carrick said: "This afternoon, we held another one-hour meeting with the technical team to focus on the selection of the team captain."

Bruno listened silently, knowing that he was also one of the parties involved.

………………

As early as the afternoon when Carrick resigned as the team captain, many people, including Kante, Maguire, and Gundogan, secretly said that Bruno should work harder to fight for it. After all, being able to become the captain of Manchester United is also an honor.

With his position in the team, absolutely no one dared to say anything, but Bruno had his own plans.

"The technical department and the coaching staff are more inclined to let you take the position." Carrick said.

Bruno shook his head and said, "I'm afraid my qualifications are not enough."

After all, he is only 23 years old and has only been in the team for a year. His performance is indeed very good, but the captain is the leader of the team. It is not just a good performance. At the same time, it also requires a qualification, which is also Bruno's most lacking and weakest.

The reason why Bruno has been unwilling to fight is because he knows very well that the captain is just a false title for him. If he gets it, it will certainly add some points, but if he doesn't get it, it will not affect him at all.

In his own plan, he needs to perform well in the Champions League this season, which requires the whole team to be united, but if the false title of captain affects the unity within the team and then affects the results, is it necessary?

Bruno thinks that if that happens, it will be more trouble than gain!

"We all know that this is your only weak link, but to be honest, we all think that no one is more suitable than you at this stage, and I know your concerns." Carrick smiled, "So we will hold a vote tonight and let everyone elect the captain."

Bruno nodded. It is the most appropriate choice for everyone to elect the captain. No matter who is in charge, there is nothing to say.

Carrick looked at Bruno and reminded him, "I just want to tell you, don't rush to express your opinion at that time, and wait and see."

Bruno nodded in agreement. This had no impact on him. If everyone decided that Valencia or someone else would take the position, he would also vigorously promote it. After all, it didn't matter to him whether he was the captain or not.

What he wanted most was that the team could remain united, work together, and achieve good results in the Champions League. He would use this step to impact the European Golden Ball and World Footballer of the Year again next year.

That was what he really wanted.

………………

After arriving at the hotel, Carrick dropped him off at the door and drove to the parking lot.

After Bruno entered the hotel, he came to his exclusive room with familiarity and found that Cancelo was already in the room.

After Cancelo reported to Manchester United, Bruno's roommate became Cancelo on the eve of the game. Mourinho meant to let Bruno take care of this Portuguese fellow.

Bruno had no objection to this. He and Cancelo were not only teammates in the national team, but also good friends.

Not long after, Valencia, the former vice-captain and current captain's candidate, came to inform Bruno and Cancelo to go to the conference room for a meeting. As for the topic, it goes without saying that it is to elect a new captain for the team.

It is also very interesting to say that this is the second time Manchester United has elected a captain this season.

At the beginning of the training camp in the new season, due to Rooney's departure, Manchester United held a captain election, and Carrick was elected as expected.

However, this captain only worked for a month, and then he resigned automatically after joining the coaching staff, and Manchester United had to hold another captain election.

………………

This captain election meeting also went smoothly. After Mourinho announced that the players would vote for the captain, everyone was speculating who would stand out between Bruno and Valencia and who would become the next captain of Manchester United.

But at this time, Valencia suddenly stood up. When everyone thought he was going to bravely recommend himself, he suddenly chose Bruno, saying that he recommended Bruno to be the captain of the team and would do his best to cooperate with him and support him.

Valencia's decision surprised everyone. No one thought that he would choose to support Bruno.

With the biggest competitor announcing his defection, Bruno's election was no longer controversial.

Smalling, Ashley Young and De Gea, the three veterans, all made it clear that they would not accept anyone but Bruno.

With the veterans having made their position clear, Maguire, Kante, Cancelo and other players all recommended Bruno, and the final result was that Bruno was unanimously approved without any suspense and became the new captain of Manchester United.

After the meeting, Valencia told Bruno that he had never thought about competing from the beginning.

Bruno also said that he didn't want to compete either.

Valencia said sincerely: "But all of us think you are the most suitable. I am old and I don't know how long I can stay in the team. You are the future of the team. Manchester United needs a long-term plan to return to the top, and you are the right person."