Chapter 350: Laying the Foundation for Victory Is a Responsibility, and Standing up for Teammates Is Also a Responsibility!
The game hadn't even been played for ten minutes, and Manchester United was scored by Chelsea. Seeing this familiar scene, countless Red Devils fans in front of the TV subconsciously covered their heads.
The tens of thousands of Manchester United fans at the scene were even more numb, because they themselves couldn't remember how many times Leon had scored against Manchester United at Old Trafford!
Van Gaal couldn't help it, and stretched out his hands and roared at the Manchester United starters on the field!
He could actually accept the reality that Chelsea took the lead at Old Trafford first.
Because he knew in his heart the huge gap in strength between Manchester United and Chelsea.
But he couldn't accept that his tactics failed at such an early time point!
This not only meant that his tactical intention of using the defensive four midfielders to consume the physical strength of Chelsea's offensive players was broken, but also represented his serious "mistakes" in tactics and the selection of starting players!
The group of Manchester United veteran players headed by Rooney are now looking forward to his team's defeat.
They have basically torn their faces apart, and with his temper, let him bow his head and admit that he still has to rely on Rooney and Carrick and others?
Then he would rather resign and leave!
It was impossible for him to admit his mistakes.
No matter how harmonious his relationship with some players was in the past, anyone who wanted to compete with him had to accept the fact that they were substitutes in his team!
Van Gaal, with a gloomy face, called Ashley Young and Januzaj from the bench and asked them to go to the sidelines to warm up.
These two Manchester United players are still closer to the coaching staff, while Juan Mata and Valencia, who are closer to Rooney and others, were not even looked at by Van Gaal.
Fellaini, who had just sorted out his emotions on the court, saw Van Gaal calling the substitutes to warm up on the sidelines, and his psychological pressure suddenly increased.
After all, his defensive position was very serious in the previous goal. Even if he was very active and proactive in defense, if he wanted to find a scapegoat, he would definitely take the blame for the team's goal loss!
Van Gaal's action also sounded a wake-up call to several other Manchester United starting midfielders.
Ability has now become a secondary issue. They must show a positive attitude on the court that satisfies Van Gaal.
If anyone completely disappoints Van Gaal in today's game, it is very likely that he will be sent to the bench.
There is no time to continue complaining or regretting. After Chelsea celebrated the goal and the game resumed.
The four midfielders on Manchester United's side quickly showed their "positive attitude".
In normal games, their horizontal coverage area and sweeping speed are destined to be unable to effectively prevent Chelsea's offensive penetration.
In order to effectively disrupt Chelsea's offensive rhythm, they have to jump out of the normal thinking mode of playing football.
What should I do if I can't play football?
Just kick people directly!
This method is very unethical and can't be brought to the table.
But it must be said that in many cases this vulgar and direct lethal tactic is indeed very effective.
Herrera and Schweinsteiger may still be restrained.
But Fellaini and Schneiderlin are not polite, and they directly kicked Kroos and Hazard, who has a slightly weaker confrontation ability!
Fellaini's first move on Kroos was relatively hidden. Leon was far away from the scene and didn't see it clearly. When he passed by, Kroos had already stood up with his teeth bared.
But two minutes later, Schneiderlin's black foot shoveled Hazard's ankle from behind was seen clearly by Leon!
This time, Leon rushed much faster than the referee. Schneiderlin had just finished the shovel and stood up from the grass, and Leon directly pushed him out of the sideline again!
"I'll kill you!!!"
After pushing Schneiderlin to the sidelines, Leon wanted to kick him, but Matic, who was closer to him, quickly hugged him down!
"Calm down, brother! You have to calm down! You can't kick him! If you kick him, you will go down with him..."
Little Ma Ge persuaded Leon loudly in his ear.
At this moment, other Chelsea and Manchester United players who were closer also rushed over and separated Leon and Schneiderlin.
But it's a bit funny that the Manchester United players who came over also advised Li Ang not to get too excited at the first time.
Maybe they knew they were in the wrong, but few Manchester United starters would stand on Schneiderlin's side and shout at Li Ang.
Such a scene is really a bit funny. After all, as long as there is a dispute on the court, no matter who is right or wrong, the players of the same team must at least stand together and face the outside world in unison.
Let's not talk about the Red Devils players of Cantona and Keane's generation.
Just say that the group of Manchester United players headed by Rooney in the past few seasons will never be timid when encountering such a conflict on the court, they will only step forward and fight hard!
A "rational" Manchester United may be praised by the English Football Association and some sports media.
But at this moment, their performance once again made the home Manchester United fans feel chilled!
In contrast, Li Ang's straightforward temper and style of standing up for his teammates are more in line with the appetite of old-school fans.
That is to say, in the end, Hazard stood up normally again under the quick treatment of the team doctor.
Otherwise, Li Ang must teach Schneiderlin a lesson today even if he has to face a suspension!
The referee was relieved to see that Hazard's ankle was not seriously injured.
He first called Leon aside, repeatedly emphasized the injustice of violence on the field, and gave Leon a verbal warning.
Then he called Schneiderlin to his front with a serious face, and under the anxious and nervous gaze of Manchester United fans, he took out a yellow card for Schneiderlin.
Such a penalty is reasonable. After all, it is still Manchester United's home court. It is okay to give Manchester United a little care.
Leon was still a little dissatisfied, but after the referee had determined the penalty scale, he didn't say much. He looked at Schneiderlin deeply and turned to Hazard.
"He will pay the price, I promise you, Eden!"
Leon made his promise to Hazard. He was not joking and was very serious.
Hazard was of course very moved, but he was also afraid that Leon would do something out of line on the field later.
"Of course I believe you, boss! But I really don't feel any discomfort now. Don't be impulsive. We will fight back with the game!"
Leon heard Hazard say this, smiled and patted his shoulder, and nodded.
The game soon returned to normal, and Chelsea's midfield and frontcourt offensive players played a more rapid offensive rhythm.
Li Ang pressed very forward and ran very actively for the ball, and it seemed that he had a strong desire to attack.
Only three minutes after the game returned to normal, Li Ang fired two powerful long shots outside Manchester United's penalty area!
Although De Gea, who performed bravely, successfully saved both of Li Ang's long shots, the Manchester United defenders who felt the amazing speed of Li Ang's long shots at close range were still in fear!
"Don't give him an easy chance to kick! Damn it! Just get him outside the defensive third zone!"
De Gea roared at his defensive teammates without hesitation.
He is usually quite calm and doesn't lose his temper as frequently as other goalkeepers.
But at this moment, he really felt the threat of Li Ang's long shots, but now there are no experienced two old men, Ferdinand and Vidic, on the back line.
With a relatively older age, he had to take on more defensive responsibilities at this moment, roaring to remind his teammates to cheer up!
Seeing that De Gea was in great form, Li Ang stopped trying long shots.
However, his attention was then focused more on Blind in Manchester United's defense.
Blind may become a more versatile and excellent defensive player in the future, but his most suitable position is definitely not a central defender!
Although there are many short legendary central defenders in football, their strong physical fitness, especially their jumping ability, is not comparable to Blind.
The scene of Suarez holding down Blind and completing the header shot appeared in Li Ang's mind again.
Li Ang began to retreat and defend thoughtfully.
Manchester United's offense did not pose much threat after getting the ball, after all, their midfield configuration today was filled with more muscles than skills.
Lukaku's breakthrough attempt after getting the ball in the frontcourt and pulling the side was still worth watching, but he was alone, and Chelsea's defensive players knew him too well.
After the three-pronged attack, Lukaku could only fall into Chelsea's defensive stranglehold. Manchester United had too little support for his passing, and he was ultimately unable to support himself.
After Li Ang took over the ball from Matic again, he began to signal Hazard to return to the front line, and he also consciously distributed the ball to the two wings.
Hazard and Salah immediately understood Li Ang's idea.
In their inherent offensive routine, once Li Ang began to lead the delivery of shells to the two wings, it meant that Chelsea would focus on set-piece tactics!
If the main tactic was to attack from both wings, Li Ang would give the organizing power to Kroos, and after the defenders on both sides followed up, he would move more to the opponent's half-court area.
Li Ang's running and ball-holding state was different, and Chelsea's on-field offensive tactics would also undergo corresponding fine-tuning changes.
Outsiders could not see it, but the players in Chelsea's first team were familiar with it.
Lukaku was also willing to remind the team's defensive players in the backcourt.
But when he thought about the "estrangement" of Manchester United's first-team players from him during this period, he suddenly didn't want to be sentimental anymore...
Hazard and Salah's ability to take the ball and break through was fully revealed during this period.
Luke Shaw was able to fight with the incompletely evolved Salah, but Damian was completely giving away his head against Hazard!
With his lack of strength, Damian could only start to commit tactical fouls.
In the 32nd minute of the first half, Damian knocked down Hazard again on the right edge of Manchester United's penalty area, giving Chelsea an excellent set-piece opportunity!
De Gea nervously directed his teammates to adjust their positions in front of the goal.
Chelsea's three set-piece opportunities before were considered to have threatened Manchester United's goal.
Especially Zouma, who replaced Maguire in the starting lineup today, is also a header ruthless character!
Just three minutes ago, Zouma overpowered Smalling in a corner kick opportunity and almost headed the ball into the middle of Manchester United's goal!
If De Gea hadn't been focused enough and made another great save, Manchester United would never have been only one goal behind Chelsea at this time.
At this moment, seeing Zouma squeeze into his own penalty area again, De Gea had to be 100% alert to deal with this troublesome header expert...
Ten seconds later, Kroos observed the positions of the players from both sides in the Manchester United penalty area, raised his right arm, and then kicked the ball into the Manchester United penalty area!
For a moment, the players competing for the header from Chelsea and Manchester United all confronted each other fiercely!
At this moment, let alone De Gea, the defensive players in the Manchester United penalty area and most of the Manchester United fans at the scene focused their attention on Zouma, who had performed exceptionally well in the previous header.
And amid the passionate roar of the Sky Sports commentator in England, Zouma once again overpowered Smalling in front of the Manchester United penalty area and occupied an absolute advantage in the header position!
However, the football was just above his head after he jumped, and it spun further towards the middle of the Manchester United penalty area!
De Gea was shocked and quickly adjusted the direction of his view.
But faster than him was Li Ang's head-shaking shot after knocking Blind away!
This time, Li Ang headed the football very trickily above the near corner of the Manchester United goal!
De Gea was going to pay attention to the Chelsea players in the middle and far corner of the penalty area, but after being hit by Li Ang, he had to turn back and rush back to the front point.
But the few seconds he wasted in the process doomed his save to fail!
De Gea had stretched his fingertips as far as possible to touch the ball, but in the end he didn't touch anything!
The football plunged into the net above the near corner of Manchester United's goal!
When the net flower swung, thousands of Chelsea fans at the scene burst into roars and cheers that overwhelmed tens of thousands of Manchester United goals!
Li Ang roared a few times at Schneiderlin's position, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and then slapped the team logo on his chest and ran to the bottom line of Manchester United's half!
Roaring, sliding on his knees, celebrating, Li Ang's celebration was done in one go!
But his subsequent passionate celebration of punching the air seemed to hit all Manchester United supporters in the face!
It hurts, it's embarrassing, it's angry!
But Manchester United fans are also helpless.
Once the ball was scored, Manchester United was basically doomed to fail again!
After celebrating for several minutes, Chelsea's players surrounded Li Ang and returned to their own half.
With only ten minutes left in the first half, Chelsea stopped attacking Manchester United and started to play pass control in the midfield.
Humiliation? Objectively speaking, it was not, because Manchester City played this more often.
At this moment, all fans understood that Chelsea's players were subjectively humiliating Manchester United!
Laughing at these players who represented Manchester United for not having skills, they also lost the fighting spirit of the Red Devils!
Kicking people when you can't play the ball on the field can't be regarded as the Red Devils spirit, it's just a performance of not being able to lose!
Manchester United's players were very angry, and Van Gaal was also very angry watching from the sidelines.
But what effect can anger have?
During the halftime break, Van Gaal repeatedly gave Manchester United players chicken blood, hoping that they could really fight with blood!
But after the start of the second half, Manchester United was very active in grabbing the ball, but Chelsea continued to control the ball steadily in their own half.
After wearing down Manchester United players' bloody fight at the beginning of the second half, Chelsea continued to press forward.
However, Chelsea pressed forward a little, which gave Manchester United another opportunity to play a defensive counterattack.
In the 66th minute of the second half, Manchester United, who were under pressure, finally stably grabbed the ball in the backcourt.
Herrera was very smart to protect the ball with his back to the back pass at the first time.
After Smalling received the ball, he sent a strong straight pass, and the football penetrated the counter-attack of Chelsea forwards and came to Schneiderlin's feet more accurately.
The French midfielder was delighted, received the ball, turned around and started to dribble forward!
But just less than a second after he dribbled forward, a sharp pain came from his heel, and the pain made him fall to the ground immediately, and he began to cover his foot and scream in pain!
The cheering momentum at Old Trafford almost stopped at this moment, but the next moment, crazy boos swept the entire stadium and went straight to Li Ang!
Li Ang stood up from the grass with a very calm expression on his face. He didn't even look at Schneiderlin, who he had tackled, and turned to meet the Manchester United players who were running towards him angrily.
However, his teammates took the lead and built a "wall" of isolation between him and the angry Manchester United players!
Li Ang looked directly at the emotional Manchester United players, and he didn't feel the slightest shame or regret in his heart.
He was very frank!
He knew that he had made a mistake and broke his own professional ethics.
But he would never regret using the same way to make Schneiderlin feel the pain that Hazard had felt!
Maybe he would pay a price for it, but he still had to choose to stand up for his teammates!
And the other players on the field of Chelsea also supported their captain with firm protective actions at this moment!
The players on the field of Chelsea and Manchester United collided tit-for-tat.
The referee on duty was dumbfounded. He really didn't expect that Li Ang would pretend to compromise in front of others, but he would retaliate after enduring for half an hour. He was so "vindictive" in private!
Blowing a shrill whistle, the referee rushed to the middle of the two teams' players who were colliding in chaos and separated the players on both sides.
"Li Ang!"
In the referee's serious call, Li Ang looked over and saw a dazzling red color raised high, which also meant that he was sentenced to death by the referee!
But the emotion in Li Ang's eyes was still very stable. He did not choose to appeal, but took off the captain's armband on his arm.
"Eden, sorry, please..."
After putting the captain's armband on the vice-captain Hazard on the field, Li Ang held his head high and walked off the field facing the various insults and boos from tens of thousands of Manchester United fans!
Scoring two goals and helping the team win at Old Trafford is his responsibility as the core of Chelsea's offense!
But at the same time, it is also his responsibility to help the bullied teammates and make the opponents pay the price!
This is his responsibility as the captain of the team!