Chapter Forty-Six: Lore
The shouts of the fans surrounded the stadium, and that was the greatest consolation for him.
"Hey! Manchester United fans are calling out the name of China Dong, and it is definitely his fan. In their opinion, this is the time to send China Dong to play. ”
"Although I personally think that Dong can be considered, Ferguson will not send him now."
"At least in the second half."
'If the game doesn't open up in the second half, Ferguson will think about it.'
It's a good situation, you can't score, you just have possession and good scenes, it's meaningless, only scoring is king.
The Middlesbrough players limited Wayne Rooney's play.
United's two wings, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo, were still alive but the ball in the box was lost and the first half ended when Paul Scholes fired a long-range shot down the middle.
The 43-year-old Middlesbrough coach McClaren walked into the players' tunnel proudly, which was in stark contrast to Ferguson's face.
In the first half of this year, McClaren led Middlesbrough to the League Cup and was hailed as England's most promising young coach, and now when facing Ferguson, he still has not fallen behind.
McLaren's tactical formation is 442, which is the same as the formation that Ferguson discharged, but McLaren's tactics are more cunning, and his ability to adapt to changes is still good.
Immediately after conceding the goal, they adjusted their tactics, as evidenced by the tight defensive play against Wayne Rooney.
His tactics were quite targeted, limiting Wayne Rooney, and then blocking United's midfield outside the Middlesbrough penalty area, only allowing Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy to grab points in the box and trying not to let anyone else in, which stopped United from scoring.
At the end of last season, Ferguson had a different view of McLaren, praising McClaren in front of the media, and even thinking that McClaren could become the manager of the England team.
Unexpectedly, when the two teams met this season, his team was really depressed by Middlesbrough.
In the dressing room, Ferguson wanted Wayne Rooney to play more aggressively, Ruud van Nistelrooy to have a wider range of movement and the midfielder to move closer to Middlesbrough's penalty area, but there were no immediate substitutions.
Ferguson didn't move, and McLaren naturally didn't either.
For Middlesbrough, although they are playing at home, it is not bad to be able to draw with Manchester United.
As for winning? It depends on timing.
Without conceding points, McLaren could not take the initiative to play the cards to Ferguson, and the focus was still on withstanding Manchester United's attack first, consuming Manchester United, and waiting for the time to mature.
McLaren is the quintessential head coach who gets a point, not necessarily a three.
Instead, Ferguson needs to take all three points.
However, it is certainly impossible to limit Rooney completely, and McClaren still focuses on cutting off the passing routes of Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo on both wings, even if they cross, it will not allow them to get off easily.
So the quality of Ryan Giggs' and Cristiano Ronaldo's crosses from the flanks is not high, and Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy are rarely able to get the ball to the ground.
After a ten-minute stalemate in the second half, Ferguson finally lost patience and let Dong Fangzhuo, Saha and Fletcher warm up on the sidelines at the same time.
In the 70th minute, he finally decided to make a substitution.
It's just that he replaced Vanney with Saha and didn't move Rooney for the time being.
At the same time, Fletcher came on to replace Ryan Giggs.
'It's okay to go to Saha and replace Ruud van Nistelrooy, Saha can play the role of Ruud van Nistelrooy and adapt to Rooney.
"Giggs is also normal, because he has just returned from injury, and there must be a physical disadvantage, so let Fletcher and Ronaldo switch positions on the left and right, maybe it will also get good results."
"There is still one last substitution place, and the lord doesn't plan to use it for the time being."
Seeing Ferguson's move, McClaren also adjusted his tactics, he directly removed a striker, replaced a midfielder, retreated in front, and the defense line contracted.
Tried to put the bus around the big restricted area.
Therefore, Saha's arrival, Fletcher and Ronaldo's substitutions did not have any effect, and Middlesbrough defended well and did not give Manchester United any chance at all.
Rooney's fighting power was still strong, taking the ball and forcing two shots in front of Middlesbrough's box, but neither of them hit the woodwork.
He kept shaking his head on the pitch and it looked like the luck of the first half had gone away with him.
The time quickly ran to another ten minutes.
Ferguson took a few bites of gum, beckoned to Dong Fangzhuo, and whispered in his ear for a while.
Then he asked the assistant coach to make substitutions.
Taking advantage of the substitution, he called Ronaldo to the sidelines and explained a few words to Ronaldo.
What is surprising is that Dong Fangzhuo did not replace Rooney, but Keane!
Ferguson is going to play three strikers!
The formation was changed by him to the extremely aggressive 433!
"It's a goal to the death!"
"The lord is going crazy again."
"Dong appeared on the left and Rooney on the right. Will this reduce Rooney's combat effectiveness? ”
"But these people shouldn't have any tacit understanding on the field, right? It's just a pile of attacking players. ”
"Rooney, in particular, is still very new to the combination between him and other team-mates, he is more often through his own breakthrough with the ball, but obviously the other team-mates are not on the same channel as him, it is difficult to form a response."
"Cristiano Ronaldo is different, at least when Scholes is close to him, he knows when Ronaldo will pass the ball, and in the same way, even Ruud van Nistelrooy can rarely echo Ronaldo, and Rooney and him, who have just joined ......the team, are even less calling"
"Perhaps, only Dong?"
Under Middlesbrough's tenacious defence, Dong Fangzhuo, Wayne Rooney and Saha were all cut apart by the opponent alone, and although there were three strikers on the field, United were still helpless.
The clock is about to enter stoppage time.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who was on the left wing, still chose to cooperate with Scholes in the middle, and solved Middlesbrough's right defense in a one-two.
He then dribbled inside and headed for the middle.
Dong Fangzhuo and Rooney respectively opened up the defense on the two wings.
Wayne Rooney had run to a very good position and raised his hand to signal Ronaldo to pass the ball to him.
But Ronaldo probably didn't think about passing it at all?
With a slight flick of his right foot, he faked the real pass!
The tall Middlesbrough centre-back in front of him immediately shook off, but fortunately another centre-back made up for it and was not re-shot by Ronaldo.
But
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't plan to shoot!
With a light tug of the heel of his right foot, the ball scurried past the right side of the centre-back.
A four-to-two thousand pound pass surprised everyone.
No one's foot can touch the ball!
Such a pass is so hidden!
Dong Fangzhuo, who had been pulling on the left side, was originally cruising horizontally and continued to the left, but now he instantly reversed and stopped his body, got rid of the right back of Middlesbrough, and went straight up!
At this moment, Rooney is still holding his hands high on the right side......
The buildings near the water are the first to get the month, and after Dong Fangzhuo catches up, he will directly do it one by one!
When he shoots, he doesn't think about the angle, he just presses the top of his foot very low and aims at the goal.
“Goooooooooooooooooooooooooal!”
"Oh, lore, lore!"