The win over Bradford left the Red Rebels in their biggest fixture schedule since Christmas, with three games to play over six days, Monday to Saturday, one of which was a make-up game, but was placed between those two league games.

This was also unavoidable, as the upcoming winter break was also very tight.

In this regard, the Red Rebels can only accept it, thinking bitterly that as long as they win these three games, they can continue to widen the points gap with Portsmouth.

But in fact, it's hard!

Although Jose Mourinho has had two years of experience with the winter break, this year has been different, with the winter break being particularly difficult, with fixtures scheduled more frequently than ever, even in the Premier League.

Just imagine that the 24 teams in League One play 46 league games a year, plus the League Cup, the FA Cup, and the new Manchester United will also play in the League Cup, the Premier League teams only have 38 league games, and their fixtures are scheduled until mid-May, but the League One will end at the beginning of May, and then there will be a play-off.

Fixtures are longer but shorter, with League One being the busiest league during the winter break.

After a busy campaign in November and December, the Red Rebels were in fitness problems at the end of December, and even though Jose Mourinho made a lot of changes, he couldn't prevent a defeat in the end.

It was the first defeat of the season for the Red Rebels, a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, and the team was still on the verge of the relegation zone, causing considerable problems for the Red Rebels in the game.

The performance of the Red Rebels in this game was not bad, there was some negligence at the beginning, and a goal was scored by Sheffield Wednesday's sneak attack, but through the team's efforts, the score was recovered, and then a fierce counterattack was launched against Sheffield Wednesday, but the team always seemed to have missed the goal, especially Hleb, who has been getting more and more brave recently, failed to score, but the opponent scored again after a sneak attack!

The Red Rebels had 21 shots on goal with 16 shots on target and scored one goal, while Sheffield Wednesday had six shots on goal with two on target and scored on both occasions.

Speaking to the media after the game, Mourinho said the defeat was a bad luck for the team, as the Red Rebels had the advantage in the game but lacked luck and never took the last chance to score, otherwise it would have been a big win.

Mourinho did not deny the decline in the Red Rebels' form in the face of the media, he believes that the season is long, a team's form will inevitably fluctuate, and the decline is normal, but he believes the team can get through it.

Xiao Yu was also interviewed by the media the next day, he publicly said that he believes that the team lost at the right time, now is just the beginning of a battle, a loss can allow the team to completely let go of the burden of undefeated, with a better state to meet the upcoming sprint, he believes in the coach and players, believe that they can survive this most difficult schedule.

"But some people say that the Red Rebels are fighting on multiple fronts, which causes the team's physical fitness to not keep up, and if they continue to insist on fighting on the third line in the future, I am afraid that they will end up with nothing after the season!" Immediately a reporter raised his own question.

Xiao Yu was stunned, he had indeed heard a lot of criticism in this regard recently, frankly speaking, there was some truth, but it was not suitable to describe the Red Rebels.

'I don't deny it, but what I want to say is that our team has done well in the UEFA Cup, I'm proud of the players, our goal this season is promotion, how the UEFA Cup is, I don't care, but if the manager and the players think they want to go further in the UEFA Cup, then I will support it!'

"Then why didn't you bring in any more players from your team after you sold Bosingva?"

Xiao Yu smiled, "After negotiation, we believe that the team's current staffing is very good, and there is no need for any more reinforcements, and we all believe that this is the best for the current team." ”

…………………… Mourinho did not blame the team for failing to get the three points he deserved from Sheffield Wednesday, believing that the players had done their best, and he frequently said that he was happy with the performance of the players.

Next at home to Crystal Palace, this is another hard-fought game, although Mourinho in the last round against Sheffield Wednesday to let players including Drogba, Robben and other players rest, but these players at home against Crystal Palace team also appeared to be in a slump, despite the home game, the field is dominant, but in the end by Crystal Palace 1:1 draw.

After the game, the news of Portsmouth's victory came, and the Red Rebels were tied for first place with Portsmouth, but they were at the top of the table due to goal difference, but if you look at recent form, the top spot is in jeopardy.

However, when interviewed by the media, whether it is the players or the manager, including the officials of the club, everyone is unified, thinking that although the current predicament of the team is difficult, it can be overcome, and the team's performance will be better and better, and then everyone bombarded the FA's schedule, thinking that it is very unreasonable.

The unity of the top and bottom, all of them twisted into a rope, surprised many people who were prepared to see the conflict after the Red Rebels encountered difficulties, because they did not see the Red Rebels players complaining in the media, or even on the contrary, everyone was united and thought that the situation of the team would definitely improve.

…………………… Heading into January, the Red Rebels played their third game in six days, heading south to Wimbledon.

This is a crazy gang that has moved out of London, but it has not changed its name, but Xiao Yu publicly supported AFC Wimbledon before the game, thinking that the crazy gang that left London, Wimbledon who lost the spirit of the mad gang is no longer the crazy gang of the past, he believes that AFC Wimbledon is the continuation of the crazy gang, although they are still playing in the amateur league.

Everyone knows that Xiao Yu is a complete supporter of AFC Wimbledon, when the team was founded, he personally donated 2 million pounds, the Red Rebels Foundation donated 1 million pounds, and he also did his best to help the team be established.

AFC Wimbledon followed Droysden to become the Red Rebels' second satellite club in the English league, with strong support from the Red Rebels.

It is precisely because of the close relationship between the Red Rebels and AFC Wimbledon that this match is particularly eye-catching, and Wimbledon even released cruel words before the game, to let the Red Rebels see the strength of the Crazy Gang, especially in the difficult situation of the Red Rebels, they shouted that they want to let the Red Rebels who insulted the Crazy Gang fall from the leader's position.

The clash of two teams with a lot of roots is really eye-catching, and both teams are in good shape, with Wimbledon currently sitting 8th in the league and dreaming of finishing in the top 6 and qualifying for the play-offs, so they will also be eager to win the Red Rebels, who have been in poor form lately.

Mourinho lined up the front line of Drogba, Ronaldo, Franck Ribery and Kaka in this game, followed by De Rossi and Yaya? Toure, from left to right at the back are Patrice Evra, John Terry, Curtis and Lahm, goalkeeper is Petr Cech.

After two consecutive games of rest, Xiao Xiaoluo was relatively physical in the game, very active, frequently creating threats on the left side, and several inward cuts were also very sharp, but Drogba seemed to be a little out of shape, and several good opportunities were not grasped.

The two sides played 0:0 in the first half, and at the beginning of the second half, Wimbledon calculated the lack of fitness of the Red Rebels players, changed the passive defense in the first half, and played offensive tactics, hoping to take the lead in breaking the Red Rebels' goal.

At this time Desrossi and Yaya? Toure's back two did a good job of protecting the defence, forming a steely defensive line at the edge of the box, barely giving Wimbledon any chance to enter the box.

As Wimbledon came out, the attacking space of several players up front was also expanded, and the performance of the players gradually improved, especially when Palacio replaced the underperforming Drogba, and the players in the front court played out completely.

In the 72nd minute, Xiao Xiaoluo passed a beautiful ball on the left side, inserted diagonally into the penalty area, and knocked it to Palacio in the middle, who made a smart mistake, and Kaka on the back row pushed it into the near corner, and the goalkeeper reacted, but it was too late to save.

0：1！

After the goal, the Red Rebels' offensive began to play gradually, especially on the left side, almost beating Wimbledon's right side into a sieve, five minutes later again assisted Palacio to score, and then in the 87th minute, De Rossi's middle straight plug, after the successful anti-offside, dribbled past the goalkeeper, and pushed the empty goal.

0:3, the Red Rebels played the most hearty attack in recent games in less than 20 minutes, especially Xiao Xiaoluo on the left side, showing very good skills and strength.

The Portuguese, who is not yet 17 years old, has been in fine form for the Red Rebels this season, and although Jose Mourinho has not put him in the role, it is clear that his excellent performances have given him a strong voice in the competition with Arjen Robben and Hleb.

However, Ronaldo still has a lot of room for improvement, and he is currently undergoing a set of shooting and scoring training under the arrangement of the coaching staff, and as his physical fitness improves, the laboratory has also issued a pass to allow Mourinho to use the player more boldly.

The same goes for Arjen Robben, whose body has improved significantly over the past half season.

Perhaps the excitement of his two team-mates, combined with Ribery's improvement, has put a lot of pressure on Hleb, who has been in standout form so far this season, scoring 17 goals in 26 competitive appearances for the team, making him the team's top scorer, while also registering 11 assists, which has caught the attention of several teams.

Don't forget, Hleb is only 21 years old now, and being able to perform so well, especially in the UEFA Cup, has made him famous, the winter transfer has just begun, and several Premier League and foreign teams have already expressed interest in him, but Xiao Yu's reply is the same, the winter transfer window of the Red Rebels has closed!

At the same time, he also announced that the team's biggest reinforcements during the winter break have been in place!

(To be continued)