Chapter 26 Yes, this is a personal grudge

Chapter 26 Yes, this is a personal grudge

Chapter 26 Yes, this is a personal grudge

The news that Li Chen and Ronaldo won the Premier League's best coach and best player awards for December quickly became a hot topic in European football.

Many Real Madrid fans actively spoke out on the Internet, saying that they had long expected that Li Chen would be able to make good use of Ronaldo.

After all, not only did the two work together ten years ago, but in the Champions League final in the summer of 2014, Li Chen's proposal unleashed the terrifying firepower of Ronaldo at his peak.

Coupled with Li Chen's correct way of using Varane, for a moment, the Meilingges were also deeply moved.

The player who left Real Madrid eventually shined again under the former assistant coach of Real Madrid.

This scene is undoubtedly a dreamlike and beautiful picture for fans who still miss the Real Madrid team of 2014.

Manchester United supporters were also in a good mood and expressed their approval of the top management's vision for new signings for the new season on the Internet.

Although Ronaldinho, the former white moonlight, is now a little older, Varane, who grew into a top central defender in Real Madrid, is now a little fragile.

But high-quality products are high-quality products. The two of them, one in front and one behind, have greatly improved Manchester United's offensive and defensive ceilings.

Of course, the one that Manchester United fans really want to praise now is Li Chen.

Without Li Chen's firm trust in Ronaldo after taking office, he would have re-formulated the team's tactical structure and adjusted Varane's positioning (letting him listen to Maguire's command and serve as a defensive supporting role).

Then it would be impossible for Manchester United to get back on track so quickly.

Now, what Manchester United fans are most looking forward to is the club's winter transfer window signings and the official announcement that the top management has reached a contract extension with Li Chen.

Both of these things seemed to them to be natural.

Based on Li Chen's performance as the team leader since he took office, isn't it reasonable to spend tens of millions in the winter window to express support and sign a three- to five-year coaching contract with him?

But they waited and waited, and until the 22nd round of the Premier League was about to start, there was still no news of any related news.

However, the Manchester Evening News mentioned it in a subtle way, saying that the club's top management does not want to undermine the team's current performance stability, so it is very likely that they will decide not to make plans for winter transfer window signings...

If this news was released in early January, Manchester United's die-hard fans would definitely think that Manchester Evening News was trying to attract traffic and create a contrast to draw attention.

But now it is mid-January and the club has not revealed any news about winter transfer signings. This news seems to be true no matter how you look at it.

So much so that many media reporters who were half-believing and half-doubting asked Li Chen related questions at the pre-match press conference.

"Recruitment plan? I haven't followed up on this aspect, and for now, this is not part of my job. If you want to know more information, you may need to ask the relevant person in charge of the club."

Li Chen gave his answer very calmly. He didn't say anything, but it seemed like he had said everything.

The reporters who understood the situation immediately became excited.

The next morning, major British media, newspapers and magazines wrote articles questioning the decision of Manchester United's top management.

The meanings expressed in the articles are similar, and they are almost pointing fingers at Manchester United's top executives.

Li Chen was able to win consecutive games after taking over the team midway through the season, that shows he has the ability to do so.

Who wouldn’t praise Li Chen for having a “bright future” now?
Manchester United now has so many glass players in the team and whether the bench is solid enough. Don’t the management of Manchester United know this?

As the schedule for the second half of the league becomes tighter, Manchester United, who still wants to fight on three fronts, will face severe tests.

Under such circumstances, Manchester United's management is extremely incompetent as they still plan to keep doing nothing during the winter transfer window and haven't even made a basic reinforcement plan!
Local Manchester United fans, affected by this wave of public opinion, could no longer sit still and began to protest on the Internet!

There were also some fans who organized themselves to shout slogans in front of the club's office building to express their dissatisfaction.

But to be honest, Manchester United's management has been behaving unprofessionally for the past decade.

During this period, Manchester United's local fan group has protested more than once.

But is this useful?
Useless.

It’s not necessarily true that Manchester United’s top management has not reflected on their own problems, but so what?

They may know that some of their decisions are wrong, but they just don't change.

After all, if you admit your mistake, you have to take responsibility.

Since the incident didn't happen to them, naturally no one wants to take the blame.

Besides, the team’s big bosses only care about the club’s annual profits and dividend amounts.

As for the results, they are just passable.

There are so many Manchester United fans around the world who are willing to pay for the club's commercial promotion.

When the results are terrible, the commercial value of the club is still soaring. Why should they sacrifice their personal interests to pay for the future development of the club?
Not surprisingly, Woodward and other Manchester United management staff were once again "silent".

However, Li Chen, who had been mentally prepared, did not expect them to come forward to explain to the fans.

He doesn't have too many players available now, and players who are not in good health have to be used sparingly.

To do this, he had to speed up the rotation of main players.

For key players like Varane, Matic, Luke Shaw, Ronaldo and Sancho, he intends to try to maintain their rhythm of playing one game a week in the league.

In the future Champions League knockout rounds and important league matches, we will have to rely on these key players to play an important role.

B Fee is a physical iron man, and players like Greenwood, Rashford and Elanga are relatively young, so it is no problem to give them appropriate game burdens.

Adhering to this rotation idea, Li Chen arranged a 4231 starting lineup in the nd round of the Premier League, with the majority of players being substitutes.

The offensive trident of Martial, Rashford and Greenwood made their first starting appearance under Li Chen.

B Fee returned to the attacking midfielder position, while Van de Beek and McTominay formed a double defensive midfielder.

On the back line, Telles, Lindelof, Bailly and Wan Bissaka lined up in a row.

Starting goalkeeper Li Chen was replaced by Dean Henderson.

The rotation of this starting lineup is quite large.

Because there is a shortage of players at the defensive midfielder position, Fred played full games in a row and it was time for him to rest and rotate.

Li Chen also had no way to arrange Van de Beek to play as the attacking central midfielder, which he was more familiar with, and could only let him temporarily play as a defensive midfielder.

This actually leads to the instability of Manchester United's midfield structure in terms of defensive interception. Van de Beek and McTominay are actually more suitable to play as central midfielders, and playing as defensive midfielders is indeed a sacrifice.

There is no problem with the defensive enthusiasm, but the key defensive positioning is more than one level worse than Matic.

Once such a problem appears in the game, it is impossible for the opponent's head coach to ignore it.

The Aston Villa led by Gerrard is relatively balanced on both offense and defense, and can be ranked in the middle of the Premier League.

The tactics were in place, with a direct attack on the defensive zones of Van de Beek and Telles, which quickly opened up the offensive situation and created danger in Manchester United's defensive third zone.

Li Chen had anticipated the emergence of this kind of game situation, and the adjustments on the defensive end had very limited effect because he did not have another outstanding midfielder available.

So he simply told the team to compete in offense with Aston Villa away from home!
Since Maguire did not start the game, Manchester United naturally did not have the biggest defensive risk of high pressure.

The Manchester United players on the field who are fighting hard with Aston Villa have no shortage of ability to create opportunities.

B Fee, Rashford and Greenwood are good at seizing opportunities in transition from offense to defense to launch counterattacks.

In addition, Martial, after his transformation, served as a tactical fulcrum and offensive axis, helping teammates on both wings to continuously open up offensive space.

Manchester United soon threatened Aston Villa's goal frequently on the field.

But in the end, Aston Villa, playing at home, had better luck in scoring goals. Their winger Watkins helped the team score the first goal in the 26th minute of the first half.

It was not until the 42nd minute of the first half that Greenwood seized the opportunity to equalize the score.

Manchester United, who took the lead in the second half, took control of the initiative in attack, and this time it was B Fee who made a forward run and received Martial's heel pass and shot into the goal!
After taking the lead, Manchester United did not choose to be conservative, but continued to maintain overall suppression of Aston Villa.

Unfortunately, Rashford's cut-in shot in the 67th minute of the second half hit the crossbar of Aston Villa's goal.

Manchester United, who had been attacking Aston Villa for a long time but failed to defeat it, was subsequently hit hard.

Aston Villa's young midfielder Ramsey received Danny Ings' header in a quick counterattack and shot into the goal!

Dean Henderson cannot be blamed for the goal this time, because Ramsey's long shot hit Bailey's arm which was close to his torso and was refracted.

Li Chen was also speechless watching from the sidelines.

After being thankful that the team had equalized the score, Gerrard decisively made tactical adjustments, shrinking the formation and making it clear that he was determined to defend the point.

Seeing this, Li Chen also withdrew Van de Beek and directly sent on Cavani. Not only did he change the formation to 442, he also signaled McTominay to boldly come from behind and participate in the attack!
In the last ten minutes of the game, Manchester United almost blocked Aston Villa's doorstep and bombarded them wildly, with continuous passes from the wing and long shots from the outside.

But unfortunately, several attacking players were just a little bit short of luck in scoring a goal under Aston Villa's bus formation.

In the end, Manchester United players could only reluctantly accept the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.

Reporters who were eager to create chaos set traps for Li Chen at the post-match press conference, hoping to get his comments on the game.

But Li Chen did not say anything like “the better team did not win today” to vent his feelings.

He congratulated Gerrard, praised the Aston Villa team's resolute defensive will, and finally praised his own players for their positive performance.

“Our young players performed well and I saw very positive things during the game.

It's a pity to get a draw, but we can accept this result.

What’s more important is that we played the style of football we wanted to play and the mentality of the Red Devils...”

Li Chen's remarks were fairly balanced, but the reporters who wanted to get more explosive news materials obviously didn't want to let him off so easily.

"We heard that Paul Pogba has recovered from his injury, but you didn't include him in the team's starting lineup. Can you talk about the relevant reasons?"

Li Chen glanced at the reporter who asked the question, then just smiled meaningfully and did not make any response.

His attitude was very playful. After the game, the reporters were like sharks that smelled blood, and they made rich associations about the personal relationship between Li Chen and Pogba.

Everyone knows that it was the breakup between Pogba and Mourinho that led to Mourinho losing control of the Manchester United locker room. In the end, the madman was dismissed due to his unstable coaching results.

As Mourinho's direct disciple, Li Chen definitely does not have a good impression of Pogba.

It would have been fine if Pogba had been injured and missed the game before.

Now that the French midfielder has returned from injury, he has also posted on social media that he is ready to contribute to the team at any time.

But Li Chen still turned a blind eye and excluded him from the starting lineup, and never talked about his tactical arrangements for Pogba during interviews.

This discriminatory approach is worthy of journalists' attention.
Raiola quickly stood up and publicly questioned Li Chen's selection criteria.

"Obviously, and I say this with a bit of modesty, Paul's personal ability is definitely in the top three in Manchester United!
But even though he had no problems with his physical condition, he did not get the chance to play. He didn't even get a call from the coaching staff to explain. This is not fair at all!
The whole world knows that he (Li Chen) is taking revenge on Paul!

He put his own feelings first, above the interests of Manchester United. This is a way of dealing with personal grudges, and there is no professional ethics at all! "

Raiola's remarks criticizing Li Chen soon caused an uproar in European football.

Many fans thought that Li Chen or Manchester United club would quickly come out to refute Raiola’s statement and make a public relations explanation.

But the fact is that neither Manchester United officials nor Li Chen paid attention to the public opinion offensive launched by Raiola.

Li Chen was too disdainful to make any response.

The top management of Manchester United lost all expectations and trust in Pogba because of his behavior of delaying the contract extension and contacting other clubs privately.

In other words, Pogba is no longer the darling and dependent player of Manchester United.

The club's top management will not offend Li Chen, who has not yet reached a new contract with the club, because of him.

Five days later, Li Chen, who attended the press conference before the 23rd round of the Premier League, revealed to the media in advance the list of starting players he had prepared.

As expected, Pogba's name is still not on the roster.

Li Chen showed his full smile to the reporters without any concealment.

The somewhat sarcastic smile seemed to be a silent response to Raiola and Pogba:

Yes, you are right, this is a personal grudge.

(End of this chapter)