Chapter 32: Cristiano Ronaldo tops the scorer list, witnessing the birth of a great record
Chapter 32: Ronaldo tops the scorer list, witnessing the birth of a great record
"Red Devils aim for the FA Cup!"
"Manchester United's latest goal for the season: FA Cup championship!"
Lee's Championship Desire
"A signal of rise, or arrogant statement?"
……
After Li Chen made it clear that Manchester United would compete for the FA Cup title this season, a new round of traffic feast for the British media has once again begun.
To be honest, Manchester United currently seems to be qualified to compete for a domestic cup title.
In the eyes of the Red Devils fans, there was nothing wrong with Li Chen's remarks.
It's not like we have to compete for the Premier League and Champions League titles right now, just an FA Cup title.
The attitude of teams that are determined to dominate the Premier League towards England's domestic cup competitions is that it would be better if they can win, but it's no pity if they can't.
In comparison, breaking into the top four of the league and getting a place in the Champions League is much more important than winning a domestic cup championship.
But who caused Manchester United to be in turmoil for several years?
Although the Manchester United team suffered from many injuries that year, they managed to win the treble in one go, which was recognized and admired by Premier League fans.
If Mourinho had said after the end of that season that he would lead Manchester United to win a domestic cup title in the new season, the media and fans would have had nothing to refute.
After all, Mourinho and Manchester United's players have proven themselves over numerous difficulties, and they do have the perseverance and ability.
But the current Manchester United is not quite qualified to make such a championship declaration.
Yes, judging from recent results, Manchester United is very competitive and Li Chen’s on-the-spot coaching is also very good.
But after all, it lacks the test of a full season of multi-line operations.
There have been too many "flash in the pan" head coaches in the football world, not to mention that Li Chen lacks the experience of years and the baptism of important finals compared to those once-popular coaches.
Even if you are a genius, as a young coach who has not coached a full season, shouldn't you be more low-key and lead the team to break through in the cup competition?
How can you be the first to speak out about competing for the championship right after reaching the FA Cup round of 16? Isn't this putting yourself and your team on the spot?
Many neutral fans felt that Li Chen was a little too arrogant this time.
Coupled with the deliberate fanning of the flames by some media, more and more confused fans learned about Li Chen’s "arrogant personality" all of a sudden.
But it has to be said that Li Chen’s bold post-match speech did further boost the morale of the entire Manchester United team!
A team, no matter how weak or injured it is, as long as it has the spirit of striving for progress and the temperament of not admitting defeat, it will always be able to achieve some results in the long season.
Manchester United had almost lost its spirit and energy in the chaos and turmoil before, so no matter how Solskjaer adjusted, he could not save the team from the decline.
And what Li Chen is doing now is tantamount to adding fuel to the positive team atmosphere that Manchester United has rebuilt!
Are we any worse than other teams?
Have we lost our desire for championship honors?
Are we really, as the media says, just getting excited for a while and eventually returning to a state of chaos?
If we don't believe these statements from the bottom of our hearts, if we still have pursuits and ambitions.
Then why can't we be champions?
Why can't we be champions?!
The more doubts there are from the outside world, the less optimistic people are about Manchester United winning the FA Cup this season.
The more the Manchester United players were unwilling to accept the defeat, the more they wanted to fight to the end and prove themselves to the outside world again!
Li Chen is more than happy for the team to maintain its current eagerness to fight.
And he is in a very good mood now, and even jokes with Carrick in private.
If they can really win the FA Cup this season, he will personally write a thank-you letter to the media who took the lead in questioning Manchester United after the season ends.
Carrick laughed and shook his head when he heard this, saying that he really admired Li Chen's calm mentality.
"Train your mentality? That's easy. I'll introduce you to Jose's coaching team when there's a chance. You'll understand after two or three seasons with him that no matter which team he's in, he and the team around him will be the focus of media attention..."
Li Chen started joking, but Carrick kept waving his hands.
You can learn a lot of good things from following Mourinho, but the pressure is too great.
He thought that since he did not have the natural ability to withstand pressure like Li Chen, it was best for him to follow Li Chen at this stage. The workload was moderate, and he could learn a lot of new tactical ideas.
More importantly, Li Chen has a stable personality and is not shy about his own ideas. Carrick feels very comfortable partnering with Li Chen.
The team is moving steadily forward on the right track. The head coach is capable and ambitious, and can lead the team to fight tough battles and win them.
The entire team has already received a lot of winning bonuses alone, and the club's top management has even promised that if the team remains in the top four of the standings at the end of the season, the coaching team will be given even more generous bonuses.
For this reason alone, other members of Manchester United's coaching team are also full of energy and are actively preparing for the match around Li Chen.
After receiving the physical fitness reports of all team members, Li Chen felt relieved to continue sending out all the main players to start in the 24th round of the Premier League.
At the pre-match press conference, Li Chen once again expressed his personal support for Burnley's successful relegation this season.
After all, this was his first official coaching team. Seeing Burnley once again sinking into the relegation zone this season, Li Chen naturally couldn't bear it.
However, standing in the position of Manchester United's head coach, Li Chen calmly issued tactical instructions to defeat Burnley on the offensive end!
In the recent winter transfer window, facing Newcastle's poaching behavior with huge sums of money, Burnley's top management could not resist the temptation and sold their main center forward Chris Wood.
This center forward, who has scored more than 4 goals in the Premier League for Burnley in the past four seasons and achieved a career-high performance under Li Chen last season, is an important part of Burnley's offensive system.
Even though he has struggled at Burnley this season and his number of goals has dropped sharply, his role as a tactical fulcrum cannot be ignored.
The foolish Burnley executives made more than 3000 million euros from the transfer of Chris Wood, but destroyed the integrity of their own offensive system.
Although they spent another 1700 million euros to buy another center forward, Weghorst, from Wolfsburg.
But the Dutch center forward, who had never played in the English professional league before, had to adapt to the intensity and rhythm of the Premier League from scratch.
For Li Chen, this is a great opportunity to exploit.
Manchester United, playing away from home, actively tried to speed up the game from the start and increase the rhythm of the two teams' offense and defense transitions.
The Burnley coach, who was at home, was unwilling to show weakness to Manchester United at the beginning of the game, so he had to bite the bullet and keep up with the pace. As a result, this decision directly made the active Weghorst use a lot of his physical energy in running forward and quickly returning to defense.
In the first ten to twenty minutes of the game, Weghorst's active fighting and defense aroused cheers from the home Burnley fans.
But after the first half hour of the game, many old Burnley fans who knew football felt something was wrong.
Soon, Weghorst lost his position on the offensive end and tried to score but was blocked by Maguire many times, which really hindered Burnley's offensive system.
He is too tall, and he used up all his energy in running back and forth and returning to defense at the beginning of the game, so naturally he can't exert his strength in attacking.
What's more, the player he faced today was Maguire, who he couldn't handle even when he was in good physical condition.
Weghorst's failure to score forced Burnley to pin their hopes of attack on their other main striker, Jay Rodriguez.
But after the serious injury, Rodriguez is no longer the top striker who could score 15 league goals in a single season for Southampton.
At the age of 32, he has lost his impact and can no longer talk about his sense of goal when being targeted by Varane.
He tried hard to run without the ball, but Manchester United's complete and tight defensive system didn't want to give him any chance to shoot.
Li Chen's tactical arrangement made the two forwards who started for Burnley today become useless.
In contrast, Manchester United's frequent attacks had already stretched Burnley's defense line, and they only had to wait for a few forwards to find the shooting feeling to break the deadlock.
Li Chen waited very patiently, and he didn't think it mattered even if the team didn't score a goal in the first half.
Anyway, the trend of suppression has emerged, and the worst that can happen next is to increase the chips for attack.
If the conventional offensive tactics don't work, then let the two full-backs press directly into the opponent's core area!
As long as enough opportunities are created, he doesn't believe that Ronaldo and Greenwood, who are in hot form, cannot score.
Li Chen made a conservative estimate, but Ronaldo's shot in the penalty area in the 35th minute of the first half gave him a surprise!
Luke Shaw's low cross was extremely threatening, and Greenwood and Martial's simultaneous rush drew away almost all the defensive attention of Burnley defenders.
So Ronaldo's poking shot into the goal came naturally.
This goal fully demonstrated Ronaldo's smart positioning and rich experience advantage.
Ronaldo, who scored goals in consecutive games, excitedly signaled his young teammates to go to the corner flag area to celebrate with him!
Li Chen did not celebrate wildly in the stadium where he led his team to fight many times last year, but the smile on his face showed his relaxed mood at the moment.
Countless Manchester United fans cheered happily in front of the TV for Ronaldo's 15th league goal of the season!
Thanks to the African Cup and Egypt's entry into the final, Salah, who is currently ranked first in the Premier League scorer list, is unable to play for Liverpool in the league.
So his league goal tally this season has been fixed at 16 for a while.
Ronaldo's pursuit is just chasing a fixed number. There is no suspense, and not much pressure. There is only step-by-step pressure and natural development.
Neutral fans who followed the game were also happy to see Ronaldo set the record for the oldest player to win the Premier League Golden Boot.
For a while, except for Liverpool fans, most of the other fans who follow the Premier League were expecting Ronaldo to officially tie Salah's goal number and top the Premier League's scorer list this season!
Ronaldo himself knows this. Being competitive, he is full of fighting spirit at this moment. After the game resumed, he frequently ran to attack the Burnley penalty area!
Seeing this, Li Chen directly signaled Luke Shaw and Dalot to move up the field more frequently and participate in the attack.
For a superstar of Ronaldo's level - especially when he is in the last mini-peak of his career - giving him unconditional trust when he is in great form is the correct tactical choice.
Sometimes, such decisions do not lead to a smooth process and game outcome.
But as a coach who has witnessed Ronaldo creating miracles countless times, Li Chen is willing to take risks to give Ronaldo a chance and looks forward to witnessing another perfection.
The entire Manchester United team had only one thought and will at this moment, which was to help Ronaldo score another goal before the end of the first half of the game to update the league scorer list that had not changed for a long time!
Burnley naturally does not want to be the background for Ronaldo to create a record.
Manchester United was focused on creating opportunities for Ronaldo, and they were focused on destroying the connection between Ronaldo and other Manchester United players.
This kind of conflicting and confrontational game situation is inevitable. As long as the Burnley team still has the spirit and has not surrendered, they will definitely fight back.
Li Chen looked down at the time on his watch from time to time.
When he saw the pointer pass the 43rd minute of the first half, he decisively signaled Matic, who was lying behind, to move forward directly and suppress Burnley's defense!
This decision seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back for Burnley's midfield and backcourt defense!
Burnley defenders, wary of Matic's long-range shooting ability, had to split up their forces to limit his shots.
Every time Ronaldo attempts to move forward, he can at least distract the attention of two Burnley defenders.
In such an offensive situation, Greenwood and Martial, who frequently moved out of the penalty area to receive the ball, naturally found more opportunities.
In the 45th minute of the first half, the game was about to enter the critical juncture of injury time. Greenwood, who received a diagonal pass from B Fee, decisively took the ball and broke through!
Ronaldo's running pressure created a small vacuum area on the left side of Burnley's half, so Greenwood had enough space to speed up and move forward.
His sudden and resolute breakthrough caught Burnley's entire defense line off guard!
When he entered the penalty area with the ball, Burnley center back Tarkovsky had no choice but to take the risk and make a tackle as he was about to shoot!
The ball flies, the man falls, and the whistle blows!
Tarkovsky's gamble ultimately resulted in only a yellow card from the referee!
At this moment, Manchester United fans all over the world were cheering and excitedly staring at Ronaldo who was kissing Greenwood's forehead under the live camera!
"This is a crucial opportunity! Ronaldo stood on the penalty spot with the ball without any suspense. He will take the penalty kick! Can he score another goal?!"
Zhan Jun was explaining in the studio with some hesitation and nervousness.
As a loyal fan of Liverpool, he naturally does not want to see other players share the top spot in the Premier League scorer list with Salah.
But as a fan who supports Li Chen and Ronaldo, he also hopes that Ronaldo can score this penalty kick steadily...
Fortunately, the referee did not let his conflicted mood last too long.
After the whistle blew, Ronaldo took a deep breath and ran up decisively, completing his signature powerful shot!
The football flew straight to the upper left side of Burnley's goal. Burnley goalkeeper Pope judged the direction correctly, but he was powerless to do anything about this powerful shot!
Ronaldo, who scored his 16th league goal of the season, ran towards the baseline with his arms open!
At this moment, Zhan Jun in the studio was also sincerely impressed by Ronaldo's amazing performance in his counterattack years!
"With his 16th league goal, Ronaldo topped the Premier League's scorer list this season!
Time never defeats heroes!
The Portuguese superstar, who just celebrated his 37th birthday, gave himself a precious birthday present today.
And we, dear fans, are witnessing the birth of another great record!"
(End of this chapter)