Chapter 37 Guardiola, after leaving the Premier League, Mourinho misses you every day
Chapter 37 Guardiola, after leaving the Premier League, Mourinho misses you every day
In the chaotic Atletico Madrid coaching bench, Simeone and the assistant coach directly called all the substitute forwards to warm up on the sidelines after an urgent communication!
It is definitely too late to think of any offensive tactics now, but Atletico Madrid can still do it by replacing enough fresh players and charging Manchester United's defense.
Thanks to the new substitution rules of the Champions League, Simeone has up to four substitutions available after replacing Griezmann at halftime.
However, the only frontcourt players sitting on Atletico's bench are Suarez and Lemar.
Carrasco was suspended due to a red card, so Simeone's substitutions were actually useless.
Li Chen looked around Atletico's bench again, and finally wrote down the name of Argentine midfielder De Paul on the tactical board.
"Let Scott (McTominay) and Jesse (Lingard) warm up, and the next time there is a break in play, bring Scott on for Jaden (Sancho)."
Carrick nodded after hearing Li Chen's instructions, and then quickly went to arrange the substitution.
Simeone did not surprise Li Chen and quickly replaced Correa and Herrera with Suarez and De Paul.
Suarez's tactical intention was very clear, which was to further enhance Atletico's finishing efficiency in the penalty area.
But Simeone's thoughts were not so simple when he put De Paul on the field at this time.
At least in Li Chen's opinion, De Paul will not play a big role in improving Atletico Madrid's offensive efficiency.
As expected, De Paul hadn't even played for three full minutes after coming on the pitch when he used a fierce tackle to stop Manchester United's threatening counterattack!
Looking at B Fee who was turning over in pain on the court while holding his right leg, Li Chen angrily signaled Carrick to put pressure on the fourth official, and at the same time pulled over Xiao Mai who had warmed up and was standing on the sidelines waiting to play.
"Scott! Go up and deal with that son of a bitch in your toughest way! Don't be afraid of getting a card! The club and I will protect you. Make him scared! Protect your partners in the midfield and frontcourt!"
Li Chen did not tell McTominay clearly what he should do.
There are too many lip-reading experts in front of the live cameras now, and he doesn't want to cause unnecessary trouble to the club just for the sake of momentary pleasure.
But he believes that McTominay understands what he means, and he believes that this tough midfielder who was promoted from the youth training camp by Mourinho can protect his teammates!
McTominay nodded firmly at Li Chen without saying anything more.
Two minutes later, the two teams who were confronting each other on the field were separated by the referee.
While De Paul was still spreading his hands to indicate that he did not intend to hurt anyone, McTominay just replaced Sancho and strode onto the field!
Simeone stood on the sidelines, without much emotion on his face, but he was relieved in his heart.
At this time, Atletico Madrid needs to put more energy into the offensive end, and the investment in defense will naturally be less than in the first half.
At critical moments, if you want to protect the back line, you can only send tougher midfield defensive players to intimidate the opponent's forwards.
This is a trick that is not very decent, but there is no doubt that such tricks are often very useful.
As long as Atletico can withstand Manchester United's counterattack and score another goal in the final moments of the game, their prospects of advancing will not be so bleak.
For the sake of this hope of advancement, Simeone would rather bear the blame after the game.
He now just hopes that the game time doesn't slip away so quickly.
He also hopes that Griezmann and Suarez will not let him down and shoulder the responsibilities that they must bear as star players in such an important game today!
"There's still time. Should we let Hermoso warm up in advance?"
After his thoughts diverged, Simeone also considered the use of the last substitution quota.
But before he made up his mind to ask the full-back Hermoso to warm up on the sidelines, a huge uproar from the stands quickly brought his thoughts back.
"What happened?!"
Simeone subconsciously asked the assistant coach beside him.
Soon, the live broadcast screen at the scene helped him restore everything that had just happened on the court through clear playback.
On the big screen, De Paul, who had once again teamed up with his teammates to steal the ball from Rashford, was about to take the ball and help the team complete a quick counterattack.
But he had just pulled the ball and turned around and ran two steps when McTominay suddenly jumped out from the side and knocked him to the ground!
The malicious foul that De Paul committed on B Fee has now come back to haunt him.
The person lying on the grass holding his calf and wailing in pain has become himself!
Several Atletico Madrid players nearby suddenly seemed to turn into angry bulls and rushed towards McTominay who had knocked down De Paul!
The players on the Manchester United field were not willing to be outdone. B Fee, Fred and Matic rushed forward!
Maguire and Varane behind also quickly ran towards the "battlefield"!
Ronaldo had already taken action, and he and Jimenez were swearing and pushing each other, but soon, Llorente rushed between the two of them and prevented the situation from escalating further.
Luke Shaw was even quicker to hug Ronaldo and quickly dragged his big brother behind him.
The most aggressive and tough guys on both teams kept spitting trash at each other!
The referee didn't have time to check DePaul's injury at this moment. He blew the whistle and rushed into the crowd.
After watching the live replay, Simeone jumped up and down and angrily put pressure on the fourth official!
Li Chen rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward to "fight", but McFerran quickly winked at Carrick.
The former held Li Chen tightly to prevent him from getting involved in the chaos, while the latter rushed up and started to argue with Simeone!
For a moment, both on and off the field were extremely lively, and the Atletico Madrid fans at the scene were roaring and shouting, fearing that the world would not be in chaos!
The referee's face turned green when he saw this situation, fearing that the two teams would really fight on the field and cause more trouble.
So he waved his hand and issued five yellow cards in a row, which first intimidated the players who kept swearing on the field.
Then, with the fourth official recreating the scene, he walked to the sidelines and showed Carrick the red card, sending him off!
This wave of penalties was quite unfavorable for Manchester United, because not only did three players on the field receive yellow cards, but the most important assistant coach was also sent off!
McFerran was worried that Li Chen would lose his mind because of the referee's biased penalty, so he still held his sleeve tightly.
However, Li Chen quickly calmed down, then patted McPherson's arm expressionlessly, indicating that he would not act impulsively.
The game soon resumed, and the cool-headed Li Chen decisively chose to make another substitution.
B Fee, who had been frequently fouled and received a yellow card, was replaced by Bailly, while Dalot, who also received a yellow card, was replaced by Wan Bissaka.
As for the final adjustment of replacing Ronaldo with Lingard, it was more like a protective substitution. Manchester United, who changed to 541, contracted the half court and consolidated their victory.
However, what made Manchester United fans quite unhappy was that the referee gave Lingard a yellow card for excessive tackle.
De Paul, who initially caused the conflict and chaos between the two teams, played steadily until the end of the game. Not to mention a yellow card, he didn't even receive a severe warning!
Manchester United fans, who should have happily celebrated this surprising victory, were indignant and condemned Atletico's lethal foul tactics after the game!
The first to be affected are Simeone and De Paul.
However, the angry Atletico Madrid fans were naturally unwilling to be outdone and responded strongly to the Red Devils fans.
After the game, Simeone took the initiative to say that Manchester United had committed rough fouls on several Atletico players and said that he would definitely report this phenomenon to UEFA officials.
Facing the excited questions and interviews from the reporters, Li Chen just said coldly, "See you in Manchester in the next round!" and did not answer the rest of the questions.
In terms of staying away from public opinion storms, Li Chen has been doing a good job since he started coaching Burnley last year.
He is not like his teacher Mourinho who always speaks frankly in media interviews.
Some words may make you feel good when you say them, but in the long run they will continue to deepen the negative impression of you in the eyes of some people.
Li Chen didn't want to cause any avoidable trouble outside the court.
Besides, he still believes that most fans can now distinguish between good and bad.
In the past, fans were easily misled by the waves of public opinion created by the media, largely because social networks were not well developed at the time.
Social media is much more convenient now than before, and the Internet is more developed.
Anyone who wants to see and understand can quickly understand which side was the first to provoke the incident in the so-called conflict between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid.
Therefore, he is not worried that the fermentation and direction of public opinion will be detrimental to Manchester United.
Of course he was very angry, but after his anger subsided, he went to a nightclub for a night and returned to the training base the next morning in high spirits to start preparing for the game.
The Sun, which tracked Li Chen's movements all night, soon made an exclusive disclosure, claiming that Li Chen had only rested for less than 3 hours before going to work at the Carrington training base.
Immediately, this news diverted fans' interest away from the conflict between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid.
Some fans were envious of Li Chen's ability to change three female companions in one night in a nightclub and chat and laugh happily.
More fans were amazed at Li Chen's energy.
After all, they used to hear more interesting stories about certain stars going to nightclubs to party all night after a game, and then participating in recovery training the next morning.
But this was the first time they had seen news of a head coach doing this.
The Sun published several photos of Li Chen personally practicing tactical movements with the players on the training ground.
Countless neutral fans' focus on Li Chen has gradually shifted from his outstanding coaching skills to his tall and strong physique.
The thin training jacket could not hide the bulging and strong muscles on Li Chen's upper body.
Coupled with his handsome appearance and mature masculine temperament similar to Brad Pitt.
For some unknown reason, Li Chen was once again introduced to the world by The Sun.
But this time, what he became famous for was not his outstanding tactical arrangements and on-the-spot decision-making.
But it's his outstanding external conditions.
But Li Chen, who is worried about the injuries of B Fee and Martial at the moment, obviously has no time to pay attention to his own popularity.
The 27th round of the Premier League is about to start. Considering that the team will face the challenge of the Manchester derby after this round of the league, Li Chen finally chose to rotate a large number of main players again.
Facing Watford coached by Freddie Mercury, Manchester United, who rotated their players, only managed a draw at home and shook hands with their opponents.
When questioned by a Sky Sports reporter after the game about whether he was saving his energy for the Manchester derby, Li Chen immediately denied it.
"We had a bad injury situation in our squad, with two important players out injured, and we had just played a Champions League knockout match against Atletico Madrid three days ago.
The team's overall consumption is huge. In this case, I must be responsible for the health of the players.
Watford are fighting to avoid relegation and they showed great energy today and caused us a lot of trouble. This is the Premier League.
Maybe we still lack a certain degree of stability, but I believe my players have tried their best. Now all we have to do is keep looking forward and moving forward. It is still a long way to go before the end of the season. The match against Manchester City is just one of the games. You think too much..."
Li Chen's rebuttal was very organized, and the reporters were satisfied after receiving the relevant response and did not continue to embarrass him.
But in fact, Li Chen and the entire Manchester United team’s views on this Manchester derby are definitely not as simple as he said!
Before the league match with Watford started, Li Chen and the coaching staff had already started to arrange a tactical plan against Manchester City.
After the game with Watford, Li Chen did not rest at all. He and Carrick immediately watched the live broadcast of the game between Manchester City and Everton on the bus returning to the training base.
When I saw Foden scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute of the second half, helping Manchester City take a 1-0 lead.
A smile flashed across Li Chen's eyes, and then he turned off the live broadcast on the tablet in advance.
"Manchester City is tired! Guardiola's rotation of the main lineup is not too big, and they, like us, will play an FA Cup game in the middle of the week, so we have an advantage in physical reserves."
After coming to this conclusion, Li Chen opened his tablet again and carefully looked at Manchester City's offensive and defensive data in the match against Everton.
"This is our chance. So what if we play away? We want to prove to the world that Manchester United, who play pragmatic football, will never be manipulated by Manchester City!"
There was another sentence that Li Chen kept in his heart and did not say out loud.
"It's my turn to challenge you this time, Pep. Do you know that after leaving the Premier League, Mourinho misses you every day..."
(End of this chapter)