Controlled the game for 32 minutes, then fell behind after just 15 seconds of losing control?
September 29, Spain Valencia.
Mestalla Stadium, this is one of the oldest stadiums Spain, with a capacity of 55,000 people. The stands of the stadium are very steep, and the fans are very close to the stadium, giving it a feeling of "yelling at you in your ears".
Manchester United challenged Valencia away from home, and UEFA Champions League was in the second round of the group stage.
In the first round, Manchester United beat Glasgow Rangers 4:0, and Valencia lost to Bursaspor 0:4 in the away game. This result surprised everyone. Valencia is also a strong team of La Liga, so how could it lose to a Turkey team?
The answer is: Valencia's condition is indeed not good.
But the more such a team is, the more dangerous it is.
Because they want to prove themselves.
Before the game, Valencia's head coach Emery attended the press conference.
This person Emery later went to Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Villarreal, and won four consecutive UEFA Europa League Cup championships. He is a very powerful coach. But now he is still young, only 38 years old, and he still has a lot of hair (later he became bald).
A reporter asked him, "How do you defend Zhang Kuang?"
Emery smiled, "We have already studied it. The key to limiting Zhang Kuang is not to guard against him, but to guard against the person who passes the ball to him.
As long as the Manchester United midfielder's passing line to him is cut off, it will be difficult for him to play his role. In addition, we have also made special arrangements for the candidates to defend him, and will use two or three people to double-team him."
The reporter asked, "Do you think this strategy can be successful? Premier League Many teams have adopted this strategy, but it seems to have little effect."
Emery: "We will wait and see. To deal with such superstars, La Liga's team has the most say, because we have to face superstars from Real Madrid and Barcelona every year."
Emery After thinking about it this way, the reporter felt that there seemed to be some truth to it.
So the reporters threw these words to Ferguson and asked Ferguson, what if Zhang Kuang was restricted?
Ferguson smiled, "Mr. Emery only said that they have strategies to guard against superstars every year, but he did not say that they cannot guard against superstars every year."
Obviously, every team in La Liga does have the experience of guarding against superstars, but those superstars still create scoring records and create a superstar halo.
What does it mean? It means that if a superstar can be restricted, he is not called a superstar. It means that the reason why a superstar is a superstar is because his ability is much higher than that of the opponent's defenders on the court, so he cannot be guarded.
One of the best ways to defend against superstars is to find a super player whose defensive ability is equivalent to the superstar's offensive ability, which may be able to offset it. In fact, the final method is that the opponent has one superstar and I have two or three. If the opponent scores one goal, I can score three."
Reporter: "Is it possible to restrict superstars tactically?"
Ferguson: "Just take a look at Serie A and you will understand. Did Serie A have few superstars back then? In order to deal with the superstars, Serie A invented Catenaccio. I believe this defensive system is already the top defensive system in the world, right?
But let me ask, are those superstars being guarded? Are those superstars who should score twenty or thirty goals every season scoring less?
I just said that the reason why superstars are called superstars is because their abilities are much better than ordinary players. This is like a group of kids with good defensive concepts and tactics, but you can't prevent the impact of a professional athlete. In the face of absolute ability, everything is fake."
Reporter: "You mean Zhang Kuang is like this, with absolute superstar ability?"
Ferguson: "Isn't it? Facts have proved that no matter how many double-teams there are, they can't trap him. No matter how strong the body is, they can't knock him down. No matter how sharp the tackle is, they can't knock him down. No matter how fast they are, they can't catch up with him.
Faced with such a superstar with off-speed superpowers, can ordinary tactics and methods be used to guard against him?"
The reporters were dumbfounded. Why did Ferguson suddenly brag about Zhang Kuang? He boasted about his abilities and repeatedly emphasized that Zhang Kuang is a superstar?
After the news release meeting, Phelan was a little confused, and even Zhang'er was confused. This was not like the usual Ferguson.
So when I saw Ferguson on the training ground, Zhang Kuang hesitated to speak.
The old man saw his doubts and waved him over.
Zhang Kuang:"Boss."
Ferguson: "Don't you understand why I want to praise you?"
Zhang Kuang nodded.
Ferguson: "Remember what I promised you before?"
Zhang Kuang:"????"
Ferguson: "Ballon d'Or, have you forgotten? Isn't it that I came to Manchester United just for the championship, for Ballon d'Or? But before winning Ballon d'Or, let's win that Golden Boy Award first.
To win Golden Boy Award, you need to build momentum. Do you know how many people helped Messi build momentum before he won the award? Not only Barcelona's head coach, but also everyone from Barcelona, from the chairman to the staff, to their mouthpiece newspapers, all the time, every day, are saying that Messi is the future king of football and the strongest player in football at the moment.
Looking back at Cristiano Ronaldo, he failed to win Golden Boy Award because no one helped him. Later, he won the Triple Crown with Manchester United. With the efforts of Manchester United and the efforts of his agency, he won Ballon d'Or in 2008.
However, he has been very suppressed by Messi in the past two years. Why? Is it just that he does not have the UEFA Champions League trophy? Now his management company has reacted and is working hard to shape his new image and vigorously promote him around the world.
Therefore, winning awards is never just a matter of scoring more goals. The West is a world of human relationships, and human relationships are everywhere. If you, an Easterner, want to win awards, without Western authorities standing up to support you, it is impossible for you to win.
For example, if I don't praise you, who will believe you? Do you expect football celebrities who have no interest in you to praise you every day?"
Only then did Zhang Kuang realize. Indeed, if a famous coach like Ferguson, who plays an important role in world football, promotes Zhang Kuang as a superstar every day, and if it is supplemented by overwhelming publicity, over time, everyone will believe that Zhang Kuang is a superstar.
Otherwise, now everyone would regard him as a star, a super rookie, and it is impossible to regard him as a superstar.
And if you want to get Ballon d'Or, why should you get Ballon d'Or if you are not a superstar?
Robben and Ribéry performed so well in Bayern Munich, is it useful? They are not superstars, they are top-notch stars at most.
Why?
Because no one brags about them.
Of course, their own data is not explosive enough, which is also one of the reasons.
Zhang Kuang:"But this..."
Ferguson: "Don't worry, this is also good for me, and also good for Manchester United, so we decided to promote your title of superstar from now on.
For me, if you get Ballon d'Or, it means that I can not only train you to get Cristiano Ronaldo to get Ballon d'Or, but I can also train you, an Oriental, to get Ballon d'Or. How many famous coaches can achieve such an achievement?
It's good for Manchester United. There are very few clubs that can really continuously cultivate Ballon d'Or, but if you take Ballon d'Or after Cristiano Ronaldo, it will be a huge improvement for Manchester United's reputation, especially Manchester United's Eastern market will definitely be booming."
Zhang Kuang suddenly understood a lot. Although he had experienced two lives, in the last life he was just a food deliveryman. Although he learned the essence behind many advanced phenomena through books and the Internet, there were still some things that he could not understand.
Zhang Kuang: "Thank you BOSS and the club for your support. Don't worry, I will definitely update the information more, at least so that no one can find fault with the information."
Ferguson: "Haha, this is what I wanted to tell you, but I didn't expect you to understand it a long time ago. In fact, this is the case. As long as your information crushes your competitors, even if the West is a place where people are very sophisticated, they will not dare to suppress you too hard."
For example, if you are ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi by more than dozens of goals in the league and UEFA Champions League today, then Ballon d'Or may not be awarded to you in the selection, but you will definitely be in the top three.
As long as you are in the top three, will your information crush them next year? If they are not given to you, then the prestige of FIFA will be wiped out.
Even if they don't give it next year, if your information is crushed again the year after, they still won't give it? Then someone will judge the value of this award, and FIFA's so-called fairness and justice will also be criticized."
Zhang Kuang: "I understand, boss, I will definitely form a gap-like lead in the data."
Ferguson: "Well, okay, then you should work hard. By the way, talk to your agency about how to promote your football superstar globally. If they can't even do this well, I suggest you find a more professional agency."
Zhang Kuang:"Ha, okay, okay,"
After the training, Zhang Kuang called Jonathan and asked for publicity. Zhang Kuang even said that he could use 10% of his income to promote his image as a football superstar around the world every year.
It is mainly used to display his high-profile performance, personal image, controversial scandals, and positive comments from superstars and celebrities. No matter which superstar or celebrity said something praising Zhang Kuang on any occasion, these words must be amplified and promoted.
Let all fans know that Zhang Kuang has been recognized by many football celebrities. Only if everyone sees more and more football celebrities affirming him, then most people will think that Zhang Kuang is an absolute superstar and Ballon d'Or is the deserved winner.
In addition to these, the agency also needs to use some funds to help him publicize UEFA and FIFA, and occasionally let some senior officials come out to praise Zhang Kuang.
These are all digressions. The reason why I bring this up is because "Tuttosport" is about to announce the top ten list of Golden Boy Award, and it needs to build momentum for this.
As Ferguson's words spread throughout the football world, some fans and professionals gradually began to change their perception of Zhang Kuang from 'Super Rookie King' to 'Football Superstar'.
The main reason is that Zhang Kuang's profile is too strong. Not only did he perform well in the league, but he also performed well in UEFA Champions League. The next step is to see whether he can continue to maintain this state in UEFA Champions League.
In the 2010-11 season, the second round of Group C of UEFA Champions League was about to start. Before the game started, the fans of Mestalla Stadium sang the team song of Valencia, the sound was as loud as thunder.
Zhang Kuang stood in the tunnel, looking at the player Valencia opposite.
It's a pity that David·Silva in their team went to Manchester City and became one of the best midfielders in Premier League, otherwise today's Valencia would be stronger.
However, there are many famous players.
Juan Mata is also the national player of Spain. Later he went to Chelsea and took UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League Cup. Now he is 22 years old and is the sharp left winger of Valencia.
Soldado, Spain forward, and later Tottenham Hotspur. Although he is not a top star, he has a keen sense of smell in the penalty area.
There are also Banega, Hernández, Albelda... The strength of this Valencia cannot be underestimated.
Zhang Kuang looked at these people secretly excited, and when these people looked at Zhang Kuang, their eyes were filled with caution and care like that of a superstar.
This shows that Ferguson's words have indeed had an effect.
He Wei: "China Central Television, China Central Television, welcome to CCTV5's top event program. Today we bring you a match in the second round of the UEFA Champions League group stage. The opponents are two teams from Group C. Valencia plays against Manchester United at home.
Okay, the two sides have entered the game. Let's introduce the starting lineups of both sides. Let's talk about the home team first. Valencia's starting lineup today is 4411 or 4231. The personnel are:
Goalkeeper No. 1 Cesar·Sánchez, defenders No. 23 Miguel, No. 4 David Navarro, No. 20 Ricardo Costa, No. 22 Mathieu, midfielders No. 5 Meret Topal, No. 6 David·Albelda, No. 24 Tino Costa, No. 10 Juan Mata, the forwards are No. 19 Pablo·Hernández, No. 9 Roberto Soldado.
Sitting on the bench are No. 25 Moyá, No. 2 Bruno, No. 3 Maduro, No. 8 Domínguez, No. 11 Aduriz, No. 14 Vicente, and No. 18 Manuel Fernandez.
Let me introduce the starting lineup of Manchester United. Today's Manchester United is still in the 433 formation. The starting personnel are:
The goalkeeper is No. 1 Van der Sar, the defenders are No. 21 Rafael, No. 22 O'Shea, No. 5 Rio·Ferdinand, No. 3 Evra, and the midfielder is No. 24 Fletcher, No. 16 Carrick, No. 13 Park Ji-sung, the three forwards are No. 33 Zhang Kuang, No. 9 Berbatov, No. 10 Rooney. The bench is..."
The commentator was introducing the starting and substitute players in detail, but as soon as the whistle sounded on the field, the game officially started.
As soon as the game started, Valencia showed his fangs.
David·Silva and Mata cooperated smoothly in the midfield, shuttling through Manchester United's defense like two snakes.
Soldado moved flexibly in the penalty area and almost scored twice when he grabbed points.
On Manchester United's side, Ferguson's midfield combination is Fletcher, Carrick, and Park Ji-sung. But in the first few minutes, this midfield combination is obviously at a disadvantage against the combination of Silva, Banega, and Mata.
In the first 10 minutes of the game, Valencia's ball possession rate was as high as 65%, and Manchester United could hardly get the ball. Valencia has a strong La Liga style, focusing on ball possession rate and foot skills.
Zhang Kuang is like a trapped beast in the frontcourt, constantly running and asking for the ball, but the ball cannot be passed to his feet.
"Damn it," he cursed in his mind, "It's the same thing again."
Valencia's defensive strategy is exactly the same as Bolton's: cut off the passing line to him.
But the execution is more refined than Bolton.
Because La Liga players have better skills, more accurate positioning, and smarter positioning. They do not rely on brute force, but rely on anticipation and positioning to block passing routes.
Within ten minutes, the number of times Zhang Kuang caught the ball can be counted on one hand.
In the 15th minute, he finally received the ball and turned around to prepare for a breakthrough. Meret Topal followed him, with Mathieu behind him.
Three people, three directions, blocked all his breakthrough routes.
Zhang Kuang passed the ball back to Carrick, and then ran into the penalty area.
But the ball was never passed again.
"Zhang Kuang was very restricted today," Martin·Tyler said, "Valencia's defensive strategy was very successful. Manchester United needs to find other ways to attack."
"Yes," Rob Hawthorn said, "If Manchester United can only rely on Zhang Kuang, then Valencia can easily handle it, and Manchester United's other players need to step up."
Martin: "Strictly speaking, Valencia used his exquisite foot skills to control the ownership of the football and directly cut off Manchester United's offense and defense. Perhaps, as a superstar, Zhang Kuang has to stand up."
Rob: "It's difficult. He is a frontcourt player and can't catch the ball. How can he stand up? Transform into a defensive player and go directly to the midfield and backcourt to grab the ball and then attack in one go? He has done such a thing before, but that is Ligue 1, this is La Liga team, I don't know what the result will be."
Although Manchester United's passing route was blocked, the strange thing is that Valencia did not threaten several times, let alone score a goal.
The whole game seemed a bit boring, with Valencia's players controlling the ball and moving it around, and Manchester United's players chasing the ball everywhere.
In the 32nd minute, Zhang Kuang finally found a chance.
He retreated to the midfield and got the ball. This time he did not rush to break through, but kept the ball under his feet and waited for his teammates to move to respond.
Park Ji-sung comes in from the left wing, Zhang Kuang distributes the ball to him.
Park Ji-sung did not stop after receiving the ball, and used his super running ability to break through directly from the side. Since Zhang Kuang attracted two or three defensive players by himself, the pressure faced by Park Ji-sung was drastically reduced.
When Valencia's defensive player rushed up, he passed the ball back to Zhang Kuang, who was trailing behind him. Zhang Kuang faced the incoming ball and passed it directly, and the ball flew to the back of the penalty area.
Berbatov is there.
He didn't stop the ball and shot directly.
The ball rolled into the lower right corner of the goal.
0:1.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOAL, Berbatov!" Martin·Tyler shouted, "Manchester United is ahead! Zhang Kuang's assist! He finally found the space to pass the ball!"
"This goal is entirely Zhang Kuang's personal ability. This is exactly what Ferguson said about the ability of a superstar. You can't limit a superstar." Rob Hawthorn said, "He played in three games He protected the ball under the double team and then passed it to Park Ji-sung accurately. After receiving the return pass from Park Ji-sung, he again sent a precise cross. Berbatov only had to kick towards the goal.
Martin: "Yes, Zhang Kuang attracted the defense and gave his teammates a chance. If Valencia relaxes his defense against Zhang Kuang, then he may come on his own."
After Berbatov scored, he ran towards the corner flag area expressionlessly, then turned around and pointed at Zhang Kuang.
Zhang Kuang smiled and ran over to celebrate together.
Seeing Manchester United score, Ferguson also smiled and said to Phelan:
"What's the use of controlling the ball well? It can't be converted into goals. All possession of the ball is just a boring waste of time and reduces the excitement of the game."
Phelan: "Yes, the whole La Liga is playing this boring game, and I'm afraid it will also be spread to football tactics around the world."
Ferguson: "Oh, it won't last long."
Valencia's head coach Emery frowned. They obviously had a higher ball possession rate and a more obvious advantage. Why did Manchester United score first?
And their goal only occurred within 15 seconds. Valencia controlled the field for 32 minutes and fell behind after losing control for only 15 seconds?