Vidić and Ferdinand high-fived. The performance of the two central defenders today is worthy of any evaluation of the best of the game. Rooney jumped up from the bench and rushed into the field. He walked to Zhang Kuang and patted his back. "In the last twenty minutes, you ran more by yourself than I did in the whole game."
Zhang Kuang rolled his eyes at him. "You're off the field, of course you didn't run as much as me."
Rooney laughed.
On the turf of White Hart Lane, after Ber and Zhang Kuang changed their jerseys, they stood there motionless with their arms akimbo.
Wales people tried their best today, scored a goal, and made countless breakthroughs, but they still lost.
Van der Vaart walked over and gave him a hand, and the two of them walked to the players' tunnel together.
Zhang Kuang took one last look at the stands of White Hart Lane.
Tottenham Hotspur fans have already left for the most part, and the empty seats glowed cold white under the lights.
He turned around and followed his teammates into the tunnel, the sweat on the turf glistening under the streetlights.
In the mixed interview area after the game, reporters surrounded Zhang Kuang.
"Zhang, Manchester United beat one less person in the last twenty minutes. How did you survive?"
Zhang Kuang spread his arms. "Run, what else can I do? You have also seen that at least they have two defenders following me. There is definitely no chance if I stand and wait. I can only get some chances by running."
The reporter laughed, "You scored two goals and one assist again today. Everyone found that in many games you scored almost two goals and one assist, or two goals and two assists, or scored two goals. How did you control the two goals in every game?"
Zhang Kuang looked shocked. "Yeah, everyone has noticed? I just want to keep a low profile and don't want to be too high-profile, so just scoring two goals in one game is enough."
The reporters all laughed when they saw Zhang Kuang's serious look. They laughed because they didn't believe that someone could really control every game so well. If someone could really control it so well, then why would he control himself to score three, four, or five goals in one game? Is that too much?
Zhang Kuang saw that everyone was laughing, knowing that they didn't believe it, so he continued, "Actually, everyone has seen that I will be deliberately targeted in basically every game.
Therefore, I generally cherish my offensive opportunities. No matter how tight the defense is, there will be times when I am negligent. I have my own characteristics, such as speed, physical confrontation, grabbing points, and scoring goals, as well as long shots, headers, undercuts, etc.
In a 90-minute game, there will always be several corner kicks or set kicks, right? There will always be one or two opportunities for me to break through, right? Or there will always be a chance for me to shoot from outside the penalty area, right?
That's it, I don't want too many opportunities, just two or three opportunities are enough. When the opportunity comes, I try to seize it every time. Then, at other times, no matter how hard I am defended, it will not limit me from scoring one or two goals in a game."
Zhang Kuang After such an explanation, the reporters nodded frequently and believed it very much.
Reporter: "Although you score goals in every game, many fans say that your recent impact is not as strong as before. For example, the last goal you scored today was very impactful. However, your other goals feel too ordinary."
Zhang Kuang was also speechless. "Manchester United is not a weak team. Of course it is easy for me to score goals. Look at those players who feel like they are trying their best to score goals. What team are they in? They are either in the middle or lower reaches.
No one in the entire team can provide much help to the players. Everything can only be done by the players themselves, so every goal he scores is quite impactful. Isn't this normal?
My last goal today was the same. I was the only one in the frontcourt. I couldn't distribute the ball and I couldn't get help from my teammates. I could only rely on myself. Of course, you guys seemed to have a lot of impact.
Manchester United With such a strong team, sometimes all I need to do to score a goal is to run into position at the end, then smash the ball into the goal, or hit the ball with a heavy shot, or take a shot and it's all done."
The reporters had very strange expressions.
Reporter: "So, you mean, it's easy to play Premier League? You can score goals at will?"
Zhang Kuang shook his head. "You know, I didn't mean that. What I meant was that my teammates are too strong and they have helped me a lot. Okay, let's stop the interview here. If we continue talking, I will be led astray by you."
"Haha..." the reporters burst into laughter.
After the game, Van der Sar was also pulled by reporters on the sidelines for an interview. He wiped his sweat and said, "It's hard to play with one less player, but we endured it."
In Sky Sports's post-match comments, Martin·Tyler finally concluded. "Manchester United gained an extremely difficult victory over White Hart Lane, withstanding Tottenham Hotspur's nearly 20 minutes of indiscriminate bombardment with one less player.
With two goals and one assist, Zhang Kuang carried all the offense of Manchester United by himself. The unbeaten season continues."
After this difficult match, the schedule became one match per week, and Zhang Kuang had more free time, and he spent more time on food and training every day.
He doesn't like to go shopping very much, and he doesn't like to train by himself when he has nothing to do, so he only has to study recipes and training, then research on investments, and also care about youth training.
Of course, when you have time, go back to Paris and hang out with the old friends.
In the next 24th round of the league, Manchester United defeated Birmingham 6:0 at home, Zhang Kuang had 3 goals and 1 assist, Rooney had 1 goal, Berbatov had 1 goal, and Giggs had 1 goal.
In the 25th round, Manchester United played against the Aston Villa at home, Rooney scored 2 goals, Zhang Kuang had 1 goal and 1 assist, and Manchester United won 3-1 at home.
There were no surprises in these two games, and there was nothing super exciting. They just won. The process was slightly different. Manchester United showed its invincibility in the 6-0 home victory over Birmingham.
Of course, there is also Zhang Kuang who lifted up his clothes after scoring a goal to show the Spring Festival blessings written on the inside of his undershirt. This is a Spring Festival blessing for Chinese people all over the world.
He not only gave blessings after scoring in the game, but also held up Spring Festival couplets with his teammates to record videos, and then gave them to the CCTV-5 program team and Sina Weibo officials. He himself also posted these videos on his social platform.
In addition to these, there was also a lottery, and fans gave away a thousand New Year gifts, mainly jerseys, signed photos, etc. The lucky prizes also included mobile phones, and 100 of the mobile phones he endorsed were also given away.
Winning games, celebrating the Spring Festival, inviting teammates to have New Year's Eve dinner together, giving them red envelopes... everything is wonderful!
But something went wrong in round 26.
After looking at the schedule for Premier League and Ferguson in the 26th round, he found that Manchester City was going to face him in the 27th round, and UEFA Champions League was about to start the 16th round. These two games were fierce battles, so he chose to rotate the players.
Zhang Kuang, who has never gotten any rest, is taking a rest, and has not even made the roster. Berbatov is also taking a rest.
As a result, a big problem occurred on February 5th. Manchester United challenged Wolverhampton Wanderers in an away game and lost 1:2. Hernández scored Manchester United's only goal in the game.
This loss was so sudden and unexpected. We lost to a team that everyone thought had no threat.
This also ended the 25-game unbeaten record in the league, and the unbeaten golden streak was broken.
On the scoreboard of Molineux Stadium, the numbers were cold and dazzling: 2-1.
The sea of red in the visiting team's stands was completely silent.
A few seconds ago, they were singing "We are invincible". Now, the sound effect of the song is stuck in their throats, turning into sighs of disbelief.
Some people held their heads with their hands, some slumped in their seats, and some stared blankly at the stadium. For 308 days, they were unbeaten in 29 league games across the season and 25 games this season, ending at the feet of league deputy monitor Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Who stopped this climax that came to an abrupt end?
The real storm of this game started from the moment the final whistle blew.
The press release hall was packed to the brim.
Usually there are at most a dozen reporters who come to interview Wolverhampton Wanderers, but today there are nearly fifty, all of whom came here temporarily.
Long guns and short cannons filled every corner, and the passages were filled with people.
When Wolverhampton Wanderers coach McCarthy walked in, the flash lights lit up, like Christmas coming early.
The first question was from the reporter of "The Sun". He almost smiled when he stood up, "Mick, congratulations. This is Wolverhampton Wanderers's greatest victory this season and the greatest victory in your coaching career. Can you talk about your feelings?"
McCarthy cleared his throat, with an expression on his face that wanted to be serious but couldn't help laughing, "Feelings? I'm very happy. Very happy."
No one was optimistic about us before the game, no one. But this is the beauty of football: data will not help you score goals on the pitch. Our tactics were executed perfectly today, everyone knew what they had to do."
Reporter: "Manchester United took turns taking Zhang Kuang and Berbatov off today. What do you think of Ferguson's decision? Does this give you a chance?"
McCarthy raised his eyebrows and paused for two seconds. "Ferguson It's up to him who the Jazz take turns to rest. He is Premier League's greatest head coach. I don't comment on his choice.
But what I want to say is: Our victory today is not based on who Manchester United is missing, but based on the best efforts of Wolverhampton Wanderers players.
Elokobi, Doyle, Milijaš, they played the best game of their career today. I am proud of them."
Having said that, the smile on his face gave him away.
The reporters looked at each other and understood.
The reporter of "Daily Mail" then asked, "You said before the game, 'Manchester United is a different team without Zhang Kuang'. Now the facts have proved that you are right. Do you think you defeated Ferguson in psychological warfare?"
This question finally made McCarthy laugh out loud.
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands on the table. "Did I say that before the game? Well... I did say it. But this is not psychological warfare, this is a fact, a fact that everyone can see.
I respect Manchester United, I respect Ferguson, but as a coach, my job is to find the opponent's weakness. Today, we found it. And, we caught it."
A reporter from "The Guardian" asked, "How significant do you think this victory is to Wolverhampton Wanderers's relegation?"
McCarthy's expression became more serious. "It means a lot, but a victory does not mean success in relegation. We still have a long way to go. But..." He smiled again, "Since we can defeat Manchester United, I don't think there is any opponent that can scare us."
After McCarthy left, the atmosphere of the release meeting obviously changed.
Just a moment ago it was the smell of celebratory champagne, but in the blink of an eye it was like breaking into a morgue.
When Ferguson walked into the press release hall, his face was colder than Scotland Highlands's December wind.
He was wearing his iconic black coat and his scarf hung loosely around his neck. His whole figure was like a walking volcano - silent, but ready to erupt at any time.
He sat down and glanced at the reporters in the audience, his eyes as cold as ice knives.
The first question is as expected.
"Sir Ferguson, Manchester United's 25-round unbeaten record was ended at the feet of league deputy squad leader Wolverhampton Wanderers. How do you evaluate this game?"
Ferguson was silent for two seconds.
The entire release hall was silent, and even the sound of the shutter stopped.
"We played poorly." He started, his voice low, "We conceded two set kicks in the first half, and that was all the game.
Our offense lacked creativity, passed the ball too slowly and ran too little. Wolverhampton Wanderers deserved this win and I congratulate them."
This was said very calmly, but anyone familiar with Ferguson knows that a calm Ferguson is more terrifying than a roaring Ferguson.
He crossed his hands on the table and rubbed his knuckles with his thumbs, which was a small movement he only made with extreme restraint.
"You rested Zhang Kuang and Berbatov, and the team's offense was obviously affected. Looking back now, do you think this decision was a mistake?"
Ferguson raised his eyes and glanced at the reporter, with a warning in his eyes. "The rest is for the entire season. Zhang Kuang played almost every game, and so did Berbatov.
They need a rest and I can't use players to death just to keep an unbeaten record. That's the real mistake."
"But the team is without Zhang Kuang..."
"The team did not play well without Zhang Kuang," Ferguson interrupted, "but if you think Manchester United only has one player, then your understanding of football is too superficial.
We lost today not because Zhang Kuang was not here, but because the players who played did not perform as well as they should. Carrick, Evans, Evra... They are all top players, but they did not perform today. This is my responsibility."
The reporter from "Daily Star" raised his hand. "McCarthy said before the game, 'Manchester United without Zhang Kuang is another team'. How do you respond?"
Ferguson's mouth twitched, with an expression between a sneer and anger, "McCarthy is a smart man, he can say anything, I only care about the results.
But I want to remind everyone: the 25-game unbeaten streak was created by this group of players, not by one person. You are stepping on them now, and you were the ones who praised them before. In this profession of journalists, faces can change faster than the weather."
There were a few awkward laughs from the audience.
The reporter of "The Times" asked, "You just said that 'the players who played did not perform at the level they should have', will you make personnel adjustments in the next round against Manchester City?"
Ferguson stared at him for three seconds, and then suddenly gave a meaningful smile, the kind of smile that made his opponent's heart tremble.
He said, "Change the formation? Adjust? Let me think about it... Will Giggs start? Has Ferdinand recovered from his injury? Oh, by the way, Zhang Kuang will be back in the next round. I said this, are you satisfied?"
The reporter was stunned for a moment. Ferguson's words were clearly mocking him.
Just half a year ago, Ferguson got furious at a press conference when a reporter asked, "Will Giggs appear?" He believed that the other person was insinuating Giggs's scandal, and directly blocked the reporter.
Today he took the initiative to mention this joke, which is equivalent to telling everyone: Don't play this trick in front of me.
The atmosphere in the release hall subtly relaxed a little. Experienced reporters know that Ferguson can still joke, which means that things have not reached the worst point yet.
The reporter from "Manchester Evening News" changed his perspective. "Sir Ferguson, how was the atmosphere in the locker room after the game? How do the players view this defeat?"
Ferguson's expression softened a little, but was still stiff. "They are very disappointed, and so am I. But disappointment cannot solve the problem.
I told them one thing: losing is not scary, the scary thing is not knowing why you lost. Today they know it, and they still have a chance to prove themselves in the next game against Manchester City."
"How would you adjust team taxi gas?"
"Adjustment?" Ferguson snorted, "If losing a game requires 'adjustment of morale,' then they don't deserve to wear Manchester United's jersey.
I only said three words in the locker room: 'Remember how I felt today, and don't let me see what I feel like today again in the next round. Zhang Kuang is back to help you win, not to wipe your butts.'"
There was another moment of silence.
Ferguson stood up, pulled the collar of his coat, and finally said, "Everyone, losing one game in 38 rounds in a season is not news. See you next weekend."
He turned around and walked away, disappearing at the end of the corridor.
The moment the door closed, the reporters in the release hall looked at each other in confusion. Some rolled their eyes, some shook their heads, and some quickly lowered their heads and wrote down the words "Zhang Kuang is back to help you win."
Ferguson It's an understatement, but the media war has been ignited since the end of the game.