Chapter 44 The Way Out

The arrival of Christmas fills the whole of England with a warm and festive atmosphere. But on the football battlefield, the smoke of war is thickening. News media aren’t slowing down their coverage just because of Christmas.

The headline of The Times in the morning was - Manchester United defeated Chelsea 4:2 and tied with Chelsea on points.

——Mourinho's conservatism cost Chelsea. Now in the standings, Manchester City and Liverpool are catching up again, and the top four points are even closer. But Mourinho was not too disappointed with the result and had flown back to Porto to spend Christmas with his family.

"Manchester Evening News" - Manchester United is back in the championship match! Manchester City quietly chased back.

——The two heroes of Manchester City help each other and are close to Chelsea in points. In the coming year, this situation will continue until May. It is almost impossible for the three clubs with the world's top stars to fall behind.

"Daily Mail" - Liverpool are not left behind! Klopp's team is as stable as ever! Caught between the top three, Liverpool survived strongly.

In the league's top scorer list, Messi and Ronaldo are still far ahead. Messi has scored 33 goals, Ronaldo has scored 31 goals, and Dong Fangzhuo has scored 26 goals. The first two guys have raised the number of goals scored in the Premier League to a super terrifying level. In the past, being able to score more than 30 goals in a season was already impressive, but this year has been nothing short of earth-shaking.

The Premier League scoring record was previously held by Dong Fangzhuo, but now it seems that Messi and Ronaldo will break it easily. If you count the number of goals, it will be even more terrifying. Both of them may usher in the peak. This season, on the other hand, Dong Fangzhuo was as stable as in previous seasons.

He is stable and Manchester United can win the championship stably. This is the best result...

There is no winter break in the Premier League, and all players have no holidays. The Premier League will continue to fight in two days. Manchester United plays Swansea at home, which should not be a big problem for Manchester United. Dong Fangzhuo also got the opportunity to rest and sat on the bench for the first time this season.

At the beginning of the season, Manchester United's performance was unstable and Dong Fangzhuo never rested for a minute. Now that Manchester United is stable, Ferguson is finally at ease. The young people did not disappoint Dong Fangzhuo and Ferguson. Rashford, Martial and Mbappe each scored a goal. Their performance was better than at the beginning of the season. In terms of scoring ability, they are good, but in a tough battle, without Dong Fangzhuo as the core, Manchester United will have no advantage.

Dong Fangzhuo's current important task is not to score goals, but to appear on the court as the core of the team, focusing more on organizing offense. When fighting tough battles, he may be responsible for more scoring tasks.

After the Chinese New Year, he will be 31 years old.

On New Year's Day,

Dong Fangzhuo went to pay New Year's greetings to Ferguson, and the two of them talked about the successor. If it was a striker successor, there was no need to look for it, it would be Mbappe, but in the midfield, who would take over?

In the current international football world, there are fewer and fewer scarce talents, and fewer and fewer players with several days of talent.

Dong Fangzhuo's competitive status will decline in one or two years. If Manchester United wants to maintain its dominance in Europe, someone must step up and find a successor in advance.

Ferguson listed several names, but Dong Fangzhuo was not optimistic about them. For example, Isco is still at Real Madrid.

"Isco is too sticky and lacks confrontation. If he had grown up, he would have grown up long ago. The upper limit is just like that." Dong Fangzhuo commented directly.

"Then you have to look at where your review level is. It's hard to find good seeds these days."

"Well, of course it's the best."

"Otherwise, what's the point of coming here? Manchester United doesn't lack good players, it lacks the most shining players."

The younger one seems hard to find...

"How about De Bruyne next door." Ferguson said suddenly.

"Ha ha."

"I also think so. I should have started earlier." Dong Fangzhuo also felt very regretful. De Bruyne is really good.

"If you really can't find it, why don't you think about it from another perspective?"

"For example, we don't make a fuss in the middle and focus on the two wings? There are still many good wingers now, but there are fewer midfield masters."

Although Ferguson is old, his thinking is not confused.

"Ah!" Ferguson cast an admiring look at Ferguson, "You are so right, why do we have to stick to the middle? If we play 433, the two wings can also have the same advantage. When you said that, I suddenly thought of someone."

Dong Fangzhuo's thinking reaction was also very fast, and a player flashed out of his mind.

"who?"

“What about N’Golo Kante at Leicester City?”

"Him?" Ferguson's eyes visibly lit up.

"Perfect."

“Absolutely perfect!”

"If this guy is in the middle, then the two wings can attack without any worries. This can indeed be used as an alternative."

Obviously, Ferguson was very impressed by Kante.

Born in 1991, the stand is only 24 and a half years old. If bought from Manchester United, it can be used for nearly ten years.

"If Kante is used, he and Snedlin will form a French midfield partner. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Fellaini and so on. We have more midfielders."

"Fellaini can't lose, he has aerial advantage. But I want to deal with Bastian Schweinsteiger."

Ferguson had an idea, but Bastian Schweinsteiger still didn't agree with him.

"Southampton can accept it." Dong Fangzhuo said coldly.

"Oh, you react very quickly." Ferguson glanced at him.

"Haha," Dong Fangzhuo smiled, "No. He is still valuable. If he is in good condition, he can play the main role in Southampton, but in Manchester United, to be honest, it is not very important."

"Don't say that. You are saying this because you want me to let the talent go. The Germans can still maintain their condition for one to two years. It's only easy to see whether the style of play is appropriate or not. The player's condition is not that bad. Let me talk to you now. Van Dijk?”

"Uh, don't you want Van Dijk?"

"I want it now."

"this……"

"At least not this season." Dong Fangzhuo thought for a while, but still rejected Sir Alex Ferguson's proposal. Now that Southampton's results are so good, if they continue to play according to this trend, they can play in the Europa League next season. If they are not careful, they might He can still hold down Arsenal. What if, what if he plays in the Champions League?

"What about the end of the season?"

"End of the season..."

"We can talk first, but Southampton need to find good defenders first."

"Jones, Smalling, Rojo, you pick one of them."

"Ahem, the three of them... don't want it."

"I will think about it again and I will find an alternative." Dong Fangzhuo is not very worried. There are still many center backs available, but midfielders and forwards are difficult to find.

Whether he takes over Manchester United or Southampton, he will have to pave the way for himself in advance! Buy the good seedlings in advance and enjoy the benefits...

( = )