Chapter 60 One Step of Bravery

Czech Republic, Prague, Retesga Stadium.

Dong Fangzhuo stood in front of 20,000 Sparta Prague fans and started for Manchester United.

His partner was replaced by Saha.

He was surprised and thought he would be a substitute, but Ferguson chose him.

And he told him to run more to open the gap for Sahara.

Meaning, he wants to be a supporting striker?

It's hard to violate military orders.

Ferguson frequently changes strikers and has never fixed a starting striker.

Every striker could be a starter or sit on the bench.

Surprisingly, Dong Fangzhuo actually entered the starting lineup again, while Ruud van Nistelrooy, his partner in the league, sat on the bench, next to Rooney, who was also a substitute.

But it would be wrong to judge Dong Fangzhuo as the first choice for Manchester United's striker.

After this Champions League, Manchester United will play against Arsenal on the weekend, so it is possible for Ferguson to send any starter.

Van Nistelrooy scored two goals in the last round of the league and completely regained his scoring status, but he did not enter the starting lineup in the middle of the week, which shows that Ferguson intends to give Van Nistelrooy a rest time.

Rooney may be out of some tactical considerations, and Ferguson deliberately suppressed him.

However, the midfielder still played with all the main players. Keane, Scholes, Giggs and Ronaldo all played at the same time.

This game is actually very important. If Sparta Prague can be won, Manchester United will continue to suppress Lyon and rank first in the group.

Considering that Sparta Prague ranked bottom in the group and their defense was relatively fragile, Ferguson considered changing the striker.

But this was not the case after the game started. Although Sparta Prague lost two games in a row, they obviously wanted to get points in the third game, and Manchester United encountered a strong resistance.

They played fiercely in the midfield!

In addition, at home, they must enjoy a certain home whistle treatment.

Giggs and Scholes received two serious violations each at the beginning of the game, which made them very cautious afterwards.

There is no need to take risks against a team with the bottom points!

Even with Ronaldo on the right, he also restrained, and the usually majestic breakthrough is gone. Every time Ronaldo wants to break through with the ball, the opponent's feet are very fierce.

If you think about it again, Ronaldo has to ensure that his two legs are intact.

so,

Rarely, Manchester United's midfielders basically play the ball with one kick, and don't get too entangled with the opponent in the midfield, so as not to be injured by the opponent.

Coupled with the fact that Sparta Prague's defenders are all tall and burly, Ferguson emphasized ground offense, trying to tear apart Sparta Prague's defense through ground coordination.

The rhythm is even faster.

However, this extremely fast-paced style of play puts even higher demands on forwards.

Saha obviously didn't adapt to the team's rhythm because he failed to start for two consecutive games.

In the first ten minutes, two excellent opportunities were wasted. It was a bit like Ruud van Nistelrooy in the previous game. He entered the state too slowly!

Dong Fangzhuo worked hard from the first minute of the game, but he didn't cooperate well with Saha. The two rarely echoed each other, while Scholes and Giggs seemed more willing to pass the ball to Saha.

After Saha got the ball in the penalty area, he always chose to shoot directly or take the ball to get rid of the shot. He didn't mean to pass it to him at all, and his reaction seemed to be half a beat.

Several times Dong Fangzhuo ran out of good positions, but they were all ignored by Saha.

As the core of the offense, Saha enjoys some privileges.

Dong Fangzhuo did not. From entering Manchester United to the present, Ferguson has never created special tactics with him as the core of the striker, even if it is temporary.

With his ability, he is not enough to enjoy such treatment.

Even if he can score,

Not enough either!

Saha is also anxious, he also wants to score. After finally making it to the starting lineup, he must be a little lonely.

In addition, Dong Fangzhuo rarely left the ball at his feet, and always returned the ball to his teammates after receiving the ball, let alone his performance.

Furthermore, Ferguson originally asked him to run more and open the shot for Sahara, so naturally he didn't get many opportunities.

In the end, because the opponent's defender is tall and burly, Manchester United did not intend to play both wings in this game, but he often had to pull to the left. When he hit the penalty area, most of the time Manchester United's offense was over. ...

After playing for more than 20 minutes, the score was still 0:0.

Dong Fangzhuo was a little depressed, thinking that everyone played too cautiously, afraid of getting hurt? Even breakthroughs are rare.

He wants to participate in more offenses, but the ball rarely comes to his feet. Obviously, everyone knows that his ability to hold the ball is very average, and he is not in a good position. Generally, he rarely hands the ball to his feet. .

But if you hold the ball less, it doesn't mean you don't run actively. On the contrary, Dong Fangzhuo has to keep running to create space for his teammates.

Sometimes, most of the time he has to pull to the opponent's right side to create space for Giggs' dribbling inside.

These are all tactical needs. Dong Fangzhuo has no complaints to say, he just feels a little uncomfortable with his teammates' attitude towards the game.

pity,

Even the head coach Ferguson and captain Keane didn't speak. How can he, an ordinary player, express anything?

only,

Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared.

It wasn't that his teammates passed the ball to him, but that he 'received' the opponent's divine pass on the left!

The opponent kicked wide during the clearance, and the ball fell to Dong Fangzhuo's feet.

This time was very different.

Because when the opponent made a clearance, Giggs and the others had already retreated, and they were not around Dong Fangzhuo at all.

There are only him and Saha in front!

Dong Fangzhuo didn't think much, and didn't wait for Giggs to come up again.

Quickly cut inside with the ball from the left!

It's not that he doesn't have this ability, it's just that he rarely has such opportunities.

Usually a strong midfielder brings the ball up, he just needs to run to catch the ball, but this time it was an accident, he couldn't get the ball originally, but the opponent's central defender made a mistake and took the initiative to 'pass' the ball to his feet.

Dong Fangzhuo, who has been holding back for more than 20 minutes, is there any other teammate waiting for him?

Quickly dribbled the ball inside and cut to the middle of the penalty area, and wanted to give it a big kick.

But the opponent's central defender came up to block too fast after all, and Dong Fangzhuo had no chance to kick at all.

Dong Fangzhuo did not slow down the speed of dribbling the ball while the opponent's central defender pounced on him.

that moment,

galloping,

He suddenly swung out a cow's tail.

The outer instep of the right foot waved outward, and then switched to the inner instep to pull the ball back, but the person staggered and almost fell...

The whole movement was not very fast, it was very blunt, even the tops of the feet could be seen, and it was even so uncoordinated that the heels almost hit the turf.

I don't know if I was a little nervous. Although the movement was done, I almost lost my balance and stumbled a little.

But it just confused the opponent's central defender!

"Oh, God! Oxtail?"

By the time the central defender reacted, Dong Fangzhuo had already pulled the ball to the right side of his body! He had lost his center of gravity and was completely powerless to deal with Dong Fangzhuo, and Dong Fangzhuo had already adjusted his shooting posture and kicked the goal!

Whoosh!

The ball flew high into the stands.

"Ah! This is the ugliest oxtail I've ever seen!"

"Hahahaha! It's so funny, this oxtail!"

There was laughter in the stands, and the fans had obviously never seen such a clumsy oxtail.

"Huh..." Ronaldo rolled his eyes.

"This guy, dare to do it..."

"A little bit..."

Dong Fangzhuo shook his head helplessly, thinking that the shot was almost indistinguishable, but it turned out to be too high and did not press down on his left foot.

The reason why he was so anxious to shoot was because other people forced him over...

This is his first time trying to play tricks in an official game...

You can say that he is humiliating himself. He is obviously not a striker who plays with technology, so he insists on playing with technology.

But if he doesn't try, he'll never improve.

Even if it has been practiced thoroughly in training, it may not be able to show it in actual combat.

Perhaps, the first time I thought a little too much.

Even Ronaldo, isn't his Tomahawk free kick frequently making jokes?

you,

What's so ridiculous?

Besides, I got a chance to shoot, and just a little bit, your goal was shot through!

Dong Fangzhuo knew what the fans in the stands were laughing at.

"Woo--"

A bunch of boos were sent to Dong Fangzhuo.

Even Rooney covered his mouth on the bench, couldn't help laughing...