I am the king of football

Chapter 370 Get started

It was cloudy and rainy that day. The weather in the UK is like a child's changeable face. It is only occasionally sunny. But the weather on this day was particularly gloomy, and dark clouds kept gathering over the city from all directions.

In the afternoon, when there were still two hours before the game started at 4 pm local time, the rain finally started to fall with a thunder, and soon the Old Trafford field was soaked.

"This weather looks like we're going to have a big fight in the rain."

Zhan Jun, who came to Old Trafford early with the cameraman for debugging, couldn't help but complain that the drizzle was like cow hair, and the water volume seemed small but abundant. After the retractable curtains above Old Trafford were put out, the spectators were spared the trouble of being wet by the rain, but the players couldn't avoid it.

When the players from both teams walked out of the player tunnel one by one to start warming up, they were soon soaked. The slippery field and affected vision put quite a lot of problems in front of both sides.

Compared to Manchester United, Manchester City, who prefers to play on the ground, may be more affected. Their head coach Pellegrini frowned and was helpless about the disadvantage that appeared before the game even started. He began to adjust the team's next style of play during the warm-up.

In comparison, Ferguson had much easier time. He only said that in the next few games, they should reduce ground possession and play more high ground, and he didn't say much else. Manchester United's original style of play was to strive for simplicity, and this style of play would be less affected by rainy days.

By the time both sides finished warming up and left the stadium, all the fans had already arrived.

Because of the rain, this time the boos encountered by Manchester City bus when it arrived near the Theatre of Dreams were much less. The fans did not want to go out in the rain to greet their sworn enemy, so they cheered for their own team's bus and then quickly entered the stadium.

For this game, Old Trafford, which can accommodate more than 70,000 people, was once again packed. More than 50,000 Red Devils fans occupied three stands, and the remaining more than 10,000 Blue Moon fans and neutral fans sat in a separate stand.

For this game, the Manchester City Government dispatched a considerable number of security personnel to maintain order. At the borders of the home and away team stands, a human wall of security personnel was visible to the naked eye.

Football hooligans in the Premier League are world-famous, not to mention in a derby between two sworn enemies. If it is not properly controlled, bloodshed and conflict can easily occur, which will greatly affect the reputation of the Premier League. Therefore, security work for such derby matches is of the highest standard.

Even so, the scene of radical fans of both sides spraying each other through the human wall was still staged fiercely, and the two sides had already started "cordially" greeting each other before the game started.

Without keeping everyone waiting for long, the referee team soon stepped out of the player tunnel and the two teams in red and blue uniforms officially entered the stadium.

The players' newly changed dry jerseys were soaked again as soon as they stepped onto the court. The strong murderous aura burst out from the two teams made them confront each other visibly even though they did not look at each other.

"Okay, both teams have stepped onto the pitch. Scholes and Kompany have come to the referee. I don't need to introduce the colors of the two teams in this game. The Red Devils Manchester United are wearing classic red jerseys, while their opponents Manchester City are wearing sky blue jerseys."

Zhan Jun's voice officially sounded, and the scene on the field also appeared in the eyes of the fans gathered in front of the screen. The rain was still falling and the atmosphere was not harmonious. The clearly distinguished red and blue teams had already stood on the field.

"Scholes chose the kick-off right for the team, and the ball was placed in front of Qin Hu and Van Persie. Ferguson deployed a 4231 formation in this game. It seems that although his remarks before the game were very contemptuous of the opponent, he was still very cautious in his actions."

“Shh! Shh!”

Before Zhan Jun could finish his words, the referee's whistle had already penetrated the rain curtain and reached everyone's ears.

"boom!!!"

The huge cheers reached a climax, and the much-anticipated Manchester derby officially kicked off.

"Qin Hu kicked the ball forward directly, Van Persie passed it back to Carrick and then moved to the right. The highlight of Manchester United's attack in this game was on their four frontcourt players. Oh~ pass it to Rooney on the left. It seems that Rooney is not in good shape in this game. He carries the ball forward from the wing!" As the rain got heavier, the camera switching was a little sluggish. When people saw Rooney kick the ball out and start running in the rain, he had already arrived in the heart of Manchester City's midfield.

"He went straight forward. Rooney's advance was very bold. The ball became very slippery due to the rain and changed speed. This caught Nasri off guard and he was unable to intercept the ball directly. He could only turn around and run with Rooney!"

In this game, Manchester City played in the commonly used 4132 formation. Their two forwards were Aguero and Dzeko. The neurotic Balotelli was not liked by Pellegrini and sat on the bench.

The three players in the frontcourt, from left to right, are Barry, David Silva and Nasri, while Yaya Toure directly serves as the team's defensive midfielder. This B2B midfielder has always been reused by successive Manchester City coaches.

The starting four defenders were Kolarov, Kolo Toure, Kompany and Zabaleta, with goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Every Blue Moon player who started this game was the team's best-performing main force in this position, and they started moving as soon as the game started.

When Rooney was about to reach the ball with obviously faster speed and impact than Nasri, Sabaletta had already rushed out. Taking advantage of the slippery field, he made a downward tackle and cut through the grass towards the ball.

The next moment, Rooney was unable to dodge and was tackled to the ground with the ball by the opponent. The referee immediately stopped the game.

"There was a flying tackle right at the start. Manchester City was really aggressive. The referee didn't show any cards, he just gave Zabaleta a verbal warning."

In response to Rooney's complaint, the referee did not choose to issue a warning card. The game had just begun and he did not think that directly issuing a card was an appropriate way to deal with the situation as he was in control of the pace of the game.

"It seems that he was not seriously injured. According to the replay, Zabaleta touched the ball and scraped Rooney's studs, knocking him to the ground. It is understandable that he was not given a card."

"Roar!"

However, understanding is one thing, and dissatisfaction is another.

When Zabaleta on the field pounded his chest and roared towards the South Stand of the Theatre of Dreams, where the boos were the loudest, after the referee left, the Red Devils fans in the stands were directly ignited.

"Shhh!!! Shhh!!! FXXX! Son of XXX!"

The loud cursing was audible even through the rain, forcing CCTV to cut the camera from the stands to Qin Hu and Rooney who was pulled up by him.

"Are you okay?"

"It's okay. Pah, it seems these guys are really provoked by me."

"Hey, let's do it then."

"Well, fuck him!"

The second chapter is here! Thank you all for your support!!!

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(End of this chapter)