Midfielder

Chelsea vs. Manchester United is nothing less than a super confrontation in the Premier League. In the impression of all fans, this duel will be full of sparks.

Just like the entanglement between Manchester United and Arsenal in the past ten years, there is no lack of wonderful shots every time. Whether it is a cup match or a league match, it is their battlefield. For example, Henry's arrow pierced his heart and Giggs's thousand-mile journey alone will make fans remember the madness of these people on the field.

Otherwise, this peak confrontation between super teams would not become the favorite of all fans, especially looking at the players on the field of Manchester United and Chelsea. None of the 22 players on the field is not an international player, which is a prerequisite for catalyzing the passion of the game.

Even the benches of both sides are filled with rows of famous characters. Pick out any one of them and put them in other teams. They are all the star players.

With this all-star lineup and these luxurious players, normally speaking, they can definitely play a pleasing game on the field.

But this time, everyone who was watching the final battle at Stamford Bridge was stunned, because they saw a complete stranglehold.

What is stranglehold? You can clearly understand the meaning of this word by looking at the first thirty minutes of this game, because the two teams combined only had five shots, and only one of these five shots hit the goal frame. The goalkeepers of the two teams never touched the ball except for the goal kick.

But Cech and Howard were not idle at all, because they always paid attention to the dynamics on the court, and every minute on the court was tense.

They had to tighten their nerves, otherwise, every time the football passed through the penalty area, it would become a murder, and they dared not relax for a moment.

Whether it was Drogba or Rooney, when such a guy was cruising back and forth in front of your goal, no goalkeeper could live in peace, and you had to be vigilant at all times.

It was not how sharp the attacks of both sides were that made the goalkeepers so nervous, but the atmosphere of the game that made everyone unable to relax.

All the confrontations in the 30 minutes took place in the midfield. This was a pure melee battle, with people and horses falling all over the field.

Still want to control the ball and dribble past people? That's definitely a dream. Look at what happened to Cristiano Ronaldo. This kid once wanted to dribble past Bridge on the wing with his own skills, but in the end he was shoveled out of the sideline by the England team's reserve player and hit the billboard hard.

Without any hesitation, Bridge dared to make such a fierce defensive move even under the eyes of the linesman, and even did not hesitate to get a yellow card.

The ball passed? Sure. People passed? Then you are definitely looking for death, just like this defense, either knock you down or you step on my body to pass.

It is impossible to dribble the ball comfortably. At least in Chelsea's half, any Manchester United player should not think of using personal skills to solve the problem. Even Giggs, a cunning old player on the field, suffered a lot of losses under his feet when Ferreira defended closely.

Giggs was not able to get rid of Ferreira as easily as he did in the Champions League last season. Instead, he was kicked hard by his opponent when he was passing.

And these guys not only kicked hard, but also showed strong aggressiveness after the foul, as if they were fighting a war. When Ronaldo was about to stand up and make trouble for the opponent, he saw a group of guys in blue uniforms, all with fierce expressions on their faces.

And those who shouted fiercely with these guys also included the Chelsea fans sitting in Stamford Bridge. Everyone seemed very excited now. They wished that Manchester United would make trouble at this time, so that they could enjoy a real violent conflict.

Game? Go to hell, at this time, everyone's adrenaline was about to burst out of their bodies. Who would care about the game? They just wanted to roar.

In this atmosphere, don't expect anyone to be a coward, especially the temperament that Mourinho has instilled in these guys, which makes them look more fierce at this moment. Not only their expressions, but even their breathing has an aggressive feeling. Ronaldo was a little stunned when he saw all this.

If the referee hadn't separated the two sides in time, maybe something would happen on the field, but the Chelsea players have shown their fierceness in this way.

Everyone on the Chelsea team had this expression of fighting to the death with the opponent on their faces, and even when they kicked and confronted their bodies, they seemed extremely fierce.

Compared with these crazy people, although Manchester United also performed very fiercely on the field, they were obviously softer than their opponents without Keane.

Even Ferguson missed the madness of the Irishman a little, because without his roar and fists on the field, Manchester United was obviously at a disadvantage.

Especially in physical confrontation, Chelsea players were almost crazy about the defense. They not only defended the defense line, but also took every step carefully in the midfield. Drogba, a strong guy, always kept pressure on Manchester United defenders. With his big physique, he often took the initiative to press.

This made Ferdinand very uncomfortable. After all, no one likes to be forced by opponents to kick the ball forward instead of passing it calmly.

Chelsea's midfield, led by Lampard, relied on Makelele's strong ability to steal and Lampard's super physical strength to fight with the opponent.

On the two wing defenses, Joe Cole's side is slightly worse, but with Lampard's help, at least this side will not become a corridor for Manchester United.

And Thiago's ability to organize the ball in the midfield is also well demonstrated. This guy's dribbling skills may not be the best, but his passing can always cause trouble for Manchester United's defenders. The only shot that hit the goal frame was created by this guy.

It's just that Drogba's shot on the ground is still a little short of scoring, but such a counterattack really scared Ferguson.

This is what Mourinho asked the players to do on the court, putting aside all the beautiful coats and competing with opponents for space on the court in the simplest way.

Don't pursue gorgeous offense, completely forget the two games played in France, give the power of ball control to the opponent, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if the scene is a little ugly, Mourinho just asks for one thing, don't leave Manchester United any chance to attack at Stamford Bridge.

Starting from the center circle, go all out to fight for every inch of space on the field, leaving no chance for the opponent to take advantage of, zero mistakes, this is his requirement.

Eliminate all accidents in the bud, strangle all the offensive cooperation that Manchester United is used to, and put yourself in the position of defender.

No one stipulates that you can't play like this at home, so Mourinho never cares how others view him and Chelsea. Victory is the most practical.

Even if Abramovich's expression in the VIP seat is not so good at the moment, Mourinho will not care about him, because this is his game, and he is the boss.

Fighting, stealing, and destruction, these are all things Chelsea did in the first thirty minutes. They even played more simply than those weak teams preparing for relegation. They don't look like a team competing for the championship at all, but a cunning guy like Ferguson can smell the danger from it.

Just like Drogba's counterattack, every time Chelsea presses forward, they are looking for loopholes in Manchester United's defense, and every time it is fatal.

This opportunity doesn't need to appear many times, maybe one time is enough. The team trained by Mourinho himself is best at seizing this counterattack opportunity. You should know that when he was in Porto, he was already an absolute defensive counterattack expert. He was familiar with this style of play.

Now Manchester United is unlucky. They have already pressed forward and can't easily retreat. The stalemate game has trapped them.

There is no clear offensive target, which is the most terrible, because even Ferguson doesn't know where to focus the offensive on Chelsea.

Center? Scholes has no time to care about Makelele's entanglement, let alone pass the ball. He must always keep the Frenchman's black feet in mind.

The two sides can't form an effective breakthrough. Without the ball in the middle, they can only sprint up and down. This kind of attack is futile.

Compared with Chelsea's counterattack, Manchester United has a possession rate but can't form an effective attack at all. What's the use of giving them 70% of the ball possession? Most of the time, they just helplessly passed the ball horizontally in the midfield and backcourt, and there were very few short passes to the frontcourt.

This is a complete change of roles from the two Champions League games last season. You know, it was Porto who had the advantage of ball possession on the field last time.

Mourinho used his absolute ball possession rate to suppress Manchester United, thus breaking down the Red Devils' defensive thickness bit by bit until they were completely defeated.

But now this Portuguese has taken the lead in changing his usual style of play. He gave up the opportunity to control the ball and was completely in a defensive state of shrinking.

But his retreat was not to shrink back to the front of the penalty area within 40 meters to wait for death, but to start crazy pressing in the middle and frontcourt.

Not giving Manchester United the opportunity to stop the ball and observe, disrupting the opponent's rhythm, and Chelsea is now like a hedgehog curled up, making it impossible for Manchester United to bite. As long as he moves casually, he can stab the opponent and make him bleed. This is the best effect Mourinho has imagined.

Foul? Don't be afraid, because there is no Beckham or Van Nistelrooy in Manchester United now, and the free kick from 30 meters away is not a big threat.

Facts have proved Mourinho's judgment. When getting the free kick in the front court, neither Giggs nor Scholes can seize the opportunity.

After losing Beckham, Manchester United's previous sharp free kick tactics have long lost their invincible power.

Rooney and Alan Smith have been completely overwhelmed by Terry and Carvalho, and Chelsea's defense will not give them a chance to head the ball. Double attack, tight double attack, Chelsea's defense line compressed to the extreme, did not give Manchester United's offensive players any space.

This extremely tight defense line made Manchester United's penetration all empty talk. This is not them wantonly besieging a weak team, this is Chelsea.

These big names will not make mistakes easily. When they want to defend the opponent's attack with all their strength, it is difficult for anyone to knock through this blockade.

Mourinho dared to play like this because he relied on the superb individual abilities of each player in his team. He was not afraid of either offense or defense.

Chelsea's style of play was not only unexpected by others, but also by Ferguson, so the old man looked very annoyed on the sidelines.

Not only because of his poor attack, but also because he was once again calculated by Mourinho, and he fell behind in tactical arrangements.

Coupled with the opponent's crazy interception and fierce physical confrontation, Ferguson began to point the finger at the referee on the field in addition to being annoyed.

Ferguson complained to the fourth referee more than once, but except for giving Chelsea a yellow card in the first thirty minutes, it was useless. The referee even warned Ferguson very impolitely, which made Ferguson full of anger, but he could only hold it in.

There is no way. Although Chelsea played really wretchedly, what can you do? Bite him? It's not illegal, not to mention that this is Chelsea's territory.

Even if you are Ferguson, you can't get any advantage here. Regarding fouls, the referee will not turn a blind eye, but he will not play cards randomly.

Chelsea was shown a total of three yellow cards in the first half, but each one was very worthwhile because they successfully kept the danger out.

Before the end of the half, Mourinho had already smelled the impatience of Manchester United, including Ferguson, and everyone began to get anxious.

I have to admit that the first half of the game between Chelsea and Manchester United was indeed very boring. Fouls, collisions, and continuous whistles made the game not smooth at all, but you have to admire this point. Even in such a game, those hosts can explain passionately.

Anyway, in the mouths of these hosts, as long as you are a fan who has not watched the game, you will never be able to tell what happened on the field.

Although the game was a bit dry, no fan watching this game would feel bored, because this confrontation made them excited, especially the group of guys in Chelsea. They kept roaring at their opponents, and everyone had a ferocious expression on their faces.

This was a scene that had never been seen in the Premier League last season. Chelsea under Ranieri definitely did not have such a bloody performance.

Otherwise, according to the level of Chelsea last season, it would not be much stronger than it is now, but guys like Lampard now dare to confront their opponents with red eyes. This is the kind of toughness that Mourinho has instilled in these people in more than a month.

"Porto can beat Manchester United. In addition to tactical arrangements, our most advantageous weapon is courage, because we dare to fight with them."

From the first day of taking office, Mourinho asked everyone to become tough. Chelsea does not need those useless cowards in the lineup.

Even Joe Cole can be trained into a beast by Mourinho, so is there any need to ask others? Under his hands, there is no coward.

Ranieri's weak style should not leave any traces in Chelsea from the day he left. Now Chelsea needs warriors.

These guys in blue uniforms faithfully implement Mourinho's ideas, tough, and tougher, like a group of steel warriors.

Ferguson could sense his troubles from this change, which was definitely not on the technical level, but on the mental state of the entire team.

At the end of the halftime, the Chelsea players could high-five each other and roar loudly as they walked into the player tunnel, but Manchester United seemed a little listless, especially young players like Ronaldo and Rooney, who were too tightly controlled by their opponents in the first 45 minutes.

Without outstanding performance, this became a stone in their hearts, and they even worried whether such performance would lose their main position.

Although Ferguson's roar during the game was not directed at them, these people were still under considerable psychological pressure. In such a strong confrontational game, when the mentality of one of the parties began to change, it would always affect their performance in some details.

Ferguson now not only has to consider the tactical arrangements for the second half, but now he also has to take into account the psychology of these young people and must get rid of the pressure.

In a team that lacks a qualified leader on the field, Ferguson must play such a role on the sidelines, and perhaps he is a little stressed now.

As for what kind of adjustments or changes Manchester United will make, Mourinho is not so concerned. He just wants to focus on himself in this game. He has achieved this goal in the 45 minutes of the first half. Not having the ball does not mean that Chelsea cannot make the opponent feel threatened.

"I am proud of your performance on the field. You have proved to everyone that we are the strongest on the grass of Stamford Bridge!"

"In the first 15 minutes of the second half, everything will be the same. Just play like this. The last 30 minutes will be the time for us to bury our opponents!"

Mourinho said only these two sentences in the locker room. There was no roar in response to him, but everyone's eyes were burning with fighting spirit.

When these guys came back on the field, Mourinho grabbed Lin Yi and said, "Give you 15 minutes to warm up your body quickly."

Lin Yi turned around and looked at Mourinho, then pulled out a shameless smile, "30 minutes, enough, watch me put on a good show."

"I need to win this game, this is the only requirement." This is the only sentence Mourinho told Lin Yi.

"I waited for sixty minutes, not to lose." The boy's answer was even more straightforward. . .

(I saw Cowell again at the Asian Cup yesterday. Maybe he is not a superstar, but every time I see him, it seems that there is not much time left. Alas, that damn disease, why can't it always let those poor people go... I wish him good luck, blessings...)