Red Rebels

Some people say that Abramovich's Chelsea championship is a milestone in the history of the Premier League.

To some extent, it is true!

Why?

Because Chelsea has created a history of buying championships with big investments!

Looking at English football, there is really no precedent like Chelsea. Even in Serie A, Lazio cannot be said to have relied entirely on large-scale signings. They also relied on the club's original stars.

But look at Chelsea, how many of the players in the championship-winning team were players before Abramovich came to Stamford Bridge?

Just Lampard!

So what is a milestone?

The so-called milestones, in the simplest and easiest way to understand, mean that they serve as a reference for future generations!

Who is the successor to Chelsea?

Without a doubt, Manchester City!

After Al Fasim took over Manchester City, it is said that he wrote numerous bad checks to Van Gaal and asked him to make signings. As a result, the Dutch brought up-and-comers like Van der Vaart and Sneijder to Manchester City, as well as... Popular players like Vieira, Kolo Toure and Van Bommel.

From the pre-season warm-up match, it is not difficult to see that Van Gaal's tactics have begun to change Manchester City.

Goalkeeper Given, left back Bridge, Distin and Kolo Toure form a central defender combination. The right back is Danny Mills. The three midfielders are Van Bommel, Yaya Toure and Vieira. Van der Far Te and Sneijder play as a double attacking midfielder, and the lone forward is Ibrahimovic.

After assembling such a lineup in one summer, if anyone said that Manchester City is not an upstart, no one would believe it. Needless to say, Kolo Toure, Van Bommel and Vieira are already proven stars. , Ibrahimovic is known as the new forward star of New Basten.

Van der Vaart is known as the new hope of the Netherlands. Now he is more of a shadow forward, wandering behind the forward. His spiritual surname is his most powerful weapon, while Sneijder is closer to the midfielder, but He is very capable of inserting in the back row and has excellent passing ability. The two are a golden partner in Ajax.

After moving to Manchester City, he met Ibrahimovic again. The Ajax trio returned to the Premier League. Although there were rumors that Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic were at odds, from the preparations before the game, we saw the two talking about each other many times. There is a smile on his face, and the rumors of discord are self-defeating.

Manchester City, under the leadership of Van Gaal, remained undefeated in the warm-up matches with 4 wins and 1 draw in 5 games. Their opponents also included powerful teams such as PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord. It can be said that Van Gaal has already achieved great success last season. He set a framework for Manchester City's tactics, and when recruiting in the summer, he selected players according to the framework.

With Chelsea's record of recruiting heavily to win the championship, Manchester City also has high hopes this season.

When Van Gaal was asked by reporters about Mourinho saying he wanted to beat Manchester City, the Dutch coach couldn't help laughing.

"I had already guessed that Jose would say this. As I said before, I know him very well. We have had a very pleasant time working together. I know that he is a very capable and ambitious person. , he is eager to prove himself, but that will definitely not be with me and Manchester City."

"So, you are confident to win?" The reporter still hopes that Van Gaal can say something similar to Mourinho, which can help them boost sales.

Van Gaal smiled and shook his head, "I can only say that I know Jose very well, I know what he is thinking, and I also know how to deal with him, even though he is a very great person."

Unable to get what they wanted from Van Gaal, reporters could only re-expose the game where Van Gaal defeated Mourinho last season. You know, but since that game, he has lost consecutive games. , and Manchester City has been unbeaten since that game.

That game can be said to be the turning point of the entire 04/05 season. Looking back now, it affects the championship.

No one dares to deny that without that game, his unbeaten record might have been extended even longer, and he might even have set a shocking record of winning the title for two consecutive seasons without defeat.

After all, the situation at that time was so popular.

It can be said that Mourinho completely stimulated the potential and status of the players after the team was promoted, and maintained it for a long time, causing the team to set a record of 60 unbeaten games in one go.

However, being tied by Manchester City caused the arrogant Mourinho to have an unbalanced mentality. He also made frequent mistakes in directing the team, and the players obviously felt the head coach's impatience. The mistakes in the last few games led to A season's worth of hard work was in vain.

Now, with the new season, they are making a comeback. Obviously they hope to step on the corpse of Manchester City and embark on the road to regain glory. However, Manchester City is also different from the past. They are also ambitious today and hope to be able to win in the new season. Won it in one fell swoop and fired the first shot of the new season.

Judging from the previous situation between the two sides, Manchester City is in very good shape. Van Gaal's management of the team is still in place. Although many players have been introduced, the Dutch coach seems to be putting together a puzzle, putting the players together one by one. Fight into his tactical system.

First they lost to AC Milan and lost the Audi Cup championship, and then they lost to Chelsea in the Community Shield. The season has not officially started yet, but the team suffered two defeats and lost two trophies. The morale of this pair is A big damage, but no one can ignore this tenacious team's strength and fighting spirit.

It is precisely because of all these that countless people are paying great attention to the opening game of the Premier League this season.

……………………This focus battle is scheduled to be held at 12:45 noon!

Since Bury is very close to Manchester city, everyone gathered at the Newton Heath training base in the morning.

Although you are the owner of the club, Xiao Yu, along with Walsh and others, all dressed up and headed to the away game with the team.

Passing through downtown Manchester along the way, the bus with the team logo was followed by more and more fans. Some of them drove themselves, and some followed the travel agency and took the bus to Berry.

The Manchester City travel agency that once sponsored it is still one of the sponsors. Their business is getting bigger and bigger, and they are now well-known in Manchester. They are also one of the official partners. Many fans go to away games to watch games. They are all in a group with them.

The first match of the new season, the Manchester City Derby, is played in Bury, which is so close to Manchester. Fans have no reason not to go to the away game, but because Manchester City takes care of their fans, plus the capacity of Gig Lane Stadium There were so few that in the end only 2,000 fans bought tickets.

However, although the number of people was small, the fans did not feel intimidated. They beat gongs and drums and shouted slogans along the way. Judging from the momentum, they seemed to be going to their home stadium.

No wonder, having stayed at Gigg Lane Stadium, which used to be the home ground of the fans, it was not lively at all.

When the team bus arrived at the lane at Gigg Lane, officers from Bury Police Station immediately opened a path for the bus to pass through.

Manchester City had specially renovated the Gig Lane Stadium before, including opening a team bus channel and renovating the locker room. Otherwise, the previous simple facilities and environment of the Gig Lane Stadium would not be able to match the Manchester City team. A star-studded Premier League team.

"We can see from the live footage on TV that in order to prepare for this game, the Gigg Lane Stadium has been specially replaced with a new layer of turf to replace the rotten grass that was full of pits last season."

Martin Taylor couldn't help laughing after hearing what Andy Gray said.

"I guess Berry Club must be crazy happy now. After renting to Manchester City, the rent was collected, but they helped to renovate the Gigg Lane Stadium for free. Although the Gigg Lane Stadium now has not many seats, The facilities are good and can reach the Championship level.”

"I believe that if Manchester City's home stadium cannot be completed this season, there will definitely be a lot of lower-level league teams vying to invite Manchester City to stay temporarily, or even give up the rent, in exchange for a good opportunity to modify the home stadium!"

There is still a lot of ridicule for Manchester City, especially when you think about a Premier League team full of stars such as Vieira, Kolo Toure, Van der Vaart, etc., being forced to settle at Gigg Lane Stadium. Don't make people sigh with emotion.

Originally, Manchester City also wanted to learn how to rent the Old Trafford Stadium, but Manchester United refused to say anything this time. The Glazer family was worried that the lease would affect the agreement between them and the bank, so they refused to agree.

Unable to enter the Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester City wanted to rent the stadium, but they did not lack money and refused to rent it. As a result, Arnesen was so angry that he reportedly cursed her on the spot in the office.

Another rumor pointed out that Manchester City had originally reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid, and the Spanish golden boy Torres would transfer to Manchester City at a sky-high price. However, after Torres visited the Gigg Lane Stadium, he rejected Manchester City's invitation without even thinking. The home stadium was too bad. He couldn't imagine what kind of torture it would be to play in such a home stadium.

In this way, Manchester City and Torres missed it!

Of course, this is just gossip reported by some media. I am afraid only the person involved knows the exact surname. However, Manchester City wanted to sign Torres because the player himself refused to go to the Premier League.

When the players entered the stadium, the Gig Lane Stadium, which can accommodate 13,000 people, was already full. Fans and Manchester City fans were sitting clearly. Both sides tried their best to create momentum for the teams they supported. The entire Gig Lane Stadium seemed to be A rough and angry sea.

"Judging from the information we have before the game, both sides attach great importance to this game. Mourinho even shouted the slogan of scoring 3 points early, and Van Gaal also hopes to get a good start from it! "

"This is indeed a battle between dragons and tigers. If with the rise, Manchester City did not have the strength to compete at all, then with the entry of the Abu Dhabi consortium, Manchester City has been able to compete with any Premier League team through a summer of signings. The team’s ability to compete, including!”

As a neutral commentator, Andy Gray is happy to see this kind of peak-level confrontation.

"The starting lineups for both sides of the game have also come out. Manchester City's starting lineup is not too surprising. The lineup that Van Gaal practiced through the warm-up match really appeared in this game. Given, Bridge, Distin, Kolo Toure, Mills, Van Bommel, Yaya Toure, Vieira, Van der Vaart, Sneijder and Ibrahimovic."

"Campani, Sun Jihai and others sat on the bench. It can be seen that Van Gaal will try his best to win at home."

After Martin Taylor listened on the sidelines, he couldn't help but nodded nervously and said: "If the warm-up match of the Community Shield Cup is of deep nature, then for me, the first round of the new season is indeed a game that cannot be missed. Especially for a team that aims to win the championship, losing the opportunity will mean that the team will have to bear greater pressure than its opponents in the future."

"Yes, that's right, and we also have to take into account the Champions League. Although young players and substitute players appear in the League Cup and FA Cup, we still hope to play the first game of the new season steadily when fighting on multiple fronts. This is from You can see Mourinho's formation." [ban^] Starting

The starting lineup and formation appeared on the live broadcast screen.

"The goalkeeper is Petr Cech. The Czech is the most stable star in the past few seasons; the left back is Evra, and the Frenchman is also the absolute main force. Terry and Curtis form the center back combination, and the right back is Maicon, who was also the biggest discovery last season, overtook Kolo Toure, causing the Ivorian to leave for Manchester City in anger this season."

"Beckham was absent due to injury, and Spanish teenager Cesc Fabregas took his place in the starting lineup. De Rossi and Essien assisted from the side. In front was the trident composed of Kaká, Ronaldinho and Drogba. Mourinho obviously I was worried that Cesc Fabregas could not handle this kind of situation alone, so I specially arranged for De Rossi and Essien to assist."

Martin Taylor frowned and nodded: "I can tell. Mourinho changed the formation when he was in the Community Shield Cup and also adopted the 433 tactic. Obviously, in addition to Beckham being absent due to injury, he In addition to the reason, he is also considering trying the effect of this formation. After all, the lack of a Beckham will damage the control in the midfield."

"Manchester City's strongest strength is undoubtedly their midfield. Mourinho obviously started with a defense, using the speed of Ronaldinho and Kaká to counterattack. After all, after large-scale adjustments and substitutions, Manchester City's No one knows what the tactics are, and Mourinho cannot let his team press heavily."

This is also the reason why so many newly promoted teams can always make a splash in the new season!

But is it really just that?