Red Rebels

After the 25th round of the league, for a whole week, everyone was still immersed in the impact of Liverpool's away victory over Chelsea. Everyone was still shocked by the transformation of Liverpool's strength. At the same time, they also expressed their hope for this season's Premier League. With higher expectations, after all, it is now occupying the top spot in the league.

In the middle of the week, there was a round of FA Cup make-up matches and they defeated their opponents in the fourth round, so there was no game. This allowed Mourinho to easily adjust the players' status to cope with the 26th round of the league.

Challenging Fulham away is another tough battle. This is related to Fulham’s strategy of pursuing points at home. They are the most typical home team and away team. They have not won even a single victory on the road this season. However, their ability to rank 11th in the league has a lot to do with their ability to score points at home.

For a team like Fulham, favoring home ground may not be an effective strategy.

However, the premise is that they don't expect to beat the in-form!

Mourinho's strategy for visiting Craven Cottage is very clear. The team must get precious three points in the away game, defend the top spot in the league, and at the same time strive for a hearty victory.

To this end, Mourinho arranged for all the main players to play. The goalkeeper is Cech. The defense line from left to right is Evra, Vidic, Curtis and Alves. Maicon was slightly injured and was Stay in Manchester; the double defensive midfielder is Beckham and De Rossi, the attacking midfielder is Kaká, the two wingers are Ronaldinho and Messi, and the lone forward is Villa.

Before this game, the selection of Villa and Ismail made it difficult for Mourinho to decide. Ismail was more dominant in the penalty area. It was a tough battle against Fulham. Ismail His height and strong body, as well as his ability to play the ball in the penalty area, are what he relies on, but Villa showed extraordinary status in training.

Finally, after careful consideration, Mourinho decided to arrange for Villa to start.

The Spanish star did not waste Mourinho's trust in him. At the beginning of the game, he showed a strong desire to score goals. In the first minute, he shot a long shot from outside the penalty area, which almost penetrated Fulham's goal. Fortunately, the goalkeeper made a timely save.

After that, Villa seemed very active and frequently got opportunities in the penalty area, but it was not until the 27th minute that he received Messi's low ball on the right side and penetrated Fulham's goal, 0:1!

Fulham performed very tenaciously after losing the goal, but their morale was high. Especially when they thought that the team had topped the league for the first time this season, the players became particularly excited and could not tolerate Fulham at all. become an obstacle.

In the 35th minute, Kaka made a high-speed breakthrough in the middle and passed behind him again. Villa leaned on the opponent's center back with his body and volleyed with his right foot to score, 0:2!

Fulham made adjustments during the midfield. They played a little conservatively in the second half, but became more active. Kaká took the lead in receiving Evra's 45-degree cross in the penalty area at the beginning of the game. He stopped the ball with his chest and shook off the defense. After the player hit the volley with his right foot, 0:3!

Fulham, who was fully attacking, seized the opportunity to regain a point in the 53rd minute. However, Fulham's stubborn resistance not only did not dissipate the desire to attack, but completely aroused the bloody surname.

In the 67th minute, Aguero, who represented Kaká in the starting lineup, performed well. He dribbled the ball through the middle at high speed. After passing two opponents, he scored with a low shot, 1:4!

Continuous conceding of goals completely defeated Fulham's desire to win, and in pursuit of the victory, Villa showed the strength of a super shooter and got another chance in the 69th minute, taking advantage of a corner kick opportunity to receive Coty's Si's header flew over, and he scored easily with a push shot from behind, completing a hat trick, 1:5!

Those with a big lead played more calmly, while Fulham lost the courage to resist. They chose to shrink into their own penalty area, which turned the game into a completely one-sided situation.

In the 81st minute, Ismail, who came on as a substitute for Villa, received a cross from Ronaldinho from the left and headed the ball towards the goal.

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced into the goal, 1:6, a big away victory over Fulham!

However, the joy did not last long, because news soon came that Droylsden lost 0:1 at home to Liverpool. Pellegrini's team froze Liverpool's offense very well, but in the end But lost to Hyypia, the Finnish international took advantage of a corner kick in the second half to score the winning goal for Liverpool.

This can be said to be a crucial goal, especially now that the competition for the league title is becoming increasingly fierce. Hyypia's goal allows Liverpool to continue to maintain pressure.

On the other hand, Chelsea, after losing to Liverpool at home, the team obviously failed to get out of the slump. When they challenged Middlesbrough away from home, they suffered a 3-0 defeat. This was completely shocking, especially for Chelsea fans.

In the game at the critical moment, Chelsea collectively performed abnormally. This has to be said to be very helpless. After all, their performance in the past two seasons has been very stable. Although they have also lost in strong games, they have always been able to win. Turn the situation around quickly.

However, this time it was also related to Stam being suspended with a red card and Carvalho accumulating yellow cards. This made Chelsea's defense very unbearable. Cannavaro made many mistakes, while Middlesbrough's young player Downing Excellent performance, two passes and one shot, and was elected the best player of the game.

Different from Chelsea's lagging behind, in the second day of the game, Manchester City stubbornly took the lead twice after being equalized by Charlton twice in a row. Van Gaal's team scored precious 3 points with their tenacious and united style. They surpassed Chelsea and occupied the league's top spot with 62 points. Manchester United defeated Portsmouth 1:3 away from home. Robinho scored twice and had an assist. This made the Brazilian completely the new favorite of the Red Devils. Especially his attacking combination with Diego and Rooney. As the season progresses and the Santos twins integrate into Manchester United, they perform even better.

Another star who performed well in this game was undoubtedly Quaresma, who has become more and more active recently. The Portuguese was once considered a parallel import, but Ferguson fought against all odds to keep him in the team. Now Quaresma Under his training, Small has performed better and better and has now firmly occupied the right wing position of Manchester United.

As the players' performance became more and more outstanding, Ferguson made adjustments to Manchester United in the middle of the season. Rooney was the lone forward, Robinho played on the left, Diego played in the central midfielder position, and Quaresma played on the right. After a set of attacking combinations have been running in, their performance is getting better and better, and they have scored 10 goals for Manchester United in the last three rounds.

After 26 rounds played in this way, it ranked first with 64 points, followed by Liverpool with 63 points, followed by Manchester City with 62 points, Manchester United with 60 points, and Chelsea lost to Middlesbrough in an unexpected upset with 59 points. , fell out of the top four in one fell swoop, falling to fifth place in the league.

It can be described as a round of heaven and a round of hell!

……………………Due to the need to participate in the League Cup final, the 27th round of the league was moved to the evening of the 14th. In this round, they faced Middlesbrough at home. Mourinho sent out all his main players. A clean 2:0 victory over Middlesbrough.

This round of early games allows us to temporarily lead the standings with a 4-point advantage. However, since we have one more game than teams such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea, as long as these teams do not make mistakes, then The lead will be reduced back to the original 1 point.

However, there is another highlight in this round, that is, Liverpool vs. Manchester City at home. This will be the most watched highlight of this round. As the leader of the league, I hope that the two teams will tie.

Saturday ushered in the FA Cup, and Mourinho once again sent players from the youth academy to an away challenge against Preston.

In this game, Walcott was once again promoted to the first team and started. After the help of the laboratory, the coaching staff, and even his teammates, Walcott showed gratifying changes in the game.

Although the team was tied 0:0 by Preston at home, Walcott performed many dribbles in the game. According to Opta's post-match statistics, Walcott made 13 dribbles in the game. , succeeded 11 times, and can be said to be the best player in this game. If Preston hadn't stayed in the penalty area, he should have been able to win the opponent.

After being held to a draw by Preston, they will return to the court for a rematch in the second round on March 15.

After finishing the game against Preston, they went to an away game against the Belgian Blues in midweek. In this first leg of the Champions League round of 16 knockout round, with Kaká’s brace, the away game ended 0-0. :2 Defeat your opponent.

After returning to the UK, he went directly south to Cardiff to prepare for the League Cup final against Droylsden.

Although the League Cup has long been reduced to useless, the team has finally reached the final. It is impossible for Mourinho to say that he does not pay attention to it. In addition, the next round of the league will be in a week, so he can give it all.

On the other hand, Droisden has an away game against Tottenham in midweek and will host Manchester United at home on the weekend. This makes Pellegrini have to be cautious. After all, Droisden is not The season is going well, and there is a great possibility of entering European competitions. This is not something that the useless League Cup can give.

It is not difficult to see from Pellegrini's formation that he does not attach great importance to the League Cup.

The goalkeeper is Joe Hart. This England goalkeeper has performed steadily this season and has great appeal for being selected for the England national team. Although he is only 18 years old, he has already established himself in Droylsden. He was recruited from the youth training camp. Known as the new Schmeichel.

The defense line from left to right is Gareth Bale, Michael Dawson, Shawcross and Micah Richards, and the three midfielders are Sully Muntari, Mascherano and West Germany. Weir, the two wingers are Ashley Young and Lennon, and the center is Kitson.

Half of this combination is Droylsden's substitute lineup. In addition, Fran, the team's top scorer, was placed on the bench. Dzeko did not start, and Jagielka even missed the game due to a minor injury. Left behind in Manchester.

It is not difficult to see from these that Pellegrini does not attach great importance to the League Cup. What he really wants is to stabilize the league results and enter European competitions, even if it is just the UEFA Cup. But for Droylsden, for him For me, it is more important than the League Cup.

Although Droisden is known as the second generation, as the big brother, he has no sympathy for his younger brother. Instead of doing so, he did his best to defeat Droisden with a clean 4:0. easten.

Ismail started the game and performed well. He scored a goal in the 33rd and 68th minutes respectively and scored twice. In addition, Ribery and De Rossi each scored a goal to help defeat the opponent.

4:0, hearty, and a good tactical lesson for the boys at Cardiff Stadium. Although Droylsden arranged many young substitute players to play, they were still slightly lacking in tactical execution. , arranged three midfielders, but failed to create enough pressure in the midfield.

Shawcross looked very immature in front of his younger brother Ismail, and was tricked twice, causing Droylsden to lose a big score. Kitson, under the care of Chiellini, was completely silent. Being able to find too many opportunities is also related to the fact that Droisden was suppressed on the wing and failed to organize an effective attack.

Although Droylsden suffered a huge defeat in the League Cup final, the outside world was not actually surprised by the score of this game. After all, compared to the league, no one pays attention to the tasteless League Cup.

At the same time, the 27th round of the Premier League was also held at the same time as the League Cup final. Arsenal, which was in serious decline, lost to Blackburn 1:0 away from home, Chelsea defeated Portsmouth 2:0, and Manchester United 1:0. 0 victory over West Ham United. ／~半♣福*生：.*No pop-ups? @++

As for the strong dialogue at the critical moment of this round, Liverpool at home once again showed strong strength. Benitez once again showed the on-the-spot level of a world-class tactical master. Both sides were tactical in the first half. They restrained the opponent without making any mistakes, but in the second half, Benitez changed players in the midfield. As a result, the new Kewell scored the winning goal for Liverpool at the beginning of the second half.

After the game, Van Gaal felt helpless at the 1:0 away defeat to Liverpool. He felt that Manchester City played more proactively throughout the game, while Benitez's tactics seemed more conservative.

"He always thinks about how to limit our scoring, but never thinks about playing more actively at home!"

But complaining can't change the score, nor can it change Manchester City's decline in the standings.

Since both Manchester United and Chelsea have won, Manchester City was eliminated from the top 4 of the league in one fell swoop due to the strength of this strong dialogue, while Manchester United jumped to 3rd in the league, and Chelsea ranked 4th.

However, in the 28th round of the league, Chelsea will go away to challenge the top team. This is a game like Mars hitting the earth, and it is also the first heavyweight test after reaching the top spot.

Just before this game, the players who went to participate in the African Cup of Nations also returned to the training base one after another, which allowed Mourinho to make more generous changes in the deployment of troops.