Chapter 616: Chapter 615: A Manchester City Without Flair is Not Up to Standard
May 17, Cardiff Millennium Stadium.
The FA Cup Final was about to kick off.
Many famous personalities made an appearance at this game.
After the Oscar scandal, Hathaway appeared in public for the first time.
Unfortunately, Keira Knightley had just entered a film set a few days ago and paired up with Will Smith to play the female lead in "Mechanical Public Enemy"!
It was indeed a case of two queens never meeting.
It’s said that Will Smith was very courteous to Keira on the day of the opening ceremony.
Because Hollywood knew about Keira’s relationship with Deng Kai.
Deng Kai: ???
Considering that Deng Kai had just threatened the Oscars, even forcing them to bow their heads, Will Smith took this collaboration very seriously.
He took great care of Keira throughout.
It should be noted that at this stage, Keira was a complete newcomer in Hollywood.
Although she worked with Jim Carrey in "The Fake God", this movie had not been released yet, so it couldn’t be added to Keira’s résumé and didn’t have the influence of released work.
Back to the Millennium Stadium.
Victoria, a socialite with a wide network of connections who knows how to maintain good relations with everyone, was at Hathaway’s side.
But oddly, Beckham, who had finished all games of the season, was not seen by Victoria’s side.
Instead, Ronaldo appeared with his parents, siblings, and some friends from Madeira Island.
Additionally, the young players from Sporting Lisbon, Hao Junmin, Chen Tao, Shao Jiawei, Yu Shihao and others, were present. They had received Deng Kai’s invitation and came specifically to witness the Chinese derby between Sun Jihai and Wu Xudong!
They were all included in the big list for this match.
Of course, both players were substitutes in their respective teams.
Besides these individuals, there was a particularly conspicuous group of people.
They were in the most luxurious stadium boxes, dressed somewhat uniformly with a black headband securing a large piece of white cloth on their heads.
Wealthy Middle Eastern guests!
These were some members of the royal family from the UAE.
They were invited by Mansour to watch this game.
Over the past year, Mansour’s status and reputation had risen very rapidly in the region.
Because the Manchester City he bought is ranked among the top ten most popular football clubs in the world this year.
And that’s with Manchester City not partaking in any European competitions.
This presented an opportunity for the UAE to change their public image on the international stage.
And it’s said that this time... Mansour might have not even lost money.
No, no, no, it should be said... it seems he earned quite a bit!
That’s what really shocked these wealthy guests.
How much they earned didn’t matter; the key was they made a profit!
Any time they wanted to do something in the past, wasn’t it all about spending money?
To call it spending would be an understatement.
It was like throwing money into the water.
The money that Mansour earned, was that actual money?
That, damn it, was respect!
Being seen as a silly wealthy nouveau riche might be cool, but it also hurts.
This time they came to experience the atmosphere on the spot, wanting to see if Mansour and Manchester City had really gained respect in Europe.
If so.
They would consider investing in Mansour.
And even... turning Manchester City into an official image and voice channel for the UAE might not be a bad idea.
What?
Some shares of Manchester City are in the hands of others?
That doesn’t matter, as long as the wealthy guests are willing, they could buy back those shares at a high price.
A few billion not enough? Then how about a dozen billion?
Remember, this is 2003.
Money was still very valuable.
And as the wealthy guests experienced it first-hand, the atmosphere brought by eighty thousand fans on the spot had a tremendous impact on them.
Half of the fans were wearing Arsenal’s red and white jerseys.
But the other half were clad in Manchester City’s sky blue jerseys.
Both groups were chanting their own slogans.
When the camera focused on Mansour in his box, the blue in the stands erupted.
"Mansour! Mansour! Mansour!"
The Middle Eastern gentlemen standing with Mansour felt honored by the acclaim.
Were all these cheers really for them?
Soon, the noise grew even more fervent.
Because the players from both teams were entering the field.
The live commentators were introducing the players of both teams.
Arsenal, showing their utmost sincerity, fielded their elite forces.
Henry, Bogkamp
Pires, Vieira, Gilberto Silva, Ljungberg
Van Bronckhorst, Campbell, Kolo Toure, Lauren
Lehmann
On the substitutes’ bench, the likes of Wiltord and Wu Xudong were also in excellent form.
As Henry appeared, the atmosphere in the stadium peaked.
Henry!
With twenty-four goals and twenty-five assists in the Premier League, a super double-double achievement, he had leapt from being the Highbury Express to the King of Highbury!
He was conquering the Premier League.
The Middle Eastern tycoons swore they thought this was already as crazy as it could get.
But then, with the appearance of Deng Kai, the atmosphere in the venue burst through its limits once again.
The tumultuous blue cheers drowned out everything else, the decibels surely higher than for Henry.
Deng Kai!
Premier League’s Best Player!
Current leader for the Golden Ball!
Thirty-four goals and twenty-five assists in the league.
But even more terrifying, up to now, Deng Kai had contributed a total of forty-four goals and forty assists for Manchester City across all competitions this season!
Eighty-four goals created in a single season!
Unprecedented in European football history!
Todays’s starting lineup for Manchester City is:
Baggio, Fowler, Ribery
Deng Kai, Yaya Toure
Grosso, Chiellini, Hierro, Thiago Silva, Maicon
Lehmann
"Maxa really pulled some tricks out of the bag."
"With Essien gone, everyone was guessing who Manchester City would play as a defensive midfielder, but now... it seems like Manchester City doesn’t intend to have a defensive midfielder at all!"
"5-2-3! Has Manchester City ever tried this formation before?"
"At the start of the league, Manchester City tried a three-man defence, but it didn’t work well, so they switched to four at the back. Now this five-man defence, if Grosso and Maicon advance, is basically a three-centre-back system."
"Isn’t Manchester City taking a risk to avoid being targeted by Arsenal? Can their players adapt to this playstyle?"
With such a team formation, many players could feel lost.
The designed running paths, who your teammates are, where they usually stand... all this has changed.
It’s not the same as a game.
"Is Deng Kai getting a bit overconfident? Even though he’s this season’s best player in the Premier League, and could even be Europe’s best midfielder and player of the year, but..."
"How can he and Yaya Toure, just the two of them, confront the super midfield made up of Pires, Vieira, Gilberto Silva, and Ljungberg?"
"Do Deng Kai and Yaya Toure intend to drop back to defensive midfield to ensure the team’s defense? Has he forgotten that Vieira can move forward? Vieira is also very strong on the attack."
No matter what, people weren’t very optimistic about Manchester City’s formation.
But they didn’t know that Manchester City had the confidence to use this formation not just because Deng Kai was the best-performing midfielder of the season.
It was because Grosso and Maicon, the two full-backs or wing-backs, had basically been trained for it the whole season.
With the forwards on the wings, they could totally create two corridors of attack.
