Chapter 97: Chapter 96: The Masters Are All Discussing Scholes (Third Update, Asking for Monthly Votes)
Manchester United, Tactical Training Room.
Even though there were no matches or training sessions today, Sir Alex Ferguson still invited the entire team to watch a youth game—Ajax U15 vs. Sporting Lisbon U15.
After that, he planned to invite everyone to dinner as a reward for Manchester United’s recent impressive performances across three competitions.
They had been performing really well lately.
"Oh, our little Red Devils are in trouble," giggled Giggs as he teased.
Everyone knew that Ferguson was very fond of these two kids.
If one day Manchester United were to sign these two kids, the fans wouldn’t be surprised at all.
"Ajax’s overall strength is much stronger," Schmeichel shared his opinion.
"That Van der Vaart has really nice footwork! David, looks like you’ve got plenty of challengers in the future, these kids’ skills are getting stronger," Neville said, putting pressure on Beckham.
"I’m not as agile as this Van der Vaart," Beckham didn’t mind admitting his shortcomings.
Confident people never deny their faults.
Because they also believe that no one can surpass their strengths.
Amid the crowd, the inconspicuous baby-faced Solskjaer posted on his social media, "Come on, Kai!"
Lock hai, oops... Solskjaer was quite fond of Deng Kai because the kid had mentioned Solskjaer’s name among his top three favorite Manchester United players of the year during an interview.
This was rare.
And possibly influenced by this, Ferguson had been using Solskjaer, the substitute forward, more flexibly this season, giving him many opportunities.
Far away in the Amsterdam Arena.
The game reached the 8th minute.
Van der Vaart once again performed an impressive dribble on the right flank, and although his final shot was a bit wide, it didn’t stop the home crowd from applauding.
In the 10th minute, after receiving a pass from Sneijder, Van der Vaart masterfully wove through the opposition, creating a threat once more with a one-two pass with his teammates, looking unstoppable.
In the 12th minute, Sporting Lisbon finally managed to launch an attack.
Ronaldo successfully dribbled past a player on the wing and cut inside for a shot.
But in his rush to shoot, he failed to put enough power into it, and the goalkeeper caught the ball.
The goalkeeper threw the football to Sneijder, who had come back to support.
Sneijder took a moment to adjust, then sent a long pass directly to Van der Vaart up front.
This time, Van der Vaart cut inside from the left, eluding the charging Semedo.
The oncoming Duarte, seeing no other option, could only bring Van der Vaart down.
The referee immediately blew his whistle and reached for the yellow card.
Duarte had disrupted a very good attacking opportunity.
"Trouble now! Another free-kick and in such a good position!" Manchester United’s midfield genius, the ginger-headed Scholes, expressed his concern.
"Oh, do they even need a decoy here? I don’t think it’s necessary. Ajax is being too cautious," sighed Dwight Yorke of Manchester United’s dynamic duo, shaking his head. Ajax wasn’t giving Sporting Lisbon any chances at all.
They even had Sneijder provide cover for Van der Vaart.
Both Ajax stars stood on either side of the football.
Even though they were both right-footed players, Sneijder’s left foot was also very strong, making him a rare ambipedal talent.
This sort of situation with multiple players ready to take the free-kick can certainly confuse the defensive wall and the goalkeeper.
But anyone with a clear eye could tell that Van der Vaart was going to take the kick.
There were plenty of reasons.
Van der Vaart was the team’s leading star.
Plus, he was an offensive player.
He was also the team’s primary free-kick taker.
Van der Vaart was currently the team’s top performer, having created nearly all the threats on goal.
The workload goes to those who are capable, and it was an unwritten rule in the team to let the player in good form take the kick.
Van der Vaart stood a bit further back, which was advantageous for his run-up.
In contrast, Sneijder was positioned a little closer to the ball. If he were to take a direct shot, he wouldn’t get enough power behind it to make a beautiful strike.
The referee blew the whistle, and Sneijder started moving.
He approached the ball, not too quickly.
This clearly was a set-up for Van der Vaart...
Bang!
The ball flew out!
Lisbon Athletic’s wall didn’t react to the ball, with three-quarters of the players failing to jump.
Only after the fact, Pilar lunged for the football but was a step too late.
The football found its way into the net.
The shot wasn’t particularly powerful, but the angle was tricky.
This was a free kick of the highest quality that went straight into the goal.
"GOAL! Sneijder! Sneijder has scored a direct free-kick goal as well!"
"Two-nil! Ajax is on fire!"
"Both goals from free kicks, Ajax’s lineup with their free-kick takers is just unstoppable!"
"Van der Vaart and Sneijder celebrating together, this is basically the golden midfield combination for the future Netherlands national team!"
"Just twelve minutes in, and Ajax is already leading by two goals, it looks like their coaching staff can start making arrangements for the final!"
The Ajax players celebrated enthusiastically.
A direct free-kick goal is always a cause for celebration for any player.
Especially since Ajax had managed two within almost five minutes!
Deng Kai seized the moment to decisively gather his teammates together.
They couldn’t wait any longer.
It was time to take a gamble.
Otherwise, they would have no chance at all.
"Huh, Lisbon Athletic’s players are huddling together, and Deng Kai is gesturing something," the commentator noticed the scene, "Are they arranging tactics?"
The camera immediately panned to Maxa.
After all, Deng Kai had not communicated with Maxa beforehand, was this his own initiative?
Maxa was puzzled as well, but he had a deep understanding of bluffing, knowing that now was not the time to show any weakness, nor let the opposing Ajax coach see that he had no control over the team.
So Maxa nodded frequently, with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, as if Deng Kai’s actions had been under his guidance all along.
Does Maxa have a trick up his sleeve or not?
"Ah, Lisbon Athletic’s positioning has indeed changed, why have Ronaldo and Marcelino also moved to the center? Their positions are more like shadow strikers..."
"Veloso is sticking right to Van der Vaart now, he’s given up on his marking zone, and is going for man-to-man coverage!"
"Opting for man-to-man coverage so early can easily expose Lisbon Athletic’s midfield to being penetrated."
"What’s the meaning of sending three forwards to the midfield, are they preparing to play long balls and headers next?" the other half of the ’Black Wind Strike Force,’ Andy Cole, inquired.
Manchester United’s midfield star Keane speculated, "Having three people in the midfield won’t necessarily create more chances, but rather due to the loss of width their opposition’s defense will become more stable."
"The intent might be to push Sneijder back into their own half."
Beckham nodded, "I agree, but Deng Kai might have overlooked that Ajax’s second free kick opportunity came from Sneijder’s long pass from the backfield."
"A Sneijder who drops back to defend can still be effective, so this tactical targeting is a failure."
Solskjaer agreed, saying, "To cover for the gap left by Veloso while he marks Van der Vaart, Lisbon Athletic’s wingers have also dropped back."
"But by doing this, they’ve effectively handed over both flanks to Ajax."
"They should count themselves lucky Ajax doesn’t have a David, otherwise I wouldn’t be surprised if they conceded eight to ten goals in this match."
Beckham’s crosses had become deeply entrenched in people’s minds at this stage.
So far this season, sixty-five percent of the goals Manchester United scored in the Champions League were headers.
And of those headers, eighty percent were from Beckham’s crosses!
Any team that dared to concede the flanks to Manchester United had to deal with the punishment from Beckham’s crosses, one by one.
The entire Manchester United team, with the exception of Paul Scholes, were deep in thought.
He was contemplating Deng Kai’s arrangement.
He had a bold thought, which seemed so absurd that he was embarrassed to voice it out loud.
After all, no team two goals down had any right to tell the opposition, "We’ll let you play for sixty minutes first"...
Yes!
Scholes believed that the true purpose of Lisbon Athletic’s tactics was not to contain Sneijder, but to... wear them down!
To wear down Van der Vaart!
And to confirm if Deng Kai was thinking this way, all one needed to do was to observe Veloso’s actions while marking Van der Vaart.
Scholes focused intently on the screen.
When fans are discussing the master, the masters are discussing Scholes!
And this Scholes was engrossed in deciphering Deng Kai’s tactics, enjoying every moment!
