Chapter 188 A Thorn in the Side

Although Dong Fangzhuo was not happy, he did not bring such emotions to the locker room. While taking a shower, he heard his teammates discussing it.

"Oh no, Gattuso is too fierce. I don't dare to get close to him at all. Looking at him like that, I'm really worried about being crippled by this guy. How can a person be so fierce?"

"I think Rui Costa's pass is too bad and I can't prevent him from hitting the ball."

"Pirlo, Pirlo is the big problem."

"No, Kaka is difficult to deal with, he is too fast."

"Crespo is not a good bird either. I am so exhausted."

"..."

Under the wash of the water, Dong Fangzhuo heard the discussions among his teammates.

Maybe, I am really too harsh. Wasn't this game a good game? My teammates have worked very hard. It’s not that my teammates are not good enough, it’s just that I ask too much...

Maybe it's because he knows that Manchester United is likely to be eliminated by Milan in these two Champions League knockout matches, and he doesn't want this result to happen, so he has too many ideas?

However, hasn’t the result changed? At least it wasn't a loss, but a draw.

Moreover, in Italy, Milan players were scolded miserably, especially Costacurta.

"Gazzetta dello Sport" unceremoniously criticized Costacurta: "Costacurta is too slow and can't keep up with the rhythm of the Chinese boy. If the Chinese boy is willing, he can let Costacurta run fifty first. m. At least when Cafu is on the court, he can barely match the speed of the Chinese boy, but Ancelotti actually asked Costacurta to come up. This simply does not want Milan to win the game away from home. If Ancelotti If they continue to do this in the second round, Milan will go home."

Then he also talked about Nesta: "For Nesta, he seemed to underestimate the Chinese Dong. He may have thought that Ruud van Nistelrooy was the only threatening player, but in the end he was still embarrassed to watch the Chinese Dong score. One goal. You know, no Chinese player has ever scored against an Italian team before..."

Nesta did not escape this issue in an interview: "I always felt that the kid's foot skills were not very good, but he had a good mind. I had a confrontation with him before the game started, and his feet were lying on the ball. The overly big ball made me feel very uncomfortable. Later I found out that he shot in order to gain time. The second time was before the end of the first half, when Ronaldo ran in and he successfully used a trick to help the Chinese Dong get rid of the ball. As for the third time, while running at high speed,

I can't believe someone dares to do that heel knocking thing, it's so easy to get hurt. I dare say that he has predicted everything before he makes any moves. He is a player who plays football with his brain. "

Nesta's evaluation was divided into two. He did not recognize Dong Fangzhuo's skills, but he thought Dong Fangzhuo played very smart and cunning. Every player has different technical characteristics. Just like Dong Fangzhuo, his foot skills are not outstanding or even have any advantages, but he is calm enough and can always make the most reasonable action at the critical moment.

You know, in this game, Dong Fangzhuo only had three shooting opportunities, and he hit the target three times and scored one goal. As a forward, there are very few shooting statistics like this, but he actually grasped them all. He was not able to score one more goal. It was not his fault, but Dida's performance was too perfect...

"He should have had a fourth chance to shoot, but the referee's whistle sounded. Thank God, I think his last shot was deliberately shot into the stands. You can tell from the look in his eyes at that time, No matter how you looked at that time, he was already ready to shoot..."

※※※※

After the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, the four Premier League teams had different fates. Manchester United was tied 1:1 by Milan at home, Arsenal lost 1:3 away to Bayern Munich, and Chelsea lost 1:1 away. 2 lost to Barcelona, ​​and Liverpool defeated Leverkusen 3:1 at home.

Only Arsenal is truly miserable...

The next day, major news media in England summarized the first round of the knockout round. The Times bluntly stated: Arsenal has almost lost hope of advancing, Liverpool has almost one foot in the quarterfinals, and Chelsea and Manchester United need to go further in the second round. .

However, "The Times" further analyzed all the situations faced by Manchester United and Chelsea in the second round.

"The draw didn't look bad, but Manchester United's merits in the game were quite limited. If it wasn't at Old Trafford, they might have lost the game. They had some good chances to score but lacked the ability to take them. The calmness and composure they need. Of course, they should be more grateful that Milan's attacking group is not in shape, otherwise they will lose at least three goals. If Ancelotti hadn't replaced Costacurta in the end, Manchester United would not have been able to equalize the score. In fact Manchester United is just relying on the Chinese director to survive. In addition to him, there may be half a Cristiano Ronaldo, that's all, but do you want these 1.5 players to win at San Siro?"

On Manchester United's official website, there is a fan survey - who is the best player in the match between Manchester United and AC Milan?

1. Dong Fangzhuo, 2. Ronaldo, 3. Rooney, 4. Keane, 5. Scholes.

As a result, 55% chose Dong Fangzhuo, Ronaldo got 28% of the votes, Keane got 10%, Scholes got 6%, and Rooney got 1%.

The fans' eyes are sharp, and they know clearly who played well and who didn't play well in the game.

Dong Fangzhuo is very likely to win Manchester United's best player award in February. The two partners who compete with him are Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

In addition, he was also shortlisted for the Premier League's best candidate for February, but the final result has not yet come out and needs to wait until early next month.

At the moment, Manchester United has no time to think about the second round match against AC Milan. Next, Manchester United must face Portsmouth on the 27th, then play the League Cup final with Liverpool on the 1st, and play away to Crystal Palace on the 5th...

After a battle with AC Milan, Ferguson once again confirmed that his original idea was correct. Dong Fangzhuo must be the starter. If it weren't for Dong Fangzhuo, Manchester United's life would be at risk. Therefore, against Portsmouth at home, he didn't need to use his head to think, he just went straight to the game. Throw Ruud Ruud and Saha into the starting lineup.

As a result, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Saha did not disappoint them. Ferguson obviously used them to play relatively unimportant games, but they still completed the task conscientiously.

Now, everyone at Manchester United is preparing for the League Cup final.

The opponent, Liverpool, faced them for the third time this season.

As for Liverpool coach Benitez...

"Keep an eye on this guy within ninety minutes!" He pointed at Dong Fangzhuo's name on the tactical board and told his defense generals very seriously...

Dong Fangzhuo is the thorn in his side.