Chapter 97

, Community Shield performance was too good? Ferguson: You better keep a low profile.

Chapter 97, Community Shield performance was too good? Ferguson: You better keep a low profile.

As players, everyone is enjoying the last moments of their vacation while actively building up their physical fitness and regaining their form.

As for the head coach, he is studying the lineup and tactics for the new season while also researching the opponents.

Ferguson looked at the finalized transfer list and made his own calculations.

Chelsea strengthened their squad, Manchester City strengthened their squad, and Liverpool, despite losing Joe Cole, also added other players. Arsenal remains the same; Wenger's "best XI" claims to be strong every year, but every year it falters.

The title contenders are still the same few: Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal.

Liverpool? Forget about it.

Tottenham? They might be a dark horse, but they're not title contenders.

This season, Manchester United's main rivals are Chelsea and Manchester City. Arsenal is just a spoiler among the title contenders, and finishing in the top four would be a good result.

Chelsea boasts a luxurious and experienced squad with Ancelotti, Joe Cole, Lampard, Drogba, Terry, and Cech.

Unfortunately, the lineup is a bit old.

Manchester City has money, Mancini, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Balotelli, Kompany, and is bursting with talent, but they still need to gel.

In the end, it was discovered that Manchester United's biggest potential threat to their title challenge was actually this noisy neighbor.

Fortunately, Manchester United has Ferguson, Rooney, the arrogant, Berbatov, Ferdinand and Vidic, and Van der Sar.

The lineup has a reasonable mix of experienced, middle-aged, and young players.

enough.

8 month 8 day.

Wembley Stadium.

England Community Shield.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea.

This is the opening match of the new Premier League season, and also Zhang Kuang's official debut for Manchester United.

Before the match, Ferguson announced the starting lineup in the locker room.

433.

Goalkeeper: Van der Sar.

Defenders: O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra.

Midfielders: Carrick, Scholes, Giggs.

Forwards: Rooney, Berbatov, and Zhang Kuang.

When Ferguson called out the arrogant name, everyone in the locker room had an "I knew it" look on their faces.

No one was surprised.

Everyone has seen their performance in the training matches.

The only minor controversy is that the right midfielder was not Anderson, but Giggs. Giggs is too old, so starting him is not impossible. He could play half the game and then be substituted by Anderson.

As for his arrogance, no one disputes that he deserves the starting position.

"Alright," Ferguson clapped his hands, "Go out and show Chelsea what Manchester United is all about."

In the players' tunnel, Zhang Kuang stood in the middle of the team, with Rooney in front of him and Berbatov behind him.

Standing opposite them were Chelsea players—Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Joe Cole, and Cech.

The familiar faces were all football stars he had seen countless times on television.

Now, he'll be competing against these same people on the field.

Zhang Kuang showed no tension or excitement. His heartbeat was steady, and his breathing was even. He was no longer a young man who had just turned eighteen, but a young man who was about to become an adult. He had long passed the age of being easily excited.

He simply clenched his fist slightly.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti stood on the sidelines, glanced at Manchester United's starting lineup, and lingered on Zhang Kuang for two seconds.

This Chinese player was Ferguson's biggest signing this summer, and the target of all the top clubs, but none of them succeeded, and Ferguson snatched him away.

Ancelotti had watched footage of his arrogant performance at Auxerre, as well as footage of Manchester United's pre-season friendlies, and even news reports about his move to Manchester United.

He knew Zhang Kuang's abilities and talent, and was also surprised that the 18-year-old had made such a rational choice. He had his own judgment when facing a top club, which is why he joined Manchester United.

Of course, he focused on studying Auxerre's arrogance and Manchester United's arrogance in the pre-season friendlies; the arrogance in the two videos was completely different.

His arrogance in Auxerre was like a beast unleashed from its cage; every time he got the ball, he created a threat, and every shot was aimed at the goal.

His arrogance in the Manchester United preseason match was like that of an ordinary winger—able to receive the ball, pass, and cooperate—but nothing particularly impressive.

Ancelotti sensed something was wrong.

But he didn't have time to think about it anymore.

The whistle blew.

Game start.

Manchester United kick off.

Rooney passed the ball back to Scholes, who then passed it to Zhang Kuang on the wing.

At this moment, Sky Sports commentators Martin Tyler and Rob Hawthorne were quickly introducing the starting lineups of both sides and giving brief comments on the players on the field.

Martin: "Actually, what has attracted the most attention in this match is Manchester United's most powerful new signing, who is arrogant. You know, he has set a new record of scoring more than 30 goals in half a season in Ligue 1. He is not only the strongest newcomer this year, but the strongest newcomer we have never seen before."

Rob: "Yes, so there were a lot of big clubs surrounding Zhang at the time. This guy even wanted to join Juventus, which was rebuilding. Fortunately, Jazz brought him over, otherwise he would have been stuck in Juventus for who knows how long."

Martin: "It seems he wasn't very willing at first, because he was worried that Sir Alex Ferguson would retire and therefore didn't want to come. He believed that Manchester United would be unstable once Sir Alex Ferguson retired."

Rob: "Haha—it's funny how kids worry, but this guy's analytical and predictive abilities are quite strong, especially during the World Cup—"

The two commentators started chatting, and instead of explaining the situation on the field, they unusually changed the subject.

Meanwhile, in the BJ studio in the East, He Wei was partnering with Xu Yang to provide commentary.

He Wei: "This is the second Chinese player to step onto the Premier League Community Shield stage in four years. The last time was on August 13, 2006, when Sun Jihai played for Manchester City in the Community Shield. Unfortunately, Manchester United won the title that year. I hope Manchester United will continue to win this year, and I also hope that Zhang Kuang can score a goal in the match."

Xu Yang: "Yes, let's look forward to Zhang Kuang achieving good results in the Premier League."

He Wei: "Zhang Kuang received the ball on the left wing, and Chelsea's right-back Ivanovic came up to mark him closely. Ivanovic is Serbian, 1.88 meters tall, weighs 85 kilograms, is strong and muscular, and is one of the best right-backs in the Premier League."

Xu Yang: "He thought he could defend against Zhang Kuang, but Zhang Kuang overruled him—"

Yes, the arrogance was immediately activated.

He flicked the ball with his left foot, leaned his body to the left, and pretended to go to the outside. The moment Ivanovic shifted his weight, he arrogantly slashed the ball back, pushed it with his right foot, and cut past it through the inside.

One movement, clean and efficient.

Ivanovic didn't even have time to reach out and pull the person up.

Zhang Kuang entered the penalty area, and Chelsea's center-back Terry came to cover him.

Zhang Kuang didn't slow down, went straight to meet him, changed direction, made Terry lose his balance, and then took a shot.

The ball flew towards the goal like a cannonball.

Cech lunged, but missed.

The ball went into the net.

1: 0.

It was less than a minute into the show.

Zhang Kuang scored a goal.

Martin Taylor: "G00000000000000AL!"

He Wei: "Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Less than a minute into the game, Chinese player Zhang Kuang cut into the penalty area after shaking off Ivanovic in the middle and scored his first goal in the Premier League."

Xu Yang: "That was fast! We were just saying how much we hoped for a goal, and Zhang Kuang scored right after we finished speaking! Congratulations, congratulations—"

Wembley Stadium fell silent for a moment, then erupted in a huge cheer.

He ran wildly to the corner flag and performed his signature Siu celebration, not for any other reason than to tell everyone that he had arrived in the Premier League.

This is his signature celebration move: domineering, arrogant, and irritating.

Rooney was the first to rush over and jump onto Zhang Kuang's back.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Rooney yelled in his ear, "Bro, that was an awesome goal!"

Ferdinand rushed over, then Vidic, then Giggs.

The players surrounded Zhang Kuang, frantically patting his head, shoulders, back, and buttocks.

Zhang Kuang was a little dizzy from being slapped, but he didn't dodge.

Fortunately, no one took pictures of the sensitive areas.

This goal was his greeting gift to Manchester United fans.

On the sidelines, Ferguson stood up, hands in his pockets, expressionless, chewing his gum faster.

But something was burning in his eyes.

Mike Phelan jumped up and waved his fist.

"Jazz! That was a beautiful shot!"

Ferguson: "Too early, too early. I told him to tone it down. Why is he acting so early? I told him to hold back. It's just a Community Shield, it's okay if he loses."

He turned to look at the Chelsea coaching bench.

Ancelotti stood there, mouth slightly agape, with an expression of disbelief yet also a sense of entitlement.

What was he thinking just now?

Thinking, "This Chinese guy is hard to guard against?"

Ferguson's lips curled up slightly.

The transfer window is still open.

But it was too late. Most of the good players had already been picked, so Zhang Kuang had to keep a low profile, even more low profile.

In the first half, Manchester United completely controlled the game.

Zhang Kuang's aggressive breakthroughs on the left wing left Ivanovic and Terry in a sorry state. Every time he got the ball, he created a threat, and every breakthrough tore apart Chelsea's defense.

In the 30th minute, Zhang Kuang broke through on the left wing and crossed the ball. Berbatov received the ball in the penalty area, controlled it, and then unleashed a powerful shot that went straight into the top corner.

2: 0.

Zhang Kuang provided an assist.

In the 43rd minute, Rooney received a through pass from Giggs on the right wing, broke into the penalty area, and unleashed a powerful shot that went between Cech's legs and rolled into the net.

3: 0.

At halftime, Manchester United led Chelsea 3-0.

During halftime, Ferguson glared at Zhang Kuang with a very unfriendly look. Zhang Kuang, who had been smiling, immediately understood what he meant.

I think he's too showy, but he's already been very restrained, otherwise—

In the second half, Chelsea attempted a counter-attack. They realized that Zhang Kuang wasn't as formidable as they thought; they were simply unfamiliar with him in the first half. By halftime, Ancelotti had implemented a new strategy to defend against Zhang Kuang, and he was essentially shut down.

Martin Tyler also said: "It seems that some of our Premier League stars are not very familiar with Zhang's arrogance in the first half, but only at halftime, Zhang from China seems to have felt the power of the Premier League."

Rob: "Haha, yes, he made a few wild runs but failed to get past his marker, but he didn't lose possession either, which is impressive."

.

Martin: "But a striker who can't break through defenses isn't a good striker."

Similarly, in the CCTV-5 broadcast room.

He Wei: "Ancelotti is very skilled. With just a halftime adjustment, he basically cut off the threat of Zhang Guo's arrogance."

Xu Yang: "Actually, the Premier League is adapting to Zhang Kuang, but Zhang Kuang is also adapting to the Premier League. I believe that in less than half a game, Zhang Kuang will adapt to the Premier League just like Chelsea adapted to Zhang Kuang."

He Wei: "Yes, that's right. It's a process of mutual adaptation, and we believe in Zhang Kuang's adaptability—"

In the 60th minute, Joe Cole received a pass from Lampard and slotted the ball into the net from inside the penalty area, pulling one back for Lampard.

3: 1.

This gave Chelsea hope of equalizing and ignited the passion of Chelsea fans.

In the 75th minute, Drogba received the ball in midfield, turned, accelerated, dribbled past two players, broke into the penalty area, and calmly slotted a shot into the far corner past Van der Sar.

3: 2.

This goal infuriated Ferguson. He felt that the players in the midfield and defense were slacking off, knowing that Drogba was a threat, yet still allowing him to receive the ball on his shoulder and break through.

Zhang Kuang then put on a puzzling expression, as if to express helplessness, or perhaps to indicate that there was a good show to watch.

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