: The Premier League kicks off; it's time for Manchester United to make their debut t

Chapter 99: The Premier League kicks off; it's time for Manchester United to make their debut this season.

The news that Zhang Kuang had returned the villa and moved into a hotel spread quickly within Manchester United.

It wasn't because he deliberately flaunted it, but because the whole thing was outrageous enough—a star player for Manchester United not living in a villa…

Why stay in a hotel instead of an apartment?

Moreover, it's a four-star business hotel.

Even more outrageous, he went so far as to explain the benefits of staying at the hotel to reporters: £55,000 a year, including breakfast, cleaning, gym, swimming pool, and security, and you could even file a complaint if you weren't satisfied.

"This kid knows how to do the math better than my CFO. He shouldn't be a player; he should be managing the club's finances." Ferguson sat in his office, watching the arrogant interview reports on TV, his expression complex.

Mike Phelan, standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Sir, do you think he's deliberately trying to save money?"

"Saving money?" Ferguson put down the newspaper, took off his reading glasses, and said, "He earns 150,000 a week, why would he save 55,000? He's not saving money, he's saving trouble, he's lazy."

Ferran thought about it and agreed that it made sense.

Staying in a hotel is indeed convenient; you don't have to pay utility bills, clean the rooms yourself, or worry about security. For an 18-year-old like Zhang Kuang, staying in a hotel is much more comfortable than staying in a villa.

"But, Sir," Ferran hesitated, "he's staying in a hotel, what if he goes out at night—"

Ferguson raised his hand, interrupting him.

"Mike, where do you think he stayed when he was in Auxerre?"

"He lives in a rented apartment in Paris."

"Yes, he's an Auxerre player, yet he lives in Paris, commuting for several hours every day," Ferguson said. "But he scored over thirty goals in half a season. You can't judge this player by conventional standards."

Ferran was stunned.

"And another thing," Ferguson continued, "do you think he stayed in his apartment every night while he was in Auxerre?"

Ferran didn't say anything.

"I know what kind of person he is." Ferguson stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the training ground at Carrington. "But he's a striker, not a goalkeeper. His job is to score goals, not to be a saint."

As long as he scores goals on the field, I don't care where he lives, who he lives with, or what time he goes to bed. Ferran, I'm old. Now all I want is to win the treble again; I have no desire to be a player's babysitter anymore.

Ferran nodded and said nothing more.

Ferguson was right. A football coach isn't a high school homeroom teacher; he can't control the players' private lives. All he can control is the training ground and the match field, and besides, he's really getting old.

The rest is up to the players themselves.

"Oh, right," Ferguson turned around, "have Zhang Kuang come to my office after training today."

"What's up?"

"It's nothing serious, I just want to talk to him."

After training, Zhang Kuang changed his clothes and knocked on Ferguson's office door.

"Come in."

Ferguson sat behind his desk with a cup of tea and an open tactics notebook in front of him.

"sit."

Zhang Kuang sat down in the chair, his expression calm.

Ferguson looked at him for a few seconds and then spoke.

"Zhang, I saw on the news that you gave up your villa and moved to a hotel?"

"Yes, Boss." Zhang Kuang nodded, "The DoubleTree by Hilton, the one in Swindon."

"I know that place." Ferguson picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Are you settling in well?"

"It's great, the service is attentive, and the facilities are complete. The gym is open 24 hours a day, and the swimming pool is heated. The key thing is that the front desk can help me with a lot of things, such as receiving packages, so I don't have to wait at home by myself."

Ferguson nearly choked on his tea.

"You moved to a hotel just to make it easier to receive packages?"

"Not entirely," Zhang Kuang thought for a moment, "It's mainly about convenience. No need to pay water and electricity bills, no need to pay property management fees, no need to buy furniture, no need to hire cleaning staff. The hotel has everything; just bring your bags and check in, and leave."

Ferguson put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Zhang Kuang.

"Zhang, tell me the truth, did you move to a hotel to save yourself trouble, or for some other reason?"

Zhang Kuang blinked: "Others? What do you mean, Boss?"

Ferguson stared at him for three seconds, then shook his head.

"Never mind, I won't ask anymore." He waved his hand. "I didn't call you here to check your background. I just wanted to tell you that the new season has started, and my requirement for you is simple: score goals."

"I don't care where you live or what you do at night, as long as you score goals on the field, I don't care about anything else. But—"

He paused, his tone becoming serious.

"There's one bottom line: it can't affect training, it can't affect matches. If your performance declines because of your personal life, I will not hesitate to bench you, no matter how many goals you've scored. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Boss."

"Go out."

Zhang Kuang stood up and walked to the door, but Ferguson called him back.

"By the way, Zhang."

"Um?

'

"Your way of calculating the bill—is quite clever indeed." Ferguson's lips curled up slightly. "Fifty-five thousand a year, much cheaper than my house in Cheshire."

Zhang laughed wildly: "Boss, if you're interested, I can get you a group-buying price."

"roll."

Zhang Kuang emerged from Ferguson's office with a smile still on his lips.

It wasn't because Ferguson didn't pursue the matter of his hotel stay, but because he gleaned a deeper meaning from Ferguson's words:

This old man no longer cares about his private life.

As long as he can score a goal.

To outsiders, this might seem like leniency, but to Zhang Kuang, it was Ferguson's recognition of his abilities. A head coach might turn a blind eye to certain things, provided the player is worthy of it.

Zhang Kuang felt that he deserved it.

Over the next few days, Zhang Kuang lived a very regular life at the Carrington base.

Training is in the morning, and tactics are in the afternoon. Tactics lessons mainly involve watching video recordings in the tactics room.

On the training field, his teamwork with his teammates is improving rapidly.

Especially with Rooney.

After those two "special arrangements," Rooney's attitude towards arrogance changed from "admiration" to "unwavering devotion."

During training, he actively sought out Zhang Kuang to cooperate more and more frequently, and the tacit understanding between the two in passing and running became better and better.

"Brother, how did you know I'd make that through ball from that position today?" After training, Rooney put his arm around Zhang Kuang's shoulder, looking incredulous.

"Because you always run in that direction, I'm not blind," Zhang Kuang said casually.

"Damn, are you praising me or insulting me?"

"I'm impressed. Your positioning awareness is world-class, but sometimes your first touch on the ball is like stopping a grenade."

Rooney thought about it and realized that it didn't seem like he was being praised.

Pogba has also been getting much closer to arrogance lately.

After being "taught a lesson" by Zhang Kuang, Pogba was initially a little resentful. But in the following days of training, he discovered that every time he passed the ball to Zhang Kuang, Zhang Kuang could handle it perfectly—whether it was receiving the ball with his back to goal, or passing it with one touch.

His ability to break through and shoot is still impressive; his ball-handling skills far surpass those of the other forwards on the team.

This gave Pogba the feeling that "this guy is worth passing the ball to."

This feeling is very important for a midfielder.

When you feel the striker isn't good enough for your pass, you'll subconsciously choose a safer passing route rather than risk a through ball. But when you know the striker can handle the ball, you're willing to take the risk.

This is what is known as a "chemical reaction".

"Paul!" During training, Zhang Kuang dropped back to receive the ball, held off Ferdinand, passed it to Pogba who was making a run forward, and then turned and charged into the penalty area.

Pogba received the ball and, without hesitation, played a through ball over Vidic's head, landing precisely on Vidic's running path.

Zhang Kuang met the ball with a furious shot, but the ball bounced off the crossbar.

"Damn!" Zhang cursed wildly, then turned to Pogba and gave him a thumbs up. "Good pass! Pass like that again next time!"

Pogba smiled.

It was a genuine, heartfelt laugh that was appreciated.

After training, Zhang Kuang drove back to the hotel.

DoubleTree by Hilton Swindon Hotel.

He walked through the lobby, greeted the receptionist, and swiped his card to enter the elevator.

When he arrived at his floor, he first knocked on the hidden door next door: three short knocks followed by one long knock, the code.

The door opened, and it was Lim Al-Hassan who opened it.

"You're back?" Lim stepped aside to let him in.

Zhang Kuang entered the room and saw Rama and Arya sitting on the sofa, with several books and a laptop spread out on the coffee table in front of them.

"Doing homework?" Zhang Kuang leaned over for a look.

"A thesis." Rama didn't even look up. "The economics requirements at the University of Manchester are very high. Do you think it's like you football players, where you just run on the field for ninety minutes and that's it?"

"We get tired from playing football too, you know?" Zhang Kuang plopped down on the sofa. "I ran more than twelve kilometers today, which is more tiring than you guys going shopping."

"We're not running around while we're shopping." Arya looked up at him. "How was your training today?"

"It's alright, Ferguson spoke with me."

"What are you talking about?"

"What's the point of talking? The important thing is whether we can start exercising now? Time is running out —"

The University of Manchester's economics program is ranked among the top 50 globally, and those who get in are generally quite intelligent. These three girls not only got in, but they also received full scholarships—which suggests they come from wealthy families and are highly intelligent. Of course, it's also possible they got in through donations, but that's also an option.

Rama Al-Khabi, whose surname contains "Khabi," has an unmistakable significance in the UAE and Abu Dhabi area.

Arya bint Faisal, "Bint" means "daughter of someone" and "Faisal" is a common name for descendants of the founding monarch of Saudi Arabia. This girl is most likely from a collateral branch of the Saudi royal family.

Lim al-Hassan, "Al-Hassan" is the surname of the Jordanian royal family, a descendant of the Hashemite family.

Three girls, three powerful Middle Eastern families.

When Zhang Kuang first learned the meaning of their surnames, he was taken aback. However, he quickly came to terms with it; no matter how powerful these girls were, they were all obedient to him.

8 month 16 day.

Old Trafford Stadium.

In the first round of the Premier League, Manchester United will host Newcastle 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.

The starting lineup was exactly the same as in the previous two warm-up matches and the Community Shield.

He finally used the 4-3-3 formation again. In the past two years, he has generally used the 4-2-3-1 formation. The 4-2-3-1 formation seems to be a more balanced formation in terms of offense and defense, but in reality, it is a formation with insufficient offensive firepower. It is precisely because of the insufficient offensive firepower that more defense is needed.

Back in the day, when he dominated with his 4-3-3 formation, it was the 2004-05 season when Rooney, Ronaldo, and Van Nistelrooy were all firing on all cylinders. He was so glorious back then, dominating the field.

After Van Nistelrooy left and Tevez arrived, they played a 4-2-3-1 formation for a while, but mainly used a 4-3-3 formation. Later, when Ronaldo and Tevez both left, Manchester United started to use a 4-2-3-1 formation as their main formation.

Why is this happening? It's because we can't seem to find the right three strikers in a 4-3-3 formation, so we have to keep using the single striker from the 4-2-3-1 formation.

It has been proven that a three-striker formation is essential for winning the championship.

Barcelona, ​​who have dominated in recent years, use a 4-3-3 formation with three forwards: Messi, Ibrahimovic, and Henry. Real Madrid, which is currently resurging, also uses a three-forward formation: Ronaldo, Higuain, and Benzema.

Inter Milan, who had just won the Champions League, were also using a modified 4-3-3 formation under Mourinho. His so-called 4-3-1-2 simply changed the three forwards to two forwards plus an attacking midfielder. Sneijder, as an attacking midfielder, was not as good as a real forward.

The 4-3-3 formation isn't a magic bullet; it doesn't guarantee a championship. However, the secret to winning isn't hard to crack. Having three attacking players in the front line certainly creates more firepower and makes it easier to win. The real challenge lies in finding the right players.

With Rooney, Arrogance, and Berbatov, Manchester United can now play a super attacking formation with three forwards.

Ferguson made no changes to the previously established formation, which was reasonable and unsurprising.

"I don't want to win this game," Ferguson said, standing in front of the tactics board and looking at his players. "Winning against Newcastle is the basic requirement in this stadium."

What I need is fluidity. I want to see your teamwork, the movement of the ball, and the layering of your attack.

His self-shine swept over the arrogant Rooney and Berbatov.

"Today I want to see the chemistry between the three of you forming a trident. Zhang, you're on the left wing, don't keep charging into the penalty area."

Sometimes he drops back to receive the ball, sometimes he cuts inside to shoot, and sometimes he crosses from the byline. The more varied his moves, the harder it is for the opponent to defend.

Zhang Kuang nodded.

"Rooney, you're on the right wing. Move further inwards and form a triangle with Zhang and Berbatov. Don't stick to the wing too much; your threat is in the penalty area."

Rooney grunted in response.

"Berbatov, you're in the middle, not a target man. Drop back to receive the ball, draw the center-backs out, and create space for Zhang and Rooney. You need to utilize your technical advantages."

Berbatov nodded gracefully, his movements as slow as if he were practicing Tai Chi.

"Alright," Ferguson clapped his hands, "Go out and show Newcastle what a new season of Manchester United looks like."

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