Chapter 86 Ten Hag’s mentality is really broken
Newcastle’s victory by chance really left Manchester City and Arsenal fans helpless.

Compared to when the lineup was intact, Newcastle has now given their opponents many opportunities.

When playing against mid- and lower-level teams in the league such as Wolves and Nottingham Forest, Newcastle was unable to achieve absolute dominance in the game.

But Li Chen was able to simply give up the ball when necessary during the game, lowering his posture and fighting a positional battle with his opponents.

In terms of defense, even if the Newcastle team coached by Li Chen faces many problems with the rotation of main players, it can still have a defensive strength that is among the top six in the league thanks to a group of strong substitute players.

With Chris Wood, a reliable center forward, Li Chen used an ordinary crossing style to break through the opponent’s defense.

As for the sharp decline in offensive efficiency and finishing efficiency in front of the goal?

This is not a problem for Li Chen, as long as he is taller than his opponent.

Newcastle, who are capable of high pressure and are also good at patiently fighting positional battles, have taught their competitors a good lesson.

Supporters of Manchester City and Arsenal can only hope that Manchester United, who will face Newcastle in the FA Cup, can consume more of Newcastle’s game form.

No matter how well these Newcastle rotation players perform, they lack sufficient game time to get used to each other. They can’t keep winning like their main players, right?
Some Manchester United fans actually have similar ideas.

It was normal for them to lose when Newcastle had their full lineup before.

But now almost half of Newcastle’s main players are injured.

They tried their best. Even if they could win the FA Cup within 90 minutes, it would be good if they could drag the game into overtime or even a penalty shootout.

At least there is real hope of beating Newcastle.

Unfortunately, just as they were looking forward to it, several pieces of news reported by Newcastle officials directly extinguished their hopes of winning.

Madison and Guimaraes, who had missed two league games due to a viral flu, have returned to the team two days in advance to participate in joint training.

The extent of Trippier’s muscle injury remains to be seen, but veteran Pepe has also participated in team training and is likely to start in the next FA Cup match.

In addition, Ronaldo has been resting for almost two weeks, so he definitely has no physical problems at the moment…

Manchester United fans almost felt their brains deprived of oxygen when they thought of Newcastle’s upcoming starting lineup for the FA Cup.

The most fortunate thing for them now is that they don’t need to be anxious for too long.

Because the day after the 28th round of the Premier League ended, all Newcastle players arrived in Manchester.

At 16:30 on the afternoon of March 1th, Manchester United played against Newcastle at home in this season’s FA Cup quarter-finals.

Newcastle, with all its main players fielded today, changed its cautious attitude in the previous two rounds of the league and confidently launched an offensive against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

After seeing this scene, many fans subconsciously thought that Li Chen deliberately made such tactical arrangements in order to continue to embarrass Manchester United at Old Trafford.

But for Li Chen this was really just a coincidence.

Even before the draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals, he had already established a plan with the coaching staff to continue rotating the players in the next two rounds of the league.

It’s just that the sudden wave of injuries has increased the scope of their rotation.

He simply gave Ronaldo a short vacation so that he could recharge his energy as soon as possible and maintain his form in the more important championship sprint stage.

It was a complete coincidence that the team faced Manchester United right after the main players returned. Li Chen is not that petty.

Besides, he felt more regret and relief about not being able to continue coaching Manchester United, and there was no resentment at all.

Manchester United can only blame themselves for being unlucky. Every time they meet Newcastle this season, they happen to be in the prime of Newcastle’s form.

After this round of the FA Cup, the two teams will meet in the next 29th round of the Premier League. It’s all fate…

I don’t know if Ten Hag lost his temper after being beaten by Li Chen twice in a row, so he simply chose a defensive counterattack tactic in this FA Cup match.

There was no active attacking attempt at all, and Manchester United showed only passivity and helplessness on the field.

If Newcastle’s main players have not returned yet, Li Chen would have a headache facing Manchester United’s tactical stance.

The rotation lineup he leads also lacks offensive creativity and is better at defensive counterattacks.

But after the main players returned, the entire Newcastle team liked the way Manchester United gave up control.

On the left side there is Marcelo, a veteran in attack, and on the right side of the midfield there is Madison, the core of the offensive organization.

With Joelinton and Guimaraes sitting in the middle and taking turns dribbling forward, Newcastle has no shortage of offensive creativity and the ability to pass the ball forward.

Just after the first twenty minutes of the first half, the Newcastle team had already completed seven effective shots!

After returning to the main lineup, Ronaldo was in full swing and contributed five shots alone. This state really made countless fans dumbfounded.

Ten Hag became anxious again early on on the sidelines.

He instructed the team to give up offensive control first in order to better counterattack Newcastle.

It’s not to let the team be pinned to the ground and beaten by Newcastle without being able to fight back!
In a hurry, he immediately made tactical adjustments, signaling the Manchester United players gathered in the backcourt to expand the defense line as much as possible to curb Newcastle’s continuous offensive.

But this is a difficult defensive task for Sabitzer and McTominay, who started as double defensive midfielders today.

Neither of them is a traditional defensive midfielder. The reason they were able to start together in this game today was purely because of Casemiro and Eriksen’s injuries.

Maguire, who was behind them at the moment, also got the chance to start because of Varane and Lisandro Martinez’s injuries.

Without a reliable defensive midfielder to support the midfield, Maguire and Lindelof both had a hard time playing.

Now Ten Hag is asking them to cooperate with the two unreliable defensive midfielders to complete the task of stealing the ball, which is not realistic at all.

But the coach has already given the order, and no matter how difficult the task is, they can only bite the bullet and go for it.

However, the consequence of forcibly expanding the defense line was that Manchester United not only failed to efficiently regain the ball, but also lost the advantage of its original dense and heavy defense.

As soon as Li Chen saw the opportunity, he decisively adjusted the offensive tactics, signaling Ronaldo and Havertz to move away and rush behind Manchester United’s defense.

After resting for two weeks, Ronaldo performed much more agilely than usual in today’s game.

The dual recovery of physical fitness and game status made his running posture much lighter.

The seemingly small increase in speed was enough for Ronaldo to face Manchester United’s heavy defense today. In the 26th minute of the first half, Ronaldo found the right time on the left rib and started quickly, bursting into Manchester United’s penalty area without the ball!
Maddison, who was protecting the ball and running sideways, made a long pass over the top, helping Ronaldo, who had left Lindelof half a body away, to get a chance to shoot!
Facing his former teammate De Gea, Ronaldo did not give the opponent a chance to perform and made a very decisive shot through the crotch.

De Gea, who was already prepared to block Ronaldo’s shot from the near corner, was finally shaken by Ronaldo and lost his temper.

Before he could even get down to block the ball, the football had already passed between his legs and rolled into the goal behind him!
Ronaldo was in a very happy mood when he saw the ball cross the line, but he still did not choose to celebrate at Old Trafford.

Li Chen also just stood up from the coaching seat and clapped, without doing any other celebration actions.

Both he and Ronaldo chose to give respect to Manchester United fans.

But the Newcastle fans who travelled with the team had no such concerns and celebrated happily at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag was quite dissatisfied with the goal conceded by the team, but he remained cool-headed and did not immediately signal the team to launch a full-scale attack.

After the game resumed, Li Chen saw that Manchester United had no intention of strengthening its offensive, and also signaled Madison to control the pace of the game on the court and not rush to attack.

Manchester United didn’t want to give Newcastle the opportunity to expand their lead, so he controlled the midfield and saw how long Manchester United could hold on.

Playing in this kind of cup competition where the outcome is decided in one round, Li Chen is very patient under the long-term influence of Mourinho.

Ten Hag was just thinking too much if he wanted to play this kind of tactical trick on him.

Sure enough, after the half-time break and almost ten minutes into the second half, seeing that Newcastle was still not getting the hang of it, Ten Hag had to make a decision.

After the fifth round of the FA Cup, there is only one round left, and there is no room for error at all.

If he doesn’t want to be eliminated from the FA Cup by Newcastle, he must seize the time to direct the team’s offense, try to equalize the score and drag the game into overtime.

Manchester United’s players on the field obviously also know that the team’s only remaining hope of winning the championship this season is about to be shattered.

If they can’t score, then everything is over. But if they can overcome the huge obstacle of Newcastle, they will increase their hopes of winning the championship trophy this season.

At this time, being rational and retreating will only bring them worse results. Only by bravely moving forward can they fight for a chance of survival!
The Manchester United team quickly unified their tactical thinking and gave it their all amid the cheers of the home Red Devils fans.

But Li Chen, who saw that Manchester United wanted to use physical strength to exchange for the game situation in advance, was still not fooled.

Following his signal, Newcastle’s players on the field continued to control the game patiently.

Marcelo and Elanga, who moved inwards to assist in passing the ball, provided Newcastle’s midfielders with more passing options.

The stable passing of the ball by Guevadiol and Ramos in the back line made Manchester United’s frontcourt players waste their energy in repeated rushes.

In the 65th minute of the second half, Madison retreated to receive the ball and suddenly sent a counterattack long diagonal pass that accurately found Ronaldo who was running near the center line!
The experienced Portuguese superstar first received the ball and retreated, then turned sideways and accelerated with the ball. After attracting the double-team defense of Manchester United players, he was satisfied and passed the ball to the left in front of him.

Marcelo, who was moving down the wing with tacit understanding, did not choose to cross the ball hastily, but instead sent a powerful cross towards Manchester United’s chaotic penalty area near the baseline!
Even if such a pass cannot be delivered to the feet of our own players, it will still be a difficult defensive problem for Manchester United’s defenders.

One careless move could easily result in an own goal, so the central defender who wants to intercept the ball must have a big heart.

Maguire bravely tried to intercept the ball with his foot, and he was indeed not afraid of public criticism.

But the speed of the ball is still half a step faster than his kicking speed.

He failed to touch the ball, and Havertz who followed up at the back post gave both him and De Gea a scare!

However, I don’t know whether Marcelo’s pass was too forceful or Havertz’s shot lacked some precision.

The football shot by the German striker finally hit the post and bounced back into Manchester United’s penalty area!

Amid the chaotic defense of Manchester United defenders, Maddison, who got the ball first, dribbled past Lindelof with a beautiful fake shot.

Madison, who had already had a chance to shoot, boldly tried to change direction and dribble past Dalot who came to defend.

The result was that Dalot, who was a little slow in kicking the ball, became the sinner of the entire Manchester United team.

“Beep!!!”

Seeing Dalot tripping Madison, the referee trotted in front of the two of them and raised a yellow card at Dalot, pointing to the penalty spot, awarding Newcastle a penalty opportunity!
The Manchester United fans at the scene were naturally unhappy and booed loudly at the referee who sentenced Manchester United to death!

And Ronaldo once again stood on the penalty spot holding the football.

He tapped the grass near the penalty spot with his foot, put the ball down heavily, pressed the ground firmly, and then took measured steps back.

De Gea stood in front of the goal with his arms open, but Ronaldo did not look at him, he just put his hands on his hips and looked at the referee.

Soon, as the whistle sounded, Ronaldo took a deep breath, looked forward, took a big step forward, and completed a powerful shot!

The football was kicked firmly towards the upper left corner of the goal, and De Gea also predicted the direction of Ronaldo’s penalty kick in the first time.

But the speed of the ball was so fast that it whizzed into the goal behind him like a cannonball!
After successfully scoring twice, Ronaldo pursed his lips and raised his hand to apologize again.

He doesn’t want to hurt Manchester United, but as a professional player and a striker, scoring goals is his job.

He has to be worth every penny of the salary Newcastle offers him.

The Manchester United fans at Old Trafford were heartbroken when they saw Ronaldo score again.

They were unable to boo Ronaldo for choosing not to celebrate, so they could only turn around and vent their anger on their own coaching bench.

But Ten Hag didn’t show any expression at this moment.

He just sat silently in the coaching booth, watching the mess of the game, and had to experience the cruel reality of being eliminated from the England domestic cup by Li Chen again.

Li Chen has blocked the team’s path to winning the League Cup and FA Cup, and it will be difficult for the team to compete for the top four in the subsequent leagues.

Ten Hag, who was full of confidence at the beginning of the season and believed that he could lead Manchester United on the right track, has now been taught a hard lesson by several professional competitions in England.

It turns out that he is not the protagonist who saves Manchester United.

His many years of tactical experience learning from Guardiola is not enough for him to play in the Premier League now.

Li Chen defeated him three times head-on and told him who was the real tactical genius and team-building genius.

It was as if a taut string in my heart broke at this moment.

That was Ten Hag’s mental breakdown.

(End of this chapter)