Following the Community Shield at the start of the season, United have once again set foot at Wembley Stadium, the hall that symbolizes the pinnacle of English football. In Sunday's League Cup final, Manchester United drew the home team and will wear a red home shirt in the final.
When Fu Jue heard this news, he would definitely smile. And I remembered the past more than a decade ago, which has now become legendary.
In April 1996, United won 11 in 12 games, reversing Newcastle's 12-point lead and reaching the top as a visitor to Southampton's old home, Dale Stadium. At that time, the Saints were only relegation teams, plagued by the danger of relegation every year, which seemed like a one-sided game.
The first half confirmed this prediction, but I did not expect that one side was turned to the home team Southampton. Moncu, Shepley and star Leti Shire scored three goals without ending the half. United had to make a change, and Furs replaced Nicky Bart with Scholes, but he felt it wasn't enough and set his sights on the shirt United was wearing for the match.
Due to the home team wearing a red and white stripe shirt, the Red Devils United changed into a gray away shirt for this game. Furjue decided that in the fierce sunlight, the gray would make the players invisible to each other.
10 years later, Lee Sharp recalled in an interview with the British "Guardian": "I am not sure if any players have mentioned the problem of jerseys, my personal feeling is mainly that we played too badly, we really can't blame anyone, or blame anything, we can only blame ourselves." ”
Furjue disagreed, and he immediately instructed all players to change their blue-and-white second away jerseys. "The manager rushed into the dressing room and said, 'Take off your jerseys and change one,'" Sharp said, "and that was the first thing he said at half-time. ”
At the start of the second half, the spectators at Dale Field almost couldn't believe their eyes. The opponent in the grey jersey was gone, and the Red Devils' performance did improve, with Ryan Giggs scoring a comforting goal, but Southampton still won 3-1.
And, for violating the rules of changing clothes at half-time, United were fined £10,000 by the FA. Much later, Furjue joked, "That's the £10,000 I've spent the most." But at the end of the game, the old man was not in such a mood, he stressed that this was the player's initiative and angrily denied that changing jerseys was a superstitious act.
"Players don't like gray jerseys, players can't see their teammates. They say they look up when they hold the ball, and it's hard to see their teammates if they're too far away. This has nothing to do with superstition. Our club has not won the league for 26 years, why haven't we changed out of our red shirts? So there's nothing to do with that. ”
The Southampton players who won the game did not like this tidbit even more, and the goal maker Leticher even said that he did not pay attention to the opponent's shirt during the game. "Honestly, I didn't learn after the game that they had changed their jerseys and a reporter stopped me in the parking lot and asked the question. Before that, I didn't know anything, that sounds quite absurd, after all, the change is not small! ”
Leticher believes that this is a means for The Lord to reduce the pressure on the players. "It's probably the worst excuse I've ever heard, and it's definitely the manager wanting to ease the pressure on the players. In the first half, we blew them up, which was incredible. I remember they scored a face-saving goal in stoppage time, but it had nothing to do with the shirt. ”
United's defeat allowed Newcastle to close the gap to three points, but the Red Devils won all three games and won the Premier League.
At Wembley on Sunday, United will be draped in the familiar red, so Mourinho doesn't have to think about superstition or not, but he has more difficult problems.
First, who will replace Mkhitaryan?
The goal against Saint-Etienne was his third goal in the last six games, and Mickey had superb assists against Blackburn and Leicester City, combing the attack in the No. 10 position. However, after straining a hamstring in France, the madman said he did not have a chance to play in Sunday's game, and Manchester United have a number of players who can play in the front, but none of them can fully fill messi's role.
One of the candidates is Rooney, who is deeply involved in the transfer rumors of the Chinese Super League. He missed the last five games with a muscle injury but has resumed training this week. If Mourinho is going to surprise, Lu is one of the options. However, other options seem to be more competitive, Mata, 2 goals and 1 assist in the last 4 games, with Martial, Rashford and other options on the left and right, Mata can return to the middle.
Carrick can play, but it seems that the impact on United is not as great as previously thought. However, in the 20 games this season, Manchester United have won 15, drawn 4 and lost 1, with a winning rate of 75%; without him, 12 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses, with a winning rate of 55%, there is still a clear difference.
Carrick's role is to stabilize the attack and defense, and he has a 91% pass success rate. In the case that Kashin does not have to be injured, Mourinho needs to make a choice: attack, can use Herrera to partner Pogba, and then go to the front waist; balanced, then Meng La, Poba and Carrick three midfielders.
With the recent performances of Manchester United centre-backs, it seems that the three midfielders are safer. Because Southampton new signing Gabiardini, as well as the semi-final goal against Liverpool's Nansen Raymond have a certain attacking power.
Smalling has long proven that he can short-circuit at any time, and the young Bai is sometimes frizzy and adventurous. After the injuries of Phil Jones and Rojo, in the last month, Bai made all four starts to help the team not concede goals.
However, two yellow cards at Saint-Etienne reflect his 22-year-old character. Mourinho stressed that the second yellow card was too harsh, but in the case of a big lead, Bai played too aggressively, he was sent off for half an hour, but still ranked first in the team with 5 fouls, in the final, this recklessness is not advisable.
As for the attack, the Saints' main centre-back Van Dijk is absent, and the gap between the centre-backs will be the area where Ibrahimovic controls the victory or defeat.
Details may determine the outcome of the League Cup. Of course, this does not include the jersey color!