London, Chelsea Club, CEO Peter Kenyon's office.

"Peter, did you do this?"

As soon as Mourinho arrived at the club, he immediately found Peter Kenyon.

Today he was blocked at the door by reporters and asked a bunch of incomprehensible questions.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and didn't say anything. He just smiled and ran away.

"whats the matter?"

Peter Kenyon was stunned by Mourinho's question. He had just arrived at the club, and Mourinho barged in before his chair was warm.

"Look at this."

Mourinho handed over the newspaper in his hand.

Peter Kenyon took the newspaper and read it, then understood what Mourinho meant, smiled and shook his head.

"No. Chelsea won't get any benefit from doing this. If it is discovered, it will affect Crouch's transfer. There is no need."

"Strange. Could it be that Manchester United really did it? With such an obvious flaw, others can tell at a glance that Manchester United is the biggest beneficiary. Shouldn't the methods of a veteran like Ferguson be so rough?"

Seeing Peter Kenyon's denial, Mourinho was immediately confused.

"Haha, José, regardless of whether Manchester United directs or acts on its own, at least the damage to the Crystal Palace is inevitable. Isn't this a good thing for us?"

Seeing Mourinho still struggling with who was behind this incident, Peter Kenyon reminded him.

Yes, Peter Kenyon is right. Stopping the rise of Crystal Palace is one of his goals now, isn't it?

As for who is the mastermind behind this matter, does it matter?

Peter Kenyon woke up the dreamer with a few words. After Mourinho thought clearly, he immediately got out of the corner.

"Peter, now that Crouch's matter has been put on the table, there is no need for us to hide it anymore. We can go directly to the Crystal Palace and try to get him at a cheap price."

"No problem, leave it to me."

On the other side of London, Arsenal FC, Wenger's office.

"Boss, everything you asked has been done. Judging from the media reaction today, the effect is very good."

Arsenal assistant coach Pat Rice placed a thick stack of newspapers in front of Wenger.

"Very good, there are no flaws exposed."

Wenger asked Pat Rice while flipping through the newspapers in front of him.

"Don't worry, there will definitely be no problem. The reporter I'm looking for is an old friend who has been working with us for many years and is absolutely reliable."

"Oh, there is no other way."

Wenger sighed and put down the newspaper in his hand.

"Pat, for a long time in the future, our Arsenal's funds will be tied up in the new stadium project. You must be mentally prepared to live a hard life."

"Boss, is it so serious?"

Pat Rice was also surprised when he heard Wenger's sigh.

He is only an assistant coach and is not qualified to have access to Arsenal's core secrets.

"It's more serious than you think. The budget for the new stadium has increased again and now stands at £470 million."

"Why has it increased again? How can the team have money to buy people if this continues?"

"Buying someone? Haha, Pat, I'll be lucky if I don't sell someone in the future."

"Boss, the contracts of many players in the team are about to expire. Especially captain Vieira, we must renew his contract as soon as possible."

"We have started talking, but the situation is not optimistic. The contract that the club can offer is far from what Patrick wants. If we can't reach an agreement, then we will have to sell Patrick next summer."

"how so?"

Pat Rice couldn't believe his ears. Didn't Arsenal win the double championship last season? How could they be reduced to selling their captain?

Such a huge gap was hard for Pat Rice to accept for a while.

"Pat, in the next few years, Arsenal's strength may be weakened. Therefore, we must do everything we can to slow down our opponents' progress, lest we be left too far behind. Do you understand?"

"......Understood."

No matter how many swords and swords are under the table, football still has to be judged on the field.

Before the team set off for Manchester, Chen Ran specially called the players together.

Except for Crouch, he was not included in the squad because of Chen Ran.

"Guys, I know that the news about Crouch's transfer has been spreading in the past two days. I believe you have probably heard about it."

Having said this, Chen Ran paused and looked around at each team member.

"Unfortunately, this matter is true."

"I very much hope to witness the rise of this great club with each of you. Unfortunately, some people are too impatient and unwilling to wait a little longer."

"I solemnly promise you here that as long as anyone is willing to stay and grow with the club, I will not treat him badly."

"Honor, money, nothing less!"

"Will you believe me?"

"willing!"

"Boss, of course we believe you."

"Don't worry, boss, I'm committed to you."

"I'm not Crouch."

...

Seeing that although the team members were not uniform, they responded firmly, Chen Ran felt a little relieved.

The current hurdle has finally been overcome for the time being.

Fortunately, most of the Crystal Palace players are young people, so there are not so many twists and turns, and they are relatively easy to handle.

As for what happens in the future, let’s take it one step at a time.

People's hearts are fickle, so who can predict what will happen in the future?

Because it was an away game, so many messy things happened.

So for the sake of caution, Chen Ran still adopted Simeone's defensive counterattack tactics.

center toney

Left midfielder Ronaldo, right midfielder Franck Ribery

Defensive midfielder Yaya Toure, defensive midfielder Modric, defensive midfielder Simeone

Left back Chiellini, center back Thiago Silva, center back Vidic, right back Maicon

Cech

As for Manchester United, Ferguson naturally played with all the main players.

Forward Ruud van Nistelrooy,Forward Rooney

Left midfielder Giggs, central midfielder Keane, central midfielder Scholes, right midfielder Fletcher

Left back Heinze, center back Sylvester, center back Ferdinand, right back Gary Neville

goalkeeper carroll

Before the game, Chen Ran took the initiative to shake hands with Ferguson as usual.

Looking at the young man in front of him, Ferguson also sighed with emotion: This Chinese boy has grown up so fast.

"Young man, if I say that the Crouch incident was not leaked by Manchester United, would you believe it?"

"Of course I believe that Sir Alex Ferguson would not use such despicable means to deal with the little Crystal Palace."

Chen Ran smiled all over his face, held Ferguson's hand tightly, and turned around slightly to give reporters a camera angle.

"good."

Ferguson nodded and said hello meaningfully.

As the referee blew his whistle, the highlight of the 18th round of the Premier League, Crystal Palace's away game against Manchester United, officially began.

Because Chen Ran adopted Simeone's defensive counterattack tactics, at the beginning of the game, except for Toni, all other Crystal Palace players shrank back to their own half.

However, Manchester United did not aggressively attack.

Because Ferguson knows that although they are also shrinking their defense, the Crystal Palace in this game and the Crystal Palace in the League Cup are not the same team.

In that game, Simeone had only substitutes and young players, who could only defend but had no ability to counterattack.

As for the Crystal Palace in this game, except for Southgate who was absent due to injury, they basically had the entire main lineup.

Crystal Palace's counterattack ability has been notoriously sharp since the beginning of the British Championship.

Therefore, even if Crystal Palace is shrinking its defense now, Ferguson does not dare to let Manchester United's formation be too pressing, for fear of being attacked by Crystal Palace.

Ferguson used the defensive weapon and did not dare to let go of the attack, which naturally made Crystal Palace's defense much easier.

Seeing this situation, Chen Ran on the sidelines could probably guess what Ferguson was thinking.

However, he always likes to strike from behind and has no plans to change his formation now.

After all, since Crouch can't play, he can't use the twin tower tactics now.

Guardiola's tactics consume too much physical energy and if used too early, he is worried that he will not last until the end of the game.

Therefore, the first half of the game between Crystal Palace and Manchester United went on so smoothly and smoothly. It was so drowsy to watch that it did not reflect the style of these two strong teams at all.

"What's going on? What kind of game is this? Is this still a game between two strong teams? It's not as exciting as a game between two relegation teams."

Because it is the highlight of this round of games, Old Trafford attracted many reporters to watch the game today, and now some people can't help but complain.

"Don't worry. The Chinese guy from Crystal Palace is good at attacking from behind. When he changes formation, he usually does it after halftime."

"That's right. Now both sides are testing their opponents. The Crystal Palace players today are all main players. I guess Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't dare to be careless."

"Exactly. This is the Premier League, not the League Cup. Crystal Palace will not let Manchester United down again. I think Sir Alex Ferguson also knows this."

"If Manchester United loses to Crystal Palace again today, then no one will really be able to stop the Chinese from winning the championship this season."

"Don't be so pessimistic. The league is not even halfway through and there are so many games left. Who knows what will happen."

"You're right. Isn't this what the news about Crouch's transfer has been like in the past two days? This shows that someone has already been tempted to attack Crystal Palace. Let's just wait and see the good show."

...

The first half was as dull as a glass of boiled water. The two teams entered the halftime break with a score of 0:0.

Crystal Palace dressing room.

"Bah bang bang!"

Chen Ran clapped his hands and attracted the attention of the team members.

"Guys, did you have a good first half?"

"Hahaha......"

"It's the same thing again, boss, why don't you use some new words."

"That's right, boss, just tell us what we should do in the second half."

There was a burst of laughter, and the team members had already figured out Chen Ran's routine by now.

"Well, it looks like you guys can't wait any longer."

"Yaya, we are going to launch an attack in the second half. You should come down and take a rest first."

"Okay, boss." Yaya Toure nodded in response.

"Sesk."

"Boss, I'm here."

When he heard Chen Ran calling his name, Fabregas raised his right hand in a funny manner, as if he was still a student in class.

"You replace Yaya and play as a defensive midfielder."

"clear."

"Little Luca."

"Boss, I'm here."

Modric emerged from the corner.

"In the second half, your position becomes an attacking midfielder, do you understand?"

"Understood."

"In the second half, the team's tactics changed to Guardiola, Cesc and Luca Jr. When you distribute the ball, you focus on taking care of Manchester United's right midfielder Fletcher. He is weaker and easier to break through."

"Okay, guys, today we are going to win Manchester United to prove to everyone that no one can stop our Crystal Palace progress. Do you have confidence?"

"have!"

The loud reply echoed in the locker room, deafening.

At the beginning of the second half, Ferguson saw Crystal Palace replace Mascherano with Cesc Fabregas.

Now Chen Ran's substitution routine has been studied repeatedly by countless people.

As soon as he saw this substitution, Ferguson knew that Crystal Palace was about to change its formation.

Because Crouch didn't come to Manchester today, Ferguson didn't have to worry about Crystal Palace's twin-tower tactics.

Now, he expected that Chen Ran's change of formation would definitely adopt the high-position pressing and short-pass penetration style.

Therefore, Ferguson immediately called on the players on the sidelines to start tightening the fence in preparation for the Crystal Palace's offensive.

According to Chen Ran's arrangement, Fabregas and Modric continued to pass the ball to Ronaldo on the left.

On the Manchester United side, right midfielder Fletcher, no matter in terms of body, skills or speed, nothing can compare with Ronaldo.

The contraction of Crystal Palace's formation in the first half was not reflected in the back. Now Crystal Palace pressed forward to attack. With the cooperation of Cesc Fabregas and Modric, Manchester United's right wing was immediately suppressed by Ronaldo.

"Roy, go to the right and help!"

Ferguson on the sidelines immediately discovered the problem and immediately ordered Keane to help defend on the right side.

Keane is not a good person. He once publicly admitted in his autobiography that he deliberately retaliated and seriously injured his opponent.

After being condemned by public opinion and punished by the Football Association, he showed no regrets.

Afterwards, Keane published another autobiography, in which he stated that he had plotted against many players and never regretted it.

"Chris, be careful!"

Fortunately, Cesc Fabregas behind him reminded him in time. Ronaldo felt a gust of wind coming from the right side of his body, and immediately jumped up alertly, avoiding Keane's flying shovel.

"Huh, kid, you better be smarter!"

After getting up, Keane did not forget to turn around and warn the shocked Ronaldo.

"Fxxxk!"

The young and energetic Cristiano Ronaldo was immediately irritated. The person who almost hurt him was so arrogant?

"Chris, calm down!"

Fortunately, Modric rushed over and hugged Ronaldo, who was about to chase Kean.

Seeing this scene, Keane smiled contemptuously and uttered one word: "Coward!"
Chapter completed!