Chapter 45: The Crisis of Trust

Manchester United fans showed great enthusiasm for the fourth round of the FA Cup rematch between home and Leeds United. Old Trafford Stadium turned into a red ocean with the combined force of 75,797 fans. This season, the attendance rate of Old Trafford Stadium remained above 75,000 players, almost full of every game. This is also because Simon Grayson's "Solar System Tactics" played not only brings victory to the team, but also makes the scene smooth and beautiful.

But this time, Manchester United's fans are not just here to watch the game. Under the call of the "Red Cavaliers", every Manchester United fan organization has brought out at least a banner, all of which are supported by Shaq's language...

"Shake, we will love you forever!"

"Shake, you are the true hero in our minds!"

"Shake, no one understands you better than me!"

"Lead the team to move forward, our king!"

Today, the title of Manchester United Kings has moved from "Little Fatty" Rooney to Shaq's head. After all, Shaq has scored 72 goals for Manchester United in 38 games this season and has 15 assists. This result is much higher than "Little Fatty"'s 37 goals and 20 assists in 33 games. Although Rooney is still Manchester United's No. 1 captain, his role is obviously not as great as Shaq.

However, Rooney was not jealous at all. First of all, Shaq was a close comrade-in-arms with him. With Nani, they were not jealous at all. Moreover, the "Little Fatty" is really mature now. He valued more collective interests, especially when Shaq's existence was activated. This season, his condition was the best in his career in thirteen years. However, compared with Shaq, the gap is still quite large.

Rooney often comforts himself that as a pervert as Shaq, there is only one in the world. The two guys who swipe data in La Liga are really weak compared to him.

With the support of countless Manchester United fans, Manchester United performed very well in this game. At the beginning of the game, when they snatched the ball from the away team, they began to take the initiative in the game, and the ball was passed continuously at their feet. They pushed the offense very smoothly into the opponent's penalty area.

In 55 seconds, Nani shot at a small angle in the small penalty area on the right. As a result, the ball was touched by Leeds United's goalkeeper Mark with his fingertips before sliding past the ball.

The ball failed to score, which made the Manchester United fans in the stands so angry that they cursed. Even the commentator said hatefully: "Mark's luck is so good today. He can even save such a ball, which is really lucky!"

The ball did not go in, but Manchester United's attack did not stop. After continuous passes by Gansuo and Di Maria on the left, Gansuo crossed to find "Little Fatty" in front of the right goal. Unfortunately, Rooney failed to reach the ball under the attack of Leeds United Carruzzo and Jonny Hausen.

In 3 minutes, Di Maria passed the Met. Fursarico's left foot shot was completely useless, and the ball was directly caught by Mark.

In the 8th minute, Nani received a cross from Shaq against Carruzzo in the right penalty area, Boyata's two men and a low shot. The ball barely missed the Leeds United's right goal post.

After that, Manchester United's offensive went higher and higher. Leeds United didn't go to Nelson Oliveira headed the ball and completed her first shot. As a result, the ball was still so strong that it was easily saved by Deh.

When the game ended 21 minutes, Manchester United's crazy attack finally paid off. After Shaq, Di Maria and Ganso all pulled Leeds United's defense from the left, Jose Angel used a precise cross to send the ball to the small penalty area line on the right side of Leeds United. When "little fat" Rooney competed with Ben Parker, he used his strong body to resist the thin Ben Parker, and then shook his head and sent the ball into the blind corner of the upper left corner of the Leeds United goal!

"goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The Old Trafford Stadium exploded, and the only sound was left in the audience...

"The ball has entered! Wayne! Wayne scored the first record for the team in 21 minutes! A powerful header!"

The "Red Devils" who were celebrating frantically would never have thought that the next trend of the game would change completely differently from what they expected...

At 33 minutes, Leeds United, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly broke out. Dutch star Wijnaldum began to dribble the ball in the middle circle. He first used his speed to pass Flani, then dribbled the diagonally and broke into Manchester United's left penalty area from the gap between Papadopoulos and Van der Weiller.

The moment Papadopoulos and Van der Weiller closed the ball, Wijnaldum actually made a spinning shot with his left foot. The ball "swoosh" around De Gea, and then rotated back from the direction that was about to fly out of the baseline, and finally... fell into the goal!

"goal!goal!goal!goal!goal!!!!!!!!!"

Now it was Leeds United's turn to celebrate wildly. It was really important for them to be able to score goals at Old Trafford and Manchester United's high pressure.

The "Red Devils" who were equalized, angrily launched a crazy counterattack, but in the 39th minute, only six minutes after Wijnaldum's goal was only after. Leeds United's counterattack, Hamshik gave a wonderful diagonal pass to Lavic on the right side of the right. The ball passed straight through the players of both sides of the movement. When it arrived at Manchester United's right side, the speed slowed down. The Argentine striker Lavic decisively shot with his right foot. The ball was blocked by De Gea and bounced into the goal... 2:1, Leeds United came from behind and overtook the score!

The Old Trafford Stadium was quiet, and Manchester United fans looked at everything that happened in shock. What happened to this game...?

What's wrong with our team...?

It was Manchester United who had the advantage of the game, but it was Manchester United who took the lead and scored first. But in a blink of an eye, Manchester United had gone from leading 1:0 and tied by their opponents, and then became 1:2 behind!

Until the end of the first half, Manchester United still lag behind Leeds United 1:2, which made Manchester United fans even more worried. Many people have begun to doubt that when Shaq is in poor condition, Simon Grayson insists on using "Solar System Tactics" to keep the team playing around Shaq. But looking at this game, Shaq only passes 23 times in the first half, only 20 of which were successful, and all three shots missed. It can be said that Shaq's contribution on the offensive end is really limited, but the "brutal Simon" stubbornly let Shaq play the front midfielder. This also sacrifices Shaq's ability on the defensive end. Shaq's ability to log into the professional league in the future has never disappointed in defense. Even if his condition is not very good recently, Shaq's defense makes people feel relieved.

So, Shaq did not show his value at all in this game. Is Shaq's fault for his poor form or Simon Grayson's forced decision to arrange for him to play as a midfielder?

During the halftime break, the commentator began to complain: "I think what Simon should consider now is to let Shaq play his role. Even if he cannot provide assistance to the team in offense, Shaq can fully utilize his unique skills in defense. After consolidating the defense, we can attack the opponent on this basis. In this way, we still have a chance in this game."

After hearing the commentator's words, Manchester United fans also felt it made sense. If Shaq cannot play a role on the offensive end and his defensive ability cannot be shown, then what else is necessary for him to be on the court?

If Simon Grayson did not allow him to play a midfielder and refused to replace him, the "brutal Simon" coaching ability would be questionable. At least his ability to command in the front line would be criticized.

When Manchester United fans began to doubt Simon Grayson's coaching level and Shaq's personal state, Simon Grayson was getting angry in the home team's locker room, and the target he criticized was not Shaq, who performed very well in the first half, but... the defender!

"What did you do in the first half? Kyriacos, you are our mid-marker. What were you doing when Wijnaldum broke through? You said, what were you doing? And Jose, how could you let Ravic run to your inside to catch the ball? Well? Are you not even the most basic position of the defender?? And Gregory, Kyriacos defends Nelson? When Oliveira, you don't know how to fill up the ball to limit Hamshik's pass? As long as the quality of his pass was slightly worse, will we lose the ball? Maruwan, you are the midfielder, how could you let Leeds' midfielders pass through the midfield like a walk!? Humph, you all think about it carefully, how should you play in the second half!"

"Bang!"

Simon Grayson slammed the door and left without looking back, leaving a room full of people looking at each other. Simon Grayson's anger made the Manchester United stars dare not say anything, but even "Little Fatty" felt that the head coach seemed to have gone a little. Today's game, Manchester United actually had an advantage on the court. The whole team worked hard to create a lot of shooting opportunities, and there were as many as 16 times in the first half. However, because Shaq was not performing well, he failed to win the game in the first half. Otherwise, Manchester United should be at least one or two goals ahead of his opponent at this time.

There are a few people who have the same mind as Rooney, but no one will say it. First of all, Simon Grayson's coaching level is still very high. The team has remained unbeaten so far this season and has set a record of winning streaks in 35 games in various competitions. This is something that Manchester United has never achieved in the Ferguson era. Moreover, Shaq's personal ability is worthy of recognition. This pervert is just in poor condition recently. He is definitely worth 50 million pounds.

But... this is not the reason why the "brutal Simon" got angry at the defenders!

At the critical moment, Shaq stood up: "Guys, I'm sorry for everyone, because of my relationship, everyone was scolded by the boss, but please believe me, I will get back in the second half, and I will definitely score a goal!"

Looking at Shaq with a serious face, Manchester United stars didn't know what to say. They believed Shaq had the ability to decide the outcome of the game, because he had done this more than once, but... that was Shaq's past, and Shaq's recent state was really in a sluggish state that made people worry!

Since Manchester United swept Leeds United 8:3 away, Shaq has staged a big four-game, and Shaq has played seven games during this period. In addition to the 3-1 defeat of Arsenal, Shaq's performance has only passed in five club games and one national team game.

Such a Shaq is definitely abnormal, but at this critical moment, when Manchester United was 1:2 behind Leeds United at home, Shaq actually stood up and told everyone to believe him, should we continue to trust him, or... or...

Manchester United players looked at Shaq one by one without saying a word. In the end, the captain "Little Fatty" stood up first. He patted Shaq on the shoulder: "Shake, I will help you pull out their defense line in the second half, and then it depends on you!"

Another bad friend of Shaq, Nani, also spoke: "Shaq, I will cut in the second half and pass the ball to you. You have to stay in your penalty area, don't let my pass miss."
Chapter completed!