January 4, afternoon, Huish Park Stadium, Yeovil Town.
When the referee blew the final whistle, Huish Park, which could hold 9,500 people, fell into an eerie silence.
It was not because no one had come to watch. On the contrary, nearly 4,000 Yeovil Town fans had attended the match. Since Yeovil Town was located on the southern coast of England, far from Manchester, there were not many New Manchester United fans who had made the trip.
What truly left them speechless was the score on the scoreboard: 1-2!
New Manchester United had made quite a few changes to their starting line-up for this match. Žigić remained the undisputed choice as the main striker, with Crouch partnering him up front. Crouch performed well, assisting Žigić's goal in the first half before scoring one himself in the second half after receiving a through ball from Juninho, earning himself man of the match.
The flat midfield four, from left to right, consisted of Krzynówek, Juninho, Poulsen, and the outstanding Hleb. The back four, from left to right, were Evra, Gary Turner, Distin, and Steinarsson. Schmeichel started in goal.
Although most of the regular starters played, New Manchester United did not show their usual fighting spirit. They were clearly affected by the constant run of matches over the winter period. The players seemed a little careless at the start and conceded the first goal to Yeovil Town.
However, after going a goal behind, New Manchester United seemed to wake up. They did not become impatient or collapse. Instead, they steadily carried out the team's tactics, eventually equalising in the first half and turning the match around in the second half.
After winning this match, and with Boston United losing at home to Morecambe, New Manchester United's lead was extended to 6 points. Second-placed Boston were only 1 point ahead of third-placed Morecambe, and only 3 points ahead of fourth and fifth-placed Kidderminster and Dover, while sixth-placed Kingstonian were only 4 points behind.
With the table so tight, New Manchester United clearly held the biggest advantage. After all, they had already begun to pull away from the chasing pack. As for the teams from second to fifth place, they were clearly starting to focus more on the teams behind them, since finishing in the top five would give them a chance at promotion.
Even so, New Manchester United still did not dare to be careless. Bruce knew that the team's squad depth this season was not strong enough, and fighting on three fronts clearly was not a long-term solution. So, after returning to Manchester, he promoted De Rossi, who had been playing with the youth team, back to the first team and started him in the FA Trophy match on January 8.
Besides De Rossi, the starting line-up for this match also featured quite a few players who had struggled for playing time this season. The two strikers were Jonathan Matten and Kitson, the two wingers were Richie Wellens and the returning Darren Lyons, while Steven Smith partnered De Rossi in midfield.
In defence, Evra was rested, with Roy Williams starting in his place. Gary Turner and Danny Collins formed the centre-back partnership, Kevin Evans started at right-back, and Almunia was in goal.
This could almost be considered New Manchester United's second team, and it was also De Rossi's first appearance for New Manchester United as a defensive midfielder. Because of that, before the match, everyone had guessed that this was a game Bruce had chosen to give up on.
But who could have imagined that in a match where expectations were so low, New Manchester United's substitutes would crush Isthmian Premier League side Basingstoke Town 5-0 at home? Jonathan Matten and Kitson each scored twice, while Richie Wellens was excellent throughout the match and also got himself a goal.
However, De Rossi, the player Ethan was really paying attention to, did not deliver an especially eye-catching performance. As a defensive midfielder, he completed 30 of his 37 passes, won 6 of his 7 tackles, and succeeded with 4 of his 6 headers, two of which were key clearances.
In addition, he made 5 interceptions and had 3 shots, but he did not score or assist.
When Ethan received this data from Malin after the match, he felt a little disappointed. After all, in his memory, De Rossi was a player who excelled in both attack and defence, but in this match, he had not shown anything particularly special going forward, while his defensive work was actually quite good.
It was probably related to Bruce playing him as a defensive midfielder, as Steven Smith and Darren Lyons were the core players for New Manchester United in this match.
Forget it. Gold will shine eventually! Ethan consoled himself with a smile.
Just as he put away the report and was about to leave the City Stadium, his phone rang.
"Hello, this is Ethan!" This sentence had almost become Ethan's catchphrase when answering the phone.
"Scarlett, are you free right now?" His beautiful neighbour's pleasant voice came from the other end of the line.
Ethan moved the phone away and checked the time. "Yes. Is something the matter?"
Scarlett gave a strange little laugh. "I wanted to ask you, have you read today's newspaper?"
"I have. I always like reading the papers when the team wins!" Ethan laughed. When they won, reading the newspaper meant seeing praise. When they lost, it was definitely criticism.
"That's a good habit!" Scarlett laughed. "Then you must have seen Edwards' interview, right?"
Ethan's smile stiffened. "Of course. That idiot brought a pile of trouble down on himself, yet he still dares to provoke me!"
Two days ago, a Brazilian media outlet had been the first to publish a report in which a dental clinic receptionist named Maria Alves revealed that she had met Edwards at a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro on the night before Manchester United's Club World Cup match against Vasco da Gama. Although he had disguised himself, she was a regular football fan and recognised him at a glance.
Edwards had clearly gone to the nightclub for fun and taken a liking to Maria. After they agreed on a price, they went to a hotel and got a room, and he paid her $160 afterward. Maria even told the reporter the name of the hotel and the room number where they had fooled around.
The Brazilian newspapers immediately verified the matter and found that every explosive detail Maria had revealed was true. This caused a huge uproar in Brazil. Coupled with Manchester United's crushing defeat to Vasco da Gama in the first round of the Club World Cup, Edwards was instantly plunged into a scandal.
But what Ethan had not expected was that Edwards would still openly accept an interview with the British media at a time like this and attack New Manchester United so freely, claiming that New Manchester United were using Manchester United's name for publicity. This made everyone at New Manchester United, as well as the fans, extremely angry.
Of course, no one had expected that Edwards' exclusive interview had actually taken place before this incident!
Scarlett giggled on the other end. She could imagine Ethan gnashing his teeth right now.
"Then I suppose you would like a chance to fight back. What do you think?"
Ethan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, Ms. Reporter Scarlett, I accept your interview request, but this is the one and only time. Don't let it happen again!"
In order to get an exclusive interview with Ethan, Scarlett had brought it up with him several times, but Ethan had refused every time because he did not think it was good for a club owner to be in the spotlight.
The best club owner should quietly contribute behind the scenes, providing transfer funds when the head coach needed them and bringing in the players the team required, rather than stealing the team's limelight.
"Haha, so I'll take that as you accepting my invitation?" Scarlett laughed happily. She had finally managed to invite Ethan.
"That's right, Ms. Reporter. If you're still that unsure, I'll consider taking it back!"
Scarlett nodded immediately. "Then I can start making arrangements!"
"Hmm, let me know once the time and place are arranged."
"Alright, after the recording is finished, I'll treat you to food on Faulkner Street!"
"Recording? What do you mean?" Ethan was taken aback.
Scarlett laughed slyly. "Granada TV here in Manchester invited me to host a football programme, and I was racking my brain over who to invite as the guest for my first episode. Finally, I thought of you. I didn't expect you to agree so readily this time!"
Ethan screamed inwardly that he had been tricked. This little girl had not mentioned that it was for television. He had thought it was just a regular interview.
"Don't even think about going back on it, Mr. Yu. Otherwise, I'll expose your broken promise on the show, and we'll see how you handle it then!" Scarlett seemed to have expected Ethan to refuse, so she immediately laid down the ultimatum.
"Is this episode only planning to invite me?"
The implication was, if you only invite me, will this show have any ratings?
"Of course. It's a talk show, after all, and it's all related to football. As for the ratings, you don't need to worry. I think before the show airs, the organisers will definitely promote it well. I suppose you don't really know how popular you are in Manchester, do you?"
"It can't be more popular than Edwards, right?" Ethan retorted with a bitter smile.
Scarlett giggled. "You really are something! Although you won't be as well-known as him, your reputation is much better than his. Even many Manchester City fans have a very good impression of you. On this point, you are definitely better than him!"
When Ethan heard this, regardless of whether it was true or not, he felt good about it.
Most people had some vanity. It was just that some took it too far, while others deliberately suppressed it. Ethan was somewhere in between. He had vanity, but he would not do certain things just for the sake of vanity.
"Alright, Ms. Reporter Scarlett, you've convinced me. But you have to promise me that I can say whatever I want on the show. Otherwise, even if I go, I won't say a single word."
"That's for sure. Otherwise, why would I invite you?" Scarlett agreed with a smile. "Also, stop calling me so formally. We've been neighbours for a year, so I'll make an exception and allow you to call me Scarlett!"
"It seems I really should feel honoured!" Ethan said with a smile.
(To be continued.)