With three consecutive League Two victories, New Manchester United had collected 9 points, the same total as Brighton, Reading, Brentford, and Cardiff, who had also won all three of their opening matches.
However, because of goal difference, New Manchester United were only third in the table, behind Brighton and Brentford.
It was worth noting that Kitson had performed exceptionally well in Brighton's opening three matches, scoring 2 goals and providing 2 assists.
Although his transfer fee had reached £2 million, he was only 21 years old and still had a promising future, which made him highly regarded by the media.
However, New Manchester United's new powerful striker, Didier Drogba, had also performed outstandingly.
He scored 1 goal and provided 3 assists in three league matches, serving as the focal point of New Manchester United's attack.
Experts generally believed that after replacing Kitson with Drogba, New Manchester United's attacking play had become quicker and more incisive than it had been the previous season.
Drogba also possessed technical qualities that Kitson lacked.
Of course, Drogba's finishing was slightly inferior to Kitson's, but his physical impact was greater, his movement was better, and he contributed more to New Manchester United's overall tactical system.
Most importantly, Drogba had cost only £100,000, yet his performances had been more impressive than those of Kitson, who had been sold for £2 million.
Naturally, this became another major topic for media discussion.
After a difficult victory over Wycombe, New Manchester United travelled to face Cardiff City.
The two rivals from the previous season were meeting for the first time in the new campaign, and both sides placed great importance on the match, especially Cardiff.
New Manchester United had defeated Cardiff twice in League Two the previous season. Those defeats had marked the beginning of Cardiff's decline against them and had also helped New Manchester United earn their reputation as giant killers.
Cardiff had made several significant signings during the summer, bringing in a number of strong players from League One.
They were determined to continue their push for promotion, and their ambition had produced an excellent start with three consecutive victories.
Facing a New Manchester United side that had also won three straight matches, Cardiff hoped to use their home advantage to overpower their rivals.
However, they had repeated the same mistake as the previous season.
While strengthening their attack, they had neglected their defence.
In the opening three league matches, Cardiff scored 8 goals but conceded 4.
They had scored the same number as New Manchester United, but had allowed twice as many.
Despite playing away from home, Mourinho showed no intention of being conservative.
He instructed Wright-Phillips and Hleb, who started in place of Malouda, to remain close to Cardiff's defensive line and attack down the flanks whenever an opportunity appeared.
Drogba was asked to drop deeper, while Juninho and Senna, without neglecting their defensive duties, were instructed to look for Wright-Phillips and Hleb directly during counterattacks.
New Manchester United's 4-3-3 was clearly designed to use two wingers with excellent individual ability to constantly trouble Cardiff's defence.
The moment an opening appeared, they would use their pace and technique to break through quickly.
With the individual quality of Wright-Phillips and Hleb, one successful move could be fatal.
Cardiff had anticipated this and understood that Mourinho had selected Wright-Phillips specifically to attack their defensive line more directly.
Even so, they did not dare retreat.
They knew that against a team like New Manchester United, unless they were prepared to defend with an extremely deep and compact block, dropping back would only invite defeat.
Playing at home, Cardiff were not satisfied with a draw.
They wanted to take the risk and see which side could score first.
From the opening minute, Cardiff attacked with full commitment.
For a time, they pushed New Manchester United back and kept them under pressure.
However, Cardiff's greatest weakness compared with New Manchester United was their inability to control the tempo, especially once Mourinho's side began disrupting their rhythm.
The pace of a football match was crucial.
In his previous life, Ethan had admired Barcelona, but many people noticed only their patient passing in the defensive half and assumed they were merely increasing their possession statistics.
In reality, Barcelona's greatest strength was their control of tempo.
Xavi was indispensable because he released the ball at the exact moment the attacking trio began pressing against the opposition's defensive line.
That pass initiated the attack.
Once Barcelona's forwards received the ball, their individual quality made them extremely difficult to stop, especially in one-on-one situations.
In that kind of system, beating a single defender could often cause the entire defensive structure to collapse.
That was how Barcelona overwhelmed opponents and won matches.
New Manchester United followed a similar principle, although their style was more direct and their technique was not as refined.
Their movement and control of space, however, were even more pronounced.
This was especially clear in Drogba's duel with Cardiff's centre-backs.
When Essien intercepted the ball in the defensive half and passed it to Juninho, Drogba immediately dropped a little deeper, held his position, and used his body to pin the opposing centre-back behind him.
Juninho then played the ball into his feet.
Given Drogba's physical strength, once the defender was pinned, he could offer almost no resistance.
He could only watch helplessly as Drogba, having occupied the defensive space, played a diagonal pass into the channel on the left.
By then, Wright-Phillips had already raced beyond Cardiff's defensive line.
He controlled the ball, accelerated, shot, and scored.
The entire move unfolded in an instant.
Whether they were inside the stadium or watching on television, anyone who looked away for even a moment would have discovered that Cardiff, who had been attacking only seconds earlier, had suddenly conceded.
This was New Manchester United's counterattack.
Fast, efficient, and lethal.
After the goal, Mourinho clenched his fist like a boxer, a proud smile appearing on his face.
He was clearly in an excellent mood and full of confidence because he believed his team would win.
In truth, Cardiff's decision to play an open attacking match against New Manchester United was already a tactical mistake.
New Manchester United feared no opponent willing to meet them head-on.
After falling behind, Cardiff did not reduce their attacking intensity.
Instead, they became even more aggressive.
Wave after wave of attacks surged toward New Manchester United's penalty area.
New Manchester United, meanwhile, firmly protected the area within 35 metres of goal, giving Cardiff almost no opportunities.
At the same time, they occasionally launched sharp counterattacks that left Cardiff's manager shuddering on the touchline.
The teams changed ends for the second half, but Cardiff continued attacking with the same intensity.
They maintained their pressure against New Manchester United's defence, yet Mourinho's back line remained composed and prevented them from creating any clear chances inside the penalty area.
In the 56th minute, Cardiff attacked again.
Senna dropped back, intercepted the ball, and passed to Essien.
Essien immediately found Juninho, who launched a long ball into the space behind Cardiff's defence.
Hleb used his pace to beat the offside trap.
After receiving the ball, he carried it into the penalty area.
When confronted by the goalkeeper, he unselfishly squared the ball to Drogba, who had followed the move.
Drogba almost missed the open goal.
Fortunately, the ball struck the post and bounced into the net.
Mourinho's heart nearly stopped on the touchline.
He pointed toward Drogba, who had already begun celebrating, with an expression that clearly said, You'd better be ready. You're in trouble.
Drogba was so startled that he did not even finish his celebration.
"Ricardo, when we get back, you need to work seriously on this idiot's finishing!" Mourinho fumed.
"Bloody hell, he almost missed an open goal from a few yards out.
"Don't let him take penalties in the future. He couldn't hit an elephant from twelve yards!"
The coaching staff immediately burst into laughter.
In addition to regular training, Drogba already completed extra sessions focused mainly on finishing, along with turning, passing after receiving the ball with his back to goal, and close control.
However, his progress in front of goal was still difficult to praise.
"Don't worry, José. Sometimes players are like that," Cassell said with a chuckle.
"You have to give them confidence and wait for everything to click."
With the score at 0-2, New Manchester United had already done enough to win the match.
"Don't talk to me about luck, Jim. I don't believe in luck.
"This idiot is supposed to be our first-choice striker this season.
"If his finishing doesn't improve significantly, I'll replace him with Olić!" Mourinho replied.
Olić, who was sitting on the bench talking with his teammates, vaguely heard Mourinho mention his name and assumed he was about to be brought on.
He immediately jumped to his feet, tore off his tracksuit, and said, "Yes, sir. I'll warm up right away!"
Before anyone could respond, he sprinted away.
"What is wrong with him?" Mourinho asked, staring at Olić in confusion.
The entire coaching staff burst into laughter.
"It sounded as though you said you were going to bring him on, José!" Cassell laughed so hard that his stomach hurt.
Mourinho did not know whether to be annoyed or amused.
However, he also understood that Drogba had played the full 90 minutes in several recent matches.
No matter how strong a player was, he still needed rest.
Since victory was already secure, Mourinho decided to go along with it and replaced Drogba with Olić.
As Drogba walked off the pitch, he saw Mourinho standing on the touchline with a fierce expression.
He hesitated, unsure whether he should approach and greet him.
"Didier, come here!" Mourinho called.
Drogba slowed slightly.
"I said come here. Hurry up!"
Drogba reluctantly walked toward him.
"Well done, my friend!" Mourinho said with a smile.
He extended his hand, shook Drogba's firmly, and then embraced him.
From the outside, it looked exactly like a manager praising his striker for an excellent performance and an important contribution.
"But you're dead," Mourinho whispered into Drogba's ear.
Drogba's heart immediately jumped.
He knew exactly how close he had come to missing the earlier chance.
Facing an open goal, he had almost put the ball wide.
Knowing Mourinho's temper, he understood that the manager must be furious.
"From now on, after every training session, you're doing extra finishing practice for me.
"You'll keep practising until you can score into an open net without nearly missing the bloody thing!" Mourinho said fiercely.
Drogba, who had looked energetic only moments earlier, almost collapsed beside the touchline.
(To be continued.)
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