Chapter 165: Rapid Integration

During the 2015-16 season, when the dark horse Leicester City staged their miraculous title run, the English Premier League returned to its "old order" last season. The "New Top Six" plundered the mid-to-lower-tier teams at will; had Manchester United not been distracted by the UEFA Europa League final in the closing stages, their points advantage over the seventh-place team in the European qualification zone would certainly not have been limited to just eight points.

Compared to last summer, when Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City all changed managers, this year—following Arsene Wenger's contract renewal with Arsenal—the managerial posts of the Premier League giants have collectively stabilized, with none of the head coaches' contracts expiring before the summer of 2019 at the earliest.

This summer, the vast majority of Premier League clubs invested heavily in the transfer market, hoping to make a breakthrough in the new season.

In terms of spending, the Premier League continued to far outstrip the other European leagues. Among the top six transfers this summer, aside from Neymar, the remaining five players were all signed by Premier League clubs, and seven of the top ten joined English teams.

In terms of effectiveness, the two Manchester clubs clearly reinforced their squads and, alongside defending champions Chelsea, emerged as the most formidable contenders for the new season's Premier League title.

Chelsea spent 126 million pounds to bring in central defender Antonio Rüdiger, defensive midfielder Tiemoué Bakayoko, and center-forward Alvaro Morata, but they let go of defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic, defender Nathan Aké, goalkeeper Asmir Begović, and several youngsters who were loaned out last season, recouping over 100 million pounds in the process.

Manager Antonio Conte was rewarded with a salary increase and a contract extension after the season, but the contract duration was not extended, nor was he granted additional authority in the transfer market, indicating that both parties still held reservations about the future.

Furthermore, last season's top scorer, Diego Costa, was virtually certain to leave after falling out with Conte, and the three high-priced newcomers lacked prior Premier League experience. Whether they could replicate N'Golo Kanté's "plug-and-play" impact from the previous season remained an open question.

Entering the new season, Chelsea's first-team squad lacked serious depth and still needed to add competitive substitutes before the transfer window closed. Coping with a dual-campaign schedule made defending the title a formidable challenge for the Blues.

Manchester City finished Pep Guardiola's debut season empty-handed, but this summer they completely blooded their defensive line: the "four aging full-backs"—Pablo Zabaleta, Gaël Clichy, Bacary Sagna, and Aleksandar Kolarov—all departed. Aside from Kolarov's transfer to Roma, the other three veterans left after their contracts expired without receiving new deals. Winger Jesús Navas also left upon the expiration of his contract, while midfielder Fernando and forward Kelechi Iheanacho were purged midweek.

Guardiola's side invested over 200 million this summer, focusing heavily on reinforcing the defense. New arrivals goalkeeper Ederson, full-backs Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker, and Danilo, alongside winger Bernardo Silva, all commanded hefty price tags and successfully lowered the average age of the backline.

In relative terms, Manchester City retained the core of their attacking and midfield units from last season while adding Bernardo Silva, whereas Manchester United had yet to sign a new contract with last season's top scorer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was recovering from a severe injury, leaving their attacking potency essentially unchanged.

Tottenham Hotspur had been strong title contenders for the past two seasons, and the new season should have been their opportunity to break out of the cocoon and transform. However, Tottenham proved uncharacteristically quiet in the transfer market this summer, with everyone from the club hierarchy to manager Mauricio Pochettino putting out the word that "buying big is inferior to nurturing youth." They became the only club among the twenty Premier League sides to make zero signings, and on top of that, they let first-choice right-back Kyle Walker leave.

More fatally, for the new season, Tottenham had to "relocate" to Wembley Stadium due to the construction of their new stadium. Last season, Spurs recorded 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 defeats in European fixtures at this venue, and lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final. Their summer application to "shrink" the dimensions of Wembley was rejected, meaning they still needed time to adapt to their home ground.

Arsenal brought in Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac, but whether they could retain their talisman Alexis Sánchez remained an unknown.

Nevertheless, Arsenal no longer had Champions League commitments this summer, significantly easing the team's burden. They could fully emulate Manchester United's tactical detour into Europe from the previous year.

Liverpool likewise faced the risk of having their core players poached. Once Philippe Coutinho departed, finding a replacement before the transfer window closed would be no easy task for the Reds.

Judging by the latest title odds, Manchester City surged ahead of defending champions Chelsea at 11/4 (2.75) compared to Chelsea's 9/2 (4.50) to become the primary favorites. Manchester United's title odds matched Chelsea's, Tottenham stood at 10/1 (11.00), Arsenal and Liverpool both sat at 12/1 (13.00), and Everton—having retained Romelu Lukaku—followed closely at 90/1 (91.00).

The two Manchester giants and Chelsea were set to contest a three-way battle for the title, with the remaining three teams fighting for the fourth Champions League spot. Everton had the opportunity to emerge as a dark horse, making this the most probable configuration for the new Premier League season, with a well-stocked Manchester City expected to have the last laugh. After all, money isn't everything; money belongs to Manchester City.

Yet, what would determine Manchester United's ceiling this season was very likely no longer José Mourinho, but rather Tsubasa Ozora, universally acknowledged as the "Third Man" in world football today.

This summer, Manchester United continued their efficient strategy of signing "only" four players from the previous year, bringing in central defender Victor Lindelöf, defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic, and forward Tsubasa Ozora to forge a new tactical spine.

Although the winger repeatedly requested by Mourinho had yet to arrive, the addition of Tsubasa Ozora to the frontline was already sufficient. His arrival made Manchester United's squad look nearly complete.

David de Gea remained a world-class goalkeeper, and Sergio Romero could arguably be considered the strongest second-choice keeper among all elite clubs, ensuring peace of mind across multiple competitions.

In defense, Antonio Valencia, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelöf, and Marcos Rojo would likely be Mourinho's first-choice quartet, with Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Luke Shaw, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah competing for other positions. Having undergone two transfer windows, the complementary styles of Lindelöf and Bailly held the promise of strengthening Manchester United's backline.

In midfield, judging by the lineup deployed in the UEFA Super Cup, the iron triangle of Matic, Paul Pogba, and Ander Herrera would be Mourinho's primary choice. This combination could be considered the ultimate midfield configuration in the Premier League, though Pogba's form was prone to fluctuation and Matic still required time to gel, leaving everything open to observation.

At the very least, Mourinho's midfield combined ball-interception, organization, and attacking thrust, while Marouane Fellaini on the bench would remain the Red Devils' battering ram whenever they failed to unlock a stubborn defense. Veteran Michael Carrick was unlikely to receive many opportunities, and Juan Mata alongside Ashley Young would find it hard to contend for starting berths.

At present, Manchester United's attacking line would likely consist of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford, and Tsubasa Ozora. If Anthony Martial rediscovered the form he showed in the 2015-16 season, he would still represent a terrifying explosive threat.

As for Jesse Lingard, he possessed an abundance of hard work but lacked raw talent; his breakout would probably, as usual, have to wait until they played at Wembley.

Ever since Tsubasa Ozora joined Manchester United, discussions regarding whether he could achieve success with the Red Devils had never ceased.

Wayne Rooney, who had already left the club to return to Everton, offered Tsubasa some advice: whether one could succeed at Manchester United depended to a large extent on psychological resilience.

Rooney remarked: "Playing for Manchester United is a test of character. Your mental toughness and psychological fortitude must be strong enough to meet the challenge. Manchester United is a club that demands success, and Tsubasa has to prepare himself for the challenges ahead."

"If he can do that, combined with the ability he already possesses, then he will succeed. If he spends all his time worrying about those external things, his career at Manchester United will be extremely difficult."

Unlike the Manchester United of the Sir Alex Ferguson era, there were no longer any heavyweights from the Class of '92 around to stabilize the dressing room, but Rooney believed the players ought to inherit certain sound traditions: "When you are at Manchester United, there are certain codes you must follow. From the moment I joined the club, Ferguson drilled that into me, and then Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes passed it down."

Therefore, upon arriving in Manchester, the very first thing Tsubasa Ozora did was to enlist the specific help of Jorge Mendes and Eric Bailly to organize a small gathering with several of Manchester United's Spanish-speaking players and those who had arrived from La Liga.

The Spanish faction within Manchester United was not an insignificant force. David de Gea, Juan Mata, and Ander Herrera were all regular starters, and when combined with Eric Bailly and Tsubasa Ozora, this undeniably constituted a weighty faction within the dressing room.

The reason Tsubasa Ozora took the initiative to establish his own clique even before the new season began was primarily because the Manchester United dressing room was currently a complete mess.

Who didn't know that the Red Devils' players in the post-Ferguson era were the hardest to manage internally? The departures of several previous managers were, to a greater or lesser extent, fueled by internal strife and attrition.

Where there are people, there is a martial arts world; where there is a martial arts world, cliques naturally emerge. As a multinational force, Manchester United naturally could not escape this law.

How complicated!

How complicated indeed!

From Tsubasa Ozora's perspective, Mourinho's haste in purging Rooney was actually a major blunder, because once Rooney left, there was absolutely no heavyweight left in the dressing room capable of commanding absolute respect. Although the two captains, Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia, possessed considerable prestige, their introverted personalities destined them to be incapable of reining in the squad—which was precisely one of the reasons why Pogba had been able to pull off his clownish antics time and again in his previous life.

Mourinho certainly had his own issues, but had Rooney still been at the club, would Pogba have dared to run amok in the dressing room?

Rooney, who practiced boxing, would certainly have taught him how to behave.

Of course, one couldn't rule out the possibility that Rooney might have started throwing punches at Mourinho first.

Therefore, even before joining Manchester United, Tsubasa Ozora had prepared to build his own circle. Beyond aiming to become the Red Devils' talisman, he also intended to become the alpha dog of the dressing room, keeping scoundrels like Pogba firmly in check.

The very first thing Tsubasa Ozora did when meeting his new teammates in the dressing room was to demonstrate his modesty and friendliness. Walking into Old Trafford carrying a 110-million-euro price tag meant people would inevitably look at him with strange eyes. With many of them destined to work alongside him for several seasons, failing to maintain good relationships with the rest of the squad would spell trouble, even with the backing of the Spanish faction.

He could sense that a few individuals in the squad harbored less-than-warm expressions toward him—though not directly displayed on the surface, he could simply sense a certain coldness.

Overall, however, the Manchester United dressing room welcomed Tsubasa Ozora's arrival relatively well. Especially with the deliberate assistance of the Spanish faction, they quickly accepted him, while players from Mourinho's contingent, such as Nemanja Matic, also extended their friendliness toward Tsubasa.

As for those who remained cold or even hostile toward him, he didn't care in the least; he was not a particularly magnanimous person, and if the opportunity arose later, he would certainly pay them back in kind.

Yet, before Tsubasa Ozora could have any further interactions with his new teammates, two days later, Manchester United prepared to set off for the United States to begin preparations for their pre-season friendlies.

On July 15th, Manchester United's opening pre-season friendly of the new season kicked off at the StubHub Center against the Los Angeles Galaxy. David Beckham watched from the stands as Michael Carrick captained the side as the newly appointed skipper, and Tsubasa Ozora appeared in a match wearing the Manchester United number 7 shirt for the very first time.

Manchester United broke the deadlock just 117 seconds into the match: Jesse Lingard intercepted the ball in the attacking half, and Tsubasa Ozora made a sharp, intelligent run to carve out a shooting opportunity for himself, firing a low shot across goal into the far corner from thirteen yards out on the left side of the penalty area.

Since it was only a friendly match, despite this being his maiden goal for Manchester United, he did not display an overwhelming amount of excitement, simply offering a hug to Lingard, who had provided the assist.

Manchester United doubled their lead in the 20th minute: Ander Herrera intercepted the ball in the attacking half, Juan Mata played a precise through-ball, and Tsubasa Ozora materialized right on cue near the penalty spot, firing a low shot into the bottom-left corner from twelve yards out to make it 2-0.

Having completed a flawless brace, Tsubasa Ozora was finally happy, executing his classic gun-blowing celebration.

Mourinho, watching from the sideline, lit up at the sight of that goal. The intuitive understanding displayed by Herrera, Mata, and Tsubasa Ozora—all of whom had previously played in La Liga—along with the intricate, refined ball-control techniques characteristic of Spanish football, sparked a wealth of tactical inspiration in Mourinho's mind.

Mourinho's counter-attacks in the past had always relied on sheer speed, but the coordination of this La Liga trio added an entirely different dimension to Manchester United's counter-attacking style.

It was just as fast, but significantly more refined.

In the 26th minute, Jesse Lingard cut the ball back from near the left baseline of the penalty area, and Marouane Fellaini smashed a fierce shot into the net from fourteen yards out, making it 3-0.

Mourinho substituted all eleven players at halftime, bringing on Marcus Rashford to replace Tsubasa Ozora.

Although he had only played for a single half, and the Los Angeles Galaxy were of limited strength, Tsubasa Ozora could clearly feel that Manchester United's players were a cut above those at Villarreal, and this style of rapid counter-attack suited him far better.

Moreover, he had finally shaken off the predicament of having to shoulder the entire burden alone during his time at Villarreal last season; now, he only needed to focus on doing his fundamental job—scoring goals.

He had a premonition that his goal tally this season might even surpass that of the previous year.

One had to remember that last season he had claimed the dual Golden Boots in both the Champions League and La Liga!

After Tsubasa Ozora was substituted, Manchester United's scoring did not let up.

In the 67th and 72nd minutes, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial added two more goals for the Red Devils.

The Los Angeles Galaxy subsequently pulled two goals back in quick succession, but it was already of no consequence.

Two days later, Manchester United welcomed their second pre-season friendly in America, traveling away to face Real Salt Lake, where Tsubasa Ozora once again earned a starting berth.

In the 23rd minute, Real Salt Lake launched a counter-attack: Jefferson Savarino threaded a central through-ball, and Luis Silva surged forward at high speed before firing a low shot past the keeper!

1-0, the home side took the lead first!

From then on, the match transformed into Tsubasa Ozora's personal stage.

In the 29th minute, Manchester United executed brilliant combination play in front of the penalty area; Tsubasa Ozora broke into the box and unselfishly squared the ball, allowing Henrikh Mkhitaryan to strike a first-time shot directly into the near corner!

1-1, Manchester United leveled the score!

In the 38th minute, Mkhitaryan returned the favor, chipping a diagonal ball behind the defense from the left flank of the attacking half. Tsubasa Ozora cleverly maneuvered past both the defender and the goalkeeper before slotting the ball into an empty net!

2-1, Manchester United turned the match around!

Mourinho substituted all eleven players at halftime once again. This time, without Tsubasa Ozora on the pitch, there were no more goals, and Manchester United ultimately secured a 2-1 comeback victory over Real Salt Lake, claiming their second consecutive pre-season win.

Tsubasa Ozora had only played two first-halves across the two friendly matches, yet he contributed 3 goals and 1 assist, delivering a performance that was virtually flawless.

Their next pre-season fixture would take place in the International Champions Cup.

(End of this chapter)