Chapter 169: Premier League Striker

After being bypassed by Tsubasa Ozora, West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna panicked. Acting on impulse and with a hot head, he lunged to the ground with a flying tackle!

Gasps instantly echoed through the stands of Old Trafford. This was an extremely dangerous tackle from behind!

Tsubasa was already paying attention to the movement behind him. Sensing a sudden shift in the wind at his back, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly executed a sharp turn, dribbling the ball forward with a rapid lateral burst, just as a figure slid past him from behind.

"Good grief, the style of the Premier League is truly wild and brutal!" Tsubasa felt a lingering fear. If his supporting foot had been firmly caught by that kind of tackle, being sidelined for a month or two would be the best-case scenario; a botched challenge like that could easily write off his entire year.

Fortunately, his dribbling relied on direct, straightforward breakthroughs rather than Neymar's flashy and provocative flair. Otherwise, even with the assistance of the "Soccer Player System," he would inevitably have ended up as fragile as Arjen Robben.

Had Neymar initially joined a Premier League club instead of Barcelona in La Liga, he probably wouldn't even be in the conversation when people discuss future Ballon d'Or winners now.

The referee, who had already brought his whistle to his lips, pulled his hand back down. The current situation favored the attacking side, and the ball remained under Tsubasa's control.

Only one defender stood ahead of Tsubasa, while Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were completely unmarked, both positioned well onside.

Pass to a teammate?

Forget it!

Possessing the instincts of a lone wolf, it would be a miracle if he chose to pass when he had a decent scoring opportunity himself.

Tsubasa kept his gaze fixed on Rashford to his right, but gently nudged the ball with his right foot. The ball looped over the head of Joe Hart—whose eyes were still shifting toward Rashford—and dropped directly into the net.

A feint to the east and a strike in the west!

A rapid counterattack made West Ham pay dearly, changing the scoreline to 2-0!

At this point, only three minutes had passed in the second half.

This wave of fast-paced transition and Tsubasa's concluding sleight-of-foot left fans and reporters dazzled and thoroughly thrilled!

After scoring, Tsubasa ran toward Rashford to celebrate with his teammate—after all, his shot had deceived both Joe Hart and Rashford, who had been waiting for a pass.

Following the restart, the tempo of the match accelerated even further, and the duels on the pitch grew increasingly fierce. West Ham United had no intention of surrendering without a fight.

Compared to La Liga, mid-to-lower-table clubs in the Premier League possessed far more spine, willing to go toe-to-toe even against heavyweights. Unlike La Liga, which featured only three dominant giants in Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid, the Premier League had the "Big Six." If the smaller clubs refused to fight back with the same intensity, they might as well face direct relegation.

On the pitch, West Ham and Manchester United traded blows. One moment, United was besieging West Ham's goal; the next, West Ham was storming United's penalty area.

The rapid transitions in attack and defense drew gasps of tension from the spectators in the stands time and again. Even the live commentators at Old Trafford struggled to keep pace with the shifting momentum.

Tsubasa relished this frantic tempo to the utmost. Gifted with blistering speed and exceptional stamina, he adored this style of play, which allowed his strengths to be fully unleashed in counterattacks!

Amidst this relentless rhythm, Tsubasa led the Red Devils in completely stretching and dismantling West Ham's defensive line.

In the 87th minute, Manchester United sealed the victory. Paul Pogba provided the pass, Tsubasa surged forward with the ball before threading a through-ball, and Anthony Martial—successfully beating the offside trap—slid the ball past the keeper from 10 yards out in a one-on-one situation. 3-0!

Three minutes later, it was Tsubasa who initiated another counterattack. After receiving the ball, Martial unselfishly squared it, and Pogba unleashed a fierce strike from the edge of the D to find the back of the net. 4-0!

The final score was locked at 4-0. Tsubasa scored a brace, and Manchester United ushered in a flying start to the Premier League season!

As he walked off the pitch, Tsubasa earned applause from every corner of Old Trafford. Following Cristiano Ronaldo, they had finally found a new number 7 worthy of their complete trust and hope.

Tsubasa used his subsequent performances to tell the Manchester United faithful: the brilliance was far from over!

Manchester United's opening fixture of the new Premier League season was the very last of the ten matches, but for the second round, they were scheduled to play first, challenging Swansea City away at the Liberty Stadium.

Swansea was not traditionally a powerhouse, but over the previous three seasons, Manchester United had played them six times and lost on three occasions, earning Swansea the reputation as the Red Devils' bogey team.

Manchester United fielded the exact same starting lineup as the opening match, a clear indication that José Mourinho was thoroughly satisfied with his team's initial performance. Meanwhile, Swansea captain Leon Britton was sidelined with a back injury, South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng was also absent due to a knee issue, and new signing Roque Mesa was handed a start.

Before the kickoff, both teams observed a minute of silence in tribute to the recently deceased former Swansea honorary president Gwilym Joseph.

As the match got underway, Swansea deliberately slowed down the tempo. Manchester United played with caution, and Tsubasa struggled to find any glaring openings to break the deadlock.

In the 44th minute, Manchester United passed the ball around in the attacking third, hoping to pick apart Swansea's defense through intricate build-up. Unfortunately, the opposition had crammed too many bodies near the box, leaving few viable openings.

Receiving the ball 40 yards from goal and realizing that the patient approach was going nowhere, Tsubasa simply tried his luck with a speculative long-range effort. The ball deflected off the leg of a Swansea defender inside the area and trickled out over the byline, winning a corner for Manchester United.

Daley Blind swung in the corner. Eric Bailly won the initial header, and his 10-yard effort was parried by the goalkeeper, struck the crossbar, and bounced along the goal line. Tsubasa reacted quickest, executing a sharp, acrobatic poke into the roof of the net to break the deadlock.

1-0!

With this, he became only the fifth Manchester United player to score in his first two Premier League appearances!

In the second half, Manchester United dialed down the tempo to control the game, prompting Swansea to step up their counter-offensive—which once again provided a stage for Tsubasa, a speedster who excelled in rapid counter-attacks, to gallop freely!

In the 70th minute, Manchester United extended their lead. Mkhitaryan intercepted the ball in the attacking half, Martial drove forward on a dribble, and Mkhitaryan slid a diagonal pass to an unmarked Tsubasa, who slotted home from 10 yards out in a one-on-one scenario. 2-0!

In the 77th minute, Pogba intercepted possession, Mkhitaryan delivered a through-ball on the break, and Pogba neatly chipped the ball into the net from the right side of the small box. 3-0!

In the 84th minute, Pogba passed during a counter-attack, and Martial pierced into the box, applying the finishing touch with a low, 15-yard shot into the bottom right corner. 4-0!

Tsubasa scored braces in two consecutive matches, and Manchester United secured back-to-back 4-0 victories. This electrified the entire English footballing world, making everyone realize that the former Red Devils were truly back!

Who could possibly halt their momentum?

Could Leicester City, the 2015-16 Premier League champions, do it?

On August 26, Manchester United faced the challenge of Leicester City in the third round of the Premier League.

As for the starting lineup, Mourinho made only one change, replacing Rashford with Martial.

Mourinho's tactical arrangement for United's forward line this season was crystal clear: apart from the untouchable Tsubasa, everyone else—whether Martial, Rashford, Juan Mata, or Mkhitaryan—had to engage in fierce, cutthroat competition for places.

In this match, Leicester City demonstrated immense resilience and played with rugged toughness. Leicester defender Wes Morgan caused plenty of trouble for Tsubasa, continuing his heavy-handed tactics even after receiving a yellow card in the 38th minute of the first half.

However, no matter how rough Morgan's challenges were, they could not bridge the massive gap in quality between him and Tsubasa.

Manchester United did not break the deadlock until the 68th minute. Tsubasa used a sharp, right-angled body feint to shake off Morgan before unleashing a thunderous, trademark strike. Even though Kasper Schmeichel guessed the right way and managed to get a hand to the ball, he could still not prevent it from tearing into the back of the net.

1-0. Tsubasa had opened the scoring for Manchester United in three consecutive Premier League games!

Under Mourinho, the hardest part for Manchester United was always scoring the first goal; once they took the lead, everything else fell smoothly into place.

Three minutes later, Manchester United earned another corner.

Mkhitaryan floated the ball in, but both Pogba and Tsubasa missed headers at the near post. Rashford reacted quickest to sweep home a half-volley from 10 yards out. 2-0!

Manchester United widened the gap further in the 82nd minute. Rashford passed to Jesse Lingard, whose shot from the left side of the box was deflected into the net off the outer right knee of Marouane Fellaini at the edge of the small box. 3-0!

Tsubasa put the icing on the cake for the team in the 88th minute with a sensational free-kick from over 30 yards out. The ball curled majestically into the top corner, leaving young Kasper Schmeichel utterly helpless. 4-0!

Tsubasa had bagged consecutive braces in three straight games, and Manchester United had notched three successive 4-0 wins!

Faced with such displays, even the most nitpicking pundits could only offer songs of praise, and even the proudest opponents had to raise their vigilance to the maximum!

Everyone realized: the wolves had arrived!

Since the start of the new season, Tsubasa's performances in the attacking third had been near-flawless. On this front, even the harshest football analysts and the most steadfast "anti-United" partisans could not deny this hard-boiled fact.

However, certain British media outlets had previously tried to "pick bones out of an egg," pointing out that Tsubasa's defensive work rate appeared lackadaisical, as if he showed little willingness to track back and participate in Manchester United's collective defensive scheme.

Objectively speaking, criticizing an attacking spearhead for having "an inadequate defensive attitude" was certainly a novel and unconventional angle of critique. Yet, in the match against Leicester City, Tsubasa used his tireless diligence to completely silence these sharp-tongued critics.

During the fixture, he actively dropped deep to help out in midfield and even his own defensive third multiple times. In the 51st minute of the second half, he even blocked an opponent's header during a corner kick defense, subsequently disrupting the follow-up shot. In the 81st minute, he was even cautioned by the referee for chasing back toward the halfway line and executing a sliding tackle on an opposition midfielder.

If defensive performances like Tsubasa's still failed to shut the critics up, then their animosity toward the Manchester United number 7 must stem from racial prejudice!

Naturally, Tsubasa's defensive commitment drew praise from Mourinho, even though his raw defensive abilities still possessed glaring shortcomings.

Three Premier League games, three braces, and six goals in total proved beyond doubt that Tsubasa had seamlessly integrated into the team at both a tactical and technical level. Such performances had completely won over the Manchester United fanbase, giving rise to a massive legion of devoted "Tsubasa zealots."

First, former Manchester United player Phil Neville voiced his perspective: "Tsubasa has made tremendous progress, and I believe he absolutely must be placed in the top two when discussing this year's Ballon d'Or winner."

"I feel he is constantly evolving. He is a different breed of forward, at least as far as Manchester United is concerned. Tsubasa possesses blistering speed and loves running in behind defensive lines, which enables United to effectively execute a counter-attacking strategy. Last season, United's spearhead was Zlatan Ibrahimović; considering his age, speed, and build, United simply couldn't maximize the potency of a counter-attacking system. Now that Tsubasa has arrived, Manchester United can play true, devastating counter-attack football!"

Phil Neville continued: "In fact, Tsubasa's current caliber is astonishing. Last season in La Liga, he scored a staggering 38 goals, and in the Champions League, he netted 21 goals (including 3 in the qualifiers). Even when Manchester United triggered his €110 million release clause to sign him, it was widely regarded externally as a masterstroke of a bargain. If Tsubasa can maintain this form throughout the new season, I believe Manchester United will achieve success and capture at least one piece silverware."

Last season, Manchester United's blunt attack had made life difficult for the Red Devils in the Premier League. Neville believed that with Tsubasa, United's firepower was finally guaranteed.

If the commentary from defender-turned-pundit Phil Neville wasn't convincing enough, then the praise from Ruud van Nistelrooy—hailed as the "King of the Penalty Box"—certainly deserved utmost respect.

Recently, the official Manchester United website interviewed the legendary marksman, who likewise transformed into a card-carrying member of the Tsubasa fan club.

"I am deeply impressed by Tsubasa's form, his physical fitness, his ball control, and his free-kicks. His hunger for success is incredible; he never compromises and always fights," Van Nistelrooy said. "Despite his young age, he leaves a profound impression on me."

"He proved himself at Villarreal and is already one of the very top strikers in modern football. His challenge now is to elevate his game to another tier, on par with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Playing for Manchester United is different from playing for Villarreal, and the psychological jump is immense. The pressure changes completely, so if he can handle that, I don't see any problems."

"I think he will integrate wonderfully and step into his absolute peak starting right now. From a club perspective, signing him right now is perfection. For the next decade, Manchester United likely won't have to worry about their forward line."

However, before Tsubasa could continue his wild exploits for Manchester United, he had to temporarily depart the club. The upcoming fixtures required him to join the Chinese national team for the final round of the Asian Qualifiers for the World Cup against Uzbekistan.

This battle would determine whether Chinese football could proudly march into the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia!

...

Appendix: 2017-18 Manchester United Squad (26 Players):
Goalkeepers: 1-David de Gea, 20-Sergio Romero, 40-Joel Pereira
Defenders: 2-Victor Lindelöf, 3-Eric Bailly, 4-Phil Jones, 5-Marcos Rojo, 12-Chris Smalling, 17-Daley Blind, 23-Luke Shaw, 25-Antonio Valencia, 36-Matteo Darmian
Midfielders: 6-Paul Pogba, 8-Juan Mata, 14-Jesse Lingard, 16-Michael Carrick, 18-Ashley Young, 21-Ander Herrera, 22-Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 27-Marouane Fellaini, 31-Nemanja Matić, 39-Scott McTominay
Forwards: 7-Tsubasa Ozora, 9-Marcus Rashford, 10-Zlatan Ibrahimović, 11-Anthony Martial