Manchester United's attack was fierce!
Ferguson's team was a typical wing-based attack, constantly pounding Luton's defense down both flanks.
Crosses from Valencia and Nani on the left and right wings continuously rained down into Luton's penalty area! And in the middle, Carrick's ability to control the overall situation meant Luton's counter-attacks were almost non-existent!
"Luton is completely pinned down. If this continues, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for long!"
That's what Wright-Phillips said ten minutes ago, but now ten minutes have passed, and Manchester United still haven't scored!
Not just ten or twenty minutes have passed, the score on the field is still zero-zero.
"Manchester United's attack looks quite ferocious, but surprisingly, Luton's defense is also very solid!" Wright-Phillips himself was a little surprised. "The center-back pairing of the veteran Sol Campbell and the youngster Jeffrey complements each other well. They've cleared away most of the dangerous situations, and Drinkwater and Kante's covering has also reduced the quality of Manchester United's crosses."
"Schmeichel's performance has also been good; he's already made a few crucial saves!" Little Redknapp added from the side.
The Manchester United fans in the stands were cheering loudly; it was still Manchester United on the attack.
Luton's fans were a little nervous. Although Manchester United hadn't scored yet, Luton was indeed being suppressed by Manchester United.
Ferguson was chewing gum. In fact, you could roughly tell the mood of the helmsman of this red empire by the frequency of his gum chewing.
Right now, Ferguson's mouth was moving up and down rapidly – indicating that he was also feeling some concern at this moment.
It was already past the thirty-minute mark in the first half. Manchester United's attack was like a tide, but the score still hadn't changed!
The two sides were locked in a stalemate in the thirty-meter zone!
The Manchester United players were desperately trying to push forward, while the Luton players were naturally doing their best to push Manchester United's attack line further away, away from their own goal!
In the thirty-eighth minute, Rooney dropped outside the penalty area, received the ball, turned, and immediately unleashed a long-range shot!
Schmeichel reacted quickly. He moved a few steps, then dived sideways, pushing the ball out for a corner!
"Rooney's long shot!!! A test for Schmeichel!!!" The commentators in the commentary box sounded excited.
The fans reacted differently; the intense match had completely immersed the fans in the stadium in the emotions of the game.
Rooney dropping deep seemed to be a signal! After a long period of continuous wing attacks, Manchester United seemed to be changing their approach!
In fact, when facing a compact defense, crossing from the wings or taking long shots are the methods most teams like to use.
Now that they had been crossing from the wings for so long, Luton's defenders seemed to have adjusted, so now Manchester United needed to step up their long-range shooting!
Rooney's shot was a signal!
Manchester United's corner kick didn't pose much threat; the ball was headed away by Sol Campbell.
However, Manchester United still controlled the ball outside the box.
Just as Carrick brought the ball down, Kante charged forward,
and poked the ball away.
This startled Manchester United, but thankfully, Fletcher, who was behind Carrick, managed to control the ball before Kante.
Fletcher took a touch towards the wing and then passed forward to Nani!
Nani was seen as Ronaldo's successor at Manchester United, and in fact, it was the same in Portugal, so the Portuguese winger also cut inside immediately after receiving the ball!
Nani's shot after cutting inside was very beautiful; the ball arced towards the goal!
However, the shot was still a bit far from the goal. Just when people thought the ball was going to nestle in the net, the powerfully struck ball curved in the air and went out for a goal kick, grazing the post.
Gao Bo breathed a sigh of relief. He walked to the touchline and loudly reminded the midfielders to be aware of Manchester United's long shots!
By this time, the match had passed forty minutes. For Luton, conceding a goal at this moment would truly be the worst possible thing.
Manchester United did attempt a few more long shots after that, but none found the target.
Long shots are inherently difficult to control, so after a few attempts, Manchester United tried to penetrate through the middle again.
Overall, Manchester United had quite a few weapons in their arsenal.
But time was running out.
The one minute of first-half injury time quickly passed.
When Berbatov attempted a dribble in the penalty area and was thwarted by the retreating Kante, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
Gao Bo breathed a sigh of relief. Facing a team like Manchester United was always very stressful.
He turned and headed back to the locker room immediately after the referee blew the whistle. In the locker room, he needed to make quick adjustments for the second half.
"Flexibility!! Pay attention to defensive flexibility!!" Gao Bo was writing and drawing on the tactics board. The most dangerous moments in the first half were created by Manchester United when Luton's formation was completely flattened.
"In the second half, we'll continue to play defensive counter-attacking football!"
There was no question about this; this was the plan the team had been preparing for this match for over a week.
Even if they drew zero-zero, it wasn't a big deal. Gao Bo saw the Community Shield match as a high-quality test. The focus of this match was naturally to test the team's defensive capabilities.
If they could score on the counter-attack, that would naturally be even better!
Gao Bo didn't say much. He spent five minutes explaining everything, and the remaining time was for the players to shower, change into dry jerseys, and some players might need to refuel, eat some bananas or something.
Bananas were the most common food in the team's locker room. Most teams would prepare some bananas for the players to replenish energy during halftime.
Meanwhile, in the Manchester United locker room, Ferguson's hairdryer was already in full swing!
"Is this how we should be performing against a League One team?!"
Ferguson was spitting, and none of the Manchester United players dared to interrupt him at this moment.
"I don't want to see this kind of performance again in the second half!! We need goals!! We need to score as quickly as possible!!" Ferguson pounded the table. "Damn it!! Whatever method you use!! You must put the ball into that damn goal!!!!"
"Crosses!! Long shots!!!"
"Press!! Keep pressing them!!!"
Ferguson roared.
In the entire locker room, only Ferguson's voice could be heard. The Manchester United players didn't dare to breathe loudly.
"Danny!!!"
Welbeck looked up.
"You're coming on in the second half!!!"
A hint of joy appeared in the corner of Welbeck's eye.
, when he needed to strengthen the attack, the old man actually thought of him first, not the other striker sitting on the bench – Michael Owen!
However, Ferguson obviously hadn't forgotten Owen either.
"Michael! You get ready too!"
Ferguson was preparing for two substitutions both in the attacking line. Of course, he wouldn't necessarily bring on strikers consecutively. His purpose in saying this was because he needed to put some pressure on the strikers.
Indeed, even the usually nonchalant Berbatov's expression became serious.
It was important to remember that there were many good players sitting on Manchester United's bench.
Michael Owen goes without saying, and even Welbeck made Berbatov feel threatened.
Manchester United was still playing in their traditional 4-4-2 formation. The two starting strikers were Rooney and Berbatov. Rooney's starting position was definitely secure; at least his playing time was ahead of Berbatov's. Therefore, if we talk about who had more pressure in the competition for a striker spot between the two starters, it was definitely Berbatov!
With just a few words, Ferguson forced the seemingly half-asleep Berbatov to play with all his might in the second half!