After attending Beckham's wedding, Ethan and the others rushed back to Manchester that evening, while Scarlett, who had been pretending to be Ethan's girlfriend, stayed in Dublin for one more night.
On the return flight, Ethan clarified the misunderstanding, which naturally led to teasing from Bruce and the others. However, they were more envious than anything, saying that if such a beautiful female reporter pretended to be their girlfriend, even dying would be worth it.
After returning to Manchester, everyone parted ways at the airport. Ethan, Bruce, and Walsh went straight back to Newton Heath Training Base.
In the following days, while Ethan and Walsh once again urged the city government to make a decision on the sale of the City of Manchester Stadium and the surrounding land, the new players also began arriving at the club.
Crouch and Kitson were the first players Ethan had contacted. The former came directly to New Manchester United's training camp after his holiday, while the latter, a few days after speaking with Ethan, came to Manchester to observe New Manchester United's situation and ended up staying.
Both players were very tall. The former looked extremely thin, but his footwork was quite good, surprising everyone in his first training session. However, his ability in physical duels was very poor.
Kitson was 1.91 metres tall and weighed 83 kilograms. He was strong without being clumsy, the type of player who looked like a pure centre-forward, but his current position was centre-back.
As a centre-back, Kitson had a major problem with his positional sense. He always habitually used his body to challenge opponents for the ball, and his habit of pushing forward to join the attack was not a big issue in the Sunday League. But once he reached the National League, it would definitely be exploited.
The first time he watched Kitson train, Ethan immediately suggested to Bruce that Kitson should switch to centre-forward and act as the team's focal point in positional attacks. This would make use of Kitson's height and heading ability, while his good technique and tenacious fighting spirit should give New Manchester United's front line more options and support.
Although Crouch was 2 metres tall, his heading technique and slender build had already destined him to be unsuitable for that role.
At first, everyone at the club was surprised by Crouch's height, but when the 2.02-metre Žigić joined the team, that record was broken again. Apart from Crouch and a few other tall players, almost all the remaining club staff had to look up when talking to him.
Among them, one staff member from The Lab was only 1.65 metres tall. When he wanted to measure Žigić's shoulder width, he could not reach, so he had to find a stool to stand on. This immediately caused a stir throughout the club.
The players who reported at the same time as Žigić included Almunia, Abidal, and Distin.
Goalkeeper Roberto Keane, who had represented New Manchester United in the North West Counties League Division Two last season, had been recalled by Droylsden, so the team only had David Green as a goalkeeper during this training period until Almunia arrived.
Abidal and Distin were both Black players and both French, so after consideration, the club decided to help them rent a house near Newton Heath Training Base. As a senior player, Evra volunteered to help his French compatriots integrate into the team.
Although they had arrived in an unfamiliar country and joined an unfamiliar team, Abidal and Distin were very active and in excellent physical condition during the team's daily training on their second day. Abidal, in particular, impressed everyone with his exceptional physical qualities.
During the early stage of the team's training camp, The Lab became the busiest department at the club.
According to Professor Fryer's requirements, the entire team, including the youth team, had to provide a complete set of physical data.
In addition to common data such as precise height, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate, there was also a series of physical data that many people had never even heard of, such as bone density, muscle elasticity index, and so on.
According to Fryer, this set of data would take at least half a season to collect and complete.
Of course, that was only because The Lab was currently in its adjustment phase. Once they became familiar with these procedures, future tests would be faster and more accurate.
In addition to players going to The Lab every day for various tests, Fryer also set up more than a dozen high-precision cameras on the training ground. These cameras were directly connected to The Lab's computers, allowing lab personnel to observe the players' condition on the training ground at any time.
Furthermore, players on the training ground could be stopped at any time to undergo lab tests, which caused a lot of trouble for the team's early training camp. Many players were annoyed by these tedious and complex tests, especially since their effectiveness was still unknown.
However, because of the club's strict regulations, the players ultimately chose to cooperate.
On July 9, Juninho successfully arrived in Manchester on his tourist visa. Following Ethan's arrangements, he simply said upon entry that he was there for tourism and had prepared a travel explanation in advance, allowing him to pass through customs smoothly.
Since the club had already prepared accommodation for all foreign players, as soon as Juninho arrived in Manchester, he was immediately taken to Newton Heath Training Base. First, he met Ethan and head coach Bruce at the club office, then Walsh took him to the Royal Hospital for a series of comprehensive physical examinations, which were naturally supervised by Professor Fryer and the others.
After the examination, Walsh personally took Juninho to view several rental apartments the club had prepared for him. Juninho finally chose one of the houses and moved in that same day.
In addition to housing, the club also specifically hired several teachers for these foreign players. Some would teach spoken English, while others would teach them about English customs and daily habits.
To handle these matters, the club specifically established an independent Human Resources Department, with Walsh as its head. The department also recruited three female fans, all of whom had experience working in the Human Resources Departments of large companies. As soon as they joined the club, they immediately got to work. So despite New Manchester United signing many foreign players this year, everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
Because he had travelled around the world with Ethan and only returned to Italy to pick up his family after coming back to Manchester, the De Rossi family was the last to arrive in Manchester. They chose an apartment near Newton Heath Training Base, and Mrs. De Rossi successfully found a job at a nearby factory.
Amid the hustle and bustle, all of New Manchester United's signings were finally completed by July 20.
During this period, the club played three warm-up matches on the 12th, 14th, and 17th, against lower-tier teams near Manchester. Although they were missing key players, New Manchester United still showed a level far superior to their opponents, winning 6-0, 3-0, and 4-0 respectively.
Jonathan Matten started as centre-forward in all three warm-up matches and played the full ninety minutes, but his performance was average, with only one goal and one assist in three games. In contrast, substitute centre-forward Žigić performed exceptionally well, scoring a hat-trick in the first warm-up match and two goals in the second, as if he needed no time to adapt at all.
For the sake of familiarity, New Manchester United largely retained last season's starting lineup in these three warm-up matches, with only Jonathan Matten's partner changed to Crouch. The two wingers remained Richie Wellens and Darren Lyons, while the central midfield pairing was changed to Juninho and Karl Marginson.
The back four, from left to right, were Patrice Evra, Eric Abidal, Gary Turner, and Kevin Evans, with Almunia in goal.
After the test of three warm-up matches, Jonathan Matten's performance was not ideal, while Žigić performed exceptionally well. Although substitute Olić did not score, his performance was also eye-catching.
The left-sided combination of Richie Wellens and Evra remained the source of New Manchester United's attacks, with the entire left flank almost unstoppable. Especially with both players being incredibly quick and the front line packed with excellent headers of the ball, New Manchester United's attacks down the left were very effective.
Unlike the left flank, the right-sided combination of Darren Lyons and Kevin Evans was more balanced in attack and defence. Both players were all-rounders, which meant the right flank was not as prominent in attack, but Lyons' crossing and diagonal long-pass ability were still there. That was evident from his four assists in the three warm-up matches.
As a defensive midfielder, Karl Marginson remained diligent and performed adequately. In contrast, Juninho, who had joined with the reputation of a Brazil international, failed to show the ability expected of a Brazil international, nor did he possess the terrifying direct free-kick ability that Ethan remembered from his previous life.
As for the centre-back pairing, Abidal and Gary Turner complemented each other. The former had strong physical qualities, pace, explosive power, and was particularly good at tackling and man-marking, although his positional sense was somewhat lacking. The latter, however, was more composed, had excellent positional sense, and possessed top-notch heading technique. Such a centre-back partnership only needed time to build chemistry.
However, although all three warm-up matches ended in big victories, their opponents were all teams from the North West Counties amateur league, so the quality was naturally not high and could not compare to the National League that New Manchester United would compete in this season. Therefore, Bruce paid special attention to this when arranging warm-up matches.
On the afternoon of July 21, New Manchester United challenged Third Division side Rochdale away. This was an established and resilient Fourth Division team that had been competing in the fourth tier for 25 years since being relegated from the Third Division in 1974, without being promoted or relegated.
Such a team was clearly the best touchstone for New Manchester United to test its lineup!
(To be continued.)