Although New Manchester United achieved great success in three matches in November, when it came to the monthly awards, New Manchester United only won Young Player of the Month, and that honour naturally went to Curtis.
As for Manager of the Month and Player of the Month, both were taken by Cardiff, who had also won three matches in a row. Mourinho and Juninho both finished second, which made New Manchester United's supporters feel indignant. They all felt that it was only because Cardiff were top of the league. Otherwise, considering New Manchester United's schedule and the fact that they had beaten two major rivals, it would have been unfair for Mourinho and Juninho not to win the monthly awards.
But soon, New Manchester United's supporters were laughing, because the Manager of the Month curse had once again come true.
In the twentieth round of League Two, played on December 1, Cardiff hosted newly promoted Kidderminster. The latter surprisingly caused an upset, defeating the league leaders 0-1. This shocked almost everyone, and some even claimed that it was a fixed match controlled by a betting company.
But if you had been at the stadium watching the match, you would have found that Kidderminster's performance was indeed extremely resilient. They were suppressed by Cardiff throughout the match, but they held on until the final moments, then scored against Cardiff through a counterattack and earned three valuable points.
And because both New Manchester United and Brighton won their respective matches, after twenty rounds, Brighton once again topped the League Two table with forty-seven points. This was their second time reaching the top this season, and judging by Brighton's current strength, it would not be easy to unseat them.
New Manchester United and Cardiff both had forty-five points, but New Manchester United ranked second because of their superior goal difference, while Cardiff were third. Blackpool were fourth with forty-three points.
The top four teams in the league were tightly packed, with only one match separating them. If any of them were even slightly careless, they could easily be overtaken completely by their opponents.
It was precisely because of this that Mourinho attached great importance to the matches throughout the entire winter period.
However, the entire month of December still posed a great challenge for New Manchester United. The reason was simple. Eid al-Fitr fell on December 27, which meant that the month before that was the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. For the two Muslim players in the team, Abidal and Essien, the whole month of December would be a test.
But the most troublesome thing was that after December, there was still the busy winter schedule. Although New Manchester United had already been eliminated from all cup competitions and only had League Two left, there was still at least one match every week, with two weeks requiring them to play twice in a single week.
Having learned from the previous experience, this time, before Ramadan arrived, Essien informed the club a month in advance. The laboratory also responded quickly. The team were currently short of players. If the team's competitiveness dropped again because of Ramadan, that would be no laughing matter.
The method adopted by the laboratory this time was the one Ethan had mentioned before: adjusting Essien and Abidal's meal times to the evening and reducing their training load, allowing them to focus as much as possible on recovery and maintaining their condition.
Before December 27, New Manchester United had a total of four matches to play: hosting Cheltenham on December 8, challenging bottom-ranked Barnet away on December 15, facing Plymouth away on December 22, and hosting Rochdale on December 26.
Poulsen and Alou Diarra had both returned from injury, so Mourinho decided to use Essien as a substitute in these matches. After all, this was the most intense period of the league campaign, and he would not allow his team to make even the slightest mistake.
As for the center-backs, Mourinho was very optimistic about the partnership between Terry and Curtis, insisting on starting both of them. With Hangeland as a substitute, Abidal could calmly begin Ramadan, while the left-back position was given to Evra.
Due to Schmeichel's severe knee sprain during an international match in October, he had been out until now. The laboratory believed he would not be able to return until at least February. Therefore, during this period, Almunia had consistently been the team's first-choice goalkeeper. The Spaniard's performances had been relatively stable, but he still could not replace Schmeichel's role in the team.
To use Terry's words, when Schmeichel was there, his experience could help the team better. Especially at critical moments, he would always step forward to remind his teammates, which made Terry feel very reassured, because he knew there was an older brother behind him who would always remind him not to make mistakes.
But Almunia was different. He might be a qualified goalkeeper, but he always carried out his duties diligently and did not interact much with his teammates. He had never been able to inspire the same sense of trust as Schmeichel.
However, in Schmeichel's absence, Juninho's performances had been getting better and better. He often helped the team at critical moments by stabilizing morale. He was also becoming more and more familiar with the team's tactics and adapting to the English style of play, which allowed him to help the team even more.
And just as New Manchester United were wholeheartedly preparing for battle, the super weapon Ethan had been waiting two years for finally came out!
...
In the laboratory at the training base, Ethan, Walsh, Mourinho, and the others who had heard the news stared curiously at the small pill Professor Fryer was holding between his right index finger and thumb, as if this pill were some legendary elixir of life.
"Is this the nutritional pill you mentioned?" Ethan felt that this small pill did not look very impressive.
Derek, who was standing beside Professor Fryer, chuckled and nodded. "Ethan, don't underestimate this pill. Do you know how many kinds of nutrients are packed into it?"
Ethan and the others looked at one another. Everyone glanced around, but none of them were good at this kind of thing.
"All right, Derek, stop showing off and just say it!" Walsh was more impatient and urged him.
The laboratory's funding was allocated by Walsh. When Derek heard Walsh, who held his financial lifeline, speak, how could he dare not listen? He immediately explained the pill he had developed in detail.
"We all know that every person's body has an organic compound called adenosine triphosphate, which we can also directly call an energy substance, or ATP for short. The amount of ATP stored in each person's body is very small. Generally speaking, it can only sustain exercise for around fifteen seconds. After running 100 meters, this energy substance will be exhausted."
"Are you trying to tell us that everyone can only run a maximum of 100 meters?" Walsh joked from the side.
Derek smiled and shook his head. "No. This energy substance can continuously cycle and resynthesize itself. It repeatedly synthesizes ATP through breathing, drinking water, and various other means. That is why our players can maintain high-intensity competition for a long time."
After listening, everyone immediately understood a little, but the true meaning behind it could not be explained in a single sentence.
"The main sources of energy for synthesizing ATP are glucose and fatty acids. But when we carry out a large amount of high-intensity exercise, it causes heavy consumption, and the synthesis rate of ATP slows down. This leads to a decline in athletic ability, and symptoms such as muscle soreness will also appear."
"This is only one aspect, and the most intuitive one. If we were to talk about the other aspects, I don't think we could finish even in two or three days. Anyway, you only need to understand that the consumption of energy substances in the body is the main reason athletic ability declines."
Professor Fryer listened and chuckled, then nodded. "Derek is right. That is why we spent so much time and effort developing this nutritional pill. It contains various minerals, vitamins, sugars, proteins, and other substances that can replenish energy. We have concentrated them into this small pill."
After speaking, Professor Fryer pointed to the main computer beside him. This computer recorded the detailed physical data of every player. These data were extremely detailed and formed a very professional set of records.
Mourinho, seeing this set of data files for the first time, was shocked. Although he knew that the laboratory was conducting research and had played a significant role, at least helping him better monitor the players' physical condition, he did not know that the laboratory's player data was so detailed. Most of the testing items were things he had never even heard of.
"We will use each player's physical condition, together with their first-half running distance and various data provided by OPTA, input them into the software, and then estimate the player's physical energy consumption in the first half and what kind of nutrients he needs to replenish. Then, at half-time, we will provide him with such a pill. After drinking it with water and resting for a few minutes, it will provide the player with more abundant energy in the second half, thereby improving his athletic ability."
"Will this harm the player's body?" Ethan asked with concern.
If this was just something similar to a stimulant, then it would be better not to use it.
Derek shook his head and said, "Of course not. If it were harmful, we might as well just take stimulants or something similar, and we would not need to spend so much effort on research. I can guarantee that this is absolutely harmless and has no side effects, just like eating. It is just that eating takes time to absorb, while this concentrated pill can be absorbed by the body in a few minutes and will take effect for more than half an hour afterward."
At this point, Derek smiled at Ethan and said, "Of course, the effect of this pill is definitely not as fast-acting or as strong as stimulants, but it will be very helpful to the players!"
"Has it been tested?" Ethan asked again.
"Of course. Everyone knows you treat the players like treasures. I wouldn't dare propose it without testing it first!" Professor Fryer laughed.
Everyone at the training base knew that Ethan attached great importance to the players.
After Ethan finished listening, he looked at Mourinho, who was obviously somewhat tempted. He was a coach who placed great emphasis on physical fitness, so he clearly knew that if this pill could really accelerate the players' physical recovery and improve their athletic ability in the second half during half-time, then it would undoubtedly bring great help to the team.
One person's improvement might only be a little, but with eleven players on the pitch, over a season, and over several years, it would accumulate into something huge. That would give New Manchester United a greater advantage when competing with their opponents!
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)