boyutpedia Chapter 236
Chapter 236
The first time, the second time.
Chapter 231 Ways to limit De Bruyne!
“Good job, guys!”
This was the first sentence Pearson said when he returned to the locker room after the game.
“Although we didn’t win the game, your hard work and fighting spirit on the field are worthy of recognition!”
“Especially on the defensive end, when the opponent had so many opportunities, we only lost one goal,”
“Losing is not terrible, what’s terrible is taking it for granted!”
“We must treat every game with a positive attitude of continuing to improve.”
A team not only has the core and main players around whom the team formulates tactics and plays, but also substitutes who don’t have that much playing time.
It is impossible for all the main players to play all 38 league games.
Then the substitute players need to step up!
And how to keep the substitute players fighting?
In addition to reasonable rotation, it is also very important to motivate the morale of the substitute players and keep them in a certain competitive state.
If you lose the game during a large-scale rotation, you will yell at the substitute players, blame them and complain.
That will only hit their self-confidence and make their already low competitive state and morale even lower.
In this way, what will be hurt in the end is the team’s atmosphere and record.
Therefore, even if the game is lost, Pearson did not blame or scold his disciples, but encouraged them.
Besides, losing only one goal at Manchester City’s home is already a good result for Leicester City, which has made a large-scale rotation.
In the entire Premier League, who dares to say that they will be able to retreat unscathed at the Etihad Stadium?
Perhaps only Chelsea, led by the “madman”, has such confidence.
Even though the team ranks in the top six of the league, Pearson still has a very clear understanding of the strength of his team.
They are a small club that has been promoted, and there is still a big gap between them and big clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.
And the attitude of the head coach also dissipated a lot of the depression and frustration of losing the game in everyone’s heart.
After taking a shower, everyone got on the bus to go home.
As the night deepened, a bus with a huge Blue Fox logo painted on the body slowly drove out of Manchester.
Harry Maguire, who was sitting by the window on the left, looked through the window at the brightly lit streets, but his heart was still rippled.
Tonight is a day worth remembering for Maguire.
Because he ushered in his first Premier League start in his career!
And it was on his birthday!
Speaking of which, he thought the head coach knew that it was his birthday today, so he specially let him start in this game, which was a special “birthday gift”.
However, judging from the expressions and behaviors of the coach and teammates, they didn’t seem to know that it was his birthday today.
After thinking about it, Maguire was relieved.
After all, he is just an “outsider” on loan from another club.
And he is also a substitute for the team. It is normal that others do not know his birthday.
On the way home, he wore headphones and listened to music while sharing his first Premier League start experience with his parents and friends.
At the same time, Ling Feng, who was sitting in the last row of the bus, was sitting with Lingard, Vardy and Mahrez, whispering:
“Jesse, is the cake ready?”
“Ready!”
“Jamie, do others know?”
“Everyone has been notified.”
“Very good, then let’s check the process first.”
. . .
Compared with the vast ancient Eastern country, the British Peninsula is too small, which saves Premier League players a lot of time on the road.
Just one hour later, the entire Leicester City team returned to the Belvoir base smoothly.
Everyone got off the car one after another.
After waving goodbye to his teammates, Maguire also went straight to the parking lot and prepared to drive home.
His parents and siblings were still waiting for him to come back home to celebrate his birthday.
However, when he came to his second-hand Santana and just took out the car keys, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him:
“Harry!”
Turning around, he saw Ling Feng walking towards him quickly.
“Ling, you called me?”
“Harry, are you ready to go home?”
“Yes, what’s wrong?”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course! Go ahead.”
“I have to go to London right now to do something urgent, but I put a document in my locker. Can you help me get it and then give it to my assistant later?”
Hearing this, Maguire nodded without any doubt:
“Okay, no problem!”
“Great, thank you. I’ll treat you to dinner another day.”
Patting Maguire’s arm, Ling Feng walked quickly to the black Land Rover not far away.
Without waiting for Ling Feng to drive away, Maguire immediately turned around and walked towards the base.
However, he never expected that the moment he stepped into the base, Ling Feng, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the black Land Rover, immediately took out his mobile phone and made a call:
“Hello?”
“It’s me. He’s in. Is he ready?”
“Everything is ready!”
“Very good!”
After hanging up the phone, Ling Feng put down the phone with an arc at the corner of his mouth.
This smile seemed to be recalling the “surprise” he had planned.
On the other side, Maguire, who had no idea, came straight to the team’s locker room with a sports backpack on his back.
And just as he pushed open the door of the locker room, something strange happened!
Pop!
The sound of the salutes made Maguire, who was 1.94 meters tall, tremble with fear.
Then, accompanied by the ribbons falling from the sky, he was surprised to find that the locker room was full of people!
Including the entire coaching staff and all teammates!
Among them, Lingard held a cake with candles in his hands and smiled brightly at him:
“Surprised or not! Surprised or not!”
Looking at the birthday cake in Lingard’s hand, and then looking at the smiling coaches and teammates, Maguire reacted immediately.
It turned out that they all remembered his birthday!
Even though he was just an outsider on loan, they specially held a birthday surprise for him!
Just when Maguire was so moved that he was at a loss for words, he felt someone patting his arm.
Turning around, he saw Ling Feng, who was supposed to go to London, looking at him with a smile on his face.
“Happy birthday, Harry! Congratulations on your first Premier League start!”
As soon as these words came out, Maguire’s eyes turned red.
This young man, who was taller than everyone else present, just repeated his thanks awkwardly one after another:
“Thank you, thank you everyone”
Next, all the players of Leicester City stood in two rows in the locker room, and then let Maguire run through them, and everyone reached out and patted his back, which was considered a blessing.
This is a common way of congratulations in professional football.
Finally, Maguire was hit in the face with a cake, and then everyone took a photo with him and uploaded it to their social media accounts.
Until this time, Maguire also learned from Lingard that the whole birthday surprise was planned by Ling Feng!
Ling Feng not only persuaded other teammates to join the surprise, but also bought a cake.
So, Maguire, with his face covered with cake cream, only his eyes showing, came to Ling Feng and gave him a big hug!
“Thank you, Ling!”
“Hey, the cream rubbed on me!”
“Oh, sorry.”
Hearing Ling Feng’s teasing, Maguire quickly let go of him.
But he found that there was no cream on Ling Feng, all on his face!
Maguire was stunned, and Ling Feng laughed out loud.
“Hahaha, I’m kidding you.”
When he finished laughing, he found that Maguire was staring at him closely, with tears in his eyes.
What the hell?
Could it be that Maguire thought I was too good to him and planned to confess to me?
I heard that there are many gays hidden among professional players, not to mention in England, which is called the “rotten country”!
Although I am indeed handsome and charming, and I am ranked second on the list of men that gays want to date, second only to the “heartthrob” Beckham.
But I am a super straight man with a girlfriend!
Gay?
What the hell!
Just as Ling Feng’s brain was working at high speed, Maguire’s next words made him realize that he seemed to think too much.
“Thank you very much for everything you have done for me, Ling. This means a lot to me. If you didn’t already have a girlfriend, I would have wanted to introduce my sister to you.”
Hearing this, Ling Feng was stunned at first, then he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh, and waved his hand quickly:
“Why are you polite? You are my friend and my teammate. This little thing is nothing.”
Hearing this, Maguire felt that Ling Feng was a person worth making friends with.
If Ling Feng’s system can let him see how much each player likes him.
Then,
He could see that Maguire’s favorability was rising!
Originally, Maguire came to Leicester City with a humble learning attitude.
As a loan player, he was mentally prepared before arriving in Leicester.
Perhaps no one would welcome or care about his short-term passerby.
He even thought that he should spend most of his time alone on the bench during the six months in Leicester City.
However, what he didn’t expect was that from the first day he came to the team, the core player Ling Feng took the initiative to take him to meet other teammates and let him integrate into the group.
Under Ling Feng’s lead, other teammates would occasionally take the initiative to greet him and even chat with him.
Even the captain Morgan would take the initiative to teach him some defensive experience during training.
And Lingard, who was also on loan and of similar age, was also a self-acquainted person and soon became brothers with him.
It was also because of the welcome and care from Ling Feng and his teammates, as well as the harmonious atmosphere of the team, that Maguire’s somewhat confused heart was able to calm down, and he devoted himself to training and competition, showing his ability to the head coach and teammates.
That’s why he started in the Premier League today and performed steadily on the defensive end.
It can be said that without Ling Feng’s help, he might have to spend more time to adapt to life in Leicester!
This birthday surprise touched Maguire and also made him have a bold idea in his mind:
It would be great if he could really become a part of Leicester City and be a teammate with Ling Feng all the time
. . .
Maguire’s birthday made the team temporarily forget the depression of three consecutive league defeats.
On the second day, Leicester City received good news:
That is, Argentine striker Ulloa, who was absent due to injury, can finally conduct recovery training!
According to the professional opinion of the team doctor, he should be able to play in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals and play for 30 minutes.
The return of Ulloa gives the team an extra option on the front line and also allows the team’s offensive routines to change.
A week later, Leicester City will welcome Wolfsburg, which has performed well in the Bundesliga this season, at home.
Therefore, they began to make intensive pre-match preparations around the team’s lineup and tactical play.
The core player of Wolfsburg is naturally De Bruyne, nicknamed “Ding Ding”.
This season, De Bruyne topped the Bundesliga assists list with thirteen assists.
At the same time, the 23-year-old attacking midfielder is also the midfielder who creates the most opportunities in the entire Bundesliga.
It is no exaggeration to say that he is the best attacking midfielder in the entire Bundesliga at present.
No one!
Therefore, how to limit De Bruyne’s performance has become the key to whether Wolfsburg can be defeated.
After research and analysis by the Leicester City coaching staff, it is felt that the midfield combination of Cambiasso and Drinkwater cannot defend De Bruyne at all!
You know, Wolfsburg’s offense is extremely simple and fast, which is somewhat similar to Arsenal’s fast passing and cutting.
Especially in the fast counterattack at the time of offense and defense, De Bruyne’s excellent advancement ability can lead the entire Wolfsburg’s offensive formation forward as a whole and quickly attack the opponent’s defense line.
Strictly speaking, neither Cambiasso nor Drinking Water belongs to the engineer-type defensive midfielder who is dedicated to defense.
Even though he is old, Cambiasso, who has played for Real Madrid and Inter Milan, is still first-class in terms of defensive awareness and positioning.
However, his physical function has declined sharply, and he often knows how to position himself, but cannot appear in the best defensive position at the first time.
And Drinking Water belongs to the all-around hexagonal midfielder.
To put it nicely, he is good at both offense and defense, but to put it bluntly, he knows a little about offense and defense, but he is not good at either.
The key is that Cambiasso likes to join the attack from behind and occasionally take a long shot.
This will put Drinkwater, who is lagging behind, under great defensive pressure.
Once the opponent takes the ball out of the backcourt, they can launch a quick counterattack.
The midfield with only Drinkwater behind was almost wide open, allowing the opponent to rush in.
When playing against Arsenal, it was because of the repeated loss of position in the midfielder area that Arsenal’s two wingers got the opportunity to face the back line players and complete the shot.
After studying Wolfsburg’s tactical play, Pearson knew very well that there should not be too much space in the middle to allow De Bruyne to show his fists.
Therefore, considering that restricting De Bruyne can greatly restrict Wolfsburg’s offense, the coaching staff headed by Pearson thought about it and came up with a fairly good solution.
A good idea:
That is to let Ling Feng retreat to the midfield and face De Bruyne!
(End of this chapter)