Fox in the Penalty Area

v1 Chapter 180: Although lost the ball...

White House stood in the stands of Southfield Stadium, surrounded by enthusiastic London Bridge fans, wearing blue London Bridge home jerseys, cheering for their team in the home stands.

House did not do this.

Because he is not a fan of London Bridge.

As a former England international, he used to play for the North London Rangers and later moved to the Madrid Kings. He is one of the few English players in the history of the Madrid Kings Club.

In the Madrid Kings, he played for four seasons as a striker, playing a total of 117 times in all competitions, scoring 47 goals.

At the age of 51, he has already retired from the position of a professional player and has become a scout for the Kings of Madrid in the United Kingdom, responsible for scouts in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

He received a call from the club on the morning of the London Bridge home stadium and the Leeds Europa League semi-final, and assigned him to observe Hu Lai's performance on the spot.

As a professional scout who has been active in the British Isles for a long time, how could he not know Hu Lai?

Without even going to the scene, House can write a detailed scouting report to the club on the spot and provide it to the club's senior management for their reference.

But he still received this task and personally went to the scene to observe Hu Lai's performance in this game.

He didn't ask why, because he guessed the reason somehow-it must have something to do with the loss of the Madrid Kings to Manchester Athletic at home last night 1:3.

The team's top scorer, Alexandra Cerrados, performed poorly in the game and showed his old age.

This makes the club's sense of crisis deeper, and can't wait to find a successor for Cerrados.

So they focused on Hu Lai, who was in the limelight recently.

And it's not just the Madrid Kings...

House turned his head and looked around. Just in the small piece of stands he could see, he saw several of his colleagues.

All are scouts from the giants of continental Europe.

The competition is fierce...

But Hu Lai really deserves such treatment.

From the moment House saw Hu Lai debut in the Premier League, he knew that the club had missed a genius.

After all, players who can score five goals in the first three Premier League games are really rare.

He didn't understand how the club finally decided to give up after more than five million euros...

However, the high-level decision is not something that House scout can discuss.

Now that the club intends to re-purchase Hu Lai at a high price, he will not laugh at the club's senior management for not spending too much money to be uncomfortable.

He only needs to do his own job and report all Hu Lai's performance in this game to the above.

As for the final decision made by the club's top management, it is not his choice.

And he must also be realistic in the scout report.

In this game, Hu Lai’s performance is good, and bad performance is not good. You can’t add fuel and jealousy to it according to your personal preferences.

As a scout for the Madrid Kings, does White House want Hulai to go to the Madrid Kings?

Of course.

Any supporter of the Madrid Kings who watched the Hulai match would think so.

And House believes that the club's current decision is also correct.

Although only yesterday's game cannot prove that Cerrados has been unable to meet the team's requirements, it should be possible to find a successor for him in advance.

Plan ahead.

House refocused his attention on the court.

The game has started for twenty minutes, and from the scene, the home team London Bridge has the upper hand.

They suppressed Leeds City amid the shouts of 40,000 home fans and continued to attack Leeds City's goal.

So Hu Lai didn't play much during this period, and he didn't need to record anything in his notebook.

※※※

In fact, it's not just that Leeds didn't take advantage of the Southfield Stadium. Looking at all eight clashes in the history of the two teams, Leeds City is also in absolute weakness.

In eight games, Leeds City won one-last season, Leeds City defeated London Bridge 2:1 at home, relying on Hulai's long-range shot. It was the first time he scored a goal with a long shot at the club.

Except for the victory in this game, Leeds City has never won against London Bridge.

Eight times played, one win, two draws and five losses.

This result can be described as "dismal".

Therefore, Leeds City met London Bridge in the Europa League semi-finals, not as some people think, because they are familiar opponents, they are relatively easy to play.

In the 27th minute, London Bridge launched an attack on the wing, and their right back Ricardo Sosa sent the football into the penalty area.

Forward Park Chuntae grabs a shot in front of the goal!

The football was physically blocked by Leeds goalkeeper Michael Vandevin!

But the crisis has not been resolved, because the football is still in the restricted area of ​​Leeds!

There was a mess in front of the door.

The captain of London Bridge, defensive midfielder James Montgomery grabbed the ball first in the penalty area, he kicked the football to the goal of Leeds City!

At this time, Leeds city goalkeeper Van Deven just got up from the ground. Seeing the football flying over, he could only wave his hand reflexively... he didn't touch the football at all!

"Goal scored——!!! Beautiful! Montgomery!! He opened the scoring for the team! London Bridge leads Leeds 1-0!"

Cheers thundered in the stands at Southfield Stadium.

※※※

"Oh-I still lost the ball!" Shen Lang from the Takeoff Video sighed. "The London Bridge offensive was very fierce at the beginning of the game. Within ten minutes, they have created threatening offenses three times in a row... At that time I said to be careful, be careful... In the end, the ball was still lost!"

After sighing, he cheered up the Chinese fans before the video: "But it doesn't matter, Leeds is really not good at defending, plus this is the home court of London Bridge, so the loss is expected. Believe Clark and his. The coaching team must have considered this issue, and they have told the players before the game... Losing the ball is not terrible, as long as you adjust your mentality quickly, don't fall into chaos, believe in the offensive strength of Leeds, there is still a chance!"

What's the chance?

Shen Lang did not say, but most fans who watched the game could guess it.

There is a chance to score a goal.

Considering that this game is an away game, it is perfectly acceptable for Leeds to lose 1:2. If you really can't score a goal, a 0:1 score will do. As long as it is not a net loss of two goals back to the home court, this game is considered to be completed.

The televised footage cuts from the celebrating London Bridge player to the losing side.

Sure enough, the Leeds City players in the camera did not show the frustration and pain after losing the ball, as if they were really mentally prepared for the loss...

The captain of the field, Pete Williams, was slapped hard and shouted to his teammates around him.

It should be boosting morale and boosting people's hearts.

The coach Clarke on the sidelines did not make any significant body language movements after losing the ball.

He also stood on the sidelines and used gestures to tell the players on the court: stay calm and don't panic.

This is also a normal operation.

The game has only started for less than half an hour, Leeds City still has time, there is no need to worry now.

※※※

The London Bridge players ended the celebration and returned to their own half. The Leeds City players have taken their place, waiting for them to come back.

When Captain Montgomery ran past the Leeds City players, he turned his head and glanced at them. He didn't see the pain or depression, even...numbness.

I saw some eager to try...

Want to try?

Damn it!

Montgomery was surprised.

Why are Leeds City players who have lost the ball eager to try?

Did you make a mistake?

He looked at it a few more times and found that he was right.

The Leeds City players stood in their positions, leaning forward slightly. Hu Lai, who was standing in the middle circle kicking off the ball, even bounced around, as if waiting to be replaced.

Pete Williams and Montgomery looked at each other, and Montgomery even saw a hint of urging in each other's eyes.

They seem to be... urging the London Bridge players to quickly settle down.

They want the game to start quickly!

After confirming that it was not his own illusion, Montgomery raised his arm, and then shouted to his teammates and the teammates who had run away:

"Don't take it lightly! We are just ahead of one ball! For them, one ball ahead is not enough! Keep attacking!"

※※※

With a whistle from the referee, Leeds kicked off and the game restarted.

With this momentum, the leading London Bridge quickly regained control of the ball and launched a fierce attack on the Leeds goal.

They hope to strike while the iron is hot after taking the lead and score another goal in a short time.

If it can lead by two goals in the first half, London Bridge will fully grasp the initiative and take a solid step towards the Europa League final.

But Leeds, who lost the ball, did not panic.

Facing the fierce offensive on London Bridge, they stabilized.

Also tried some counterattacks.

"Fortunately, it is not Tavares leading the London Bridge now..." Assistant coach Sam Landier said to Clark from the sidelines. "Otherwise, if they shrink back to defend after leading a ball, we really can't play well..."

Before this season, the London Bridge was coached by Portuguese coach Miguel Tavares. The London Bridge under his coaching attaches great importance to defense ~lightnovelpub.net~ and can even be said to be a "1:0ist".

But because last season not only failed to lead London Bridge to the league championship, but even did not even qualify for the Champions League. So after the end of the season, the London Bridge Club terminated his contract and hired the well-known German marshal Julian Stodd to coach.

Stodd was coached by the Bundesliga team Sachsenstad last season. He has coached for three seasons in the former Bundesliga club, bringing this mid-lower team that returned to the Bundesliga in 2015 to the league's first place. Third, get the UEFA Champions League qualification for the new season.

Forty-year-old Stodd is also a rising star among young European marshals.

More passionate Stodd changed the serious phenomenon of London Bridge in the past. Under his command, London Bridge changed to 433. Based on the original defensive system, the offensive was stronger and the results would naturally be better.

They are currently ranked fourth in the league and have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Very hopeful to qualify for the Champions League next season and also win the Europa League.

For London Bridge, it is ushered in a certain sense of new life.

"What are you afraid of, Sam? We just played against the best defensive team and scored three of them." Clark covered his mouth and said.

After hearing this, Randy lowered his head and smiled.

Really, to really talk about the defensive strength of a single game, even the London Bridge under Tavares can't be compared with Ferenc in the Europa League quarter-finals.

So if London Bridge really wants to shrink the defense, Leeds need not worry too much. They have experience dealing with intensive defense.

But this is also very good now, or better.

After all, no one likes to play against a wall.

Stodd’s London Bridge is better offensively.

Coincidentally, Leeds is also good at offense.

(End of this chapter)