After being rejected, I became Shi Yijiao

Chapter 513 Authentic Football

After entering February, York City's schedule has been relaxed compared to before, which has also relieved the physical pressure of the players to a certain extent, and this immediately allowed York City to reap results.

In the four League One games held in February, York City also achieved a record of four victories and successfully scored 2 points!
In these four games, Baker continued to maintain his stable scoring rate this season, scoring 5 goals, and also continued to lead the League One scorer list.

Such a stable performance has also made York City 31 wins, 22 draws and 8 loss with a total of 1 points after 74 rounds of League One, and has already distanced itself from the teams behind!
目前排在No.2的依然是谢菲尔德联队，但他们的成绩仅仅是19胜6平6负积63分，而No.3的博尔顿则是18胜6平7负积60分，再后面的斯坎索普就只有58分了。

This is mainly due to the chaos in the League One itself, and few teams can maintain a stable state.

Let's just talk about Pan Yi's previous League One matches.

The League One champions in the 2022-2023 season are Plymouth, and they lost seven games in the end;
Going a little further, the champions of the 2021-2022 season are Wigan Athletic, and they have lost more, eight games;
And the most exaggerated is the 2020-2021 season, this year's champion Hull City, lost as many as 11 games!
This is rare to see in the top league.

If you compare the Premier League champions in the same period, the teams that have won the championship in recent years are all Manchester City. They lost 5 games, 3 games and 6 games respectively.

The year before that, Liverpool won the championship, and they only lost 3 games.

This shows that it is often more difficult to establish a "dominant" position in low-level leagues, because the league level is relatively low, there are more games, the team's performance is more unstable, and it is more prone to "upset" plots .

But now that York City has stabilized, they have only lost a game until now, and their lead is naturally revealed at once.

After playing four League One games, York City rushed to the away game to challenge Wrexham, a team from the National League.

This is exactly the fourth round of the FA Cup!

At this time, there is no "Deadpool" Ryan Reynolds in Rek Pim, so it is not very eye-catching now.

Since being relegated to the National League from England Two in 2008, they have been working hard in this fifth-level semi-professional league, and sometimes even almost fell into the sixth-level North-South League.

During this period, the team also experienced disgusting incidents of greedy owners who bought the team and tried to sell the stadium to make money, so their fans united to gain actual control of the team.

In other words, there is no real owner in Wrexham right now. They are managed by the Wrexham Fans Trust.

The employees inside, from the chairman to the hygienists, are all volunteers and do not get any compensation from the team.

After Ryan Reynolds bought the team, he basically kept these volunteers in the club, and paid them salaries to make them full-time employees of the club, and then slowly the team got on the right track , and finally returned to Ying B.

And why did Ryan Reynolds choose Wrexham instead of other teams?
In addition to its story, of course, there are attractive places.

First of all, this is a club with a lot of history.Founded in 1872, Wrexham are the oldest surviving football team in Wales and the third oldest professional football club in the world.

Yes, it is still a Welsh team, but just like Cardiff City and Swansea City, it participates in the English league.

Secondly, the price of buying a struggling club in the English National League will definitely not be as high as that of a Premier League club.

In fact, Wrexham has experienced two bankruptcy crises in recent years. The ownership of the club is in the hands of the fans, and they have been looking for reliable investors, and the conditions given are quite attractive.

Because the acquisition itself does not cost a penny, only after the acquisition is successful, then invest financial resources in team building.

Plus, due to its long history, Wrexham's infrastructure is actually pretty good.

Their home stadium, the Racecourse Stadium, can accommodate more than 5000 spectators, and it is also the oldest international stadium in Wales, and is even now one of the home options for the Welsh national team.

However, such a history does not help Wrexham go further in the league.

They are still at the same level in the national league this season, and their points have always been ranked in the top ten.

The reason why Wrexham was able to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup can only be said to be blessed by luck.

The first round against Oldham, the second round against Farborough, are both low-level league teams.

That is to say, the third round against Coventry from League One can be regarded as a test, but at this time Coventry is still struggling to relegation in League One and has no intention of fighting at all.

Finally, in a goal battle, Wrexham narrowly defeated their opponents 4:3 and entered the round of 16.

Then, they drew another League One team.

But this time, their opponent is York City!
Although both are League One, the two teams are completely different.

Coventry is ranked 24th in the standings, which is the bottom one. It can be said that one foot has already stepped into the second division.

And York City is the first in the standings, it can be said to be a quasi-English Championship team!

The difference in this can be imagined.
-
2 month 21 day.

The atmosphere of the racecourse stadium filled with more than 5000 spectators was very dignified, and there were thick and thick cumulonimbus clouds in the sky, and it seemed that there might be a rainstorm pouring down from the sky at any time.

The 45-minute game in the first half is over, and only the substitute players from both sides are left on the court to warm up.

The cheering of the fans in the stands also subsided, and they all needed to take a breath and wait until the second half to continue.

At this time, the score on the sideline scoreboard was the same as it was 45 minutes ago, and it was still 0:0.

In the face of the class bully in the League One, the Wrexham team's game style is to defend, almost desperate defense.

It's the same as setting up the bus, but today York City's role has been reversed, from setting up the bus itself to breaking through the bus.

This gave York City a taste of what Tottenham felt when they faced themselves in the last round of the FA Cup.

In fact Wrexham's buses are pretty well laid out.

York City's outstanding center Baker this season has hardly played in this game. He is firmly watched by the opponent's two central defenders. Once York City takes the ball and enters Wrexham's defensive area, Wrexham Players will come up one after another to pinch the defense, making it difficult for the ball to pass comfortably to Baker's head or feet.

Judging from the performance of the entire first half, York City firmly grasped the initiative, but failed to get too many opportunities.Especially after Baker, the strongest firepower point, was restrained, York City's offense lost most of its power.

These were the tactics that York City used to restrain the enemy, but now they are used by the enemy on their own, which also made the York City fans watching the game very dissatisfied.

What's interesting is that when York City set up the iron barrel formation for Arsenal and Tottenham, the fans rejoiced for being able to defeat a strong enemy, but now they are restrained by Wrexham's iron barrel formation, and they feel very uncomfortable. He even mocked the opponent for only defending.

Hmm... at this time and at that time, the essence of human beings is double standards...

Of course, York City fans are still a little anxious.

Originally thought that facing Wrexham after defeating Arsenal and Tottenham would be as easy as chopping melons and vegetables, but I didn't expect to encounter such a big difficulty.

They are worried that if their players, like Tottenham, cannot break through the opponent's goal for a long time, they will easily get impatient, and then they will be seized by Wrexham, who is weaker than them.

"We can see that in the first half, York City's strong offensive power was completely suppressed by Wrexham United. York City felt a little cornered by the opponent. From the final stage of the first half, we can even see that, York City's players were obviously upset, and we have reason to believe that Wrexham will have more chances in the second half than in the first half. This is just like the second half when York City played against Tottenham..."

Although today's game is the round of 16 of the FA Cup, but since there are no top league teams participating, Sky Sports just arranged for a young commentator to explain.

From the point of view of this commentator, it may be supporting the weaker Wrexham.

This is also human nature. When facing a game between two teams with no emotional tendencies, people tend to prefer to support the underdog.

"Judging from the data in the first half, York City had a total of 13 shot opportunities, but the positions were far from the goal, and only 3 shots were on target. From this point of view, Wrexham's defense in the first half was very successful. Yes, York City's offensive efficiency is actually very low."

"In addition, the two wings of York City were also tightly restrained by Wrexham. In addition, the high center Baker was suppressed, which completely disintegrated York City's offensive firepower in this game. At the same time, their defensive line It is also constantly moving forward, leaving a large counterattack space for Wrexham behind, this is an excellent opportunity, I believe the head coach of Wrexham will definitely see this!"

"Okay, the second half is about to start, and players from both sides have already entered the field. We can see that Wrexham's lineup has not undergone any changes. The team's fastest No. Enley's Ntuba Masanka is also there. You can see that Wrexham are going to use his speed to counter-attack and also threaten the York City defence."

"Huh? On the other side, York City is going to change people. Huh? This substitution..."

When the narrator said this, the assistant referees on the sidelines had already lighted up the number plates. Thomas Amon, No. 11, went off, and Jonathan Parkin, No. 31, came on.

Apparently, even the commentators were taken aback by York City's substitution at the start of the second half.

The main reason is this Jonathan Parkin, who is 34 years old this year. Although he played for Hull City and Stoke City in the early years, he is now quite old and can only play in the team. It is to play as a substitute with peace of mind, and usually rarely have the opportunity to play.

Now Scaloni actually replaced Aman, the strongest and fastest player in the team, but replaced him with such a veteran. What kind of trouble is he going to do?
However, when all the York City players stood on the field and the new formation appeared in front of everyone, all the Wrexham fans on the scene, including the TV commentator, gasped.

Standing at the front of the line now is a 197cm Mark Baker, a 194cm Jonathan Parkin, and... 189cm De Ligt!
Yes, Scaloni even pushed the central defender De Ligt to the front line and directly started the three-tower tactic!

Obviously, York City is preparing to adopt indiscriminate bombing tactics in the next half of the game, so as to attack Wrexham's iron barrel formation.

The fans were stunned, while Scaloni on the sidelines folded his hands on his chest, and smiled confidently at De Zerby beside him: "I have no choice but to try whether the boss's suggestion works or not." .”

De Zelby also shook his head with a wry smile.

Before the game, Pan Yi had approached them, and if they couldn't get the situation started, they could try such a simple and rough style of play.

Pan Yi said: "Have you ever thought about how we would respond if they also used iron barrels to defend? At this time we resorted to the tactics of three high center forwards, how would they respond?"

But at that time, both Scaloni and De Zerby firmly believed that their team could break the deadlock through skilled passing and control.

Especially De Zelby, he believes that as long as the players put the high pressure in place, a team like Wrexham will be disarmed in less than 10 minutes.

But Wrexham's tenacity exceeded their imagination.

For a full 45 minutes, there was no deadly gap, and York City was unable to find a good opportunity to score.

There is no way but to try this traditional English long pass.

Pan Yi is like this. He is eclectic in tactics. When he was coaching, he used such a seemingly simple style of play to defeat many strong teams!

After Jonathan Parkin came on and pushed De Ligt up front, York City's formation also became a 3-4-3, with Alphonso Davies pushed forward in midfield. , while Rice retreated to the back line, forming a three-center back with Westerman and Fu Anjianyang.

In the midfield, Alonso is still at the midfielder position for overall scheduling. Lin Liangming moves to the midfielder to form a diamond-shaped midfielder. Alfonso Davis is on the left and Kulusevsky is on the right. The "Big Three" carry out shell support.

In this way, the thickness of York City's defense has not declined, but the offense is obviously more threatening.

This is also a very targeted change in Wrexham's defensive tactics.

In the first half, York City only went to Baker, a bridgehead, but was locked by two central defenders of the opponent.

So, now in the second half, they simply went to three bridgeheads to see how they keep watching!
Whether it is Baker, Jonathan Parkin, or De Ligt, they are all players with big height, strong body, and excellent header ability, and York City also played a long pass very resolutely.

They completely gave up the area between the center line and the penalty area that they stalked Wrexham in the first half. The three strikers of York City kept squeezing into the penalty area, while Alfonso Davis and Kulusevsky, as soon as he gets the ball, he makes a long pass to the opponent's penalty area.

The height advantage, coupled with a strong body, makes the three forwards of York City basically able to grab the first point, and then it depends on whether it is a direct header shot, or passed to Lin Liangming who is always behind, or from another The winger who runs sideways to meet him depends on the specific situation at the time.

The Wrexham players, who were originally assigned to defend near the midfield, looked up and saw the ball flying above their heads, but it just didn't hit the ground.

They are really uncomfortable, because in the preparation before the game, there is no such option!

In their cognition, York City is a team that insists on playing pass-and-control football in the low-level leagues. They often attack on the ground. Only when they make the last pass can they go to Baker's head. .

So whether it's a coach or a player, I really didn't expect that the second half of the game would suddenly become like this.

And it was under such a long pass tactic full of England's traditional flavor that York City really blasted Wrexham's goal!

In the 51st minute of the second half, De Ligt received a long pass from the backcourt and gave the header to the nearby Jonathan Parkin. The latter swung his long legs deftly and knocked the ball to Baker next to him. The latter shot angrily at the ball , 0:1!

After scoring a goal, York City was like a hungry tiger smelling blood, and continued to rush towards Wrexham with its teeth grinning.

In the 54th minute, it was still a long pass from the backcourt. Baker scored with a header and was saved out of the penalty area by the goalkeeper. Lin Liangming who followed behind caught the ball and passed it to the far post. From the header to the goal, 0:2!

Conceding two goals in a row in less than 5 minutes caused Wrexham to mess up and down.

However, after York City took the lead, they did not weaken their offensive at all, and continued to attack crazily as always. This made Wrexham's head coach Dean Kitters a little flustered, and immediately replaced a midfielder and a defender, intending to fill the gap. Loopholes in defense.

The substitutions did help to a certain extent, but they failed to prevent York City from continuing to attack.

Alonso played the role that a core player should play at this time.

Seeing that Wrexham's defense had regained order, he immediately slowed down the attacking tempo, and even started pretending to inadvertently slip in the backcourt, slowing down the tempo of the game.

The slowness of York City immediately relieved the fearful Wrexham players, and they also began to slow down.

But just when they thought that York City was going to continue to slow down, Alonso suddenly shifted to the opponent's left with a long diagonal pass.

Alfonso Davis accelerated to catch up, stopped the ball, made a cross, and De Ligt, who turned into a powerful center, smashed the ball into the goal near the near post, 0:3!

Three centers each scored a goal!
This conceded goal made the Wrexham players completely lose hope of an equalizer.

Their morale collapsed, and York City continued to grow stronger and stronger. In the 87th minute, Alonso scored a direct free kick to end the FA Cup game with a four-goal victory. !
-
Authentic Soccer Victory!

This was the headline of a game review written by the Yorkshire Daily the day after the Wrexham game, prominently appearing on the front page of the sports section.

In this report, the reporter objectively pointed out that York City obviously underestimated Wrexham's iron barrel strategy in the first half, especially Scaloni hesitated in the on-the-spot reaction. Some, maybe not going into midfield with a draw.

But after the intermission, Scaloni became very determined, and directly replaced the high center forward Jonathan Parkin, who had been out of battle for a long time, and pushed the central defender De Ligt to the forward line ingeniously. It works wonders.

For such a somewhat unexpected change, in an interview with reporters after the game, Scaloni also mentioned the proposal of the boss Pan Yi.

"The boss said, this is indeed a gamble, but if you don't gamble, you probably won't win!"

Yes, York City's typical England-style long pass in the second half is to use the most passes into the penalty area to fight for a low probability of scoring.

But football is originally about victory, and it is obvious that Pan Yi and Scaloni won the bet this time.

"Pan Yi was famous for his flexible and eclectic tactical style when he was the head coach. Now it seems that this style has been completely inherited by the York City team."

"In the second half of this FA Cup round of 16, we saw the style of English football in the 80s."

"If you told me before that this was a game played by a team led by an Argentine coach under the boss of Longguo, I would definitely not believe it..."

In the latter part of the report, the "Yorkshire Daily" also analyzed the situation of York City's next game.

At present, York City has a huge advantage of 3 points ahead of No.14 in League One. It can be said that the possibility of directly qualifying for the Championship is already very high.

Under such a premise, they can really shift more focus to the FA Cup in order to create a miracle.

However, newspaper reporters also raised a concern, that is, York City is currently the only League One team that can enter the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which means that they must play more games than other teams.

In the next March, York City's schedule will be relatively close.

It is precisely because of concerns about the dense schedule that the "Yorkshire Daily" believes that the next two months will be a watershed in the league.

If York City can continue to maintain its current lead at the end of March, there will be no suspense for York City to win the league title in April when the league ends.

Of course, it still depends on who York City's opponents are in the FA Cup. After all, different opponents have different intensity and pressure on York City.

And soon, all the teams that entered the quarter-finals were produced.

At this time, it is basically the Premier League team.

Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea are the three big6 leaders, and then there are Middlesbrough, Bournemouth, and Swansea.

There are also Fulham from the Championship and York City from the League One.

This time, York City's luck was neither bad nor bad.

It's not good, because it failed to draw Fulham, which is relatively weakest among the remaining seven opponents;
It's not bad, because they also didn't draw the most powerful BIG6.

York City's opponent will be another team from Wales, Swansea!
Although this is a home game, Swansea's strength is obviously much stronger than Rotherham's, and this will be a tough battle!
(End of this chapter)