Full-level pass, please call me the speaker of the Three Lions

Chapter 231 Ways to restrict De Bruyne!

"Good job guys!"

This was Pearson's first words when he returned to the locker room after the game.

"Although you failed to win the game, your hard work and fighting spirit on the court are worthy of recognition!"

"Especially on the defensive end, when the opponent had so many chances, they only conceded one goal,"

“Losing is not terrible, what’s terrible is that it’s natural!”

"We must approach every game with a positive attitude of continuing to improve."

A team not only has the core and main players around whom the team develops its tactics, but also substitutes who don't have that much playing time.

In thirty-eight league games, it is impossible for all the main players to play.

Then substitute players need to step forward!

And how to keep substitute players fighting?

In addition to reasonable rotation, it is also very important to motivate the substitute players and maintain them in a certain competitive state.

If you lose the game during a large-scale rotation, you will yell at the substitute players, blame and complain.

That will only hurt their self-confidence and make their already low competitive status and morale even lower.

In this way, what will be harmed in the end is the team's atmosphere and record.

Therefore, even though he lost the game, Pearson did not blame or scold his disciples, but mainly encouraged them.

Besides, losing only one goal at Manchester City's home court is already a good result for Leicester City, which rotates extensively.

In the entire Premier League, who dares to say that they will be able to escape unscathed at the Etihad Stadium?

Perhaps only Chelsea, led by "Madman", has such confidence.

Even though the team ranks among the top six in the league, Pearson still has a very clear understanding of the strength of his team.

They are a newly promoted small club, and there is still a big gap between them and big clubs such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.

The head coach's attitude also made everyone's depression and frustration of losing dissipate a lot.

After taking showers one after another, everyone got on the bus home.

As the night grew darker, a bus with a huge Blue Fox logo spray-painted on its body slowly drove out of Manchester.

Harry Maguire, who was sitting by the window on the left, looked at the brightly lit streets through the car window, but his heart was still rippling.

Tonight is a day worth remembering for Maguire.

Because he made his first Premier League start in his career!

Moreover, it’s still on my birthday!

Speaking of which, he thought that the head coach knew that it was his birthday today, so he specially allowed him to start in this game, which was regarded as some kind of special "birthday gift"

However, judging from the looks and demeanor of the coach and teammates, it seems that they have no idea that it is 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 for others not to know his birthday.

On the way home, while wearing headphones and listening to music, he did not forget to share his first Premier League starting 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, does everyone else know?"

"Everyone has been notified."

"Very good, let's go over the process first."

. . .

Compared with the ancient Eastern countries with vast territory and abundant resources, the British Peninsula is too small, which saves Premier League players a lot of time on the road.

Just an hour later, the Leicester City team successfully returned to the Belvoir base.

People got out of the car one after another.

After waving goodbye to his teammates, Maguire went straight to the parking lot and prepared to drive home.

His parents, brothers and sisters are still at home waiting for him to go back to celebrate his birthday together.

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 and looking around, I saw Ling Feng walking quickly this way.

"Ling, you called me?"

"Harry, are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Of course! You say it."

"I have to go to London immediately to run something urgent, but I put a document in my locker. Can you help me get it and hand it to my assistant later?"

Hearing this, Maguire did not doubt his presence and nodded directly in response:

"Ok, no problem!"

"That's great, thank you. I'll treat you to dinner another day."

After patting Maguire's arm, Ling Feng quickly walked towards the black Land Rover not far away.

Before Ling Feng could drive away, Maguire immediately turned around and walked towards the base.

However, he never expected that the moment he entered 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:

"Hey?"

"It's me. He's in. Are you ready?"

"everything's ready!"

"very good!"

After hanging up the phone, when Ling Feng put down the phone, the corner of his mouth drew an arc.

This smile seems to be reflecting on the "surprise" planned by himself.

On the other side, an unsuspecting Maguire carried a sports backpack and went straight to the team's locker room.

And just as he pushed open the door to the locker room, a sudden change occurred!

clap clap clap!

The successive salutes made Maguire, who was 1.94 meters tall, tremble with fear.

Then, with the ribbons falling from the sky, he was surprised to find that the locker room was filled with people!

Including the entire coaching staff and all teammates!

Among them, Lingard was holding a cake with candles in both hands and showed him a bright smile:

"Are you surprised? Aren't you surprised?"

Looking at the birthday cake in Lingard's hand, and then at the smiling coach and teammates, Maguire reacted immediately.

It turns out that they all remember their birthdays!

Even though he was just an outsider on loan, they specially organized a birthday surprise for him!

Just when Maguire was so moved that he felt overwhelmed, he felt someone tap his arm.

Turning around, he saw Ling Feng, who was supposed to be going to London, looking at him with a smile on his face.

"Harry, happy birthday to you! Congratulations on making 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 present, just clumsily repeated his thanks one sentence after another:

"Thank you, thank you everyone"

Next, all Leicester City players stood in two rows in the locker room, and then let Maguire run through, while everyone reached out and patted him on the back as a blessing.

This is a common way of congratulations in professional football.

Finally, Maguire was hit in the face with cake, and then everyone took a photo with him and uploaded it to the social media account.

At this time, Maguire also learned from Lingard that the entire birthday surprise was planned by Ling Feng!

Ling Feng not only persuaded other teammates to participate in the surprise, but also went out to buy a cake.

So, Maguire, with his face covered in cake cream and only his eyes exposed, came to Ling Feng and gave him a big hug!

"Thank you, Ling!"

"Hey, cream rubbed on me!"

"Oh, sorry."

Hearing Ling Feng's teasing, Maguire quickly let go of him.

But he found that Ling Feng didn't have any cream on his body, it was all on his face!

Maguire's surprise made Ling Feng laugh out loud.

"Hahaha, I'm kidding you."

When he finished laughing, he realized that Maguire was staring at him closely, with tears in his eyes.

What the hell?

Could it be that Ma Kui thinks that I am too good to him and is planning to confess his love to me?

I have heard that there are many gays hidden among professional players, not to mention England, which is known as a "corrupt country"!

Although I am indeed handsome and charming, I am also ranked second on the list of men gay men want to date, second only to the "heartthrob" Beckham.

But I am a super straight guy with a girlfriend!

Gay?

Dah!

Just as Lingfeng's brain was running at high speed, Maguire's next words made him realize that he seemed to be thinking too much.

"Thank you very much for everything you have done for me, Ling. It means a lot to me. If you hadn't already had a girlfriend, I would have wanted to introduce my sister to you."

Hearing this, Ling Feng was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, and quickly waved his hands and said:

"Why are you so polite? You are my friend and my teammate. This little thing is nothing."

Hearing this, Maguire felt more and more that Ling Feng was a person worthy of close friendship.

If Ling Feng's system could allow him to see each player's favorability towards him.

Then, he can see that Maguire's favorability is rising!

Originally, Maguire came to Leicester City with a humble attitude of learning.

As a loan player, he was mentally prepared before arriving at Leicester.

Perhaps no one would welcome or care about his temporary visitor.

He even thought that during his six months at Leicester City, he should have spent most of his time alone on the bench.

However, what he didn't expect was that from the first day he came to the team, the team's core player Ling Feng took the initiative to introduce him to other teammates and let him integrate into the group.

Under Ling Feng's leadership, other teammates would occasionally take the initiative to say hello or even chat with him.

Captain Morgan even took the initiative to teach him some defensive experience during training.

Lingard, who was also on loan and of similar age, was also a familiar figure and quickly became brothers with him.

It was precisely because of the welcome and care from Ling Feng and his teammates, as well as the harmonious atmosphere of the team, that Maguire was able to calm down his somewhat confused heart, and then devoted himself to training and games, expressing his gratitude to the head coach and teammates. Show your abilities.

Only then did he have today's Premier League start and his solid performance on the defensive end.

It can be said that without Ling Feng's help, it might have taken him longer to adapt to life in Leicester!

This birthday surprise moved Maguire, but also gave him a bold idea:

How great would it be if we could truly become a part of Leicester City and be teammates with Ling Feng all the time?

. . .

Maguire's birthday allowed the team to temporarily forget the depression of three consecutive league defeats.

The next day, Leicester City received good news:

That is the Argentine forward Ulloa, who was absent due to injury, and can finally conduct restorative 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.

Ulloa's return gives the team one more option on the front line and can also add some changes to the team's offensive routine.

A week later, Leicester City will host Wolfsburg, who have performed well in the Bundesliga this season, at home.

Therefore, they began to make intensive pre-game preparations around the team's lineup and tactics.

The core player in Wolfsburg's formation is naturally De Bruyne, nicknamed "Tintin".

This season, De Bruyne tops the Bundesliga assists list with 13 assists.

At the same time, the 23-year-old attacking midfielder is also the midfielder who creates the most chances in the entire Bundesliga.

It is no exaggeration to say that he is currently the best attacking midfielder in the entire Bundesliga.

none of them!

Therefore, how to limit De Bruyne's performance has become the key to defeating Wolfsburg.

After research and analysis by the Leicester City coaching staff, they feel that the midfield combination of Cambiaso and Drinkwater cannot guard De Bruyne at all!

You know, Wolfsburg's offense is extremely simple and fast, somewhat similar to Arsenal's quick passing and cutting.

Especially in quick counterattacks during transitions between offense and defense, De Bruyne's excellent propulsion ability can lead the entire Wolfsburg offensive formation forward and quickly impact the opponent's back line.

Strictly speaking, Cambiasso and Brother Drinkwater are not engineer midfielders who specialize in defense.

Even though he is older, Cambiasso, who has played for Real Madrid and Inter Milan, is still first-rate in terms of defensive awareness and positioning.

However, his physical function has declined drastically, and he often knows where to stand, but is unable to appear in the best defensive position for the first time.

And Brother Drinkwater is an all-around hexagonal midfielder.

To put it nicely, it is both offensive and defensive, but to put it poorly, it means that it knows a little bit about both offense and defense, but is not very good at it.

The key is that Cambiasso likes to come in from behind and participate in the attack, occasionally shooting long shots.

This will put Drinkwater, who is behind alone, facing huge defensive pressure.

Once the opponent picks the ball out of the backcourt, they can launch a quick counterattack.

The midfielder, with only Drinkwater trailing behind, was almost wide open, allowing the opponent to rush through.

Against Arsenal, it was because of repeated misalignments in the midfielder area that Arsenal's two wingers had the opportunity to face the defenders 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 for De Bruyne to use his fists.

Therefore, considering that limiting De Bruyne can greatly limit Wolfsburg's offense, the coaching staff headed by Pearson, after much thought, came up with a pretty good way:

That is to let Ling Feng retreat to the midfield and confront De Bruyne!

(End of this chapter)