Chapter 58 I am looking forward to returning to Old Trafford
Chapter 58 I am looking forward to returning to Old Trafford
"The fans have the right to express their opinions but as England manager I have to think about that a lot more.
From a team perspective, we need James (Madison) to play the role of winger. Obviously, he still needs some time to adapt.
And I think the tactical content we showed in the UEFA Nations League is still positive..."
Faced with the unified questioning of the media and fans, Southgate stood up and responded with an attitude of "I will not be affected by any public opinion."
In terms of results, the result he led the English national team to the runner-up in the European Cup last summer has made his position extremely stable.
No matter how the outside world criticizes him, the English Football Association will always support him.
At least until the end of the Qatar World Cup, he doesn't have to worry about his position as coach.
So he can be considered to have nothing to fear now, as he can basically arrange the main players selected by the major Premier League giants for the national team.
As long as these clubs do not step up to worsen public opinion, it doesn't matter if the fans curse a few times.
As for Maddison and Newcastle?
It’s not like he didn’t give Madison a chance, it’s just that he couldn’t meet his requirements for a winger.
If you want to play in the middle, then just follow the ranking order.
Now even a hot player like Bellingham has to give way to Mount and retreat to play as the number six, not to mention Maddison.
Southgate's choice is nothing more than to stabilize the internal atmosphere of the team before the World Cup.
For him, as long as he manages the locker room well and has a lot of superstars, he can make it to the final four of an international competition.
There is really no need to take big risks to dismantle the current lineup structure and redesign tactics, and let the "prince" of each team give way to newcomers.
If his tactics work and he wins an international championship, then he will naturally not be at fault and may even be knighted.
But what if the results are not as good as before?
Then the tactical innovation he promoted would become the fuse for his dismissal.
Those who are dissatisfied with his deprivation of starting positions and playing opportunities will also stand up and criticize his personnel plan.
Southgate, who can maintain the current balance in the England national team's locker room, is obviously not an idealist.
He is very pragmatic, and being pragmatic means that he will not mess with the team's existing structure before the World Cup starts.
Madison is also very smart. After he was substituted off in the second half of the UEFA Nations League match, he realized that it would be impossible for him to obtain the tactical position in the national team that he currently has in the club.
This hurt him very much.
Fortunately, after returning to the club, he can still get comfort from Li Chen.
"Everything is difficult at the beginning, James. Now that you have passed the most difficult first step and returned to the national team, don't be too anxious about the rest. There will always be opportunities and space to perform. Playing well in the league is more important than anything else at this stage. You are always an important member of our team."
Li Chen's comfort made Madison feel much better.
With the mentality of proving himself to Southgate with better performance in the league, he devoted himself to the preparation training in the next few days.
On October 10st, Newcastle, who rotated the veteran players in the team, went away to challenge Fulham.
The London powerhouse has achieved a good record of 7 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses in the first 2 league rounds this season. It currently has 11 points, ranking sixth in the Premier League and is in good form.
Li Chen has always been steady when leading his team to play away games, and the day against Fulham was no exception. He directly used the 4231 starting formation that had not been used for a long time.
On the defensive line, Grimaldo, Van der Ven, Gvardiol and Manquillo started the game.
Today, Li Chen chose to start with Sean Longstaff and Guimaraes as the double defensive midfielders, left midfielder Joelinton, attacking midfielder Maddison, and right midfielder Elanga.
Center Wilson.
Fulham, who also lined up in a 4231 starting formation, chose to attack first.
Perhaps in their opinion, Newcastle's performance away from home will be affected as they rotated many main players today.
And they can also take some advantage of Newcastle's rotation.
But soon, Fulham, who pressed forward to make an offensive attempt, was taught a lesson by Newcastle's midfield defense.
Guimaraes was very decisive in his attack today. Li Chen arranged for Longstaff to clean up his mess. The Brazilian midfielder, without any worries, immediately turned into a ball-grabbing machine!
Originally, Li Chen was worried that Fulham would choose to park the bus at home, so he could only look for an opportunity in the second half of the game to replace Chris Wood and launch a strong attack.
As a result, Fulham's proactive and aggressive style of play directly put his worries to rest.
Guimaraes frequently regained the ball and helped Newcastle to repeatedly show its strength on the counterattack end!
Madison, who was trying to show off his talent, did not lose his cool.
He is good at seizing opportunities in transition between offense and defense and has a very clear idea of passing the ball. Several of his passes during counterattacks helped the team create offensive threats.
In the 17th minute of the first half, it was Maddison's diagonal long pass from the right side of the midfield that helped Joelinton successfully unload the ball and break into the Fulham penalty area!
Facing the attacking Fulham goalkeeper Leno, Joelinton calmly pushed the ball across to the Fulham goal.
Wilson followed up and scored into the empty net, easily helping Newcastle to change the score to 1-0!
Today, because both captains Ramos and Trippier were not on the court, Joelinton directly wore the captain's armband.
At this moment, he was also calling on his teammates to celebrate in the corner flag area, looking very much like a captain.
Commentators from various countries also praised Joelinton, saying that his offensive options are becoming more and more "mature".
Such a transformation will also help the Brazilian midfielder to truly move towards the ranks of top football stars.
To become a top-notch star who can influence the situation of the game, you need more than just explosive physical fitness and superb technical talent.
What is needed is a calm heart and a thoughtful brain.
These things were difficult for Joelinton to think about as part of his growth before.
After all, he has only switched to playing midfield for more than half a year, and at this stage he still has many playing habits and thinking to change.
But now, Li Chen has guided him to get on the road to improving his career ahead of time.
He is also constantly learning and improving from his midfield teammates.
Until today when he wore the team captain's armband for the first time, a heavy sense of responsibility weighed on his heart, making him want to use his abilities to help his teammates perform more easily.
That cross pass in front of the goal was the best reflection of his drastic change in mentality.
Li Chen applauded Joelinton from the sidelines.
He hopes that the third captain he has appointed for the new season will be able to make use of his superior physical talents to continue to break through career heights.
Ronaldo can still play in the next two years, and Ramos and Pepe will have no problem playing in high-level leagues for another two seasons.
But two years later, these superstar veterans will eventually reach the end of their careers.
They may not retire, but their future will no longer be in the mainstream four major leagues.
By then, Havertz, Joelinton, Guimaraes and Gvardiol will all have to shoulder heavier responsibilities. Li Chen sincerely hopes that these players under him can grow smoothly and have better career development.
Even he may not be able to stay in Newcastle to guide them forever.
If Joelinton can become the soul of Newcastle in the future, he will be like Gerrard to Liverpool and Totti to Rome.
Then he would definitely be extremely proud of himself for bringing out such a player.
……
The selfless Joelinton and Elanga, who worked hard on crossing during the summer training and whose crossing skills have greatly improved, continuously delivered ammunition to the Fulham penalty area from the left and right wings.
Wilson, who has a keen sense of smell in front of the goal, had a great shot today.
However, Newcastle's second goal of the game did not come from his goal, but from his active pass with his back to the goal.
In the 28th minute of the first half, Wilson pulled out of the penalty area and took the ball with his back, attracting a defensive double-team from Fulham's midfielder Chalobah and center back Reem.
Before being double-teamed and intercepted, Wilson successfully picked up the ball and knocked it across to the top of the arc in front of Fulham's penalty area.
After losing Chalobah's sweeping protection, Fulham's top area was almost unguarded.
By the time Fulham's other midfielder Harrison Reed rushed over to make up for the defense, Maddison, who had stopped the ball first, had already adjusted his pace and completed a threatening shot!
The football drew a very beautiful rainbow arc in front of the penalty area and went straight to the upper right corner of Fulham's goal!
Leno reacted very quickly this time, but his save still failed to stop the ball from heading straight to the blind corner. He could only turn his head and watch the ball hit the net and fall to the ground!
The score was changed to 2-0 by Madison's world-class shot.
Seeing that the game was about to be ruined, the Fulham players began to get anxious and frequently launched physical confrontations against Maddison who had performed well today.
Li Chen frowned repeatedly as he watched, and while signaling Carrick to put pressure on the fourth official and remind the referee to control the standards of the whistle, he called Willock from the bench to warm up.
Seeing that the rhythm of the game was somewhat out of control, the referee did not dare to be careless.
After the number of tactical fouls committed by Fulham's defenders had reached his bottom line, he began to seize opportunities to give out yellow cards!
Chalobah and Fulham midfielder Pereira, who retreated to assist in defense, were both given cards.
But Fulham's determination to interrupt Newcastle's sustained offensive did not cease.
It was not until the injury time of the first half that Chalobah received his second yellow card of the game for fouling Madison again!
This finally made the entire Fulham team wake up.
Li Chen was also very dissatisfied and appealed to the fourth official.
Then, during the half-time break, he directly replaced Madison, who had been repeatedly attacked by opponents in the first half.
Madison repeatedly told Li Chen that he was fine and could continue playing.
But Li Chen didn't believe that some of the Fulham defenders who were too excited could control themselves and not kick Madison in the second half of the game.
His protective substitution allowed Newcastle to get into the rhythm of controlling the game early.
Fulham striker Mitrovic also failed to take on Gvardiol on the offensive end today.
In the evenly matched match, neither player gave the other more room to play, and Mitrovic failed in several attempts to score.
Fulham's offensive tactics centered around this big center forward naturally did not go smoothly.
In the end, Newcastle beat Fulham 2-0 away from home, and the rotation strategy was a great success.
Seven days later, several superstar veterans, who had once again been given sufficient rest time, returned to Newcastle's starting lineup.
Newcastle, playing at home, also faced the challenge of Brentford.
Brentford, currently ranked tenth in the league standings, is actually about the same strength as Fulham.
In comparison, the Newcastle coaching staff defines this team as a Fulham team with stronger defensive capabilities.
In terms of offensive firepower, the two teams are indeed evenly matched.
However, because the defense is more stable, Brentford now has more draws than Fulham.
To deal with such a tough opponent in the middle of the league, Li Chen, who had the home advantage, made it clear that he would take the lead in attacking.
I plan to see how the opponent responds and adjusts before making subsequent tactical changes.
What he didn't expect was that the little bee was also a proud and arrogant person.
Just like Fulham, even when facing Newcastle, which is in hot form, Brentford still chooses to use its own offensive tactics to compete with its rivals.
Brentford, who played 352 today, relied on the advantage of more midfielders and quickly completed several fast wing attacks in the opening stage of the game.
Little Bees central midfielder Matthias Jensen fired the first shot from long range, and Ivan Toni then threatened Sommer's goal with a low shot from the left side of the penalty area.
Brentford, playing away, showed a very good offensive rhythm and momentum. It seemed that they had turned the tables and were going to besiege Newcastle for a while.
But Newcastle's defense, which patiently tempted Brentford to press forward, never fell into disarray.
Pepe and Ramos teamed up to block the middle of the penalty area, forcing Ivantoni to find opportunities to shoot on the left and right sides of the penalty area.
After patiently playing the first ten minutes of the first half, Newcastle seized the opportunity and Ramos sent a long pass from the backcourt to counterattack in the eleventh minute!
Havertz, who had been waiting for a long time in the midline area, chose to head the ball back to Guimarães who was following suit.
The latter boldly sent a diagonal pass while dribbling forward, and directly found Ronaldo who successfully made an offside move!
The Portuguese superstar, who had a good rest, was extremely light and exploded and accelerated forward after receiving the ball!
Although he only got rid of Brentford's right center back Ayeh by half a body length in the end, this half body length was enough for him to easily adjust his steps and complete the shot.
Ronaldo used a decisive and clean ground shot to directly penetrate the small door of Brentford goalkeeper Raya!
The football then rolled over the goal line and hit the net without any suspense, announcing that the deadlock of the game was broken by Newcastle.
In a good mood, Ronaldo and his teammates performed a collective kneeling slide celebration near the home court baseline.
Li Chen also took the opportunity to let the players on the field push forward and launch a full-scale siege on Brentford!
Brentford, unwilling to surrender, continued to fight back desperately.
So they and Newcastle soon started an extremely exciting offensive confrontation.
场上两队的比分也从1-0迅速的改写成2-0，2-1，直到最终半场比赛结束时的4-2！
C Ronaldo scored twice in the first half, Guimaraes and Ramos scored successively, Maddison, Joelinton and Grimaldo received assists one after another.
After the start of the second half, Newcastle continued its efforts, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Chris Wood, who came on as a substitute, scoring the team's fifth and sixth goals of the game!
The final score of the game was 6-2.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored his first league hat-trick of the new season, was unsurprisingly named the best player of the game.
Li Chen, who was accepting congratulations from reporters after the game, was asked what kind of mentality he would have towards the next round of league against Manchester United.
Li Chen was not stumped by this question, he just smiled calmly.
"I am looking forward to returning to Old Trafford. I think we can give the fans a wonderful game against Manchester United!"
(End of this chapter)