Chapter 14: Crazy Scottish Premier League! Chen Xiaoliang's debut?
The result of the first game of the season was quickly announced, and Chen Xiaoliang also watched the live broadcast in the club's tactical room.
Although Aberdeen was not in an advantageous position on the field, their defense and fighting spirit were very strong, making it difficult for Rangers, who had a slight advantage in passing and controlling the ball.
It wasn't until Aberdeen had one man sent off for aggressive pressing that Rangers scored a goal and kept it until the end.
0-1, Rangers win away!
Although they got off to a good start and earned the first three points, their arch-rivals Celtic beat the visiting Hamilton College team 5-1 at home.
Among them, Japanese new player Kento Furuhashi scored twice in his debut.
In the first round, Rangers fell behind by three goals and had the same three points but could only rank at the back. On the streets of Glasgow, Rangers fans lost their right to breathe for another week.
As the team returned to Glasgow, Chen Xiaoliang also began to train with the team.
Consistent with his time at Tottenham, he was placed in the defensive midfielder position during team training.
But after several training sessions, Chen Xiaoliang's performance made the coaching staff and teammates very dissatisfied.
Different from the technical football of the Premier League giants, the Scottish Premier League teams still retain the traditional British football's high-profile tactical style. There are a lot of long passes and headers in every game, and although the technology is relatively rough, they place more emphasis on physical confrontation.
Chen Xiaoliang's nearly impeccable ground-tackling ability is indeed eye-catching, but his mediocre physical fitness and poor heading ability often mean that even if he can accurately judge the landing point of a high ball, he cannot header the ball, or even if he wins the header, he cannot control the second landing point of the ball well.
Often after a series of random headers, the ball is either headed to the opposing player or into one's own goal.
It is difficult for a defensive midfielder who does not have the ability to defend at high altitude to gain a foothold in the Scottish Premier League.
Although Chen Xiaoliang made sure to train for 5 hours almost every day and accumulated a lot of training points after a week, his weaknesses were still there.
In a blink of an eye, the second round of the Scottish Premier League will begin, and Rangers will face the challenge of St. Mirren at home.
In the tactical room, Gerrard announced the starting lineup for the next day according to the pre-prepared list.
The team also suffered a heavy blow in this game. The main goalkeeper McGregor and forward Roofe were infected with the disease and were forced to return home to recuperate.
Gerrard could only send second goalkeeper McLaughlin and Colombian striker Morelos to replace them.
The number three goalkeeper who had never been on the roster and sat in the last row with Chen Xiaoliang was unexpectedly included in the substitute list.
As the two people least likely to be selected in the team, he and Chen Xiaoliang actually established a good relationship and often ate together in the restaurant after training.
The naive and honest Phils also introduced him to many past events of the club, including the relationships and grudges between the players.
Seeing that the six substitutes had been announced and the last name was about to be announced, although the people present were silent, they were all hoping that the head coach would choose them.
"List!"
As soon as Gerard spoke, everyone was stunned for several seconds, and then they all turned around and looked at the last row.
"What's going on? Does the boss want to give up this game? He put these two people who will never play on the ."
"I heard that the Red Country's TV station came to the club and wanted to broadcast our games. It seems that there are sponsors willing to sponsor."
"No wonder, it seems that they are planning to let him show his face on the bench so that the club can make more money from the red countryman."
"Not necessarily. This kid lives in the boss's house. Maybe Tottenham had some hard conditions when they loaned him here?"
There were many different opinions among the whispers.
All in all, no one thinks Chen Xiaoliang is capable of being on the big list.
After the show, in the corridor, Fields comforted Chen Xiaoliang:
"Hey, Chen, don't pay attention to them. When Haji first joined the team, they also said that he got the chance to play because of his father."
Chen Xiaoliang patted Phils on the shoulder: "It's okay, brother, don't worry about me, I look forward to the team's victory tomorrow!"
What he said was of course the truth. Now he can at least become a member of the first team of a Scottish Premier League giant with his impeccable tackling ability. When he was on trial with Tottenham U18 and the system had not yet been activated, the sarcasm and ridicule made by those unscrupulous young players were a hundred times more unpleasant .
There were even a few white players who had a mysterious racial self-confidence and believed that Asians should not participate in the sport of football. In the end, the club had to step in and reprimand the team - of course, Tottenham did this to appease Son Heung-min's emotions, not for Chen Xiaoliang.
When Chen Xiaoliang returned home in the evening, he called out the system and added the training points he had accumulated this week to burst, strength, and physique.
【Physical attributes】
Burst 9→10, Bounce 10, Agility 11, Stamina 10
Balance 6, Strength 6→7, Speed 10, Constitution 9→10
In this way, if the burst and physique reach 10, if you want to add more points, you will need to accumulate 20 hours of training value, which greatly increases the difficulty.
Next, Chen Xiaoliang plans to improve his balance and strength to 10. In this way, his physical attributes will have no obvious weaknesses and he can barely cope with the challenges of opponents of various styles in the Scottish Premier League.
15:00 pm, August 9, 2020.
Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow.
Amid the cheers of more than 50,000 fans, Rangers played their first home game of the season.
When the media and fans received the game roster before the game, they showed great interest in the extremely mysterious Chen Xiaoliang.
Some people were full of expectations, thinking it was a surprise move arranged by Gerrard.
Some people scoffed at it, thinking that it was a risky and rash move to give the precious substitute list to such a young boy in such an important home debut.
Chen Xiaoliang, who did not start the game , was shocked by the tremendous energy generated by more than 50,000 fans in the stadium when he sat on the bench at home for the first time .
This kind of grand occasion is simply not seen in the football league of the Red Country.
Among the fans there are not only men, but also the elderly, the weak, women and children.
Ever since the players entered the stadium, die-hard fans have been taking turns singing the club 's anthem and the team's fight song written by the fans themselves.
What Chen Xiaoliang saw in their eyes was not just love, but blood, fire, a belief that was based on life and yet was higher than life, and a loyalty that never gave up.
This is the football culture in Europe.
This was also the first time that Chen Xiaoliang personally experienced the true power of the "12th man on the field" that football commentators have mentioned more than once.
After the game started, relying on the enthusiastic cheers of the whole audience and abundant physical strength, Rangers launched a continuous siege on the opponent, created 7 corner kick opportunities in just 23 minutes, and successfully scored a goal with a corner kick.
The uneventful first half ended quickly. Amid the cheers of the fans, the players returned to the locker room and Gerrard continued to arrange tactics for the second half.
Sitting in the corner, Chen Xiaoliang, who had not yet broken a sweat, quietly observed his teammates.
He found that the main players were wiping their sweat and replenishing water, but were not concentrating on listening to Gerrard's tactics and reminders.
It was as if the second half was just a formality, victory had already been achieved, and now it was time to celebrate.
This carelessness quickly led to a change in the course of the game.
