Chapter 363: Is it Leo or Mario? Why always me?
It was another advancement in the counterattack, and then a key pass to help his teammate score a goal, which actually slightly calmed down a debate among fans that has been arguing for many days, that is, whether Chen Xiaoliang's future will be more like Messi or more like Ronaldo.
There is no way. As the two superstars gradually grow older, their fans always hope that there will be a successor to inherit their mantle.
Even their football styles don't need to be too similar; a slight similarity is enough to satisfy their hearts.
Those who say Chen Xiaoliang will follow in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo cite his long-range shots, headers, sprints on the wing, and the No. 7 jersey he wears.
Those who say that Chen Xiaoliang is following Messi's path focus on his performances in the Champions League final, such as dribbling past five players, cutting in from the wing, and dribbling forward to attract the defense and then making a wonderful pass like he did tonight.
But after watching tonight, more and more fans began to think that Chen Xiaoliang is more like Kaka...
As for who Chen Xiaoliang looks like, or who he doesn't look like at all, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that both groups of fans don't want to lose to the other side in the war of words that has been going on for years, and Kaka is someone that both sides can accept.
Big data testing has been done in the market, and it has been found that on average each key of a mechanical keyboard can withstand 50 million presses and will not be damaged until 8 years of normal use.
The cost is too low, the time is too much, and people are too full, coupled with the fanning of flames by a large number of unscrupulous media and self-media, leading to meaningless exchanges of insults day after day.
This phenomenon exists not only in football. In the basketball world across the ocean, ever since another No. 23 won the championship trophy for the first time, the topic of who is the No. 1 in history between him and Jordan has been hyped up by the media and even the official every day.
Mourinho answered this question when he was interviewed by the media after winning the treble. He said that Chen Xiaoliang is Chen Xiaoliang and Haaland is Haaland. They do not exist or play football to be like anyone. He called on the media not to hype such meaningless topics.
However, his appeal was in vain, because the media also found a new topic to rehash on him, that is, who is the best coach in Europe between him and Guardiola.
Everyone understands that as long as the media is profit-driven, such hype that can bring in traffic will only become more serious.
Just as the fans were still arguing, a whistle sounded and it was halftime.
Chelsea fans were in no mood to discuss who Chen Xiaoliang looked like. In this game, Enzo once again became the target of their criticism. He failed to defend twice and had a pass intercepted, resulting in a goal. It was a clear performance of a war criminal.
Seeing Jorginho, Kovacic and others warming up on the sidelines, they all felt that Enzo should be replaced quickly.
In the locker room, both head coaches were not satisfied with their team's performance.
Needless to say, Pochettino, who was behind, readjusted the players and positions, and re-emphasized the echelon coordination of the midfield defense. The wingers were good today, but the defense in the middle was really hard to describe.
But he did not blame Enzo. He could see Enzo's efforts, and his teammates could see it too. It was wishful thinking to expect Enzo alone to completely block Chen Xiaoliang.
Ten Hag was not very satisfied with the offense. In this game, the team's offense was only counterattacks, and there was almost no coordination in positional battles. However, he did not blame the players either. He knew that a considerable part of the problem lay with B Fee, and it was he who made B Fee play in a position he was not used to. The reason he did this was to continue to maintain the balance in the locker room while setting off Chen Xiaoliang.
He asked Sancho, Ganacho, Williams and others to warm up after the start of the second half, but has not made a decision on substitutions yet.
Soon, the game resumed and Chen Xiaoliang found that Mount was missing from Chelsea and was replaced by Kovacic, who played as a defensive midfielder. Enzo was moved to a position similar to an attacking midfielder.
However, when Manchester United had the ball, Chen Xiaoliang discovered that Pochettino asked Enzo to play the same role as himself, an all-around midfielder.
Enzo changed from the main defender to the harasser in defense, and had more freedom in choosing his position, especially in defense, he could chase Chen Xiaoliang by running over a long range. At the same time, no matter who of Kovacic and Kante pressed forward, there would always be one left behind, ready to stop Chen Xiaoliang from starting the advance after the offense and defense switch.
This adjustment is indeed effective. Enzo can play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, and make use of his advantage in positioning. He uses "shadow defense", that is, facing the ball holder in the opponent's backcourt, he covers his own projection on the defended person behind him, making it impossible for the ball holder to pass the ball to the defended person.
This can also prevent him from using his body, which has no advantage over Chen Xiaoliang, to engage in close combat defense.
Once the ball is passed, Kante and Kovacic behind him will come up to harass and steal the ball as soon as possible.
The three midfielders acted like a net, making it difficult for Chen Xiaoliang to receive a large number of passes in the space near the center of the midfield.
As a result, Casemiro was even more afraid to press forward, and although Fred, who was unable to do his best on the sidelines, increased his running and support, his personal passing and control abilities were limited, and he could not completely replace Chen Xiaoliang's role in the midfield.
Manchester United's midfield was suppressed again.
In the 53rd minute, Leao broke through Wan Bissaka from the wing.
Chelsea's assistant coach in the midfield, Pochettino's right-hand man Jesus Perez, like Mourinho to Balotelli, repeatedly emphasized to Leo that he should either make use of the left side through cooperation or resolutely use his body and speed to get past Wan-Bissaka. Facing the English right-back, don't try to shake, the more you shake, the higher the probability of being tackled by him.
Why do we have to emphasize it repeatedly?
Because Leo is the kind of kid who seems to have reached puberty late and has a rebellious mentality.
You want me to defend? I won't!
You want me to stop shaking? I'll shake!
People with this kind of personality are not afraid of warnings or threats, and they will listen to orders with one ear and out the other. They will only do as they are told if you nag them over and over again like a parent until they can't stand it anymore.
At this time, Leo suddenly forced his way forward on the wing facing Wan Bissaka. Just as the coach said, there was no shaking or change of direction, he just went straight forward with speed.
Wan Bissaka turned around and raised his left hand, pulling and defending at the same time.
The two men suddenly grinned with ferocious expressions, their facial features twisted into a ball on their dark faces and could not be distinguished from each other. Only their eyeballs and a mouthful of white teeth were shining.
Chelsea's coaching staff was really right. When facing a winger like Kaoru Mitoma who relies on technique and changes in rhythm but whose absolute speed and burst are not very strong, Wan-Bissaka can use his physical advantage and tackling ability to perform efficient one-on-one interceptions. But when facing a winger like Leo who is taller, heavier, faster and more explosive than himself, as long as he fails to keep up or break through the defense the first time, he can only chase after him.
Leo moved half a body distance away, and the ball was just outside the range where Wan Bissaka could fall to the ground and tackle. He forced his way along the baseline, leaning against the opponent and squeezing in, then swung his left foot and kicked a powerful cross towards the small penalty area.
Zhan Jun: "De Gea sat on the ground and stretched out his left foot!"
"I got the ball...in the middle...at the back post! It goes in!"
"De Gea's left foot touched the ball, and the ball changed direction and hit Lindelof who was defending Osimhen in the small penalty area, and bounced into his own goal!"
Zhang Lu: "Lindelof was unlucky today. After conceding a goal in the first half, his defense obviously improved, but I didn't expect him to concede another goal inexplicably at the beginning of the second half."
Zhan Jun: "Love is not to blame for the bad luck! The pounds Chelsea spent in the past two seasons, especially the nearly 300 million this summer, have finally shown results! The two wingers played very well tonight. Wan-Bissaka was unable to prevent Leo's forced overtaking."
It was an own goal, and teammates ran over to celebrate with Leo who caused the own goal.
Leo laughed so happily, thinking that this was the courtesy that a genius should receive.
There is a Ballon d'Or clause in the contract he signed with Chelsea. As long as he ranks in the top three for the Ballon d'Or or the FIFA World Player of the Year, he can receive a bonus that increases step by step according to his ranking.
Moreover, he took the initiative to ask his agent to propose this clause to Chelsea. In his heart, he would soon reach that height.
At halftime, Leo just crossed the center line. He seemed to be facing the Manchester United fans in the stands, but in fact he was facing Chen Xiaoliang. He once again made the move he had made in Milan - he lifted the jersey on both shoulders with both hands to show his No. 17 jersey.
This number, which once belonged to the happy boy Sterling, now belongs to the smiling boy. No. 17 is what a smiling boy deserves.
Seeing that both flanks were in risk of being exposed, Ten Hag could no longer sit still and began to change the formation.
He replaced B Fee with Anthony and Fred with Gareth Bale, then shouted and gestured to Chen Xiaoliang. Chen Xiaoliang understood that he had to go back to his old job.
"Beep!" Cesco kicked the ball to Rashford who had changed to position No. 9. Chen Xiaoliang appeared in the position of right defensive midfielder and started to partner with Casemiro.
Zhan Jun: "Ten Hag still made a change, which confirmed our pre-match guess and let Xiaoliang retreat to strengthen the defense."
Zhang Lu: "It's normal and reasonable. Although this will put Xiaoliang further away from the opponent's half and give him less room to play offensively, it's not a good idea to score one goal and then miss one. Without defense, no matter how many attacks you make, it will be in vain."
The person who was most excited to see this scene was Leo.
He had just performed a beautiful dribble and created an own goal and his confidence was overflowing. Let alone Chen Xiaoliang, even if it was Rijkaard's reincarnation, Matthäus's return, or Beckenbauer's rejuvenation, he would have to go up and compete with them.
Leo received a straight pass from Cucurella and ignored Enzo's shouts of "Pass! Pass! Pass!" and rushed to the left side again without hesitation.
On the sidelines, Bruno Fernandes, who was substituted off early, was very unhappy and did not high-five with Ten Hag on the sidelines.
Ten Hag did not express his opinion on the spot, but gave a look to the old coach McLaren, who went to the bench to communicate with B Fee.
McClaren was Manchester United's assistant coach during their 1999 Treble-winning campaign, working for Sir Alex Ferguson.
Although he only led Twente to win the Eredivisie championship once during his tenure as head coach, and the results in the rest of the time can only be described as poor, the veteran coach's ability as an assistant coach is still unanimously recognized by the industry.
Being knowledgeable and experienced, he knew that the player was angry. After listening to Bruno Fernandes' complaints, he sat next to him without saying a word and pointed towards the field. Although Bruno Fernandes was depressed, he could only shut up.
The person he was pointing at was Anthony, who was double-teaming Leo with Wan Bissaka.
On a deeper level, it also refers to Leo, who also has Portuguese nationality and who only attacked and did not defend in this game.
Of course, B Fee is not as exaggerated as Leo, but tonight he was indeed holding his breath in his heart. He wanted to prove himself and also wanted to regain his position as the main attacking midfielder. This emotion made his judgment no longer calm and objective. He always wanted to occupy a favorable position so that he could rush forward first in the counterattack to make up for his weakness of insufficient absolute speed.
On the court, before Chen Xiaoliang went over to assist in defense, Wan Bissaka intercepted the ball with the help of Anthony, and immediately kicked it to Chen Xiaoliang who was not far away without thinking.
Chen Xiaoliang received the ball and turned around, and Enzo pounced on him.
Chen Xiaoliang moved back to the defensive midfielder position, making it impossible for Enzo to use his shadow defense tactics. As a central midfielder, he could not press forward to such a side and front position. Once the offense and defense switched, the center of the entire first half would be empty.
At this moment, Chen Xiaoliang no longer paid any attention to his personal competition with him. If he had met this good friend again in the first half and reminisced about the one-on-one time, at this moment, all he was thinking about was how to help the team take the lead again.
He accelerated and immediately left Enzo behind.
Ever since the active stamina recovery card was changed to automatic stamina recovery once a day, and his stamina has risen to 18, he no longer has to worry about how to allocate his stamina consumption. He can just charge when he needs to and fight when he needs to, trying to make every bit of stamina work on the court.
After shaking off Enzo, he pushed forward all the way, constantly observing the movements of his teammates. Anthony on the right and Ganaccio on the left were already moving at full speed along the sidelines, while Cesco and Rashford in the middle were also running forward, one on the left and one on the right, one in front and one behind, supporting each other.
Chen Xiaoliang slowed down a little, and in an instant he made a long pass with his right foot, and the ball floated towards the middle.
But as soon as the ball went out, he felt something hit the back of his neck, which suddenly caused a pain, and he fell forward.
"Hey!!!" Tens of thousands of people in the stands exclaimed at the same time, and the Manchester United substitutes and Ten Hag on the sidelines also stretched out their hands to appeal to the fourth official.
Referee Atwell was also running forward at full speed and didn't see this scene at all. He stared straight ahead, asked what happened in the headset, and made a gesture to let the game continue.
This is the most challenging time for the referee and is also the most likely to cause controversial decisions.
In front, Cesco ran a few steps and stopped, while Rashford continued to move forward.
The ball fell quickly. Kante, who is 171cm tall, and Kovacic, who is 177cm tall, looked at Cesco, who is 195cm tall, like Bumblebee looking at Optimus Prime. They didn't know whether he was going to head the ball or control it, so they could only disperse a little in advance to expand the defensive surface.
Seeing that there was no defense, Cesco took the ball off his chest and stopped, and Kante immediately pounced on him.
With his back to the goal, Cesco passed the ball to his right side and passed it to Ganacho who was moving inwards on the left.
The 19-year-old Ganacho faced the 20-year-old Colville. His way of dribbling past the opponent was different from that of Kwa, who liked to change directions back and forth. He preferred to accelerate , stop suddenly, accelerate again, and stop suddenly again, using changes in rhythm to mobilize the opponent's defensive center of gravity, and finally use a change of direction to shake off his opponent.
Colville, who was originally a central defender, was attacked twice by him and his center of gravity was shifted behind him.
However, there is also the problem of players who have played less games in the first team. Compared with their outstanding personal skills, they lack game experience. When he swayed back and forth on the left flank, the quick counterattack turned into a semi-positional warfare mode.
Fortunately, someone came in from the middle at this time. He was already a regular member of the extra training group and he could smell who stepped on the accelerator and rushed up with his nose.
He suddenly cut inside and passed the ball behind the top of the arc . Chen Xiaoliang, who received the ball, shot towards Kanter who was coming up to intercept. The ball hit Kanter's back and bounced high into the stands.
Kante fell to the ground and rubbed his back. Although it was just a slight scratch, the extremely fast speed of the ball still made him feel intense pain.
Kovacic and Koulibaly ran over, trying to put pressure on the referee by saying that Chen Xiaoliang had deliberately kicked someone with the ball, but before they could get close, Chen Xiaoliang was already standing next to the referee Atwell:
"Did you see what just happened?"
The video referee team and the fourth official had told him roughly what happened through the headphones, but some time had passed since the incident, and Atwell wanted to end the incident with a warning. He first comforted Chen Xiaoliang, then called Leo and the captain and gave them a warning.
After that, he did not forget to blow the whistle, awarding Manchester United a corner kick on the right side.
Unexpectedly, Chen Xiaoliang stood beside him again and asked, "Did you see what happened just now?"
Atwell was also a little angry, thinking, "I've already warned you, what else do you want?" "See, I've already warned you, now you should get back to the game."
Chen Xiaoliang: "You think this action is just a warning, right?"
Atwell: "If it goes beyond reasonable limits, I will play my cards. For the last time, please get back to the game!"
Chen Xiaoliang walked towards the middle of the penalty area, then turned to Atwell and said, "I hope your penalty standards will not change."
Anthony took a tactical corner kick from the right side and pushed it to Chen Xiaoliang who came to the right side to receive the ball. Leo, who rarely returned to defense, immediately rushed up and prepared to double-team Cucurella who rushed out of the penalty area.
Chen Xiaoliang did not speed up forward, as if he was waiting for Leo. The moment Leo rushed over and was about to kick him, he raised his left hand, then used his left shoulder to push back!
The movement was very small and looked like a routine self-protection action, but given Chen Xiaoliang's already full strength and explosive attributes, the force of this move was extremely great.
Leo only felt a tightness in his chest, but his physical fitness was also top-notch. After being knocked back a bit, he rushed up again to steal the ball.
Having suffered a loss, he didn't want to let it go.
Chen Xiaoliang took two steps forward and made a cross with his right foot. Leo missed the ball and was about to retaliate but saw the linesman not far behind him, so he had to give up in disappointment.
In the penalty area, Chen Xiaoliang's cross was quick and accurate. Lindelof jumped vertically, and the ball automatically "hit" his head with an arc and flew to the upper right corner of the goal.
Kepa jumped up subconsciously and grabbed the ball with his left hand. The ball touched his hand, hit the top of the crossbar and flew out of the bottom line.
"Beep!" Manchester United continues with a corner kick on the right side!
Anthony continued to take the penalty, but he was not actually the team's priority corner kick taker. However, with this configuration on the field, there was no player in the front who could take the corner kick.
This time Chen Xiaoliang was closer, and Leo was sticking to him. The Chelsea players behind were watching in confusion, as if the sun had risen from the west and the weasel was paying New Year's greetings to the chicken, but Leo was actually defending seriously and closely.
Anthony made a short pass to Chen Xiaoliang who was blocking Leo with his back to the basket again.
Leo immediately pushed forward, trying to squeeze Chen Xiaoliang into the narrow area of the corner flag.
At this time, Anthony was running towards the penalty area along the baseline, Chen Xiaoliang wiped the ball and turned to the left. Leo thought he was going to pass it to Anthony, and subconsciously moved half a step to the left. Chen Xiaoliang immediately changed the 90-degree turn into a 180-degree turn, and forced his way past Leo's right side. It was the kind of tough pass that required him to use his body to push past you while passing you.
Leo turned around and chased him desperately, but Cucurella in front of Chen Xiaoliang was not as cute as Leo. His attention was all on Chen Xiaoliang.
Because he knew that after Anthony took the corner kick, he walked along the baseline and was in an offside position. He wanted to rush into the penalty area from the shortest distance. There was no way Chen Xiaoliang would pass the ball to him.
Facing Cucurella, Chen Xiaoliang made a simple left turn and accelerated to rush towards the right side of the penalty area. Cucurella, who was originally guarding the inside, immediately adjusted his body from the left to the right. Chen Xiaoliang seized this moment, made a fried meatball, pushed the ball back to his right foot with his left foot, changed direction to the front right and rushed into the penalty area!
Leo became anxious when he saw this and was about to get close to him with his claws and fangs bared.
Pochettino and the veterans warming up, such as Thiago Silva and Azpilicueta, were also anxious and shouted "Calm down!"
Calm down? Just open Leo's chest and ask his burning heart. I've come all the way back from the front court to here, and I've been hit a few times. Can I calm down? !
Fofana in front and Kante who was assisting in the penalty area came forward. The space was so narrow that even Messi at his peak might not be able to display his skills.
Chen Xiaoliang turned his head slightly and glanced back, then immediately stepped on the ball and stopped suddenly.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Looking at Chen Xiaoliang being knocked forward, countless fans in the stands shouted in unison.
“Beep!”
There was nothing much to say this time, Atwell sent Leo a yellow dot meal.
Chelsea's players wanted to complain to the referee, but they couldn't move their legs.
He rushed straight into the car, failed to brake in time, and pushed forward clumsily with both hands. When he fell, he was on Chen Xiaoliang's back...
How can you appeal a scene like this where the car was destroyed and people died? He deserved to have all 12 points deducted... Fortunately, he didn't kick the ball, and the referee could see that it was his own stupidity and not an intentional foul, otherwise he would have received a red card.
Pochettino was in tears and turned to signal to the fourth official. Assistant coach Jesus Perez immediately raised the tactical card to give a final reminder to Mudrick who had been waiting for a long time.
Leo is the reason for his success and failure.
Zhan Jun: "Today's Ligue 1 matches will not start for another six or seven hours. I wonder if Mourinho is watching his beloved apprentice Xiaoliang's game at this moment!"
"If he were watching him, he would definitely think of Leo and the Mario he would never forget after seeing this!"
"Leo stood up with a confused look on his face. He appealed to the referee Atwell, saying that he was innocent. Then he saw the fourth official on the sidelines holding up a sign to replace him, and he made a helpless and disappointed expression to the head coach Pochettino!"
"At this moment, all he needs is a vest that says 'Why always me'!"
Chen Xiaoliang picked up the ball and walked towards the penalty spot, while turning his head to glance at Leo who was about to leave the field reluctantly.
The moment their eyes met, Chen Xiaoliang seemed to be saying:
"Still playing? Two arms."
