Volume 1: Playing football with me will break your legs Chapter 49: People with the same disease
"John, drive faster!"
As soon as the game was over, Adre jumped onto his bus with everyone and told the driver to step on the accelerator.
He glanced at the MK Stadium behind him with lingering fear:
"If it's any later, I'm really afraid that Milton's fans will smash our bus!"
Cox coughed and glared at Li Polo:
"You shouldn't have provoked them like that!"
Li Polo laughed and shrugged his shoulders:
"We are mortal enemies. Is this kind of provocation too much?"
Cox sighed:
"Ignorance is fearless. Just wait patiently."
Li Polo wanted to explain himself a little more when he felt a vibration in his pocket.
"Baby, you haven't slept yet? Is it because you miss me so much that you can't sleep?"
Suddenly, there was a sound of retching in the bus.
Aziz protested directly:
"Coach, I want to file a complaint against this guy. He's so disgusting!"
…
A 3-0 win over their arch-rivals away from home was enough to get the entire Wimbledon team drunk once again.
But Adley made it clear:
"It's a choice between drinking and taking a day off."
So everyone unanimously decided:
"What's so good about wine? We are professional players!"
Looking at these sensible players, Adre nodded secretly, and then sent the team's decision to General Manager Powell.
Powell, sitting on the sofa at home watching TV, breathed a sigh of relief.
Just kidding, if we want to drink together to celebrate... the club will definitely pay for it!
This is great, the club saves at least several thousand dollars!
Wouldn’t it be nice to give you a bonus at the end of the year?
…
Li Polo woke up feeling refreshed. He was thinking about whether to take the subway to London to give his girlfriend a surprise when he received a call from assistant coach Cox:
"The league's disciplinary committee has just sent a fax, banning you for three games in all competitions and fining you £300 for your unprofessional behavior in the last game by provoking fans."
"???"
Li Polo's hands began to tremble.
300 pounds!
This is his two days' salary!
Three-match ban!
This means that the appearance fees, winning bonuses, goal, assists and shutout bonuses for these three games have nothing to do with me!
Another loss of several hundred dollars!
"Uh…are you listening?"
Fearing that he would not be able to bear the blow, Cox added:
"The probability of a successful appeal is almost zero, so the club is not prepared to do so. Powell has agreed that the fine will be paid by the club, but we hope you will take it as a warning and not be so impulsive in the game."
Li Polo's eyes lit up and he nodded immediately:
"I will never provoke fans again!"
Provoking fans can only make you happy for a few seconds, but what you lose is real money!
Cox shook his head on the other end of the phone:
"Have a good rest."
Li Polo smiled bitterly:
"That leaves me with too much time to rest."
…
After hanging up the phone, Li Polo immediately entered the realm of a saint.
If you want to give your girlfriend a surprise, just let her study hard in school!
He washed his face and brushed his teeth in a depressed mood, then opened the kitchen, ate a quick bite of lunch, and fell into a state of reflection again.
Obviously, in the next two weeks and three games, although he can participate in the team's training as usual, he can only continue to serve as a sparring partner for the main lineup...
Old Captain Fuller, can you get another two weeks of good sleep?
The only consolation was that after 90 minutes of fierce fighting yesterday, his four attributes in the system were improved at the same time:
The speed increased from the initial 76 to 77;
Ball possession changed from 45 to 46;
The number of passes changed from 23 to 24;
Physical fitness also increased from 74 to 75;
After the upgrade, Hawkeye increased to 108/500, and the experience bar of negative emotions has reached 475/1000. According to the previous rhythm, it does not seem that difficult to upgrade again.
But Li Polo also knows that not every opponent is Manchester United or Milton Keynes, and the opponents who can make him reap the benefits are very limited after all.
Li Polo sat on the sofa for a long time in a depressed mood, and finally decided to get rid of his negative emotions.
After jogging all the way to the club, he chose to vent his abundant energy on the green field.
But he had just changed into his training clothes and before he stepped into the training ground, he saw a figure doing short-distance sprint training.
One look at the other person's "skinny" figure and agile movements revealed that this person was definitely not Akinfenwa, who weighed more than 200 pounds...
【Who else could it be? 】
Li Polo walked over with some surprise. It was the team's main goalkeeper James Shea.
He understood immediately.
Because Xie A received a red card in the game, he was also sentenced to a three-match suspension. This means that he has no place to release his energy in such a short period of time!
"Hey, James!"
Just as Xie A finished a set of runs, Li Polo blew a whistle.
Xie A stopped in front of the triangular cone, a little surprised:
"Oh, you didn't take a rest?"
Li Polo's face darkened:
"The coach just informed me that I have also been suspended for three games..."
Xie A was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but smile with sympathy:
"So you don't feel like resting at home and want to vent here?"
Li Polo nodded:
"Shall I practice with you?"
Xie A hesitated for a moment:
"Can you help me practice shot-saving?"
Li Polo didn't care:
"Come on, as long as you don't mind my poor shooting skills!"
Xie A laughed:
"Come on, bro !"
As a small team, Wimbledon doesn't even have a dedicated goalkeeping coach. Even if he wants to hone his skills every day, he can't find a sparring partner and can only train basic physical fitness alone. Li Polo's joining is like a timely help to him, so how could he reject it?
Xie A brought a basket of footballs from the sidelines, about thirty or forty of them, and placed them all at the top of the penalty area. Then he took a breath, pointed at the white line and said:
"Brother, just shoot from outside the penalty area. It doesn't matter where you are."
Li Polo scratched his neck:
"It's that simple?"
Xie A asked back while putting on gloves:
"With your shooting ability, if you can hit the goal, you're helping me. If I ask you to kick a falling leaf or an elevator ball, can you do it?"
Li Polo blushed:
"If you continue to humiliate me like this, I won't practice with you anymore!"
…
Two hours passed quickly and the two men finished their morning training.
To express his gratitude, Xie readily took Li Polo to Wimbledon's most prosperous commercial street for a good meal, further deepening the friendship between teammates.
After all, everyone can see that Li Polo has become a hot new star in the team. Both coaches favor him. He has gradually secured a main position with his outstanding performances, so much so that even captain Fuller is a little afraid of him.
As the main goalkeeper, isn't it normal to have a good relationship with the main defender?
The two of them were eating and chatting:
"James, you can play this weekend, right?"
Xie A nodded, but was not sure:
"Werner has played very stably in these three games, so I may not be able to start..."
What he said is true. The second goalkeeper Werner is not much different from him in terms of age, physical fitness, experience, value and salary. If the coaches use "continuing the form" as the reason, Werner can continue to play.
The competition among goalkeepers is even more brutal than that among other positions.
Many people can become the main force for more than ten years as long as they seize an opportunity, such as Buffon and Casillas, but more goalkeepers can only be substitutes for their entire lives, such as Buffon's substitutes in the national team...
Perhaps because he was worried, Xie A sighed:
"People must make the right choice, otherwise it may affect their whole life!"
Li Polo raised his eyebrows, feeling puzzled by his incoherent sigh:
"ah?"
I only heard Xie A say:
"You probably don't know that I came from Arsenal's youth training camp. In 2009, when I was just 18 years old, I won the Youth League and FA Cup for the Gunners. The next year I entered the reserve team, got an official contract from Arsenal, and entered the first team. It seemed that everything was going well."
Li Polo listened quietly:
"Then what?"
Xie's thoughts seemed to return to his glorious past:
"In August 2010, I was called up to the England national team. I remember it very clearly. It was a European Cup qualifier against Bulgaria. Although I didn't get a chance to play, I became a member of the national team at the age of 19. Can you understand how I felt at the time?"
Li Polo nodded:
“Although I have not had similar experiences, I can understand.”
Although Europe and the United States do not hold the concept of loyalty to the country as highly as East Asia, becoming a Three Lions international at the age of 19 is definitely a huge honor!
Not to mention in England, even in China, which is despised by everyone, aren't those players still racking their brains and sharpening their brains just to get a seat on the national team?
That is a recognition of a player's ability and achievements!
"But I still couldn't stay at Arsenal. At that time, the Gunners had Szczesny, Fabianski, Almunia, and for a while they even rehired Lehmann to save the day, but I never got the call from Wenger, so I had to leave in the end..."
Xie A's expression finally dimmed:
"Sometimes I wonder if I had stayed at Arsenal, would I have the chance now?"
Thinking about Arsenal's lineup, Li Polo said nothing.
In the 2014-15 season, Arsenal's main goalkeeper was Ospina, the Colombian goalkeeper who performed brilliantly in the 2014 World Cup. Sitting on the bench was Polish national goalkeeper Szczesny and the team's youth training product, Argentine rising star Martinez (winner of the 2021 America's Cup Golden Glove). How could Xie have a chance to take over?
Perhaps sensing Li Polo's thoughts, Xie A patted him on the shoulder:
"I used to think I should just accept my fate, but last year I saw a player's story and I think people still have to fight for it."
Li Polo raised his head and looked at him:
"who?"
Xie A grinned:
"Jamie Vardy. Two years ago, he was playing for a fifth-tier team that was not as good as Wimbledon. Now, he is the main striker for Leicester City in the Premier League."
He added:
"Vardy didn't become a professional player until he was 25. When we think about this, what reason do we have not to work hard?"
