Volume 1: Playing football with me will break your legs Chapter 54: Winter is coming
After these two consecutive victories, the atmosphere within the Wimbledon team finally returned to being relaxed.
The next morning, Cox made an announcement before practice:
"The draw for the first round of the FA Cup has been announced. On November 8, we will play away against York City."
Everyone's eyes turned to the schedule posted on the wall.
There are still 9 days until the FA Cup, and before that, they still have a league game to play.
Adley rubbed his chin:
"Are they the opponents from English League Two? Where are they ranked now?"
Cox answered without hesitation:
"I remember they were close to being relegated a few weeks ago."
Captain Fuller took out his phone and searched:
"Right, they are now in the relegation zone, with 12 points in 15 games, ranking 22nd, 2 points more than Tranmere who we just beat last weekend."
When Adre heard this, he immediately made a decision:
"For this kind of rookie, we only need to use the substitute lineup! The most important thing right now is to expand our lead in the league and get the ticket to promotion to English League One as soon as possible!"
This time, all the players agreed and no one raised any objections.
After all, it’s just York City, not Manchester United!
Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken?
…
On the morning of November 1st, when Li Polo boarded the bus with the team and prepared to go to the next away game, he received an email from the club's financial staff.
This means that October's wages and bonuses will soon be paid.
Although he has just signed a new contract due to a three-game suspension, his overall income is still not ideal.
Wimbledon played a total of 7 games in October (5 league games, 1 League Cup, 1 British Championship). Li Polo played in 4 games and won all of them. He was a substitute in one game and was substituted in one game. He scored 4 goals, had no assists, and kept clean sheets in 3 games.
Basic salary: Already paid in advance.
Appearance fee: 4x50=200.
Winning bonus: 4x30=120.
Goal bonus: 4x100=400.
Clean Sheet Bonus: 3x30=90.
Total: 810.
Looking at the numbers at the end of the bill, Li Polo couldn't help but frown.
[After working hard for a month, I only earned 800 yuan! ]
Oh, by the way, if the club hadn’t generously covered the 300 yuan red card fine, he would only have received a bonus of 510 yuan this month!
Reeves, who was sitting next to him, came over:
"Don't look at it. You won't get an extra zero if you look at it again!"
Li Polo turned off his phone and asked him seriously:
"Let me ask you, you said we beat Manchester United so badly in the League Cup, why didn't they send scouts to contact us?"
Reeves opened his mouth:
"ah?"
Li Polo slumped in his seat in some distress:
"We have defeated high-level teams such as Milton and Manchester United in a row. Shouldn't they pay attention to our performance? Shouldn't they give me a chance to try out?"
Akinfenwa in the front row laughed out loud:
"Little guy, you have a very rich imagination!"
Xie A also shook his head:
"The Premier League and us... are almost two different worlds. A League Cup match doesn't mean anything."
Li Polo glanced at him:
"That's not right. You just encouraged me to work hard a few days ago, and now you're pouring cold water on me?"
Xie A didn't expect that he would be confronted by his own words, and could only laugh at himself:
"You're right. I suddenly want to meet Arsenal in the FA Cup or League Cup."
Akinfenwa raised his arms and exerted a little force. His muscles suddenly became as hard as steel. He grinned:
"Hahaha, if you're talking about Arsenal, I won't be sleepy anymore . I can take on their entire defense line by myself!"
The whole bus was suddenly filled with joyful laughter:
"Hahaha, those little girls will definitely be scared to tears by you!"
"Ahem, that's too much."
"I have been a gun fan since I was a child. If you dare to slander me again, I will fight you to the death!"
Adlei, who was sitting at the front, finally couldn't stand it anymore. He coughed, turned around and took a quick look:
"I just heard that only three months into the season, someone is already trying to contact a Premier League team?"
He assumed the authority of a head coach, and the players immediately shut up. Everyone's eyes were focused on Li Polo, intentionally or unintentionally.
Of course, Adley knew which "big baby" had started it, so he asked with a smile:
"Young man, you have been very active lately."
Li Polo shook his head innocently:
"Boss, I've been working very hard! And..."
Adley didn't listen to his weak explanation and said with a stern face:
"If Manchester United buys you, they might as well keep Welbeck because at least he can score goals in front of the goal."
Li Polo was stunned for a moment, but Reeves beside him slapped his thigh and laughed unscrupulously:
"Boss is right, this guy's shooting is terrible!"
Li Polo, however, never lacked words to describe his roommate, and he immediately retorted:
"If my math is correct, I've scored more goals than you and Aziz combined!"
Rivers was silent for a moment.
After all, although he is in a more forward position on the field, his status in the team is just an ordinary rotation. The number of his starting appearances is far less than that of Li Polo, let alone scoring goals.
Aziz, who had not joined the discussion but was also shot, was not happy:
"You two, why are you bringing this up on me?"
…
After a 150-kilometer journey, the Wimbledon team arrived at the destination of this trip, Northampton in central England .
The city has many theaters and museums with a strong artistic atmosphere. It is a city where traditional culture and art are closely integrated with modern business.
Although it has a population of only 220,000.
As soon as they stepped out of the bus, many players couldn't help sneezing and hurriedly took out their coats from the suitcases. Some even put on down jackets directly.
Cox looked up at the sky, and a crystal snowflake landed on his nose:
“Winter is coming!”
…
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the 16th round of the league officially kicked off.
The unexpected sleet seemed to bring some obstacles to the Crazy Gang. Although Northampton staff urgently treated the turf, when the players from both sides lined up and walked into the stadium, the turf had become wet and slippery.
The more a team values technology, the more it hates bad weather.
Compared to Wimbledon, which is still considering which tactics to use, Northampton, ranked 18th, does not need to consider so much.
Long passes, lobs, and physical collisions, this is the eternal god of England's lower-level teams!
Adre and his players didn't care too much about it. After all, the central defender combination of Li Polo and Phillips rarely suffered any losses in competing for high balls.
This is indeed how the situation has developed.
In the 19th minute, Li Polo completed his second header clearance. Porter, who was guarding near the landing point, passed the ball to the wing immediately. Left-back Smith swung his left foot and made a straight pass of more than 30 meters, finding Dubis who was guarding near the center line.
The experienced Dubis did not choose to lead the charge, but took a few steps closer to the center and made a simple wall-to-wall cooperation with Akinfenwa who acted as a fulcrum, bypassing the home team's central defender who was blindly chasing the ball, and then began to speed up forward.
Almost at the same time, Aziz on the right also rushed out from the defense line, and immediately formed a double ghost knocking on the door!
The Northampton goalkeeper had no choice but to leave the goal and rush towards Dubis who was dribbling the ball. However, Dubis was not greedy for credit and simply pushed the ball gently to the right, and was then knocked to the ground by the goalkeeper...
Aziz rushed forward and easily shot into the empty goal. Just as he was about to rush to the sidelines to celebrate wildly, he heard a sharp whistle:
"drop!"
Aziz's first thought was:
[I'm not offside! ]
But when he turned his head, he saw Dubis, who had assisted him, lying in front of the goal with a painful look on his face, and bright red blood had seeped out of his socks.
“Shit!”
Adley waved his fist in annoyance.
Cox has notified the team doctor Douglas to deal with it:
"The field was too slippery, the goalkeeper didn't catch it!"
Although their goal was valid, it resulted in one of their main strikers being injured!
