Volume 1: Playing football with me will break your legs Chapter 55: Still Not Strong Enough
Someone was injured in the first 20 minutes of the game, so Adre had to choose a more conservative tactic.
He sent out the mature and steady Boorman, and changed the original 433 that focused on offense into 442, preparing to play steadily and cautiously. As long as they could maintain the leading advantage, they would complete the mission.
But Northampton refused.
For them who are on the verge of relegation zone, they desperately need a victory!
If this victory comes from being first in the standings, it will boost morale even more!
For a moment, the football was flying all over the sky above Sixfields Stadium. As long as Northampton's midfielders and defenders had the opportunity to pass the ball, they would never seek other ways!
In most of the crosses, the ball flew to the striker Ivan Toni who was in the penalty area.
What is somewhat surprising is that the striker on whom they placed their greatest hopes is only 18 years and 7 months old!
Ivan Toney is the most outstanding youth training achievement of Northampton in the past decade. He made his professional debut at the age of 16. He is 1.88 meters tall but does not look clumsy. With Jamaican descent, he has excellent physical toughness, speed and flexibility, and balance with his left and right feet. Whether it is heading the ball, scrambling in front of the goal, or ferrying in front of the field, he can complete these tasks easily.
In addition, he is not a stationary striker like Akinfenwa. He has his own ability to read and analyze the game, and can often use flexible positioning to find real opportunities!
Although Tony has only scored three league goals this season, he is already a rising star in the English League Two. It is said that Newcastle from the Premier League has already locked on to him. As long as he can maintain his previous form, Northampton will not be able to contain his talent.
The stage he wants to step onto is, of course, only the Premier League!
But when Tony returned to reality, he had to lower his confident head and even gasped helplessly.
The game had been going on for half an hour, and I had tried to attack , but I still failed!
Not to mention scoring, he didn't even have a chance to make a successful shot!
Tony, who was upset, heard a voice behind him:
"Big fool, how about you try someone else?"
His mood suddenly became worse. Just as he was about to fight back, he heard a reminder from his teammate Richards not far away:
"Calm down, Ivan, and don't listen to his provocation!"
But his reminder was still a step too late. Li Polo had already received the reminder in his mind:
[Negative emotions from Ivan Tony, +1]
so little?
Li Polo curled his lips and continued his verbal attack:
"Hey, brother, your physical fitness is really enviable, but you are still too immature and don't know how to use your advantages. How about I teach you how to better develop your body?"
[Tony, +2! ]
…
To put things one thing at a time, the reason why Li Polo made such provocative remarks was not only because he always adhered to the principle of "plucking feathers from passing geese", but also because the physical fitness of this young striker was indeed quite strong.
Even though he had only played professional football for more than three months, he could still vaguely feel that Ivan Toni had extraordinary potential. Especially in terms of heading, Li Polo, who had always been hard to beat in English League Two, finally felt the pressure.
This mixed-race player is tall, has amazing jumping ability, and can stay in the air for a terrifyingly long time. If it weren't for the 8-minute plug-in, Li Polo would at most be evenly matched with him when defending high balls!
But the young Tony finally showed more comprehensive abilities. In the 33rd minute, Northampton finally gave up the tactic of passing the ball from the wing and sent a flat and fast pass to the striker.
Li Polo wanted to go around and steal the ball, but was blocked by Tony's big body, so he simply took a step back and kept a distance from the opponent.
Tony suddenly felt empty behind him and lost his support point. The slippery grass made it impossible for him to keep his balance. He could only pass the ball diagonally before falling to the ground.
Li Polo sneered and even wanted to add insult to injury to undermine the young man's self-confidence:
"You think that if you get stuck in position..."
Before he could finish his sentence , his smile froze at the corner of his mouth.
Northampton's left midfielder Cade Mohammed rushed out from the edge of the penalty area and shot the ball with a powerful volley!
Phillips was restrained by another forward Richards, and Reeves on the opposite side failed to return to defense in the first time. The shot flew through the gap between Phillips and Li Polo and went directly into the blind corner of the goal!
1:1!
Northampton equalized the score!
"Sorry, Mark!"
After scoring the goal, Mohammed even politely greeted Phillips before celebrating with his teammates.
The corner of Li Polo's mouth twitched, and he turned his head to look at his teammates:
“Is this the new form of humiliation?”
Phillips explained calmly:
"This guy...he played for Wimbledon for two seasons before he left last year. Well, he's not bad."
Li Polo shrugged his shoulders:
"Transferred to a relegation team?"
Phillips replied noncommittally:
"At least he can maintain a stable starting position."
Li Polo remained silent.
When the salary difference is not much, a professional player with some aspirations will certainly want to participate in more games instead of staying on the bench as a spectator.
Northampton’s morale was boosted after equalizing the score. They wanted to take advantage of the right time, place and people to chase and score another goal, but they didn’t expect to be hit hard immediately!
Li Polo, who thought he was responsible for the last goal, immediately turned on the cheat and intercepted the ball passed to Tony one second in advance, and then passed it to Reeves, another person responsible, without hesitation...
They had practiced the following tactics for quite some time. Reeves dribbled the ball down the wing, while Akinfenwa, Aziz, Rigg and Porter moved forward to tie down the defense. Li Polo accelerated from the front of the penalty area, and Burman retreated to fill the position.
Ivan Tony was stunned as he looked at Li Polo's back, who had left him more than 20 meters behind.
"Is this okay for riding a horse?"
Just seven or eight seconds later, Reeves' pass flew into the penalty area!
Li Polo leaped up in a high-speed sprint!
But he was too fast, and Hawkeye had just been activated and was still in the cooling stage, so he made a slight mistake in predicting where the pass would land, so he failed to hit the right spot...
The opponent's goalkeeper subconsciously rushed to his right side, but found that Li Polo did not make any attack at all, but just headed the ball!
The football hit Akinfenwa's chest five meters away!
The 200-pound burly man immediately revealed his true form and turned into a fierce beast!
Although Northampton's central defender grabbed his arm at the first moment, he was unable to cause any obstruction to him!
Akinfenwa seemed to have no feeling at all, dragging the central defender and forcing a turn, then kicked the ball into the empty goal!
2:1!
It lasted less than 10 minutes on average before Wimbledon took the lead again!
Li Polo got his second assist in his career!
"Hahaha, thanks bro! Nice pass!"
Akinfenwa, who scored the goal, laughed and hugged Li Polo in his arms, patting his back hard.
The huge and hard biceps, coupled with the strong black body odor, almost suffocated him!
[Negative emotions from Li Polo, +2! ]
Li Polo developed a deep hatred for himself!
If it weren't for his own lack of predictive ability and aerial adjustment capabilities, this would have been a stunning high-altitude bombardment!
[We still need to become stronger! ]
