Volume 1: Playing football with me will break your legs Chapter 84: The Rebellious Fish
Saturday, January 17th.
Today is the 26th round of the league match, but the King's Turf Stadium seemed particularly deserted in the afternoon.
As the team would be heading to London to challenge Tottenham in four days, Adlay adopted a drastic rotation strategy in this league with distinct strengths and weaknesses. Veterans such as Fuller, Smith, Akinfenwa, Dubis, Boorman, Phillips and others all got a chance to rest.
Everyone expressed their understanding. After all, their opponent in this round was Carlisle United, a relegation team ranked third from the bottom in the standings.
The team only got 24 points in the first 25 league rounds, scored 29 goals in the first half but conceded 46 goals in the latter half. It is undoubtedly the favorite experience package of substitute players.
The two veteran forwards Connolly and Frampton, together with the backbone players born after 1985 such as Rigg and Porter, led a group of people born after 1990 such as Lee Polo, Aziz, Reeves, Suitland, Osraja, Kennedy, Sweeney, etc., and were excitedly preparing to slaughter the relegation fish, but they did not expect to hit a steel plate!
Frampton took advantage of the home team's unstable defense and scored the first blood in the 17th second. Everyone thought this would be the prelude to a massacre.
But the iron bucket formation that Carlisle United subsequently set up clearly showed that they did not want to become the target of the tragedy!
Their attitude instead aroused the bloodiness of the crazy gang soldiers.
From a certain perspective, a football match is like a rape. The more the little girl under him resists and struggles, the more it arouses the interest and motivation of the abuser!
Almost all the players of Wimbledon pressed forward and launched a fierce bombardment on the home team!
Li Polo did it even more naturally, frequently joining the attack from the back row. When the attack reached a stalemate, he even became the team's third center and did not leave the penalty area for a long time!
Is there anything wrong with this?
The first half was almost over and Carlisle hadn't even had a decent attack, and the number of shots was a pitiful 0!
Adre even felt that his defense line was completely useless and even the goalkeeper was redundant!
Speaking of the goalkeeper, in order to prevent himself from missing the highlight of the battle against Liverpool last time due to a cold, Xie A increased his activity level. Not only did he do a few sets of high-kicks and frog jumps on the spot from time to time, he also performed short-distance shuttle runs in the penalty area, and even "took time out of his busy schedule" to interact with the home team fans in the stands.
"James, are we confident in playing against Tottenham?"
"I don't like what you said . No matter how strong Tottenham is, can they beat Liverpool?"
"Well, Liverpool is now ranked ninth, and Tottenham is fifth!"
"…If you can't chat, don't talk!"
But even such an overwhelming offensive failed to break the home team's defense.
Li Polo was extremely helpless. In order to restrain his heading ability, Carlisle United directly sent out "two great protectors" to completely surround him!
Don't you like unexpected runs?
Now you have two strong men with you, where can you run to?
These two defensive players, who were both taller and heavier than him, not only kept a close eye on his every move, but they also almost stretched out their arms to lock him in the encirclement !
When the first half was about to enter the injury time period, Carlisle United suddenly had a counterattack opportunity, which was also their first official attack of the whole game, and directly penetrated the city of Wimbledon that had been empty for 45 minutes!
Although Xie A had been warming up, two fists were no match for four hands. Facing the attack of the home team's two ghosts knocking on the door, he could only raise the flag and surrender!
1:1!
As it comes to relegation in the playoffs, every point is extremely precious, especially when facing the biggest favorite to win the championship!
With morale boosted, Carlisle United did not relax at all in the second half. Instead, they took advantage of the opportunity when Wimbledon wanted to regain the lead and launched a series of counterattacks, breaking through the visiting team's goal in the 68th and 81st minutes respectively, expanding the score to 3:1!
Their tactics were simple and their defense was brutal. The 21 fouls and 6 yellow cards in the game said it all, but they had the last laugh!
Wimbledon had a possession rate of up to 71% away from home, resulting in a total of 18 shots, 12 corner kicks, and 8 free kicks in the frontcourt, but these data are useless in the face of a defeat!
Because the result of the game has been determined, the score of 1:3 is more important than all tactics and superficial strength!
After this defeat, they had to accept the following result:
Since entering 2015, they have only achieved 1 draw and 2 losses in three English League Two games, and have not won a single game!
Is this... the price of beating Liverpool?
…
"Take it easy, relax, relax, it's just a loss, no big deal."
In the locker room after the game, assistant coach Cox was still comforting the players:
"In this round of the league, Wycombe Wanderers and Burton Albion, who ranked second and third, were tied by their respective opponents. We are still 11 points ahead, and the initiative to advance to the next round is still firmly in our hands, so there is no need to be too nervous."
The players were slightly cheered up after hearing the consolation .
However... at the end of the first half of the league, Wimbledon's lead in the standings reached as high as 17 points, claiming to have "secured the league title". Now it has suddenly shrunk to 11 points, which is somewhat unsettling.
Head coach Adre even criticized himself:
"I'm sorry, boys. As a head coach, I must admit that I made the mistake of underestimating the opponents in these league games. Leading the league standings for a long time and defeating top league teams such as Manchester United, Southampton and Liverpool made me lose myself a little. After seeing Carlisle United's ranking, I did have the illusion that 'even with the youth team, we can win', but the cruel reality made me sober."
He took a breath and looked at all the players with a sincere and serious expression:
"I hope everyone can remember that for Wimbledon, ensuring league promotion has always been the most important goal of this season. In the remaining 12 rounds, we will definitely encounter more difficult obstacles than today, but we can never repeat the same mistakes again!"
"Yes, boss!"
He saw determination on the faces of all the players and received a warm response.
Li Polo also clenched his fists and nodded repeatedly.
Indeed, the team had been playing too smoothly in the previous period of time.
A streak of 15 consecutive wins and triumphs in all competitions almost gave off a sense of "killing gods if gods stand in our way and destroying Buddha if Buddha stands in our way". This sentiment became even more intense after the high-profile elimination of Liverpool, and for a time the fans of the Crazy Gang had the illusion that "we can play in the Premier League next season".
[You should calm down! ]
[We still need to keep our feet on the ground and take one step at a time! ]
Then he saw the head coach also smiled with relief.
Adley nodded:
"Tomorrow morning, let's study again how to beat Tottenham!"
The players who had just looked determined and ready to go all out to win the league, suddenly collapsed!
【What happened to the promise to calm down and face reality? 】
【Why are you still thinking about winning against Tottenham? 】
