"Hey man, who told you to wear the captain's armband yourself?"
After the game, Cox, on behalf of the coaching team, found Li Polo for a talk.
The person grinned unconsciously:
"Mark put the armband in my hand, and I naturally thought he thought I was capable of doing it! Don't you think I didn't do well enough?"
Cox couldn't help but be overcome by his confidence and arrogance:
"Do you really think that Wimbledon doesn't respect seniority? You are only slightly older than Sweeney in the first team, how dare you be the captain?"
Li Polo shrugged his shoulders:
"You have a point. If you want me to be the captain, you have to at least give me the highest salary in the team!"
Cox:
" ...You are such a logical genius!"
…
Li Polo wore the captain's armband for 25 minutes, which was not a problem at all.
What's worrying Adelei now is Li Polo's defensive partner:
Mark Phillips' red card earned him a three-match ban.
According to FA regulations, these three suspensions apply to the English League Two and various cup competitions.
This also means that in the FA Cup four days later and the English Championship eight days later, he can only act as a water dispenser manager...
With the two full-backs still recovering from injuries, the most experienced player in the back line was unable to play. Adre's deployment of troops was suddenly greatly restricted - he could only play with his cards open!
Kennedy, Goodman, Li Polo and Osraja start, and the defender who can be a substitute is... 18-year-old Sweeney, who is only 1.91 meters tall.
Fortunately, the opponent in the next round of the FA Cup is not a strong team from the Premier League, but just a League One team, Preston.
…
Adre was unhappy, but the person who was even more unhappy than him was Lisanna Taylor.
Because... this FA Cup match has been scheduled for Saturday, February 14th!
The start time is even more inhumane at 20:45!
On this holiday that should have been very sweet, not only was she unable to be embraced by her boyfriend in his warm arms, but she had to watch an extremely boring football match in the snow!
Well, although she has been a die-hard Madison fan since she was a child, this does not affect ...
Her best friend Mira Bellier was also shivering in the cold wind and could only ask for help from the male fans around her:
"Is there any gentleman who could help us?"
Mike, the vice president of the fan association, who was sitting in the front row, jumped out:
"I'll take off my coat right now if you're willing to date me!"
Lisanna stretched out her hands, took off her eldest brother's coat, and kicked the vice president down:
"You just got married three months ago!"
…
Preston is very strong. They are currently ranked fourth in the English League One standings, while Milton Keynes is ranked third.
After 30 league rounds, Milton scored 61 goals and conceded 27 goals, while Preston scored 45 goals and conceded 28 goals. The gap is obvious.
Relatively speaking, Preston is a team with balanced offense and defense, or in other words, their offensive ability is weaker.
Perhaps in order to strengthen their offensive capabilities, in this game they used a 352 formation, which was almost exactly the same as Liverpool's previous one.
Adley asked his assistant with some doubt:
"When did three central defenders become popular in English football?"
Cox looked even more confused:
"Aren't you the head coach? I thought you knew everything!"
Adley glared at him:
"What did you say?"
Cox was shocked and immediately reorganized his words:
"I say... they are violating the fine traditions of English football and will surely destroy themselves in front of our noble 442!"
He was absolutely right, Preston's defeat was doomed from the beginning.
Originally they were stronger because they had two super shooters, Joe Garner and Beckford.
The former is on loan from Nottingham Forest in the English Championship for £1.5 million. He currently leads the English League One scoring charts with 15 goals, accounting for one-third of the team's goals. He also scored twice in the league three days ago, helping the team win a big victory, and his feet are in great form.
The latter was loaned from Bolton Wanderers in the Championship during the winter transfer window. He scored five goals in just one month and quickly became another scoring point for the team.
Unfortunately, new signing Beckford was accidentally injured a week ago and is destined to miss this game.
Even more unfortunate is that their only ace striker Joe Garner who was able to play, was best at scoring goals... with headers.
When Li Polo first saw his basic information, he couldn't believe his eyes and even questioned Cox directly:
"He's only 1.78 meters tall, how can he be good at heading the ball?"
Cox glanced at him.
"You are only 1.81 meters tall, less than an inch taller than him. How come you are so good at heading the ball?"
[It seems... that makes sense! ]
Faced with the ironclad facts, Li Polo had no choice but to accept it and take this opponent seriously.
Then he immediately dug out Joe Garner's weaknesses from the information:
His footwork is crude, and... he likes to commit fouls!
As a striker, he actually received 5 yellow cards this season and was even banned for it. However, Li Polo, who is known as the "No. 1 Butcher in English League Two", only received 3 yellow cards!
Li Polo, who had thoroughly studied his opponent, decided to put on a good show.
In the 13th minute of the game, Joe Garner, who received the ball with his back to the goal, was intercepted by Li Polo's foot. However, the latter did not transfer the ball immediately. Instead, he wanted to try to advance with the ball himself. Joe Garner took the opportunity to make a flying tackle, trying to counterattack on the spot and attack , but his sliding tackle did not touch the ball at all!
But... the next second, Li Polo, who was still 5 centimeters away from Joe Garner's toes, rolled forward and fell to the ground holding his legs!
The referee hesitated for three seconds. He was a little far away and did not see the actions of both sides clearly. However, when he looked at Li Polo's realistic performance and remembered Joe Garner's "notoriety", he finally showed a yellow card to the striker!
[Negative emotions from Joe Garner, +5! ]
Just 10 minutes later, Li Polo repeated his old trick and fell in front of Joe Garner again, but this time he got up immediately without getting too entangled with his opponent or complaining to the referee.
The referee frowned, but didn't find anything wrong. Instead, he gave Li Polo a hint of positive evaluation.
[He could have put pressure on me after being knocked down, but he didn’t cry or make a fuss. Instead, he stood up on his own initiative. It’s rare to see such an honest player…]
Joe Garner is also a bit baffling.
[What's the point of this fake fall? Are you just teasing yourself? ]
Looking at the England striker with a puzzled look on his face, Li Polo smiled disdainfully.
[You know nothing, this is called foreshadowing! It's called foreplay!
If I complain to the referee as a victim twice in a row, he will be more or less suspicious of my intentions.
But now I have shown the sportsmanship of being indomitable and getting stronger with each setback, which will deepen my good image in the referee's mind. The next time I fall, the referee will be more determined to give you a card! 】
The first half ended with a score of 0:0, and Joe Garner had no idea that a conspiracy had already targeted him.
In the second minute of the second half, Li Boluo couldn't wait to implement his conspiracy.
At that time, Joe Garner was facing away from the goal and preparing to receive the ball, but Li Polo completed the steal half a second in advance, and Joe Garner subconsciously stepped down with his right foot halfway extended!
“Ouch!”
The moment the two sides came into contact, Li Polo let out a shrill howl, like a beast whose thigh was bitten by a trap!
Even in the snowy stadium, the audience in the stands heard his screams!
Lisanna almost jumped up!
"He's injured again?!"
Looking at her boyfriend lying motionless on the grass, her heart was broken!
Then she saw the referee hold up a yellow card and show it to Preston's ace shooter.
A yellow card, then a red card!
[ Negative emotions from Joe Garner, +10! ]
Li Polo, lying on the grass, smiled happily.
There are more than 40 minutes left in the game, but the outcome is already decided!
Preston doesn't even have a decent striker, what can they use to attack against Wimbledon?