Fox in the Penalty Area

Matthew Miller stands in the stands, waiting for his Leeds City Juniors team-mate Andrew Thurman to buy him a drink.

Now the first half of the game is over, and the score is displayed on the big screen:

1:1

Leeds City, which is playing at home, is temporarily evenly divided with rival Sydenham.

There are not too many fans in the stands. Even if you remove those who temporarily leave their seats to go to the bathroom and buy beer during the intermission, the number of Leeds City fans attracted is far less than before.

For Leeds City, this game is related to the general trend of relegation-Leeds City is currently ranked eighteenth with nineteen points. Their opponent Sydenham is ranked fourteenth, with 22 points, and the difference between the two teams is only three points. This also means that if Leeds City can beat Sydenham at home, their league ranking may be able to improve several places at once.

For such an important game, the fans of Leeds City were not very enthusiastic.

The Flanders Stadium, which can accommodate 30,000 people, was not full.

Obviously, there are not a few Leeds City fans who are in the same camp as their father.

They put pressure on the club by not coming to the game.

But what is the point of such pressure?

As a fan of Leeds City, do you hope that Leeds City will be relegated from the Premier League, and then the club management can change their minds?

But even if the club executives changed their minds at that time, so what?

We've been downgraded!

Is relegation from the Premier League back to the Championship a happy thing?

Can it be celebrated as a fan victory?

Matthew Miller couldn't understand his father, nor could he understand the fans who were like his father.

If Leeds City is relegated, the financial revenue drops sharply, and the club's operations are unsustainable, then the executives can change their doors and jobs without damaging their high income at all. The club owner can also resell the team. For his huge assets, he can't hurt his bones at all.

What about the players?

There will be a large number of players leaving the team. They don't worry about leaving home, it's just the difference between earning more and earning less.

Who will bear the bitter fruit of relegation in the end?

fan.

All the results after the team's relegation still have to be borne by the fans.

The team is relegated, the results are not good, the club is in financial crisis...

Can the fans of Leeds City change to another home team to support?

Therefore, Matthew Miller feels that no matter how the club's top executives play tricks, he still hopes that the team can hold on and successfully stay in the Premier League.

As for whether the club's top management should pay for what they did... This kind of thing should of course wait until the end of the season to talk about it.

Besides, shouldn't the club and the team be treated separately?

You are dissatisfied with the club, but the team is innocent.

There's no reason to hate Tony Clark either. Lauren Gary was not driven away by him, let alone because of him. He is just a replacement recruited by the club after Lauren Galli's sudden resignation, the "firefighter", and now he is still a "unlucky ghost" and "poor guy"...

What is there to do with such a coach?

Now our team is fighting to avoid relegation, our fans are stabbing us in the back...how can any fans do that?

Matthew Miller's father accused the club's executives of violating the tradition of Leeds City, but in Matthew's view, those Leeds City fans represented by his father violated the tradition of Leeds City.

Leeds City have a tradition of loving their hometown team as much as they love their home.

What they are doing now is nothing more than doing "hate" in the name of "love".

"Matthew, what are you in a daze for?" Andrew Thurman's voice sounded beside him, and he handed Miller a drink.

"I'm still thinking about the fans who didn't come to the scene..." Miller sighed after taking it.

"Don't think too much, the key is our team's current results.

Thurman shrugged and didn't want to discuss the topic of the fans, "In fact, we played very well in the first half, and Williams' goal was really beautiful. But bad luck, failed to hold before the end of the first half. I don't really think about it that much now, Matthew. I think we can just not lose at home. "

Miller stopped talking, just looked down on the court.

During the intermission, substitute players from both sides entered the field to warm up.

Miller's eyes fell on the new aid from Leeds City.

Holly.

He was selected for the game list, but did not start the game.

Throughout the first half, he didn't leave his bench seat except for getting up once to warm up and standing up to cheer for Pete Williams' goal.

Miller would like to see him come off the bench in the second half.

As Andrew said, in fact, Leeds City performed really well in the first half. We created some opportunities, but unfortunately only grasped one.

And based on Matthew Miller's understanding of Hu Lai, this is a forward who is very good at seizing opportunities.

Should coach Tony Clark have brought him on in the second half?

At this moment, he saw Hu Lai, who was warming up, being called off the field, then plunged into the player tunnel and disappeared.

He gets excited.

Because he knows what it means!

※※※

Also excited were the Chinese reporters present. They had been looking forward to this game since they knew that Hu Lai had been selected for the squad.

Hu Lai did not get a chance to play throughout the first half. It's still normal. After all, unless someone was injured or played very badly, no head coach would make substitutions and adjustments in the first half.

Although Leeds City had a draw in the first half, they played well to be honest, so there was no need to make substitutions.

During the intermission, everyone gathered together to discuss whether Hu Lai would come off the bench, and if so, when.

After some discussion, everyone reached a consensus on whether Hu Lai will play, that is, he will definitely play. Because it can be clearly seen from the first half that Leeds City has the advantage at home, but there is no way to turn the advantage into a goal.

And Hu Lai is just good at doing this.

Didn't Tony Clark boast that Leeds City has the best video analyst in Europe who knows Holly?

If they really understood, it would be impossible not to substitute Hou Lai.

The only suspense is when Hu Lai will play.

Is it sixty minutes, seventy minutes or the last ten minutes?

There are supporters in every time period, and they can explain their reasons well.

But he never thought that during the intermission, Hu Lai was called back to the locker room!

We are all seasoned football journalists, so naturally we know what this means:

Hu Lai may be replaced at the beginning of the second half!

Tony Clark was going to give him a full forty-five minutes of performance time!

Then they took out their mobile phones one after another, eager to post their speculations on the Internet, and be the first to release this big news that will definitely cause a sensation among Chinese fans.

But soon they looked at each other with their mobile phones.

Because none of their mobile phones have a network—tens of thousands of people are crowded in this stadium at the same time, and their mobile phones are connected to the server at the same time, which has blocked the network for a long time...

"Damn! What kind of infrastructure is this in the UK! Don't you know how to build more signal cars?!"

※※※

As soon as Hu Lai returned to the locker room, he opened the door and saw that everyone in the locker room was looking at him.

"Boss, are you looking for me?" He asked.

Clark instructed Hou Lai to return to his seat, and then said to him, "Hu, get ready, you will be replaced at the beginning of the second half."

In fact, Hu Lai had roughly guessed the result on the way here.

This is not a particularly difficult thing to guess.

Counting the FA Cup, he failed to enter the squad for three consecutive games and failed to play. In his career, he has never had such a situation-even if he just transferred to the Flash Star, it was just a transfer. The game when I was going was on the sidelines. In the second game, he came off the bench and scored.

But despite this, Hu Lai didn't feel any excitement when it was time to play.

It was as if he had anticipated this day.

There is a sense of success and naturalness.

Facing the gaze of the head coach, he nodded: "Understood, boss."

"What you have to do is like you do in training, lurking next to Lorenzo and looking for opportunities."

"Okay, boss."

Hu Lai nodded and agreed, and spent 90,000 points in the system space to exchange for three [Spirit Cards]. The remaining points were not enough to exchange for the [Lover's Red String] with lucky value, so he had to give up.

Then, in the system's field of vision, he chose three targets for the three [Consonance Cards].

They are the team's Pete Williams, Charlie Potter and Lorenzo Esposito.

Williams is the core of the team's midfield and must be selected.

Charlie mainly plays on the right side, and he has the best relationship with him, and he is also the most familiar with it. Using the [Consonance Card] can have an additional bonus of a tacit understanding effect.

Captain Lorenzo is his striker partner. The task assigned by the boss is to work around Lorenzo. Of course, it is impossible not to let him use it.

The three [Consonance Cards] that had just been redeemed were used up after changing hands. In the system's vision, Hu Lai saw that the three people had already had a white light chain with him, and they were also connected to each other.

Only then did he log out of the system, quietly waiting for his first Premier League game to come.

Charlie gave him a "come on" gesture, and he responded with a smile.

The captain gave him an encouraging look, and he nodded his thanks.

Hu Lai didn't quite understand what Pete Williams meant when he looked over. He seemed to be examining and expecting something?

What the hell is this?

It seems that the inner drama of local geniuses is a bit rich...

"...in the second half you have to keep pressuring their box like you did in the first half! Don't think about defending - blow the opponent's goal away before we lose the ball! This is our home ground, there is no reason for us On the contrary, I still have to be timid and timid here!"

Finally, Tony Clark used this passionate speech to end his adjustments and arrangements at halftime.

Captain Lorenzo also stood up and clapped his hands while encouraging his teammates: "Come on! Win Sydenham at home and let us leave the damn relegation zone!"

Pete Williams, the home-grown talent on the team, was also chanting: "Come on! We can do it!"

Hu Lai howled along with the other teammates: "Ohhhh!"

※※※

Xie Lan's eldest brother, Xie Zelin, also runs a company, and his house is the largest among his brothers and sisters.

But even so, the living room of his home was still packed to the brim with more than 20 people in one breath.

There was no room to sit on the sofa for a long time. Some people brought in dining chairs, and some simply sat on the ground to watch the game.

But it is a pity that Hu Lai did not get a chance to play throughout the first half of the game.

Although CCTV commentator He Feng mentioned Hu Lai many times in the game commentary, he and his partner Yan Kang kept guessing when Hu Lai would be able to play.

But this kind of speculation can only annoy Xie Lan in front of the TV even more.

One time, Hu Lai ran out from the bench to warm up, which made everyone in front of the TV excited for a while. It turned out that they were happy for nothing...

Despite the anxiety in his heart, Xie Lan resisted not to show it on the outside. On the contrary, when someone tried to comfort her, she always responded with a smile, with a look of "I haven't seen such a big storm".

It's okay for her and her husband to watch the game at home, but now in front of so many people, she must hold her breath, or she will be ashamed.

During the intermission, He Feng and Yan Kang continued to discuss the matter of Hu Lai's appearance, analyzed and analyzed, and came to a conclusion-if the situation of the game did not turn around in the second half and Leeds City still won the game and did not score, Hu Lai would be There is a great chance of making an appearance.

"Don't just change it in the last few minutes..." Xie Zelin muttered.

"Crow's mouth!" The old father scolded angrily.

Xie Zelin immediately shut up obediently and said nothing more.

After the commercial was broadcast on the TV, the screen switched back to the player tunnel at the game site.

People in front of the TV saw that familiar figure at a glance!

He was in the player tunnel, chatting with his teammates while walking outside.

He was not wearing the previous Leeds City white sports jacket, but a Leeds City home jersey with yellow top and blue bottom.

At the same time, He Feng's excited voice sounded: "We just got the news that Hu Lai was replaced! Leeds City will complete the substitution directly at the start of the second half! Hu Lai! The first game in his career The Premier League, the first Premier League game for Chinese players... is about to start! Audience friends, we are fortunate to witness history again!"

"Coach Clark gave Hu Lai a full 45 minutes of playing time, which is more than all of us guessed. It can be seen that he really trusts Hu Lai..." Yan Kang added beside him. "I hope Hu Lai will not be under pressure and play normally!"

In front of the TV, Xie Lan was the first to cheer. She jumped up from the sofa, then sat back down, leaned back on the back of the sofa, and raised her arms high.

"OK!"

"Come on, Lai Lai!"

"Cousin, come on!!"

Applause and shouts sounded in the crowded living room, completely drowning out the sound from the TV.

※※※

"Self-improvement, when do you think Hu Lai will be able to play?"

His father-in-law had just posed this question to Li Ziqiang. Before he could answer, he saw a picture of Hu Lai walking towards the field with his teammates in a jersey on the TV.

At the same time, he clearly heard a loud shout coming from a window of the building opposite: "Hu Lai, come on!!"

"He's about to play..." Li Ziqiang said.

"Oh, that's really great!" The mother-in-law clapped her hands and said happily.

※※※

"Beautiful!" Everyone in the bar cheered.

After waiting for 45 minutes for the first half and 15 minutes for intermission, the Chinese fans watching the game can finally let go of the stone in their hearts and vent their emotions to their heart's content.

"Forty-five minutes! This is great!"

"Hu Lai, come on! Your school team teammates support you!"

"Don't think too much, just do it!"

"Hu Lai is amazing! Let them see how powerful you are!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!"

Excited people smacked their glasses on the table in time for their cheers.

At this moment, there are countless places and people cheering in the land of Shenzhou, and the reason why they are so excited is that Hu Lai is going to come off the bench...

It sounds incredible, but it's just an appearance.

But only these cheering people know in their hearts how long all the Chinese fans have waited for this moment!

As He Feng said when Hu Lai walked onto the court:

"This is one small step for Hu Lai, but one giant leap for Chinese football!"

※※※

PS, Hu Lai's first appearance in the Premier League is also the first appearance of a Chinese player in the Premier League. Ask for a monthly ticket!