Chapter 635: This coach is quite good
I don’t know whether it was because of the conflict between the fans and the club, or whether the players were really not interested in playing. In short, neither the fans in the stands nor the players on the court were excited enough during the game.
Hulay, who was watching the game in the box, even thought it was lucky that Leeds City was drawn by Premier League team Wijston in the third round of the FA Cup. After all, losing to a Premier League team is always better in terms of face than losing to a Championship team.
Although Widgerstown is not a particularly powerful team in the Premier League, it is only ranked in the middle. But the current Leeds City is not easy to deal with.
This team has competed in the Premier League for 11 consecutive seasons, and their results every year have been very stable - no worries about relegation, and almost no chance of qualifying for the European competition.
Their club doesn't seem to have much ambition, as long as they can stay in the Premier League.
Some people may think this is too salty.
However, Leeds City, which has struggled in the Premier League for more than a season, knows very well how difficult it is to ensure that it remains in the Premier League every year.
There are twenty participating teams in the Premier League every season. Except for those giants, other teams have to try their best to stay in the Premier League. There is no such thing as just playing a few games to avoid relegation.
Some teams were still able to compete for European qualification last season, but they might fall into the relegation zone next season.
Not to mention newly promoted teams like Leeds City.
Although they are both in English football, it stands to reason that their understanding of the Premier League is not bad. But only when they get to the Premier League can they know how big the gap is between England's top league and the second-tier league.
It was by no means as simple as what they usually saw on television.
At the end of the first half, Hu Lai looked at the score on the big screen: 0:2.
Leeds City, playing at home, fell behind by two goals and their defeat was determined.
Hulay thought to himself that unless Tony Clark allowed a group of fans into the Leeds dressing room at half-time and then berated the players with past glories, it would be difficult to come back.
But the question is, what past glories can Leeds City talk about?
This is simply a piece of clean white paper.
Being promoted to the Premier League by finishing second in the English Championship is already the most glorious moment in the history of this team.
There is no League Cup champion, no FA Cup champion, and no champion of England's top league.
Apart from a few regional championships, Leeds City's team probably has the least history among all the teams competing in the Premier League.
The performance and history of this team do not even match the status of Leeds, the third largest city in the UK.
In the end, Leeds City lost to Widgerstown 0:2 at home and failed to go further in the FA Cup.
Apparently Tony Clark didn't ask the fans to wake up the players at halftime...
Of course, losing the FA Cup is not necessarily a bad thing.
For the next five months from January to May, Leeds City only needs to focus on the league, and the preparation plan and rhythm arrangement are also based on the league as the only consideration. The FA Cup and League Cup matches have nothing to do with Leeds City.
After the game, Leeds City fans walked out in silence. They were not even angry about the failure of the game.
To them, failure seems to have become a matter of course.
On the way back to the hotel with Yong Jun, Hu Lai began to seriously consider for the first time whether he could not get enough of his time at Leeds City, and Tony Clark, the head coach who recognized him, left first...
Then he would really regret choosing Leeds City in the first place... Isn't the reason why he is willing to come here just to get to know himself better with the coach here?
But if the coach who knows him is dismissed, what attractions and advantages does this team have for him?
Yong Jun was keenly aware that something was wrong with Hu Lai's silence since he got in the car, so he asked: "What's wrong, Hu Lai, are you worried?"
Hu Lai glanced at the camera next to him and did not express his worries. Instead, he shook his head and said, "Of course not, Uncle Yong."
"Then why don't you speak?"
"I'm looking forward to being called upon at a critical moment and then becoming famous with one goal."
After Yong Jun heard the answer that was full of Hu Lai style, he laughed: "You are quite good at seeing the positive side..."
"What else can we do?"
"Yeah, that's right. But now I think I don't have enough time for you to take your time..."
He had previously advised Hu Lai not to be impatient, to take his time, to lay a solid foundation, and then to make plans gradually.
Now it seems that the situation is stronger than the people, and the plan cannot keep up with the changes.
Tony Clark has strategically given up on the FA Cup and is concentrating on the relegation battle in the remaining time.
If the situation still cannot be reversed, the situation will be more dangerous.
No matter how much the club's top brass sided with Tony Clark, it was impossible for him to allow the team to be relegated.
After all, executives don't care about the fans because the financial impact of fan protests is relatively low. But if the team is really relegated, the loss can be measured in tens of millions of pounds...
In the face of huge financial losses, neither my mother nor my father can do anything. Not to mention a team head coach.
When the time comes, it will be extremely normal to fire Tony Clark and bring back Lauren Galli. There are countless precedents of such "really good" in the football world.
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Both Hu Lai and Yong Jun were worried that Tony Clark's time in Leeds City might have entered the countdown, but Tony Clark had a relaxed smile on his face when reviewing the game with the coaching staff after the game, without any trace of that. A feeling of constant panic.
"I hope Roger Biller really thinks that we have lost our combat effectiveness and have been beaten into losing dogs by them." Matt Dawn said excitedly.
"Buehler is an experienced head coach, he may not think so..." Assistant coach Sam Landier did not dare to take it easy.
"But the Wiggerston players would think so." Tony Clark smiled and waved his hand. "Recently there have been a lot of reports from the outside world about the troubles we have encountered, and they will be affected to some extent."
After the FA Cup match against Wiggerston, Leeds City's opponent in the next round of the league will still be Wiggerston, but this time they are going away.
Widgerstown are ranked seventh in the league and Leeds City are ranked 18th. There is a huge gap between the two sides.
But in order to avoid relegation, even if the difference is 11 places, Leeds City can only pounce on the opponent and grapple with each other, trying to bite off a piece of flesh from the opponent's body.
Of course, there is a huge gap in strength between the two teams, and it is difficult to defeat the opponent with just brute force.
That's why Tony Clark and the coaching staff made such a mess.
In order not to leak the news, they did not tell anyone. Anyway, with the current situation of the club, needless to say, the team has no intention of competing with the Premier League team in the FA Cup - whether the opponent is the English Championship team or As a League One team, Leeds City may not mind showing off the style of a Premier League team, or they may be embarrassed to lose to a lower-level league team because of their face, and try their best to win the next game.
Now facing Premier League teams, what else is there to struggle with?
Speed loses.
Tony Clark is just taking advantage of the situation. He hopes that the Wiggerston players really think that Leeds City has no fighting spirit, not to mention that the next round of the league will still be Wiggerston's home ground. The reason for losing to Leeds City at home.
This is the seed he planted for the Widgerston players, and then waited for it to sprout in the next round of league games.
Although they resorted to some tricks... but it was just to avoid relegation, so it was not shabby.
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Nine days later, in the 22nd round of the league, the two teams that had just played against each other in the FA Cup met again. Wijston faced Leeds City at home.
Surprisingly, Wijston, who was originally considered to have no suspense about winning at home, lost to Leeds City 1:2!
"Leeds City, who have been in deep trouble recently, defeated Wiggerston away from home! They got three valuable points! Wiggerston's players made a mistake. They might have thought this was an FA Cup match. Leeds City, who played with all the main players, regarded it as the substitute team with no fighting spirit nine days ago..."
When the game ended, commentator Matthew Cox was merciless in his criticism of Widgerston.
"Leeds City were better than Wiggerston in this game and it was fair for them to win. They are a completely different team to the team they were nine days ago! Tony Clark can take a breather ! ”
The Leeds City manager appeared on the TV, dressed in sportswear, shaking hands with Wijston manager Roger Biller.
"This coach has two skills..." Yong Jun, who was watching the game with Hu Lai in front of the TV, sighed with emotion. Before the game, he was not optimistic that Leeds City could win away from home. He felt that Leeds City's ability to take away one point from the away game would be regarded as a good performance.
Unexpectedly, when he was in a stalemate with his opponent, Tony Clark suddenly changed his formation and increased his offensive intensity.
This hit caught Wijston off guard. They really didn't expect that Leeds City would be able to speed up the pace in the end and charge hard.
It directly disrupted Widgerston's formation.
Captain Lorenzo's goal in the 79th minute was just the final result of this series of adjustments.
In fact, Hu Lai was not as surprised as Uncle Yong because he trained with the team and knew what was being practiced every day. The head coach attaches great importance to the team's physical fitness. He also repeatedly emphasizes running during training, requiring everyone on the team to run more than before. Even he, an opportunist in the penalty area, must have greater ability. running range.
It's like a machine. Everyone must be fully engaged in order for the machine to run at high speed.
So it seems that the Leeds City team attacks very fiercely and takes it back very quickly. This all depends on physical support. After Tony Clark took over the team, he spent half a season making changes to make the team say goodbye to its past training methods and experience and adapt to his new things.
There is a running-in period, and due to various on- and off-field reasons, this running-in period is very painful...
But if we can get through the running-in period smoothly, there may be hope for the future.
Of course, this does not only have advantages and no disadvantages.
The disadvantage is that once this machine runs at high speed, it cannot be stopped easily. If there is a problem with any part and cannot keep up with the rhythm, the entire machine may collapse.
Captain Lorenzo Esposito is currently in pretty good shape and is the team's top scorer with six goals.
But after all, he is already thirty-three years old and will turn thirty-four in March.
Age is here.
And Clark's tactics require high physical fitness and running ability. I don't know how long veteran Lorenzo can persist.
That's why he bought Hu Lai.
In addition to his high efficiency, he is naturally attracted to his youth.
Football is about youth.
Youth is the biggest advantage.
After all, youth is invincible. (End of chapter)