Chapter 708 Being handsome is a lifelong matter
"...Leeds City defeated Northumbria 2:1 at home. As a result, Leeds City won. But any Leeds City fan who watched this game may not be happy. Because the team was warming up in this game. Many problems were exposed during the game... After a summer of training, the team seems to have not been integrated into a whole...
"The performance of most of the new players was quite satisfactory. But I must point out that the performance of the new player Ismael Kamara was completely unsatisfactory to Tony Clark's expectations of him - we all know that this player once played for France. The player from the third-tier league team was personally introduced by Coach Clark. He was originally thought to be a 'rough stone' with talent that had not yet been discovered, but now it seems that he may be just an ordinary stone after all. ……
"Kamara showed his speed at the beginning of the game, but soon faced Northumbria's targeted defense, he had no room to use his speed. And the technical advantages he claimed in the interview also failed. I didn't see it at all... What I could see was that he was stuck with the ball again and again under the defense of many people, delaying the opportunity to fight, and eventually the ball was intercepted by the opponent...
"Of course it is just a warm-up match, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion. But something can be seen from this game. Obviously, Kamara's performance in this game cannot convince those doubters to give up their minds. doubts, let alone make his life in Leeds City easier... I hope I made a mistake in my judgment, but unfortunately, I can't see that this 18-year-old young man who has never had any experience in playing in the top league has any What can help him turn over...
"Although Tony Clark backed Kamara in the post-game press conference, I think it was nothing more than a pretense that he didn't want to criticize his players to their faces...The only thing he got right was that Kamara and Hu is indeed different. You must know that Hu's conditions were worse than Kamara's when he joined the team. He didn't even have a chance to integrate into the team, and he was already halfway through the league, but Hu still delivered a perfect answer under such circumstances-his performance last season, I think even the most picky people could not have any expectations. Dissatisfied... And it is almost impossible for Kamala to reach Hu's height..."
Yong Jun looked at his phone and said: "This article actually praised you at the end, Hu Lai."
The season is about to start, and Yong Jun returns to the UK after finishing his domestic affairs to take care of Hu Lai.
"Really, Uncle Yong, why are you so complimentary?" Hu Lai became interested.
"I just used you as a reference for Kamala, using you to contrast Kamala's poor performance and gloomy future."
"Oh..." Upon hearing this, Hu Lai lost interest again.
"Haha, didn't you expect that the articles criticizing your teammates can also praise you?"
Hu Lai curled his lips and said, "You can't do anything without stepping on it."
Yong Jun smiled: "But Kamala was scolded a little harshly this time..."
He is right. In addition to this article, there are many voices criticizing Kamala on the Internet and in the media. Fans vent their emotions directly on the Internet, swearing and swearing in any way they want.
Although media reporters are not so unqualified, they picked up the pen in their hands, typed on the keyboard, and spoke at length, analyzing and demonstrating from various angles that Kamara was not suitable for Leeds City and could not adapt to the Premier League. It took Leeds City thirty years to prove that What you bought for ten thousand pounds is a liar who pretends to be fake...
Anyway, the public opinion environment is very unfavorable to Ismail Kamara.
"It's normal to be scolded if you don't play well in the game." As a Chinese player, Hu Lai takes scolding very lightly, because for Chinese players in the early years, it was a common occurrence.
Although the situation has improved in recent years, the society's inherent impression of Chinese football still exists.
Besides, what he said makes sense. As a professional player, it's normal for you to get scolded if you don't perform well. On the other hand, if you perform well, these people who criticize you may praise you to the sky.
So he doesn't dwell on this momentary comment, and he doesn't think it's a big deal that Kamala was scolded.
"That makes sense, but your teammates may not think so."
"Ismail?" Hu Lai thought of what he saw when he went to training today. "That kid... doesn't seem to be anything unusual. He looks like a normal person."
Yong Jun was a little surprised: "That's not possible, right? The media is criticizing him, almost overwhelmingly... Oh, he didn't read the news? Or can't he understand the English news?"
Hu Lai shook his head: "Then I don't know."
※※※
Kamala sat on the iron railing, with his feet crossed in the air. Except for the part of his body that was in contact with the railing, his whole body was only in contact with the air, but he still sat calmly on the thin railing.
The hood of the jumper was turned up over his head, covering half of his face. In the dim light of dusk, even if someone comes close to look, they may not be able to recognize that this person is Ismail Khama, who performed poorly in the last warm-up match and was replaced after half-time. pull.
He was looking at the people playing football in the stadium in front of him in a daze.
There was a football field near the accommodation that Fataki found for him, something he only found out after he returned to Leeds after finishing training.
People from nearby communities often come here to play football.
"Why did you come here?" A pair of hands stood on the railing, and Fataki leaned over and whispered. "Aren't you afraid of being recognized?"
"I'm just a nobody, what do I have to worry about?" Kamala's muffled voice came from behind the mask.
"You take off your mask before you say this, buddy."
"I am a black man, and it is reasonable to wear a black mask. Is there any problem?"
"Then you smile?"
"If you don't smile, you're in a bad mood." Kamala pouted behind her mask.
"Don't pay too much attention to those words in the media. It's just a warm-up match. Your performance in the previous two warm-up matches was okay. According to their evaluation standards, if your performance in one warm-up match can sentence you to death, you still have Two chances for resurrection..." Fataki naturally knew that Kamala was not joking with him, but was really in a bad mood, so he comforted his little brother.
Kamara did not respond, but still looked at the court.
Just then, a goal appeared on the pitch.
When he saw the goal scorer running towards the corner flag, Kamara already guessed what would happen next...
Sure enough, the goal scorer jumped up and did a julep celebration.
"HUUUUUU!!"
"Archie, how do you think Hu achieved such results today?" Kamala asked in a low voice.
"He is a shooter, he just needs to keep scoring goals," Fataki said.
"No, I'm asking how he got through this stage when he knew that the fans didn't like him? Did he not care about the opinions of those fans, or was he trying to make them regret it?"
Fataki spread his hands: "For this kind of delicate inner drama, I suggest you ask Hu himself."
"But I don't want to ask him." Kamala shook her head slightly. "When I went to training today, I looked indifferent in front of everyone. I didn't want him to know that I was just pretending. Otherwise, when I succeed in the future, I won't be able to show off in front of him. ”
"You still care about this now?"
"Why don't you care? Archie, let me tell you, your status may be good or bad, and whether you perform well or not is a temporary matter, but being cool...is a lifelong matter!"
Having said this, Kamala jumped down from the railing, patted her numb butt, and stretched: "Let's go, Archie, let's go home."
"Don't you want to watch it?"
"It's nothing to see, they played too bad." Kamara pouted, "They are far behind me."
Then he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans, shook his head and walked away.
Fataki looked back at the noisy stadium, quickly caught up with Kamala, and walked towards their apartment.
※※※
A few days after the last warm-up match, on Friday night, August 8, the 2025-2026 Premier League season officially kicked off.
The opening game is between Stan Park Rangers, last season's league champions, and Peterborough United, last season's British Championship champions.
In the end, the defending champion defeated their opponent 4:1 at home.
After three seasons, Peterborough United, which returned to the Premier League, lost the game, but still scored a goal against the defending champion away from home. It also made Peterborough United fans and the local media in Norwich, where the team is located, look forward to the team's prospects of relegation.
After finishing the league last season, two of the three promoted teams fell back to the Championship, and only Sydenham successfully avoided relegation.
Maybe this season, Peterborough United will be the lucky one?
Of course, Northumbria and Holt, the two newly promoted teams, may be thinking the same way.
The match between the Premier League champion and the English Championship champion kicks off the Premier League season. One day later, on Saturday, August 9, five Premier League games will begin one after another.
Leeds City's away game against Burley is among them.
This is Leeds City's first league game of the new season, and it is also a "first" for Hulay, who has already played in the Premier League - this is his first time playing in the Premier League from the first round.
Last season, he became a monk halfway and did not appear in the Premier League until the twenty-fourth round. In the end, he played fifteen league games and scored a total of eleven goals.
But he has not participated in a complete season of the Premier League, nor has he participated in the pre-season training of a Premier League team, so no one knows what performance he will ultimately be able to perform in a complete Premier League season.
Optimists think that Hu Lai, who joined in a hurry during the season, can perform like this. That is if he is allowed to participate in a full pre-season training session with the team and prepare for the new season with the team. Let him play all 38 games in the Premier League, and what an amazing report card he can give in the end!
Pessimists believe that the reason why Hulay was able to perform so amazingly last season has a lot to do with the fact that many Premier League teams do not know him well enough and are not familiar with him. Because I didn't know him well, I didn't know how to restrict him during the game and gave him so many scoring opportunities. And this season, it is impossible for opponents not to understand him, or even not to be wary of him. So under such circumstances, even if he is given a complete pre-season training opportunity, Hu Lai's performance in the new season will probably be worse than last season.
What everyone said seemed to make sense, and it was difficult to convince each other.
But in the end, these debates will not become "unsolved mysteries." When the season ends, Hu Lai's report card is released, and everyone will naturally know whether their judgment of Hu Lai is correct or not. (End of chapter)