King’s Landing in Nottingham

Chapter Thirty One

In the first round of the League Cup, Notts County's upset victory over Bolton has undoubtedly appeared on the BBC Premier League channel.

If there are five major embarrassments in this era, Bolton coach's three consecutive emoji packs at the press conference are definitely selected as a top 5 winner.

Although England’s Cup matches have always had an upset tradition, the English Premier League team lost to the 6 main players in the rotation. It is uncertain whether there is a latecomer, but it is definitely unprecedented.

Notts County used an extraordinary performance this time to show up in front of all England fans and greatly boosted their morale.

In the whole game, Notts County has scored 13 times and Bolton has scored 19 times. The difference between the two sides in this data is not big; but in terms of time of possession, Notts County in the English Second League has reached the time of possession. 58%, while only 42% of the Premier League team Bolton, which also broke the glasses of many Premier League experts, who is the real low-level team...

In the draw ceremony of the second round of the League Cup, Wei Xun resented Zhao Tai's bad luck and had to get rid of bad luck personally. As a result, after learning about Notts County's new opponent, Guardiola and Zhao Tai wanted to hang Wei Xun up and beat him fiercely with a leather whip soaked in water!

Notts County’s opponent in the second round of the League Cup turned out to be another Premier League team-Aston Villa, currently ranked eighth in the Premier League, won the League Cup in 1996 and is also a team. A strong team that needs Notts County to go shopping to be able to advance.

After this draw, Wei Xun has been blacklisted by the Notts County Management Department according to the instructions of Notts County Manager Zhao Tai. In the future draw ceremony of this kind of cup competition, Mr. Chairman must not be allowed to go alone. , The face is too dark.

Zhao Tai even wondered whether it was because Wei Xun had a "fiction" with the FA. This is because the FA was deliberately stinging the Notts County club! When the things on hand are finished, Zhao Tai is going to personally go to the FA activities to see if he can reverse the situation of poor signing.

With the active connection of the Notts County players themselves, the staff of the "Notts County Phase I" is gradually expanding, and for Chiellini, the individual centre-back special training is also proceeding step by step.

In order to help these extra-trained players recover faster, Wei Xun waved his hand and upgraded the "Notts County Phase 1" to the official training program of the Notts County Club. For this purpose, two physical therapists and masseurs were set up. name. "They are still children, and they are still in the critical stage of growing their bodies." Wei Xun specifically asked Zhao Tai to ask the restaurant to arrange staff on duty to prepare supper for the additional players and the staff who ensured their training.

On August 25, 2001, in the third round of the English Second Division of the 2001-02 season, Notts County ushered in a challenge from Blackpool at the home stadium of Meadow Lane.

The Blackpool team, nicknamed "The Seaside Man", is often referred to as "Black Water" in China because of translation problems. The team won the FA Cup in 1953 and is currently ranked 9th in the League Two. The first two rounds have a win and a tie with 4 points. Although there is still some distance from the promotion zone, it is also better than Notts County. The two-digit ranking is much better.

Guardiola’s starting lineup in this game is different from the previous two rounds: goalkeeper No. 1 Reina, central defender No. 5 Mertesacker, 6 Barzagli, left back No. 16 Lahm, right back 2. No. Aveiroa; single defensive midfielder No. 8 Thiago Mota, two central midfielders No. 14 Guardiola partner No. 22 Harvey Alonso, single forward veteran No. 9 Hubner.

Notts County, where all the main players are playing, needs 3 points from this game to make strides towards the promotion zone.

Blackpool has not chanted an upgrade slogan this season, but it is still a long time before the last game of the season. If they can upgrade the League, the Blackpool executives are also happy to see it happen.

Both sides are all the main players, a needle-point vs. Maimang match started on time at 16:00 local time.

As one of the clubs that have been infringed by "soccer hooligans", Blackpool can get very limited away tickets in all competitions in England. Only more than 100 expedition fans came to Meadow Lane Stadium and were in Nottingham Police Surrounded by layers, cheering and cheering actions, as well as flying flags, have all been restricted.

The uniformly distributed cheering uniforms and cheering sticks set off the home atmosphere of Meadow Lane Stadium very well. The momentum created by the Notts County fans in the audience made the Notts County players on the stadium feel extremely excited and proud.

After checking the net and confirming the preparation of both goalkeepers, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game.

Both teams are working hard to get three points, and Notts County also changed the first few games to test the routine and directly launched a fierce attack on Blackpool's penalty area.

In the fifth minute of the game, the coach and captain Guardiola received a long pass from Barzagli in midfield and rushed in with the ball, looking for the best passing route all the way.

After a few short passes, the ball returned to Guardiola's feet again. Due to the containment of Xavi Alonso and Sneijder, the unmarked Guardiola shot his foot and the ball went straight to the bottom left corner of the goal. , For Notts County to take the lead, the score was 1-0, Notts County took the lead.

Perhaps the goal came too suddenly and too quickly. In the next game, both sides offered a killer move. The Blackpool coach took down a central defender in the 12th minute and replaced it with a forward. The tactical play was restored to the traditional long pass and slamming, the bottom pass shot three axes quickly, and the goal of Notts County was a violent bombardment.

Not to be outdone here in Notts County, Sneijder, Hubner, and Motta are constantly trying to shoot inside and outside the penalty area. If it is necessary to select the best player in the first half of the game, the goalkeepers of the two teams must be selected at the same time, because they are too busy.

At the beginning of the second half, Blackpool won another midfielder, and the formation changed from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3. The pressure on Notts County in the penalty area became more and more intense.

If the opponent's attack in the first half was still mild and drizzle, then the penalty area in Notts County can be said to be lightning and thunder before the storm. What Blackpool lacks is just a goal.

In the fifty-second minute, Barzali was directly shown a red card by the referee for a bad foul. Notts County, who played one less, faced a bigger problem: the original two full-backs were not tall and had to hold Black. The continuous bombing of the three big guys in the penalty area was already a little tired of dealing with it. Now the main central defender Barzagli has been sent off with a red card, which caught Guardiola somewhat off guard.

Guardiola started to speed up the offense frantically, hoping to score the goal that sealed the victory as soon as possible, but Blackpool's offense was more efficient than Notts County.

In the 65th minute of the game, Blackpool's young forward Antoine received a 45-degree cross from his teammate in the penalty area and scored a close-range volley, which equalized the score for the team.

Guardiola immediately made adjustments. He replaced himself who was exhausted and replaced him with No. 3 Chiellini who was ready to warm up. The team's formation has also become 4-3-1, and the four guards have the defensive line. Without moving, Harvey Alonso retreated and hit the midfielder to strengthen the protection of the arc of the penalty area. Sneijder continued to play the front midfielder. Hubner was ready to fight back at any time.

Wei Xun looked at Guardiola sitting motionless on the coach’s bench with a heavy heart. He seemed to be thinking about ways to help the team get rid of the current predicament: one less player, the opponent’s tactics are so simple and rude, how to make The team keeps going? This is indeed a problem!

In the 72nd minute, Guardiola replaced Xavi Alonso and replaced George Grant, trying to strengthen the midfield defense, wanting to keep this point first.

Then in the 77th minute, Guardiola took Sneijder and replaced Frank Ribery. This is not a matchup substitution. Ribery was arranged by Guardiola as a free agent in the frontcourt. , I hope to open some gaps through his speed and breakthrough, and create space for Hubner to score goals.

It’s a pity that the good times didn’t last long. Just eight minutes later, Guardiola encountered a new problem: in the 82nd minute, Blackpool forward Brown grabbed Notts County’s open space at the top of the penalty area and grabbed it in Notts County. Defender Mertesacker kicked the shot before blocking, and the ball quickly rushed into the bottom corner of the goal. Blackpool took the lead in the away game.

2-1, more than 100 "Blackwater" fans who came to the away field burst into a long-lost cheer. They were suppressed by the Notts County fans for a whole game, and finally released.

The familiar song sounded in the Meiduo Lane Stadium again. It was still the popular song, but it was slightly different from the previous one: Wei Xun asked Zhao Tai to find someone to splice the climax part and make a partial adaptation. At this moment, Wei Hoon couldn’t sit down anymore. He pulled Guardiola and called for the players and coaches on the bench to get up and walk out of the coach’s bench. They stood in the coach’s command area and sang along to the rhythm of the song: “We love victory. We love Mei Duo..."

The encouragement of the Notts County fans and the bench owners, coaches and teammates seems to have really infected every player on the Notts County field.

Although they beat one player less, their momentum is not weak at all. There is no difference between losing one and losing two or three. Notts County has begun their iconic offense again: fast passing and transfer, straight forward transportation, Accurate shots quickly suppressed Blackpool, who played one more man, near their penalty area. Ram and Aveiroa also frequently stepped forward to assist, which allowed Notts County to form a few more shots in the local area. less.

In the stoppage time period, the veteran Hubner made an oppressive grab in the penalty area and forced the opposing full-back to make a mistake. The slow-moving ball became the possession of the veteran who had been silent for a whole game. Hubner grabbed the ball near the penalty spot and chose to shoot without any hesitation. The goalkeeper didn't save in time, allowing Hubner's shot to equalize the score for Notts County before the end.

It’s not too late to make up for it. Wei Xun really understands what it means to have an old family as a treasure. Sasha in the previous game, Hubner and Guardiola in this game, these veterans It's really worth it.

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