midfield god

Chapter 128
After finishing the task assigned to him by Coach Craig, Yunfei returned to the rhythm of the team's training and competition.

However, in the first game after returning, Southampton suffered a painful blow. On December 12, Southampton went to an away game against Watford. As a result, the first half was not over yet, and Southampton's two central defenders both left the field due to injuries. This sudden change undoubtedly severely hit Southampton's morale.

At the end of the first half, the dazzling [-]-[-] on the scoreboard deeply hurt the away players and fans, and the two conceded goals were more or less directly related to the hastily replaced central defender.

In the second half, the situation on the field did not improve much. Southampton's defense frequently caught fire, and Watford played in a mess. This may be the most embarrassing game played by Southampton this season.

Seeing that the team's condition seemed to be gradually improving, Southampton finally seized an opportunity.Yunfei launched a counterattack in the backcourt, and the precise long pass directly found Bell who was galloping in the frontcourt. After the latter quickly got in, he made a quick low pass and helped Jones score a goal, tying the score to [-]-[-].

But Watford is now the fourth-ranked team in the league after all. Such a team is destined not to easily reveal more flaws. After seeing the team lose the ball because of too much pressure.Watford head coach Boothroyd decisively instructed the team to start retreating and started to play more steadily. This completely cut off Southampton's hope of continuing to score goals.
This defeat suddenly narrowed the point gap between Watford and the top three, because Sheffield United, ranked third in this round, also lost to Norwich with a score of one to three.

Except for the extremely stable Reading who once again defeated Wolves by two goals and continued to maintain their lead over No.210 points in the league standings, the points of the following teams starting from No.2 Southampton are very close, especially after this round of competition, the poor point advantage of Southampton and Sheffield United has completely disappeared.

Somewhat similar to Southampton, in the last few rounds, Sheffield United also lost two games, and there were several draws. In short, both teams are very dangerous now. If one is not careful, he may be overtaken by the team behind him.

And the most coincidental thing is that Southampton's opponent in the next round is Sheffield United!
……

The recent fierce competition for the standings in the English Championship has also attracted many media reports. From now on, it is obvious that Reading is in a situation where the teams behind can hardly pose any threat to them.

At present, it seems that Southampton, Sheffield United and Watford are in a more favorable position. Behind the three teams, Leeds United and Crystal Palace are also closely following with a gap of about 6 points. The points gap between the teams behind and the top six teams is very large. It can even be said that the top six this season may be these teams. The only suspense is who will rise to second and who will fall.

"If Southampton and Watford played before, I would think that Southampton must have a greater hope of winning the second place in the league, but this disastrous defeat not only caused the team to lose a crucial three-pointer, did not take advantage of the opponent's loss. Opening the gap, it also caused the team's two main central defenders to be injured. This makes me start to put a question mark on Southampton's future."

"This season, everyone who pays attention to Southampton understands that the team's defense is not solid. Their sharp attack and counterattack are the biggest reasons why they are in their current position. The emergence of several teenagers has greatly helped this team that has hardly invested in the summer. But I think the biggest test for Southampton has just come. With the team's defense not stable at all, the team lost two main central defenders. It is really hard to imagine how Southampton will perform under such a schedule for these opponents who have fought hard in the middle of the league. The top six may be the best result!"

As soon as the famous football commentator Jason Tester’s column on Southampton’s future analysis came out, it immediately aroused a lot of discussion, and even the bookmaker raised the odds on whether Southampton could win the second place in the league. It can also be seen that the outside world holds a very pessimistic attitude towards Southampton’s future.

At this time in Southampton's head coach's office, Redknapp was carefully looking at Tester's column in the Times in his hand.

He agrees with Tester’s opinion in the column. The defeat against Watford made Southampton lose the best chance to expand their points advantage. If they lose to Sheffield United in the next game, then if Watford wins this round, Southampton may directly fall to third in the league, and directly feel the strong threat of Watford behind them!

"It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice! The back line, the back line!"

Redknapp was clutching his head tiredly. The team didn't have enough manpower in the defense. Now that the two central defenders are injured, there is no player who can make Redknapp feel at ease among the remaining players. Kent, who made consecutive mistakes before, has become the most reliable of these players. What an ironic reality!
(End of this chapter)