Full-Level Pass, Please Call Me The Boss Of The Three Lions

As the saying goes, “I’m a very good person, but I’m not going to do anything good.”

Chapter 360 Enemies always meet, when will the penalty curse be lifted?

Ling Feng just smiled at Mendes’ words, and then asked:

“Jorge, are you already impatient for me to join Manchester United?”

Hearing this, Mendes on the other end of the phone also laughed directly:

“Haha, actually Jose just called me today and asked me to persuade you again.”

“Of course, I firmly believe that if you and Jose join forces, you will definitely lead Manchester United to dominate the Premier League again! And you two are my most important customers, so I will naturally be very excited!”

“You know, personally participating in this great plan to revive the Red Devils is not a precious opportunity that everyone can get.”

Mendes’ words are as tempting as ever.

Ling Feng, who has worked with Mendes for more than two years, has long been immune to these rhetoric.

However, since he has already planned to join Manchester United and let the other party sign Kante first, Ling Feng has recently paid close attention to Manchester United’s news.

Since Mourinho officially took office at the end of May, he has started to recruit players in the summer window.

And his first transfer deal after taking over the Red Devils was to buy 22-year-old Ivorian central defender Eric Bailly from La Liga’s “yellow submarine” Villarreal!

Ling Feng had played against this old man in this season’s Europa League.

And as a hardcore fan, he knows a lot about Bailly.

Bailly can be said to be emerging in La Liga now, with outstanding physical fitness and excellent ability to grab.

Just partnered with Smalling in Manchester United to form a complementary relationship.

And now he has signed super center forward Ibrahimovic for free to strengthen the team’s front line.

Of course, these two operations were expected by Ling Feng.

From these two operations, it can be seen that Mourinho has his own clear and definite team building ideas.

Of course, as one of the most famous and outstanding coaches in world football, the “madman”‘s team building ability is definitely one of the best in the world today.

The team-building process of several teams he coached can also be traced.

Starting from Porto, he brought the team’s youth training and a group of unknown players to the top of Europe.

Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, Maniche, Costinha, also grew up to be famous stars under Mourinho, and were favored by the giants.

Then came the “first phase” era of Chelsea.

Mourinho, who was strongly supported by Abramovich, brought “Warcraft” Drogba from France and recruited his old subordinates Carvalho and Ferreira in Porto.

These players brought him two Premier League titles and allowed Chelsea to break the Premier League monopoly of Manchester United and Arsenal!

After coming to Inter Milan on the Apennine Peninsula, Mourinho introduced Ghanaian beast Montari, Lucio, Eto’o, Milito and others.

With a group of frustrated veterans, he defeated the universe Barcelona and returned to the top of Europe!

Then to Real Madrid and Chelsea.

After careful analysis, it is not difficult to find that in Mourinho’s tactical system, the central defender, defensive midfielder and center forward are the three most critical positions and the central axis that a team relies on.

In Porto, it was Carvalho, Deco (Costinha), and Delle;

In the first phase of Chelsea, it was Terry, Lampard (Makelele), and Drogba;

In Inter Milan, it was Samuel (Lucio), Cambiasso, Eto’o (Milito)

In Real Madrid, it was Ramos, Xabi Alonso, and C Ronaldo;

In the second phase of Chelsea, it was Terry, Matic, and Costa

Of course, it does not mean that the players in these three positions determine the height of the team. It can only be said that the players in these three key positions can guarantee the lower limit of the team’s performance.

In addition to this central axis, Mourinho will also introduce some organizing midfielders depending on whether the team lacks creativity.

For example, Sneijder of Inter Milan, Erdogan of Real Madrid, and Fabregas of Chelsea II

Some media also summarized Mourinho’s tactical system. In short, it is iron-blooded defense plus efficient counterattack!

Therefore, in his lineup, there must be an iron-blooded defense line, a meat grinder-type sweeping midfielder, a strong wing attacker and a top-level powerful center forward.

After entering the Red Devils Manchester United, he also recruited players according to this set of team building ideas and priorities.

Therefore, Bailly (defensive backbone) came to the team first, followed by Idrissa Moura.

Ibrahimovic (powerful center forward)

Add Kante (sweeping defensive midfielder) who is currently in negotiation, and it’s basically complete!

Of course, when recruiting players, he also has to consider the team’s current lineup and shortcomings.

Manchester United’s defense did not have too many problems last season, and there was no need to overthrow and rebuild.

But the team’s offense is really painful to watch.

Before Ibrahimovic joined, the team already had wing attackers such as Martial and Rashford.

I don’t know if they are strong, but they are definitely enough.

With wing attackers and a strong center forward, then next, he needs an organizing midfielder who can connect the frontcourt offense and create opportunities!

Therefore, Mourinho has long taken a fancy to Ling Feng of Leicester City and identified him as the team’s first choice to improve the offense!

It can be said that Ling Feng is the first on Mourinho’s list of signings for Manchester United!

Since the two met at Mendes’ wedding, Mourinho would send text messages to congratulate Ling Feng when he won the championship and won individual awards this season.

After defeating Belgium and advancing to the semi-finals of the European Cup, Mourinho also sent him a text message.

However, perhaps out of respect for Ling Feng’s conditions, or perhaps in order not to disturb Ling Feng’s preparations for the European Cup, since he took over Manchester United, he has not taken the initiative to call Ling Feng and invite him to join.

He just let Mendes act as a middleman to persuade Ling Feng to join Manchester United from time to time

. . .

On July 4, all four games of the quarter-finals came to an end.

Portugal defeated Poland on penalties, England defeated Belgium, Germany eliminated Italy on penalties, and France swept Wales

In the end, the four teams that entered the 2016 French European Cup were the “Three Lions” England, the “Five Shields” Portugal, the “Germanic Chariot” Germany, and the “Gallic Rooster” France!

The semi-final matchup list was also released:

England VS Portugal!

Germany VS France!

England vs Portugal!

Germany vs France!

The word “revenge” has become the most used word by the British media.

After all, there are too many grievances between England and Portugal.

In the 2004 European Cup in Portugal, the Three Lions, which had a golden generation, fell to Portugal in the quarter-finals and unfortunately stopped in the quarter-finals.

In that game, the two sides fought to a penalty shootout, and the captain of the Three Lions, Beckham, missed a penalty and became a sinner.

Two years later, in the World Cup, England and Portugal met again in the quarter-finals.

The two sides fought to a penalty shootout again, and then England was trapped in the penalty curse and was eliminated by Portugal again!

It is worth mentioning that this classic duel also gave birth to the famous football scene of Manchester United’s twin stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney turning against each other!

It can be said that Portugal is definitely England’s victim!

When it comes to penalty shootouts, we have to talk about the penalty curse that has been entangled with England for 20 years.

All this can be traced back to the 1996 European Cup in England.

In that European Cup held in England, England, with stars such as Alan Shearer, Gascoigne, Adams, and McManaman, made great strides. First, in the quarter-finals, they eliminated Spain through a penalty shootout.

But in the semi-finals against Germany, the two sides entered a brutal penalty shootout again.

And this time, the English lost regretfully.

It is worth mentioning that the “culprit” who missed the penalty at that time was the current England U21 coach Southgate!

For many old English fans, the scene of Gascoigne throwing a water bottle in anger is still fresh in their memory.

Since then, England has basically lost every time it enters a penalty shootout in a national competition.

In the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals, England lost to Argentina on penalties;

In the 2004 European Cup quarter-finals, England lost to Portugal on penalties;

In the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, England lost to Portugal on penalties again;

In the 2012 European Cup quarter-finals, England lost to Italy on penalties

In the penalty shootouts of several international tournaments in the past two decades, England has participated in six of them and only won one!

For the English, penalties are their lingering nightmare and many bitter memories.

Fortunately, in this new Three Lions team, except for Rooney, Milner and Joe Hart, they have basically not experienced the defeats in the previous penalty shootouts.

So, from a certain perspective, this is good news.

The new generation of lions, led by Ling Feng, can meet new challenges with a new look.

This time, Portugal will face Portugal again in the semi-finals of the European Cup.

The British media inevitably began to hype up this fateful battle.

They firmly believe that this Three Lions team, which has many players participating in the European Cup for the first time, has the courage and ambition to win like a lion, and can sweep Portugal, which has many veterans in the team, with a storm of youth!

What’s more, they also have the best player in this European Cup!

That is the core of the team wearing the number seven – Ling Feng!

So far, Ling Feng has played five times for England, not only scoring four goals, but also surpassing Bale, Ronaldo, Kane, Griezmann and other stars who scored three goals, and topped the scorer list.

And with six assists, he is far ahead of the assist list!

This is also the first time that a player ranks first in both the scorer list and the assist list in the European Cup!

They believe that with Ling Feng’s amazing performance, the Three Lions will definitely be able to defeat Portugal, which has an aging lineup!

. . .

For Ling Feng, the 2006 World Cup in Germany, which was held in high regard by the English, was the opportunity for him to fall in love with Beckham.

Whether it was the pure white and handsome jerseys of the Three Lions, or Beckham’s passing and temperament on the field, they all made him a fan of the captain of the Three Lions.

So, when Beckham used his golden right foot to shoot the penalty kick, the young Ling Feng sitting in front of the TV could not help but feel sad.

However, Ling Feng did not feel much about Portugal, England’s old rival.

However, Portugal is definitely not an easy opponent to play against.

Although from the perspective of paper strength, Portugal is the weakest among the other three opponents.

However, Portugal has one of the strongest players in today’s football, the best player in Portuguese history and a three-time Golden Globe winner, Cristiano Ronaldo!

What made Ling Feng feel excited was that this was his first confrontation with one of the two greatest players, Cristiano Ronaldo!

Although it was only at the national team level.

However, after two and a half years of debut, he finally stood on the stage of the European Cup and competed with Cristiano Ronaldo, who stood at the top of the football world.

This is of great significance to Ling Feng!

However, Ling Feng does not care about the so-called “old enemy” and “penalty curse”, which does not mean that the English do not care.

Considering that Portugal had fought with its opponents until overtime in two consecutive knockout matches, and the relatively cautious tactics of both sides in the competition, it is very likely that a penalty shootout will be required to determine the winner.

After a tactical meeting, the England coaching team headed by Hodgson unanimously agreed that penalty shootouts must be practiced!

It’s okay to lose to the opponent in regular time or overtime.

But they must not fall in a penalty shootout again!

So, in addition to resuming training, the Three Lions began to practice penalties.

For Ling Feng, the penalty attribute just obtained from Balotelli came in handy.

At the Burgundy Stadium outside Chantilly, Ling Feng showed his terrifying penalty kick skills to the coaching staff and teammates for the first time.

Standing on the penalty spot, looking at Joe Hart chewing gum on the goal line, Ling Feng felt very fresh.

This was the first time in his career that he practiced penalty kicks.

In the club, whether it was the Pearson era or the Ranieri era, the team had never practiced penalty kicks.

Even before the most critical Europa League final in the team’s history, Ranieri did not lead the team to practice penalty kicks.

In this regard, Ranieri gave an answer at the tactical meeting.

The reason why he did not practice penalty kicks was that he hoped the team would have an indomitable determination to strive to solve the opponent in regular time.

It is precisely this kind of teaching that has made the Foxes invincible in the cup this season, and never dragged the game into overtime or even a penalty shootout!

Although he has never practiced penalty kicks.

However, in the FA Cup final two years ago, he once participated in a penalty shootout and took the responsibility of the last penalty.

What’s more, Ling Feng now has the penalty attributes and experience of “penalty expert” Balotelli, so he can do it with ease.

Swish!

Ling Feng accurately shot the ball into the lower right corner of the goal.

Joe Hart misjudged the direction and rushed to the left.

At this time, no one would think that it was a big deal for Ling Feng to shoot the ball in.

However, the second, third, and fourth kicks followed.

When Ling Feng scored five consecutive penalties, both the coach on the sidelines and the teammates who were queuing up showed shocked expressions:

“Fuck!”

“So accurate?!”

“When did you secretly practice penalty kicks?!”

Facing Vardy’s curiosity, Ling Feng rolled his eyes and suddenly said mysteriously:

“Someone taught me.”

“Who?”

“Mario Balotelli!”

Hearing this,

Vardy was stunned, and then asked: “Huh? You actually know him?!”

However, Ling Feng’s answer was once again beyond his expectations.

“No.”

Vardy, who was already confused, was even more confused.

“Then how did he teach you to shoot penalty kicks?”

Ling Feng smiled slightly and answered half-truthfully: “I learned it by myself by watching his videos!”

(End of this chapter)