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

After the defeat, the team finally won the championship.

Chapter 368: Honor in defeat, post-match review

Although it was not the first time they lost.

However, this time they did not lose the league or the Europa League, which happens every year.

It was the European Cup, which happens every four years!

If they were eliminated, they would have to wait another four years to play on such a stage again.

Moreover, with the European Cup final just ahead, they were dragged into a penalty shootout by their opponents and eventually lost the game despite having the upper hand.

This process and the result made Ling Feng feel mixed emotions.

Regret? Unwilling? Disappointed?

All of them.

The key is that he had tried his best in this game.

However, football is a team sport.

The reason for losing the game cannot be summarized in just a few simple words.

The reason for losing this game can be said to be that the teammates were crazy about spitting the ball and did not seize the many excellent opportunities created by Ling Feng;

It can be said that the team’s defense was not stable enough to limit Ronaldo’s double goal;

It can also be said that the coach Hodgson’s tactics were very conservative. Why didn’t he play the more aggressive 442 and send Kane and Vardy to the field;

It can also be said that Portugal’s bus was too ugly and the counterattack was too reliable;

It can also be said that Rooney missed the key penalty and ruined the team’s efforts throughout the game.

But losing is losing.

No matter how many excuses and reasons there are, it will not affect the outcome of the loser.

However, how to look at failure is more important!

Someone once said that it is not that people always like to impose repressive plots in football stories, but that every teenager needs to climb over one mountain after another before stepping onto the stage that he has longed for countless times in his dreams!

This head-on confrontation with Portugal and Ronaldo was one of the highest peaks Ling Feng had to climb.

It was just that he failed in his first attempt.

Success is only accidental, and failure is the norm in life!

Looking at Ronaldo and his teammates in the distance, Ling Feng’s eyes slowly glowed with a more determined light.

Besides, isn’t this what he has always dreamed of? !

You know, many people don’t even have the opportunity to challenge Ronaldo head-on.

And he not only stood in front of Ronaldo, but was just a little bit away from defeating him!

Honor in defeat!

Besides, if Ronaldo could be defeated so easily, he would not be the last Golden Ball winner in the Premier League, the best scorer in Real Madrid’s history, and the peerless duo of football.

You know, this Portuguese is the player with the most desire to win in football!

No one else!

Although he lost this time.

But next time, he firmly believes that he will climb the mountain called “Cristiano Ronaldo” with a stronger attitude!

. . .

When the Portuguese players thanked the victory, the English players could only come to the pure white stands with heavy hearts to express their gratitude to the fans.

After completing the last interaction with the fans in this European Cup, everyone returned to the player channel and the locker room.

Except Rooney.

As the captain, he took the initiative to accept the responsibility of interviews after the game.

In front of the media, Rooney also took responsibility for the elimination:

“The boys played very well, especially Ling Feng, who has become the most trustworthy player in the team. The team cannot go further, and as the captain and the person who missed the penalty, I have to take responsibility for this.”

“Although we are disappointed with the result of the game, we are also pleased with the process and performance of the team. As the youngest team in this European Cup, we played our own football and style,”

“I firmly believe that the team has a bright future!”

When saying this, Rooney’s face was full of loneliness, which was also a bit distressing.

If you have watched the game, you can see that Rooney’s influence on the game has seriously declined when he is on the court.

He didn’t know whether he would still be in the team’s future plans after this European Cup.

In the post-match press conference, Hodgson also praised the team’s performance and relieved Rooney’s pressure from public opinion:

“Even a great striker like Roberto Baggio would miss a penalty.”

“Wayne is our captain and our leader. Without him, the team would not be here now.”

“It’s my fault that the team was eliminated. The team has done a great job.

”

As a veteran coach who has traveled around the world, Hodgson knows the morals of the British media too well.

In the 1998 World Cup, Beckham’s red card made him a sinner in England.

The media’s criticism almost ruined this outstanding young man who would become the captain in the future.

If at that time, without the careful protection of Ferguson and the team, and the support of the coach and teammates, Beckham might have been silent.

Perhaps there would not be the Red Devils Manchester United’s treble a year later, and there would not be the free kick against Greece in 2001 that lifted England into the World Cup.

Therefore, in order to protect Rooney and this young team, Hodgson took the initiative to take responsibility.

Of course, as the team coach, Hodgson was also criticized by the British media. Many questions:

For example, why not use Kane, why not change the formation to 442, and let Ling Feng play as the right winger from the beginning, etc.

In response, the experienced Hodgson also answered one by one.

After spending the post-match time in silence, the Three Lions players took a shower and changed their clothes, then quietly walked out of the lighted stadium and got on the team bus.

On the way back to the hotel, the car was quiet.

Wearing headphones, sitting quietly in the window seat, Ling Feng looked at the scenery outside the window and the Portuguese fans celebrating on the street from time to time, and couldn’t help but look back on his first European Cup trip.

In fact, from the beginning, he really didn’t think that this England team could make it to the semi-finals.

To put it bluntly, this England team relies entirely on itself in offense and all defense Relying on numbers.

Without me, England’s offense would not be able to suppress the opponent at all.

And the defense, which was not very reliable, would be under greater pressure, resulting in more goals.

Indeed.

As Ling Feng’s strength and reputation grew, he had changed from a small butterfly at the beginning to a big butterfly that could affect the Three Lions’ tactical system and the outcome of the game!

It was precisely because of Ling Feng’s appearance that Hodgson did not do anything weird like letting Kane take a corner kick, nor did he fall to Iceland in the quarter-finals.

Instead, he defeated Northern Ireland and overwhelmed the golden generation of Belgium. After 20 years, he reached the semi-finals of the European Cup again, tying the best record in recent decades!

Although he eventually fell to Portugal led by Ronaldo, he stopped Top four.

However, with such a lineup, such a result is beyond expectations.

If Ling Feng hadn’t carried the whole process and used all his strength, England would never have been able to go so far!

But after all, he is just one person.

And football is a sport for eleven people, sometimes even fourteen people.

Of course, it is hard to accept losing to Portugal, the old enemy, in a penalty shootout again.

Whether it is the players, the fans, or the media who are never afraid of trouble.

It is foreseeable that tomorrow’s British football will be very lively.

And the captain Rooney, who was the only one who missed a penalty, will inevitably become the target of media bombardment.

Just like Beckham, who also missed a penalty 12 years ago and became a national sinner

. . .

Dragging his tired body back to the hotel, the chairman of the English Football Association, Dyke, came to greet him with a group of staff.

It seems that the person in charge of the English Football Association is very happy and greeted him with a smile.

In fact, he is really happy.

Talking about winning the championship is just empty talk in front of the public and the media.

Although they were eliminated by Portugal again, they still didn’t break the penalty curse.

But the performance of reaching the semi-finals and even almost reaching the finals has met the expectations of the English Football Association.

After all, there are too many young players in this young Three Lions team.

And most of them are participating in the European Cup for the first time, and they lack experience in major competitions.

Two years later, when Ling Feng, Kane, Sterling, Dale, Ali and other talented young people grow up, I can’t imagine how strong this new Three Lions team will be!

Therefore, the English Football Association is also quite satisfied with Hodgson’s coaching results.

After a sumptuous dinner together, the English Football Association Chairman Dyke and the head coach Hodgson also took the stage to give speeches.

It was nothing more than those clichés of recognition and encouragement.

Finally, the English players returned to their respective rooms and began to digest this cup journey.

When they returned to the room, it was already nine o’clock in the evening.

After the game, Ling Feng received many text messages from friends, as well as calls from his parents and girlfriend.

However, just when he was about to talk to Vardy and review the game, Mourinho called him personally!

“Hello, Ling?”

“Jose?”

“It’s me.”

Ling Feng thought Mourinho called to comfort his wounded heart and promote Manchester United.

As a result, Uncle Bird called not to comfort him, but to review the game with him!

First of all, Mourinho expressed his respect for Hodgson’s coaching level.

Then, he changed the subject and pointed out that Hodgson’s use of Ling Feng was wrong:

“If I were the head coach of England, I would establish you as the absolute tactical core of the team both on and off the court.”

“No matter how old the other players are or how high their status in the locker room is, on the court, you are the only core!”

“Everyone else must play around you!”

As one of the most successful head coaches in today’s football world, Mourinho’s recognition made Ling Feng flattered.

In fact, in the match against Portugal, among the starting players in the frontcourt, except for Vardy who volunteered to pull space and run for Ling Feng, Rooney and Sterling actually had a bit of a sense of vying for credit.

Sterling is better, Ling Feng’s tactical position and reputation in the team are higher than his.

At most, he failed to break through, so he quickly passed the ball back to Ling Feng, allowing him to organize the attack and also run and pull.

The key lies in Rooney!

As the captain and right winger, Rooney, who should have pulled space for Ling Feng, became the terminator with the most shots among the frontcourt players in this game!

Although Rooney’s shooting skills are second only to Vardy among the four frontcourt players.

However, the more he wants to prove himself in this game, the more unstable his mentality becomes.

In addition, when he saw Ronaldo score, he became more anxious and wanted to fight back with a goal.

You know, Rooney must be on the list of players in the world who are most reluctant to lose to Ronaldo.

However, his persistence has dragged down the team’s offensive rhythm.

If Rooney had been replaced earlier, and Lingard, who is more willing to intersperse and pull, would have increased the vitality of the frontcourt attack.

Then, both Ling Feng and Vardy can get more space and opportunities to attack the goal directly!

However, Hodgson replaced Sterling with Sturridge, who is more independent and needs the ball more.

In short, a big independent player replaced a small independent player.

In this way, the offensive tacit understanding and cooperation in the frontcourt became more single-handed.

They could only rely on Ling Feng and Sturridge to blast from both sides to create opportunities.

This is also the reason why Vardy had almost no chance to touch the ball at that time.

In addition, because of Danny Rose’s accidental injury, Hodgson was forced to use the last substitution quota.

Otherwise, replacing Vardy with Kane, and then retreating to play some cooperation with Ling Feng, can still create some opportunities.

In short, Britain finally produced Ling Feng, a serious organizing midfielder core after so many years, but Hodgson did not let others play completely around him.

Moreover, Ling Feng had to do the work of three roles on the field: front midfielder, winger, and forward.

Not only must he take the ball to organize the dispatch, but he must also see through the gaps in the opponent’s defense and send threatening balls;

He must also take the ball and blast on the wing, and he must also cruise around to support his teammates, and even attack the goal to complete the supplementary shot.

If his endurance had not reached 91, he would not have been able to last until overtime or even the penalty shootout!

After bluntly analyzing the reasons and details of England’s defeat, Mourinho also analyzed where Portugal won.

Although Portugal’s paper strength is not as good as England’s, their tactics are pragmatic, that is, they focus on defensive counterattacks and let Ronaldo complete the final blow.

Others either defend and intercept, or pass to Ronaldo.

The core idea of ​​the tactics is to grab the ball in the backcourt and let Ronaldo handle it!

Then others either open up space for Ronaldo or feed him the ball.

Sometimes, simple tactics are often the most effective!

Finally, Mourinho did not forget to give Ling Feng some advice:

“Ling, you are still too selfless!”

“If you want to lead the team to victory and compete for the Golden Ball, you must be more selfish in front of the goal!”

“Also, I noticed that your left foot has not improved much compared to last season.”

“You know, the ability of the reverse foot is an important factor that restricts you from becoming more unrestricted. Look at Cristiano, he can shoot high-quality shots with both feet.”

“I suggest you learn from him and practice your left foot every day”

After talking with Ling Feng for more than an hour, Mourinho hung up the phone with a sense of unfulfilled desire.

However, until the end, Mourinho did not show any intention of letting Ling Feng join Manchester United

Meaning.

For Ling Feng, Mourinho’s move touched him deeply.

However, what he didn’t expect was that just after Mourinho left, another unexpected call came in:

“Buenas noches (Good evening), this is Perez”

(End of this chapter)