In the following days, the topic of Li Shiguang's signing of Rivaldo and Camoranesi never stopped. The signing of the two players also changed people's inherent perception of Li Shiguang's signing style. After all, in the nearly two years since he took over Leeds United, this was the first time that Li Shiguang had signed players over 30 years old.

Camoranesi is alright. Those who know football are well aware of Leeds United's relatively weak personnel in the two wing positions, and he is also in his prime, so everyone is quite supportive of this deal.

But with Rivaldo, the public opinion shifted. Even Norman Hunt, a longtime Leeds United and Lee's era supporter, questioned the move in his column: "When Lee first took over Leeds United, many questioned his transfer strategy. Most people thought he was just trying to get cheap deals by buying young players or players rejected by other teams. To be honest, I was one of those people. But the Howard transfer shocked me, and later, the outstanding performances of Adebayor, Sneijder, and others at Leeds United completely convinced me of Lee's eye for talent. But today I still have to say, I really don't understand why Lee would spend millions of euros to buy an older player who's already struggling in the Greek league. Although he was once one of the best players in the world, times have changed, and I don't think he still has the ability to play in a top league..."

Li Shiguang was certainly aware of the doubts raised by the outside world.

But as head coach, Li Shiguang only believes in the data and everything he sees.

On Wednesday morning, Rivaldo and Camoranesi completed their medical examinations, and in the afternoon, the reports were delivered to Li Shiguang. Li Shiguang pretended to look at these reports, which were already readily available on the system, and then put them aside.

Compared to these things, he values ​​more what the players can deliver on the field.

After observing him for a few days, Camoranesi was quite conventional. His playing style was very pragmatic, not much different from what Li Shiguang remembered.

But Rivaldo was somewhat unexpected by Li Shiguang.

Undeniably, age has significantly impacted Rivaldo's performance, but this impact is primarily physical, affecting his stamina, speed, and physical strength. In other aspects, such as the timing and accuracy of his passes, as well as his vision, he is not much worse than Deisler in his prime.

In Li Shiguang's memory, Rivaldo was a player who needed possession of the ball, or to put it bluntly, a bit "selfish." Li Shiguang had even seen in the news that his relationship with Van Gaal had soured because he didn't listen to instructions and refused to follow Van Gaal's tactical arrangements. However, in the past few days of training, Li Shiguang found that his playing style was completely different from the Rivaldo he remembered.

Li Shiguang emphasized the efficiency of counter-attacks during the match. He was initially worried that Rivaldo's ball-hogging and dribbling style would clash with the team's style. However, after observing him in training for a few days, he noticed that Rivaldo rarely sought out defenders for one-on-one duels anymore. After gaining possession, he almost always passed the ball with one touch, creating space through cooperation with his teammates. Li Shiguang also appreciated that even if Rivaldo held the ball for a while, he would look for opportunities to pass it after attracting the defense, rather than forcing himself to show off his skills and seek breakthroughs.

On one occasion, he received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, attracting the attention of both Silva and Garcia. However, despite being entangled by the two, he managed to pass the ball across the box and even broke through the defense.

This scene amazed Li Shiguang, who was watching from the sidelines. In that instant, Li Shiguang imagined Rivaldo, Modric, and Alonso all on the field at the same time, making those rough-around-the-edges defensive midfielders and defenders in the Premier League run around in circles.

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Saturday is fast approaching, and Leeds United will host West Bromwich Albion in this round of matches.

Only a few months have passed since the two teams last met, but West Bromwich Albion has changed drastically. After being thrashed 6-0 at home, Blackwell has been sacked and replaced by Bryan Robson. Another familiar face to Li Shiguang, Howard, was put up for sale by the club before the winter transfer window opened, but because he has not found a new club, he has been relegated to the reserve team by Robson to keep training.

Since Robson took over West Bromwich Albion, the team's performance has improved slightly. After the last round of matches, they are ranked fourth from the bottom in the league on goal difference, barely escaping the relegation zone.

Facing a resurgent Leeds United, Robson didn't believe West Bromwich Albion could easily escape with a point away from home. With the mindset that a draw would be a victory, West Bromwich Albion adopted a defensive posture from the start. Except for one striker, everyone else stayed in their own half. Even when they gained possession, they simply launched long balls towards Leeds United's half, barely bothering to pass the ball on the ground. But surprisingly, this pure defensive strategy gave Li Shiguang a headache. Li Shiguang fielded a three-striker formation: Berbatov, Falcao, and Dzeko, all in good form. However, Leeds United bombarded West Bromwich Albion's goal for almost half an hour without scoring a single goal. West Bromwich Albion's passive style of play drew boos from the home fans.

The deadlock lasted until the 35th minute when Leeds United broke it with a direct free kick.

Toure delivered a beautiful diagonal pass from the right flank, finding the ball behind all the West Brom defenders. Meanwhile, on the left side of the field, Falcao burst through the crowd at lightning speed to receive the pass and sprinted towards the penalty area.

Seeing that he couldn't catch up, West Brom's starting center-back Davies, in a moment of rashness, unleashed a scissor tackle on Falcao.

Upon seeing this kick, Li Shiguang immediately roared and ran towards the fourth official on the scene. Milner, who was not far from them, also rushed up and grabbed Davis by the collar, questioning him why he had made such a dangerous move.

After a brief commotion, Davis was shown a straight red card by the referee.

For Leeds United, Falcao, unable to continue, was replaced by Vardy, and Milner, who rushed up to support his teammate, also received a yellow card...

Fortunately, Modric then scored a beautiful free kick to give Leeds United the lead, which made Li Shiguang, who was seething with anger, feel a little better...