"Of course it won't have an impact, ma'am! Although some players have left, new players have also joined us. Besides, I'm still the head coach of Leeds United. With the addition of new players, our tactics will become more and more varied, and Leeds United's overall strength will only get stronger. How could it decline?"

Li Shiguang's answer continued his usual confident and arrogant style. Most reporters also liked to hear such answers that contrasted sharply with public opinion, so that they would have more to write about.

After answering a few more questions from reporters, Li Shiguang saw that it was almost time and left the venue to go to the locker room to prepare for the match.

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As Li Shiguang walked onto the pitch, Eddie Gray was introducing Leeds United's starting lineup.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Elland Road welcomes you once again!"

"Now, let's take a look at Leeds United's starting lineup today."

"This is quite different from the last match. Today, Li has fielded a 4-4-2 formation, with Falcao and Berbatov up front, and Ribery, Milner, Modric, and Xabi Alonso, who just joined Leeds United, in midfield! Let's give a big round of applause and cheers to this new friend who has just joined the Leeds United family!"

Even though many fans still felt that trading Deisler, and even paying extra for a defensive midfielder, was a bad move by Li Shiguang, thanks to Eddie Gray's influence, everyone still gave Alonso the most basic respect, and a round of applause and cheers was given to Alonso standing on the field.

"Let's continue. In defense, we have Lahm and Maicon, two unshakeable starters. But in center-back, Li has fielded the young Pique and Kompany combination today. In goal, we still have the most reliable Schmeichel!"

····

"It's in! Berbatov's shot! Oh~~~~~~ What a pity, Yussi is in good form today, he's already made two good saves!"

"But, friends, our head coach seems to have made another great deal! Both of Berbatov's shots just now came from precise through balls from Alonso in midfield! This is so unexpected, how come I never realized he was this good when he was at Liverpool!?"

Almost 10 minutes into the game, Leeds United were dominating possession, allowing the fans around them to watch the game with a relaxed attitude. Eddie Gray's witty commentary had just elicited laughter from the entire stadium, and after the laughter subsided, everyone spontaneously gave Alonso another round of enthusiastic applause!

Standing on this green field, who wouldn't want to be the center of attention?

In less than 10 minutes, Alonso received two rounds of applause, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He found himself gradually starting to like the place.

It wasn't just because of the fans' applause, but also because of the special attention Li Shiguang gave him, which was different from what Benitez had given him!

Alonso arrived in the Premier League the summer before last, but his first year at Liverpool wasn't exactly smooth sailing. Not long after arriving, he injured his ankle in a match against Chelsea and didn't return until the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. His invaluable equalizer in the Champions League final made him a Liverpool hero and earned him his first Champions League title.

When he was at Liverpool, Alonso knew that Benitez valued him highly and that as long as he was physically fit, he would always be a regular starter, but that was all.

Just as Morse and Benitez said before, on the football field, Liverpool will always have only one core player, and that person is Steven Gerrard!

In his partnership with Gerrard, Alonso's less assertive personality and more "blue-collar" playing style compared to Gerrard meant that he contributed more on the defensive end, and he didn't have many opportunities to run to the edge of the penalty area and shoot.

I thought I would take on this role after joining Leeds United, but after training yesterday, the coach, who looked even more handsome than me, pulled Modric and me to the sidelines and clearly explained his tactical arrangements. He told me to play a "dual pivot" with Modric and that I could move up to participate in the attack whenever I had the chance. He also told me that I would have unlimited rights to shoot as long as I felt that the ball could threaten the opponent!

Alonso's activity at the start of the game made Bolton's manager Sam Allardyce feel uneasy, as he vaguely felt that he had overlooked something.

Allardyce and Li Shiguang had faced off a few months prior, and given the current season, it's generally accepted that Leeds United's attacks originate from Modric. Therefore, before this match, Allardyce specifically instructed his midfielders to tightly mark Modric and prevent him from easily passing the ball out. Allardyce believed that with Deisler gone from Leeds United, completely neutralizing Modric would throw Leeds United's attack into chaos!

But in those few minutes, the situation on the field was a bit confusing to him. Modric was indeed frozen in midfield; almost every time he got the ball, two or three Bolton players would rush to tackle him. But after being dispossessed twice, Modric stopped holding the ball. As soon as the ball reached his feet, if he saw a Bolton player closing in to tackle him, he would immediately pass it to Alonso, who would then comfortably deliver a precise through ball or a lobbed pass, unmarked! If it weren't for Jussi's good form, the Bulgarian would probably have already scored twice in that short time...

"No! This can't go on. The Spaniards' style of play today seems a bit different from when they were in Liverpool. We need to find a way to counter them!" Allardyce thought to himself as he walked towards the sidelines, ready to rearrange the team's defensive strategy.

On the field, it was Leeds United's turn to attack.

Just like before, Alonso received a pass from Modric. There were no defenders in front of him, so he quickly dribbled the ball towards the opponent's half. Just past midfield, Bolton's defensive midfielder George came up to meet him, trying to block his passing route.

Seeing someone rushing up to defend, Alonso calmly looked up and glanced to his left, subtly shifting his weight as if he wanted to pass the ball to the left. Seeing this, George, who was rushing up to defend, also shifted his weight slightly.

As a result, when Alonso saw that George had shifted his weight to the left, he instantly pulled back his outstretched right foot, and then quickly flicked the ball to the right with his left foot, thus passing George on the right side!

"A beautiful feint! He's past his opponent!"

Eddie Gray exclaimed!