Chapter 8

Chapter 8

On March 10, in the English U18 League, Chelsea U18 challenged Birmingham City U18 away.

Although the English U18 League is not as popular as the Premier League, under normal circumstances the number of viewers for each game is not small. However, they do not come to watch the game for a certain player, but to support the team in their own region. This is their tradition.

They never miss any of the home team's games, they also love to watch the youth team's games, and they have lower expectations for the performance of the youth team players. For example, Chelsea fans have always expected the home team to win the league and Champions League titles, but their expectation for the youth team is only to win a few more games... Well, the main reason is that Chelsea fans don’t really care about the results of the youth team, because they are now busy worrying about the home team.

The Blues fans were undoubtedly happy after Abramovich took over the team. Although they did not win much honor in the first four seasons, this young lineup built at a huge cost was already a spark. Abramovich, who was eager to win the championship, invited Mourinho. After the Portuguese head coach came to Chelsea, two of the most promising newcomers in Europe, Cech and Robben, joined Chelsea, and Drogba and Matega also joined the team one after another①.

The first thing Mourinho did after taking office was to hand the captain's armband to John Terry, and the second thing was to win, win, win!

The Blues sounded the clarion call for battle from the moment they defeated Manchester United, becoming Premier League champions for two consecutive years. Mourinho became famous in the Premier League and the British media often compared him with Ferguson. But compared with the historic breakthrough in the league, the Blues' achievements in the Champions League are not so impressive.

Last season, Chelsea defended the Premier League title ahead of schedule, but was eliminated by Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the European arena, and was eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League.

In the new season, which is now the 06-07 season, too many injuries in the team caused Chelsea's league performance to fluctuate. Goalkeepers Cech and Cudicini were injured one after another, and Chelsea could only send the third goalkeeper Hilario to face the goal. The injuries of key players such as Cech, Cole, and Claude made the team's record shaky in the wind. Mourinho realized the team's defensive crisis and asked the club to introduce defenders during the winter transfer window, but Abramovich refused. ①

On March 4, Chelsea lost 0-2 to Portsmouth at Phaidon Park.

On March 8, Mourinho used a 4-1-3-2 tactical formation to defeat Porto with difficulty and successfully advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.

On March 10, only a small number of Chelsea fans followed the Chelsea U18 team to Birmingham City to watch the match between the two youth teams.

Most of the Chelsea fans were busy arguing and they broke into several sections. Some fans are arguing with fans of other teams who are looking for chaos, while some fans are on Abramovich's side, thinking that since they have spent a high price to buy back Shevchenko and Ballack, these two players are not bad. Will Mourinho lose a hair if he uses them in the game?

Another group of fans think that Mourinho is right. It is okay that Abramovich handed over the management rights of Chelsea's youth training to Arnesen, but he also interfered in last summer's transfer and introduced Shevchenko and Ballack, two players who could not integrate into the team's tactical system, despite the head coach's opposition. Don't blame Mourinho for keeping these two people on the bench.

Mourinho has always been a tough person. Last year, he publicly stated in front of the media that if Abramovich forced him to use a certain player, he would leave. Abramovich could only bow his head and say that he would not interfere in the team's affairs, and said that if the coach did not want to sign a certain player, he would not force him, and he could not do that. ①

After the matter was over, Abramovich couldn't help but say in an interview in December that the two were not actually friends, but they had a good relationship, and generally speaking I respected him very much, and not just because of his achievements in coaching. ①

Mourinho didn't say anything, and Abramovich really didn't treat him as a friend. He publicly pressured Mourinho to let Shevchenko play as a starter. Then Mourinho publicly criticized Abramovich for not appearing in the team's locker room after the game for a long time. At that time, the media even began to spread some outrageous remarks that the two had fought. Rumors of Mourinho's dismissal were everywhere. In the winter transfer window in January this year, the two quarreled again over transfer issues. ①

However, after this quarrel, it was Mourinho who bowed his head first. After defeating Nottingham Forest 3-0 on January 28, Mourinho publicly stated that he would fulfill his contract and coach until 2010. He denied the media's report that he and Roman, that is, Abramovich, had a disagreement, and said that Roman was not in London now. When he returned to London, he and the team would welcome Roman to come to us and to the team's locker room. ①

But until now, Abramovich has not responded to Mourinho's words. The Chelsea chairman, who often likes to go to the scene in person to cheer for Chelsea, has not appeared in London for several months.

There was a quarrel between the team chairman and the head coach, and the fans were divided into several groups, refusing to give in to each other and even blaming each other. However, the Chelsea fans who were watching the English U18 League at the scene immediately focused on the game as soon as it started.

Birmingham City U18 lined up in a 4-5-1 formation in this match, while Chelsea U18 lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.

Birmingham City kick off

In the 12th minute of the game, Chelsea U18's midfielder stole the ball from the opponent's midfielder and passed it to Coker in front of the penalty area. Coker made a curved shot outside the penalty area and scored successfully.

Chelsea U18 is currently leading by one point.

In the 27th minute, Birmingham City players seized the opportunity to break through from the left and passed the ball. Striker Pritt Hall took the ball and shot, and the ball went straight into the upper right corner of the goal.

Zhou Liran jumped up and caught the football in his arms in mid-air.

Pritt Hall gritted his teeth in dissatisfaction, and made up his mind to kick the ball higher and with more force next time he scored.

In the 39th minute, Chelsea midfielder passed the ball to the frontcourt, and striker Leopold scored with a lob shot.

Chelsea U18s lead by two points.

With less than five minutes left in the first half, Birmingham City U18 striker Pritt Hall made a very threatening long shot. The Birmingham fans clenched their fists and prepared to cheer for their striker, but Zhou Liran jumped and caught the ball before and after the goal.

At the end of the first half, Chelsea U18 returned to the locker room with two goals.

Ten minutes after the half-time break, Birmingham City U18 replaced two midfielders and added a new striker, Maren Bell, and directly set up a 4-4-2 formation to snatch points from Chelsea U18.

Five minutes into the second half, Birmingham City U18 striker Maren Bell received a through ball and rushed towards the Chelsea U18 penalty area. He stopped in front of the penalty area, made a fake shot and then passed the ball to Pritt Hall in the middle. After stopping the ball, the latter rolled the ball directly, making the football fly towards the goal at high speed.

Zhou Liran was shaken by the action of forward Maren Bell. Although he reacted quickly, he was still a few seconds late. If Zhou Liran was still the same Zhou Liran as before, he would definitely not be able to save the ball, but now Zhou Liran flew directly towards the football. The football hit his face with a bang, and Zhou Liran pressed it on the grass with his hand.

Excited cheers from Chelsea fans were heard at the scene. Amid the cheers, Pritt Hall frowned and looked at Zhou Liran, who was hit in the face by the football and stood up as if nothing had happened: What happened? Haven't seen you for a few months? Is the opposing goalkeeper better than last year?

In the 15th minute of the second half, Coker scored another goal, unlocking his brace and Chelsea U18 took a three-point lead.

In the 20th minute of the second half, Pritt Hall rotated at a small angle in the penalty area and shot the ball into the near corner. The ball went straight to Zhou Liran's thigh. Just as the ball was about to hit Zhou Liran's leg and roll into the net, Zhou Liran suddenly bent down, and the ball hit Zhou Liran's chin, and then Zhou Liran reached out and caught it in his arms.

Looking at Zhou Liran, whose face still had no expression, Pritt Hall was confused for a moment: How come this guy didn't react at all after being hit by the ball twice in a row?

In the 35th minute of the second half, Malen Bell made a straight pass, but Zhou Liran kicked the ball out of the penalty area.

In the 43rd minute of the second half, a Birmingham City U18 player from the left passed the ball to the front of the goal. Pritt Hall received the ball and shot it directly into the upper right corner of the goal.

The ball flew very high, almost parallel to the basket. Pritt Hall looked at Zhou Liran who jumped up and felt that he was doing useless work. At this height, at this angle, if you can catch the ball I will, I will... fxxk! Can anyone catch this? !

Zhou Liran fell to the grass holding the football with lingering fear. He threw the football out again and after the kick-off, he looked up and found that the opposing forward was still standing there with a distorted expression.

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