Perhaps due to the air conditioning, the temperature in the home team's locker room at the Philips Stadium was a bit low. Everyone had been in the locker room for about 3 minutes, but PSV Eindhoven's head coach, Koeman, remained silent, staring at the players with a livid face.
In fact, the fact that Li Shiguang didn't have many cards to play before this match started wasn't just a rumor circulating in England; Koeman was also aware of it.
Just a few days ago, Koeman had carefully studied the video of Leeds United's loss to Portsmouth, so before the match, both the Dutch media and he himself believed that winning today's game should not require much effort.
However, Leeds United's performance in the first half greatly exceeded Koeman's expectations. He did not expect that PSV Eindhoven would be pinned down in their own half and beaten by Leeds United.
But he wasn't a novice coach. After scoring, Li Shiguang's eagerness to slow down the pace of Leeds United gave Koeman a hunch. Combined with his observations in the first half, he was certain of one thing: Leeds United's players had serious fitness problems!
"Bang, bang, bang." Koeman tapped the whiteboard behind him with his pen, signaling the players to focus their attention on him.
Seeing that everyone's attention was on him, he spoke up: "Alright, guys, forget about the previous 45 minutes. Although you guys played terribly, the game isn't over yet, we still have a chance!"
He gave the players a simple pep talk.
Koeman began sketching out his second-half tactics on the whiteboard, turning sideways. After about a minute, he put down his pen, turned to the players, and said, "In the second half, we'll abandon our central penetration strategy and focus our attacks on their right flank..."
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The second half had been going on for almost 20 minutes. At this moment, Li Shiguang was standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the situation on the field, his brows furrowed. He did not seem to feel relaxed despite the team's temporary lead.
If anyone had the time to stand next to him and observe him for a while, they would have noticed that Li Shiguang's gaze was on the right side of the field 80% of the time, or more precisely, on right-back Maicon.
Just before going on the court, Li Shiguang stopped McIntosh at the locker room door. Even though he had rested for 15 minutes, his breathing was still a little rapid. He stared intently at McIntosh and asked, "How are you, Michael? Can you still run?"
Hearing Li Shiguang's concern, Maicon excitedly shook his head: "It's not a big problem, boss. I'm in pretty good shape today. I can play for at least another half hour without any problem."
Li Shiguang was conflicted. He had just looked at Maicon's stats in the locker room. Even though he hadn't made many assists in the first half, his stamina had dropped to 27 points, which was below the 30-point threshold!
Reason told Li Shiguang that the best option now was to substitute Maicon and switch to a three-defender formation.
But he didn't expect that after he used the morale card on the team, the players' emotions would be soaring as if they had taken stimulants.
As the owner and head coach, Li Shiguang naturally has the final say in the team. However, seeing Maicon so excited and eager to play, he was afraid that if he substituted him now, it would dampen Maicon's spirits and trigger some unpleasant incident, which would be a loss for him!
However, after the start of the second half, Li Shiguang gradually realized that something was wrong. Koeman seemed to have realized something, and after the kickoff, Eindhoven abandoned their previous central penetration tactics and focused their recent attacks on the right flank guarded by Maicon.
"Manuel! He's broken through!" The shouts of the commentator at the Philips Stadium interrupted Li Shiguang's thoughts. He turned his head and saw that the PSV Eindhoven full-back had just broken past Maicon and reached the byline.
"Ah~~~~ What a pity! Kone didn't get to the ball first, and Cannavaro cleared it out of bounds." The commentator's voice was full of regret.
Looking at Maicon, who was bent over and supporting his thighs with both hands.
"No, even if Maicon has complaints, he has to be replaced."
After deciding to replace Maicon, Li Shiguang quickly turned around and walked towards the bench. He was going to tell Mills to warm up. There was no other way; he didn't have any extra players, so he had to bring on Mills at left back and let Lahm guard the right flank.
But just as he turned his gaze to Mills, a burst of cheers erupted in the Philips Stadium, and the commentator's voice reached Li Shiguang's ears.
"Goooooooool~~~~ Kone!!! Aruna Kone!!! He helped PSV Eindhoven equalize! A brilliant run, he completely shook off the defense, ladies and gentlemen, let's cheer for him! The goal was scored by Aruna~~~~~"
"Corne!!!"
Upon hearing the sound, Li Shiguang turned around and saw that, accompanied by shouts from the fans, the PSV Eindhoven players had run to the corner flag in Leeds United's half and gathered together to celebrate their goal.
"Beautiful! Coach Wang, Kone's header was absolutely brilliant! Simmons played very cleverly too, sending a half-high ball to the near post. Maicon made a mistake and was outmaneuvered by Kone's sudden burst of speed. Now both sides are back on equal footing!" Su Tao's voice carried a hint of regret; he actually hoped Leeds United could win this match.
Seeing Eindhoven pull one back, Wang Lu, standing nearby, seemed to regain the confidence he had shown in his pre-match predictions. With a slightly raised tone and a broad smile, he began to comment: "Look, this is clearly the problem I just mentioned—Leeds United's lack of stamina in the second half! They played too hard in the first half. Although Ibrahimovic was lucky enough to score a goal, it didn't widen the gap."
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