When the players of both teams took a halftime break, all kinds of small gifts and big rockets were constantly displayed in MaxxRT's live broadcast room.
MaxxRT excitedly shouted at the phone screen: "Wow! You guys are so awesome! I was just following the game and just saw that there are so many rewards! Thank you guys! I know these rewards are not for me, but for Gu Ran! So, after the game is over, I will cash out these rewards and pass them on to Gu Ran for you!"
After these words were spoken, more gifts were given as rewards in the live broadcast room.
MaxxRT said: "Gu Ran's performance in the first half was brilliant, wasn't it? But this is not all of Gu Ran's strength! I believe that the second half will be even more intense, because the Bucks Steelhorns are very good at exerting their strength in the second half - Bucks Steelhorns will win! Gu Ran will win! The top scorer of the British High School National Competition must be our Chinese Gu Ran!"
"Okay, guys! I'm going to stop streaming now. It's not because of the data traffic, but because my phone is so hot and I can't lift my hands anymore."
"I'm going to take a break from my phone, we'll see you in 15 minutes!"
After saying that, MaxxRT turned off the live broadcast, not worrying about losing popularity at all.
At this time, in the front row of the main stand——
The chairman of the English Football Association, Bernstein, grinned and said, "Congratulations, old Rice, you have discovered another talented player!"
Although only half the game has been played, and although the Milwaukee Bucks are still one point behind, Gu Ran's brilliance can no longer be concealed.
Old Rice laughed happily and said, "Haha! Thank you, David!"
Bernstein laughed again and said, "Sometimes I really envy you. You always meet such good talents. But unfortunately, this guy is Chinese, so it must be difficult to get a work permit."
Old Rice naturally understood Bernstein's hidden meaning.
Why is it so difficult to get a labor permit? Isn't it just a matter of a word from the five giants? To put it bluntly, it's just a tug of war between the five giants.
To be honest, which player who can apply for a work permit is not a good player? A club only has one quota per year, so why can't it be approved?
As long as the benefits are in place, the labor certification is just a formality.
When Bernstein said this, he definitely didn't mean that the process for obtaining a work permit was difficult. What he really meant was that for a genius like Gu Ran, if your Southampton club wants to get him, how could you easily get a work permit for him without paying some decent benefits?
Old Rice smiled and said, "David, our Southampton club has been in such a miserable situation in the past three years. We were relegated from the Premier League to League One, and we lost a lot of fans. Our home stadium has never been full in the past few years. The highest attendance was only 68%! We really need players like Gu Ran who are young, fresh, capable, and passionate to support us. We are old friends, you will definitely not make things difficult for me, right?"
"Of course! Of course!" Bernstein grinned and said, "We are best old friends. Among the old guys in the English Football Association, I am the only one who can talk to you, because you are a smart person. How could I make things difficult for you? What's more, as the chairman of the English Football Association, I also hope that talented players can play in the British league. This is also good for British football. But..."
Now it’s time to put forward the conditions.
Old Rice quickly said, "David, I know your starting point is all for the good of British football. If you have any questions, just tell me directly."
What Old Rice meant was, I know what you mean, and I am ready for you to make conditions.
Bernstein smiled and said, "It's nothing, actually. I just think from a personal perspective that a guy like Gu Ran is capable of joining a Premier League club, don't you think?"
Old Rice's heart sank.
How could this be called praising Gu Ran? This was clearly about picking the fruits!
I asked you to make the conditions, but you just wanted to steal the house! Bernstein was the former chairman of Manchester City! He resigned as the chairman of Manchester City because he wanted to become the chairman of the English Football Association!
Although the old man did not say it directly, his meaning was very clear, that is, he wanted to bring Gu Ran to Manchester City!
Old Rice laughed and said, "Premier League? No, no, no, Gu Ran is still far away. He is not even from a professional youth training camp, and the way he plays football is obviously unconventional. He can't go to the Premier League now."
If I poach Gu Ran now, wouldn't my labor permit be in vain?
Bernstein laughed and said, "Of course not now. It is necessary for him to gain experience in Southampton. But I think that a year or six months of experience should be enough, right?"
Old Rice still shook his head, "Gu Ran still has shortcomings. I think it will take at least two years to improve."
Bernstein laughed and said, "Old Rice, you are too conservative. Two years is too long. Genius needs a bigger stage. You can't bury genius."
Old Rice sighed, "…but one year is too short."
Bernstein smiled and said, "Don't worry, I believe in Gu Ran's ability."
On the surface, the two were discussing whether Gu Ran was good enough to play in the Premier League, but in fact they were arguing with each other over the issue of Gu Ran's future transfer.
Bernstein's underlying meaning was: If you want me to apply for a work permit, then you, an old fox, have to promise me to reject the transfer contracts offered to Gu Ran by other clubs, and only accept the transfer contract offered to Gu Ran by Manchester City after one year, otherwise don't blame me for vetoing it.
The underlying meaning of Old Rice is: Fuck you, you old bastard! You want to get my talented star for free just by getting a work permit? Dream on!
Although both of them had smiles on their faces, they had their own thoughts in their hearts.
Old Rice smacked his lips and said helplessly, "Ah... David, you are right. Genius needs a bigger stage. I accept your opinion - then let's just do it for one year."
Bernstein smiled with satisfaction, "I've said it before, old Les, you're a smart man."
The two looked at each other and laughed.
During the conversation between these two old foxes, neither of them said a word about poaching Gu Ran to Manchester City or giving Gu Ran the green light for a work permit, but they both understood what the other meant.
Bernstein will cast his vote in favor at the labor certification hearing, and one year later, old Rice will have the club reject other offers and only accept the transfer offer made by Manchester City to Gu Ran.
Of course, this kind of thing is just a verbal agreement. To be precise, it is not even "verbal". It is a potential exchange of interests and will never be implemented in a specific written contract.
Old Rice agreed first.
As for one year later...haha, it remains to be seen whether Bernstein can keep his position as chairman of the FA.
The important thing is to get Gu Ran's work permit first! At worst, he can retire again in a year, and you guys in Manchester City can find whoever you want.
Now, the five elders of the English Football Association who have the veto power have basically settled it!
Once you have prepared your specific complaint materials, you can proceed to your labor certification hearing next week!
Old Rice's mouth curled up into a barely perceptible smile...
At this moment, in the locker room of the Bucks Steelhorns——
“Gu, I suggest you don’t play in the second half.”
Southampton's exclusive team doctor, Maf, said to Gu Ran in front of everyone in the locker room: "You were fouled 11 times in the first half, 7 of which may have caused you to be injured! Especially your hips and calves - we must take you to the hospital for a comprehensive physical examination!"
The faces of all the players present tightened, and head coach Carter also subconsciously pursed his lips.
Gu Ran tried too hard in the first half. In this amateur match, he really had enough reasons not to play.
But if Gu Ran really gives up the game...the Bucks Steelhorns will be finished.
Gu Ran is the "hope of the whole village"! Gu Ran said calmly: "Mai Fu, I'm fine, I can continue the game."
Mave said anxiously: "Gu, you have to be responsible for your own career future! You have to be responsible for our Southampton Football Club! As your exclusive team doctor, I strongly urge you to stop this meaningless game immediately!"
Pointless? Pointless?!
Gu Ran's anger suddenly came out, and his tone became tougher than ever before:
"First of all, I am not an official player of Southampton Club yet! My professional contract has not been activated yet! So at least now I have no obligation to be responsible to Southampton Club!"
"Secondly, this game may seem meaningless to you, but it is definitely not meaningless to me, to the Bucks Steelhorns, and to Southampton High School! I will not be scared to fight back just because my opponent fouls me maliciously! I will not abandon my teammates who are fighting for honor and youth because I am afraid of getting hurt!"
"Third, this is not just an emotional issue, but also a professionalism issue for players! I think Southampton doesn't want a sophisticated egoist with no professionalism, right?"
"good!"
"Gu! Well said!"
"Gu! You are our lifelong good brother!"
"Gu! We want to join you in defeating the missionary team!"
The other players of the Bucks Steel Horns were excited!
Head coach Carter also nodded heavily at Gu Ran, "Gu, I was not wrong about you, I never was wrong about you!"
"But, but..." Mai Fu kept saying "but" for a long time, but in the end he couldn't say a complete sentence.
Gregory next to him tried to smooth things over. "Gu, Mave and I are doing this for your own good. After all, if a genius like you gets seriously injured, your future will be ruined! Your future belongs to Southampton High School and Southampton Football Club, but ultimately it's your own. You really have to be careful!"
Gu Ran softened his tone, "I know you are doing this for my own good, but please believe me, I know my body very well, and I promise you, if I really feel unwell, I will immediately raise my hand and leave for treatment."
Faced with Gu Ran's tough attitude, Maverick and Gregory could only nod and agree.
"sure."
With 71 points of Constitution and Tin Man +3, Gu Ran had no pressure at all.
Mave quickly checked it and couldn't help but gasp.
The places where Gu Ran might have been injured that were recorded in his notebook were just a little redness, swelling and bruising at most, nothing serious.
Mave was speechless.
Gregory immediately began to give Gu Ran physical therapy to help him eliminate the accumulation of body acid.
While the players were resting, Coach Carter began to analyze and arrange the tactics for the second half: "Boys, you played very hard in the first half, which is good, but it is not enough. You need to try even harder in the second half."
"I've said before that victory is not a flower on the hillside that can be picked by bending down. If you want to beat the Missionaries, you must fight twice as hard in the second half as you did in the first half."
"We are only one point behind, which is a good situation for us. As long as we don't make mistakes in the second half, we have a great chance to equalize and even overtake."
"The problem we are facing now is that our physical advantage is not an advantage in front of the Missionaries."
"I observed the performance of the Missionaries during the fatigue window in the first half. Their physical fitness is not only not worse than ours, but may even be stronger than ours."
"That is to say, in the second half, we wanted to rely on the old method and use our physical advantage to wear down the opponent, but this tactic was difficult to work."
"If we want to win, there is only one way for us, that is, to reduce our own mistakes while breaking their passing and control coordination."
Coach Carter drew a tactical diagram on the tactical board and explained:
"The core of the Missionary team's passing and control is this one - McEachran."
"If you want to break their passing and control, you need to put a lot of pressure on McEachern. Before McEachern gets the ball, you need to put continuous high pressure on him to limit his passing and try to get in as much as possible to block other players from passing the ball to McEachern."
"Only if we sideline McEachran will we have a chance."
"We did well in the last 10 minutes of the first half. We need to continue this strategy in the 45 minutes of the second half and injury time, and be more specific and targeted in our play."
"I'll talk about the specific tactics later. Let me first talk about the key points that we need to pay attention to in this temporary tactic."
"Our high pressure on McEachran must ensure the integrity of our formation without leaving any gaps. Otherwise, with McEachran's personal ability, we can easily be penetrated by him."
The players of the Bucks Steelhorns nodded silently.
McEachern's personal ability in the first half is still vivid in our minds. If it weren't for Gu Ran turning the tide, the Bucks Steel Horns would have been defeated N times.
Coach Carter looked around with a sharp gaze and said in a deep voice, "So, this temporary strategy of mine is a very risky way to deal with it. It's time for us to fight them head-on and fight to the death."
"Next, I will make specific arrangements for the new tasks."
"First of all, our formation in the second half changed from 442 to 352, and the two forwards became midfielders."
As soon as this was said, there was an uproar in the locker room! The 352 formation was practiced by the Bucks Steelhorns before, but not many times! This change of formation also completely broke through Coach Carter's previous "conservative" style! At this time, everyone understood that if they continued to be conservative, they would really have no chance!
The 442 formation is a 4-defender formation. The 4-defenders are relatively flexible, especially the two full-backs who can both advance to assist and retreat to their own penalty area when defending.
The biggest difference between the 352 formation and the 442 formation is that the 352 formation is a three-center-back formation.
The 352 formation seems to have one less defender than the 442 formation, but in fact, it has one more central defender.
In addition, the two wingbacks in the 352 formation can also retreat back and serve as wide defenders.
The 442 formation has two central defenders, and the 352 formation has three central defenders.
Central defenders usually do not participate in organizing attacks and can focus on defense most of the time. They will not be easily penetrated by the forward runs of full-backs.
The 352 formation has 5 players on the midfield line, which can restrain the missionaries' 433 formation in terms of numbers.
Especially since the Missionaries have two left and right wingers, the 352 formation can rely on the left and right wingbacks to intercept and defend in advance.
For McEachran on the central axis, high-pressure pressing can also be better carried out based on the number of people.
When switching from offense to defense, the cooperation between the midfielders and defenders in the 352 formation can also ensure that the players in the frontcourt who cannot steal the ball have enough backup space after making a mistake, and quickly form an arc chain or triangular area defense with a relatively higher tolerance rate.
In addition, in terms of offense, when the midfield core of the 352 formation gets the ball, he will be protected and supported by at least 4 of his own players, which is more conducive to stabilizing the control of the midfield and the rhythm of the game.
Coach Carter reduced the two forwards to midfielders, which added another layer of insurance. There are at least six players in the frontcourt to protect the core.
Of course, such a formation tests the personal abilities of the "core player".
All hopes and all pressure will fall on this core member.
Especially when there is no striker, the central axis core is equivalent to the striker behind. He needs to have the top characteristics of a B2B striker: repeated extension and retraction - he can organize and connect in the midfield, launch attacks and intercept defenses, rush to the opponent's penalty area, retreat to his own penalty area, rush to the opponent's penalty area, and retreat to his own penalty area...
The core of this central axis must be Gu Ran!
Rather than saying that this is a last-ditch risky formation, it is better to say that it is a formation that Coach Carter tailored for Gu Ran!
This formation can better bring out Gu Ran's role than using the 442 formation and placing Gu Ran on the wing!
Coach Carter was definitely not acting on impulse this time. It was obvious that he had been designing this secret tactic for a long time! Coach Carter said in a deep voice, "Minato, you don't need to do anything in the second half. Don't worry about attacking. Your task is to stick to McEachran and harass him with your tricks and trash talk. If necessary, you can even get a yellow card to stop him."
Minato immediately grinned and said, "Isn't this what I'm best at? Coach! Leave it to me!"
Coach Carter rolled his eyes at Minato and said, "Do you think you can defend McEachran by yourself? That's not enough! Sissy, Glider, your primary task in the frontcourt is to help defend McEachran and cut off the connection between the other missionary players and McEachran. If necessary, you must retreat to defend within our own 30-meter area."
In the first half, only the sissy retreated, while the glider was still in the front. In the second half, Coach Carter directly let both of them retreat together.
Sissy and Glider didn't hesitate for a moment and responded in unison, "Yes, Coach!"
Coach Carter's control over the locker room is absolutely strong.
Coach Carter added, "Blind man, your new position is right wingback. Your task in the second half is to defend Olin and then support the attack if there is a chance."
"Yes! Coach!"
"Mianbao, I don't need you to help defend McEachran in the second half. Your task is to move to the right side and help the blind man defend Olin who is on the ground. At the same time, you have to help Gu Ran clear the fouls against him and protect Gu Ran. Be Gu Ran's sweeper. Your task is heavy and requires a large range of running and confrontation. You must be highly focused!"
"Yes, coach!" Bread nodded heavily.
"Ximei, you play as the left wingback, and Luo, you go back to the right side of the penalty area and play as a center back. Your two tasks are not to attack, but to defend, defend and defend again!"
"yes!"
"Finally..." Coach Carter took a deep breath, "Gu Ran, your new position is in the middle of the midfield. You will play as the core!"
Wow! Excited applause broke out in the locker room!
Gu Ran is their confidence! Gu Ran had already guessed Coach Carter's arrangement, and then nodded calmly, "Yes! Coach!"
Coach Carter said earnestly: "Gu, your task is more important than anyone else. I need you to play with the threat of two people. I need you to confront McEachran head-on and suppress his ability with your ability. I need you to break through McEachran's defense and equalize and overtake the score for the Bucks Steelhorns! I need you to keep running and tearing the opponent to make him consume more energy. I need you to stretch from the penalty area to cover the entire penalty area to terrify the opponent. I need you to defeat the arrogant Missionaries and win the first national championship trophy for Southampton!"
Coach Carter put his arms around Gu Ran's neck and asked eagerly, "Gu, tell me, can you do it?"
Gu Ran's blood immediately boiled, "Coach! I can do it!"
"Okay!" Coach Carter clenched his fists and led the roar: "Buck Steel Horn! Fight to the end!"
“Roar, roar, roar!”
"Steel Horns of the Stag! Fight to the bitter end!"
The 15-minute halftime break is over! The players of the Bucks Steelhorns and the Missionaries walked out of their respective locker rooms at the same time and headed towards the player tunnel.
The blue ribbon on the national championship trophy is fluttering in the wind, as if welcoming its new owner.
Gu Ran's heart was filled with endless passion!
The last half of the amateur football career is about to begin!
…
(End of this chapter)