Gu Ran quickly and politely shook hands with Henry and high-fived him. "Mr. Henry, it is really my honor to be able to compete with you. To be honest, you are my idol, and I have always been working hard to emulate you."

These words were said so passionately that Henry felt a little embarrassed.

Henry said quickly: "Gu, you are really too humble. I have heard that besides your love of sleeping with female stars, your greatest characteristic is humility. When I saw you today, it is indeed true."

Gu Ran: ...

Henry the Great, are you praising me or insulting me?

What do you mean, besides my love for sleeping with female stars, my greatest characteristic is modesty? Does this mean that my love for sleeping with female stars is my greatest characteristic?

Damn it, I just want to play football! Can't I have some football characteristics? For example, that defensive overhead kick I just did, isn't it worth praising Henry?

Gu Ran complained in his heart and cleared his throat, "Mr. Henry, you are world-class, you are the King of Highbury of Arsenal. Although we, Southampton, defeated your Arsenal today, it was not me who defeated you, but time. If you could be five years younger, it would be a pipe dream for us, Southampton, to defeat Arsenal today."

Henry couldn't help but take a deep breath, "Gu, you said it very well. For world-class players like us, the two biggest enemies in our careers are injuries and time. We will all grow old, and the football world will always have a new generation replacing the old. And I am the old one, and you are the new one. Gu, through today's game with you, I truly felt this. I am old, and I can retire after playing for a while. I believe that the future of football will be yours."

Gu Ran quickly said, "Mr. Henry, thank you for your compliment. This is really a great honor for me."

Henry smiled and patted Gu Ran on the shoulder. "Don't call me Mr., just call me Henry. I think we should be able to become very good friends."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Of course!"

Henry took the opportunity to point at Gu Ran's No. 8 jersey and asked, "Change it?"

"Of course!" Gu Ran took off his clothes first as a sign of respect.

Henry also quickly took off his No. 12 jersey and exchanged it with Gu Ran.

In the early days, Henry wore the No. 14 jersey, but Henry's favorite jersey was not No. 14, but No. 12.

Because number 12 is the number of his idol Van Basten.

Therefore, when returning to Arsenal this time, Henry also deliberately chose the No. 12 jersey.

This No. 12 jersey was also the first jersey Henry wore in his first game after returning to Arsenal, so it has great commemorative significance.

After exchanging jerseys, the two hugged each other again, said some encouraging words to each other, and then went their separate ways.

Henry put Gu Ran's jersey on his shoulders and returned to the locker room with his teammates.

Gu Ran, led by captain Davis, and his teammates walked around the field to thank the Southampton fans who came from afar.

After the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, Southampton's main players had two days off.

On January 14, the Championship League match day began, with Southampton challenging Watford away.

As they were too tired from the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, most of Southampton's main players took a rest to recover in this game.

In the end, the home team Watford won 1-0 against the Southampton team, which had almost all substitutes.

After winning the game, the Watford coach had a sad look on his face, as if a relative had died.

However, Southampton's defeat still does not affect Southampton's poor ranking in the Championship League.

On January 18, the Championship match day, Southampton faced the Championship powerhouse Birmingham at home.

In the first half, the score was 0:1, with Birmingham leading by one goal.

After Gu Ran came on in the second half, Southampton was like a different team, coming from a 1-0 deficit to a 4:1 lead.

This score remained until the end of the game.

If the current situation continues, as long as Southampton can get another 9 points, that is, 3 wins, then Southampton can advance to the Premier League next season as the first place in the Championship.

Of course, this also means that Gu Ran will most likely leave the small club Southampton after the end of the season and transfer to a big club to pursue the dream of winning the Champions League.

On January 21st, the Championship match day, Southampton played against Queens Park Rangers at home.

In this game, Coach Adkins still fielded half of the main players, allowing the team to get sufficient rest.

Led by Gu Ran, Southampton beat Queens Park Rangers 2:0 at the start.

At the end of the first half, Salah scored another goal, changing the score to 3:0.

However, immediately afterwards, when Chamberlain was dribbling the ball, he was violently fouled by a Queens Park Rangers player and was tackled and flew into the air.

After Chamberlain stood up, he pushed down the player who had tackled him.

The two sides immediately started fighting.

The referee was pulling out cards crazily. Chamberlain and Mikel of Southampton were both sent off. Gu Ran, Salah and Sturridge also received yellow cards. Queens Park Rangers also had three players sent off and received three yellow cards.

The score of this game is no longer important, but the number of cards drawn in a single game has set a season record.

In the end, the furious Southampton team, led by Gu Ran, defeated Queens Park Rangers with an exaggerated score of 20:0.

The head coach of Queens Park Rangers broke down in the post-match press conference and cursed Gu Ran as a butcher.

For Southampton, the loss in this game was actually much more serious than that of Queens Park Rangers.

The score of 20:0 is actually nothing. No matter how many goals we score, we will only get 3 Championship points.

Chamberlain and Mikel received cards in the league game, and the consequences will be carried over into the League Cup.

In addition to Chamberlain, Sturridge has also accumulated 5 yellow cards and will be automatically suspended for the next game.

This means that in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal, Chamberlain, Mikel and Sturridge will all be automatically suspended and will not be able to play.

Being impulsive comes at a price.

Three days later, on January 24, the second round of the League Cup semi-final began.

Southampton faced an Arsenal team determined for revenge at home.

With Chamberlain, Mikel and Sturridge all unable to play, coach Adkins conservatively deployed a 442 defensive formation.

...(End of this chapter)