Chapter 13: A Man's Persistence
Hearing the referee blow the whistle to end the first half, Wang Li let out a long sigh of relief.
In this short forty-five-minute game, he ran, blocked, intercepted, and dribbled countless times. The mental tension and constant running made him almost the most tired person on the field, which made his body a little exhausted.
Even though the slow flow of his inner strength could help him recover his physical strength, it was still a bit too much. His clothes were already soaked with sweat, and his mouth was dry. He walked towards the player tunnel with a slightly heavy step.
Seeing his appearance, his roommate Thomas Weah, who had been sitting on the bench, immediately ran over and handed him a can of water. He waved his hand to take it, opened his mouth and poured it down.
"Drink slowly, Alan. You performed too well, especially that big fool Chadwick. I think you have made him lose his mind. I don't know how many girls in Wolverhampton will write you love letters after today's game. When you become rich, you must take care of me who lives in the same room with you. It would be best if you could introduce me to some young women with big breasts. I like that type the most..."
Thomas walked slowly behind Wang Li with a smirk on his face, muttering non-stop. The words he spoke were so chilling that they made people feel cold all over.
Wang Li shook his head helplessly, ignored the stupid boar, and walked straight to the locker room.
After a while, all the players returned to the locker room and found their seats to sit quietly. The first half of the game was too intense, which consumed a lot of energy. They needed to recover some energy in this short time.
But Thomas was obviously an exception. He kept talking about the funny things that were going to happen to Manchester United player XX in the second half, and laughter could be heard from the locker room from time to time.
Old Wood pushed open the door, walked in slowly, and looked at the young players in front of him with a smile. It seemed that he was very satisfied with the first half of the game.
"You played well in the first half, but there are still some problems. Lawless, you should dribble the ball more often and not just pass it to the middle. Breaking through on the left is more threatening. In the second half, Manchester United will definitely strengthen the defense on the right, and Allen will be under more pressure, so it's up to you to open up the situation."
"Okay, Mr. Wood." Lawrence replied with a slow nod.
"Tim, you have to reduce the number of times you go forward in the second half. Manchester United's attack is very fast, which can easily create loopholes in the back. Just have Harrison and Pete in front. Alan needs to increase the number of long passes and fall into the penalty area when there is a chance. You two forwards should stand as forward as possible." Tim and Wang Li nodded at the same time.
"Also, Alan, don't do that dangerous move you made at the beginning of the game. It's fancy, but not very practical. That goal was purely luck!"
"The formation remains unchanged in the second half. If we keep playing like this, we will eventually tie the game. Be careful of Manchester United's sneak attack at the start..."
…
At the same time, in the Manchester United locker room, head coach Paul McGuinness was harshly criticizing Chadwick.
"Where are your skills? How could that black-haired kid get past you so easily? He passed you at least ten times in the first half. Even if you couldn't steal the ball, couldn't you just follow him?"
Chadwick could only lower his head helplessly, looking like an honest man receiving an education. He knew that Coach Paul hated people talking back to him the most.
"And Fortune, I think you are the same as this kid. You are always left behind. Well, that kid does have some skills, but he is not without shortcomings..." Paul had a smile on his face when he said this.
"He basically doesn't know how to cooperate with his teammates. I counted the number of short passes he made in the first half, and there were only four. Wolverhampton lined up a 523 formation. They just want to attack Alan Wang, so as long as we can control this point, the game will be a sure win. Naltiero, you, Fortune and Richardson should focus on defending this kid. Press him all over the court and block his route to receive the ball. This kid is a newcomer and doesn't know how to run. It's useless even if he has good skills without the support of his teammates."
"Ripage, you replace Chadwick in the second half and play as right winger."
"We must keep steady in the second half. Wolverhampton is not very strong. As long as we can score one goal, the rest of the time will be easy."
…
After the start of the second half, Wang Li encountered big trouble. Three Manchester United players kept walking around him, which made it impossible for his teammates to pass the ball to him. He reached out for the ball several times, but was intercepted halfway.
He is not good at positioning, which makes Wang Li very passive. He only touched the ball twice in more than 20 minutes, and one of the times he got the ball by running directly to the backcourt.
The inaction during this period made the skillful kid in the first half almost disappear from the court. The commentator shouted again and again: "Where is our Allen???"
Without Wang Li's long pass support, Pete and Harrison in the frontcourt were also helpless. They kept wandering around Manchester United's half, but this was obviously futile.
Apart from Lawless occasionally breaking through and posing a little threat to Manchester United, the ball was almost always passed between Wolverhampton's half, making Tom Smith the busiest person on the field.
Fortunately, he was in good shape today, blocking left and right, falling to the ground again and again, guarding Wolverhampton's last line of defense. In the second half, Manchester United's players obviously didn't bring shooting boots, and Wang Li, who was standing next to them, was embarrassed by the three consecutive goal posts.
In fact, it’s not that Wang Li is unable to get rid of the Manchester United players who stick to him. You know, he is the successor of the Xiaoyao School, and Lingbo Weibu is his specialty.
He is waiting for his opportunity.
Since he had consumed too much physical and internal strength in the first half, he kept running slowly, recovering his strength and waiting for an outburst. He knew that his body's internal strength could only support him once.
…
Time was slowly passing, and the fans in the stands never stopped cheering for the Wolverhampton players. Even if the team they supported played ugly on the field, as if being played by Manchester United, this could not stop their enthusiasm, and their hearts would always belong to Wolverhampton.
Intermittent singing broke out from the audience, and soon became one. They were singing a song of encouragement, and their voices were filled with earnest hopes for the players on the field:
Listening to the support of the fans in the stadium, the players on the Wolverhampton field were all somewhat encouraged. So what if they were Manchester United? Even if they couldn't win, they had to try their best to persevere. This was a way of repaying the fans and also a man's persistence!