Chapter 034: Be a free man?

Wolverhampton scored the first goal and was in a passive situation. Aston Villa head coach O'Leary immediately walked to the sidelines and shouted at his players to keep their defense steady.

If we conceded another goal in the remaining minutes of the first half, there would be no way to recover.

In the remaining minutes of the first half, Aston Villa's players all retreated to their own half and endured the siege of Wolverhampton. This scene made the fans in the audience very excited. You know, Aston Villa is a team in the first group of the Premier League. Being able to play like this, even if it was only for a few minutes, made the fans very refreshed!

In the end, Wolverhampton still failed to score. After the referee Halsey blew the whistle, the first half of the game ended and the players rushed to the player tunnel.

…

In Aston Villa's dressing room, O'Leary was yelling at his players: "You have so many stars, each earning tens of thousands of pounds a week, but you can't defend against a kid who just landed in the Premier League? Look at the first half, did you think our opponent was Arsenal or Manchester United!!! They are the last in the Premier League. Fortunately, this is not Villa Park, otherwise after the game, you will all be sprayed as good-for-nothings, and I, your boss, will be out of a job too!"

After hearing what O'Leary said, the Aston Villa players were a little shy, especially Hendry and Delaney. In the first 30 minutes of the first half, Hendry was completely blocked by the black-haired boy and had almost no chance to play. Delaney was even worse. His defense was almost ineffective against Wang Li, and he was easily dribbled past by him every time.

After venting for a while, O'Reilly calmed down and began to explain the tactics for the second half.

"Wolverhampton's attack is mainly initiated by Kennedy or Alan Wang. Kennedy does not need too much attention. There are a lot of such players in the Premier League. He has no creativity and just plays with experience. Our focus is on this black-haired boy. As long as we can defend him well, Wolverhampton's attack will be almost harmless."

"Haji, you will replace Delaney in the second half. I think he has lost his confidence, so he should come down and take a rest. You and Hitzlperger should focus on defending this black-haired kid in the second half. Don't get too close to him and block his receiving and passing routes. This kid is very fast, but his game experience is definitely not as good as yours."

"Also, mainly from the right side... Pay attention... at the beginning..."

…

Dave was very satisfied with the players' performance in the first half. Wolverhampton was ahead in the first half, which was beyond his expectation. However, as an experienced head coach, he would not be complacent because of this. Only after the game, he would have the heart to show his eloquence.

In the locker room, Dave encouraged his players and began to arrange the tactical tasks for the second half: "Harrison, in the second half, you will replace Kurt. Alan, your task in the first 20 minutes is to participate in defense. After getting the ball, launch a quick counterattack when you have the chance, but others should not get too far forward. It doesn't matter even if you fail."

"Aston Villa will definitely launch a fierce attack after the start of the second half. As long as we can defend the first 20 minutes, the initiative will be in our hands. Therefore, in the second half, except for Harrison and Miller who are at the front, everyone else has to participate in the defense in the backcourt in the first 20 minutes."

…

The short ten minutes passed quickly, and the players from both sides re-entered the court. With a whistle from Halsey, the second half of the game began.

Aston Villa kicked off, Angel kicked the ball to Orbach, the bad boy just kicked the ball with his heel and knocked it back to Hendry behind him, then quickly rushed towards Wolverhampton's half.

Seeing Hendry take the ball, Wang Li followed immediately, and he still wanted to follow Hendry closely to hinder Aston Villa's attack. But this time he failed, Haji rushed towards him quickly, walked near him, and made a simple two-on-one cooperation with Hendry to pass him.

Facing Wolverhampton's iron-clad defense, Hendry slowly carried the ball, looking for opportunities. He is the engine of the entire team and will not become cowardly because of the failure in the first half.

At this time, Widdingham ran forward quickly from the left, and he kicked the ball with his right foot, and the ball landed at Widdingham's feet. Seeing that he got the ball, Cradoric next to him would never let him have an easy time, and chased him relentlessly.

Widdingham had no other choice but to pass the ball to Angel who came to receive it.

Seeing Angel take the ball, Naraku hurriedly followed him, squeezed him with his body, and slowly ran to the side. When the ball was about to go out of the sideline, Angel stopped suddenly, hooked his right foot, and passed Naraku with a sudden change of direction. Then he took a few steps towards the middle.

At this time, Coyle stepped forward to intercept and wanted to double-team him with Narral behind him, but Angel suddenly stopped the ball, and then shook his ankle and passed the ball to Johnson who quickly inserted.

At this time, Wolverhampton's penalty area had been left empty by the passing and receiving of these players. Johnson was very fast and ran into the penalty area in a few seconds. Facing the defensive players, he suddenly changed direction, which surprised all the fans in the stadium. Was he going to shoot?

That’s right, Johnson is an attacking full-back and he is very good at long shots!

At this time, two defenders in the penalty area blocked Oaks' view. By the time he reacted, it was too late. The ball flew into the goal past his hands.

"Johnson, long shot!!!... Danger!!!... The ball... went in. Oh, the ball was too fast. It was a long shot from Aston Villa's full-back Johnson. Facing this ball, Oaks was a little careless. Now the score is 1:1. Aston Villa tied the score with only 1 minute and 28 seconds into the second half."

All the fans in the stadium stared blankly at the ball that had already entered the goal. The situation changed too quickly. Just a moment ago they were still discussing whether they would win the game, but in the blink of an eye, the score was tied.

After scoring the goal, Johnson quickly ran back to his own half and celebrated with his players.

Dave patted his head in frustration in the coaching booth. He didn't expect that Aston Villa would tie the score just over a minute into the game! However, he didn't give any instructions to the players. Changing tactics right after the kick-off would inevitably lead to more chaos, which would only create more opportunities for the opponent.

…

After the celebration, the game continued, but Wang Li felt helpless at this time.

The two big white guys next to him were almost always surrounding him, so his teammates couldn't pass the ball to him at all, and his pass was intercepted three times.

He had too little experience to be compared with the veterans of the Premier League. The two Aston Villa defenders did not get close to him at all, they just hovered around him to cut off his connection with his teammates.

Every time he tried to use his speed to get out of position, the two players would follow him. The area on the right side was not large, and he couldn't get rid of them no matter what.

It can be said that he is now completely blocked!

…

On the field of play, Aston Villa has completely suppressed Wolverhampton.

Whether in terms of players' individual abilities, teamwork or tactical abilities, Aston Villa is far stronger than Wolverhampton, so the game almost became an offensive and defensive drill for Aston Villa.

However, Wolverhampton's players certainly would not settle for defeat. They ran, blocked, and even committed fouls desperately to stop the opponent's attack. This also meant that after Aston Villa scored the first goal, although they played very well on the field, it was all talk and no action. They failed to score any more goals for more than 30 minutes.

But at this time, the most depressed were Harrison and Miller. They wandered around uselessly in Aston Villa's half for more than 30 minutes without touching the ball once. After the start of the second half, they kept staring at Wang Li, waiting for his long pass, but Wang Li couldn't get the ball himself, let alone support them.

…

Dave sat steadily in the coaching seat, his eyes fixed on the black-haired boy on the court, thinking quietly about something. He had been doing this for more than twenty minutes.

He was thinking about a question. Allen was so fast that he would not be suppressed even if he was double-teamed. But at this moment, the black-haired boy on the court was really blocked. He could not get rid of the defensive player next to him. Why was that?

Suddenly, he smiled with a relieved look on his face, stood up, walked to the sidelines, waved at Wang Li, and when Wang Li ran over, he said to him, "Go play as a libero, just like in a basketball game."

Wang Li looked at Dave in confusion and asked, "What is a free man?"

After hearing what he said, Dave patted his head in annoyance and explained helplessly: "In other words, from now on, you can run around freely on the court, anywhere you want, whether you want to participate in defense or offense, it's up to you, you can do whatever you want, do you understand?"