Chapter 660 We're waiting for you, Kaka!
September 14, 2013, Saturday afternoon.
Southampton's St. Mary's Stadium was packed with people and the noise was deafening.
Saints fans wearing red and white arrow striped jerseys sat in the stands, cheering for their team with crazy shouts.
This is a match in the fourth round of the Premier League. It is also another key match for the Saints after a two-week break from national team matches. The opponent is the Hammers West Ham United from East London.
The opposing head coach is Ferguson’s best friend, Allardyce, who is known as the best data analyst in the UK.
The Hammers have always been a tough nut to crack in the Premier League. This season, they first bought out local center forward Andy Carroll from Liverpool, and then brought in winger Downing. Together with European stars such as Joe Cole, Nolan, Arau Diarra and others in the team, West Ham United's strength is not weak at all.
Allardyce's team had a record of one win, one draw and one loss in the first three rounds, ranking eighth in the Premier League.
When the old coach was interviewed by the media before the game, he said that the goal for this battle was to score points.
This is also in line with his positioning of West Ham United, which is top ten.
His biggest bargaining chip is that West Ham United is not greatly affected by the national team match day, especially since several core players in the team are not international players, such as Andy Carroll, wingers Downing and Joe Cole, who are not England internationals.
This will give West Ham United players more time to rest and recuperate, so they can face Southampton with ease.
On the other hand, the Saints, thanks to their amazing performance last season, have a team full of international players. Not only do they travel back and forth, but some players have even played two national team games in a row, which is very exhausting.
This is also the reason why the fourth round of the league is the most difficult and upsets occur frequently!
When strong teams are seriously affected by the national team, it gives weak teams a chance to upset.
Especially those teams participating in European competitions have to save some energy to deal with the Champions League group stage in the middle of the week.
Therefore, Allardyce seemed ambitious when visiting St. Mary's Stadium, and the lineup he arranged was obviously intended to score points away from home. He did not adopt a defensive strategy at all just because the Saints were strong.
In the first ten minutes of the game, Southampton's performance was not ideal, with numerous mistakes and omissions, and even gave West Ham United the opportunity to take the initiative in the game, which at one point made Allardyce think that his wish was fulfilled!
But when the game reached the 16th minute, the West Ham United goalkeeper sent a goal kick, and Saints midfielder Matic overpowered his opponent and headed the ball across half court.
After Suarez aimed at the landing point of the ball in front, he unloaded the ball, turned around, and saw that the opponent's goalkeeper was standing a little outside, so he shot directly with a powerful kick.
The ball spun violently, made a slight arc in the air, and fell into the West Ham United goal!
For a moment, the entire St. Mary's Stadium went crazy!
World wave!
An amazing world-class goal from forty meters away!
Everyone in the audience cheered wildly and shouted Suarez's name in unison!
The Uruguayan moved from Liverpool for a high price of 40 million pounds. Many people were worried that he would be overshadowed by the two superstars Ibrahimovic and Drogba.
But judging from his several appearances this season, Suarez has proven his strength very well!
With the first goal, the situation was completely opened up.
Southampton was inspired by Suarez's goal and began to launch an offensive.
One of the important reasons why the team was in chaos in the first ten minutes or so was the adjustment of its tactics.
The Saints still adopted the 4-3-3 tactics in this game, but the personnel configuration was completely different.
The three players in the frontcourt are Suarez, Sturridge and James Rodriguez, but their positions are more vague. Judging from the range of activities, Suarez and Sturridge are more like a double striker in the front, but they frequently move to the side.
James Rodriguez is like a number nine lurking behind the two forwards.
The deep midfielder is Matic, and the other two players are Modric and Pogba.
This is obviously Bielsa's strategy, with Matic defending and acting as a hub, Modric responsible for organizing the midfield, and Pogba actively pressing forward to participate in the attack.
The team's two full-backs, David Alaba and Danilo, were also positioned very high up the pitch. Whenever they had a chance, they would decisively move forward to participate in the attack. They were the winning weapons on the Saints' flanks in this game.
Once the two full-backs pressed forward, Matic would fall back and get closer to the two central defenders, Javi Martinez and Nastasic, forming a large diamond with goalkeeper Neuer.
It can be said that the purpose of Bielsa's tactics is to bring out the personal abilities of the frontcourt players, launch a more sharp attack, and change the team's predicament of poor offense in the first three rounds.
In fact, after Suarez relied on his personal ability to break through the West Ham United goal with a sudden long shot, the Saints players seemed to be inspired with fighting spirit and confidence, and their offense became smoother and more determined.
Just ten minutes after the first goal, Southampton created another chance.
Nastasic launched an attack with a long pass from the backcourt. James Rodriguez received the ball and passed it to Suarez on the left.
Facing the incoming ball, the Uruguayan dribbled past a West Ham United defender, then rushed to the front of the penalty area from the left rib, used his flexible body to shake off a defender, and then shot with a low right foot, scoring again!
Two consecutive wonderful goals completely ignited the passion of the fans in the stands of St. Mary's Stadium!
That’s great, that’s awesome, isn’t it?
Suarez himself seemed extremely excited. He quickly rushed to the sidelines and waved his hands at the fans, indicating that they should cheer even louder.
Southampton is completely activated!
When the game reached the 35th minute, Sturridge created a corner kick on the right, Modric took the penalty, Javi Martinez headed the ball in front of the goal and passed it to the back point. Suarez poked the ball into the goal before everyone else.
hat trick!
In just thirty-five minutes, Suarez scored a hat trick at St. Mary's Stadium!
Southampton ended the first half with a score of 3-0.
But in the second half, the offensive continued unabated.
When the game reached the 58th minute, it was Suarez again who moved to the left and received the pass from David Alaba. He broke through and made a cross from the bottom. Sturridge rushed to the front of the goal and easily pushed the ball into the goal, making it 4-0!
In return, Sturridge quickly received a pass from Pogba on the right and passed the ball in front of the goal. Suarez scored with a header, making it five to zero!
Big four!
All the Saints fans in the stadium went crazy!
Before the game, no one expected that the team would be in a state of fatigue after just two weeks of national team games, and it would be quite difficult to beat West Ham United.
But unexpectedly, Southampton won a resounding victory at their home ground!
It’s so exciting and enjoyable, isn’t it?
Especially Suarez, he scored four of the team's five goals and assisted one. It was simply perfect!
Let me ask you, who dares to say that a player like this is not worth 40 million pounds?
But just when everyone was still recovering from Suarez's fantastic performance that could be called a top superstar, Southampton made the decision to make a substitution.
Kaka, who had joined Southampton for nearly two weeks but had never appeared on the court, suddenly came on as a substitute for Modric, which shocked everyone in the audience!
When Sky TV's live camera swept over, it could be found that many Southampton fans covered their mouths in disbelief, with their eyes wide open, watching Kaka, wearing a red and white striped shirt, hugging Modric and then walking into St. Mary's Stadium with the latter's blessing!
He still had that kind smile on his face, and he was still as handsome as ever, but wrinkles could be seen between his eyes and brows.
Time seems to be telling everyone in this way that he is no longer the high-spirited Brazilian boy of those days!
Today, he is over 30 years old and has reached the twilight of his career.
But so what?
More than 30,000 Saints fans in the stadium stood up from their seats at the same time, everyone was standing and applauding.
Thunderous applause filled the entire St. Mary's Stadium!
Even the commentator at St. Mary's Stadium, who is always known for his humor, sent his rare blessing to Kaka with emotion at this moment, hoping that he could regain his peak form at St. Mary's Stadium and recapture the style of his former World Footballer of the Year!
In Southampton's diehard fans' stand, the Saints Harry Fans Club even put up a long banner with a touching blessing written on it.
"Take your time, Kaka, we're waiting for you!"
It is obvious that they had already made this banner, just waiting for Kaka to make his debut!
In the stadium, Kaka saw this scene and heard the fans' blessings and support, and he was really moved.
The moment he walked into the stadium, Southampton players ran up to him one by one to hug him, congratulating him on his return to the stadium and telling him not to feel any pressure, to take it slow and not to rush!
Yang Huan was in the stands, watching the scene happening on the court, and he felt quite touched.
Although professional football has completely turned into capital operation these days, it does not mean that football has become cold!
In front of the fanatical and passionate fans, even the coldest ball will eventually be warmed up!
Yang Huan firmly believes that as long as football is played by people with emotions and watched by people with emotions, it will never be cold and will never lack warmth!
But unfortunately, in the end, Kaka's appearance did not bring any performance to Southampton.
Everyone can clearly see that this former World Footballer of the Year, after years of injuries, is afraid of physical confrontation and avoids physical contact. Under the pressure and sniping of the opponent, he even dares not move.
After playing for 20 minutes, Kaka was far from the expectations of all the fans, both in terms of the number of touches and performance after getting the ball. However, this did not prevent the Southampton fans from standing up again and applauding him after the game.
This was also the third round of applause from the audience in this game!
One was when Kaka made his debut, one was when Suarez was replaced by Ravel Morrison, and the other was when Kaka left the field safely after the game.
There are many ways to win over the fans.
There is one type, like Suarez, who brings the most enjoyable football experience to fans with his world-class fantastic performance.
But there is also a type like Kaka, who may not have any performance on the court, and his appearance may even be the weakest link in the team, but he can walk into the court, which in itself conquers all the fans.
According to the commentator at St. Mary's Stadium, although Kaka only played for 20 minutes today, he brought hope to people and made everyone believe that he would definitely come back!
"We're waiting for you right here, Kaka!"