"...I just stepped on the turf of the Flanders Stadium again. Although I have only left for less than a season, it feels like I have been thousands of miles away from home... My first step on it,
The familiar touch on the soles of my feet constantly reminds me - this is Flanders, this is the stadium turf I have run on for six years... Ah, to be honest, I am surprised that I can still remember the Flanders turf.
The smell...maybe this is the taste of home."
Facing the Sky TV camera, Sean Barnett, wearing a North London Rangers jacket, smiled and talked.
"Thank you for accepting our interview, Sean." The beautiful reporter shook hands with him after the shooting.
"You're welcome, I'm willing to accept your interview at any time." Sean Barnett winked at the beautiful reporter, then said goodbye to the camera crew, lowered his head and got into the players' corridor.
After turning a corner, he saw Pete Williams standing against the wall.
"Hi, little Pete." He raised his hand and greeted the other person with a smile.
But Williams didn't return the favor. Instead, he stared at him and said, "I don't think you're doing the right thing, Sean."
"ah?"
"To this day, Leeds City fans are still complaining that you were sold by the club. But you never told them that you do not love this club and this team as much as they thought. And until now you have
You are still saying those hypocritical words in front of the media to continue to take advantage of simple and ignorant fans to create your perfect image of a victim."
"It really hurts me to say that, little Pete." Sean Barnett smiled and shrugged, spreading his hands. "I thought you could understand me because we are the same kind of people..."
"No, I'm not like you, Sean." Pete Williams corrected him very seriously.
"Hey, who told me that I would go to a wealthy team and leave Leeds City in the future?" Barnett tilted his head and looked at Williams.
Williams was stunned for a moment.
Seeing that the other party fell silent, Barnett joked: "So who have you to blame me, little Peter? If Leeds City is relegated this season, will you still follow her and fall back to the English Championship?"
"I have already told the club that if it is relegated, I will stay for another season to help the team return to the Premier League..."
"Yes, yes, that's it. Say some nice words to others. What's the difference between you and me, little Pete? Then why do you say I'm hypocritical, but you're not hypocritical?" Barnett asked with a smile.
"Because I'm telling the truth," Williams said seriously.
"But what I said was true." Barnett spread his hands.
"No, you're not..."
"So how do you make people believe that you are real?"
Williams found that he could not prove that he really wanted to stay and help Leeds City return to the Premier League, instead of just saying it like Barnett.
Unless...unless Leeds City is really relegated, he can prove it to Barnet. But he doesn't want Leeds City to be relegated. It's not that he doesn't want to play in the Championship, but that he doesn't want his beloved team to be relegated.
He stared at Barnett angrily, on the one hand because of Barnett's hypocrisy, and on the other hand he was angry at his own incompetence, being unable to do anything against the other party and falling into the other party's rhetorical trap.
"Relax, little Pete." Barnett smiled slightly, "That's the way the world is. Everyone says it - 'I love the club.' My love for the team will never change.' I grew up at Stan Park."
Rangers fans "There's a little boy in me who told me I should go to Tramed"... They kissed the new team's emblem during the joining ceremony and said those disgusting words... They were just trying to please the fans.
That’s it, what’s wrong with that? Why do we have to delve into what they really think when they say these words?”
Seeing that Williams still didn't know what to say, Barnett continued to smile and said: "This is the operating rules of the football world, little Pete. I always think that you are a mature person who knows what he wants, so you should be able to
Understand me. But I didn’t expect you to be so naive... This is like those activities your club held during the Chinese New Year, where you wore funny costumes to face the camera and said funny things that you didn’t even know what they were.
If you mean... do you really love China? Don't be ridiculous, little Pete, it's just your club trying to take money out of the Chinese people's pockets."
Williams lowered his head. He had to admit that Barnett was right, but he was unwilling to admit it because it would make it appear that he had really wronged Barnett.
But he really felt that Barnett took advantage of the fans' love for him, packaged himself as the perfect victim who endured the humiliation and left the club, and concealed his true thoughts of wanting to leave the club long ago... It was a betrayal of the team.
A betrayal to the club is also a betrayal to the fans.
There are so many fans outside, they are saying "Welcome home, Sean", they really think that Leeds City is Sean Barnett's home, but Sean Barnett doesn't think so.
this is not right!
"And that funny panda doll." Sean Barnett pointed towards the direction of the pitch. "I don't remember there being such a ridiculous thing when I was playing for Leeds City. As a result, it is now in every Leeds City home stadium.
You can all see it on the sidelines during the game. Why don't you know? Pandas, China. The Chinese have money, and the Chinese love the pandas, so this is just the club trying to flatter the Chinese. To make money,
The club deceived the Chinese. And your Chinese forward, when he held up the Leeds City jersey and gave a thumbs up to the reporters, do you think he didn’t regard Leeds City as a springboard in his heart? Didn’t he also?
Cheating Leeds City fans..."
Under Barnett's tirade, Williams could only bite his lip and clenched his fists, unable to respond. Because he didn't know how to respond to Barnett, and everything he said sounded right.
He could only say in his heart: Even if this is the rule of the football world, I don't agree with it.
But what he said was more like a weak, dead duck talking harshly. It had no effect other than allowing Barnett to continue to laugh at him.
"Sorry to bother you. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you..." At this moment, Sean Barnett's tirade was interrupted by an unexpected voice. "I just happened to be passing by here."
Barnett and Williams both looked in the direction of the sound.
Saw Hu Lai.
"Actually, I wanted to pretend that I didn't hear anything and just slipped past you guys against the wall. After all, I couldn't bear to interrupt this warm scene of reunion between old friends... But since you mentioned me, then
I think I should come out and clarify it to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."
"Hu, this has nothing to do with you..." Peter Williams quickly advised him. He didn't want Hu Lai to get involved in such a sensitive issue.
But Hu Lai smiled at him, waved his hand and said, "Originally it had nothing to do with me, Peter. But now that this guy named me, it now has something to do with me."
He pointed to Sean Barnett.
Then he turned his face and turned his attention to Barnett: "Using a team as a springboard does not mean that you don't love this team. There is no direct relationship between the two. I originally thought that as a Leeds City fan
Our beloved star player returned to Flanders this time and faced his former teammates. What could he have to say... I didn't expect that he would just change the concept and use strong words to make excuses."
Sean Barnett looked at Hu Lai who suddenly came out with a straight face.
Hu Lai didn't care about his unfriendly eyes and continued: "In order to climb high and see the more beautiful scenery in the distance, we need a ladder. This is originally a normal thing. If you step on the ladder, you will not
It means that you hate ladders and have deceived them. Unless someone climbs up and kicks the ladder away... But doing so is called suicide by hanging in our country."
After saying that, Hu Lai also put his hands on his neck.
Barnett suddenly laughed, turned to Williams and said, "I don't think he even knows what he is talking about..."
"Is it hard to understand what I'm saying? I'm just telling you, man. Even if Peter and I leave Leeds City and go to a bigger team one day, it doesn't mean that we don't love this team, and it doesn't mean that we don't love this team.
The emotions shown by the fans are fake and deceiving them. It is untenable for you to use this matter to refute Peter's accusations against you. Because what you did and whether you used Leeds City as a springboard are two different things.
ah."
Hu Lai spread his hands and continued:
"China is a country with a long history. What kind of scenes have the Chinese not seen? Do you think the Chinese don't know that what the clubs do is to make their money? But since you want to make money, of course you have to serve your customers well.
Make the other party willing to pay. Is there any problem with this? You are a twenty-four-year-old adult, Sean Barnett, you don't even understand this most basic truth, do you?"
Being scolded by Hu Lai in front of his face, Sean Barnett's face turned ugly.
"In fact, you understand, but you just want to continue to maintain your image in public opinion... So for your behavior, there is an ancient Chinese saying with a long history that can explain it clearly - Look, brother, there is a long history.
The advantage is that you can always find a corresponding explanation - 'You have to build an archway even if you are a bitch'. What is an 'archway'? Translated into words you can understand, it means that every time you go out to sell, you have to say to those patrons: 'People
This is the first time, you have to pay more'..."
Next to him, Pete Williams couldn't hold it back and laughed out loud when Hulay imitated a shameless woman who had stumbled so vividly.
Amid Williams' laughter, Sean Barnett's face turned red. He stared at Hu Lai and said angrily: "You China..."
Hu Lai took out his cell phone, raised his hand and said to him: "Wait a moment, brother, wait until I turn on the recorder before you scold me."
"Fuck!" How could Sean Barnett not know what Hu Lai meant... Once he cursed Hu Lai's racial discrimination, the image he had worked so hard to build would be completely destroyed...
In the end, he just pointed at Hu Lai: "Very good, boy, very good. See you in the game later."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
After he disappeared into the corridor, Peter Williams looked at Hu Lai. His smile had disappeared and was replaced by a sad look: "You shouldn't have gotten involved, Hu Lai. To be honest, this matter is just something I can't see in private."
You're just getting used to what he did. Now you've dragged yourself into it, which is not wise."
Hu Lai glanced at him: "Peter, sometimes I think you are mature and prudent. Sometimes I think you are extremely naive. If you really don't want to have a conflict, why did you come to him and say those things?"
"Because our fans still believe that he was forced to leave Leeds City, and we still want to welcome him home." Williams said, looking in the direction of the stadium.
"So you see, when you are unhappy, you want to vent it out. Why do you care about the consequences? Me too, Pete. When I'm unhappy, I'm going to say it. I'm not making excuses. If he doesn't mention it,
I, I will definitely not care about your personal grudges. But unfortunately, he mentioned me, and then it became a personal grudge between me and him. It is my creed that revenge must be retaliated, Peter. You may not know me well enough.
, let me tell you that when I was playing football in China, there was someone who had a grudge against me..."
Hu Lai put his arm around Williams' shoulders and walked towards the home team's locker room as he spoke.
This time, Williams didn't try desperately to break free like before. He struggled reflexively and then quickly gave up, letting Hu Lai hook up.
※※※
When Sean Barnett returned to the visiting team's locker room, his teammates could see that his face was very ugly. Someone asked curiously: "What's wrong, Sean? Have you been booed by the fans?"
Someone next to him immediately retorted: "How is that possible? Didn't you see it during the warm-up? Those fans all put up slogans welcoming Sean home, how could they be booed? Sean playing here really feels like he is at home.
It’s like playing football!”
Sean Barnett did not tell his teammates about his confrontation with Hulay and Williams in the tunnel, but shook his head: "No... I just thought that if we beat them, Leeds City might be relegated.
...So some of the emotions are not high, which makes everyone worried."
At the end of the sentence, he forced a smile on his face and looked like he couldn't bear it.
The captain of North London Wanderers, their center Jock Hendry, walked up and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't think so much, Sean. That's what professional football is like. Look at the love those fans outside have for you. I
I think even if we beat them, they won't resent you. After all, Leeds City's relegation was their own fault, not your fault."
"York is right." Ludwig Aumann, the Swedish head coach of the North London Wanderers, had already appeared in the locker room. He took over Hendry's words and said, "Guys, for us,
This is a very crucial game. So in Flanders, we cannot afford to lose. Everyone must devote 100% to defeat the opponent!"
Sean Barnett's face became serious, and at the same time, a fierce look flashed across the bottom of his eyes.
※※※
"North London Wanderers are currently ranked third in the league, but they are 18 points behind the second-place Stan Park Rangers. Obviously, they cannot continue to rise, but they may be beaten by London behind them.
London Bridge and Battleship Port are catching up. London Bridge is only three points away from them, and Battleship Harbor is only four points away. There are still three rounds left in the league, and the three- and four-point leads are not safe for the Rangers..."
In the home team's dressing room, head coach Tony Clark is analyzing the impact of the Premier League ranking situation on this game to his players.
"In order to ensure they can qualify for the Champions League next season, they have to beat us away from home. But this is also good news for us - because they will attack with all their strength, so there will be a lot of space behind them for us to exploit.
.So we must also attack them, and use a more violent offensive to make them disorderly!"
Clark continued.
"You have to remember that we can afford to lose - even if we lose in this game, as long as we defeat the Hudes at home in the last round of the league, we can still avoid relegation. But Rangers can't, they every
Losing one point is one step away from qualifying for the Champions League next season. So when they find out that they may lose a goal, they will be more panicked than us."
Every player listens carefully to the coach's words.
After this season of running-in, everyone already knows the style of their head coach. Anyway, he just wants to attack.
"Remember the game we lost to Tramed 2:3 away from home? In that game, even though we faced opponents who were far stronger than us, we were still fearless. I once said to you after the game
However, I am very happy for the courage you showed in the game, because courage is our most advantageous weapon when facing powerful enemies. Now, it is time to show your courage again. When we faced each other in the red room
Tramed has not been afraid, there is no reason why he should be afraid of a group of homeless people when he returns to the home court!"
"Attack them! From the first second of the game, attack them! Use our offense to overwhelm them!"