Chapter 15 The difficult winter window

Speed ​​was originally in a good mood these days. I don't know if it was an illusion. He always felt that Maguire had lost a little weight. He thought Maguire was a little overweight before, but he didn't expect that this kid himself was also controlling it.

, Li Mo is as diligent as ever. I heard that he also went to the youth team during the vacation, and even took Maguire to practice together. Fortunately, the two of them only did some recovery training, otherwise he would also worry that the young man would put him at risk.

Practice bad.

It stands to reason that the team is gradually getting on the right track, and the young people in the team are working hard, so he should have nothing to worry about, but the team management refuses to let him live in peace.

"No money? I know that spending millions to buy Chide hurt the club a lot, but we didn't spend much money in the last window. I only need one forward and one midfielder, and with these forwards in the team, we

You can also sell one or two to raise funds."

"Gary, you know that it is difficult to sell people in the winter window, let alone players who have not produced statistics. How much can these forwards on our team be sold for? And the midfielder you want must be good at defense, able to organize offense, and also

He has a good long pass, God, do you think you can buy a player like this for hundreds of thousands?"

"What about the striker?"

"Which team is willing to sell us a striker who can score steadily? Otherwise, why don't you choose one from League One?"

"Damn it! I need a striker who can cooperate with Lee. The forwards in League One are not as good as Chide!"

Speed ​​and the team manager naturally broke up on bad terms, but they couldn't say who was right and who was wrong. Sheffield United was not a well-funded club, and it lost a lot of broadcast revenue after being relegated from the Premier League.

, in the past few years, millions could be spent on signings in the transfer market, but in the end the players they bought did not play out, so the team manager would naturally have concerns.

Speed ​​considered the strength of the team. Letting Jamie Ward serve as the connection point between the midfielder and the forward is just a stopgap measure. Stephen Quinn and Montgomery can stabilize the midfield with their tacit understanding, but the team

A true midfield core is also needed.

After all, Stephen Quinn is still a little less capable, and his size is always a hidden danger. If the opposing midfielder puts enough pressure on him, it will be more difficult for him to get the ball. He is a good auxiliary midfielder who can help sweep away.

He helps out and has certain organizational skills, but it is too reluctant to use him as the core.

Their current tactics can only quickly transfer the ball to the wing and let the wing players initiate the attack. However, if they continue to rely on wing attacks, they will easily be targeted by their opponents.

On the forward line, Speed ​​is increasingly looking to buy a player with a reliable shot, completely liberating Li Mo's abilities.

But as the team manager said, no team in the English Championship will sell a reliable forward easily.

Speed ​​was so worried that in the end he had no choice but to let the management look for young players from major giants. If there were suitable ones, they could rent them out first. Players in lower-level leagues could also be observed by scouts.

When we wait for the winter window, if there are good players, we can let them come for trial training.

Who makes the club have no money? They just make do, and now he is reluctant to leave Sheffield United.

On the one hand, it is because he has been at the club for a few years. He retired at Sheffield United and also learned how to be a coach here. He already has feelings for the club. On the other hand, it is Li who he promoted to the first team this season.

Both Mo and Maguire have shown great talent. Which coach can resist the temptation of training a genius? Moreover, he is a talented and hard-working genius.

If these two young players grow up and he successfully leads Sheffield United back to the Premier League, then in his opinion, this achievement will be comparable to his Premier League career.

I hope the team can recruit the right players, Speed ​​hoped in his heart.

After the game against Reading, the next league game will not be until December 11. The Sheffield United players got two days off and then returned to intense training.

The team's defensive line needs more running-in, and the offensive line Li Mo and Ched Evans also need more tacit understanding, but these cannot be rushed. Speed ​​and the coaching team have formulated a phased training plan.

The team adjusted step by step, and soon the 21st round of the English Championship came. Sheffield United's opponent was Barnsley, the same city team, which was Maguire's previous team.

Although it is a derby in the same city, Sheffield United and Barnsley are not mortal enemies. The relationship between the two teams is relatively normal, and there are often youth team games and exchanges.

Before moving to Sheffield, Li Mo had been living with his brother-in-law in Barnsley. Maguire had also stayed in this small town for many years. The two of them did not feel the slightest discomfort when they returned here. They were still in Barnsley before the game.

Riding a bicycle outside Okewell Stadium, Sley's home ground.

In fact, in Li Mo's view, Barnsley is more like a small town than a city, with a total population of no more than 200,000 and a small area. He and his school friends used to go to Okewell Stadium to watch

During the game, I was surprised to find that nearly half of the seats in the stadium were empty.

But even so, it is good to have half the attendance, because Okewell Stadium can accommodate more than 20,000 people to watch the game. On each home match day, it is equivalent to one-twentieth of Barnsley.

Local people will enter the stadium, and this ratio is actually quite exaggerated.

The strong football atmosphere in England is evident from this.

The start time of the game is still set at four o'clock in the afternoon. Today's temperature is a bit low, just above zero, but luckily it didn't rain. Li Mo first wore a sports shirt in the locker room, and then changed into his jersey.

Putting on the winter gloves provided by the club, Maguire followed suit. There was nothing he could do. If there was no sun in the winter in England and some rain, the cold feeling would be comparable to that of Li Mo's hometown of Sichuan Province.

Doing a good job of keeping warm will also help protect your body.

Under the influence of this kind of weather, the game between the two teams also seemed to be very slow. Although the fans at the scene were still very enthusiastic, the players on both sides were tentatively cautious.

Sheffield United's defense performed well today. They didn't give Barnsley too many chances in the first half. Li Mo also attracted the attention of various teams after scoring consecutive goals. Under Barnsley's tight marking

, he played relatively reasonably, and except for one header, he did not kick the ball easily. At the end of the first half, the two teams shook hands and made a draw.

After the start of the second half, Barnsley attacked for a while, and Li Mo was forced to defend for a while. However, Barnsley also had the same old problem as Sheffield United before. It was weak in attack and had several opportunities.

The striker couldn't control it, which made Barnsley's players gradually become anxious.

Speed ​​had a good insight into the changes in Barnsley's players' mentality. He replaced Jamie Ward and brought on another midfielder. The three midfielders helped relieve the pressure on the defense.

After gaining the ball, he instructed Stephen Quinn to directly pass the ball to Li Mo without passing it in the midfield.

The tactic was simple, but the effect was surprisingly good. Barnsley's pressure created a large space in their backcourt. When Li Mo faced the double-team of two people, he tried his best to nod the ball passed to him with his head.

Ched Evans nearby, or Matthew Lowton who directly stepped in, led to several counterattacks.

In the 76th minute, Stephen Quinn once again hit the ball high. Barnsley's defensive players followed the inertia and moved closer to Li Mo, but this time Stephen Quinn was looking for Ched Evans. Ched Evans'

There was almost no pressure around him, so he naturally stopped the ball steadily. Matthew Lowton on the wing once again intervened to ask for it. Ched Evans immediately transferred the ball. After the two of them attracted a certain amount of defense, Li

Mo turned around and started sprinting at high speed.

Li Mo was very fast without the ball. After Matthew Lowton used his speed to eat a Barnsley wide player alive, he made a decisive move near the penalty area line before other defensive players came forward to interfere.

Foot cross.

Ched Evans has not yet entered the penalty area. At this moment, only Li Mo rushed in. Everyone knew that Matthew Lowton's cross was coming to Li Mo, but they couldn't stop him!

Li Mo rushed up like a tank and ran over Barnsley's centre-back. He took off and took off, which was extremely violent. After Barnsley's goalkeeper cursed angrily, he attacked decisively, but it was too late. Li Mo leaned on

The huge inertia after the jump almost "smashed" the ball into Barnsley's goal!

Speed ​​covered his head with an incredulous expression on his face, but then he burst into laughter.

His tactics are not brilliant, but when you have such a center in your team, what complicated tactics are needed?

Just pass that damn football to Li Mo and that's it!
Chapter completed!