After entering February, York City's schedule has been relaxed compared to before, which has also alleviated the physical pressure on the players to a certain extent, and this has immediately allowed York City to gain results.
In the four English League One games held in February, York City also achieved a record of four wins and successfully scored 12 points!
In those four games, Baker continued to maintain his stable scoring rate this season, scoring 5 goals, and also continued to lead the English League goal scoring list.
Such stable performance has also enabled York City to distance themselves from the teams behind them with 22 wins, 8 draws and 1 loss, with 74 points after 31 rounds in the English League One!
Currently ranked second is still Sheffield United, but their results are only 19 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses and 63 points, while Bolton, who is third, has 18 wins, 6 draws and 7 losses and 60 points.
Scunthorpe scored 58 points.
The main problem is that in the English League One itself, there is chaos, and few teams can maintain a stable state.
Let’s just talk about Pan Yi’s several English League One matches in his previous life.
The English League One champion in the 2022-2023 season is Plymouth. They have lost seven games before;
Going a little further, the champion of the 2021-2022 season is Wigan Athletic. They have lost more, eight games;
The most exaggerated thing is that in the 2020-2021 season, the champion Hull City actually lost a whopping 11 games!
Isn't that rare to see in the top leagues?
If we use the Premier League champions in the same period for comparison, the teams that won the championship in those years were not Manchester City. They lost 5 games, 3 games and 6 games respectively.
Had Liverpool won the championship the year before, they would have lost 3 games.
This means that it is often more difficult to establish a "overlord" status in lower-level leagues, because the league level is lower, there are more games, the team's performance is more unstable, and "upsets" are more likely to occur.
plot.
But now York City has stabilized and has only lost one game so far. Naturally, their lead has been revealed instantly.
After playing four English League One games, York City rushed to the away game to challenge Wrexham, a team from the National League.
That's the fourth round of the FA Cup!
At this time, Rakepim doesn't have "Deadpool" Ryan Reynolds as the director, so it doesn't attract much attention now.
Since being relegated from English League Two to the National League in 2008, they have been working hard in the fifth-level semi-professional league, and sometimes even almost fell into the sixth-level North and South League.
During that period, the team experienced disgusting incidents of greedy owners trying to sell the stadium after acquiring the team to make money, so their fans united to gain actual control of the team.
In other words, Wrexham currently does not have a real owner to manage their Wrexham Supporters Trust.
The employees inside, from the chairman to the health workers, are all volunteers and do not receive any compensation from the team.
After Ryan Reynolds acquired the team later, he basically retained all the volunteers in the club, paid them very well, and made them full-time employees of the club, and then slowly the team became a leader.
On the right track, finally returning to England B.
And why did Ryan Reynolds choose Wrexham instead of other teams?
Apart from the story, it is certainly very attractive.
First of all, this is a club with a lot of history. Founded in 1872, Wrexham is the oldest existing team in Wales and the third oldest professional football club in the world.
No, it is not a Welsh team, just like Cardiff City and Swansea, they participate in the English league.
Secondly, the price of buying a club that is struggling in England's National League will definitely not be as high as that of a Premier League club.
The fact is that Wrexham has experienced two bankruptcy crises in recent years. The ownership of the club is in the hands of the fans, and they have been looking for reliable investors, and the conditions given are also quite attractive.
Because the acquisition itself does not cost a penny, financial resources can be invested in team building after the acquisition is successful.
In addition, due to its long history, Wrexham's infrastructure is actually quite good.
Their home stadium, the Hippodrome Stadium, can accommodate more than 15,000 spectators, and it is also the oldest national stadium in Wales, and is even one of the home stadiums of the Welsh national team.
As a matter of fact, that kind of history won't help Wrexham progress further in the league.
They are still at a very low level in the National League this season, and have been ranked in the top ten in points.
The reason why Wrexham was able to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup can be said to be blessed by luck.
They missed Oldham in the first round and Farapolov in the second round. They are not teams in the lower leagues.
In other words, missing out on Coventry from League One in the third round was a test, but at this time Coventry was struggling to avoid relegation in League One and had no intention of competing.
In a previous goal battle, Wrexham narrowly defeated Wrexham 4:3 and entered the last 16.
Then, they drew another English League One team.
But that time, their fault was York City!
Although both are in League One, the two teams are completely different.
Whether Coventry is ranked 24th in the standings, it means it is last in the standings. It can be said that it has one foot in League Two.
And if York City is first in the standings, it can be said that it is a quasi-English Championship team!
The difference is immediately apparent.
——
February 21.
The atmosphere at the racecourse, which was filled with more than 15,000 spectators, seemed very solemn. Thick cumulonimbus clouds were pressing in the air, and it seemed that a heavy rain might pour from the east at any time.
The 45-minute game was over at halftime, and only the substitute players from the Eastern and Western teams were left on the court to warm up.
The cheers of the fans in the stands also subsided, and they all needed to take a breath and wait until the east half to continue.
At this time, the score on the courtside scoreboard was the same as 45 minutes ago, and it was unchanged, no, 0:0.
When facing the top team in League One, Wrexham played defensively, almost life-saving defense.
If you don't set up the bus, tomorrow York City's role will be reversed, from setting up the bus yourself to asking to defeat the bus.
That gave York City a taste of what it felt like when Tottenham failed to face them in an FA Cup round.
In fact, the buses in Wrexham are quite well organized.
York City's center Baker, who has performed well this season, has almost no performance in this game. He was watched by the two central defenders on the wrong side. Once York City got the ball and entered Wrexham's defensive area, Wrexham
Baker's players will come one after another to defend him, making it difficult for the ball to pass comfortably to Baker's head or feet.
Judging from the overall performance in the half, York City firmly grasped the initiative, but they did not get too many opportunities. Especially after Baker, the strongest firepower point, was restrained, York City lost most of its offense.
The power of.
These were all tactics used by York City to restrain the enemy, but they were used by the enemy against themselves, which also made the York City fans watching the away game very dissatisfied.
Isn’t it interesting? When York City played against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, the fans rejoiced that they could defeat powerful enemies. But Ruming was suppressed by Wrexham’s iron formation, but they felt that they could defeat them.
Very unhappy, and will even mock the wrong party and become defensive.
Hmm... This moment is the same as the other moment. The nature of human beings is double standards...
Of course, York City fans are a little anxious.
I originally thought that after defeating Arsenal and Tottenham, missing Wrexham would be as easy as chopping melons and vegetables, but I didn't expect to encounter such a big difficulty.
They worry that if their players, like Tottenham, are unable to score the wrong goal for a long time, they will easily become impatient and then be seized by Wrexham, who are weaker than themselves.
"They could see that York City's strong offensive power was completely suppressed by Wrexham United in the half. York City felt a bit cornered by the wrong leg. From the initial stage of the half, they could even see that
, York City's players clearly showed their irritability, and they reasonably believed that Wrexham would have more chances in the east half than in the first half. That was just like the situation in the east half when York City missed Tottenham.
…”
Although tomorrow's game will not be in the top 16 of the FA Cup, since there are no top league teams participating, Sky Sports will arrange a young commentator to provide commentary.
And from the commentator's point of view, is it possible to support the weaker Wrexham?
That's human nature. When faced with a game between two teams with no emotional tendencies, people tend to prefer to support the underdog.
"Judging from the data in the half, York City had a total of 13 shooting opportunities, but they were all far away from the goal, and only 3 of them were on target. So it seems that Wrexham's defense in the half was very good.
Successfully, York City's offensive efficiency is actually very low."
"In addition, York City's two wings were also tightly restrained by Wrexham. In addition, high center forward Baker was suppressed, which completely destroyed York City's offensive firepower in this game. At the same time, their defense
He is also constantly moving forward, leaving a large space for Wrexham to counterattack behind him, which is an excellent opportunity. He believes that Wrexham's head coach will definitely see that!"
"Okay, the east half has started, and players from both sides have already entered the field. They can see that Wrexham's lineup has not made any changes. The team's fastest forward, No. 18,
Ntumba Masanka, who is on loan from Burnley, was also present. It can be seen that Wrexham are trying to use his speed to counterattack, and at the same time threaten York City's defense."
"Huh? On the other hand, York City is asking for a substitution. Huh? That substitution..."
When the commentator said that, the assistant referee on the sidelines had already shown the number plates. No. 11 Thomas Armandon and No. 31 Jonathan Parkin were there.
Obviously, even the commentators were surprised by the substitution made at the beginning of the East Half by York City.
Lord, Jonathan Parkin will be 34 years old next year. Although he played for English Championship teams such as Hull City and Stoke City in his early years, Lian Po is now old and he is no longer in the team.
Can I safely play as a substitute? I rarely have the opportunity to be on the court.
Now Scaloni actually traded Armand, the strongest and fastest player on the team, to the east, but replaced him with such a veteran, what kind of trouble would that cause?
Suddenly, when all the York City players stood on the field and the new formation appeared in front of everyone, all Wrexham fans present and the TV commentator immediately gasped.
Standing at the front of the team now are Mark Baker who is 197cm, Jonathan Parkin who is 194cm, and very... De Ligt who is 189cm!
No, Scaloni even pushed center back De Ligt to the front line and started a three-tower tactic!
It was obvious whether York City were prepared to use indiscriminate bombing tactics in the first half of the game to attack Wrexham's iron barrel formation.
The fans were dumbfounded, but Scaloni on the sidelines showed his head and hugged his chest, smiling confidently at De Zerbi beside him: "If you have no other choice, you can try the boss's suggestion. It will work."
I’ve used it.”
De Zerbi smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Before the game, Pan Yi once talked to them, and if they couldn't open up the situation, they could try such a simple and crude style of play.
Pan Yi said: "Have we ever thought about how they should respond if they also use the iron barrel formation to defend? At this time, they use the tactics of three high center forwards, how should they respond?"
At that time, both Scaloni and De Zerbi believed that their team could break the deadlock through skilled passing and control.
Especially De Zerby, who believed that a team like Wrexham would be disarmed in less than ten minutes if the players were required to execute the high pressure in place.
But Wrexham's tenacity exceeded their imagination.
For a full forty-five minutes, there was no fatal opening, and York City was unable to find a good opportunity to score.
If there is no other way, why not try the traditional English long pass and lob play?
Pan Yi is not like that, his tactics are eclectic. When he was coaching, he used such seemingly simple playing methods to defeat many strong teams!
With Jonathan Parkin on the court and De Ligt pushed to the front, York City's formation also changed into one, with Alphonso Davies' position pushed forward to the midfield, while Rice
He retreated to the back line and formed a three-centre defender with Westermann and Tomiyasu Kenyo.
In the midfield, Alonso will be in the defensive midfielder position to make overall arrangements. Lin Liangming moves to the front midfielder position to form a diamond midfielder, with Alphonso Davies on the left and Kulusevski on the right.
The "Big Three" on the front line provide artillery support.
As a result, York City's defensive thickness has not decreased, but its offense is obviously more threatening.
Is this because Wrexham's very targeted defensive tactics have changed.
York City had a bridgehead at Baker at halftime, and it turned out that they were being watched by two central defenders from the wrong side.
So, now we have three bridgeheads in the east half and see how well they keep an eye on them!
Baker, Jonathan Parkin, and De Ligt are all players who are tall, strong, and capable of heading the ball very well, and York City also played a very determined long pass rush.
Hang.
They completely gave up on the area between the center line and the penalty area where they were stalking Wrexham in the half. York City's three forwards kept pushing into the penalty area, while Alphonso Davies and Alphonso Davies on both sides
Kulusevski, as soon as he got the ball, made a long pass into the wrong penalty area.
The height advantage, coupled with the strong body, allows York City's three forwards to basically grab the first point, and then see if they can directly head the ball and shoot, or pass it to Lin Liangming who is following behind at any time.
The full midfielder running over from the other side depends on the specific situation at that time.
The Wrexham player who was originally deployed to defend near the midfield looked up and saw the ball flying around above his head, but it didn't touch the ground.
They were really uncomfortable because there was no such option in the preparation before the game!
In their perception, York City is a team that insists on playing pass-and-control football in lower-level leagues, and they often attack on the ground. It is not until the last pass that Keke goes to find Baker.
Top of head.
Therefore, the coach and the players did not expect that the game in the east half would suddenly turn out like that.
And in such a long-passing tactic that is very rich in the traditional English flavor, York City really blasted Wrexham's goal!
In the 51st minute of the eastern half, De Ligt received a long pass from the backcourt and headed the ball to nearby Jonathan Parkin. The latter swung his long legs deftly and knocked the ball to Baker next to him, who met the ball.
Angry shooting, 0:1!
After scoring a goal, York City felt as if the hungry tigers had smelled the smell of blood and continued to charge towards Wrexham with bared teeth.
In the 54th minute, despite a long pass from the backcourt, Baker headed the ball towards the goal and was saved by the goalkeeper. Lin Liangming, who was following behind, received the ball and passed to the far post, where Jonathan Parkin was already waiting there.
Scored a header from close range, 0:2!
Conceding two goals in less than 5 minutes, Wrexham was in chaos in the east side.
After York City took the lead, they did not weaken their offensive at all and continued to attack like crazy. This made Wrexham head coach Dean Kitters a little panicked and immediately replaced a midfielder and a defender in order to fill in the gap.
Loopholes in defense.
The substitutions did have an effect to a certain extent, but they did not stop York City from continuing to attack.
Alonso played the role that a core player should play at that time.
Seeing that Wrexham's defense had regained order, he immediately slowed down the offensive pace and even began to pretend to be casual in the backcourt, slowing down the pace of the game.
York City's slowness immediately relieved the worried Wrexham players, and they began to follow suit.
But just when they thought York City was going to continue heading east slowly, Alonso suddenly made a long diagonal pass to the wrong left side.
Alphonso Davies accelerated to catch up, stopped the ball, and passed the ball. De Ligt, who transformed into a powerful center, smashed the ball into the goal near the near post, 0:3!
Three centers each scored a goal!
That conceded goal caused Wrexham players to completely lose hope of equalizing the score.
Their morale completely collapsed, but York City became more and more courageous as they fought. In the 87th minute, Alonso scored a direct goal, ending the FA Cup match with a four-goal victory.
!
——
Authentic English football victory!
The day after the match against Wrexham, the title of the match review written by the Fenkeshire Monthly appeared prominently on the front page of the sports section.
In that report, the reporter objectively pointed out that York City clearly misunderstood Wrexham's iron barrel strategy at half-time, especially if Scaloni was hesitant in his on-the-spot reaction. If he was decisive at half-time,
Some, perhaps, would not have gone into midfield with a draw.
But after the halftime break, Scaloni became very determined and directly replaced the high center forward Jonathan Parkin, who had been away from the team for a long time. He very creatively pushed the center back De Ligt to the front line.
It works wonders.
Due to such an unexpected change of formation, in an interview with reporters after the game, Scaloni also mentioned boss Pan Yi's proposal.
"The boss said that it is indeed a bet, but if you don't bet, you probably won't win!"
No, York City's typical English-style long pass rush in the East half means using the maximum number of passes into the penalty area in order to achieve a low-probability East goal rate.
But football is not about victory. Obviously, Pan Yi and Scaloni won the bet that time.
"Pan Yi was famous for his flexible and eclectic tactical style when he was the head coach. Now it seems that that style has been completely inherited by the York City team."
"In the east half of that FA Cup round of 16 match, they saw the style of English football in the 1980s."
"If I had told him before that the game was played by a team led by the Argentinian coach Qidong, the owner of Dragon Country, he would definitely not believe it..."
Later in the report, (Funker County Monthly) also analyzed the situation of York City's match against the East.
York City currently has a huge 14-point advantage over third place in English League One. It can be said that the possibility of directly advancing to the Championship is very high.
Under such conditions, can they really shift more focus to the FA Cup in order to create a miracle?
A local newspaper reporter also raised some concerns, that is, York City is currently the only English League One team that can enter the FA Cup quarter-finals, which means that they must play more games than other teams.
In the month of March, which is coming east, York City's schedule will be closely spaced.
Whether it is due to concerns about the intensive schedule, (Funke County Monthly) believes that the next two months from the east will become a watershed for the league.
If York City can maintain its current lead at the end of March, there will not be much suspense about York City winning the Eastern League title in April when the league ends.
Of course, it doesn’t matter who East York City’s side is in the FA Cup. After all, different sides will bring different intensity and pressure to York City.
And soon, all the teams that entered the quarterfinals were formed.
At this point, they are basically no longer a Premier League team.
The three big6 teams of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea are leading the way, followed by Middlesbrough, Bournemouth and Swansea.
In addition, there are Fulham from the English Championship and York City from the English League.
That time, York City's luck was neither good nor bad.
It’s hard to say, maybe because we couldn’t draw Fulham, who was the weakest among the remaining seven legs;
It's not bad, because they also didn't draw the strongest BIG6.
York City's wrong leg, will there be another team from Wales, Swansea!
Although it will not be a home game, Swansea's strength is obviously much stronger than Rotherham, so it will be a tough battle!