Accompanied by the commentator's passionate roar, Melli suddenly used the toes of his right foot to gently lift the football to the outside while dribbling the ball, while others accelerated inward.
The first reaction of Danny Drew, who was defending him head-on, was to pounce on Melli, trying to stop him. But Melli, who was running without the ball, was as nimble as a loach, and Drew used his hands and feet to stop him.
After Melli squeezed into the penalty area, he blocked Drew behind him and caught up with the ball he picked over.
Drew threw the rat weapon and could only raise his hands high behind his back.
The picture was frozen and subtitles appeared:
"Drew: Okay, I surrender to Mellie!"
When Chen Xingyi saw the text on this video, he bared his teeth: The fans are so cruel when they blackmail...
Atlético Amsterdam was eliminated from the Champions League by Madrid Pirates last season, and Drew did not suffer such treatment again.
Chen Xingyi suddenly became worried about Drew's mentality.
But he couldn't ask Drew directly, so he went to the group chat and asked Hu Lai: "Hu Lai, I want to ask you something."
Hu Lai soon appeared: "What's going on?"
"Well, how's Drew doing lately?"
"How is it? That's it, everything is normal."
"Is it normal?"
"Yes, it's normal. We should eat and drink, and he is still joking with us." Hu Lai knew why Chen Xingyi asked this.
Because of the team's recent poor performance, the entire team is under pressure, including him, not to mention Danny Drew. After all, the team's defense has been criticized a lot recently.
"Drew's mentality is really good..." Wang Guangwei jumped out and said with emotion. "I see that many fans on the Internet have already called him 'elementary schoolboy'."
Like Drew, he is a central defender, and he knows very well how much pressure the central defender has to bear when encountering this kind of thing.
After arriving with such a high price, he failed to perform to the expected level. It is impossible to say that there is no pressure at all.
Hu Lai agreed with Wang Guangwei's words: "He really has a good attitude. He is not angry at all when I call him 'primary school boy'!"
Zhang Qinghuan asked: "Did you, Hu Lai, pass on the nickname 'primary school student'?"
"That's not true." Hu Lai denied, "I'm not that boring!"
Wang Guangwei: "You are indeed quite boring!"
Zhang Qinghuan: "Hu Lai, you will play Navigator in the next round. Are you panicking?"
Hu Lai: "What's there to panic about? The celebrity is going home..."
"Go back to your home, your home field!"
Wang Guangwei: "Hu Lai, I think you have a good attitude."
Hu Lai: "What else? I cry, make trouble, and hang myself. Do you have to live or die? The season has just begun. What's the point of panic?"
Xia Xiaoyu: "Brother Hu, don't you have any pressure?"
"Of course there is pressure, but I don't think it's as much pressure as when we are in the national team."
Zhang Qinghuan: "How to say?"
"Now please close your eyes and imagine - if we do not qualify for the 2030 World Cup, how will we face the 1.4 billion Chinese people?"
Wang Guangwei: "..."
Zhang Qinghuan: "Fuck!"
Chen Xingyi: "Damn, my blood pressure is up..."
Xia Xiaoyu: "[cover face]"
Junpei Morikawa: "Fortunately, Japan only has more than 100 million people..."
Hu Lai said proudly: "So compared with the expectations of 1.4 billion people, the little pressure the club is experiencing now is nothing! Comrades, this is the unique innate advantage of our Chinese players!"
Zhang Qinghuan: "Fuck, let me put it this way, why do you think Chinese football is so proud of being scolded for so long?!"
Chen Xingyi held the phone and burst into laughter. After laughing for a long time, he suddenly came back to his senses - Why did I come to Hu Lai?
Oh, I am concerned about Danny's situation!
Oh, right, how's Danny doing?
Chen Xingyi checked the chat history in the group online and saw that Hu Lai said that Danny Drew should be eating and drinking, everything was normal, and he was joking with them.
Since you can make a joke, it must be no problem.
That's right, it doesn't seem easy to feel depressed when you're with a bitch like Hu Lai... Gu Xiao
Didn't even he himself unknowingly forget why he was looking for Hu Lai in the group?
※※ ※
While Hulay was joking with his friends in the group, Pirates head coach Parotti was having an emergency meeting with his coaching staff.
This meeting is used to discuss and solve the problems currently encountered by the team.
"The next game is against Sevilla Navigator. The opponent will definitely make a fuss about our current situation... The good news is that the atmosphere within the team seems to be okay?" Parotti turned to look at assistant coach Valentin.
.
The latter nodded: "Anyway, I think Drew, who was scolded the most, has a pretty good mentality."
"Drew is a very calm young man. I talked with him and he behaved normally." Nick Jeter, the team's medical director, said that he is Dutch and can communicate with Drew in Dutch. "And he also
Tell me, Hu helped him a lot."
"Oh, Hu is indeed very good. He is one of the few people on the team who can communicate with Drew without any obstacles. I have also seen him joking with Drew. He should be trying to find ways to reduce Drew's fatigue.
Pressure. After all, Kyrie can't do this..." Assistant coach Valentine said. "I think one of the important reasons why the atmosphere in the team is pretty good so far is Hu. He can always make everyone unaware.
I feel relaxed..."
"That's right. Hu's psychological quality is very good, he has a big heart..."
Others in the coaching group also expressed their support and agreement with this view.
Parotti raised his hand: "Okay, let's stop praising Hu. This is not the theme of today's meeting. Let's talk about the team's problems."
Second assistant coach Enzo Naher said: "In the game against the Navigators, how about we return to the midfield configuration of last season and let Ramirez and Vela partner?"
After poor performance in the first few games, public opinion had a lot of criticism of Vukovich, and they also saw the problem with Vukovich. So there was a voice that the Pirates should continue Joaquin Vela and Ramirez.
Si's partner, let Vukovic serve as a substitute, and only send him on when the offense needs to be strengthened.
Although Joaquin Vela's abilities in all aspects are relatively mediocre, he has a good defensive attitude, is very positive, and works hard without complaint.
In the last game, Madrid Pirates defeated the Phoenicians 1:0. It was Vukovic who was replaced by Joaquin Vela in the second half.
In the end the team won.
Although it cannot simply be said that the Pirates finally held on to a one-goal lead because of Joaquin Vela's credit, he did lighten the burden on Danny Drew after his appearance.
Now when the team faces the powerful enemy Navigator, it seems reasonable and even the only choice to choose a more secure plan.
But after Naher put forward this suggestion, he was rejected very simply by head coach Parotti: "No, let Vukovich start the next game. He can do what we ask of him, we just have to give him more
Time and opportunity.”
Everyone looked at each other.
As expected of the "good guy" Parotti...
At this time, I am still thinking about the players.
He should be worried that if Vukovich is replaced from the starting position, it may damage Vukovich's confidence and morale...
But the next three games will be difficult to play. If no adjustments are made, Parotti may be dismissed if he loses.
After all, the club spent more than 200 million euros this summer, the investment has increased, and the patience has also deteriorated.
Parotti read everyone's thoughts from their eyes and explained: "I am not trying to be a 'bad guy'. It is precisely because there are three tough battles ahead that we must fully activate Vukovich, otherwise
Everything will go back to the old way. Since we are going to go the old way, why do we need to bring in Vukovich? Isn’t it better to save tens of millions?"
When he said this, everyone's expressions became obviously serious.
"When we ask Vukovic to defend, it's not too difficult for him. He has the ability in this area. I always think that he is not the strongest in Vesseldorf. He can still evolve. He is not just a player at the front of the opponent's penalty area.
A roaming midfielder, he takes on more tasks because he has comprehensive qualities and good running ability. As an offensive midfielder, his defensive ability is also very good. If he only moves around the opponent's penalty area, it is really a waste.
His abilities and talents."
Since signing Vukovic, Parotti has been transforming the Serbian international.
He was not bought to simply be a "Kelly spare tire".
That would be a bit of a waste.
He hopes to allow Vukovic to drop back from the midfielder position and play as a central midfielder, taking into account both offense and defense.
This places higher demands on Vukovic's ability, especially defense. He needs to constantly return to the back line but help Ramirez protect the back line.
However, due to his previous playing habits, it is still difficult for Vukovich to adapt to the new position and new requirements.
Therefore, during games, he often appeared to be in situations where he should have been protecting the defense in his own position, but ended up rushing forward to try to press the ball. Instead, he exposed the back line behind him to the opponent's offensive firepower.
In addition, when he needs to return to defense, his return speed is not fast enough - it's not that he can't run fast, but his forward speed is not slow at all when attacking. In fact, it's just that he hasn't changed mentally yet and returns to defense. Sometimes he is as slow as a midfielder.
Because he was thrust into the background by Melli against the Kings of Madrid, the outside world criticized Danny Drew, the "billion-dollar central defender", more loudly, but in fact the key to the problem lies with Vukovich.
Parotti firmly believes that as long as Vukovic gets used to playing as a central midfielder who can go up and down, the Madrid Pirates' midfield control ability will rise to a higher level.
At the same time, Vukovich himself will have a brighter future, and he will truly grow into a world-class midfielder.
The first assistant coach Valentin smiled and said: "That's what I said, Ettore. But we have to bear huge risks."
Parotti shrugged: "Compared with the greater gains, it is necessary to bear risks now. And... I have an opinion, although it makes no sense, it should be my personal superstition - I think the risk is not that big." big."
"Why? Since the start of the Voyager League, they have four wins and one draw, remaining unbeaten. They are gaining momentum now and are not easy to deal with."
"Precisely because my opponent is a navigator, I'm actually not that worried. I even think that meeting a navigator at this time is the best arrangement."
Then under everyone's doubtful eyes, Parotti revealed the answer with a smile:
"Have you all forgotten? The grudge between Hu and the navigator... He is the 'famous' of the navigator!"
A group of people were shocked at first, then suddenly realized, and finally burst into laughter.
The room was filled with a happy and relaxed atmosphere.
After laughing, Valentine said with emotion: "Hu Zhen is an amazing guy. He not only improves the atmosphere within the team, but also improves the atmosphere within the coaching staff!"