"Hu has scored in nineteen consecutive league rounds..."
On the TV screen, Hu Lai's goal was played.
Among the people staring at the TV screen, some people couldn't help but sigh.
"And based on his current state, he might still be able to score goals in the league."
"Go in, go in, see how far you can push this record. But as long as he doesn't score against us in the Champions League."
There was a burst of low laughter in the conference room.
Amidst the laughter, head coach Scott Brooks asked Harry Bernard with a smile: "What do you think, Harry?"
Harry Bernard said seriously: "Hu's recent state is indeed outstanding. But the game between Samirspor and Madrid Pirates also gave us some inspiration. As long as our midfielder can contain the Pirates' midfielder, I think at home
It is not difficult to beat them. Maxi Carey is their key figure. This game with Samir Sports fully illustrates the difference between the performance of the Pirates with Carey and without Carey. If we can win in China
If the court maintains enough hardness and aggression, it will definitely stop Kyrie's performance."
Brooks nodded with satisfaction after hearing Bernard's answer: "Yes, Kyrie is the key to the Madrid Pirates' offense."
This season Maxi Carey scored five goals and eight assists in the league, and scored one goal and two assists in the Champions League.
Judging from the data alone, this number ranks first among the Madrid Pirates in assists, but it is actually not very exaggerated - at least not as exaggerated as Hulay's goals.
It’s just that there are some things that simple data cannot reflect.
For example, the imagination that Kyrie brings to the Madrid Pirates' offense cannot be shown by simple statistics such as assists and key passes.
With Kyrie on the court, the Madrid Pirates' offense will indeed be more calm.
Because of his skills, he can bring more possibilities to the team's offense.
And these may change the trend of the game.
"But we can't just focus on Kyrie or Hu..." Brooks said again. "The Madrid Pirates are a whole, and if we want to defend them, we must also form a whole. This is at our home court.
, use more aggressive running to cause trouble for them, and go head-to-head with them on every ball and every piece of turf on the court! Fight more fiercely, advance faster... These 'faster' ones are more
The accumulation of ruthlessness is our weapon to defeat the pirates!"
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After the coaching staff's tactical meeting ended, the coaches left the meeting room one after another.
Harry Bogard was retained by head coach Brooks, along with assistant coach Stephen Brown in the house.
"Harry, are you really not considering playing in this game?" Brooks asked Bogard.
"Now that I can't bring any improvement to the team after I play, why should I take up a position?" Harry Bogard smiled and shook his head in refusal.
"You also said that what the team needs in this game is aggression. And you can bring aggression to the team."
"Then I might be substituted after half the game." Bogarde said half-jokingly.
"Dixon alone cannot support our toughness in the midfield." Brooks expressed his worries.
"Scott, I still think you should give Jimmy more trust. It is better to fix him in the middle than to let him play guest roles in various positions. He is indeed very comprehensive, but he has one that suits him best, and he is also the most
My favorite position is central midfielder. Of course he is not like me, but his ability to endure loneliness shows that he is also a very tough player, and this toughness will help him endure troubles and difficulties in the game.
Live under greater pressure.”
The "Jimmy" in Bogaard's mouth is the team's current midfielder Jimmy Stokes. In the 2026-2027 season, he transferred from the then Premier League newly promoted Thorton Park Rangers to get him.
Twenty million pounds. From this transfer fee alone, it can be seen that Stan Park Rangers Club still has high hopes for this young player.
The season after he signed him, the team loaned him to a Championship team.
He performed well in the British Championship season, playing 36 times, scoring six goals and assisting four, making him the team's mainstay.
So after the loan ended, he returned to Stan Park Rangers in the 2027-2028 season and registered as a first-team player.
However, Stokes' performance in the Stan Park Rangers first team is far less impressive than his performance in the Championship. Most of the time, he is used as a panacea, patching up the team. He goes wherever he is needed.
where to.
He can play as a defensive midfielder, central midfielder, or wide midfielder.
Even when the full-back was injured, he took over.
For a while, Stan Park Rangers fans joked that Stokes could play any position except goalkeeper.
Such all-around qualities allowed him to play a lot, but his performance was not that good.
Others have begun to question whether it is worth spending £20 million for a snake oil.
Stokes' fate has not changed this season.
Head coach Brooks still uses him as a patch, rarely fixing him in the middle of the midfield where Stokes likes and is best at.
The reason is that Brooks doesn't really trust Stokes in his heart.
Perhaps because he has worked with Harry Bogard for many years, in Brooks's mind, only a player like "tough guy Harry" can sit in the center of Stan Park Rangers' midfield.
Stokes, on the other hand, is taciturn and meek, and seems to have no heroic spirit. People can't help but doubt his mental level and ability to withstand pressure.
Therefore, the more important the game, the less Brooks dared to entrust Stokes with important tasks.
Stokes did not express any dissatisfaction with the head coach's distrust, but accepted it. This made Brooks feel that Stokes was a "softie without a seed" and had no ambition to make progress.
Then he further lowered his impression score.
When the club originally bought Jimmy Stokes, they valued his comprehensive qualities and hoped that he could become the successor to the aging Harry Bogard.
But with such a "docile" Stokes, it is really difficult for people to think that he can succeed the "tough guy" Harry Bogard.
"Okay, Harry. I will seriously consider it." Seeing that Bogard had made up his mind, Brooks stopped persuading him and nodded in agreement.
Bogard then said goodbye and left.
As soon as he left, assistant coach Stephen Brown, who was watching the whole process silently next to him, sighed with emotion: "I'm really a little sad. After the injury, the 'tough guy Harry' would rather walk off the field by himself than be carried off on a stretcher.
, there will be a day when I admit that I can’t do it..."
"No one can defeat time." Brooks said while lowering his head to collect the documents on his desk. "If it were before, if I dared to put him out of the roster for this game, he would dare to knock on my door in the middle of the night.
Door, let me modify the roster."
Brown was amused by Brooks's vivid statement: "This is indeed something he can do."
Then he asked a bit more: "Would you really consider starting Stokes?"
"I haven't thought about it yet," Brooks said honestly.
In Brooks' arrangement, although he has been urging Bogarde to play, he has already made preparations for Bogarde to be unable to play, that is, to let Matthews Schneider and Jonathan Dixon form the middle midfielder.
's partner.
This is a relatively conventional combination. For most of this season, Stan Park Rangers' midfield duo has been arranged like this.
But Brooks always felt that with this central combination, it might be difficult to compete with the Pirates midfield trio of Maxi Carey, Vukovic and Juan Ramirez.
"Harry really takes care of Stokes. He has spoken for Stokes more than once. It is said that he has also said to others in private that contrary to the outside world's opinion, he is really optimistic about Stokes' future.
His class..." Brown said.
"He is the captain after all."
The implication of Brooks's words is that Harry Bogard, as the leader of the team, always has to unite his teammates, so no matter what others think of Jimmy Stokes, Bogard, as an excellent locker room leader,
Everyone must always be by Stokes' side.
Brown also understood, so he sighed even more: "It's a pity that such an excellent leader has to retire. He is only thirty-six years old. If not for that serious injury, he could have played until he was forty."
At this point, Brown paused and then said: "I suddenly remembered that his injury was during the fight with Hu... This feeling is really bad, it always makes people feel fateful."
he muttered.
In that match that year, Hulay scored a hat-trick at Stan Park Stadium, helping the weak Leeds City to an away upset and defeat Stan Park Rangers, ending Stan Park Rangers' 90-match drought in all competitions at home.
A great record of defeat.
Hulay's winning goal was scored past Harry Bogard.
In order to stop the ball, Bogard desperately returned to the defense to make a clearance, but his knee hit the goal post, causing serious injury.
Later, in order to catch up with the World Cup, Bogarde underwent meniscectomy surgery.
It was this surgery that made Bogarde's condition worse than before after recovering from injury.
But despite this, he continued to lead the team forward with his strong mental will.
And he led the team all the way to the Champions League final last season.
In the end, he was defeated by the King of Madrid.
After the end of that season, Bogarde has decided to retire after the new season. At the same time, he has also made an identity change in advance - he has begun to participate more in the team's training as a coach.
·Learn from Brooks’ coaching staff.
As a player this season, his appearances have become less and less. So many people thought Bogarde had retired...
Stan Park Rangers coaches are well aware that Harry Bogarde is already preparing to become a head coach.
In the future, he will definitely become the "captain" of this team (Note 1).
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Note 1: Captain is also used to refer to the captain of a football team.